Doctor Who: Last Man Running

Past Doctor Adventures #15

by Chris Boucher

Arriving on a jungle planet, the Doctor and Leela soon find themselves hunted by a hideous alien life form that appears to be some kind of robot with a taste for human flesh. But who has created it?A band of humans arrives on the planet in search of something deadly and illegal -- the robot? Or the things that created it?Assuming the Doctor to be involved in the monstrous crimes against nature on the planet, the humans make life difficult for the TARDIS crew -- but who is waiting and watching in the shadows -- and for whose benefit is the arena of peril set up?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Time Travel, Media Tie In

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Christopher Franklin Boucher was a British television writer, best known for his frequent contributions to two genres, science fiction and crime dramas. Prior to becoming a television writer, Boucher had worked at Calor Gas as a management trainee and he also gained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of Essex.

In science fiction, he wrote three Doctor Who serials in the late 1970s: The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death and Image of the Fendahl. Perhaps his most durable contribution to Doctor Who mythology was the creation of Leela, the savage companion played by Louise Jameson. Boucher was commissioned for the programme by Robert Holmes, who would suggest that Boucher be appointed as script editor of new science fiction series Blake's 7. He served in this role for the entirety of its four season run from 1978 to 1981, also writing several episodes himself, including the well-remembered final episode. In 1987 he created his own series Star Cops, which combined the science fiction and crime genres, and lasted only nine episodes.

In the genre of police dramas, between working on Doctor Who and Blake's 7, Boucher was the script editor on the second season of the drama Shoestring, which followed the investigations of private detective and radio show host Eddie Shoestring. In 1982, following the end of Blake's 7, Boucher script edited and wrote for the third season police drama Juliet Bravo. He later moved on to script edit the detective show Bergerac, working on the programme throughout the 1980s.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of Bouchers quadrilogy of Past Doctor Adventures set between Robots of Death and Talons of Weng-Chiang is reinforced early on as The Fourth Doctor is irritated by his relatively new companion Leela that he decideds to leave her aboard the TARDIS as he takes a stroll through the forest in which they've landed.

Even though the characterisation of this incarnation of the Time Lord feels slightly wrong, it's the primitive traveller who is brilliantly portrayed here.
I guess it's not too surprising seeing as the writer created the character for the show.

Leela really excels in this environment as various vicious predators are on the loose, especially with the lengthy running around the jungle scenes.

The fact that this felt like it could quite easily have been a televised serial does lead to some pacing issues in novel form, though the plot really picks up from the halfway point (3rd and 4th episodes).

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one deserves a re-read since it got a little confusing at times. We see a good deal of Leela showing her skills as a warrior along with an uncanny ability to almost out-think the Doctor himself in a lot of circumstances. Leela's always a joy to watch and she really shows what she can do here, both physically and mentally.

I got a little lost amongst some of the explanations as to exactly how some of the technology worked from time to time but that's where I think the re-read would come in handy. Also, the story seems to jump about a fair amount and again, a re-read would prove very helpful in bringing things into sharper relief.

I liked the focus on Leela and felt I'd been given a chance to get to know her much better.

Recommended. May do a re-read sometime soon.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Fourth Doctor & Leela. Between The Robots of Death & The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
The characterizations of the Fourth Doctor and Leela are fair; that's as much praise as I can muster for this effort. The rest of the characters are unconvincing or down right irritating. Many of the ideas put forward by the author seem to be half formed and I got the feeling as I read the book that I'd somehow managed to skip over a chapter or two. The whole work has a sense of incompleteness not least the ending.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was heading for three stars -- it seemed to be a reasonably engaging "Starship Troopers" riff, with a cast of very annoying, unsympathetic soldiers who were not making it easy to get through the first quarter of the book. But as the situation became darker, and the mystery behind it all more puzzling & more diabolical, the novel became much more seductive and addictive. It's all topped off by a masterful command of the 4th Doctor & Leela, which shouldn't be a surprise. Chris Boucher not only created the character of Leela, but his three TV scripts featuring the same TARDIS team are highlights of their era. Culminating in a surprisingly dark & sudden manner, this novel leaves behind a very satisfying after-taste.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1014841.html#cutid3[return][return]Last Man Running, which was Boucher's first effort for the Past Doctor Adventures, is a not his worst, though the setting - Doctor and Leela bump into a survey team in a hostile environment - is very base-under-siege, and you can almost see the sets wobble. Leela herself gets some good lines and action, but then we discover that she is the ultimate warrior in a rather confusing conclusion. Apparently a lot of fans were disappointed when this came out, and I can see why.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terribly interesting, except that the Doctor and Leela are really well written and we get to see Leela really cut loose and be all jungle girl/amazon warrior for a good chunk of the book.

The writer does try to at least throw some interesting monsters at the heroes.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Boucher’s characterisation of Leela is superb, the non-regulars need actors to give them substance and the Doctor is diminished through having his inner thoughts revealed. The world-building outstrips the story’s needs, leaving the underlying idea more conceptually effective than narratively satisfying.

[Irredeemable Shag · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been in a Chris Boucher Blakes 7/Doctor Who mood, so dug into this.

It was enjoyable! Nothing groundbreaking, but still a solid read. The author did a fantastic job capturing the voices of Leela and The Doctor. A few of the scenes described could not have been pulled off on the TV budget or era, but didn't bother me.

I plan to read more of Boucher’s Doctor Who novels.

[Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who – Last Man Running, by Chris Boucher, BBC Books, 1998. 251 pages, paperback.

This adventure features the 4th Doctor and Leela. This is a BBC Past Doctor Adventure not based on a television script. It takes place between television episodes The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

This review is opinion only, no summary.

Chris Boucher builds an interest world in which the Doctor and Leela find themselves. It took me a while to get what the references to “firster” and “toody” (First Planet and Second Planet, respectively) were but once I got that, it made the in-fighting amongst characters make sense. I liked the characters in this. Even the ones I’m sure you’re not supposed to like had good reasoning.

Boucher built this world slowly but kept the pace moving along. There were places where the world didn’t make sense but it was intentional, something for the characters to discover and figure out. Good writing, there.

I got the feeling that he really likes Leela but I don’t think he got the voice of the Doctor quite right. I couldn’t hear Tom Baker in this where I could definitely hear Louise Jameson. The dialogue for the 4th Doctor just didn’t ring quite true to character. Boucher built up Leela much more than she was sometimes portrayed on television.

I liked this story and was on board up until the introduction of what to me felt like the C plot. The rationale behind having sent the team to this world felt a bit tacked on. He tied it up well and the ending made sense but I was a little confused by the late introduction of certain characters. Yet, I still liked the overall story.

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Boucher is one of my favorite of the Dr. Who series writers. I also admire his scripts for the significantly underrated "Star Cops" series. In this novel he brings along what he does best - concept and action. There is very little deja-vu in the plot. The characters are believable, especially in their motivations. Boucher has taken time to work out the cultural backgrounds to his characters so that their actions make sense.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways, a standard Doctor Who story. What I like about it is that it features my favorite Doctor, the 4th one as played by Tom Baker. What is particularly interesting is that the Doctor's Companion, the barbarian woman Leela, is the real hero of the story! The TARDIS lands on a jungle planet and it becomes a battle for survival there. The Doctor figures out that the planet is an artificial world, created by someone. He and Leela have to figure out: for what purpose?

[Gareth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chris Boucher, who wrote the first story featuring the companion Leela, joins the BBC Books ranks to write about her again. There’s some surface excitement in this fight to the death story set on a mysterious planet, but there’s all too little plot stringing it together. The supporting characters are dire, seemingly only here to give Leela some rescuing to do. It’s a badly paced slog with a few slightly interesting ideas stuffed into it.

1.5

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I should read some more Doctor Who fiction, and remembered that Chris Boucher had written 4 fourth Doctor & Leela novels as well as numerous episodes of Blake's 7 so how could I resist? This one didn't really grab me and I found it quite slow. Leela was great in it, though. I'm not so good at keeping track of characters as I was when I was younger, so that doesn't help! Glad I read it, as it had some interesting ideas, but the next one sounds more up my street.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good Doctor Who novel with the added bonus of Leela being very Leela and showing how effective she is.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the author's TV episodes and this book caught the feeling of them with a bigger budget! It served Leela well, showing her intelligence as well as her honed and instinctive survival warrior skills. However, I'm getting a little tired of these dangerous weapons left lying around by ancient cultures, picked up on by lunatics. Why can't we have more rational baddies with a well-thought out plan and reasonable internal logic!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor and Leela land in a strange jungle where there are only predators. There is a group of investigators chasing a runner on the planet too. This is a very good early Leela story and you really understand who she is. It's a fast moving plot and a quick read. A very good read.

[Tim Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leela as Chris Boucher intended. Would have been a classic if scripted and filmed.

[Joe Geesin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful