Writer: John Pritchard
Director: Lisa Bowerman
Featuring: Miranda Raison

Big Finish Release (United Kingdom):
Released August 2018
Running Time: 35 minutes

"Doctor.....are you saying you are not sure of something?"

Mrs Constance Clarke has faced perils on many planets, but now she finds herself in the most dangerous place on Earth. A place like home, yet terrifyingly different, where ordinary decent folk might hand her over to a dreadful fate. And as night falls, she and the Doctor realise that something is on the prowl outside, a creature darker than the dark. And hungry...

The Darkened Earth is my first encounter with Constance Clarke (Miranda Raison - also Tallulah in Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks), and I must say, what a wonderful companion she makes. Constance is clever, confident and a perfect foil for the sixth Doctor. Her plummy vowels and old-fashioned virtues are a breath of fresh air.

The story sees the Doctor and Constance arrive in what they think is a rural post-war Britain when in reality this couldn't be further from the truth. After a slight glitch with the TARDIS's translation circuits, they realise they are in Germany, at the very height of the war. Not only do they need to dodge British bombs, but also a terrifying creature that feasts on whatever light can be found.

John Pritchard's writing is tense and fast-paced. Constance is a serving WREN, and to put her behind enemy lines with a frightened family during a blackout is a very interesting plot twist. There would have been more than enough story farmed from this one idea, but add to this a creature that is stalking the darkened streets seeking light energy to feed upon, and you have a proper corker of a story that I can't recommend enough.

The Darkened Earth is available from Big Finish HERE.

Writer: John Dorney, Andrew Smith
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Featuring: David Bradley, Claudia Grant, 
Jemma Powell, Jamie Glover

Big Finish Release (United Kingdom):
First Released: July 2018
Running Time: 5 hours

David Bradley, Claudia Grant, Jemma Powell, and Jamie Glover return to Big Finish for the second round of adventures in the iconic roles of the First Doctor and his original TARDIS team. Once again the cast proves to be quite fun in the roles, not mimicking but having their own takes on the characters. While I don't particularly care for Claudia Grant's Susan, I admittedly never really cared for the character of Susan in its original incarnation...so That could just be that the character will never work for me.

The set features two stories, the first The Invention of Death has the TARDIS land on a planet full of immortal beings, who somehow become infected by the mortal crew of the TARDIS and begin to die.  I like that it has some deeper themes about mortality and what drives people to create and invent and grow, it isn't just weird aliens and a bit of a mystery.  

The set continues with The Barbarians and the Samurai, which is a classic First Doctor styled Pure Historical, taking place in feudal Japan and has the Doctor and crew try to foil the plans of a Japanese leader who is plotting a coup against the current Shogun.  I liked this story, and though I was never a huge fan of the Pure Historical stories of yesteryear, I find it a bit refreshing to have a story that isn't about some alien hanging around a famous historical figure.  It is a good change of pace.  

I enjoy these boxsets, the recasting seems like it could be a huge mistake, but I think it manages to bring a new energy to these early Doctor Who-style adventures that having the older, and sadly more depleted, casts could currently have. Bradley is lovely as the Doctor, and his supporting cast does a fine job as well. 

Written by: Steven Moffat
Read by: Nicholas Briggs
Cover by: Anthony Dry
Duration: 7hrs 26mins
Publisher: BBC Audio
Originally Released June 2018

There’s a common conception that anywhere there’s a big ‘grown-up’ awards ceremony, there’s a room full of snobs instinctively looking down on anything in the science fiction or fantasy genre. That’s not entirely accurate. After all, Kazou Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go was shortlisted for a Booker Prize and that’s about the discomfiting life experience of being a clone grown for spare parts. Post-apocalyptic novels The Road and The Handmaid’s Tale were both nominated too. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie is about a telepath discovering that all children born in the same one hour period in human history all have superpowers and it actually won the Booker.

Yet, tellingly, all those books are the subjects of hotly debated discussion about whether they’re SF at all. Essentially on the basis of being too good to be SF. Rushdie’s novel has been deemed “magical realism” whatever that means. But all in all, the key thing seems to be that a science fiction novel can be seen as Great Literature (with the capitals audibly intoned) so long as there’s wiggle room to pretend it’s not science fiction at all.

So what chance a Target novelization of an hour-long fiftieth birthday party for the children’s science fiction show that adults adore?

Well, quite.

