This is a novelization of the serial of the same title.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Third Doctor
CompanioEntertaining reading, just nothing extraordinary.
This is a novelization of the serial of the same title.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Third Doctor
Companion:
Jo Grant
WHERE & WHEN
Planet Spiridon. Exact date is not mentioned.
WHAT
The Doctor is injured due events of the previous adventure (he was shot by The Master in Frontier in Space) and he is in a kind of coma, so the Time Lords seemed to direct the TARDIS to the planet Spiridon (why the heck sending the TARDIS to a freaking world full of Daleks instead of bringing it back to Gallifrey, I just have no clue. I think that they could have better luck if Jo just pull some control randomly and landing anywhere else) which is a world conquered by the Daleks looking for the means to become invisible which is something that indigenous race learned to do.
Since the Doctor is out of commision at first, bravely Jo looks for help, finding a group of Thals (the first native species of Skaro before the creation of the Daleks), that they went there supposedly to deal with a small advance exploratory squad of Daleks but soon enough they realize that instead it was a vast army of ten thousand Daleks.
The Doctor wakes up (it’s curious that while the injure seemed to be quite serious, he was able to heal instead of just activating a regeneration) and since he found out that Jo went alone to look for help, he went too to look for her.
The Doctor is captured by the Daleks, and Jo is able to avoid capture thanks to the helps of one of the Thals. Once both heroes eventually find each other, they join forces with the remaining Thals and a rebel force of Spiridons to find a way to stop the Daleks.
The story is entertained and while it’s not one of the finest adventures of Doctor Who, you have several good things like counting with the charm and wit of the Third Doctor, the bravery of Jo, and the fact that any story with Daleks on it, well, it will be something cool to read....more
This is a novelization of the never-produced movie proposal by Douglas Adams, for “Doctor Who”, which eventuaA great story but got ball tampering!
This is a novelization of the never-produced movie proposal by Douglas Adams, for “Doctor Who”, which eventually the very Douglas Adams used the material for “Life, the Universe and Everything” (third book in the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”).
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Romana II & K-9 (Mark II)
WHERE & WHEN
Around the galaxy. Several time periods.
WHAT
The Doctor takes Romana to a Cricket game on Earth, since it seems that the end of the universe will begin there, and he’s not mistaken since soon enough a squad of Krikkitmen, fearful xenophobic sentient robots appeared shooting.
That was bad, yes, but the read bad thing was that it was supposed to be impossible that one single Krikkitmen would be free in the galaxy…
…and that only means that the universe is in peril, again.
The Krikkitmen were an unstoppable menace, many eons ago, and the galaxy was in such threat that the Time Lords had to intervene…
…but while it was supposed to use an ingenious way to deal with the Krikkitmen…
…once again, the threat is on, and the Doctor has to take the matters in his own hands.
The Krikkitmen was a proposal to make a theatrical film of Doctor Who, and even the original script has Sarah Jane Smith as the companion for the Fourth Doctor. However, never got green light and the story got buried in the personal papers of Douglas Adams, and he even used the ideas to take shape in his third novel in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy saga.
So…
…Since the recent previous adaptations of Douglas Adams’ stories never put in paper before have sold so well…
…it was obvious to go to the stored documents of Adams to fish yet another tale!
I love Shada (see my review about it) adapted by Gareth Roberts, and I read the other adaptations of Pirate Planet and City of Death by James Goss (the author of this very adaptation), but I truly feel that Gareth Roberts was WAY better understanding what the late Douglas Adams wanted to do with his stories, Gareth Roberts is a related mind to Adams. And while I am sure that James Goss put his soul to the task of adapting his assigned books, something got miss in the road…
…and here, happened again. Especially, since I think that “less is more”, and I believe that Goss wanted to put so much in the adaptation (probably to avoid to fall into a mere copy of “Life, the Universe and Everything”) that Goss lost his way in the process, started so good and so fun, I was having a blast, but later he added unnecesary (and pointless) chapters in the middle of the journey, tediously extending a cool tale that it could be told…
The Doctor versus monsters, what else do you need?!
The rating is an average sum of each rating that I give to the short tales featured in the anthThe Doctor versus monsters, what else do you need?!
The rating is an average sum of each rating that I give to the short tales featured in the anthology.
MURDER IN THE DARK
Rating: *** (3 stars)
The First Doctor, along with Steven Taylor & Dodo, arrive to a mansion in the middle of a Halloween party, however the party is way more than it seems, and escaping from there can be more tricky that you may imagine.
SOMETHING AT THE DOOR
Rating: *** (3 stars)
The Second Doctor has the TARDIS traveling through the time vortex, meanwhile Ben and Polly are showing the whereabouts of the time machine to the recently arrived Jamie McCrimmon, they find an Oujia Board in an odd room of the TARDIS, and they're too imprudent to try it out...
...big mistake!
THE MONSTER IN THE WOODS
Rating: **** (4 stars)
The Third Doctor takes Jo Grant to a trip on Bessie, following a signal that shouldn't exist, meanwhile three young brothers are in the grasp of a dangerous being in the deep of the woods.
TOIL AND TROUBLE
Raring: *** (3 stars)
The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry facing a wicked coven of alien witches.
MARK OF THE MEDUSA
Rating: **** (4 stars)
The Fifth Doctor takes his entourage (Tegan, Turlogh & Kamelion) to the inauguration of a museum in the future where the best art & cultural pieces of Earth will be there, when a lethal monster is unleashed there.
TRICK OR TREAT
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
The best short tale in the anthology!
The Sixth Doctor must face alone an insiduous old foe who will put in the balance, the mental sanity of the Time Lord. Showing that some stories may not end when you think first.
THE LIVING IMAGE
Rating: **** (4 stars)
The Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive to Victorian London, just in time to deal against a vicious foe who thrives in paintings.
ORGANISM 96
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
The Eighth Doctor gets onboard of a cruise liner, right in the middle of a killing spree, and while he points out at once who is the culprit...
...it isn't that evident to the crew and passengers!
THE PATCHWORK PIERROT
Rating: **** (4 stars)
The Ninth Doctor meets an odd circus where an old foe taking a different appearance is menacing everyone!
BLOOD WILL OUT
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
The Tenth Doctor and Donna are trapped by a group of known villains risking the safety of the entire universe!
THE MIST OF SORROW
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
The Eleventh Doctor must struggle to save a family who is menaced by some of the scariest beings in the universe!
BABY SLEEPY FACE
Rating: *** (3 stars)
The Twelfth Doctor takes a pair of siblings as unexpected companions to deal of the unusual merge of two old foes, rising a new kind of threat.
This is an anthology featuring six short stories with Missy, the female regeneration of The Master.
