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A review by alexs_book_hoard
Doctor Who: At Childhood's End by Sophie Aldred
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At Childhood’s End, the 2020 novel by Sophie Aldred, continues a trend in Doctor Who novels that I have immensely enjoyed – original Doctor Who characters coming back to their roles and writing novels that they imagine their character would have experienced. This novel brings Sophie Aldred back to her character Ace, now the CEO of A Charitable Earth and old friend of the Doctor with some bad memories of their time together. Aldred explores what happens when The Doctor returns several regenerations later, and now must face the consequences of their previous incarnation’s actions.
The Characters
In terms of overall characterization of the main characters, I could hear Ace clear as a bell; as Ace slips on her old jacket and steps back into the role of adventurer, so too does Aldred smoothly bring Ace back to life and create a portrayal that feels in line with how Ace’s story would have gone. While some of the external building was done by other Doctor Who writers – particularly in the Sarah Jane Adventures – Aldred brings such a personality to Ace and such a writing style that makes Ace feel authentic. I love her ability to write Ace and the Thirteenth Doctor. These characters really came to life for me.
Where Aldred fumbles a bit for me is in her portrayal of Yaz and Graham. Yaz becomes minimized to a jealous companion who hasn’t considered that there were others in the TARDIS before her and her friends. We don’t get a lot of interactions between Ace and Yaz, nor do we get a lot of anything from Yaz other than jealousy. I’m a little behind on the series, but this doesn’t fit in with the Yaz that I know, who would feel those emotions but still charge in ready for action. She’d manage her emotions AND save the day. And that just doesn’t come across in this book.
Graham feels mismanaged as well, to me. Graham is supposed to be an elder, fatherly figure whose attempts at comedy are humorous because of his attempts more than because they’re actually funny. He’s not always the most competent person and doesn’t usually follow what the Doctor is doing or what’s happening, but he’ll do what he can and you can’t help but love him. This portrayal gives him an “accidental competence” where he regularly stumbles onto the general gist of what’s happening and what the Doctor is doing. I’m not saying Graham is dumb, I absolutely love him as a companion, but when things are getting techno-sciencey, Graham should be fumbling not accidentally thriving.
Those critiques said, I think Aldred does well catching the overall spirit of the Doctor and Ace, who admittedly are the two characters that we’re supposed to pay attention to in this novel. This is their reunion and reconciliation story, any way.
The Plot
One of my favorite elements of this book is that we actually see the full scope of the Doctor having to face consequences. It drives home that there are, in fact, consequences for their actions and it’s not always just in the moment consequences. We find out the reason Ace left the TARDIS and returned to her normal life is because she became horrified by the Doctor’s actions and how, as she saw it, he manipulated people around him for his own ends without at all consulting or considering the people involved. She saw the Doctor as a puppet master pulling the strings. And in many ways that’s how the TV Doctor can come across when you think about it. Especially in the classic series, the Doctor was very much a different person. So for me, I enjoyed seeing a portrayal of The Doctor where they have to face a companion who is furious with them for something that happened in a previous incarnation. We see the Doctor grapple with these struggles and the potential that they may not know the best actions in terms of people in every situation.
This plot fills in space in both the Seventh Doctor’s timeline as well as the Thirteenth Doctor’s, and everything we see feels like it could fit perfectly well in what we know about the characters and about the paths they follow. I can absolutely see Ace founding a charity organization and setting up headquarters across from Torchwood to help keep an eye on things. I can absolutely see Ace wanting to get involved again when something alien and suspicious happens. I can absolutely see Ace holding a grudge against the Doctor. There’s nothing about the development of this story that felt super out of place, to me. While I wasn’t hugely a fan of the storytelling technique where the end of each section, or part, jumped back to the Seventh Doctor’s time and filled in part of the gap of what happened back then that is relevant to the chapters the reader just experienced, I think it worked well in this instance and was necessary to not give away too much about what happened and why events were occurring now. Some of the information given from the past would absolutely spoil present events for the reader.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found this story to be a good contribution to the Doctor Who continuum and an enjoyable story to read. While I wanted a little better characterization from the three present companions of the Doctor, I found myself able to remain engaged with the story and wanting to know what was happening next. It didn’t feel awkward like I partially feared it might, with Aldred returning to her character in written form, though she may be well in practice thanks to her recurring portrayal of Ace in Big Finish audio stories. So this book may not be perfect, but for fans of Ace, fans of the Thirteenth Doctor, or fans of seeing previous companions return to the TARDIS even temporarily, this story comes well recommended here.
