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scampr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
As the cover and description indicate, this is a novel that features both the Second and Fourth Doctors - however, it is not a traditional multi-doctor adventure. This was something I was aware of before reading, but I was all the same confused by the decision and what purpose it serves the story.
To get into specifics, this is one of those timey-wimey circumstances where a Doctor encounters a problem that is the result of an adventure a future incarnation has. It's a concept I enjoy and has been executed well before, but in this case, one half of the story felt much more superfluous than the other.
The 4th Doctor and Romana I are sent on a mission by the time lords (a secondary mission, as this is mid-key to time) that sees them plunged into the world of secret intelligence organisations. This Tardis team is somewhat underrated, so I was pleased with how well their voice/characters were captured, and particularly liked their interactions with UNIT - something the later half of Tom Baker's era was well removed from.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Doctor, Jamie and Victoria get stuck in America and encounter a town of people under some bizarre sort of mind control. Victoria is probably the 2nd Doctor companion I feel the least connection to, so I do enjoy the focus on her and her friendship with the Doctor and Jamie fleshed out more. However, their inclusion ultimately feels a tad generic, and it's this team that have a lot less agency within the story.
I would've expected more foreshadowing between the two seemingly unconnected adventures, but the Fourth Doctor half is too concerned with secret agency minutiae, and the Second Doctor half just feels half baked, padded with weirdness for the sake of a mystery before the climax rushes to pull everything together.
I genuinely found it hard to follow the plot of this story, and I still don't think I have a proper grasp of it. This wasn't some structural issue of two Doctors embroiled in two halves of the events, as that is fairly straightforward cause and effect. Rather the events taking place are quite convoluted and the villain's plan doesn't offer enough of a satisfying explanation (logistically or motivation wise).
The climax jumps up the stakes quite abruptly, taking what was a mostly grounded conspiracy and revealing the whole thing was orchestrated by an alien force, with ensuing body horror, gestalt entities, mind battles and Tardis shenanigans. Don't get me wrong, these additions did actually pique my interest - but I would've much preferred them were this a regular story, where the ideas could be more cohesive and fleshed out.
The 4th Doctor's realisation that the situation he's in is the explanation for 'the one time that thing happened', and that he has to give his past self a little nudge in the right direction is a perfectly nice multi-Doctor element, executed quite well, but not enough to outweigh the problems I have with the story overall. The slow pace of the story and moments of pretentiousness from the author really made this a bit of a slog for me, which is why despite the ideas and potential at play, it was ultimately a bit disappointing.
To get into specifics, this is one of those timey-wimey circumstances where a Doctor encounters a problem that is the result of an adventure a future incarnation has. It's a concept I enjoy and has been executed well before, but in this case, one half of the story felt much more superfluous than the other.
The 4th Doctor and Romana I are sent on a mission by the time lords (a secondary mission, as this is mid-key to time) that sees them plunged into the world of secret intelligence organisations. This Tardis team is somewhat underrated, so I was pleased with how well their voice/characters were captured, and particularly liked their interactions with UNIT - something the later half of Tom Baker's era was well removed from.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Doctor, Jamie and Victoria get stuck in America and encounter a town of people under some bizarre sort of mind control. Victoria is probably the 2nd Doctor companion I feel the least connection to, so I do enjoy the focus on her and her friendship with the Doctor and Jamie fleshed out more. However, their inclusion ultimately feels a tad generic, and it's this team that have a lot less agency within the story.
I would've expected more foreshadowing between the two seemingly unconnected adventures, but the Fourth Doctor half is too concerned with secret agency minutiae, and the Second Doctor half just feels half baked, padded with weirdness for the sake of a mystery before the climax rushes to pull everything together.
I genuinely found it hard to follow the plot of this story, and I still don't think I have a proper grasp of it. This wasn't some structural issue of two Doctors embroiled in two halves of the events, as that is fairly straightforward cause and effect. Rather the events taking place are quite convoluted and the villain's plan doesn't offer enough of a satisfying explanation (logistically or motivation wise).
The climax jumps up the stakes quite abruptly, taking what was a mostly grounded conspiracy and revealing the whole thing was orchestrated by an alien force, with ensuing body horror, gestalt entities, mind battles and Tardis shenanigans. Don't get me wrong, these additions did actually pique my interest - but I would've much preferred them were this a regular story, where the ideas could be more cohesive and fleshed out.
The 4th Doctor's realisation that the situation he's in is the explanation for 'the one time that thing happened', and that he has to give his past self a little nudge in the right direction is a perfectly nice multi-Doctor element, executed quite well, but not enough to outweigh the problems I have with the story overall. The slow pace of the story and moments of pretentiousness from the author really made this a bit of a slog for me, which is why despite the ideas and potential at play, it was ultimately a bit disappointing.
chicafrom3's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The Second Doctor, Victoria, and Jamie are trapped in a bubble universe with marked similarities to the Simpsons; the Fourth Doctor and the First Romana help UNIT deal with demonic invaders. The two plotlines run parallel to and impact each other but never exactly meet. There's some good character moments but the pacing drags; I'm unsure if I'd like it more if I was a Simpsons fan.
nwhyte's review
1.0
It's a Past Doctor Adventure featureing Two, Victoria and Jamie in one time-line, and Four, Romana I and K9 (plus Brigadier and Benton) in another, dealing with a weird space-time anomaly which traps the earlier Doctor in a small town based on the Simpsons. I thought there were some good characetr moments - especially for the two Doctors and the female characters - but rather lost track of the plot. Apparently there are lots of Simpsons in-jokes which sailed over my head. Indeed I felt that a lot of the book was the author thinking he was being funny, but it didn't really work for me.
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