‘Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom’ – Peter Hinchcliffe (Target)


Page Count: 128 Pages

Before we even look at the book itself, just take a few moments to gaze in silent wonder at that glorious cover. Carnivorous alien vegetation under attack from the sky and explosions! The Doctor and Sarah-Jane Smith are almost an afterthought; there’s so much else going on here that it’s easy to lose track of them if you’re not careful. But anyway… ;o)

There’s definitely a pattern starting to emerge here. I’ve watched ‘The Seeds of Doom’ fairly recently (although I thought I had the DVD but I can’t find it) but it’s been about forty years since I last read the book. Nostalgia isn’t a bad thing but damn, it makes me feel old… ‘The Seeds of Doom’ was another book that I borrowed, from the library, back in day, scared myself reading it and then never saw it again… Until the other week when I came across it on Greenwich Market. I had to have it and then I finished it off over yesterday’s commute. Lets talk about ‘The Seeds of Doom’…

In the snowy wastes of blizzard swept Antarctica, a strange pod-like object is unearthed, buried deep in the ice. Curiosity turns to alarm as the pod begins to grow – then horror when it suddenly cracks open and a snaking green tendril shoots out, mercilessly seeking the nearest live victim…

In London, botanical experts are bewildered and the Doctor is called in to fight this unknown horror. But will he be in time to save Earth from the rapidly spreading tentacles of the Krynoid, giant man-eating monster from an alien world…?

There is a lot going on to recommend ‘The Seeds of Doom’ but it was the vein of horror running through the book that ultimately held my attention and kept me reading. If you’ve ever seen an episode of ‘Classic Doctor Who’ then you’ll know what I mean when I say that there are certain moments that clearly haven’t aged well when you watch them in 2025. Hell, there are moments that clearly hadn’t aged well when they first broadcast back in the seventies ;o) Hinchcliffe does really well here then to move away from the more ‘rubbery’ Krynoid moments and really bring home the terror of being infected by the Krynoid and what it turns people into. Hinchcliffe also does well to concentrate on the Krynoid as mindless rampaging plant life; it has no ‘plan’ other than to grow, and the danger it represents is somehow the scarier for it. I normally laugh at myself foe being scared of ‘Doctor Who’ as a child but this time, I’m given ‘younger me’ a pass. I’ll be honest, ‘The Seeds of Doom’ is an unsettling read even now and that’s before Harrison Chase turns up and starts being insane all over the place.

The plot is a little too straightforward for me but to be fair, there’s only so much you can do with a ‘vegetation monster’ ;o) Hinchcliffe concentrates on keeping the stakes high and that’s what keeps the plot moving at a decent pace. Add it all together and you end up with a quick, fun read that got me through yesterday’s commute like it wasn’t there. I’ll take that :o)

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