Deep Stretch

"They're just kids!"

Writer: Richard Salter

Format: Short Story

Released: December 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Steel Skies 09

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

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

Deep Stretch was a great story to continue my way through the Steel Skies edition of Short Trips! I now move into the second half of the collection and with that comes another quartet under a different banner. This time it’s all about Incarceration and I don’t think this adventure could have captured that feeling any more than it did! That’s a big positive as the atmosphere for the story was certainly one of being contained. A very strong sense of a steel sky indeed despite the story being set completely underwater. I thought that was really intriguing and I just loved everything about it as an all female prison. These were criminals that were convicted which obviously put the Doctor in a tricky situation when Jo was so intent on seeing them released. I understood why she was feeling that way because of the horrors of their confinement, but the Doctor respected the law and wasn’t going to just let them go free. That was an interesting dynamic to explore and it was clear that events were shortly after those of The Three Doctors which put things into perspective for the Doctor having just been freed of his exile. A very different kind of imprisonment. I thought Li and Mellisa were good characters as the more reasonable inmates who had accepted their sentence despite the surroundings and how artificial everything was, whereas Clark was a different cat altogether. She’s listed as the main enemy for this story on TARDIS Wiki which I’m not sure about as I’d just describe her as desperate. Two and a half years with nearly seven and a half to go is some sentence and they weren’t exactly close to being set free, but their reluctance to aid the Doctor in his efforts to change things was telling. They couldn’t risk extending their sentence which said all that was required about the deep sea prison. Talk about saving space and resources! The Doctor knew it was all about money but whilst he didn’t want the inmates to escape, he did want them set free and he was prepared to show that the system was malfunctioning and that the whole thing would be rethought. The image of the respective prisons rising through the water and the inmates celebrating was powerful. It was good to highlight that they had nowhere to go so would still be dealt with by the authorities, but perhaps a little more humanely now. The Doctor could win at both keeping Jo happy but also respecting the law and that feels right for his character. Li missing out on her family life was a shame to read just how much that hurt her but she could still be in a position when she was released that her children weren't quite adults yet. I have two wonderful children and I cannot begin to fathom not seeing them grow up for a decade! Torment in isolation under the sea was palpable there. Clark having her own plan of escape being just ten days out was interesting and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. It was quite clear that the Doctor and Jo weren't actually psychologists looking for an update which was pretty fun and I liked how Li even realised that by the end when they were free and the blue box had disappeared. She'd anticipated that which I liked. Jo being a hostage to Clark when the Doctor was ready to enact his plan was exciting and injected a strong sense of anticipation, but I must admit I was humorously surprised that this incarnation of all struck a woman to free her and set the plan into motion! Overall, a great read to continue the collection.

Rating: 8/10