All Our Christmases (short story)
All Our Christmases was the twentieth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury. It was written by Steve Lyons. The incarnation of the Doctor to appear was not specified in the original printing, but upon its reprinting in Short Trips: Re:Collections, it was clarified that it featured the First Doctor.
Summary
On Christmas Eve, Richard and an old man drink by the fire. Richard is persuaded to tell his story.
He used to work for a magazine celebrating his favourite science fiction television show. As a promotion for the magazine, they asked fans what they would change about the show. Richard and his editor then travelled back in time to effect the most popular change. However, when they came back, no one believed them, so they did it again, bringing back proof of their change. This became a yearly tradition, but eventually the show was changed beyond recognition, though only Richard and his editor were aware of it.
Eventually, the government began taking an interest in time travel, and Richard soon became unable to tell if the past had been changed.
By the time Richard finishes his story, he is completely unaware of any changes to his timeline. He looks forward to resuming work on the magazine of his favourite police show.
Characters
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor and Richard drink brandy.
- The Doctor claims to never have heard of the science fiction show Richard tells him about.
Notes
- Despite never explicitly naming Doctor Who or Juliet Bravo, this story is an implied prequel to the Doctor Who Unbound audio story Deadline, which was set in a universe where Doctor Who was never broadcast, with the police show Juliet Bravo gaining success in its place. Despite this, in All Our Christmases, Doctor Who was in fact broadcast, but was instead cancelled after a couple of years.
- The first thing changed due to the contest is editing out a well-known blooper in which a crew member's hand appeared onscreen, holding down a cushion. This refers to Pyramids of Mars and Sutekh's throne.
- This story was reprinted in Short Trips: Re:Collections.
Continuity
- Richard works on a magazine celebrating his favourite police show. Martin Bannister once also encountered a journalist from the magazine, having himself written for the show. (AUDIO: Deadline)
