Letters from the Front

"I continue to crave more than my own thoughts."

Writer: Vinay Patel

Format: Short Story

Released: October 2019

Printed in: Target Storybook 15

Featuring: Prem

Synopsis

"We're all stories in the end..."

In this exciting collection you'll find all-new stories spinning off from some of your favourite Doctor Who moments across the history of the series.

Discover what happened next, what went on before, and what occurred off-screen in an inventive selection of sequels, side-trips, foreshadowings and first-hand accounts – and look forward too, with a brand new adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor.

Each story expands in thrilling ways upon aspects of Doctor Who's enduring legend. With contributions from show luminaries past and present – including Colin Baker, Matthew Waterhouse, Vinay Patel, Joy Wilkinson and Terrance Dicks – The Target Storybook is a once-in-a-lifetime tour around the wonders of the Whoniverse.

Verdict

Letters from the Front was a lovely little story to conclude The Target Storybook! I thought this was a really good and clever use of the Thirteenth Doctor era to go alongside Gatecrashers and it was just a really nice and heartfelt story. There was hardly any sign of the Doctor with her only being merely described briefly in one of the Thijarian reports. I thought the frequency of some of those reports was interesting and it was just good to get a bit more insight into their race and what exactly they were doing on Earth. I've been fascinated by the Thijarians ever since Demons of the Punjab and it's intriguing for me how misunderstood they are in that episode. They quickly shift from being what is thought of as the enemies into anything but that and this story gives a good alternative view at them ahead of their appearance in the Series 11 story. Whilst the Thijarians and their reports do cover around half of the story, the focus of this adventure is definitely on Prem. I was a big fan of the format of the short story with the letters form and just getting an insight into his experiences on the front line and within the war effort was fantastic. I have a Bachelors and Masters degree in History so I could really appreciate the writing here and although the content was fictional, it felt authentic within the Second World War setting which was really testament to the writing. I was a big fan of that. It was nice to have him mainly addressing Umbreen but then also making snide and banterful comments to his little brother who was the only one who could read and write and ensure the letters were returned and kept the conversation across the globe flowing. I really loved the use of the globe and Prem's instructions on how to find Malaya with that being their next destination. That was really nice and a fun little visual. It was good to explore the extent of the Thijarian operation and the concept of loneliness in them which was really emotional. The Thijarian had a sad moment of revelation when realising that it had been on the task for around a third of its lifecycle, or expected life of that, and that was actually quite hard to read. A Thijarian and the concept of loneliness was regarded as weak when combined and so this particular Thijarian didn't believe it was one of the race's finest. That's quite something! Reading Prem's experiences and journey through the Second World War was terrific though and I liked reading of how much he moved around. The talks of Britain promising independence was good given what went down in the televised episode this story is a derivative from, and it was nice for him to be enclosing his wages. It was a stark reminder as well to realise how much time people spent away for the war effort, as was the case with Prem and being away from Umbreen for so long. Overall, this was just a really nice and intriguing little adventure! A fantastic and enjoyable read.

Rating: 8/10