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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #179
Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder
A ship at the edge of space.
A robot with a secret.
A sinister presence.
The Doctor and Donna are trapped on board a mysterious spacecraft. Fate of the crew: unknown. Fate of the universe if what's on board gets out: terminal.
Based on a script by Russell T Davies, the spectacular second adventure for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary features David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
A robot with a secret.
A sinister presence.
The Doctor and Donna are trapped on board a mysterious spacecraft. Fate of the crew: unknown. Fate of the universe if what's on board gets out: terminal.
Based on a script by Russell T Davies, the spectacular second adventure for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary features David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
158 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2024
24 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Mark Morris
133 books239 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.
His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.
His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
November 22, 2024
A very enjoyable novelisation of an above average Doctor Who episode. This one has the Doctor and Donna on an abandoned spaceship at the edge of the universe. There’s a solid central mystery, a race against time element and some very creepy monsters. Mark Morris does a good job of adapting the story - he captures the Who vibe and characters perfectly and the narrative has real tension. One scene in particular improved upon the episode in my opinion, taking something that was at least in part played for laughs on screen and making it much creepier.
December 9, 2023
(3.5/5, rounded up)
Even more than “The Star Beast”’s novelization, Mark Morris’s novelization of “Wild Blue Yonder” is an almost word-for-word translation of the original TV episode - for better or worse. On the one hand, there was always the fear of a novelization of such an esoteric episode over explaining the very mystery that made the episode work so well. And Morris is very careful not to fall into that trap here, keeping the no-things exactly as mysterious on the page as they were on the screen.
But on the other hand, that leaves him with little to do to expand the story beyond a strict translation from screen-to-page. And unfortunately “Wild Blue Yonder” is one of those stories that works significantly better than it does on the page. On screen, there’s a lot of tension to the story. But on the page, where everything can be more clearly defined, a lot of that tension merely evaporates. And all you’re left with is a smartly written but less effective version of a story you’ve already seen.
Now, to be fair, the additions of the Doctor and Donna’s respective thoughts do add a lot to the story, especially in the more dramatic moments. But they’re not quite enough to overcome the general feeling that prose isn’t the medium best suited to a story like this.
So, as a novel, it’s fine. A very faithful retelling of one of Doctor Who’s strangest episodes in recent memory. But it’s nothing all that special, either. Well written, but average overall.
Even more than “The Star Beast”’s novelization, Mark Morris’s novelization of “Wild Blue Yonder” is an almost word-for-word translation of the original TV episode - for better or worse. On the one hand, there was always the fear of a novelization of such an esoteric episode over explaining the very mystery that made the episode work so well. And Morris is very careful not to fall into that trap here, keeping the no-things exactly as mysterious on the page as they were on the screen.
But on the other hand, that leaves him with little to do to expand the story beyond a strict translation from screen-to-page. And unfortunately “Wild Blue Yonder” is one of those stories that works significantly better than it does on the page. On screen, there’s a lot of tension to the story. But on the page, where everything can be more clearly defined, a lot of that tension merely evaporates. And all you’re left with is a smartly written but less effective version of a story you’ve already seen.
Now, to be fair, the additions of the Doctor and Donna’s respective thoughts do add a lot to the story, especially in the more dramatic moments. But they’re not quite enough to overcome the general feeling that prose isn’t the medium best suited to a story like this.
So, as a novel, it’s fine. A very faithful retelling of one of Doctor Who’s strangest episodes in recent memory. But it’s nothing all that special, either. Well written, but average overall.
January 26, 2024
Only a horror writer could have written a dark original early style 1960s running up and down inside a space ship Doctor Who. While I was reading this Tom Baker was 90, which made it specifically good.
Out in wild blue yonder very Salty with a cup of coffee.Double Double
Out in wild blue yonder very Salty with a cup of coffee.Double Double
December 27, 2023
I LOVED this show, and it was fun to relive it in the page.
August 18, 2024
By no means was this bad. But as a novelization of a tv show episode it was almost entirely lacking in the one thing I want in a novelization - deeper insights into character motivation and thoughts. To look at it a positive way - I think it speaks to just how well Davies manages to convey character thoughts and motivations even in a tv-script format. To put it a negative way, shiiiiit this was boring! Since it lacked any significant addition to character thoughts, it was alllll running around in changing corridors. OMG, soooo boring! I don't have a good visual imagination based on building descriptions so I was intensely bored. In this case, watching the episode on tv is the waaaaay better option.
In other news, my jaw hit the ground when I saw the cover price on this - $13.99 U.S. $19.99 Canadian... for a 150-page paperback. Whoa! Looks like I've finally found something even more outrageously priced than those Tor novellas. Fortunately, I borrowed this through interlibrary loan (thank you, once again, Midcontinent Library for delivering Doctor Who delights to me in CA) so I can be relieved that my library paid the cost, not me. AND I could return when done because this is way too boring to take up space in my apartment.
In other news, my jaw hit the ground when I saw the cover price on this - $13.99 U.S. $19.99 Canadian... for a 150-page paperback. Whoa! Looks like I've finally found something even more outrageously priced than those Tor novellas. Fortunately, I borrowed this through interlibrary loan (thank you, once again, Midcontinent Library for delivering Doctor Who delights to me in CA) so I can be relieved that my library paid the cost, not me. AND I could return when done because this is way too boring to take up space in my apartment.
January 26, 2024
In a way, Mark Morris was given an impossible hand with the task of adapting "Wild Blue Yonder" to book form. As good as its script may be, what really makes it come alive is the actors' performances and the direction. The building sense of dread, the grotesque visuals - it's all down to the director and the edit. Who could you even put that to page? I wouldn't say that Morris wasn't trying, but compared to the TV version the story comes across as a bit tepid, and a reader who wasn't hasn't seen the episode (as niche as that demographic is) would probably wonder what the fuzz is all about. So hence I wonder whether this undertaking was always hopeless to begin with.
...and yet, and yet. I'm already on the beginning pages of the third special's Target novelization, "The Giggle", and it uses "Wild Blue Yonder"s ending as a starting point, so you have the same scene with the same dialogue covered by two different people - and both versions read like night and day. In "The Giggle" the descriptions are vivid and unsettling, here they are somewhat plain and not much more than just serviceable. Hum.
Funny, that. While "Wild Blue Yonder" IMO was the highlight of the three 60th anniversary specials, it's novelization is the weakest of the bunch.
...and yet, and yet. I'm already on the beginning pages of the third special's Target novelization, "The Giggle", and it uses "Wild Blue Yonder"s ending as a starting point, so you have the same scene with the same dialogue covered by two different people - and both versions read like night and day. In "The Giggle" the descriptions are vivid and unsettling, here they are somewhat plain and not much more than just serviceable. Hum.
Funny, that. While "Wild Blue Yonder" IMO was the highlight of the three 60th anniversary specials, it's novelization is the weakest of the bunch.
December 26, 2023
For one final jaunt on the TARDIS, Donna and the Doctor find themselves at the edge of the universe, where two malevolent beings are intent on invasion.
Morris manages to keep some elements of the creepiness from the televised episode, but also highlights the "mavity" joke, which felt a bit swamped out on screen. The closing scenes with Wilfred Mott are handled tenderly and remind us why not only the actor but the character was important in 'Doctor Who'.
Morris manages to keep some elements of the creepiness from the televised episode, but also highlights the "mavity" joke, which felt a bit swamped out on screen. The closing scenes with Wilfred Mott are handled tenderly and remind us why not only the actor but the character was important in 'Doctor Who'.
July 19, 2024
This is so disappointing. It's a perfectly adequate Terrance-Dicks-style transcript adaptation, with minimal extras...but there's no spice here, and there's no attempt to take advantage of this being the strangest and most disturbing of the 60th anniversary specials. It deserved so much more, and I wish Mark Morris had actually taken advantage of the thrilling horror of the situation at the edge of the universe.
February 27, 2025
Out of all the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials, Wild Blue Yonder is my favourite. To me, it's classic RTD, very Midnight-esq. The Doctor and Donna, stuck on a spaceship in the future, on the edge of the universe, fighting THEMSELVES? Yes, please! Bring on the adventure!
Even though it followed the script word for word, it's the inner thoughts and dilemmas of the Doctor and Donna that made this retelling awesome. It certainly felt I was rewatching the episode. The sense of forbidding and uncertainty is real, man.
Next up - The Giggle, which should be a lot of fun!
4.75 🌟
Even though it followed the script word for word, it's the inner thoughts and dilemmas of the Doctor and Donna that made this retelling awesome. It certainly felt I was rewatching the episode. The sense of forbidding and uncertainty is real, man.
Next up - The Giggle, which should be a lot of fun!
