All I Want for Christmas

"Trying to get home for Christmas."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner
Format: Short Story
Released: October 2016
Printed in: Twelve Doctors of Christmas 01

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki

Synopsis

The First Doctor, along with Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister, arrive to England, just in time for Christmas in 1963. Or have they? The Doctor warns that it may be trap. But what isn't he telling them? Is he reluctant to see his companions leave?

Verdict

All I Want for Christmas was a terrific start to the Twelve Doctors of Christmas collection of stories! The volumes of this nature continue but this is the last one I will be starting now so the end is in sight. I look forward to it being in the order of the Doctors and with the First Doctor being one of my very favourites, this was always going to be a good place to start. It's a little weird reading all about Christmas when the sun is scorching here in July, but I loved the idea of it not being Christmas for Ian and Barbara but their reminising of their Christmas Day was delightful to read. They really got very nostalgic and even Vicki wanted to experience it all! The references to The Rescue were good and it is actually quite easy to forget everything this young companion had gone through in pretty much losing everything and everyone. Barbara missed her dad, but she hadn't lost him on the level Vicki had lost her entire family. Her being from the not overly far future is a good aspect of her character but I wasn't sure about her lack of knowledge of puddings! That seems unfortunate and quite an awful experience of life. One little thing about this story that could have been improved was more of the Doctor as the first incarnation is so unique when compared with the rest. I did very much enjoy the prospect of him not wanting Ian and Barbara to leave when it seemed like they'd arrived in December 1963. The very thought of the two companions getting back to where and when they came from was hugely surprising to me and I was hoping throughout that this was not where they were. It would not have been the same when they left in The Chase if they'd already passed through their own time and continued to travel with the Doctor. It was drip-fed to the reader that the Doctor's worry of things potentially being a trap rang true and I thought that was a good thing. It would have been quite a sudden shock to find out that what we were reading was actually Barbara's dream and in being so was a gift from Vicki. The Doctor had a new machine (I love how many little machines there are in the TARDIS in the First Doctor era) that enabled a shared dream that could be constructed by the host, who this time was Vicki. The confusion regarding Queen Victoria delivering the traditional Queen's Speech because she was also the monarch who appeared on the sixpence that went into the pudding was humorous and that was when it was fully obvious that they weren't actually in 1963. The thought was enough and the anticipation of Ian and Barbara coupled with their disbelief was lovely to see. It showed just how much home meant to them and it was a shame that they didn't quite get there. It wouldn't be long though. The ending with the embroidered handkerchief for Ian for Christmas was a nice touch and I liked how the sixpence also found its way out of the dream somehow. It must be quite the machine of the Doctor's! Overall, a lovely little Christmas tale and I very much enjoyed the freshness of there not being an enemy.

Rating: 8/10