Retrospective: Matthew Jones by John Seavey 13/4/03
It's interesting to read the author bio on the back of Bad Therapy, Matthew Jones' first novel for the New Adventures range, and think about it in the context of the author's later achievements. It bills him only as having written the Decalog short story, The Nine-Day Queen; in fact, Bad Therapy was his first major breakthrough in the publishing world. It certainly led to a lot, though; he wrote a second novel, Beyond the Sun, after the Doctor had departed the New Adventures and left Bernice on her own, and then went on to create the famous (and controversial) TV series "Queer As Folk". He's definitely one of the big success stories of the NAs, but what did he leave behind him as his legacy to Doctor Who when he went on to pastures greener? A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest; powerful, emotional work, but not without its flaws.
Jones' work certainly contains some strong character studies; at times, it seems almost autobiographical, with Jack and Emile sharing numerous characteristics with the author. Jones gives a strong insight into the minds not just of these characters, but of almost everyone who he writes for; Chris gets a chance to mourn his friend and partner, Roz Forrester, and Bernice has a chance to sort out some of her feelings for her ex-husband, Jason Kane. These two novels put their characters through the emotional wringer, starkly exposing their flaws as well as their virtues in the most dramatic of situations.
However, that's also where a lot of the problems with his work creep in; Jones frequently seems far less concerned with the actual events of the story than with the way the characters react to them. This results in a disconcerting lack of plot (Bad Therapy, for example, comes to a complete halt while the Doctor plans a party for the Toys), and weak, disappointing resolutions to their respective storylines. Worse, there's a sense of emotional manipulation that's hard to escape; Peri shows up as a classic example of the "disillusioned post-companion", solely to provide an impetus to make the Doctor feel guilty... so that he can then work through his guilt, and feel better. It's a sort of emotional version of the "hurt/comfort" sub-genre of fan-fiction, and although it is done well, it still reads like the strings are showing on the puppets. Beyond the Sun takes the whole idea a step further; at times, it comes off as a 300-page exercise in sadism, with the Sunless doing horrible things to people at random, and everyone blaming Benny "because they wouldn't have done that if you hadn't come here". It's a silly, shameless guilt trip, but it works because Jones wants to show us a conflicted, guilty Benny.
Jones did leave a few lasting contributions to the Benny-verse, mostly in the form of the recurring character of Emile; some authors handled him better than others, but he certainly crafted a very believable character (if one that isn't always sympathetic.) He also tied off the loose ends of what happened to Perpigilliam Brown; I'm not certain that I really wanted to know, given the resolution he chose for her, but I think we all knew deep down that it wouldn't have worked between her and Ycarnos. She'd have been better off with Voltar of the Hawkmen.
It's highly unlikely that Matthew Jones will return to the world of Doctor Who; he's working in a medium that seems far better suited to the stories he wants to tell, in a genre that allows for more of the auto-biographical material that he's best with. I'm not sure how much more he really had to say about Doctor Who in any event; even on two novels, repetition had begun to creep in, and he might well have been better off quitting while he was ahead.