The first author for the ‘Doctor Who’ e-shorts has been announced by the BBC and it’s none other than Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series and the sixth book in the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ series entitled ‘And Another Thing…’

Colfer chose to write about the first Doctor because “he is a bit of a grump. Subsequent Doctors became more chipper and almost childlike and I found the first Doctor interesting because he was not so developed and I could have a little leeway with the character.”

In ‘A Big Hand for the Doctor,’ the famed author has put his own spin on the first Doctor, reimagining him and placing him in a new ‘Doctor Who’ adventure than only Colfer can write. Here is a bit about the story:

London. 1900. The First Doctor is missing his hand and his granddaughter, Susan. Faced with the search for Susan, a strange beam of soporific light, and a host of marauding Soul Pirates, the Doctor is promised a dangerous journey into a land he may never forget . . .

But don’t think that’s all we have for you, fellow Whovians! We also have an excerpt of the e-short for you to enjoy courtesy of The Guardian which you can read below!

The e-short will be available to download from iBookstore and Amazon beginning January 23rd but you can preorder it now for $2.68.

This is the first of 11 stories that will be released this year, one each month for each regeneration of the Doctor. On the first Tuesday of the month, the author’s name will be revealed with a promotional video to be released on the 11th. The e-short will then be available for download later in the month. This all culminates into a paperback book that will be published in November that will feature all 11 stories in one place.

It’s a real treat for Whovians to have contemporary authors write a tale about the Doctor and it will be an interesting read to see their take on the Time Lord. While no other authors have been announced for the upcoming months, there has been wide spread speculation on J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman taking a turn.

While we are waiting for the first e-short to arrive, here are the first couple pages from Colfer’s ‘A Big Hand for the Doctor:’

BIG HAND FOR THE DOCTOR:

extract 1 

The Doctor and the Soul Pirate faced each other across an expanse of slick grey slate. The wind churned the mist into maelstroms and the great expanse of space yawned overhead. The Doctor’s hat was snatched from his head and sent spinning over the hotchpotch of pitched roofs into a coal bunker thirty feet below.

Where I shall probably soon follow, the Doctor realised, but he had no alternative but to engage this pirate fellow. After all, the grotesque creature stood between him and his granddaughter.

‘Igby kill white-hair,’ said the foul creature from between clenched teeth. He was presumably referring to himself in the third person, and referring to the Doctor according to his hair colour, not randomly informing the Doctor of the existence of a man called Igby who had something against white hair.

‘Release your prisoners,’ the Doctor shouted into the wind. ‘You don’t have to live this way. You can be at peace.’

And even though the Doctor had always abhorred weapons, he wished he had something a little more substantial than a walking stick to fend off the blows that were coming his way.

‘I like white hair. He funny,’ shouted Igby, his own booming voice penetrating the elements. ‘Come die, old man.’

There is an excellent chance that I will do just that, thought the Doctor grimly. But despite the odds I simply must not lose. Sometimes there is more to life than the odds.

The orange anti-grav beam pulsed, scorching a cylinder through the London fog, silhouettes of brainwashed abductees floating in its depths, dreamily certain that they were flying to their own tailor-made heavens.

Jolly adventures, trees to climb, heroes all.

How long would that fantasy sustain them before the reality of the Soul Pirates’ ship manifested?

The Doctor advanced cautiously, picking his way along the slick ridge, keeping his cane extended all the while. As soon as he stepped out from behind the chimney, the full force of the elements battered him with sideswipes of wind and tacks of icy rain. He struggled to keep his balance on the treacherous slating, and each time a loose tile slipped from its moorings and smashed on the cobbles below the Doctor remembered the danger he was in. 

Text copyright (C) Children’s Character Books and Eoin Colfer, 2013