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Doctor Who: Target Books
Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution
What if the story of your life is written in the stars?
Belinda Chandra grew up longing to travel - but never imagined rocket ships would be part of the deal. Abducted by killer robots and taken to a strange planet, Belinda must join forces with the Doctor to put right a revolution that might just be her fault...
Reach for the stars as the Doctor and Belinda - as played by Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu - rock each other's worlds for the first time. This novelisation of Russell T Davies' script comes from best-selling tie-in author Una McCormack.
Belinda Chandra grew up longing to travel - but never imagined rocket ships would be part of the deal. Abducted by killer robots and taken to a strange planet, Belinda must join forces with the Doctor to put right a revolution that might just be her fault...
Reach for the stars as the Doctor and Belinda - as played by Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu - rock each other's worlds for the first time. This novelisation of Russell T Davies' script comes from best-selling tie-in author Una McCormack.
- GenresDoctor Who
192 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2025
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Una McCormack
103 books358 followersUna McCormack is a British writer and the author of several Star Trek novels and stories.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
Ms. McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written four Doctor Who novels: The King's Dragon and The Way through the Woods (featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory); Royal Blood (featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara), and Molten Heart (featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham). She is also the author of numerous audio dramas for Big Finish Productions.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 23, 2025
Another first class Target adaptation that balances transcript with extra layers...and manages to do it in quite the concise package. It flies by, yet there is much extra material here to absorb and enjoy.
August 9, 2025
The characters of Sasha and Manny get a lot more backstory, adding depth to their behaviour and fates, making Sasha's death and Manny's need to blame someone all the more understandable. We also get more on Belinda's dates with Alan, who feels quite pathetic. Did he deserve to be swept away? Could he not have been saved? It certainly felt like he deserved a chance to learn from his mistakes in this version. And as for the cat... It gets a lot more history, quite right too. A very good adaptation of an entertaining episode.
December 4, 2025
Una McCormack makes it look easy. She takes a fun but messy installment of Doctor Who, which on TV struggles to balance introducing the new companion and season-long plot with the immediate wacky adventure at hand -- involving an ordinary nurse getting whisked away to a strange planet that shares her name and is in the middle of the titular uprising -- and spins out a delightfully well-integrated tale in a warm storyteller's tone. Some of the author's additions feel like they were probably repurposed cuts from the original Russell T. Davies script, but either way, she delivers them with finesse. Belinda Chandra, her controlling ex Alan, and even her parents and roommates back home all gain further depths here, and we actually get to see the Fifteenth Doctor's budding friendship with the doomed Sasha 55, rather than glossing over it in a quick line of exposition.
My favorite change from the screen version, however, comes near the end of the book, when the heroine calls out the dashing time-traveler for taking liberties like scanning her DNA without asking. That's already a powerful moment as aired, offering the rare critique of the alien protagonist and his conventional approach that the franchise typically avoids, but it's enhanced by the human character explicitly raising a parallel from the television subtext: how the Time Lord is just like the villain of the piece as a man who needs to learn she's a person with her own agency and not simply a supporting accessory for whatever he alone decides to do. That thread ultimately didn't get developed enough in the following episodes for my liking, but it's an excellent way to establish a co-lead who's more skeptical of the Doctor than his usual wide-eyed recruits.
Certain flaws like the convoluted time-travel logistics remain, but overall this is exactly what I'm looking for from a novelization like this -- the chance for a series to tell the thing over again with greater confidence and fresh details or perspectives that were missing before. Many writers fail to meet that benchmark, but this is hands-down an improvement on the source material.
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My favorite change from the screen version, however, comes near the end of the book, when the heroine calls out the dashing time-traveler for taking liberties like scanning her DNA without asking. That's already a powerful moment as aired, offering the rare critique of the alien protagonist and his conventional approach that the franchise typically avoids, but it's enhanced by the human character explicitly raising a parallel from the television subtext: how the Time Lord is just like the villain of the piece as a man who needs to learn she's a person with her own agency and not simply a supporting accessory for whatever he alone decides to do. That thread ultimately didn't get developed enough in the following episodes for my liking, but it's an excellent way to establish a co-lead who's more skeptical of the Doctor than his usual wide-eyed recruits.
Certain flaws like the convoluted time-travel logistics remain, but overall this is exactly what I'm looking for from a novelization like this -- the chance for a series to tell the thing over again with greater confidence and fresh details or perspectives that were missing before. Many writers fail to meet that benchmark, but this is hands-down an improvement on the source material.
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/lesserjoke
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
July 23, 2025
Adapting the season premiere of the Fifteenth Doctor’s second season, Una McCormack’s
Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution
takes what was a fairly standard episode of Doctor Who and elevates it into pulpy sci-fi fun. Like most Doctor Who novelizations, The Robot Revolution plays out fairly similarly to the televised episode—except here, McCormack adds quite a bit of depth to some of the story’s tertiary characters. The first couple of chapters are entirely devoted to furthering Belinda’s backstory, deepening her childhood and her relationship with Alan in the months and years before the televised story begins. But even better, McCormack breathes life into the history of Missbelindachandra One and those who live on it—namely, Sasha 55, a character implied to have a lengthy history with the Doctor during his time on the planet but wholly unexplored on TV.
Aside from those additions, The Robot Revolution reads much the same as the televised story played out. That being said, McCormack’s take on the story turns it into something akin to the kind of pulpy sci-fi novels of yesteryear—a tone the televised episode aimed for but never quite hit. It’s a rip-roaringly fun adventure through space, filled with robots and sci-fi cheese and plenty of twists and turns. It’s by far the most enjoyable way to experience The Robot Revolution—especially if you listen to the audiobook read by Varada Sethu, herself. Put simply, McCormack takes what was a fairly standard episode of Doctor Who and elevates it into something far more memorable and enjoyable.
Reviewed as part of Geek Vibes Nation's July 2025 Book Round-Up.
Aside from those additions, The Robot Revolution reads much the same as the televised story played out. That being said, McCormack’s take on the story turns it into something akin to the kind of pulpy sci-fi novels of yesteryear—a tone the televised episode aimed for but never quite hit. It’s a rip-roaringly fun adventure through space, filled with robots and sci-fi cheese and plenty of twists and turns. It’s by far the most enjoyable way to experience The Robot Revolution—especially if you listen to the audiobook read by Varada Sethu, herself. Put simply, McCormack takes what was a fairly standard episode of Doctor Who and elevates it into something far more memorable and enjoyable.
Reviewed as part of Geek Vibes Nation's July 2025 Book Round-Up.
August 31, 2025
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/doctor-who-the-robot-revolution-by-una-mccormack/
I am glad to report that I liked Una McCormack’s novelization much more than the TV story; we get a lot more of Belinda’s background and a lot more of poor Sasha 55, and a very good sense of the world of Missbelindachandra as a more-or-less functioning society. It really rounds off the corners of what felt like a slightly hasty TV production. Well worth adding to the shelves.
I am glad to report that I liked Una McCormack’s novelization much more than the TV story; we get a lot more of Belinda’s background and a lot more of poor Sasha 55, and a very good sense of the world of Missbelindachandra as a more-or-less functioning society. It really rounds off the corners of what felt like a slightly hasty TV production. Well worth adding to the shelves.
August 31, 2025
Una McCormack has become a genuine highlight of two of my favourite tie-in ranges, doctor Who and Star Trek (are you going to write the SNW novel that explains what the TARDIS was doing there, Una?)
The Doctor and Belinda’s first adventure is beautifully fleshed out, not to mention the six months with Sasha 55 that we didn’t see on-screen.
Love it!
The Doctor and Belinda’s first adventure is beautifully fleshed out, not to mention the six months with Sasha 55 that we didn’t see on-screen.
Love it!
October 7, 2025
Think the episode is so much fun. This is a great novelisation of it. Makes me miss Belinda more, there was so much potential!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews