TSV Short Story Competition Results

Foreword by Felicity Scoones, competition judge

In January this year, NZDWFC member Steve Williams generously donated a Sevans Dalek model kit to the club, with the stipulation that it be used as a prize in a competition. His preference was for 'some form of creative writing competition'. This was the original inspiration behind the TSV Short Story Competition. We provided a second prize in the form of two New Adventures novels of the second-place winner's choice.

Entries had to be no more than 1000 words, and also had to be about a specific character, place or thing, which had either appeared or was mentioned in only one Doctor Who story.

The Entries

The response has been excellent, both in numbers and in the standard of writing. 24 entries were received from 14 different writers, ranging in age from 11 to 30. The writers kept to the brief, but all produced completely unique works, the best of which are printed in this issue. We have a few more lined up for publication in forthcoming issues of TSV.

The Judging

Jon Preddle and I judged the stories independently. The authors' names had been removed before we received the entries. We read and ranked them, and then compared lists. Paul acted as an arbitrator where necessary.

As all of the stories conformed to the brief, I was able to consider all of them and make my decision based on the following criterion: A) Does the story have a coherent and satisfying plot? B) Is it stylistically well written? C) Is the relationship to Doctor Who recognisable and/or intriguing?

The Winners

First place went to Nicholas Withers for Remembrance. The maturity of the style impressed me at once, and the use of subject matter is particularly original.

Morgan Davies' The Summoning came second. This story is also very well written. Morgan takes a simple idea and invests it with strong characterisations and a sense of realism.

Third place goes to Matthew Dentith for Merlin, which is an entertaining extrapolation of information revealed in Battlefield.

Times Past by Patrick O'Seanesy took fourth place. This is a competently-written story, despite having a distinct Star Trek flavour to it.

I would also like to mention Storms in Teacups or Teaside Rendezvous by David Ronayne. This story has an intriguing mixture of moods, and merits being read closely.

Read and enjoy - I did!

The Stories

• Remembrance - Nicholas Withers
• The Summoning - Morgan Davie
• Merlin - Matthew Dentith
• Times Past - Patrick O'Seanesy
• The Deva Loka Massacre - Craig Young
• The Mayfly - David Ronayne
• The Mind Robber Epilogue - Alden Bates
• Storms in Teacups - David Ronayne