With Doctor Who’s 2023 sixty-year celebrations now firmly in the past, it’s time for fans to put their collections of “I’ll show you mine, you show me yours” Sonic Screwdrivers away in a secure facility, as Russell Cook turns our attention to the past few months’ literary efforts, courtesy of Target and BBC Books…
Last November, two titles were released that are arguably adaptations of stories recognised as iconic moments in the rich history of Doctor Who. Let’s travel back 19 years to 2005. Like a colourful yellow starred comet powered by an everlasting match, “Rose” written by Russell T. Davies revitalised and relaunched Doctor Who for the millennial TV audience. The Ninth Doctor was born, he battled vats of plastic and formed a strong bond with his companion Rose Tyler.
Rose: The Illustrated Edition is a homage to this iconic story that positively sprints off the starting block with energy and a zest for storytelling. Fantastic! Illustrator Robert Hack successfully captures the power of the novelisation with Russell’s involved tale bristling forth from the pages of this coffee style table book. The Trip of a Lifetime.
From 2005 and back thirty-seven years to 1967. The Evil of the Daleks was the final story of the fourth season of the classic series. Here is a novel idea: take a story that is hugely popular with the fan base, is already part of the Target book library though long out of print, and tell the tale from a companion’s point of view, in this case Jamie McCrimmon as played by Frazer Hines who, coincidentally, channelling his inner Steve Cole and Mike Tucker is the author of this adaptation.
The premise to the retelling of this seven-part epic is new companion Zoe Heriot who has joined The Doctor and Jamie after The Wheel in Space, several adventures down the line. (I told you time travel was tricky). Zoe is keen to learn about what the Doctor and Jamie get up to when not battling Cybermen on a space wheel, so The Doctor lets Zoe see what they went through with the Daleks.
Told through seven chapters/episodes the intentions of the Daleks are carefully and slowly revealed, as are the thoughts the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe as the story unfolds. It’s a lesson in survival, a lesson in evil and how to combat that evil. It’s a lesson that’s Zoe begins to understand and wants to take on board.
Well done, Jamie, well done David Whitaker, author of the original story, or David Whittaker if the copyright page is to be believed.
One lesson to take away from this book. Beware the typos…
It has been a few decades since a Doctor Who story that’s recently been on television has been given the novelisation treatment within weeks of it being shown. Back in 1983, The Five Doctors book was scheduled to hit the bookshelves a week after transmission. In fact, copies got taken out of their timestream by The Terrible Zodin and mischievously appeared in shops two weeks before the special was broadcast. Questions were asked in Parliament… I would like to think. Thankfully, there were no such awkward release gaffes for the adaptations of the three Russell T. Davies penned anniversary specials, transmitted over three consecutive Saturdays in November and December 2023. The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle by Gary Russell, Mark Morris and James Goss respectively, capture the essence of Doctor Who in true Target style. Clever, involved and breezy prose spin the tales capturing the style of the televised adventures into fully formed members of the Doctor Who library.
Somewhere in another dimension we would like to imagine that three celebrated writers of times Target past are looking down on the new books that have been lovingly crafted in a style that evokes so many literary childhood memories: Terrance Dicks, Malcolm Hulke and Brian Hayles. A toast from them to a legacy moving forward toward a soon to be very familiar church on Ruby Road. However, that is a story for another happy time and place…
Russell Cook
One of many guest posts for downthetubes.
Categories: Books, Doctor Who, Features, Other Worlds, Reviews, Science Fiction, Television
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