NA #59 The Room With No Doors

The Room With No Doors by Kate Orman

In Brief: A temporal anomaly is hiding somewhere in 16th-century Japan. The Doctor and Chris, in trying to find its source encounter a mysterious pod, an alien slaver, battling armies and a Victorian time-traveler.

The Room With No Doors admits early on that it's a "light" story. One of no huge drama and no real threat to Earth or the rest of the universe at large. A small adventure to be had as The Doctor waits for whatever event create his eighth persona to arrive. With the next novel, Lungbarrow, being the last for the Seventh Doctor Kate Orman creates almost a meditation on life, death and change. Particularly concerning The Seventh Doctor and what it will mean when he's gone. This is the story of how Chris comes to terms with the eventuality that he will stop travelling in the Tardis, and also how The Doctor must face his guilt over the actions and manipulations of his current persona.

This makes the book sound very dark and heavy, which it absolutely is not. Orman's skill is able to mix the darker aspects of the book into a rather frivolous and at times funny adventure, as with the best of Who. The shift from the norm is that The Doctor is rather more reactive than usual with his purposefully pushing Chris into taking more of a central role in events. Chris, always tending to be pushed to the side by the stronger characters like Benny or Roz has to face being in charge, really for the first time. It's an important step for the character since he can sense that a massive change is coming.

A fresh perspective is kept on the two regulars by having the character of Penelope Gate appear, an "adventuress" brought into the past due to the mysterious pod. Also trying to find the pod is alien slaver Te Yene Rana, as well as a group of escaped prisoners (who resemble large chickens). As villains go Te Yene Rana is not one of the greats and is essentially defined by how crap she actually is, particularly in how she meets her (surprised) demise. But this just reinforces that The Room With No Doors isn't about The Doctor defeating a menace, but instead setting it up so that Chris is able to gain the confidence to do it himself.

The best parts of the book are where Chris and The Doctor discuss the titular Room, which appears to Chris whenever he dreams. It turns out to be part of The Doctor's psyche, which is being transferred to Chris due to properties of the pod. It represents the prison within his mind that The Doctor knows awaits his current persona once he regenerates. Due to his becoming a darker and more manipulative character than in his prior lives it is where he senses his previous selves will lock him. However just as Chris is able to emerge from his guilt and insecurities so The Doctor is able to accept that he does not in fact deserve the Room and is able to shake off his own guilt.

Also, The Room With No Doors is where the New Adventures really begins to end. With it's themes of working through the guilt of the past and being able to look forward it strongly signals the end of the series that is soon to come (what with the BBC not renewing Virgin Publishing's licence following the 1996 movie). It begins with The Doctor and Chris locked into old patterns, but scared of change yet by the end allows them to face what is coming.

Probably the only real negative for the book is that with it being purposefully lightly-plotted it's not very memorable (I remembered nothing from my original read in 1997). It's a good read, but not one that sticks in the mind like other entries in the series. While I enjoyed it more than Orman's SLEEPY it wasn't quite up to the standard of her earlier entries. Still, it shows how much the New Adventures have progressed since the early days in that a mainly character-based story doesn't seem odd or jarring. After 59 books we have a Doctor Who just as much about character as the strange places and creatures. Developing characters like Chris, Roz and especially Benny are what paved the way for Rose, Martha and Amy and the strengths of the post-2005 show.

Ace unfortunately just didn't quite work, especially when the older battle-hardened space-bitch version showed up.

So overall The Room With No Doors was a good read, even if it is purposefully unambitious. It's the needed calm between the intensity of recent events and those yet to come.

NA #58 Eternity Weeps

Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore

In Brief: The end of Bernice and Jason's brief marriage set against a backdrop of global apocalypse.


Eternity Weeps is grim. It's dark. It ends with the death of millions and the near destruction of the Earth. It's also brilliant, rather funny but somehow unsatisfying. Normally mixing a tale of death and destruction with overt humour shouldn't work, or would come across in bad taste. Of course this being set in the universe of Doctor Who having horror and humour sit side by side is really business-as-usual. But still what could have been great just ended up feeling a bit limp.

