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Doctor Who: Missing Adventures #24
Scales of Injustice (Doctor Who Missing Adventures) by Gary Russell (18-Jul-1996) Paperback
‘And what exactly, Doctor Shaw, do you think C19 does with the dead bodies of plastic dummies, reptile men, primordial throwbacks and all their human victims?’A little boy goes missing; a policewoman begins drawing cave paintings; and the employees at the mysterious Glasshouse are desperate to keep everyone away -- the Doctor suspects it’s all down to a group of homo reptilia. His assistant, Liz Shaw, has ideas of her own and has teamed up with a journalist to search for people who don’t exist.While the Brigadier has to cope with UNIT funding, the breakdown of his marriage and Geneva’s threats to replace him, the Doctor must find the reptiles alone.And behind it all lies a conspiracy to exploit UNIT’s achievements -- a conspiracy reaching deep into the heart of the British Government. Can be read free online at the BBC's Doctor Who site.
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First published July 18, 1996
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About the author
Gary Russell
197 books171 followersGary Russell is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media. As an actor, he is best known for playing Dick Kirrin in the British 1978 television series The Famous Five.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
November 22, 2011
As Gary Russell himself has said, the Virgin Missing Adventures were created to fill in the holes left by Doctor Who's TV continuity. That is exactly what The Scales Of injustice sets out to do. Filling in gaps left by 1983's Warriors Of The Deep and the decision not to give Liz Shaw an exit in either Inferno or Terror Of The Autons, this novel may well be one of the most necessary Missing Adventures for fans of the series.
For starters Russel seems to know his characters. By the time I reached the end of "Episode One" Russel had proven (to me at least) that I was reading the third Doctor, Liz Shaw and the Brigadier as played by Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney. The same can be said of the entire UNIT family as well right down to Benton and Yates. The chemistry is there in the dialogue and in the descriptions of the characters actions in a way rarely captured in the MA's or its successor the PDA's. If nothing else The Scales Of Injustice features one of the most accurate recreations of the Pertwee era cast.
Then there's the new characters thrown into the mix. It is no secret that Russell's stories make strong use of continuity and this novel is no exception to that rule. Infusing elements from across the earthbound stories of the series (even including some references to Remembrance Of The Daleks), Pertwee's first season as well as Virgin's own Who Killed Kennedy Russell brings a new set of villains into the series: Townsend, managing director of the Vault and his henchmen "the Irish twins". Together they make for some fantastic villains especially in the novels final "episode". Add in the Brigadier's wife and daughter into the mix as well to give a personal side to the UNIT era that was missing on TV. Then there's the Silurians and their teenage captive Marc Marshall who between them have some of the novel's best dialogue. All together it is a good mix of supporting characters.
Also, Scales Of Injustice features one of the better novel plots as well. By choosing to fill in the gaps I talked about at the start of this review, Russell had his work cut out for him. Here Russell certainly rises to the task without getting so heavy that the story gets stopped in its tracks. In the novel we get the infusing of UNIT, the Silurians, Department C19, Glasshouse, the Myrka (though thankfully not the pantomime horse version seen in Warriors Of The Deep!) and the exit of Liz Shaw. Writing to fit into Season 7's seven episode format Russel never wastes a moment even right down to the cliffhangers which really sells this as a "missing adventure". The highlight though for me was Liz Shaw's wonderfully written exit which, to my mind, was way better handled then the version seen later in Devil Goblins From Neptune. If you aren't turned off by continuity references and instead revel in them then you should find this a terrific Doctor Who novel.
The Scales Of Injustice is a missing adventure in every sense of the term. From its accurate recreation of the leading cast to good supporting characters and the tying up of a few loose ends Gary Russell writes a story worthy of being a seven part story from the beginning of the Pertwee era. While it might not be the greatest Doctor Who novel or even the best of the Missing Adventure range but you know what it is? It is a fantastic addition to the series and a terrific read.
For starters Russel seems to know his characters. By the time I reached the end of "Episode One" Russel had proven (to me at least) that I was reading the third Doctor, Liz Shaw and the Brigadier as played by Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney. The same can be said of the entire UNIT family as well right down to Benton and Yates. The chemistry is there in the dialogue and in the descriptions of the characters actions in a way rarely captured in the MA's or its successor the PDA's. If nothing else The Scales Of Injustice features one of the most accurate recreations of the Pertwee era cast.
Then there's the new characters thrown into the mix. It is no secret that Russell's stories make strong use of continuity and this novel is no exception to that rule. Infusing elements from across the earthbound stories of the series (even including some references to Remembrance Of The Daleks), Pertwee's first season as well as Virgin's own Who Killed Kennedy Russell brings a new set of villains into the series: Townsend, managing director of the Vault and his henchmen "the Irish twins". Together they make for some fantastic villains especially in the novels final "episode". Add in the Brigadier's wife and daughter into the mix as well to give a personal side to the UNIT era that was missing on TV. Then there's the Silurians and their teenage captive Marc Marshall who between them have some of the novel's best dialogue. All together it is a good mix of supporting characters.
Also, Scales Of Injustice features one of the better novel plots as well. By choosing to fill in the gaps I talked about at the start of this review, Russell had his work cut out for him. Here Russell certainly rises to the task without getting so heavy that the story gets stopped in its tracks. In the novel we get the infusing of UNIT, the Silurians, Department C19, Glasshouse, the Myrka (though thankfully not the pantomime horse version seen in Warriors Of The Deep!) and the exit of Liz Shaw. Writing to fit into Season 7's seven episode format Russel never wastes a moment even right down to the cliffhangers which really sells this as a "missing adventure". The highlight though for me was Liz Shaw's wonderfully written exit which, to my mind, was way better handled then the version seen later in Devil Goblins From Neptune. If you aren't turned off by continuity references and instead revel in them then you should find this a terrific Doctor Who novel.
The Scales Of Injustice is a missing adventure in every sense of the term. From its accurate recreation of the leading cast to good supporting characters and the tying up of a few loose ends Gary Russell writes a story worthy of being a seven part story from the beginning of the Pertwee era. While it might not be the greatest Doctor Who novel or even the best of the Missing Adventure range but you know what it is? It is a fantastic addition to the series and a terrific read.
