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Past Doctor Adventures #35
Doctor Who: Festival of Death
The Beautiful Death is the ultimate theme-park ride: a sightseeing tour of the afterlife. But something has gone wrong, and when the Fourth Doctor arrives in the aftermath of the disaster, he is congratulated for saving the population from destruction – something he hasn't actually done yet. He has no choice but to travel back in time and discover how he became a hero.
And then he finds out. He did it by sacrificing his life.
An adventure featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker and his companions Romana and K-9.
And then he finds out. He did it by sacrificing his life.
An adventure featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker and his companions Romana and K-9.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 4, 2000
38 people are currently reading
1043 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Morris
215 books70 followersJonathan 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'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
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
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'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
January 6, 2016
Absolutely great!
WHO
The Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companions: Romana II & K-9
WHERE & WHEN
"The Beautiful Death" theme park, outer space, year: 3012
WHAT
The Doctor and companions arrived to a strange theme park made by several space ships stuck in a kinda of "traffic jam" in the middle of hyperspace. The theme park's main attraction is called "The Beautiful Death" where it's offered to "feel" how is like to die.
MY FIRST DOCTOR WHO'S NOVEL
I was eager to read Doctor Who novels forever but until now (back then in 2013) I had the chance.
I have to admit that my knowledge about Doctor Who wasn't as vast (back in 2013, but I have improved a lot about that since then) as many other fans of the series but I have read a lot of info about the series and I was lucky to find good people here on Goodreads who took their time to advice me about which novels to read first.
My first experience with Doctor Who was with the Fourth Doctor that I was lucky to watch some of his episodes when I was a child. And I got hooked with what I watched.
I am not unfamliarized with British Sci-Fi Tv series related with time travel, since I am huge fan of Sapphire and Steel, I watched most of the episodes when I was a kid, they terrified me to the bones and years later, I was lucky to get the whole DVD Box with the entire series.
With Doctor Who I wasn't so lucky, but between the info that I read and my plans to read novels, I am confident to become a fair Doctor Who fan. (Which modesty apart, I think that I can call a "Whovian", of course, I still have to learn a lot more, but I think that I already reached a fair level of knowledge about the franchise)
THAT WONDERFUL HEADACHE CALLED TIME TRAVEL
About this novel, Festival of Death is a great book.
It's with the Fourth Doctor and his companions on this story are of my favorites: Romana II (a Time Lady...how cool is that?!) and the robot dog K-9 (that he can set his nose to stun...priceless!). Definitely they are my favorite combination of Doctor and companions.
They arrived to a strange place made with derelict space ships and now turned to an amusement park with a main attraction known as "The Beautiful Death".
Since the beginning, they notice that they have a huge mystery in their hands.
Now, I don't want to get more into the story since there is real cool twist in this story but the best part is that you'd discover in the same way that I am.
Only I can say that this book is a great option for Doctor Who fans but also to any time travel fan in general.
The story is very self-contained so you don't need to be an expert on Doctor Who to really enjoy the book. So, also it's a wonderful choice to any reader wanting to read something about this Sci-Fi franchise but that they weren't certain to engage into something with already 50 years of existence.
Trust me, if you don't anything about Doctor Who, except the very basics that he is an adventurer alien with a time travel machine in the shape of a 60's British police box, you can read this novel and enjoy it quite a bit.
I loved the book, since I laughed a lot with it! And it a good smart way!
For fans of the works by Douglas Adams and/or John Scalzi, I am certain that you be able to enjoy as much the work of Jonathan Morris in this book.
WHO
The Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companions: Romana II & K-9
WHERE & WHEN
"The Beautiful Death" theme park, outer space, year: 3012
WHAT
The Doctor and companions arrived to a strange theme park made by several space ships stuck in a kinda of "traffic jam" in the middle of hyperspace. The theme park's main attraction is called "The Beautiful Death" where it's offered to "feel" how is like to die.
MY FIRST DOCTOR WHO'S NOVEL
I was eager to read Doctor Who novels forever but until now (back then in 2013) I had the chance.
I have to admit that my knowledge about Doctor Who wasn't as vast (back in 2013, but I have improved a lot about that since then) as many other fans of the series but I have read a lot of info about the series and I was lucky to find good people here on Goodreads who took their time to advice me about which novels to read first.
My first experience with Doctor Who was with the Fourth Doctor that I was lucky to watch some of his episodes when I was a child. And I got hooked with what I watched.
I am not unfamliarized with British Sci-Fi Tv series related with time travel, since I am huge fan of Sapphire and Steel, I watched most of the episodes when I was a kid, they terrified me to the bones and years later, I was lucky to get the whole DVD Box with the entire series.
With Doctor Who I wasn't so lucky, but between the info that I read and my plans to read novels, I am confident to become a fair Doctor Who fan. (Which modesty apart, I think that I can call a "Whovian", of course, I still have to learn a lot more, but I think that I already reached a fair level of knowledge about the franchise)
THAT WONDERFUL HEADACHE CALLED TIME TRAVEL
About this novel, Festival of Death is a great book.
It's with the Fourth Doctor and his companions on this story are of my favorites: Romana II (a Time Lady...how cool is that?!) and the robot dog K-9 (that he can set his nose to stun...priceless!). Definitely they are my favorite combination of Doctor and companions.
They arrived to a strange place made with derelict space ships and now turned to an amusement park with a main attraction known as "The Beautiful Death".
Since the beginning, they notice that they have a huge mystery in their hands.
Now, I don't want to get more into the story since there is real cool twist in this story but the best part is that you'd discover in the same way that I am.
Only I can say that this book is a great option for Doctor Who fans but also to any time travel fan in general.
The story is very self-contained so you don't need to be an expert on Doctor Who to really enjoy the book. So, also it's a wonderful choice to any reader wanting to read something about this Sci-Fi franchise but that they weren't certain to engage into something with already 50 years of existence.
Trust me, if you don't anything about Doctor Who, except the very basics that he is an adventurer alien with a time travel machine in the shape of a 60's British police box, you can read this novel and enjoy it quite a bit.
I loved the book, since I laughed a lot with it! And it a good smart way!
For fans of the works by Douglas Adams and/or John Scalzi, I am certain that you be able to enjoy as much the work of Jonathan Morris in this book.
August 25, 2014
"We all have our regrets, things in our past we wish we could change. But those regrets are part of what makes us who we are. If you could go back and rub things out and start again, life would no longer have any value, no meaning. It is the fact that you only get once chance that makes the small joys of life so precious. Live your life as though it's your last. Because it is. Well, probably."
The Beautiful Death is a theme park ride where you can literally die and explore the afterlife and then 'wake up' safely when it is finished. But something has gone horribly wrong. When the Doctor and his companiaons Romana and K-9 arrive they discover that they have somewhere down the line actually prevented disaster from occurring. But there's just one catch...the Doctor saved everyone by sacrificing himself. Now the Doctor and his friends must transport back to the recent past and discover how this all occurred.
I know so many people who rank the fourth doctor as their favorite doctor and after reading this book it is easy to see why. He is so contradictory; at one moment jovial and teasing and then the next he is moody and secretive. His banter with his companions at times just makes you want to laugh out loud. It's utterly brilliant. But even aside from all that, this is just a very well-written time travel story. It's about choice and consequences. Fate and Destiny. Hope and Despair. If you enjoy Doctor Who, particularly the Fourth Doctor, you will be sure to enjoy this book!
"Well," said Romana, "At some point in our future lives, we return here and get...involved."
The Doctor replied, "As usual."
"Get accused of things we haven't done."
"As usual."
"And then save everyone from certain death."
"As usual."
The Beautiful Death is a theme park ride where you can literally die and explore the afterlife and then 'wake up' safely when it is finished. But something has gone horribly wrong. When the Doctor and his companiaons Romana and K-9 arrive they discover that they have somewhere down the line actually prevented disaster from occurring. But there's just one catch...the Doctor saved everyone by sacrificing himself. Now the Doctor and his friends must transport back to the recent past and discover how this all occurred.
I know so many people who rank the fourth doctor as their favorite doctor and after reading this book it is easy to see why. He is so contradictory; at one moment jovial and teasing and then the next he is moody and secretive. His banter with his companions at times just makes you want to laugh out loud. It's utterly brilliant. But even aside from all that, this is just a very well-written time travel story. It's about choice and consequences. Fate and Destiny. Hope and Despair. If you enjoy Doctor Who, particularly the Fourth Doctor, you will be sure to enjoy this book!
"Well," said Romana, "At some point in our future lives, we return here and get...involved."
The Doctor replied, "As usual."
"Get accused of things we haven't done."
"As usual."
"And then save everyone from certain death."
"As usual."
June 30, 2015
What have we here? The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive at a space station caught in a wormhole. The station is in disarray after a zombie attack which killed most of the passengers; however the survivors recognise our Time Lord travellers and thank them for the pivotal role they played in saving the station and all their lives. Although the station commander seems intent on having them arrested for sabotage. So The Doctor Romana and K9 have no choice but to go back in time to carry out in the past what their future selves have already done, all whilst not breaking the first (or is it the second?) rule of time.
The era of The Fourth Doctor, The Second Romana and K9 is the one most associated with Douglas Adams, the one writer of the classic show whose influence and fame far outstretches it. Jonathan Morris here gets on his knees and genuflects in the direction of Adams, trying to create an episode of the show Adams would not only have been proud of, but which channels Adams through every twist and turn down every corridor that looks just like any other corridor. Sometimes this naked worship tips far into outright homage/ripping off territory; for instance a computer that begins off chirpy in true Sirius Cybernetics Corporation style, before developing over hundreds of years into Marvin The Paranoid Android. Other times though the jokes stand in their own inventiveness, with a clever gag about the effects on the show and an excellent ‘2001’ allusion.
However good a homage it manages to be though, the book always feels like it’s standing on the shoulder of giants, leaning on Adams-isms (but never quite making them as pleasingly and surreally English as Adams himself) to get through its complex time travel plot. The confusion of time travel with layer upon twists and repetitions is of course a clever hook to hang a time travel/’Doctor Who story on, but all the multiple Doctors/Romanas/K9s had worn this reader down a bit by the end. Yes it's smart and yes it's all intricately plotted, but by the fourteenth time something happens again albeit now from a different perspective, it does start to feel stale.
Reading this right about ‘Love and War’ feels like reading the spin-off fiction of a totally different television series, and that variety and diversity is part of what I love about Who. But the ambition of ‘Love & War' does show this tale up for what it is – and really, what it only ever aims to be – an agreeable, incredibly clever romp. It’s incredibly nearly a year since I wrote that last paragraph, and do you know what? It’s been niggling at me ever since. Reading it now it strikes me as me being grumpy and a killjoy. ‘Love and War’ as the latest chapter in an ongoing saga of course has more opportunity to mess around with the status quo and do something new and exciting. ‘Festival of Death’ because it’s fitting in-between earlier chapters of the same saga, doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean one has more intrinsic value than the other, it’s just that they’re playing by different rules. Despite some reservations above, ‘Festival of Death’ is locked in my memory as great fun and I recommend you read it.
I apologise for the cantankerous version of me who existed in the summer of 2014.
The era of The Fourth Doctor, The Second Romana and K9 is the one most associated with Douglas Adams, the one writer of the classic show whose influence and fame far outstretches it. Jonathan Morris here gets on his knees and genuflects in the direction of Adams, trying to create an episode of the show Adams would not only have been proud of, but which channels Adams through every twist and turn down every corridor that looks just like any other corridor. Sometimes this naked worship tips far into outright homage/ripping off territory; for instance a computer that begins off chirpy in true Sirius Cybernetics Corporation style, before developing over hundreds of years into Marvin The Paranoid Android. Other times though the jokes stand in their own inventiveness, with a clever gag about the effects on the show and an excellent ‘2001’ allusion.
However good a homage it manages to be though, the book always feels like it’s standing on the shoulder of giants, leaning on Adams-isms (but never quite making them as pleasingly and surreally English as Adams himself) to get through its complex time travel plot. The confusion of time travel with layer upon twists and repetitions is of course a clever hook to hang a time travel/’Doctor Who story on, but all the multiple Doctors/Romanas/K9s had worn this reader down a bit by the end. Yes it's smart and yes it's all intricately plotted, but by the fourteenth time something happens again albeit now from a different perspective, it does start to feel stale.
I apologise for the cantankerous version of me who existed in the summer of 2014.
October 19, 2013
*Special Content only on my blog, Strange and Random Happenstance during I ♥ ♥ The Doctor (October-December 2013)
The Doctor has arrived at the G-Lock, a space station that is the result of a massive pile up two hundred years ago. The G-Lock has become a place of pilgrimage for those wishing to experience The Beautiful Death. The attraction doesn't just simulate what death and the veil beyond is like, but it quite literally kills you and then a short time later brings you back, that's if you're wanting to come back. Though the most recent death has gone horribly wrong turning almost all 218 participates into zombies controlled by some unknown force.
The Doctor and Romana arrive in the aftermath to find that everyone knows them and are heralding The Doctor as their saviour. Problem is, The Doctor's never been here before. Which means only one answer remains, in his future, the G-Lock's past, he comes here and saves everyone. Romana warns The Doctor that crossing their own time streams is very dangerous and they have to be careful not to change anything. If they are fated to die, well, they must face this fact, they can not mess about with time, something a time lord should know. Yet each journey into their past proves that they are inextricably linked to the G-Lock, and it's more then a little frustrating trying to find a time when they were unknown. If they are careful, then the G-Lock will be saved, but their own fates, well, that's another thing.
I'm sure every one of you has had a book that you just can't be bothered to pick up. You know that you just need to bite the bullet and power through, but somehow, you just can't. The longer you avoid the book, the easier it is to accept that you will never finish it. If you are like me, and reading is an integral part of you life, this one book then throws everything in your life out of whack. My moods and emotions are usually keyed into what I'm reading at the moment, if I like the book, life seems easier, if I don't... well, I'm a bit of a grump. This inability to finish yet unwillingness to pick up anything else is the worst situation a reader can face. It doesn't happen to me often. The worst case I suffered was back in August of 2008, the book was Breaking Dawn. While I'm not going to comment on this book by Stephenie Meyer here, that would require far more time and energy then I'm willing to spend on this book review, I will say that it took me an entire month to get through that book. Think of all the other books I could have been reading? While I never allowed Festival of Death that hold on my time, I will say that I begrudge it everything else I could have been reading and will forever hold it against it. Though, in the final analysis, this was the least of this books sins.
