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Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #24
Doctor Who: The Many Hands
Edinburgh, 1759.
The Nor' Loch is being filled in. If you ask the soldiers there, they'll tell you it's a stinking cesspool that the city can do without. But that doesn't explain why the workers won't go near the place without an armed guard.
That doesn't explain why they whisper stories about the loch giving up its dead, about the minister who walked into his church twelve years after he died...
It doesn't explain why, as they work, they whisper about a man called the Doctor.
And about the many hands of Alexander Monro.
Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the hit Doctor Who series from BBC Television.
The Nor' Loch is being filled in. If you ask the soldiers there, they'll tell you it's a stinking cesspool that the city can do without. But that doesn't explain why the workers won't go near the place without an armed guard.
That doesn't explain why they whisper stories about the loch giving up its dead, about the minister who walked into his church twelve years after he died...
It doesn't explain why, as they work, they whisper about a man called the Doctor.
And about the many hands of Alexander Monro.
Featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in the hit Doctor Who series from BBC Television.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
23 people are currently reading
1519 people want to read
About the author
Dale Smith
36 books14 followersDale Smith is a writer and playwright from Leicester but now living in Manchester, England. He is mostly know for his work in various Doctor Who spin-off material, with books written for the BBC, Telos Publications and Obverse Books.
His first work was an award-winning radio play called Hello?, and he has also written short stories for Big Finish productions.
His first work was an award-winning radio play called Hello?, and he has also written short stories for Big Finish productions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
June 23, 2009
The Many Hands: Book the First
[In which the Doctor runs around a great deal and a soldier is hit by stone chips at a surprising distance:]
Well I'm exactly 100 pages into Paul Dale Smith's new NSA, The Many Hands and so far it suffers from some of the issues which have affected other books in the range.
Before I go any further I should point out that I think Smith is one of the top 2 or 3 writers to come out of Doctor Who - 'Heritage' is one of my favourite books in the BBC range, his two short stories for the Enlightenment fanzine are up with Magrs and Moffat in terms of quality, and 'The Albino's Dancer', his Time Hunter novella, is excellent.
As a result 'The Many Hands' is very readable - the characterisation of the two leads rings true, and when the author takes the time there's some really lovely writing in it. But the problem is that there's not a lot of time given over to anything other than moving the story on via one action scene after another.
The story starts in the middle of one such scene, with a stagecoach careening through the Old Town of Edinburgh (or as the Doctor amusingly points out, just 'The Town' at this stage in the city's life) with the Doctor on top battling a dead man and Martha elsewhere running through the streets to get in front of the coach and stop it, new series style, with yet another handy sonic screwdriver function. From there, the next hundred pages are a series of run/get captured/run/get captured escapades - and it's not even the cliche of a series of set pieces joined together by linking narrative, as each breathless bit of running away blends into the next with barely a space for a linking sentence or two between.
To add to this, even the Doctor/Martha's escapes are simplistic to the point of non-existence. There's rarely a clever escape plan - they simply run away in a manner reminiscent of things of the Pertwee years, or some fortuitous distraction appears to distract their capturers' attention. Again, it's all exciting stuff on one basic level and if that's the audience it's aimed at then The Many Hands works perfectly, but there's little to engage the brain or cause the reader to mentally applaud authorial/Doctoral ingenuity (in which, of course, the books are just mimicking the TV series pretty closely).
It takes all of 100 pages in fact, for something original to occur, with the appearance of the titular hands. That's more than a third of the way through the book.
Smith knows his trade though and he can invest even this kind of thing with a degree of talent lacking in real journeymen writers like Justin Richards or Trevor Baxendale when he takes the time to do so. As it stands the majority of the book would never have held my attention when I was one of the famed intelligent 12 year olds that Who fiction likes to think of as its intended audience, but there are moments when you can see that there is such a book hiding beneath the 100 mile an hour romp.
The problem is that there's no time given over to thought or introspection - nobody except (occasionally) the Doctor and Martha seem to think about anything, with the result that everyone bar the two leads comes across as fairly cardboard. When someone does think about something other than what's going on around them, the results are excellent - Martha's musing that certain characters were exhibiting 'rather more ambition than humans were comfortable with from their corpses' is a great line, as is the Doctor's subtle manner of manipulating the soldier, McAllister. It's just that there's not enough time spent on this kind of thing, as all the available word count is spent on pushing the Doctor round Edinburgh with sundry baddies on his tail.
Perhaps it's a symptom of this that there's at least on key moment in the first part of the book which appears to make no sense. The scene in question, involves a soldier, apparently beyond rifle range of Doctor, taking a potshot at him anyway. The shot only misses by 'a few feet' (making the claim that the shot was a sign of a stupid, inexperienced soldier a bit strange) - and yet another solider manages to get himself hit in the face by splinters from the rock the bullet hits, even though he's also presumably behind or in line with the initial shooter. I might be being dense here, but it seemed a curiously inexplicable incident to me, and all I can think is that the frantic pace of the prose means that little mistakes like that are more likely to slip through unnoticed.
The whole thing is, to be honest, a little odd. Smith is a very good writer and he's a very, very good Who writer. He's shown this repeatedly in the past in other books and stories and he shows it in flashes even here. And if the guidelines for an NSA are the exact same - as is reputedly the case - then why is this book lacking the layers of 'Heritage', the poetry of 'Blossom' or the razorsharp cleverness of the plotting of 'Recursion'? The Many Hands is an enjoyable if somewhat brainless read and I doubt if Smith is capable of writing something not worth reading, but on the basis of the first 100 pages or so it's simply not in the same class as his earlier work. My nine year old son would probably enjoy it, but my 12 year old daughter who reads Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz and the like would, I suspect, find it a bit frenetic and lacking in depth.
The Many Hands: Book the Second
[In which a sinister creature is born, an underground street is explored and the Monro family tree turns out more complicated than expected:]
And now it gets even odder.
Having described the first 100 pages of 'The Many Hands' as one single continuous chase sequence, involving a series of featureless supporting acts following the Doctor and Martha through Edinburgh, I now find myself viewing the remaining 141 pages as anything but.
It's almost like two completely different novels: the first suffering from the usual NSA issues and the second an excellent Gothic horror/cool steampunk (sort of) sf novel.
It really is as abrupt as that - simplistic run around shenanigans with pretty flat characters for the younger kiddies until page 100, atmospheric and creepy grown up novel filled with fully rounded individuals from page 101 onwards.
Suddenly the book is peppered with believable characters acting in an intelligent manner. McAllister, rather than simply reacting to whatever the Doctor does, becomes a far more rounded individual, capable of thinking and acting for himself. The Monro men make a substantive appearance in the story for the first time and add immeasurably to the mix. Even the Doctor stops rushing about and begins to act in a more Doctoral fashion.
The jokes also get better - Martha's confusion about whether Monro's description of himself ("we are the Chair of Anatomy") is the name of his species is both a a great joke at the expense of Russell T Davies' naming conventions for alien races and a subtle and neat plot point, for instance.
The setting too is more interesting after a round century's worth of pages. Previously everything had been set in and around a generic Royal Mile, so blandly described that even I, a lifelong Edinburgh Man, was often confused as to where the TARDIS crew were supposed to be unless a street name was provided. Now the action moves into a well-described Surgeons' Hall, about a blockaded church and down into Mary King's Close, all places filled with oppressive darknesses and creepy and cobweb filled rooms and corridors in which Smith allows his descriptive powers full range. There's no doubting where anyone is at any time by this point in the book and as the actual action (as opposed to the earlier page-filling action) takes place, the book continues to open out, with an intriguing and unusual set of villains and a reasonably well thought out conclusion (the final epilogue chapter though is a real disappointment, returning to the realm of cliche for no obvious reason).
Hopefully if Smith does another book in the NSA range (and I hope he does) then it will be more like the later half of this particular work.
[In which the Doctor runs around a great deal and a soldier is hit by stone chips at a surprising distance:]
Well I'm exactly 100 pages into Paul Dale Smith's new NSA, The Many Hands and so far it suffers from some of the issues which have affected other books in the range.
Before I go any further I should point out that I think Smith is one of the top 2 or 3 writers to come out of Doctor Who - 'Heritage' is one of my favourite books in the BBC range, his two short stories for the Enlightenment fanzine are up with Magrs and Moffat in terms of quality, and 'The Albino's Dancer', his Time Hunter novella, is excellent.
As a result 'The Many Hands' is very readable - the characterisation of the two leads rings true, and when the author takes the time there's some really lovely writing in it. But the problem is that there's not a lot of time given over to anything other than moving the story on via one action scene after another.
