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A review by zmull
The Pirate Planet by Douglas Adams, James Goss
4.0
Douglas Adams is the biggest name to ever work on Doctor Who. But his legacy there is mixed. City of Death, which he scripted from a story by David Fisher, is probably the best Doctor Who story ever made. His next story, Shada, was cancelled mid-production. Despite its mythic status, if finished it likely it would have ranked nearer to this book's source material, than City of Death. The Pirate Planet was Douglas Adams' first Doctor Who story. It's likely that script editor Anthony Read heavily reworked the story before commissioning Adams' scripts. The serial, like all Doctor Whos, was make in a rush, with little money, and no thought whatsoever toward historical review. It was grossly overacted. Tom Baker was in his fifth year and no one could direct him at this point. And Bruce Purchase as the Captain... oof. As TV, the Pirate Planet is weird and charming, but not DW at its best.
What makes the recent Douglas Adams novelizations so wonderful is the chance they offer to take another pass at these stories. Gareth Roberts' Shada is fantastic. For my money, it's the definitive version of that story. But the one that provides the best service to fans is this book. James Goss fixes the plot without losing any of the original's strangeness. His jokes match Adams jokes. He even fixes one of the lamest cliffhangers in all of Doctor Who. Even better, the audiobook is read by Jon Culshaw, who famously does a spot on Tom Baker impression. He also nails Purchase's, uh, energy and the prissiness of John Leeson's K9. As with Shada, this novel, especially the audio version vastly improves on the TV version. Recommended.
(Now there are only two DWs without novelizations - Eric Saward's two Dalek stories. Saward isn't the name Adams is, of course, but I sure would love to see those stories given the deluxe treatment these three were given. They're both good stories.)
(Hell, I'd go for James Goss / Jon Culshaw versions of some of Tom Baker stories that have Target novelizations already. Could they fix The Power of Kroll? Yes, please.)
What makes the recent Douglas Adams novelizations so wonderful is the chance they offer to take another pass at these stories. Gareth Roberts' Shada is fantastic. For my money, it's the definitive version of that story. But the one that provides the best service to fans is this book. James Goss fixes the plot without losing any of the original's strangeness. His jokes match Adams jokes. He even fixes one of the lamest cliffhangers in all of Doctor Who. Even better, the audiobook is read by Jon Culshaw, who famously does a spot on Tom Baker impression. He also nails Purchase's, uh, energy and the prissiness of John Leeson's K9. As with Shada, this novel, especially the audio version vastly improves on the TV version. Recommended.
(Now there are only two DWs without novelizations - Eric Saward's two Dalek stories. Saward isn't the name Adams is, of course, but I sure would love to see those stories given the deluxe treatment these three were given. They're both good stories.)
(Hell, I'd go for James Goss / Jon Culshaw versions of some of Tom Baker stories that have Target novelizations already. Could they fix The Power of Kroll? Yes, please.)