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Doctor Who: Missing Adventures #21
Doctor Who: The Eye of the Giant
‘I might have known it,’ the Brigadier said tersely. ‘The Doctor and Miss Shaw have managed to lose themselves on an island that doesn’t exist.’
1934: Salutua, a legendary lost island in the Pacific. Millionaire Marshal J Grover’s expedition arrives to uncover and exploit its secrets. But the task is complicated by a film star’s fears and ambitions and a scientist’s lethal obsession.
Nearly forty years later: UNIT headquarters, London. The Doctor and Liz Shaw are asked to identify a mysterious artifact and trace its origin. The trail leads them back in time to Salutua and a gigantic discovery. Meanwhile, the Brigadier faces an epidemic of UFO sightings and supernatural occurrences that threaten to bring about global panic. Only the Doctor can help him -- but he’s trapped on a mythical island four decades in the past.
1934: Salutua, a legendary lost island in the Pacific. Millionaire Marshal J Grover’s expedition arrives to uncover and exploit its secrets. But the task is complicated by a film star’s fears and ambitions and a scientist’s lethal obsession.
Nearly forty years later: UNIT headquarters, London. The Doctor and Liz Shaw are asked to identify a mysterious artifact and trace its origin. The trail leads them back in time to Salutua and a gigantic discovery. Meanwhile, the Brigadier faces an epidemic of UFO sightings and supernatural occurrences that threaten to bring about global panic. Only the Doctor can help him -- but he’s trapped on a mythical island four decades in the past.
315 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 1996
2 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Bulis
19 books21 followersChristopher Bulis is a writer best known for his work on various Doctor Who spin-offs. He is one of the most prolific authors to write for the various ranges of spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who, with twelve novels to his name, and between 1993 and 2000 he had at least one Doctor Who novel published every year.
Bulis' first published work was the New Adventure Shadowmind, published in 1993 by Virgin Publishing. This was the only novel Bulis wrote featuring the Seventh Doctor, and his next five books were all published under Virgin's Missing Adventures range: State of Change (1994), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1995), The Eye of the Giant (1996), Twilight of the Gods (1996), and A Device of Death (1997).
When Virgin lost their licence to publish novels based on Doctor Who, Bulis repeated this pattern writing novels for the BBC - with one novel written for the current incumbent Doctor as part of BBC Books' Eighth Doctor Adventures range, and then all of his other novels published as part of the Past Doctor Adventures range. Bulis' novels for the BBC were The Ultimate Treasure (1997), Vanderdeken's Children (1998), City at World's End (1999), Imperial Moon (2000) and Palace of the Red Sun (2002).
Bulis also wrote the novel Tempest as part of Virgin's Bernice Summerfield range of novels, and also a short story for Big Finish Productions' Short Trips series.
Bulis' first published work was the New Adventure Shadowmind, published in 1993 by Virgin Publishing. This was the only novel Bulis wrote featuring the Seventh Doctor, and his next five books were all published under Virgin's Missing Adventures range: State of Change (1994), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1995), The Eye of the Giant (1996), Twilight of the Gods (1996), and A Device of Death (1997).
When Virgin lost their licence to publish novels based on Doctor Who, Bulis repeated this pattern writing novels for the BBC - with one novel written for the current incumbent Doctor as part of BBC Books' Eighth Doctor Adventures range, and then all of his other novels published as part of the Past Doctor Adventures range. Bulis' novels for the BBC were The Ultimate Treasure (1997), Vanderdeken's Children (1998), City at World's End (1999), Imperial Moon (2000) and Palace of the Red Sun (2002).
Bulis also wrote the novel Tempest as part of Virgin's Bernice Summerfield range of novels, and also a short story for Big Finish Productions' Short Trips series.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 26, 2025
What if, on some variant of Skull Island back in 1934, someone like Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard strove for the same kind of power that Biff Tannen grabbed for himself in Back to the Future 2, and suddenly two opposing realities started morphing and mutating almost like time itself had become like John Carpenter’s Thing…all of this originating from a crash-landed alien like in, well, John Carpenter’s The Thing? And let’s say the only thing that could save our reality, was the Third Doctor, Liz Shaw, and the UNIT guys opening an inter-dimensional portal like in Stephen King’s The Mist, in order to pull off a little Avengers: Endgame? Plus, alien drugs, stolen from vengeful, very organized alien drug-lords, ie. something like Scarface, but squids?
Twenty-five years later, a re-read, and to think I was worried this wouldn’t maintain 5 star status! By the end, it has gone totally berserk - it’s hard to believe the first 30 pages have anything to do with the last 30 pages - but I’ll take any tale where reality is caught in a tug-of-war with: giant crabs, quickie totalitarian alternate universes and post-apocalypses, ghosts of people and buildings fading in and out, tentacles and spikes emerging from something that wasn’t even alive two minutes ago, and something angelic dropping by at a crucial moment. How do you fit a story into any of this? I can’t explain - and I’m still smashed by Liz Shaw starting to fade out of existence like Marty McFly - you’d just have to read it!
