‘Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken’ – Terrance Dicks (Target)


Page Count: 124 Pages

After finally finishing ‘Terrifier 2’ I was after a complete change of scenery. I mean, you would be wouldn’t you? ;o) The great thing about ‘Terrifier’ is that literally anything else is a complete change of scenery and this time round, my eyes fell on the small pile of ‘Doctor Who’ books that I bought the other week. I ended up going with ‘The Keeper of Traken’, mostly because of that page count (I wasn’t after another long read…) but also because I watched it a few years ago and wanted to see how the book held up to the TV serial. Here’s the link if you fancy a read ;o)

Anyway, lets talk about ‘The Keeper of Traken’…

Under the watchful control of generations of guardians known as Keepers, the harmonious power of the bioelectric Source has enabled the planet of Traken to exist in peace for millennia. The current Keeper’s millennium is about to end but before his powers wan completely, he senses the approach of an all-pervading force of evil about to inhabit the world of Traken. He calls on the Doctor to help save future generations from an impending disaster, but evil is already staking its claim to the Source… The Doctor will soon realise that his new enemy is actually an old foe and Traken is actually in more danger than anyone realises…

Whenever a ‘Doctor Who’ book has been written by Terrance Dicks, I always end up going on a little rant about how he just retells the story and not a lot else. Not today though, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear ;o)

I’m not sure if it was because I still can’t remember a lot about the TV serial (maybe, I don’t know) but the novelization really felt like there was a lot more to it than just laying out the bare bones of the plot. You get a real feel for not only the intrigue bubbling up around the transition from the old Keeper to a new one, you also get a real sense of how methodical evil can be. That and the fact that sheer chance really can send things off in totally new directions. For such a slim read, there’s a lot going on and fair play to Terrance Dicks for managing it all so well.

And it’s not just that. Dicks captures the essence of each character so well. I’m not just talking about the Doctor, or Adric, either. People like Kassia or Tremas get the same treatment and the result is that it’s so easy to get into the book, even if you (roughly) know the story, everyone is worth following.

I don’t have a list of favourite ‘Doctor Who’ books (I might have the beginnings of one…) but if I did, I would have just found ‘The Keeper of Traken’ as a ‘surprise new entry’. Better than the TV serial? You know what, I think it is :o)

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