"We should leave. We definitely should leave. But... chatty ghosts!"
The year is 1645, and Edinburgh is in the grip of the worst plague in its history. Nobody knows who will be the next to succumb - nobody except the Night Doctor, a masked figure that stalks the streets, seeking out those who will not live to see another day.
But death is not the end. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover that the living are being haunted by the recently departed - by ghosts that do not know they are dead . And there are other creatures lurking in the shadows, slithering, creeping creatures filled with an insatiable hunger.
The Doctor and his friends must face the terrifying secret of the Street of Sorrows - that something which has lain dormant for two hundred million years is due to destroy the entire city...
An original novel featuring the Twelfth Doctor, Bill and Nardole as played by Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas.
Jonathan Morris is one of the most prolific and popular writers of Doctor Who books, including the highly-regarded novels 'Festival of Death' and 'Touched by an Angel' and the recent guide to monsters, 'The Monster Vault'. He has also written numerous comic strips, most of which were collected in 'The Child of Time', and audios for BBC Audio and Big Finish, including the highly-regarded comedies 'Max Warp' and 'The Auntie Matter', as well as the adaptation of Russell T Davies’ 'Damaged Goods'.
Recently he has started his own audio production company, Average Romp. Releases include a full-cast adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Chimes', an original play, 'When Michael Met Benny', and three episodes of a SF sitcom, 'Dick Dixon in the 21st Century'.
He also originated his own series, Vienna and script-edited the Nigel Planer series 'Jeremiah Bourne in Time'. He’s also written documentaries and for TV sketch shows.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
CW// plague, death (including daughters, parents, spouses), grief, racism, mentions of war, brief mention of alcoholism
“‘People can’t mourn what they don’t know they ever had,’ said the Doctor. ‘But - and this is the important thing - given the choice, they would rather have the grief. They would rather spend the rest of their lives in mourning than lose a single memory of those they have lost. Because there is nothing more precious than those memories. They are all that they have left of their loved ones. And it is with those memories that they keep them alive.’”
These Doctor Who novels are very hit or miss with me. The first one I read is one of my favorite ones of all time while I loathe the other one I read. I was a little hesitant to start this one, but I was in a Doctor Who mood because of the recent specials so I decided to give this one a try.
Luckily Plague City turned out to be a really enjoyable read for me and I think it boils down to the author. The other Doctor Who novel I loved was written by Jonathan Morris and I think he’s an incredible writer. He deeply understands all of the Doctor Who characters. It’s also clear through his writing that he cares for this series and because of his love for the series, it seems that he’ll do whatever it takes to make these novels fun for Doctor Who fans.
I love plague stories, so it was fun to read this story and see how all the alien elements intereacted with the plague. The plague felt really realistic in this novel, especially given how real pandemics now feel for all of us in 2023 with the covid pandemic still occuring. It was clear that Morris put lots of research into writing a realistic plague while also twisting a few elements to make it fit into Doctor Who canon.
The crew in this book was excellent. The twelfth doctor, Bill, and Nardole always have really memorable scenes. I wish we could’ve spent more time with this trio in the show, but it was really fun to be able to go on one more adventure with them. The side characters in this book were great as well. There were some really interesting characters, including a super cute sapphic couple.
I thought the conversations in this book surrounding how many people the Doctor can save were written really well. It was a great way to flesh out the morality of changing history via time traveling.
This book isn’t without its flaws. I found the way the Scottish accents were written made it a bit hard to understand what the side characters were saying at times. I also felt like this story could’ve been a lot deeper than it was.
Despite its flaws, I really enjoyed my time with this book and I highly recommend it to all fans of Capaldi’s era of Doctor Who.
It’s 1645. The plague has the city of Edinburgh in its grip. The Night Doctor comes to gather plague victims on their death bed. But he does so before they’re even dead. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole arrive and find the dead have found a way to come back from the grave.
This is a really interesting concept, with people coming back from the dead and the gang quickly trying to guess whether they’re zombies, ghosts or something else entirely. The plot is a little bit creepy but not scary. It’s atmospheric and gripping. All three protagonists are characterized well and all have their role to play in this story, which I do appreciate. The doctor and Nardole have a creepy mystery to solve, while Bill gets to show off her most sympathetic and human side.
The theme of this story is: if you save one person, you have to save them all. And that would be wrong, as it would change the course of history. So the doctor doesn’t really want to save anybody this time around. It’s a powerful theme that’s a bit reminiscent of stories like the Waters of Mars. And much like in the Waters of Mars, there’s always a bit of wiggle room. In this story, there’s just too much of it to really drive this theme home.
The historic setting is used really well here, especially in the first half of the story. The city of Edinburgh being in quarantine because of the plague elevates the plot. It makes the city feel like a desperate and hopeless place. And the isolation only adds to the already creepy atmosphere. The true horror of the plague is of course never really explored because this book needs to be suitable for a younger audience.
This is an enjoyable historic Doctor Who book with a very strong first half, though it definitely loses some steam in the second half.
The historical story out of the recent batch of BBC Books.
The Twelfth Doctor, Bill and Nardole find themselves in 17th century Edinburgh besieged by the plague. It’s a fun creepy read that will appeal to fans of all ages.
The plague, leeches and ghosts, what more do I want from a Doctor Who novel? I much preferred this novel to its predecessor, Diamond Dog. I found it much easier to get into and it was fast paced with a small group of secondary characters, who were simultaneously well characterised and one sided. Two women who help Bill are hiding a secret and two parents are grieving the death of their daughter with the Doctor, and what exactly is going on on Mary King's Close, and what does that have to do with the Night Doctor that is creeping around town? This book answered all of the questions it posed, and it was just brilliant.
This may be my favourite Doctor Who novel so far, my joint Doctor, possibly my favourite Companion after Rose, ghosts, plague, gothic grimness but with two beautiful love stories of different kinds that left me in tears and rather choked up at the end. This is wonderful writing that I would love to see on screen but is completely satisfying as a novel.
Very enjoyable, with a particularly strong and tightly-plotted ending. There's a nice Back To The Future joke, and some incongruous fluffy slippers which, in context, are quite heart-warming.
A fun, if short, novel. I always like Bill and Nardole, and thought they didn’t get used enough in the TV show. Fortunately we can get more of them in the novels.
It’s an incredible tight-rope trick to try to write a frothy DOCTOR WHO story set in plague-besieged Edinburgh.
After all, the actual details of plague are so horrendous, something straight out of Cronenbergian body horror, and these are books written for kids.
There’s a lot of death and suffering that’s unavoidable here, and to be fair, Morris does his best not to flinch from it.
But there are limits.
The reality is so horrible that it’s impossible for DOCTOR WHO to truly engage with this part of history. As such it becomes a novel where The Doctor and Bill and Nardole kind of skate around on the surface. This is not going to be a story where everyone lives. But its is a book where, by necessity, The Doctor dances around at the periphery, and it all feels a bit incidental.
At the start of his association with DOCTOR WHO, Jonathan Morris wrote the excellent FESTIVAL OF DEATH. There’s nothing so timey-wimey or self-consciously clever in PLAGUE CITY. There’s not much to show his taste for Douglas Adams sci-fi absurdity. Apart, that is, from one moment where The Doctor emerges from the fog performing – both playing and apparently singing – HOW SOON IS NOW? by The Smiths and LOVE WILL TEAR US APART AGAIN by Joy Division.
Now, the guitar was over-used in Series 9, and had fortunately been dialed back by Series 10. But this was such a bizarre and over the top idea that it actually made me genuinely laugh out loud. The result being a chapter in a book, which as a whole I fear won’t be particularly memorable, that I might never forget.
When Bill wanted to go to Edinburgh for Hogmanay, the ever-quirky TARDIS lands them in the city in 1645, at the height of the plague. When someone is about to die, the sinister Plague Doctor always visits. The sick person will not survive the night…
For some reason, the plague is extra bad in Edinburgh. Even the Doctor wonders about the sudden worsening of the illness. People are dying far more quickly than they should, with the life sucked out of them, little more than an empty husk…
The people who die are returning as ghosts…
But for one family, the Plague Doctor visited twice, and the second time he took the body…
The epicenter seems to be Mary King’s Close. There is something evil down there in the dark…
There are ghost stories today about Mary King’s close. The closing of the neighborhood to prevent the spread of plague has long been controversial. It was said people were entombed with the sick and dead, unable to escape. This book does a great job of taking historical moments and writing a Doctor Who adventures around the fact.
The reader can feel the drama as people begin to give into despair. The words paint a grim picture of the plague-ridden city, bringing to life the sounds and smells as well as visuals. You actually begin to connect with the well-developed characters!
Can the Doctor solve the mystery of the Chatty Ghosts ?
Our heroic 12th doctor returns in book form , this time with help from Bill & Nardole ! The TARDIS has landed in Edinburgh, Scotland...just not the Edinburgh we know. The year is 1645 and the plaque has struck the town of Edinburgh and anyone who is visited by The Night Doctor is due to die from the plaque and then is the matter of ghosts showing up....chatty ghosts that is. This is just one of the many thing that the doctor and his companions must deal with in this story and try to solve the mystery of these chatty ghosts and why are they here ?
What I love about these Doctor Who books is that the authors are able to write it so that you actually hear that doctor and his companions voices in your head as you read.
These books are fun and worth reading for anyone who is a whovian !
This was an interesting story which was similar to an earlier TV episode and the book even referenced it towards the end. Some of the treatment towards Bill did make her appear a bit simple at times, though at others it does heighten her sense of street smarts. At times you can almost predict what the characters say and do. I did find some of the local Scottish dialect difficult to follow but the author has a sense of humour and even makes references to it in his acknowledgements. If you’ve been to Edinburgh then the book does allow you to picture the situation quite vividly. What the book doesn’t do is reveal the past of The Doctor, bit instead focuses once again on his God complex. I did enjoy the doctor’s choice of music and even found myself looking up the songs on YouTube. It’s also a great explanation as to what happens in Edinburgh in the summer.
This has so far been my fav Doctor Who book. I'm a huge fan of Twelve and LOVED him with Bill and Nardole. This story keep them true to how they were portrayed on the show. This book takes place in 1645 Edinburgh. There's the plague, ghosts, a creepy Night Doctor in hat and raven mask with the long beak. Grief leeches and other alien life forms. We get to see our grumpy Doctor who does care for others, and will always try to help. We also get Doctor Disco with his guitar and shades :) This is a good story that's quick paced and also a good read. Not to mention the cover is fantastic! So far there's only 3 books available with Twelve, Bill and Nardole. I really hope they write more.
The only Who novel this year to feature Nardole as well as Bill, here we are in Edinburgh in 1645, with plague stalking the streets, the dead not staying dead, and horrors lurking in the night, while the authorities (led by the provost, the historical Sir John Smith) are deeply suspicious of strangers in strange clothes. The claustrophobia and horror of the plague-run capital is well conveyed, though of course the core plot concept was done very early in New Who with The Unquiet Dead. The banter between the Doctor and Nardole is caught well, and Bill also gets plenty to do. Solid stuff.
It's an incredibly quick & easy read...but I really wanted something more demanding and substantial...something more akin to Mr. Morris' previous novels, such as "Touched by an Angel" or "The Tomorrow Windows". All the ingredients are here, but apart from the Doctor, Bill & Nardole, I simply couldn't muster up enthusiasm for the supporting characters, or the situation. This should have been darker, creepier, and more horrific...but it feels like Jonathan Morris holding himself back. I would like to read a version of this novel where the author let's loose.
A story that has an interesting, albeit watered down setting and a nice mystery makes for a decent Doctor Who story--definitely something on par with the T.V series.
However, the ending was made quite predictable and the secondary characters failed to interest me in the slightest even when it was obvious Morris wanted you to like them they were often unlikable.
Still, it's a short read and Morris does a good job at capturing Capaldi's Doctor and Bill's character, so it's worth the time spent.
This novel takes Team Tardis (Bill, Nardole, and the Doctor) Back in time to Scotland during the worst Plague history has ever seen. The story is dripping in atmosphere, detailing the devastation of the plague but also adds that alien element that is so very Doctor Who. The dead are becoming ghosts and a mysterious Plague Doctor takes victims away in the night. The concept itself is quite chilling. Additionally, the characters are all so much fun and just add so much to the story.
Very Black Plague, very Scots, very entertaining. This is the only one of this set of three to feature Nardole, and to be honest, this story seems like the spiritual payoff for Tennant saving the family from Pompeii and 12 ending up with Capaldi's face - his actions during the last days in 1645 darkly mirror that and also redeem the face-change. It's a shame this one wasn't an episode; it has the feel of an early 10 or a late 9. Good stuff, and fun.
I loved the Doctor Who TV show and especially enjoyed Peter Capaldi's doctor. This book is a more than welcome extra episode of one of my favorite stories of all times. It has the classic Doctor Who vibe, the jokes, the heart-breaking scenes, the fun, the thrill, the mystery. There a few things you don't get if you haven't watched the show, but I would still recommend it to anyone as a light fun reading.
I really enjoy Jonathan Morris prose and this book does a difficult task well, it gets over the lovely series 10 dynamics of the Tardis crew at the same time as plotting an adventure in plague ridden Edinburgh. The Doctor brandishing his guitar to great affect did make me smile. I really do adore 12, Bill & Nardole
This was not my favorite Dr.Who book. There were a lot of good elements and in the end it was a very Dr.Who-esque story, but some of the elements seemed disjointed and a bit forced. Overall I enjoyed it, but I probably would not read it again.
There are also a lot of typos - mostly words in verse order - that distracted me while I was reading.
Absolutely perfect! My only nitpick is that this story is set during series 10 when the Doctor has his new blue sonic screwdriver, the author describes the sonic as giving off a green light, which the sonic from series 5-9 did.
The Doctor novels can be hit or miss, but this was one I was sad wasn’t an episode. Interesting story, revealed some interesting quirks about our heroes, and truly felt like meaningful edition to the Bill/Nardole/12th canon. Definitely worth a read.
Another from this period that I hadn’t previously read. Pseudo historical exploration of great plague Edinburgh with “grief leeches” as a commentary on how depression and mental illness can affect people and a one-man busking performer that is pay to see Peter Capaldi do for real.
This was a good overall story. I enjoyed the historical setting. The twist of what exactly was causing all the trouble was a good one. Plus I loved getting to go on another adventure with 12th Doctor and Bill their run was too short.
Enjoyable , my first time reading into the extended universe stuff for my favourite doctor. This story captures the character of the doctor and his companions exactly. The side characters have actual weight and feel real.