Prayer for the Dying

"It was always just a boy and his box, yearning to see the universe."

Writer: Stephen Cole

Format: Short Story

Released: July 2024

Series: I, TARDIS: Memoirs of an Impossible Blue Box 08

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, Clara

Synopsis

The Doctor has a unique bond with their TARDIS. They've always loved the 'old girl' for the way she's gone looking for trouble anywhere in the universe. The Doctor says they stole the TARDIS from Gallifrey. The TARDIS disagrees... she stole them. She hasn't always taken them where they want to go, but she's made sure to take them where they needed to be.

For the TARDIS is dar more than just a time machine crossed with a spaceship. Her life reflects the Doctor's life – a shared wanderlust and longing to explore. Now you can revisit the Doctor's adventures as seen through the eyes – or the flashing rooftop light, at least – of the TARDIS. From the time the Doctor stole her from Gallifrey to her latest adventures with the Fifteenth Doctor, the TARDIS reflects wittily on her epic, incredible history – past, present and future! 

Verdict

Prayer for the Dying was a great story to continue my reading of the I, TARDIS: Memoirs of an Impossible Blue Box collection! This was probably my favourite adventure from the book so far and I think that’s down to the nature of the Eleventh Doctor era to be honest. So much happens to the TARDIS during this era and I was really pleased with how this was presented here. So much happens! I like how we started with the change of TARDIS interior in The Eleventh Hour to what I think is universally agreed to be a downgrade. The more ‘traditional’ model then debuted in The Snowmen was a nice touch and it’s certainly one of the best interiors there have ever been! Addressing that was good and I wonder if the constant changes that follow with more Doctors will be addressed later in the book. I think it’s intriguing for the TARDIS to address that she knew right away that the Eleventh Doctor was the final incarnation and having her acknowledge that was excellent. That would be difficult for her to come to terms with given the link between TARDIS and Time Lord. Touching upon that with the references to The Name of the Doctor was great stuff as the TARDIS would see her future self as the tomb for the Doctor. The bigger on the inside all spilling out was good to explore from the perspective of the TARDIS herself as she saw a horrible potential future. The picture that accompanied that in the story was terrific and was a stark reminder of what happened. I thought the reminder of the events of Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS was brilliant and it’s an obvious choice for this kind of story. It worked well as the Remember When section of the adventure and it was fun to read the viewpoint from the TARDIS herself at being invaded and attempted to be used for scrap! The audacity there. I thought the Stray Files was good in its simplicity here and whilst I don’t like the TARDIS thinking of Amy as simply Orangey Girl, the take on Rory as the Centurion and Clara as the Impossible Girl was tremendous. The TARDIS was clearly a fan of Rory which was nice to see and how could you not be after what he did for Amy? The TARDIS tackling Clara was good fun and it was great to touch upon how difficult she found having her as a companion. Suggesting that she was the reason for the HADS sending the TARDIS to the pole on the other side of the world in Cold War was hilarious. I was a big fan of that. I also loved that the TARDIS earlier questioned how Amy and Rory came to have a baby considering that they were given bunk beds in their room! I thought it was great comedy that she still had the bunk beds within after their departure in The Angels Take Manhattan. I also thought it was a nice touch to include Death of the Doctor when it came to the Journey Log. The TARDIS reflecting on The Day of the Doctor and being hijacked by UNIT was fun stuff and the excitement she had for reuniting with other Doctors and changing the ending of the Time War was really well done and just a nice feeling. The only qualm I had was I would have liked more on The Doctor’s Wife as that’s such a monumental episode. The Doctor becoming corporeal in humanoid form is greet and I like that she mentioned how it was dutifully to communicate in forms such as words. So how is she writing this book?! That felt slightly off in what was an otherwise really strong adventure. A great read! 

Rating: 8/10