The shortest of the short stories so far (and presumably the shortest overall), this is a very fun little tale that I don't really have much to say about. It's enjoyable, I like the concept, the idea of a train saying it's coming in 50 years is a funny mental image, and generally the underground is a fun setting.

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

“THE FIFTY-YEAR DELAY – THE BIRD, THE BLAND, AND THE BRIEF”

The Fifty-Year Delay starts with a clever and rather surreal concept: a man waits on a platform and realises his train won’t arrive for another 50 years. Enter the Doctor, who is—of course—chasing a time-disrupting space bird responsible for the anomaly. So far, so promising. Unfortunately, that’s where the imagination stops.

This micro-adventure doesn’t explore its central conceit in any meaningful way. The Doctor turns up, offers a brisk explanation about the "time bird," catches it, and everything resets—suddenly it’s just one minute until the train is due. That’s it. No real tension. No consequences. No development for the man who’s been effectively frozen in anticipation for half a century.

A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING, FIFTY YEARS EARLY

There’s immense potential in the image of a man stuck waiting fifty years for a train, a perfect metaphor for lost time, regret, or inertia—but the story is too slight to capitalise on any of it. The titular delay ends up being more of a narrative gimmick than a thematic or emotional core.

We’re told this is the Eleventh Doctor, but it could honestly be any incarnation. None of his usual eccentric charm, erratic energy, or poetic speech patterns are present. It’s more of a functional cameo than a true character appearance.

FLUTTERING OFF TOO QUICKLY

The bird—bright, temporal, and mischievous—ought to be an intriguing creature in the vein of Doctor Who’s more whimsical one-off monsters. But it arrives, flaps about, and is caught within the space of a few lines. There’s no sense of danger or weirdness, no exploration of its origin or impact beyond the single delay.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE: 4/10

A story with a strong sci-fi concept that goes nowhere fast. The Fifty-Year Delay squanders its intriguing setup and delivers a flat, anonymous Eleventh Doctor tale that ends before it can say anything of note.