Who will be there to hold us when we fall?

Jonathan Barnes’ latest Short Trip is very different from his Jago & Litefoot tales, and indeed from the majority of the range. Stylistically, it feels closer to a prose short story, with a more ornate use of language than we’re accustomed to from Doctor Who tie-in fiction, whether printed or audio. Barnes places us firmly inside Polly’s head, starting with a very mundane contemporary situation that turns unusual when the former TARDIS traveller finds an emerald green feather…

Anneke Wills savours the more elaborate and poetic style of the text, and delivers her usual excellent rendition of hers and Michael Craze’s characters from 50 years ago, alongside a version of the first Doctor that gets across the depleted state in which he found himself in the time leading up to the first regeneration. It’s one of those stories that depends on our knowledge of the whole saga, with references forward to many events in the future of both Doctor and companions, but where sometimes such references can jar, this works well.

The title, as ever with Barnes’ work, has a number of meanings, and it’s definitely one of the Short Trips that will linger in the mind long after you finish.

Verdict: An intriguing and very different step back to autumn 1966. 8/10

Paul Simpson