Doctor Who: Shada
by Gareth Roberts (and Douglas Adams)
science fiction, for fans and others
copyright 2012
read in October 2013
rated 7/10: well worth reading
In 1979, Douglas Adams wrote a Doctor Who script which never went to air. In 2012, Gareth Roberts published this novel based on that script.
The novel includes some clear traces of Adams humour. Even a few covers of Hitchhiker jokes. I would guess that these were added by Roberts. That's fine... The book appeals as (1) a book starring the Doctor and (2) a book based on work by Adams.
I'm a fan of the old-style Doctor. I dislike the attitude of the new Doctors, the constant stating of the bleeding obvious, "I am the Doctor therefore I will soon solve all of your problems."
And must The Doctor be in love with his companions ?! Come on ! He's 900 years old, and they are just children who will be gone in a blink of his eye...
Well, Shada stars an old-style Doctor. Yet there is a tiny hint of romantic attachment. And more than a hint of the manic, tell the world I'm great, Doctor. With problems solved by mystic hand-waving rather than as a result of a logical plot progression.
Perhaps -- as I think about it -- perhaps the modern Doctors are a situational entertainment rather than plot-driven stories ?
Whatever.
This book is an old Doctor with a touch of what I dislike about the new. Which made sense, when I read the author's afterword.
The author is a fan of the new Doctors. The original script was well short of enough material for a complete novel. Roberts added a lot of new material, while attempting to stay true to his own understanding of the original story...
And the book is published by the BBC -- the owners of the successful, modern, Doctor Who series.
As a fan of the old Doctors -- with a dislike of the new Doctors -- I found some problems with Shada. Perhaps I should say, I have issues with the book... That said...
An enjoyable book. For old fans and for new. And perhaps even for non-fans who simply enjoy a good science fiction romp, through time and space and with solid English eccentricity.
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Problems ? Solved
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