My issues with this book started on page one. I am never one to skip the intro, even if it might contain spoilers. I have attempted in recent years to read the intro after the books conclusion, but, well, the majority of these new Doctor Who intros are, how shall I put it, just reveling in the fact that their book was chosen. The first three books had something to offer, a little bit about their love of The Doctor and in particular, why they loved THIS Doctor... not so with Jonathan Morris. Jonathan Morris's intro seems more along the lines of us mere mortals should be privileged to read this glorious book he has written. While until this book he was a humble Eraser fan running the fan club (seriously, dude you really think this is an accomplishment?) then this glorious piece of writing was birthed by him, and, while he won't take all the credit for bringing the wibbly wobbly timey wimey to the Whoverse... oh, who am I kidding, he will take all the credit. He will view the complex time lines and the ability to loop back on your own life as his own amazing creation, forgetting, oh, almost a centuries worth of work that came before him. That Red Dwarf episode, "Future Echoes," the one from 1988, more then a decade before this book, well, forget that, this book totally didn't just rip it off, because, well, Jonathan Morris CREATED timey wimey! In fact, if we take his introduction to heart, using his own timey wimey, he must have created Doctor Who himself and every other time travelling show, literature, what have you, ever. Quantum Leap, totally his. Gaw, this author is so full of himself.
And here is the real snag in the book. Ego aside, the book is just a pastiche of all these other shows and books, that couldn't possibly be as original as Festival of Death because the author says so. I can't tell if it's his naivete as a new writer, or his immense ego that let's him just rip off other writers without a care in the world. These are not nods, these are blatant rip offs. The "reference" to Douglas Adams, ie, the depressed computer ERIC, well, let's just call him MARVIN and move on. I mean, seriously dude, this isn't cool. If you watch Doctor Who, you've read Adams at some point, and well, readers aren't going to let this slide. Adams was a genius, YOU ARE A HACK. The reason I mentioned Red Dwarf above, well, it's because one scene was almost lifted fully from that previously mentioned episode. A good author is able to incorporate other ideas and references into a solid narrative that is original while yet being referential... Jonathan Morris, the author I shall never read again, doesn't do this. The book isn't a cohesive whole, just a bunch of jokes and scenes lifted from other sources and precariously strung together. Here's all the "references" I was able to ferret out, and I'm sure it's by no means exhaustive: The Shining, Alien, Titanic, Lord of the Rings (in particular Gollum), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and yes, I did check release dates so that I am not wrong), and in the end, Being John Malkovich, in the weirdest "nod" yet. Seriously, couldn't the author try anything original? All he did was point out how bad his book was by "referencing" books/movies/whatever that I enjoyed far far more.
In the few rare instances that he tries to show some originality, it comes across as bad jokes or goes against the cannon of the show. The alien races that he encounters, I'm not talking about those little lizard people who are obviously out of the canon of Adams, but the Arboretans... could you think of a lamer name? I'm sorry, but plant based life that is kind of Fern Gully meets Doctor Who and you named them Arboretans? Do they live in the Arboretum near my house? Could you try to think of a non cringe worthy name? Like you're deja vu jokes that made me groan. Preja vu? The stupid running joke about The Doctor not having passed his test to fly the TARDIS. Or the fact that you actually killed The Doctor for thirty minutes and therefore destroyed some of the cannon, because, if he died, he would have regenerated, and well... HE DIDN'T! That is one of the glaring problems of this book. Because we know The Doctor saves the G-Lock, but in doing so he supposedly dies... well, we know he can't die, neither can Romana, because, well, that's not what happens to them, so there is no peril, no impetus to keep reading because we know what happens. I can say I finished the book, but I will never read this author again, I would rather have my brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped 'round a large gold brick.
The Doctor has arrived at the G-Lock, a space station that is the result of a massive pile up two hundred years ago. The G-Lock has become a place of pilgrimage for those wishing to experience The Beautiful Death. The attraction doesn't just simulate what death and the veil beyond is like, but it quite literally kills you and then a short time later brings you back, that's if you're wanting to come back. Though the most recent death has gone horribly wrong turning almost all 218 participates into zombies controlled by some unknown force.
The Doctor and Romana arrive in the aftermath to find that everyone knows them and are heralding The Doctor as their saviour. Problem is, The Doctor's never been here before. Which means only one answer remains, in his future, the G-Lock's past, he comes here and saves everyone. Romana warns The Doctor that crossing their own time streams is very dangerous and they have to be careful not to change anything. If they are fated to die, well, they must face this fact, they can not mess about with time, something a time lord should know. Yet each journey into their past proves that they are inextricably linked to the G-Lock, and it's more then a little frustrating trying to find a time when they were unknown. If they are careful, then the G-Lock will be saved, but their own fates, well, that's another thing.
I'm sure every one of you has had a book that you just can't be bothered to pick up. You know that you just need to bite the bullet and power through, but somehow, you just can't. The longer you avoid the book, the easier it is to accept that you will never finish it. If you are like me, and reading is an integral part of you life, this one book then throws everything in your life out of whack. My moods and emotions are usually keyed into what I'm reading at the moment, if I like the book, life seems easier, if I don't... well, I'm a bit of a grump. This inability to finish yet unwillingness to pick up anything else is the worst situation a reader can face. It doesn't happen to me often. The worst case I suffered was back in August of 2008, the book was Breaking Dawn. While I'm not going to comment on this book by Stephenie Meyer here, that would require far more time and energy then I'm willing to spend on this book review, I will say that it took me an entire month to get through that book. Think of all the other books I could have been reading? While I never allowed Festival of Death that hold on my time, I will say that I begrudge it everything else I could have been reading and will forever hold it against it. Though, in the final analysis, this was the least of this books sins.
My issues with this book started on page one. I am never one to skip the intro, even if it might contain spoilers. I have attempted in recent years to read the intro after the books conclusion, but, well, the majority of these new Doctor Who intros are, how shall I put it, just reveling in the fact that their book was chosen. The first three books had something to offer, a little bit about their love of The Doctor and in particular, why they loved THIS Doctor... not so with Jonathan Morris. Jonathan Morris's intro seems more along the lines of us mere mortals should be privileged to read this glorious book he has written. While until this book he was a humble Eraser fan running the fan club (seriously, dude you really think this is an accomplishment?) then this glorious piece of writing was birthed by him, and, while he won't take all the credit for bringing the wibbly wobbly timey wimey to the Whoverse... oh, who am I kidding, he will take all the credit. He will view the complex time lines and the ability to loop back on your own life as his own amazing creation, forgetting, oh, almost a centuries worth of work that came before him. That Red Dwarf episode, "Future Echoes," the one from 1988, more then a decade before this book, well, forget that, this book totally didn't just rip it off, because, well, Jonathan Morris CREATED timey wimey! In fact, if we take his introduction to heart, using his own timey wimey, he must have created Doctor Who himself and every other time travelling show, literature, what have you, ever. Quantum Leap, totally his. Gaw, this author is so full of himself.
And here is the real snag in the book. Ego aside, the book is just a pastiche of all these other shows and books, that couldn't possibly be as original as Festival of Death because the author says so. I can't tell if it's his naivete as a new writer, or his immense ego that let's him just rip off other writers without a care in the world. These are not nods, these are blatant rip offs. The "reference" to Douglas Adams, ie, the depressed computer ERIC, well, let's just call him MARVIN and move on. I mean, seriously dude, this isn't cool. If you watch Doctor Who, you've read Adams at some point, and well, readers aren't going to let this slide. Adams was a genius, YOU ARE A HACK. The reason I mentioned Red Dwarf above, well, it's because one scene was almost lifted fully from that previously mentioned episode. A good author is able to incorporate other ideas and references into a solid narrative that is original while yet being referential... Jonathan Morris, the author I shall never read again, doesn't do this. The book isn't a cohesive whole, just a bunch of jokes and scenes lifted from other sources and precariously strung together. Here's all the "references" I was able to ferret out, and I'm sure it's by no means exhaustive: The Shining, Alien, Titanic, Lord of the Rings (in particular Gollum), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and yes, I did check release dates so that I am not wrong), and in the end, Being John Malkovich, in the weirdest "nod" yet. Seriously, couldn't the author try anything original? All he did was point out how bad his book was by "referencing" books/movies/whatever that I enjoyed far far more.
In the few rare instances that he tries to show some originality, it comes across as bad jokes or goes against the cannon of the show. The alien races that he encounters, I'm not talking about those little lizard people who are obviously out of the canon of Adams, but the Arboretans... could you think of a lamer name? I'm sorry, but plant based life that is kind of Fern Gully meets Doctor Who and you named them Arboretans? Do they live in the Arboretum near my house? Could you try to think of a non cringe worthy name? Like you're deja vu jokes that made me groan. Preja vu? The stupid running joke about The Doctor not having passed his test to fly the TARDIS. Or the fact that you actually killed The Doctor for thirty minutes and therefore destroyed some of the cannon, because, if he died, he would have regenerated, and well... HE DIDN'T! That is one of the glaring problems of this book. Because we know The Doctor saves the G-Lock, but in doing so he supposedly dies... well, we know he can't die, neither can Romana, because, well, that's not what happens to them, so there is no peril, no impetus to keep reading because we know what happens. I can say I finished the book, but I will never read this author again, I would rather have my brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped 'round a large gold brick.
May 25, 2013
Originally published at Reading Reality
There are some serious “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” bits in this story. The Doctor, Romana and K-9 cross and recross their own time-streams multiple times on a derelict, or soon-to-be-derelict, or just-in-the-middle-of-becoming-derelict, spaceship cum theme-park where the interface between hyperspace and real-space is becoming unstable.
And Romana is threatening to withdraw the Doctor's TARDIS-driving privileges if he can’t pass his time travel proficiency test.
Care for a jelly baby?
If you never forget your first Doctor, then the Fourth Doctor was my Doctor. All teeth and curls with his incredibly long scarf and floppy hat.
Before the Time War made even the thought of worrying about passing any exams back on Gallifrey completely pointless--because Gallifrey is gone.
I’ve always wondered what happened to Romana.
Festival of Death is very much a Fourth Doctor story. The Doctor is always running into trouble, and expecting that Romana and/or K-9 will get him out of it. He generally thumbed his rather large nose at any authority, but he was usually right about questioning the rules. And he usually did get arrested very quickly upon arrival. If he didn’t deserve it at the time, he generally did later.