4.75 🌟
September 12, 2024
Just the episode really, shame they didn’t build more on the moments with Donna and the doctor alone - could have said a lot with the flux and how the doc feels about it etc
May 21, 2025
Didn’t really get a ton out of this (which is fine, I’m not the target audience) except for a reminder of how hard RTD cooked with those three episodes. Please bring it home Russell. Please.
December 16, 2024
a fun light read. well-written but doesn't really add much more depth to the story than can be gained by just watching the episode
February 27, 2024
This is a stronger novel than Gary Russell's adaptation of The Star Beast, but only because Wild Blue Yonder is the superior episode of Doctor Who. Author Mark Morris's novelization of the Russell T. Davies script faithfully captures the familiar plot beats, yet there's very little new material that he brings to the task in the way of character interiority or additional scenes, which would seem to be the main benefit of reproducing an existing TV story into the written medium. It's also sadly the case that this particular show special is pretty heavily driven by its eerie visuals and talented performances, which do not translate well to the page at all.
It is still a fine tale: the Fourteenth Doctor and his friend Donna Noble, reunited and traveling together once again, encounter a derelict spaceship on the literal edge of the universe and eventually discover that it's populated by two malevolent entities from the other side who have copied their appearances (when they're not losing control of their bodies and warping grotesquely). The TARDIS has temporarily dematerialized, taking the hero's handy sonic screwdriver device with it, leaving the pair of time-travelers stranded with only their wits to somehow outmaneuver their doppelgänger enemies as the ship's corridors slowly transform around them.
It's a great premise. Any hypothetical reader who hadn't already watched these events play out on-screen would probably enjoy it, but for those of us who can draw the comparison, the tension and dramatic reveals whenever one of the protagonists isn't sure if the other is an imposter just fundamentally work better when we can see the actors' faces and can't see inside anyone's mind. The book also inherits without change the weakest part of the original version, the Doctor's almost-disastrous mistaking of the false Donna for the real one near the end. In a storyline about reestablishing the characters' old trust and partnership, that's not necessarily a bad development, but it's one that should have been addressed with emotional consequences and earned rapprochement, rather than simply shrugged off as it is here/there. That moment is likewise a missed opportunity for the Time Lord to notice something actually wrong with his putative companion's behavior or comments -- thereby demonstrating that he does truly know her -- instead of apparently spotting at the last second that one of her arms is infinitesimally too long.
My contention remains that these 2023 Doctor Who novelizations were released too early, all within a week of their respective episodes airing on television. With greater time and distance, the writers could have dug more into the finished works and their critical audience reception, reflectively iterating and tweaking in a way that might have improved matters. Without that possibility for this title, the result is a bit of a not-thing itself: close enough to the genuine item at a glance, but only an inferior facsimile on closer inspection.
[Content warning for body horror and suicide.]
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It is still a fine tale: the Fourteenth Doctor and his friend Donna Noble, reunited and traveling together once again, encounter a derelict spaceship on the literal edge of the universe and eventually discover that it's populated by two malevolent entities from the other side who have copied their appearances (when they're not losing control of their bodies and warping grotesquely). The TARDIS has temporarily dematerialized, taking the hero's handy sonic screwdriver device with it, leaving the pair of time-travelers stranded with only their wits to somehow outmaneuver their doppelgänger enemies as the ship's corridors slowly transform around them.
It's a great premise. Any hypothetical reader who hadn't already watched these events play out on-screen would probably enjoy it, but for those of us who can draw the comparison, the tension and dramatic reveals whenever one of the protagonists isn't sure if the other is an imposter just fundamentally work better when we can see the actors' faces and can't see inside anyone's mind. The book also inherits without change the weakest part of the original version, the Doctor's almost-disastrous mistaking of the false Donna for the real one near the end. In a storyline about reestablishing the characters' old trust and partnership, that's not necessarily a bad development, but it's one that should have been addressed with emotional consequences and earned rapprochement, rather than simply shrugged off as it is here/there. That moment is likewise a missed opportunity for the Time Lord to notice something actually wrong with his putative companion's behavior or comments -- thereby demonstrating that he does truly know her -- instead of apparently spotting at the last second that one of her arms is infinitesimally too long.
My contention remains that these 2023 Doctor Who novelizations were released too early, all within a week of their respective episodes airing on television. With greater time and distance, the writers could have dug more into the finished works and their critical audience reception, reflectively iterating and tweaking in a way that might have improved matters. Without that possibility for this title, the result is a bit of a not-thing itself: close enough to the genuine item at a glance, but only an inferior facsimile on closer inspection.
