Story: Good ol' Captain Smaarg
Author: Pab
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 4,164
Author's Summary: The Master is to be executed. His last wish: to see the Doctor. His plan: to change places. And so the Doctor finds himself being taken for execution while the Master has the key to the TARDIS. As for Captain Smaarg, he's too concerned with paperwork. And Peri? She suspects nothing.
Characters/Pairings: The Doctor (5th), Peri, the Master
Warnings: None

Recced because: As I was observing the other day, I find something very pleasing about Doctor Who stories told from the point of view of the hapless or oblivious characters who have fleeting contacts with the Doctor and his companions in the course of their activities, and this is in part one of those. It also reflects the way in which the best things about many official Who stories are their weird and wonderful supporting characters, even if the main supporting character in this case is one of the author's creation. As I've reflected before, there is a school of thought that frowns upon fanfic which focuses on OCs, but I personally have no problem with it, and when these characters are as engaging and well-drawn as they are here, they can actually be one of the real pleasures to be had in reading fic.

The author's summary above pretty much covers the plot of this fic, but the plot here is secondary to the aim of telling a very mid-80s Who story, for the most part from the perspective of the officious, bureaucracy-loving, mammalophobic alien official Captain Smaarg, who really can't be bothered with these Time Lords and humans messing up his paperwork with their adventures. When I say mid-80s, I mean the way in which this fic captures so well various features of that era, such as the Fifth Doctor's quiet exasperation with the universe, the Master's sheer dastardliness and Peri's attempts at diplomacy. You can vividly picture the wonky, overlit corridors the story almost certainly takes place within, and the characters' costumes recycled from old Baker-era stories, and I mean that as a heartfelt compliment to the author.

Smaarg himself is a delight to behold, a sort of reptilian Gordon Brittas, but without the unconquerable optimism or, frankly, the essentially good intentions. Nevertheless, for all of his lack of imagination and petty-minded pedantry, he is portrayed as somebody who genuinely does love his job and think that it is vital to the perpetuation of the greater good, while remaining blithely unaware up to now of the unpopularity his pettifogging has given rise to among his colleagues and, indeed, everybody else he encounters. It's quite an achievement on the part of the author to make this character essentially sympathetic, helping the Doctor save the day at least as much as he hinders him. The fact that the story is also at several points genuinely laugh out loud funny certainly helps.

So go and check it out. I hope you'll like it as much as I did.


( A Snippet )

Story: The Previous Tenants
Author: PhoenixDragon
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,776
Author's Summary: There is a townhouse with an attractive blue door that no one lives behind.
Characters/Pairings: Other Character(s), The Doctor (12th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: I think one of the things that I enjoy most about Doctor Who fiction, both official and fanmade, is when it takes a look at the trail the Doctor and his companions leave behind in the universe, the traces and hints and anomalies that arise from travel in space and time. I find myself quite partial to stories exploring the way in which the rest of the people who live in that universe can go through their lives blissfully unaware of the strange and wonderful and terrifying things that are going on all around them, all of the time. If they're very (un)lucky.

And this is a fic that explores some of that ground in what I hope you'll agree is really a rather wonderful way. It looks at some of the houses of Who, left behind when the adventures or adventurers who once called them home have long passed by. It deals with this subject matter in a nicely understated and oblique manner, dropping hints and suggestions rather than stating things outright, very much from the point of view of the ordinary people for whom the Doctor and his adventures remain nothing more than a ghost, a legend or a rumour. It also hints at the way the Doctor himself occasionally finds time and space passing him by, made if anything all the more painful for him by the way he can actually go back and experience the past, while at the same time being bound by laws and rules which prevent him from actually doing anything about his regrets or past mistakes.

Most of all, however, for all of the wistful hints and sense of sadness and loss that hangs over the story, it reminds us at the end that those strange and wonderful and terrifying things that follow in the Doctor's wake are quite often wonderful as well as the other things. There's meant to be no magic in the Whoniverse, but there is a bit of fairy-dust, glittering and hinting at fantastic things long gone, if you happen to know where and when to look for it.

Check this fic out. I really like it. I think you will too.


( A Sample )

Story: Can't see the forest
Author: ClocketPatch
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,396
Author's Summary: The trees have roots everywhere.
Characters/Pairings: the Doctor (9th), the Doctor (10th), Rose Tyler, Sarah Jane Smith, Jo Grant, Jabe, the TARDIS
Warnings: None

Recced because: This is exactly the sort of thing I like to see in fanfic. It takes a relatively minor character who appeared in a single, if somewhat pivotal, story and opens that character up to explore all sorts of unexpected facets and directions. It brings in bits of lore and characters from all over the universe of Doctor Who and mixes them seamlessly with the not-canon-but-ought-to-be speculations of the author's own imagination. And then it brings in a neat time paradox, yet another sideways look from this author (who has produced many such sideways looks) at the nature of the TARDIS and finishes on a killer image and concept that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. In other words, this is the good stuff.

Jabe was already a fascinating character to my way of thinking, but this fic succeeds in making her even more so by emphasising her non-human nature and suggesting some very interesting takes on the society she comes from and speculates on the possible motivations for the actions we see from her in the televised story. Most of all, however, this story has this particular author's stamp all over it. It's not just what it tells, but the way it's told with great use of evocative language, vivid imagery and nice prose stylings.

This is an author I've been following for several years now, and whose work I will always recommend for all of the reasons outlined here. You know you're onto a sure thing when you click on the link to one of her stories. Don't believe me? There's the link right there. You know what to do...


( A Taster )

Well, these two weeks have gone by just as quickly as they usually do, which is to say in a flash, and my reccing stint is nearly over. I didn't get the chance to post as many recs as I would have liked, but I hope there'll be a next time to remedy that. In the meantime, allow me to leave you with this excellent fic:

Story: Nor Grave Nor Bed Denied
Author: LizBee and Branwyn
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 2,343
Author's Summary: In the wake of the destruction of Skaro, Romana receives a visitor.
Characters/Pairings: Romana II, The Doctor (7th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: As you may have noticed only the other day, I remain as obsessed by Doctor/Romana as I ever have been, and by that murky period between Survival and Rose which presumably led up to the Time War and which may or may not have been accurately depicted in the 90s novels. This ticks all of those boxes, as well as hinting strongly at Seven/Romana, which as far as I'm concerned is second only to Four/Romana in terms of being right up my fannish alley. ...so to speak.

This fic also takes its lead from the audio story The Apocalypse Element, with which you may or may not be familiar (it's very good, btw, if you ever get the chance to listen). I don't think you need to be to work out very quickly what the backstory is. In some ways not knowing and going only on the hints provided in the fic makes Seven and Romana's somewhat difficult conversation here even more strained and effective. And what a conversation it is; I love the way the two characters are portrayed here, both older and wiser and more damaged than they were in their heyday together, still with that connection but with so much pain and baggage by now to go with it. I think there's an understandable tendency in fanfic to idealise the character relationships that appeal to us and to disregard the fact that real relationships, however idyllic, invariably have their ups and downs and messy patches. This treatment of the Doctor and Romana is all the more commendable for not falling into the trap while also clearly having a lot of affection for both characters and their shared history.

There may be a hint of the far more difficult relationship the Doctor and Romana had in the EDA novels, which isn't one of my favourite choices that those novels made, but even that shows and honesty and willingness to face up to the less comfortable part of Who "canon" that adds to the strength of the story. Most of all, they are portrayed as two characters who are at the point in their association where they cannot fool each other at all, however much they might want to, and who are both well aware of that fact.

All this and numerous little nods to various bits of Who lore established in several different versions of continuity. You may know by now that I'm a sucker for that sort of thing and prepared to award all the bonus points to anything that acknowledges the weirdness that is LOOOMS!

So once again I urge to you head over to the Teaspoon post haste and read this rather spiffing fic, and then to be sure to leave words of appreciation for the author. And that, for now, is my work here done.


( An Excerpt )

Story: World's End
Author: Doctor Tam
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1,327
Author's Summary: The end of the Time War.
Characters/Pairings: Romana II, The Doctor (8th)
Warnings: Some violent war/disaster imagery.

Recced because: This fic takes me back. It speaks very clearly to my inner fanboy, who remains obsessed with Doctor/Romana and unhealthily interested in just what the heck went down in the Last Great Time War.

It's a bit shocking to think that it's almost a whole two years since the 50th Anniversary, and now more than ten years since the revival of Who in 2005. And for most of the time in between those two milestones, those of us who were interested in the Time War, arguably the main innovation introduced by RTD in terms of shaking up the Whoniverse, didn't really know much about it. There were hints, vague suggestions of things like the fall of Arcadia or the Nightmare Child, that intrigued more than they explained. So we thought about it, and extrapolated, and made things up, and wrote a great many fics about it that were pretty much comprehensively Jossed by The Day of the Doctor. Which was not a bad thing because if you ask me The Day of the Doctor was absolutely fantastic. Being Jossed was a price well worth paying for that.

And I'll bet Steven Moffat didn't ask himself whether he had that right before he did it either...

So in that sense this fic is a blast from the past (indeed it dates from 2009). In another sense, if you squint a bit, the Doctor portrayed here taking his leave from Romana in Gallifrey's last moments could just as easily be the War Doctor as Eight. I think a lot of us always thought though that the idea of Eight of all Doctors being placed in that terrible position just seemed right, in some poetic sense, just as the notion that it would have been the Lady President Romana sending him on that fatal mission seemed too terribly perfect not to be true. The End of Time Jossed that one, of course, and while I personally don't hold that story in the same regard as The Day of the Doctor, that too was a price worth paying for the possibility of a still-living Romana, out there, somewhere...

Enough about my fannish predilections anyway. This is a very nice fic indeed, and extremely well written. It puts you the reader right in that hellish moment before the End and manages to explore the characters of the Doctor and Romana, their thoughts about and differing relationships with regard to their homeworld and their duties to it within a very economical word count. It explores the Doctor's role in and responsibility for the War and associated events, and how his association with Romana has affected both of them and led directly to the position in which they currently find themselves. As a fan with a lot of affection for that particular relationship, I find this story and its portrayal of what is almost certainly their final parting very touching indeed.

There is one line (no, not the one about Ace; as much as it pains me, thinking up horrible fates for Ace is pretty much a standard feature in all fiction, official and fan, set in the Survival-Rose gap) that I can imagine many fans would find contentious. Don't let that turn you off what it by any other measure a great fic. I hope you will all go and read it right now and leave some words of appreciation for the author.


( A Moment )

Story: If Found, Please Return
Author: Llywela
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 31,474
Author's Summary: Crossover between Classic Who and The Professionals. UNIT and CI5 would have been around at about the same time in the late 1970s. CI5 weren't keen on other agencies treading over their perceived jurisdiction and UNIT were learning to cope without the Doctor after his departure from Earth. So what happened when they found their investigations overlapping?
Characters/Pairings: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Harry Sullivan, Sergeant Benton, UNIT, plus crossover characters
Warnings: Some violence

Recced because: I don't know about you, but I love a really well-done crossover.

For the uninitiated, The Professionals was a British crime/action series that first aired on the ITV network between 1977 and 1983. Martin Shaw played Doyle, a "sensitive" (by the admittedly low standards of the average late 70s British male) former cop with an astonishing perm; Lewis Collins was Bodie, an ex-military hardman with a murky past and huge shirt collars. Together, they worked as agents for "CI5", a fictional crime-fighting department headed by the tough, no-nonsense George Cowley (Gordon Jackson out of Upstairs, Downstairs and The Great Escape). They regularly cut pesky legal corners and "fought fire with fire" in order to settle the hash of various gangsters, terrorists and anybody else foolish enough to tangle with them. They always drove cars with reckless abandon and frequently got into fisticuffs and shootouts with that week's villains before invariably "getting" the girl. They were even more reprehensibly macho (and unintentionally slashy in their relationship) than you might imagine, but the involvement of Brian Clemens, of The Avengers fame, meant that the self-consciously gritty proceedings were often lent a certain wry humour and sense of quirkiness.

In other words, crossing The Professionals over with Doctor Who, and even better teaming Bodie and Doyle up with the post-Terror of the Zygons UNIT lineup of the Brigadier, "Mr" Benton and Harry Sullivan, is as far as I'm concerned a stroke of fanfictional genius. Not only is it fun to see how the latter-day UNIT go about trying to deal with an alien threat without the Doctor's assistance, and to see how the agents whose day job involves dealing with human crimes react to one of their investigations suddenly colliding with otherworldly happenings, but all of the characters are portrayed deftly and true to themselves. You don't need to be familiar with the crossover to appreciate how well Bodie and Doyle are delineated from each other very economically via dialogue and the ways they respond to events, while at the same time the Brigadier and Cowley, on the face of it quite similar authority figures, are revealed to be very different in outlook and approach. One of the real strengths of this story, though, is that as well as everything else it is an excellent portrayal of a post-Doctor Harry Sullivan, who gets plenty of opportunities to do stuff and to shine while he's doing it, as well as the author taking time to think about some of the obvious and not so obvious ways that his time aboard the TARDIS may have left its mark upon him.

