Stories Eat Each Other
This is very much a fan book, and I mean that in two ways - both good. To start with, it's obvious that this is the work of a fan: love for the program pours out of the writing, and there are little details which show just how well the writer understands it. But it's also a fan book because there are other details that are included just for other fans, references that you don't need to 'get' to enjoy the book but that offer a little bonus if you do. These are particularly well done because - like the ideas discussions - they form an integral part of the story, rather than simply being tacked on. The reference to the "machine men" of the Antarctic, for instance, is used to help explain how the South Africans are winning the war, and the consequences are shown (viscerally) too; the Machine from 1966 is largely responsible for creating the setting in the first place; and the cache of alien equipment from the cellar of a school in East London fuels a key part of the plot. Three serials that I knew nothing about when I first read the book, all important components of the story - but I didn't need to know about them. The closest thing to this that I can think of on TV is Turn Left, but even there I think the viewer's enjoyment was more reliant on having seen the referenced episodes.
The same is true of the links to the show's past, particularly Planet of Giants and The Aztecs - and also to the very next serial. Speaking of which...
Keep Her Safe
I've avoid talking about Susan up until now. Susan has, of course, been the most underwritten of the crew so far on TV, and even when later writers have focused on the character they've either been dealing with her when she was still a child (Quinnis, for example) or else have played up the aspects that Carole Ann Ford hated (as in The Witch Hunters). Simon Guerrier does neither of these things, and even if he can't quite redeem her he does make some inroads.
First off, he treats her with respect. This is the intelligent version of Susan, as smart as the Doctor even though she lacks his experience. As I've gone through this marathon, such an attitude has become a prerequisite for my liking the handling of Susan in any story. The intelligence doesn't mean she hasn't got teenage hormone levels, though, and much of her recklessness and overreactions come from that. Guerrier doesn't say so out loud but something about the way he writes her helps to show this, and it make sense. Another thing he gives her is a little alien mental technique: his Susan will analyse a situation, and if there is nothing she can do about it at the moment she will file the problem away and think about something else. You get the impression that it's still not completely forgotten, that if some opportunity presents itself Susan's mind will bring the matter back to the front of her consciousness; but for now she can get excited about some detail that we mere humans would think of as trivial, or be bored in the midst of peril. And why not? It's only because we can't do it that it seems weird.
This view of Susan allows some of her (frankly) badly-written scenes to be retconned, to keep the screaming, easily-distracted peril monkey while still maintaining her unearthly qualities. It is a stretch, but it does improve things. A bit.
I mentioned the next serial, and I think I've already revealed that it will be Susan's last as a regular, so apologies if anyone still considers this a spoiler. The way she leaves has always seemed a bit odd, without much of a lead-in on TV; but here we are given a reason for the Doctor acting as he does, one that is completely in-character. He is, basically, trying to protect her from the consequences of his actions in this book. The fact that he does so in a high-handed way, without even consulting her, is also appropriate.
The Time Travellers fills so many gaps in the series, wielding its alchemy to improve the stories around it, all without sacrificing the story it has to tell. You can insert your own superlative here.
Judging a Book by its Cover
A final thought or two before I go. The title of the book is both straightforward and a double meaning: it can refer to the TARDIS crew or to the Andrewses et al. I like that, and it turns what at first appears a bland title into something more interesting. The image on the cover - a bizarre Christmas tree made of traffic lights - is both symbolic and literal, since it also crops up in the story; and this just enhances how tightly linked everything is. The best cover yet in this marathon.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this extended review. I didn't intend to write so much, but the nice thing about a blog like this (as opposed to, say, a newspaper column) is that I can if I want! There'll be one or two extra entries after I finish reviewing the next TV serial, too...
Published:
Date: November 2005
ISBN: 0-563-48633-3
Rating:
Mine: 10/10 - currently my second-favourite original Who novel (out of 45 read), and very close to my number one.
2011 Gallifrey Base Non-Dynamic Rankings: 7.77, 9th out of 76 Past Doctor Adventures, 49th out of 286 overall.
Next Time:
Back to TV at last for World's End.
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