Apocrypha Bipedium

"I come from the future and know all sorts of things."

Writer: Ian Potter

Format: Short Story

Released: April 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Companions 04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charley, Vicki

Synopsis

Adventures in time and space are no fun if there's no one to share them. the Doctor has taken along many people on his travels – humans, aliens and robots. Did he really care for any of them? What in their previous life fitted them for the role of companion – and how did they cope after they left the TARDIS?

These seventeen stories look at the Doctor's trusty companions, before, during and after their travels with the eccentric Time Lord. Discover the truth about Romana's regeneration, find out what happened when Zoe encountered the Doctor again, and learn which of his companions the Doctor cared for the most...

Verdict

Apocrypha Bipedium was an average little story to continue my way through the Companions volume of Short Trips! This was certainly an intriguing little tale and whilst on paper the ingredients all seemed very positive and very good, the format is probably the main thing that I had an issue with. Using source material as a means of storytelling is not new in these kind of releases, but for whatever reason it just didn’t quite click for me. It felt overlapping and confusing. I thought the jumping back and forth with numerous sources being just from one of the main character’s perspective was a little off putting. I’d have much preferred if each source was more varied. It was only really the point of view of young Shakespeare that was what I liked because of how different it was. I thought it was quite fun to have him as his younger self on his travels with the Eighth Doctor and Charley, playing nicely into the events of The Time of the Daleks. It seems a very long time now since I listened to that adventure early on in the Eighth Doctor and Charley run, but its impact is certainly long lasting. The use of the format as if it was a play was the best one by a country mile and I really appreciated that things rhymed. If the entire story was like that then I’d be well into it! Alas, it was not to be. I thought the other sources from the perspective of the Doctor, Charley and Vicki were less impactful. That was particularly the case for the former as I don’t think his voice was well captured in the prose. It didn’t feel like a diary extract or anything close for the Doctor. I wasn’t all that more impressed with Charley’s diary either, and the insistence on calling it a dairy got tiresome very quickly. Now, the inclusion of Vicki was terrific and I thought the central premise for her character here was a delight. I loved that she was older now but saw the Eighth Doctor’s arrival as a younger version of the Doctor she knew. Of course, the First Doctor is considerably younger than the version in this story and having the Eighth refer to his elderly incarnation as being young was very fun. The Doctor’s efforts to prevent a bootstrap paradox was fun and it was clear that he was never going to succeed. He basically gave up by the end which was amusing. The Time Lord inclusion of the source material from Flavia disapproved which was good, although some of the language throughout was lacking. The Doctor referring to the time and space visualiser as the telly didn’t seem correct, although I did like the continuity from The Chase in having the Doctor worry about the fact Vicki had seen Shakespeare on the screen. Going beyond The Myth Makers for Vicki was lovely and it was fun for the legends to have her in love with Diomede as that’s who Steven claimed to be during that story! The Doctor questioning her about their relationship was unexpected and it seems like it was something that had happened on numerous occasions with her reaction! She insisted there was no romance there. I was also shocked that the Doctor kissed Charley to basically shut her up. That felt awfully out of character despite what happened in The Movie with Grace. I liked that this was a pure historical and essentially served as a reunion and little catch up for the Doctor with an old companion, but for me the format needed to be better. It was trying too hard to be funny and just came across a little clunky for my liking despite a strong idea at heart. A worthy read nonetheless. 

Rating: 6/20