In this story, there are a lot of points where the thing he’s being arrested for is something that he hasn’t done yet. At least from his perspective. Back to the timey-wimey stuff.
The story at heart is about the conundrum of “knowing then what you know now” and living life over. One alien race has that ability. One man has been systematically experimenting with those aliens in an attempt to re-live his life, in the hopes of erasing his past mistakes.
The First Law of Time Travel is not that forgiving.
Escape Rating B: Reading Festival of Death made me want to go and watch some of my favorite Fourth Doctor episodes like The Talons of Weng-Chiang or Pyramids of Mars.
I enjoyed the story, but it reminded me of a couple of things; one, that it’s impossible to forget what came after: the Time War and the death of the Time Lords, and two, that books like this are for fans of the series. I can’t imagine coming into this cold.
Also, Romana was not my favorite companion of this Doctor’s, Give me Leela or Sarah Jane any day.
But it was great fun to go back and relive my Doctor’s adventures. I’d forgotten just how much of a treat these books can be!
There are some serious “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” bits in this story. The Doctor, Romana and K-9 cross and recross their own time-streams multiple times on a derelict, or soon-to-be-derelict, or just-in-the-middle-of-becoming-derelict, spaceship cum theme-park where the interface between hyperspace and real-space is becoming unstable.
And Romana is threatening to withdraw the Doctor's TARDIS-driving privileges if he can’t pass his time travel proficiency test.
Care for a jelly baby?
If you never forget your first Doctor, then the Fourth Doctor was my Doctor. All teeth and curls with his incredibly long scarf and floppy hat.
Before the Time War made even the thought of worrying about passing any exams back on Gallifrey completely pointless--because Gallifrey is gone.
I’ve always wondered what happened to Romana.
Festival of Death is very much a Fourth Doctor story. The Doctor is always running into trouble, and expecting that Romana and/or K-9 will get him out of it. He generally thumbed his rather large nose at any authority, but he was usually right about questioning the rules. And he usually did get arrested very quickly upon arrival. If he didn’t deserve it at the time, he generally did later.
In this story, there are a lot of points where the thing he’s being arrested for is something that he hasn’t done yet. At least from his perspective. Back to the timey-wimey stuff.
The story at heart is about the conundrum of “knowing then what you know now” and living life over. One alien race has that ability. One man has been systematically experimenting with those aliens in an attempt to re-live his life, in the hopes of erasing his past mistakes.
The First Law of Time Travel is not that forgiving.
Escape Rating B: Reading Festival of Death made me want to go and watch some of my favorite Fourth Doctor episodes like The Talons of Weng-Chiang or Pyramids of Mars.
I enjoyed the story, but it reminded me of a couple of things; one, that it’s impossible to forget what came after: the Time War and the death of the Time Lords, and two, that books like this are for fans of the series. I can’t imagine coming into this cold.
Also, Romana was not my favorite companion of this Doctor’s, Give me Leela or Sarah Jane any day.
But it was great fun to go back and relive my Doctor’s adventures. I’d forgotten just how much of a treat these books can be!
October 22, 2007
Doctor Who can be a tricky series to write for. The series frequently ignores its own continuity (and some of it changes anyway; such is the nature of time travel), and it has a vast history of characters to choose from.
Jonathan Morris tackles Doctor Who with such amazing ease that this book, Festival of Death, feels like it could have come directly from the TV series. Tom Baker's Doctor is well-represented here, acting and speaking exactly the way we would expect him to, and his companions Romana (Lalla Ward's Romana, specifically) and K9 also perfectly echo their TV incarnations.
The story is, at its core, an examination of an infinite time loop in which something has gone disastrously wrong with a special attraction called "The Beautiful Death", which allows its guests to actually briefly experience what it is like to be dead. When the TARDIS arrives on the ship that hosts the attraction, the Doctor is treated as a hero, only to discover that he died rescuing the ship. In traveling further back, the Doctor means to save the ship again -- and himself.
This is a somewhat dark story, with some unsettling visuals well-described by Morris. It's clear he was paying very close attention to how all of the events happened, as he leaves no holes in the plot or inconsistencies to derail the story. And the puzzle is by no means an easy one for the Doctor to solve, and he evidently spends quite a bit of time inside the loop...
Fortunately, this book is still available. Fans of Doctor Who (especially Tom Baker's Doctor), will find a very enjoyable read here.
Jonathan Morris tackles Doctor Who with such amazing ease that this book, Festival of Death, feels like it could have come directly from the TV series. Tom Baker's Doctor is well-represented here, acting and speaking exactly the way we would expect him to, and his companions Romana (Lalla Ward's Romana, specifically) and K9 also perfectly echo their TV incarnations.
The story is, at its core, an examination of an infinite time loop in which something has gone disastrously wrong with a special attraction called "The Beautiful Death", which allows its guests to actually briefly experience what it is like to be dead. When the TARDIS arrives on the ship that hosts the attraction, the Doctor is treated as a hero, only to discover that he died rescuing the ship. In traveling further back, the Doctor means to save the ship again -- and himself.
This is a somewhat dark story, with some unsettling visuals well-described by Morris. It's clear he was paying very close attention to how all of the events happened, as he leaves no holes in the plot or inconsistencies to derail the story. And the puzzle is by no means an easy one for the Doctor to solve, and he evidently spends quite a bit of time inside the loop...
Fortunately, this book is still available. Fans of Doctor Who (especially Tom Baker's Doctor), will find a very enjoyable read here.
May 26, 2013
Oh, thank goodness that's over. There's a lot to like about this book, but it feels like it goes on forever. Republished to represent the fourth Doctor in the anniversary year of the show, it presents the man of teeth and curls with his companion the Time Lady Romana, and both are on great form (with Romana being particularly well portrayed as an equal to the title character). The writing is strong, and although it's occasionally self-conscious in how much it wants to be like Douglas Adams that's no great sin, and the results are fun. The plot is inventive too. The current show has made stories that play with the order of time - events happening out of sequence - a regular feature, but it's something that's surprisingly recent given this is a premise all about time travel.
When Morris wrote Festival of Death, it was still something that had yet to be done much. That's the book's biggest problem. The plot is clever, with the Doctor turning up at the end of an adventure he's yet to have and discovering that he averted death and disaster only by sacrificing himself, then travelling further and further back into the story to do the things he's already learned that he's going to do. What makes the story drag in the second half is that it's all over-explained. We end up seeing the same events several times, from the viewpoints of several characters, often in detail, because the story isn't entirely confident that you're following along. By the end, the repetition is insanely tedious, which lets down a very promising first half.
When Morris wrote Festival of Death, it was still something that had yet to be done much. That's the book's biggest problem. The plot is clever, with the Doctor turning up at the end of an adventure he's yet to have and discovering that he averted death and disaster only by sacrificing himself, then travelling further and further back into the story to do the things he's already learned that he's going to do. What makes the story drag in the second half is that it's all over-explained. We end up seeing the same events several times, from the viewpoints of several characters, often in detail, because the story isn't entirely confident that you're following along. By the end, the repetition is insanely tedious, which lets down a very promising first half.
August 30, 2015
Time travel breaks my brain. Imagine multiple doctors. At one time. Never meeting (by design, of course)
This book features the fourth Doctor (my first Doctor), Romana, and everyone's favorite companion, K9. Coming upon a space port in distress (because the TARDIS has a mind of its own), the Doctor and companions try to figure out what happened, why, and how to stop it. Look, they have to go back in time!
Seriously, time travel in a narrow period of time (or at all) is difficult to handle well. The author succeeds admirably. In the preface/introduction, the author talks about how hard he worked and probably over-wrote the story. I say he filled it and gave us an extremely good story. Thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, and true to the characters. I could see the story taking place in my brain screening room, and if possible, I would love to see it dramatized.
Five stars outright, no rounding.
This book features the fourth Doctor (my first Doctor), Romana, and everyone's favorite companion, K9. Coming upon a space port in distress (because the TARDIS has a mind of its own), the Doctor and companions try to figure out what happened, why, and how to stop it. Look, they have to go back in time!
Seriously, time travel in a narrow period of time (or at all) is difficult to handle well. The author succeeds admirably. In the preface/introduction, the author talks about how hard he worked and probably over-wrote the story. I say he filled it and gave us an extremely good story. Thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, and true to the characters. I could see the story taking place in my brain screening room, and if possible, I would love to see it dramatized.
Five stars outright, no rounding.
April 29, 2014
Why do I always give Doctor Who books such high ratings? I promise I am not biased. This was genuinely a really good story. As the author states in his introduction, this Doctor Who tie-in has enough ideas for two books. He's wrong. This book has enough original ideas and such an interesting story to warrant an independent series. Yeah it was that good.
December 20, 2025
One of the challenges for any writer of a Doctor Who novel is capturing the tone of the show within the pages of their book. This is all the more difficult when the shifts are taken into consideration, as over the years the tone of the series has ranged from classic science fiction adventure to historical adventure, comedy, and even horror, each of which was done with their writers’ distinctive “voice” often present. And perhaps the most distinctive of all of them was Douglas Adams, who as script editor for the show’s seventeenth season infused its episodes with his unique wit and style.
For most authors, capturing the tone of that era would be a daunting challenge. Yet not only does Jonathan Morris do so successfully, he accomplishes it while delivering a complex plot in which the Doctor, Romana, and K9 are practically tripping over their past and future selves. Materializing in hyperspace aboard a derelict interstellar cruise ship that has been turned into a tourist destination, he is lauded as a hero by the survivors of a disaster that has befallen the station. They are soon given another chance to demonstrate their heroism, as they discover that the tunnel is about to collapse and destroy all the ships inside of it. And this proves to be just the first of the challenges they face, as they not only have to work out what went wrong, but who is behind their problems and how they solved them.
