Aspiring authors/fans of the longest-running Sci Fi series on TV are being given the chance of a lifetime — or several lifetimes. Big Finish, publisher of a line of Doctor Who books, is presently holding an open call for manuscript submissions for Short Trips, a volume of original short stories to be published in 2007. Meant to satisfy a reader’s Doctor Who hunger like the literary equivalent of tasty appetizers, stories submitted to the appropriately titled collection cannot exceed 2,500 words in length. Each story must also begin with the following premise: “How the Doctor changed my life.”

The competition is open to any writer who has never before been paid for a work of his or her fiction. Stories can feature any of the first eight incarnations of the Doctor (as portrayed by William Hartnell through Paul McGann), but not all of them, a popular plot device used numerous times during the run of the original series. Also off-limits are the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, their companions, and any and all adversaries the Doctor has faced since first stepping out of the TARDIS on November 23, 1963. That means no Daleks, Krinoids, Cybermen, Sontarans, Silurians, or Slitheen. There’s still a vast, rich universe to mine for material, as past traveling companions like Leela, K9, the greatly underutilized Harry Sullivan, and the inimitable Sarah Jane Smith are all fair game for inclusion.

As can be expected in the Doctor Who universe, time is short: The contest only runs until January 31, 2007.

The second season of the new Doctor Who, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, recently wrapped its run on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. Season Three premiered with “The Runaway Bride” on Christmas Night in the UK.