Balloon Debate

"I know the Doctor always had a special affection for me."

Writer: Simon A. Forward

Format: Short Story

Released: April 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Companions 16

Featuring: Sarah Jane, K9, Susan, Ian, Barbara, Vicki, Steven, Dodo, Polly, Ben, Jamie, Victoria, Zoe, Liz, Jo, Harry, Leela, Romana I, Romana II, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion, Peri, Mel, Ace

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

Balloon Debate a great little story to continue my reading of the Companions edition of Short Trips! This was perhaps the most unique of the stories in the collection and that was really fun stuff. The concept of all of the Classic era companions meeting in one ago is delicious and whilst the TARDIS did get a little crowded at times, it was such good fun. I’m a big fan of companions and Doctors meeting those from other eras and I got that in abundance here! I was delighted to see the names of so many companions on the opening page and K9 being the one to take the lead and let everyone know what the situation was made for a fun dynamic. Having Ben speak up and exclaim that everyone ought to listen to the robot dog was a fun moment. I think the frostiness between the companions of the Fifth Doctor namely Tegan, Turlough and Adric was tremendous. Nyssa really does seem to be the odd one out amongst that era’s set of companions! I like the idea of a balloon debate and with so many companions present, each had to put forward their cases for survival as the TARDIS interior only had room for six within the hour. That was pretty daunting prospect and whilst it was nice for all of the Doctors to leave their companions in safety as they fought a pan-dimensional being, it doesn’t quite add up. Are there multiple versions of all of the Doctors fighting the same being? That’s the only explanation within this story when it comes to all of the companions being present. I say all, but where were Katarina and Sara? They felt like glaring omissions, but there really is so much room! I rather enjoyed the dynamic between certain companions and now I really would love an extended meeting between Jamie and Leela. Their desire for going out with a blast and a fight was marvellous. I don’t think some companions were done justice and whilst I did like that Susan was challenged on if she actually was the Doctor’s granddaughter with Romana not knowing of him having any relatives, Vicki admitting herself that she was just a granddaughter replacement didn’t sit well with me. She really is so much more! Peri putting her case forward as being young and having her whole life ahead of her also felt a little out of character, but Ace threatening to baseball bat anyone who got in her way and tried to throw her out into the Vortex was terrific. She wasn’t having any of it. I liked the admiration Ian had for Barbara and whilst she wanted to stand up for herself independently, she really appreciated that he wouldn’t leave without her and would follow where she went. Ben felt the same about Polly which was nice. I liked the idea of Liz and Sarah getting along too as that’s definitely a relationship I could see blossoming. The dynamic between the two Romana incarnations was fun and them actually using the Roman numeral as an indicator of who should go first in the debate was hilarious. Would they really consider themselves by number? Jo using her special connection and being held in affinity wasn’t met well as they could all try that claim, and Harry was becoming a tad annoying with his posh and too nice personality. The fact all of the companions had a collective distain for Mel was hilarious though as she tried to stay active and positive, so they just locked her away in a cupboard! That felt pretty harsh. I thought the six selected to survive was a bit of a surprise and it’s a fun game to think which six I’d choose. I’d personally select Romana II, Zoe, Susan, Polly, Liz and Nyssa, but that’s just me and going mostly on intelligence! I just can’t select Adric despite his TARDIS knowledge! I trust I’ve got enough with two Time Lords in the list. Of course, six would remain too many quite quickly after the length of the debate and that quickly saw us whittled down to Sarah Jane and Victoria. The twist at the end with Victoria actually shimmering into Kamelion was not something I saw coming! I completely forgot about him and I’m still not sure I consider him a companion, but how else was he going to win the debate? The idea of Sarah Jane knowing him was something I didn’t understand, but that soon changed when it was revealed the entire story was fiction within fiction and a story written by Sarah Jane herself! And there she was putting herself in the top two! Just how she has knowledge of the companions post-The Deadly Assassin I’m not sure, but it was still pretty darn fun. Sure, it’s not the greatest story ever but the closing line of reading it again for a little chuckle is definitely something I would do. It certainly made me smile and it was just tremendous to depict so many companions meeting one another. I was well on board. Overall, a really amusing and fun adventure! A great little read. 

Rating: 8/10