On top of the characterisations, there is also a genuinely complex and well thought out plot to be going on with, beginning with a pair of linked mysteries and gradually coming together to resolve itself neatly in the end. There are very well-written action sequences and some neat detective work by our teamed-up heroes, and the author-created aliens around which the plot revolves manage to be menacing and sympathetic at the same time. Throughout, the author demonstrates a keen eye and ear for the various tropes and distinguishing characteristics of British TV shows of the era in which the fic is set, and not just the obvious, endlessly-parodied ones either. I will say only this; there is one moment involving a car seat which had me shaking my head in admiration at the vivid period feel of this piece.

So, as you can see, I liked this one very much and I hope you will too. Take some time to read and absorb this fic, and then (I hope) tell the author what a fine piece of work it is.


( A Taste )

Well, these past two weeks have sped by and I hope you've enjoyed the recs I've posted here as much as I have enjoyed sharing them. I'll just slip this last one in before handing reccing duties over to the inimitable lost_spook:

Story: Riddles in the Dark
Author: nonelvis
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1702
Author's Summary: The Great Intelligence easily sneaks onto the TARDIS. Defeating the Doctor, however, will be much harder.
Characters/Pairings: Jamie McCrimmon/The Doctor (2nd), the Great Intelligence
Warnings: None

Recced because: Well, mainly because this is a lovely, fluffy laugh-out-loud fic in which the Second Doctor finally gets that ultimate showdown he never got with the Great Intelligence post-Web of Fear and it takes the form of a somewhat whimsical riddle competition. Similarities to Bilbo's contest with Gollum in The Hobbit are entirely coincidental, the author assures us, and to be honest Professor Tolkien was never as funny as this. If you don't cackle like a fool at the bit with the pizza-related question then, quite honestly, I don't understand you at all.

This fic actually has quite a bit going on in addition to the great jokes. The Second Doctor, a character often thought of as quite difficult to capture in prose, is very finely portrayed here, with numerous moments and bits of dialogue that just ring true. Not only can you hear Troughton's voice at various points, you can picture his facial expressions. The idea of the Doctor having a romantic relationship with Jamie is presented so matter-of-factly and so tenderly that even if you're not a dedicated Two/Jamie shipper you'll find yourself getting behind it, and certainly you don't have to be into that ship to find the conclusion of the fic, and the means of the Doctor's victory over the Intelligence, very appealing indeed - a real "aww" moment, for me.

That pizza joke, though... :D Go and see for yourself. I'm not liable for anything you may spit out over your keyboard, by the way.

And that's your lot from me for now.


( A Moment )

Story: Gentleman Caller
Author: locker_monster
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 3819
Author's Summary: Who's the grey-haired Scottish man the Chandras keep seeing at Sarah Jane's house? Does she have a new boyfriend?
Characters/Pairings: Clara Oswin Oswald, Gita Chandra, Haresh Chandra, Sarah Jane Smith, Sky, The Doctor (12th)
Warnings: None

Recced because: Like the rest of Doctor Who fandom, I was dismayed to hear of the untimely death of Elisabeth Sladen in 2011. Although it pales into insignificance by comparison, as much as I recognised that ending the series at that point was the right decision, I was also very sad to see the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures, my favourite Who spin-off (sorry, Torchwood!). I know I was not alone in this, nor in craving hints as to what might have happened next to the Bannerman Road gang, and especially how their paths might have crossed again with characters from the main series. So any fic that explores these areas is going to be one I want to read.

I find this fic particularly delightful for the way it focuses on two of my favourite SJA characters, Rani's parents Gita and Haresh, and for portraying them so vividly and in a manner that is so true to their onscreen characters. They both react exactly as you might expect to the notion of a mysterious new man appearing in Sarah Jane's life, which is to say completely differently and at considerable cross purposes. Another thing I find extremely interesting here is the way the author imagines how life might have continued for the characters following the end of the TV series, picking up on the hints in those final episodes to present a considerably altered status quo, with the younger characters moving on beyond school and parents and the newly introduced Sky coming more to the fore. This is no doubt the path the series itself would have followed had it been able to continue.

The highlight here, of course, is the great crossover it imagines which surely would have happened had SJA continued up to the present day (considering the episodes featuring Ten and Eleven) - the Twelfth Doctor meeting Sarah Jane Smith. It's done very well and hearwarmingly here, with Twelve showing as we might have guessed by now that his brusque exterior hides a somewhat less curmudgeonly centre, and of course has an added poignancy due to the rl reason that that encounter can never take place for real.

