All You Zombies (1959) by Robert Heinlein is a very clever time travel short story. It’s super short and well worth a read. It’s interesting to see thAll You Zombies (1959) by Robert Heinlein is a very clever time travel short story. It’s super short and well worth a read. It’s interesting to see that someone had thought through the time travel paradoxes to such a degree a relatively long time ago....more
Doctor Who : The TV Movie (1996) by Gary Russel is the novelisation of the TV movie that starred Paul McGann.
The Doctor is taking the remnants of the Doctor Who : The TV Movie (1996) by Gary Russel is the novelisation of the TV movie that starred Paul McGann.
The Doctor is taking the remnants of the Master on a mercy flight when things start to go wrong. He lands in San Francisco in late December 1999. There he meets Grace, a surgeon whose boyfriend has just left and Chang Lee, a young Asian American.
The book isn’t terrible but nor is it great. It does evoke the unfortunately very short time of Paul McGann as the Doctor. It is the only Doctor Who book that can be read and takes in an entire regeneration of a Doctor....more
Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1989) by Stephen Wyatt is the novelisation of the fourth and final serial of season twenty five of DoctorDoctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1989) by Stephen Wyatt is the novelisation of the fourth and final serial of season twenty five of Doctor Who.
The TARDIS has a remarkable satellite break in and inform them of an invitation to the Psychic Circus on the planet Segonax. The Doctor decides to go despite Ace’s trepidation. The Psychic Circus once travelled the Universe but now stays in Segonax and there is something very disturbing about it now.
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is not a bad story with a strong meta element about Doctor Who itself.
However having created a clever set up the finish is fairly flat. But it’s not bad....more
Doctor Who : The Ultimate For (1988) by Pip and Jane Baker is the novelisation of the fourth and final serial of season twenty three and the final stoDoctor Who : The Ultimate For (1988) by Pip and Jane Baker is the novelisation of the fourth and final serial of season twenty three and the final story for the Trial of a Time Lord set.
The Doctor confronts the end of his trial with the identity of the Valeyard being revealed. Mel is also there to help. Also the Doctor’s Nemesis predictably shows up. The miscreant Sabalom Glitz also makes an appearance. The Doctor and company move in and out of the Matrix as the story moves along.
It’s not a terrible story, but it’s not a strong end to the Sixth Doctor either....more
Doctor Who : The Mysterious Planet (1987) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the first serial of season twenty three of Doctor Who. It’s the firDoctor Who : The Mysterious Planet (1987) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the first serial of season twenty three of Doctor Who. It’s the first in the Trial of a Timelord set that spans the whole of season twenty three.
The Doctor on his own is on trial and we see memories from The Matrix replayed. What we see is the Doctor and Peri travelling to a planet Ravolox which has been devastated by a fireball. But while the planet was devastated there is now a lot of plant life. Underground an ‘Immortal’ robot has control of some people while there are also primitive people above ground. As well as the Doctor and Peri two mercenaries are on the planet who are determined to destroy a source of ‘black light’.
It’s an OK serial. The Trial of a Timelord season arc also adds something....more
Doctor Who : The Two Doctors (1985) by Robert Holmes is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the twenty second season of Doctor Who. It was also tDoctor Who : The Two Doctors (1985) by Robert Holmes is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the twenty second season of Doctor Who. It was also the one hundredth Doctor Who novelisation published.
The second Doctor and Jamie travel to a space station to stop scientists developing time-travel. There they also meet the brilliant geneticist Dastari. The cook on the station is an Androgum, which is a species obsessed with food. The geneticist Dastari has also taken an Androgum called Chessene and made her super intelligent. Before long everything is going very badly and the Doctor is kidnapped and more villians from the Doctor’s past appear. Meanwhile the sixth Doctor and Peri travel to the same station and see the damage and start to piece together what has happened.
The Two Doctors is a strong serial and a good story. It doesn’t have too many characters and they are all well done. The TV serial was good too with the excellent Jacqueline Pearce playing Chessene....more
Doctor Who : The Twin Dilemma (1986) by Eric Saward is the novelisation of the seventh and final serial of season twenty one of Doctor Who.
The Doctor Doctor Who : The Twin Dilemma (1986) by Eric Saward is the novelisation of the seventh and final serial of season twenty one of Doctor Who.
The Doctor has just regenerated and he and Peri are in the TARDIS. The Doctor’s regeneration has made him very unstable and he tries to strangle Peri at one point. He realises his problems and travels to Titan 3 which is meant to be calming. There he eventually meets another rogue Time Lord. That Time Lord has resently kidnapped two maths genius twins from earth. It turns out he is serving a giant slug who has incredible mental powers called Mestor. It all gets sillier from there.
