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Doctor Who: Missing Adventures #7
Doctor Who: The Ghosts of N-Space
‘When the barrier gives way, this planet will be flooded by all the evil in N-Space; and at the moment I have no idea how to stop it.’The Brigadier’s ancient great-uncle Mario seems unsurprised by the spectres which haunt his even more ancient Sicilian castle. But when the Doctor comes to investigate he finds himself faced with a danger as great as any he has yet encountered.Is the answer to be found in the past, in the corrupt alchemy of the black-hearted sorcerer said to have walled up alive for his evil deeds? Or must the Doctor - and the faithful Sarah Jane Smith - brave the realm of ghosts and face the very fiends of hell?This is a novelization of the full-cast audio play produced by the BBC for Radio 4. Broadcast in 1996.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 16, 1995
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203 people want to read
About the author
Barry Letts
21 books15 followersBarry Letts was a British actor, television director, writer and producer. He was most associated with the television series Doctor Who for many years, with active involvement in the television series from 1967 to 1981, and later contributions to its spin-offs in other media.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 1, 2019
The Ghosts of N-Space was a 6 part audio drama original written and recorded in 1994, but in fact wasn’t broadcast until after this novelisation was published (Timey-Wimey) is most notable for being the last time Pertwee played the Third Doctor prior to he’s death.
I’d probably recommend those that aren’t familiar with this adventure to seek out the audio play first, as it’s nice to hear Pertwee, Sladen and Courtney together again.
It definitely evokes that early 70’s era of the series.
The book is still and enjoyable read though!
I’d probably recommend those that aren’t familiar with this adventure to seek out the audio play first, as it’s nice to hear Pertwee, Sladen and Courtney together again.
It definitely evokes that early 70’s era of the series.
The book is still and enjoyable read though!
November 25, 2022
"If you want to know the time, ask a Time Lord."
July 21, 2025
When I encounter a novel set in a franchise written by someone who was involved in its original production, my expectations receive a boost. This was why mine went to the stratosphere when I saw Barry Letts’s name on the cover of this book. As a producer of the show during a critical period in the 1970s, few have had a greater impact on the Doctor Who franchise. And given that his story featured the characters from the very period in which he produced the series, he enjoyed a level of familiarity with them even fewer can claim. Taken together, this promised to be as close to an actual serial from the Third Doctor’s run as any writer might be able to accomplish.
Perhaps that’s why I found the novel such a disappointment. Perhaps my greatest issue of it was Letts's blending of the scientific and the supernatural, which is hardly unique in the Doctor Who franchise but is poorly done here. Letts starts out giving a “scientific” explanation to the idea of ghosts in the book, then just gives up and goes with alchemy and the paranormal. There’s not reason why such things can’t exist in Doctor Who – it’s fiction, after all – but there’s no effort to make the elements work cohesively. The nature of the story has the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith hopping back and forth in time to solve the mystery akin to how it was done in City of Death, only in a way in which the novel can’t help but suffer by comparison. And then there is Jeremy Fitzoliver, an ersatz companion who I kept hoping would just go away, which I doubt was the effect Letts was working towards.
Admittedly, I have read worse entries in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. Letts is a good enough writer that he knows how to keep the plot moving at a brisk clip, and it was nice to see the Brigadier thrust into a situation where he did not have the resources of UNIT to draw upon, even if the invention of an Italian ancestry seems an unimaginative way to do it. But for a writer who once gave us The Green Death – easily one of the best serials of the Pertwee era – this feels like nothing less than a wasted opportunity, especially when writers such as Terrence Dicks and Marc Platt demonstrated what authors who could draw upon their past experience with classic Who could accomplish.
Perhaps that’s why I found the novel such a disappointment. Perhaps my greatest issue of it was Letts's blending of the scientific and the supernatural, which is hardly unique in the Doctor Who franchise but is poorly done here. Letts starts out giving a “scientific” explanation to the idea of ghosts in the book, then just gives up and goes with alchemy and the paranormal. There’s not reason why such things can’t exist in Doctor Who – it’s fiction, after all – but there’s no effort to make the elements work cohesively. The nature of the story has the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith hopping back and forth in time to solve the mystery akin to how it was done in City of Death, only in a way in which the novel can’t help but suffer by comparison. And then there is Jeremy Fitzoliver, an ersatz companion who I kept hoping would just go away, which I doubt was the effect Letts was working towards.
