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Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks & Prisoner of the Daleks
Enter the universe of Doctor Who, the hit BBC television program named for its time-traveling hero, and read two great adventures in which he battles his all-time greatest enemies, the Daleks. Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch. With unfinished business to attend to, the Doctor returns to where it all began: Coal Hill School in London in 1963. Last time he was here, the Doctor left something behind-a powerful Time Lord artefact that could unlock the secrets of time travel. Can the Doctor retrieve it before two rival factions of the Daleks track it down? And even if he can, how will the Doctor prevent the whole of London from becoming a war zone as the Daleks meet in explosive confrontation? Prisoner of the Daleks by Trevor Baxendale. The Daleks are advancing, their empire constantly expanding. The battles rage on across countless solar systems-and the Doctor finds himself stranded on board a starship near the frontline with a group of ruthless bounty hunters. Earth command will pay these hunters for every Dalek they kill, every eye stalk they bring back as proof. With the Doctor's help the hunters achieve the ultimate prize: a Dalek prisoner-intact, powerless, and ready for interrogation. But with the Daleks, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. Before long tables will be turned, and how will the Doctor survive when he becomes a prisoner of the Daleks? Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks/Prisoner of the Daleks features an exquisitely designed bonded-leather binding, with distinctive gilt edging and an attractive silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old and are an indispensable cornerstone for every home library.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
9 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
About the author
Ben Aaronovitch
159 books13.5k followersBen Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.
Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.
Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 13, 2021
The Aaronvitch novelization of Seventh Doctor episode is by far the better of the two, and not because it features Ace (who is one of my favorite companions). The story is tight and follows the episode, but Aaronovitch gives a little more on some of the characters. There are some nice little touches.
"Prisoner of the Daleks" by Trevor Baxendale isn't quite as good. It supposedly features the Tenth Doctor, but it does not feel like the Tenth Doctor. In fact, it doesn't really feel like any Doctor. To be honest, promoting a female character in your introduction and then fridging her shortly in the book, is not a good look.
Read for Relics etc Square.
"Prisoner of the Daleks" by Trevor Baxendale isn't quite as good. It supposedly features the Tenth Doctor, but it does not feel like the Tenth Doctor. In fact, it doesn't really feel like any Doctor. To be honest, promoting a female character in your introduction and then fridging her shortly in the book, is not a good look.
Read for Relics etc Square.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2022
Both were pretty good. It's nice to know beforehand which Doctors they are in the stories. Gives your mind's eye a better idea of what to imagine while reading. Remembrance is the Seventh Doctor and Prisoner is the Tenth, just to save anyone the trouble of looking it up.
But boy is it obvious that it's David Tennant's Doctor in Prisoner. I hardly even had to try to read it in his voice because the writing was just so accurate to the Tenth Doctor.
I really enjoyed both Remembrance and Prisoner. They were both just really good. I don't know what else to say about them. It felt like Doctor Who in the respective Classic and New Who eras that they take place in. Personally I liked Prisoner more, but that's probably just because it was so easy to read the Doctor's parts with David Tennant's voice and the personality he brings to it in my head.
But boy is it obvious that it's David Tennant's Doctor in Prisoner. I hardly even had to try to read it in his voice because the writing was just so accurate to the Tenth Doctor.
I really enjoyed both Remembrance and Prisoner. They were both just really good. I don't know what else to say about them. It felt like Doctor Who in the respective Classic and New Who eras that they take place in. Personally I liked Prisoner more, but that's probably just because it was so easy to read the Doctor's parts with David Tennant's voice and the personality he brings to it in my head.
December 21, 2018
So, I actually got this book on sale -- a bookstore had too many of them in stock and put them on sale for more than half off. An inexpensive Doctor Who book was just too tempting to pass up, to the point where I even dragged this heavy tone across country with me so I could actually read the whole thing.
And BOY was it worth it! At first, though, I was beginning to have my doubts. Because while Remembrance of the Daleks isn't a bad book by any means it was a very, very poor choice to have first in this double-feature. It would have been better to start with Prisoner of the Daleks, which was written for the page and has a stronger writing voice overall, and then have Remembrance, which is a novelization of an episode from the classic series as a cool bonus afterward.
I imagine Remembrance was written with those who have already seen the episode in mind. It's just your typical novelization of a televised work, simplistic, to the point, a little bit inside the characters heads beyond what you'd see on screen but nothing too earth-shatteringly different so as to mess with the established head-canon of the already present fanbase. I actually haven't seen this episode, so I found this bare-bones method a little confusing, at times frustrating, and not really to my taste in general. Again, it's not BAD, Ben Aaronovitch certainly made a good effort, but it was just TOO MUCH OF A VISUAL story to work as a standalone novel. I had a tough time following it during certain chapters, and I don't feel it was the best introduction I could have had to the seventh doctor, either. I actually somewhat regret this being my introduction to him, as he seems like a really dark, interesting version of the Doctor but this was such an awkward way to start his era for me. Honestly, I sort of wish that I'd waited on this one and maybe read "Human Nature" first -- I just think I'd have understood him better than way. Dunno.
That said, if you are a fan of Remembrance of the Daleks (I've seen commenters who say it's their favorite of classic who) then you'd probably LOVE the first novel in this tome as you're plainly the target audience for it.
The most positive thing I can say about it personally at the moment is that I did enjoy the way Ace's character was written, and while I maintain this is a poor intro to the seventh doctor, I couldn't have wanted a better one to this particular companion of his.
Oh, and I also liked the scene where Ace and the Doctor switch places in the car while driving. Even though that is clearly a visual gag that doesn't translate brilliantly to page, picturing that in my mind was still bloody hilarious and made for some serious giggles.
Now, on to the REAL gem.
Prisoner of the freaking Daleks ya'll!
I LOVED this book. Just loved it.
I didn't know quite what to expect when I started because I knew only two things about it going in.
1) it takes place during the "specials" when the Tenth Doctor is traveling alone after dropping off his companions.
2) Reviewers from the single, paperback release of this book reported that it gets pretty dark for a Doctor Who adventure book.
Well, while I don't agree that it's THAT dark -- I mean, yeah we get the Doctor being physically tortured by really evil Dalek but it's not graphically described or anything and the psychological bits weren't anything worse than you see a standard RTD era episode; common, I eat darker stuff for breakfast sometimes -- it's definitely a very somber, thoughtful novel as opposed to being entirely spacey and puum-puum laser guns.
Basically, the Doctor has a run in with Dalek bounty hunters, one of which he seems to be briefly considering making a companion of (she dies really early on, which is kind of the point) because she's more adventurous and smart and less bloody-thirsty and thuggish than her team members. The Captain of the bounty hunters, Jon Bowman, blames the Doctor for things going wrong and Stella dying, even though he really had nothing to do with it, and they clash heads quite a bit. Especially when Bowman tortures a Dalek by peeling it from its casing despite the Doctor telling him not to.
But things escalate and the remaining bounty hunters and Doctor eventually find themselves prisoners in a kind of Dalek work camp (think Holes, but no one gets a break after digging and they're looking for a space-time rift thing and not buried treasure). The Doctor and Bowman are not to put to work however, but are taken in for questioning and torture while the others are killed and injured and forced to work in their place, chained to each other... Okay, well maybe it went A LITTLE darker than I give it credit for...
The Doctor manages to keep up a cheerful façade despite being terrified which peeves off Bowman at first but later seems to earn his admiration. Eventually the Daleks are tricked into thinking the Doctor lost the Tardis key (I know it sounds silly, but it works in the story, I swear) and a lot of confusion ensues during which the Doctor is able to turn the tables and escape with the only two remaining hunters, Bowman and Koral (at one point he tried to bring a mother and child in the Tardis too, to save them from the work camp, but the Daleks prevented this).
And to my surprise, I was disappointed to see the story end. I'd been following it with great interest to see how they would get out of this one, and while the conclusion was satisfying enough, I wanted to spend more time with these people I'd grown so curious about. I wanted to SEE Jon find his parents and introduce Koral to them, not just know that was going to happen. And I wanted to see what happened to the Doctor after he left Dalek X behind broken and injured but not dead -- and then I remembered, I already had, because it shares continuity with the TV specials, even if Dalek X doesn't feature on the show. So there's that, of course.
So, yeah, really good book just as a book and a real treat as a Doctor Who fan-service story as well. Gold stars all around from my end. Color me impressed.
Honestly, I found this story so pleasing that I kind of hope someone adapts it for an actual episode some day with another Doctor (kind of like how Human Nature was a novel about Seven, but it was a TV Episode for Ten). Frankly, even if it was with a version of the Doctor I didn't particularly care for, in a season I didn't like, I'd still watch this if they ever made it -- even if just to see Bowman, Stella, Cuttin' Edge and Koral come to life on screen.
And BOY was it worth it! At first, though, I was beginning to have my doubts. Because while Remembrance of the Daleks isn't a bad book by any means it was a very, very poor choice to have first in this double-feature. It would have been better to start with Prisoner of the Daleks, which was written for the page and has a stronger writing voice overall, and then have Remembrance, which is a novelization of an episode from the classic series as a cool bonus afterward.
I imagine Remembrance was written with those who have already seen the episode in mind. It's just your typical novelization of a televised work, simplistic, to the point, a little bit inside the characters heads beyond what you'd see on screen but nothing too earth-shatteringly different so as to mess with the established head-canon of the already present fanbase. I actually haven't seen this episode, so I found this bare-bones method a little confusing, at times frustrating, and not really to my taste in general. Again, it's not BAD, Ben Aaronovitch certainly made a good effort, but it was just TOO MUCH OF A VISUAL story to work as a standalone novel. I had a tough time following it during certain chapters, and I don't feel it was the best introduction I could have had to the seventh doctor, either. I actually somewhat regret this being my introduction to him, as he seems like a really dark, interesting version of the Doctor but this was such an awkward way to start his era for me. Honestly, I sort of wish that I'd waited on this one and maybe read "Human Nature" first -- I just think I'd have understood him better than way. Dunno.
That said, if you are a fan of Remembrance of the Daleks (I've seen commenters who say it's their favorite of classic who) then you'd probably LOVE the first novel in this tome as you're plainly the target audience for it.
The most positive thing I can say about it personally at the moment is that I did enjoy the way Ace's character was written, and while I maintain this is a poor intro to the seventh doctor, I couldn't have wanted a better one to this particular companion of his.
Oh, and I also liked the scene where Ace and the Doctor switch places in the car while driving. Even though that is clearly a visual gag that doesn't translate brilliantly to page, picturing that in my mind was still bloody hilarious and made for some serious giggles.
Now, on to the REAL gem.
Prisoner of the freaking Daleks ya'll!
I LOVED this book. Just loved it.
I didn't know quite what to expect when I started because I knew only two things about it going in.
1) it takes place during the "specials" when the Tenth Doctor is traveling alone after dropping off his companions.
2) Reviewers from the single, paperback release of this book reported that it gets pretty dark for a Doctor Who adventure book.
Well, while I don't agree that it's THAT dark -- I mean, yeah we get the Doctor being physically tortured by really evil Dalek but it's not graphically described or anything and the psychological bits weren't anything worse than you see a standard RTD era episode; common, I eat darker stuff for breakfast sometimes -- it's definitely a very somber, thoughtful novel as opposed to being entirely spacey and puum-puum laser guns.
Basically, the Doctor has a run in with Dalek bounty hunters, one of which he seems to be briefly considering making a companion of (she dies really early on, which is kind of the point) because she's more adventurous and smart and less bloody-thirsty and thuggish than her team members. The Captain of the bounty hunters, Jon Bowman, blames the Doctor for things going wrong and Stella dying, even though he really had nothing to do with it, and they clash heads quite a bit. Especially when Bowman tortures a Dalek by peeling it from its casing despite the Doctor telling him not to.
But things escalate and the remaining bounty hunters and Doctor eventually find themselves prisoners in a kind of Dalek work camp (think Holes, but no one gets a break after digging and they're looking for a space-time rift thing and not buried treasure). The Doctor and Bowman are not to put to work however, but are taken in for questioning and torture while the others are killed and injured and forced to work in their place, chained to each other... Okay, well maybe it went A LITTLE darker than I give it credit for...
The Doctor manages to keep up a cheerful façade despite being terrified which peeves off Bowman at first but later seems to earn his admiration. Eventually the Daleks are tricked into thinking the Doctor lost the Tardis key (I know it sounds silly, but it works in the story, I swear) and a lot of confusion ensues during which the Doctor is able to turn the tables and escape with the only two remaining hunters, Bowman and Koral (at one point he tried to bring a mother and child in the Tardis too, to save them from the work camp, but the Daleks prevented this).
And to my surprise, I was disappointed to see the story end. I'd been following it with great interest to see how they would get out of this one, and while the conclusion was satisfying enough, I wanted to spend more time with these people I'd grown so curious about. I wanted to SEE Jon find his parents and introduce Koral to them, not just know that was going to happen. And I wanted to see what happened to the Doctor after he left Dalek X behind broken and injured but not dead -- and then I remembered, I already had, because it shares continuity with the TV specials, even if Dalek X doesn't feature on the show. So there's that, of course.
So, yeah, really good book just as a book and a real treat as a Doctor Who fan-service story as well. Gold stars all around from my end. Color me impressed.
Honestly, I found this story so pleasing that I kind of hope someone adapts it for an actual episode some day with another Doctor (kind of like how Human Nature was a novel about Seven, but it was a TV Episode for Ten). Frankly, even if it was with a version of the Doctor I didn't particularly care for, in a season I didn't like, I'd still watch this if they ever made it -- even if just to see Bowman, Stella, Cuttin' Edge and Koral come to life on screen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2017
This book is awesome! It was just like watching an episode of Doctor Who. The author did a good job of appealing yo the readers scenes. I recommend this book to all doctor who fans. I hope to read more books like this one.
February 22, 2021
Embarrassingly enough, I’ve never actually seen Remembrance of the Daleks, or any Classic Who. I got this book for Christmas from a relative who knew I liked Doctor Who and gave it to me because it had a pretty cover. (And yes, that cover is gorgeous and I love it. Seriously, how can daleks be so pretty?)
Despite that, I really enjoyed Remembrance of the Daleks. I really loved Ace and the Doctor was very…Doctor-ish. It was decently well-written, and the side characters were interesting. The plot was a little hard to follow at times, but I think that’s probably because I haven’t seen the original episode, and I read a lot of it while tired. In general it was nicely complex. The climax was satisfying, though, with a nice bittersweet note at the end that made me think. I can’t comment on how well it novelizes the original episode, but as a novel, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Prisoner of the Daleks, though. It sucked me in and held me for the rest of the book. Ten’s characterization was spot-on, and the side characters and dynamics were all super interesting. What really pulled me in, though, was when they brought in the Arkheon Threshold, and the planet of Arkheon itself. The whole concept of the tear in space-time and a split planet was absolutely fascinating, and I have always had a thing for old ruins and destroyed civilizations. The climax is awesome, and the ending was an unexpected punch that left me thinking. Prisoner of the Daleks was probably my favorite of the Doctor Who spinoff novels I’ve read.
