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Past Doctor Adventures #9
Doctor Who: The Witch Hunters
The Reverend Samuel Parris, Minister of Salem, follows three strangers in the forest beyond the village - a forest which is traditionally believed to be the source of much evil. He hears movement through the trees, steps forward and makes a terrible discovery. It is one which will change life in Salem forever.
The TARDIS arrives in Salem Village, Massachusetts, 1692. The Doctor wishes to effect repairs to his ship in peace and privacy, and so his companions - Ian, Barbara and Susan - decide to 'live history' for a week or so. But the friendships they make are abruptly broken when the Doctor ushers them away, wary of being overtaken by the tragic events he knows will occur.
Upon learning the terrible truth of the Salem witch trials, Susan is desperate to return - at any price. Her actions lead the TARDIS crew into terrible jeopardy, and her latent telepathy threatens to help the tragedy escalate way out of control...
The TARDIS arrives in Salem Village, Massachusetts, 1692. The Doctor wishes to effect repairs to his ship in peace and privacy, and so his companions - Ian, Barbara and Susan - decide to 'live history' for a week or so. But the friendships they make are abruptly broken when the Doctor ushers them away, wary of being overtaken by the tragic events he knows will occur.
Upon learning the terrible truth of the Salem witch trials, Susan is desperate to return - at any price. Her actions lead the TARDIS crew into terrible jeopardy, and her latent telepathy threatens to help the tragedy escalate way out of control...
282 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 2, 1998
19 people are currently reading
480 people want to read
About the author
Steve Lyons
186 books104 followersSteve Lyons is a science fiction writer, best known for writing television tie-ins of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and previously, Virgin. The earliest of these was Conundrum in 1994, and his most recent was 2005's The Stealers of Dreams. He has also written material for Star Trek tie-ins, as well as original work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 12, 2024
This Past Doctor Adventure really captures the feel of the pure historicals of the Hartnell era whilst having some strong character moments for the original TARDIS.
The theme of time travellers not being able to interfere with the past is well explored.
Especially as the novel explores the horrors that befell the vitamins in Massachusetts.
There's plenty of nice continuity references like the fast return switch and a previous visit into Mexico's past with The Aztecs.
The TARDIS team are really well realised and little nods to Susan's impending departure adds a nice touch.
The theme of time travellers not being able to interfere with the past is well explored.
Especially as the novel explores the horrors that befell the vitamins in Massachusetts.
There's plenty of nice continuity references like the fast return switch and a previous visit into Mexico's past with The Aztecs.
The TARDIS team are really well realised and little nods to Susan's impending departure adds a nice touch.
May 11, 2015
"I can't shake off the idea that we're going to wind up separated from the Tardis and in some sort of trouble."
Barbara grinned and linked her arm around Ian's. "So business as usual, then?"
Ian laughed. "Business as usual, I suppose."
When the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan take Barbara and Ian to Salem in the 1600's, they quickly find things spiraling out of control. Despite the Doctor's explicit warnings, Susan feels compelled to try and save a woman who is sentenced to die from witchcraft. But the deeper they all get into the tangles and snarls of history, the harder they find it is to extract themselves.
One of the best aspects of Doctor Who, in my opinion, is the way it delves into various historical events, and this book is no exception. The setting and people from that time period were lovingly and painstakingly crafted by the author, and the hysteria that grips the town is absolutely accurate. Watching the Doctor and his companions experience the passions and the danger of Salem Massachusetts was just enthralling. Any history buff and/or Whovian can find something to love about this story!
Barbara grinned and linked her arm around Ian's. "So business as usual, then?"
Ian laughed. "Business as usual, I suppose."
When the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan take Barbara and Ian to Salem in the 1600's, they quickly find things spiraling out of control. Despite the Doctor's explicit warnings, Susan feels compelled to try and save a woman who is sentenced to die from witchcraft. But the deeper they all get into the tangles and snarls of history, the harder they find it is to extract themselves.
One of the best aspects of Doctor Who, in my opinion, is the way it delves into various historical events, and this book is no exception. The setting and people from that time period were lovingly and painstakingly crafted by the author, and the hysteria that grips the town is absolutely accurate. Watching the Doctor and his companions experience the passions and the danger of Salem Massachusetts was just enthralling. Any history buff and/or Whovian can find something to love about this story!
March 7, 2024
Another great pure historical story set during the Salem witch trails.
The time travellers must not draw attention to themselves whilst The Doctor attempt to fix the TARDIS, there’s a real sense of paranoia in the air.
It’s an excellent read, both the characters and the era are written perfectly.
It’s one of the best First Doctor books.
The time travellers must not draw attention to themselves whilst The Doctor attempt to fix the TARDIS, there’s a real sense of paranoia in the air.
It’s an excellent read, both the characters and the era are written perfectly.
It’s one of the best First Doctor books.
June 25, 2013
I’ve always considered the Doctor Who novels to be a weaker offshoot of the main television series. Bound by continuity, unable to make major alterations to the development of characters or stories, I had an image of them as being superficial adventures – as entertaining as these can be. I was given The Witch Hunters by Steve Lyons about 5 or 6 years ago as a birthday present and decided to read it now. It was published in 1998 – during what fans consider the ‘wilderness years’ of the show after it had been cancelled in 1989 and before its return in 2005. Set in Massachusetts, 1692, the story focuses around the tragic events of the Salem Witch Trials. It features the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara and fits between “The Reign of Terror” and “Planet of the Giants” (around 1964).
The historical setting is the most striking aspect of the novel. Doctor Who, up until 1966 or so, featured frequent ‘historicals’ in which the travelers would land in a period of Earth’s history and be the only alien influence seen during the story. I rather miss that format – it would be nice now to see the Doctor travel back in time and not have aliens cause Mt. Vesuvius to erupt, for Shakespeare not to be influenced by witches, etc. But I digress. There was a point half way into the novel where I feared the antagonist would be revealed as supernatural witches, but it soon became clear this uncertainty was Lyons’ intention to make the mass hysteria appear all the more powerful. This tactic most definitely worked. I also enjoy the TARDIS landing on what seems like Earth but the travelers having no idea where they are. I wish that too would happen more frequently in the new series, but then nowadays there isn’t time for exploration.
Mass hysteria is a concept I in my snug, stable society have always struggled to understand, but Lyons’ approach to the subject is both tactful and enlightening. Even before the Doctor explains it, the tight-knit, claustrophobic community crippled by mourning and paranoia is developed through virtually every page and the reader believes that such hysteria could occur in this village. (Actually, these conditions finally provide a decent excuse for Othello…). I’m still not entirely convinced by the explanation for the children’s well-timed fits during the courts, but a combination of the puritanical society denying them an outlet for energy, the regular abuse they face, living on the edge of the Known World with all the trauma that entails and the fundamental religious belief all comes together to create a psychological state I could scarcely imagine. It is obvious Lyons has done his research. My main criticism is that the religious aspect sometimes felt a little shoehorned – Ian, coming from the 1960s UK, really wouldn’t say something like ‘your Bible’. Even if he himself is not religious – possible after all of his experences – he’ll certainly have friends or family at home who are. I get that the intention is to further portray this village as alien to the travelers but on this occasion it’s a bit forced.
This is why I love historicals; through a glance into different cultures, different beliefs and different events they shine varying lights into human nature. Humans become the enemy, with all the ambigueties this entails. The Witch Hunters is no different in portraying the dark side of humanity than we saw with the Aztecs and French Revolution on TV, but what does make it different is the increased amount of cruelty we see. This must have been when the novels entered their ‘adult phase’ – both Ian and Susan experience forms of torture during the story and the entire plot is mired with death. This is much darker than anything which would have been allowed on TV, and I love it! Also, historicals really do provide different perspectives of the world. No better is this seen than in Samuel Parris’ ironic desire to: “go down in history for all the right reasons” by ridding Salem of witches – an action which, of course, has instead made him infamous and a figure of hatred. It also allows for time jumps, described well by beginning each section with a date; one page we’re in 1692 and the next it’s the 1950s. So much fun! (Besides, er, the witch executions…)
The laws of time are given an interesting role here, too. It’s a concept which has been explored numerous times in Doctor Who - often in direct contradiction with what has previously been established. Rather than messing with the more modern idea of ‘fixed points in time’, Lyons builds on the ideas first developed in “The Aztecs” that history cannot be changed. This is proved wrong when the characters make minor alterations, and so I am left to assume that this is an artificial rule imposed upon the Doctor. Is he so scared of changing time because to do so might catch the attention of the Time Lords he’s currently on the run from? It’s never said for sure but the novel does hint that’s the case.
I was also highly impressed with the way Lyons wrote the characters. As I already mentiond he is restrained with what he can do, although he skillfully takes as much from the characters as he can. He managed to tie the novel in to the vague developments shown in the TV series, contributing to Susan’s growth to independence and the Doctor’s lonely nature, as well as creating an insight into the Doctor’s strained relationship with Ian and Barbara which will actually help me to understand their interactions better whenever I next watch an old episode. That’s powerful writing to do that.
Ian and Barbara’s dialogue could effortlessly have come from William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, while the Doctor’s mannerisms were usually believable. Susan was the weakest written character, I found. The Susan of this story was written convincingly enough but it didn’t quite fit in with the Susan from TV. While I enjoyed her almost childlike hope that Ian and Barbara would continue travelling forever, she was at times written to be too young. I think Susan’s age is supposed to be around 15 or 16 but she’s written to be more like a 12 year old. This was a flaw of the TV series too but it’s particularly prevalent here. Considering the adventures she ought to have had at this point, on Skaro, with cavemen, Revolutionary France, the Aztecs, the Sense-Sphere… etc. – she really ought not be this naive. The Doctor, on the other hand, was developed well beyond the writing for TV. We see his inner turmoils as he is forbidden from altering time, the discrepencies between what he says and what he thinks which can only be hinted at from television performances. When he takes future victim Rebecca Nurse forward in time to see a production of The Crucible, then shows her Salem in the modern day, it’s such a beautiful reflection of the character which I’m accustomed to seeing only in the new series. Yet, Lyons has fit these attributes to the personality of the first Doctor – a successful blend of new and old. That bit where he manages to convince the prison guards to let Ian free is so Hartnell, yet also has the depth which only developed later.
In conclusion, Doctor Who: The Witch Hunters is a surprisingly entertaining and thought-provoking book. It’s expanded my knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials - appearing to be exceedingly accurate from my own limited research – and has expanded the already established characters. It’s encouraged me to seek out more Doctor Who books in the future.
–
Final rating: 9/10
The historical setting is the most striking aspect of the novel. Doctor Who, up until 1966 or so, featured frequent ‘historicals’ in which the travelers would land in a period of Earth’s history and be the only alien influence seen during the story. I rather miss that format – it would be nice now to see the Doctor travel back in time and not have aliens cause Mt. Vesuvius to erupt, for Shakespeare not to be influenced by witches, etc. But I digress. There was a point half way into the novel where I feared the antagonist would be revealed as supernatural witches, but it soon became clear this uncertainty was Lyons’ intention to make the mass hysteria appear all the more powerful. This tactic most definitely worked. I also enjoy the TARDIS landing on what seems like Earth but the travelers having no idea where they are. I wish that too would happen more frequently in the new series, but then nowadays there isn’t time for exploration.
Mass hysteria is a concept I in my snug, stable society have always struggled to understand, but Lyons’ approach to the subject is both tactful and enlightening. Even before the Doctor explains it, the tight-knit, claustrophobic community crippled by mourning and paranoia is developed through virtually every page and the reader believes that such hysteria could occur in this village. (Actually, these conditions finally provide a decent excuse for Othello…). I’m still not entirely convinced by the explanation for the children’s well-timed fits during the courts, but a combination of the puritanical society denying them an outlet for energy, the regular abuse they face, living on the edge of the Known World with all the trauma that entails and the fundamental religious belief all comes together to create a psychological state I could scarcely imagine. It is obvious Lyons has done his research. My main criticism is that the religious aspect sometimes felt a little shoehorned – Ian, coming from the 1960s UK, really wouldn’t say something like ‘your Bible’. Even if he himself is not religious – possible after all of his experences – he’ll certainly have friends or family at home who are. I get that the intention is to further portray this village as alien to the travelers but on this occasion it’s a bit forced.
This is why I love historicals; through a glance into different cultures, different beliefs and different events they shine varying lights into human nature. Humans become the enemy, with all the ambigueties this entails. The Witch Hunters is no different in portraying the dark side of humanity than we saw with the Aztecs and French Revolution on TV, but what does make it different is the increased amount of cruelty we see. This must have been when the novels entered their ‘adult phase’ – both Ian and Susan experience forms of torture during the story and the entire plot is mired with death. This is much darker than anything which would have been allowed on TV, and I love it! Also, historicals really do provide different perspectives of the world. No better is this seen than in Samuel Parris’ ironic desire to: “go down in history for all the right reasons” by ridding Salem of witches – an action which, of course, has instead made him infamous and a figure of hatred. It also allows for time jumps, described well by beginning each section with a date; one page we’re in 1692 and the next it’s the 1950s. So much fun! (Besides, er, the witch executions…)
The laws of time are given an interesting role here, too. It’s a concept which has been explored numerous times in Doctor Who - often in direct contradiction with what has previously been established. Rather than messing with the more modern idea of ‘fixed points in time’, Lyons builds on the ideas first developed in “The Aztecs” that history cannot be changed. This is proved wrong when the characters make minor alterations, and so I am left to assume that this is an artificial rule imposed upon the Doctor. Is he so scared of changing time because to do so might catch the attention of the Time Lords he’s currently on the run from? It’s never said for sure but the novel does hint that’s the case.
I was also highly impressed with the way Lyons wrote the characters. As I already mentiond he is restrained with what he can do, although he skillfully takes as much from the characters as he can. He managed to tie the novel in to the vague developments shown in the TV series, contributing to Susan’s growth to independence and the Doctor’s lonely nature, as well as creating an insight into the Doctor’s strained relationship with Ian and Barbara which will actually help me to understand their interactions better whenever I next watch an old episode. That’s powerful writing to do that.
Ian and Barbara’s dialogue could effortlessly have come from William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, while the Doctor’s mannerisms were usually believable. Susan was the weakest written character, I found. The Susan of this story was written convincingly enough but it didn’t quite fit in with the Susan from TV. While I enjoyed her almost childlike hope that Ian and Barbara would continue travelling forever, she was at times written to be too young. I think Susan’s age is supposed to be around 15 or 16 but she’s written to be more like a 12 year old. This was a flaw of the TV series too but it’s particularly prevalent here. Considering the adventures she ought to have had at this point, on Skaro, with cavemen, Revolutionary France, the Aztecs, the Sense-Sphere… etc. – she really ought not be this naive. The Doctor, on the other hand, was developed well beyond the writing for TV. We see his inner turmoils as he is forbidden from altering time, the discrepencies between what he says and what he thinks which can only be hinted at from television performances. When he takes future victim Rebecca Nurse forward in time to see a production of The Crucible, then shows her Salem in the modern day, it’s such a beautiful reflection of the character which I’m accustomed to seeing only in the new series. Yet, Lyons has fit these attributes to the personality of the first Doctor – a successful blend of new and old. That bit where he manages to convince the prison guards to let Ian free is so Hartnell, yet also has the depth which only developed later.
In conclusion, Doctor Who: The Witch Hunters is a surprisingly entertaining and thought-provoking book. It’s expanded my knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials - appearing to be exceedingly accurate from my own limited research – and has expanded the already established characters. It’s encouraged me to seek out more Doctor Who books in the future.
–
Final rating: 9/10
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2025
There is so much that Steve Lyons gets right in this book. In many respects, it’s a perfect example of the historical adventures that were a hallmark of the show during the Hartnell era. The setting of Salem during the 1692 witch trials is one rich in dramatic possibilities, and it’s clear that the author has done his homework on the era. He also captures the tone of William Hartnell’s Doctor perfectly, particularly when it comes to his constant lectures about the immutability of history. The other companions are equally well-written, as Lyons demonstrates a sure ear for their dialogue.
And yet for all of this, Lyons’s novel such a disappointing slog. Where did he go wrong?
Part of the explanation lies in Lyons’s dry writing style. For all of the emotion expressed by the characters, very little of it builds tension or contributes to any sense of excitement. It may also be that Lyons is too burdened his research, and is spending too much effort fitting his story into the events, draining it of dramatic effect. But perhaps the biggest problem lies in his characterization of Susan. She rather than the Doctor is at the center of the events in the novel. Yet her portrayal is frustratingly inconsistent. One moment she is advocating for science and reason, the next she falls victim to the hysteria sweeping through the community. The only consistency lies in her childish irresponsibility, which is the main driver of the plot. As events spiral towards their inevitable conclusion – remember, historical events can’t be changed – the only desire is to get there more quickly than the pace will allow, and for all of the wrong reasons.
And yet for all of this, Lyons’s novel such a disappointing slog. Where did he go wrong?
Part of the explanation lies in Lyons’s dry writing style. For all of the emotion expressed by the characters, very little of it builds tension or contributes to any sense of excitement. It may also be that Lyons is too burdened his research, and is spending too much effort fitting his story into the events, draining it of dramatic effect. But perhaps the biggest problem lies in his characterization of Susan. She rather than the Doctor is at the center of the events in the novel. Yet her portrayal is frustratingly inconsistent. One moment she is advocating for science and reason, the next she falls victim to the hysteria sweeping through the community. The only consistency lies in her childish irresponsibility, which is the main driver of the plot. As events spiral towards their inevitable conclusion – remember, historical events can’t be changed – the only desire is to get there more quickly than the pace will allow, and for all of the wrong reasons.
August 20, 2018
Now one of my favourite books. Steve Lyons has written a story that is not only truly gritty, but a story that has great intrigue and historical accuracy.
Before reading this I had only read one first doctor novel which was Ten Little Aliens which I thought was overrated and really quite dull. I recently picked up the first edition of this book and boy, I’m so glad I did. This is definitely one of the best Doctor Who books out there and I’ll tell you why.
If you love pure historical stories then you MUST read this book. Lyons has done a marvellous job of characterising the four main characters, those being, the first doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. The supporting characters were also beautifully written and I liked how the writer used people who actually existed in that time (one of them being, Rebecca Nurse).
The Aztecs is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories and The Witch Hunters uses a famous line from The Aztecs which is “you can’t re write history, not one line!” and it’s used very well in this story. Ironically, The Doctor himself wants to change history but due to the laws of time, he knows he can’t. Susan also wants to try and change things for the better and it’s nice to see her character being more involved.
Overall The Witch Hunters is an absolute gem. If you can’t find the first edition of this book then you can still get it as part of the history collection and I highly recommend you do so! There are barely any bad points which I can think of. It’s pretty much perfection from start to finish. I very rarely give a book a 10/10 but I think this one deserves it.
Before reading this I had only read one first doctor novel which was Ten Little Aliens which I thought was overrated and really quite dull. I recently picked up the first edition of this book and boy, I’m so glad I did. This is definitely one of the best Doctor Who books out there and I’ll tell you why.
If you love pure historical stories then you MUST read this book. Lyons has done a marvellous job of characterising the four main characters, those being, the first doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. The supporting characters were also beautifully written and I liked how the writer used people who actually existed in that time (one of them being, Rebecca Nurse).
The Aztecs is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories and The Witch Hunters uses a famous line from The Aztecs which is “you can’t re write history, not one line!” and it’s used very well in this story. Ironically, The Doctor himself wants to change history but due to the laws of time, he knows he can’t. Susan also wants to try and change things for the better and it’s nice to see her character being more involved.
Overall The Witch Hunters is an absolute gem. If you can’t find the first edition of this book then you can still get it as part of the history collection and I highly recommend you do so! There are barely any bad points which I can think of. It’s pretty much perfection from start to finish. I very rarely give a book a 10/10 but I think this one deserves it.
abandoned
July 5, 2018I hadn't read one of these new adventures since before the show's revival. Now that the show-runners have pissed all over its legacy I thought I might look to them again for my fix, but I just can't get into this one. In this novel, the TARDIS arrives in Salem in 1692, just about the time that the witchcraft hysteria is gearing up. The Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, is horrified by what humans are doing to each other and is determined to break them out of their spell, but the Doctor insists she can't change history, and knows she will be devastated when she tries and fails.
I've only seen a couple of the first Doctor's televised adventures, but from what I see here he just doesn't have much of a personality. He tugs on his lapels, says "Hmm?" a lot and refers to schoolteacher Ian Chesterton as "my dear boy." It's all very dry with none of the wit or humor evident in later incarnations. In the half of the book that I read, he's barely in it at all, as the story focuses mostly on Susan, and historical events. Well, if I want to read that, I'll pick up The Crucible or something. I don't know why authors want to write a Doctor Who novel and then hardly feature him. Anyway, I've lost interest. Maybe these just aren't for me any more, though I'd still probably give one a try if I found another by one of my favorite DW authors (Jonathan Morris, Mike Tucker & Robert Perry, Keith Topping & Martin Day.)
I've only seen a couple of the first Doctor's televised adventures, but from what I see here he just doesn't have much of a personality. He tugs on his lapels, says "Hmm?" a lot and refers to schoolteacher Ian Chesterton as "my dear boy." It's all very dry with none of the wit or humor evident in later incarnations. In the half of the book that I read, he's barely in it at all, as the story focuses mostly on Susan, and historical events. Well, if I want to read that, I'll pick up The Crucible or something. I don't know why authors want to write a Doctor Who novel and then hardly feature him. Anyway, I've lost interest. Maybe these just aren't for me any more, though I'd still probably give one a try if I found another by one of my favorite DW authors (Jonathan Morris, Mike Tucker & Robert Perry, Keith Topping & Martin Day.)
June 2, 2020
Now, for all the years I have been reading Doctor Who novels this one has always been recommended to me by fellow readers saying this is one of the greatest Who Novels of all time, but I will be honest I've kind of put this one off because I use to not like pure historicals all that much but as I've grown older I've grown to enjoy this different style of story in the show, so at long last, I finally decided to give this a read? And it was outstanding!
A well researched pure historical with a very bleak atmosphere and the feeling of hopelessness, as we see not just our main characters put through hell because of the superstitions of the time, but also characters we grow to love throughout the course of this story.
This is a huge character piece for Susan too as we see her trying to change the course of history in order to save the lives of those she grew to love in her time at Salem Village, but paying the price in her efforts. We also get a different side of The 1st Doctor in this where he has to do something shocking in order to preserve history but also facing the guilt of that action.
Overall: This was a brilliant novel that overwhelmed me with plenty of emotions from fear to hatred of the actions from some of the characters, with a feeling of hopelessness, but absolutely thrilled all the same. 10/10
A well researched pure historical with a very bleak atmosphere and the feeling of hopelessness, as we see not just our main characters put through hell because of the superstitions of the time, but also characters we grow to love throughout the course of this story.
This is a huge character piece for Susan too as we see her trying to change the course of history in order to save the lives of those she grew to love in her time at Salem Village, but paying the price in her efforts. We also get a different side of The 1st Doctor in this where he has to do something shocking in order to preserve history but also facing the guilt of that action.
Overall: This was a brilliant novel that overwhelmed me with plenty of emotions from fear to hatred of the actions from some of the characters, with a feeling of hopelessness, but absolutely thrilled all the same. 10/10
May 9, 2021
There's something about that first TARDIS crew that keeps causing those creating Doctor Who's spin-off media back to them. Whether it's in the Wilderness Era novels of Virgin and the BBC or the Companion Chronicles and now First Doctor Adventures audios from Big Finish (the latter featuring the cast of An Adventure in Space and Time), there's still a yearning for more adventures featuring them. Rarely, perhaps, have they been as well-realized as characters or surrounded by a story as engaging as Steve Lyons's 1998 Past Doctor Adventure The Witch Hunters.
On the surface, The Witch Hunters is precisely the sort of thing that the first season of Doctor Who could have done on-screen in 1964. It's one of those historicals that were so much a part of the series formative years, so much so that I found myself doing a re-watch of The Aztecs one night partway through reading the novel. And like that TV serial, the question is once more raised about whether or not the course of historical events can is alterable. And Lyons does so not against the backdrop of a civilization's fate but against a historical event whose basic details will likely be familiar to any reader: the Salem witch trials of 1692.
The witch trials, a tragedy borne out of hysteria and repression, have been the subject of other works, most notably Arthur Miller's justifiably famous play The Crucible, which this reviewer read in high school. Lyons is quick to note, both in the bibliography of the original edition and in the forward to the 2015 reprint, that there's a debt owed to Miller's play, to the point of the characters seeing a production of it at one point. It's the same way that anyone writing about the Titanic will owe a debt to Walter Lord's 1955 book A Night to Remember. As is often the cast, it's what one does with the debt that makes it stand out from what came before, something which Lyons does with his novel. After all, if Doctor Who can make Frankenstein into The Brain of Morbius and Dickens A Christmas Carol into, well, A Christmas Carol, why not do a take on The Crucible?
What the novel does is far more than put a twist on a famous play. Lyons takes this first TARDIS crew and drops them into Salem just as all hell breaks loose. The novel channels the atmosphere of The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror, TV stories where the past was as alien as any alien planet they might visit. Worlds where one wrong step, one wrong word, could land one in a world of fear and suspicion. If ever there was a setting that would bring out those overlooked aspects of the early historicals, it would be Salem and a community whose strict rules and superstitions allow few outlets. It's not the time and place to be strangers in a strange land, something that Ian and Barbara especially pick up on, but which merely adds to the tragedy of the piece and the temptation to try changing things for the better.
To his credit, Lyons sticks to his guns about keeping this a pure historical. There are moments, especially in the early and middle portions of the novel, where it would have been easy to let it wander off into pseudo-historical territory. It's something that Modern Who has certainly been guilty of to its detriment but here, amid the Wilderness Era, the series could channel a tale where the only monsters on hand are human ones. Ones whose motives remain all too apparent and timely with the passage of twenty-odd years, let alone more than three centuries. It's something that the novel's epilogue, in perhaps the single most powerful moment of the entire book, makes abundantly clear.
It also helps how well realized the TV characters are. Everyone is recognizable and characterized well, including the First Doctor, who runs the same mercurial scale as he did on-screen between crotchety and moments of warmth. The characterization of Susan is intriguing, making the most of inconsistent writing on-screen by dropping the character into impossible situations and seeing how she reacts, especially in the last third of the novel when things genuinely appear hopeless. Ian and Barbara come across well, capturing both their early hopes about getting home to the 1960s again but also their growing sense of first unease and then horror about the events they find themselves caught up within. It even gives one of the neat explanations for why the Fast Return Switch doesn't seem to pop up again after The Edge of Destruction, something in keeping with these characters but which Lyons plot and characterizations make fit alongside the established events seen on-screen.
In the end, The Witch Hunters threads a very fine needle, indeed. It wonderfully recreates the historicals of the series early years in prose form, right down to its lead characters. It also creates a captivating drama in its own right, taking a well-known historical event and creating a particular Doctor Who spin on it that doesn't undermine the tragedy of it by inserting aliens or monsters. It's a tale of fear and loathing, what it takes to come out the other side of it in one piece and is all the better for it.
On the surface, The Witch Hunters is precisely the sort of thing that the first season of Doctor Who could have done on-screen in 1964. It's one of those historicals that were so much a part of the series formative years, so much so that I found myself doing a re-watch of The Aztecs one night partway through reading the novel. And like that TV serial, the question is once more raised about whether or not the course of historical events can is alterable. And Lyons does so not against the backdrop of a civilization's fate but against a historical event whose basic details will likely be familiar to any reader: the Salem witch trials of 1692.
The witch trials, a tragedy borne out of hysteria and repression, have been the subject of other works, most notably Arthur Miller's justifiably famous play The Crucible, which this reviewer read in high school. Lyons is quick to note, both in the bibliography of the original edition and in the forward to the 2015 reprint, that there's a debt owed to Miller's play, to the point of the characters seeing a production of it at one point. It's the same way that anyone writing about the Titanic will owe a debt to Walter Lord's 1955 book A Night to Remember. As is often the cast, it's what one does with the debt that makes it stand out from what came before, something which Lyons does with his novel. After all, if Doctor Who can make Frankenstein into The Brain of Morbius and Dickens A Christmas Carol into, well, A Christmas Carol, why not do a take on The Crucible?
What the novel does is far more than put a twist on a famous play. Lyons takes this first TARDIS crew and drops them into Salem just as all hell breaks loose. The novel channels the atmosphere of The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror, TV stories where the past was as alien as any alien planet they might visit. Worlds where one wrong step, one wrong word, could land one in a world of fear and suspicion. If ever there was a setting that would bring out those overlooked aspects of the early historicals, it would be Salem and a community whose strict rules and superstitions allow few outlets. It's not the time and place to be strangers in a strange land, something that Ian and Barbara especially pick up on, but which merely adds to the tragedy of the piece and the temptation to try changing things for the better.
To his credit, Lyons sticks to his guns about keeping this a pure historical. There are moments, especially in the early and middle portions of the novel, where it would have been easy to let it wander off into pseudo-historical territory. It's something that Modern Who has certainly been guilty of to its detriment but here, amid the Wilderness Era, the series could channel a tale where the only monsters on hand are human ones. Ones whose motives remain all too apparent and timely with the passage of twenty-odd years, let alone more than three centuries. It's something that the novel's epilogue, in perhaps the single most powerful moment of the entire book, makes abundantly clear.
It also helps how well realized the TV characters are. Everyone is recognizable and characterized well, including the First Doctor, who runs the same mercurial scale as he did on-screen between crotchety and moments of warmth. The characterization of Susan is intriguing, making the most of inconsistent writing on-screen by dropping the character into impossible situations and seeing how she reacts, especially in the last third of the novel when things genuinely appear hopeless. Ian and Barbara come across well, capturing both their early hopes about getting home to the 1960s again but also their growing sense of first unease and then horror about the events they find themselves caught up within. It even gives one of the neat explanations for why the Fast Return Switch doesn't seem to pop up again after The Edge of Destruction, something in keeping with these characters but which Lyons plot and characterizations make fit alongside the established events seen on-screen.
In the end, The Witch Hunters threads a very fine needle, indeed. It wonderfully recreates the historicals of the series early years in prose form, right down to its lead characters. It also creates a captivating drama in its own right, taking a well-known historical event and creating a particular Doctor Who spin on it that doesn't undermine the tragedy of it by inserting aliens or monsters. It's a tale of fear and loathing, what it takes to come out the other side of it in one piece and is all the better for it.
July 23, 2017
The First Doctor seems to be the hardest for modern writers to characterize correctly, but Steve Lyons gets it right. I've been re-watching all my First Doctor serials for the first time in a long while recently, and I have to say that I could hear William Hartnell's voice as I read Lyons' dialogue for him. In addition, Susan, Ian, and Barbara were all written with their voices in tact as well. I would even go so far as to say that this particular story could just as easily have been an episode penned by Dennis Spooner during the show's initial run (though, perhaps, with a little less humor than Spooner tried to integrate into his scripts.)
The reason why I picked up this particular First Doctor novel at the store, as opposed to any of the others, is that it took place during the Salem Witch Trials. While I am a history enthusiast in general (as it is what I did my undergrad in, and studying for a masters in religious studies also requires a certain amount of historical context and study), I have done a particularly large amount of reading on Salem in particular. I first got interested in the subject when Charmed premiered when I was in the sixth grade (though I quickly found out that witches did not get burned in Salem, as their ancestor was in the show), and I maintained my studies on the subject on and off in the near two decades since.
Lyons has apparently done his research as well. I love that he does not blame the young girls for how crazy things became in the town during those few months of 1692 that completely changed the ideas of religion and politics for North America in the following years. Too many sources I've read have tried to make the girls malicious or downgrade their hysteria into merely working after the whims of their parents/guardians. What was happening to them felt very real and while the group hysteria was building, so was the mental trauma on these young girls. As the Doctor himself states at one point, "There were indeed witches in Salem"; the witches were present but they were created by the very people afraid of them. Rebecca Nurse is given particular prominence among the innocents who were tried and executed in the paranoia that was circulating, and I actually shed a tear at the Doctor's actions that he undertook at the end of the novel (trying to refrain from giving too many spoilers here.)
I also greatly enjoyed how Lyons worked in former adventures of the era to give the reader not only an idea of when in the time line the adventures are taking place, but also as a means of showing character development. Barbara understands Susan because of her own desires she attempted to address in The Aztecs, and she understands the Doctor's misgivings about Susan's wishes for the same reason. Plus, extra points for the mention of The Crucible and how it is not an accurate portrayal what happened in Salem.
All in all, a wonderful novel (both in DW terms and in nerdy historian terms). A great dive back into DW mythos for one who has been away from the extended universe of the series for quite some time. Hopefully, I can adventure some more with this group again soon.
The reason why I picked up this particular First Doctor novel at the store, as opposed to any of the others, is that it took place during the Salem Witch Trials. While I am a history enthusiast in general (as it is what I did my undergrad in, and studying for a masters in religious studies also requires a certain amount of historical context and study), I have done a particularly large amount of reading on Salem in particular. I first got interested in the subject when Charmed premiered when I was in the sixth grade (though I quickly found out that witches did not get burned in Salem, as their ancestor was in the show), and I maintained my studies on the subject on and off in the near two decades since.
Lyons has apparently done his research as well. I love that he does not blame the young girls for how crazy things became in the town during those few months of 1692 that completely changed the ideas of religion and politics for North America in the following years. Too many sources I've read have tried to make the girls malicious or downgrade their hysteria into merely working after the whims of their parents/guardians. What was happening to them felt very real and while the group hysteria was building, so was the mental trauma on these young girls. As the Doctor himself states at one point, "There were indeed witches in Salem"; the witches were present but they were created by the very people afraid of them. Rebecca Nurse is given particular prominence among the innocents who were tried and executed in the paranoia that was circulating, and I actually shed a tear at the Doctor's actions that he undertook at the end of the novel (trying to refrain from giving too many spoilers here.)
I also greatly enjoyed how Lyons worked in former adventures of the era to give the reader not only an idea of when in the time line the adventures are taking place, but also as a means of showing character development. Barbara understands Susan because of her own desires she attempted to address in The Aztecs, and she understands the Doctor's misgivings about Susan's wishes for the same reason. Plus, extra points for the mention of The Crucible and how it is not an accurate portrayal what happened in Salem.
All in all, a wonderful novel (both in DW terms and in nerdy historian terms). A great dive back into DW mythos for one who has been away from the extended universe of the series for quite some time. Hopefully, I can adventure some more with this group again soon.
November 27, 2017
Books involving the Daleks aside, this is the best Doctor Who book I've read to date. Brilliantly written and pretty brutal and dark for a Doctor Who book. A real treat.
November 19, 2015
Too often, Doctor Who books revolve around impossible "science" or monsters, and it's easy to forget that when the show premiered in 1963 that it was supposed to be a history show for children, or at least, for families. This novel, originally published in the 90s, when the show was at its greatest ebb, is poignant and sad and really, just a historical fiction re-telling of the 1692 Salem hysteria with Susan, Ian and Barbara dropped in as the reader's perspective and the Doctor himself as a deus ex machina for getting them out of that story - pretty much the point of the show as it was originally envisioned. It ends with a telling commentary about loneliness and the "witch hunts" of the present day, and spends most of the time excoriating narrow-mindedness and primitive beliefs - not a lot of running in this one. A dark, serious story that takes time to unfold and presents an unvarnished view of Salem's insanity while holding a mirror up to now. You know, like good sci-fi should.
May 24, 2011
While I found the book well written and well researched, I was strangely uninvolved. There were certainly some very interesting moments, but to my mind there were just as many dull spots. Lyons certainly evoked the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who.
December 4, 2017
I think this is the best Doctor Who novel I've read, though, admittedly, I've not read that many. But first and foremost, it captures the 1st Doctor and his first companions completely -- I could just picture this in black and white, with the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan. I also love this as a pure history -- no aliens, etc., just the ugliness of seventeenth century America humans. There are some bits wherein it's difficult to follow the time stream of the story, this is not necessary told linear-ly. But I think the ending makes it worth it, and the debate of whether the Doctor can change history...
I also learned a lot about the Salem history and enjoyed the technical explanation of hysteria. This is a definite recommend for any Doctor Who fans, especially those who enjoy classic Who.
I also learned a lot about the Salem history and enjoyed the technical explanation of hysteria. This is a definite recommend for any Doctor Who fans, especially those who enjoy classic Who.
June 10, 2025
Early Doctor Who - chiefly the First Doctor's era - was a very different time for the show. Rather then being a solely science-fiction series as we know it now, there was a pretty hefty educational element, where the Doctor and his companions would become embroiled as observers - and sometimes participants - in major historical events. Now, whilst these episodes would vary wildly in quality, with some massive stinkers (such as the oft-maligned "The Gunfighters") to some of the First Doctor's finest stories (such as the fantastic "The Aztecs"). The Witch Hunters soley falls into the later category, showcasing the historical foundation of the show, but with much of the show's sci-fi canon that had been developed over the next few decades to help support it. This all culminates in a genuinely heartfelt, emotional, and frequently upsetting novel that probably ranks amongst the best First Doctor stories, period.
If I had to praise a single thing, it's the fact that author Steve Lyons has perfectly captured the characterisation of the original TARDIS crew. Every character's voice - both external and internal - feels as if their original actor is speaking them through the page. I can almost hear the exasperated tuts of The First Doctor, the baffled sighs of Ian, or the righteous, yet innocent pleas of Susan. Fantastic work on this, arguably most important, element of the book.
I was genuinely not prepared for how dark this book got in places; the pace of many of the chapters, specifically Susan's, have this frenetic, maddening rhythm to them as the crew are nearly consumed by the nightmare descending upon Salem. A sequence in which Ian is tortured under being suspicion feels darker then nearly anything else Doctor Who did back in the 60s, but it almost feels nessercery to convey just how bad things got in Salem beyond just the hangings.
This darkness is balanced by the genuine emotional heart at it's core - not only of the bond between the original crew members of the TARDIS, but of the bonds they build with various historical townspeople of Salem; Susan with Mary Warren, the Doctor with Rebecca Nurse, Ian with John Proctor - hell, even Barbara gets a short, but very emotionally succinct moment with one of the instigators, Ann Putnam. The climax to this ends the book in a coda that isn't just a beautiful end to the book, but a loving tribute to the innocents who lost their lives as part of Salem's nightmarish Witch Trials.
I also appreciate that the book stuck to the near pure historical nature the series had in the day. Whilst there is a touch of sci-fi nonsense thrown in, mostly in regards to Susan's latent psychic abilities (established in "The Sensorites"), the book thankfully does nothing to undermine the nightmare of the Salem Witch Trials as having anything to do with paranormal elements. It is still the horrifying climax to puritan ideals and the war between townsfolk.
The Witch Hunters probably ranks amongst my favourite Doctor Who novels I've read thus far. It's so well characterised that it could very well be an episode of the show in all but name, and it treats one of the most horrifying times in modern history with respect and emotional care and honesty. A fantastic novel through and through.
If I had to praise a single thing, it's the fact that author Steve Lyons has perfectly captured the characterisation of the original TARDIS crew. Every character's voice - both external and internal - feels as if their original actor is speaking them through the page. I can almost hear the exasperated tuts of The First Doctor, the baffled sighs of Ian, or the righteous, yet innocent pleas of Susan. Fantastic work on this, arguably most important, element of the book.
I was genuinely not prepared for how dark this book got in places; the pace of many of the chapters, specifically Susan's, have this frenetic, maddening rhythm to them as the crew are nearly consumed by the nightmare descending upon Salem. A sequence in which Ian is tortured under being suspicion feels darker then nearly anything else Doctor Who did back in the 60s, but it almost feels nessercery to convey just how bad things got in Salem beyond just the hangings.
This darkness is balanced by the genuine emotional heart at it's core - not only of the bond between the original crew members of the TARDIS, but of the bonds they build with various historical townspeople of Salem; Susan with Mary Warren, the Doctor with Rebecca Nurse, Ian with John Proctor - hell, even Barbara gets a short, but very emotionally succinct moment with one of the instigators, Ann Putnam. The climax to this ends the book in a coda that isn't just a beautiful end to the book, but a loving tribute to the innocents who lost their lives as part of Salem's nightmarish Witch Trials.
I also appreciate that the book stuck to the near pure historical nature the series had in the day. Whilst there is a touch of sci-fi nonsense thrown in, mostly in regards to Susan's latent psychic abilities (established in "The Sensorites"), the book thankfully does nothing to undermine the nightmare of the Salem Witch Trials as having anything to do with paranormal elements. It is still the horrifying climax to puritan ideals and the war between townsfolk.
The Witch Hunters probably ranks amongst my favourite Doctor Who novels I've read thus far. It's so well characterised that it could very well be an episode of the show in all but name, and it treats one of the most horrifying times in modern history with respect and emotional care and honesty. A fantastic novel through and through.
November 17, 2020
An excellent book and a must for Doctor Who fans and those interested in the Salem Witch Trials.
This was my first time reading a 1st Doctor novel but I found it very well written. Lyons really had good control over the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan. It played out very well in my head and I could imagine it as a serial easily
This was my first time reading a 1st Doctor novel but I found it very well written. Lyons really had good control over the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan. It played out very well in my head and I could imagine it as a serial easily
June 10, 2024
This is an effective use of the First Doctor and his companions from the early days of Doctor Who, pitted against the Salem witch trials and wondering what can be done to stop awful events in history. Susan, his teenage granddaughter, plays a key role surrounded by other repressed teens in Salem. It’s dark, but very creatively told, which after Eye Of Heaven seems like it could be a staple of the Past Doctor Adventures.
September 25, 2016
There's a lot to be frustrated about with The Witch Hunters:
1. Steve Lyons really wanted to write a Salem Witch Trial novel. Which is fine - he totally could have written this novel without the Doctor Who bits. But what this mess ends up becoming is narrative non-fiction without a narrative. Does Steve Lyons know what a narrative is? Is he aware of character arcs? The Witch Hunters is 267 pages of Ian, Susan, Barbara, and the Doctor having the same arguments with Puritans over and over, being kidnapped over and over, being beaten in prison over and over, in between the SAME EXACT SCENES WITH CLERGYMEN ACCUSING WITCHES OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Seriously - this book should only be 14 pages long.
2. The imprisonment. Okay. So, for anyone to rationally enjoy the first two seasons of Classic Doctor Who, one must pretend as if Ian Chesteron's constant predicaments are somehow enjoyable for him. Being paralyzed by the Daleks? Sure. Being enslaved by the Romans? Okay. Fighting to the death with Aztecs? Fine. But a hundred pages of being brutally tortured within an inch of his life by Puritans is way too much to stomach. How can Ian enjoy gallivanting with the Doctor when, after each trip in the TARDIS, he's constantly being tortured? Is he a sadist who loves having PTSD? No, Steve Lyons. He's a f*%$ing schoolteacher.
3. So...no one cares that Susan hijacked the TARDIS and returned to Salem with no plan except for screaming at Reverend Parris in the middle of one of the book's 87 "accuse the witch" scenes? Nobody has any opinion on the TARDIS team heroically escaping Salem early on in the novel only to then immediately have Susan fly them RIGHT back to Salem for absolutely no reason? Susan couldn't remotely show any growth as a character? She HAS to scream her same childishly shrill scream and immediately get herself and Ian locked up for it after they had already miraculously escaped? AND NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING TO HER ABOUT IT?!?
4. So, wait - there are witches? And one of them is black and named Candy? No extra development there? No further explanation? Did Steve Lyons forget to elaborate on the one actual witch and instead decide to torture Ian for 40 more pages?
5. And that witch had to be black, Steve Lyons?
6. Steve Lyons actually writes one of his characters calling Susan "Witch bitch."
7. Seriously - you had to make the one actual witch black?!
1. Steve Lyons really wanted to write a Salem Witch Trial novel. Which is fine - he totally could have written this novel without the Doctor Who bits. But what this mess ends up becoming is narrative non-fiction without a narrative. Does Steve Lyons know what a narrative is? Is he aware of character arcs? The Witch Hunters is 267 pages of Ian, Susan, Barbara, and the Doctor having the same arguments with Puritans over and over, being kidnapped over and over, being beaten in prison over and over, in between the SAME EXACT SCENES WITH CLERGYMEN ACCUSING WITCHES OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Seriously - this book should only be 14 pages long.
2. The imprisonment. Okay. So, for anyone to rationally enjoy the first two seasons of Classic Doctor Who, one must pretend as if Ian Chesteron's constant predicaments are somehow enjoyable for him. Being paralyzed by the Daleks? Sure. Being enslaved by the Romans? Okay. Fighting to the death with Aztecs? Fine. But a hundred pages of being brutally tortured within an inch of his life by Puritans is way too much to stomach. How can Ian enjoy gallivanting with the Doctor when, after each trip in the TARDIS, he's constantly being tortured? Is he a sadist who loves having PTSD? No, Steve Lyons. He's a f*%$ing schoolteacher.
3. So...no one cares that Susan hijacked the TARDIS and returned to Salem with no plan except for screaming at Reverend Parris in the middle of one of the book's 87 "accuse the witch" scenes? Nobody has any opinion on the TARDIS team heroically escaping Salem early on in the novel only to then immediately have Susan fly them RIGHT back to Salem for absolutely no reason? Susan couldn't remotely show any growth as a character? She HAS to scream her same childishly shrill scream and immediately get herself and Ian locked up for it after they had already miraculously escaped? AND NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING TO HER ABOUT IT?!?
4. So, wait - there are witches? And one of them is black and named Candy? No extra development there? No further explanation? Did Steve Lyons forget to elaborate on the one actual witch and instead decide to torture Ian for 40 more pages?
5. And that witch had to be black, Steve Lyons?
6. Steve Lyons actually writes one of his characters calling Susan "Witch bitch."
7. Seriously - you had to make the one actual witch black?!
May 19, 2014
Wow !!! I am not the slightest bit hesitant to rate it a full 5 out of 5. My attention span in Doctor Who books can vary, if I am not gripped by halfway I lose interest. Well, this is one of those rare books that did it from the start - and then continually got better and better.
I started reading it at 4.30pm on Saturday, finished it at 2.00pm on the Sunday, yes the very next day :-) It helped that I saw 1 documentary on You Tube about the Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and read Wikipedia's notes, watched THE CRUCIBLE (1997), despite the complete cock up re Abigail and John Proctor in that film. Abigail is supposed to be a child, while John is somewhere between middle age and approaching 60 according to conflicting records. With all this extra homework and adding to the clarity of imagery - The Witch Hunters is without a doubt; the most engrossing - albeit grim subject - Doctor Who novel I have ever read. I couldn't put it down, it was 2.15 in the morning Sunday when I gave in to tiredness and sleep. Glad to, novels should be read in abundance of free time. Memory fades too quick otherwise. A true historical tale that measures up to and beyond the TV show. Loved pages 68 to 79, they had already escaped the dangers BUT seeing THE CRUCIBLE at Bristol in 1954 made Susan defiantly activate the fast-return switch and the continuing perils of "trying to alter history". Theories behind the fits of the girls were hinted, but couldn't be verified as they simply are not to this day. Ian was close to not surviving at all, and even getting left behind along with Susan - almost. The Doctor had his own agendas, and some pain and genuine emotion that was written believably of the beloved Hartnell character. And loved the brief time of reflection between Ian and Barbara on the beach in Part 5. All in all, 5 out of 5. A true First Doctor classic, and the author did it well and very darkly too. If only ALL the Doctor Who novels were this great...
I started reading it at 4.30pm on Saturday, finished it at 2.00pm on the Sunday, yes the very next day :-) It helped that I saw 1 documentary on You Tube about the Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and read Wikipedia's notes, watched THE CRUCIBLE (1997), despite the complete cock up re Abigail and John Proctor in that film. Abigail is supposed to be a child, while John is somewhere between middle age and approaching 60 according to conflicting records. With all this extra homework and adding to the clarity of imagery - The Witch Hunters is without a doubt; the most engrossing - albeit grim subject - Doctor Who novel I have ever read. I couldn't put it down, it was 2.15 in the morning Sunday when I gave in to tiredness and sleep. Glad to, novels should be read in abundance of free time. Memory fades too quick otherwise. A true historical tale that measures up to and beyond the TV show. Loved pages 68 to 79, they had already escaped the dangers BUT seeing THE CRUCIBLE at Bristol in 1954 made Susan defiantly activate the fast-return switch and the continuing perils of "trying to alter history". Theories behind the fits of the girls were hinted, but couldn't be verified as they simply are not to this day. Ian was close to not surviving at all, and even getting left behind along with Susan - almost. The Doctor had his own agendas, and some pain and genuine emotion that was written believably of the beloved Hartnell character. And loved the brief time of reflection between Ian and Barbara on the beach in Part 5. All in all, 5 out of 5. A true First Doctor classic, and the author did it well and very darkly too. If only ALL the Doctor Who novels were this great...
April 26, 2021
I really like the first doctor along with ian, barbara and susan, so i wanted to give a novel with all 4 of them a try.
I have to say though, i was not very impressed with this book. it was one of those "you can't change the past" books. and those get very frustrating very quickly for me.
Short version, they try to go back in time and stop the salem witch trials, but it doesn't go very well.
This is a very Susan heavy book. if you want to get into Susan's psyche, then you might like this book. But i'll tell you something. a fun doctor adventure this is not. It deals a lot with religious zealots and frustrating back and forths.
If you want to read a wacky adventure with the doctor and his companions, skip this one. I didn't HATE it, but i found myself skimming over a lot of the annoying parts.
I could feel the frustration of the character's in the book and no, that isn't a good thing. I mean, if you like reading a story where the main characters are powerless for 90% then....this is kind of your book. For the rest of us, give it a pass.
I WILL say to this book's credit that the characters were very much in character and it was written very faithfully, which is what pushes it up a bit for me. 2.5/5 rounded down to a 2. Not sad i read it, but i'm not going to read it again.
I have to say though, i was not very impressed with this book. it was one of those "you can't change the past" books. and those get very frustrating very quickly for me.
Short version, they try to go back in time and stop the salem witch trials, but it doesn't go very well.
This is a very Susan heavy book. if you want to get into Susan's psyche, then you might like this book. But i'll tell you something. a fun doctor adventure this is not. It deals a lot with religious zealots and frustrating back and forths.
If you want to read a wacky adventure with the doctor and his companions, skip this one. I didn't HATE it, but i found myself skimming over a lot of the annoying parts.
I could feel the frustration of the character's in the book and no, that isn't a good thing. I mean, if you like reading a story where the main characters are powerless for 90% then....this is kind of your book. For the rest of us, give it a pass.
I WILL say to this book's credit that the characters were very much in character and it was written very faithfully, which is what pushes it up a bit for me. 2.5/5 rounded down to a 2. Not sad i read it, but i'm not going to read it again.
June 1, 2020
The Witch Hunters knows precisely where it exists in our main character's story arcs and makes excellent use of that knowledge. Steve Lyons write the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan's characterisation accurately on their timeline, whilst hinting towards their eventual destination; future character growth is foreshadowed without being explicitly lampshaded.
An excellent balance is struck between addressing the hypocrisy and abuse of religious fanaticism, within a well known historical example of the extremes of belief, without mocking faith itself and allowing characters to take comfort in their religion. Historical bigotry and hysterical mob-mentality are put in the crosshairs instead. It's a more nuanced approached than is typically seen in Doctor Who, and sci-fi in general.
However, the majority of The Witch Hunters plot is propelled along by characters being profoundly foolish. At times, those mistakes feel natural (overwhelmed by the situation, making the best of several bad options, et cetera), but there are many instances of characters being stupid for narrative convenience. It undermines the effectiveness of an otherwise cleverly themed, well-researched exploration of the Salem Witch Trials.
A mixed novel, certainly, with abrupt stop-start pacing. However, as a relatively easy read with a truly beautiful conclusion, I would recommend giving The Witch Hunters a chance.
An excellent balance is struck between addressing the hypocrisy and abuse of religious fanaticism, within a well known historical example of the extremes of belief, without mocking faith itself and allowing characters to take comfort in their religion. Historical bigotry and hysterical mob-mentality are put in the crosshairs instead. It's a more nuanced approached than is typically seen in Doctor Who, and sci-fi in general.
However, the majority of The Witch Hunters plot is propelled along by characters being profoundly foolish. At times, those mistakes feel natural (overwhelmed by the situation, making the best of several bad options, et cetera), but there are many instances of characters being stupid for narrative convenience. It undermines the effectiveness of an otherwise cleverly themed, well-researched exploration of the Salem Witch Trials.
A mixed novel, certainly, with abrupt stop-start pacing. However, as a relatively easy read with a truly beautiful conclusion, I would recommend giving The Witch Hunters a chance.
January 31, 2021
Compared with the Witch finders tv episode of a couple of years ago , which gave us a lazy and cliched treatment of the subject, a comedy King James, and an uninteresting monster, this First Doctor historical is much better.
Time is taken here to explore the rationale behind things like this ; hysteria and psychosomatic symptoms, illusions of power and revenge, paranoia and siege mentality made worse by the struggle to survive and which historians tell
us was made worse in Salem’s case by English attempts to impress English worship on its rogue colonies . The point is also nearly made that though we think we’ve moved on , we are very good at finding secular witches, from communists to woke conspiracists to right wing movements when we want to. Here, Susan’s latent telepathy also enters the mix with devastating results.
There is still a level of cliche though - it’s always fashionable to bash Puritans ( sometimes , but often not, for good reason) but many Puritan ministers were dubious about witch hunts, which never gets mentioned. Paris is somewhat of a caricature.
But this is a good historical and letting one of the characters witness a performance of the Crucible was a love,y touch . In its portrayal of hysteria , hallucination and torture it’s really quite dark at times.
Time is taken here to explore the rationale behind things like this ; hysteria and psychosomatic symptoms, illusions of power and revenge, paranoia and siege mentality made worse by the struggle to survive and which historians tell
us was made worse in Salem’s case by English attempts to impress English worship on its rogue colonies . The point is also nearly made that though we think we’ve moved on , we are very good at finding secular witches, from communists to woke conspiracists to right wing movements when we want to. Here, Susan’s latent telepathy also enters the mix with devastating results.
There is still a level of cliche though - it’s always fashionable to bash Puritans ( sometimes , but often not, for good reason) but many Puritan ministers were dubious about witch hunts, which never gets mentioned. Paris is somewhat of a caricature.
But this is a good historical and letting one of the characters witness a performance of the Crucible was a love,y touch . In its portrayal of hysteria , hallucination and torture it’s really quite dark at times.
November 7, 2022
This is probably one of the best Doctor Who books I have ever read for a number of reasons.
Firstly is the characters, they are all given an equal amount to do in a way that both balances their impact on the plot but also builds on their established characterization from the show.
Secondly it develops the setting in a way that feels lived in and full of an appropriate amount of tension. It likewise works with the actual history (as it was known when the book was written) in a way that does chalk up historical tragedies to “oh it was aliens” like Doctor who is often at fault for. In that way it is very tasteful and emotionally impactful, in fact it nearly brought me to tears at its finale.
Finally it actually uses time travel as a core part of the plot. Frankly it is criminal how often this key factor of the show is ignored. This book makes up for it with overlapping timelines and trips back and forth that are easy to follow but so satisfyingly intricate.
Overall I can only give this a 5 star rating because I can’t go higher.
Firstly is the characters, they are all given an equal amount to do in a way that both balances their impact on the plot but also builds on their established characterization from the show.
Secondly it develops the setting in a way that feels lived in and full of an appropriate amount of tension. It likewise works with the actual history (as it was known when the book was written) in a way that does chalk up historical tragedies to “oh it was aliens” like Doctor who is often at fault for. In that way it is very tasteful and emotionally impactful, in fact it nearly brought me to tears at its finale.
Finally it actually uses time travel as a core part of the plot. Frankly it is criminal how often this key factor of the show is ignored. This book makes up for it with overlapping timelines and trips back and forth that are easy to follow but so satisfyingly intricate.
Overall I can only give this a 5 star rating because I can’t go higher.
January 11, 2024
In the forward the author talks about how long he has wanted to write this book and how much research he did while writing and I think you can tell all the time and effort that went into this book as it very well written. I thought the author did a particularly good job with the historical setting and characters. There were somethings which I did not like in this story. I thought that Susan being given free range to continue to go back to Salem and try to change history was odd and felt more like a plot device like the reason the adults kept allowing it to happen was because the author needed them to. Otherwise, it makes no sense that none of the three adults didn't put their foot down and tell her no and then actually mean it. In the book they try to talk to her but when they can't convince her to see reason and they kind of shrug their shoulders and go "oh well we tried." Also, there was just scene after scene of poor Ian being tortured it just went on way too long. So overall it wasn't the best Doctor Who book I've read, but it did have merit.
April 19, 2025
A poignant retrospective on both the Salem Witch Trials and the First Doctor’s era.
This is the third novel I have in my journey of reading all of my Doctor Who books in timeline order
This is a novel about making mistakes, trying to make amends, and living with the consequences. Every decision made feels right by what the character believes. Ian is headstrong and places himself in danger, Barbara knows a great deal of history and attempts to stay out of things, and Susan is a naïve teenager who acts without thinking. And the Doctor himself attempts to keep everyone on the correct track of history.
The final chapter is very poignant and brought me to tears. It does something I find a lot of Doctor Who books fail to do: write a definitive conclusion to the story.
As of all of the 1st Doctor novels I have read so far, I believe this one is my most favourite. With any good book it has some very small flaws (tiny bit preachy) but they can be easily overlooked.
I can only give this novel a 5 star rating. To put it best, it only got better and better as I kept reading
This is the third novel I have in my journey of reading all of my Doctor Who books in timeline order
This is a novel about making mistakes, trying to make amends, and living with the consequences. Every decision made feels right by what the character believes. Ian is headstrong and places himself in danger, Barbara knows a great deal of history and attempts to stay out of things, and Susan is a naïve teenager who acts without thinking. And the Doctor himself attempts to keep everyone on the correct track of history.
The final chapter is very poignant and brought me to tears. It does something I find a lot of Doctor Who books fail to do: write a definitive conclusion to the story.
As of all of the 1st Doctor novels I have read so far, I believe this one is my most favourite. With any good book it has some very small flaws (tiny bit preachy) but they can be easily overlooked.
I can only give this novel a 5 star rating. To put it best, it only got better and better as I kept reading
October 26, 2021
An incredible book! An original story for the First Doctors, his granddaughter Susan and the first companions, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. A brilliant and authentic feeling exploration of the religious paranoia that contributed to the Salem Witch Trials, and of course with two of the Doctor's travelling friends being female, some genuine danger in places. It also explores what happens when the Doctor falls in love, with some touching results-of course, this isn't the first time this Doctor had a lady friend, that was in 1964's The Aztecs, but it's still fascinating to read. If there is a fault, it's that the second half of the book is essentially a repeat of the first-which is acknowledged in the text itselg-but regardless, it's amazing. Read please.
February 20, 2021
Well I liked this story even if it wasn't the most exciting adventure. I think the author's intentions were ambitious but noble. I'll admit that I was a bit lost for a while with the story jumping around but I guess you can expect that with timey wimey stuff and surprisingly it was that confusion which held my attention so firmly.
I thought the author did a fine job of showing respect to the sincerity of the believers while maintaining the absurdity and cruelty of the witch trials. This was also a great way to probe the turbulent emotions associated with compliance to the non interference policy. I was most impressed at how this was handled for The Doctor.
I thought the author did a fine job of showing respect to the sincerity of the believers while maintaining the absurdity and cruelty of the witch trials. This was also a great way to probe the turbulent emotions associated with compliance to the non interference policy. I was most impressed at how this was handled for The Doctor.
October 29, 2018
The Witch Doctors is written in the style of the classic Hartnell-era pure historical, meaning the story is set in the past and contains no SF elements beyond the TARDIS crew themselves. You could argue that its not a PURE historical because, for spoiler reasons, there is a bit of the supernatural driving parts of the plot. Beyond that, it captures the spirit of the era extremely well. The book is smartly plotted with well-crafted characters. The formula for the ideal Doctor Who story was probably set in the minds of the public somewhere in the Third or Fourth Doctor's era. An unpredictable Doctor, a female companion, a monster, corridors, and cliffhangers. But the template of the First Doctor still holds up very well. The mysterious trickster Doctor, a crowded TARDIS crew, a historical setting, less running more talking. Great B&W epics on a budget. If BBC Books was interested in continuing the past Doctor novels line, these are the kind of stories I'd most like to see more of.
December 21, 2020
As literature Doctor Who novels are enitrely light-weight, but judged as a Doctor Who story this is a pretty good one. It's a solid Hartnell historical about the Salem Witch Trials which makes good use of inter-textual references to The Crucible and to other historicals such as 'The Massacre'. Worth a read for fans of the First Doctor era.
June 2, 2022
This book is tough to evaluate. On one hand, it's meticulously researched with some keen insights and theories on what happened at the Salem Witch Trials. There are also some real strong emotional moments and throughlines. The reading by David Collings is beautifully done.
On the other hand, the story does tend towards some broad conclusions. In addition, the characters don't act in a way that's really true to who they were portrayed as on television. The story goes for 8 CDs and has them present for so many seminal events because of a series of bad decisions. Most of these choices can be understood as trying to prove the Doctor wrong about changing history. While Susan's actions are somewhat understandable with the idea that's she's testing her limits and rebelling. That has a ring of truth. It's less understandable while Ian and Barbara act as they do. Occasionally they make statements to 17th Century puritans that anyone with common sense would know not to say.
Still, it's an intelligently written novel even if it doesn't capture the spirit of the First TARDIS team quite accuratley.
On the other hand, the story does tend towards some broad conclusions. In addition, the characters don't act in a way that's really true to who they were portrayed as on television. The story goes for 8 CDs and has them present for so many seminal events because of a series of bad decisions. Most of these choices can be understood as trying to prove the Doctor wrong about changing history. While Susan's actions are somewhat understandable with the idea that's she's testing her limits and rebelling. That has a ring of truth. It's less understandable while Ian and Barbara act as they do. Occasionally they make statements to 17th Century puritans that anyone with common sense would know not to say.
Still, it's an intelligently written novel even if it doesn't capture the spirit of the First TARDIS team quite accuratley.
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