‘Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara’ – David Fisher (BBC Books)

Page Count: 152 Pages (Including the ‘Note on the Text(s)’ at the back which I don’t normally read but this one was worth that time spent).

My Amazon purchases list swore blind that I had purchased this book and who am I to go against my Amazon purchases list? I couldn’t find ‘The Androids of Tara’ at all though, not until I nudged a pile of books and found it nestled right at the bottom. Turns out that I still have far too many books to read in one lifetime. Oh well, I’d better keep reading then… ;o)

I found my copy of ‘The Androids of Tara’ just in time to make it the latest in a long line of ‘short, sweet reads that get me to work and then back again. For reasons that will become clear in a second, there isn’t an awful lot to say about ‘The Androids of Tara’ but that’s never stopped me before so… Here we go ;o)

"Why is your first impulse to reach for your swords and never a screwdriver?"

The Doctor and Romana's search for the fourth segment of the all-powerful Key to Time leads them to the planet Tara, where courtly intrigue and romantic pageantry employ the most sophisticated technology.

Within hours of arriving, Romana is mistaken for a powerful princess and the Doctor forced to dally with robotic royalty - and both are quickly embroiled in the scheming ambitions of the wicked Count Grendel. Finding the segment of the Key is easy enough, but escaping with it in one piece will prove an altogether more colourful affair...

This is an odd one to write about (especially as I’ve never seen ‘The Androids of Tara’ nor read the original Terrance Dicks novelisation, so have nothing to compare this edition to)… I don’t think I’ve ever been so non-plussed by a book that I’ve enjoyed so much. Confused? Me too...

On the one hand, David Fisher is just an absolute joy to follow as he builds the world of Tara and sets the Doctor and Romana off in it. Romana is looking for a piece of the Key to Time while the Doctor is really just after a spot of fishing to reassert his independence as it were. Their tale, and that of Tara, is told with a gentle humour that you don’t often find in a Doctor Who and yes, Douglas Adams, but his humour is a little sharper while Fisher’s seems to be just what is needed to poke a little fun at this medieval world that takes itself a little too seriously, without getting in the way of the story itself.

And that’s the thing, the ‘on the other hand…’ There isn’t actually a lot of story to be told here. The piece of the Key to Time is found almost straight away and there are a couple of ‘who is the android and who is real’ moments and then before you know, everything has been resolved and the Doctor is back with his fishing rod. I’m not blaming Fisher, he presumably had very little to work with in terms of actual plot. It almost works, because of Fisher’s writing, but there just isn’t enough here to properly engage with. ‘Androids of Tara’ comes across then as exactly what it is, a story sized episode in a much larger tale. That’s ok I guess but when you’ve just got the one book in your hands, you’re really after a tale that does the business in it’s own right.

So not a bad read then, not a bad one at all; David Fisher is a great ‘Doctor Who’ writer. It’s not a great read though and from where I’m sat, that’s down to the scarcity of source material to work with. The important thing is that it helped me commute from A to B, and then back again, without losing my temper at other passengers. In that respect then, maybe I shouldn’t be so greedy… ;o)