Doctor Who - Adventures in Lockdown
Please note £2.25 from the sale of this book will benefit the charity Children In Need
Publisher - BBC Books
Published - Out Now
Price - £8.99 paperback £6.49 Kindle eBook
While staying home was a vital safety measure in 2020, the freedom of the TARDIS remained a dream that drew many - allowing them to roam the cosmos in search of distraction, reassurance and adventure. Now some of the finest TV Doctor Who writers come together with gifted illustrators in this very special short story collection in support of BBC Children in Need.
Current and former showrunners - Chris Chibnall Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat - present exciting adventures for the Doctor conceived in confinement, alongside brand new fiction from Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss and Vinay Patel. Also featuring work from Chris Riddell, Joy Wilkinson, Paul Cornell, Sonia Leong, Sophie Cowdrey, Mike Collins and many more, Adventures in Lockdown is a book for any Doctor Who fan in your life, stories that will send your heart spinning wildly through time and space...
Doctor Who is quite a key part of my life and has been since I caught Tom Baker regenerating into Peter Davison. It led to a love of fantasy, SF and horror that has never left and thanks to Target Book TV novelisations eventually got me here booktempting!. A show that forever changes and yet stays the same has been a great comfort and in 2020 we needed some comfort. Over the year various Doctor Who writers did a lot of great things online in lockdown for comfort and joy and it feels appropriate that now to aid Children In Need the BBC have assembled a great set of short stories that remind us about the benefit of not being cruel and cowardly.
Amongst the tales I enjoyed
A Message From the Doctor by Chris Chibnall - the script from Jodie Whitaker’s short youtube message of comfort is the tale’s introduction and capture’s Thirteen’s voice perfectly with a very suitable message for this year.
Things She Thought As She Was Falling by Chris Chibnall - a short Thirteen focused preview of the Doctor falling from her first episode. Loved the way Thirteen’s voice and character is captured in just a few pages.
The Terror of the Umpty Ums by Steven Moffat - an unusual piece of meta-fiction as an abandoned alien seeks an escape on Earth but a strange Northern voice is in his ear. This story really works to remind us why Who for many sets a good standard to live by.
Rose The Sequel by Russell T Davies - the tale of the last piece of the Nestene Conciousness on Earth. All I’m saying is the end is delightfully wicked and true…
One Virtue, and a Thousand Crimes by Neil Gaiman - In The Doctor’s Wife we hear of another renegade Time Lord known as The Corsair and this time we meet her in action with a fun caper that also ties into some lovely old school Who continuity. Gaiman very deftly creates a new character and scenario you may wish we had got more to see of!
The Simple Things by Joy Wilkinson - Graham, Draconians and the orgins of West Ham Football Club - this story has FUN!
The Shadow Passes/Shadow of a Doubt/Shadow in the Mirror by Paul Cornell - Thirteen ponders an action taken in her tenth incarnation and decides to release a prisoner she trapped long ago. Three short tales impacting one another that explores forgiveness, moving on and doing better. Probably my highlight.
A short read but I enjoyed all the stories in this collection and how they capture that Who is deep down a show about hope and doing the right thing. Buy a copy, help a good cause and enjoy a few moments travelling through space and time - recommended
