Cancer: Still Lives

"She wasn't stuck in the 22nd of July – she was going through all the other possible version of the 22nd of July now."

Writer: Mark Michalowski

Format: Short Story

Released: March 2002

Printed in: Short Trips: Zodiac 04

Featuring: Third Doctor, Liz, Brigadier 

Synopsis

Take a TARDIS trip through the constellations, as the Doctor travels to twelve thrilling tales inspired by the mystical zodiac. 

Telepathic fish, miniature lions and twin planets are the least of his problems, as the Doctor – all eight of him – faces the Capricorn Killer, endures a mind swap with the Machiavellian Master, and dances with Death herself. 

And that's not the half of it – as the two K9s can attest.

Verdict

Still Lives was a decent story to continue my way through the Zodiac edition of Short Trips! This was an intriguing little tale and I appreciate the unique format in jumping around from present day, to future storytelling with the italics, and then the journal of Liz. I thought the latter parts were pretty exciting in getting some personal thoughts of the companion and I just like a journal format as part of the storytelling. It was actually quite unique to go down the line of that just being part of the way the adventure was told. I wasn’t a big fan of the way Liz referred to the Doctor simply as D and the Brigadier as A L-S, especially when she then got angered by her own military indoctrination in simplifying things and referring to everything in initials! I like how this story is essentially a direct sequel to Inferno and the after effects were still very much being felt. It’s good to go beyond Season 7 for Liz and it’s still such a massive shame that she never got a proper farewell. Her mention of just returning to university in Terror of the Autons has never sat right with me, so I like that this digs into events for her beyond her time on television. Helen going missing was interesting and I liked how it was eventually deduced that she was an accidental clinger on of the Doctor stepping sideways into another universe. It made sense that if the TARDIS console and Bessie went across with him that someone like Helen could straggle along to unbeknownst to herself! It was obviously unfortunate and it seems that Mark on the other side was suffering a similar fate. I liked the little insights into their experiences of events repeating and the description of time as treacle was fascinating. It reminded me a little of the race to the TARDIS at the end of The War Games with the struggle as the Time Lords asserted control. Helen getting angered at not being fully able to interact with her environment was understandable as I can’t imagine how frustrating that would be! It was even worse for her that she kept experiencing 11.15am on March 22nd on repeat. Things must be mundane so I can’t believe she was almost happy to find out that she reached the halfway point at five years when she nearly interacted with Mark. That was a bit of a heartbreaking moment as they nearly embraced but it wasn’t to be. The long way home was very much happening. I was a tad confused by how they knew it meant five years to go but I guess they were on a parallel journey? A bit more clarity there would have been beneficial. I did though like how the Doctor was almost dismissive of the situation regarding the missing people and that angering the Brigadier to the nth degree was glorious. The Third Doctor didn’t appear too much here, but when he did he made a big impact and just irked the Brigadier so that was strong characterisation. It was strange though how he was happy to let things play out despite the logical argument put forward by Liz regarding Helen and her possible whereabouts. I must say though, I’ve no idea how this linked to the Cancer star sign, but I don’t think that’s too important. Overall though, a strong read! 

Rating: 7/10