What do you think?
Rate this book
Past Doctor Adventures #69
Doctor Who: The Indestructible Man
Thirty years ago, the Earth was covertly attacked by the alien Myloki, who brainwashed humans and seeded them into Earth society as terrorists and assassins. Earth governments pooled their resources and financed Operation PRISM to fight - and win - the secret war against the Myloki. Now the successor to PRISM, the SILHOUETTE organization, runs a series of Early Warning devices in space, should the dreaded Myloki return. But the financial burden of the war has caused global financial meltdown and Earth stands on the brink of anarchy. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discover the war was in fact faked by a corrupt Earth dictatorship that has turned the planet into a tightly controlled utopia. Drugs keep the population under strict and docile control. Humanity is reduced to little more than work units. With the help of war hero Captain Grant Matthews, a PRISM agent accidentally made indestructible during the war, the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe gradually discover the truth - but in doing so they face the opposition of a whole planet.
283 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
260 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 8, 2021
Another Past Doctor Adventure that’s going for ridiculous money on eBay, this seems to be the case for most near the end of the range.
It’s one of the few that I really wanted to re-read, due to all the Gerry Anderson references.
Especially as Captain Scarlet was broadcast around the same time that Troughton was The Doctor, it’s such an interesting idea to blend the two shows.
Hopefully I’ll get lucky and spot a cheaper copy in a second hand bookstore one day...
It’s one of the few that I really wanted to re-read, due to all the Gerry Anderson references.
Especially as Captain Scarlet was broadcast around the same time that Troughton was The Doctor, it’s such an interesting idea to blend the two shows.
Hopefully I’ll get lucky and spot a cheaper copy in a second hand bookstore one day...
December 18, 2024
⟶ 4.75/5 stars
Before I get into it let me just say: you don't need to know anything about Gerry Anderson's work to enjoy this book!! I went into it with zero knowledge of any of the references and I think that may have even improved my opinion of it, because I was able to view them as just standard one-off characters and settings and was able to focus on the characters. That being said...
Oh my god this book! It was so close to being a perfect 5/5 and I just need to talk about why it was so great for a sec. Firstly, I like when an author has the guts to actually damage their characters. This doesn't happen a lot in DW EU stuff for the earlier eras, I think because authors want to stick to the tone of the TV stories. To be honest? Kind of a loss. Because this book does take Zoe and Jamie and completely breaks them down, but it's some of the most in-character DW writing I've ever read. Point: please more dark stuff, it really can work.
And the book itself is thought provoking, and nuanced. The way Messingham includes scenes that don't need to be there for the plot but just make the audience think - like the Doctor's reaction to Piper's character, or the scene where Mrs. Craig throws the cross off the cliff - is just so brilliant, and gives this book (dare I say) literary merit.
Another thing that was done with a lot of nuance was Jamie's issues, I think. It would have been so easy to show his psychosis from all external perspectives, write him off as crazy, and have everything he does come from that, but the fact that Messingham put in a lot of stuff from his perspective, so we could see his thought processes, was so, so smart. Not only did it portray his mental health problems in a more realistic way, it also let the readers see his delusions as he saw them and understand why he was making the choices he did. It never dehumanized him, which was, like, a really smart move.
The one thing I didn't like about it was how quick the resolution was. I love the visiony dreamy bridge-between-worlds scene, but for a book where at least half of the conflict comes from the characters' mental health issues, Messingham doesn't spend enough time giving them a proper, realistic recovery. This is most people's issue about this book, I know, but it's true. It wrapped up too quickly.
10/20 re-read edit: Stand by all of this completely.
12/21 re-read edit: This book deserves 5 stars. I think it's well crafted, but more than that, the reason I love it so much is because of how well it plays to me personally and what I value and like in a story. I understand more why other folks don't love it, and love it more myself.
12/24 re-read edit: It has been four years since I first read this book. I find a lot of my initial thoughts about it naive. I don't agree with some of what I wrote, a lot of what I wrote, in my first review. It is a book riddled with cliches and some plot points that definitely land better than others. That being said there is something so inexplicably capturing about it. It feels like a story confined to a Doctor Who novel rather than meant to be one. The visuals stand out more than anything: lush foliage, the bones across the sky, the straw cross in the wind. Something about the atmosphere reminded me of Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. The mood, especially towards the end third of the book, becomes so self-reflective and resigned. In every case, every character in the book and the book as a whole, the Indestructible Man is a story about compartmentalisation working in strange ways, and never forever. From compartmentalisation of memory to compartmentalisation of identity it is a concept that permeates every storyline in the book. I don't know if I would recommend it to somebody who watches the show. It's a really odd piece. It has become so incredibly personal to me it will never not be my favourite Doctor Who novel I've read.
Before I get into it let me just say: you don't need to know anything about Gerry Anderson's work to enjoy this book!! I went into it with zero knowledge of any of the references and I think that may have even improved my opinion of it, because I was able to view them as just standard one-off characters and settings and was able to focus on the characters. That being said...
Oh my god this book! It was so close to being a perfect 5/5 and I just need to talk about why it was so great for a sec. Firstly, I like when an author has the guts to actually damage their characters. This doesn't happen a lot in DW EU stuff for the earlier eras, I think because authors want to stick to the tone of the TV stories. To be honest? Kind of a loss. Because this book does take Zoe and Jamie and completely breaks them down, but it's some of the most in-character DW writing I've ever read. Point: please more dark stuff, it really can work.