The story starts in the middle of one such scene, with a stagecoach careening through the Old Town of Edinburgh (or as the Doctor amusingly points out, just 'The Town' at this stage in the city's life) with the Doctor on top battling a dead man and Martha elsewhere running through the streets to get in front of the coach and stop it, new series style, with yet another handy sonic screwdriver function. From there, the next hundred pages are a series of run/get captured/run/get captured escapades - and it's not even the cliche of a series of set pieces joined together by linking narrative, as each breathless bit of running away blends into the next with barely a space for a linking sentence or two between.
To add to this, even the Doctor/Martha's escapes are simplistic to the point of non-existence. There's rarely a clever escape plan - they simply run away in a manner reminiscent of things of the Pertwee years, or some fortuitous distraction appears to distract their capturers' attention. Again, it's all exciting stuff on one basic level and if that's the audience it's aimed at then The Many Hands works perfectly, but there's little to engage the brain or cause the reader to mentally applaud authorial/Doctoral ingenuity (in which, of course, the books are just mimicking the TV series pretty closely).
It takes all of 100 pages in fact, for something original to occur, with the appearance of the titular hands. That's more than a third of the way through the book.
Smith knows his trade though and he can invest even this kind of thing with a degree of talent lacking in real journeymen writers like Justin Richards or Trevor Baxendale when he takes the time to do so. As it stands the majority of the book would never have held my attention when I was one of the famed intelligent 12 year olds that Who fiction likes to think of as its intended audience, but there are moments when you can see that there is such a book hiding beneath the 100 mile an hour romp.
The problem is that there's no time given over to thought or introspection - nobody except (occasionally) the Doctor and Martha seem to think about anything, with the result that everyone bar the two leads comes across as fairly cardboard. When someone does think about something other than what's going on around them, the results are excellent - Martha's musing that certain characters were exhibiting 'rather more ambition than humans were comfortable with from their corpses' is a great line, as is the Doctor's subtle manner of manipulating the soldier, McAllister. It's just that there's not enough time spent on this kind of thing, as all the available word count is spent on pushing the Doctor round Edinburgh with sundry baddies on his tail.
Perhaps it's a symptom of this that there's at least on key moment in the first part of the book which appears to make no sense. The scene in question, involves a soldier, apparently beyond rifle range of Doctor, taking a potshot at him anyway. The shot only misses by 'a few feet' (making the claim that the shot was a sign of a stupid, inexperienced soldier a bit strange) - and yet another solider manages to get himself hit in the face by splinters from the rock the bullet hits, even though he's also presumably behind or in line with the initial shooter. I might be being dense here, but it seemed a curiously inexplicable incident to me, and all I can think is that the frantic pace of the prose means that little mistakes like that are more likely to slip through unnoticed.
The whole thing is, to be honest, a little odd. Smith is a very good writer and he's a very, very good Who writer. He's shown this repeatedly in the past in other books and stories and he shows it in flashes even here. And if the guidelines for an NSA are the exact same - as is reputedly the case - then why is this book lacking the layers of 'Heritage', the poetry of 'Blossom' or the razorsharp cleverness of the plotting of 'Recursion'? The Many Hands is an enjoyable if somewhat brainless read and I doubt if Smith is capable of writing something not worth reading, but on the basis of the first 100 pages or so it's simply not in the same class as his earlier work. My nine year old son would probably enjoy it, but my 12 year old daughter who reads Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz and the like would, I suspect, find it a bit frenetic and lacking in depth.
The Many Hands: Book the Second
[In which a sinister creature is born, an underground street is explored and the Monro family tree turns out more complicated than expected:]
And now it gets even odder.
Having described the first 100 pages of 'The Many Hands' as one single continuous chase sequence, involving a series of featureless supporting acts following the Doctor and Martha through Edinburgh, I now find myself viewing the remaining 141 pages as anything but.
It's almost like two completely different novels: the first suffering from the usual NSA issues and the second an excellent Gothic horror/cool steampunk (sort of) sf novel.
It really is as abrupt as that - simplistic run around shenanigans with pretty flat characters for the younger kiddies until page 100, atmospheric and creepy grown up novel filled with fully rounded individuals from page 101 onwards.
Suddenly the book is peppered with believable characters acting in an intelligent manner. McAllister, rather than simply reacting to whatever the Doctor does, becomes a far more rounded individual, capable of thinking and acting for himself. The Monro men make a substantive appearance in the story for the first time and add immeasurably to the mix. Even the Doctor stops rushing about and begins to act in a more Doctoral fashion.
