Take Our Breath Away

"I longed to be back in the forest."

Writer: Katy Manning

Format: Short Story

Released: October 2025

Printed in: The Adventures After 04

Featuring: Jo

Synopsis

Discover what happened after...

A remarkable collection of new Doctor Who short stories that give a glimpse into the moments just after the Doctor saves the world, and the credits roll.

The Doctor has had many adventures, visited many planets and made a whole host of friends (and some enemies). 

But if you thought it was all over after the TARDIS doors closed, and the time ship dematerialised, onto the next adventure, you'd be very much mistaken.

From Earth's past, present and future, to the furthest reaches of the universe, here are eight tales that give us a glimpse into the worlds the Doctor left behind. Sometimes triumph, sometimes tragedy (and always chaos) these are stories you'll never forget.

Verdict

Take Our Breath Away was a lovely little story to continue my way through The Adventures After collection of sequels! I think it’s lovely that we get a Katy Manning authored story and whilst this is listed as a sequel to The Green Death, it almost more felt like a follow up to Jo’s life after the Doctor. That’s obviously the story in which she departed as a companion and I would argue it rivalled The Dalek Invasion of Earth at the time for the most emotional the Doctor has reacted to a companion leaving. But Jo had found love and he understood. It’s so lovely that this was done in the first person and whilst I’m not usually a big fan of that approach, how could I not be here when I know it’s literally Manning writing the perspective of Jo! Who would know the character better than the woman who played there? I really do think that helps with my enjoyment because it instantly just feels more credible. I love how much she loves Cliff and it’s so exciting to think that they would be having twins now. We know from Death of the Doctor that Jo birthed her fair share of children, but here she is on the start of that road. The power and confidence just being pregnant gave her was lovely and those maternal instincts really are a superpower! I speak from experience with my partner of nearly nine years now having gone through it twice. And as a very proud father of two incredible children now, I completely related to the shock bestowed by Jo when the Master threatened her with her children. The sheer audacity! That was one of the darkest moments I can remember for my favourite villain. It was chilling to even think of using Jo’s unborn children against her, but there he was doing it anyway. I enjoyed his arrival coming in the form of the Doctor’s TARDIS and its police box exterior because it gave such a moment of hope to Jo before crushingly taking it away. That was just cruel and I adored it. Jo accompanying Cliff and the other scientists in the Amazon rainforest near Brazil was great and I liked how she was even happy to just be passing the test tubes. I thought it was lovely that one of Jo’s dogs was called Benton and also their transportation being dubbed as Aggedor was just lovely. This really was a little celebration of Jo’s time as a companion to the Doctor. Manning obviously gets the character and hearing her inner thoughts throughout was really nice. I like that she’s an environmentalist but she also longed for her time with the Doctor also. I was intrigued that those days seemed to be a few years behind her now and she definitely seemed more mature which I enjoyed. She was really trying to make an effort and here she was with the serendipity of the Metebelis III crystal to save the forest in an incredible rejuvenation! I thought that was good even if it was a bit predictable that it was going to be the case. The Master wanting that crystal and needing it to be gifted by Jo for its full effect was intriguing, and hearing the thoughts as she tried to fight the hypnosis effect of the Master was excellent. I was a little less in favour of how the crystal rejuvenating the forest defeated the Master as he just seemed to like the idea of humans saving their planet from deforestation. It’s great though that he was present with Jo even if it felt incredibly wrong for him to refer to her as Mrs Jones instead of Miss Grant! I can’t be having that in the absolute best way. Overall, a great little read. I was expecting maggots though! 

Rating: 8/10