And the book itself is thought provoking, and nuanced. The way Messingham includes scenes that don't need to be there for the plot but just make the audience think - like the Doctor's reaction to Piper's character, or the scene where Mrs. Craig throws the cross off the cliff - is just so brilliant, and gives this book (dare I say) literary merit.
Another thing that was done with a lot of nuance was Jamie's issues, I think. It would have been so easy to show his psychosis from all external perspectives, write him off as crazy, and have everything he does come from that, but the fact that Messingham put in a lot of stuff from his perspective, so we could see his thought processes, was so, so smart. Not only did it portray his mental health problems in a more realistic way, it also let the readers see his delusions as he saw them and understand why he was making the choices he did. It never dehumanized him, which was, like, a really smart move.
The one thing I didn't like about it was how quick the resolution was. I love the visiony dreamy bridge-between-worlds scene, but for a book where at least half of the conflict comes from the characters' mental health issues, Messingham doesn't spend enough time giving them a proper, realistic recovery. This is most people's issue about this book, I know, but it's true. It wrapped up too quickly.
10/20 re-read edit: Stand by all of this completely.
12/21 re-read edit: This book deserves 5 stars. I think it's well crafted, but more than that, the reason I love it so much is because of how well it plays to me personally and what I value and like in a story. I understand more why other folks don't love it, and love it more myself.
12/24 re-read edit: It has been four years since I first read this book. I find a lot of my initial thoughts about it naive. I don't agree with some of what I wrote, a lot of what I wrote, in my first review. It is a book riddled with cliches and some plot points that definitely land better than others. That being said there is something so inexplicably capturing about it. It feels like a story confined to a Doctor Who novel rather than meant to be one. The visuals stand out more than anything: lush foliage, the bones across the sky, the straw cross in the wind. Something about the atmosphere reminded me of Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. The mood, especially towards the end third of the book, becomes so self-reflective and resigned. In every case, every character in the book and the book as a whole, the Indestructible Man is a story about compartmentalisation working in strange ways, and never forever. From compartmentalisation of memory to compartmentalisation of identity it is a concept that permeates every storyline in the book. I don't know if I would recommend it to somebody who watches the show. It's a really odd piece. It has become so incredibly personal to me it will never not be my favourite Doctor Who novel I've read.
May 27, 2019
The Indestructible Man had the opportunity to be a big let down. Not only was it based off of Doctor Who, but it was also a crossover story for various Gerry Anderson series (most notably; UFO and Captain Scarlet. With sprinklings of Thunderbirds and Stingray) Because of these two factors, the novel could have slipped dangerously into the realms of fan fiction.
Fantastically, it did no such thing! This novel is a superb story, which not only borrows from the world of Gerry Anderson, but also expands it to suit it’s own needs. The story is not riddled with specific references and nor does it waste time with needless scenes to service fans wish fulfilment. Not even the world of Doctor Who is safe from being reshaped to fit this stories needs. As a result the story stands perfectly on it’s own.
It’s a cold, dark, and intriguing story that focuses on the aftermath of an unknown war between earth and the Myloki. The world building is incredible and so engaging. The characters seem fully formed and bounce perfectly off the Doctor and his companions.
I would love to get a Doctor Who fan, who has no knowledge about the shows of Gerry Anderson, to read this story. While I was able to understand all the references, another might not. The character of Captain Karl Taylor makes a brief appearance, but a huge impact on the overall story. Since I know who this character is in relation to Captain Scarlet, I wonder whether someone else would consider him a pointless character, for how little we see of him?
Overall…I loved it! This is what all Doctor Who novels should be like.
Fantastically, it did no such thing! This novel is a superb story, which not only borrows from the world of Gerry Anderson, but also expands it to suit it’s own needs. The story is not riddled with specific references and nor does it waste time with needless scenes to service fans wish fulfilment. Not even the world of Doctor Who is safe from being reshaped to fit this stories needs. As a result the story stands perfectly on it’s own.
It’s a cold, dark, and intriguing story that focuses on the aftermath of an unknown war between earth and the Myloki. The world building is incredible and so engaging. The characters seem fully formed and bounce perfectly off the Doctor and his companions.
I would love to get a Doctor Who fan, who has no knowledge about the shows of Gerry Anderson, to read this story. While I was able to understand all the references, another might not. The character of Captain Karl Taylor makes a brief appearance, but a huge impact on the overall story. Since I know who this character is in relation to Captain Scarlet, I wonder whether someone else would consider him a pointless character, for how little we see of him?
Overall…I loved it! This is what all Doctor Who novels should be like.
May 31, 2020
The truth is I don't like the feeling of being lied to and this book is a giant lie. A Doctor Who book is about Doctor Who. A Doctor Who book is not about creating a 280 page fan fiction of another universe and stuffing in Doctor Who to get it published since no one would have every dreamed of publishing it otherwise. Why this was allowed to be published under the Doctor Who banner I have no idea. It would be like a Star Trek novel that was really fan fiction about the original Battlestar Galactica.
The writing itself isn't bad initially if fact the introduction is interesting if far too gritty and adult for the Second Doctor. The novel slows to a crawl after the novelty of the world wears off as the writer can't handle the middle or ending and simply writes his favorite sci-fi universe the way he remembers it from his childhood. There is sound and fury but it signifies nothing and has little to do with our trio of Doctor Who heroes other than miscasting the two companions completely. By the end I was reading it to be done and tick another book off of my on again off again read through of the Doctor Who books in internal date order.