Twenty-five years later, a re-read, and to think I was worried this wouldn’t maintain 5 star status! By the end, it has gone totally berserk - it’s hard to believe the first 30 pages have anything to do with the last 30 pages - but I’ll take any tale where reality is caught in a tug-of-war with: giant crabs, quickie totalitarian alternate universes and post-apocalypses, ghosts of people and buildings fading in and out, tentacles and spikes emerging from something that wasn’t even alive two minutes ago, and something angelic dropping by at a crucial moment. How do you fit a story into any of this? I can’t explain - and I’m still smashed by Liz Shaw starting to fade out of existence like Marty McFly - you’d just have to read it!
August 8, 2025
When I first picked up a copy of Christopher Bulis’s novel, my expectations for it were not very high. While I had enjoyed his first contribution to Virgin’s Missing Adventures series, State of Change, the description of this one looked a little too silly for my taste. To me it seemed as though Bulis was trying to inject the Third Doctor onto Skull Island in a (non-copyright-violating) way that fit within the franchise. Giant crabs like the one menacing Liz Shaw on the cover? Sure, maybe. But similarly-inflated ants and spiders? How exactly is the story going to work around the square-cube law that makes such things a scientific impossibility?
Bulis never really addresses the matter in the book. And fortunately he doesn’t have to, as his take proves more than an adequate distraction from it. In it the Doctor and Liz receive a piece of extraterrestrial material recovered from the belly of a dead shark. Using the unusual radiation emanating from it, the two establish a “time bridge” connecting their lab in London with the object’s last surface location: a “lost island” in the South Pacific in 1934. When he crosses to the past, the Doctor encounters a crashed spaceship and a film crew coping with the unnaturally large fauna accidentally created by the pilot of the spacecraft. And with the inevitable disruption of the time bridge leaving the Doctor, Liz, and Mike Yates stranded in the past, the Brigadier is left on his own to handle the growing reports of phantom phenomenon appearing throughout the world.
This alone would constitute the sum of the plot for many a Doctor Who tie-in novel. Yet for Bulis this serves only as the foundation for his plot, which incorporates competing aliens, megalomaniacal conquerors, and alternate timelines into a fantastic adventure that blends nicely the swashbuckling adventurism of 1930s Hollywood with the scientific investigations that were a hallmark of the Third Doctor’s UNIT exile. Bulis takes full advantage of his format to add elements that would have either busted a 1970s BBC budget or been so cheaply done as to make them look silly rather than impressive. And with a satisfying – if somewhat inconclusive – ending, it makes for a book that ranks among the top of the Missing Adventures series.
Bulis never really addresses the matter in the book. And fortunately he doesn’t have to, as his take proves more than an adequate distraction from it. In it the Doctor and Liz receive a piece of extraterrestrial material recovered from the belly of a dead shark. Using the unusual radiation emanating from it, the two establish a “time bridge” connecting their lab in London with the object’s last surface location: a “lost island” in the South Pacific in 1934. When he crosses to the past, the Doctor encounters a crashed spaceship and a film crew coping with the unnaturally large fauna accidentally created by the pilot of the spacecraft. And with the inevitable disruption of the time bridge leaving the Doctor, Liz, and Mike Yates stranded in the past, the Brigadier is left on his own to handle the growing reports of phantom phenomenon appearing throughout the world.
This alone would constitute the sum of the plot for many a Doctor Who tie-in novel. Yet for Bulis this serves only as the foundation for his plot, which incorporates competing aliens, megalomaniacal conquerors, and alternate timelines into a fantastic adventure that blends nicely the swashbuckling adventurism of 1930s Hollywood with the scientific investigations that were a hallmark of the Third Doctor’s UNIT exile. Bulis takes full advantage of his format to add elements that would have either busted a 1970s BBC budget or been so cheaply done as to make them look silly rather than impressive. And with a satisfying – if somewhat inconclusive – ending, it makes for a book that ranks among the top of the Missing Adventures series.
October 16, 2023
Season 7, those four glorious serials broadcast in the early months of 1970, continue to hold a special place in the hearts of Doctor Who fans. Something that remains in evidence from the wealth of novels and audio dramas set during it. Works that all seek to recapture its ethos. Some more so than others, as this 1996 novel from Christopher Bulis proves.
On the surface, The Eye of the Giant (what a suitably evocative Pertwee era title!) has Season 7 written all over it. An exiled Doctor working on the TARIDS with Liz Shaw, for starters. There's UNIT, with the Brigadier and Benton joined by a Sergeant Mike Yates returning from the field. And, along the way, Bulis tossing in references to various serials from that season, including some quick cameos from General Scobie.
But, throughout, other elements creep in. The Brigadier bringing to the Doctor and Liz a McGuffin that ties into an eventual mystery forty(ish) years in the past that comes to impact the present. Bulis using that as a way to circumvent Season 7's Earthbound status as later Pertwee season writers would pre-Three Doctors. One that allows various characters to encounter others from a 1930s ship on a deserted island, not unlike Cardinal of Monsters. Not to mention the appearances of UNIT characters introduced in Season 8 such as Bell and Osgood (no, not THAT Osgood).
What's going on here?
The short answer: Bulis is trying to have his Pertwee cake and eat it, too. The Eye of the Giant is a novel set in the gap between Season 7 and 8, a watershed moment in the series history. One that, as I mentioned when reviewing Inferno, marked the end of more adult-oriented Doctor Who with moral ambiguity and the beginning of the action-adventure format that's more associated with the Pertwee era. By combining elements from both, Bulis offers up a transitional story. One that should work, combining the settings and characterizations of Season 7 with the action-adventure elements of later seasons.
But does it?
On the characterization and setting front, without a question. The UNIT family is a blended one, combining characters from across two seasons, and it works. Everyone feels present and correct, from the Doctor tinkering on the TARDIS console to a resourceful Liz and the more defined Brigadier. Even the likes of Benton and Yates feel present, the latter more of the younger man of action he started out as. The references and odd cameo connected to Season 7 grounds the story, as well. There's moments when it feels finding some lost story from 1970.
Until it doesn't. While Liz is most definitely Liz, what she does plotwise feels more akin to Jo Grant, getting into scrapes rather than solving problems. The island plotline, with its tale of assorted characters and giant creatures, has that later Pertwee feel to it. One can imagine the crabs and spiders, for example, realized in (not so) glorious CSO. Which is, notionally, fine, except that it's hard not to have the feeling that they're out of place in a novel set during Season 7. And the eventual, inevitable answer of "aliens" feels like a retread of a subplot of Justin Richards' earlier System Shock a handful of novels before this one. None of which is fatal, though it undermines the effort Bulis put into grounding this as a Season 7 tale elsewhere.
That's without mentioning the closing chapters of the novel. Ones that emulates the six-parter structure of Classic Who by the novel what Anthony Read called a dog leg, a further plot to get the story to stretch out. Season 7 had that, too, with Silurians featuring a plague and Inferno its famous parallel world. Bulis tries to go for something like the latter here, tossing in an alternate timeline of his own to tie the various strands of the novel together and raise the stakes. Instead, it comes across as undercooked, in part due to the throwaway nature its set-up and the technobabble explanation for why it's only occurred at that point in the plot. Add on which character its becomes centered around, and you have a decent enough read undermined by a weak closing act.
Set between contrasting moments of the Pertwee era, The Eye of the Giant tries to be the transitional story we never received on-screen. A Missing Adventure in the very literal sense of the range's title, bridging eras within an era. In that, it doesn't quite succeed. Bulis still crafts a fun read, but one that landed off-target, similar to its Doctor eventually a couple of seasons later.
On the surface, The Eye of the Giant (what a suitably evocative Pertwee era title!) has Season 7 written all over it. An exiled Doctor working on the TARIDS with Liz Shaw, for starters. There's UNIT, with the Brigadier and Benton joined by a Sergeant Mike Yates returning from the field. And, along the way, Bulis tossing in references to various serials from that season, including some quick cameos from General Scobie.
But, throughout, other elements creep in. The Brigadier bringing to the Doctor and Liz a McGuffin that ties into an eventual mystery forty(ish) years in the past that comes to impact the present. Bulis using that as a way to circumvent Season 7's Earthbound status as later Pertwee season writers would pre-Three Doctors. One that allows various characters to encounter others from a 1930s ship on a deserted island, not unlike Cardinal of Monsters. Not to mention the appearances of UNIT characters introduced in Season 8 such as Bell and Osgood (no, not THAT Osgood).
What's going on here?
The short answer: Bulis is trying to have his Pertwee cake and eat it, too. The Eye of the Giant is a novel set in the gap between Season 7 and 8, a watershed moment in the series history. One that, as I mentioned when reviewing Inferno, marked the end of more adult-oriented Doctor Who with moral ambiguity and the beginning of the action-adventure format that's more associated with the Pertwee era. By combining elements from both, Bulis offers up a transitional story. One that should work, combining the settings and characterizations of Season 7 with the action-adventure elements of later seasons.
But does it?
On the characterization and setting front, without a question. The UNIT family is a blended one, combining characters from across two seasons, and it works. Everyone feels present and correct, from the Doctor tinkering on the TARDIS console to a resourceful Liz and the more defined Brigadier. Even the likes of Benton and Yates feel present, the latter more of the younger man of action he started out as. The references and odd cameo connected to Season 7 grounds the story, as well. There's moments when it feels finding some lost story from 1970.
Until it doesn't. While Liz is most definitely Liz, what she does plotwise feels more akin to Jo Grant, getting into scrapes rather than solving problems. The island plotline, with its tale of assorted characters and giant creatures, has that later Pertwee feel to it. One can imagine the crabs and spiders, for example, realized in (not so) glorious CSO. Which is, notionally, fine, except that it's hard not to have the feeling that they're out of place in a novel set during Season 7. And the eventual, inevitable answer of "aliens" feels like a retread of a subplot of Justin Richards' earlier System Shock a handful of novels before this one. None of which is fatal, though it undermines the effort Bulis put into grounding this as a Season 7 tale elsewhere.
