Calufrax

Story: Stir
Author: Doyle
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1067
Author's Summary: “Oh, go on, blame me, just because I don’t give you out a guidebook and a packed lunch every time I park the TARDIS…”
Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, Mickey Smith, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler
Warnings: None.

Recced because: So there were these three time travellers locked in a cell, right… It’s very funny. Doyle sets up a slightly AU S1 TARDIS team, in which Mickey joins after Boom Town and then follows up with a trip where the Doctor, Mickey and Jack all speedily get arrested for different reasons by a very distinctive (and terribly nice) set of aliens.

It’s hard to say more without spoiling the fun, but it’s by an author who does these things brilliantly and it’s Nine, Mickey and Jack in a cell. I’ll just add a taster and leave you all to it:

“Here we are,” [the guard] said, pressing his hoof against a pad on the floor. “I’ll be along with some food once you’ve settled in — oh, and we’ve put you in with our other two guests. They’re both new too so you’ll all be lovely company for each other. Of course, the place is empty so there’s plenty of space if you want your own cell, but I read once,” he said, a little whinny of distress coming into his voice at the thought, “that humans die of loneliness if you keep them on their own.”

“You could be thinking of gerbils there,” the Doctor said. “Easy mistake to make, I get them mixed up all the time. And I feel a bit of pre-cog coming on; these two new prisoners wouldn’t be called Jack Harkness and Mickey Smith, would they?”

Story: Anachronisms
Author: agapi42
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1820
Author's Summary: Time travellers aren't all that is out of place in England, 1848.
Characters/Pairings: First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s charming and sweet and funny, and very Doctor Who-ish from start to finish.

This is another one of those stories that Big Finish must have been mad to turn down last year. And proof that in any incarnation the Doctor can’t do something as simple as posting a letter without nearly causing a temporal paradox, getting his companions into trouble and finding something alien hiding in an unlikely place.

Plus, it’s beautifully written, the characterisation of the early TARDIS team is lovely –Barbara worries over what the Doctor might do without her and Ian while the Doctor – well, after causing all of the above, the Doctor is off down the pub…

Story: Excerpt From the Physic’s Tale
Author: Apple Cameron
Rating: All ages
Word Count: Drabble
Author's Summary: A Chaucer excerpt you probably missed in school. (DW100)
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor, A Companion
Warnings: None. (Although it is written in Middle English.)

Recced because: I have only seven recs to make – not even one per Doctor, these days. Am I really going to ‘waste’ one on a drabble, a mere 100 words? The answer is, yes: drabbles can be as complete and perfect as any other type of story when they’re done well, and this one is.

It's filed in the Eighth Doctor section on the 'Spoon – but the true beauty of it is that it could be any Doctor, and any companion joining the pilgrimage, and it's left to the reader to decide.

So, why? It’s a crossover with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; it gets at the heart of the role of the Doctor and his companion(s) perfectly in very few words; there’s the proper authorly edge of amusement we find in the Tales, the Doctor namedrops; and it’s believably written in Middle English.

The week seems to have gone by so fast, and I'm sad to find I'm on my last rec already, with so many other deserving fics still out there. So, the last one had better be a good-un, right?


Story: The Care and Feeding of Tiny Humans (and slightly larger Time Lords)
Author: Netgirl_y2k
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1182
Author's Summary: The one where the Doctor comes back for little Amelia Pond.
Characters/Pairings: Eleventh Doctor, Amelia Pond, River Song, Sarah Jane Smith
Warnings: None

Recced because: This seems a natural follow-on to yesterday’s fic, proving that the Doctor really should try kidnapping more often. I’ve loved the new Doctor so far, but, let’s be honest, isn’t this story what we all wanted to see? The Doctor comes back for wee!Amelia and they have adventures and it’s funny and wonderful and perfect, and somewhere in a parallel universe, let’s hope it really happened exactly like this. Because Amy is great, of course, but wee!Amelia is awesome, yes?

Story: Does the Doctor Know Where His Towel Is?
Author: AstroGirl
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 623
Author's Summary: Nowhere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's entry on the Doctor is there any mention of towels. This fact has more significant consequences than you might imagine.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor, The Guide
Warnings: None.

Recced because: Clearly a short fic was needed to give people chance to catch up on some of the previous days’ historical epics. This is a wonderful crossover piece on the Doctor’s entry to the legendary Hitch Hiker’s Guide. I can actually hear it when I read it, it’s so pitch perfect – which should be all the recommendation anyone needs. More, please!

Title: Stradivarius
Author: moonmama
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2369
Author's Summary: A mystery involving a tortured artist and a violin out of its time.
Characters/Pairings: Eighth Doctor, Lucie Miller
Warnings: None.

Recced because:: It’s a gorgeously written short fic (one of those written for Big Finish’s recent competition that makes you question their sanity for turning it down). Eight and Lucie are captured here, (and well on form) and it’s lovely to see some playing around with history, while the questions touched on in its short length are worth pondering. It’s excellent all round, and I can’t recommend it enough. If you're a newbie to this Big Finish duo, then this is a lovely intro.

Hi, I'm lost_spook (vvj5 on Teaspoon) and I'll be your reccer for this week. I'm in love with all eras of the show, so hopefully there'll be something for everyone. To start with, let's find somewhere really unobtrusive to hide for a bit, and pass the time with a funny fic...

Story: Nine Hours, Give Or Take
Author: Bad Dickens
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2457
Author's Summary: Donna in the toilet, the Doctor in the broom cupboard. Exciting? Oh, yes.
Characters/Pairings: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s short and fun, two things that are important on a Monday. I always love it when fan fic authors take some anomaly, throwaway line, or plot hole, and instead of complaints, explore it with inventiveness and humour. Clearly, it occurred to Bad Dickens that, during Partners in Crime, Donna and the Doctor spent about nine hours in their respective hiding places. Nine hours. Donna and Ten. Yes… The result is far more entertaining than a tale of a toilet and a broom cupboard has any right to be.

Story: The Chess Players
Author: Forge
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 2078
Author's Summary: The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Lord Vetinari and the Doctor play a friendly game of chess. Crossover with Discworld
Characters/Pairings: Seventh Doctor
Warnings: None.

Recced because: I’m in awe of this author’s portrayal of the Master, so it breaks my heart a tiny little bit not to rec one of those fics instead, but I had to come down to this one in the end: Seven plays Lord Vetinari at Chess. With Pratchett-esque prose and footnotes, not to mention forebodings and a certain twistiness. And bonus Commander Vimes. Maybe not one for those who haven’t read Discworld (but then if you haven’t read any Discworld books yet, why are you wasting time here? You should be off finding Guards! Guards! or something right now. Then you can come back and read this.)

Story: The Spartans
Author: JJPOR
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 69,883
Author's Summary: Greece, 480 BC: As the vast armies of the King of Kings prepare to battle the outnumbered defenders of the Hot Gates, the Doctor and his friends find themselves where they often find themselves at times like this – caught in the middle.
Characters/Pairings: Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Polly, Ben Jackson
Warnings: Some violence.

Recced because: I love this so much if someone had recced it before me I might have had to kill them? No, wait, that’s not a reason… (Not a good one, anyway.)

Okay: because it’s a proper, Sixties-style, straight historical with note-perfect characterisation, and it uses the TARDIS team of Two, Jamie, Ben and Polly to great effect – and given how many of this era’s stories are missing, we need fanfic like this to make it up to us. What’s more it’s a straight historical, but with a cast of thousands, battles, and all the things that would have happened off-screen on TV (or with two stuntmen being unconvincing somewhere) described in glorious detail. Really. It’s absolutely brilliant – don’t miss out.

Story: Box of Tricks
Author: AstroGirl
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 3083
Author's Summary: A Blake's 7 crossover featuring the Fourth Doctor and Vila.
Characters/Pairings: Fourth Doctor, Vila Restal
Warnings: None.

Recced because: AstroGirl writes some wonderful crossovers, and having just discovered Doctor Who's long lost TV sibling in Blake’s 7, I was thrilled to stumble over this. You don’t need to know anything and there’s no spoilers for either series. Vila encounters the TARDIS in this sweet, humorous piece that is perhaps as much an exploration of the TARDIS through new eyes as anything else.

AstroGirl has Vila’s jokey POV down perfectly, ditto Four’s chaotic approach to life – and you don’t need to know B7 to get filmed-in-a-quarry jokes. There’s only one downside – I wish there were more adventures for this AU TARDIS team.

Well, the week is almost over already, but I’ve still got one brilliant story to go…

Story: The First Casualty
Author:Lurky McLurklurk
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 5255
Author's Summary: Benny's latest escapade leads to a meeting with a certain Fitz Kreiner.
Characters/Pairings: Bernice Summerfield, Fitz Kreiner
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It’s witty and fun, both a proper archaeological space adventure and a story that will make you laugh. And, please don’t run away because it’s two characters from spin-off media. Benny is introduced here at her wittiest, as she picks up her own almost-companion (who, absolutely wonderfully, is not what she seems) and the encounter with Fitz merely provides the perfect anti-climax to Benny’s spot of derring-do. It’s a quest to save (or possibly doom) a planet and it’s worth reading whatever era you favour, because it does it with style and it‘s entertaining from start to finish.

Story: Planes, Trains and Horseless Carriages
Author:Ligia_Elena
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 2263
Author's Summary: The Doctor, Vicki and Steven journey over land and sea to make a date with history.
Characters/Pairings: First Doctor, Vicki, Steven Taylor
Warnings:None

Recced because: I should confess here and now that I had this story written for me in tardis_gen, but, it’s a high treat and no mistake - I can‘t miss it out. For starters it’s that rare creature in fic, a straight historical (set in early 20th C America). What’s more, it’s a straight, fun historical that features a undeservingly neglected TARDIS team and makes full use of their characters. Only Vicki would have the boundless enthusiasm needed to overcome the obstacles in their race against time, the Doctor’s love of the many old-fangled vehicles they encounter is charming and, as for Steven - well, his wish is what drives the story and to reveal it would spoil the ending. You’ll just have to read it and find out.

Story: An Old Cliched Joke
Author:A Moment In Subtext
Rating:All Ages
Word Count: 316
Author's Summary:How many Doctors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Characters/Pairings: K-9, Rose Tyler, Tegan Jovanka, The Doctor (10th), The Doctor (1st), The Doctor (2nd), The Doctor (3rd), The Doctor (4th), The Doctor (5th), The Doctor (6th), The Doctor (7th), The Doctor (8th), The Doctor (9th)
Warnings: None, but absolutely not to be taken seriously…

Recced because:How about a joke for the middle of the week? Okay, then: how many Doctors does it take to change a light bulb?

Frankly, anything would be quicker than all ten of him. It’s a short, daft fic but the sly humour at the Doctors’ expense makes me grin every time I read it. It’s completely silly, but it works and I keep sneaking back to it when I need cheering up.

Hi, I'm lost_spook (vvj5 on Teaspoon) and I'm delighted to be back again to rec for this week. It should be a fair mix of eras and stories - I hope that everyone finds something to enjoy here. Let's pull up the curtain and begin...

Story: With A Little Illumination
Author: st_aurafina
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 6269
Author's Summary: When an opera critic is torn limb from limb, the Brigadier suspects that more than just bruised egos are at play.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Josephine Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, The Master
Warnings: None.

Recced because: It's note perfect (sorry) right down from the nod to Phantom in the title to Jo Grant getting to save the day at the climax in her own endearingly stubborn fashion. It's in one sense a glorious celebration of the UNIT era, and in another it plays games and pokes fun at the cliches - how can you not like a fic which opens with the Brigadier telling the Doctor he's had crossword experts scouring phone books for likely aliases for the Master? With a suitably sinister and elegant original Master up to one of his improbable schemes, the Brigadier being forced to attend the opera with Undercover Jo (don't tell Doris) and the Doctor being rather too noble for his own good, this shouldn't be missed. And if you're a stranger to 1970s DW, why not start here?

Besides, it's worth it just to discover the Brigadier's verdict on the Master's efforts at opera composition. (Isn't that a sentence you thought you'd never see?)

(I should add that this was written for the tardis_gen ficathon, which produced some fabulous stories not so long ago, and I more or less bullied st_aurafina into archiving it on Teaspoon so I could rec it here, which she kindly did - thanks!)

Story: What Planet Are You From?
Author: TigerKat
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 755
Author's Summary: Howl Jenkins lives near Cardiff. Torchwood is in Cardiff. Howl Jenkins does magic. Torchwood notices magic. Crossover with Howl's Moving Castle. Tiny spoiler for Fragments.
Characters/Pairings: Captain Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper
Warnings: None

Recced because: I love Doctor Who (well, obviously) and I love Diana Wynne Jones's books. Someone crossing the two as well as this (all right, Torchwood to be pedantic, but still) is rare enough to be a possible case for national rejoicing. Two of the handsomest, vainest and troublesome characters in sci-fi and fantasy running into one another (and with such a simple, good reason)? Toshiko is rational, Sophie is sensible, Howl causes trouble and Owen ends up as a frog. My one complaint is: how could the author not have left us an account of the rest of the week?

Story: Dear Mike: If You See A Blue Box
Author: Pitry
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1926
Author's Summary: The Williams family goes on holiday every year, leaving instructions for their neighbour.
Characters/Pairings: None, Tenth Doctor
Warnings: None

Recced because: This is something of an oddity as fics go, but I like it very much. In one sense, it’s a Doctorless story and in another his presence is all over it. A haunting short story in letters that explores the Doctor’s effect on one family over 40 years. It’s humorous, moving and chilling by turns and it provokes questions rather than offering answers.

Story: Ground Rules
Author: JJPOR
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3554
Author's Summary:“The Doctor?” The Brigadier thought about that for a moment. “He’s the Queen’s sworn enemy as well?”
Characters/Pairings:Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, UNIT
Warnings: None

Recced because: Another great fic arising from continuity niggles - this one being the obvious question of where exactly was Torchwood in the 70s when the Doctor was working for UNIT and fighting off aliens on a weekly basis while patently not being arrested? The result is a satisfyingly twisty, Spooks-style spy story that explains why. And has the Brigadier and UNIT getting the better of Torchwood's sinister men in grey. Read it and cheer.