Doctor Who: The Time of Angels

by Jenny Colgan

An improbable call for help from River Song draws the Doctor and Amy to the wreck of the starship Byzantium on the world of Alfava Metraxis. The wreck contains a deadly cargo – a Weeping Angel, determined to escape. And the starship’s crash site, infringing on a sprawling subterranean tomb, is no coincidence.

In uneasy alliance with a squad of military clerics, the Doctor’s investigation becomes a desperate battle to survive as an army of implacable, quantum-locked killers grows ever stronger – and flesh becomes stone.

Bestselling author Jenny T Colgan novelises Steven Moffat’s classic two-part SF thriller from 2010, starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Alex Kingston as River Song.

Genres: Doctor Who

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2026

About the author

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.

Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.

Reviews

[eleanor]

Felt a bit rushed but what can you expect when it’s a two part episode. Loooooved seeing River’s thoughts about Amy though. Highlight of the whole thing

[Kieran McAndrew]

A distress call from River Song brings the Doctor and Amy to Alfava Metraxia, where an imminent attack by the Weeping Angels must be averted.

Coogan does more than merely write a competent novelisation. She reinterprets it, allowing readers to see things that are there in the narrative that are unknown at the time if writing, making River's treatment of Amy understandable and poignant.

[Amy Benson]

It's kind of fun to see Jenny Colgan wrestle with a story that she probably has distaste for.

She follows the script closely, where the plot of the two-parter is gripping and original, and the dialogue is at times very performance-oriented and doesn't work as well on page.

She also works hard on adding River's pov where possible, revealing her interiority, which is a bit of a low-hanging fruit of angst and hindsight, but still necessary and does make the overall mood of the story more sombre.

One thing I missed was the moment when the Doctor sees River on the scanner for the first time; one could write paragraphs about Matt Smith's face in that scene.

In the end, it's not the most interesting novelization, but the plot and the melodrama are truly sparkly and cinematic.

[Milo]

less in depth than all of the other target novelisations that i’ve read but i suppose because it was a two-parter episode that some sacrifices had to be made. i loved the callback to asgard too, that was fun

[Emmalia]

River Song loml ♾️

[Paul Griggs]

One of the latest batch of Target novelisations of the more recent Doctors comes from the dependable pen of Jenny Colgan. As with The Satan Pit it takes advantage of knowing what come next, which in this case I’m not sure is such a good idea as it removes the mystery of River Song and her relationship to the Doctor and l Amy Pond and exchanges it for River’s internal musings on what she knows and can’t say. Still and excellent story and a cracking read.

[Rachel]

i absolutely adore any and all stories written by jenny colgan. the characterisation of River in this was perfect and it's absolutely enhanced an already brilliant episode. yes, i've even almost cried at points. goosebumps.

[Sarah June]

I looove reading books after doctor who eps to see what everyone thinks and feels, reading about river thought about amy ouuuchhh

[Oliver]

𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨

If you’ve seen the Series 5 two-parter that this is adapted from, there’s not going to be much to interest you hear as it’s practically a word-for-word retread of those episodes.
The good Doctor Who novelizations, such as the incredible one for Day of The Doctor, will always add scenes and details to extend the story beyond what’s seen in the episode. For example, that one in particular added a very important scene that explains something huge from the episode that went unanswered on screen.
This novel however, has nothing new to add. As such, it’s pointless if you’ve already seen the episodes it’s based on.

[Ian Banks]

This was a really good retelling of a story that I’ve always been a bit “meh” about, which makes it a near-perfect Target in my book. The pacing is terrific but I could have done with some breathing room, particularly when introducing the characters at the beginning - like a lot of these novelisations, it feels like we only really get to know the characters as they die. I know here’s a page limit, but sometimes it’s more effective when characters we care about die. Octavian is the only one of the deaths in this story that really affected me, though I appreciate Jenny Colgan’s efforts at imbuing the other characters with a glimpse of personality.

[Dani Lestrange]

¡Cómo crear más pesadillas con las estatuas, ahora por escrito!

[Valentina]

3, 5 ⭐

[Renee]

Such a good insight to River's thoughts and feelings, god she made me so sad especially when she thought about The Doctor and Amy