October 5, 2014
Bottom line: it's got a good concept that regrettably gets a bit bogged down in a somewhat laborious execution, but it's nonetheless worth it for the character stuff.
Like Gary Russell, one of my favourite seasons of Doctor Who is season seven with the third Doctor and Liz Shaw. That was a major draw for me when I bought this book, and on that factor it succeeded really well for me. Liz getting a proper explanation for her leaving and some real internal life was fantastic to see, and Russell writes her marvellously. Seeing the (sadly quite brief) interplay between her and the Doctor on-page was a dream come true.
Unfortunately, the other element taken from that season- the Silurians- doesn't come out quite as sparkling. There's a lot of really great ideas here, but sometimes it felt like people were expositioning at me about the Silurians for the sake of building up those interesting ideas on their own rather than more seamlessly integrating them into the plot. The point of view wanders around quite a lot, which unfortunately made the novel feel quite unfocused, and it never quite builds up the tension for a tense climax as a result.
Also, good lord a lot of people die unnecessarily in this book, which Russell does acknowledge in his introduction. By unnecessarily, I mean in terms of the story being told; it gets tiring and predictable after a while. People die in Doctor Who, we get it! Calm down!
Still, it's nice to see the idea originally presented with the Silurians, that of an ancient civilisation that has eroded away and wants to reclaim its former glory, get more room to breathe. The TV show never quite had room to really show the Silurians as people, but this book rises to that task quite well.
It's worth a look if you love the third Doctor's era. Definitely get the 'Monster collection' reissue, though; the cover is absolutely lovely.
Like Gary Russell, one of my favourite seasons of Doctor Who is season seven with the third Doctor and Liz Shaw. That was a major draw for me when I bought this book, and on that factor it succeeded really well for me. Liz getting a proper explanation for her leaving and some real internal life was fantastic to see, and Russell writes her marvellously. Seeing the (sadly quite brief) interplay between her and the Doctor on-page was a dream come true.
Unfortunately, the other element taken from that season- the Silurians- doesn't come out quite as sparkling. There's a lot of really great ideas here, but sometimes it felt like people were expositioning at me about the Silurians for the sake of building up those interesting ideas on their own rather than more seamlessly integrating them into the plot. The point of view wanders around quite a lot, which unfortunately made the novel feel quite unfocused, and it never quite builds up the tension for a tense climax as a result.
Also, good lord a lot of people die unnecessarily in this book, which Russell does acknowledge in his introduction. By unnecessarily, I mean in terms of the story being told; it gets tiring and predictable after a while. People die in Doctor Who, we get it! Calm down!
Still, it's nice to see the idea originally presented with the Silurians, that of an ancient civilisation that has eroded away and wants to reclaim its former glory, get more room to breathe. The TV show never quite had room to really show the Silurians as people, but this book rises to that task quite well.
It's worth a look if you love the third Doctor's era. Definitely get the 'Monster collection' reissue, though; the cover is absolutely lovely.
May 3, 2014
This was stonking good fun. :)
There's such alot of good stuff in this book. It acts in a way similar to Who Killed Kennedy? did, in that it gives some background to events that occurred in season 7, and substantially explores the shadowy C19 organisation that was introduced in that book. And even if it's not Gary Russell's creation, lots of elements he adds to it are inspired. The Pale Man with the scar is a wonderfully nasty character, and visually striking to boot. He's also been enhanced with cyber-technology (in a similar way to Tobias Vaughn, complete even with a scene in which the Pale Man's chest is filled with smoking bullet holes) with gives us some really cool moments of him denting a bottle of glass, and smashing another bottle so hard together that instead of smashing it, he compresses it into tiny little bits. Along with him is the blond man (who is thoroughly repugnant) and the Irish Twins, a deliciously creepy couple, who do everything in perfect unison (as they've been injected with Nestene blood, turning into semi-Autons. Also cool).
As you may have gathered, the idea of a shadowy organisation working behind the scenes, as people referred to as just the "x man" positively oozes X-Files. By no means is this a bad thing, and in fact I think only adds to the appeal of this story to me, and also gives a whole new added depth to the UNIT stories.
There's also features like the Vault, a large secret base underneath the Cheviot Hills, where the blunderings of former stories are used for experiments. Really, this is where the fan boy jizzum starts spilling. Throughout that section, I was like "ooh! WOTAN!" and !ooh! Mars Space Probes!". I love it when Doctor Who manages to wrap up its own continuity into a more organic whole, (something which the 90s books did particularly well), and this book does it incredibly well. It was also one of the reasons I really liked Who Killed Kennedy?, of which this book is quite similar, and it justs makes for a much more satisfying reading experience to have a sense of all the Doctor Who stories being a real, functioning world, with elements from previous stories having effects on later ones (as it would in the real world).
There's also a secondary story of the Sea-Devil/Silurian hybrids. As this review points out, there's no real point for them being Silurians, but I'm more than glad their in there. It makes for a really interesting addition to the story, and Russell anyway does manage to flash out their culture and society much more, making them a far more worthwhile addition than simply a stock monster fill.
Russell also develops the characters much better than they were presented in the show. Season 7 has to be one of the coldest, bleakest and darkest seasons in the show's history (which by no means is a bad thing, as is actually my reason for it being my favourite Jon Pertwee season), and one of the reasons for this is how unpersonal the characters are. We don't really learn anything of either the Brigadear of Liz's lives, so this book is able to really open them up properly.