That's without mentioning the closing chapters of the novel. Ones that emulates the six-parter structure of Classic Who by the novel what Anthony Read called a dog leg, a further plot to get the story to stretch out. Season 7 had that, too, with Silurians featuring a plague and Inferno its famous parallel world. Bulis tries to go for something like the latter here, tossing in an alternate timeline of his own to tie the various strands of the novel together and raise the stakes. Instead, it comes across as undercooked, in part due to the throwaway nature its set-up and the technobabble explanation for why it's only occurred at that point in the plot. Add on which character its becomes centered around, and you have a decent enough read undermined by a weak closing act.
Set between contrasting moments of the Pertwee era, The Eye of the Giant tries to be the transitional story we never received on-screen. A Missing Adventure in the very literal sense of the range's title, bridging eras within an era. In that, it doesn't quite succeed. Bulis still crafts a fun read, but one that landed off-target, similar to its Doctor eventually a couple of seasons later.
June 21, 2019
This is an interesting one. I'm not quite sure how to review it.
The Eye of the Giant follows a small expedition to the hidden island of Salutua in 1934, ostensibly to film a movie. Nearly forty years later, UNIT discovers an alien artefact that Liz and the Doctor track to Salutua 1934. The only problem is Salutua doesn't exist in the present day, and the Doctor and Liz are stuck there.
I'll start by saying that this is exactly what I wanted from a Third Doctor novel. It really feels like a classic 70s Doctor Who story. You can even tell where the episode breaks would be if it were on TV. The Doctor, Liz, the Brigadier and all the rest are written perfectly and really feel authentic to the TV versions of their characters. All in all, it's a good fun romp.
The prose is a little dense in places, mainly due to the sheer amount of pseudo-scientific technobabble, but for the most part it's fun, fast-paced and interesting. There are even quite a few moments that are genuinely disturbing, or terrifying, and there's some good humour.
The characters are decent, but a little bit flat. Some have a little bit of development, but really not enough to make them particularly memorable. Brokk had the most interesting POV chapters, because of how thoroughly inhuman and disconnected from the world he was.
The fact that neither of the alien races featured in the book communicated verbally made for a fun gimmick, and allowed for a little comedy, but I think it would have been more interesting and engaging if the reader could actually tell what they were saying.
The plot itself is simple, but manages to be engaging for the majority of the book.
The majority of it.
The main problem with this book is that it has three endings. And unfortunately, the first ending is the best. The second ending is not as good, but is still fun, and manages to stay within the realms of acceptable sci-fi. The third and final ending is just plain weird, devolves into metaphysical fantasy, but is thankfully rescued by a vaguely scientific explanation for events given right at the end.
Overall it was a good, fun Doctor Who story, but it won't be going on my favourites list.
The Eye of the Giant follows a small expedition to the hidden island of Salutua in 1934, ostensibly to film a movie. Nearly forty years later, UNIT discovers an alien artefact that Liz and the Doctor track to Salutua 1934. The only problem is Salutua doesn't exist in the present day, and the Doctor and Liz are stuck there.
I'll start by saying that this is exactly what I wanted from a Third Doctor novel. It really feels like a classic 70s Doctor Who story. You can even tell where the episode breaks would be if it were on TV. The Doctor, Liz, the Brigadier and all the rest are written perfectly and really feel authentic to the TV versions of their characters. All in all, it's a good fun romp.
The prose is a little dense in places, mainly due to the sheer amount of pseudo-scientific technobabble, but for the most part it's fun, fast-paced and interesting. There are even quite a few moments that are genuinely disturbing, or terrifying, and there's some good humour.
The characters are decent, but a little bit flat. Some have a little bit of development, but really not enough to make them particularly memorable. Brokk had the most interesting POV chapters, because of how thoroughly inhuman and disconnected from the world he was.
The fact that neither of the alien races featured in the book communicated verbally made for a fun gimmick, and allowed for a little comedy, but I think it would have been more interesting and engaging if the reader could actually tell what they were saying.
The plot itself is simple, but manages to be engaging for the majority of the book.
The majority of it.
The main problem with this book is that it has three endings. And unfortunately, the first ending is the best. The second ending is not as good, but is still fun, and manages to stay within the realms of acceptable sci-fi. The third and final ending is just plain weird, devolves into metaphysical fantasy, but is thankfully rescued by a vaguely scientific explanation for events given right at the end.
Overall it was a good, fun Doctor Who story, but it won't be going on my favourites list.
October 8, 2024
I’m pissed. I really enjoyed this book for roughly one half of its page count. The idea of the Doctor creating a time tunnel using the time space visualizer was really cool. And the Doctor landing on Harryhausen’s Mysterious Island was pretty neat.
But very quickly it became clear, that this book was not a story about either of those things. This was a story about two women. A goofus and galant story of a conniving opportunistic harlot, and her enemy the perfect demure little princess. It was exhausting, it was gross, it ended up bringing in weird Christian elements too.
It was so god damn sexist and gross and every chapter just got worse and worse. I thought maybe they were building towards the two characters changing in some way. Like maybe they would learn to like each other. The nice girl would learn to stand up for herself, and the mean girl would learn to be more trusting, or something. But instead it was just consistent the whole way through. One girl is evil and everyone hates her cause she’s stinky and bad. The other is good and everyone loves her and she never poops.
In the end the evil lady gets turned into a big monster and the good girl becomes an all powerful angel. The Doctor’s like “well yeah this person has no flaws so it’s ok that she has those powers.”
Fuck me. Fuck this book.
My review is actually more like 1.5/5 stars but I can only pick 1 or 2 stars on this and I’m too mad right now to pick 2.
But very quickly it became clear, that this book was not a story about either of those things. This was a story about two women. A goofus and galant story of a conniving opportunistic harlot, and her enemy the perfect demure little princess. It was exhausting, it was gross, it ended up bringing in weird Christian elements too.
It was so god damn sexist and gross and every chapter just got worse and worse. I thought maybe they were building towards the two characters changing in some way. Like maybe they would learn to like each other. The nice girl would learn to stand up for herself, and the mean girl would learn to be more trusting, or something. But instead it was just consistent the whole way through. One girl is evil and everyone hates her cause she’s stinky and bad. The other is good and everyone loves her and she never poops.
In the end the evil lady gets turned into a big monster and the good girl becomes an all powerful angel. The Doctor’s like “well yeah this person has no flaws so it’s ok that she has those powers.”
Fuck me. Fuck this book.
My review is actually more like 1.5/5 stars but I can only pick 1 or 2 stars on this and I’m too mad right now to pick 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2019
As Virgin New Adventures go, this is a pretty good book. Everyone is properly characterized, the story feels like Doctor Who, the crazy science is the sort that makes you nod instead of scream and the fact that half of it is "what if King Kong but ALIENS" makes it endearing instead of eye-rolling.
And then the author lost the brakes and took things a bit too far on the ending.
Still a nice story for most part.
Mind you, there is a serious virgin | whore thing going on here, but no way I'll touch that, I'm not even sure the author did it on purpose.
And then the author lost the brakes and took things a bit too far on the ending.
Still a nice story for most part.
Mind you, there is a serious virgin | whore thing going on here, but no way I'll touch that, I'm not even sure the author did it on purpose.
August 6, 2020
I wanted to give this book four stars but the story is not what I sort of expected to be, but I still like its book, it was enjoyable and rather quick and like the idea of The Doctor a Liz being stranded on an island that apparently doesn't exist and inhabited by creatures that been mutated by size by alien drugs that came from a crashed ship that resides in a Volcano that due to erupt that will completely destroy the island.
December 22, 2021
This book, for me at least, is a near perfect combination of things. 1930s B-Movie schlock, Doctor Who Season 7 characters and tone and a smattering of UFOs. All of these aspects are well woven together and support by a great cast of memorable characters.
It also is great to read a third Doctor story set in the past, something that was rarely seen on screen.
A really great book with one surprising third act twist.
It also is great to read a third Doctor story set in the past, something that was rarely seen on screen.
A really great book with one surprising third act twist.
October 4, 2021
A strange brew that changes directions completely three times. The first part is a sort of giant world / giant alien monster meets Who thing from the old monster movies and is over long. The second bit is quite interesting and then the whole thing is let down by a fantasy disguised as science ending.
August 20, 2023
My fave thing is that Liz Shaw was a Boy's Own reader. What a legend.
Loved the book overall though, all the best characters were in it, and nice to see Liz and Mike meeting since they never did on-screen.
Would have been 5 stars if the Brigadier had respected Liz and addressed her as Doctor Shaw rather than Miss, as the other characters all eventually did.
Loved the book overall though, all the best characters were in it, and nice to see Liz and Mike meeting since they never did on-screen.
Would have been 5 stars if the Brigadier had respected Liz and addressed her as Doctor Shaw rather than Miss, as the other characters all eventually did.
July 24, 2025
One of those Doctor Who novels which puts so much energy into emulating the era of the show it's aiming for, it doesn't even question whether this necessarily works in a novel format, or could be amended to work better or date less poorly. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
November 13, 2024
A pitch perfect replication of a Pertwee era story and a logical tonal meeting point between the hard edged Season Seven and the lighthearted adventure of Season Eight that falls off the rails in its unexpected fourth act.
July 23, 2021
It’s about 50 pages too long and has three denouements instead of one, but it’s still one of the more readable Bulis books.
December 28, 2013
NOTE: Spoilers
The Eye of the Giant is moves like a freight train. It's a fast-moving adventure story.
The Eye of the Giant is part of Virgin Publishing's Doctor Who Missing Adventures original paperback novel series. I read the e-book version. The story features the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), and Doctor Elizabeth Shaw (Liz), and UNIT, including Brigadier Alistaire Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Sgt. Mike Yates, and Sgt. Benton. The novel begins with Liz and the Doctor working on the TARDIS council. They are interrupted by the Brigadier, who delivers a strange artifact found inside a shark in waters off New Zealand and Australia. Liz and the Doctor investigate, soon launching a time bridge to 40 years in the past.
Meanwhile, 40 years ago, a millionaire's yacht heads for the mysterious island of Saltuna. Aboard the ship are the millionaire founder of Paragon Studios, Marshal Grover, his second wife, Nancy Norton (an actress), his daughter, Amelia, from his first marriage, Paragon's leading man, Montgomery, Paragon's leading director, and his cameraman, and Professor Steinberg - whom Grover's promised a chance to investigate and make discoveries on the island, and their servants, as well as the ship's rather large crew. The ship is heading for the island, when they are hit by a mysterious something. They manage to make it to shore, but the ship is damaged and will take days to repair.
