The Blood Cell

A Twelfth Doctor Book written by James Goss

This is a rare case of the a Doctor Who novel doing something that the show just couldn't do. Generally these books feel like an episode of the show, albeit one with an extremely high budget. Goss uses the format to his advantage here though and tells a story in the first person.

The Governor of a prison on an asteroid is intrigued by new inmate Prisoner 428- the Doctor. He's a prisoner who keeps escaping and his friend Clara is really quite friendly when she comes to visit. But something is going on deep in the prison and the Governor is struggling to keep things under control.

The first-person narration is great because we get to see the Doctor and Clara through the eyes of a third party. The Governor is an interesting character, almost Doctor-ish in many ways, yet much harder and easily exploited. I also thought the setting was rather good, although the plot itself wasn't great. It's one of those cases where there was a good basic idea but a limited plot to put in it.

The other big problem was that we wait half the book to find out why the Doctor is in the prison and who the Governor really is but it's an underwhelming reveal and lessens the pace. I would have much preferred it if this had been done at the very start of the book- it would have been an intriguing start and would have set up the context of the prison much better.

Characterisation can often be an issue in these tie-ins. Clara is great here, although she barely appears in the first three-quarters of the book. This book was written before any Twelfth Doctor episodes were aired, so presumably Goss had only a few scripts to get the idea of the newest Doctor's character. Whilst there are some obvious Twelfth Doctor traits, it's a watered-down version of the Doctor- any of his incarnations could be shoved in here with little change to the dialogue.

I really enjoyed the book but it's a fairly middle ground when it comes to Doctor Who tie-ins. It's by no means one of the worst, but equally a fair way from the very best too.

The Wheel of Ice

I love Stephen Baxter's books and I love Doctor Who so it baffles me that I've not read this book before now. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on the Wheel of Ice, a mining facility around Saturn. The TARDIS thinks something is wrong there and not just the increasing dissatisfaction of the residents and the way they are treated by the mining company. Blue creatures keep being spotted and there's a desperate intelligence at the heart of it all trying desperately to achieve it's aeons old mission: Resilience, Remembrance, Resolution.



As ever, this has the usual scientific accuracy you can expect from the author. It feels fairly plausible for a future society mining around Saturn. However, it has that element of fantasy that Doctor Who so often contains, something not really based on any science but works excellently for the story. 

Baxter's weakness is so often his characterisation but he's given the lead characters of the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe already. Each is characterised really well and he delves well into the minds of Jamie and Zoe, making them more well-rounded characters than they were often written for the show. His supporting cast is also unusually strong, from the villain of the piece Florian Hart to MMAC, a Scottish robot. I really think it's the best characterization I've ever read from Baxter. 

The story feels fairly like a story from it's era, but there's something about it to make it a bit faster and more engaging than many of the stories feel now. It manages to fit its era yet feel modern at the same time. It's also really steeped in Who mythology. As well as loads of minor references to the Second Doctor's adventures, one of the characters has a direct link back to The Ice Warriors and in many ways the book is a prequel to Zoe's debut story, The Wheel in Space. The Silurians also make an appearance, sort of. Plus, for Stephen Baxter fans, this book can genuinely be considered part of his Manifold series- Bootstrap Industries is the company involved and the Doctor mentions having met its founder once- Reid Malenfant presumably! 

This is everything you want from a Doctor Who story really. It is lots of fun and has strong characters, a decent and interesting plot and feels like it has some genuine depth. I really hope Baxter gets to do another Who novel at some point because I'd love to see what he does with other incarnations of the Doctor!

Doctor Who at Comic Con 2015

Doctor Who has become a staple of San Diego Comic Con in recent years and this year was no different. Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez and Steven Moffat were all in attendance and we were given some real treats. 

First up was more details on Doctor Who's role in the upcoming Lego Dimensions game. I think most people who knew about it were quite excited about the prospect, but this trailer really blew us all away:

The game sees a Lego version of the Doctor interact with a crowd of other famous characters, like Batman, Scooby-Doo and Homer Simpson. Capaldi, Coleman and Gomez all lend their voices and you can play as all thirteen incarnations of the Doctor. The attention to detail is superb as the TARDIS interior will change depending on which version of the Doctor you are playing as.

There are a number of Doctor Who levels in the main game and an additional level pack, and fun pack, will be available to purchase separately. The game is released across all the main consoles on 27th September.