Despite that, I really enjoyed Remembrance of the Daleks. I really loved Ace and the Doctor was very…Doctor-ish. It was decently well-written, and the side characters were interesting. The plot was a little hard to follow at times, but I think that’s probably because I haven’t seen the original episode, and I read a lot of it while tired. In general it was nicely complex. The climax was satisfying, though, with a nice bittersweet note at the end that made me think. I can’t comment on how well it novelizes the original episode, but as a novel, I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Prisoner of the Daleks, though. It sucked me in and held me for the rest of the book. Ten’s characterization was spot-on, and the side characters and dynamics were all super interesting. What really pulled me in, though, was when they brought in the Arkheon Threshold, and the planet of Arkheon itself. The whole concept of the tear in space-time and a split planet was absolutely fascinating, and I have always had a thing for old ruins and destroyed civilizations. The climax is awesome, and the ending was an unexpected punch that left me thinking. Prisoner of the Daleks was probably my favorite of the Doctor Who spinoff novels I’ve read.
August 25, 2017
The first book is a novelization of the programme of the same name. There are added tidbits and of course the apocryphal name of the Doctor. It is a good read and especially fun if you have seen the programme before, but not in a while.
The second book is an original story for the tenth doctor that is chronologically placed during the specials season of the show. It is meant to be an original adventure. It has some interesting characters and an inquisitor Dalek. Other than that it is not "stellar" storytelling. I believe it was included to ride along with the popularity of the first story.
The second book is an original story for the tenth doctor that is chronologically placed during the specials season of the show. It is meant to be an original adventure. It has some interesting characters and an inquisitor Dalek. Other than that it is not "stellar" storytelling. I believe it was included to ride along with the popularity of the first story.
October 29, 2018
I unfortunately have shelved "Remembrance of the Daleks" after 70 pages as I found it a bit difficult to follow. The perspective changes were sudden and sometimes hard to place with so many characters involved at the same time. But "Prisoner of the Daleks" definitely proved to be a positively brilliant read. The battle of morals and ethics really came through and I could easily see it all play out as an episode. Would be 5 stars if not for the first story issues.
November 2, 2023
I was a little let down by this one. We read the other Dr Who Barnes & Noble edition last year and LOVED it. This one fell flat. The first story jumps back and forth so frequently within the same chapter that it’s hard to understand who is on what side and what exactly is going on.
The second story was not exactly kid friendly 🫣 which is fine, but also not the humor we had experienced in the other book.
I think this show would be awesome to watch and you can tell that these specific stories were written as screenplays instead of stories due to their setup.
The second story was not exactly kid friendly 🫣 which is fine, but also not the humor we had experienced in the other book.
I think this show would be awesome to watch and you can tell that these specific stories were written as screenplays instead of stories due to their setup.
May 16, 2017
Interesting and entertaining stories.
December 29, 2018
This is a collection of two Doctor Who stories.
The first is the novelization of a classic Who story and it reads like a bad novelization. I quit after about fifty pages. It was just bad. Perhaps if you’ve seen the show it makes sense, but it’s filled with a bunch of characters difficult to distinguish with no backstory or development. One star.
The second is a story during the end of the tenth Doctors tenure. It is a stand-alone novel, not a novelization of a show, and is a lot of fun. There are a few characters and they each get a bit of development. David Tenant’s Doctor from screen is captured on the page. This ones a fun read. 4 Stars.
Overall, that would average out to 2.5 but you can’t give half a star on goodreads. I’ll add a half star since the binding is beautiful and it will look cool on my shelf.
The first is the novelization of a classic Who story and it reads like a bad novelization. I quit after about fifty pages. It was just bad. Perhaps if you’ve seen the show it makes sense, but it’s filled with a bunch of characters difficult to distinguish with no backstory or development. One star.
The second is a story during the end of the tenth Doctors tenure. It is a stand-alone novel, not a novelization of a show, and is a lot of fun. There are a few characters and they each get a bit of development. David Tenant’s Doctor from screen is captured on the page. This ones a fun read. 4 Stars.
Overall, that would average out to 2.5 but you can’t give half a star on goodreads. I’ll add a half star since the binding is beautiful and it will look cool on my shelf.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews