Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life

Short Trips: Monsters - #9:

--- "Not so Much a Programme, More a Way of Life" by Anthony Keetch

Plot:
In a London driven mad by popular pulp sci-fi TV show "Surrender, Earthlings!" the Doctor and Nyssa are split on two sides of a poisoned world as they try to deliver humanity from the hands of their alien oppressors: The Xyz.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Not so Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (which is a dreadful title) is a weird story because it's almost identical to the opening story of this anthology - Best Seller - just with a TV show instead of a book and a lot less to say. Whilst Best Seller did some interesting things with the concept, Not so Much a Programme, More a Way of Life instead goes down the exact route you'd expect and really doesn't take many risks with itself, instead just presenting itself as dumb fun. The prose is very informal here and Keetch writes in this casual, humorous tone that does tend to nail whatever humour he's trying to complete, the story being rather funny at times.

However the story feels pretty lackluster; Nyssa and the Doctor are well realised but we have them lugged around by an annoying sidecast in a rather lackluster revolution that does little to separate itself from similar stories. The Xyz are a cookie cutter, generic villain that leave no impact and the story doesn't really end anywhere.

Not so Much a Programme, More a Way of Life would probably be a lot better without Best Seller earlier in the anthology because it's just a worse version of that that gets its humour right but fumbles the rest of the story.

5/10

Pros:
+ Keetch has a unique and genuinely funny writing style that got a laugh out of me one or two times
+ The Doctor and Nyssa are both pretty well written and realised
+ It's a fun and inoffensive little story

Cons:
- Does very little with its concept and rarely goes out of the box
- The side cast are practically all unlikable and mostly pointless to the story at large
- The Xyz are incredibly generic antagonists
- Has been done better numerous times, including earlier in the same anthology

Monsters | Ranked:
11.
10.
9. These Things Take Time by Samantha Baker - 4/10
8. Not so Much a Programme, More a Way of Life by Anthony Keetch - 5/10
7. Last Rites by Marc Platt - 6/10
6. The Touch of the Nurazh by Stephen Hatcher - 7/10
5. From Eternity by Jim Mortimore - 8/10
4. Best Seller by Ian Mond and Danny Oz - 8/10
3. Flashpoint by Matt Grady - 8/10
2. Trapped! by Joseph Lidster - 9/10
1. Categorical Imperative by Simon Guerrier - 10/10

Overall - 7.2/10