But enough of that - go and read this fic because it is really rather lovely, and please leave some words of encouragement for the author.


( A Moment )

Story: I could never live with me before you came along
Author: Nancy Brown
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 8664
Author's Summary: Canton Everett Delaware III is on a mission from God, er, River to put the band back together.
Characters/Pairings: Amy Pond, Canton Everett Delaware III, Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, River Song, Rory Williams, The Doctor (11th), plus Anthony Williams and OCs
Warnings: None

Recced because: I was actually planning to rec another fic by this author, and I came across this more or less at random while looking for the other one on her Teaspoon page yesterday...and loved it. And couldn't believe it had no reviews and decided the best way of remedying that with a vengeance was to get it out here on Calufrax. So win/win for me - I get to rec this magnificent fic and still have one in the hole for my next reccing stint! :D

In all seriousness, though, this is a great fic, written with excellent characterisation and just common sense, decency and humanity. You know, like the best fics are. The fact that it also ticks quite a few of my fannish boxes as regards the tail end of the Eleven era (the Capaldinator is obviously brilliant, but I'm unashamed to say Eleven remains "my" NuWho Doctor) certainly doesn't hurt either. I've made no secret of the fact that I was, and am, seriously dissatisfied with the ending Amy and Rory got in The Angels Take Manhattan, not even because of their fates but mainly because of the slapdash way it was all plotted and the way we were expected to swallow rl attempts to plaster over those plot holes by authorial "word of god", so this sort of semi-fix-it (it doesn't actually fix it, but makes its point by illustrating one of the several blatantly obvious ways that it could be fixed) will always hold a certain appeal for me. The fact that it's wise-guy G-Man Canton Everett Delaware III, still one of my all-time favourite one-shot Who guest characters, who gets to be the main instrument of that sort-of-fix-it is, for me, the shiny cherry on top.

The author gives Canton an OC boyfriend, fittingly also a smart-mouthed hard-boiled cop type, who is also the everyman observer of the Doctor's strange world, as they go about reuniting Canton, the Paternoster Row crew, Amy and Rory and their adopted son Anthony, and eventually River and Eleven himself, and even get a bit of fraught adventure along the way. Throughout, we are reminded deftly and thought-provokingly of the difficulties and dangers facing same-sex relationships over the ages, with Vastra and Jenny's relationship also portrayed with great perceptiveness and sensitivity. I think the main thing I like about this, though, is the obvious love for the diverse cast of characters; even the ones that don't get that many lines (Eleven, actually) are vividly portrayed; as I often say of fanfic I find has particularly true-to-life characterisations, you really can hear the voices as you read it.

So get over there and see what you think, and please leave some words of appreciation for the author...!


( A Taste )

Calufrax...we meet again! It has been too long. So, anyway, *reads instructions* I'm going to be sharing 4-10 recs with you over the next two weeks *throws instructions away* and I hope you're going to enjoy all of them as much as I did.

Story: Romana And The Quest Against Boredom
Author: Gallifrey Immigrant
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1778
Author's Summary: Romana's bored. That cannot do, so she's looking for a solution.
Characters/Pairings: K-9, Romana II, The Doctor (4th)
Warnings: None.

Recced because: Well, you know that thing where I'm kind of obsessed with Four and Romana and indeed Four/Romana? I'm even worse at the moment, because I've recently been re-watching Seasons 16 and 17 for the first time in some time, and I'm sort of falling in love all over again with those crazy kids and their idiosyncratic adventures. As I was recently opining in a venue other than Livejournal, I'm not really convinced "too silly" is ever a bad thing where Doctor Who is concerned, especially not when you have a Doctor and companion combo who do "silly" with such panache.

And I think this fic is a good example of the whole Season 17 vibe, capturing that combination of innocent whimsy and knowing absurdism and, let's not forget, genuine warmth. I'm particularly fond of the dialogue in this, which really does sound like exactly the sorts of things these characters would be coming out with, as Romana sets out to fight her newly acquired state of boredom in as business-like and slightly oblivious a manner as you would expect her to do so. Some good asides in this from K-9 too, but what I really love is the way Four himself impinges (or doesn't impinge) upon the story, embodying the disreputable uncle/irresponsible teacher side of his nature as he decides to let his protégé figure this particular lesson out for herself (she does...sort of).

Anyway, I think it's lovely, and I hope you will too when you go and read it. Right now!


( A Sample )