Bang on Target

Its time for a shocking confession. Yes, I know, what could I possibly have to confess to (other than my dislike for the Seventh Doctor)? Well, up until yesterday, I’d never actually read a Target novelization.

“What?” I hear you cry. “Never?”

Well, no. Of course, I knew about them; they are somewhat legendary, after all, as well as being the cause of so much disappointment when missing stories are rediscovered. If I had a pound for all the times I’ve read about how let down people felt when they actually saw a lost episode because it wasn’t a patch on the novelization, I could probably afford one of those really big coffees you can have a bath in.

I blame Nev Fountain. When I was chatting to him for our memorial episodes, he mentioned how one of his schoolteachers thought he read far too many Doctor Who stories and he went on to extol their virtues in such a way that I felt I really should go out and have a look for myself. And, rather fortunately, the Beeb have tentatively re-released a select few titles to see if it’s worth their while to reproduce the entire output.


But where to start? I thought it sensible to begin not only with the Daddy of Doctor Who novelizations, Mr Terrance Dicks himself, but also a story that I’d actually seen just so I could compare the two versions. And of those available, the only one that fit the bill for me was “Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion”, better known to you and me as “Spearhead From Space”.

I wasn’t disappointed. Mr Dicks has always scared me silly (not that I’ve ever met him, but his on-screen persona is positively terrifying to this pixie), but the man can certainly crank out a rollickingly good adaptation. Dicks evokes the tone and voices of the characters beautifully and the story pelts along at a fair old pace with a few variations from the televised version (the differences are discussed in an appendix at the end of the book). And for readers who don’t know the earlier stories, there are solid introductory pieces describing the main characters and the series set-up so they can quickly get to grips with the action. I pretty much finished it in one sitting. Yes, stylistically it’s a little old-fashioned but, in a strange way, that’s actually quite comforting. This is what books were like in my childhood and there’s nothing wrong in that.

Would I read more? Definitely. In fact, I’m lining up “Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen” and probably “Doctor Who and the Crusades” so I can find out what’s going on in the episodes that aren’t on the “Lost In Time” DVD. But I’m also thinking of getting them because of what’s not here: all the rest of them (including the books written by Harry Sullivan, or rather Ian Marter, which I have been reliably informed are more than a little bit ace). Because if this limited re-release doesn’t sell, then for those of us who didn’t realise they were about at the time, and for a whole new generation eager to learn about the Doctor’s past, unless we’re very lucky in charity shops, we won’t get to experience the delight that is the Target novelization.

Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

A few days ago I reviewed “The Hounds of Artemis”, a BBC audio-book written by James Goss. I enjoyed it, so much so that I began to investigate what other things he’d written for the franchise. One in particular caught my eye: “Doctor Who: Dead of Winter”. It sounded suitably creepy and, demanding instant gratification, I bought it for my precious, precious Kindle so I could set to straight away. That and its only available as a hardback and Pixies don’t do well with hardbacks (excellent weapons, but too heavy for delicate hands).

Basically, the Doctor and the Ponds crash-land on a beach in the South of France in the 1780s. Only problem is, they can’t really remember who they are and the sanatorium they’ve landed next to shouldn’t exist for another hundred years (give or take). Add to that the fact that the TARDIS has gone missing, there is a dense, clinging, glowing fog and the sea is singing to people and you have a very tidy little mystery on your hands. I really can't say anything more than that without giving the game away, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

The story is told from several people’s perspective, often in the form of the diary entries so nicely exploited in “Hounds of Artemis”. Mind you, you do have to wonder about the things some people include in a diary (although its not even close to the ludicrously salacious guff that gets included in the official ship’s log in one truly awful steampunk novel I read last year), but it still works very well.

It’s often a big problem with novelisations that the author doesn’t get a handle on the characters so that the portrayals never quite sit comfortably, jarring you out of the action. Once again, though, Goss has captured the characters’ voices really well, so much so that you can tell when things aren’t quite right. There are a couple of nice twists, which you can spot if you’re paying attention, but it doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of the story if you do. There are nods back to the original series and Goss gently plays games with past knowledge regarding the potential source of the mystery. And it is creepy, really, really creepy; in fact, this would have made a cracking TV episode, either of Doctor Who or Sapphire and Steel (for those of us old enough to remember, that should give you a fair idea of just how creepy it is).

The Prof was always a big Doctor Who novel reader, but he pretty much stopped when the reboot started as he found the books too childish. It’s not a problem he’ll have with this one; Goss has the ability to capture the feel of the series whilst delivering a story that works for both children and adults. In fact, I think I may have to lend him my Kindle for a few days…

What's Up, Doc?

As you dear, loyal reader know, I’ve listened to a fair few Big Finish audios over the last few years, but I’d never actually listened to any of the Beeb’s audio-books until “The Hounds of Artemis” came along. I’ll fess up, I got it free. Pixies love free stuff although, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I do draw the line at free Touchwood. I am fond of Matt Smith’s interpretation of the Doctor, so I was more than willing to give this a go, seeing as its read by him and Clare Corbett (who’s done some other audio book stuff with Tom Baker). I’m not quite sure why they didn’t get Karen Gillan in to help out, but Ms Corbett does a very good job in her stead.

Make no mistake, this is a good old rip-roaring period adventure involving archaeologists, aliens and ancient curses. There’s even a loving nod to “Pyramids of Mars” at the beginning, showing that writer James Goss knows his stuff. The narrative has been very sensibly divided between the two actors, Smith (obviously) reading from the Doctor’s point of view with Corbett filling in much of the detail via a series of Amy’s diary entries. I did wonder at one point if Smith would only be reading the first chapter or so as Corbett does make up most of the running. To be honest, this is actually a blessing in some ways, for as good as Smith is as the Doctor, his impersonation of Karen Gillan’s accent is pure Sylvester McCoy with a not-so-helpful dollop of Jamie on top. It’s all very hilarious in a frightening sort of way, but does detract from the story at times. Still, when he’s not strangling the Scottish vernacular, Smith is most definitely enjoying himself immensely. In fact, that would be my only criticism of this CD; Smith is a bit too rushed and over-enthusiastic in his reading at times, and really could have done with the director slowing him down a touch when dealing with the exposition sections. Other than that it’s a good production, set up very much like an actual episode, including the obligatory pre-credit sequence.

I say only criticism; I’d need to check with our lovely Emilly Ladybird about 1929 corset construction, but I’m fairly certain they weren’t made the way the author thinks they were. Seriously, its just common-or-garden wire in there is it and no stays? Okay, it makes for a light-hearted solution to a plot problem, but I’d still like to know exactly how the Doctor gets all the wire out of Amy’s corset without completely defrocking her…

This is not a long piece by any means; at about 70 minutes it comes in around the same length as one of the TV specials, so is just long enough to let the story develop without making it too long for younger listeners. James Goss has taken what could have been a real pot-boiler and given it a sparkling sense of humour with some beautifully observed lines. He has captured the main characters extremely well; even though it isn’t Gillan playing Amy, you can still hear that it is the same character (although Corbett’s Doctor impersonation is almost as challenging as Smith’s Pond).

So if you’ve listened to all of your Big Finishes and still need your audio Who fix, I’d definitely recommend “The Hounds of Artemis” to while away the time until the next episode.

The Running Men

Would you dedicate an entire year to sitting and watching every single Doctor Who television episode ever made, including the lost ones? I don't think I would; but then, I'm not exactly the most hard-core of Dr Who fans. I don't mind watching the ones that still exist, but having run screaming in terror after five minutes of the Shada reconstruction, I suspect that the other recons are probably not for me. But thanks to the bravery of Messers Robert Shearman (all round thoroughly nice chap who we kidnapped, er, interviewed last year) and Toby Hadoke (apparently he has a Lepidoptera problem with his knitwear), technically I no longer have to. Because they've done it for me.

And my, that's quite a weight of paper you have there. Its pretty small print as well, so its more than worth the asking price, if for no other reason than to honour the memory of the rainforests that gave their lives in its production. And there are little running men on the tops of all the pages; the ones on the right hand side even form a flickbook! Further evidence, if it were needed, that there's proper geeks behind this enterprise. Mad Norwegian ones, in fact.

The book itself is laid out like a diary, day by day, from January 1st to May 7th 2009, covering Hartnell and Troughton's tenures. Each participant gives his views on both of the episodes watched on that particular date, and occasionally a few asides about Dr Who news, conventions they're attending and life in general; Toby even manages to get married in the middle of it (but technically not in this installment). Rob is a good writer and his sections are positive, bouncy and mostly forgiving; I'm not familiar with Toby's work at all, but his sections are also witty if a little less rosy, on the whole, than Rob's.

I have to admit, I haven't read all of this book, just the sections for the episodes I've actually seen. And seeing as this volume (the first of three) covers the 1960s, that means there's an awful lot of episodes that the BBC kindly tossed in a skip, set fire to or just plain wiped. I have seen Invasion, though; I love what Cosgrove Hall did with the animated missing two parts and would dearly love to see more lost episodes resurrected this way, as would Toby. Sadly, seeing how long ago Invasion came out and there's been nothing else like it since, I suspect that's very unlikely to happen.

I don't agree with all of the opinions in there, although there's a lot that I do. Rob is right about the mistep of Roy Castle in the first Cushing movie (yes, I know its not canon, but they review both films anyway) but wrong about the TV version of Dalek Invasion Earth being better than the film (its alright, he doesn't respect me anymore since he found out I don't like Inferno, so I can say that with relative impunity).

Even having read just a teeny weeny bit of this book, I'm looking forward to the next two installments and I'm intrigued to see how they're going to divvy up the remaining Doctors between them. Stylistically, there are a few proofreading errors, but this is a small press publication and these things happen; ultimately, its still highly readable and I can't wait to fill in the gaps for the episodes I can catch up on properly on DVD, just to see whether I agree with the boys' take on the proceedings or not.

(Should you wish to follow the adventures of another pair of brave souls as they attempt this same gargantuan feat, the lovely Sue and her almost as lovely husband Neil Perryman are wading their way through everything over at the Tachyon TV site. I've never met Sue, but she must be lovely to sit through that lot. If that's not love, I don't know what is).