Perhaps it's the mixing of the apocalyptic with the mundane as the Earth being almost destroyed due to an ancient alien terraforming device being pushed into the background of the end of Bernice and Jason's marriage. As Agent Yellow turns the world into acid the two lovers find that the feelings that once kept them together has started to create an unfixable rift. The blame and mutual hurt become too much for either to handle and just as the solution to Agent Yellow results in a damaged world so do their actions damage their marriage.

In order to have this story be *about* Jason and Benny despite the potential end of the world and death of millions of people is that Mortimore has written the book from Benny and Jason's point-of-view. Each chapter alternates between being written from one of their perspective. So by the end we really understand why they just can't go on together.

The Doctor and Chris are involved in events once Benny calls the Tardis in using her and Jason's Doctor-provided Time Rings when their expedition in 2003 Turkey to find Noah's Ark starts going wrong. However they're seen very much from a distance, filtered through Jason/Benny's POV. Chris remains the rather light and useless character he's always been, other than being a somewhat generic man-of-action (and still mourning the death of Roz) he doesn't really have any presence. I still don't quite *get* why he was every introduced or why the range kept him around for so long since he's always been rather one-note. He's the eternal innocent who just happens to be a tall blond hunk of muscle, as just as boring as you'd expect.

I've often felt that the character of The Doctor works better the less we know about him and his thoughts. This is the opposite end of the (somewhat annoying) portrayal of the character in Bad Therapy where is was at the centre of things. However here he's pushed almost completely to the sidelines, almost becoming an incidental character as Bernice and Jason carry most of the novel.

If it seems as if I'm somewhat keeping from really getting into the plot of the book it's mainly due to the realisation by the end that Eternity Weeps is Jim Mortimore's greatest example of completely messing with his readers. He's taken his beloved large, uncontrollable and dangerous universe of Lucifer Rising and Parasite and brought it down to Earth with horrible consequences. It starts grim, it stays grim but then at the end we discover that it's actually all just been a bit of a joke. Albeit a very very dark joke.

Eternity Weeps is a clever and well-written novel but ultimately somewhat frivolous. With the plot being pushed into the background and the non-regular characters being killed normally within a few pages of their introduction (including a returning Liz Shaw) nothing really has much of an impact. But then I suppose it's just the sort of thing a deranged yet talented author would do: take the apocalypse and make it mundane.

So the book ends up is a well-made exercise in futility. Of course that was probably the point.

NA #57 Bad Therapy

Bad Therapy by Matthew Jones

In Brief: The Doctor and Chris, in 1958 London and still mourning the death of Roz, become involved in the plight of The Toys, a race of beings specially made to be the perfect companion.

I had very clear memories of Bad Therapy from reading it originally in 1997. It had stuck out as being a particularly strong story based around themes of loss, longing and what it means to be an independent person. 15 years later I struggled to see why the book made such a big impression, although it does have some very effective parts and a very strong core story.

The biggest distraction, and the most fundamental, is that Jones' prose isn't very developed. We're not down to Terrance Dicks levels in terms of simplicity of style, but definitely in the same ball-park. While having clear and effective writing isn't necessarily a bad thing (especially when compared to the muddle of some of the lesser New Adventures), in a book that desperately wants to have a huge emotional heft it leaves things feeling a bit too light. The Toys are truly tragic figures, only able to live through the desires of others, but the impact is missing. Giving this story to Kate Orman or Paul Cornell would have done wonders.

Considering Matthew Jones would later go on to write the 2006 episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" with certain success shows that he's probably a better action-writer.

