Doctor Who: Speed of Flight

Doctor Who: Missing Adventures #27

by Paul Leonard

'Those who are intelligent, strong and virtuous are promoted. The stupid, the weak and the unworthy will die. How else is it possible for the world to make progress?.'

The TARDIS lands on Nooma, a world in the middle of an industrial revolution. But the Doctor, Jo and Mike Yates quickly discover that there is no limit to the upheaval. The sky is alive, and at war with the ground. The continents are on the move, competing for a place under the sun. And somewhere, there is a starship...

Mike finds himself committed to a fight where his only option is to kill or be killed. Jo is caught in a workers' revolt. And the Doctor must find out what is really happening to Nooma before the struggle for survival kills the world and everyone on it.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Doctors, Ebooks

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 1996

About the author

Paul J. Leonard Hinder, better known by his pseudonym of Paul Leonard and also originally published as PJL Hinder, is an author best known for his work on various spin-off fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Leonard has acknowledged a debt to his friend and fellow Doctor Who author Jim Mortimore in his writing career, having turned to Mortimore for help and advice at the start of it. This advice led to his first novel, Venusian Lullaby being published as part of Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures range in 1994. Virgin published three more of his novels before losing their licence to publish Doctor Who fiction: Dancing the Code (1995); Speed of Flight (1996) and (as part of their New Adventures range) Toy Soldiers (1995). Following the loss of their licence, Virgin also published the novel Dry Pilgrimage (co-written with Nick Walters) in 1998 as part of their Bernice Summerfield range of novels.

Leonard also wrote for the fourth volume of Virgin's Decalog short story collections. Following this, he was asked to co-edit the fifth volume of the collection with mentor Jim Mortimore.

Leonard's experience in writing for Doctor Who led to him being asked to write one of the first novels in BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures series, the novel Genocide. This led to four further novels for the range, of which The Turing Test received particular acclaim for its evocative use of real-life historical characters and first person narrative.

Leonard has also written short stories for the BBC Short Trips and Big Finish Short Trips collections.

Reviews

[Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's natural to feel guilty when someone close to you dies." He paused, and a shadow crossed his face as if he was remembering something painful."

My dear friend Steve sent me this book as a gift and I was so very excited to read it because not only do I adore the Third Doctor, but because the premise looked incredible. And I was not disappointed. We are dropped into the planet Nooma, which is in the middle of a violent industrial revolution. Men fight to the death and the victor is given wings and the ability to fly, the Sky is at war with the Earth, children are born from trees, the Sun is actually a starship, and it is up to the Doctor and his companions Jo and Mike to get to the bottom of everything before the whole world is destroyed.

I think the worldbuilding of this story is absolutely fascinating:

"The forest makes the children, children become men, and the fittest men become the naieen, with wings and the right to fly. We men are the central stage of the metamorphic process."

I mean, really, how awesome is that? And even though the book isn't ridiculously long, the author does a wonderful job of setting up the world of Nooma and all the complex social structures that occur within the planet. I loved finding out all about what was going on while adventuring with the Doctor and his companions as they raced to try and set things right. This was just a classic adventure story, Doctor Who style, and I really cannot figure out why this book is rated so poorly here on goodreads, because I loved it!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 2023
Genuinely surprised this one has such a low Goodreads average! Granted it didn't feel as 'necessary' as Dancing the Code (in that I felt that one had a particular reason for being where it was in the timeline and added a bit of further context to Jo's decision to leave) but it was still a reasonably enjoyable read, albeit perhaps a bit too brutal in its treatment of the companions for some. Paul Leonard has actually been emerging as one of my favourite DWEU writers for a while, so although this was a weaker one than his past two I still enjoyed it a lot.

September 2025
I think there's a case to be made that this is better as its own standalone novel than it is as a Doctor Who book: I really love basically everything it does around the world it's set on, the thinking hivemind of the dead, the social divides based on successful killing, the brewing industrial revolution, the ultimate twist about the sun's origin. That being said, this is the only novel I've read that actually convinces me that pre-breakdown Mike Yates is an interesting character, which it mainly does by placing him so outside his usual context that he spends the whole book utterly ill-at-ease. As with Dancing the Code, it minimises the Third Doctor's contributions to focus on the people around him, and I think it's not so strong as a Jo book as Leonard's earlier novel, even if I still mostly like his characterisation of her - but all in all, I still had a pretty good time with it.

[Hidekisohma · Rating 2 out of 5]

So normally if i enjoy a doctor who book, it takes me about 2-3 days to read it. if i DON'T enjoy it... 1-2 weeks. This book took me TWO MONTHS. i have read a LOT of doctor who books. like over 50 and this is the LONGEST its ever taken me to read one of these. During this book i read a novel, a light novel, and a manga before finishing this one, and if it hadn't been for an agreement i made with myself that i would read every single third doctor book there's no way i would have finished it.

