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Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts #11
Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock
Thousands of years ago, Time Lords built a Prison for the Kin. They made it utterly impregnable and unreachable. As long as Time Lords existed, the Kin would be trapped forever and the universe would be safe. They had planned for everything… everything, that is, other than the Time War and the fall of Gallifrey. Now the Kin are free again and there’s only one Time Lord left in the universe who can stop them!
45 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 21, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 375 reviews
September 1, 2014
Now that the Time Lords are dead, the menace of the Kin is unleashed on the universe and has its sights set on Earth. Can the last Time Lord stop the Kin and put them back in their prison? Of course he can! He's the Doctor!
I've got a few Doctor Who stories under my belt and most of them are either on the low end of the good range or mediocre as hell. This one blows them all away.
Neil Gaiman, perhaps you've heard of him, has written a couple Doctor Who episodes over the years and is a lifelong fan. He's also written a few other things. In Nothing O'Clock, he crafts a story that's not only a very good Doctor Who short, it's a good story period.
The Kin is a creepy menace, born out of Gaiman's childhood of watching Doctor Who while hiding behind the couch. An animal mask-wearing time-traveling creature that's buying earth and rendering humanity extinct? Pretty creepy, especially if you ask him what time it is.
The Doctor and Amy Pond are true to form. It's not very often I find quotable lines in Doctor Who stories but I loved this exchange between the Doctor and Amy:
"Have you always been like this?"
"Like what?"
"A madman with a time machine."
"No. It took me ages to get the time machine."
Neil Gaiman goes a long way toward redeeming the authors of lackluster Doctor Who stories before him. Five out of five timey-wimey stars.
I've got a few Doctor Who stories under my belt and most of them are either on the low end of the good range or mediocre as hell. This one blows them all away.
Neil Gaiman, perhaps you've heard of him, has written a couple Doctor Who episodes over the years and is a lifelong fan. He's also written a few other things. In Nothing O'Clock, he crafts a story that's not only a very good Doctor Who short, it's a good story period.
The Kin is a creepy menace, born out of Gaiman's childhood of watching Doctor Who while hiding behind the couch. An animal mask-wearing time-traveling creature that's buying earth and rendering humanity extinct? Pretty creepy, especially if you ask him what time it is.
The Doctor and Amy Pond are true to form. It's not very often I find quotable lines in Doctor Who stories but I loved this exchange between the Doctor and Amy:
"Have you always been like this?"
"Like what?"
"A madman with a time machine."
"No. It took me ages to get the time machine."
Neil Gaiman goes a long way toward redeeming the authors of lackluster Doctor Who stories before him. Five out of five timey-wimey stars.
August 2, 2022
This is a terrific story and you don't have to know about Doctor Who to enjoy it. The monsters are creepy and clever, it's fast-paced, and if you like Neil Gaiman you will like this story. I love it. Too bad he was so displeased with production of the last script he did for the show he said he'd never write for it again. This story could work fine without The Doctor (though personally I enjoyed it with). If he has the rights to his monsters he could rewrite it and, given creative control, make a terrific horror film or anthology episode.
March 7, 2018
I'm a big Dr. Who fan, so this was so enjoyable. This was scary and like how did Neil think this up. The masks alone would be so creepy. I don't know if they made this into an actual episode of Dr. Who, but they should if they haven't. It was perfect. I would love to see it.
Once again, the whole fate of the universe lay in the hands of the Doctor and once again he saves Earth and the Universe. It is a short story of epic proportions. Any Doctor who fan will enjoy this.
Once again, the whole fate of the universe lay in the hands of the Doctor and once again he saves Earth and the Universe. It is a short story of epic proportions. Any Doctor who fan will enjoy this.
January 6, 2016
This the eleventh and final book of the 50th Anniversary of eleven short stories featuring the eleven doctors along with eleven different companions. Now it's the turn of the Eleventh Doctor and his companion is Amy Pond.
The Good
A story of the Eleventh Doctor by Neil Gaiman!
This is a great story and certainly of the strongest examples of the short stories' collection.
New villain: The Kin. Wonderful concept and certainly a powerful enemy for the Doctor.
Neil Gaiman is a brilliant writer and it's surprising how easily he can merge moments of innocent humor with scenes of shocking horror, and at the end, not matter how opposite are those concepts, he knows how to put them together in the same story working perfectly along with presenting mesmerizing concepts of science fiction.
Certainly the collection of 50th Anniversary short stories ends with a bang, with this truly great tale.
While it's not clear, the short story can be set after of the TV episode The Eleventh Hour but before of The Vampires of Venice.
The Bad
How Amy was managed. She isn't particularly useful in the plot but what really bothered me was that she does several annoying comments about how much she misses her fiancé, Rory. Get a grip, woman! And let's focus on the mission! Geez!
The Odd
Amy's characterizing, but honestly, it's really more "bad" than "odd".
