Clara Oswald and the Enchanted Forest

"Some things are fleeting, but some leave their mark forever."

Writer: Jasbinder Bilan

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2022

Printed in: Origin Stories 09

Featuring: Clara

Synopsis 

We all change, when you think about. We're all different people all through our lives...

Amy Pond looks for her Raggedy Man, Jo Grant remembers her childhood, the Master hunts the past... a young girl discovers a love for explosives.

Eleven incredible stories from the world of Doctor – the early lives of friends and foes that have never been told before.

Verdict 

Clara Oswald and the Enchanted Forest was a decent adventure to continue my reading through the Origin Stories collection! Despite my high score, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed by this story as I felt there was a lot of potential with Clara and given that we could have met so many different versions of her after her splintering in The Name of the Doctor, the fact the Doctor had to wipe her memory at the end really annoyed me. There just has to be a better way to account for these early meetings before she would actually join him as companion from The Bells of Saint John onwards. Whilst it was pretty fun to meet Clara as a fourteen-year-old, I think the editor’s choice in having yet another where we meet a companion during their school years is a little odd. We’ve already seen it in Chemistry, The Myriapod Mutiny, Doctor Jones and The Girl Who Tore Through the Universe, so to add another to that collection isn’t favourable with me. That’ll now be half of the stories (at least!) set during teenage or child years for future companions and that’s difficult as being interested in events for this age group is somewhat of a challenge. It’s not entirely believable that a teenager can thwart a threat on the scale provided by Doctor Who. Right, I’ve sounded extremely negative so far which is not a fair reflection of how I enjoyed this story because when judging it solely in its own right it was good! I’m a huge fan of Clara but I must say the moment she threw the infamous leaf out of the window because her mum said she couldn’t sleepover at the Halloween party was very shocking! I didn’t see that coming at all and whilst that’s probably typical for a petty teenager not getting her way, that didn’t feel like Clara. It was a reminder of growing up and accepting what your parents said, but this level of defiance was extraordinary. Ashari as Clara’s friend was a decent character and the way the latter drooled over Gem as the most thoughtful boy in year ten was amusing. Oh to be a teenager again. It really is a completely different world now I look back! The Halloween setting was decent too but I do think a little more could have been to link that with the forest. It was comical though for the Doctor to call out Clara’s vampire costume resulting in her blushing in a big way. Clara playing hide and seek with her friends in the woods was great and brought back some fond memories of my youth as there were so many days after school spent doing that. That’s when things started to get interesting though and I really loved the imagery behind the TARDIS being parked atop the tree branches. It must have been quite the sight to see a police box perched high like that and then entering it to find that it was bigger on the inside really was magic as the Doctor explained! I love whenever someone follows up the Doctor’s introducing of himself with ‘Doctor who?’ and he just replies with something along the lines of them being correct. It’s not at all what they were asking but it almost always leaves them stumped to the extent that they don’t question it further. It happened here and that’s good fun. The Eleventh Doctor checking in on Clara was intriguing but he was clearly a little too early. His reaction to Clara telling him about the leaf was good because we would know how significant that will become in The Rings of Akhaten and beyond, but the way she gained it back was a little easy. We probably could have done with a little more information and explanation regarding the enchanted forest. Clara running off and the Doctor’s tweed resulting in him getting stuck on the branches was hilarious and I can so easily picture Matt Smith performing that perfectly. The Eleventh Doctor really is the perfect incarnation to get stuck on some trees. Clara’s interaction with the she-wolf was interesting and I liked the concept of seeing into the past and future. The familiarity of the Doctor increased and he freely admitted to her that they would share many future adventures. Of course, he knew already that he’d have to wipe her memory which is such a rubbish way to conclude the story! Clara did get her leaf back though and that was important. The Doctor taking her back and Clara waking up experiencing the events as if they were a dream was such a shame, but as a whole this was a fun encounter and an intriguing look into the Clara of youth! Overall, a good read. 

Rating: 7/10