'Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood' – David Fisher (BBC Books)


Page Count: 190 Pages.

Yep, I've still got a few DVDs to work my way through (and I really should do something about that...) but I saw this book cheap on Amazon and it was a day ending in a 'Y' so I really needed to treat myself...

I was a little too young for this story when it was on the telly (I was only three so maybe I did watch it and just can't remember, I don't know...) but I did read the Terrance Dicks novelisation, years later, and it creeped me out just enough to stay with me and make this a book that I wanted to check out. Even if this edition wasn't actually written by Terrance Dicks, hang on...

"We won't find Dracula hanging around the Manor. But we may find something equally disturbing..."

The Doctor is delighted when his quest for the Key to Time leads him to his favourite planet, Earth. But his friends are less enchanted: Romana is nearly lured to her death by a sinister apparition, and K9 is all but destroyed by a belligerent boulder with the power to move - and a thirst for blood.

An ancient stone circle becomes a battleground as the Doctor must outwit the deadliest alien criminal this side of hyperspace - and her bloodthirsty silicon servants...

I'm not quite sure why there's another edition of 'The Stones of Blood' but I'm not going to ask too many questions about it; I'm just going to sit here and be really grateful that there is as David Fisher brings this story to life in a way that Terrance Dicks was never really able to. Don't get me wrong, my love of Doctor Who (and just reading in general) owes one hell of a lot to Terrance Dicks and his writing output but as well as he captured each story (and the Ogri did freak me out when I read about them that first time), but he very much stuck to exactly what was on the screen and nothing else. And that's ok in itself but when you come across someone who is looking to go a couple of steps further, you can really see the difference in the story and that's where David Fisher comes in.

David Fisher's 'The Stones of Blood' is a far more fleshed out and rounded affair, taking the time to do all the cool things like give us a little background, get inside people's heads (always a pleasure when you're talking about the fourth Doctor) and even go that extra mile in drawing out the tension when the Ogri get involved. I loved that by the way, you knew what was going to happen to those campers (random people with a back story = Dead) but it somehow made it all the more chilling watching it play out. I was just as freaked out as I was when I was a kid and that's high praise as far as I'm concerned. It just all made for a much more engaging story and after a long couple of days at work, that was just what I needed. Something that would grab me straight away, that's exactly what this book did with a decent mix of mystery and action.

'The Stones of Blood' isn't a perfect read, it's still very dependant on a limited amount of story which can hold it back, but I'd argue that it doesn't need to be perfect, just a book for the likes of me (who hasn't tracked down the DVD just yet...) with a little bit more story around the edges. This book has all of that so I was a happy reader.

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