Which is a crushing shame, because what Steven Moffat has created here is very far from being ‘just’ what fans voted the best ever episode of Doctor Who with a few extra “he saids” added to each page. It’s not even just a playful, engaging and fiercely intelligent science fiction. It’s not even a book which rollerskates backward past the time travel shenanigans of the average Hollywood blockbuster while making encouraging noises as one might at a small child that had made a tower a whole six blocks high. No, The Day of the Doctor is proper Literature. I mean, it’s got not one unreliable narrator but four (at least; I may have miscounted – there is a Time War on) and they all turn out to be the same unreliable narrator. Maybe. It doesn’t get much more Literature than that, frankly.

The great bedrock on which the whole novel rests – the one which presumably gave Moffat sleepless nights during the planning stages as he pondered how it was either going to work beautifully or else be an unreadable mess – is the conceit that it’s written in the third person by the Doctor, except when it’s not. And that the Doctor is simply ‘the Doctor’ at all times, no matter the point in his life, yet you’re never in any doubt about which face he’s talking out of, even when the Doctor is talking to the Doctor. Unless it’s cleverer, more telling or more fun for you to not know.

It does work beautifully, by the way, and is matched by a plot progression that’s not simply clever for cleverness own sake (but it really is very clever indeed) but by approaching the story from the angle that reveals the Doctor’s hearts layer by layer and exposes who he is and who the Doctor is, and how that’s both the same thing even when he insists it’s not, with scalpel-like precision. There have been many Targets that improve and expand upon their original television script. This is probably the first one that feels like it’s been forensically dismantled, checked over, had half its bits chucked aside and then rebuilt into a shiny new version of itself, held together with new custom-made parts. It looks about as much like a prose version of the TV episode as a ‘deconstructed seared pancetta with toasted brioche’ looks like a fried bacon sarnie in a Masterchef final.

The only misstep is perhaps the infamous Chapter 9 (they’ve had complaints). Not only does it indulge in all the worst kinds of fan service (the words ‘Looms’ and ‘River Song’ should be kept at 500 feet’s distance from each other at all times) but you need to wear a special eyepatch to even remember having read it. Which is a bit much.

As an audiobook, it’s hard to imagine any reader other than Nicholas Briggs making it work quite so well. Briggs hasn’t. as you might have been expected been hired for his skills with a vocoder. As part of Moffat’s stripping back everything unneeded in his exploration of what it feels like to the be the Doctor, and to be haunted by the gap between that ideal and the reality, the Daleks are reduced to a single line of dialogue – and that’s a flashback to an entirely different story. Briggs also doesn’t try to do impersonations of any of the cast, though his Tennant is surprisingly good. Instead, he more than gets enough of the gist of them across that even the scenes most bewilderingly full of crosstalk by the same man three times over always make perfect sense. Only once in the whole experience does it feel slightly off – in a cameo delivered as a Northerner all the better equipped to hear you, when surely the Doctor’s vocal cords were in an attack eyebrowed Scotsman at the time.

Speaking of Scotsmen, though there’s no Paisley tones in evidence Briggs’ narration perfectly captures a certain conversational style, dryly witty and with dark eyebrows audibly undecided between frowning mock-furiously and arching ironically, familiar to anyone who’s ever watched a Doctor Who Behind the Scenes video. It creates a surprisingly intimate feel in contrast to all the epic action and deep emotion of the text and adds hugely to the democratic sense of ‘all fans together’ enjoying this insane thing we love.

The Day of the Doctor might never take its place on ‘M’ bookshelves in the Literature section adjacent to Ian McEwan’s story about a guy bumping off his wife by folding her into a pocket dimension and David Mitchell’s multiple dystopian futures. And all those other 'too good to be SF' books. But it sits on ours. And that’s enough.

Written by Peter Grimwade
Read By David Collings

Released by BBC Worldwide - July 2018
Available from Amazon UK 

I've always rather liked Season 20's Black Guardian Trilogy...not necessarily because of the Black Guardian, but I felt each story was rather good in spite of their interconnected storyline. In actuality, Mawdryn Undead was probably my least favorite of the three, though in this new audiobook context, I found I enjoyed the story better.  I'm sure the ugly design of Mawdryn and the lame 80s flashy redesign of the Black Guardian hurt my enjoyment, so maybe having those taken out of the equation helped my enjoyment factor just a bit. 