The jokes also get better - Martha's confusion about whether Monro's description of himself ("we are the Chair of Anatomy") is the name of his species is both a a great joke at the expense of Russell T Davies' naming conventions for alien races and a subtle and neat plot point, for instance.
The setting too is more interesting after a round century's worth of pages. Previously everything had been set in and around a generic Royal Mile, so blandly described that even I, a lifelong Edinburgh Man, was often confused as to where the TARDIS crew were supposed to be unless a street name was provided. Now the action moves into a well-described Surgeons' Hall, about a blockaded church and down into Mary King's Close, all places filled with oppressive darknesses and creepy and cobweb filled rooms and corridors in which Smith allows his descriptive powers full range. There's no doubting where anyone is at any time by this point in the book and as the actual action (as opposed to the earlier page-filling action) takes place, the book continues to open out, with an intriguing and unusual set of villains and a reasonably well thought out conclusion (the final epilogue chapter though is a real disappointment, returning to the realm of cliche for no obvious reason).
Hopefully if Smith does another book in the NSA range (and I hope he does) then it will be more like the later half of this particular work.
August 7, 2019
A book based on the television series. This one has David Tennant as the Doctor and his companion is Martha. They travel to Edinburgh during the eighteenth century where they meet an alien who wants to live but to live this alien has to consume human DNA.
This book touches upon the zombie genre as well as Frankenstein. You would figure the Doctor meeting zombies would guarantee an amusing adventure. Sadly, that wasn't the case. We open in the middle of an action scene that doesn't provide any context. I could say that about several scenes as we jump from scene to scene without smooth transitions. The portrayals of the two main characters were nothing special either as they were generic and could be any incarnation of the Doctor or companion. And that isn't the worst offense of this book. It was the editing. We would get a change of a point of view within a scene which was very confusing. I believe it even confused the author because there were several times that a character was attempting to address another character but it was written as they were addressing one's self. The only positive I can say about this book is the imagery as some scenes were terrifying.
I do not expect great literature when reading a media tie-in novel. I do expect a quality product even if I do not enjoy the story. The story was rushed and unfortunately it seems so was the finished product. This was a disappointment.
This book touches upon the zombie genre as well as Frankenstein. You would figure the Doctor meeting zombies would guarantee an amusing adventure. Sadly, that wasn't the case. We open in the middle of an action scene that doesn't provide any context. I could say that about several scenes as we jump from scene to scene without smooth transitions. The portrayals of the two main characters were nothing special either as they were generic and could be any incarnation of the Doctor or companion. And that isn't the worst offense of this book. It was the editing. We would get a change of a point of view within a scene which was very confusing. I believe it even confused the author because there were several times that a character was attempting to address another character but it was written as they were addressing one's self. The only positive I can say about this book is the imagery as some scenes were terrifying.
I do not expect great literature when reading a media tie-in novel. I do expect a quality product even if I do not enjoy the story. The story was rushed and unfortunately it seems so was the finished product. This was a disappointment.
December 20, 2015
Source: I own this book.
Cost: Unknown
Title: The Many Hands
Series: Doctor Who New Adventures #24
Author: Dale Smith
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
I've always loved this book, as a kid, I remember it creeping me out so much that I couldn't sleep the night that I read it! As an adult, it doesn't scare me, but it's still quite sinister. My main question in this series is why is it always told more from the companions point of view rather than the Doctor's? Don't get me wrong, I love Martha, but I love Ten more.
Overall, a decent addition to this series.
Cost: Unknown
Title: The Many Hands
Series: Doctor Who New Adventures #24
Author: Dale Smith
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
I've always loved this book, as a kid, I remember it creeping me out so much that I couldn't sleep the night that I read it! As an adult, it doesn't scare me, but it's still quite sinister. My main question in this series is why is it always told more from the companions point of view rather than the Doctor's? Don't get me wrong, I love Martha, but I love Ten more.
Overall, a decent addition to this series.
April 19, 2017
What a very, very strange story. All I could see in my head while reading was the hands from Labyrinth. Totally cool.
Holy crap did that part freak me out as a kid. In a good kind of way. I think I probably watched that part a gazillion times. Now, I have to go watch it again.
Holy crap did that part freak me out as a kid. In a good kind of way. I think I probably watched that part a gazillion times. Now, I have to go watch it again.
