Penguin Group When the Wolves Came The 2015 Annual

Published

2015

Starring the twelfth Doctor and Clara

• When Noe Geric Came to Review This by Noe Geric

When Noe Geric Came to Review This by Noe Geric 1/12/21

I've nothing against four-page short stories. It's a great way to explore characters and psychology. List writers know that and try to do their best with these elements. But trying to write a whole adventure in 500 words is nearly impossible. Then you end up with this very short story that tries to do to much and end up being quite mysterious.

We follow Simon, a boy form the 22th century who tries to survive in a dead London. He finds the TARDIS and uses it as his HQ for months. Then, one day, he do something with the console and saves the Doctor and Clara from a creature with a name so long I can't remember it. Then the Doctor takes Simon back to his parents who left him behind after the alien invasion that destroyed the city. That's all. There's nothing else to see, and the story leaves you with more questions than the whole of Matt Smith's era.

Why is London dead? Why is there an army of wolves invading it? Why is the TARDIS far from the Doctor? Aren't Simon parents bastards to leave their son behind? How did the Doctor knew where Simon's parents were? Why did someone decided to publish this?

Except for the 12th Doctor and Clara, who get enough characterization in three lines for you to know that it's them because they're never named in the text, Simon is quite cardboard. He is just the typical apocalypse survivor. Nothing is done, and there's absolutely no point in this story. I know it's still for young readers, but here it isn't even entertaining. It's just a filler. Why bother to write four pages of complete futility? The Short Trips and Side Steps story VRS is only ten words long and manage to be more deep and original than this! 1/10

Avoid this. There's always better.