Another minor annoyance in the book was the character of Jack. Originally Jack stuck out for being a positive and prominent gay character, forced to deal with the problems of living as he is in 1958 London. However, in this post-Capt. Jack world the "novelty" of having A Ggay in Doctor Who is gone, and we're left with a rather dull result. It's often a fault of many writers (and movie-makers) that they assume that a gay character will be interesting due to their sexuality alone, which is never the case. While it's possible to complain about Russell T. Davies mildly negative use of gay characters in the earlier Damaged Good at least they were interesting and developed. In contrast Jack's *only* notable trait is that he's gay, otherwise he might as well be Chris or any other generic companion.

His dull character is really highlighted when he pales in comparison to a returning Peri, a companion never known for her well-rounded personality.


But *very* well known for her well-rounded...

This is a Peri who's been trapped on a distant planet for 25 years, forced into marriage after The Doctor's abandonment of her during "The Trial of a Time Lord". Needless to say she's not happy with the reunion (much like when Mel came back in Head Games). Although it may seem a bit random, having Peri come back and forcing The Doctor face the consequences of his actions is one of the better parts of the book, as he has to face the damage that he inflicts on those around him (mirrored by the grieving Chris). This stripping down of The Doctor's strength and confidence is part of the wrapping up of the series, as we head into the change to Doctor #8.

But what should have been a highlight of the series still just ends up being a bit ho-hum.

Chris, now coming to grips to the loss of Roz, has a decent if brief sub-plot where he falls for a Toy due to her taking on some of his projected personality traits of Roz. Although somewhat brief these parts of the book do make good use of his character, and finally give him some needed depth. It was frustrating the Jones could be so good with the regulars, but really miss the mark with his own characters. Even the characters who aren't Toys (or Jack) are somewhat bland.

Another aspect of Bad Therapy which is a bit of a miss is the story itself. Once the villain is met (the insane Moriel from the same planet as Peri ended up on, hence the time/space tunnel) not much is really done with him except to explain that he was behind the creation of the Toys as an attempt to recreate his long-dead wife. There have been New Adventures in the past that have been purposefully light on plot, but there's not really enough here to fully fill the gap. Bad Therapy also has the problem of having poor structure, so that what feels like the climax happens about 50 pages too soon. So the final section of the novel feels somewhat like an exercise in dragging events out through a 2nd-ending in order to increase the page-count, even though everything could have been better wrapped up earlier.

However, despite my complaints this isn't a bad book. It has some good ideas and effective parts. It's just frustrating since it could have been so much better. Possibly Bad Therapy would work better as a TV-story rather than as a novel, where visuals and actors could fill in the emotional punch. As is, the book has ambition but ends up merely mediocre.

NA #56 So Vile A Sin

So Vile A Sin by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman

In Brief: The Doctor returns with Roz and Chris to their native 30th-century Earth in order to discover the reason behind recent events involving various psychic entities. Unfortunately the cost of victory ends up being the life of one of the Tardis crew.

So Vile A Sin is a huge and important entry for the entire run of the New Adventures. It's the culmination of the entire series as almost all of the dangling plot-strands from books ranging as far back a Transit are wrapped up. There's also the end of the loose "psy-powers" arc (what with various psychic Brotherhoods and N-Forms and such) that's run over the past 5-6 books as well as the resolution of events from Original Sin which resulted in Roz and Chris joining the Tardis-crew in the first place.

And in the end (given away on the first page) we have the death of Roz.

This is one of the few New Adventures where knowing a bit of history helps. So Vile A Sin wasn't actually published directly after Damaged Goods due to Ben Aaronovitch having a hard-drive crash and enlisting Kate Orman to help finish the thing. So instead the book came out 6-7 months later than scheduled and readers were left with a huge gap since the following (all published on time) books dealt with The Doctor and Chris' reaction to Roz's death. So reading the books in story order means that suddenly having it revealed that Roz dies on Page 1 of the book seems audacious but would have been known already to anyone reading the book back in the day.

However, despite this book being so important to the series, I left it mildly disappointed. Re-reading it the big problem may be that the book spends a large amount of time meandering through various sub-plots prior to getting to Roz's family and the reveals about her past. I think perhaps Aaronovitch's intention was to start things very low-key, to lull the reader into a sense that this was just another "typical" space-opera run-around and that all would be well at the end. This indicates that perhaps the early reveal of her death was an addition of Orman's. So while having the Big Reveal so early in the two-author version makes sense, it does mean that the fist half or so of the book suffers a bit.

Another issue is that the unplanned mix between Aaronovitch and his BIG IDEAS and Orman and her more personal writing-style results in a bit of poor pacing, as the plot lurches around a bit. There's also a bit of the problem of unmemorable minor characters, which I've found has plagued the last couple of Orman-penned novels. However, these problems aside this is still a very good book, really letting the regulars shine and really rounding out Roz prior to her untimely demise as up to now she's been rather an aloof character. While a change from regulars past it did sometimes result in her characterisation being a bit poor as lesser authors would use her as an all-action Ace-clone.

So Vile A Sin ends up being a large-scale tragedy, with all of the characters swept up in events. It is Roz's decision to stop being aloof and be pro-active which ultimately dooms her as she fronts the fight to claim the Empire away from The Brotherhood and their plans to disrupt human history. The book does work very well in setting up her background (comes from a rich family and has wanted to avoid the responsibilities therein) so that her decision to fight at the end is understandable rather than feeling tacked on. Looking back I wonder if this was always the intended end for the character, that her foul mood and lack of openness being due to an innate knowledge that she would some day have to face her past with tragic consequences.

The Doctor is forced to face the overdue repercussions for his plans and machinations as they finally result in a severe loss. Dotted throughout many of the books in the series have been scenes of The Doctor conversing with a seldom seen force who taunts him with the pain yet to come. So Vile A Sin has a unique power in this regard in that it was written after the 8th-Doctor had debuted on TV, so foreshadowing that the 7th version of the character would die "afraid and alone" were known to be accurate. The 7th-Doctor, now heading towards the end of his time is shown to be an increasingly broken character, desperately holding on to his persona as "Time's Champion" but having to face the fact that his finale is coming. This is still fairly unique to the series, since really only the 4th-Doctor (and later the 10th, a bit) would end up facing knowledge of their eventual demise.

With only another 4 books to go prior to his regeneration, The Doctor ends the book completely shattered. Having faced the death of Roz and suffered a heart-attack as a result the book ends with some excellent passages as written from Bernice's POV, as he and Chris visit to try to recuperate after their loss. These parts, and as said the run-up to Roz's death (which is not actually shown and all the better for it) are the best parts of the book, and in fact some of the best of the entire New Adventures.

So overall So Vile A Sin is a strange beast. As stated, the marriage of necessity between Orman & Aaranovitch creates a book which is just shy of being satisfying. Huge vistas of ancient planet-sized Time Lord weapons and battles across the stars sits uneasily with the very personal and emotional scenes of tragedy and loss. It's not that the large and small-scales shouldn't be mixed, it's just that it here has led to a book which never quite settles down enough to establish the needed consistency. I struggled more than I should have to keep interest in parts, which is not a problem I've had wither either author in the past.

Still, the book is important for showing The Doctor having to suffer for his actions, and the cost they have. In that regard it's very post-2005, with its theme of the lead character's lack of responsibility having an impact on those around him (especially noticeable since I just finished a rewatch of "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways"). However, while the book is definitely great and huge and sweeping and important it still felt a bit unpolished and less than it should have been. Perhaps the main problem is that, while longer than normal for The New Adventures events should have been split over a couple of books. While it works far better that it should considering the trials of publication it ends up feeling a little too rushed.

NA #55 Damaged Goods

Damaged Goods by Russell T. Davies

Yes, *that* Russell T. Davies

In Brief: The Doctor, Chris and Roz travel to a council estate known as The Quadrant in Summer 1987 trying to track down a dangerous alien being contained within a batch of cocaine. Meanwhile, the secrets of local resident Winnie Tyler and her family threaten to destroy the world.

