Dead Time

"I thought you told me this man was dead?"

Writer: Andrew Miller

Format: Short Story

Released: March 1999

Printed in: More Short Trips 11

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Sam

Synopsis

Here on Earth or out in the depths of the cosmos, the Doctor and his companions are never far from adventure.

Discover things on Earth you were never meant to know. Get around the universe. Get short tripping.

Verdict

Dead Time was an outstanding adventure to continue my reading of the More Short Trips collection! This was just brilliant stuff and containing the contemporary TARDIS pairing of the time during the wilderness years somehow made this feel a little more exciting. I loved it right from the off and I think part of that is down to the savage introduction of the Forgotten. The way they were taunting and speaking to the Doctor was incredibly powerful as they just flat out stated they were going to kill him. I mean, that’s not a new statement and I’ve lost count of how many times the Daleks have said they’re going to exterminate the Time Lord, but this just felt different. The Doctor was somewhat helpless being trapped at the hands of the Forgotten and Sam also being in danger added an extra threat. She was definitely scared and having the Doctor be temporarily allowed to drop in on her thoughts only heightened the threat. I thought that was harsh as well and was bordering on mocking the Doctor. I liked how they knew who he was and more importantly to them, what he was. His being a Time Lord proved important as this make up of time within time was actually a fractured TARDIS. I thought that was awfully exciting and I loved that it was insinuated to be a Type-1 TARDIS. An early version for sure with it being on a voyage to help map out time and space for the maps as Gallifrey began its expansion under Rassilon. I thought that was terrific and just so fun to delve into. I’m a sucker for early exploration in Time Lord history and seeing the impact of an early TARDIS dying was magnificent. The concept of the Forgotten itself was fantastic and I loved that it was essentially Time Lords gone mad. Comatose conditions just sent the madness spiralling which was great. I loved that the Doctor had a visit from his future self in the form of the Other-Doctor of seemingly the same incarnation judging from the description, although I think it would be more fun to imagine it as one beyond that! Given that this was initially an audio release read by Paul McGann it does make sense for it to be the eighth incarnation, but I could certainly see the description matching the Twelfth Doctor for example. I liked the future version aspect regardless. It served well as an explanation of what the Forgotten were and that’s a tremendous name for a villain, especially one from early in Time Lord history! The concept of using a Time Lord to literally travel in time within one’s own past was superb and that allowed some fun continuity references. We had the expected mention of Daleks to go with the more quirky detailing of Kraals, Nimon and Krotons which was marvellous. I loved the description of the speed in which the Forgotten were venturing down the Doctor’s timeline with the intention of them going to before he even departed Gallifrey! The Forgotten wanted to be remembered on Gallifrey and wreak havoc there where they felt they belonged. It was an intriguing aim for sure. I loved the almost desperation when events got back to The Tenth Planet with the Doctor knowing he had to catch them there. The fact he trapped them within a little part of the brain that died when the Doctor regenerated was pretty clever to be honest! I appreciated that and it was a fitting way to take out something like the Forgotten. It was contained and the likening of it as a cut that had scarred over was fantastic. There wasn't any escape from that! Sam realising that this meant the events they'd just experienced wouldn't now happen was tremendous and it was fun to think that they would now forget the Forgotten. Poetic. Overall, a superb little read! 

Rating: 10/10