The Geek Factor #2: On novels

The first time I did a list on here, I said I wouldn’t make a habit of it – yet here we are. There’s far more Doctor Who that I feel strongly enough about to review than which I can do so, at least while maintaining a semblance of a social life, so, indulge me.

Ever since the series returned in 2005 and plunged me back into fannish obsessiveness, I’ve been rereading old favourites and catching up on novels I missed out on the first time round. Since several of these books are either totally underrated, or split opinion, Marmite-like, for what it’s worth I thought I’d add my ten cents.

Genre snobbery annoys me, and, as I tend to be a bit closety about the extent of my geekiness in ‘real life,’ I often find myself putting Doctor Who novels down, even to myself. So I’d like to say, bollocks to snobbery - I genuinely think the following are simply excellent novels, exhibiting some brilliant writing, regardless of their sci-fi TV tie-in status.

So, in no particular order…

DEAD ROMANCE
Post-Doctor New Adventure novel written by Lawrence Miles, 1999
Regardless of what you think of his self-appointed role as Doctor Who’s answer to Charlie Brooker, Miles’ novels are incredible. This is probably his best, showcasing his stunningly inventive imagination, in a clever and devastating story. Its ‘unofficial’ status (as a spin-off from the New Adventures proper) gives it an amazing edge, allowing familiar Doctor Who concepts to be reenergised.

TRANSIT
New Adventure novel written by Ben Aaronovitch, 1992
Given this novel’s uncompromising nature its poor reputation is dispiritingly predictable, but it is a mature and beautifully written realisation of Doctor Who beyond the confines of the ‘kids’ TV’ label. Stark and terse, and full of effective cyberpunk worldbuilding.

THE ALSO PEOPLE
New Adventure novel written by Ben Aaronovitch, 1995
Utterly different to Transit, but equally gorgeous, demonstrating Aaronovitch’s versatility. Set on a huge scale, the utopian atmosphere is involving and compellingly unusual for Doctor Who, but this is balanced by a sense of intimacy and focus on character.

OF THE CITY OF THE SAVED…
Faction Paradox spin-off novel written by Philip Purser-Hallard, 2004
Although from a spin-off range, this is one of the best ever Doctor Who-related stories - densely written and epic in the truest sense, taking place on an enormous canvas.

THE LEFT-HANDED HUMMINGBIRD
New Adventure novel written by Kate Orman, 1993
Possibly the best New Adventure - certainly definitive, in that it encapsulates beautifully descriptive adult prose, often experimental literary devices, violence, and a wealth of big ideas. Improbably but effortlessly includes hippies, drugs, Aztecs, torture, and the Titanic.

THE DEATH OF ART
New Adventure novel written by Simon Bucher-Jones, 1996
Completely underrated; a wonderfully dark, grotesque, complex and richly imaginative novel. Although the ending is slightly unsatisfying, Bucher-Jones revels in a grand guignol atmosphere and joyfully weaves together a large cast of (often changeable) characters and multiple factions.

CAT’S CRADLE: WARHEAD
New Adventure novel written by Andrew Cartmel, 1992
The whole of Cartmel’s ‘War trilogy’ – Warhead, Warlock, Warchild - is devastatingly well written. The foregrounding of realistic characters couches the Doctor Who elements in an almost unheard of level of realism, and creates a powerfully effective and truly adult Doctor Who novel.

THE MYTH MAKERS
Novelisation by Donald Cotton, 1985
Very sharp, witty, and clever reimagining of an already excellent TV story. Narrated by Homer and rich in genuinely effective wordplay, this has to be one of the funniest takes on Doctor Who, by a long way.

CHRISTMAS ON A RATIONAL PLANET
New Adventure novel written by Lawrence Miles, 1996
Miles’ first novel is already bursting with invention and a combination of big, creative ideas, humour, and absurdity which many other authors would kill for. Not perfect, but verging on genius.

THE CABINET OF LIGHT
Telos novella written by Daniel O’Mahony, 2003
Beautifully experimental novella – the Doctor hardly features, and when he does he appears to be an unknown incarnation, but the story is all the stronger for its ambiguous relationship with ‘the canon’. Full of reinventions or lateral takes on existing elements from the series, this is a deceptively straightforward story enriched by excellent prose. It would also make a fantastic TV episode. Steven…?

ALIEN BODIES
Eighth Doctor Adventure novel written by Lawrence Miles, 1997
Pretty much as perfect as the EDAs ever got – funny, devious, full of digressions and backstories, and casually brilliant new takes on normally staid Doctor Who mythology. Leaves the vast majority of the BBC novels in the dust.

THE MAN IN THE VELVET MASK
Missing Adventure novel written by Daniel O’Mahony, 1996
Another wildly underrated one; a First Doctor story which transcends the conventions of its on-screen period with a twisted milieu and pleasingly idiosyncratic style.

EYE OF HEAVEN
Past Doctor Adventure novel written by Jim Mortimer, 1998
Not as strong in terms of plot, but elevated by its non-chronological structure and rotating first-person narration (which, memorably, includes the Doctor). In terms of structure alone it is unlike much else in the various Doctor Who novel ranges, and it’s great to see Leela explored so thoroughly and made so credible.

DOWN
Post-Doctor New Adventure novel written by Lawrence Miles, 1997
A very funny play on pulp archetypes, featuring a journey into the centre of a planet where prehistoric beasts roam, with cartoon Nazis and a thirties-style action hero thrown in. What’s most impressive is that this concept is fully justified, and has a killer twist.

SO VILE A SIN
New Adventure novel written by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman, 1997
The opening funeral scene is both hugely sad and a gorgeous piece of writing. Though (justifiably) disjointed in places, it is wide-ranging and has a surfeit rather than lack of detail and event. Forms a worthy – if inadvertent – epitaph for the New Adventures.

THE SCARLET EMPRESS
Eighth Doctor Adventure novel written by Paul Magrs, 1998
Gleefully illogical, but with an especially winning atmosphere that draws you in and makes you care what will happen, despite the plot seeming to operate on authorial whim alone. Though as daft as Magrs’ later efforts, it seems like a more complete and fully-realised excursion into his imagination.

BATTLEFIELD
Novelisation by Marc Platt, 1990
One of the late novelisations which formed a precedent for the NAs, fleshing out backstory and characterisation. Platt adapts Aaronovitch’s script so well that I always assumed the TV story must be as good as the rest of season twenty-six, and was sorely disappointed by comparison when I finally saw it.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DAD
New Adventure novel written by Kate Orman, 1996
The plot’s a runaround, but the characters are all beautifully drawn, and it’s nice to have a Doctor Who book almost devoted to the emotional states of its characters. Its range of alien refugees and continuity should seem overindulgent, but I’d love to revisit these characters, and the potential for tweeness is tempered by Orman’s trademark hero-punishment.

THE PLOTTERS
Missing Adventure novel written by Gareth Roberts, 1996
I’m not an enormous fan of Roberts’ Fourth Doctor-and-Romana II books, but this is an impeccably enjoyable evocation of the wonderful First Doctor, Ian and Barbara TARDIS crew. The Doctor having to explain to a dragged-up Vicki why King James I is so interested in her is a particular gem.

WALKING TO BABYLON
Post-Doctor New Adventure novel written by Kate Orman, 1998
Another excellent Bernice Summerfield-starring spin-off; Babylon is wonderfully evoked, as is Benny’s perceptively-written love affair.

NEWTONS SLEEP
Faction Paradox spin-off novel written by Daniel O’Mahony, 2008
More hugely impressive Faction Paradox. Dense, inventive, meticulously plotted, the well-drawn characters and period setting are extremely compelling. Another example of how far ‘the Whoniverse’ can be pushed. (And, no, there’s not meant to be an apostrophe.)

THE ADVENTURESS OF HENRIETTA STREET
Eighth Doctor Adventure novel written by Lawrence Miles, 2001
Written as an almost dialogue-free historical text, this novel recasts the Doctor as a ‘fallen elemental’ demigod, fighting alongside eighteenth century prostitutes. Mythic, intriguing, and unlike anything else – what other Doctor Who novel would open with an extended bout of tantric sex?

Ten Stories #7: "Let us teach them the limits of their technologies!"

Review: BATTLEFIELD
Written by Ben Aaronovitch, directed by Michael Kerrigan, 1989

Though I’ve seen Battlefield before, it was always such a crushing disappointment compared to the rest of season twenty-six that it has remained very unfamiliar to me. Opening a season with a scene set in a garden centre is baffling enough, and I can’t help but question the logic of presenting the Brigadier and UNIT without explanation, fifteen years after they stopped being regular fixtures of the series.

However, rewatching it now, despite not being a prime example of its era, the change of emphasis from the last few stories I’ve watched is notable: Doctor Who is suddenly aware of and drawing on its own mythology in a positive way – rather than through meaninglessly returning monsters. There’s a complex, adult awareness of the Doctor as a mythic, legendary figure; for the first time the Doctor is explicitly presented in the mythologised way which will culminate in Russell T Davies’ ‘lonely god’. Similarly, UNIT and the Brigadier are rejigged and reimagined in line with the current production team’s approach, not rehashed verbatim; UNIT is international and hardware-oriented, while the Brigadier is given a domestic life.

Suddenly Doctor Who is trying to be bigger and more ambitious than just telling ‘thrilling adventures’ – it’s epic and mythic, and has themes (nuclear armageddon, etc). Even in a shit story it’s noticeably more sophisticated an approach, being experimental in a way Doctor Who hasn’t been since, arguably, season eighteen (not that that season is a flawless template, as evidenced by Full Circle).

It’s such a shame the production is fumbled here, cos Aaronovitch’s skill at characterisation and the continued mythologisation of the Doctor has the potential to be as effective as in Remembrance of the Daleks. I’m not sure the cast of characters are even especially likeable, but never before this period would such a multitude of characters have been as economically but effectively characterised as broadly believable real people. There’s also a lot of good – if somewhat hyperbolic or portentous – lines, which remind me quite a lot of Steven Moffat’s scripts: “The situation is normal. It doesn’t get much worse than that”; “She vanquished me. And I threw myself on her mercy”; “I cannot be bound so easily!”; “Night has fallen here”; “Look to your children, Merlin!”

What’s particularly frustratingly is that the superficial awfulness of this story masks the good stuff underneath. If there was ever a story crying out for a dark tone, and a bit of subtlety to emphasise its mystery, it’s this. Instead we get bizarre little decisions which really damage the story’s credibility, like characters inexplicably spinning into the tinselly vortex. The sunny weather really doesn’t help the atmosphere, either, and the infamous music ruins it.

However, though a lot of things aren’t right with this production, it’s not hard to imagine it pruned and reshaped (beyond the realms of what’s possible with the DVD edit, which I haven’t seen), with a subtler score and more atmosphere (night filming, stormy weather), and performances taken down a less-is-more route. Unfortunately, the production design is obviously unalterable, which is tragic as the initial shot of Excalibur makes my heart sink; it’s so cheap and tawdry, in its Quasar set. (A far cry from Mike Tucker’s brilliantly original, organic design sketches.)

I also really wish the budget had stretched to the intended technological suits of armour, with mirrored visors and built-in displays; it would not only have been much more memorable, but also helped to visually present the idea of extradimensional knights. Similarly, though the Destroyer really is excellent, it’s a pity his gradual transformation from businessman to demon couldn’t have been realised (especially since this could have been done inexpensively with some horned shadows and creativity). More prosaically though, he’s crying out for an action figure!

In terms of format, it struck me whilst watching this how bizarre it is that the 25 minute episode-and-cliffhanger format remained entirely unchanged from 1963 to 1989 (even more so given the exception of season twenty-two’s 45 minute episodes). I’m not sure if that’s a case of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ or whether it just shows a dubious reticence on the part of the production team to alter anything fundamental, when they should’ve had the bravery to do whatever would best suit the stories.

Ultimately, it doesn’t work to try to reconcile Battlefield with the darkness and realism of the rest of season twenty-six, but viewed as an ideas-packed, larger than life adventure more akin to the preceding season (with a certain amount of complexity and underlying themes), it works quite nicely. It’s set in the near future! A modernised UNIT are back! And the Brigadier! With Arthurian knights from another dimension! And a big blue demon! And helicopter crashes! These are the bold – but slightly bonkers – concepts that people are so taken with if Russell T Davies’ name is on the credits, but reviled elsewhere.

Looked at in this way, I actually quite enjoyed this story. The realisation is a mess, and it should be a lot better than this, but even in terms of what actually made it to the screen, I found it quite agreeable. Which is a lot preferable to hating it for not being as good as Fenric or Ghost Light (or even its own novelisation). Watched charitably, it’s an imaginative script let down by cartoonish realisation. You can see at least a bit of the brilliance of the writer of Transit and The Also People (ie, the ‘tab’ scene, and the hardware-oriented international UNIT), and that’s enough for me to forgive any amount of sparkly gunfire and weedy swordfights. (It’s interesting noting Aaronovitch’s interest in the Brigadier and African characters, which will culminate with the African Lethbridge-Stewart dynasty, and Kadiatu, in the New Adventures.)

I’m not sure whether it’s watching the eras in context that’s making me more charitable to stories I’ve always disliked, but it is refreshing to actually be able to take back a negative opinion. As this is what a lot of people seem to have used the 2009 gap year for, I’m glad I’m managing to join in with the reassessment.

As for the eighties overall, in a recent DWM interview, there was a box-out containing some of Gareth Roberts’ so-called controversial opinions about Doctor Who, including the fact that the Doctor has never been miscast (with any faults being down to production team), and that with the right marketing, the whole of the decade could have been a success. Both of those points seem quite self-evident to me, but it’s interesting imagining, say, Colin and Sylvester actually having had some standing in the public eye – I can’t imagine quite what the general public would have made of Battlefield, but in fairness I don’t think it’s any worse or less accessible than quite a lot of the new series.

NB: So… is Ancelyn related to Marcus Gilbert’s role in Evil Dead 3?? Does this make Bruce Campbell canon?!