There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden

"The walls here were alive."

Writer: Sam Lester

Format: Short Story

Released: March 1998

Printed in: Short Trips 09

Featuring: First Doctor, Dodo

Synopsis

From Neolithic Earth to the furthest reaches of the universe in the far future, Short Trips brings together established Doctor Who authors and first-time writers in a collection of stories exploring the ever-changing worlds of the Doctor and his friends.

Witness the last days of the siege of Masada with the First Doctor and meet the Fourth Doctor's extraordinary 'old flame'. An evil enemy makes life difficult for the Seventh and Third Doctors, and while the Fifth Doctor is under attack on a sinister ship shrouded in fog, the Second may soon be guilty of a grave error of judgement... The Sixth Doctor's hopes of a holiday are dashed when he discovers a pleasure planet is hiding a shocking secret, and the Eighth Doctor is caught up in a deadly drama played out during the construction of Stonehenge.

And, of course, that's just the beginning...

Verdict

There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden was a good little story to continue my reading of the Short Trips first volume! I definitely prefer this range in prose than on audio because we get a little more depth and explanation of what’s going on. Whilst this story was only fourteen pages long, it still didn’t feel rushed. Of course, the stakes aren’t massively high and there’s no deep rooted impact for the story to go in. It’s not going to change the history of Doctor Who or any of its characters, but it’s a fun little insight into a time where the First Doctor and Dodo were travelling alone together. Unfortunately, we only got the first two parts of The War Machines for that on screen following Steven’s departure in The Savages, but right from the off Polly and Ben steal the show and the departure of Dodo is quite sad really. She’s quickly forgotten about and replaced which is a shame so getting more adventures with her is always welcomed in my book! I’m enjoying the fact that Big Finish are filling that void with their new First Doctor Adventures range but only two stories a year means I’m still starved! Her thoughts on instinct being only a human quality as the Doctor was keen to investigate what Dodo described as the ordinary was amusing and that was quite a fun description of the Time Lord, especially here in his first incarnation! This Doctor is very curious and has a thirst for knowledge and exploration which I think is brilliant because of course he’s not too long departed Gallifrey to see the universe. And here he was interested in shrubbery. Dodo was horrified by the stench but the Doctor was just interested in his surroundings. It was really nice. Dodo just wanted to up and leave but that was never going to happen. She actually got a little frustrated with the Doctor’s insistence on saying but by the end she saw the beauty he saw. I thought that was lovely and I got the feeling it did bring them closer together. There was no indication of Steven’s departure being recent which was good as there’s a lot of room to explore with these two characters. The threat of the crystalline parasitic being was decent but given the title of the story I would have expected them to feature earlier. I thought the unnamed planet did feel a little mysterious and I think the imagery described was definitely in line with a fairy vibe, but I do think things could have been a little more mythical. I think when you delve into ideas like fairies there needs to be that kind of enigmatic feel and I’m not sure we got that here. The moment at the end where the Doctor just stamps out the flower to wipe out the parasite was very emphatic and impactful which we don’t always get in stories in these kinds of formats, but I liked it. It felt right for the First Doctor and was quite simple really! Dodo was horrified but by the end she was understanding when the Doctor provided an explanation. It was certainly a quick fix to conclude the story in short fashion. I was impressed. As a whole, I think I was more interested in the characters than the story itself but the two blended well together. Overall, a decent read for sure!

Rating: 7/10