The writing itself isn't bad initially if fact the introduction is interesting if far too gritty and adult for the Second Doctor. The novel slows to a crawl after the novelty of the world wears off as the writer can't handle the middle or ending and simply writes his favorite sci-fi universe the way he remembers it from his childhood. There is sound and fury but it signifies nothing and has little to do with our trio of Doctor Who heroes other than miscasting the two companions completely. By the end I was reading it to be done and tick another book off of my on again off again read through of the Doctor Who books in internal date order.
July 6, 2013
A two hundred and eighty page tribute to the works of Gerry Anderson? There's no possible way this should work. And yet, somehow it does.
Gerry Anderson, for those who don't know, was a British gentlemen responsible for the creation of a number of SF TV shows that were aired in the sixties and seventies, series like "Thunderbirds", "Captain Scarlet" (both involving puppet characters, marionettes) and the later live-action "UFO" and "Space: 1999". Many are remembered fondly even today and influences show up in the oddest places (notably in the South Park guys marionette movie "Team America: World Police") and many a child who grew up during the "Doctor Who" years of television has quite a bit of Gerry Anderson-based TV under his or her belt as well.
As all of it was before my time, I've never seen any of those shows except in brief clips and so in theory a book like this should be absolutely lost on me. But the author manages to write an actual plot while simultaneously slathering references to those shows in every possible nook and cranny so that even if all the references go over my head (and they did, although I was aware they WERE references) I can still enjoy the story for what it is.
And what it is, is dark. We begin super in media res, with the earth having survived thirty years ago a war with the alien Myloki, who are never seen but are capable of taking over other human beings and turning them into zombie-like killers. In the process of doing that they also changed two other men into indestructible people, one of whom stayed a remorseless killing machine and the other was eventually broken free of his conditioning and helped end the war. In the wake of everything being broken, the secret organization went underground and basically bides its time making sure the aliens don't come back. Into this bumble a daffy older man in hobo clothing, while his Scotsman companion and fetching young future girl. Things go away and the older guy is shot in the head, while the others escape. End of story, perhaps, except that the older guy gets better, which makes them wonder if this new indestructible man is the advent of a new invasion.
A story like this could probably only have been told with the Second Doctor, combining everyone's favorite star of bases under siege with a globe-trotting adventure sense, fighting against entrenched military minds before gradually turning them over to his way of thinking. Normally a story like this would have the thin veneer of "It's only children's SF" and play the game by making it a breezy romp and a drinking game of "spot the references" before wrapping it all up neatly.
The author doesn't do that here, instead going right for the jugular immediately. Not only is the Doctor shot in the head, he decides to run Jamie and Zoe, everyone's favorite pair of youthful time-traveling heroes, through the wringer something fierce. Zoe is put in a slave situation of constantly doing the maths before falling in love and having her heart broken in the space of about twenty pages, while Jamie gets the even shorter end of the stick and basically goes mad thinking that the Doctor is dead. It becomes almost alarming at several points seeing how far the author pushes the characters and st times it's difficult to reconcile the memory of cheery and petite Wendy Padbury on TV with the book's images of her both contemplating and attempting suicide. Jamie fares even worse, not only coming close to killing people at several points but turning savage and even mutilating someone in an attempt to escape. But despite the disturbing lengths the characters go, on the one hand it's actually gripping to read someone attempting to do something with these people as opposed to just coasting on our memories of them. Sometimes when reading the Past Doctor Adventures, it feels like you're reading the actor's just putting their paces through a script instead of seeing the characters as people being put in stressful situations. This trends more toward the latter for once and it's welcome, coming closer to the more adult sensibilities of the New Adventures and how they treated Ace, using the TV models as a starting point and extrapolating from there.
It doesn't entirely work because the author has to hit the reset button toward the end. It's easier to swallow with Zoe, who pushes past her grief to get the job done but Jamie is put in such an extreme situation that his switch back to (relative) normalcy feels like the book straining to paint itself out of its own corner in order to make him useful for the finale and not a raving psychotic lunatic. But prior to that it's exciting to be in unpredictable territory, where we're not exactly sure how the story is going to go.
In other hands this could have been a stultifying experience, smothering us with wave upon wave of dark seriousness where the whole point of the story was to be gritty for the sake of gritty. But the world that all this is happening in is so well constructed that it feels like an extension of events instead of an excuse to have terrible things happen to nice people for three hundred pages. Everything works in reaction to something else, as defense or paranoia and with the history of the war hanging over everything it creates a framework that allows the world to feel lived-in, even if it is slapped together with the spare parts of someone else's TV shows. The scope of it helps, instead of existing in a single base, we're taken to all difference corners of the world to solve the mystery and the tension between people afraid of what's going to happen versus the urgency of what's really happening gives the scenes a pace that helps pull it along. Keeping the aliens out of sight helps immensely and while that's a trope stolen from both "Captain Scarlet" and "UFO" it keeps the focus on the the terrible things that people do to themselves and each other when they're afraid. It also elevates the aliens to a more mysterious level, keeping them involved and distant and seeming more much dangerous for that. If they were typical "we-will-take-over-the-earth" beings, the story wouldn't have worked as well and the ending wouldn't have had whatever poetry it does.