The rating for the book is anIt’s Missy’s time!
This is an anthology featuring six short stories with Missy, the female regeneration of The Master.
The rating for the book is an average sum of the ratings of each short story.
DISMEMBERMENT
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Writer: James Goss
The Master has just regenerate into a female form, and you can bet that he… err… she is kinda disoriented due that.
The Master had a ritual after each regeneration, since any Time Lord got exhausted after that changing process, The Master had a lifetime membership is the infamous “Scoundrels Club”, a selected private club for the most sinister criminals on England, and not matter that The Master has returned to the club with a different face, in many occasions, The Master had take the assigned chair and asked for a drink, while he gain strenght again and deciding the next move…
…but there is a tiny weeny problem this time…
…The “Scoundrels Club” is a men only private club…
…and while The Master technically wasn’t a man, but an alien, to the eyes of the others members and the club’s council, The Master had been a man…
…until now…
…and due this unexpected situation, The Master is asked to leave the club…
…a big mistake, for the club’s members…
…since The Master is a very vindictive person…
…with access to a Time Machine!
..and no morals!
During this adventure, The Master will also meet a collaborator who will hint a new and better aproppiate way to refer…
…herself…
…Missy!
LORDS AND MASTERS
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Writer: Cavan Scott
Usually, when the Time Lords wanted that some task would be done without a clear direct connection with them, they had used the reluctant services of the rogue member of their species, The Doctor…
…however, the nature and expected outcome of a particular mission, involving a creature with the natural ability of manipulating time, the Time Lords opted for another rogue compatriot…
…Missy!
Similar like done before with The Doctor, the Time Lords take control of Missy’s TARDIS to assure the services of her.
However, Missy is not puppet of anyone!
But also, Missy is not fool!
The Time Lords will wish to do their dirty work for themselves!
TEDDY SPARKLES MUST DIE!
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Writer: Paul Magrs
Mary Poppins meets Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, in a very twisted way, when Missy assumes the duties of a governess in 1920’s London, along with the reluctant assistance of an odd talking teddy bear with unique skills, they’ll change the fate of three children…
…to the benefit of Missy’s personal plans, of course!
However, tutoring children is a tricky profession and even an evil Time Lady won’t find that, an easy work.
THE LIAR, THE GLITCH AND THE WAR ZONE
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
Writer: Peter Anghelides
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe takes a wrong turn in Venice, when Missy’s TARDIS crashes against a Gryphon’s time vessel, causing a literally race against time to reach a key technological piece, essential to both parties, if they don’t want to get stuck there.
And remember, while Missy is learning to be a better person than her former regenertions…
…she is still The Master, and at the bottom…
…she always will choose…
…her own benefit over others’.
GIRL POWER!
Rating: ** ( 2 stars )
Writer: Jacqueline Rayner
A wonderful premise done in a tedious way.
Missy is locked up, under the surveillance of the Twelfth Doctor and Nardole, but…
…she manages, in the middle of seemingly innocent petitions for stuff…
…to accomplish a “chat room” with many of the most prominent women in history, interchanging ideas between the group.
Yes, the concept had A LOT of potential but I felt that the way that it was developed by the author denied the expected fun and entertainment of the tale.
ALIT IN UNDERLAND
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Writer: Richard Dinnick
Alice in Wonderland turns upside down in deep space, in the middle of the events of the TV episodes World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls, when Missy joins forces with…
…kinda herself…
…The Master (in his “Harold Saxon” persona) to look a way to escape from the gigantic Mondasian colony ship and its doomed course to a black hole.
However, the two versions of The Master, got a “companion”, Alit, a young girl who wants to know what there is beyond her humble “town”.
The Master and Missy interchange an amusing conversation comparing their own experiencies on each regenerations and what have “they” done on even previous versions.
This is a single comic book issue given in the Free Comic Book Day event of 2018, featuring 3 different storieThe Doctor comes to FCBD once again!
This is a single comic book issue given in the Free Comic Book Day event of 2018, featuring 3 different stories with different Doctors.
The overall rating is an average sum based on the individual ratings given to each story included in the comic book.
CATCH A FALLING STAR
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Writer: Nick Abadzis
Illustrators: Giorgia Sposito & Arianna Florean
WHO:
The Doctor: The Tenth Doctor
Companion: Gabby Gonzalez
WHERE & WHEN:
Deep Space. Non disclosured date.
WHAT:
Gabby is alone in space, about to die, after sacrificing herself, and she ponders about her life since she met the Doctor, but hardly she knows that this isn’t the end of her own story and a surprising cameo.
THE ARMAGEDDON GAMBIT
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
Writer: John Freeman
Illustrator: Christopher Jones
WHO:
The Doctor: The Seventh Doctor
Companion: Ace
WHERE & WHEN:
Planet Trath. Non disclosured date.
WHAT:
At the planet Trath, the violent race of the Kla-Shi-Kel is rising in power, and they already obliterated several alien species…
…but they never were prepared for the Doctor!
It’s quite good, but at the end it’s sadly just like a quick prologue leading to a storyarc that it will be developed in the regular Classic Doctors comic books of Titan Comics.
MIDNIGHT FEAST
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Writer: George Mann
Illustrator: Mariano Laclaustra
WHO:
The Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor
Companion: Alice Obiefune
WHERE & WHEN:
TARDIS & Joe’s Diner. Non disclosured date.
WHAT:
Things are never boring in the TARDIS, not even at midnight when the Doctor is hungry and looking for some amusing snack.
AND INTRODUCING…
Rating: Not applied
Writer: Jody Houser
Illustrator: Rachael Stott
Maybe it’s not much a spoiler due the title of the last panel (that’s why I didn’t rate it since it’s not a story but only one page without dialogues but showing someone very much important for the future of the franchise.
Planet Vulcan. Non-disclosureSecond Doctor’s first adventure!
WHO
The Doctor:
The Second Doctor
Companions:
Ben Jackson
Polly Wright
WHERE & WHEN
Planet Vulcan. Non-disclosured date, set in the future.
WHAT
This is a novelization of the first serial introducing The Second Doctor, and this serial was totally lost by BBC, and while there is a crude animated reconstruction of this serial, honestly, I prefer (in my personal taste) to enjoy the story in this prose format, especially that John Peel did a great job, not limiting himself of just doing a cold narration of the events but actually adding stylish description and inner depth as you can usually find in a regular prose novel, along with deeper backgrounds from characters of the TV serial and even creating a new character for the prose novelization.
I’m truly glad that I decided to read this particular book, right after The Tenth Planet novelization,...