Damaged Goods is the book I've most been looking forward to revisiting since I started the re-read of the New Adventures. The reasons are fairly obvious reasons considering Russell T. Davies is the man who did the impossible and brought Doctor Who back from the dead. With some striking similarities between the novels of other post-2005 writers such as Paul Cornell and Mark Gatiss and their respective TV-episodes (oh, and Gareth Roberts, although I've not really found a lot to link together his books with his TV-episodes) what connections would I find in the only novel written by Mr. Davies?

The answer is "quite a lot", although not in the way one would initially think. Although the council-estate setting and use a family of Tylers would be a huge part of the revived show the difference in tone are striking. The Quadrant, and in fact the book itself, is as bleak as bleak can be, where the poor and hopeless live out their lives in a depressing housing project. Drugs, crime and prostitution are a part of every day life, far removed from the rather idealised version seen in the TV-series proper. It's striking to see this dark version of Doctor Who come from Davies after the optimism of what was to come, although it does fit well with the more adult aims of the New Adventures. Damaged Goods is definitely more Transit than "Aliens of London".

So while Damaged Goods isn't really a sign of what was almost to come there are still huge similarities to Davies future input. In particular in how he'd end up doing almost a cut-and-paste of several parts of this book into future episodes. The structure of the plot is strikingly similar to "Army of Ghosts" and "The End of Time", with the initial menace being pushed aside by a truly apocalyptic threat that wants to pull itself to Earth from another dimension. The show-down between The Doctor and the insane Mrs. Jericho, who through her strength of will gains control of the multi-dimensional N-Form is ported (complete with some of the dialogue) into the climax of "The Next Doctor". There are also disembodied heads killing with metal spikes and characters driven mad by a constant drumming in the head. Even Chris, 30th-century pretty boy of action, ends up rather more pan-sexual than of late and becomes a proto-Jack Harkness.

While it's true I'm not commenting on Damaged Goods purely on its own merits, which are many, it's almost impossible to do so. While the tone is much darker than anything on the show proper, the juxtaposition of the mundane with the extraordinary seen here is what would become (and remains) the key-stone of the show itself. The comparisons really are unavoidable. Also I don't tend to review media as much as comment on my reaction to it, although what critic doesn't?

So what we have in Damaged Goods is a potential alternative to what appeared on-air in 2005. It's close enough to be recognisable as what was to come, but in many ways shares more in tone and execution with the better bits of Torchwood. This is Davies allowing his darker impulses to flourish, as in "Torchwood: Children of Earth" (another story where secrets of the past come back to exact a toll on the present).

But, I should try to discuss the novel itself somewhat. Even if Russell T. Davies had had no further connection to the world of Doctor Who this book would still stand out. His writing skill is intense and unforgettable. His characters are memorable (and memorably flawed) and he doesn't pull his punches. People suffer horrifically in this book, including children. It's a book about how secrets, when kept too long, will always damage a person.

Also notable is the book's use of gay characters. While some could complain that having a closeted-gay homophobe isn't the most positive of images to present, and that gay life as seen in the book is rather depressing, it rings true to what was reality in Thatcher's Britain. While accusations can be made that Davies is ironically incapable of developing a well-adjusted gay character the truth is that *everyone* in his writing is equally messed up. I suspect that it's his reaction to the "angelic sexless gay" stereotype that was (and still is) so prevalent in the media. It's the same warts and all view that would give the world Queer As Folk 3 years later (the good one, not that American rubbish).

Even without the thematic and situational links to post-2005 Doctor Who this is an entry in the New Adventures that is like no other. It's adult in a way that televised Doctor Who never is, with The Doctor being truly out of his element in the "real world". He's a character used to dealing with kings and emperors, not families on the benefit. It's this aspect of bringing the character "down to earth" that is most notable.