[Content warning for body horror and suicide.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
January 16, 2024
❤️92% = 👍🏼8 ✊🏼2 👎🏼0 = Superb!
This one follows the TV version almost beat for beat. Then again, it's a very challenging story to expand upon because the original is so limited in scope. At the same time, the original script is so tightly plotted, tense, and imaginative that the story doesn't need much expansion. What we get is a bit more of the Doctor's and Donna's thoughts and feelings, which, of course, is pivotal to any good novel.
The visuality of Wild Blue Yonder also doesn't fully translate to the page, with some sequences losing their edge and others feeling a bit muddled. I appreciate how well Morris captures most of the bizarre things going on here, though (and it helps that I've seen the episode beforehand).
The climactic race to save the robot and the moment of the explosion that almost kills Donna are wonderfully tense, and feel more nail-biting here. The original moments are almost too brief in comparison.
The chapters are named after the countdown that occurs in the story, starting with Fenslaw and counting down to zero. It's a clever decision to bring readers into the story, and the chapters also break off at intriguing moments, which keep you glued to the story.
This one follows the TV version almost beat for beat. Then again, it's a very challenging story to expand upon because the original is so limited in scope. At the same time, the original script is so tightly plotted, tense, and imaginative that the story doesn't need much expansion. What we get is a bit more of the Doctor's and Donna's thoughts and feelings, which, of course, is pivotal to any good novel.
The visuality of Wild Blue Yonder also doesn't fully translate to the page, with some sequences losing their edge and others feeling a bit muddled. I appreciate how well Morris captures most of the bizarre things going on here, though (and it helps that I've seen the episode beforehand).
The climactic race to save the robot and the moment of the explosion that almost kills Donna are wonderfully tense, and feel more nail-biting here. The original moments are almost too brief in comparison.
The chapters are named after the countdown that occurs in the story, starting with Fenslaw and counting down to zero. It's a clever decision to bring readers into the story, and the chapters also break off at intriguing moments, which keep you glued to the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2024
Rating 3
For me a very basic adaptation of screen to page which didn’t really work.
For a story that had a limited number of characters, isolated location, strange goings on, creepy as anything, why was this novel was so tension less for the majority of the time.
It should have been a creepy creepy horror story, instead it fell very flat for me.
The episode itself was better than the previous one in this 60th anniversary run, very visual and really held my attention. This adaptation didn’t.
So far then on screen this was the second best whilst the adaptation is my least liked.
And overall after two stories this anniversary series is very disappointing. Still see no reason for Tennant returning as a different Doctor, no reason to re write the fate of Donna or her family.
At best the stories appear to be have been written to allow RTD to put his personal socio-political believes front and centre in the show rather than telling entertaining stories first.
Overall than a disappointing adaptation of a good episode on tv, but as disappointing as some of the classic who target adaptation but getting there.
For me a very basic adaptation of screen to page which didn’t really work.
For a story that had a limited number of characters, isolated location, strange goings on, creepy as anything, why was this novel was so tension less for the majority of the time.
It should have been a creepy creepy horror story, instead it fell very flat for me.
The episode itself was better than the previous one in this 60th anniversary run, very visual and really held my attention. This adaptation didn’t.
So far then on screen this was the second best whilst the adaptation is my least liked.
And overall after two stories this anniversary series is very disappointing. Still see no reason for Tennant returning as a different Doctor, no reason to re write the fate of Donna or her family.
At best the stories appear to be have been written to allow RTD to put his personal socio-political believes front and centre in the show rather than telling entertaining stories first.
Overall than a disappointing adaptation of a good episode on tv, but as disappointing as some of the classic who target adaptation but getting there.
December 10, 2025
This Target novelisation by Mark Morris is a passable one, adapting the TV story where the Doctor and Donna land on a spaceship occupied by the Not-Things. However, it doesn't add much new to proceedings. Wild Blue Yonder's Target novelisation mainly acts as a straight retelling of the 2023 Special.
There is some neat character writing for Donna Noble during the climax where she nearly dies on the exploding ship. Mark Morris invites us inside Donna's head where we can feel her fear and her anxiety at not seeing her family again. Of course, the Doctor does show up and save her in the episode, but to Donna, this really feels like the end for her.
It's also nice how, by its nature, this gives us a Target book with Wilf. His cameo from the episode is present here, and it's just as lovely on the page as it was in Wild Blue Yonder. The late Bernard Cribbins is one of those household names who I believe is missed by the nation, and it's sad to think we'll never get to see him in Doctor Who again.
There is some neat character writing for Donna Noble during the climax where she nearly dies on the exploding ship. Mark Morris invites us inside Donna's head where we can feel her fear and her anxiety at not seeing her family again. Of course, the Doctor does show up and save her in the episode, but to Donna, this really feels like the end for her.
It's also nice how, by its nature, this gives us a Target book with Wilf. His cameo from the episode is present here, and it's just as lovely on the page as it was in Wild Blue Yonder. The late Bernard Cribbins is one of those household names who I believe is missed by the nation, and it's sad to think we'll never get to see him in Doctor Who again.
January 17, 2024
This is the most straightforward novelisation of all the three new books released to coincide with the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials - which is a shame, since it's arguably adapting the best episode of the lot.
On screen, Wild Blue Yonder is a marvel of tight, tense storytelling, buoyed by a pair (or is that a quartet?) of stunning lead performances - with David Tennant and Catherine Tate somehow managing to surpass themselves and surprise us with the depths they can find in their characters.
Mark Morris' novel pretty much puts what's on screen down on the page, but because it's such a dutiful translation, there's a spark of life missing in this book. There isn't much that's different or new to be gleaned from the text (not even tiny new moments or welcome character insights, as in The Star Beast, much less a whoppingly insane perspective shift as in The Giggle).
A serviceable adaptation that doesn't quite capture the bold, bonkers brilliance of the episode.
2.5 to 3 stars
On screen, Wild Blue Yonder is a marvel of tight, tense storytelling, buoyed by a pair (or is that a quartet?) of stunning lead performances - with David Tennant and Catherine Tate somehow managing to surpass themselves and surprise us with the depths they can find in their characters.
Mark Morris' novel pretty much puts what's on screen down on the page, but because it's such a dutiful translation, there's a spark of life missing in this book. There isn't much that's different or new to be gleaned from the text (not even tiny new moments or welcome character insights, as in The Star Beast, much less a whoppingly insane perspective shift as in The Giggle).
A serviceable adaptation that doesn't quite capture the bold, bonkers brilliance of the episode.
2.5 to 3 stars
January 7, 2024
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-fourteenth-doctor-novelisations-the-star-beast-gary-russell-wild-blue-yonder-mark-morris-the-giggle-james-goss/
Wild Blue Yonder was such a visual story, depending both on superb special effects and on twists in the plot, that the book version needs to be either a faithful screen-to-page adaptation or to take a completely different approach. Morris has (perhaps sensibly) gone for the first option, and the result is a workmanlike book that completists like me will want to have, but won’t be a gateway drug for anyone else.
Wild Blue Yonder was such a visual story, depending both on superb special effects and on twists in the plot, that the book version needs to be either a faithful screen-to-page adaptation or to take a completely different approach. Morris has (perhaps sensibly) gone for the first option, and the result is a workmanlike book that completists like me will want to have, but won’t be a gateway drug for anyone else.
February 25, 2024
Wild Blue Yonder is the second of the 60th Anniversary specials with David Tennant as the 14th Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. Of the three specials I think this is the hardest one to write. Essentially story that only contains the two main characters (well x 2), a very slow robot and a giant ship that keeps changing. This episode is full of CGI on the screen and contains a lot of visual elements, but Mark Morris did an excellent job of "visualizing" this on the page. Unlike other Target novels there is not much expansion on the story seen on the screen, but there really are not any other characters to expand on in this one. This does not detract from what Mark did in this one.
I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
January 7, 2025
1.5 stars. I decided to read this because “Wild Blue Yonder” was my favorite of the 60th Anniversary specials and one of my favorite episodes since the first Davies era. I haven’t been disappointed by a novelization yet, so I figured I’d give this a read. It was not worth it.
One of the main reasons I read novelizations is for expanded scenes and character insights through internal dialogue. Both The Day of the Doctor and Twice Upon a Time books did both of those things beautifully, but this one utterly failed to. This book is like a very detailed wikipedia article with better prose. Mark Morris describes exactly what happened and not much else. His prose can be good, but it doesn’t save the novel.