...since not only Power of the Daleks is the following serial in the TV series, but also, in this novelization you’ll begin reading about an aftermath of the events in The Tenth Planet, even using in a cool and creative way, characters that they would be introduced in future serials, explaining how the events of The Tenth Planet were crucial to help humanking to reach space and the need of organizing a proper task team to deal with alien menaces. Moreover, the first three chapters of the book are dedicaded to the uncertainity of Ben and Polly about the regeneration of The Doctor, provoking them of not trusting in this “new” character, with a different face, different voice, different body, different age, claiming still being The Doctor.
Therefore, if you aren’t familiarized with the events of The Tenth Planet, you’ll be kinda lost in the beginning of this book.
In this first adventure for The Second Doctor, he receives a “baptism of fire” facing none other than The Daleks! No time for taking it slowly in his very first regeneration but dealing with his deadliest villains once more.
The Doctor takes Ben and Polly to Planet Vulcan (Nope! No, that planet Vulcan!), colonized by Earth, establishing a huge mining facility there (cleverly using the name of a known commercial organization that it wouldn’t be mentioned in Doctor Who until a later serial in the franchise), where an Examiner from Earth is being expected and after a mysterious character has killed the real one, then The Doctor replaces the identity of The Examiner as a useful way to access the mining colony, which it will putting him right in the middle of inner political power conflict, at the same time than the menace of three deactivated Daleks found in a space capsule which fell on that planet.
It’s interesting, that Ben and Polly hadn’t visited an alien planet until this time, and also it’s their first time dealing with the infamous Daleks, that they had heard so much about from The First Doctor.
The Daleks are the number one favorite villains in the Doctor Who franchise. They are xenophobic murderers, with the clear goal of exterminating any other life form different from them in the universe; and it’s depressingly amusing how the prejudices of the Daleks are kinda justified in this story, when they can’t understand why humans kill other humans, along with petty disputes for political power. Moreover, the Daleks show in this story, how cunning they can become, when they’re found in a disadvantageous situation, so without weapons and numbers in an initial stage, they need to become creative to be able of achieving their insidious goals, hidding them in plain sight from the unwary humans.
No time to rest after the first regeneration! The Second Doctor needs to deal with his deadliest enemies!...more
Antartica. EartEnter: The Cybermen and the first regeneration!
WHO
The Doctor:
The First Doctor
Companions:
Ben Jackson
Polly Wright
WHERE & WHEN
Antartica. Earth. Year 2000.
WHAT
This is a key story in Doctor Who lore, one of those serials that BBC lost some of the episodes, that it this case, it was lost the fourth (of four) episode that it was "recovered" using a basic animation and the original sound tapes.
There are some differences from the TV presentation like an odd decision to set the prose adventure in the year 2000 instead of 1986 in the TV original version, but at the end, this novelization is quite right to appreciate the story.
The real action is limited to be honest, and some science elements aren’t managed in a proper way (even having in mind that it was developed in the good ol’ 60s and that it’s a sci-fi show) that leave you with bittersweet sensation that the plot wasn’t exploited to its real potential,…
…BUT…
…it’s two key elements that made this tale a pivotal game-changer in the franchise of Doctor Who…
…it’s the very first story introducing the Cybermen which would became one of the most popular villains is Doctor Who, second only to the Daleks, that while you may not feel them like that in this adventure, it was after all the peak of the iceberg for many more ambitious stories to come using these great villains…
…AND…
…it’s the story where The Doctor passed through his first regeneration, even before of formally name this process in that way, and while it was due the original actor was too ill to continue in his acting role, this opened one of the best elements to keep Doctor Who active as sci-fi franchise even nowadays (2018).
The First Doctor, Ben & Polly arrive just in time (pun intended) to the Antartica when something impossible happened in near space orbit from Earth…
…a tenth planet appears in the Solar System!
It’s Mondas, homeworld of being whom used to be humans but due poor choices in the use of radioactivity, they started to replace organic parts for mechanical ones, until…
…almost none organinc left in their bodies and became…
…The Cybermen!!!
Now, Mondas was left without resources or any kind of energy, and its return to the Solar System means the doom for Earth and its inhabitants!
Resistance is useless! (Mmh… where did I heard that before? Mmh)
It’s obvious that the Cybermen where the inspiration for the Star Trek: The Next Generation’s The Borg, but nobody is hiding or denying anything since if you remember, the very episode where The Borg were introduced was aptly titled Q Who, and after all, if you have in mind that next stop for The Doctor and his companions, after this adventure will be “the planet Vulcan”, well, it’s like Pirates from Sillicon Valley,…
…the one without sin…
Meanwhile, take cover, since a fleet of 250 Cybercrafts are invading Earth and the only able to stop them is The Doctor, but he seems quite ill and aged.
This is not the end, by far chance, it’s only the last chapter of an era, and the next one is just around the corner!...more
The general rating is an average sum result of the individual ratings given for each short story in the antThe Doctor & Xmas, like Bread & Butter!
The general rating is an average sum result of the individual ratings given for each short story in the anthology.
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
By Jacqueline Rayner & Nick Harris
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
The First Doctor, along with Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister, arrive to England, just in time for Christmas in 1963, however things aren’t like they supposed to be, and for a strange reason, some stuff is just odd.
A COMEDY OF TERRORS
By Colin Brake & Melissa Castrillón
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
The Second Doctor, along with Jamie McCrimmon & Zoe Heriot, arrive to a spaceship in travel to a planet, part of a vast interestellar kingdom. There, they, have to pretend to be Shakespearean actors, while they investigate a menace against the princess soon to be crowned.
THE CHRISTMAS INVERSION
By Jacqueline Rayner & Sara Gianassi
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
The Third Doctor, along with Jo Grant & Capt. Mike Yates, arrive to London, just in time for Xmas in 2006, but if you know well the New Series era, you know that there was already there another regeneration of The Doctor, so they need the assistance of Jackie Taylor (Rose Taylor’s mom) to avoid a time travel mess.
THREE WISE MEN
By Richard Dungworth & Rob Biddulph
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
The Fourth Doctor & K9 are stranded in orbit around Earth on the TARDIS, since the time ship needs several very special spare parts to work again, and only UNIT has that kind of technology, but since they’re in space, the trouble of reaching the TARDIS is absurdly impossible. However, luckily the date is December 24th, 1968, so if you know something about history, you’ll figure out a way to accomplish the impossible.
SONTAR’S LITTLE HELPERS
By Mike Tucker & Staffan Gnosspelius
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
The Fifth Doctor, along with Tegan Jovanka & Vislor Turlough, attend a SOS signal in deep space from a space cargo vessel carrying toys for a Human Colony due to arrive in Xmas, however, they find a young Sontaran warrior decided to make his coming-to-age test with them.
FAIRY TALE OF NEW NEW YORK
By Gary Russell & Stewart Easton
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
The Sixth Doctor & Melanie Bush arrive to a space hospital vessel, that it’s “manned” by a crew of Catkind nurse sisters, part of the Sister of the Plenitude, taking care of a group of frightened kids. It’s up to The Doctor & Mel to find out why the kids are so scared and what secret hides in that space hospital vessel.
THE GROTTO
By Mike Tucker & Charlie Sutcliffe
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
The Seventh Doctor & Ace arrive to New York and soon they have to mount a hunting mission against a strange alien monster through the Macy’s store during xmas time.
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
By Scott Handcock & Jennifer Skemp
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
The Eighth Doctor is taking a brief rest, in the middle of the Time War, when he finds himself trapped in a second, unable to move forward of backwards, and soon he notices that he’s not alone in the TARDIS.
THE RED BICYCLE
By Gary Russell & Rohan Eason
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
The Ninth Doctor puts to the test, making a very small change in history, to improve the childhood of Rose Tyler on Xmas, however, the kind deed will become more complicated than expected.
LOOSE WIRE
By Richard Dungworth & Captain Kriss
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
The Tenth Doctor faces again the Wire, during Xmas time, in a 21st Century, where with high speed internet and bluetooth technology, it will become the worst case scenario to deal against such villain.
THE GIFT
By Scott Handcock & Various artists
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
The Eleventh Doctor deals with an alien stranded at Earth during xmas time, and the spirit of the holidays will cause a tremendous effect at the origin world of the alien.
THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY
By Colin Brake & Tom Duxbury
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
The Twelfth Doctor takes a young boy to look after the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, however, while The Doctor thought to know already the reason behind the myth, an ancient opponent will appear to cause mischief....more
Not always is easy to fit a prose novel into the TV chronology, but happily it’s easy in this case, due it’s the first “test trip” of the TARDIS by the Third Doctor, right after being pardoned by the Time Lords’ Council, and giving back to him the memories of how to operate the TARDIS. So, this story is properly fit rigth after “The Three Doctors” but before of “Carnival of Monsters”, during Season 10 of the Classic Era of Doctor Who.
But this got better!
Since the Third Doctor not only has Jo Grant as his current companion, but Liz Shaw is back for the “test trip”, since during her time as Doctor’s companion, she never was able to travel in the TARDIS, so this is a really special adventure! (Especially for me, since Liz Shaw is one of my favorite companions in Doctor Who.)
Prof. Liz Shaw is versed in several scientific fields but her speciality is about meteorites, so the Doctor wanted to take her, along with Jo, to Tunguska, 1908, to observe the famous meteoroid blast event at the moment that happened, but…
…as you know, the TARDIS always have its own mind about where to take The Doctor and his companions, not matter what coordinates would be inserted…
…so, The Doctor, Liz and Jo, ended in Russia alright, but, in St. Petersburg, in 1916, just some few month before the infamous Russian Revolution!
Definitely it’s not a good place or date to be, but…
…they can’t leave, since the TARDIS is stolen!!!
So, from an expected scientific exploration, the situation turned into an unexpected political struggle!
They are seen with suspicion, especially since Russia is in the middle of the WWI against Kaiser’s Germany, and they are worried for spies, but relationships with England aren’t in the best moment, and while The Doctor is an alien in reality, he looks like your good next door British old chap in the company of two (definitely) British ladies, so all the political powers in St. Petersburg: the Romanov Royal Family, the Ochrana Secret Police, the Bolsheviks, the British Intelligence and even Grigori Rasputin aka the Mad Monk, become interested in all movements of the new trio around the city and speculating how they may impact on the local political agendas, in this particular convulted period.
One priceless bonus in this novel is that David A. McIntee, the author, shows a remarkly deep knowledge (previous or done for the book) about Russia and the political situation there, before and after the Russian Revolution, where he doesn’t limit himself what the official history book say (since it’s clear that history is written by the victors and it’s not necessarily the truth) but also making great speculative development based on logic and sense, turning the reading experience into a real tangible journey through the street of St. Petersburg, getting in touch with its people and feeling the ambiance of that time.
Moreover, the author presented a really mature narrative, presenting unusual (in the case of Doctor Who franchise) situations with sexual tension and also crude violence, giving you the real feeling that you’re dealing with adult characters in adult situations, definitely you’ll be amazed of how far can The Doctor go to avoid time anomalies that could lead into unsuspected and dangerous paradoxes.
So, if you’re looking for an adventure of Doctor Who in the angle of real historic situations, without any science-fiction villains,…
The Doctor was friend of an alien being named Plex, which shares some things in common like being long-living species and the last one of their own species (with The Doctor is a blurry area that but still…).
Plex didn’t like to be lonely (who would?) so, he cloned himself to populate a new world and with the assistance of certain piece of technology from The Doctor (I won’t spoil) he was able to accomplish the task, and while Plex was quite satisfied with his work, he knew that he won’t be able to keep an eye on his new people, not matter how long-living was he, sooner or later, death will catch him, but he knows that The Doctor is certainly someone hard to kill and with the TARDIS, he can “cheat” even when he wouldn’t be around anymore,...
...so Plex asked The Doctor to watch out his people and make the hard calls if they would have a chance to evolve as a society.
The Twelfth Doctor takes Bill Potts, his new-brand companion to the world of Plex, and while Bill have objections about the road that The Doctor took to “help” Plex’s people, it seems that the difficult decisions made in the past, have served to give to Plex’s people a way to mature…
…and so The Doctor tells the tale to Bill…
…about his interventions with Plex and his people in the past; the Ninth Doctor (just regenerated and travelling alone yet); the Eleventh Doctor, along his companions Gabriella (Gabby) Gonzalez & Cindy Wu; and the Eleventh Doctor, along with his companions, Alice Obiefune & The Sapling…
…since after all, leading a whole new species into the painful process of social evolution isn’t an easy task, like to be done by one single regeneration of The Doctor.
The story’s development isn’t that awesome, but several of the dialogues due it’s impact of how society works, certainly it gave a lot of strength to the comic book.
This is a tie-in prose novel from “Class”, a spin-off TV series of “Doctor Who”.
WHOM
In case you didn’t watch the first seaCreepy cool reading!
This is a tie-in prose novel from “Class”, a spin-off TV series of “Doctor Who”.
WHOM
In case you didn’t watch the first season of Class, which is a spin-off of Doctor Who, let me explain you that it’s about a group of high school students and a teacher that they were “deputized” by The Doctor (actually the Twelfth one) to keep an eye on “The Rift”, a space-time phenomenon that appears in the area of Coal Hill Academy (formerly known as Coal Hill School) as an after effect for so many space-time apparitions of Doctor’s TARDIS in that place.
Now, The Rift is a breach where the space-time curtain is so thin that monsters and aliens from all the universe are able to cross it and enter into Earth, and since The Doctor can’t be there all the time to watch out, so the Class group is assigned to be on alert of any unusual event around Coal Hill Academy.
But as you can guess, even the very Class team is as peculiar as The Rift phenomenon:
April MacLean: Student. Terran. She is the closest thing to a field leader in the team. She is brilliant and brave. She has a singular link to the king of the Shadow Kin (big baddies in first season). She is establishing a love relationship with Ram Singh, another member of the team.
Charlie Smith: Student. Alien. He is the prince of an extinct race known as Rhodians. He is the last of his species. The Doctor saved him along with Miss Quill and bring them to Earth. He disguises himself to look like your regular human teenager. He is having a love relationship with Matteusz Andrzejewski, fellow student at Coal Hill Academy (and a kind of “companion” to the team).
Ram Singh: Student. Terran. He is the reluctant member of the team. He lost his girlfriend and one of his legs during the first attack of the Shadow Kin. The Doctor gave him a prosthetic leg to replace the lost one. He is beginning to develop a new love relationship with April.
Tanya Adeola: Student. Terran. She is the youngest of the team. While she is the same class than the rest of the team, but due her high intellect she “jumped” three years in school.
Miss Andrea Quill: Teacher. Alien. She disguises herself to look like human and poses as a Physics Teacher at Coal Hill Academy, but her real mission is to guard Charlie. However she does that against her will, since she is the last of the Quill species, and her punishment for being a war criminal in a long conflict between Rhodians and Quills. The Doctor assigned her as the mentor of the team, but she isn’t thrilled for that.
WHAT
The story in this prose novel, while it wasn’t given an exact date, it’s clear during the first season of the TV series, and I assume that it happened before “Detained”, the sixth episode, at least.
Tanya takes an unusual route to Coal Hill Academy and she found an old stone house where she watched that in a window of the second floor there is a teenager girl screaming and without any other facial feature.
Oh, yeah! I’m sure that I got all of you hooked with that!
The Class team goes Scooby-Doo mode to investigate the mystery behind “Faceless Alice” and the creepy old stone house.
The tale is quite entertained, full of creepy moments, and the interaction between the Class team is priceless.
Maybe, my only regret is that when you’d find out what is behind the haunted case (don’t worry, I won’t spoil!), well, depending of how familiar you are with horror novels, you may find some similar elements here, but still keeps to be an engaging reading.
This is a novelization of the TV serial titled “Doctor Who and the Sirulians”, which was the second story of the Season 7 in tEnter the Sirulians!
This is a novelization of the TV serial titled “Doctor Who and the Sirulians”, which was the second story of the Season 7 in the classic era of “Doctor Who”.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Third Doctor
Companion:
Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw
Ally:
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
WHERE & WHEN
Wenley Moor, Derbyshire. England (Earth). 1970.
WHAT
The Doctor still is stranded at Earth in 1970, without chance to travel to other worlds or time periods, so since his TARDIS had been imposed with transporting limitations by the powerful Time Lords, he needed a new way of transportation…
ENTER: Bessie.
That’s Doctor’s car! A canary-yellow Edwardian roadster with its own customized license plate: “WHO 1”. Beware the roads! Here comes The Doctor!
UNIT is asked to investigate some odd events in a nuclear plant at Wenley Moor, so The Brigadier, The Doctor and Liz, go there to find answer for some unexplainable loses of nuclear power and mental breakdowns of some of the nuclear plant’s personnel.
Soo enough, they’ll meet the first indigenous intelligent life form of Earth! Which certainly weren’t the humans!
An intelligent reptilian-like species is rising again from an hibernation of millions of years and they have a claim about the planet since they existed way, way, WAY, before of the appearance of the humans here.
The Doctor and Liz are battling a two-way front since both, the Sirulians, as the UNIT command, aren’t eager to make any peaceful contact with each other, and too close-minded about that Earth is too small to be shared by two different intelligent life forms, where the sad losing of lives will be unavoidable.
This is a novelization of the TV serial titled “Spearhead from Space”, which was the first story of the Season 7 in the cThird Doctor begins here!
This is a novelization of the TV serial titled “Spearhead from Space”, which was the first story of the Season 7 in the classic era of “Doctor Who”.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Third Doctor
Companion:
Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw
Ally:
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
WHERE & WHEN
Epping, Essex. England (Earth). 1970.
WHAT
The Doctor was punished by the Time Lords for endless interferences in the timeline, and he’s forced to regenerate into his third one, and also he’s being “grounded” on Earth in 1970, so while he keeps his TARDIS, the famous time machine is unable to travel to other time periods or leaving the confines of Earth.
Bye, bye, Second Doctor…
…hello, hello, Third Doctor!
As usual, at the moment of a regeneration, The Doctor is quite weak and he falls into a coma, and while it was a good thing that he was traslated to a hospital, he almost is killed by accident due the physicians there, are baffled for his alien physiology (for starters, he has two hearts!).
After his recovery, The Doctor meets UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) where, the Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, a familiar face from his era as the Second Doctor is commanding the United Kingdom operations of the military organization, and while ironically The Doctor wasn’t a familiar face to the Brigadier (due his regeneration), soon enough, the Brigadier is convinced that The Doctor is who he says to be.
UNIT is the international agency assigned to investigate paranormal incidents and deal against alien threats, so it’s clear for The Brigadier that The Doctor can be a priceless asset in their operations, and since The Doctor is stranded at Earth, it’s convenient for him too.
And along with UNIT’s offer, The Doctor gets a new companion, Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw, that she is one of my favorite companions, she is a brilliant scientist (one of the few, able to keep up with The Doctor’s technobabble), with college degrees in several fields like medicine and physics, strong character, easy to work with, and loyal to The Doctor.
Once the alliance of UNIT and The Doctor is forged, they already have their first menace…
…The Autons, in their very first appearance in Doctor Who.
The Autons are really creepy life-sized plastic dolls (and if you think that dolls in horror stories are creepy, just imagine dolls at the size of a person!) that are controlled by the Nestene Consciousness. However, they are able not only of fabricating creepy dolls with few facial features, but also they can replicate the appearance of real people and that’s their insidious plan…
…to substitute key members of the UK Government to facilitate their invasion to Earth, which already begun with the fall of several meteorites containing other Nestenes inside.
This is a novelization of the classic TV serial, “The Pirate Planet”, which was the second sub-arc inside of the mDon’t panic, the Doctor is here!
This is a novelization of the classic TV serial, “The Pirate Planet”, which was the second sub-arc inside of the major arc titled “The Key to Time” which comprised the Season 16 in the classic era of “Doctor Who”.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Romana I & K-9 (Mark II)
WHERE & WHEN
Planet Zanak (more or less). Non-disclosure date.
WHAT
The Doctor is on quest around time and space, to search for the six missing parts that when together they can form a cube known as the powerful Key to Time, with the capability of putting the universe on equilibrium. Locating the fragments isn’t easy since those six parts can take any shape or size. (So, you may think like the seven Horcruxes from Harry Potter shaping the Tesseract of The Avengers, but conceived in 1978).
The mysterious White Guardian is the one who calls the Doctor to engage into this quest, which is assisted by K-9 (Mark II), a robot dog, and Romana I (first regeneration of the Time Lady, played by Mary Tamm), and they must find all the six fragments before that the even more mysterious Black Guardian would be able to collect them for himself, for not good intentions.
The merry band of the Doctor, Romana I & K-9 had been already able to secure the first part of the Key to Time, and now they have a lead to the second fragment, and they need to set the TARDIS to go to the planet Calufrax, but while it’s supposed to arrive to the right coordinates, they found themselves in the wrong planet…
…a Pirate Planet!!!
This wacky tale was the first contribution for a screenplay by the iconic Douglas Adams, who was part of the Doctor Who production crew at the time, and he was already working to develop his famous trilogy of five parts (yes, you read right) of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so it’s no a surprise that you can find in this Doctor Who’s story, some little things here and there, that Adams eventually incorporated at some level in his own books.
Why a novelization of this 1978’s serial until now? Easy. Douglas Adams never allow novelization of his Doctor Who scripts, until briefly before his death that he signed a permission to BBC (while he said that he was fooled and he didn’t recognized what he was signing) but the important thing is that that enable BBC to release the long waited novelizations: Shada, City of Death and now finally The Pirate Planet…
…which is brilliantly adapted into this novelization, obviously giving deeper detail to the narrative, and with some small changes here and there, like with the Mentiads (a group with psychic powers) that in the book are known as the Mourners.
The Doctor & Company soon enough find out that they are in the planet Zanak, which is a world where they enjoy golden ages of prosperity, since the population there, have full access to absurdly vast amounts of richness, to the point that there are diamonds and rubies (just for mentioning some examples) lying everywhere in the streets of their cities.
Equal wealth for everybody?
Mmh...
The Doctor knows that something very wrong is happening in Zanak since the natural order of the universe is against of true equality, especially if it’s about money.
For not saying that the planet Calufrax should be where now Zanak is.
I’m sure that the Doctor can’t decide which scenario is weirder between the two.
And since any pirate thing, not matter if a ship or a planet, must have a captain, you can bet all your Oolion reserves that here there is a captain…
…The Captain!
Fearsome cyborg pirate with his own robot parrot!
Oddbal doctor with his own robot dog!
Bring it on!
So, what are you waiting for? Go and join the Fourth Doctor, Romana I & K-9 in their insanely funny quest for the second fragment of the Key to Time along with solving the mystery behind Zanak, the Pirate Planet!!!
This is a single comic book issue given in the Free Comic Book Day event of 2016, featuring 4 diffeFour Doctors in one single comic and it’s free!
This is a single comic book issue given in the Free Comic Book Day event of 2016, featuring 4 different stories from the most recent Four Doctors.
The overall rating is an average sum based on the individual ratings given to each story included in the comic book.
Curious enough the stories about the Doctors portraited in the previous FCBD issue, back in 2015, while here are obviously different stories, they got (according to my humble appreciation) the same amount of stars. And I am truly glad that this time they included a story with the Ninth Doctor that didn’t appear in the previous FCBD issue.
ROBO RAMPAGE
Rating: *** ( 3 stars )
Writer: Robbie Morrison
Illustrator: Simon Fraser
WHO:
The Doctor: The Twelfth Doctor
Companion: Osgood
WHERE & WHEN:
London. 2016
WHAT:
Oh, no. She’s fine. Back at base. We only go out together if things are really bad.
Osgood calls to the Doctor’s phone number (yep, he has one!) asking for help since an improved version of the K1 robot prototype (from the Fourth Doctor’s classic episode Robot) adequately named K2 is causing havoc in Downtown London.
While the situation is dangerous, Osgood considered not so bad, or she’d go out with her twin sister.
The Doctor is angry with UNIT’s decisions since he left the information about K1 original robot with them to avoid that something like this would happened, but the government (Earth’s government? It’s not clear which) asked to make new tests trusting that with current knowledge about technology would avoid something would go out of control.
Clearly, it wasn’t a good course of action.
The short story is fun and dynamic but lacking of depth in content.
OBSESSIONS
Rating: ***** ( 5 stars )
Writers: Si Spurrier & Rob Williams
Illustrator: Leonardo Romero
WHO:
The Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor
Companions: Alice Obiefune & Abslom Daak
WHERE & WHEN:
Inside the TARDIS. Not established date.
WHAT:
You reach a point when you’ve seen so much of the galaxy… Encountered so much horror… That unless you have a… Singularity of purpose. You will simply go flapping off into chaos and insanity.
Alice is discussing with the Doctor about Daak’s behaviour and how he is so unlike the Doctor.
Meanwhile, Daak keeps on his endless quest for his wife in the depths of the TARDIS.
The Doctor thinks that he and Daak aren’t that different at all.
Insightful story with an excellent use of the available space in the comic.
LADY OF THE BLUE BOX
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Writer: Nick Abadzis
Illustrator: Eleonora Carlini
WHO:
The Doctor: The Tenth Doctor
Companions: Gabriella “Gabby” Gonzalez & Cindy Wu
WHERE & WHEN:
Inside the TARDIS. Not established date.
WHAT:
This place is hunted!
Cindy is just getting used to live in the TARDIS when she comes to the conclussion that the bigger-inside-than-outside place must be hunted due some strange things happening there.
The Doctor is doing an experiment in the Control Room level, while Gabby takes Cindy to a TARDIS tour.
Gabby is wonderful, easily my favorite companion (so far) appearing exclusively in Doctor Who’s comic books.
In the case of Cindy, while it was too brief my experience with the character, I didn’t like her. With luck, I’ll be able to read more stories with her to form a better opinion about her.
The story is fun and always is great to have a TARDIS tour.
HACKED
Rating: **** ( 4 stars )
Writer: Cavan Scott
Illustrator: Mariano Laclaustra
WHO:
The Doctor: The Ninth Doctor
Companions: Rose Tyler & Capt. Jack Harkness
WHERE & WHEN:
The Eye of Orion planet. Not established date.
WHAT:
Everyone’s a critic.
The Doctor takes Rose and Jack to The Eye of Orion, the most tranquil place in the universe.
But, you can trust that if The Doctor is there, it won’t be a tranquil stay.
Soon enough they will meet somebody messing with the ecology there due unique reasons.
While I felt The Ninth Doctor a “little off character”, the story is fun, showing interesting concepts of sci-fi, and a good characters’ interaction.
This is a novelization of the serial of the same title. Based on the original script by David FisThe epic adventure gets its novelization finally!
This is a novelization of the serial of the same title. Based on the original script by David Fisher & Douglas Adams.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companion:
Romana II
(and very brief appearance of K-9)
WHERE & WHEN
Paris, France. 1979.
WHAT
The Doctor and Romana II had just defeated the Daleks (Destiny of the Daleks) where Romana also regenerated in her second look, so after all that excitement, they decide to take some vacations…
…and what better place than Paris?
Of course, things involving The Doctor never would be as calm as being able of really enjoing free time and relaxation.
Scaroth is an alien on Earth looking for a way to avoid the extinction of the last of his race. He has a plan, but like with any other plan, he requires patience, vision, discipline, but most of all…
…he needs MONEY!!!
Soon enough, The Doctor and Romana II will meet Scaroth and they will be involved in the mother of heists/scams of all time!!!
What’s better to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre?
Well, to steal it once but being able to sell it in the black market…
…seven times! And even better if the other copies can’t be proven as fakes.
Eat your heart out, Danny Ocean! Meet Scaroth’s Six!
And as if this drawing out concept wouldn’t be interesting enough…
…the very beginning of life on Earth is at risk! Literally!
--/--
This is one of the most popular serials of the classic era of Doctor Who never novelized before.
Also it’s one of the most watched TV episodes of Doctor Who in its original premiere in BBC (of course it helped that in the other British cannel was only static on!).
But never doubt the charm, humor and mindblowing concepts of this wonderful adventure, originally co-written by Douglas Adams, the same of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
I was surprised that this novelization wasn’t made by Gareth Roberts (who wrote the novelization of Shada (you can check it out my review about it)) and while James Goss made a really good job, I still think that Gareth Roberts could done that extra drop of brilliance to make this novel even better.
But don’t get me wrong. This book is indeed a great reading for any Doctor Who’s fan and also for any interested to read an engaging time-travelling tale.
This is a short story, part of the “Time Trips” collection.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Bryony Well written but lacks excitement.
This is a short story, part of the “Time Trips” collection.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Bryony Mailer & Ian Patterson
WHERE & WHEN
Arbroath, Scotland. 1978.
WHAT
The Doctor arrives without intention to a hotel, with a golf course, and soon enough he feels that something is terribly wrong there.
In this adventure, The Doctor was travelling without companions, since it’s set right after the serial The Deadly Assassin, but fate puts in his path, Bryony Mailer, a young recepcionist who works in the hotel, and Ian Patterson, a very curious resident who is way more than he seems.
Certain sports implies risks to the players, but…
…golf?
The Fetch Brothers Golf Spa Hotel offers a golf course where you may not coming out alive!
This is short story very well written, with clever humor, and interesting wacko science fiction concepts that you only can give sense out of them when you’re reading a Doctor Who adventure.
However, I felt that it lacks of enough excitement on its development with a too abrupt ending.
I found out that this short story was extended into a novel by the same author, A.L. Kennedy, under the title The Drosten’s Curse. I have no doubt that the author may noticed the real potential to transform this short story into a full novel, but still the short story was published in any case and I feel that she should decide between restrain herself to have it as just a short story or going all the way to a novel, and then not publishing the short story since I feel like cheated to read what I thought it’d a short story with a proper ending and not a deceptive scheme to make the reader to go and reading a novel that they may not plan and/or want to read.
This is a hardcover TPB edition collecting the “Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor” #1-5, published by Titan Comics, which features tAbsolutely awesome!
This is a hardcover TPB edition collecting the “Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor” #1-5, published by Titan Comics, which features the storyline “Revolutions of Terror” (issues #1-3) (giving title to the TPB) but also the smaller story “The Arts in Space” (issues #4-5).
Creative Team:
Writer: Nick Abadzis
Illustrator: Elena Casagrande
Colors: Arianna Florean
WHO
The Doctor:
The Tenth Doctor
Companion:
Gabriella “Gabby” Gonzalez
WHERE & WHEN
Brooklyn, New York. October 30-31 (undefined year, but definitely in 21st Century)
&
Ouloumos planet. Distant future.
WHAT
-Revolutions of Terror
The Doctor is still regreting having involved in his time-travelling adventures to Donna Noble, and he left her behind for her own good, and due that he isn’t eager to find another companion any soon.
But time and fate have other ideas...
It’s New York City. It’s a melting pot, Baby. Adapt and survive.
Something odd and quite scary is happening in Brooklyn and yes, it’s Halloween, but not only that because it’s also El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican celebration.
Meet: Gabby Gonzalez
When I read the Free Comic Book Day’s Doctor Who issue, I found quite attractive the idea of this companion, Gabby Gonzalez, for several reasons, she is smart, brave, resourceful, curious, but also she is of Latin-American heritage (Mexico to be precised), she is studying Accounting at nights, and part of my paternal family is Gonzalez...
…what else can I ask???!
Gabriella “Gabby” Gonzalez rules!!!
Also, the artwork looks really attractive, and the wrinting was witty and funnny.
On that comic book issue there were ads for the TPBs of each Doctor published by Titan Comics, so when I catched this TPB on my local comic book store I didn’t think it twice.
I am glad of my decision, since this was indeed an awesome reading!
And I am shocked (in a positive way) of how much storyline the creative team is able to put in just 3 issues (the main story) and later on 2 issues (the following story) giving an appropiate closure on each tale, since other titles from other publishing houses (nowadays) aren’t able to fill in such rich and satisfactory way a decent storyline in 6 issues or more, for not mentioning a sense of closure.
Definitely Titan Comics is doing a great job managing the Tenth Doctor adventures with this creative team.
If I have to give some minor critiques, maybe I have to mention a couple of bad spelling Spanish words (if you are using Mexican characters, there should be more careful in that) and it was laughable when Gabby’s Accounting classes are displayed since it’s obvious that the creative team hasn’t a clue about Accounting beyond of very basic terms (if they choose that night school career, it wouldn’t hurt to make some stronger research about it). But, don’t get me wrong, it’s just me being fussy, since I am positively amazed of how good and entertaining, this TBP was.
Different times, a different generation… They have different mountains to climb.
