Is There a Doctor on the Dig?
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Is There a Doctor on the Dig? |
| Author(s): | Bat Morda |
| Date(s): | January 21, 1997 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Xena |
| External Links: | Is There a Doctor on the Dig? (part one) at Academy of Bards (part one of four) |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Is There a Doctor on the Dig? is a Xena story by Bat Morda.
It is one of the first uber stories.
"LOVE/SEX WARNING/DISCLAIMER: This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live, please do not read it. If depictions of this nature disturb you, you may wish to read something other than this story." [1]
Barron Chugg made a fanfic cover for the story.
Awards
- Swollen Bud Award - Getting Serious (May 1, 2000)
Reactions and Reviews
March 1997 saw the opening of the CALLISTO TALES fanfic site, the first on the Web exclusively dedicated to one of the supporting players on XWP. It was this month as well that marked the birth of one of the most popular genres in XWP fanfic when a story called IS THERE A DOCTOR ON THE DIG made its debut. Written by Bat Morda and inspired by the episode THE XENA SCROLLS (34/210), ITADOTD was an instant hit with fans immediately generating an interest in Mel/Janice stories. To this day when Xenites think of Mel and Janice they are more likely to envision the characters from fanfic than the originals we saw in the TV series.
[snipped]
The chronological information I originally reported in that article for the uber genre was in fact wrong. Since the writing of that article I've become aware of a couple of other stories which alter that uber chronology. Bat's IS THERE A DOCTOR ON THE DIG was of course the first Mel/Janice tale and thus an uber, but even prior to this story some writers had already visited the uber concept. Over in the HERCULES fandom in January 1997, a writer named Terra Chang had posted a story named A MEETING OF CHANCE featuring modern-day versions of Hercules, Iolus, Xena and Gabrielle. That same month, the weekend after XENA SCROLLS first aired on TV, A Xenite named Darkone released the story WARRIOR'S HEART on a private mailing list. With the uber-Gabrielle as a rock dancer and the uber-Xena as her bodyguard, the story was publicly available on the Web by February 1997. "Uber" as a fanfic term was not being used as of yet but in the months ahead as more Xenites were inspired to write stories featuring versions of Xena and Gabrielle other than the originals, the term, first coined by Kym Tayborn from WHOOSH, became popular. Bards Miss and Aisa began posting an uber named GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66 which unfortunately was never finished but in July 1997 we got Bongo Bear's THE HITCH HIKER, which paired an architect and a military historian - and by the end of that summer we had three of the fandom's most beloved uber classics online, Della Street's western TOWARD THE SUNSET, Nene Adam's Victorian detective mystery BLACK BY GASLIGHT and the gritty modern-day spy thriller SURFACING by Paul Seely & Jennifer Garza. The uber genre was here to stay! [2]
Absolutely delightful story which reunites our favorite archeologist and her Southern Belle of a companion, Janice and Mel from the XENA SCROLLS episode - this time in an alt. story (it's WILD what can I say!). Bat's latest has everything - adventure, suspense, COMEDY, romance, wild, passionate...uh...er - well, you know ;-) Not to worry, Xena and Gab DO make an appearance and the passages about them happen to be some of the loveliest and most moving I've ever read in XWP fiction. This is NOT TO BE MISSED! The first-ever Mel/Janice story released and a true classic! It carries my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION! [See also L. Graham's PRELUDE TO A DIG and Bat's own sequel THE SEARCH FOR AMPHIPOLIS] - 90 pgs., 3/97 [3]