The story doesn't have too much meat on it, but I did find elements of the story were better presented in book form.  I felt I had a better grasp on Turlough as a character then I ever really did throughout the show, particularly in his early days as a pawn of the Guardian. We get more in depth as to what drives him, and how he feels about the whole deal he struck with the Guardian.  That is the kind of stuff a novel can do better than a TV series, particularly a series of this era.  On the show, Turlough seemed like a slightly conflicted jerk who I warmed up to after the Guardian left the picture.  In this book, I like him earlier on, because I felt he his conflict is better explored. 

The storyline with the two Brigadiers and the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, and the wacky time travel mechanics are pretty interesting, and feel like a precursor to the eventual Moffat/Smith Era of the show.  I still think that this stuff could have been better expanded upon, but the book gets into the gritty of it better than the show did.  Or my memory of the original TV version is just fuzzy.  I remember being slightly underwhelmed by this when watching it, but it has been so long since I have, it could just be that I am misremembering the whole thing.

The audiobook is nicely read by David Collings, and while unabridged only runs about 4 hours.  Easy listening for Classic Who fans.  Not the best story of the show's long history, but fans can not complain about this presentation. 

Author: Paul Cornell
Publisher: BBC Books
Released: April 2018
Paperback: 161 pages

This final Target novelisation brings us bang up to date with the Doctor’s adventures, recounting the 12th Doctor’s final journey towards his future, covering events following the end of series 10 that saw him lose his companion Bill to the Cybermen.  Arriving at the South Pole and deciding he doesn’t want to regenerate again he meets his first incarnation who is also wrestling with the prospect of change.  When time stops and the Doctors encounter a First World War soldier who is being pursued by a woman made of glass they begin a journey that sees both incarnations finding out what it means to be the Doctor.

The novelisation follows the broadcast story extremely closely, with relatively little additional material in terms of story development.  However, while the TV episode might have suffered, at least in the eyes of some, from the lack of an enemy to see the Doctor off in spectacular style, this seems less the case here, in a novel that has the space to explore the nature of the change and personal sense of loss that regeneration inflicts on the Doctor.  It, therefore, feels less of a postscript to what went before and more an exploration of some big themes in their own right, with a deeper reflection on the life of the Doctor as he faces his latest regeneration, and on the sense of the unknown as he faces his first.  To fully exploit this, a quite significant development that seems even more explicit here than on broadcast is the idea that the Doctor can choose whether he regenerates or dies, something that raises big questions for the Doctor personally but also for the web of time itself.

This serious subject matter doesn’t stop Cornell having fun throughout the book though.  The Doctor’s nicknames for his earlier incarnation prompt him to recall past encounters with various stars from the world of entertainment including a shared holiday with Mary Berry and a pub crawl with Clive Dunn.  There’s also some fun referencing the show’s history.  When the VHS tape held up by Archie is revealed to be the Doctor’s recording of the Daleks master plan, it elicits the comment ‘how they’d love to get that back’ – a nice acknowledgment of fans’ desire for the return of lost episodes.  And there’s further mischief with a joke addressing the old Dimension/Dimensions inconsistency in the TARDIS acronym.

In common with the other recent releases in this range the author also indulges fans with occasional continuity – some obvious, including references to events in the Snowcap base in The Tenth Planet, to companions Steven and Sara Kingdom, and a moving reference to Susan, - some more subtle, such as the reference to people being the sum of their memories.  The First Doctor getting to use the sonic screwdriver for the first time provides another fan-pleasing moment.  Throughout, Cornell shows the attention to detail one would expect, taking the opportunity to explain why the Blinovitch Limitation Effect isn’t functioning, and delightfully explaining why the First Doctor has to do more work at the console when flying the TARDIS compared with his later incarnations.  There’s also a nice acknowledgment of the legacy of the Target novels themselves with a chapter titled ‘Escape to Danger’.  These references demonstrate real respect for the show but don't distract from the storytelling.

Cornell finishes the book on a very serious note, adding perhaps the most chilling moment in the book with what was for me the revelation that plans for a subsequent Christmas truce in 1915 were stopped by the authorities.  This moment darkens the sombre mood as the story draws to its conclusion, as ever, reality proving to be far more shocking than anything the show can create.  This addition is well judged and feeds the somewhat melancholy mood as the Doctors finally come to terms with their destinies.