Admittedly, I have read worse entries in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. Letts is a good enough writer that he knows how to keep the plot moving at a brisk clip, and it was nice to see the Brigadier thrust into a situation where he did not have the resources of UNIT to draw upon, even if the invention of an Italian ancestry seems an unimaginative way to do it. But for a writer who once gave us The Green Death – easily one of the best serials of the Pertwee era – this feels like nothing less than a wasted opportunity, especially when writers such as Terrence Dicks and Marc Platt demonstrated what authors who could draw upon their past experience with classic Who could accomplish.
March 13, 2018
Jon Pertwee has aways been one of my favourite Doctors, so a new story from the producer of that time should be good, right? There is a great story in here but it is marred by some poor characters. So we have Roberto, his only use seems to be for mumbling renditions of Elvis and that's it and others are the same. The half formed villain of the piece needs fleshing out a fair bit to.
The one thing that truely shines in this book is the theory for ghosts and how they exist.
Not too bad
The one thing that truely shines in this book is the theory for ghosts and how they exist.
Not too bad
October 7, 2019
I love ghost stories and the 3rd Doctor with all his mystical vibes, so I liked this story. The author knew how to craft a story and even left some little jokes for fans of gothic fiction, which is always nice. Of course the villain was a caricature and so were all the secondary characters, but that doesn't gets so much in the way of fun as Jeremy. He is so useless, that he could be substituted for a mop and the plot would be basically the same. And then there is his perving and whining.
I understand this is an adaptation from a radio play and Jeremy was there already so it's not like the author could change it, but damn he is an annoying character.
That said, this is one of those books that get a solid 7. Fun enough for a rainy day, but wouldn't keep me awake at night.
I understand this is an adaptation from a radio play and Jeremy was there already so it's not like the author could change it, but damn he is an annoying character.
That said, this is one of those books that get a solid 7. Fun enough for a rainy day, but wouldn't keep me awake at night.
May 29, 2017
The Ghosts of N-Space is not a great book.
The Ghosts of N-Space, however, is MUCH better than its reputation.
I'm honestly dumbfounded by the vitriol directed at Barry Letts's Missing Adventures novel. This is a classic Doctor Who story (which was the mission of the Missing Adventures) with goofy characters, an over-the-top enemy, and some convenient plot contrivances. How is any of that different from most other Doctor Who novels?
I think we all can agree that all of us would be better off without Letts's use of the word "tits" in a Doctor Who story. Just. You know. Don't, Barry.
The Ghosts of N-Space, however, is MUCH better than its reputation.
I'm honestly dumbfounded by the vitriol directed at Barry Letts's Missing Adventures novel. This is a classic Doctor Who story (which was the mission of the Missing Adventures) with goofy characters, an over-the-top enemy, and some convenient plot contrivances. How is any of that different from most other Doctor Who novels?
I think we all can agree that all of us would be better off without Letts's use of the word "tits" in a Doctor Who story. Just. You know. Don't, Barry.
Read
January 2, 2024Currently updating my reads for the end of 2023, I listened to this and a bunch of other Big Finish Doctor tales (some twice) towards the end of the year, mostly because I was too busy thinking about other things to focus on new stories and the comfort of the familiar voices was a welcome relief from other stresses. Unfortunately I have left it too long to give any story-specific details, but I will inevitably listen to these many more times in future and will hopefully be able to say something more substantial. Suffice it to say that these are just excellent. Production quality is top notch and the storylines are as good and sometimes even better than the TV episodes.
March 24, 2018
To say that "The Ghosts of N-Space" audio adventure is one of the shaggiest of shaggy-dog "Doctor Who" stories is an under-statement. It's so full of counter-intuitive ideas, lousy characters, and atrocious accents...combined, it is enough to knock out a whale. Incredibly, this novelization manages to tone down many of its more surreal concepts (and ditch the need for ear-splitting accents), and make the story almost palatable. It ultimately earns its three stars for this amazing feat, compounded by Barry Letts' easily enjoyable writing style.
December 21, 2024
I mean it's not what you'd call a good book, but it's filled with so many deranged moments (Sarah being a budding erotic thriller author, everything involving Jeremy, the endless descriptions of what everyone is eating to pad out the page count, the way that Barry Letts is obsessed with using the word "tits" as many times as possible in a Doctor Who novel, the endless coincidences that drive the plot, the random Elvis impersonator, the dodgy Italian stereotypes, etc., etc.) that it comes back around to being kind of enjoyably bad. Three stars, though it probably deserves none.
October 22, 2025
This story has two of my favorite characters the Brigadier and Sarah-Jane. The reason I love the third Doctor era so much is the Brigadier. But this story just didn’t get me. I disliked the many jumps in the perspectives. The N-Space stuff was so anticlimactic. Max Vilmio was kinda boring as a bad guy… the other characters didn’t made me care for them at all.
