It's been a lean 2025 from me regarding book releases (this is the first year in over a decade where I've not published anything), but I've just snuck in at the last moment courtesy of Baz Greenland and Doctor Who, with my entry in his book: Doctor Who Christmas Specials.
I give my thoughts on The Runaway Bride, and as one early reviewer put it: "K.J.Heritage's take on the Runaway Bride is the very best thing I've ever read, ever, honestly". So don't miss it. The perfect Christmas Gift for the Whovonian in your life. This, or a very long scarf!
Here's an excerpt thingy:
This Christmas Special, instead of embracing the festive season with warmth, nostalgia, and a thick slice of whimsy, charges at full tilt in the opposite direction.
Nostalgia? No. Warmth? No. Whimsy? No effing way. Instead, it has themes of genocidal rage, poisoning, murder and some quite awful emotional trauma. Oh, and shouting.
A helluva lot of shouting.
Sure, there are a few nods to the festive season—passive-aggressive, taxiing robotic brass-band Santas, spinning exploding Christmas tree baubles, and some other minor unexploding seasonal décor, not helped by the fact that the outdoor sequences all take place in what looks like the middle of summer.
Add an unseasonal giant spider lurking beneath the London Thames Barrier who just happens to own a rather dangerous Christmas star-shaped spaceship with Lightning Attack’ enabled and we end up with an entertaining Christmas-like diversion.
But is it a Christmas Special?
Not quite.