Gabby has troubles with her family, but nothing that she can’t handle, but it’s good to see how rich and full of potential, Gabby’s family affairs are, to give her a deeper characterization. And while it became normal on the “New Series” era begining with Rose Tyler, actually I think that this concept of giving more depth to the companions’ personal relationships and family really began with Ace, at the ending phase of the “Classic Series” era, establishing that i’ts indeed impossible to the companions to leave totally behind their backstory while they are travelling on the TARDIS.
Gabby’s family is Mexican, but they are living in Brooklyn and they are doing their best to make a living with several business (A restaurant, a laundro-mat).
Their neighborhood is as normal as a Brooklyn’s neighborhood can be, but the apparitions of monsters certainly can give the spooks to more than one person there.
Hello, I’m the Doctor. Can I help? I usually can. I’m gifted that way.
So, it’s no wonder that that Doctor appears there to investigate.
Some elements on the story reminded me Ghostbusters II, but in a good way (hehe) and I am sure that the creative team was aware of that since they didn’t hesitate to make some dialogues referring to those films to avoid some unfair critique to their own approach.
And talking about that, it’s weird how almost anything on Doctor Who has a scientific explanation (some are quite far-fetched, but still in the boundaries of science or science-fiction). I am babbling about it since it’s curious how usually the writers on this franchise avoid to insert paranormal elements ore ven magic. I know that Doctor Who is pleny enough open to possibilities in storytelling, but again, it seems that since he is an alien so advanced, nothing is beyond of having eventually a scientific justification.
But definitely, the science-fiction presented in this story is wonderful and crafty.
Monsters and scary stuff is loose on Brooklyn and the Doctor will need the assistance of Gabby Gonzalez to investigate about it and to find a way to stop it.
WHO do you gonna call? Hehehe.
-The Arts in Space
The Doctor takes Gabby to the Ouloumos planet where there is one of the largest and best Art Gallery in the universe. While Gabby is studying Accounting due wishes of his dad, her real insterest is on arts.
Admit it! You’re a critic!
Whaaaat? ... I’m no critic – They all wear bow-ties
The artwork in the whole TPB is really good, but in this second story, the artist released her best making a wonderful tale between a “letter” that Gabby is writing to her best friend along with the action of the story. And even you can catch some priceless details in you look carefully to the paintings.
The Doctor wants to introduce Gabby to some old friend of his, a popular artista, Zhe, but that it seems that she has been reclusive during a lot of time. Before being able to reach Zhe, they will meet her apprentice and the troubles will began...
I was busy experiencing separation anxiety. That happens a lot around the Doctor...
I enjoyed a lot this TPB, and if you like the Tenth Doctor and you want to meet a new companion of his, I am sure that you will enjoy this reading too.
This is a novelization of the serial of the same general title. Since this serial was also adapted as a film starring Peter The Daleks find Earth!
This is a novelization of the serial of the same general title. Since this serial was also adapted as a film starring Peter Cushing, the novelization, including the cover, uses some merged elements taken from the TV serial and the film, to make a better paced overall story.
WHO
The Doctor:
The First Doctor
Companions:
Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright & Ian Chesterton
WHERE & WHEN
London, England. Year: 2176.
WHAT
The Doctor thinks that finally took home to Ian and Barbara, however they soon enough realized that while they are indeed in London, it’s not the one that they knew, not the least, they are in a time period totally different that the one of Ian and Barbara, and the worst of all, the Daleks have invaded Earth!
Daleks! An Invasion to Earth! The Departure of a companion!
Certainly this story contains several “firsts” that became “staples” in the franchise of Doctor Who.
Nowadays we always are expecting a Dalek adventure with each reincarnation of the Doctor, but this story was the first time that a villain(s) returned. The Daleks appeared on the second serial and due its popularity, they returned on this story marking the first time that a villain ever returned, opening the road to future recurring villains such as Cybermen, The Master, etc...
And certainly this was the real first step (out of their first appearance) to become the favorite “bad guys” in Doctor Who and a whole social phenomenon, mainly in England, making them to win the honor of being included on the Oxford Dictionary.
Again, each reincarnation of the Doctor has faced invasions to our beloved planet Earth, but this was the first story that Earth was the target of a massive invasión by alien forces, and therefore, opening the road to this very recurring element in the franchise of Doctor Who.
And finally, nowaways it’s common ground to expect that after a while, some companion or more than one, left the Doctor due diverse reasons (including death!), but it was certainly something quite relevant the departure of Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s granddaughter. First, one could think that from the three current companions (at that moment), Susan would be the most unlikely to left the Doctor since she is supposed to be family (behind the scenes, it was a mutual trouble, since production never understood the real potential of Susan Foreman, and for the side of the actress, well she never did a measurable effort in her acting skills to deserve better lines or more scenes).
In any case, the departure of Susan Foreman was a HUGE event since thanks to that, now it’s limitless the possibilities about the companions for the Doctor that certainly they are key elements about the dynamics of the stories. Now, may it seems no big deal, but you have to realize that until then, the main cast had been that one. It’s like if you’d expect that a main cast character of any TV series would be just killed off (now it’s like a rule in certain TV shows, but back in the 60s, it was unheard of).
Since the Daleks aren’t the most versatile beings in the universe, about move to a place to another and manipulating things, they forced recruited human being and transformed them into “Robomen” (basically human being with mind-control helmets), that I would’t be the least shocked that it was the first fire in the eventual conception of the Cybermen, easily the second most popular recurring villains of the franchise.
The First Doctor finally is getting the knack of being a hero, and not just the old guy who controls the TARDIS, while obviously Ian still do a lot of the action stuff, but the First Doctor is more likeable, less grumpy, and certainly you “feel” his hearts (Time Lords have two, but it’s very likely that even the production didn’t imagine that yet) when he has to say good-bye to Susan but trusting that it’s for the best of her to remain on Earth in that time period.
Sadly, Susan didn’t do anything useful in this story, she got hurt a leg, limiting a lot her participation in the adventure, so while to the franchise was pivotal to conceive the posibility that a companion can leave the time-travelling party, it’s a bummer that she didn’t leave without fanfare or doing something memorable.
Barbara’s interaction with Dortmun (Human Resistance’s leader) was wonderful and it’s a shame that the Doctor and Dortmun never met during the adventure. And quite again Ian is relevant in many of the action scenes due the apparent age of the First Doctor (where obviously the actor was indeed an old man, but the production kept forgetting that he was supposed to be an alien and therefore not as fragile as he seemed).
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is an entertaining story where the Daleks are great as villains and not only for their invasión but also since they have an ambitious secret plan to our world. The Doctor is consolidating a little more to become not only the leader of the time-travelling party but a sci-fi hero. And the story also shows the potential of the franchise of not only making time-travelling stories but also science-fiction tales using aliens interacting with humans.
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