The only thing that made me always smile was the butler/cook that always made sure they it. There are people wanting to take over the castle, but let’s make a picknick with selfmade sandwiches.
The only thing that made me always smile was the butler/cook that always made sure they it. There are people wanting to take over the castle, but let’s make a picknick with selfmade sandwiches.
June 5, 2022
Barry Letts writes another amusing novel adaptation of one of his radio plays. While a decent read, the book does not quite live up to the original.
The book is full of wonderful details and scenes that flesh out the story but overall the book feels rather low stakes for what is supposed to be a universe ending conflict.
The book is full of wonderful details and scenes that flesh out the story but overall the book feels rather low stakes for what is supposed to be a universe ending conflict.
November 15, 2023
The thing I like about this book most is: I hadn't finished a book since 2020. This is the first book I've finished in 3 years. I'm interested in listening to the audio version. This story feels very different from the rest of the Third Doctor’s Era while the Third Doctor as a character being absolutely Spot on.
January 14, 2025
Doesn't really fit the style of the Missing Adventures series, and apparently existed only as a stopgap measure before the BBC finally broadcast the audio drama of the same name (recorded before this came out, but only released a year later). Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
March 23, 2021
Entertaining sci-fi/supernatural romp, starring Jon Pertwee.
I deducted one star solely because of the stereotypical accents given to the Italin characters, especially in the first episode, which came across like a Dolmio advert, otherwise great fun.
The Paradise of Death is much better...
I deducted one star solely because of the stereotypical accents given to the Italin characters, especially in the first episode, which came across like a Dolmio advert, otherwise great fun.
The Paradise of Death is much better...
October 22, 2024
I want to hate it because it’s very bad indeed, but I enjoyed it. Go figure.
February 9, 2019
Another book with one of the worst "companions" of the Doctor, Jeremy. Though is he a companion? He did travel in the TARDIS and was in more than one episode. Regardless, very annoying, looking forward to not reading about him anymore. The plus side, was not used as much as in The Paradise of Death.
I take you also want to know about this book and how it was. If you see how long it took me to read it, it is meh. The plot is while on vacation Sara Jane is trying to write a book, encounters the Brigadier who is dealing with a relative. Then it turns out the home of the relative is the center of big power grab regarding another dimension.
Barry Letts had an interesting way to write this book and the previous Paradise of Death. It was a different approach which made i interesting, but again got tired of it of a while. a 50/50 mix of people talking and what they were thinking to move sections of the book.
The plot took a while to get going and what was happening with the "Ghosts". Also I was not sure about the plot until halfway through the book. This is the because the set pieces the Doctor visits, are not clearly tied until halfway through. It is interesting that Letts the Doctor traveling within a story to different points in time and back to the present in the same location.
Letts also had the Doctor have interesting conversations with Sarah about time travel and the time lines. We also had a villain that turned out to have been around for a while in time building up to has final attempt for power.
At the end of the days the interesting aspects of the book don't make up for the slow pace of the story. It is not a bad book, but just one that you have to be focused on it, in order to make your way through it.
I take you also want to know about this book and how it was. If you see how long it took me to read it, it is meh. The plot is while on vacation Sara Jane is trying to write a book, encounters the Brigadier who is dealing with a relative. Then it turns out the home of the relative is the center of big power grab regarding another dimension.
Barry Letts had an interesting way to write this book and the previous Paradise of Death. It was a different approach which made i interesting, but again got tired of it of a while. a 50/50 mix of people talking and what they were thinking to move sections of the book.
The plot took a while to get going and what was happening with the "Ghosts". Also I was not sure about the plot until halfway through the book. This is the because the set pieces the Doctor visits, are not clearly tied until halfway through. It is interesting that Letts the Doctor traveling within a story to different points in time and back to the present in the same location.
Letts also had the Doctor have interesting conversations with Sarah about time travel and the time lines. We also had a villain that turned out to have been around for a while in time building up to has final attempt for power.
At the end of the days the interesting aspects of the book don't make up for the slow pace of the story. It is not a bad book, but just one that you have to be focused on it, in order to make your way through it.
July 5, 2014
The Ghosts of N-Space is part of The Missing Adventures series of original Doctor Who stories. It is also a novelization of a radio play that aired on BBC Radio 2 in 1995, starring Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, and Nicholas Courtney. And it was a wonderful fun book to read.
I enjoyed this story immensely - it felt like an episode of the series, and was simply enjoyable to read.