As much as this story doesn't seem to need the Doctor at all, it's the kind of tale where the Second Doctor thrives, and he has usual arc of starting out as an outsider before practically running the whole show by the end. The story does the smart thing of skewing the portrayal to the "wolf in sheep's clothing" aspect of his personality, not focusing as much on the humor and reminding us again what later appearances would make us forget with all the giddy aunts and the recorder playing, that the Second Doctor was more dangerous than he seemed.
In a way this story probably worked better for me, having no experience with any of the Gerry Anderson shows I could enjoy the story for what it is . . . there's so many references to old settings and plots that anyone with a good knowledge of "UFO" is probably going to know how the plot is going to go. Does it go too far? In parts the references become a bit much, like he was in a contest to see how much he could cram in. The constant barrage of acronyms threatens to dissipate what seriousness has occurred and bits like the purple wigs (a "UFO" thing apparently) feels like the book trying to have it both ways, with a wink and a "please take this seriously". The appearance of the analogues for the Thunderbirds comes out of nowhere, to the point where I thought I missed something. But everyone else the story is more or less spot on and manages to make a dark tribute to a series of children's shows through the lens of "Doctor Who", which involves so many gyrations that I'm impressed it's even readable. And it is, and what's more, it's one of the better Past Doctor Adventures, showing once again how as the series was winding down, they started to take more chances and subsequently, started to get it right.
Gerry Anderson, for those who don't know, was a British gentlemen responsible for the creation of a number of SF TV shows that were aired in the sixties and seventies, series like "Thunderbirds", "Captain Scarlet" (both involving puppet characters, marionettes) and the later live-action "UFO" and "Space: 1999". Many are remembered fondly even today and influences show up in the oddest places (notably in the South Park guys marionette movie "Team America: World Police") and many a child who grew up during the "Doctor Who" years of television has quite a bit of Gerry Anderson-based TV under his or her belt as well.
As all of it was before my time, I've never seen any of those shows except in brief clips and so in theory a book like this should be absolutely lost on me. But the author manages to write an actual plot while simultaneously slathering references to those shows in every possible nook and cranny so that even if all the references go over my head (and they did, although I was aware they WERE references) I can still enjoy the story for what it is.
And what it is, is dark. We begin super in media res, with the earth having survived thirty years ago a war with the alien Myloki, who are never seen but are capable of taking over other human beings and turning them into zombie-like killers. In the process of doing that they also changed two other men into indestructible people, one of whom stayed a remorseless killing machine and the other was eventually broken free of his conditioning and helped end the war. In the wake of everything being broken, the secret organization went underground and basically bides its time making sure the aliens don't come back. Into this bumble a daffy older man in hobo clothing, while his Scotsman companion and fetching young future girl. Things go away and the older guy is shot in the head, while the others escape. End of story, perhaps, except that the older guy gets better, which makes them wonder if this new indestructible man is the advent of a new invasion.
A story like this could probably only have been told with the Second Doctor, combining everyone's favorite star of bases under siege with a globe-trotting adventure sense, fighting against entrenched military minds before gradually turning them over to his way of thinking. Normally a story like this would have the thin veneer of "It's only children's SF" and play the game by making it a breezy romp and a drinking game of "spot the references" before wrapping it all up neatly.
The author doesn't do that here, instead going right for the jugular immediately. Not only is the Doctor shot in the head, he decides to run Jamie and Zoe, everyone's favorite pair of youthful time-traveling heroes, through the wringer something fierce. Zoe is put in a slave situation of constantly doing the maths before falling in love and having her heart broken in the space of about twenty pages, while Jamie gets the even shorter end of the stick and basically goes mad thinking that the Doctor is dead. It becomes almost alarming at several points seeing how far the author pushes the characters and st times it's difficult to reconcile the memory of cheery and petite Wendy Padbury on TV with the book's images of her both contemplating and attempting suicide. Jamie fares even worse, not only coming close to killing people at several points but turning savage and even mutilating someone in an attempt to escape. But despite the disturbing lengths the characters go, on the one hand it's actually gripping to read someone attempting to do something with these people as opposed to just coasting on our memories of them. Sometimes when reading the Past Doctor Adventures, it feels like you're reading the actor's just putting their paces through a script instead of seeing the characters as people being put in stressful situations. This trends more toward the latter for once and it's welcome, coming closer to the more adult sensibilities of the New Adventures and how they treated Ace, using the TV models as a starting point and extrapolating from there.
It doesn't entirely work because the author has to hit the reset button toward the end. It's easier to swallow with Zoe, who pushes past her grief to get the job done but Jamie is put in such an extreme situation that his switch back to (relative) normalcy feels like the book straining to paint itself out of its own corner in order to make him useful for the finale and not a raving psychotic lunatic. But prior to that it's exciting to be in unpredictable territory, where we're not exactly sure how the story is going to go.
In other hands this could have been a stultifying experience, smothering us with wave upon wave of dark seriousness where the whole point of the story was to be gritty for the sake of gritty. But the world that all this is happening in is so well constructed that it feels like an extension of events instead of an excuse to have terrible things happen to nice people for three hundred pages. Everything works in reaction to something else, as defense or paranoia and with the history of the war hanging over everything it creates a framework that allows the world to feel lived-in, even if it is slapped together with the spare parts of someone else's TV shows. The scope of it helps, instead of existing in a single base, we're taken to all difference corners of the world to solve the mystery and the tension between people afraid of what's going to happen versus the urgency of what's really happening gives the scenes a pace that helps pull it along. Keeping the aliens out of sight helps immensely and while that's a trope stolen from both "Captain Scarlet" and "UFO" it keeps the focus on the the terrible things that people do to themselves and each other when they're afraid. It also elevates the aliens to a more mysterious level, keeping them involved and distant and seeming more much dangerous for that. If they were typical "we-will-take-over-the-earth" beings, the story wouldn't have worked as well and the ending wouldn't have had whatever poetry it does.
As much as this story doesn't seem to need the Doctor at all, it's the kind of tale where the Second Doctor thrives, and he has usual arc of starting out as an outsider before practically running the whole show by the end. The story does the smart thing of skewing the portrayal to the "wolf in sheep's clothing" aspect of his personality, not focusing as much on the humor and reminding us again what later appearances would make us forget with all the giddy aunts and the recorder playing, that the Second Doctor was more dangerous than he seemed.
In a way this story probably worked better for me, having no experience with any of the Gerry Anderson shows I could enjoy the story for what it is . . . there's so many references to old settings and plots that anyone with a good knowledge of "UFO" is probably going to know how the plot is going to go. Does it go too far? In parts the references become a bit much, like he was in a contest to see how much he could cram in. The constant barrage of acronyms threatens to dissipate what seriousness has occurred and bits like the purple wigs (a "UFO" thing apparently) feels like the book trying to have it both ways, with a wink and a "please take this seriously". The appearance of the analogues for the Thunderbirds comes out of nowhere, to the point where I thought I missed something. But everyone else the story is more or less spot on and manages to make a dark tribute to a series of children's shows through the lens of "Doctor Who", which involves so many gyrations that I'm impressed it's even readable. And it is, and what's more, it's one of the better Past Doctor Adventures, showing once again how as the series was winding down, they started to take more chances and subsequently, started to get it right.
November 7, 2021
This Past Doctor Adventure features the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions Jamie and Zoe.
2096 AD and Earth is still recovering from a clandestine war against the mysterious Myloki. The arrival of the Doctor and his companions sparks a frenzy of paranoia that could herald the return of the alien invaders.
If I had to write a four word review of this book it would simply be; 'Sadistic, boring and weird'.
But I will break it down further than that here.
Firstly, 'sadistic'. It's a common theme among some of the Past Doctor Adventures to try to play to an adult audience by having the characters go through experiences that you'd never see on the TV show, something Messingham takes way too far here.
In this book Jamie joins a gang of fascist enforcers, beats a teenager until the boy's face caves in and then suffers a psychotic break that causes him to see everyone as evil duplicates. Far worse; Zoe gets kidnapped (possibly raped) and sold into slavery, only to fall in love and see her beloved shot to death right in front of her. And the Doctor? Well, he starts this book by getting shot in the head, spilling his brains, and then spends six months in a coma.
Honestly, sadism is the only explanation I can think of for why the author would include all of this, because it serves next to no narrative function.
Once you get past the horrifying situation the familiar faces find themselves in, the 'boring' sets in. The vast majority of this book was tedious and uninteresting, with poor pacing and unengaging characters. Slogging through it was almost painful at times.
Finally we get the 'weird'. For reasons again known only to the author, this book is basically a crossover between Doctor Who and the worlds of Gerry Anderson's puppet-based TV shows (Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, Stingray etcetera). Sure, all of the Anderson references have their names changed but it's done with a singular lack of subtlety, so 'Stingray' becomes 'Manta', 'SPECTRUM' becomes 'PRISM', 'the Mysterons' become 'the Myloki', and so on.
Now I used to enjoy all of those shows as a kid, but their appearance here is so jarringly out of place, and their characters are treated with the same sadism as the Doctor and company, that it certainly wasn't an enjoyable mash-up in any way, shape or form.
This is the third Who book by Messingham that I've read and I've hated them all.
I hated this one the most though
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
2096 AD and Earth is still recovering from a clandestine war against the mysterious Myloki. The arrival of the Doctor and his companions sparks a frenzy of paranoia that could herald the return of the alien invaders.
If I had to write a four word review of this book it would simply be; 'Sadistic, boring and weird'.
But I will break it down further than that here.
Firstly, 'sadistic'. It's a common theme among some of the Past Doctor Adventures to try to play to an adult audience by having the characters go through experiences that you'd never see on the TV show, something Messingham takes way too far here.
In this book Jamie joins a gang of fascist enforcers, beats a teenager until the boy's face caves in and then suffers a psychotic break that causes him to see everyone as evil duplicates. Far worse; Zoe gets kidnapped (possibly raped) and sold into slavery, only to fall in love and see her beloved shot to death right in front of her. And the Doctor? Well, he starts this book by getting shot in the head, spilling his brains, and then spends six months in a coma.
Honestly, sadism is the only explanation I can think of for why the author would include all of this, because it serves next to no narrative function.
Once you get past the horrifying situation the familiar faces find themselves in, the 'boring' sets in. The vast majority of this book was tedious and uninteresting, with poor pacing and unengaging characters. Slogging through it was almost painful at times.
Finally we get the 'weird'. For reasons again known only to the author, this book is basically a crossover between Doctor Who and the worlds of Gerry Anderson's puppet-based TV shows (Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, Stingray etcetera). Sure, all of the Anderson references have their names changed but it's done with a singular lack of subtlety, so 'Stingray' becomes 'Manta', 'SPECTRUM' becomes 'PRISM', 'the Mysterons' become 'the Myloki', and so on.
Now I used to enjoy all of those shows as a kid, but their appearance here is so jarringly out of place, and their characters are treated with the same sadism as the Doctor and company, that it certainly wasn't an enjoyable mash-up in any way, shape or form.
This is the third Who book by Messingham that I've read and I've hated them all.
I hated this one the most though
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
June 20, 2024
I admit I didn’t actually finish this one. But I started to realize it wasn’t going anywhere, read some plot summaries that confirmed my suspicions. Fuck this shit, I’m out :)
September 16, 2025
I enjoyed my first foray into the wild world of the doctor who novels!
August 3, 2022
I understand that this novel is in part a send-up of Gerry Anderson TV programs. However, it is remarkably readable without one's ever knowing about them, as I didn't until I read the reviews after I had finished the novel. I have not watched "Thunderbirds" or "UFO" since I was a child, so I did not catch any of the allusions. These allusions, however, do explain the weird piece of throwaway business with Zoe and the purple wig. I will, therefore, review the novel as I read it, knowing nothing of the TV references. To start off, the cover is misleadingly peaceful, so definitely one should not judge this book by its cover. The novel starts off as if Messingham were writing about the future as imagined in 1968, so that computers run on spools of tape for instance. However, the novel fairly early leaves the cozy world of 1968 TV sci-fi for a much more mature and sinister story. That story involves a future world recovering from the ruins of a war fought against a virtually unknown and ultimately unknowable alien menace given the name Myloki. The Myloki attacked Earth by animating cadavers and by creating copied humans who then sabotaged Earth systems. It is now thirty years after the war, and the Myloki are back. Both they and the secret military organization SILOET are after the same target, the only remaining working duplicate human, who cannot die. Although it has six "parts," the novel, like many six-part Doctor Who adventures, really has two main parts. In part one, the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are separated. For about six months, each lives an entirely separate life. Existing in a balkanized Britain, Jamie and Zoe are firmly convinced that the Doctor is dead and they can no longer see each other. This part is the most compelling of the novel. Jamie becomes a foot solider for a religious cult, Zoe an indispensable slave in an extreme Thatcher-Major version of London. The Doctor, meanwhile is a prisoner at SILOET headquarters. Messingham has a real talent for getting into the heads of his characters, of making their thoughts come alive. He is especially convincing at giving Zoe a full characterization. He also deftly shows the intense pressure that the team at SILOET are under, believing that only they can save the world, and the psychological damage this pressure causes. Part two of the novel involves the search for the Indestructible Man himself while the threat from the Myloki grows and grows. In this part, Messingham shows a talent for characterization and dialogue. Throughout, Messingham relies on interior monlogue for most of his narration, which works surprisingly well. Messingham is also very realistic about violence, a stark contrast to TV sci-fi of the 1960s. All this makes for compelling reading through to the end. The demerits are these, one major and a couple minor. A minor demerit is that many of the background characters have very generic names - Matthews, Drake, Taylor - and so it is difficult to remember who is who when they vanish for a while and then return 100 pages later. Another demerit is the ending, which is a bit of an anti-climax though consistent with the events presented in the novel. The major demerit involves what Messingham does to Jamie. In essence, Messingham makes Jamie have a complete mental breakdown. So convincing is the creation of the circumstances for it and the description of it, that Jamie's recovery is unbelievable. This Jamie will need years of psychotherapy, not just a few days living with his regrets. It is at this point that I think the novel would have been just as good or maybe better if it were not Doctor Who and Messingham weren't compelled somehow to get Jamie back to recovery. To summarize, this novel is not going to be to everyone's taste. While it is not a festival of carnage, the violence when it happens is realistically gory. Likewise, readers may be put off spending so much time inside the heads of deeply disturbed people. I found it to be one of the top Doctor Who novels I have read so far.
October 15, 2012
First off, I have to state that I'm an American and don't know so much about Gerry Anderson's body of work (I watched Thunderbirds when I was little but retain little memory of it; enough to understand some of the references at least). This being a loving tribute to Anderson's own particular oeuvre, one would think, then, that the book held no interest. I found to my delight that was not the case at all!
I found the book to be well written, engaging (even with no understanding of 2/3 of the references) and the characters get some amazing character development. But, the question remains: did these characters need this kind of development? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mature Who (which the BBC line is pulling off miles better than Virgin ever did, I must say!) but...
... Zoe attempting to slit her wrists?! Jamie gone psychotic? I kept hearing all of this brouhaha about Zoe getting engaged, some even called him her husband. An interesting idea. He gets shot within two pages of proposing to her. She then attempts in no uncertain terms to off herself multiple times over this character we've really no chance to get to know save for a couple of pages of Zoe's inner monologues.
I understand what Messingham was trying to do: to show a companions total isolation when they truly believe they are stranded and the Doctor's dead. Each takes to a Father/Doctor in desperation and dependence to fill that role in their lives. Quite an interesting idea to explore, and a solid concept at that! And I won't say anything drastic like 'these are innocent characters Messingham spoilt!' but it does feel... wrong somehow to see both Jamie and Zoe behaving this way.
That said, Zoe's arc is far more believable and Messingham gives us more reason and more understanding as to why she'd turn the way she did. Jamie's not so lucky though I did enjoy his 'Dawn of the Dead'-esque scene with the Shiners which only left me wanting to learn more about them!
