'Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time' – Paul Cornell (BBC Books)


I had such a great time reading 'The Christmas Invasion', the other day, that I thought to myself, 'It has been one of those weeks mate, why don't you just keep comfort reading and try out those other two Doctor Who books that have been sat on a pile on books for however long it has been' (since August which isn't that actually, not compared to other books). So that's just what I did, with 'Twice Upon A Time' and 'Damaged Goods'. Give me a couple of days and I'll get my head round just how different a 'Doctor Who' story 'Damaged Goods' is; for now, let me tell you all about 'Twice Upon A Time' instead...

Still reeling from his encounter with the Cybermen, the First Doctor stumbles through the bitter Antarctic wind, resisting the approaching regeneration with all his strength. But as he fights his way through the snowdrifts, he comes across the familiar shape of a blue police box, and a mysterious figure who introduces himself as the Doctor…

Thrown together at their most vulnerable moments, the two Doctors must discover why the snowflakes are suspended in the sky, why a First World War Captain has been lifted from his time stream moments before his death, and who is the mysterious Glass Woman who knows their true name. The Doctor is reunited with Bill, but is she all she seems? And can he hold out against the coming regeneration?

If you've been around here recently, you've probably gathered that I have a bit of a soft spot for 'Doctor Who' stories involving more than one incarnation of the Doctor. I love it and I love watching completely different Doctors bounce off each other, sometimes this can be more watchable than the actual story. I can't remember exactly when 'Twice Upon A Time' first aired but I really enjoyed watching Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor recoil in horror at how, erm... of his time the 1st Doctor was. It was a lot more enjoyable than the actual story which was basically a long run-up to the Doctor's regeneration with not a lot else happening (sorry but that's how it was for me). So I wasn't too surprised to find myself faced with exactly the same thing here. The only problem was, it didn't work as well as it did on the TV...

I don't think that any of this was Paul Cornell's fault who captured the story perfectly and had this brilliant trick of making me forget which Doctor I was reading about at any given time. It may have just been me being tired but I'm giving Cornell the credit here for writing about two Doctors, facing the same problem, as one Doctor, which they are of course. It just felt like a different way of looking at the same situation and I could really get behind that.

The problem that I had with the book was that while it was great seeing all this stuff happening for the Doctor(s), there just wasn't enough plot to go round and it showed, it really showed. As much fun as it was watching the Doctors bounce off each other, I couldn't help but look outside that and wonder where the rest of the story was. On the TV, things happen quickly and it's easy to get caught up in the flow. If you're settling down for a couple of hours with a book then a threadbare plot will show, it can't help itself.

Cornell does a good job with what he has but at the same time, you can only do so much with very little. I suspect that if you enjoyed watching 'Twice Upon A Time' then you'll get more out of the book than I did. I had issues with the show though and these found their way over to the book.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘The Long and Hungry Road’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

Image
After not finishing ‘Witchbringer’ (not the book’s fault, I still think it could be worth your time), I thought I’d change pace a little and go for a short, sharp burst of something instead. Something that would blow a few cobwebs away and wake me up a bit :o) Now in my experience, there’s nothing shorter and sharper than a Warhammer short story so that was the direction of my reading taken care of. And as far as the focus went… I’ve read a few Warhammer tales, in my time, but I’ve never read a tale that looks at the events of the 41st Millennium through the eyes of the rapacious Tyranids. So when I saw ‘The Long and Hungry Road’ on Amazon, it pretty much chose itself. To face a Tyranid invasion is a waking nightmare. The skies darken with spores, your mind echoes with alien screeches, and countless weapon-organisms descend upon you with razor teeth and claws. How much greater would your horror be, to realise that the hive ship above thinks nothing of your fate – that it crushes you
Read more

'Mad God' (2021)

Image
It's that time again where Youtube throws me a 'Shudder' advert and I think to myself, 'I'm paying five quid a month for this, I really should watch something, lets give it a go...'   This time round, 'It' was the film 'Mad God' and the trailer was this mad batshit crazy shot of stop-motion horror that was over before I'd had a chance to get my head round it; leaving me pretty unsettled but with no clear idea just why that was... That's all I need sometimes, I was in... It's almost an hour later and, damn, that was grim, bleak and... What the hell just happened? A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city and the Assassin emerges from it to explore a labyrinth of bizarre landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. That is about all I can tell you about 'Mad God' and that's only because I had a quick look on IMDB and that was all IMDB could tell me... 'Mad God' is any number of things but it's not
Read more

‘Worms of the Earth’ – Robert E. Howard.

Image
Page Count: 27 Pages I have a copy of this on my shelf and the plan was to pick it up for a read on the way into work this morning. Well, that was the plan but I was half asleep, leaving the house, and totally forgot… No matter though, that’s what the Kindle app is for (although if I’d been a little more awake, I’d have read it off Project Gutenberg instead, you can find ‘Worms of the Earth’ Here ). 99p later and my ‘commute reading’ was secured 😉 I always seem to fall into the trap of just reading ‘Conan’ stuff whenever I fancy reading a little Howard. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that there’s a lot of his other stories out there that are more than worth your time when you come across them. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is very much one of those tales but you knew that already, didn’t you? You didn’t? You should do something about that, take it from me… After witnessing one of his subjects die at the hands of Roman governor Titus Sulla, Bran Mak Morn vows vengeance on Sulla but at w
Read more