The Characters
In terms of overall characterization of the main characters, I could hear Ace clear as a bell; as Ace slips on her old jacket and steps back into the role of adventurer, so too does Aldred smoothly bring Ace back to life and create a portrayal that feels in line with how Ace’s story would have gone. While some of the external building was done by other Doctor Who writers – particularly in the Sarah Jane Adventures – Aldred brings such a personality to Ace and such a writing style that makes Ace feel authentic. I love her ability to write Ace and the Thirteenth Doctor. These characters really came to life for me.
Where Aldred fumbles a bit for me is in her portrayal of Yaz and Graham. Yaz becomes minimized to a jealous companion who hasn’t considered that there were others in the TARDIS before her and her friends. We don’t get a lot of interactions between Ace and Yaz, nor do we get a lot of anything from Yaz other than jealousy. I’m a little behind on the series, but this doesn’t fit in with the Yaz that I know, who would feel those emotions but still charge in ready for action. She’d manage her emotions AND save the day. And that just doesn’t come across in this book.
Graham feels mismanaged as well, to me. Graham is supposed to be an elder, fatherly figure whose attempts at comedy are humorous because of his attempts more than because they’re actually funny. He’s not always the most competent person and doesn’t usually follow what the Doctor is doing or what’s happening, but he’ll do what he can and you can’t help but love him. This portrayal gives him an “accidental competence” where he regularly stumbles onto the general gist of what’s happening and what the Doctor is doing. I’m not saying Graham is dumb, I absolutely love him as a companion, but when things are getting techno-sciencey, Graham should be fumbling not accidentally thriving.
Those critiques said, I think Aldred does well catching the overall spirit of the Doctor and Ace, who admittedly are the two characters that we’re supposed to pay attention to in this novel. This is their reunion and reconciliation story, any way.
The Plot
One of my favorite elements of this book is that we actually see the full scope of the Doctor having to face consequences. It drives home that there are, in fact, consequences for their actions and it’s not always just in the moment consequences. We find out the reason Ace left the TARDIS and returned to her normal life is because she became horrified by the Doctor’s actions and how, as she saw it, he manipulated people around him for his own ends without at all consulting or considering the people involved. She saw the Doctor as a puppet master pulling the strings. And in many ways that’s how the TV Doctor can come across when you think about it. Especially in the classic series, the Doctor was very much a different person. So for me, I enjoyed seeing a portrayal of The Doctor where they have to face a companion who is furious with them for something that happened in a previous incarnation. We see the Doctor grapple with these struggles and the potential that they may not know the best actions in terms of people in every situation.
This plot fills in space in both the Seventh Doctor’s timeline as well as the Thirteenth Doctor’s, and everything we see feels like it could fit perfectly well in what we know about the characters and about the paths they follow. I can absolutely see Ace founding a charity organization and setting up headquarters across from Torchwood to help keep an eye on things. I can absolutely see Ace wanting to get involved again when something alien and suspicious happens. I can absolutely see Ace holding a grudge against the Doctor. There’s nothing about the development of this story that felt super out of place, to me. While I wasn’t hugely a fan of the storytelling technique where the end of each section, or part, jumped back to the Seventh Doctor’s time and filled in part of the gap of what happened back then that is relevant to the chapters the reader just experienced, I think it worked well in this instance and was necessary to not give away too much about what happened and why events were occurring now. Some of the information given from the past would absolutely spoil present events for the reader.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found this story to be a good contribution to the Doctor Who continuum and an enjoyable story to read. While I wanted a little better characterization from the three present companions of the Doctor, I found myself able to remain engaged with the story and wanting to know what was happening next. It didn’t feel awkward like I partially feared it might, with Aldred returning to her character in written form, though she may be well in practice thanks to her recurring portrayal of Ace in Big Finish audio stories. So this book may not be perfect, but for fans of Ace, fans of the Thirteenth Doctor, or fans of seeing previous companions return to the TARDIS even temporarily, this story comes well recommended here.