Revenge of the Judoon
|
|
BBC Books Revenge of the Judoon |
|
| Author | Terrance Dicks |  |
| ISBN | 1 846 07372 3 | |
| Published | 2008 |
| Synopsis: The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Martha to Balmoral in 1902. Here they meet Captain Harry Carruthers, The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Martha to Balmoral in 1902, only to find that Balmoral Castle is gone, leaving just a hole in the ground. While Martha and Carruthers seek answers in London, the Doctor finds himself in what should be the most deserted place on Earth - and he is not alone. |
A Review by Jamie Beckwith 6/2/10
This is an extremely bog-standard, aliens-want-to-take-over-the-Earth plot set in 1902. Don't be fooled by the title, the Judoon barely feature and when they do it's almost as though budget limitations have carried over to print form. It's only right at the very end that one of them takes his helmet off.
The plot, scant as it is sees the Doctor trying to track down Balmoral castle which has vanished in a cloud of upward rain whilst Martha and an Edwardian solider are in London in search of the bad guys. The Doctor and Martha sort of sound like themselves but not quite enough to be convincing; both seem to have accents from the Dick Van Dyke school of Cockney Rhyming Slang. Far worse, however, are the Edwardian characters, including King Edward VII himself, who all sound far too modern and casual. Aliens try to take over the planet and the King seems barely taken aback. Futhermore, although he was one of the oldest Kings to ascend the throne, he doesn't come across as a 60ish year old.
At a mere 120ish pages, I breezed through it in 2 hours though this was helped by the fact that there virtually was no story and it more or less switches off once the page count has run out. Arthur Conan-Doyle and Robert Baden-Powell make pointless cameos which add nothing to the plot. Terrance Dicks is the Elder Statesman of Doctor Who fiction and can dash off an adventure in his sleep. Alas, that's exactly what appears to have happened here with this utterly pedestrian and instantly forgettable story.