The Gift

"It's magic!"

Writer: Scott Handcock
Format: Short Story
Released: October 2016
Printed in: Twelve Doctors of Christmas 11

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

The Eleventh Doctor is out singing Christmas carols as he is hunting a loose Lengo, but when it steals all of Maisie's Christmas presents, she undertakes an unexpected journey to an alien planet. Her act of kindness will completely transform a society though, and for the better.

Verdict

The Gift was yet another great little adventure to continue my reading of the Twelve Doctors of Christmas collection of stories! This time it was the outing of the Eleventh Doctor and whilst we’re no stranger to Christmas stories with this incarnation, I was delighted with what we got. It was a real festive little adventure and was perfect for a Christmas-themed collection. I thought it worked really well and was probably the best of the eleven so far in being able to capture the Christmas spirit. Despite that, and this isn’t an actual knock on the story itself but I feel like I should mention it, I wasn’t a fan of the title being something that has already occurred within the Doctor Who universe. Of course this was the same name as a Sarah Jane Adventures serial and whilst I can fully appreciate that is a spin-off series, surely there could have been a way around this? Or at least have it picked upon just altered slightly? Anyhow, that’s just a slight persona peeve of mine that doesn’t have any impact on the quality of the story. The arrival of the Doctor into Maisie’s life was wonderful with him singing Christmas carols solo outside of her house, and the young child thought he was rather good which was a nice moment. The Doctor having acquired over £28 from his festive singing across the street was quite impressive and I loved the moment where Maisie’s mum said she didn’t have much change spare to give the Doctor so he just poured everything he had into her hands. He wasn’t there for money. He was investigating and now he was at the house where the Lengo had got to. I quite enjoyed that the Lengo was an alien but was far from an enemy. They were a polite species but they just couldn’t help but make a mess and be loud. They weren’t the worst qualities for an alien visitor to Earth. It seemed like things were going to be resolved rather quickly with a wormhole being discovered and the Doctor opening it back up with the sonic screwdriver to send the Lengo, who he’d of course hypnotised, back home. When he was on his way back to the TARDIS though, he could see that Maisie was unhappy and it seems that the Lengo has stolen some presents that didn’t belong to it. Well, the Doctor couldn’t have that and especially not on Christmas! He quite comically entered the house through Maisie’s window after a climb up the drainpipe and he would head back to Lengos to retrieve the Christmas presents that had been taken. Except this time, Maisie would be going with him. Her reaction to that was lovely and I liked how mature she was for her age. She realised how big of an opportunity this was and she couldn’t let it slide. The Doctor quickly tracked the Lengo, but all Maisie was concerned with was how lonely the inhabitants of this planet were. They were a species very much of isolationists and Maisie didn’t like despite the Doctor insisting that they were happy. Politeness forced them to get on but Maisie would go on to change their society for the better. Once the Doctor had conversed with the Lengo regarding the stolen presents, it was very apologetic and all was handed back immediately. With no concept of family, the Lengo was unaware of their sentimental value but the Doctor had it understanding in no time. As a token gesture though, Maisie let the Lengo keep one of the presents as its own Christmas gift and it set in motion a complete change in Lengos society. The Doctor returning to Maisie in her adulthood and fully married with two children was terrific and I liked how he wanted to show her everything that she had set in motion with a simple act of kindness. A gift for the ages! Overall, another great little story!

Rating: 8/10