House

"They're just kids!"

Writer: Jeremy Daw

Format: Short Story

Released: December 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Steel Skies 08

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

There are many places that most of us can never see: places that are sheltered, locked away, cordoned off from the outside world. But to the Doctor, and those who travel with him in his TARDIS, there is no such thing as a locked door. Anywhere in space and time is open to them to visit – even if sometimes it might be better to leave such places well alone.

Steel Skies is a collection of stories based in enclosed and artificial environments: places constructed to keep the dangers of the universe outside, perhaps, or to keep their inhabitants locked in. It is divided into four sections, each exploring a different kind of confinement:

Section One, Flight, comprises four tales of travellers who left their homes for far-away destinations – to explore, to start a new life, or to fight for the survival of their species.

Section Two, Frontiers, explores the corridors, living quarters and ventilation shafts of four futuristic environments – designed to shelter men, women and children from harsh natural forces, or from the threat of nuclear war.

Section Three, Incarceration, tells four stories of punishment and imprisonment, from San Francisco's infamous Alcatraz, to the cage of a flightless angel in the dilapidated ruins of Heaven. 

Section Four, Isolation, deals with the loneliness and despair of being cut off from the world outside, by physical or mental incapacity, by the ravages of war, or caught between destinations aboard the TARDIS itself. 

A recurring theme in all four sections is the effect of the Doctor's arrival in these enclosed environments – sometimes positive, sometimes less so.

Verdict

House was an excellent story to continue my way through the Steel Skies edition of Short Trips! This was definitely best of the set so far as I reach the halfway point now and I was really intrigued from the off about what was happening in this adventure. It definitely did feel like it met the ongoing theme of this quarter of the book in the form of Frontiers which is obviously great. It’s obviously different for myself now reading over two decades after the story was released, but I kind of think that this story was a bit of a mashup between Space Babies and The Doctor’s Wife which on paper sounds like a funky little combination indeed! If you have read this adventure though then it’ll make sense to you with the characters that were children but physically were very much not anymore. And then they were being maintained by House who turned out to be a slightly deranged artificial intelligeiqnce. Sound familiar? It was definitely more of a feeling of derangement than intent to do wrong though and that was an intriguing little dynamic. The relationship between the Doctor and Peri here was fascinating too as the companion was questioning her status as a companion. It seems that we were in events close after The Twin Dilemma with Peri still clearly reeling from his regeneration. I’m quite surprised that she was wanting to leave at this point but it was nice for her to come around to him by the end of the story. Their experience here was pretty staggering as we caught up with the inhabitants of the titular House. Peri recognising right away that the occupants were children despite clearly not being so physically was fascinating. That’s a really strong concept and I just found myself feeling sorry for the likes of Jennifer and Roger and the others. It was immediately an air of mystery too by the fact that there should have been five of them. That seemed to be something that was forcibly forgotten by the occupants of House but little hints like an extra beanbag were telling them that things weren’t quite right. Peri picked up on it immediately and I really liked how she was sympathetic towards the situation whereas the Doctor was slightly less so. That was in line with the early personality of the sixth incarnation but surely some compassion would have been warranted? That did come later on after things had concluded with Peri in her room and feeling pretty down about the fact that they just left the occupants behind. Sure, it was technically their choice and the Doctor didn’t stop to question them on that or to explain fully why they might not want to stay. Peri couldn’t believe he let them make that choice so quickly with them clearly not in a clear mental state and I must say I agreed with her. It was difficult for her to understand the pull of home though and the Doctor touching on that was poignant. Peri realised the Doctor was missing home too and it was nice that he confided in her about the significance of what was now her room. It was initially his granddaughter Susan’s before it became home to the likes of Polly, Victoria and Nyssa to name a few. Esteemed company indeed! I thought that was really nice of the Doctor in that moment. It was still surprising though that he didn’t try and reason with House considering the people that were still in its care and the gruesome nature of the deaths and bloody scene of a few of them! Overall though, a very powerful read. A superb little short story. 

Rating: 9/10