The weird thing about it is, it has the makings of a good story. 3rd doctor, jo, and mike go to a planet. first of all this is neat because a lot of third doctor books are on earth. The planet has people turn into winged bird people when they kill each other and the people who die become mud robot people called "the dead". the planet has low gravity and a fake sun. it SOUNDS like an interesting premise. BUT like everything Paul leonard touches, the execution is bad. (this is my 4th PL book and i've read 2 of his short stories so i feel i've read enough of his stuff by now to make this opinion)

The doctor was in character, and he was fine, but Jo was very much...not good in this book as she kinda had this weird partial mind control which was just an excuse to make her be radically out of character (ala another 3rd doc novel 'Rags' which was also bad) and Mike Yates was...FINE for the half of the book he's in. (he's absent for a good half of it for spoilery reasons).

It's honestly hard to describe why this book took so long to finish. and it's not like because it's the worst who book i've read. it's not. It's not even the most boring. It's just like...there was some weird air about this book where i just...didn't care. I don't know if it was because there were WAY too many characters, or if Paul was trying to be psychological, or was trying to squeeze WAY too much into 240 pages. like they dedicated a good 20 pages to this character named "Xaai" and i just... didn't care as she added nothing to the story whatsoever.

The villain's motivations made no sense to which he goes "duhh oh yeah!" by the end and overall it just... i never wanted to go back and read it. this was definitely a chore to get through and like i said, if it wasn't for my self imposed rule, i would have DNF'ed it back in 2 months ago.

It's hard to put a finger on why this book nearly put me in a book slump. i couldn't tell you. i think it was just everything combined in the package of OOC Jo, too many characters, too much going on, a stupidly fast wrapped up conclusion, and Paul Leonard's need to be violent and sad. A good story is buried somewhere in here, and i think a better who author like Justin Richards could have done a much better job.

Overall, i don't HATE this book, but i'm a little annoyed it almost put me in a slump. i actually need to take a little break from who reading to clear out my brain. overall..i SEE what Paul was trying to go for but MAN was it executed badly. i 100% can see why this book has such a low average rating and why hardly anyone has read it. it's just...it's not good.

even 2 out of 5.

[Steven Andreyechen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Leonard once again delivers a book that far exceeds the scope of the show. He presents a rich world that could not have been realized in the season it is set in due to technical limitations but due to his excellent grasp of the tone and characters he makes it feel like it fits right in.

There are also some stand out moments of character development and some interesting discussions on gender identity, though this is understandably vague being a book from the 90s.

Overall it is an enjoyable book though at times a bit confusing due to its complex world building and plot.

[Mindbait]

One of the books released after the classic show finished but before the new show started.

Not terrible but not amazing. In places it kind of feels more like fan-fic than a serious contribution to the who canon. I'd also say that even though I was familiar with the characters used from the show, the writing didn't necessarily fit them and it made it hard for me to get invested or picture it all.

[Arthur B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ecosystem, lousy resolution; that's somewhat true of all of Paul Leonard's Missing Adventures novels, mind you, but the problem is particularly acute here. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...

[Saoki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good setting and interesting alien species, but the whole manly fighty but of it it got on my nerves after a while. Not the best 3rd Doctor story in this line, not even the best by this writer, but good enough for a bus trip.

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has one thing in common with the other two Missing Doctor Who Adventures by Paul Leonard so far, a unique alien race. The alien race works well in the story, it is just the plot with Mike Yates and Jo Grant that could turn you off.

Unlike the other two, the aliens in Speed of Flight appear to be more humanoid with a different evolution track to them. For some reason Paul Leonard did not write them too clearly in how they appear compared to the previous ones. Yet he did a great job of breaking down their evolutionary track. Which plays a pivotal role in the story.

The world Leonard creates is again one that could not be filmed on TV during the Third Doctor's time. It is very imaginative and a rich world. It takes a while to build up what is going on with this world, which makes things slightly confusing. However, by the end of the story when you reflect back you can see what he was doing with the world in it.

The plot works well within this world. Through the Doctor we are able to see the reality of what is going on, compared to what the inhabitants see. Along with the Doctor, you see the question of if the actions of the main protagonist is right or wrong among the inhabitants. This helps to show that sometimes the Doctor arrives in the middle of a conflict already.

Where the story bothers me is the use of Mike Yates and Jo Grant. Jo has not been my favorite character. In trying to put that aside, For most of the story I thought I understood what happened to Jo, but it turned out to be something different. It still worked in the concept of the story, but it felt like it was a way to get around Jo's personality.

For Mike, what happens to him is something that you do not except. Won't go into spoilers, only that when it happens you think it is the start of his path towards his actions in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. It might be, but the wrap up to his story in this book is so quick, that you are not sure.

Which brings me to the last part that seems common with Leonard's writing. He does a great job of building up the plot, laying out clues here and there. Then he wraps up everything in the last few chapters. He wraps them up a bit too quick. Even though it resolves the events of the world nicely, it feels a disservice to Jo and Mike. Maybe an extra chapter might have helped out.

If the Missing Adventures had continued it would have been nice to see if Leonard did a follow up to this story to another story before The Green Death. The characterizations of Mike and Jo with the affects of this story would have been nice.

In the end this is a decent book. The Third Doctor works well in it. What brings it down is what happens with Mike and Jo. I might be a bit picky here, in that I wish a bit more was done with them. The book is more of a 3 1/2 stars, though I'm rounding down in this case.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Speed of Flight is a Third Doctor adventure featuring Jo Grant and Mike Yates, from Virgin Publishing's Doctor Who The Missing Adventures. This novel started really slow, too much time was spent introducing the planet where the TARDIS will first arrive. So much so that I found myself just waiting for the Doctor to arrive.
When we first see Jo Grant, though, she isn't with the Doctor and she isn't in the TARDIS - she's on her way to a blind date - only to discover she's been set up with Mike Yates. The two laugh about their date, only to be called back to UNIT.
There, the Doctor offers Mike a trip in the TARDIS with Jo. He promises the two a wonderful adventure, someplace romantic, but they end up on the planet described in the first few chapters.
Things don't go well on the planet at all - the TARDIS lands on a platform in a tree, and Mike takes a tumble off the edge. Fortunately, the planet has extremely low gravity - however, while the Doctor goes to rescue Mike - Jo, naturally, doesn't obey instructions to "stay in the TARDIS" and before long everyone is separated.
The planet is very strange - and trying to piece together what's going on takes a bit. There are three life-forms, who, at first, seem to be separate races: The Dead, Men, The Naieen, and one introduced at the end. Needless to say what's actually going on is quite complicated.
And, I must say, once things started to be explained - the world and it's people fit together nicely, and it was a pretty unique society.
There is a fair amount of violence in the book as well.
Overall, though I found Speed of Flight incredibly slow going, it was a pretty good Doctor Who story, and fans will enjoy it.

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third Paul Leonard novel I have read, and I can see a pattern emerging. This, like the others, is quite violent. As in the others, Leonard has aliens cocoon or cover one or more of the TARDIS crew in muck that takes over their minds. As in the others, Leonard strives very hard to create an alien culture that is both alien and culture. The idea for this one is interesting, sort of a more complicated and more thought-out version of the idea of a transformative life-cycle on the human scale that was in "Full Circle." In "Speed of Flight," we get a full birth-death-rebirth cycle, organic material constantly recycled. Leonard provides a fairly logical reason for this, and I am not giving away too much to say that it is artificially created, since that seems fairly obvious from early in the novel. The question for all this would be why, and therein lies another interesting idea. So, why can't I give this novel a higher rating? There are a couple of problems with the mechanics of the world he has created. The gravity is supposed to be similar to the Moon's. Leonard seems to remember this only when it is convenient for him to do so; otherwise, our TARDIS crew act as if everything were Earth-normal. The early part of the novel that involves getting Jo and Mike into the TARDIS is rather contrived and clearly designed only for the function just mentioned. The ending is unnecessarily ambiguous about who killed whom and whether certain people really died or not. If they had died and been resurrected, which is strongly hinted at, then that poses a whole new set of problems that the novel just does not deal with. So, I like the concepts that are built into this world, but don't think the plot holds together as well as it should.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2250996.html[return][return]It's fairly obvious by now that I am not a huge Third Doctor fan, and still less a fan of the character Mike Yates. Yet here we have something rather good: just before The Green Death, the Doctor takes Jo on an excursion to a low-gravity planet where several richly realised cultures, which practice bodily resurrection in the most literal of senses, compete for control of their environment. I see that Speed of Flight has not picked up rave reviews in general, but I thought the world-building here was really something a bit special, both physically and anthropologically. It's still a bit odd to plonk the wooden, conventional Yates into an alien environment, but if that's the least impressive part of the book you're doing OK by me.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Leonard's "Doctor Who" novels fall into two categories: (1) exciting, thought-provoking historical adventures, and (2) adventures in extremely alien environments. "Speed of Flight" is definitely in the latter category. While I appreciated the thought-provoking anthropology explored in this novel (almost proto-Avatar, now that I think about it), I can't say I was either taken with the thrust of the plot, nor the bland handling of the 3rd Doctor & his companions. I much prefer Mr. Leonard's take on the 7th and 8th Doctors...and I much prefer his historical adventures. This one took more effort to finish then I hoped it would.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of the better books. Nice characterization of the Tardis crew and some good ideas, but it never really seems to come together.

[Simon Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. A common theme with Third Doctor books until Mark Gatiss came along.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd Doctor, Jo, and Yates land on the most unusual world ever showcased on Doctor Who!