The First Doctor #16

'A Big Hand for the Doctor' (2013) from 11 Doctors, 11 Stories.

Despite The Doctor's inner-monologue being more in line with the modern incarnations and rather out of character, I still enjoyed having a very Doctor-focused story here, and the Peter Pan-influenced plot is plenty fun. The fact that the hand that The First Doctor has in his whole televised run is a replacement one that's slightly too big is an amusing concept, and The Doctor evaporating all of the Space Pirates at the end is so brutal despite their crimes. Nice to see this level of darkness in a children's story.

(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 s**t 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.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

"A Big Hand for the Doctor: When Sci-Fi Meets Peter Pan"

I’m listening to this story as part of the Fifteen Doctors, 15 Stories audiobook release.

Eoin Colfer, Best known for his Artemis Fowl series, ventures into Doctor Who territory with A Big Hand for the Doctor, a story featuring the First Doctor and Susan. Colfer’s playful and irreverent writing style may delight his usual readers, but it feels oddly out of place for the gruff and enigmatic First Doctor. The narrative itself leans heavily into whimsy, as the Doctor searches for a replacement hand after losing his original to the sinister Soul Pirates—all while looking for Susan in Edwardian London.

Colfer’s take on the First Doctor is the story’s most jarring element. Instead of the irascible, secretive figure from early Doctor Who, we get a Doctor who feels far more like a later incarnation—adventurous, warm, and prone to action sequences that don’t align with his character. Susan, sadly, fares even worse. Despite being central to the plot, she remains a passive figure with little to contribute.

The Soul Pirates, bizarre alien organ harvesters, are the primary antagonists. They’re portrayed as bumbling and comedic, evoking the Ogrons but with even less menace. While their concept fits within Doctor Who’s broad sci-fi universe, their cartoonish execution undermines any potential threat they might pose. The story’s tone veers toward the absurd, reminiscent of Douglas Adams’ influence, but lacks the finesse to balance humour with tension.

The epilogue reveals that this adventure inspired J. M. Barrie to write Peter Pan. While a clever nod to Edwardian literary history, this twist feels forced, as if the story were trying too hard to leave a lasting impression.

📝Verdict: 5/10

A Big Hand for the Doctor may amuse younger readers or fans of Colfer’s signature humour, but it struggles to capture the essence of the First Doctor and his era. The whimsical tone and mischaracterisation overshadow its potential, leaving this story feeling more like a misstep than a celebration of Doctor Who’s rich legacy.

Random Observations:

• Wait, so the Doctor suddenly has visions of their future incarnations?
• I get some The Church on Ruby Road vibes from the pirates and the pirate ship.

So the first Doctor lost both hand and is bitching bout the robot hand which is kind of funny, Susan is also missing, hes on a quest to find Susan and find some new hands. He goes to a surgeon named Aldrige who does the doctor a favour if he becomes a surgeon assistant for a number of days.

I found it hard to get into this e-short, the Doctor on the hunt for the soul pirates who took his hands 20 years ago. Its a lot of information like that thrown at you in a short amount of time, like Susan has to save some children but we don't hear about that till after she talks about it. So i did feel kind of lost unknowing whats going on.

I like how its mainly a 1st Doctor story on his own I feel most of the stories so far have had Susan be the focus its nice to see the leading man pave the way forward with him fighting a guy with a sword. With the incarnation being the first Doctor is a funny vision.

The best part of the e-short is the Doctor imagining his mother and calling Susan an adult, its so good because even though he treats Susan as a kid there hints on him knowing shes a grown up. The Doctor envisioning his mother adds a layer of childishness to 1st, because we do forget that he may be wise but he is still the youngest doctor.

but yeah overall this is a small dud in my opinion, nothing extremely worth it here. Its very hard to follow it seems to do the "and then another thing happend and..." style of story telling.

A novella which purports to be about the First Doctor encountering some aliens in Victorian London, but is largely an excuse to claim the inspiration for the story of Peter Pan.

This kind of 'it was the Doctor all along' story is hardly rare, but in this case I found it to be very forced. I also found the characterisations to be a bit off, with the famously distant and grumpy First Doctor getting all soppy about the thought of losing his granddaughter. What follows is a lot of running, jumping, and sword-play, which almost seems as if it was originally written for a 21st Century Doctor. While all this is going on, Susan herself does practically nothing except get immediately captured and spend the rest of the story asleep.

Overall, I feel that this is a bit of a missed opportunity. The story of Peter Pan is already strange enough that it would fit a much more engaging Doctor Who story, and this tale seemed an odd choice for a First Doctor story. I'm tempted to think that this story was written for another pairing, such as 10 and Rose, then hastily converted when the publisher realised they needed a First Doctor story.