Doctor Who: The Target Storybook

by Terrance Dicks, Matthew Sweet, Simon Guerrier

We’re all stories in the end…

In this exciting collection you’ll find all-new stories spinning off from some of your favourite Doctor Who moments across the history of the series. Learn what happened next, what went on before, and what occurred off-screen in an inventive selection of sequels, side-trips, foreshadowings and first-hand accounts – and look forward too, with a brand new adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor.

Each story expands in thrilling ways upon aspects of Doctor Who’s enduring legend. With contributions from show luminaries past and present – including Colin Baker, Matthew Waterhouse, Vinay Patel, Joy Wilkinson and Terrance Dicks – The Target Storybook is a once-in-a-lifetime tour around the wonders of the Whoniverse.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy, Media Tie In

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2019

About the author

Terrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst this collection of short stories is a real mixed bag, it’s nice to see that the Target range is having a resurgence of late.

With every incarnation of The Doctor covered, it gives a real blend of different types of stories.
Though I found the ones that felt like an extended chapter to previous released novelisations to be my favourites.

One of the noticeable entries is Terrance Dicks last contribution prior to his death, the Second Doctor tale set at the end of The War Games is also one of the strongest in the set.

Other standouts include what really happened to the Fourth Doctor during The Five Doctors and a nice welcomed scene from the Seventh during Remembrance of the Daleks.
It was nice to see two of the Eighth Doctor’s companions from the EDA’s were part of his story.

The modern Doctor’s probably suffer from a lack of Target novelisations to choose from, though the Ninth Doctor story that features Clive from ‘Rose’ and Vinay Patel’s Letter from the Front ended the collection strongly.

I’d much prefer more new series novelisations like those announced for 2020, but this was still an enjoyable addition to the range.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one for true fan, not casual readers some of these stories are set between different parts of stories like the Chase, but some of them are no Doctor.
I don't think they that good, no Master, no Davros no Cybermen we do get a Missy. No U. N. I. T. No Sarah Jane Smith.

[Hanluvr · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard for me to figure out how to rate this one. I can’t recall the last time I was quite so disappointed in a book as I was with this one. Add in the fact this is the most I’ve ever paid for a Doctor Who book on my Kindle only compounds my disappointment and dissatisfaction with this purchase.

/SPOILERS AHEAD/

My main dissatisfaction comes with The Turning of the Tide, the first printed work about the Metacrisis Doctor and Rose Tyler. I became a fan of Doctor Who with the 2005 series. While I like (even love in some cases) other characters, the Doctor and Rose Tyler are tops for me. I appreciated the fact that Journey’s End game them a happily ever after the Time Lord could never have. I was okay with the thought that the author might have a different vision than I do in this story (for instance, whether or not to go along with the deleted scene with the TARDIS coral that has them growing a TARDIS, or whether they are living life entirely on the slow path). I can disregard preferences as long as the story is true to the characters. However, that was not the case in this story. It started off with the name and got worse from there. It is understandable to need a human name for legal purposes. But in the story Rose flat out tells the Metacrisis Doctor he’s not the Doctor, he says/thinks he’s not the Doctor, and she will not call him that (despite it being made abundantly clear at the end of Journey’s End.) Not only that, she likens him getting a name to naming a dog. No. Full stop, no. Not funny, not cute, and totally against character. That the Doctor (as that is who he IS) and Rose are together and in love is little consolation, as is the fact that the character “Clark” knows exactly who the human-Time Lord is despite their protestations. These are not the characters I know and love and I had hoped for better. I haven’t given up all hope for printed stories about them in the future, as Big Finish certainly did it an excellent job with their short trips audio stories about the Metacrisis Doctor from Jackie Tyler’s point of view, but I will be extremely cautious and might seek out the library prior to purchasing when it comes to printed stories. I have no problem paying for what I enjoy if I in fact enjoyed a different story in the future.


That big disappointment aside, there was also a few things that bothered me. There were no Ninth or Tenth Doctor stories. Looking at the story count I thought we’d be getting something from each Doctor. That has been my experience in the previous anthologies I’ve read (The Twelve Doctors of Christmas, The Halloween story collection, etc) but it wasn’t here. I might have even accepted that, if not for the fact where there COULD have been stories with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, there were two I honestly couldn’t care less about. Instead of Nine we get a story with “Clive” from the episode Rose. He’s not even the main character and while I liked him as in the Rose Tyler audios from Big Finish, this story did not meet that standard and I was bored. The other non-Doctor story centered around characters from The Demons of Punjab. While I enjoyed that 13th Doctor story very much, the included story here did little to hold my interest, especially in place of what I really wanted to read. The lack of having a story for each Doctor thus far was another strike against this book for me.

Now for the good stuff. While I got into Doctor Who with NuWho, I have also immersed myself in Classic, seeing every complete story that is available since the show started. I thoroughly enjoyed Colin Baker writing his Sixth Doctor, and it was neat to see Matthew Waterhouse write a story for this anthology too. They, as well as the last story from Terrance Dicks, and to a lesser extent the other classic Doctor stories, helped make this purchase not a total waste. But even some of classic Doctor stories didn't seem up to the standards and provide me the enjoyment other stories have in the past.

[Lauren Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

All in all, this was a decent collection. I particularly enjoyed "Gatecrashers," which was written about the 13th Doctor, and Colin Baker's story "Interstitial Security." Jacqueline Rayner delivered as usual, too. However, Jenny T. Colgan's story about the Metacrisis Tenth Doctor ruined quite a lot of this book for me. I was extremely excited to read it, but after reading it I actually RETURNED it through my kindle- something I have never done with a kindle book before. It's bad enough that Colgan decided that this was the way to write these characters, but it's even worse that it was edited, published, and printed along with the other stories within.

SPOILERS BELOW.
Rose refuses to accept that this Doctor is actually the Doctor, so she gives him a name. The naming bit doesn't bother nearly as much as how she actually goes about it- She names him like he is a dog, and even LAUGHS about it after she suggests Fido or Spot! First, this is incredibly out of character for Rose Tyler, the girl whose defining characteristic is compassion and light. This is NOT the girl who once held the entire Time Vortex in her head so that the Doctor wouldn't have to die alone. She even goes so far as to not allow the Doctor to call himself Doctor, and even forbids him from building a sonic screwdriver. UMMM REALLY???
It is clearly established by canon that this IS an observable regeneration of the Doctor, since the 11th Doctor tells Clara that the metacrisis counted-he regenerated SIDEWAYS instead of forwards. The Doctor even says to Donna when she doubts him aboard the Dalek crucible during the episode "Journey's End: "I AM the Doctor." The warmth between them just isn't there, when it SHOULD be. These characters are poorly written, poorly represented, and this takes away from 10.5's character, reducing him as less than he is- THE DOCTOR.
Furthermore, Rose is pregnant and due to give birth any day, and the Doctor isn't even the least bit interested- and he can't even bring himself to decorate a nursery. Well can you blame him? His entire identity of the person he has been for the last 900 years has been stripped away. He despises everything about himself that is "Doctor" because Rose hates everything about him that is "Doctor." Then she's surprised when he wields a gun....Um, duh! Who could blame him? He has seemingly forgotten most things that he's done over that time! Like, HOW???? Rose remembers but HE doesn't???? Give me a break. I found myself actually wanting the Doctor to dump this selfish, manipulative "Rose," reclaim his identity, and go traveling with Clark the robot worm! This was NOT the Rose Tyler who made me fall in love with the show all those years ago, and NOT the Doctor I know that he still is. This story was weak, lacked any real warmth, and wanted me to chuck the entire book through a window.

Next time let the people from Big Finish write these characters, because Joseph Lidster's two stories about them were fantastic. The Doctor is still the Doctor, he's building a TARDIS, consulting for UNIT just like he did in his third life, and generally being HIM.

[Rachael]

I've marked this as maybe-one-day but despite being a massive Doctor Who fan I don't think I'll be rushing to read this. Why? Because I know about the metacrisis Doctor/Rose story and it goes against canon and previous characterisation. Also, Corin!?! Need I say more?
My alternative (and, hopefully, better) headcanon is Tentoo is known as the Doctor but also goes by John Noble sometimes in honour of Donna.
Jenny T Colgan, you're better than this. I'm disappointed with this one story because it's put me off the rest of this collection.

[Chris Callaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this collection of short stories involving all the Doctors. These tales slot around and reference various episodes of the Doctor's timeline, but as a Dr Who fan and maybe not a Dr Who mastermind some of the plots lost me a bit. But that is a failing on my part, and it was great to be taken along for the ride. The Target stories have an impressive legacy, and I'm sure this will rest well amongst the others.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS is simply wonderful: a celebration of why we "Doctor Who" fans loved our Target novelizations, and why we're so happy that they've returned to our lives. A clever selection of missing bits/prologues/epilogues/unseen snippets from existing stories, brought to life by a wonderful selection of authors, including the late, great Terrance Dicks' final contribution to a range he fashioned with his own two hands. I can't praise this work highly enough.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to Goodreads character limit, the full review can be read here: https://jacoblickliderreviews.blogspo...

The Target Storybook was perhaps one of 2019’s most anticipated anthology releases in the line of Doctor Who books. It was a celebration of all the Doctors and their prose, starting way back with 1965’s Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and the first ever novelization, the Virgin New Adventures, the Eighth Doctor Adventures, and the trio of Thirteenth Doctor novels released in 2018. Each story comes from a place of love and dedication to the show, and the anthology is one that shows that each era has its ups and downs while all making up one small part of Doctor Who as a whole.

The current Whittaker era bookends The Target Storybook from two Series 11 writers. Up first is “Gatecrashers” by Joy Wilkinson, set immediately after The Witchfinders. “Gatecrashers” is a locked room murder mystery in a space pizza parlor where the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan stumble on a dead body. It doesn’t take long to find the murderer, Ronan Sumners a man attempting to keep his people inside, controlling socializing by a teleportation network a la Three’s a Crowd. This is a story where there is one real flaw that just leaves the reader dissatisfied: the TARDIS team. This is a short story and as such having a four person TARDIS team means that the writer has to be creative in using them so each character feels like they serve a purpose and have a depth of field. Wilkinson, however, does not do this, sidelining Yaz and Ryan meaning that they have absolutely no character while the Doctor and Graham take center stage. “Gatecrashers” is only 20 pages long, meaning that things wrap up just as they are getting started. 6/10.

“Journey Out of Terror” takes us back to 1965’s The Chase and another four person TARDIS team, however, Simon Guerrier’s short story is much more resourceful than Wilkinson in effectively using each character. This is a point in the show’s history where the TARDIS is uncontrollable, and the Doctor is unable to actually go and rescue them. Guerrier injects tension into the story as the Daleks are clearly on the tale and an intentional homage to The Rescue begins as the TARDIS lands in a comic book where Julia Jett is waiting. She wishes to escape her existence by travelling in the TARDIS and the Doctor is almost ready to oblige. This creates conflict in the TARDIS team as Ian and Barbara cannot believe the Doctor is so readily willing to move on from Vicki. Guerrier’s story is a highly emotional one that helps build to Ian and Barbara’s eventual departure from the TARDIS while examining just how Ian, Barbara, and the Doctor’s dynamic actually works. 9/10

Legendary Doctor Who scribe and Target Novelist Terrance Dicks provides “Save Yourself”, a Second Doctor story set right after The War Games. “Save Yourself” is short, taking place as the Doctor waits to be punished and is interfered with by an operative of the Celestial Intervention Agency, offering him an out. Dicks sends the Second Doctor on missions for the CIA, bringing Season 6B to the forefront, but with one final twist on the theory that I will not spoil. The mission of this story is the first of many chances of the Doctor to save himself, being sent to the planet Karn where the War Lord has escaped his execution and it is up to the Doctor to stop him from acquiring immortality through the Sacred Flame of Karn. It’s a fitting story to go out on and although this is not dedicated to him, it gives one last hurrah for such an integral writer to Doctor Who’s history. 7/10.

Environmentalist stories just seem to define the Third Doctor’s era and Matthew Sweet’s entry into The Target Storybook, “The Clean Air Act”, is no exception. This story is one of those stories where the UNIT family is explored, as are many Third Doctor short stories. The actual plot involves alien parasites in a story that feels like a tribute to 1960s and 1970s science fiction films like The Day of the Triffids. Jo and the Doctor are always fun to have a story centering around them, but sadly once it gets going, the story is over far too quickly. Sweet’s prose is worth the read as there is a lyrical charm, making it surprising that he has never written a full-length novel for Doctor Who. 7/10.

Newcomer Susie Day provides “Punting”, the Fourth Doctor story for the collection, and an interesting take on Shada and The Five Doctors. The story opens with the scene from Shada playing out with the Doctor and Romana being taken into the Timescoop, and continues from there as they attempt to break into The Five Doctors’ plot while providing witty, Douglas Adams style commentary on events and the other four incarnations of the Doctor which are present. Many of these witty comments have been echoed by fans over the years, such as laughing as Sarah Jane is menaced by a gentle sloping hill, or the shabby state of the Yeti, or the misunderstanding of Borusa being evil. Day’s story is one which should not be taken seriously, as it sets itself up from the off as a farce. This farcical nature makes the story an incredibly jovial read, even if it’s slightly derivative of two other stories. Day is one newcomer who’s first story is pure perfection, and it will be interesting to see what she continues to do in the future. 10/10.

The biggest surprise of The Target Storybook is that Matthew Waterhouse was chosen to represent the Fifth Doctor’s era in “The Dark River”. Waterhouse would not strike any Doctor Who fans as a writer, but his story, set with Adric and Nyssa flying the TARDIS during The Visitaiton, is an excellent character study. One complaint of Adric is that he is an insufferable know it all, though “The Dark River” allows him to be wrong as he accidentally pilots the TARDIS to the United States of America interacting with a runaway slave, James, whom they immediately help to get to safety by traveling up the Mississippi River when the TARDIS is stolen by a rival Time Lord. Nyssa has to learn to rely on Adric for help while Adric has to find a way to get the TARDIS back, and think outside of his standard intelligence to help the renegade Time Lord featured here. Waterhouse also just knows how to capture the reader immediately and shows that he clearly understands what worked and what didn’t work about the character he played, being willing to criticize his own performance through the text of the story. Tackling racism with two alien companions also provides an interesting perspective, if limited by the nature of being a short story with a small page count. 9/10.

Colin Baker’s “Interstitial Insecurity” is another standout story, this time taking place in between Mindwarp and Terror of the Vervoids, as the Doctor is picking out evidence for his trial in the Matrix. Baker offers an interesting glimpse into The Trial of a Time Lord as he shows the reader some of the changes made by the Valeyard to the testimony, something the Doctor claimed in Terror of the Vervoids. Baker also clearly understands how to write for Doctor Who, understanding just how Peri’s death breaks the Doctor and revives a determination to route out evil in the universe, becoming attached to a Time Lord program in the Matrix who is really only there to help. While it is no surprise that the Valeyard has a hand in events, Baker stays restrained in keeping him only in brief appearances, right at the beginning and right at the end as the two stories are bridged by “Interstitial Insecurity”. 10/10.

The Virgin New Adventures range of books is represented here with “The Slyther of Shoreditch” by Mike Tucker, though by using a television story, Remembrance of the Daleks, as linking material. The Daleks don’t actually appear as the premise is that a modified Slyther from The Dalek Invasion of Earth is attempting to recover the Hand of Omega late at night while Ace sleeps. The Doctor, just before the café scene (you know the one), is on the streets trying to stop it when he is first informed of the forthcoming Time War by the same Time Lord from Genesis of the Daleks. Tucker has excellent use of the Seventh Doctor, a Doctor who easily could have won the War given the chance, essentially being manipulated into avoiding the War at all costs as it is implied the Time Lords fear this incarnation of the Doctor in particular. It helps to bridge the VNAs right in with the rest of the show and it’s a nice little intrusion into one of the best Doctor Who stories, like many stories in this anthology, being a supplemental to an already good story. 9/10.

Eighth Doctor Adventures range editor Steve Cole provides “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming” where the Eighth Doctor, Fitz, and Trix face off some evil accountants in a scathing satire of bureaucracy which ends in a paradox. Like many of the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, the big plus here is the Eighth Doctor and Fitz’s relationship being stunning as the characters have this brilliant repartee and while Trix is not a character I am familiar with, her first impressions here makes for an exciting time as this is set right near the end of the Eighth Doctor Adventures line. Cole’s prose is also suited to the short story format, making “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming” a nice little glimpse into a long dead range of Doctor Who novels that may make new readers come to try it out. 8/10.

Engines of War author George Mann provides “Decoy” for the War Doctor in The Target Storybook, taking readers straight into the Last Great Time War where Rassilon has made an Auton duplicate of the Doctor in an attempt to end the War, as the title suggests, as a decoy to end the Daleks. The interactions between the Doctor and Rassilon are where “Decoy” succeeds as Rassilon is a desperate man attempting to end the War at any cost, even if that doesn’t actually mean changing history. The final decoy of the story is also a surprising little twist that on reread is set up rather nicely in the end, though this one is not one that deepens the War Doctor as a character. 7/10.

Una McCormack’s poignant “Grounded” represents the Ninth Doctor’s era in an interesting way. This is a story that doesn’t feature the Doctor in any capacity, instead focusing on Clive Finch, the man in Rose whom Rose sees to learn about the Doctor and gets killed by the Autons at the climax as New Who’s first real casualty. “Grounded” explores Clive’s relationship to one of his sons who is grounded for breaking a neighbor’s window with a football, while his mother and other brother go out for the day. It’s melancholic as a story and that is just what McCormack needed to do with this particular character at this particular time. 8/10.

The Target Storybook this far hasn’t had a bad story, but “The Turning of the Tide”, by far the longest story in the collection, is the weakest. It follows Rose Tyler in her parallel universe with Corin, the name she gives to tto the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor. The plot of the story is serviceable: Jenny T. Colgan brings in an alien invasion which has been going through parallel universes for business opportunities which could be fun, but Corin and Rose’s relationship, which is the main thrust of the story is where things fall apart. Colgan writes Rose with introspection on how Corin doesn’t actually count as the Doctor and the inner turmoil would be nice, but she is also pregnant with his child. The issue here is that there is no implication that Colgan understands how messed up of a situation this is and how the introspection must have happened before this. Also they’ve been living together, but Colgan writes it as if they’ve just gotten back to their universe which doesn’t feel right. Add that to the fact that Corin is just the worst aspects of the Tenth Doctor with little of David Tennant’s charm, “The Turning of the Tide” is a story that just loses the reader quickly. 3/10.

The quality then immediately increases with Jacqueline Rayner’s critique of the Moffat and Chibnall era’s “Citation Needed”. “Citation Needed” is told as entries in the Encyclopedia Gallifreya, essentially a chronicling in the TARDIS library of the Doctor’s time stream, while the Thirteenth Doctor and company are making themselves breakfast. Rayner takes the time to take jabs at Clara, the Meta-Crisis Doctor, the War Doctor, and the current era, much like Day coming from a place of love. The entire point of the story is all about poking fun at obsessive continuity and just letting those who enjoy stories enjoy those stories, continuity be damned. Rayner is the perfect writer to do this as she has written for many Doctors in many eras and clearly loves writing. The non-traditional storytelling is also one thing that sets this story out as the rest of the entries are generally written traditionally, while Rayner here writes as if this is a series of encyclopedia entries. It’s a breath of fresh air just for how different it is. 8/10.

Bill, Missy, and Nardole are the stars of new writer Beverly Sanford’s “Pain Management” which is also an examination of an aspect of the Moffat era. This story is one where Missy’s turn to the side of good is examined, and parodied as the Twelfth Doctor lets her out of the vault on a day trip, falls asleep, and she attempts to cure humanity of the flu by turning them into zombies. Yeah, Missy’s plan doesn’t quite make sense which is fine as it fits into Michelle Gomez’s portrayal of the character, which is lovingly imitated here, and Bill and Nardole’s inability to stop her is also excellent. Sanford writes a story straight out of Series 10, showing just what worked about that particular series and made Moffat’s last such a good one. 7/10.

Finally is Vinay Patel’s bookend “Letters from the Front” which is a reflection on Demons of the Punjab and a story that does must be read to be understood. Patel plays around with Prem, showing his time as a soldier, drawing on the history of the era and genuinely ending this book on a high note, though one that does not connect to any Doctor in particular. 9/10.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Whovian here.
Well...
I have been reading the other reviews on here and I think it is unfair to judge the book by just the one story that seems to have disappointed the most people.
Some of the other stories do not deserve to be down-voted because of one slip-up!
All in all, there were more worthwhile and entertaining stories in there than disappointing ones, so I would call this a success.
I also have to agree with some other reviewers that I am also unsure about the target audience of this book. There are a few kiddie friendly stories in here, but some stories also get pretty dark and gruesome. That is a bit confusing.

As for the individual stories.
Since it is kind of hard to review these short stories without spoilers, there are some very mild potential spoilers below. So read at your own discretion.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

Since it received so much flak, I decided to read "The Turning of the Tide" first. Pete's world, Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor. I wanted to know if the story was really that bad and tasteless.
I am not a fan of Rose. I am not a fan of Rose/Doctor shipping. I am not a fan of the „boyfriend“ clone. I thought I would therefore not mind his story.
I was wrong.
I hope this was written with the intention of it being a comedy/ tongue-in-cheek/ ironic piece trying to troll the shippers. I really hope so. If not, why would anyone think this would have been a good idea to include in a book such as this? Honestly, for me, this is on the same level as Hell Bent for insulting the characters. And Hell Bent at least has a couple of awesome scenes to make up for it a little bit.
Let us just call this a really weird dream sequence and be done with it.

Now, with that out of the way, the book could only get a lot better.
And it did.

Gatecrushers- I was pleasantly surprised by this 13th Doctor story.
It is quite dark and claustrophobic and not at all what I had expected. It has that „Gridlock“ feel to it, with the vision of the future society and runs with it. It starts out with a gruesome dead body and becomes a murder mystery. This was quite good.

Journey Out Of Terror- This 1st Doctor story is a bit more kiddie- friendly (although, as a kid, I also would have preferred the style of the 13th Doctor story). This one felt a bit basic, and since I have never been particularly sold on that particular parallel universe, it did not do a lot for me.

Save Yourself: Terrance Dicks 2nd Doctor story picks up again and is a really cool idea clearing up the question if the Doctor was an unwilling CIA agent before he was exiled. And this is exactly how I like my Time Lords. Dark, nasty and scheming.

The Clean Air Act: This one got quite gruesome. And dark. Nice outing again for Jo and the UNIT crew.

Punting: This one was just alright, nothing really to write home about.

The Dark River- I was really pleasantly surprised by this story. Matthew Waterhouse does a great job. This is a nice pseudo-historic story with some sci-fi elements, bringing in the topic of slavery. This is one of the best stories in the book, and Adric and Nyssa are at the top of their game here.

Interstitial Insecurity- I must admit that I adore Colin Baker. He is brilliant in Big Finish, and he is also good at telling stories. I like his language, he has a huge vocabulary and is not afraid to use it.
Cute little tale. He even gets to name check Charley Pollard.

The Slyther of Shoreditch- this is a fun little comedy adventure where the Doctor teams up with another Time Lord to defeat a monster created by the Daleks. Fun and entertaining with some nice fore-shadowing of the Time War. Since this happens during Remembrance of the Daleks, this makes a lot of sense. So in a way, the Doctor really started the Time War.

We Can't Stop What's Coming- not sure if the first person narrators for this story were the best choice. This is a quite dark and foreboding adventure featuring the Eighth Doctor and Fitz and Trix. It surely would not be out of place in Big Finish's line of darker Eighth Doctor stories. I am not the biggest fan of Fitz, neither from his audio appearance nor from the couple of books I have read that feature him. I just do not like his attitude and personality at all. However, having him as one of the first-person narrators was not as grating as I feared. This again fore-shadows the Time War and one has to wonder if the weapon that is developed in this story has the Daleks or the Time Lords as evil overlords behind it... from what we have learned about the machinations of the Time Lords, it could be either...

Decoy- Fun adventure featuring the War Doctor. He gets to be very clever and we even get a cameo of Rassilon and the two of them play a little game of cross and double-crossing each other. I am still waiting for a real showdown between the Doctor and Rassilon, however. This was basically just the warm-up.

Citation needed- was an interesting experimental stream of consciousness story, however, for me, it did not really come together very well. Might need a re-read.

Pain Management- A fun story featuring Missy. This is pretty much a missing tale from the Missy Chronicles, along the same lines and with the same humour. It is very well written and constructed and Missy gets to be her usual brilliant self. She even dresses for the occasion. What makes this especially interesting is that it is not entirely clear throughout the story if Missy acts out of good or evil intentions. Probably both.

[Gordon Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of tales, some good, some not so good.

[Paul Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of stories in the grand Target tradition.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely readable, as is the tradition of Target novelisations, this collection of short stories covers all the Doctors even if they don’t always show up. Christopher Eccleston, for example, is represented by a memorable guest character from his first episode; David Tennant does appear, but perhaps not the one you were expecting; one story, told from the point of view of a sentient space encyclopaedia, ticks through Smith, Capaldi and Whitaker.

The writers all take a creative approach, with many inserting a story between scenes of an existing episode. We find out, for example, what the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana got up to inside a time eddy during The Five Doctors. We also catch up with the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and friends realising their mistake in leaving a companion behind mid-story, and going on an intriguing side quest to rescue her. This one, along with several here, has a clever reveal. (And a seriously clever, downright evil ending.)

It’s unashamedly fannish stuff, which may raise a few questions for new readers. But for the intended audience it’s a treat, including the last Doctor Who story by Terrance Dicks, who had a huge impact on Target books. As befits his work on the series all of these stories are well expressed and to the point enough that any reader ought to be able to follow them. RIP, Terry.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3321042.html

I loved this. It's a collection of Doctor Who short stories, edited by Steve Cole with contributions from Joy Wilkinson, Simon Guerrier, the much-missed Terrance Dicks, Matthew Sweet, Susie Day, Matthew "Adric" Waterhouse, Colin "Sixth Doctor" Baker, Mike Tucker, Cole himself, George Mann, Una McCormack, Jacqueline Rayner, Beverly Sanford and Vinay Patel. It's a bit invidious to single out individual stories, but I will anyway: Terrance Dicks last controibution to the Whoniverse expands the concept of Series 6B, with the Second Doctor on mission for the Time Lords; Susie Day looks at the Fourth Doctor and Romana punting; Una McCormack looks at the back story of Clive from the TV episode Rose; Jenny Colgan looks at the alternative Tenth Doctor who ends up with Rose; even George Mann is on decent form. The whole thing comes with a beautiful wraparound cover featuring all the Doctors (and Adric). Excellent stuff.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

・Save Yoursel
2ndドクターのお話。
The War Game(Doctor Who series 6 Serial 7)のラストでがギャリフレイに連れ戻されたドクターが種族の歴史の流れに干渉した罪で裁判にかけられ、その判決をまっている時の物語。



ドクターは死刑か追放のどちらがいいかと問われ、追放を選ぶ。すると、追放という名目でタイムロード最高議会が懸案する事象や事件を捜査解決するように言われる。永遠でないならという理由でドクターは同意する。ドクターはさっそく任務に送り出されるが...。



判決をまっている間にC.I.A(Celestial Intervention Agency)に何度も仕事をさせられては記憶を消されていたドクター。そんなトレッドストーン計画みたいなことをされていたなんて酷すぎると思わず声に出して怒ってしまった。さすがタイムロードの情報機関。やることがドえげつない。

・We can't stop what's coming
8thドクターとフィズとトリクスの冒険
ターディスが引っ張られるままに着地した地でフィズとドクターはネアンデルタール人たちに捕らえられてしまう。 久しぶりのフィズと喜んでいたら、まさかタイム・ウォーへの布石になっているとは。 この先長い戦いが待っているのだと思うと、ドクターが切ない。


・ Interstitial Insecurity
コリン・ベイカーがえがく6thドクターの冒険
裁判で弁護に有利な何かを見つけられるようにマトリクスを見る許可を得られたドクター。しかし、ここで見たことは記憶には残らないという。

　6th ドクターとヴァリヤードの裁判エピドード絡み。

　加えてチャーリー・ポラードまで出てくるっていう。

　ええっと、BigFinishネタと正史がなにやら交錯しちゃってますが。

　裁判エピソード、いつか見なければと思いながらまだ見てない...反省。

・Punting
4thドクターとロマーナの冒険。

ドクター・フー20周年記念「５人のドクター（The Five Doctors）」で各ドクターがギャリフレイの死のゾーンに強引に召喚されている間、4thドクターもロマーナも大変だったという話。

　4th ドクターはロマーナと共にタイムヴォルテックスの中にオックスフォードの橋と川の一角ごと閉じ込められてしまっており、ドクターの存在が消えてしまう前にそこから脱出しようと試行錯誤するという趣向。結構なピンチに陥っているにもかかわらず相変わらずタイムロード的天然ぶりを発揮しまくるドクターとロマーナのかけあいが面白い。またタイムロード同士で旅をするなんてシリーズがあってもいいのになと思わせてくれる。「5人のドクター（The Five Doctors）」、一度視聴したが詳しい内容はほとんど記憶から飛んでいるのでまた再視聴したい。

・ Letters From the front
ドクター・フー シーズン11　エピソード６「Demons of Punjab」に登場したプレムやティジャリアンのドクターたちに遭遇する前のお話。
第二次世界大戦中、1941年～1945年、徴兵され戦地にむかったプレムが 故郷の弟マニッシュにむけて綴った手紙。

このエピソードをおぼろげにしか覚えていなかったが、読んでから見直すと一段と切ない。当時の日本軍ってこんなところにまで進軍していたんだと気が滅入った。どんだけやらかしたのか...。真珠湾攻撃でアメリカ軍が参戦となって、これですぐにでも戦争が終わるぞと喜んでいたプレムたちが切なかった。

・The Dark River
アドリックとニッサの冒険。
ニッサとアドリックが意識を取り戻すと19世紀のアメリカにターディスが到着していた。モニターで1人の黒人男性が銃を持った男たちに追われているのをみて、ニッサがとめるのもきかずアドリックは追われている男を助けようとターディスの外に飛び出す。

　時系列的にはシーズン19の「The Visitation」から続く物語になるらしい(未見だからよくわからない...)。

4thドクターから5thドクターにリジェネレーションを果たし、アドリックはまだ5thドクターにちょっと慣れられずにいる感じの頃。

農園から逃げ出したジェイムズを助けるためにアドリックがいきなり撃たれてしまうし、これはもしやニュートン・ナイトとかが出てきたりするのかしらと思いきや、ドクター・フー的にはもっと驚きの展開に！

なんとドクターの若い頃を知るアカデミー出身のタイムロードが登場！！！

なんでもTardis type 29でギャリフレイを出奔したらしいんだけど....、

誰やねん、あんた？？？！！！

　一瞬マスターかとも思いかけたけれど、マスターではなかった。

　 たぶん、これまでには出てきたことのないキャラクターだと思うんだけれど自信は全然ない。

　思いがけなさすぎる展開で本当にびっくりした。
(今調べたらこれを書いた作家さんはアドリックを演じた方だった！）

・Pain Management
コンサートで張り切りすぎたドクターが脳震盪で病院にはこばれ意識不明でいる間、ミッシーが新種のインフルエンザの治療方法を編み出し、ドクターに褒めてもらおうとする。
事態の収束のつけ方は、ドクターにとってなかなか痛いところをつかれてしまったような。

・GateCrashers
ターディスが受信した６桁の数字をピザの割引券と判断したドクターは送信元目指す。
到着したのは確かにピザ店ではあったが、出入り口も窓もなく、一人の少女が床で倒れて死んでいた。ドクターとヤズとライアンとグレアムは少女の死の真相を探ることにする。
久しぶりに13thドクターとその仲間の話を読んだ。シーズン12は来年までお預けなので、屈託なくあかるい13thと彼女の明るさに振り回されるグレアムやドクターの言いつけをきかずどんどん冒険をすすめてしまうヤズとライアンのコンビネーションが味わえたのは嬉しかった。短編なので深刻になりすぎることもなく読みやすかった。

・Grounded
クライブさんの運命がどんどん切なくなるお話。
サッカーボールで隣家の窓を割ってしまったベンは日曜日なのに外出禁止な上テレビもゲーム禁止で家にいろと母親から命じられてしまう。そんな時、ベンの父親クライブをテディという老人が訪ねてくる。

9thはでてこない。ドクターのことを調べていたクライブさんとその息子さんのある日曜日の午後の小さな冒険。

このドクターは1stなのかそれとも...? ドクターはクライブさんが未来の自分を調べていることを知っていて近づいたのか、それとももしや12thだったのかな？？？

・Decoy
War Doctorのお話。
今後のタイム・ウォーの決着の行方を大きく左右することになるポイントでラシロンはダーレクの戦隊を阻止するためタイムロードの戦隊に犠牲を強いる作戦をたてる。それを知ったドクターは作戦を中止するようラシロンを説得しようとするが。

ドクターと戦争は一番相性が悪いと思うのだけれど、でも勝つための方法も思いつけてしまう自分がドクターはすごく嫌だったりするんだろうなぁ。 今回、ドクターはとってもドクターらしい選択をして大勢を救うことができたけれど、そううまくいかないことの方が多いだろうし。

・Journey Out of Terror
1st ドクター、イアンとバーバラ、ヴィッキーの冒険。
Doctor Who Series 2 Serial 8 - The Chaseの合間の物語。

ダーレクの追跡から逃れてターディスに逃げ込んだドクターとイアンとバーバラ。ホッとしたところでヴィッキーを置いてきてしまったことに気がつく。
元に戻ろうにもドクターがターディスを思い通りの時間と場所に運行できあたことは一度としてないがドクターは諦めない。
激しく揺れるターディスの中でイアンは読みかけの本を手に取る。すると自分たちのことが漫画として描かれていることに気がつく。服装も今と同じでしかも自分たちと一緒にヴィッキーも描かれていた。
ドクターからこの漫画には未来の出来事が描かれているときいたイアンとバーバラは、ということはヴィッキーも生きていると希望をもつのだが...。


1st ドクターのエピソード「The Chase」というのはダーレクが時間移動の技術を手にいれターディスをしつこく追いかけてくる話。
エンパイア・ステート・ビルやメリー・セレステ号、ドラキュラや狼男、フランケンシュタインらが闊歩する幽霊屋敷などにドクター達がターディスで移動すると少ししてダーレクが現れ、ドクター達が慌ててにげるということが繰り返されるが、コメディたっちでかなり笑えるエピソードだったとおぼろげに記憶しているが、ヴィッキーがいなくなったことは覚えてない。

この小説はヴィッキーがいなくなったあとの話でヴィッキーの代わりにジュリアという少女が登場する。
このジュリアがすぐにドクターと仲良くなったことからバーバラがドクターがヴィッキーのことを探さないのではないかと不安がるところが興味深かった。

ドクターはこのちょっと前に孫娘スーザ��と別れ、そのあと孤児のヴィッキーを旅で誘うのだが、バーバラはそのことをヴィッキーもそもそもはドクターにとってスーザンの身代わりで、今度はジュリアを代わりにするのではないかと疑うのだ。もちろんドクターにそんな意図はないのだが。

ちなみにこの「The Chase」の最終話でイアンとバーバラが無事に「ロンドン1968!」に帰還を果たすことができターディスから去り、ヴィッキーはこのあともドクターと旅を続けていく。

小説に話を戻すとジュリアの正体や物語の結び方もドクター・フーっぽくていい感じ。 ただ、一人称語りがバーバラとイアンが交互で行われて、時々どっちがどっちかわからなくなることが多々あって読みすすめるのに手間取ったのが自分的に悔しい。

・The Clean Air Act
3rd Doctorのお話。
住宅街のある一角で住人たちが一斉に絶命するという事件が発生。偶然車で通りがかったドクターとジョーはその通りで一件だけ無傷でいる住人に着目。UNITに連絡するがほかの住人が絶命した原因が見つけられない。軍が放射性物質を埋めたのではないかという噂が広まり環境団体が抗議にくる騒ぎとなる。しかしドクターは住人の命を奪ったのは放射性物質ではなく突然この一角から空気が消えたせいだと睨む。

地球から空気を盗もうと企む異星人と環境問題を絡めた話。でもうまく絡められていなかったような気がする。短編なのにさらに劇中にでてくる本の引用文がはさまったり、ちょっと読みづらかった。

・Citation Needed
ターディスに搭載されたタイムロードの記憶を記録するマトリクスの個人端末が自意識に目覚めたお話。
...という認識でいいのかな？ ドクターの個人端末目線で話が進む。たぶん9thから13thまでのドクターを端末ちゃん目線で。ちょっと切なかった..かな？（いやどうだろう...)

・the Turning of the Tide
メタクライシス10とローズの物語。
BigFinishとはまた違う世界観でのメタクライシス10のお話。

こちらはコリンさんという名前がつき、ローズは彼の子供を宿しております。

そんななかで地球の水を全部盗んで行こうとする異星人を対峙することに。

タイムロードのドクターがもっていた知識はなんとなく覚えているものの曖昧で、ターディスもソニック・スクリュードライバーもないなか、コリンはローズと地球をまもるために全力をつくす。

あの二人にはこうなっていて欲しいなと思うような展開。

うん。

Bigfinishバージョンも面白いけど痛々しすぎて。

ドクターももう10ではないし、でも10には幸せになっていて欲しい...意味不明なことを言っているようですがたぶんこの話を読んでもらえればわかるかと。

うん。

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections are always a little hit or miss. Given the often-large number of stories collected in a volume, the likelihood of every single story being amazing, or even good, isn't very high. While every story in The Target Storybook isn't an amazing, home run of a story, all of them are pretty darn solid. There's not a bad one in the bunch and each of them does a really good job at capturing the essence of their respective Doctor's eras within a short amount of time. Every genre of Doctor Who story is represented in this collection - there's Classic Who-style historicals, space stories, alien planet stories, weird time travel stories, Earth-based stories. UNIT even makes an appearance. There's just such a wealth of Doctor Who goodness within the pages of this collection and all of it is very well-written.

Some of my favorite stories include: "Save Yourself" by Terrance Dicks (2nd Doctor), "Punting" by Susie Day (4th Doctor), "Interstitial Security" by Colin Baker (6th Doctor), "The Slyther of Shoreditch" by Mike Tucker (7th Doctor), "We Can't Stop What's Coming" by Steve Cole (8th Doctor), "Decoy" by George Mann (War Doctor), "Citation Needed" by Jacqueline Rayner (11th-13th Doctors). Of this bunch, if I had to pick favorites, I'd probably go with "Save Yourself", a story set during the final episode of "The War Games" where Gallifrey's CIA makes the 2nd Doctor go on various missions for them, and "Citation Need", a really fun, yet particularly heartbreaking story where the reader is in the mind of a sentient encyclopedia as it realizes it's sentient. I also like that the stories for the 7th, 8th, and War Doctor's all revolve around the Time War. The Seventh Doctor's story confirming that the events of "Genesis of the Daleks" was the first shot of the war, the events of the Eighth Doctor's story showing how aware of the forthcoming war the Doctor was, and the War Doctor's story literally being set during a battle of the War. I just think the Time War is such a fertile ground for interesting stories, and prose might just be the best place to explore that concept and I love it when the BBC Books line leans into the Time War more. Overall, this collection was filled with some excellent stories that I can easily see myself returning to.

All that being said, I didn't love every story in this collection. It's not that any of them are bad, or anything, but much like Doctor Who as a whole, there are stories I like and stories I don't; eras I like and eras I don't. Most of the stories I didn't love aligned with eras I'm not in love with, but some of the others I didn't like just didn't quite gel for me. Whether it be a pacing issue or something with the plot, there was just something that didn't quite gel. for me. A specific example being Jenny T. Colgan's story about the Meta Crisis Doctor and Rose, "The Turning of the Tide". I appreciate Colgan going a totally different direction with the Meta Crisis Doctor than Big Finish did in their audios, but I'm not really sure I like this direction. Perhaps it's realistically what might happen in this scenario, but there's just something kind of sad about it and it makes me unhappy seeing Rose and the Meta Crisis Doctor struggle so much. The story itself is really good, though, even if I'm not in love with the characterization. And that's the thing: even in those stories I didn't love, there was still something I did enjoy. None of these stories come close to being clunkers; I just didn't love them as much as I loved the others.

Overall, The Target Storybook is pretty emblematic of the entire line of Target novelizations; there are some really excellent stories found within its covers and there are some stories that are less than excellent. What differentiates this book from some of the less-good Target novels is that none of the stories in The Target Storybook are bad. In fact, I'm sure that some of the ones I didn't love will be other people's favorites. This is the best aspect of The Target Collection: there is a story for every Doctor Who fan. Whether you like Classic Who or New Who, whether you only like specific Doctors, whether you like Earth-based stories or sci-fi stories or historicals. There is something in this collection for you and every single story is very well-written. It's clear that every author who wrote for this collection had a love for both Doctor Who and the spirit of the Target novelizations. I can't recommend this title enough for anyone looking for a really quick Doctor Who fix. It's solid.

[Ezekiel Thorp · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd entry into the Doctor Who fiction library, but a very good one, being a collection of short stories inspired by events only alluded to on TV, in the spirit of the beloved Target novelisations which added to classic stories in ways not possible on a BBC budget of the time.

The collection begins with the excellent Gatecrashers by Joy Wilkinson, writer of TV episode The Witchfinders and which takes place directly after, although not connected to, that episode. It's got some brilliant ideas, and the illustration of Bradley Walsh on a motorbike makes it worth the £16.99 entry charge.

The second story, Journey into Terror by Simon Guerrier, takes place inbetween episodes of 1965 story The Chase, and is another cracker. Save Yourself by Terrance Dicks is the final entry into Doctor Who fiction by the beloved author, and although it's a sequel to a classic story I've not seen, I still enjoyed it very much, even though the older writing style of Dicks sticks out a bit among the more accomplished modern authors.

Matthew Sweet's The Clean Air Act is an excellent entry for the Third Doctor, and Susie Day's Punting is a decent entry for the Fourth Doctor and Romana, set between a brief gap inbetween anniversary special The Five Doctors, although personally not for me as I could not stand Lalla Ward's character on TV.

The Fifth Doctor is not actually represented himself, but his era is via a gap exploited from 1982's The Visitation, with a story about Adric and Nyssa written by Adric himself, Matthew Waterhouse. It's about slavery, which is a very heavy topic for Doctor Who of a 1980s vintage, but it's great stuff, and a memorable read.

The Sixth Doctor Colin Baker also wanted to get in on the writing act for this book, penning the story for his own Doctor which takes place towards the finale of 1986 story The Trial of a Time Lord. It's complex stuff and you really need to concentrate to read it, but it's good, even if you do really need knowledge of the TV story before you go in.

The Seventh Doctor is represented with Mike Tucker's The Slyther of Shoreditch, an enjoyable enough tale based on 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, although again not for me since it's a story I sometimes find overrated.

I can't really remember much of the entries for the Eighth and War Doctors, but the Ninth Doctor, or again rather his era, is given coverage with Una McCormack's Grounded, a sweet story focusing on loveable alien hunter Clive from his opening TV episode.

Next up is The Turning of the Tide, the longest of the book and the infamous "Corin Who" story. Whether you like this really depends on whether you like the Tenth Doctor and Rose. Although I love the characters, this didn't do it for me. The characterisation was off and the plot itself bored me. I was actually very excited to get to the next story.

Citation Needed is another odd one, representing the Eleventh Doctor's era but actually covering content all the way to the Thirteenth's. It's a very unique story, and although a fair amount of TV knowledge is required, if you have that knowledge you'll enjoy it.

Pain Management by Beverly Sandford is a fun adventure for the Series 10 TARDIS Team, although not explicitly linked to a TV story, and the collection ends with Letter from the Front by Vinay Patel, a Doctor-less prequel to his 2018 TV story Demon of the Punjab, and a fine way to close off this book.

It's a mixed bag, as is any short story collection. But it's well worth your money, and has recently come out in a more affordable paperback version. Go for it!

[Alex Sarll]

Sunday was the first time since my age was in double figures that a new Doctor Who episode aired and I didn't watch it as soon as I got chance (or, thus far, at all). But regardless of my feelings for the current TV iteration, I will always be a Who fan. And this is very much a book pandering to the fans, whether it's Terrance Dicks, even at the last, still trying to make Season 6B happen, or Steve Cole bringing back the Eighth Doctor's companions from the early noughties books. Is it actually any cop? Sometimes; I really enjoyed Matthew Sweet's Pertwee story which, if it was never on seventies BBC, would not have been at all out of place there – I could even see the ropey effects on the monster. Susie Day's Punting offers an affectionate (I hope) riff on the silliness of The Five Doctors; Jenny Colgan, whose Who stuff is generally very good, checks in on Rose and her consolation prize not-quite-Doctor, even giving him a slightly better name than that. Elsewhere, not so much; Mike Tucker is still somehow getting to hog the Seventh Doctor, despite having nothing to offer beyond adding a pointless wrinkle to the best Dalek story ever – and then not even being able to get right what it is that the Hand of Omega manipulates. Several stories try to swipe gravitas by including Time War stuff, yet none of them holds a candle to those wonderfully evocative hints Rusty would drop, never mind the Faction Paradox version. It says a lot that the blurb is excited about getting stars of the show to contribute, as well as people primarily known as writers – and then said stars are the least popular Doctor and the second-worst companion*. Doubtless this is why Colin gets to be on the front cover with the cool kids and the current incarnation, and why Adric is the only companion shown (only on the flap, granted – but infuriatingly, that's the same prominence McCoy, the best Doctor, gets). To be fair to Colin, he does at least turn in a rather sweet story set in the interstices of Trial Of A Time Lord, which goes out of its way to canonise bits of Big Finish; Matthew Waterhouse, on the other hand, provides a Doctor-less Adric and Nyssa outing in which they confront racism in the American South, and which is every bit as awkward as that sounds. But sod it, Doctor Who was never about an absence of the occasional stinker; right back to its first two episodes, it's always alternated the astounding and the fairly poor. The problem with the Chibnall era is not that it's sometimes bad, it's that it's been so consistently unambitious, and thus entirely unexciting, lost in a faux-prestige sheen of beige, Coldplay averageness. Whereas for all I may grump about some of the stories here – and make no mistake, some of them really are not very good – I can still recognise a fundamental Who-ness. Hell, if I could change one thing it would be the dimensions, and I mean that in a non-Gallifreyan engineering sense; the paperback's format is not sufficiently Target - and I don't mean the short storyness or the thickness so much as the height and breadth. Of all the projects you'd expect could a) do retro properly and b) remember to be smaller on the outside...

*Whom I still suspect of being one of the time-scattered slivers of the worst companion, but let's not get into that.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of fifteen short stories made up of sequels, prequels and 'sidequels' to episodes of the Doctor's TV adventures (plus two free-standing ones for the Eighth and War Doctors, who sadly never had enough screen time).
All of the Doctors (up to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth) are represented and the stories are written by a mixture of experienced Who authors, screenwriters who've worked on the show and even actors who starred in it.

This collection gained some notoriety among Who fans for three main things: 1) Gareth Roberts' story being dropped due to his publicly transphobic views, 2) Terrance Dicks' death shortly after completing his contribution, and 3) Colgan's character-assassination of Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor.
For the first, I'm glad that BBC books (and, apparently, the other authors involved) took a stand against transphobia by dropping Roberts from the collection.
For the second, it's a real shame because Dicks was not only one of the people most influential to the show itself, but his novelisations more or less single-handedly kept the idea of Doctor Who print media alive.
The third thing I'll get to shortly.

Overall, like all anthologies, this is a mixed bag in terms of quality but it has to be said that it is a largely enjoyable book. The mixture of writing styles, different Doctors and other POV characters keeps the format changing up enough that even if you're not enjoying a particular story, a totally different one is never far away.

The highlights for me were Dicks' follow up to his seminal Second Doctor epic 'The War Games', Colin Baker getting to show who his incarnation of the Doctor was truly meant to be (along with sly subtext about outside forces meddling and editing to make him look bad), a pitch-perfect Seventh Doctor interlude amid 'Remembrance of the Daleks', Mann's return to the War Doctor (one of my favourite incarnations) and Vinay Patel's fascinating prelude to the melancholy brilliance of Series 11's 'Demons of the Punjab'.

Most of the other stories aren't as engaging but are mostly only a bit boring at worst. The aforementioned story with the Metacrisis Doctor and Rose is definitely the book's low point, however.
Honestly it's not as bad a some of the reviews I've read of it but it does feel like a bit of a betrayal of those characters. Here Rose is emotionally manipulative and claims to love the man she's with, whilst also regularly reminding him that he's not THE Doctor. At one point, despite being pregnant with his child, she says that 'it' isn't even really a 'him'. The poor old Metacrisis Doctor also gets stiffed by the writer in that he's depressed about how much he doesn't remember, the fact that Rose reminds him he's not the Doctor and that he's stuck on Earth. Instead of Colgan using the opportunity to show the Doctor is a hero because of his character, here's it's implied that he's only a hero because he's a Time Lord and has a TARDIS. Also, in the most cringeworthy moment of the whole book, he gets given the name Corin because he and Rose met a bloke called Corin once. Just awful.

The gems outweigh the turds in my opinion, though, so this anthology is worth a read.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decently good collection of stories, each set during a different era of Doctor Who, and mostly with direct connections to specific episodes.

Going story by story:
- "Gatecrashers" (13th Doctor, after "The Witchfinders"): A fairly standard Thirteenth Doctor story, albeit one that remembers that Yaz is a cop, which is nice.
- "Journey Out of Terror"(1st Doctor, during "The Chase"): Decent, though I expected some tie to "The Mind Robber" after seeing the premise.
- "Save Yourself" (2nd Doctor, after "The War Games"): Well-trod ground for Terrance Dicks in Whovian fiction, just OK in the end (though the finale may appeal to fans of the Timeless Child twist).
- "The Clean Air Act" (3rd Doctor): This lightly references "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", but really stands on its own. Not the cheeriest story, but solid.
- "Punting" (4th Doctor, during "The Five Doctors"): The Fourth Doctor and Romana as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Fairly entertaining, but particularly depends on knowing the original story.
- "The Dark River" (5th Doctor, during "The Visitation"): Probably my top pick in the book, although the 5th Doctor never actually appears. Instead we see Adric and Nyssa on an adventure in the pre-Civil War American South.
- "Interstitial Insecurity" (6th Doctor, before "Terror of the Vervoids"): A decent character-centric vignette, showing the Sixth Doctor's kinder side.
- "The Slyther of Shoreditch" (7th Doctor, during "Remembrance of the Daleks"): This is set during my favorite story from the era, and I liked it well overall, but something about it fell slightly short for me. Maybe the call-forward threw me off.
- "We Can't Stop What's Coming" (8th Doctor): Set late in the BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures. Pretty standard for that range, but since those novels don't seem to be referenced very often (compared to Big Finish's 8th Doctor stories) this was a nice blast from the past.
- "Decoy" (War Doctor): A fine Time War story.
- "Grounded" (9th Doctor, before "Rose"): This story focuses on minor character Clive and his family, with no actual appearance by the Doctor. A decent story, but I would have liked something more 9th-centric.
- "The Turning of the Tide" (10th Doctor, after "Journey's End"): Featuring Rose and the Meta-Crisis Doctor. Not completely comfortable with this version of how the characters would develop, but it's an interesting take.
- "Citation Needed" (11th Doctor, ostensibly): Mixed feelings on this one. The premise and structure are neat, but as a result we don't really get an 11th Doctor story, more an offbeat 11-12-13 overview.
- "Pain Management" (12th Doctor, before "World Enough and Time"): Mostly about Missy's attempt to make a good impression going bad. Not bad, but a downer ending.
- "Letters from the Front" (13th Doctor, before "Demons of the Punjab"): A direct prequel to the episode, well-done but doesn't add a lot.

Overall this anthology is entertaining, but while none of the stories are bad, and all are interesting to some degree, none really struck me as classics of Who fiction. Worth reading for long-running fans, however. (B+)

[Thaddeus Tuffentsamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag of stories, some excellent while others miss the mark so terribly, the editor should not have allowed them in.
There are some fantastic stories:
Susie Day’s Fourth Doctor story “Punting” is spot on to the beloved character. His speak and characteristics are true to the character as well as Romana’s. The relationship between the two is exactly as it was on screen. A well written story that was a joy to read.
Steve Cole’s Eight Doctor’s adventure, “We can’t Stop What’s Coming” is another win. The Doctor and his friends are depicted exactly as in the Big Finish productions. The story was an amazing ‘butterfly effect’ premise that was also a bit of time travel suicide, though not intentionally.
Una McCormack’s Ninth Doctor adventure, “Grounded” is a masterclass in the art of the red herring. This story revolves around Clive (Who was killed by the Nestine in the episode Rose) and his son Ben, as Ben tags along with one of his dad’s ‘nutters’ on an adventure that he had no other option, other than absolute boredom, to go on. The red herring came in the form that it looked like The Doctor wasn’t in the story, but a deductive reader will learn that he was there all along. Well done!
Jenny T. Colgan’s “The Turning of the Tide” is another breakthrough story! It technically focuses on the Tenth Doctor, but also Corin, is but is not the Doctor as well. If you’ve ever wondered how things are going on ‘Pete’s World’, this will fill you in. And Clark is an amazing companion. I would LOVE to see more adventures of Corin and Rose, either as a novel or collection of short stories.
Beverly Sanford’s “Pain Management” is a great adventure that focuses on Missy trying to be good. All of the characters are there and represented as genuinely as they were on screen. This is now in my head canon as a missing adventure.

Now the bad, and I rate them as really bad.
The two WORST stories in this collection are “Citation Needed” by Jacqueline Rayner and “The Dark River” by Matthew Waterhouse.
They are so equally bad, that it’s hard to pick the worst, but that goes to Watterhouse for being so self-aggrandizing that he wrote a Fifth Doctor story that DID NOT HAVE THE DOCTOR! Instead, we get an adventure of how amazing Adric is and how he defats slavery!
“Citation Needed” was a complete mess of a story. It DID NOT HAVE THE DOCTOR in it either! It was taken from the point of view as The Doctor’s liquid diary / encyclopedia and how it was alive and had to make the ultimate sacrifice, and when The Doctor FINALLY shows up, it’s the 13th and Fam!
Sorry Target, but if your writing a book about 14 Doctors, then MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE ALL THERE!
And last but not least is Vinay Patel’s “Letter from the Front”, which is war correspondence that again, does not include a Doctor, has character that we don’t know or care about, and will not have the time to explore to even see if we should care about them.
The stories that hit, hit extremely well, the ones that don’t are a complete waste of time reading. There are some really fun adventures, but the ones that are terribly bring this book to a 3.5 star rating.

[Mikes Dw Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decoy:
I really enjoyed this short story featured in the target story book. It was great too see George Mann come back and write for the war Dr, as he was the first writer to expand on the war Dr in the timewar. Here he just nails it like he did before. He just manages to create/show how bad each side is getting.

Here the story focuses more on the timelords effort in the war. We see just how nasty/corrupt Rassilon is. Hes just a ridiculously patriotic murder. His plan is to use an auton duplicate to send a group of timelords on a suicide mission all just to distract the Daleks away from Gallifrey. It's nasty and evil and I loved the back and forth between him and the Dr as they talk about the justification of it. Rassilon stupidly believes it's a honorable way to die and to die with the Dr. This of course eats at the Dr because that means they will die hoping the Dr will save them and he can't have that on his conscience. It's incredibly good.

Made even better by how the Dr fights back at Rassilon threatening him saying he should take him out now and how he's no better than the Daleks, possibly worst. Rassilon continues to eat at him by calling him a disrespectful coward playing games, but as the Dr states he's more than he will ever be as a timelord. Because even though the drs against this war he'll get involved to save his people and the universe while Rassilon sits and makes orders. It's incredibly good writing/dialogue of the two characters. I think it's a shame George Mann hasnt written a big finish time war story yet.

The final reveal is that the Dr both on the ship and talking to Rassilon is another auton duplicate while the real Dr steals explosives to use against the Daleks. We get a great scene that shows us just how dark this Dr can be too. The guards find the Dr and he offers them a chance. The Daleks or this capital will blow up. It's a great way to show how the war is really effecting this Dr and leading up to his final decision. I also really loved how sacred the young timelord was, stuck in the do I or don't I, untill he decided to let the Dr go. It's a sweet moment.

The story does such an incredible job at showing how the timelords really are being nasty and corrupt to each other, something the anniversary special lacked. The only change I'd of made is making another twist/reveal of the Daleks making a duplicate also as a way to trick the timelords. It would of made an excellent complete circle of each side being just like the other.
Rating 3/5 7/10

[phthalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listing my favourites here - Journey Out of Terror reminded me of The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage (13 Doctors 13 Stories), where the Land (and power of) fiction is also mentioned. Did anyone get chills flipping the page on Julia or was that just me?

The Dark River - Unlike the others, this was set on Earth. The theme of racism was intertwined with this story, where Adric and Nyssa (both white but not human characters) travel with a runaway slave to try and get the TARDIS back. Won’t say too much about this one, though.

Interstitial Insecurity - Like mentioned above, I haven’t watched Classic Who (I do have some knowledge of it, though!). Despite that, this story was deeply immersive and made me really feel for the characters.

Pain Management - Sanford shows here that it’s possible to write a four-person team and still retain some semblance of characterisation (although perhaps that’s due to Moffat). Let’s just say, the actions of the characters in this book definitely fit how they were portrayed in the show twelve going crowdsurfing? omg yes. I’m probably biased because I simp for Bill (BILL POTTS MY BELOVED YOU’RE MY FAVOURITE LESBIAN AAHH), and Missy, as usual, is her mischevious-yet-somewhat-repetant self.

Now, to the controversial “The Turning of the Tide”. I disliked how the relationship between Metacrisis Doctor and Rose would play out (although it certainly would appeal to timepetal shippers!). And although I could tell where Colgan attempted to intertwine parts of Donna’s personality, it didn’t really jar with me. Rose felt out of character, too. Nevertheless, the story was intriguing.

3.5/5 stars.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went in to this with only average expectations: not many of the authors included have short story credentials - it’s a form that is very different to a novel or a script - and I was expecting a range of competent but slightly clunky tales.

I was wrong: each is well done and carries a spark of originality to the p,it but on the whole I was still a little underwhelmed. There’s a few genuine surprises here: Jenny Colgan gives us a genuinely striking take on the Metacrisis Doctor but flubs the landing with a bit of a naff ending. However, her portrait of a Doctor coming to grips with his new humanity is really interesting. Colin Baker gives us a glimpse of just why his Doctor picked that story for his defence when he was on trial. But a lot of the rest give us twist endings or glimpses of life between/ during stories that, while interesting, don’t really scream out as being essential reading. I will make an exception for Una McCormack’s Grounded which is a wonderful glimpse into the life of a supporting character I really wanted to know a bit more about.

The worst thing I can say about it is that these stories are, in the main, slight. They’re pleasant and fun. The volume as a whole reminded me most of the Dragonlance Tales series from the late 80s wherein some guest authors got to play with characters and settings that were familiar to the reader. Unfortunately, like this book, those stories also fell down fan rabbit holes and didn’t really add anything or provide a lot of insight to the original stories.

But if it’s a pleasant yarn or a distraction or an escape you’re after, these definitely fit the bill. And the Nardole.

[Matthew Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

15 doctor who stories from a variety of authors including previous Doctor Who novel contributors, audio drama writers, former actors and other sci-fi authors and contributors, such as Colin Baker (the 6th doctor), George Mann (Doctor Who: Engines of War), Matthew Waterhouse (played Adric in classic Who) and many more besides.

Varying in style and quality throughout, I've on the whole enjoyed this collection. I'm a fan of short story collections and this is a great mix of stories for the Doctor Who fan.

My personal favourites were 'Citation Needed' by Jacqueline Rayner, written from thd perspective of the Encyclopedia Gallifreya, a digital archive of all knowledge from all Time Lords that have ever been, but bio linked to individual Time Lords.

The story 'The Turning Of The Tide' by Jenny T Colgan featuring the 10th Doctors other half as left with Rose in the parallel universe after season 4 was a really interesting take on an adventure that occurs after the events we witness on screen and once the Doctor has upped and left.

I loved the recurrence of Missey, Nardol, Bill and the Twelfth in 'Pain Management' by Beverly Sanford, which shows another story of Missy's time out of the vault trying to better herself.

I loved all of the stories too written from the perspectives of some of the classic companions, who I know about but have never really seen much of screen. These still feel quintessentially like Doctor Who and I'm glad this collection covers both old and new characters from Doctor Who lore.

Definitely recommended for the Whovians out there.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a young Doctor Who fan, I read every Target novelization of the TV series I could get my hands on. Consequently, I probably read more Target novels than any other type of book, and more books by Terrance Dicks than any other author. This short story collection pays homage to the best of those books, which often fleshed out the characters and stories from the TV series by adding depth and background information. Many of these stories do the same, adding scenes to existing stories to give the characters some new spotlights they did not previously have.

I wish this book had included some sort of introduction or something to put things into context. For one, the word "Target" in relation to Doctor Who books may not be obvious to today's young readers. Additionally, some of these stories are specifically new scenes or even complete adventures that take place during the events of previously televised stories. As a longtime fan--and an old guy--I knew what was going on. However, I am not sure how clear those stories would be to newer fans.

Ultimately, however, this was a nice collection, made up of stories by Doctor Who TV writers, veteran Doctor Who novelists, actors from the show, and children's writers new to Doctor Who. I enjoyed the new scenes enhancing or adding to familiar adventures, and I generally just enjoyed seeing tales of earlier Doctors. It was a lot of fun.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically I did not finish this anthology of stories. But the stories I did read (13-6, War, 11-13) were solidly decent.

The Doctor Who short story collections tend to be much more character focused than story focused, which is generally for the better - at least for me, who is interested in what fanfic the BBC is willing to sanction as 'official'. And the loose theme of this book, with the stories slyly sliding in between adventures (or even taking place during established gaps in adventures!) was a lot of fun, though some were less than inspired choices.

By far the standout stories for me were Terrance Dick and Beverly Sanford's - the former a lovely little bite of how terrible the Time Lords can be and a nice little nod towards the theory of season 6B while the latter is technically more of a Missy story set before World Enough and Time, which means she tries to be good with disastrous results and there's some emotional resonance with what is to come.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who The Target Storybook

A wonderful collection of short stories most of which are set during some of the Doctors Thirteen adventures. And written by a huge range of Doctor Who authors.
I’d list them all but there is literally thirteen of them. Although it does feature the last original story Terrance Dicks wrote before he passed away. Which is a lovely treat.

All in all the only major misstep is The Eighth Doctor story, which although terrific features a companion team that is Largely out of print and needs more introduction than the story gives. The minor misstep was the tenth doctor story, featuring rose and The Human Doctor she was left with at the end of that story. I just didn’t buy into it, it didn’t seem to click for what I expected of those characters.

But otherwise If your who fan it’s a great introduction. Filled with a terrific bunch of stories.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets a bad rep within the Doctor Who fandom, and I have absolutely no idea why. I remember I was so happy when I got it for my birthday two years ago, as it was one that I had been eyeing up, and I was surprised when I added it to Goodreads to find so many complaining about its contents.

Personally it was everything I wanted from this short story collection and more. It's like a fan's dream come true, with so many cool fanboy moments, such as the War Lord's return, or a story that takes place during Trial of a Time Lord. We even get Missy taking over for an adventure whilst the Twelfth Doctor is recovering in hospital from an ill thought-out stage dive. Even the controversial Metacrisis Doctor short by Jenny Colgan I found plenty to enjoy.

[Tom Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories in the world of Doctor Who, each focused on either a specific version of the Doctor or on characters or events surrounding a specific version.

I really found this to be a mixed bag. While overall entertaining, a number of the stories just felt somewhat dry, whether due to unoriginal plots, lack of depth to characters, or a perceived need to plug a plothole from the series. High marks to "The Dark River" by Matthew Waterhouse, an Adric and Nyssa tale reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn. Lesser marks to stories like "Punting", an attempt to tell the 4th Doctor's side of "The Five Doctors".

[SteveL · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read the runs the gambit of the show. It is just filled with short stories each focusing on a different Doctor or at least characters who interacted with that Doctor. A lot of the stories fill in the gaps between episodes from the show.

Not all of the stories are great. There are a few that feel a bit out of place and there are some Doctors who don't make an appearance despite being on the book cover. The first handful of stories are great but towards the end the stories are a bit more hit or miss. Still a fun read and worth for fans of the show.