The Twin Dilemma wasn’t a good start for the Sixth Doctor. The Doctor is unpleasant and the plot has too much extraneous material. It’s a weak serial. ...more
Doctor Who : The King’s Demons (1986) by Terence Dudley is the novelisation of the sixth serial of season twenty of Doctor Who that was screened in 19Doctor Who : The King’s Demons (1986) by Terence Dudley is the novelisation of the sixth serial of season twenty of Doctor Who that was screened in 1983.
The Doctor, Turlough and Tegan arrive in 1215 at a castle where it appears that King John is holding court. There is intrigue and knightly duels are taking place. The King’s champion, Sir Gilles Estram is about to have a joust when the TARDIS appears. The King and Estram are surprisingly unsurprised by the appearance of the TARDIS.
It’s not a bad serial. It’s an amusing enough read. ...more
Doctor Who : Earthshock (1982) by Ian Marter is the novelisation of the sixth serial of the nineteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Nyssa, Adric aDoctor Who : Earthshock (1982) by Ian Marter is the novelisation of the sixth serial of the nineteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Nyssa, Adric and Tegan land on earth in the earth’s future. There they encounter a small military squad and a team of archeologists exploring a dig. Members of the archaeologists party have been killed. Mysterious Androids are protecting something.
The serial is one of the best serials with the Cybermen. The problem of three companions is also resolved. It’s also probably one of the best Fifth Doctor serials.
Earthshock is definitely worth a read for any Doctor Who fan. ...more
Doctor Who : The Black Orchid (1986) by Terence Dudley is the novelisation of the fifth serial of season nineteen of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Tegan, NysDoctor Who : The Black Orchid (1986) by Terence Dudley is the novelisation of the fifth serial of season nineteen of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric take the overcrowded TARDIS to a train station platform. The Doctor is mistaken for a doctor and goes and plays cricket for the local gentry. They then go to a fancy dress party at the residence of the aristocrat running the cricket team. There something is amiss and a servant has been killed. Nyssa meets a young lady who is her double. It all proceeds toward a murder mystery.
It’s nice for the Doctor to have a break from saving the world or the universe to be plonked into a short serial remembling an Agatha Christie book. The serial manages to keep all three companions busy.
It’s quite reasonable and a short readable adventure....more
Doctor Who and The Visitation (1982) by Eric Saward is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the nineteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Tegan,Doctor Who and The Visitation (1982) by Eric Saward is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the nineteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric travel to Heathrow to return Tegan back to her life. Unfortunately they arrive a few hundred years early. Just before they arrived a meteor shower arrived and delivered a Terileptil crew to earth with their Android. The Doctor and his crew soon encounter evidence of the sophisticated aliens having arrived.
It’s not a bad serial. The three companions are used fairly well which is hard....more
Doctor Who : Logopolis (1982) by Christopher Bigmead is the novelisation of the seventh serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who and the final seDoctor Who : Logopolis (1982) by Christopher Bigmead is the novelisation of the seventh serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who and the final serial for the Fourth Doctor.
The Doctor and Adric take the TARDIS to earth where they seek to materialise around a police box so they can get the exact dimensions and use this information to repair the chameleon circuit in the TARDIS so that it can change form again. However, when they do this they discover that the Master has already done this and this creates an instability. Meanwhile nearby a young air hostess is driving with her Aunt and they break down. Tegan enters the police box. The Doctor’s TARDIS navigates the instability and they travel to Logopolis, a strange planet where the inhabitants perform verbal calculations which are block-transfer computations. This is where Doctor Who foreshadows Bitcoin. On Logopolis is also a model of the Pharos Project from earth that is to be used to transmit messages to aliens across the universe. Also on Logopolis is Nyssa, who is searching for her father.
It’s all a bit strange, Logopolis is something of a disappointment for the final Fourth Doctor serial. But as a regeneration episode where a new companion appears and another joins it’s worthy of note for fans of the Doctor....more
Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate (1982) by John Lydecker is the novelisation of the fifth serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who and the last of tDoctor Who and Warriors’ Gate (1982) by John Lydecker is the novelisation of the fifth serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who and the last of the E-Space trilogy.
The Doctor, Romana, K9 and Adric continue their search for a way out of E-space and encounter a slaving ship with a strange enslanved navigator. It turns out the navigator is a time sensitive tharill. The TARDIS and the slaver’s ship appear near a strange gate.
It’s a strange, somewhat surreal feeling serial. The book conveys that well.
It also feels like the end was drawing near for the Fourth Doctor. With only two more episodes remaining and the last companions from the seventies departing the time was drawing to a close for the Fourth Doctor.
Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate is a strong Doctor Who novelisation....more
Doctor Who : Full Circle (1982) by Andrew Smith is the novelisation of the third serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and Doctor Who : Full Circle (1982) by Andrew Smith is the novelisation of the third serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 are summoned back to Galifrey but are put off course by an anomaly in space. They wind up on a strange planet called Alzarius. There they discover a starliner that has crashed some time ago on Alzarius but has a crew who diligently repair the craft. Some young people also escape from the Starliner to avoid the somewhat oppressive environment. One of the young folks from the Starliner is Adric, who is extremely good at math. The mists arise on the planet every so often start to appear and Marshmen arise from the swamps.
Full Circle is a good start to the E-Space trilogy. ...more
Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive (1982) by David Fisher is the novelisation of the first serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, RomaDoctor Who and the Leisure Hive (1982) by David Fisher is the novelisation of the first serial of the eighteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 are trying to have a holiday and first go to Brighton where K9 gets wet. Then they travel to Argolis, a Leisure Hive. Argolis was irradiated after a war with the Foamasi. The Argolans have since turned their attention to providing leisure for galactic travelers. They have also been experimenting with Tachyons and use them for tricks to amuse travellers. One of these tricks goes wrong and a traveler is killed. The Doctor and Romana are the prime suspects. While all this is going on an accountant of the Argolans appears with an offer to buy the irradiated planet.
It’s an OK Doctor Who story. It does feel that the Tom Baker era was getting tired by this point....more
Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the seventeenth season of Doctor Who. It wasDoctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the seventeenth season of Doctor Who. It was the last serial entirely screened in the 1970s.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive on a spaceship which has come out of hyperspace at the same location as another place. The two ships have a strange blurry border between them. A zoologist onboard one of the ships has a machine that records portions of planets in them. The machine appears almost too good and as though things may almost be able to get in and out. A mysterious monster is prowling the ships. One of the crew members is also addicted to a terrible drug.
It’s all a nice mix of multiple groups and monsters and technology. The book is in some ways better because the monsters, which were a bit comical in the TV series are described to make them seem ominous.
Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden is an entertaining Doctor Who book. ...more
Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (1981) by David Fisher is the novelisation of the third serial of the seventeenth season of Doctor Who.
The DoDoctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (1981) by David Fisher is the novelisation of the third serial of the seventeenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 respond to a distress signal and land on the planet Chloris. There a cruel queen Lady Adrasta actuals most villainously. Anyone who displeases her is great trouble. Sometimes they are thrown into a pit where a large mysterious creature dispatches them.
Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit is not one of the stronger Doctor Who stories....more
Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (1979) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the first serial of Season seventeen of Doctor Who.
The DoctorDoctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (1979) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the first serial of Season seventeen of Doctor Who.
The Doctor and Romana, who has just regenerated and was then played by Lala Ward and K9 materialise on planet that is irradiated and that the Doctor feels is evil. K9 stays in the TARDIS as the Doctor and Romana encounter the Daleks who are searching the planet for something as are a strangely strong group of humanoids.
It’s not a bad novel and has a nice think piece in it toward the end....more
Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the sixth serial of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who. It is alsDoctor Who and the Armageddon Factor (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the sixth serial of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who. It is also the final appearance for the first regeneration of Romana played by Mary Tamm.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 search for the final piece of the Key to Time and journey to Atrios. Atrios is at war with the nearby planet of Zeos and the citizens of Atrios have moved underground due to the contamination of the surface due to bombardment. Atrios is led by the Marshall and also Princess Astra. The Princess was played by Lalla Ward who would go on to play the second regeneration of Romana. The Doctor soon discovers a third force that has been manipulating the situation for their own ends. The evil Shadow appears to even be aware of what the Doctor is.
Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor is actually a bit of a disappointment as the conclusion to the Key to Time season. But it’s alright and it’s amusing enough....more
Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who.
The DoctorDoctor Who and the Androids of Tara (1980) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the sixteenth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor, Romana and K9 continue their search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time. They land on Tara, which is a strange society where there are nobles but there are also peasants who are aided by human looking androids. Romana falls into the hands of the evil Count Grendel while the Doctor meets th swordsmen of the soon to be crowned king. It’s quite fun and pretty silly
Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara is an amusing romp....more
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