‘RUNNING OUT OF TIME’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Jeff Smith with the Eighth Doctor

This story is by Dorothy Koomson. It features the Eighth Doctor and is read by India Fisher. In this story, the Doctor helps a young man who works at a café in Worthing. The young man called Jeff Smith is on the run. He doesn’t know who he is and why he is running away. The Doctor helps Jeff Smith out.

On initial listens, I found this to be a rather uninspiring tale. That’s no fault of India Fisher mind. She is a lovely narrator. It would have been nice if Charley Pollard appeared with the Eighth Doctor in order to strengthen the emotional connection regarding Jeff Smith’s situation. Sadly, she didn’t appear here.

Upon listening to this adventure again, I have been able to gain more clarity in terms of the details of the story and who Jeff Smith is. It still doesn’t make it more inspiring, but at least I was able to give this one proper attention. It was quite intriguing to hear Jeff Smith’s backstory for this little adventure.

Apparently, at the age of six, Jeff Smith was taken to see an alien witch named Isobella Havelstack. He had the mind of billionaire Terrence Malson transferred into him. Not sure why Malson chose to be inside Jeff Smith. But it was all part of an evil scheme once Malson took control of Jeff’s body at sixteen.

Isobella took care of Jeff before he discovered the truth at sixteen and erased her memory with a spell of hers. The Eighth Doctor came along too and suggested Jeff to erase his memory also before helping him to remember again. The story finishes with Jeff shooting himself and killing Malson in the process.

‘Short Trips: Volume I’ is a nice collection of ‘Doctor Who’ stories for a fan. Not all the stories will be to everyone’s tastes, but I greatly enjoyed hearing them on the CD I have when in bed or in the car on holiday with my parents. I highly recommend listening to these short stories should you be on holiday.

On Disc 2 of ‘Short Trips: Volume I’, there’s a ‘coming soon’ trailer for ‘Short Trips: Volume II’.

‘Running Out of Time’ rating – 3/10

‘Short Trips: Volume I’ rating – 7/10