This is the first short story celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. Each short story will be centered on a different Doctor. Presenting the doctors in order of appearance in the franchise. For some reason, all the stories will have only one companion. The extension of each short story will be of 40 pages, more or less.



The Good



Due the general decision of using only one companion on each story, on this tale you have Susan Foreman as the companion of the First Doctor. Which means that thi

This is the first short story celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. Each short story will be centered on a different Doctor. Presenting the doctors in order of appearance in the franchise. For some reason, all the stories will have only one companion. The extension of each short story will be of 40 pages, more or less.



The Good



Due the general decision of using only one companion on each story, on this tale you have Susan Foreman as the companion of the First Doctor. Which means that this adventure is before of meeting Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. And with that in account, it's set before of the events of An Unearthly Child. Which to me, it's a wonderful idea.



The story introduced new villains: The Soul Pirates. It's something laudable to create a new kind of menace instead of using yet again popular opponents like the Daleks or the Cybermen.



The Bad



The adventure isn't too interesting or creatively developed. Also, at the end you realize that it's a "forced" story just to justify a "surprising" epilogue.



There too many references to information that since it's the First Doctor, and even more, an adventure even before the beginning of the series, I didn't find necessary to use. You are barely starting to read and you already find info that the Doctor is a Time Lord, that he's from the planet Gallifrey, that he can regenerate and even that he has two hearts. Fifty years later that's basic knowledge of any fan of Doctor Who but back then it was supposed that all those facts were yet to be known. I supposed that in a long novel, I wouldn't mind and I could understand the need to use that even in a First Doctor's adventure. However, since it'd be a short story of only 40 pages, I think that Eoin Colfer, the author, could develop his story without "revealing" those facts.



Right from the beginning of the short story, the First Doctor loses a hand, and he needs to use a temporary hand while waiting that a "new hand" can be made by some kind of alien scientist. That was an intriguing plot and even the meaning of the title of the short story. However, you never feel that that factor is relevant to the development of the story. It could be omitted and the story would resolve just the same.



The Odd



It's a First Doctor's adventure set before of the beginning of the TV series, but the Doctor is shown doing so many physical feats that I found odd since at the beginning those kind of tasks were the role of Ian. I know, he isn't in the story, but I think that the author could develop some tale having the Doctor in a more cerebral role.



There is some humorous moments in the story that I found odd, yet again, since it's set before the beginning of the TV series, where the First Doctor were more serious. Also, the temporary hand resulted to be a female hand, that it could work as a funny situation for the Fourth Doctor, even something amusing to deal with the Sixth Doctor. However, I found odd to employ such teasing element with the First Doctor, specially in a moment that it's supposed to be, even before of the official beginning of the TV series.