The Hunting of the Slook (short story): Difference between revisions

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
m (Bot: Cosmetic changes)
No edit summary
 
(6 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{title dab away}}
{{title dab away}}
{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|Short Trips short stories]]
|series=[[Short Trips (series)#In print|Short Trips short stories]]
|doctor=Seventh Doctor
|doctor = Seventh Doctor
|companions=
|companions=
|setting=
|setting=The Klicklighter
|writer=[[Marc Platt]]
|writer = Marc Platt
|anthology=''[[Short Trips: Time Signature]]''
|anthology = Short Trips: Time Signature
|prev=Walkin' City Blues (short story)
|publisher = Big Finish Productions
|release date = October 2006
|prev = Walkin' City Blues (short story)
|next=The Earwig Archipelago (short story)
|next=The Earwig Archipelago (short story)
}}
}}
Line 31: Line 33:


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
* [[Time (mythology)|Time]]
* [[White Tulip]]
* [[Black Rose]]
* [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Oli Pelhedly]]
* [[Oli Pelhedly]]
Line 37: Line 42:
* [[Heinz (The Hunting of the Slook)|Heinz]]
* [[Heinz (The Hunting of the Slook)|Heinz]]
* [[Cyrus Nguema]]
* [[Cyrus Nguema]]
* [[White Tulip]]
* [[Black Rose]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
* The Doctor has a recipe for [[biscuit]]s from [[Pliny the Elder]].
* The Doctor has a recipe for [[biscuit]]s from [[Pliny the Elder]].
* The Doctor bought a [[spinet]] from [[George Frederick Handel]].
* The Doctor bought a [[spinet]] from [[George Frederick Handel]].
Line 46: Line 49:
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* The title of this story is an obvious play on [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]''.
* The title of this story is an obvious play on [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]''.
* [[Marc Platt]] later wrote another riff on ''The Hunting of the Snark'' and reality television in the audio play ''[[The Skin of the Sleek (audio story)|The Skin of the Sleek]]''.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The [[Possibility Tree]]'s branches form the [[omniverse]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Auld Mortality (audio story)|Auld Mortality]]'') which the Doctor travels through. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Paper Cuts (audio story)|Paper Cuts]]'') [[Rose garden (The Three Doctors)|Time's roses]] grow on the branches ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Auld Mortality (audio story)|Auld Mortality]]'') and [[Music of the Spheres|Time's music]] resonates forever through them. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'', [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Gift (audio story)|The Gift]]'') As a whole, they are [[Time (mythology)|Time]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'', ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'')
* The Doctor tells of his visit to [[Torcaldi]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Ruins of Time (short story)|The Ruins of Time]]'')
* The Doctor tells of his visit to [[Torcaldi]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Ruins of Time (short story)|The Ruins of Time]]'')
* The Doctor has a hopelessly haphazard filing system, but the Doctor refuses to get a [[secretary]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Paper Cuts (audio story)|Paper Cuts]]'') Long ago, [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] had been able to easily understand the system because she could get into her grandfather's head. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]'')
* The Doctor suspects that [[Black Rose]] and [[White Tulip]] will come back for his brain. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[DS Al Fine (short story)|DS Al Fine]]'')
{{ST prose}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}



Latest revision as of 19:14, 18 July 2024

RealWorld.png

The Hunting of the Slook was the eighth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Time Signature. It was written by Marc Platt. It featured the Seventh Doctor.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and the TARDIS are feeling the effects of an anomaly in the Time Vortex. The Doctor hears a familiar tune. Out in the void, there are dozens and dozens of dead spacefish. The Doctor sees a spacecraft that grabs hold of the TARDIS.

Inside the ship, The Klicklighter, Oli Pelhedly is filming a documentary with his director, Alex Voorspuy. Oli is on a search for Slooks, legendary creatures that he believes are real.

The TARDIS is quarantined, and from inside the Doctor tries to make contact. After he has been disinfected, he is allowed to exit his ship while Captain Luisa covers him with a gun. Some spacefish came aboard the ship with the TARDIS, and crewman Cyrus gets too close. He is frozen, all time drained away from him, just like the spacefish.

Oli and the Doctor talk about the Slooks, with Alex's cameras present as usual. The Doctor wants Oli to end the expedition, telling him that he heard the Slook singing in the void.

When Oli is called away to investigate a possible sighting, the Doctor heads to the TARDIS to search for the music that is so familiar. One of Alex's cameras follows him, and he grabs it and reprograms it.

The Doctor shows Oli what the reprogrammed camera recorded: Luisa and Alex conspiring to cathc one of the Slooks. Oli is unsurprised but doesn't want to call off the search.

When the ship finally encounters Slooks, Oli is entranced. The Doctor tries to stop Alex from catching one, but when he fails he heads for the TARDIS. He takes the TARDIS outside the ship to try to scatter the Slooks. They start singing, but the ship harpoons a Slook. It drags the ship, and there are tears in space due to the singing. On board the ship, time slows. Two men in grey take all the recording equipment off the ship, removing any trace of the Slooks.

When the Slooks are gone and their song has ended, time flows again. The two grey men try to take the Doctor's music from him, he retreats to the TARDIS, gloating that even if they take the music from him, it is also in his memory. As he gets away, he realises that they will soon be looking for him.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]