http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2779279.html

Another of the Big Finish anthologies, unusually taking the first eight Doctors in chronological sequence with stories about saying goodbye. A strong start and end, with the First Doctor taking Ian and Barbara along Route 66 and the Eighth Doctor re-enacting The Wicker Man with contemporary garden furniture, by Gareth Wigmore and Paul Magrs respectively. The others that grabbed me were an elegiac Fourth Doctor story, "Into the Silent Land" by Steven A. Roman, and a grim Sixth Doctor story by Joe Lidster, "Curtain Call". In general 2006 seems to have been a good year for the Short trips anthologies, as it was for New Who in general. ( )

I'm of two minds about this one. The "Farewells" theme is kept relatively well, with only one or two stories sort of leaving you hanging on that point. Many of the stories are quite serious, which suits me fine, but honestly it's the comedy tales that are the most successful here.

"The Mother Road" is one of those theme-stretching stories, but it's a very enjoyable opening story, finding the original TARDIS crew traveling Route 66 and Ian ordering a "shake as thick as my arm" at a drive-in. At the opposite end of the book, Paul Magrs' "The Wickerwork Man" is a really funny spoof on the famous horror film, with the eighth Doctor battling possessed garden furniture. The best story of the bunch is "Life After Queth," which finds the fifth Doctor, Tegan, and the Gravis - yes, the Gravis! - assisting some little creatures who are just a bit confused about whether their planet is going belly-up or not. That one starts out extremely funny and gets a bit more grounded by the end...a real corker of a story.

Otherwise, things are a little flat: "Utopia" is a dire, New Adventures-style vignette, while "Father Figure" and "The Velvet Dark" are good ideas poorly realized. The best of the really serious tales is "Into the Silent Land," in which the fourth Doctor faces his mortality; the storyline is fine, the characterization good, and there are some great scenes, but sometimes the prose is just plain clunky. So...some good, some not so good. A nice collection to borrow.

One final thought, though: why are all the stories in strict chronological Doctor order, save the last one? I rather like a bit of a random order; it keeps things fresh and exciting! ( )

Do you know what's a boring way to organize your Doctor Who anthology? Chronologically by Doctor. Especially when there are four fifth Doctor tales! The strength of Doctor Who is variety; why eschew that? Other than that blunder, this is a fairly decent anthology. There's a somewhat overdone emphasis on death-- yes, it's the ultimate farewell, I suppose, but I got tired of reading about characters coming to terms with it, especially as a Doctor Who anthology is unlikely to break any new ground in this area. Highlights include Gareth Wigmore's "The Mother Road", where the first Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan take a road trip in 2006 America and hilarity ensures; John Binns's "Black and White", where the fifth Doctor and Peri really begin to get to know one another; Joe Lidster's typically dark, depressing, and real "Curtain Call", and Paul Magrs's typically insane, amusing, and real "The Wickerwork Man". On the other hand, I found Stephen Fewell's "The Bad Guy" pretty much baffling, Andy Campbell's "Separation Day" has a bizarre message (stick out your relationships so the universe doesn't implode), Jake Elliot's "The Wake" has a lot of neat ideas but no story, Stewart Sheargold's "The Velvet Dark" has the fith Doctor deciding to simply let the Master run free for no readily apparent reason, and Darren Sellars's "Utopia" has the seventh Doctor talk a man into suicide when I can think up several less violent ways of solving the problem myself, and the story features that annoying trope of sf, genetic engineering as inherently wrong.

Steven A. Roman's "Into the Silent Land" kind of aggravated me because I don't like it when the Doctor's incarnations act like they are individual people, separate from those who follow and precede them-- why would the fourth Doctor be afraid of "dying" when he's doing no such thing? He's just changing. A rather drastic change, to be sure though, and this idea was much better captured in Ian Potter's "The Three Paths", which deals with the Doctor shortly before The Tenth Planet and his first regeneration. It also contains the best piece of subtle fanwank I've seen in years. The best story in the book was Matt Kimpton's "Life After Queth", set just after Frontios with the Gravis as a companion. The fifth Doctor, Tegan, and the Gravis turn out to be a magnificent TARDIS team, and it's a shame the story precludes any more adventures for this bizarre trio. Who'd've thunk it?