Eternity

"Red skies at night, TARDIS's delight."

Writer: Jonathan Blum

Format: Short Story

Released: December 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Steel Skies 16

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane

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

Eternity was a great little short story to conclude my reading of the Steel Skies edition of Short Trips! This has been a wild ride of sixteen adventures focused on different aspects and elements of confinement and isolation, so finishing in the TARDIS is a very strong place for this kind of theme. There’s some beautiful irony in the fact of Sarah Jane getting angered and frustrated about being stuck within the TARDIS given that its size is essentially infinite. There’s something fun about that and I think Sarah Jane was the perfect companion to showcase this. It’s not difficult to get annoyed at the Fourth Doctor but the relationship Sarah Jane has with this incarnation in particular meant it was perfect for this story. Here he was acting like he wasn’t taking things seriously and giving silly responses to questions Sarah Jane was asking with sincerity. The aim of getting to Geshtinanna was fun but the concept of it taking nine weeks for the TARDIS to arrive there was sublime! I do think things got slightly repetitive but that’s always going to happen in the kind of story. That helped showcase the frustration Sarah was feeling though as there were only so many white roundels she could keep looking at. I understand that. This was almost like certain scenes in the latter stages of The Invasion of Time or Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS in such an expanded scale. Nine weeks! The description of the Doctor just continuously pacing about was good and I can understand why even that was annoying to Sarah Jane. At least the TARDIS mixed with her brainwaves and provided an alteration between night and day. Perspective there is important! I really liked exploring the concept of eternity and trying to comprehend it is fun. The Fourth Doctor providing an example of it was wonderful as he pondered on the distance between the numbers one and two, but then also highlighted how just because you would die before you could count to infinity, it didn’t mean the numbers would stop. That was a morbid moment for sure and really put things into perspective! I liked the idea of the TARDIS riding along mathematical equations and just touching upon science and mathematics as was done here really worked for me. It was fun to see Sarah Jane's frustration grow as the days racked up and you couldn't really blame her to be honest. Imagine being cooped up in the TARDIS with no interaction with the outside world and the only company was the smiling idiot that was the Fourth Doctor! No wonder she was going insane.The TARDIS clock playing a big part was intriguing stuff and the irony of not being at the intended destination after all was a delight. Overall, a fun little read to conclude what has been a really strong and good collection! I must admit though, I'm looking forward to a book solely dedicated to one theme rather than things splitting into quarters. 

Rating: 8/10