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86-632: The Big Finish Short Trips are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who , beginning with the collection Short Trips: Zodiac in December 2002 and ending with the loss of their license in 2009. The Short Trips name was inherited from similar collections published by the BBC , who decided in March 2000 that it

172-417: A plot ". Hugh Walpole had a similar view: "A story should be a story; a record of things happening full of incidents, swift movements, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement." This view of the short story as a finished product of art is however opposed by Anton Chekhov , who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be

258-429: A "slice of life", presented suggestively. In his stories, Chekhov does not round off the end but leaves it to the readers to draw their own conclusions. Sukumar Azhikode defined a short story as "a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic or anecdotal effect". Flannery O'Connor emphasized the need to consider what is exactly meant by the descriptor short. Short story writers may define their works as part of

344-401: A 14-episode-long serial called The Trial of a Time Lord . This serial was a meta-textual reference to the fact that the series itself was "on trial" at this time. In 1986 Baker told an interviewer: " Tom Baker did it for seven years. ... There's a part of me which likes to have a tilt at records. I would like to think that maybe I'd still be doing it in eight years' time." Later that year

430-692: A charity short story anthology based on Doctor Who, "Missing Pieces". He also presented special Doctor Who videotape releases Cybermen – The Early Years in 1992 and The Colin Baker Years in 1994, with the latter a look back at his tenure on the series highlighted by clips and his memories. Baker has reprised the role on television only twice after his official run ended, in the 1993 Children in Need charity special Dimensions in Time alongside Pertwee, Tom Baker , Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy, and in

516-735: A common pool of literary techniques . The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story remains problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe 's essay " The Philosophy of Composition " (1846). H. G. Wells described the purpose of the short story as "The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud." According to William Faulkner ,

602-518: A consciously feminist perspective. James Baldwin 's collection, Going to Meet the Man (1965), told stories of African-American life. Science fiction stories with a special poetic touch was a genre developed with great popular success by Ray Bradbury . Stephen King published many science fiction short stories in men's magazines in the 1960s and after. King's interest is in the supernatural and macabre. Donald Barthelme and John Barth produced works in

688-593: A larger narrative story (a frame story ), although the frame-tale device was not adopted by all writers. At the end of the 16th century, some of the most popular short stories in Europe were the darkly tragic " novella " of Italian author Matteo Bandello , especially in their French translation. The mid 17th century in France saw the development of a refined short novel, the "nouvelle", by such authors as Madame de Lafayette . Traditional fairy tales began to be published in

774-437: A major literary form remains diminished. In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 for short stories; however, some works classified as short stories have up to 15,000 words. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes referred to as "short short stories", or " flash fiction ". Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count, there is no official demarcation between an anecdote ,

860-399: A novel, Manto is widely admired for his analyses of violence, bigotry, prejudice, and the relationships between reason and unreason. Combining realism with surrealism and irony, Manto's works, such as the celebrated short story Toba Tek Singh , are aesthetic masterpieces that continue to give profound insight into the nature of human loss, violence, and devastation. Another famous Urdu writer

946-530: A regular short story salon, held in London and other major cities. Short story writers who have appeared at the salon to read their work to live audiences include Ben Okri , Lionel Shriver , Elizabeth Day , A.L. Kennedy , William Boyd , Graham Swift , David Nicholls , Will Self , Sebastian Faulks , Julian Barnes , Evie Wylde and Claire Fuller . Canadian short story writers include Alice Munro , Mavis Gallant and Lynn Coady. In 2013, Alice Munro became

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1032-1209: A result of a competition, run by Big Finish in 2007, to seek out new talent. Each collection is conceived around a single theme, with the individual stories exploring that theme: The collections have mixed established Doctor Who writers from the television series, such as Ben Aaronovitch , Ian Briggs , Andrew Cartmel , Terrance Dicks , Glen McCoy , James Moran , Marc Platt , Helen Raynor and Eric Saward with writers who made their name in other Doctor Who spin-off ranges, such as Paul Cornell , Joseph Lidster , Kate Orman , Lance Parkin , Philip Purser-Hallard , Gareth Roberts , Gary Russell and Robert Shearman , and writers from other literary spheres, including Dan Abnett , Lou Anders , Scott Andrews , Jonathan Clements , Peter David , Richard Dinnick , Keith R.A. DeCandido , Brian Dooley , Diane Duane , Nev Fountain , Lizzie Hopley , Todd McCaffrey , Juliet E. McKenna , Paul Magrs , James Moran , Gary Owen , Stel Pavlou , Steven Savile , James Swallow and Matthew Sweet . On 31 December 2009, Big Finish lost their license to produce or sell their short story anthology book series Short Trips. On 10 February 2010 Big Finish announced that

1118-420: A short story is character-driven and a writer's job is to "...trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does." Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham thought that the short story "must have a definite design, which includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other words, it must have

1204-426: A short story, and a novel. Rather, the form's parameters are given by the rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and considered so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres, countries, eras, and commentators. Like the novel, the short story's predominant shape reflects the demands of the available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely tied to

1290-463: A weekly short story publication for more than half a century. Shirley Jackson 's story, " The Lottery " (1948), elicited the strongest response in the magazine's history to that time. Other frequent contributors during the 1940s included John Steinbeck , Jean Stafford , Eudora Welty , and John Cheever , who is best known for "The Swimmer " (1964), beautifully blending realism and surrealism. Many other American short story writers greatly influenced

1376-498: Is Ismat Chughtai , whose short story, "Lihaaf" (The Quilt), on a lesbian relationship between an upper-class Muslim woman and her maidservant created great controversy following its publication in 1942. Notable examples in the period up to World War II include: Following World War II , the artistic range and numbers of writers of short stories grew significantly. Due in part to frequent contributions from John O'Hara , The New Yorker would come to exercise substantial influence as

1462-412: Is a recurrent trope in short stories; whether in their ending, characterisation or length. As with any art form, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary depending on who is its creator. Characteristic of short story authors, according to professor of English, Clare Hanson, is that they are "losers and loners, exiles, women, blacks – writers who for one reason or another have not been part of

1548-501: Is a rich heritage of ancient folktales as well as a compiled body of short fiction which shaped the sensibility of modern Indian short story. Some of the famous Sanskrit collections of legends, folktales, fairy tales, and fables are Panchatantra , Hitopadesha and Kathasaritsagara . Jataka tales , originally written in Pali , is a compilation of tales concerning the previous births of Lord Gautama Buddha . The Frame story , also known as

1634-699: Is one of the best-known writers of short stories in the Spanish language . " The Library of Babel " (1941) and " The Aleph " (1945) handle difficult subjects like infinity . Borges won American fame with " The Garden of Forking Paths ", published in the August 1948 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine . Two of the most representative writers of the Magical realism genre are also widely known Argentine short story writers, Adolfo Bioy Casares and Julio Cortázar . The Nobel laureate author Gabriel García Márquez and

1720-416: Is releasing these exclusives to general customers under the banner, Short Trips Rarities. There will be at least a two-year delay between a story's subscriber exclusive release and its wider general release, in order to still keep these an incentive to subscribers of the main range. The annual Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip will continue to be released individually. In November 2020, it was announced that

1806-696: The 2022 special " The Power of the Doctor " alongside David Bradley , Davison, Paul McGann , McCoy and Jodie Whittaker . He reprised the role again in Tales of the TARDIS . In 1997, Baker provided audio dialogue for the BBC video game Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors . 1999 saw Baker voice his first Doctor Who audio adventure for Big Finish Productions , The Sirens of Time . As of 2024, Baker has appeared as

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1892-983: The Carl Rosa Opera Company 's production of operetta H.M.S. Pinafore , directed by Timothy West . In 2008, he toured with ex-wife Liza Goddard in She Stoops To Conquer . Other theatre appearances have seen Baker tackle the role of Inspector Morse in House of Ghosts and a UK tour of The Woman in White . In 1991, Baker played a Doctor-like character in the BBV video series The Stranger . This character appeared in six video adventures as well four audio stories. Another standalone BBV drama entitled The Airzone Solution appeared in 1993 and featured former Doctor Who actors Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy. Television work through

1978-569: The German Empire . By far his most prominent role to date came in 1974, playing the ruthless banker Paul Merroney in the BBC Sunday evening series The Brothers . Baker joined the series half-way through its run, as Merroney became one of the leading characters over three and a half series from 1974–76. After The Brothers , he worked regularly in theatre and his television work became less frequent, although he guest-starred as Bayban

2064-614: The Ramayana , the Mahabharata , and Homer 's Iliad and Odyssey . Oral narratives were often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic verse , often including recurring sections or, in the case of Homer, Homeric epithets . Such stylistic devices often acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition, and adaptation of the story. While the overall arc of the tale was told over the course of several performances, short sections of verse could focus on individual narratives that were

2150-462: The 18th century with the publication of the fictional anecdotal letters of Sir Roger de Coverley . In Europe, the oral story-telling tradition began to develop into written form in the early 14th century, most notably with Giovanni Boccaccio 's Decameron and Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales . Both of these books are composed of individual short stories, which range from farce or humorous anecdotes to well-crafted literary fiction, set within

2236-484: The 1970s that demonstrate the rise of the postmodern short story. While traditionalism maintained a significant influence on the form of the short story, minimalism gained widespread influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie . Carver helped usher in an "extreme minimalist aesthetic" and expand the scope of the short story, as did Lydia Davis , through her idiosyncratic and laconic style. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges

2322-463: The 1990s included guest appearances in the BBC's medical drama Casualty , The Knock , Dangerfield , the first episode of Jonathan Creek , Channel 4 's adaptation of A Dance to the Music of Time and as himself as the resident celebrity in 'Dictionary Corner' on the daytime quiz show Countdown , also on Channel 4. In 2003, Baker appeared on Top Gear , participating on a one-lap run on

2408-541: The BBC had not renewed it for a second licence, eventually halting sales of the books on the Big Finish Website in December 2009. Even so, the books are still available via off-site retailers and a final 29th volume collected the editor's favourite story of each of the previous volumes. The Big Finish Short Trips volumes are produced in a slightly different manner from their BBC predecessors: instead of being centrally produced, Big Finish commissions editors for

2494-736: The Butcher in a 1980 episode of Blake's 7 , "City at the Edge of the World". He had further guest roles on television and in 1983 featured in a BBC production of A.J. Cronin 's The Citadel . Baker made his first appearance in Doctor Who as Commander Maxil in the Peter Davison -era story Arc of Infinity (1983). He then became the second of three actors to be cast as the Doctor by producer John Nathan-Turner . Baker's first appearance in

2580-605: The Doctor of War) in the Doctor Who Unbound series and the Curator in The Eighth Doctor Adventures . In recent years, Baker has appeared on a number of DVD releases of his episodes, featuring in either "making-of" documentaries or commentaries. The documentary Trials and Tribulations , included in the 2008 DVD release of The Trial of a Time Lord examines his turbulent three years on

2666-597: The Doctor proved to be a controversial era for the series, which included a hiatus in production and his subsequent replacement on the orders of BBC executives. His performances as the Sixth Doctor in audio plays published by Big Finish Productions have been generally well received by fans. Colin Charles Baker was born on 8 June 1943 in Waterloo , London . He moved north to Rochdale with his family when he

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2752-718: The Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, The London Magazine Short Story Prize, the Pin Drop Studio Short Story Award and many others attract hundreds of entries each year. Published and non-published writers take part, sending in their stories from around the world. In 2013, Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature —her citation read "master of the contemporary short story." She said she hopes

2838-463: The Short Trips range would return to the audio anthology format. It consists of 6 episodes. Short story The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance and other dynamic components as in a novel , but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella/short novel , authors generally draw from

2924-478: The Short-Story . During that same year, Matthews was the first one to name the emerging genre "short story". Another theorist of narrative fiction was Henry James , who produced some of the most influential short narratives of the time. The spread of the short story movement continued into South America, specifically Brazil. The novelist Machado de Assis was an important short story writer from Brazil at

3010-527: The Sixth Doctor in 166 releases, with more planned for the future. These audio plays are generally well received by fans and in a poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine , Baker was voted the "greatest" of the Doctors in this format. He also reprised the role of Commander Maxil in the Gallifrey audio series story "Appropriation" in 2006; in 2022, he played alternate versions of the Fifth Doctor (known as