Sarah Jane has decided to try her hand at writing a novel, but has developed a severe case of writer's block. Her friend, Jeremy, has, meanwhile gotten tickets for a trip to Italy and suddenly has no one to take with him. He approaches Sarah, and soon the two are off.
Meanwhile, the Brigadier has discovered he's the last surviving relative of an Italian Lord of the Manor, or in this case, castello - as well as the tiny Island it sits on.
Sarah Jane, the Brigadier, and Jeremy run into each other and begin investigating the ghosts of the Castello. The Brigadier calls in the Doctor (Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor).
And the romp is on -- a haunted castle, mobsters, long-lost relatives, alternate dimensions, fiends from hell, and the possible end of the world. It's actually all good fun and feels very much like vintage Doctor Who. And I sped through this book.
I don't want to spoil any more of the plot. It's just a fun read. It's closer in feel to the BBC Past Doctor Adventures line of original novels, than most of the Missing Adventures and I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. Recommended, especially for fans of Classic Doctor Who.
I enjoyed this story immensely - it felt like an episode of the series, and was simply enjoyable to read.
Sarah Jane has decided to try her hand at writing a novel, but has developed a severe case of writer's block. Her friend, Jeremy, has, meanwhile gotten tickets for a trip to Italy and suddenly has no one to take with him. He approaches Sarah, and soon the two are off.
Meanwhile, the Brigadier has discovered he's the last surviving relative of an Italian Lord of the Manor, or in this case, castello - as well as the tiny Island it sits on.
Sarah Jane, the Brigadier, and Jeremy run into each other and begin investigating the ghosts of the Castello. The Brigadier calls in the Doctor (Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor).
And the romp is on -- a haunted castle, mobsters, long-lost relatives, alternate dimensions, fiends from hell, and the possible end of the world. It's actually all good fun and feels very much like vintage Doctor Who. And I sped through this book.
I don't want to spoil any more of the plot. It's just a fun read. It's closer in feel to the BBC Past Doctor Adventures line of original novels, than most of the Missing Adventures and I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. Recommended, especially for fans of Classic Doctor Who.
December 23, 2015
When, in 1997, Doctor Who Magazine conducted a poll of stories, it also stood as a retrospective on Virgin Publishing’s output. To this day it probably ranks as the most empirical data about which New and Missing Adventures were the most popular. ‘The Ghosts of N-Space’ came last in the Missing Adventures poll, and while I’d love to be able to disagree with that placing, I’m afraid – having re-read this again – this really is as disappointing as its reputation suggests.
There’s nothing wrong with Doctor Who stories asking the big questions about life and death. What has always bothered me is where the writers feel they are well placed to answer them. There was understandable furore last year when a TV story appeared to show what happens to our personalities after we die, but that was revealed as a sophisticated confidence trick by that serial’s villain. There’s no such ambiguity here – N-Space is, we are told on no uncertain terms, where we go when we die. My real concerns about this approach really aren’t helped by the confusion between Letts’ “Null-space” and the “N-Space” of the TV show’s season 18, on which Letts worked as Executive Producer.
The plot itself is padded out by stereotypical villains, ghosts and some highly questionable Italian ancestry for the Brigadier. None of it works. It’s all, I’m pained to say, a mess. The fact that Jeremy Fitzoliver is not, this time, the most irritating thing in the book should tell you just how below-standard the elements which make this book up really are.
Still, at least it’s not dull.
There’s nothing wrong with Doctor Who stories asking the big questions about life and death. What has always bothered me is where the writers feel they are well placed to answer them. There was understandable furore last year when a TV story appeared to show what happens to our personalities after we die, but that was revealed as a sophisticated confidence trick by that serial’s villain. There’s no such ambiguity here – N-Space is, we are told on no uncertain terms, where we go when we die. My real concerns about this approach really aren’t helped by the confusion between Letts’ “Null-space” and the “N-Space” of the TV show’s season 18, on which Letts worked as Executive Producer.
The plot itself is padded out by stereotypical villains, ghosts and some highly questionable Italian ancestry for the Brigadier. None of it works. It’s all, I’m pained to say, a mess. The fact that Jeremy Fitzoliver is not, this time, the most irritating thing in the book should tell you just how below-standard the elements which make this book up really are.
Still, at least it’s not dull.
April 17, 2025
December 2020
Perfectly readable, but it feels like it's not quite a concentrated enough effort to be truly great. There were also points where it was assumed the reader would have knowledge of the earlier Third Doctor audio Barry Letts wrote, which was a little irritating.