While Damaged Goods is a great book I'm glad that it's tone wasn't the way forward for the show when it came back. It proved even to be a one-off in the book series itself as even at the end we're heading back into the future as The Doctor returns Chris and Roz to the 30th-century to chase down the reason for the N-Form's appearance. If there's a complaint it's that the story is perhaps almost *too* bleak and depressing. This is not what Doctor Who should be on a permanent basis, and thankfully Davies was smart enough to realise that fact when it mattered most. However, that doesn't detract that Damaged Goods is one of the must-reads of the New Adventures.

NA #54 The Death of Art

The Death of Art by Simon Bucher-Jones

In Brief: The only book from the series I gave up on back in the day.

More Descriptive Brief: Strange things are afoot in late 19th-century Paris. Or something.

More specifically involving intelligent bacteria and a doll's house of unimaginable power.

And mutants in sewers.

Yes, of the 62 books in the run of The New Adventures, The Death of Art is the one that back when it first came out I gave up on part-way through. I can't recall the exact reason I had back in 1996/97, but I think it was just the feeling of being absolutely uninvolved and wanting to move on to something better. So I was curious this time around to see if I was justified in skipping much of the book or if it would turn out to be a neglected gem.

The verdict: It's not the worst book in the series (I think at this point that "honour" still belongs to either Shadowmind (sentient carbon, psychic squirrels) or First Frontier (Aliens in New Mexico, The Master)) but it's definitely a contender.

So this time I triumphed and managed to finish the thing. But it's proved to be a hollow victory since the book just isn't very good. The frustrating thing is that Bucher-Jones has a decent prose-style and is very good with his description of events and the setting. The problem is that his plotting and grasp of character (in regards to having that are in any way memorable, or even really rememberable (shut up, it's a word)) needs a lot of work. Earlier in the series, when new authors to the range were common and the overall quality was more variable, this was less noticeable. However with the standard of the books being high for a long while (basically since before Ace left around 15 entries ago) having a mess like this sticks out like a sore thumb.

He'd probably work better co-authoring a book with someone who is better with plot and character.

Although the strange thing is that the book is no worse than the recent GodEngine with it's tales of Ice Warrior romance. But that book got away with being sub-par through being a fast-paced action romp. The Death of Art desperately wants to be gothic horror (what with passages devoted to torture and body mutilation) but completely fails. While I'm often able to appreciate lofty ambitions here I just don't have the patience. The whole thing feels lazy.

So, about the book itself: "The story" deals with The Doctor, Roz and Chris receiving a message from Dorothée (sorry, I mean Ace) that something is terribly wrong with time in late 19th-century Paris. Once there the three manage to ingratiate themselves with various goings-on which involve a mysterious Family with strange powers fighting a powerful figure known as Montague who wants...um...I can't actually remember (power or something, or the desire to recreate mankind and stuff). And that's the big problem, while Bucher-Jones is able to describe Paris and discuss various news stories and politics from the period he can't get away from weak central story and forgettable characters.

The whole plot (involving all of the powers of the Family and Montague stemming from lost atom-sized aliens the Quoth, or something) ends up being wrapped up with a paragraph-long conversation. With not much of a plot to speak of (or read about rather) the gap is filled with page after page of random happenings as various characters interact with each other without really saying or doing anything of note or interest. Chris spends most of his time being somewhat useless as a fake policeman (and what is with the authors and their vivid description of how muscular he is? It's like a gay porn star has entered the Tardis. And not in a good way.), The Doctor is a *smidge* more proactive but disappears for long stretches and Roz spends most of the middle part of the book tied up while being whipped.

But what's frustrating is that the book's not *completely* awful. Maybe, with a really huge edit it could have been made into something good. But what we have is a lot of set-up with very little pay-off. There are too many characters with too many sub-plots that end up having not much to do with anything at all. While this can work when the author involved has a great prose-style and can keep the reader's interest here it just all falls flat.

What I'm reminded most of (especially since I just got the DVD) is of the TV serial The Android Invasion. It's not a good story, but neither is it a total failure. However in fandom and polls (and other useless things) it consistently is ranked as one of the "worst ever stories" due to the fact that it's a poor story during an era of the show widely seen as the Golden Age (1975-1977). The Death of Art feels similar. It's definitely a weak entry in the series, but one which commits the sin of being Not Very Good during a period of greatness.

So overall The Death of Art, while not the worst in the series, hasn't improved much in my estimation. It all just felt like filler not worth the time or effort.

NA #53 Return of the Living Dad

Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman

In Brief: Bernice contacts The Doctor to help locate her long lost father. He turns up in 1983 rural England running a coffee-shop/half-way house for lost aliens.

If there can be a criticism made of Return of the Living Dad (cute pun but terrible title) it's that the book feels somewhat anti-climactic, both after the past few novels but as well in regards to how the story plays out of Bernice finding her Dad. However, I think it's fairly clear from early on that this sense of mild disappointment is intentional, Orman is a better writer than to just do the obvious for this sort of story. The reader expects, from the initial set-up as Benny and Jason discover clues to her father's whereabouts (which turn out to be 1983 England), for the climax to be his discovery and a grand emotional reunion to result. Instead he's found by somewhere around page 70 and the rest of the book deals with the after-math.

It turns out that rather than fleeing from a space-battle as thought his ship was caught in a temporal-storm and ended up on Earth in 1963. So for the past 20 years Isaac Summerfield and his remaining crew have been helping various stranded aliens to return home, many times after their planned invasion of the Earth has been thwarted by The Doctor. What is amusing is that while in 1996 this was an amusing idea, reading it 15 years later is seeing a Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures in protoplasmic form. I have to wonder if Russell T Davies read Return of the Living Dad back in the day and the idea germinated in his head until he had to think of a format for a Doctor Who spin-off.

The book does a surprising thing in having Benny (with Jason) come back for a "cameo" so soon after her grand departure. While the same was done with Ace earlier in the series (which IMHO was a bad decision) here it's done in a much subtler way, with Bernice having no ulterior motives or desire to continue her travels. In fact she realises that she's moved on from her "adventuring" days as she wants to have enough stability to start a family, yet at the same time still be in touch with The Doctor. In 1996 this was a departure from anything before, as "companions" (terrible term) just never came back once they left. Of course now we're in the days of regular reappearances from Rose/Martha/Donna/Jack and most recently The Ponds, but prior having past characters reappear (other than for anniversary specials or if they're a Brigadier) was unheard of.

I felt that this book is what Happy Endings should have been, a summation of where the New Adventures has come over 5 years while at the same time looking forward but without the indulgence. The earlier book was too wrapped up in being too silly and frothy, which made it rather an unsatisfying read. Orman does a better job here of mixing the comedy with the drama, while also setting up the rest of the series as we head towards the 7th Doctor's trip to San Francisco (here he is beginning to realise that he can't thwart death forever).

It's impressive to look back over the 50+ books and really see how the book series is the bridge between the show as it was from the 60-80s and what we have today. Doctor Who can't get away with *just* being a programme about seeing strange places, it needs to show how these places impact them. This is reinforced in Return of the Living Dad as Bernice has to cope with some harsh truths about her father, and also as Roz and Chris realise their feelings for one another.

Yes, there's more to the book than just people wandering around being introspective, various bits of plot involve a military base kidnapping aliens, secret codes to nuclear missiles and a time-ghost. But the book is really *about* these stories, but instead on how the regular characters react to them. And that's probably the biggest impact that the New Adventures had to the world of Doctor Who, they demonstrated that you *can* have you cake and eat it in combining voyages to distant lands with proper drama and character arcs as we'd see 9 years later.

So overall Return of the Living Dad is a good book, although one which is better for what it does in regards to the continuing narrative rather than on its own. It's a little too loose and meandering to be called great, but as a "small" story that exists to increase character development (and also to set-up the eventual run of Doctor-Less Benny-centred New Adventures) it's very good.

Although it does get a few demerits for the meta-textual jokes (including Simpsons references and Internet humour), but then it was the 1990s...