The Good
A story of the Eleventh Doctor by Neil Gaiman!
This is a great story and certainly of the strongest examples of the short stories' collection.
New villain: The Kin. Wonderful concept and certainly a powerful enemy for the Doctor.
Neil Gaiman is a brilliant writer and it's surprising how easily he can merge moments of innocent humor with scenes of shocking horror, and at the end, not matter how opposite are those concepts, he knows how to put them together in the same story working perfectly along with presenting mesmerizing concepts of science fiction.
Certainly the collection of 50th Anniversary short stories ends with a bang, with this truly great tale.
While it's not clear, the short story can be set after of the TV episode The Eleventh Hour but before of The Vampires of Venice.
The Bad
How Amy was managed. She isn't particularly useful in the plot but what really bothered me was that she does several annoying comments about how much she misses her fiancé, Rory. Get a grip, woman! And let's focus on the mission! Geez!
The Odd
Amy's characterizing, but honestly, it's really more "bad" than "odd".
March 27, 2014
Wow. That's how you write a Doctor Who short story.
Neil Gaiman takes us out for the final 50th Anniversary short, the series of 11 short stories written by young adult authors. What do you get? Well you get classic Gaiman tropes, humour and whimsy mixed with the 11th Doctor and Amy, Doctor Who references that work and a fine little plot that manages to have a conflict and resolution that does not sacrifice in quality at all.
Which is much more than I can say about some others in the series. Sure I haven't read them all yet, but now I have read most and I feel I can safely say that this story is like a gem surrounded by rocks (possibly a couple of turds thrown in).
This story is the goods and it being released as part of this range that I believe has not been successful has somewhat diluted and muddied this brilliant piece of writing.
The Fiftieth Anniversary fiction output should have been celebrated with this story alone. All the attention on it and everyone walks away happy.
If the only lesson that comes away from this undertaking of short stories, one can find either ends of the spectrum of quality in Who writing. "Nothing O'Clock" being the utmost quality and regard to the brand and "A Good Hand For the Doctor", the first story, being the epitome of how NOT to take on Doctor Who.
I'll just leave you with this:
'Were you always like this?'
'Like what?'
'A madman. With a time machine.'
'Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine.'
Neil Gaiman takes us out for the final 50th Anniversary short, the series of 11 short stories written by young adult authors. What do you get? Well you get classic Gaiman tropes, humour and whimsy mixed with the 11th Doctor and Amy, Doctor Who references that work and a fine little plot that manages to have a conflict and resolution that does not sacrifice in quality at all.
Which is much more than I can say about some others in the series. Sure I haven't read them all yet, but now I have read most and I feel I can safely say that this story is like a gem surrounded by rocks (possibly a couple of turds thrown in).
This story is the goods and it being released as part of this range that I believe has not been successful has somewhat diluted and muddied this brilliant piece of writing.
The Fiftieth Anniversary fiction output should have been celebrated with this story alone. All the attention on it and everyone walks away happy.
If the only lesson that comes away from this undertaking of short stories, one can find either ends of the spectrum of quality in Who writing. "Nothing O'Clock" being the utmost quality and regard to the brand and "A Good Hand For the Doctor", the first story, being the epitome of how NOT to take on Doctor Who.
I'll just leave you with this:
'Were you always like this?'
'Like what?'
'A madman. With a time machine.'
'Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine.'
April 2, 2016
"Were you always like this?"
"Like what?"
"A madman. With a time machine."
"Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine."
"Like what?"
"A madman. With a time machine."
"Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine."
November 28, 2013
There was never any doubt in my mind that Neil Gaiman could capture the personality and cadences of the 11th doctor (Or are we calling him the 12th now? I think for this story we’ll stick with the 11th). After all he’s the only one of these writers to have actually written for the series – to have actually written for any era of 'Doctor Who' – and so he’s someone who really knows what he’s doing. And after all Gaiman’s ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ was one of the highlights of the recent Doctor Who; even if ‘Nightmare in Silver’ didn’t really make the cybermen scary again. This third go around with Matt Smith’s Doctor gives us a fairly enjoyable romp, with ancient enemies of The Time Lords luring The Doctor into a trap by playing with the UK real estate market. It’s funny, clever, The Doctor and Amy are on form (it’s good to see her back) and it proves that the speech patterns of Margaret Thatcher really do suit an alien invader.
But – and there is a but – it just feels all so small. Both of Gaiman’s TV episodes, where there are such things as budgets to consider, were bigger in scope than this; this short story however, where budgets are without limit, just feels so much more provincial. It feels like a cheap episode of 'Doctor Who', like an adventure of ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures – all filmed in a cul-de-sac, as that’s as far as the money goes. Also, what’s the point of it? Surely setting it in the tumultuous times of 1984, surely having an alien pretending to be Margaret Thatcher is supposed to build up to some kind of point (perhaps to do with the right to buy scheme? I don’t know) and yet this doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It’s Margaret Thatcher in 1984 because that’s something funny and quirky to have, and that lack of a true understanding of history just makes it feel even less substantial.
