The Monthly Adventures #91b - "Summer" by Mike Maddox

Circular Time is the first example of something I’ve been awaiting since I began this review marathon: the anthologies. Consisting of four short stories rather than a collective narrative, the anthologies were always going to be a challenge to review since they’re technically four stories in one and so four reviews in one. The best work around I could think of is just to write four short reviews, so today, we begin our journey down the road of short fiction. And luckily, we just so happen to have a collection written by one of my favourite authors. Well, half of it anyway.

A blunder in a renaissance England public house leads to the Doctor and Nyssa’s imprisonment, only for an anachronistic artefact to catch the eye of their jailor: Sir Isaac Newton.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

If Mike Maddox’s biggest mistake with the last story was having too much to say, this is the complete opposite. Summer is definitely the most fun out of the anthology but it is very obvious it was a single idea that got blown up into a whole story.

Firstly, this is a fun script. Maddox writes humour very well and the pacing is great. The characters don’t feel wasted and the time is used well. I loved all the little gags in this, from the drowsy prison guards to Five reciting Pertwee’s “I Am the Doctor” whilst practicing alchemy.

Summer also does something that I always love in historical stories: realistic characters. Rather than doing the New Who take of “wow, look at this person, aren’t they so cool and perfect!’, Isaac Newton is an actual person with actual flaws and they are all on full display. His genius mixed with an insatiable ego genuinely makes him feel alive and his monologues were enjoyable because of how he was written and David Warner’s excellent performance.

However, there was really only one idea with this story. Isaac Newton works out the whole plot of Doctor Who through a coin, everything other than that is window dressing. Summer is a fun story but I hesitate to call it great, it’s very lightweight and you’re not going to leave it feeling entirely fulfilled.

7/10

Pros:

+ Decent bit of fun

+ Makes good use of its length

+ Good depiction of historical figures

Cons:

- Almost entirely uneventful

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Circular Time: Spring

It turns out, 30 minutes is all you need to tell an exceptional story. This is very cleverly and tightly written. David Warner is a fantastic Isaac Newton, you're really sold on his intelligence and the idea of deducing the future of Earth through the Doctor's coins was such a genius idea. The whole scene where he guesses exactly who the Doctor is as the Doctor gets more and more astounded was just great.

The Doctor himself is great in this story, he gets his chance to shine and be rather clever. I liked the cheeky reference to Jon Pertwee's Who is the Doctor? aswell. This story is full of witty remarks from both Newton and the Doctor and great if you enjoy hearing about the Doctor's other escapades. The Doctor and Newton share a touching scene at the end and a great way to wrap up this story.

Next Story: Renaissance of the Daleks

I was really taken by David Warner’s Isaac Newton. I found the concept of him seeing into the future through looking at coins from the Doctor’s pocket absolutely fascinating and perfect idea to work out over 30 minutes.