 

Then the excitement grew when we were treated to a trailer for Series 9 at the Doctor Who panel. It looks like the BBC has listened to criticism from previous years and has released the trailer shown at the panel online and given us a firm airdate, September 19th. 

It all looks very exciting, although frankly gives very little away. I've taken the liberty of taking a few screenshots of some of the most interesting moments.

The Doctor rocks out!

A daleks are back!

We are told that a dalek city appears in Series 9 and given that this resembles the dalek city seen in the original 1963 dalek story, we'd guess this is it.

We don't know what this is, but it's terrifying!

We get a few glances at Missy

Maisie Williams in Series 9

The moment that caused the most speculation is the final scene featuring Maisie Williams. "You!" exclaims the Doctor. "What took you so long, old man?" says the mysterious character. But who is she?

Potentially she could be a new character but the dialogue and the fact we are teased at the very end of the trailer suggests differently. Now given that Maisie Williams hasn't appeared before it seems likely this is a character in a new regeneration. The number of female Time Lords that have appeared is pretty small so let's speculate:

- Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. Last seen left on Earth to start a new life and clean up after a dalek invasion. The age works well- you can imagine Williams as Capaldi's granddaughter. She was also present in the original dalek city, so given that the city is being revisited why shouldn't the character too.

- Jenny, the Doctor's (accidental) daugher. Last seen flying off in space, believed dead by the Doctor. She's a more recent character which may be in favour. However, although we know Jenny can regenerate life-force as she does at the end of The Doctor's Daughter, we have no evidence that she can regenerate into a new body. I think. And I suspect if Jenny does ever appear, Georgia Tennant nee Moffat would be the one to play her!

- The Rani- A female evil Time Lord. Unlikely, given the Master now fills that role, that Williams is very unlike Kate O'Mara and that Steven Moffat has said he doesn't want to bring the character back.

- River Song- As far as we know we have seen all of River's regenerations- small child, then Mel, then Alex Kingston. We don't know for certain that the child did regenerate into Mel but that seems likely.

- Romana- Companion to the Doctor. Given that Jenna Coleman is likely to leave in the near future this is the other possibility for Williams to take on a companion role. Williams doesn't come across like the well-spoken, elegant Romana we know and love though. And as far as we know Romana is still on Gallifrey, wherever that is these days.

- Another Doctor relation- Given we don't know who Susan's mother and grandmother were, could Williams be playing one of them. It would be a bit weird if she played the grandmother, considering then she would have a romantic connection to Capaldi. But the Doctor's original daughter, mother of Susan, is possible, if unlikely.

These have pretty much been ordered in terms of likelihood. I still think Susan is the best bet.

I guess only time will tell...

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Forgotten Son

The first in a series focussing on Doctor Who's legendary Brigadier, this story follows shortly after the character's first appearance in Doctor Who, The Web of Fear. Still only a Colonel, Lethbridge-Stewart is tasked with returning everyone back to London. But when a body goes missing he soon realises the Great Intelligence is still at large and up to something in the town Lethbridge-Stewart grew up in. But why can't he remember his childhood clearly. 

I thought this book did many things well. It is a decent sequel to The Web of Fear and tells Lethbridge-Stewart's backstory, something we have never had before. I wasn't entirely convinced on the Great Intelligence being at all involved with his childhood but it was just about explained through timey-wimey stuff. Without wanting to spoil things, the Great Intelligence plotline is closely linked to the modern episodes to feature the 'creature', especially The Name of the Doctor. I thought this was a good idea as it means this book is accessible to fans of New Who as well as the classic series. 

There were a few problems though. I wasn't keen on the way the book was set out, lots of switching between scenes. I felt it would have worked much better with shorter chapters which focused on one group of characters rather than continually switching between perspectives. And for a short book, I think there should be lots of short chapters rather than only a few long ones. 

I also wasn't entirely enamoured with the writing style. It read very much like it was written in the late 1960s, feeling almost like a Target novelisation. I liked the period details but the style felt old fashioned and along with the long chapter and switching of perspectives made the pace feel slower than it could have been. 

I thought this was a really good story which was not written as well as it deserved to be. Great to have a series focussing on Lethbridge-Stewart and I look forward to the next few books!

Boom Town- Newspaper Article

Now I couldn’t quite find enough stuff to create an “in real life” post for Boom Town, which aired ten years ago today but I thought it would be fun to share the newspaper front page from the episode as well as the story that appears on said front page.

CARDIFF’S new Lord Mayor, Margaret Blaine, marked the start of her tenure by announcing an unprecedented new development at the heart of the city. In a move which could see the creation of up to 5,000 new jobs, Lord Mayor Blaine, 45, revealed plans to demolish Cardiff Castle, replacing it with a state of the art nuclear power station.

Ms Blaine was keen to stress that fears over the safety of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ project were groundless. She also assured environmentalists that ecological considerations were at the  top of her agenda, and demonstrated her commitment to green issues by sponsoring a dolphin.

Goronwy Siencyn of the Pan-Wales Culture, History, Sport, Industry and Heritage Institute later issued a supporting statement. He stressed that, while the castle was a notable landmark, it was, nonetheless, a symbol of English oppression.

“A lovely brand spanking new power station puts industry- very literally- at the heart of this fine city. Next to all the shops.”

The outcry that first greeted rumours of the ‘Blaidd Drwg’ nuclear power project has become considerably more muted in recent weeks.

This may reflect the success of a ‘softly softly’ approach from the new mayor towards local activists and the environmental lobby.

However, as reported this week, the ‘Summit on the Summit’- a picnic meeting on Snowdonia, where protesters were encourage to air their views- ended in tragedy when the train carrying delegates was derailed by an aggressive sheep. Ms Blaine expressed her deepest sympathies.

The new Lord Mayor described the project as a ‘real coup’ for the people of Cardiff. Joking that she had no desire to re-open the notorious divide between North and South Wales, she did want to point out that although Trawsfynffd had been mothballed, North Wales still had Wylfa. A power station in Cardiff ‘made the score one-all!’ quipped the new Lord Mayor.

She also revealed that at one point, Wales had nearly lost the project to the newly established Independent Republic of Cornwall, which would have been “unthinkable”.


^{(The newspaper image and the text from it come from this website.)}

The Empty Child in "real life"

This is the latest in a series of Doctor Who in “Real Life” posts. The idea is that I discuss how episodes work from a real world perspective. To celebrate it’s ten year anniversary, today I am looking at the two-part story The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.

Surprisingly, a few photographs exist from Albion Hospital during the blitz of 1941.

Unfortunately there is little written evidence about what was referred to as “Empty Child Syndrome” other than this unclear sheet of medical paperwork:

More recently, UNIT published a press release about Sclechter Wolf bombs:

They’ll be another “in real life” post next week!


^{(Once again, the material from this post comes via here.)}

The Doctor and the Dalek

I realise I am a bit late on this one but having recently purchased a new tablet I finally downloaded the excellent game “The Doctor and the Dalek”.

Ostensibly this is a computer programming game aimed at children- programming is a big part of the latest National Curriculum. However, the programming aspect is only a part of the gameplay and like the show the game is child-friendly but equally enjoyable for adults.

In a plot written by Phil Ford, the Twelfth Doctor (actually voiced by Peter Capaldi in the game) finds himself teamed up with a dalek which has malfunctioned and is now “good”. You control the dalek, sending it through the tombs of the cybermen, the clone chambers of the sontarans and the belly of the dalek-infested Time Lord ship the Starbane to collect the pieces of an ancient artefact.

The story is fairly simple but there’s a great twist at the end which I didn’t really expect. Most of the game features fairly standard 2D platforming as you travel through the various levels, hovering and exterminating enemies which get in your way. Most players will be familiar with this type of gameplay- it’s like a Doctor Who version of Mario.

During each level there is a programming section. In these sections you select instructions for the dalek so it can either collect an object or exterminate all the enemies. It starts off fairly simple with a tutorial but gradually increases in difficulty throughout the levels. The best thing about it is that their is always an obvious solution but the challenge is in putting in the fewest number of instructions to complete the level. The programming challenges are also available outside of the main gameplay by clicking “TARDIS Training” on the home screen.

My only complaint about the game really is the length- there aren’t that many levels and if you know what you are doing it won’t take very long to complete. Still, considering this is something for nothing it is really rather good and I recommend it to all Doctor Who fans. I really hope the BBC do more of this sort of thing in the not too distant future!

You can play on your computer or on a tablet by downloading an app from the Apple, Amazon or Google Play stores.