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cecesloth's review
4.0
A really fun read that properly fleshes out the characters and the Master's plan. The descriptions of the TARDIS are just as exquisite as the movie visuals. Keep an eye out for references to 7's hat, it's a simple but lovely little motif!
ashs_doctorwho_library's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I love this film and this was a really fun way to see the story at a slightly different perspective
artlyon's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
My only quibble is that the author has the characters native to the U.S. using British vernacular, like calling flashlights "torches". Otherwise, an enjoyable read with plenty of nice bits rooting it in Doctor Who lore.
saroz162's review against another edition
3.0
Novelizations live or die on the quality of the scripts they are novelizing - either the plot, the dialogue, or both. TV pilots are particularly hard to novelize because they're usually focusing on introducing you to characters, concepts, and tone, and the plots are usually pretty perfunctory. That's essentially the problem with Doctor Who: The TV Movie, which was, naturally, a TV movie that also functioned as a backdoor pilot. The plot is hokum, and while the dialogue isn't terrible, a lot of the life that was brought to it came from the actors' performances (ranging from the very good to the extremely camp). As far as the actual script goes, there's not a whole lot of there there.
In some ways these limitations are similar to Russell T. Davies' Rose, and so it makes sense that when Davies came to novelize his own pilot script, he enriched it by expanding our understanding of the human characters, their lives, relationships, and experiences. The TVM isn't a totally different plot - it is, again, about a mystery man showing up in a world of ordinary people - but novelizing it is even more uphill climbing because the people are "TV-ordinary" (meaning, they're very idealized and as thin as cardboard). Worse, the script really doesn't care about them. It cares about the mystery man, the Doctor.
That's fine for me because I'm a Doctor Who fan, and when I was 12 years old, the TV Movie on TV was great, too. There's no mistaking why average TV viewers didn't like it, though: the interesting stuff was full of unfamiliar jargon, and the real-life stuff was very, very generic. Here, Gary Russell has almost doubled down on the trick. Huge portions of the novel are fine but unremarkable. He has tried to add a little - just a little - to the "ordinary" characters, although it sometimes bounces back on him; his Americans constantly slip into British argot. None of them ever really rise above their roots, though, and a couple of them are actually less memorable than they were on TV. Instead, where he really focuses his energy is on the Doctor, and the TARDIS, and on smoothing over the bits that seemed inconsistent between the TV Movie and the original Doctor Who series.
Some of Russell's "improvements" are incredibly enjoyable - I particularly loved the more extensive exploration of the new TARDIS - and I'm glad that he was able to add back in things he was forced to cut, even if some of them are a little silly (like the extended prologue with the seventh Doctor on Skaro). By and large, though, they felt like set pieces, and I spent the book waiting for the next one...and then the next one...and then the next one.
Ultimately, it's a pleasant, slightly campy read, perhaps deliberately more like an American movie novelization. It is, however, somewhat uneven in its pleasures.
In some ways these limitations are similar to Russell T. Davies' Rose, and so it makes sense that when Davies came to novelize his own pilot script, he enriched it by expanding our understanding of the human characters, their lives, relationships, and experiences. The TVM isn't a totally different plot - it is, again, about a mystery man showing up in a world of ordinary people - but novelizing it is even more uphill climbing because the people are "TV-ordinary" (meaning, they're very idealized and as thin as cardboard). Worse, the script really doesn't care about them. It cares about the mystery man, the Doctor.
That's fine for me because I'm a Doctor Who fan, and when I was 12 years old, the TV Movie on TV was great, too. There's no mistaking why average TV viewers didn't like it, though: the interesting stuff was full of unfamiliar jargon, and the real-life stuff was very, very generic. Here, Gary Russell has almost doubled down on the trick. Huge portions of the novel are fine but unremarkable. He has tried to add a little - just a little - to the "ordinary" characters, although it sometimes bounces back on him; his Americans constantly slip into British argot. None of them ever really rise above their roots, though, and a couple of them are actually less memorable than they were on TV. Instead, where he really focuses his energy is on the Doctor, and the TARDIS, and on smoothing over the bits that seemed inconsistent between the TV Movie and the original Doctor Who series.
Some of Russell's "improvements" are incredibly enjoyable - I particularly loved the more extensive exploration of the new TARDIS - and I'm glad that he was able to add back in things he was forced to cut, even if some of them are a little silly (like the extended prologue with the seventh Doctor on Skaro). By and large, though, they felt like set pieces, and I spent the book waiting for the next one...and then the next one...and then the next one.
Ultimately, it's a pleasant, slightly campy read, perhaps deliberately more like an American movie novelization. It is, however, somewhat uneven in its pleasures.
librarycobwebs's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I think it's interesting the reviews for this book are a lot of bickering about whether it's a good adaptation and whether or not that's a good thing to begin with. I tried to go in with an open mind and I had a lot of fun with it. I think the characterization of the Doctor is very compelling, conveying his alien qualities in a way that feels very off-putting while also emphasizing his great love of humanity, which separates him from the Master. Is any Target novelization high art? No, but they're a fun way to relive a story from a new perspective.
malikamai's review against another edition
2.0
If this audiobook taught me one thing, it's that I really don't like it when narrators "do the voices"
decembera's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
just like the movie, it's not good, but it sure is fun!
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
"You're so insuffrebaly good, aren't you Doctor? Always ready to sacrifice yourself for the good of everyone else. Why aren't you willing to sacrifice yourself for me?"
I loved the movie so much it was a natural decision to buy this book. The begining has so much Doctor/Master angst. I highly recomend.
I loved the movie so much it was a natural decision to buy this book. The begining has so much Doctor/Master angst. I highly recomend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, and Death
nivek1385's review against another edition
4.0
It was better than I remember the TV movie itself being.