One of the main reasons I read novelizations is for expanded scenes and character insights through internal dialogue. Both The Day of the Doctor and Twice Upon a Time books did both of those things beautifully, but this one utterly failed to. This book is like a very detailed wikipedia article with better prose. Mark Morris describes exactly what happened and not much else. His prose can be good, but it doesn’t save the novel.
January 26, 2024
The novelisation of the second Doctor Who 60th Anniversary ‘Wild Blue Yonder’ is a very good adaptation of the episode which surprised us all in November, however I feel that it misses out and fails to capture the sheer terror that the Doctor and Donna feel in the story as well as not capitalising on the body horror of the episode though.
While Mark Morris does a great job at adapting the very difficult to adapt episode I feel like it did miss out on some big opportunities but is by no means a bad book and easy and enjoyable read.
This is based solely on my experience with this book as I am yet to read the other 2 novelisations of The Sixtieth Specials.
While Mark Morris does a great job at adapting the very difficult to adapt episode I feel like it did miss out on some big opportunities but is by no means a bad book and easy and enjoyable read.
This is based solely on my experience with this book as I am yet to read the other 2 novelisations of The Sixtieth Specials.
March 31, 2024
So, this was lovely, I was wondering how well something like this would feel when reading instead of watching it but I was a surprised how much I still like it here. Sure, the episode itself is undoubtedly better but there is something about this novel, the prose is really eerie at times.
I love it when the novels add something to the episode which sadly did not really happen here. Don’t get me wrong it’s a super well written novel and the story is great. I just kinda wish there was more of it.
More of a 3.5
I love it when the novels add something to the episode which sadly did not really happen here. Don’t get me wrong it’s a super well written novel and the story is great. I just kinda wish there was more of it.
More of a 3.5
July 24, 2024
This was a great novelization of a great (and very eerie) Doctor Who 60th anniversary special. The book maintains the mood of the episode, and even manages to make some improvements (the heightened action parts towards the ending, the whole countdown race to that robot, etc). The novelization doesn't provide answers as to what the 'not-things' really were, but gives you enough subtle hints to their plans for the universe. The stakes for the Doctor & Donna were high, and that comes through in the writing.
June 21, 2024
Wild Blue Yonder is my favorite of the 60th anniversary specials, and that is due in large part to the amazing acting of David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I think because so much of the episode is very visual, it doesn’t work as well in novel form. Since I’ve seen the episode (as I imagine will most people who read this book) I was able to picture what was going on, but I feel like it would be harder to visualize if you didn’t have that prior knowledge and just read the book.
April 14, 2024
A retelling emphasising the horror of the situation, with Donna's fears of never getting home nicely handled. So much of the tv episode was visual, but the novelisation handles it well, giving the ship a sense of scale. The book also made a bit more sense of the ending where we go into the madness of the Giggle.
April 30, 2024
This was much better than the actual episode of doctor who as it expanded on a lot of the things that I felt didn't make sense in the tv episode and expanded it to make it make sense. Still don't particularly like the big bad/villain in this particular story as I feel it has been done better in other episodes.
May 10, 2024
This was a better novelisation of a great story - while it fails perhaps to capture the atmosphere on screen and of course its very important central performances, there are nice moments of added character motivation and a couple of additional scenes and descriptions that weren’t in the episode. It’s another really good, inventive and creepy story.
May 20, 2024
This was, by far, my favourite episode of the three specials, and while the book was a very quick read (took me exactly an hour), it somehow missed the tenseness of the episode. The differences were spelt out now, the entire plot more obvious because they had to tell, not show.
It was well written and I definitely enjoyed it, but it wasn't the same.
It was well written and I definitely enjoyed it, but it wasn't the same.
January 21, 2025
Enjoyable enough but considering how short this book was I should have been able to get through it much quicker.
Not that this is a terrible adaptation, it’s just that the episode itself is so good that I would rather watch it than read its plot.
Honestly if you haven’t watched the episode but like these characters you might enjoy it as prose more than me but I would stick to the Show myself.
Not that this is a terrible adaptation, it’s just that the episode itself is so good that I would rather watch it than read its plot.
Honestly if you haven’t watched the episode but like these characters you might enjoy it as prose more than me but I would stick to the Show myself.
April 25, 2025
What a fun little book. Great to cleanse your palate after a boring read, masterfully written and packed with adventure and tension. The only thing I regret is reading it before sleeping, because I'm a bit of a wimp and I got really really scared at the scary parts, but I still had so much fun I didn't care about that. Totally recommend!!
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