As for the wonderful characterization of the second Doctor I kept hearing about, I'm ashamed to admit that at time when I would pick it up again, I'd forget which Doctor I was reading. Yes, he's well characterized but it really made me realize how similar the authors have fallen into writing the Second, Fourth and Eighth.
As for sympathetic characters, well, I really found none outside of our heroes. Yes, well developed, intriguing personalities but is Bishop really supposed to be sympathetic? Matthews? Didn't really give a toss about either of them, honestly, not in any sort of empathetic way.
I did actually like the book and highly recommend it as sci-fi entertainment and to fans of the characters but, as a Who novel, it just has too many faults.
I found the book to be well written, engaging (even with no understanding of 2/3 of the references) and the characters get some amazing character development. But, the question remains: did these characters need this kind of development? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mature Who (which the BBC line is pulling off miles better than Virgin ever did, I must say!) but...
... Zoe attempting to slit her wrists?! Jamie gone psychotic? I kept hearing all of this brouhaha about Zoe getting engaged, some even called him her husband. An interesting idea. He gets shot within two pages of proposing to her. She then attempts in no uncertain terms to off herself multiple times over this character we've really no chance to get to know save for a couple of pages of Zoe's inner monologues.
I understand what Messingham was trying to do: to show a companions total isolation when they truly believe they are stranded and the Doctor's dead. Each takes to a Father/Doctor in desperation and dependence to fill that role in their lives. Quite an interesting idea to explore, and a solid concept at that! And I won't say anything drastic like 'these are innocent characters Messingham spoilt!' but it does feel... wrong somehow to see both Jamie and Zoe behaving this way.
That said, Zoe's arc is far more believable and Messingham gives us more reason and more understanding as to why she'd turn the way she did. Jamie's not so lucky though I did enjoy his 'Dawn of the Dead'-esque scene with the Shiners which only left me wanting to learn more about them!
As for the wonderful characterization of the second Doctor I kept hearing about, I'm ashamed to admit that at time when I would pick it up again, I'd forget which Doctor I was reading. Yes, he's well characterized but it really made me realize how similar the authors have fallen into writing the Second, Fourth and Eighth.
As for sympathetic characters, well, I really found none outside of our heroes. Yes, well developed, intriguing personalities but is Bishop really supposed to be sympathetic? Matthews? Didn't really give a toss about either of them, honestly, not in any sort of empathetic way.
I did actually like the book and highly recommend it as sci-fi entertainment and to fans of the characters but, as a Who novel, it just has too many faults.
December 22, 2008
Let's get one thing straight: despite the fact that the Second Doctor and Zoe Heriot are on the cover, The Indestructible Man is not a Doctor Who novel. Rather, it's a fan novel for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, with bonus references thrown in for other creations of Gerry Anderson's as well. All the various pertinent names of characters and organizations have been changed, of course, but this thing is very clearly a Captain Scarlet/Doctor Who crossover fan novel.
That said, this is not actually a bad thing, if you don't mind that a novel with Doctor Who branding on it does not actually really heavily feature the Doctor. He and his Companions--in this particular case, Zoe and Jaime--are almost really bit players against the larger backdrop of the story. They serve crucial plot functions, and there's some good character development for all three of them, but they're really only there to be catalysts to the story.
Which is this: thirty years after the original invasion of the Myloki, the Earth organization PRISM has been driven underground to become SILOET. Earth won their war against the alien invaders, but at the heavy cost of planet-wide deterioration of civilization. The society in which the Doctor and the others arrive is a twisted and dystopian one, and surviving what havoc this wreaks upon their own lives takes up a good portion of the initial stretch of the action--also the weakest part of the story, as it was in this part where my one issue with the plot occurs (i.e., the handwavy explanation for why the Doctor sustains a fatal wound yet does not regenerate). Later on, though, once the main conflict gets underway, the book gets its feet under it and is quite enjoyable.
And I have to admit, Messingham does do an excellent job ramping up the tension for the inevitable bringing on camera for his analogues of Captain Scarlet and Captain Black: Grant Matthews and Karl Taylor. There's a bit of an amusing attempt to link into past Doctor Who history by setting up UNIT as a predecessor organization to PRISM, and references to old UNIT records about the Doctor--though the Doctor, I note, never fesses up to being the same man who dealt with UNIT a hundred years before. Last but not least, in reading about Matthews, I couldn't help but think of how the Doctor Who universe has its own Captain Scarlet analogue: Jack Harkness. ;)
So yeah, fun, once it got started. Three stars.
That said, this is not actually a bad thing, if you don't mind that a novel with Doctor Who branding on it does not actually really heavily feature the Doctor. He and his Companions--in this particular case, Zoe and Jaime--are almost really bit players against the larger backdrop of the story. They serve crucial plot functions, and there's some good character development for all three of them, but they're really only there to be catalysts to the story.
Which is this: thirty years after the original invasion of the Myloki, the Earth organization PRISM has been driven underground to become SILOET. Earth won their war against the alien invaders, but at the heavy cost of planet-wide deterioration of civilization. The society in which the Doctor and the others arrive is a twisted and dystopian one, and surviving what havoc this wreaks upon their own lives takes up a good portion of the initial stretch of the action--also the weakest part of the story, as it was in this part where my one issue with the plot occurs (i.e., the handwavy explanation for why the Doctor sustains a fatal wound yet does not regenerate). Later on, though, once the main conflict gets underway, the book gets its feet under it and is quite enjoyable.
