WOW. Absolutely corking story! Tightly-plotted, well-paced and perfectly described! The Doctor's characterization was spot on, and your OC is wonderfully human, with just the right balance of likability and fallibility. Bless your hearts, however many you may have! I loved it!

Origins is an intriging story...or perhaps the beginning of a much larger one (as the name might be hinting). It really operates on two levels...and ironically, thus manages to be both quite 'trad', and yet extremely 'rad'. A traditional adventure based on recent historical fact, a good romp where the Doctor saves the day...yet also a much more personal tale. Let's look at our halves...

As a traditional Doctor Who story, Origins works great. There's action, tension, yet it all works out in the end. And the portrayal of the Doctor is by and large fantastic, a 9.5 out of 10 I would say. This is very much the eighth Doctor we knew, all too briefly, in the TV movie. (Which makes sense, of course-the author is using the 'amnesia' idea from the novels, which certainly echoes the TVM strongly.) Whimsical and exuberant, yet at the same time deeply melancholy...an old man and Peter Pan all at once. He cooks, he cleans, he makes microscopic (er, you know what I mean) slides! He's always in control and command, yet always a little lost, too, even when he's found. I'm starting to ramble...just read it, it's good stuff! The only places he felt a little off, though, were two bits near the end. First, that the Doctor needs Alecia's encouragement to secure the safety of the thugs in the van, and secondly, his use of the word 'bastards'. Perhaps I've just not read enough of the more recent EDAs; I have heard rumblings about the Doctor being 'toughened up' of late. From my TV context, these two pieces of the story felt just a little off for our hero. But they're minor details, in a representation of the Doctor which truly sings.

Then, we have the radical side of the story. As the author warns us from the beginning, yes, the Doctor has sex here. And he might just have something else, in 9 months or so. Or any time, really, since he IS an alien, and I HAVE seen plenty of "My Hero" on BBC America...

But I digress!

I have to admit, this part of the story I have more mixed feelings about. I find the idea of the Doctor actually having a significant other and children rather cool, actually...always have. I've always believed that yes, Susan really IS his granddaughter, and there must have been a Mrs. Doctor and a child or more at some point. I even loved the Doctor getting a bit of snogging action in the movie. The circumstances in this story, however...while feasible and tastefully done, they do feel a little, well...PMEB at times. The story opens with the main character having fallen for the dashing Doctor, and soon progresses to a one night stand. Up to this point, while handled sweetly and gently, it feels a bit more like lonely Alecia's fantasy than the sort of mythic, magical adventure we expect from Doctor Who (and perhaps that's no bad thing-further proof that ALL genres, yes, even romance, have their place in Who-the genius of the anti-formulaic formula). Then the story kicks into action/intrigue overdrive, and works great as a 'ride story' for a while. Yet a subtle side effect to the Doctor's Miracle Cure(tm) makes the romance crucial again...and becomes the ultimate tease once the story's last line is reached.

One thing is clear...the author has PLANS. While the 'trad' action story wraps up mostly neatly (I'd wonder who precisely was behind the virus plot, but that might simply be sorted by reading more of the backstory this was researched from), Alecia's story is really a series of questions. How does the Doctor know her? What's the wall in her mind about? And is she really carrying the Doctor's LurvChild?

I can tell you this much...it's gonna be interesting!

Wow! This story was bloody good! Ive always been a huge fan of the 8th Doctor and you really captured his personality perfectly :O) I hope you write more stories and post them here!

What a beautiful story :)

I'm not very familiar with the 8th Doctor, since I've only read one of the BBC books. Fortunately, I thought your story stood well on its own. It was tautly written, with a fast-paced, exciting plot. I liked your original character, Alecia. However, I don't understand why she was worried about getting pregnant. Even if the antibiotics she took interfered with her birth control pills (my mom, who is a perinatal nurse, has met many people who accidentally ended up pregnant this way), I can't understand why this is a problem since she took the medication a day or two *after* having sex. Other than this one point of confusion, I really enjoyed the story.

Excellent story! Please share more! I loved the Alecia character!

Spiffing! Absolutely spiffing! I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Encore! Encore!