Lethbridge-Stewart - Lineage: A Doctor Who spin-off anthology. Kindle Edition

Some good bits, too much mystic guff!

‘Lineage’ is a collection of short stories to celebrate fifty years since Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was first introduced in ‘The Web of Fear’.It isn’t an arbitrary selection as an overall storyline interconnects the various offerings. The nature of this plot enables the collection, as the title suggests, to be structured around exploring the ancestry of the Brigadier and the history of the Lethbridge-Stewart family since 1603. It therefore features characters that have either appeared or been referenced in both the Lethbridge-Stewart novels and/or other Doctor Who media.‘Lineage’, therefore, is also an effort at consolidating and clarifying the reasonably complicated family history of the Brigadier. This includes the fairly recent appearance of Archibald Lethbridge-Stewart in ‘Twice Upon a Time’ which initially appeared to conflict with the Lethbridge-Stewart book series.The stories are organised chronologically and, with the Lethbridge-Stewarts essentially being a military orientated family, some are set during major events such as the two world wars and the Napoleonic wars, revealing their role in British history.Towards the end of the collection the stories focus instead on the future of the Lethbridge-Stewart family and upon the Brigadier’s legacy. Thus, a couple of the Brigadier’s grandchildren (most importantly Lucy Wilson who has her own spin-off series of novels) receive their own mini-adventures as well as appearances from his daughter, Kate Stewart, who was originally introduced in straight-to-video ‘Downtime’ but has subsequently gone on to fulfil a similar role to her father in the programme.It all makes for a varied selection of stories and characters that are a worthwhile celebration of fifty years of an iconic character.