Table for Two, Dinner for One

Short Trips #12.5

Released: 2 February 2023

Listened: 3/15/23

This Short Trip is from the 2023 collection, and also read by Ayesha Antoine. Like the last, it’s first-person, told by Mandy, who badly fumbled her relationship with a friend / would-be boyfriend, and who believes she’s meeting him at a restaurant to get closure. Except that’s not even slightly what’s going on. New writer Jennah Dean gives Mandy a distinct voice: she’s smart, has a clever way with words, is too polite for her own good, and eventually proves to be more self-aware than most of us trying to get over heartbreak. The Doctor stays offscreen for most of it, but when he does appear, he makes an impact, running over everything with the Tenth Doctor’s characteristic overconfidence. The story also takes advantage of the fact that he’s just recently left Rose behind for good, and is starting to heal from that, except there’s some really dark times ahead he doesn’t know about. This one creates a really vivid atmosphere, making the story very easy to picture.