Libra: The Switching

"A brilliant but unbalanced mind."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Short Story

Released: March 2002

Printed in: Short Trips: Zodiac 07

Featuring: Third Doctor

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

The Switching was a good story to continue my way through the Zodiac edition of Short Trips. In an interesting turn of events, this is actually the second version of the adventure that I am blogging after listening to the Short Trips Rarities edition over five years ago. I don’t think at the time I realised that the range was a retelling of prose stories from across the Big Finish Short Trips range, and I was in two minds as to whether to actually read this story in the collection. My method with this book is to surprise myself on the train for the weekly commute and not look ahead to see who the story features or even what it’s called. So the name instantly rang a bell in my mind because the concept at the heart of the story is iconic and incredibly bold. I don’t think it actually achieves the impact in prose as it does in an audio version, but it’s still fun to play around with for sure. I think my biggest qualm with the story was just that it wasn’t long enough! I wanted more time with the Master and the Doctor switching bodies because the potential there is endless. It really is crazy. I thought the simplicity of the Doctor waking up in familiar surroundings was good and him thinking the impact of his metal experimentation was quite extortionate was fun. I think I’d have liked more detail and elaboration on what exactly caused the switching and why, but in a format like this I can understand why that wasn’t the case. The Doctor feeling the famous goatee of the Master on his face and then recognising the face of his arch nemesis was terrific! The horror I can imagine was magnificent. It also made sense why he was in prison following the events of The Dæmons! I thought the Master taking advantage of being in the Doctor’s body was amusing and one of his first port of calls was to give himself a better prison cell. Something with a view. That sets up how we see the Master in The Sea Devils very nicely. I thought the backstory between Jo and Yates was a nice touch and it makes perfect sense for them to be going on a date. They’re colleagues and from what we saw on screen with them there’s clearly a spark! I was a little surprised that he took her in his arms to kiss her but it was nice way to finish on. I do think the way the story concludes is quite abrupt and we don’t get too much closure on the Doctor and the Master reverting to their own bodies or how it might be stopped again, but just knowing that is fun. The Master also adjusting the interior of the Doctor’s TARDIS more to his taste was glorious. His interactions with the Brigadier were great too and the shock he had at being called sir was tremendous! Yates actually finding the Doctor different because he was being nice was a fun element compared to how the Brigadier felt! The Doctor causing havoc in the Master’s jail cell was good and just amusing to picture the chaos he caused! Pulling out the sink and everything. The Master actually writing letters of apology was unexpected to say the least. It was good to set things up and the potential of them being in different bodies was incredible, we just didn’t get long enough in my opinion. If we got this in an extended format with more of a backstory then it could be a classic. But still, very much a fun read! I thought it tied in with the Libra star sign very well too which was a bonus. Overall, a good little read that kept me wanting more. 

Rating: 7/10