'Short Trips': Volume II edited by John Binns

Get ready for eight fantastic new adventures in space and time with the Doctor and his companions, featuring stories from many of Doctor Who’s most popular authors from the worlds of television, print, comics and audio, as well as new talent and fresh voices... and Performed by your favourite Big Finish actors!

'1963' by Niall Boyce
Performed by William Russell

'The Way Forwards' by Steve Case
Performed by David Troughton

'Walls of Confinement' by Lawrence Conquest
Performed by Katy Manning

'Chain Reaction' by Darren Goldsmith
Performed by Louise Jameson

'Sock Pig' by Sharon Cobb and Iain Keiller
Performed by Peter Davison

'The Doctor's Coat' by John Bromley
Performed by Colin Baker

'Critical Mass' by Adam James Moran
Performed by Sophie Aldred

'Letting Go' by Simon Gurrier
Performed by India Fisher

Notes:
*Featuring the Doctor

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'1963' by Niall Boyce Performed by William Russell

The Doctor triumphantly proclaims that he has brought Ian, Barbara and Vicki to London on the 23rd November 1963 – but when they leave the TARDIS, they find that time has stopped, the city’s inhabitants frozen in place. While the Doctor attempts to determine what has happened, Barbara decides to visit her aunt Cecilia, who should be celebrating her birthday; finding the woman sitting unmoving in a café, the two schoolteachers return to the TARDIS, where the Doctor informs them that their predicament is due to a problem with the TARDIS’ ‘heartbeat’, causing it to land in a single static point in time. Having fixed the ship, the Doctor tells his friends that they cannot stay, but must resume their travels in time and space…

Notes:
*Featuring the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki

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'The Way Forwards' by Steve Case Performed by David Troughton

Fifteen-year old student Sherman is stuck in summer park mall for a college science fair, displaying his project on time travel: a ‘Way Forward Machine’. None of the judges understand it, apart from a strange little man called the Doctor, and his friend, Victoria. When the Doctor actually corrects Sherman’s formula he inadvertently changes time: first Sherman vanishes, and then the mall changes into a chaotic succession of different environments. Reaching the TARDIS, the Doctor determines that Sherman has created a paradox by travelling back in time to prevent himself from ever attending the science fair; the boy is now trying to fix the problem, but is only making it worse. Using the TARDIS the Doctor tracks down Sherman, now amongst of a countless number of alternate versions of himself; together they fix the mess, restoring time to its natural course, and allowing Sherman to win the science fair.

Notes:
*Featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria

*Time-placing: Victoria has only been travelling with the Doctor a short time, so I’m placing this at the beginning of Season Five

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'Walls of Confinement' by Lawrence Conquest Performed by Katy Manning

When the Brigadier orders the Doctor to look after his grandson Albert for the day, the Time Lord reluctantly takes the young boy to the zoo. The Doctor soon finds himself sympathising with the animals: like him they have lost their freedom, confined to live in a restricted environment not of their choosing. Taking advantage of the Doctor’s distraction, Albert pickpockets him and steals the TARDIS dematerialisation circuit, using it to transport himself into each of the animal pens. Seeing that Albert has somehow gotten into a tiger’s cage and now has his hand stuck in the animal’s mouth, the Doctor leaps into the pen and calms down the tiger; noticing the device that Albert is holding, the Doctor instructs the boy to get himself out of his predicament, by using the circuit to transport himself to safety. After returning Albert safely to U.N.I.T. H.Q., the Doctor donates his day’s expenses to the zoo, ensuring that the tiger can be given a much bigger pen.

Notes:
*Featuring the Third Doctor

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'Chain Reaction' by Darran Goldsmith Performed by Louise Jameson

While visiting a shopping centre with Sarah, a bored Doctor passes the time by helping out a few passers-by, using a chain of cause and effect triggered by the rolling of a coin at a nearby pigeon. Unfortunately things don’t work out quite as planned on the first go, so the Doctor goes back in time and tries again – and again…

Notes:
*Featuring the Fourth Doctor and Sarah

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'Sock Pig' by Sharon Cobb and Iain Keiller Performed by Peter Davison

A young woman experiences a number of strange events in her house: her stuffed toy pig has come alive, there is a dancing toy horse in the bathroom, and the toaster has come to life; then a stranger called the Doctor turns up on her front doorstep with the news that there is a rip in time in her garden, which has let in an alien force known as the Anima. Realising that the tear has been triggered by her grief over her child’s death, the woman allows the Doctor to enter her home to fix the situation, but when she subsequently learns that her toys will be effectively ‘killed’, she then becomes overprotective towards them. However, once the Doctor has explained that the Anima will quickly increase in power and take over the entire neighbourhood, and that people could die, the woman changes her mind again, and allows her visitor to send the alien force back where it came from, and then seal the rip. Seeing the woman’s grief, the Doctor allows one toy, Sock Pig, to stay alive, providing her with much-needed comfort in her time of mourning.

Notes:
*Featuring the Fifth Doctor

*Time-placing: the Doctor still has his sonic screwdriver, so I’m putting this just prior to the events of ‘The Visitation’

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'The Doctor's Coat' by John Bromley Performed by Colin Baker

Relaxing on the beautiful, planet of Sonti, a twin-sunned world populated by civilised crab-like creatures, the Doctor’s enjoyment is spoilt by the realisation that his coat has been stolen – and that the TARDIS key was in one of its pockets. Realising that his coat has been mistaken for a discarded shell, the Doctor tracks down the youngling who took it, finding him in a local comic shop spending all the local currency, salt, that was in the garment’s pockets. After persuading the Sontiler to exchange the coat for something more suitable from the TARDIS wardrobe, the Doctor reflects on how his ability to regenerate makes him not that dissimilar to the Sontilers...

Notes:
*Featuring the Sixth Doctor

*Peri has just left the Doctor, so I’m placing this story shortly after the events of ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’

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'Critical Mass' by James Moran Performed by Sophie Aldred

The Doctor takes Ace to a top-secret research lab in a military bunker on the war-stricken planet Talalias, where the weapons developers have created a terrible implosion device capable of killing millions – and which has somehow switched itself on. Posing as a government official, the Doctor offers to help the weapons team to deactivate the device; when he and Ace begin seeing what appear to be ghosts, the Time Lord explains that they are experiencing future echoes of the bomb’s victims – if the weapon were to go off it would cause a chain reaction that will not only destroy the entire solar system, it will also rip a hole in the time continuum. The Doctor is unsure that he can defuse the bomb, but a comment from Ace gives him the inspiration of overloading it with power, which causes it to shut down. Having made the project director and her team painfully aware of the terrible consequences that the exploding bomb could have had on their own people, the Doctor leaves them to reconsider the future of their research…

Notes:
*Featuring the Seventh Doctor and Ace

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'Letting Go' by Simon Gurrier Performed by India Fisher

After an alien Antle named Stan bravely gives his life to save her and the Doctor, Charley asks the Time Lord take her to see his family. Stan’s parents make the time-travellers welcome in their home, sharing food and drink while they hear of the circumstances that led to their son’s heroic death…

Notes:
*Featuring the Eighth Doctor and Charley

*Charley has only been travelling with the Doctor for only a few weeks, but enough to have fallen in love with him, so I’m choosing to place this towards the end of the first season of their adventures together

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Release Date:
February 2011


Notes:

*A Big Finish Audio Production