Steinberg is excited about this since he will be able to investigate the island. He hopes to make enough discoveries to regain his status in the medical and scientific community after one of his previous experiments killed a patient.
The director, cameraman, and leading man are also excited about filming Nancy's new film on the mysterious and exotic island. However, Nancy, who shows herself to be a spoiled brat, isn't excited. She wants nothing to do with filming on the island, and urges her husband to leave as soon ass possible.
Nancy is right in a strange way: the Island is occupied by strange, giant, creatures. A huge, giant snake attacks Nancy, but she is quickly rescued. Soon giant crabs come out of the water and fight some giant bats. Other members of the ship's crew find giants ants.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Liz travel through the time bridge, hoping to find the origin of the mysterious artifact they are investigating at UNIT HQ. They arrive very near a volcano on the island, escape, then encounter the group from Paragon Studios. Sgt. Mike Yates also soon follows them. In trying to find the Doctor and Liz, he meets and rescues Amelia.
Before long, it becomes apparent that a UFO had crashed on the island several years ago, the pilot had been carrying stolen medical supplies. One of the ampules had broken, causing the giantism on the island. The pilot, however, had fallen down a hole, and the environmental controls of his suit had failed. Years later, Amelia Grover falls down he same hole, Mike Yates rescues her and they find what they think is a native statue. Later in the book, the alien is re-animated. However, he's not your typical evil Doctor Who alien, like the Daleks or Cybermen. Rather he's an old-fashioned thief who simply wants to repair his ship, get off the island and planet, and to sell what he stole.
Eventually, the Doctor helps accomplish this, as well as getting the yacht off the island, with her remaining passengers and crew. The aliens whom the first alien had stolen the medical supplies, shoot down the ship, and the ship's power core lands in the volcano, causing the eruption that history records happened and destroyed the island. Liz, the Doctor, Mike, and the Brigadier and his rescue party all return to HQ.
The novel could have ended there - it really should have. But when everyone returns to the present, they find a strangely altered Earth, where Nancy Norton is leader of the world, and her cult of personality has her treated as a goddess. Returning to the past, the Doctor, Liz, Mike, and Benton, must prevent or change Nancy's fusion with the alien. They do but at a high cost of additional lives lost on the ship, including Nancy's and Amelia's. However, the timeline returns to normal, and the Doctor and company return to their UNIT HQ.
This was a quick and enjoyable read. However, it should have stopped when well enough ahead. I didn't care for the last 80 pages, and I thought Nancy's Cult of Personality wildly improbable. The method of fixing the problem was, of course, even more depressing. Still the book is a fun romp, and a quick read. I enjoyed it.
NOTE: spoilers
The Eye of the Giant is moves like a freight train. It's a fast-moving adventure story.
The Eye of the Giant is part of Virgin Publishing's Doctor Who Missing Adventures original paperback novel series. I read the e-book version. The story features the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), and Doctor Elizabeth Shaw (Liz), and UNIT, including Brigadier Alistaire Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Sgt. Mike Yates, and Sgt. Benton. The novel begins with Liz and the Doctor working on the TARDIS council. They are interrupted by the Brigadier, who delivers a strange artifact found inside a shark in waters off New Zealand and Australia. Liz and the Doctor investigate, soon launching a time bridge to 40 years in the past.
Meanwhile, 40 years ago, a millionaire's yacht heads for the mysterious island of Saltuna. Aboard the ship are the millionaire founder of Paragon Studios, Marshal Grover, his second wife, Nancy Norton (an actress), his daughter, Amelia, from his first marriage, Paragon's leading man, Montgomery, Paragon's leading director, and his cameraman, and Professor Steinberg - whom Grover's promised a chance to investigate and make discoveries on the island, and their servants, as well as the ship's rather large crew. The ship is heading for the island, when they are hit by a mysterious something. They manage to make it to shore, but the ship is damaged and will take days to repair.
Steinberg is excited about this since he will be able to investigate the island. He hopes to make enough discoveries to regain his status in the medical and scientific community after one of his previous experiments killed a patient.
The director, cameraman, and leading man are also excited about filming Nancy's new film on the mysterious and exotic island. However, Nancy, who shows herself to be a spoiled brat, isn't excited. She wants nothing to do with filming on the island, and urges her husband to leave as soon ass possible.
Nancy is right in a strange way: the Island is occupied by strange, giant, creatures. A huge, giant snake attacks Nancy, but she is quickly rescued. Soon giant crabs come out of the water and fight some giant bats. Other members of the ship's crew find giants ants.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Liz travel through the time bridge, hoping to find the origin of the mysterious artifact they are investigating at UNIT HQ. They arrive very near a volcano on the island, escape, then encounter the group from Paragon Studios. Sgt. Mike Yates also soon follows them. In trying to find the Doctor and Liz, he meets and rescues Amelia.
Before long, it becomes apparent that a UFO had crashed on the island several years ago, the pilot had been carrying stolen medical supplies. One of the ampules had broken, causing the giantism on the island. The pilot, however, had fallen down a hole, and the environmental controls of his suit had failed. Years later, Amelia Grover falls down he same hole, Mike Yates rescues her and they find what they think is a native statue. Later in the book, the alien is re-animated. However, he's not your typical evil Doctor Who alien, like the Daleks or Cybermen. Rather he's an old-fashioned thief who simply wants to repair his ship, get off the island and planet, and to sell what he stole.
Eventually, the Doctor helps accomplish this, as well as getting the yacht off the island, with her remaining passengers and crew. The aliens whom the first alien had stolen the medical supplies, shoot down the ship, and the ship's power core lands in the volcano, causing the eruption that history records happened and destroyed the island. Liz, the Doctor, Mike, and the Brigadier and his rescue party all return to HQ.
The novel could have ended there - it really should have. But when everyone returns to the present, they find a strangely altered Earth, where Nancy Norton is leader of the world, and her cult of personality has her treated as a goddess. Returning to the past, the Doctor, Liz, Mike, and Benton, must prevent or change Nancy's fusion with the alien. They do but at a high cost of additional lives lost on the ship, including Nancy's and Amelia's. However, the timeline returns to normal, and the Doctor and company return to their UNIT HQ.
This was a quick and enjoyable read. However, it should have stopped when well enough ahead. I didn't care for the last 80 pages, and I thought Nancy's Cult of Personality wildly improbable. The method of fixing the problem was, of course, even more depressing. Still the book is a fun romp, and a quick read. I enjoyed it.
NOTE: spoilers
October 5, 2017
While this book started out to be very clever and interesting, toward the end the plot became too wildly convoluted.
September 13, 2025
June 2022
3.5/5
That half-star's mainly because it picked up for me a bit once they were off the island - not that those elements weren't entertaining, or unnecessary, but I just found the timeline stuff a bit more engaging. Ultimately this is more concept/plot oriented than character-focused, which is fine, but not really my thing. I'd've liked to see more of Liz as a focus just because I'd always like to see more of Liz, and Also, I personally didn't particularly like the handling of disability, in the way multiple characters (including her!) described Amelia as incomplete...I get they're from the 1930s but I felt there should've been more challenging of that attitude.
August 2025
2.5/5
I think ultimately this story has a lot of elements that remind me of things I like more. Bulis is often a very archetypal writer in terms of characters, and while that worked for me fine in The Sorcerer's Apprentice where that was a plot point, here it meant that I wasn't really invested in the cast on the island because there didn't seem to be much beyond the archetype. Grover is probably the most compellingly flawed - a man driven by his guilt over a car crash to search desperately for a 'cure' for his daughter - but I'm not sure the book ever realises quite how profoundly ableist he is in the way he repeatedly ignores her own acceptance of her disability as part of her life now, especially since several other characters also talk about how much of a shame it is that she can't grow back her arm, and .
3.5/5
That half-star's mainly because it picked up for me a bit once they were off the island - not that those elements weren't entertaining, or unnecessary, but I just found the timeline stuff a bit more engaging. Ultimately this is more concept/plot oriented than character-focused, which is fine, but not really my thing. I'd've liked to see more of Liz as a focus just because I'd always like to see more of Liz, and Also, I personally didn't particularly like the handling of disability, in the way multiple characters (including her!) described Amelia as incomplete...I get they're from the 1930s but I felt there should've been more challenging of that attitude.
August 2025
2.5/5
I think ultimately this story has a lot of elements that remind me of things I like more. Bulis is often a very archetypal writer in terms of characters, and while that worked for me fine in The Sorcerer's Apprentice where that was a plot point, here it meant that I wasn't really invested in the cast on the island because there didn't seem to be much beyond the archetype. Grover is probably the most compellingly flawed - a man driven by his guilt over a car crash to search desperately for a 'cure' for his daughter - but I'm not sure the book ever realises quite how profoundly ableist he is in the way he repeatedly ignores her own acceptance of her disability as part of her life now, especially since several other characters also talk about how much of a shame it is that she can't grow back her arm, and .
Read
January 4, 2016Using the magic of time travel, Christopher Bulis has managed to reconfigure "King Kong" in Whovian terms. The Doctor, Mike Yates, and Liz get transported to the 1930s, where a private ship (movie star on board) has found an island of gigantic creatures (note the threatening crab on the cover) ruled over by one in particular, this time an alien and not a gorilla. There is more about UNIT in this book than in the TV series (more about which see below) and the UNIT squad seems less ineffective than in the TV series. Bulis is, like McIntee, a dependable thought not original writer. The story moves a good pace, has the right amount of action, but is highly predictable.
Apparently, the editors at Virgin thought that it would be a good idea to have all the UNIT officers advance from the ranks, contravening all standards and protocols in the British Military. Thus, we improbably get a "Sergeant" Mike Yates and hints of a "Private" Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Of course, this turn of events is utterly preposterous. Both Yates and Lethbridge-Stewart are clearly among the educated officer class, and always were. Lethbridge-Stewart, in particular, would have been officer corps from his school days, perhaps even having a military family history. Yates strikes me as recruited from university. I got over the problem of "Sergeant" Yates simply by rereading it as "Captain."
Apparently, the editors at Virgin thought that it would be a good idea to have all the UNIT officers advance from the ranks, contravening all standards and protocols in the British Military. Thus, we improbably get a "Sergeant" Mike Yates and hints of a "Private" Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Of course, this turn of events is utterly preposterous. Both Yates and Lethbridge-Stewart are clearly among the educated officer class, and always were. Lethbridge-Stewart, in particular, would have been officer corps from his school days, perhaps even having a military family history. Yates strikes me as recruited from university. I got over the problem of "Sergeant" Yates simply by rereading it as "Captain."
October 26, 2014
The Dr. Who novels can be hit or miss, as with most media tie-ins.
Nice to say, this installment, featuring the third Doctor, Liz Shaw, and the men of UNIT hits most of the right notes a fan would want.
Characterization and dialog manages to capture the flavor of that era along with a tale that expands just enough beyond what Dr. Who's budget could achieve. But not so much so that it feels out of place for that era's type of story.
Bulis deftly finesses one of my major problem with the Virgin novels: too much time spent on the "guest" characters. Too often they tend to overwhelm the Doctor and his companions, but that is not the case here. Just the right amount of attention is paid to flesh them out properly, while the focus remains on the series "stars."
Overall, very well done.
If I have one other complaint about this and the other Virgin novels in general, it is the poor quality biding on them. They're only about ~15 years old and the glue separates from the cover as you read them. (And yes, I'm original owner on these. It just taken me awhile to work my way through my library.)I have books from the 60s and 70s that hold up to repeated readings better than these do to one.
Nice to say, this installment, featuring the third Doctor, Liz Shaw, and the men of UNIT hits most of the right notes a fan would want.
Characterization and dialog manages to capture the flavor of that era along with a tale that expands just enough beyond what Dr. Who's budget could achieve. But not so much so that it feels out of place for that era's type of story.
Bulis deftly finesses one of my major problem with the Virgin novels: too much time spent on the "guest" characters. Too often they tend to overwhelm the Doctor and his companions, but that is not the case here. Just the right amount of attention is paid to flesh them out properly, while the focus remains on the series "stars."
Overall, very well done.
If I have one other complaint about this and the other Virgin novels in general, it is the poor quality biding on them. They're only about ~15 years old and the glue separates from the cover as you read them. (And yes, I'm original owner on these. It just taken me awhile to work my way through my library.)I have books from the 60s and 70s that hold up to repeated readings better than these do to one.
February 9, 2019
Sometimes our memories our a curious thing. I remember reading this when it first came out, and could only remember that it was a nice introduction story for Mike Yates, but could not remember anything else.
In going back and reading this, this a decent entry into the Virgin Missing Adventures story. This takes place shortly after the events of Inferno. We see the Doctor still trying to work with the TARDIS console to get it working, where he uses the time space visualizer from the Space Museum. From there the story takes off.
When you first start reading this and get into the plot it feels similar to a variation of King Kong with an alien influence. However, as the story continues it takes a twist that seems similar to a recent story.
Christopher Bulis does a good job of getting the characteristics of the main Doctor Who characters. The new characters he writes fit into the story as well.
For a Doctor Who story it does a great job of trying it into the Doctor Who universe. For someone who is not familiar, it is a good introductory story as well.
In going back and reading this, this a decent entry into the Virgin Missing Adventures story. This takes place shortly after the events of Inferno. We see the Doctor still trying to work with the TARDIS console to get it working, where he uses the time space visualizer from the Space Museum. From there the story takes off.
When you first start reading this and get into the plot it feels similar to a variation of King Kong with an alien influence. However, as the story continues it takes a twist that seems similar to a recent story.
Christopher Bulis does a good job of getting the characteristics of the main Doctor Who characters. The new characters he writes fit into the story as well.
For a Doctor Who story it does a great job of trying it into the Doctor Who universe. For someone who is not familiar, it is a good introductory story as well.
May 12, 2013
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2088942.html[return][return]excellent pastiche of King Kong: the Doctor and Liz, and eventually UNIT as well, are dragged back to the Pacific in 1934 where an alien presence is threatening to destroy the world as we know it, and at the same time must deal with leakage from a parallel timeline. Very entertaining, with an ingeniously imagined alien which finds our planet too cold for it to function, and a villain who is not so much evil as just vain and not very bright; I think this is the best of Bulis's Who books that I have read (and I have read seven others).
August 13, 2016
Great adventure tale highly reminiscent of the early 3rd Doctor epics of his first season. Tale serves as an intro for Yates. Draws heavily from early sci-fi especially Metropolis & Jules Verne's Mysterious Island.
July 23, 2013
It's the ultimate generic "Doctor Who" story, yet one that manages to be just enough of an engaging story to hold a reader's attention. You won't remember much about it, other than the fact that it was a pleasant, inoffensive read.
January 28, 2016
A unique and interesting story with a great ending, but a slow middle section. As a huge Doctor Who fan, I really enjoyed this book.
September 1, 2025
It's not too bad, but Liz acts more like Jo for most of it.
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