Calufrax

Story: Lying in Wait
Author: johne
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1457
Author's Summary: In which the Doctor, Sarah and the Brigadier catch a murderer.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Warnings: Do not attempt to consume beverages while reading.

Recced because: Okay, a little background. The UNIT / Third Doctor stories filmed in the early 1970s were set in "the near future" aka the 1980s... but visually, they're the most late-'60s/early-'70s things possible. Classic Who fans have spent the last thirty-some years wrangling over when exactly these stories take place, how to explain the anomalies, etc etc etc.

Now we get to the fun part. Johne proposes: "No-one can agree exactly when the UNIT stories are set. So they could have been in any year. Of any century." Thus - the "Really Stretching UNIT Dating" series, wherein UNIT goes about their normal business perfectly as usual... in the 1790s, the 1920s, 2020, and now Ancient Greece.

[ETA: Sorry, the original idea was not johne's. Credit goes to Daniel Gooley on Usenet's rec.arts.drwho, who suggested way back in '99 (1999, that is *g*), "I'd rather like to see some stories which really stretch UNIT continuity. Having the usual UNIT crew going about their usual business in an 18th century setting without a word of explanation, for example." Thanks to Johne for pointing this out! :D]

And it is glorious. This story in particular features Three, the Brig, and Sarah Jane, all being exactly as awesome as usual or a little more so, plus some offhand references to unwritten adventures in the same 'verse. Also, did I mention AWESOME?

(Full disclosure: the octopus in the bath was originally my fault, and I am a little prejudiced in favor of stories that use it. But it's still a fantastic story quite apart from that!)

(Also, Greek!Brig. I rather want fanart. *thinkyface*)

Greetings, Calufraxians! Calufractionaters? Er. Anyway. XD I come bearing fanfic recs. I have long fics, short fics, a lot of UNIT fic... mostly happy or comic endings, because that's how I roll.

And, um, two separate Christmas stories? O_O CHRISTMAS IN MAY. Have some fruitcake. ;-)

Story: Acquired Taste
Author: Primsong
Rating: All Ages
Word Count: 1473
Author's Summary: It's Christmas time at UNIT, time to enjoy some home-made fruitcake! Or then again, maybe not.
Characters/Pairings: Third Doctor, Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton
Warnings: ...bug squick? (No actual bugs appear. Sorry, I do actually tend to warn for EVERYTHING. *g*)

Recced because: It is awesome. =D First off, Jo is adorkable and also made of win - I love it when Jo gets all righteous at people. She's brilliant. For those who don't know her (yet *g*), she's a cute little five-foot-nothing klutzy blonde who didn't pass her A-levels; she also happens to be an expert escapologist, and passionately idealistic in a cheerful-hippie sort of way. When she gets mad at you it's half like being a bad puppy getting bopped on the nose, and half like being told off by a puppy. And Prim writes her the best of anyone.

Also, Three is classically... Three. I was looking for a word here and all I can come up with is "disdainful eighteenth-century gentleman who actually has no idea what's going on, so he throws cant jargon into the mix at every opportunity". (Oh dear, now I want somebody to write a Georgette Heyer crossover... O_O) With a side of "inherently plushie-able floofy adorkableness", because that after all is what Three is all about. ;-)

This all sounds terribly confusing to New Whovians, doesn't it? Er... there is an awesome girl companion, and the Doctor being silly and incorrigible, and also mockage of fruitcake. Go and read it! It's short, it's funny, it... hadn't been recced yet, if I am honest. That's a recommendation in itself, isn't it? That Prim is so good it's hard to find one of her fics that hasn't yet been recced here. :D