NA #43 Head Games

Head Games by Steve Lyons

In Brief: An eruption of fictional-energy threatens the universe. The Doctor, with companions old and new, must deal with the results as his evil doppelganger Dr.Who causes havoc throughout time and space.

Head Games should have been a very good book. Steve Lyons is a decent writer and he is playing with some decidedly good ideas here. Unfortunately a high level of quality only emerges in spurts as overall the novel is decidedly mediocre. The big problem is that much of the story is set on the very bland alien world of Detrios, where the "Fictional Energy" (from Lyons' earlier Conundrum) has resulted in a giant crystal "Miracle" hanging in the sky. While things do improve when the plot moves to 2001 England it still lumbers the novel with some markedly dull passages.

All of the energy leaking out has found its was to Jason, the earlier Master of the Land of Fiction. He subconsciously uses it to create Dr.Who, a comic version of The Doctor who decides that his alter-ego is actually a force for evil and that he and all of his followers (companions) must be destroyed. So what we have is a big metaphor for how The Sevenths Doctor's methods go beyond the black & white plots of his earlier incarnations/stories. His actions are always a choice between consequences (although aren't everyone's?) rather than simply "fighting eveil". While this greying of The Doctor's motivations seems common-place now (what with modern episodes like "Midnight" and "Amy's Choice" showing the character is less than a positive light) for the 1995 this was still fairly new territory.

The other method Head Games uses to comment on how manipulative the 7th-Doctor has become is through having his current Tardis team (Benny, Roz and Chris along and a cameo from Ace) meet previous companion (to the 6th and 7th Doctors) Mel.


I know, I missed her too.

The good part of Mel returning is that through her disgust of the actions of the current Doctor (basically forcing Detrios to suffer to save the universe) we get a good sense of how much he has changed from earlier "simpler" times. Unfortunately I think Lyons missed an opportunity to do something interesting with her character, since for the most part she comes across as a shrill and irritating screamer (so exactly how she was portrayed on TV). This would have been a great chance to try give her a bit of depth.

As a side note the big problem with Mel (as well as Peri) is that she was always too much of a "throw-back" character on the show, as if the production team at the time were looking to the 60s & 70s (in particular regulars like Victoria and Jo Grant) for inspiration. Unfortunately in 1985/86 having such a character was *exactly* the wrong decision to make; they needed something new to reinvigorate the series. Thankfully that happened in 1987 when Ace joined (although by then it was probably too little, too late). Watching episodes with Mel is frustrating, since Bonnie Langford *is* actually a very good actress but was unfortunately lumbered with a terrible character to play.

Ok, back to Head Games itself. While a lot of the book doesn't quite work it's still a hugely important part of The New Adventures. It acts as a big marker for how much the novels and The Doctor have developed since the early days. The book is essentially a big thumb in the nose to fans at the time who complained (oh how they complained, particularly in Internet newsgroups...) that the books just "weren't Doctor Who". As with modern times, a lot of people had a set idea of what Doctor Who should be like, which was The Doctor thwarting alien invaders and toppling corrupt governments and nothing else. Dr.Who exists to show how unsatisfying such a character can be. Not even Superman would be so empty.

The book also gives the reader insight into the 7th-Doctor, in particular when confronted by the manifestation of his 6th persona. We get into some serious continuity references here as we learn that the 7th Doctor "forced" himself into being to keep the unhinged 6th from becoming the evil Valeyard (if this doesn't make sense go and watch the monumental mess that is The Trial of a Timelord, if you dare). But again I'm discussing plot-points of the novel rather than actually reviewing the thing.

And that's the big problem, while the book has some BIG THINGS happen that are worth discussing the parts just don't add up to a satisfying whole. The narrative is too much of a mess and the non-regulars aren't interesting at all. I can see what Steve Lyons was aiming for and it was a good idea, it's just that he doesn't manage to pull it off. Overall Head Games, while clever, is just too much of a mess to recommend.