Subtract the reference embedded in the title, and there's nothing remotely fairy tale-ish about this at all; it's just a generic space action story about humans-versus-Wirrn, like The Ark in Space without all the good bits. I've come to the beliefs that 1) hiring the unimaginative Justin Richards to write all of these was a mistake, as maybe he had one or two ideas for good "Time Lord fairy tales" but he sure didn't have sixteen, and 2) releasing them in a fancy box set just like 12 Doctors, 12 Stories gave a misleading impression of their quality and interest. Why didn't BBC Books do a box set for Time Trips or Twelve Doctors of Christmas instead? Oh well, only six of these to go...