Ships (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{TitleShortStory}}
{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Short Story
|image         = Ships.jpg
|name=Ships
|main character = [[Dodo Chaplet]]
|image=Ships.jpg
|featuring      = [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah Jane]]
|series=[[Brief Encounter]]
|setting        = [[London]]
|doctor=  
|writer         = Jamie Woolley
|companions= [[Dodo Chaplet]]<br />[[Sarah Jane Smith]]
|illustrator   = [[Andy Lambert]]
|enemy=
|publication   = [[DWM 185]]
|year= [[London]]
|release date  = 19 March 1992
|writer=[[Jamie Woolley]]
|cover date    = 15 April 1992
|illustrator=[[Andy Lambert]]
|series        = ''[[Brief Encounter]]''
|publication=[[DWM 185]]
|prev           = Untitled (DWM 184 short story){{!}}Untitled
|prev=Untitled (DWM 184)|Untitled (short story)
|next           = Cathedral Heart (short story)
|next=Cathedral Heart (short story)
}}
}}
'''''Ships''''' was a ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' short story published in [[DWM 185]]. It was the only such story to feature [[Dodo Chaplet]] and details a possibility for Dodo's post-[[The TARDIS|TARDIS]] life quite different from that in ''[[Who Killed Kennedy]]''.
'''''Ships''''' was a ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' short story published in [[DWM 185]]. It was the only such story to feature [[Dodo Chaplet]] and details a possibility for Dodo's post-[[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] life quite different from that in the novel ''[[Who Killed Kennedy (novel)|Who Killed Kennedy]]''.


The title plays on the phrase "ships that pass in the night". It details an exceptionally brief encounter between Dodo Chaplet and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] in which they never recognise each other as people who know [[the Doctor]].
The title plays on the phrase "ships that pass in the night". It details an exceptionally brief encounter between Dodo Chaplet and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] in which they never recognise each other as people who knew [[the Doctor]].


== Summary ==
== Summary ==
Walking home from her secretarial job, [[Dodo Chaplet]]'s mind wanders back to her days in [[the TARDIS]]. As she encounters reminders of her mundane existence on the way home, she increasingly castigates herself for having left [[First Doctor|the Doctor]] so abruptly. Lost in thought, she turns a corner and runs into a young woman. Their respective armfuls are dumped onto the ground. In the haste to collect their belongings, Dodo accidentally grabs the young woman's diary. It's too late to return it to her, though — she's long gone. Dodo examines it to determine something that might identify the owner. Luckily, there's an address — and the name [[Sarah Jane Smith|S. J. Smith]]...
Walking home from her secretarial job, [[Dodo Chaplet]]'s [[mind]] wanders back to her days in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. As she encounters reminders of her mundane existence on the way home, she increasingly castigates herself for having left the [[First Doctor]] so abruptly. Lost in thought, she turns a corner and runs into a young woman. Their respective armfuls are dumped onto the ground. In the haste to collect their belongings, Dodo accidentally grabs the young woman's [[diary]]. It's too late to return it to her, though — she's long gone. Dodo examines it to determine something that might identify the owner. Luckily, there's an [[address]] — and the name [[Sarah Jane Smith|S. J. Smith]]...


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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* [[Sarah Jane Smith]]
* [[Sarah Jane Smith]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* Ironically for a television character, Dodo's TV licence is said to be due in this story.
''to be added''


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* Although Sarah Jane appears, she is by far the more minor of the two characters, and is never identified by her full forenames.
* The collision occurs on the corner of [[Primrose Avenue]] and [[Lowry Close]] in a "satellite suburb" of [[London]].
* The collision occurs on the corner of Primrose Avenue and Lowry Close in a "satellite suburb" of [[London]].
* As her neighbour, Ted Quinn, calls her "Dodo", it can be assumed that she used the childhood nickname in her adult life.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* This story appears to contradict the novel, ''[[Who Killed Kennedy]]'', which kills off Dodo after seeing her institutionalised immediately after her departure in [[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines]]''. Dodo here is portrayed as being a quite functional member of society — a secretary, with all the normal sorts of concerns of adult life. She claims to be "older and wiser" and speaks of her TARDIS life being "such a long time ago", which ''suggests'' that she's alive long after her death in ''Kennedy''. However, no actual dates are given. Because of this, there's also no guarantee that Sarah Jane has even met the Doctor yet, since she claims to be from [[1980]] at one stage of her televised career – namely, [[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]''. The story could be set in [[1972]] just as easily as [[1992]]. However, this still makes it impossible for it to makes sense concurrently with ''[[Who Killed Kennedy]]'', as that story suggests Dodo spent years in bad conditions and mental institutions, including the [[Glasshouse]], and spent years being homeless — thus contradicting this story's claim of her good life. Therefore, it would perhaps be best to class ''Ships'' as being "imaginary".
* Dodo mentions the way in which [[Cyril (The Celestial Toymaker)|Cyril]] "died" in the [[Celestial Toyroom]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Celestial Toymaker (TV story)|The Celestial Toymaker]]'') and [[Steven Taylor]]'s departure from [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Savages (TV story)|The Savages]]'')
* Dodo mentions the way in which [[Cyril]] 'died' in [[TV]]: ''[[The Celestial Toymaker (TV story)|The Celestial Toymaker]]'' and [[Steven Taylor]]'s departure in [[TV]]: ''[[The Savages (TV story)|The Savages]]''.
* The ''Doctor Who Reference Guide'' sets the story for Sarah Jane as taking place after [[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]''.


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{dwrefguide|brief.htm#dwm185|Ships}}
{{dwrefguide|brief.htm#dwm185|Ships}}
{{BE}}
{{TitleSort}}


{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:BE stories]]
[[Category:BE stories]]
[[Category:Brief Encounter stories]]
[[Category:Brief Encounter stories]]
[[Category:Sarah Jane Smith short stories]]
[[Category:Sarah Jane Smith short stories]]
[[Category:Stories released in 1992]]
[[Category:1992 short stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]

Latest revision as of 21:29, 29 February 2024

RealWorld.png

Ships was a Brief Encounter short story published in DWM 185. It was the only such story to feature Dodo Chaplet and details a possibility for Dodo's post-TARDIS life quite different from that in the novel Who Killed Kennedy.

The title plays on the phrase "ships that pass in the night". It details an exceptionally brief encounter between Dodo Chaplet and Sarah Jane Smith in which they never recognise each other as people who knew the Doctor.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Walking home from her secretarial job, Dodo Chaplet's mind wanders back to her days in the TARDIS. As she encounters reminders of her mundane existence on the way home, she increasingly castigates herself for having left the First Doctor so abruptly. Lost in thought, she turns a corner and runs into a young woman. Their respective armfuls are dumped onto the ground. In the haste to collect their belongings, Dodo accidentally grabs the young woman's diary. It's too late to return it to her, though — she's long gone. Dodo examines it to determine something that might identify the owner. Luckily, there's an address — and the name S. J. Smith...

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]