September 22, 2012
This was such a great DW story! I loved how every action by both the Doctor and Martha fit perfectly with their on-screen personas. Every time the Doctor was saying something or doing something in the book it was very easy to read it in David Tennant's voice and visualize him acting that way, which is so nice.
The monsters in the story were super creepy and not at all what I thought they were going to be. There were so many funny lines, that I was smiling so often it was ridiculous.
I loved that the story took place in Scotland, and when it said the Doctor had a Scottish accent I was hearing the accent David used in the episode Tooth and Claw.
Fans of Doctor Who should love reading The Many Hands - I know I did! :)
The monsters in the story were super creepy and not at all what I thought they were going to be. There were so many funny lines, that I was smiling so often it was ridiculous.
I loved that the story took place in Scotland, and when it said the Doctor had a Scottish accent I was hearing the accent David used in the episode Tooth and Claw.
Fans of Doctor Who should love reading The Many Hands - I know I did! :)
December 27, 2019
A chase through the Edinburgh of 1759, pursuing some... thing... that has apparently been dead for a while; an overly zealous Captain of the Guard; and a multitude of disembodied hands that seem to have a strange and mysterious agenda of their own - These... and more... are the terrors and travails the 10th Doctor and Martha must face and overcome to save late 18th century Scotland.
Dale Smith hits the standard elements of a true BBC Doctor Who adventure and gives the reader an exciting continuation of the TV series. The characters' voices read true to those on the small screen and is a fun read.
Dale Smith hits the standard elements of a true BBC Doctor Who adventure and gives the reader an exciting continuation of the TV series. The characters' voices read true to those on the small screen and is a fun read.
March 23, 2025
2022 52 Book Challenge - December Mini Challenge - 2) Set Or Written 300 Years Ago
I loved the setting of this novel, and it felt quite atmospheric, and the Doctor and Martha are both characterized well, they felt like themselves.
I wasn't a big fan of the actual plot, I thought the pacing was a bit poor, and by about halfway through, I didn't really care about the plot anymore.
I loved the setting of this novel, and it felt quite atmospheric, and the Doctor and Martha are both characterized well, they felt like themselves.
I wasn't a big fan of the actual plot, I thought the pacing was a bit poor, and by about halfway through, I didn't really care about the plot anymore.
May 24, 2009
Right, here we go! Welcome to my Dr Who BookBlog! Over the next few months, I'm going to use this site to document my Who-related reading. My tastes are many and varied, and I may well expand my use of the site but for the time being, I want to try an create a one-stop source of Who reading information.
The Many Hands, well what to say about it. I was first attracted to it because it was set in Scotland. Dr Who, in Scotland, can't be bad. And, if you leave your thinking cap off, you won't be disappointed. The story moves along nicely and takes you on a very scenic tour of Edinburgh. Great for those of us who used to live there and miss the place!
The full extent of the evil lurking in the city takes a while to unfold and it does keep you turning the pages. Personally (SPOILER!) the noition of the hands becoming one big monster at the end was a teeny bit naff, but that aside, the moral dilemmas the Doctor faces more than make suspending the old disbelief worth it.
The tension mounts throughout the tale and being told from alternate characters' perspectives means we are able to see the whole story and that's just fine and dandy in anyone's book.
MAY 2009 - Just bought the audi book and looking forward to listening to it. Narrated by David Troughton (son of Sir Patrick Troughton and satr of Midnight).
The Many Hands, well what to say about it. I was first attracted to it because it was set in Scotland. Dr Who, in Scotland, can't be bad. And, if you leave your thinking cap off, you won't be disappointed. The story moves along nicely and takes you on a very scenic tour of Edinburgh. Great for those of us who used to live there and miss the place!
The full extent of the evil lurking in the city takes a while to unfold and it does keep you turning the pages. Personally (SPOILER!) the noition of the hands becoming one big monster at the end was a teeny bit naff, but that aside, the moral dilemmas the Doctor faces more than make suspending the old disbelief worth it.
The tension mounts throughout the tale and being told from alternate characters' perspectives means we are able to see the whole story and that's just fine and dandy in anyone's book.
MAY 2009 - Just bought the audi book and looking forward to listening to it. Narrated by David Troughton (son of Sir Patrick Troughton and satr of Midnight).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2014
This was okay, but nothing really special. I never got the sense that it was a real Doctor/Martha adventure. I found my mind wandering while I was listening to it because some of the scenes seemed repetitive; I thought maybe someone at the BBC decided that it would be cool to have the Doctor in an adventure with zombies because zombies are popular now. Perhaps the abridgement left out too much of the background.
November 21, 2018
Straight the moment The Doctor is trying to distract a walking dead corpse on the top of a stagecoach, you know your in for a creepy gothic adventure.
The historical Edinburgh setting during 1773 gives this story a really hammer horror / early Fourth Doctor era feel.
The disembodied hands are so sinister, I wonder if that was a reference to The Hand of Fear?
The historical Edinburgh setting during 1773 gives this story a really hammer horror / early Fourth Doctor era feel.
The disembodied hands are so sinister, I wonder if that was a reference to The Hand of Fear?
February 14, 2015
I preferred the second half of the book where the story got more creepy. The first half was slow and confusing with the story opening in the middle of an action scene. This was just an "okay" Doctor Who story for me.
June 11, 2021
Rating: 3 stars
This was more... yucky than I expected. Disembodied hands run around and go all over people suffocating them before inhabiting their body. Just going to be a super basic white chick here but ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
This was more... yucky than I expected. Disembodied hands run around and go all over people suffocating them before inhabiting their body. Just going to be a super basic white chick here but ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
April 24, 2008
rubbish, only for under fives
July 14, 2015
This was quite an interesting one. I rather liked it.
And David Troughton did a great job narrating it.
And David Troughton did a great job narrating it.
November 22, 2025
7/10
a good whovian adventure overall. the mystery is pretty interesting and it's all set up and and executed how an episode would be. my only problems are that the characters didn't quite feel like Ten and Martha, more like imitations of them. you could have replaced them with any Doctor and companion's names without needing to change much. I also thought the end was a little rushed and the writing a bit janky at times. Still a fun adventure
a good whovian adventure overall. the mystery is pretty interesting and it's all set up and and executed how an episode would be. my only problems are that the characters didn't quite feel like Ten and Martha, more like imitations of them. you could have replaced them with any Doctor and companion's names without needing to change much. I also thought the end was a little rushed and the writing a bit janky at times. Still a fun adventure
May 2, 2025
Edinburgh in 1759 is hiding many secrets. American spies, body thieves and hands that can move on their own. The Doctor and Martha are investigating, but soon find themselves being chased by the Redcoats.
In places funny and silly, but overall very dark with some scenes of pure terror, this is 'Doctor Who' at its finest. Smith writes well and has some fun callbacks to the Doctor's past.
In places funny and silly, but overall very dark with some scenes of pure terror, this is 'Doctor Who' at its finest. Smith writes well and has some fun callbacks to the Doctor's past.
March 23, 2024
Overall pretty enjoyable.
November 18, 2023
I think is is pretty good and interesting to read
July 15, 2018
"Edinburgh, 1759. The Nor' Loch is being filled in. If you ask the soldiers there, they'll tell you it's a stinking cesspool that the city can do without. But that doesn't explain why the workers won't go near the place without an armed guard. That doesn't explain why they whisper stories about the loch giving up its dead, about the minister who walked into his church twelve years after he died... It doesn't explain why, as they work, they whisper about a man called the Doctor. And about the many hands of Alexander Monro."
Well, this took me a while to finish. I think that it was mainly because I wanted to watch the episode first, but after constant googling, found that it didn't exist. This book is one of the ones written about the Doctor and his travels, but wasn't made into an episode of the well known television series.
I thought that the concept of this book was really interesting, especially exactly how Monro made the hands move, and pretty much the whole idea. Using static electricity was also a cool idea, but as I know basically nothing about it, I couldn't say if it would work or not.
My favourite part of this book by far was when the Doctor was able to randomly pull out an inflatable beach ball from his coat pockets, and all the random looks that he got from the townsfolk was great.
Also, Martha is the hero that we all needed.
This book might be a bit confusing to people that have never seen the tv series or read any of the books, as it is truly a bit weird. Us whovians are well known for our craziness.
This review came up really quickly, as I 100% expected there to be a gap of at least a week or something in between reviews. Well, there will be another sometime soon. Hopefully.
Why have my latest reviews not had the signoff at the end? Hmm.
Lauren
xxx
Well, this took me a while to finish. I think that it was mainly because I wanted to watch the episode first, but after constant googling, found that it didn't exist. This book is one of the ones written about the Doctor and his travels, but wasn't made into an episode of the well known television series.
I thought that the concept of this book was really interesting, especially exactly how Monro made the hands move, and pretty much the whole idea. Using static electricity was also a cool idea, but as I know basically nothing about it, I couldn't say if it would work or not.
My favourite part of this book by far was when the Doctor was able to randomly pull out an inflatable beach ball from his coat pockets, and all the random looks that he got from the townsfolk was great.
Also, Martha is the hero that we all needed.
This book might be a bit confusing to people that have never seen the tv series or read any of the books, as it is truly a bit weird. Us whovians are well known for our craziness.
This review came up really quickly, as I 100% expected there to be a gap of at least a week or something in between reviews. Well, there will be another sometime soon. Hopefully.
Why have my latest reviews not had the signoff at the end? Hmm.
Lauren
xxx
October 8, 2016
An enjoyable and atmospheric romp through 18th century Edinburgh for the 10th Doctor and Martha. The plot rolls along at a decent pace, and draws well on the features of the old city and gives us a genuinely creepy monster. The only real weakness of the story, for me, was the lack of character development for the creature - exactly what was it and what did it want, beyond just staying alive? In fairness, this is a frequent problem within the TV show too - monsters are often just scary things lumbering about with little or nor depth beyond just being scary. The series is at its best when it fleshes out the villains and gives them a real sense of identity and character. Like many of the best TV episodes, this draws on some iconic images from Gothic horror films and novels of decades past and gives them a science fiction spin.
I quite liked the inclusion of in-jokes based around such things as David Tennant's theatrical career outside the Tardis, which had definite geek appeal. The idea would have made a great TV episode, though I suspect even modern CGI would struggle a bit with some of the scenes depicted.
I quite liked the inclusion of in-jokes based around such things as David Tennant's theatrical career outside the Tardis, which had definite geek appeal. The idea would have made a great TV episode, though I suspect even modern CGI would struggle a bit with some of the scenes depicted.
January 27, 2019
There were a lot of BBC Audiobooks released tying into the new series that had similar formulas: The Doctor + Isolated English locale from modern or historic period + Monster. The one actually does the formula really well as the Doctor and Martha arrive at a village chasing Benjamin Franklin's carriage and end up arrested.
There's a lot that makes this story work. There's some good research into the time period and the science of Ben Franklin's discovery of static electricity. I also appreciated that for once having companions wander around in modern clothing in historical eras did get a realistic reaction.
The characters are pretty well-drawn. Even the English military authority figure is created as a person who has reasons for what he does rather than the tiresome fools that so often show up in Doctor Who Novels. Also, the villain has reasons for what he does.
I also found of these disembodied creeping hands to be thoroughly and appropriately creepy. The audiobook is helped by a very spirited reading from David Troughton bringing it to life. Like I said, there are a lot of Doctor Who Audiobooks from this era with similar plots, but this one is really worth checking out.
There's a lot that makes this story work. There's some good research into the time period and the science of Ben Franklin's discovery of static electricity. I also appreciated that for once having companions wander around in modern clothing in historical eras did get a realistic reaction.
The characters are pretty well-drawn. Even the English military authority figure is created as a person who has reasons for what he does rather than the tiresome fools that so often show up in Doctor Who Novels. Also, the villain has reasons for what he does.
I also found of these disembodied creeping hands to be thoroughly and appropriately creepy. The audiobook is helped by a very spirited reading from David Troughton bringing it to life. Like I said, there are a lot of Doctor Who Audiobooks from this era with similar plots, but this one is really worth checking out.
