Come Friendly Bombs...

"It felt exhilarating to be walking on her own through the past."

Writer: Dave Owen

Format: Short Story

Released: May 2004

Printed in: Short Trips: Past Tense 07

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

1960. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Jo is keen to follow in the footsteps of her father and see just why marching for this cause was so important. The Doctor is impressed with her request and tells his own message. Are weapons themselves bad? Or is it just the use of them that require concern?

Verdict

Come Friendly Bombs... was another fantastic little story to continue this fine collection of Past Tense Short Trips! I really enjoyed this one as there was no alien threat. No grand scheme. No big plot that needed resolving. It was exactly what it should be for a story of this length and it was actually nice to know that not all travels with the Doctor in the TARDIS end up fighting aliens or villains. Jo had an interest in the marches against nuclear weapons from her father's stories so she wanted to go back a little into her past and see why it meant so much. With the Doctor now being able to properly operate the TARDIS following the events of The Three Doctors, she was keen to come to Reading in 1960 and take part herself. I liked how she separated herself from the Doctor and wanted to experience things for herself. She got talking with different people and quickly befriended Joan, a quite passionate protestor who was part of the CND branch. The relationship between those two was nice to read and I loved the passion that shone through. The realisation that Jo had seen death on a micro scale with the Doctor, but nothing in comparison to what had happened on her own planet was quite startling. The issues raised in this adventure were very important and I think deserving of more exposure and its own individual story instead of being part of a collection. Jo then went down a traditional route in historical adventures as she was questioning why the Doctor can't go back in time and prevent the atomic bombs of Little Boy and Fat Man from being created. Of course, the Doctor would not change history but I loved how Jo challenged him by using the Master as an example if he was planning something similar in their present. That was a little different though with the Doctor having been in exile. Jo somewhat understood. Their conversation continued in depth though and I was reading it with absolute fascination. The Doctor obviously had a wider perspective being who he was and a Time Lord, but his example of the likes of a knife once being the most dangerous weapon in the world to now being a simple kitchen utensil. It was not the weapon itself that was bad, but how one puts it to use. I liked that, but Jo was still challenging him despite her seeming to understand as she questioned how an atomic bomb could be put to kitchen use! That was quite humorous. One thing I did not expect from this story was the implication that a TARDIS, and therefore an unnamed Time Lord, was there when the atomic bombs were being created and was actually making corrections to ensure that the bombs went off and caused the utter devastation that they did. Such innocent life lost and I was glad that Jo did not see their sacrifice as worthy of progress. But the prospect of, who I'm going to say was actually the Doctor rather than a more likely Master, carrying out corrections to ensure that such horror occurred is quite something to think about. It really is quite staggering. Overall, a very good and thought-provoking story.

Rating: 8/10