The book is not without its problems, however.  In remaining faithful to the broadcast episode the novel does retain what many people felt to be an over the top characterisation of the First Doctor’s dated attitudes.  This can be forgiven as it merely reflects the TV episode itself, however, it may possibly be compounded in the novelisation by an occasionally overstated characterisation of the First Doctor as devoid of humour.  This is something that doesn’t really reflect the softer characterisation that had evolved by this point of this incarnation and even contradicts him making a joke himself earlier in the story, albeit one that demonstrates the first point of criticism.  These are however relatively small points and don’t detract significantly from the positives.

As the final book in this batch of releases it’s worth reflecting on the nature of the Target range and what they offer in the twenty-first century.  My own Target collection has been packed away and living in my parents’ loft for a few years now, these books a remnant of my childhood, a feature of the past, not needed in an age of on demand TV and DVDs.  Reading these recent releases however I’ve rediscovered the joy of Target novels and realised that they can still have a unique place in Dr Who fans' collections .  Whilst they may not be the most challenging of reads it is clear they are written with a great deal of love and it’s a joy to be able to join the Doctor for a couple of chapters on the bus to work or a few spare moments during the day.  And given that these books have a style of their own, the reader can connect with (and appreciate) the series in a uniquely different way.  Until there are further new releases (hopefully!) it may be time for me to pay a visit to my parents’ loft.

Hour of the Cybermen, is the second entry in this year’s UNIT themed multi-doctor main range trilogy, following on from the previous The Heliax Rift. To that end, it features the return of a number of characters from that story namely Blake Harrisons as Daniel Hopkins and Russ Bain as Colonel Price. Of course, for many fans, however, the main draw of this story is the return of David Banks and Mark Hardy as the Cyber-Leader and Cyber-Lieutenant respectively. The 80’s Cybermen have a curious longevity about them that make them something of a fan favourite. Whilst the Cybermen had already had several reinventions by the time they appeared in 1982’s Earthshock, this new version was so utterly modern and completely terrifying yet somehow evoked memories of their previous designs. Add to this Banks’s portrayal of a Cyber-Leader that somehow manages to have underlying currents of emotions, whilst debating their usefulness. Banks would return to play the role in three more serials; The Five Doctors, Attack of the Cybermen and Silver Nemesis, whilst Hardy would return in just two (The Five Doctors and Nemesis). Since then Banks became something of a ‘spokesperson’ for the Cybermen, writing an original novel and a ‘history’ of the Cyber-Race. However, it’s always been something of a missed opportunity that he, nor hardy, never got to reprise their roles for Big Finish….until now. So does Hour of the Cybermen provide the triumphant return for the Cyber-races two stars?

Well yes and no, depending on your expectations. What hour isn’t is a dark exploration of what it means to be a Cyberman, along the lines of Spare Parts or The Silver Turk. No, Hour is more the Cybermen as ‘monster of the week’, featuring them using a dehydration weapon in an attempt to take over the earth. It’s pretty classic ‘alien invasion’ storytelling. However whilst the general plot may be somewhat basic, the way in which the story chooses to get from point A to B is not. There’s a hefty helping of ‘Sawardian’ nastiness in the way that some of the characters are dealt with and several brutal and distressing descriptions of Cyber-conversion. The story also chooses to play with our expectations of those characters we’ve already met in The Heliax Rift. Whilst the decisions these characters make may not always be wholly…convincing (without giving too much away, motivation seems somewhat thin for one individual), the grim, bleak world that Hour takes place in allows you immediately sympathise. Not only that but the story brisks along with so much pace that you can easily forget it, with a heavy emphasis on Cyber-Action.

And what of Banks and Hardy themselves? Well in a word they are superb, it’s like they never went away. Banks, in particular, gets plenty of time to shine, including uttering some of his most famous catchphrases. However, it is his scenes with Russ Bain’s Colonel Price that he really gets to shine. In these moments Banks is utterly terrifying, reminding us immediately why his Cyber-Leader was such an imposing figure when he first stomped onto our screens in 1982. He also works particularly well against Colin Bakers Sixth Doctor, who seems to be relishing his first Cyberman story in quite some time. Their final confrontation is a hell of a moment and builds expertly on the tension achieved in what is an almost non-stop action thriller. Blake Harrison impresses again as Daniel Hopkins and is certainly given plenty of chances to show off his range, as does Russ Bain. Newcomers Frog Stone (Riva) and Wayne Forester (Atriss) are also given plenty of chance to shine, with my only regret being a lack of exploration of Rivas part cyber-conversion.

Hour of the Cybermen is a thrill-a-minute action adventure that manages to take two icons of 80’s who and give them the comeback they deserve. Highly recommended.