3096-859: The Top Gear track in a Honda Civic hatchback. Baker competed against a Klingon , a Cyberman , a Dalek , Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless . Baker came in 4th position, with the Cyberman coming 1st. A 2005 guest appearance in comedy sketch show Little Britain was never transmitted but can be seen in the deleted scenes special feature on the Little Britain series 3 DVD. Other television appearances have seen Baker appear in Kingdom , Hustle and Doctors . Away from his Doctor Who work for Big Finish Productions (see above), Baker appeared in

3182-542: The Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti are further significant magical realist short story writers from the Hispanic world. In Brazil, João Antonio made a name for himself by writing about poverty and the favelas . Detective literature there was led by Rubem Fonseca . João Guimarães Rosa wrote short stories in the book Sagarana, using a complex, experimental language based on tales of oral tradition. The role of

3268-468: The actors reading the stories, as well as writing the Sixth Doctor story for Volume 1. After four volumes, this series was discontinued, but the range was relaunched yet again as a monthly download-only series in 2015. The person in brackets in the "Featuring" column is who the story is read by. The releases listed below were single releases made available by Big Finish as subscriber and magazine exclusives and podcasts. Starting from September 2016, Big Finish

3354-463: The artistic and personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed formation. William Boyd , a British author and short story writer, has said: [a short story] seem[s] to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards

3440-512: The audio dramas Sapphire and Steel: The Mystery of the Missing Hour and the 3 part Earthsearch Mindwarp . The latter, based on a James Follett novel, was broadcast on the digital radio station BBC 7 in 2006. In 2010, Baker narrated and provided additional voices for the audiobook version of the sci-fi/comedy novel, Kangazang! Remote Possibilities . Written by Terry Cooper, and published by Candy Jar Books. Baker's film work over

3526-456: The award will bring readership for the short story, as well as recognising the short story for its own merit, rather than "something that people do before they write their first novel." Short stories were cited in the choice of other laureates as well: Paul Heyse in 1910 and Gabriel García Márquez in 1982. Short stories are sometimes adapted for radio, TV or film: As a concentrated, concise form of narrative and descriptive prose fiction,

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3612-465: The bi-monthly magazine Desh (first published in 1933) was key in development of the Bengali short story. Two of the most popular detective story writers of Bengali literature are Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (the creator of Byomkesh Bakshi ) and Satyajit Ray (the creator of Feluda ). Notable examples in the post-World War II period include: The numbers of 21st-century short story writers run into

3698-656: The country in plays as diverse as Peter Nichols ' Privates on Parade , Ira Levin's Deathtrap , Ray Cooney 's Run for Your Wife and Ariel Dorfman 's Death and the Maiden . For many years he has been a pantomime stalwart. In 2000 he appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs alongside actress Louise Jameson who had previously played the Fourth Doctor 's companion Leela . In 2003 he starred in

3784-523: The duration of a single telling. It may be helpful to classify such sections as oral short stories. Another ancient form of short story popular during the Roman Empire was the anecdote , a brief realistic narrative that embodies a point. Many surviving Roman anecdotes were collected in the 13th or 14th century as the Gesta Romanorum . Anecdotes remained popular throughout Europe well into

3870-596: The early 1970s included a supporting role in a 1970 BBC adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre 's trilogy The Roads to Freedom , a leading role as Count Steinbock in their adaptation of Cousin Bette the following year, playing opposite Margaret Tyzack and Helen Mirren . In 1972 he played Anatole Kuragin, opposite Anthony Hopkins in the BBC adaptation of War and Peace . His regular television work continued and in Fall of Eagles , Baker appeared as Crown Prince Wilhelm of

3956-502: The early to mid 1900s in England were detective stories and thrillers. Many of these detective stories were written by authors such as G.K. Chesterton , Agatha Christie , and Dorothy L. Sayers . Graham Greene wrote his collection of short stories, Twenty-One Stories , between 1929 and 1954. Many of these short stories are classified in the genres of thriller, suspense, or even horror. The European short story movement during this time

4042-551: The evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines of its constituent houses. As a point of reference for the genre writer, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America define short story length in the Nebula Awards for science fiction submission guidelines as having fewer than 7,500 words. Short stories date back to oral storytelling traditions which originally produced epics such as

4128-562: The evolving form of the short story. For example, J. D. Salinger 's Nine Stories (1953) experimented with point of view and voice, while Flannery O'Connor's well-known story, " A Good Man is Hard to Find " (1955), reinvigorated the Southern Gothic style. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen 's " I Stand Here Ironing " (1961) adopted

4214-415: The executives wanting to get rid of Nathan-Turner, saying: "I was upset about what happened, really – because, first of all, it wasn't to do with Colin, I know that. It was to do with other issues. The power structure in the BBC had changed and they didn't want John Nathan-Turner around is the truth of it." Baker was removed from the part after starring in only eleven stories and just short of three years in

4300-404: The first Doctor to write a published Doctor Who story, The Deal , as part of Doctor Who Magazine ' s Brief Encounters series. He wrote a second Brief Encounter the following year. Both featured the Sixth Doctor and Mel. In 1994 Baker wrote a comic strip, The Age of Chaos featuring the Sixth Doctor and Frobisher , and in 2001 contributed a story entitled "The Wings of A Butterfly" to

4386-480: The first collection of short stories was by Heinrich von Kleist in 1810 and 1811. In the United States, Washington Irving was responsible for creating some of the first short stories of American origin, " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " and " Rip Van Winkle ". Edgar Allan Poe became another early American short story writer. His concise technique, deemed the "single effect", has had tremendous influence on

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4472-511: The first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810 and 1830 in several countries. The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like Richard Cumberland 's "remarkable narrative", "The Poisoner of Montremos" (1791). Novelists such as Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens also wrote influential short stories during this time. Germany soon followed the United Kingdom's example by producing short stories;

4558-558: The first writer of nothing but short stories to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature . Her award-winning short story collections include Dance of the Happy Shades , Lives of Girls and Women , Who Do You Think You Are? , The Progress of Love , The Love of a Good Woman and Runaway . Prominent short story awards such as The Sunday Times Short Story Award , the BBC National Short Story Award ,

4644-424: The formation of the modern short story. Examples include: In the latter half of the 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words. In 1890s Britain, literary periodicals such as The Yellow Book , Black & White , and The Strand Magazine popularized the short story. Britain was not alone in the endeavor to strengthen

4730-727: The frame narrative or story within a story , is a narrative technique that probably originated in ancient Indian works such as Panchatantra . The evolution of printing technologies and periodical editions were among the factors contributing to the increasing importance of short story publications. Pioneering the rules of the genre in the Western canon were, among others, Rudyard Kipling (United Kingdom), Anton Chekhov (Russia), Guy de Maupassant (France), Rabindranath Tagore (India and Bangladesh), Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (Mexico) and Rubén Darío (Nicaragua). Early examples of short stories were published separately between 1790 and 1810, but

4816-447: The grave and oblivion. In the 1880s, the term "short story" acquired its modern meaning – having initially referred to children's tales. During the early to mid-20th century, the short story underwent expansive experimentation which further hindered attempts to comprehensively provide a definition. Longer stories that cannot be called novels are sometimes considered " novellas " or novelettes and, like short stories, may be collected into

4902-459: The history of the short story". The creation and study of the short story as a medium began to emerge as an academic discipline due to Blanche Colton Williams ' "groundbreaking work on structure and analysis of the short story" and her publication of A Handbook on Short Story Writing (1917), described as "the first practical aid to growing young writers that was put on the market in this country."     In Uruguay , Horacio Quiroga became one of

4988-488: The injured Sixth Doctor in a blonde wig as he regenerates in the opening minutes of Time and the Rani , his face hidden by video effects as the regeneration process occurs. In an interview in 2019, Baker expressed regret for not returning for the scene, stating that he was "brutally selfish at the time" and that he was not thinking about the fans. On 4 September 2011 at Riverside Studios , Hammersmith, London, Baker accepted

5074-542: The late 17th century; one of the most famous collections was by Charles Perrault . The appearance of Antoine Galland 's first modern translation of the 1001 Arabian Nights , a storehouse of Middle Eastern folk and fairy tales, is the Thousand and One Nights (or Arabian Nights ) (from 1704; another translation appeared in 1710–12). His translation would have an enormous influence on the 18th-century European short stories of Voltaire , Diderot and others. In India, there

5160-519: The lives of common people, especially the oppressed classes. The prolific Indian author of short stories Munshi Premchand , pioneered the genre in the Hindustani language , writing over 200 short stories and many novels in a style characterized by realism and an unsentimental and authentic introspection into the complexities of Indian society. In 1884, Brander Matthews , the first American professor of dramatic literature, published The Philosophy of

5246-439: The more marketable form of "collections", of stories previously unpublished or published, but elsewhere. Sometimes, authors who do not have the time or money to write a novella or novel decide to write short stories instead, working out a deal with a popular website or magazine to publish them for profit. Around the world, the modern short story is comparable to lyrics , dramas, novels and essays – although examination of it as

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5332-641: The most influential short story writers in the Spanish language. With a clear influence from Edgar Allan Poe , he had a great skill in using the supernatural and the bizarre to show the struggle of man and animal to survive. He also excelled in portraying mental illness and hallucinatory states. In India, Saadat Hasan Manto , the master of the short story in the Urdu language, is revered for his exceptional depth, irony, and sardonic humor. The author of some 250 short stories, radio plays, essays, reminiscences, and

5418-512: The point with the most action) and resolution (the point when the conflict is resolved). Because of their length, short stories may or may not often follow this pattern. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition, more typically beginning in the middle of the action ( in medias res ). As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis or turning point. In general, short stories feature endings which might be either conclusive or open-ended. Ambiguity

5504-425: The popularity of the short story. Several authors during this time wrote short stories centered on the devices of satire and humor. One such author, Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also known by his pen name of Saki , wrote satirical short stories about Edwardian England. P.G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories about the valet, Jeeves , in 1917. Other common genres of short stories during

5590-576: The presidency of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society , which had previously been held by Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney . He was elected following an online poll of the society's members where he won more votes than all the other candidates combined. From 5 June to 19 August 1989, Baker agreed to appear as the Doctor once more, in the stage play Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure , taking over from original lead Jon Pertwee who had fallen ill. In 1992, Baker became

5676-518: The range would be relaunched as double CD audiobooks featuring eight new short stories each. The stories were to be read by popular Doctor Who actors. Also on this day Big Finish asked for short story submissions, from anyone who hadn't written for them before, for possible inclusion on the CDs. Soon after the closing date it was announced that they had received 500 entries and that Colin Baker would be among

5762-560: The revival of short story salons such as those held by the short fiction company Pin Drop Studio. More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK in 2017, generating £5.88 million, the genre's highest sales since 2010. Throughout the 2010s, there was frequent speculation about a potential "renaissance"; Sam Baker called it a "perfect literary form for the 21st century". In 2012, Pin Drop Studio launched what became

5848-521: The ruling "narrative" or epistemological/experiential framework of their society." Still often cited Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1984 to 1986. Baker's tenure as

5934-411: The series was recommissioned, but Nathan-Turner was ordered to change the actor playing the Doctor. Although sources have attributed this decision to Grade, he denied this in 2022. The BBC's Head of Series, Jonathan Powell , later said that the BBC was looking for "one last chance saloon, for an actor who would take off with the public." Peter Davison argued in 2018 that the decision was more to do with

6020-428: The series, including the hiatus, making his tenure as the Doctor the shortest at that point. After his sacking, Baker was offered a single four-part story that would end in his character's regeneration, but he refused the offer. In response, Baker offered to do the entirety of the following season and regenerate at its conclusion, but the BBC never responded to his letter. Instead, his replacement, Sylvester McCoy , played

6106-470: The series, which he described as a "very clunky studio show". One new Doctor Who story, Slipback , was produced for radio during the hiatus, which starred Baker and his regular television companion Nicola Bryant . Doctor Who returned to television for its 23rd season in September 1986. The season featured a reduction in episodes, was made entirely on video for location scenes and was produced as

6192-410: The short story has been theorised about through the traditional elements of dramatic structure : exposition (the introduction of setting, situation, and main characters), complication (the event that introduces the conflict), rising action , crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and his commitment to a course of action), climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and

6278-480: The short story movement. French author Guy de Maupassant composed the short stories " Boule de Suif " ("Ball of Fat", 1880) and " L'Inutile Beauté " ("The Useless Beauty", 1890), which are important examples of French realism . Russian author Anton Chekhov was also influential in the movement. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India, many writers created short stories centered on daily life and

6364-477: The show. In November 2013, Baker co-starred in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot . In the final episode of Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the Doctor, Baker returned for a cameo appearance alongside Davison, McCoy and Paul McGann as a manifestation of the Doctor’s subconscious. Since leaving Doctor Who Baker has spent much of his time on the stage with appearances throughout

6450-409: The social scene of the different socioeconomic groups. Rabindranath Tagore published more than 150 short stories on the lives of the poor and oppressed such as peasants, women, and villagers under colonial misrule and exploitation. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay , Tagore's contemporary, was another pioneer in Bengali short stories. Chattopadhyay's stories focused on the social scenario of rural Bengal and

6536-493: The starring role occurred in the final moments of The Caves of Androzani (1984), where he delivered his first few lines. He then made his full story debut the following week in The Twin Dilemma . The serial, and Baker's portrayal of the Doctor, caused immediate controversy, with one scene in which the Doctor attempts to strangle his companion, Peri Brown . According to PopMatters , "Colin Baker's first appearance

6622-494: The thousands. Female short story writers have gained increased critical attention, with British authors, in particular, exploring modern feminist politics in their writings. Sales of short-story fiction are strong. In the UK, sales jumped 45% in 2017, driven by collections from international names such as Alice Munro, a high number of new writers to the genre, including famous names like actor Tom Hanks (plus those who publish their work using readily accessible, digital tools), and

6708-548: The time, under the influences of Xavier de Maistre , Laurence Sterne , Guy de Maupassant , among others. At the end of the 19th century, the writer João do Rio became popular by short stories about the bohemianism . Lima Barreto wrote about the former slaves and nationalism in Brazil, with his most recognized work being Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma . Examples include: In the United Kingdom, periodicals like The Strand Magazine and Story-Teller contributed to

6794-477: The volumes, who in turn commission stories from writers for the themed collections. Because of this, each volume is produced depending on the working methods of its editor – some editors commission stories on invitation from writers, whilst others welcome unsolicited submission of stories. How the Doctor Changed My Life featured stories all written by previously unpublished authors. This was as

6880-466: The years includes The Harpist (1999), The Asylum (2000) and D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires (2005). Since 1995 Baker has written a regular weekly column for local newspaper Bucks Free Press . A compilation of his articles from 1995 to 2009 were published in the book, Look Who's Talking . Baker participated in the 12th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! , finishing in 8th place out of 12 celebrities. Baker's first wife

6966-579: Was 3 years old. He was educated at St Bede's College, Manchester , where he passed A' Levels in French, Latin and Greek. Particularly strong in Latin and Greek, Baker achieved 2 A grades. He studied law at a London college and subsequently trained to become a solicitor. At the age of 23, Baker enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Baker's numerous television roles in

7052-560: Was actress Liza Goddard who had appeared with him in the TV series The Brothers . Their marriage lasted 18 months and ended in divorce. With his second wife, Marion Wyatt, an actress, whom he married in 1982, Baker has four daughters: Lucy, Bindy, Lalla and Rosie. They also had a son, Jack, who died of sudden infant death syndrome . His wife and daughters appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot as themselves. Baker

7138-521: Was just out-and-out dislikable, showcasing a hubris and harshness that was heretofore unseen in the Doctor's emotional canon." Baker's era was interrupted by an 18-month hiatus which was announced in February 1985, midway through transmission of Season 22 , his first full season. The Controller of BBC1 at the time, Michael Grade , criticised Doctor Who , saying that the programme had become overly violent in 1985. Grade later admitted that he "hated"

7224-476: Was no longer financially viable to produce collections of short stories. Big Finish Productions negotiated a licence to continue producing these collections, publishing them in smaller runs and in hardback , thus allowing for a higher cover price and increased profit margins than on the BBC collections. In May 2009 and after 28 collections, Big Finish announced that they were ending the Short Trips series as

7310-575: Was not unique to England. In Ireland, James Joyce published his short story collection Dubliners in 1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth city. In the first half of the 20th century, a number of high-profile American magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly , Harper's Magazine , The New Yorker , Scribner's , The Saturday Evening Post , Esquire , and The Bookman published short stories in each issue. The demand for quality short stories

7396-410: Was so great and the money paid so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first collection, Flappers and Philosophers , appeared in book form in 1920. Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style was perfectly suited for shorter fiction. Influenced by the short stories of Stephen Crane and Jack London , Hemingway's work "marks a new phase in

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