April 2025
One of those rereads where I feel pretty much exactly the same as the first go round. The supporting cast is a bit flat, which makes some of the scenes which are meant to have emotional weight suffer (particularly around Louisa). I do really like how this story conceives of changing history, in that it argues that when you're a time traveller you're not travelling through history, you're always living in the present, which is a nice breath of fresh air in Who. Ultimately I like it fine but aside from a certain philosophical bent that appears in a few scenes it doesn't do anything I really love.
Perfectly readable, but it feels like it's not quite a concentrated enough effort to be truly great. There were also points where it was assumed the reader would have knowledge of the earlier Third Doctor audio Barry Letts wrote, which was a little irritating.
April 2025
One of those rereads where I feel pretty much exactly the same as the first go round. The supporting cast is a bit flat, which makes some of the scenes which are meant to have emotional weight suffer (particularly around Louisa). I do really like how this story conceives of changing history, in that it argues that when you're a time traveller you're not travelling through history, you're always living in the present, which is a nice breath of fresh air in Who. Ultimately I like it fine but aside from a certain philosophical bent that appears in a few scenes it doesn't do anything I really love.
April 9, 2013
Of the 3 Doctor Who books I've read so far this was definitely the one I enjoyed the least. The story in itself was ok, not terribly interesting but not horrible either and at times just utterly silly (which I don't mind, I like silly. But what bothered me most were the little details and characterisations that were off. The author didn't get the voices of either the Doctor or Sarah Jane quite right which is a bit confusing. And also, he kept mentioning little things about Sarah Jane's background and her parents which were so clearly wrong because she lost both parents when she was a baby and she was raised by her aunt.
So with this book it was the little things that irked me, but overall not a bad story.
So with this book it was the little things that irked me, but overall not a bad story.
August 29, 2015
N-Space is like a purgatory where "souls" or "ghosts" get stuck if they don't make it to the afterlife for some reason. There are also evil, soul-eating creatures there eager to escape into our world where they will posses humanity giving them various "demonic" powers. Then there are the power-mad human alchemists who for some reason believe that they can rule these forms and bring them out to rule the world. Fortunately, the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith put an end to this; with some help from the Brig.
May 13, 2016
Complete rubbish. Hugely annoying and disappointing entry in the series. Got just over halfway and just refuse to waste any more of my scant remaining time on this earth finishing this drivel. So what was so bad? Poor depiction of my fave Sarah Jane, a foppish Jeremy that even Wodehouse's Wooster would have taken out to the back nine and beaten to death with a mashie niblick, a completely non-Who premise (dead souls wandering purgatory being eaten by third rate Chthulu leftovers), The Godfather as medieval wizard .... simply terrible and not how I want to remember Barry Letts.
July 6, 2011
I know this is generally considered the worst Doctor Who tie-in book of them all, but seriously, it's quite probably one of my favourites. It's just the most awesome crackfic ever - a book that is impossible to take seriously and that is so out there that it's absolutely hilarious.
If one takes it as a serious book, and expects some quality sci-fi, then... yeah. I suppose one would be rather disappointed.
If one takes it as a serious book, and expects some quality sci-fi, then... yeah. I suppose one would be rather disappointed.
January 5, 2024
One of the weaker missing adventures, which is a tad disappointing given it’s written by Barry Letts, the godfather of the third doctor era: it really doesn’t, perplexingly, capture any of the regular cast or the feel of the era. Plot wise there is enough to keep the attention, with some nice flourishes around the spooky castle theme that tips into passable horror fiction, even if there is a bit of a daft finish ..
May 31, 2008
A major stumble from the usually reliable Barry Letts. A weak story, a weak bad guy, the feeble gimmick of the Brigader having an Italian relative that is used to drag them into the story and only so-so characterization.
My copy did contain one of the funniest typos I've ever read, but that was about it for entertainment value.
My copy did contain one of the funniest typos I've ever read, but that was about it for entertainment value.
Read
April 8, 2009http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1174133...[return]I was moderately impressed by the audio original version of this story, but I really liked the book. It is a real shame that Barry Letts has written so few Who novels; his Doctor Who and the D
January 4, 2016
Barry Letts' novelization of his BBC radio drama is reasonably good as a novel on its own. Letts has filled in some details, rounded out characters, and generally gone beyond merely reproducing the script with a few descriptive details. The faults are mostly in the original conception of giving a seemingly scientific justification for the popular concepts of an afterlife.
April 26, 2022
I listened to the radio play rather than read the book. It was a good story, but two episodes too long in my view. But good to hear my personal original TARDIS team together again.
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