The Brig's story is tragic in this book. It's heartbreaking to see the slowly crumbling and decaying relationship he has with his wife
There's such alot of good stuff in this book. It acts in a way similar to Who Killed Kennedy? did, in that it gives some background to events that occurred in season 7, and substantially explores the shadowy C19 organisation that was introduced in that book. And even if it's not Gary Russell's creation, lots of elements he adds to it are inspired. The Pale Man with the scar is a wonderfully nasty character, and visually striking to boot. He's also been enhanced with cyber-technology (in a similar way to Tobias Vaughn, complete even with a scene in which the Pale Man's chest is filled with smoking bullet holes) with gives us some really cool moments of him denting a bottle of glass, and smashing another bottle so hard together that instead of smashing it, he compresses it into tiny little bits. Along with him is the blond man (who is thoroughly repugnant) and the Irish Twins, a deliciously creepy couple, who do everything in perfect unison (as they've been injected with Nestene blood, turning into semi-Autons. Also cool).
As you may have gathered, the idea of a shadowy organisation working behind the scenes, as people referred to as just the "x man" positively oozes X-Files. By no means is this a bad thing, and in fact I think only adds to the appeal of this story to me, and also gives a whole new added depth to the UNIT stories.
There's also features like the Vault, a large secret base underneath the Cheviot Hills, where the blunderings of former stories are used for experiments. Really, this is where the fan boy jizzum starts spilling. Throughout that section, I was like "ooh! WOTAN!" and !ooh! Mars Space Probes!". I love it when Doctor Who manages to wrap up its own continuity into a more organic whole, (something which the 90s books did particularly well), and this book does it incredibly well. It was also one of the reasons I really liked Who Killed Kennedy?, of which this book is quite similar, and it justs makes for a much more satisfying reading experience to have a sense of all the Doctor Who stories being a real, functioning world, with elements from previous stories having effects on later ones (as it would in the real world).
There's also a secondary story of the Sea-Devil/Silurian hybrids. As this review points out, there's no real point for them being Silurians, but I'm more than glad their in there. It makes for a really interesting addition to the story, and Russell anyway does manage to flash out their culture and society much more, making them a far more worthwhile addition than simply a stock monster fill.
Russell also develops the characters much better than they were presented in the show. Season 7 has to be one of the coldest, bleakest and darkest seasons in the show's history (which by no means is a bad thing, as is actually my reason for it being my favourite Jon Pertwee season), and one of the reasons for this is how unpersonal the characters are. We don't really learn anything of either the Brigadear of Liz's lives, so this book is able to really open them up properly.
The Brig's story is tragic in this book. It's heartbreaking to see the slowly crumbling and decaying relationship he has with his wife
July 12, 2014
A beautiful reprint edition of a wonderful "Doctor Who" Missing Adventure. Never mind the delicious details regarding Silurian culture, this is a book that develops the background of UNIT and its political paymasters to a fabulous & fascinating degree; it provides some powerful insight into the Brigadier in particular...including one detail that will sends ripples into the series' 50th anniversary. If there is a weakness here, it's that the 3rd Doctor & Liz have virtually nothing to do in this novel except act as bystanders and commentators. Profound & emotional commentators, to be sure...but it would have been nice to have them a bit more involved in all the action.
December 13, 2016
Originally written in the 90's this story was republished in 2014 as part of The Monster Collection following the success of the 50th Anniversary books the previous year.
With a wealth of stories to choose from for the first Seven Doctors I suspected they would choose the standout stories whilst the show was off the air. I wasn't disappointed!
This fits seamlessly in between Season 7 & 8, they are my favorite TV Tie in Novels.
Lots of nods to both Pertwee's First Year aswell as other stuff that Classic Who fans will enjoy, only quibble is that The Doctor and Lis Shaw don't feature as much as I would have liked but The Brigadiers side story makes up for that.
With a wealth of stories to choose from for the first Seven Doctors I suspected they would choose the standout stories whilst the show was off the air. I wasn't disappointed!
This fits seamlessly in between Season 7 & 8, they are my favorite TV Tie in Novels.
Lots of nods to both Pertwee's First Year aswell as other stuff that Classic Who fans will enjoy, only quibble is that The Doctor and Lis Shaw don't feature as much as I would have liked but The Brigadiers side story makes up for that.
January 5, 2023
Für meinen Geschmack zu viele Personen, dass man schnell den Überblick verliert. Die Geschichte an sich ist okay
August 22, 2025
I stopped reading after the fifth Episode, because I realised that I don't rally care about the story all that much. It feels like a Doctor Who story that would be pleasant fun on TV but it doesn't work all that well as a book. There are too many characters, too many plot twists and too many POVs (I say this as a fantasy multi-POV lover) and we don't spend enough time with anybody including the Doctor and Liz - again, as a TV episode it could have worked, but not here. The way the book jumps between multiple POVs also feels very much like in a TV episode.
I didn't finish it, but I read the majority of the book - 5 out of 6(or 7?) episodes - and I would give it 2 stars, since it's not bad, but just okay and unfortunately not that interesting.
I didn't finish it, but I read the majority of the book - 5 out of 6(or 7?) episodes - and I would give it 2 stars, since it's not bad, but just okay and unfortunately not that interesting.
June 25, 2019
From beginning to end one man saves the universe
I liked very well. I felt as though I watching the tv show instead of reading a book. It was fun, that's how it was.
I liked very well. I felt as though I watching the tv show instead of reading a book. It was fun, that's how it was.
February 24, 2020
This book is a wonderful tribute to Season 7 of Doctor Who. In many ways it serves as the finale that season deserves. It sets up things for Season 8 and gives Liz the goodbye she never got on screen. Truly a 'Missing' adventure.
December 5, 2023
Loved it!
December 9, 2018
Over the course of the half-century existence of the Doctor Who franchise the Doctor has been joined on his many travels by a series of companions. Most last for a period of time, then move on with their lives after some event or development leads to a parting of the ways. On the show this usually involves a formal farewell of one sort or another or, in the rare case when a companion dies, a degree of mournful reflection. Occasionally, however, a companion abruptly disappears with barely a passing explanation and a new companion is introduced to fill the void. Though she was not the first to suffer such a fate there was nobody less deserving of such treatment than Liz Shaw. Introduced at the beginning of the seventh season. as a brilliant scientist she quickly proved to be a more than a capable associate of the newly Earth-bound Doctor, and played a vital role in his adventures. Yet when the eighth season began she had already decamped back to Cambridge, to be replaced by someone new.
Gary Russell's novel provides readers with a story of the events that led up to her departure. In it she is drawn into a conspiracy involving C-19, the government department tasked with overseeing UNIT operations in the United Kingdom. At the same time a new group of Silurians emerges near a seaside town, leading the Doctor to embark on a solo mission in the hope of avoiding the tragedies of his previous encounter with humanity's predecessors. Amidst all of this the Brigadier is forced to cope with a shrinking budget and a marriage on the verge of collapse, none of which he can allow to interfere with his job of keeping humanity safe from the extraordinary threats it unknowingly faces.
If all this sounds a little busy for a relatively short novel, you would be right. While Russell handles it fairly well for the most part, characters and settings pass through the book's pages in such a rush that they often move out of the story before any sense of who they are is successfully established. Giving the characters more time to breathe might have made for a better book, especially as doing so might have given their many deaths (for a Doctor Who story, the body count is surprisingly high) a greater impact than was otherwise the case. Yet in the end the story itself is entertaining enough, and Liz Shaw gets the dignified departure her character so richly deserved. For many fans of the series, this will be reason enough to read the book.
Gary Russell's novel provides readers with a story of the events that led up to her departure. In it she is drawn into a conspiracy involving C-19, the government department tasked with overseeing UNIT operations in the United Kingdom. At the same time a new group of Silurians emerges near a seaside town, leading the Doctor to embark on a solo mission in the hope of avoiding the tragedies of his previous encounter with humanity's predecessors. Amidst all of this the Brigadier is forced to cope with a shrinking budget and a marriage on the verge of collapse, none of which he can allow to interfere with his job of keeping humanity safe from the extraordinary threats it unknowingly faces.
If all this sounds a little busy for a relatively short novel, you would be right. While Russell handles it fairly well for the most part, characters and settings pass through the book's pages in such a rush that they often move out of the story before any sense of who they are is successfully established. Giving the characters more time to breathe might have made for a better book, especially as doing so might have given their many deaths (for a Doctor Who story, the body count is surprisingly high) a greater impact than was otherwise the case. Yet in the end the story itself is entertaining enough, and Liz Shaw gets the dignified departure her character so richly deserved. For many fans of the series, this will be reason enough to read the book.
October 23, 2021
Nach den Daleks, Cybermen und Sontaranern ging es nun zu den Silurianern. Allerdings nicht zu der modernen Version der Erdreptilien, sondern zu denen, welche der dritte Doktor und seiner Begleiterin Liz kennenlernen durfte und welche man auch auf dem Cover erblicken kann. Ich war mächtig gespannt, denn mit diesen Wesen des Doctor Who-Universums hatte ich bisher nur wenig zutun.
Jedoch war der Einstieg in den Band nicht so leicht, wie erhofft. Dies lag vor allem daran, dass man sehr oft zwischen verschiedenen Institutionen und Charakteren wechselte und hierbei schon ein wenig das Doctor Who-Wissen getestet wurde. Ich empfehle es daher sehr sich vorher die Doctor Who-Classics einmal anzusehen, um besser in die Geschichte zu kommen. Hat man das, dürften sich die vielen Geschehnisse sehr viel angenehmer anfühlen.
Dies bewahrte aber mich trotzdem nicht davor etwas durcheinanderzukommen, wenn es um die Leitung von Unit, Glashaus und C19 ging. Ich konnte die Institutionen zwar zuordnen, aber bei den Namen verzettelte ich mich jedes Mal. Dadurch konnte mich dieser Bereich nicht wirklich überzeugen.
Dafür empfand ich die Abschnitte mit dem Doktor, Liz und den Silurianern als unglaublich spannend. Besonders die Geschichte der Silurianer hatte es mir angetan, da sie wirklich gut erzählt wurde und man des Öfteren moralische und ethische Schritte hinterfragte. Doch auch an Action wurde nicht gespart. Zwar fand diese größtenteils zum Ende hin statt, doch auch zwischendurch gab es die ein oder andere knifflige Situation. Langweile kam hier auf jeden nie auf, auch wenn, wie bereits beschrieben, mich die Charaktere der Regierung und der Armee eher irritierten als fesselten.
Fazit:
Aus meiner Sicht war dies der bisher komplexeste Band der Monster Edition. Die vielen Wechsel zwischen Charakteren und Institutionen sorgten für Spannung, irritierten mich dadurch aber auch. Ich hatte beim Lesen das Gefühl einen Agentthriller zulesen, denn Spionage, Vertuschung und Geheimnisse waren hier zuhauf zu finden. Fans von Doctor Who dürften hier dafür einen mal etwas anderen Doktor erleben, denn zum einen spielte die Tardis keine große Rolle und zum anderen zeigte der Teil, dass auch der Doktor kräftig austeilen kann.
Jedoch war der Einstieg in den Band nicht so leicht, wie erhofft. Dies lag vor allem daran, dass man sehr oft zwischen verschiedenen Institutionen und Charakteren wechselte und hierbei schon ein wenig das Doctor Who-Wissen getestet wurde. Ich empfehle es daher sehr sich vorher die Doctor Who-Classics einmal anzusehen, um besser in die Geschichte zu kommen. Hat man das, dürften sich die vielen Geschehnisse sehr viel angenehmer anfühlen.
Dies bewahrte aber mich trotzdem nicht davor etwas durcheinanderzukommen, wenn es um die Leitung von Unit, Glashaus und C19 ging. Ich konnte die Institutionen zwar zuordnen, aber bei den Namen verzettelte ich mich jedes Mal. Dadurch konnte mich dieser Bereich nicht wirklich überzeugen.
Dafür empfand ich die Abschnitte mit dem Doktor, Liz und den Silurianern als unglaublich spannend. Besonders die Geschichte der Silurianer hatte es mir angetan, da sie wirklich gut erzählt wurde und man des Öfteren moralische und ethische Schritte hinterfragte. Doch auch an Action wurde nicht gespart. Zwar fand diese größtenteils zum Ende hin statt, doch auch zwischendurch gab es die ein oder andere knifflige Situation. Langweile kam hier auf jeden nie auf, auch wenn, wie bereits beschrieben, mich die Charaktere der Regierung und der Armee eher irritierten als fesselten.
Fazit:
Aus meiner Sicht war dies der bisher komplexeste Band der Monster Edition. Die vielen Wechsel zwischen Charakteren und Institutionen sorgten für Spannung, irritierten mich dadurch aber auch. Ich hatte beim Lesen das Gefühl einen Agentthriller zulesen, denn Spionage, Vertuschung und Geheimnisse waren hier zuhauf zu finden. Fans von Doctor Who dürften hier dafür einen mal etwas anderen Doktor erleben, denn zum einen spielte die Tardis keine große Rolle und zum anderen zeigte der Teil, dass auch der Doktor kräftig austeilen kann.
June 18, 2016
This original Doctor Who novel features the Third Doctor (as played by Jon Pertwee) and Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Shaw and the Silurians again. References abound not only to "Doctor Who and the Silurians", but also "The Sea Devils" and "Warriors of the Deep". And, as always, meetings between apes and "Earth Reptiles" do not go well.
Also the plot involves political intrigue between Parliament, the Glasshouse (the UNIT hospice), and C19. Someone wants to discredit the current head of the Glasshouse and take it over, turning it into another Vault making weapons from alien technology and in some cases from aliens themselves.
Dr. Liz Shaw finds herself embroiled in these plots when she's contacted by a Dutch investigative reporter, who, unfortunately, turns out to be a C19 agent. Meanwhile, the Doctor is running around chasing Silurians, hoping for a better result than the last time.
The Silurian plot seems very repetitive, but it turns out slightly better than normal for most stories involving the intelligent previous intelligent species from Earth. The other main purpose of the novel is to give Dr. Liz Shaw a better send off. I enjoyed that part of the book. Actually, this book seems to be more of a book about Liz than about the Doctor - who does very little, and is mostly ineffective. Not that the book reverses the standard Doctor and Companion roles entirely - Dr. Shaw doesn't come off as a Super Woman, but it's a different take on an original novel.
I have the e-book version, and the cover looks like one of the Target novelisations. It was also very short, only 191 pages in e-book format. I don't know if I read a condensed or abbreviated version, or what, but I think if it had been a bit longer, the story could have been expanded a bit, resulting in a better story. This was more like a novella.
Also the plot involves political intrigue between Parliament, the Glasshouse (the UNIT hospice), and C19. Someone wants to discredit the current head of the Glasshouse and take it over, turning it into another Vault making weapons from alien technology and in some cases from aliens themselves.
Dr. Liz Shaw finds herself embroiled in these plots when she's contacted by a Dutch investigative reporter, who, unfortunately, turns out to be a C19 agent. Meanwhile, the Doctor is running around chasing Silurians, hoping for a better result than the last time.
The Silurian plot seems very repetitive, but it turns out slightly better than normal for most stories involving the intelligent previous intelligent species from Earth. The other main purpose of the novel is to give Dr. Liz Shaw a better send off. I enjoyed that part of the book. Actually, this book seems to be more of a book about Liz than about the Doctor - who does very little, and is mostly ineffective. Not that the book reverses the standard Doctor and Companion roles entirely - Dr. Shaw doesn't come off as a Super Woman, but it's a different take on an original novel.
I have the e-book version, and the cover looks like one of the Target novelisations. It was also very short, only 191 pages in e-book format. I don't know if I read a condensed or abbreviated version, or what, but I think if it had been a bit longer, the story could have been expanded a bit, resulting in a better story. This was more like a novella.
February 9, 2019
When I think of The Missing Adventure series from Virgin, this book is what I expect. The Missing Adventures gave the opportunity to fill in Doctor Who History, and this does that.
Before I go any further fans of Doctor Who will get more out of this story, but it is a good story for those interested in Doctor Who as well. The story is about the return of the Silurians, or Earth Reptiles as they are known as. This time the Doctor is trying to prevent what happened in The Cave Monsters and a new menace is happening that could affect UNIT.
Gary Russell does a splendid job of fleshing UNIT out, given the depth that we did not get on TV. He fleshes Liz Shaw out and shows problems the Brigadier had at home. Then to cap it off, he gives Liz the departure that we did not get on TV.
For the Silurians, we see more of them and the missing linking material. This fills in the blank between The Cave Monsters, The Sea Devils, and Warriors of the Deep. We learn more about them and their motives.
To cap it all off, we are introduce to C19, the Glasshouse, and the Vault. In the expanded Doctor Who universe more is to come, but it also addresses what has been happening after the events of the previous UNIT stories. The cleanup of the battles.
If you are new to Doctor Who you might not get all the references, but at the same time you will have an enjoyable story that you can still keep up with. You might get more surprises from it than a Doctor Who fan, as there are similar things to other stories.
There is only one downside to this story. With everything going on and how the story ends, it asks for a follow up story. Some characters you want to know more about. I know that we do find out some things with Warriors of the Deep and Business Unusual, however, a strong follow up story should have been made. Other than that, a great book all around.
Before I go any further fans of Doctor Who will get more out of this story, but it is a good story for those interested in Doctor Who as well. The story is about the return of the Silurians, or Earth Reptiles as they are known as. This time the Doctor is trying to prevent what happened in The Cave Monsters and a new menace is happening that could affect UNIT.
Gary Russell does a splendid job of fleshing UNIT out, given the depth that we did not get on TV. He fleshes Liz Shaw out and shows problems the Brigadier had at home. Then to cap it off, he gives Liz the departure that we did not get on TV.
For the Silurians, we see more of them and the missing linking material. This fills in the blank between The Cave Monsters, The Sea Devils, and Warriors of the Deep. We learn more about them and their motives.
To cap it all off, we are introduce to C19, the Glasshouse, and the Vault. In the expanded Doctor Who universe more is to come, but it also addresses what has been happening after the events of the previous UNIT stories. The cleanup of the battles.
If you are new to Doctor Who you might not get all the references, but at the same time you will have an enjoyable story that you can still keep up with. You might get more surprises from it than a Doctor Who fan, as there are similar things to other stories.
There is only one downside to this story. With everything going on and how the story ends, it asks for a follow up story. Some characters you want to know more about. I know that we do find out some things with Warriors of the Deep and Business Unusual, however, a strong follow up story should have been made. Other than that, a great book all around.
April 12, 2024
My favourite season of Doctor Who is Jon Pertwee’s first season; season 7 which means that any original novel featured within that season will always be of interest to me. I’m also a big fan of Doctor Who and The Silurians, a brilliant seven part story despite its terrible music score. I’m assuming that this is a sequel to said story.
It’s such a shame that the companion Liz Shaw only had four stories in Doctor Who even though the three of them were seven parts long. On top of that we never got to see her departure which was absolutely criminal. This book serves as a great tribute to the character and Gary Russell does a great job of bringing her to life in this book as well as giving her the departure that she deserved.
I did enjoy this book quite a lot however I will admit that I did find the plot to be quite disconnected as I felt there were lots of things going on which didn’t gel together as much as I’d hoped. Even though I enjoyed the battle scene towards the end, I did feel like the book was pretty anticlimactic. There are some nice ideas with the Silurians (which are characterised well) however I felt the plot regarding them wasn’t the most exciting and that the original tv story is far better which I know I could be an unfair comparison.
Overall it’s a decent missing adventure and one that I would recommend as it is quite a lot of fun for the most part but nothing to get excited about.
It’s such a shame that the companion Liz Shaw only had four stories in Doctor Who even though the three of them were seven parts long. On top of that we never got to see her departure which was absolutely criminal. This book serves as a great tribute to the character and Gary Russell does a great job of bringing her to life in this book as well as giving her the departure that she deserved.
I did enjoy this book quite a lot however I will admit that I did find the plot to be quite disconnected as I felt there were lots of things going on which didn’t gel together as much as I’d hoped. Even though I enjoyed the battle scene towards the end, I did feel like the book was pretty anticlimactic. There are some nice ideas with the Silurians (which are characterised well) however I felt the plot regarding them wasn’t the most exciting and that the original tv story is far better which I know I could be an unfair comparison.
Overall it’s a decent missing adventure and one that I would recommend as it is quite a lot of fun for the most part but nothing to get excited about.
Read
December 23, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/743504.html[return][return]I think the first Doctor Who spinoff novel I read was Gary Russell's Invasion of the Cat-People, long long ago. I was so deeply unimpressed that it was years before I read another one. Since then, of course, I've become aware of Russell as the host of numerous DVD commentaries and as a talking head on Doctor Who Confidential, not to mention being reminded of his activities as child actor in the Famous Five and editor of Doctor Who Monthly. It's not always a howling success when someone who writes about the genre turns their hand to fiction, but after my recent bout of Serious Reading this seemed like a relaxing option, snagged from the BBC website in electronic form.[return][return]And to my relief the book is OK. It's basically a boiled together combination of Doctor Who and the Silurians plus The Sea Devils, with flash forward to Warriors from the Deep, plus some back-story about the breakup of the Brigadier's first marriage and what Liz Shaw was really up to in Cambridge. The book also includes a very nicely done farewell scene between Liz and the Doctor, which of course was not shown on screen. The book could pass as an above-average novelisation of a seven-part TV story, which I think is what the author was aiming at, so can be rated a success.
July 25, 2014
I can't help it. I love all things Doctor Who. I don't necessarily enjoy every single TV episode but I do love the books, especially when they are written by such excellent authors. This is one of the monster collection and I had already read the weeping angels one and enjoyed it. I enjoyed this one, which concerns the Silurians, just as much and have decided to try and read all the monster collection asap.
What I do love about these books is that you always see the little nuances and differences between the different Doctors as they appear. In 'Scales of Injustice' we are reading about the third Doctor as played by John Pertwee and it does come across in the mannerisms etc. I think that just shows what good writing is behind this book. The story was intriguing, gripping in places and slightly horrific in others which makes it a 5 star package.
What I do love about these books is that you always see the little nuances and differences between the different Doctors as they appear. In 'Scales of Injustice' we are reading about the third Doctor as played by John Pertwee and it does come across in the mannerisms etc. I think that just shows what good writing is behind this book. The story was intriguing, gripping in places and slightly horrific in others which makes it a 5 star package.
October 11, 2014
Read this as the copyright has reverted to author and as such was a free download on Manybooks.
The Book(as suggested by the cover) takes place during John Pertwee's reign as the third Doctor and is very much of his Earthbound/UNIT style adventures..adversarys this time around are the sillurians but in some ways they are incidental to the whole plot as the main story involves a Conspiracy around Government agencies with a hit man and shadowy grey man too.
The Conspiracy provides much of the action and lends the book a fast pace,the characters are well fleshed out in particular the Brigader who in this book faces domestic problems on top of the usual governmental type ones.
All told a fun read and well worth a download.
The Book(as suggested by the cover) takes place during John Pertwee's reign as the third Doctor and is very much of his Earthbound/UNIT style adventures..adversarys this time around are the sillurians but in some ways they are incidental to the whole plot as the main story involves a Conspiracy around Government agencies with a hit man and shadowy grey man too.
The Conspiracy provides much of the action and lends the book a fast pace,the characters are well fleshed out in particular the Brigader who in this book faces domestic problems on top of the usual governmental type ones.
All told a fun read and well worth a download.
November 4, 2013
A good, action-packed VMA with an unsatisfying ending that I've since learned is wrapped up in two of Russell's other books for later Doctors. Well that's fine but I didn't know going in that I was going to need to read two sequels with the Sixth Doctor in order to see the villains get their comeuppance, so I was a bit put off by that. Recommended for: Doctor Who continuity buffs (who'll catch all the references, unlike me); fans of Liz Shaw as a character (she gets good development in this one); fans of Silurians/Sea Devils (lots of exploration of their culture in this).
August 8, 2014
I really good novel send off of Liz Shaw. She left abruptly so it's good to see some time of reasoning behind it. The story read like an old Doctor Who serial. With the episodes, and the graphic content they could've only gotten away with occasionally. Really good read, characterization of Liz was spot on. Plus it was nice to see Mike Yates' promotion and some of the Brigs home life. Plus not all that much focus was put on The Doctor.
May 16, 2014
This sprawling UNIT epic, set at the end of Series Seven, pits the Doctor against Silurians, Sea Devils and sinister forces. Serving also as an exit story for companion Liz Shaw, the story is perhaps a little over-stuffed with references to and cameos from the Earth-bound Pertwee era, but is great fun nonetheless.
April 16, 2008
Nice story for Liz Shaw, like the bad guys and it's always good to see an old monster brought back, but this story wandered all over the place and never seemed to come together.
Felt almost like the first book in a trilogy rather than something that would stand alone.
Felt almost like the first book in a trilogy rather than something that would stand alone.
September 21, 2014
One of the better ones that I've read so far. :) This is a Third Doctor and Liz Shaw adventure set near the end of that partnership. Gary Russell weaves what seems like too many threads in this plot, but manages to clean them all up at the end. Yay!
April 25, 2010
A fairly pedestrian page-turner - great for light reading on the beach.
October 13, 2011
ah, the Third Doctor. A foppish dandy, but still one of the most dangerous beings in the universe.
July 19, 2017
Tried to tell too many stories (with way too many important characters) at once, so ultimately, neither storyline moved very much along. A pity really.
February 22, 2015
I enjoyed this one. It was a tad bland in places, but not overly so. It was nice to have a goodbye scene between the Doctor and Liz Shaw, as there was never one televised.
March 9, 2015
A story to end Liz Shaw`s time as a Doctor Who assistant, but not enough Liz Shaw!
August 9, 2019
09/08/2019: Okay so this review isn't coming when I said it would, but at least I'm doing it. I still haven't finished my Black Wings Beating review.
It's a little difficult to describe this story, as there's a lot going on, but essentially a boy goes missing in a small English village, and a police officer starts drawing in the style of cave paintings. The Doctor investigates the possibility of silurian involvement. Meanwhile a small group of individuals attempts to expose the unethical experiments of Department C19 of the British government.
This is probably my favourite silurian story I've experienced so far. It's certainly better than The Silurians, Warriors of the Deep, and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, but I'd have to rewatch The Sea Devils before saying it's my definitive favourite.
First thing's first, this book has a litany of problems.
The BBC Monster Collection edition of this story gets off to a bad start, and my experience was immediately soured by the fact that the introduction, which was presumably written years after the story itself, spoils a plot twist in this book. This did not endear the book to me from the start.
The formatting of this book is just bad. And I don't mean strange, I mean bad. There are diary entries which are not written in italics, or a different font, or in any way made obvious that they are diary entries, and they just blend into the main narrative. One character's, and only one character's, POV chapters are written in first person, and it doesn't fit with the rest of the story. And people's thoughts are also not italicised, or made obvious by quote marks, and also just blend with the main narrative. The end result of all this is that these sections of the narrative are confusing and annoying to read.
As well as this, the prose at the beginning is clunky and difficult to get into, most of the major side characters are fairly one note, and the main characters don't feel exactly like their TV counterparts. As a minor gripe, this book featured a ridiculous amount of typos.
So if it had that many problems, why oh why, in the end, did I love this book?
It's for one simple reason. Because once it gets going, it doesn't stop. This book is a real page-turner, with the stakes constantly mounting as the story goes on. The tone was also extremely dark and disturbing, which I adored, and there was a constant sense of danger throughout. The mystery of what exactly is going on is also incredibly intriguing, and the Pale Man is a vague and omnipresent threat. The amount of continuity references to the TV series, and how the story of this book was intrinsically tied to previous stories was some masterful storytelling and worldbuilding.
This book also dives deep into the personal lives of the Brigadier and Liz Shaw, something the show itself never did, and provides us with a picture of two incredibly interesting individuals and really helps to flesh out their characters. The emotional impact of this story can also not be denied, as it gives a great and well-written send-off to Liz Shaw, which she really deserved.
Despite all this, there are a couple of minor details which really did bug me. For one thing, the identity of the C19 whistleblower is never explained, which was something I thought was crucial to understanding the plot. One character is a professional assassin, who is supposedly one of the best around, but fails every single contract he's given in the book, and seems to be generally incompetent. I also felt that the villains were unnecessarily ruthless, and just created more work for themselves by attempting to get rid of loose ends that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
All in all this was an excellent story.
There were at least two sequel hooks, so I'm excited to see where those stories go in future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
07/08/2019: I am SO HAPPY with this book.
I'm TELLING you: if you watched the classic series, watched season 7 and have always believed Liz Shaw deserved more, THIS IS MORE. THIS IS THE MORE SHE DESERVED. THIS IS THE MORE YOU WANT TO READ.
I'll write a proper review tomorrow, but seriously, just trust me. You NEED to read this.
NOTE: If you have the BBC Monster Collection reprint DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION. IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.
READ THE BOOK THOUGH. THE BOOK'S GREAT.
It's a little difficult to describe this story, as there's a lot going on, but essentially a boy goes missing in a small English village, and a police officer starts drawing in the style of cave paintings. The Doctor investigates the possibility of silurian involvement. Meanwhile a small group of individuals attempts to expose the unethical experiments of Department C19 of the British government.
This is probably my favourite silurian story I've experienced so far. It's certainly better than The Silurians, Warriors of the Deep, and The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, but I'd have to rewatch The Sea Devils before saying it's my definitive favourite.
First thing's first, this book has a litany of problems.
The BBC Monster Collection edition of this story gets off to a bad start, and my experience was immediately soured by the fact that the introduction, which was presumably written years after the story itself, spoils a plot twist in this book. This did not endear the book to me from the start.
The formatting of this book is just bad. And I don't mean strange, I mean bad. There are diary entries which are not written in italics, or a different font, or in any way made obvious that they are diary entries, and they just blend into the main narrative. One character's, and only one character's, POV chapters are written in first person, and it doesn't fit with the rest of the story. And people's thoughts are also not italicised, or made obvious by quote marks, and also just blend with the main narrative. The end result of all this is that these sections of the narrative are confusing and annoying to read.
As well as this, the prose at the beginning is clunky and difficult to get into, most of the major side characters are fairly one note, and the main characters don't feel exactly like their TV counterparts. As a minor gripe, this book featured a ridiculous amount of typos.
So if it had that many problems, why oh why, in the end, did I love this book?
It's for one simple reason. Because once it gets going, it doesn't stop. This book is a real page-turner, with the stakes constantly mounting as the story goes on. The tone was also extremely dark and disturbing, which I adored, and there was a constant sense of danger throughout. The mystery of what exactly is going on is also incredibly intriguing, and the Pale Man is a vague and omnipresent threat. The amount of continuity references to the TV series, and how the story of this book was intrinsically tied to previous stories was some masterful storytelling and worldbuilding.
This book also dives deep into the personal lives of the Brigadier and Liz Shaw, something the show itself never did, and provides us with a picture of two incredibly interesting individuals and really helps to flesh out their characters. The emotional impact of this story can also not be denied, as it gives a great and well-written send-off to Liz Shaw, which she really deserved.
Despite all this, there are a couple of minor details which really did bug me. For one thing, the identity of the C19 whistleblower is never explained, which was something I thought was crucial to understanding the plot. One character is a professional assassin, who is supposedly one of the best around, but fails every single contract he's given in the book, and seems to be generally incompetent. I also felt that the villains were unnecessarily ruthless, and just created more work for themselves by attempting to get rid of loose ends that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
All in all this was an excellent story.
There were at least two sequel hooks, so I'm excited to see where those stories go in future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
07/08/2019: I am SO HAPPY with this book.
I'm TELLING you: if you watched the classic series, watched season 7 and have always believed Liz Shaw deserved more, THIS IS MORE. THIS IS THE MORE SHE DESERVED. THIS IS THE MORE YOU WANT TO READ.
I'll write a proper review tomorrow, but seriously, just trust me. You NEED to read this.
NOTE: If you have the BBC Monster Collection reprint DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION. IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.
READ THE BOOK THOUGH. THE BOOK'S GREAT.
May 9, 2020
Originally released as part of Virgin's Missing Adventures, this book was released by the BBC as part of the Monster Collection.
Here, when it becomes clear that the Silurians have returned, Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor sneaks away from UNIT in an attempt to avoid a repeat of their disasterous first encounter. Meanwhile his companion Liz gets caught up in the investigation of a conspiracy within the British Government which leads to a secret organisation working against UNIT.
Did you wonder why Liz Shaw just disappeared from the TV series after Pertwee's first season? Have you ever wondered how the Brigadier ended up getting divorced? Are you the kind of Doctor Who fan who wants to know why Mike Yates got promoted to Captain by John Benton didn't?
If your answer to any of these questions is an emphatic 'Yes!', then you're probably quite a tedious person.
Honestly, this book seems to have been written primarily as an answer to questions no-one really cared about or to make connections (specifically between 'The Silurians', 'The Sea Devils' and 'Warriors of the Deep') which didn't really need to be made. Sure, it's a nice bit of continuity, but it's not worth dedicating an entire book to.
It's not that this is a bad book at all, it's just that it's a very bland one. The real USP should've been the return of the Silurians but they're handled here almost exactly the same way that they were handled in the three stories mentioned above. Even their reintroduction in the revived series follows exactly the same premise; humans scared of Silurians, Silurians scared of humans, wouldn't it be better if we could all get along, oh well not happening now. I had hoped for a bit more of an exploration of the Earth Reptiles instead of just a rehashing of what we already know.
For all that I made fun of it above, one of the better elements of this book is the exploration of the characters and backgrounds of the familiar UNIT faces. I just wish it had been better integrated into the story, rather than feeling almost like a checklist of stuff that needed clearing up.
I particularly liked the fact that Liz Shaw is given a fair shake here because I felt she was a bit hard-done-by in the TV show which didn't seem to know what to do with a companion as intelligent as the Doctor and quickly replaced her with a ditz with a pretty face.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
Here, when it becomes clear that the Silurians have returned, Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor sneaks away from UNIT in an attempt to avoid a repeat of their disasterous first encounter. Meanwhile his companion Liz gets caught up in the investigation of a conspiracy within the British Government which leads to a secret organisation working against UNIT.
Did you wonder why Liz Shaw just disappeared from the TV series after Pertwee's first season? Have you ever wondered how the Brigadier ended up getting divorced? Are you the kind of Doctor Who fan who wants to know why Mike Yates got promoted to Captain by John Benton didn't?
If your answer to any of these questions is an emphatic 'Yes!', then you're probably quite a tedious person.
Honestly, this book seems to have been written primarily as an answer to questions no-one really cared about or to make connections (specifically between 'The Silurians', 'The Sea Devils' and 'Warriors of the Deep') which didn't really need to be made. Sure, it's a nice bit of continuity, but it's not worth dedicating an entire book to.
It's not that this is a bad book at all, it's just that it's a very bland one. The real USP should've been the return of the Silurians but they're handled here almost exactly the same way that they were handled in the three stories mentioned above. Even their reintroduction in the revived series follows exactly the same premise; humans scared of Silurians, Silurians scared of humans, wouldn't it be better if we could all get along, oh well not happening now. I had hoped for a bit more of an exploration of the Earth Reptiles instead of just a rehashing of what we already know.
For all that I made fun of it above, one of the better elements of this book is the exploration of the characters and backgrounds of the familiar UNIT faces. I just wish it had been better integrated into the story, rather than feeling almost like a checklist of stuff that needed clearing up.
I particularly liked the fact that Liz Shaw is given a fair shake here because I felt she was a bit hard-done-by in the TV show which didn't seem to know what to do with a companion as intelligent as the Doctor and quickly replaced her with a ditz with a pretty face.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
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