The Spindle of Necessity

After an entire anthology of other Doctors, including two stories for the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors, Six finally gets his own solo story at the tail end of Quality of Leadership, but it is no lightweight tale.

The Spindle of Necessity is a trip and a half. Featuring the Sixth Doctor hanging out in Ancient Egypt, retired from travelling after feeling despair over meeting the Valeyard during Trail of the Time Lord stuff, the Doctor encounters Plato seeking answers in the wake of his colleague Socrates' death. Allyn Gibson writes this story, known for a diverse background of work as an interviewer and writer, especially in comics.

I think he did a fantastic job. He lulls you into what seems like a standard if somewhat questionable voyage, where the Doctor seeks to prove to Plato that there is no magical passageway to the afterlife at the Earth's south pole. That might seem like a strange journey to take, but reading this short story (written rather brilliantly as one of Plato's historical dialogues) it is very easy to accept all this as just the fate of circumstance as Plato and the Doctor sort of strike up this kinship with one another. Plato recognizes the Doctor is this incredible well of knowledge, while the Doctor respects Plato knowing the philosopher's role in human history.

So it is a very pleasant, fascinating read. What sets it apart to me, and where I put it right on the level of the best of the Quality of Leadership short stories, is the big twist ending. It is so good, so unexpected, so clever, so fun, and so brilliantly executed, that I can't say I care to give it away at this time. It's not on the Doctor Who wiki and it is too well-written for me to give it away here. You'll just have to read Spindle of Necessity to appreciate it yourself.