Dave Rudden

As I did last year with Rudden's Twelve Angels Weeping, I started reading this book on Christmas, and read a story every day until I finished. It was a fun way to do it. Rudden has a strong, unique voice as a Doctor Who short fiction writer, and does a good job of capturing the series's tone while not feeling beholden to how things would be on screen; he also does a good job of tying each story into Christmas without making it feel repetitive.

Highlights for me included "Father of the show more Daleks," chronicling a series of Christmastime meetings between the eleventh Doctor... and Davros!? Good Christmas fun, but also a dark peek into the psyches of the Daleks and their creator. "For the Girl Who Has Everything" was a story of Osgood's first week at UNIT, before Kate Stewart was in charge and before Osgood was chief scientific advisor; she has to rely on her wits to defeat a Sontaran plot. Rudden perfectly captures Osgood's personality and voice. "Visiting Hours" does a great job of filling in the Rory/River father/daughter relationship that Steven Moffat kind of neglected; Rory comes to visit River at Christmas in Stormcage, only for them to have to fight their way through the facility unexpectedly. Genuinely touching stuff about parenting and family. "A Perfect Christmas" was a charming story about Madame Vastra trying to give her ersatz family a perfect holiday at all costs, and "A Day to Yourselves" was a great story about an immediate post–Time War ninth Doctor trying to find consolation by saving planets, only no one will let him do it.

The book only really had two misfires for me, "He's Behind You," which felt like it didn't lean into its panto premise enough, and "We Will Feed You to the Trees," which while well told, didn't seem entirely convincing in the way it explained everything. But really, Rudden has an excellent grasp of tone, theme, and character, and I must seek out his original fiction, but I also hope he keeps writing Doctor Who because he has a markedly interesting voice that goes beyond your average Justin Richardsesque fellow. show less

This is a collection of twelve stories set in the Doctor Who universe, most having some kind of Christmas connection (however slight), most featuring the Doctor, most featuring a monster of some sort. I started reading the book on Christmas Day 2020, and read one story per day, which turned out to be a really fun project.

Rudden had never written any Doctor Who book before this, but alone he has more variety and invention than some Doctor Who anthologies written by twenty-five different show more authors. Highlights for me included a noir story about a private detective on Gallifrey hired to track down the TARDIS the Doctor stole (containing a surprising but subtle tie-in to Prisoners of Fate, a Big Finish audio dram), a story told from the point-of-view of a Cyberman, a really neat story of the Paternoster Gang, an adventure for Rory and the eleventh Doctor investigating a regicide, and a story of the Master trying to be the Doctor. There was only one I didn't really like, an overly long story of a heist that I didn't really get the point of.

The best story was "The Rhino of Twenty-Three Strand Street," about an Irish girl from 1960s Dublin, chafing in Catholic school, who discovers that a Judoon has moved in next door. Really well told and heartwarming.

All of the stories have a strong sense of voice and tone, short Doctor Who fiction at its very best. This is the twelfth Doctor Who Christmas book I've read, and it's the one I've enjoyed the most except for Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury. show less

Overall, this was a great collection. There were only a couple of stories I felt were a bit less good than the others. My general impressions of each story are below:

Grey Matter: The theme of plague and quarantine was a bit on the nose for the times we’re in, but I loved Twelve in this story. It showecased to advantage his fierce compassion.

Red Planet: A good story with Four and Leela. Just the right amount of Four’s trickery and Leela’s daring. Leela and the Ice Warrior made good show more foes, too.

Celestial Intervention — A Gallifreyan Noir: I liked this one very much. To say much about the plot would be spoilers, but the tone is suitably noir, as the subtitle proclaims.

Ghost in the Machine: This one would make a breathtaking episode of the show; I could see it playing in my head. Seems to be set around the time of The Next Doctor, if the Cyber Commander is any indication.

Student Bodies: This one is told as a series of audio recordings, and is set during Series 6 of New Who, featuring as it does The Silence and River Song. I liked the format, and the appearance of River.

A Soldier's Education: Another interesting format: a potted history of the Sontaran empire recited as a subliminal teaching aid to a just-born Sontaran. I totally heard it in Dan Starkey’s voice, as you might do.

The Red-Eyed League: Count me as a fan of the Paternoster Gang. I always enjoy these stories, especially when Strax is trying to solve problems by blowing things up.

The Heist: I found this one a bit hard to follow, because it’s told in “then” and “now” snippets and the switching back and forth made me dizzy. Also not sure I got the ending. Still, a good plot.

The King in Glass: An Eleven, Amy and Rory story that features mostly Eleven and Rory. Rory is on fine form here (“What am I going to be mad about?”) and through his words, brings about the best possible outcome for our heroes.

The Third Wise Man: A War Doctor story is always welcome. For those who like seeing Time Lords doing other things than walking around in ceremonial robes, you might like this one.

The Rhino of Twenty-Three Strand Street: I really liked this one. Ireland, headstrong girls, and Thirteen showing up as the Doctor of the piece. Great story all round.

Anything You Can Do: I was a bit befuddled reading this story, but it had a good twist once I figured it out (duh). show less

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3118499.html

Newly published collection of vaguely Christmassy stories set in the Whoniverse, by Irish YA author Dave Rudden (who I confess I hadn’t heard of before). Single-author collections like this are unusual for Doctor Who, especially by an author who hasn’t previously written for the franchise, but I think this is really successful - only eight of the twelve stories actually have the Doctor in them, and often as a background figure while the real show more action is happening to other people. Rudden pastiches various genres more or less successfully, but also displays a fierce loyalty to Who’s own mythology. The standout story for me was “The Red-Eyed League”, featuring Vastra and Jenny encountering a Sea Devil, a direct clash between Old and New Who. But for my own purposes I also need to point out the second last story, “The Rhino of Twenty Three Strand Street”, set in Ringsend in 1966, and therefore only the second Doctor Who short story ever where the action takes place in Ireland. (The first few paragraphs of the last story, “Anything You Can Do”, are set in Belfast, but with no local colour.) There isn’t a duff story in the lot, though, and it would do well as a Christmas gift for younger (or indeed older) fans. show less