uPVC

"We simply don't want any windows!"

Writer: Paul Farnsworth

Format: Short Story

Released: March 1999

Printed in: More Short Trips 15

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, Seventh Doctor, Ace

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

uPVC was a tremendous little story to continue my way through the More Short Trips collection! I’m reaching the end now and this was right up there as far as the book is concerned. It was just a great deal of fun and even though it was only twelve pages, it was just a sheer delight. Sure, it didn’t take long at all to read but it still absolutely whizzed by which is a great sign. I am writing this blog entry on the same train journey in which I read the story and I’m barely halfway on a commute that’s less than an hour so it definitely did something right. I think the Second Doctor was absolutely perfect for the first part of the story as he was just the exact personality required to be convinced by a salesman doing his best to get some new windows installed in the TARDIS. Jamie not knowing what double glazing was made for a fun moment and I couldn’t help but appreciate the efforts Rigby was going to in trying to make a sale. He was a proper salesman, that much was for sure. The mystery behind how he got into the TARDIS was left unanswered which is probably the only flaw in the story and why I couldn’t give it full marks, but I loved the fear factor when it came to there being knocks on the door. Jamie was almost made to feel ridiculous by the Doctor and Zoe for suggesting that there could be somebody outside in the Vortex, but he had the last laugh when the bang-bang-bang knocking came again. That was good fun. The talk of phantoms and just how Jamie was hearing something outside reminded me of how things started in The Mind Robber which is an iconic story, and I feel like that with the windows being sold providing any view that serial must have been at least a partial inspiration for this story. It had that kind of vibe which is a huge compliment. I thought the bickering between Rigby and the Doctor was so enjoyable and it was clear the Time Lord wasn’t going to be buying anything so rudimentary as windows, but then Zoe’s startled reaction to learning of the view they could provide seemed to change the Doctor’s mind. Maybe Rigby would get his commission after all! I thought the second part was rather poetic and beautiful in jumping ahead to the Seventh Doctor and Ace, with the latter clearly early on in her travels as the former was trying to teach her virtue and respect. He wasn’t impressed that she went wondering and found the padlock trying to get in without questioning what might be on the other side. I understood that, but I could also appreciate her curiosity. It’s quite somber to think that the Doctor at the time of purchasing the windows being prior to The War Games, had actually been missing his home planet. His chosen view would be of Gallifrey and how he remembered it as a boy. That was lovely stuff. I really liked that and even here now in his seventh incarnation and on good terms with his home planet, he still felt a little disconnected. He just wanted to break through the glass and experience his homeworld again. That was quite touching. Overall, a brilliant little read! 

Rating: 9/10