Post by canadianlemming on Jan 29, 2006 12:32:04 GMT -5
I've recently acquired almost all of the Short Trips volumes I've been missing, and I'm working on synopses for them. The hard part, however, is working out the time-placement for each story. Before they go up on the main site, I thought I'd open it up for discussion here, starting with "2040". These are my thoughts; if anybody disagrees or has noticed anything that slipped my attention, speak now or forever etc.
Warning: if you haven't read "Short Trips: 2040," these musings may contain SPOILERS and traces of nuts.
THE NUCLEAR OPTION (7th Doctor, Chris, Roz): after "Cold Fusion" -- arbitrary, placed in a convenient gap during the Doctor/Roz/Chris era.
SEPARATION (7th Doctor): after "Inmate 280" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone; otherwise, arbitrary.
THINKING WARRIOR (8th Doctor): after "The Glass Princess" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone, but the story THE ETHEREAL, which follows the events of this one, implies that he is young in appearance and remembers his past.
OBSERVER EFFECT (4th Doctor, Sarah): after "Categorical Imperative" -- Sarah understands that it takes time for radio waves to travel between Mars and Earth, placing this story at some point after PYRAMIDS OF MARS.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (5th Doctor): after "Long Term" -- the Doctor refers to the events of LONG TERM as "not long ago," and also claims that he’s sick of teenage deaths, which is probably a reference to Adric’s (presumably recent) death in EARTHSHOCK.
DAISY CHAIN (7th Doctor, Mel): after "The Invertebrates of Doom" -- the Doctor seems cheerful in his outlook and in his somewhat casual decision to change history by visiting the community five weeks earlier; thus, this story probably takes place early in his seventh life, before his "Time's Champion" phase.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY -- features the Unbound Doctor from "Full Fathom Five."
CULTURE WAR (7th Doctor, Chris): after "The Southwell Park Mermaid" -- there is no mention of Roz in this story, and no reference to either of the other stories featuring Chris in this collection. It's possible that Roz is simply elsewhere, as in ANTEUS, but without any evidence to support that, I put this in the period during which the Doctor and Chris are travelling alone.
THE BARON WASTES (4th Doctor): after "The Northern Heights" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone.
/CARPENTER/BUTTERFLY/BARONET (3rd Doctor, Jo): after "Come Friendly Bombs..." -- the Doctor is no longer exiled to Earth. Jo refers to their wandering into the middle of an intergalactic war, which may be a random example of the trouble they get into or may be a reference to FRONTIER IN SPACE (although that war wasn’t actually intergalactic).
OUTSOURCING (6th Doctor): after "The Inquisitor's Story" -- the Sixth Doctor appears to be travelling alone.
ANTEUS (7th Doctor, Chris): after "The Nuclear Option" -- Chris mentions going to pick up Roz later, so this must be set before her death. There’s no description of their arrival in this time zone, or of their departure after THE NUCLEAR OPTION, so we might as well place the stories back-to-back.
THE LAST EMPEROR (2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria; 6th Doctor, Frobisher): for the 2nd Doctor, after "The Age of Ambition"; for the 6th, after "The Age of Chaos" -- though the Third Doctor is mentioned, and the Seventh Doctor was presumably responsible for getting Ace and Benny into position, neither of those Doctors appears in person. Thus, we share this story’s positioning equally between the Second and Sixth Doctors. However, the exact positioning in both cases is arbitrary.
THE ETHEREAL (8th Doctor): after "Thinking Warrior" -- the Eighth Doctor is described as "young," he seems to recall events that took place during his third incarnation, and this story takes place after THINKING WARRIOR.
Warning: if you haven't read "Short Trips: 2040," these musings may contain SPOILERS and traces of nuts.
THE NUCLEAR OPTION (7th Doctor, Chris, Roz): after "Cold Fusion" -- arbitrary, placed in a convenient gap during the Doctor/Roz/Chris era.
SEPARATION (7th Doctor): after "Inmate 280" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone; otherwise, arbitrary.
THINKING WARRIOR (8th Doctor): after "The Glass Princess" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone, but the story THE ETHEREAL, which follows the events of this one, implies that he is young in appearance and remembers his past.
OBSERVER EFFECT (4th Doctor, Sarah): after "Categorical Imperative" -- Sarah understands that it takes time for radio waves to travel between Mars and Earth, placing this story at some point after PYRAMIDS OF MARS.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (5th Doctor): after "Long Term" -- the Doctor refers to the events of LONG TERM as "not long ago," and also claims that he’s sick of teenage deaths, which is probably a reference to Adric’s (presumably recent) death in EARTHSHOCK.
DAISY CHAIN (7th Doctor, Mel): after "The Invertebrates of Doom" -- the Doctor seems cheerful in his outlook and in his somewhat casual decision to change history by visiting the community five weeks earlier; thus, this story probably takes place early in his seventh life, before his "Time's Champion" phase.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY -- features the Unbound Doctor from "Full Fathom Five."
CULTURE WAR (7th Doctor, Chris): after "The Southwell Park Mermaid" -- there is no mention of Roz in this story, and no reference to either of the other stories featuring Chris in this collection. It's possible that Roz is simply elsewhere, as in ANTEUS, but without any evidence to support that, I put this in the period during which the Doctor and Chris are travelling alone.
THE BARON WASTES (4th Doctor): after "The Northern Heights" -- the Doctor appears to be travelling alone.
/CARPENTER/BUTTERFLY/BARONET (3rd Doctor, Jo): after "Come Friendly Bombs..." -- the Doctor is no longer exiled to Earth. Jo refers to their wandering into the middle of an intergalactic war, which may be a random example of the trouble they get into or may be a reference to FRONTIER IN SPACE (although that war wasn’t actually intergalactic).
OUTSOURCING (6th Doctor): after "The Inquisitor's Story" -- the Sixth Doctor appears to be travelling alone.
ANTEUS (7th Doctor, Chris): after "The Nuclear Option" -- Chris mentions going to pick up Roz later, so this must be set before her death. There’s no description of their arrival in this time zone, or of their departure after THE NUCLEAR OPTION, so we might as well place the stories back-to-back.
THE LAST EMPEROR (2nd Doctor, Jamie, Victoria; 6th Doctor, Frobisher): for the 2nd Doctor, after "The Age of Ambition"; for the 6th, after "The Age of Chaos" -- though the Third Doctor is mentioned, and the Seventh Doctor was presumably responsible for getting Ace and Benny into position, neither of those Doctors appears in person. Thus, we share this story’s positioning equally between the Second and Sixth Doctors. However, the exact positioning in both cases is arbitrary.
THE ETHEREAL (8th Doctor): after "Thinking Warrior" -- the Eighth Doctor is described as "young," he seems to recall events that took place during his third incarnation, and this story takes place after THINKING WARRIOR.