February 9, 2016
This was... it wanted to be exceptionally creepy & was just "meh"
Didn't help the scene descriptions aren't very good (so when the soldiers ran into the church it was already full of people? Funny, forgot to mention that 'till like 3 scenes later!) and the inconsistency with names (at start the woman is "Katherine" but then pages upon pages later he thinks "his poor Isabella, how scared she has been" ..what, was there another woman in his life we've just forgot to mention, or The Editor fell asleep atthe wheel the script)
Monroe calls her "Mary" (just to call her something) but next scene refers to her as "Martha" even tho absolutely nothing has happened since last time to make him learn her name correctly
These seemingly small things just keep adding up and the ending was .... no words. So cheap. So lame. So phoned-in
Giving it an extra star purely for Tennant-specific easter eggs: like the few lines here and there about scottish accent and "900 years old and could be Hamlet" bit
Didn't help the scene descriptions aren't very good (so when the soldiers ran into the church it was already full of people? Funny, forgot to mention that 'till like 3 scenes later!) and the inconsistency with names (at start the woman is "Katherine" but then pages upon pages later he thinks "his poor Isabella, how scared she has been" ..what, was there another woman in his life we've just forgot to mention, or The Editor fell asleep at
Monroe calls her "Mary" (just to call her something) but next scene refers to her as "Martha" even tho absolutely nothing has happened since last time to make him learn her name correctly
These seemingly small things just keep adding up and the ending was .... no words. So cheap. So lame. So phoned-in
Giving it an extra star purely for Tennant-specific easter eggs: like the few lines here and there about scottish accent and "900 years old and could be Hamlet" bit
January 17, 2012
A new series book starring the Tenth Doctor and Martha in 18th-century Edinburgh fighting cloned hands by the loch. There are some good bits, especially near the end when things are most dire, but I felt the book was rather repetitive. The Doctor and Martha, separated, encounter the same threat, after all. There was also the problem of shifting the point of view to the ancillary characters, which would work in a longer book, but here somehow marginalizes the stars. I have little interest in a story about a British soldier who doesn't know what to think of the funny man with the wand. Consequently, this is a book I put down and only picked up again lately. Took me awhile.
March 8, 2015
DNF at page 192. I'm sorry. I stopped caring. Zombies and reanimated hands? Seriously? This book reminded me of a shlocky Doctor Who ep that I would've soon forgotten.
I'm glad I got this book for free. I'd have regretted paying for it.
Oh, and can we talk about how forced the characterization was? In particular, he wasn't writing Martha and the Doctor as they are, but how he *wanted them to be*. No wonder the book sucked. You can't force characters into molds without it feeling synthetic.
I'm glad I got this book for free. I'd have regretted paying for it.
Oh, and can we talk about how forced the characterization was? In particular, he wasn't writing Martha and the Doctor as they are, but how he *wanted them to be*. No wonder the book sucked. You can't force characters into molds without it feeling synthetic.
December 18, 2010
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1557506.html
A jolly good Tenth Doctor and Martha novel, which would have made a brilliant TV episode (or couple of episodes). Mostly set in eighteenth-century Edinburgh, where alien tech has created a flock of semi-sentient hands which are terrifying the locals. A good sense of place and a couple of David Tennant in-jokes referencing Bathgate and Hamlet. Entertaining stuff.
A jolly good Tenth Doctor and Martha novel, which would have made a brilliant TV episode (or couple of episodes). Mostly set in eighteenth-century Edinburgh, where alien tech has created a flock of semi-sentient hands which are terrifying the locals. A good sense of place and a couple of David Tennant in-jokes referencing Bathgate and Hamlet. Entertaining stuff.
January 1, 2016
My first disappointment of 2016- 1*
What even was this novel?
So boring...
I love Edinburgh but what an awful setting for this...
Martha was such a disappointment of a character again, the companionship does not work. Once again, Martha is 'blushing' and not focusing on the adventure of an alien race.
She ruined this book. Bad plot, bad characters and boring!
What even was this novel?
So boring...
I love Edinburgh but what an awful setting for this...
Martha was such a disappointment of a character again, the companionship does not work. Once again, Martha is 'blushing' and not focusing on the adventure of an alien race.
She ruined this book. Bad plot, bad characters and boring!
October 10, 2014
Good, quick read. I do love when the Doctor incorporates real historical figured in the stories. My one complaint about the book was the author makes Martha fawn over the Doctor a bit too much (I'm so annoyed by the writing of Martha as some lovesick puppydog, when she's such an incredible character beyond that) but they're separated for most of the story so it wasn't much on an issue.
August 7, 2017
Updated on 7/08/17
I wanted to re-read a book that I couldn't remember what happened in the book and that I read a long time ago and this is the one I picked.
This was a fairly enjoyable book with a creepy Scottish vibe to it. However it wasn't flawless mainly due to the ending because it felt rushed and it left me with a few unanswered questions.
I wanted to re-read a book that I couldn't remember what happened in the book and that I read a long time ago and this is the one I picked.
This was a fairly enjoyable book with a creepy Scottish vibe to it. However it wasn't flawless mainly due to the ending because it felt rushed and it left me with a few unanswered questions.
January 25, 2016
The Doctor and Martha are Edinburgh in 1759. The story opens with an out-of-control stagecoach and a group of trigger-happy guards. Add to that mix a couple mad scientists and a group of disembodied hands that seem to have some form of intelligence and you have another fascinating Doctor Who adventure.
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