Retrospective: Michael Collier by John Seavey 25/12/03
Pity poor Michael Collier. He burst onto the scenes with Longest Day, the kick-off book to the BBC's very first story-arc, and followed it up with The Taint, the introduction of Fitz -- arguably the BBC's biggest success as a companion. And yet, his novels weren't well received, and he hasn't written for the line since. He's not even one of the "love him or hate him" authors that's vigorously debated in fan communitites; heck, he doesn't even get the dignity of being properly reviled, like Neil Penswick has been over The Pit. Michael Collier's unfortunate fate is to be forgotten... so much so, in fact, that I had to remind myself three times to write this retrospective.
So what is it? What prompts the mind to simply skip over Collier's books, and the eyes to slowly drift away from the page towards anything else in the room? It's not anything specific. He's not a horrible author. He has good ideas. If you were to try to summarize his novels, they'd sound very interesting -- patchwork planets unhinged in time, alien software running on human grey matter in an effort to eradicate other-dimensional parasites -- but somehow, the plots seem to have long stretches where nothing seems to actually be happening, despite the fact that people are running around and getting killed and learning vital plot points.
It might be his characters; as one of the early BBC writers, Collier was saddled with an embryonic Eighth Doctor and a weak companion in Sam, but he actually handles them fairly well. His other characters tend towards simple, broad strokes, much like David A. McIntee or Chris Bulis... but unlike them, Collier brings to life some particularly unlikeable caricatures. It's not even that his villains are unlikeable -- that's a villain's job, after all -- but his supporting cast, the people who wind up in the role of pseudo-companions, all wind up being the sort of people you wouldn't want to ride an elevator with. (The exceptions, of course, being the bearable Corren Anstaar and Nashaad, who has metal legs.)
Ultimately, I think he just doesn't have a writing style that inspires much feeling. It's very dry; there aren't many jokes, and those that exist are dry humor (although I'll give him a great line in The Taint as Fitz runs away, cursing himself: "He should have helped Sam. He should be finding his mother. Instead he was running down corridors. He bet Sam and the Doctor never did that.") It just feels like he doesn't care whether you keep reading or not; the plot's going to unfold, whether you're there or not, and it's no bother to him whether you want to keep going.
It's now been almost five years since the publication of his last Doctor Who novel, and Michael Collier seems to have almost disappeared off the face of the Earth... and, appropriately enough, I'm somewhat indifferent about that. While I can't say I'd eagerly anticipate his next book, I also can't say I'd really dread it, either. That seems to be his legacy to Doctor Who. At this rate, he'd probably be acclaimed as a first-time author again if he did try his hand once more.