Review by C.J. Bunce
A new book out this week from Ten Speed Press takes fans of Doctor Who there and back again for a trip throught time–storybook style. Writer Steve Cole put together 1,001 Nights in Time and Space, a BBC-licensed collection of tales that are each standalone stories but all are connected via the new Storyteller, collector of “folk tales rescued from around the Whoniverse.” The title plays off the classic Arabian Nights story collection. It’s available in hardcover now here at Amazon and at all bookshops. The result would make a good night-time read-aloud for kids of all ages, as most of the stories mimic the style of a fable or fairy tale, with the kind of content you’d find in a nursery rhyme, updated with some sci-fi, monsters, aliens, or visits to the past or future.
Sixty-three years of episodes, movies, books, and audio plays makes for plenty of content for the writers to pluck from. Twenty-four short stories look back across all the Doctors in spirit, with specific throwbacks to nearly every Doctor. Some of the references are pure Easter eggs, other less obscure, including revisits to travels with companions along the way. And of course the key villains, Cybermen and Daleks, are always in the shadows.
Episodes pulled into these stories include several creations from the tenure of the 15th Doctor, and his era ties all the stories together. Stories include callbacks to The Star Beast, Dot and Bubble, The Timeless Children, and The Church on Ruby Road. Search your memory and you may find references from Vengeance on Varos, The Brain of Morbius, The Ark in Space, The Web Planet, Deep Breath, and Robot.
The collection is a big set of retold episodes, most from new angles, like from the creatures or monsters’ perspective. The story “The Man with Fives Faces” is a quickly summed-up retelling of The Five Doctors TV special. Characters from the decades of Doctor Who also interact with the new Storyteller and some new supporting players. You can imagine all of the stories being read in the frenetic voice of David Tennant or with the rapidity of Matt Smith.
Black and white watercolor illustrations by Paul Magrs set the scene for each timey-whimy tale.
It’s a book that’s bigger on the inside. A trip though time Whovian style via easy to read short stories, 1,001 Nights in Time and Space is available now in the U.S. from Ten Speed Press, in hardcover here at Amazon.
