Scan barcode
nwhyte's review
"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1292645.html[return][return]So, what was happening on Earth while the Doctor and Jo were on Peladon? Well, UNIT found itself dealing with peculiar doppelgangers of senior officials, and had to call on the resources of the Master, despite his imprisonment, and of some bloke called Chesterton, who brought his wife Barbara along as well. And up in Faslane, there was a naval medic called Sullivan who turned out to be rather useful...[return][return]One of my least favourite things about the Third Doctor era is the Third Doctor, so it was with some hope that I turned to this Past Doctor Adventure set in his absence. (I had also enjoyed McIntee's Second Doctor / future Master story, The Dark Path.) My hope was largely justified. The Brigadier and the Master spark rather well, and there are lots of gleeful continuity moments (including a surprise reference to Delta and the Bannermen). Ian and Barbara take a while to bed into the UNIT environment, though, and the treatment of Barbara in particular isn't terribly satisfactory; Ian as temporary Scientific Adviser is almost Liz Shaw to the Master as Doctor.[return][return]The actual plot is basically decent but important details get drowned out by continuity squee (though of course most readers will be concentrating on the squee). McIntee has apparently said he would have liked the villainous Marianne to be played by Jacqueline Pearce, and I can see that. A fun experiment with the format."
chicafrom3's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Sheer fanwank but enjoyably so.
markk's review
4.0
On the surface David A. McIntee's novel is a curious contribution to the "Past Doctor Adventures" series, given that it's a Doctor Who novel without the title character. Yet McIntee pulls it off superbly by drawing upon the rich collection of supporting characters that have been introduced over the years. Setting it during one of the Third Doctor's unwilling excursions on behalf of the Time Lords, it's premised around two seemingly unrelated events: a violent bank robbery and the crash of a jet containing the body of a junior governmental minister — one who is still very much alive in London. Called in to investigate the latter mystery, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart finds a substitute for the absent Doctor in the form of a husband-and-wife team with familiarity with the unusual: Ian and Barbara Chesterton, two of the Doctor's original companions.
Over the course of the book McIntee has to mix both the show's well-defined characters with his own original creations in a context that is unusual for a Doctor Who story. This is a challenge that he pulls off with considerable success, devising a novel that manages the difficult feat of offering an original mix of story elements that still demonstrates considerable fealty to his source material. And as successful as he is in depicting the portrayals of the Brigadier, Ian, Barbara, and the Doctor's other friends in the show, his greatest success is in capturing the Master in all of his Third Doctor glory. Though the character of the Master has been a longtime foe of the Doctor's he was never better than in Roger Delgado's original portrayal of him as the suave sadist. McIntee depicts him with his full arrogance and deviousness, making for a very different sort of dynamic than is possible with any of the Doctor-UNIT combinations. It all makes for an adventure that demonstrates the rich storytelling possibilities that exist in the Doctor Who universe, even with its eponymous character is absent.
Over the course of the book McIntee has to mix both the show's well-defined characters with his own original creations in a context that is unusual for a Doctor Who story. This is a challenge that he pulls off with considerable success, devising a novel that manages the difficult feat of offering an original mix of story elements that still demonstrates considerable fealty to his source material. And as successful as he is in depicting the portrayals of the Brigadier, Ian, Barbara, and the Doctor's other friends in the show, his greatest success is in capturing the Master in all of his Third Doctor glory. Though the character of the Master has been a longtime foe of the Doctor's he was never better than in Roger Delgado's original portrayal of him as the suave sadist. McIntee depicts him with his full arrogance and deviousness, making for a very different sort of dynamic than is possible with any of the Doctor-UNIT combinations. It all makes for an adventure that demonstrates the rich storytelling possibilities that exist in the Doctor Who universe, even with its eponymous character is absent.
hammard's review
3.0
I have to say I disagree with fan consensus on this novel, which seems to see it as one of the best all time stories.
This is definitely McIntee on the upswing, much better than his first three Doctor Who novels. And it is also quite exciting as it comes together at the end and The Master and Brigadier make a good pairing to play against each other.
The disappointment is that there is still so much fanwank in this it overwhelms everything else. And whilst it becomes good at some points there are large sections of exposition and boring gun battles where I struggled to keep my attention.
Finally, it continues the problem of Doctor Who book range that Barbara is treated appallingly, a real shame.
But there is still some enjoyment to be had with this interesting outing.
This is definitely McIntee on the upswing, much better than his first three Doctor Who novels. And it is also quite exciting as it comes together at the end and The Master and Brigadier make a good pairing to play against each other.
The disappointment is that there is still so much fanwank in this it overwhelms everything else. And whilst it becomes good at some points there are large sections of exposition and boring gun battles where I struggled to keep my attention.
Finally, it continues the problem of Doctor Who book range that Barbara is treated appallingly, a real shame.
But there is still some enjoyment to be had with this interesting outing.
More...