But – and there is a but – it just feels all so small. Both of Gaiman’s TV episodes, where there are such things as budgets to consider, were bigger in scope than this; this short story however, where budgets are without limit, just feels so much more provincial. It feels like a cheap episode of 'Doctor Who', like an adventure of ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures – all filmed in a cul-de-sac, as that’s as far as the money goes. Also, what’s the point of it? Surely setting it in the tumultuous times of 1984, surely having an alien pretending to be Margaret Thatcher is supposed to build up to some kind of point (perhaps to do with the right to buy scheme? I don’t know) and yet this doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It’s Margaret Thatcher in 1984 because that’s something funny and quirky to have, and that lack of a true understanding of history just makes it feel even less substantial.
March 13, 2015
Very few writers understand the Doctor's universe but Neil Gaiman was destined for it. Juxtaposing the normal and the unusual, this tale easily transcends all other Doctor Who stories! With a fairy tale feel and captivating prose, Gaiman gives us the perfect piece to end this wonderful series of stories on.
Now shouldn't he already be penning a Doctor Who comic? And wouldn't that be absolutely gorgeous!
Now shouldn't he already be penning a Doctor Who comic? And wouldn't that be absolutely gorgeous!
May 16, 2021
احتمالا حاوی اسپویل تا فصل پنج دکتر هو...
یازده، دکتر محبوب من نیست، (اگه قراره باشه انتخاب کنم، باید بین ده و دوازده یکی رو انتخاب کنم؛ ولی خوشبختانه تصمیم گرفتم که هرگز انتخاب نکنم.) اما چند تا از بهترین قصههای دکتر هو برای من با یازده بوده...
این قصه برمیگرده به اوایل یازده، احتمالا اون جاهایی که من هنوز با هیچی از یازده ارتباط برقرار نکرده بودم، از پاپیونش خوشم نمیومد، با مدل لباسهاش کنار نیومده بودم، هنوز دلم میخواست دکترِ ال استار به پا، با کت بلندش یهو بچرخه و بگه:«آلنوزی...» و احتمالا هنوز تمام فکرم پیش رز بوده و دانا نابل... آه دانا نابل...
ولی خب کمکم یازده و ماجراهاش برای من همونقدری عزیز شدن که ده... ایمی و روری و باقی شخصیتها همونقدر موندگار شدن که دانا و پدربزرگش... و حالا که گذشته و تموم شده و من دلتنگشونم این کتاب مثل یه زندگی دوبارهست. اون هم با قلم نیل گیمن که قسمت «همسر دکتر» رو نوشته که یکی از بهترین قصههای یازده بود...
خوندن این قصه هم خیلی لذت بخش بود، باز هم یه موجودی که فکرش رو هم نمیکنی یهو میاد و سرنوشت دنیا به تاردیس و دکتر بنده... و مثل همیشه همه چیز همونطوری تموم میشه که باید...
اشارات ریز و درشتش رو هم خیلی دوست داشتم، اینکه دکتر هنوز روری رو نمیشناخت و بعدا چهها با روری تجربه خواهد کرد و مخصوصا اون اشارهای که ایمی به ملز کرد و دکتر هیچ توجهی بهش نکرد؛ و دارم فکر میکنم نیل گیمن دقیقا میخواسته دست بذاره روی اینکه ببینید این دکتر رو که هیچ اهمیتی به ملز نمیده.
به یاد او نصفه شبی که از تو خیابون، صدای تاردیس میومد، میخوام خیال کنم با خودم که بالاخره یه روزی منم با تاردیس سفر خواهم کرد.
همین!
بیست و شش اردیبهشت هزار و چهار صد
16 May 2021
یازده، دکتر محبوب من نیست، (اگه قراره باشه انتخاب کنم، باید بین ده و دوازده یکی رو انتخاب کنم؛ ولی خوشبختانه تصمیم گرفتم که هرگز انتخاب نکنم.) اما چند تا از بهترین قصههای دکتر هو برای من با یازده بوده...
این قصه برمیگرده به اوایل یازده، احتمالا اون جاهایی که من هنوز با هیچی از یازده ارتباط برقرار نکرده بودم، از پاپیونش خوشم نمیومد، با مدل لباسهاش کنار نیومده بودم، هنوز دلم میخواست دکترِ ال استار به پا، با کت بلندش یهو بچرخه و بگه:«آلنوزی...» و احتمالا هنوز تمام فکرم پیش رز بوده و دانا نابل... آه دانا نابل...
ولی خب کمکم یازده و ماجراهاش برای من همونقدری عزیز شدن که ده... ایمی و روری و باقی شخصیتها همونقدر موندگار شدن که دانا و پدربزرگش... و حالا که گذشته و تموم شده و من دلتنگشونم این کتاب مثل یه زندگی دوبارهست. اون هم با قلم نیل گیمن که قسمت «همسر دکتر» رو نوشته که یکی از بهترین قصههای یازده بود...
خوندن این قصه هم خیلی لذت بخش بود، باز هم یه موجودی که فکرش رو هم نمیکنی یهو میاد و سرنوشت دنیا به تاردیس و دکتر بنده... و مثل همیشه همه چیز همونطوری تموم میشه که باید...
اشارات ریز و درشتش رو هم خیلی دوست داشتم، اینکه دکتر هنوز روری رو نمیشناخت و بعدا چهها با روری تجربه خواهد کرد و مخصوصا اون اشارهای که ایمی به ملز کرد و دکتر هیچ توجهی بهش نکرد؛ و دارم فکر میکنم نیل گیمن دقیقا میخواسته دست بذاره روی اینکه ببینید این دکتر رو که هیچ اهمیتی به ملز نمیده.
به یاد او نصفه شبی که از تو خیابون، صدای تاردیس میومد، میخوام خیال کنم با خودم که بالاخره یه روزی منم با تاردیس سفر خواهم کرد.
همین!
بیست و شش اردیبهشت هزار و چهار صد
16 May 2021
July 15, 2018
This is a very short story based on the television series. It features the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond as his companion. It is early into Amy's adventures as Rory is mentioned but not part of the traveling team. In this one, the Time Lords imprisoned a race for crimes against time. This race has escaped and they are looking for revenge.
This Doctor Who story is really impressive considering the short length it encompasses. I had no problem getting the vibe of the show within the pages. Neil Gaiman has written episodes for the series so you know he knows the character. Even with a short amount of pages, the reader gets a mysterious alien race, the Doctor using his wits to defeat his enemy, and a peek into the dark nature of this character. The only flaw is Amy took a back seat in this story but in a story that is only forty pages that can be forgiven.
This is a quick read. That being said, even for a quick read one feels like he or she is within this universe. I actually wish it was longer or eventually made into an episode of the show.
This Doctor Who story is really impressive considering the short length it encompasses. I had no problem getting the vibe of the show within the pages. Neil Gaiman has written episodes for the series so you know he knows the character. Even with a short amount of pages, the reader gets a mysterious alien race, the Doctor using his wits to defeat his enemy, and a peek into the dark nature of this character. The only flaw is Amy took a back seat in this story but in a story that is only forty pages that can be forgiven.
This is a quick read. That being said, even for a quick read one feels like he or she is within this universe. I actually wish it was longer or eventually made into an episode of the show.
November 22, 2013
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. But then, we already knew Gaiman could do Doctor Who. "The Doctor's Wife" is one of the best TV episodes I've ever seen for any show, not just DW. ("Nightmare in Silver" isn't my favorite, but it's still good.) Anyway, this story was entirely worth the price of admission.
January 19, 2023
Neil Gaiman + The Doctor + Amy Pond = wibbly wobbly, timey wimey things!
March 16, 2014
Very well done!
The layout of this short story involving Eleven and Amy seems simple enough but the fast unfolding is flawless and Gaiman manages to create a fantastically creepy vibe.
In this story we are introduced to a very interesting and plausible race, The Kin, and they are beyond scary.
This is a must read, page turner that is devoid of the usual cheesiness that is too often written into the Eleventh Doctor's personality. Neil Gaiman can sure write a great DW story. I have enjoyed the 2 previous episodes that he wrote:
The Doctor's Wife- which brought me to tears
AND
Nightmare in Silver-which was both hilarious and action packed
Nothing O'Clock is at least as good as these if not better, my only regret is that we will never see this story on screen.
The layout of this short story involving Eleven and Amy seems simple enough but the fast unfolding is flawless and Gaiman manages to create a fantastically creepy vibe.
In this story we are introduced to a very interesting and plausible race, The Kin, and they are beyond scary.
This is a must read, page turner that is devoid of the usual cheesiness that is too often written into the Eleventh Doctor's personality. Neil Gaiman can sure write a great DW story. I have enjoyed the 2 previous episodes that he wrote:
The Doctor's Wife- which brought me to tears
AND
Nightmare in Silver-which was both hilarious and action packed
Nothing O'Clock is at least as good as these if not better, my only regret is that we will never see this story on screen.
April 24, 2015
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Featuring the eleventh Doctor, this e-short was my first book by Neil Gaiman. And this was a very nice surprise. I had heard a lot of positive things about his writing, and it didn't disappoint.
I also have read some other Doctor Who novels (whole list with reviews below) and I find them really interesting. The story in this e-short didn't disappoint either.
Craze people asking you to ask them how late it is. Even though the story is very short, it was creepy enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Would recommend as a short read.
Other Doctor Who novels I've read and reviewed:
* 12th Doctor:
Silhouette (Killer Origami), The Blood Cell (Prison) The Crawling Terror (Giant Insects)
* 11th Doctor:
Touched by an Angel (Weeping Angels)
* 10th Doctor:
Keeping Up With The Joneses (50th anniversary E-short)
*3rd Doctor:
The loneliness of the Long Distance Time-Traveller (Alternative England)
* War Doctor:
The Engines of War ("Ex-ter-mi-nate!")
Featuring the eleventh Doctor, this e-short was my first book by Neil Gaiman. And this was a very nice surprise. I had heard a lot of positive things about his writing, and it didn't disappoint.
I also have read some other Doctor Who novels (whole list with reviews below) and I find them really interesting. The story in this e-short didn't disappoint either.
Craze people asking you to ask them how late it is. Even though the story is very short, it was creepy enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Would recommend as a short read.
Other Doctor Who novels I've read and reviewed:
* 12th Doctor:
Silhouette (Killer Origami), The Blood Cell (Prison) The Crawling Terror (Giant Insects)
* 11th Doctor:
Touched by an Angel (Weeping Angels)
* 10th Doctor:
Keeping Up With The Joneses (50th anniversary E-short)
*3rd Doctor:
The loneliness of the Long Distance Time-Traveller (Alternative England)
* War Doctor:
The Engines of War ("Ex-ter-mi-nate!")
February 21, 2023
"Were you always like this?"
"Like what?"
"A Madman with a time machine."
"Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine."
I would love one day for Gaiman to be the showrunner of Doctor Who. He wrote some of my favourite episodes.
During this adventure of the 11th Doctor and Amy, the Time Lords had imprisoned a race 'The Kin', who they believed wouldn't escape, but they had and now want to destroy all life on Earth.
I loved the story, very well written. Both the Doctor and Amy had an on screen feel- they felt like themselves and Gaiman kept the fairy tale feel going.
"Like what?"
"A Madman with a time machine."
"Oh, no. It took ages until I got the time machine."
I would love one day for Gaiman to be the showrunner of Doctor Who. He wrote some of my favourite episodes.
During this adventure of the 11th Doctor and Amy, the Time Lords had imprisoned a race 'The Kin', who they believed wouldn't escape, but they had and now want to destroy all life on Earth.
I loved the story, very well written. Both the Doctor and Amy had an on screen feel- they felt like themselves and Gaiman kept the fairy tale feel going.
December 21, 2013
Gran historia de Neil Gaiman por el aniversario de Doctor Who,¡hubiera podido servir de trasfondo a una temporada entera!
De hecho no le he puesto las 5 estrellas porque aunque me gusta el formato historia corta en plan capítulo para una trama como esta me ha resultado bastante precipitado todo.
(Ah y menciona Andalucía y tomar Gazpacho XD)
"Pregúntame ¿qué hora es?"
De hecho no le he puesto las 5 estrellas porque aunque me gusta el formato historia corta en plan capítulo para una trama como esta me ha resultado bastante precipitado todo.
(Ah y menciona Andalucía y tomar Gazpacho XD)
"Pregúntame ¿qué hora es?"
November 13, 2015
Wow. Who knew Neil Gaiman could write a Doctor Who story as brilliant as any out there ??? Certainly not me ! That was wonderful to read and I wish Giaman would write even more Dr Who stories !!
April 24, 2022
I never doubted for a second that this would be my favorite Doctor Who story. Master Gaiman did a splendid job as always, they should get him to write more screenplays for the TV show as well (he has written 2 episodes already)…
November 22, 2013
I can hardly believe the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is tomorrow! I remember the 20th anniversary so well, watching 'The Five Doctors', the anniversary special whose greatest achievement was that it managed to make sense as a story despite bringing back an improbable number of characters from twenty years of TV. I think Australia's ABC showed it extraordinarily soon after its premiere, probably within a couple of days.
If my 1983 self could only see what I see now, how bizarre it would all seem: the 50th anniversary special, broadcast simultaneously in dozens of countries, and showing in cinemas. In 3D! The 20th anniversary was a big deal to us fans at the time, but I don't think it made much of an impression on the wider world. The 30th was marked by a pretty good documentary. The 40th barely at all. Amazingly, at the 50th, the world seems to have become as obsessed with the show as I've always been. The Google home page has a Doctor Who game on it. There seems to be 100 times more press coverage for Doctor Who's 50th than for the Kennedy assassination's, which overshadowed Doctor Who's first episode by happening hours before its broadcast. It's like the inside of my head has leaked into the world. Again. Weird.
Actually, if my 1983 self could see what I see, he'd probably be slightly more freaked out by the way that movie he saw in August, 'WarGames', turned out to be the most important cultural event of the year, as most people's first peek at our freaky 21st century lives.
Anyway, all this year Puffin Books, in association with the BBC, have been publishing Doctor Who 'e-shorts', short children's books, one per month, one per Doctor. This is the first one I've felt inspired to buy, because it's by Neil Gaiman. It was a pretty quick read, and probably equates to about 20 or 30 pages of a normal paperback.
It features the 11th Doctor (or is he?) and Amy, and is set in the show's 2010 series, some time between The Eleventh Hour and The Sexy Fish Vampires of Venice. The monsters are furries. Nasty alien furries. It has a pretty original invasion plot, and funny bits. I liked the living room.
Clever children with good taste should enjoy it. Also older fans who only pretend to be grown ups because we're cursed to look like them. To be honest, my 1983 self would probably be MOST freaked out to discover he'll regenerate into a fat bald man with a goatee.
The fan will detect a few interesting foreshadowings: the Doctor asks Amy about her parents and gets an evasive answer - in the TV show it was hinted that this must have happened, and here it is. There's also an incidental foreshadowing of a much later development, as revealed in May in 'The Name of the Doctor', and developed further in the recent minisode 'The Night of the Doctor'.
If my 1983 self could only see what I see now, how bizarre it would all seem: the 50th anniversary special, broadcast simultaneously in dozens of countries, and showing in cinemas. In 3D! The 20th anniversary was a big deal to us fans at the time, but I don't think it made much of an impression on the wider world. The 30th was marked by a pretty good documentary. The 40th barely at all. Amazingly, at the 50th, the world seems to have become as obsessed with the show as I've always been. The Google home page has a Doctor Who game on it. There seems to be 100 times more press coverage for Doctor Who's 50th than for the Kennedy assassination's, which overshadowed Doctor Who's first episode by happening hours before its broadcast. It's like the inside of my head has leaked into the world. Again. Weird.
Actually, if my 1983 self could see what I see, he'd probably be slightly more freaked out by the way that movie he saw in August, 'WarGames', turned out to be the most important cultural event of the year, as most people's first peek at our freaky 21st century lives.
Anyway, all this year Puffin Books, in association with the BBC, have been publishing Doctor Who 'e-shorts', short children's books, one per month, one per Doctor. This is the first one I've felt inspired to buy, because it's by Neil Gaiman. It was a pretty quick read, and probably equates to about 20 or 30 pages of a normal paperback.
It features the 11th Doctor (or is he?) and Amy, and is set in the show's 2010 series, some time between The Eleventh Hour and The Sexy Fish Vampires of Venice. The monsters are furries. Nasty alien furries. It has a pretty original invasion plot, and funny bits. I liked the living room.
Clever children with good taste should enjoy it. Also older fans who only pretend to be grown ups because we're cursed to look like them. To be honest, my 1983 self would probably be MOST freaked out to discover he'll regenerate into a fat bald man with a goatee.
The fan will detect a few interesting foreshadowings: the Doctor asks Amy about her parents and gets an evasive answer - in the TV show it was hinted that this must have happened, and here it is. There's also an incidental foreshadowing of a much later development, as revealed in May in 'The Name of the Doctor', and developed further in the recent minisode 'The Night of the Doctor'.
November 22, 2013
Neil Gaiman is a master of short stories and after writing two brilliant episodes of Doctor Who (The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver) this was always going to be something special. It is set around the early part of Series 5, somewhere between The Eleventh Hour and The Vampires of Venice, and sees the eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond fight off the Kin, sworn enemies of the Time Lords.
The Kin are a great and genuinely scary monster and I could really see them appear on the show one day. They look like a man wearing an animal ask and you must never answer them when they ask you "What's the time?". My goodness they give me the shivers and their "monster-power", for want of a better phrase, is wonderful.
Having written for the characters before Gaiman has no trouble nailing the eleventh Doctor and Amy and even has Amy joking about the fact this Doctor makes up words. Gaiman also has a little girl in the story who is well described and really does what a little girl would do. So many authors struggle to make children seem realistic but Gaiman does it with ease.
For me this is the best of all the e-shorts. Gaiman merges his fantastic TV writing to his brilliant short stories and creates this work of art. A must read for any Doctor Who fan!
The Kin are a great and genuinely scary monster and I could really see them appear on the show one day. They look like a man wearing an animal ask and you must never answer them when they ask you "What's the time?". My goodness they give me the shivers and their "monster-power", for want of a better phrase, is wonderful.
Having written for the characters before Gaiman has no trouble nailing the eleventh Doctor and Amy and even has Amy joking about the fact this Doctor makes up words. Gaiman also has a little girl in the story who is well described and really does what a little girl would do. So many authors struggle to make children seem realistic but Gaiman does it with ease.
For me this is the best of all the e-shorts. Gaiman merges his fantastic TV writing to his brilliant short stories and creates this work of art. A must read for any Doctor Who fan!
October 23, 2015
Real rating: 4.5
The only reason why I didn't give this a full 5 is because... well... I wanted more. I know that these are all short stories, but Gaiman's story has so much potential!! It could easily become an actual novel (or even an actual Doctor Who episode), and it'd be one of the best stuff I ever read! (Or watched.)
We're introduced to a new villain, and they are/it is so believable that for the most part, I thought it was just a villain that I hadn't met yet!! (I haven't watched Eleven's run yet, but I know enough about him and his companions.)
Eleven was really on-spot. The story wasn't even just humor, it had really dark themes (as per usual with Neil Gaiman, of course) and there was a moment that I thought this would be mostly horror, because shit went REEEAALLY dark.
It was all really entertaining and felt "legit". It was the best "ending" to this collection that we could get <3
The only reason why I didn't give this a full 5 is because... well... I wanted more. I know that these are all short stories, but Gaiman's story has so much potential!! It could easily become an actual novel (or even an actual Doctor Who episode), and it'd be one of the best stuff I ever read! (Or watched.)
We're introduced to a new villain, and they are/it is so believable that for the most part, I thought it was just a villain that I hadn't met yet!! (I haven't watched Eleven's run yet, but I know enough about him and his companions.)
Eleven was really on-spot. The story wasn't even just humor, it had really dark themes (as per usual with Neil Gaiman, of course) and there was a moment that I thought this would be mostly horror, because shit went REEEAALLY dark.
It was all really entertaining and felt "legit". It was the best "ending" to this collection that we could get <3
November 21, 2013
Gaiman and Who.
Who and Gaiman.
Like the great vaudevillian acts of yore, the sparking teams of Grant and Dunne, Bud and Lou, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Weber and Rice. That which is lovely on its own but explodes into
fairy-phyre
when nitro-glycerinly mixed [shaken! not stirred] together in a story, and a place and a peoples and a time. But most importantly A Time. A Time that was and wasn't, until it wasn't. A Time that isn't yet and will never be.
And a young girl. Gaiman does girls well. Even horrible things to girls because he honours girls by not leaving them out. And by making them sensible.
And Timey-wimey Escher-y travel.
And a man in the rabbit mask who wants to buy your house.
Although I hear echoes of story/nightmare from before: We Can Get Them For You Wholesale
And a young girl. Gaiman does girls well. Even horrible things to girls because he honours girls by not leaving them out. And by making them sensible.
And Timey-wimey Escher-y travel.
And a man in the rabbit mask who wants to buy your house.
Although I hear echoes of story/nightmare from before: We Can Get Them For You Wholesale
November 26, 2013
An amusing triumph for Gaiman, Doctor, and Reader!
Beautifully succinct and well told. Not a single word was wasted, anything added would have been too much. Gaiman has proven his worth yet again, and succeeded in giving us a tale of the Doctor that aches for the screen. Clearly he should pen more episodes of the series - and for what that's worth, give us more Doctor Who shorts like this one.
Beautifully succinct and well told. Not a single word was wasted, anything added would have been too much. Gaiman has proven his worth yet again, and succeeded in giving us a tale of the Doctor that aches for the screen. Clearly he should pen more episodes of the series - and for what that's worth, give us more Doctor Who shorts like this one.
September 29, 2014
"Space is big. Time is bigger."
Neil Gaiman captures the Eleventh Doctor so brilliantly it was hard not to read all Eleven's dialouge in Matt's voice. It's a beautifully told short story that reminded me of why I loved Eleven so much.
Neil Gaiman captures the Eleventh Doctor so brilliantly it was hard not to read all Eleven's dialouge in Matt's voice. It's a beautifully told short story that reminded me of why I loved Eleven so much.
June 19, 2021
I decided to reread this short story for a bookclub where this month's theme was time travel, because this is one of my favorite Gaiman short stories. I've never seen a single episode of Doctor Who, but this story is still accessible to me, and every time I read it, it makes me want to dive into the show (but then I get overwhelmed by the vast amount of the show that exists and bail until my next reread). :) Partway through this reread, I switched to the audiobook (for Trigger Warning, the collection in which this story was published), which is narrated by Neil himself, and he always adds a lot to his stories in his oral narration. This is a creepy, funny, sad, sweet, good time of a read, would recommend.
February 2, 2021
i've read a lot of reviews of this series detailing how, though the stories are good, it is clear that they were written with either no particular doctor in mind, or with a different doctor than the one the author was given. this was the most clear example of that, i think. still, the story was good, though "what's the time, mr wolf?" seemed like a jarring parody of "what time is it, mr wolf?" rather than the direct copy it was made out to be.