And I have to admit, Messingham does do an excellent job ramping up the tension for the inevitable bringing on camera for his analogues of Captain Scarlet and Captain Black: Grant Matthews and Karl Taylor. There's a bit of an amusing attempt to link into past Doctor Who history by setting up UNIT as a predecessor organization to PRISM, and references to old UNIT records about the Doctor--though the Doctor, I note, never fesses up to being the same man who dealt with UNIT a hundred years before. Last but not least, in reading about Matthews, I couldn't help but think of how the Doctor Who universe has its own Captain Scarlet analogue: Jack Harkness. ;)
So yeah, fun, once it got started. Three stars.
January 27, 2013
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2053145.html[return][return]A slightly unusual Past Doctor Adventure here: the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe end up in a future which is based very strongly on the work of the late Gerry Anderson, the Tracy family of Thunderbirds fame translated into the Sharon family with their Lightning rescue craft, and various other adaptations from parts of the Andersonverse that I don't know as well.But this future is a dystopia where society had collapsed globally, and which is under threat from the Myloki (who combine attributes of both the Mysterons and the attackers of Earth in UFO). It is lovingly drawn, and my lack of familiarity with the source didn't spoil my appreciation of the detail. Messingham also has the Doctor and companions go through hell - the Doctor so badly injured before the story starts that he almost regenerates, Zoe drawn into a doomed love affair, Jamie traumatised and distrustful - which is not at all true to the series of the time, but does take the characters to interesting places. However, though I liked the setting and what was done with the regulars, I wasn't really grabbed by the plot such as it was, and too many of the borrowed Anderson characters - especially the women - were simply background coloration.
September 22, 2014
I have to admit that this was one of the slower starting Doctor Who novels I've read, but it was worth it for the final payoff. Jaime and Zoe are separated on a near-future Earth that has been attacked by aliens for no apparent reason. The Second Doctor was killed in front of them, but the Earth forces believed he was one of the aliens and they did some experimental treatments that prevented his regeneration, making them believe the Doctor is one of the aliens' Indestructible Men of the title.
What's really cool about this novel is that it's a glowing homage to the Gerry Anderson shows of yesteryear. Elements of Fireball XL-5, UFO, Thunderbirds, Space 1999, and especially Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons are woven together, with what seemed to me to be a dash of The Quatermass Conclusion. And yet, like most of the Past Doctor adventures, the story wasn't aimed at kids, which was a pleasant surprise.
Very well-written, this was a very enjoyable read and I think any fan of British science fiction, or weird puppet sci-fi, will enjoy it.
What's really cool about this novel is that it's a glowing homage to the Gerry Anderson shows of yesteryear. Elements of Fireball XL-5, UFO, Thunderbirds, Space 1999, and especially Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons are woven together, with what seemed to me to be a dash of The Quatermass Conclusion. And yet, like most of the Past Doctor adventures, the story wasn't aimed at kids, which was a pleasant surprise.
Very well-written, this was a very enjoyable read and I think any fan of British science fiction, or weird puppet sci-fi, will enjoy it.
July 1, 2016
This novel is very, well, novel. As the photo-cover and title suggest, it really is a cross-over with all the Gerry Anderson stuff. Mostly it crosses Doctor Who (Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe) with Captain Scarlet -- the indestrcutible man, and with UFO, thus Zoe's purple wig. But other Anderson shows make an appearance, including, Thunderbirds.
I was expecting, therefore, for this novel to be very funny, and it wasn't, from what I remember it was actually kinda' depressing. However, I did read it awhile ago, and it's one of the Past Doctor Adventures I'd definitely read again.
Overall, definitely a book to read and add to your Doctor Who collection. It's something to also recommend to the Gerry Anderson fan you know.
I was expecting, therefore, for this novel to be very funny, and it wasn't, from what I remember it was actually kinda' depressing. However, I did read it awhile ago, and it's one of the Past Doctor Adventures I'd definitely read again.
Overall, definitely a book to read and add to your Doctor Who collection. It's something to also recommend to the Gerry Anderson fan you know.
October 26, 2013
It started off pretty slow, but by parts 5 and 6 I was thoroughly enjoying it
April 21, 2017
Normally, I enjoy a Who story by Simon Messingham, though he doesn't have very many.
This was my second read through Indestructible, and I just find it tedious and wrong.
The menace in this book is vague at best until the last few chapters, and for a vague menace to pit the Doctor's companions against their chauffeur had me rather perturbed; not only in and of itself but to the degree that they seem to turn on him at some point.
The reasons behind this (so very odd) betrayal are also, in my opinion, rather half-assed.
The motives behind the the Commander of SILOET, Bishop's, actions are also rather illogical.
This is a far cry from, what I feel, was a brilliant debut of Messingham's in the McCoy story Strange England.
This was my second read through Indestructible, and I just find it tedious and wrong.
The menace in this book is vague at best until the last few chapters, and for a vague menace to pit the Doctor's companions against their chauffeur had me rather perturbed; not only in and of itself but to the degree that they seem to turn on him at some point.
The reasons behind this (so very odd) betrayal are also, in my opinion, rather half-assed.
The motives behind the the Commander of SILOET, Bishop's, actions are also rather illogical.
This is a far cry from, what I feel, was a brilliant debut of Messingham's in the McCoy story Strange England.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews