(Originally written on TheTimeScales)

Alright let’s get this out of the way. This is not a 1st Doctor story.

Oh sure it’s a story that features the Doctor that is described as Hartnell’s incarnation that travels with his granddaughter Susan that takes place before An Unearthly Child but a story that takes place during Hartnell’s run this is not. No instead we get a Doctor that jumps through rooftops, fighting off Soul Pirates, can see visions of his future self (which I don’t think has ever happened in the show but whatever) and spouting off pop culture references. This characterization feels more in line with the new series Doctors. This is not to say that the story itself is bad, far from it. Its actually a pretty fun, energetic story about the Doctor trying to save Susan and some kidnapped children with a comical lobster hand due to his other hand being cut off by the Soul Pirates. These guys are a genuinely fascinating foe for the Doctor to go against. A species that harvests the limbs of humans to mend themselves, that’s the shit I want to see more of from this show. There’s also the kinda cute ending where the author for Peter Pan gets inspired by the events of the story to where he writes… well Peter Pan.

Take away that this is supposed to be a 1st Doctor era story and it’s honestly a good bit of fun. Younger readers (since that’s what these short stories are aimed for) would get a kick out of this.