October 27, 2020
Nothing O’Clock was a story that surprised me. I was a wee bit dubious about reading a Doctor Who short story, but I enjoyed this one a lot more than I’d anticipated. There was plenty packed into the pages, and it hit all the right spots. It’s certainly worth reading if you’re a Doctor Who fan, and I’m now curious about the other shorts in the series.
May 14, 2018
This was very amusing ! <3
December 2, 2013
Well then, this was the last of the eleven short stories. Initially I had decided not to bother with them, but when I found out Philip Reeve was doing one, I snapped that up, magnificent author, it was excellent (The Roots Of Evil - do read this, the best of the set) and got the rest of them, the previous three and the others as they were released. Overall I've quite enjoyed them, though they are a little hit and miss, particularly with regard to how well they represented the specific doctor in play.
Now Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, I had the book pre-ordered a good long while before I found out he was the final guest author for the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. Obviously a good sign as Gaiman finds it very difficult to write anything bad. For me, Doctor Who went down hill dramatically with Matt Smith, far too zany and childish for the character in my opinion. This book keeps reasonably well to character, though in book form, the madcap behaviour is a little removed and better for it.
The storyline of this book is quite clever, combining elements of classic fairy stories as other stories in this set have, with the time travel theme. They seem to have gone all out for the final story on a "entire universe about to be destroyed" bent. Ancient and terrible enemies that even the Time Lords fear, almost myth, mentioned in the old tales - they've escaped and they're here. It works nicely, and he builds the story well enough considering its length, though I think it could have been wrapped up a little more plausibly.
Not fantastic, certainly not the best in the series, that honour belongs to Reeve, but considering it was #11 and Amy Pond for the entire story with all their annoying traits, it was worth the time.
[NB. Rory isn't in this, so don't worry.]
Now Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, I had the book pre-ordered a good long while before I found out he was the final guest author for the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. Obviously a good sign as Gaiman finds it very difficult to write anything bad. For me, Doctor Who went down hill dramatically with Matt Smith, far too zany and childish for the character in my opinion. This book keeps reasonably well to character, though in book form, the madcap behaviour is a little removed and better for it.
The storyline of this book is quite clever, combining elements of classic fairy stories as other stories in this set have, with the time travel theme. They seem to have gone all out for the final story on a "entire universe about to be destroyed" bent. Ancient and terrible enemies that even the Time Lords fear, almost myth, mentioned in the old tales - they've escaped and they're here. It works nicely, and he builds the story well enough considering its length, though I think it could have been wrapped up a little more plausibly.
Not fantastic, certainly not the best in the series, that honour belongs to Reeve, but considering it was #11 and Amy Pond for the entire story with all their annoying traits, it was worth the time.
[NB. Rory isn't in this, so don't worry.]
June 19, 2014
Also published in "A Cup of Coffee and a Book"
Nothing O’Clock is a short story by Neil Gaiman set on Doctor Who universe with, non-other but the timey wimey 11th Doctor and his Scottish companion, Amy Pond.
I’ve been wanting to read this story for a while since it’s written by Stardust author himself, Neil Gaiman. As a fan of his episodes of the show, I needed to get my hands on this. And after getting my hands on this, I had a bittersweet disappointment.
Wait!!! It’s not that I didn’t like this story, I surely did, but this was so short I felt a lot of things were missing.
Neil Gaiman had this gift where he managed to capture the true personalities of the Doctor and Amy and I take my hat off for his brilliancy when it came to dialogue, character development and the simple friendship between them.
But this felt like one of those low budgets episodes where nothing more happens and everything is confusing and upside-down and strange. This had potential; it truly did, with the prison built by the Time Lords for the Kin, the King itself and the whole plot but it got lost with so little pages. If it were a real Doctor Who book companion where number of pages didn’t matters, I might have appreciated it a little bit more.
So, I’m so sorry Neil Gaiman but this short-story isn’t my favourite just because it is too short!
Nothing O’Clock is a short story by Neil Gaiman set on Doctor Who universe with, non-other but the timey wimey 11th Doctor and his Scottish companion, Amy Pond.
I’ve been wanting to read this story for a while since it’s written by Stardust author himself, Neil Gaiman. As a fan of his episodes of the show, I needed to get my hands on this. And after getting my hands on this, I had a bittersweet disappointment.
Wait!!! It’s not that I didn’t like this story, I surely did, but this was so short I felt a lot of things were missing.
Neil Gaiman had this gift where he managed to capture the true personalities of the Doctor and Amy and I take my hat off for his brilliancy when it came to dialogue, character development and the simple friendship between them.
But this felt like one of those low budgets episodes where nothing more happens and everything is confusing and upside-down and strange. This had potential; it truly did, with the prison built by the Time Lords for the Kin, the King itself and the whole plot but it got lost with so little pages. If it were a real Doctor Who book companion where number of pages didn’t matters, I might have appreciated it a little bit more.
So, I’m so sorry Neil Gaiman but this short-story isn’t my favourite just because it is too short!
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