The Simple Things

"Surely it's Hammers because of the Ham?"

Writer: Joy Wilkinson

Format: Short Story

Released: 22 April 2020

Series: #DoctorWhoLockdown

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

A new short story by Joy Wilkinson.

Verdict

The Simple Things was another great little short story to keep Doctor Who fans busy during this unprecedented lockdown! I particularly liked the theme of this one centring on football as I am huge fan of the association game and I'm also hugely familiar with the sport during the time that was visited by the TARDIS fam during this adventure. I have done two dissertations on association football and rugby's competition in South Wales between 1900 and 1950, and comparisons with England and the state of the footballing codes in that country were inevitable. Research meant I knew a lot of the working class game even if I only started my argument from the twentieth century onwards. In saying that, I was able to do an independent research study for a module during my Master's degree and I did it on press and physical space regarding association football in late-Victorian Wales, so that included the year that was visited here. Graham initially wanting to go to 1964 and train with the West Ham team that won the club's first ever FA Cup was a delightful thought and I think if I was ever offered the chance to go anywhere and anywhen, my answer would undoubtedly be football related. I think it would come down to either the 2005 or 2019 Champions League final, or the EURO 2016 Quarter Final where Wales beat Belgium. Anyway, given Graham's age, his desire to return to the '60s and his footballing heroes was wonderful. In typical TARDIS fashion, things went slightly wrong though and with Graham being quite vague in his instructions, the fam were in 1896. They were in the right place, but they were on the day of the Charity Cup final during West Ham's first season when they were known as Thames Ironworks FC. I thought that was a great little twist and an excellent use of late-nineteenth century football teams. The era was captured really well in what football was like during this period and the fact that players would have to go to work prior to playing in a match, regardless of it being a cup final! Graham's reaction to the whole situation was good and I liked how he realised that what he was getting was still fantastic. He got to train with his club's first ever trophy-winning team! They had to play in the factory because of a lack of space which just made me happy in regards to my essay of last year. The Draconian involvement in the story was an unexpected development and whilst it probably didn't fit all that well, it was nice to meet members of the species that really were not evil. They were just out for a business. The references to Frontier in Space were very good and I liked the Doctor playing on the fact she was made a Noble of Draconia at the end of that serial. That seemed to carry a lot of weight without things being questioned. Yaz was very humorous in this story with her lack of football knowledge and her suggestion of where West Ham's nickname came from was just wonderful. She really did apply logic which just made it all the sweeter. Ryan didn't offer anything of note which was a bit of a shame, but as a whole this was just a nice feel good story. The ending seemed a tad anti-climactic, but it did what it set out to do in having Graham enjoy a kick about with West Ham's trophy winning players! Overall, a great little adventure.

Rating: 8/10