This is the premise for what Morris clearly intends as an homage to Adams’s work. Some of the story elements – such as the thuggish space cops and the morose ship’s computer – are obvious references to characters and plot elements from his famous The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, while others – such as that of a starliner trapped in hyperspace – echo story ideas from Adams’s time on the show. What might be an unwieldy pastiche in the hands of some authors Morris works into elements of the mystery surrounding the “Beautiful Death.” What is advertised as a temporary and safe visit to the afterlife proves to be anything but, as hundreds of participants return as goo-spewing zombies. It’s an enjoyable adventure that is easily imaginable as a serial from the period, and one that fans of the era will undoubtedly enjoy.
For most authors, capturing the tone of that era would be a daunting challenge. Yet not only does Jonathan Morris do so successfully, he accomplishes it while delivering a complex plot in which the Doctor, Romana, and K9 are practically tripping over their past and future selves. Materializing in hyperspace aboard a derelict interstellar cruise ship that has been turned into a tourist destination, he is lauded as a hero by the survivors of a disaster that has befallen the station. They are soon given another chance to demonstrate their heroism, as they discover that the tunnel is about to collapse and destroy all the ships inside of it. And this proves to be just the first of the challenges they face, as they not only have to work out what went wrong, but who is behind their problems and how they solved them.
This is the premise for what Morris clearly intends as an homage to Adams’s work. Some of the story elements – such as the thuggish space cops and the morose ship’s computer – are obvious references to characters and plot elements from his famous The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, while others – such as that of a starliner trapped in hyperspace – echo story ideas from Adams’s time on the show. What might be an unwieldy pastiche in the hands of some authors Morris works into elements of the mystery surrounding the “Beautiful Death.” What is advertised as a temporary and safe visit to the afterlife proves to be anything but, as hundreds of participants return as goo-spewing zombies. It’s an enjoyable adventure that is easily imaginable as a serial from the period, and one that fans of the era will undoubtedly enjoy.
September 4, 2019
I read Festival of Death as a part of purchasing the Doctor Who 50th anniversary collection. I didn’t know what to expect from this book, but I rather enjoyed the Fourth Doctor’s episodes, so I figured I would like this book.
The plot takes us to G-Lock, where visitors are participating in a local amusement, called the Beautiful Death. G-Lock is about to blow up, and somehow all the people the Doctor and Romana meet already know who they are. How do these people already know the Doctor, and why are they hailing him as a hero? And why are they all saying the Doctor sacrificed himself to save them all?
If you’re a fan of the Fourth Doctor’s episodes, particularly the ones with Romana II and K-9, you will absolutely love Festival of Death. It’s a twisty plot where the end appears to being told before the story really begins. The story is a perfect telling of a story that I wish could have been made for television with the Fourth Doctor. I highly recommend this book!
The plot takes us to G-Lock, where visitors are participating in a local amusement, called the Beautiful Death. G-Lock is about to blow up, and somehow all the people the Doctor and Romana meet already know who they are. How do these people already know the Doctor, and why are they hailing him as a hero? And why are they all saying the Doctor sacrificed himself to save them all?
If you’re a fan of the Fourth Doctor’s episodes, particularly the ones with Romana II and K-9, you will absolutely love Festival of Death. It’s a twisty plot where the end appears to being told before the story really begins. The story is a perfect telling of a story that I wish could have been made for television with the Fourth Doctor. I highly recommend this book!
November 28, 2025
3.5
This is a rare-ish example of a Doctor Who story that makes time travel the focus, with the Fourth Doctor and Romana chasing their tails trying to stop a zombie catastrophe where they’ve already taken part in their own future.
It’s less confusing than it sounds, and Jonathan Morris ensures that the focus is really on the comedic beats. The two leads feel as lost as we are, so following along becomes a fun challenge in itself.
There’s a certain thriftiness to things like character development and even the plot, once you get past the hard work required to keep it all running, but you’ll forgive a lot for how well Morris plays his game.
This is a rare-ish example of a Doctor Who story that makes time travel the focus, with the Fourth Doctor and Romana chasing their tails trying to stop a zombie catastrophe where they’ve already taken part in their own future.
It’s less confusing than it sounds, and Jonathan Morris ensures that the focus is really on the comedic beats. The two leads feel as lost as we are, so following along becomes a fun challenge in itself.
There’s a certain thriftiness to things like character development and even the plot, once you get past the hard work required to keep it all running, but you’ll forgive a lot for how well Morris plays his game.
September 26, 2021
Season 17 of Doctor Who on television was one of those eras which was plagued by production problems, eventually leading to the big finale being cancelled due to industrial action at the BBC. The shame being, it was a season with script editing duties tasked to the late great Douglas Adams, but that has made way from the Expanded Universe of Doctor Who to really explore a lot of Adams’s themes and style. This was most prominently in Gareth Roberts’ excellent trilogy of Virgin Missing Adventures (The Romance of Crime, The English Way of Death, and The Well-Mannered War) which were released to universal praise. So much so that when BBC Books took back the Doctor Who license they would stay away from this particular era of the show, with only one exception. Festival of Death is the first Doctor Who work of one Jonathan Morris, who would later contribute numerous audio dramas, but this book is him shooting his shot. This was his Doctor Who story to tell, and he was going all out because there was no guarantee of being commissioned again (though this would come to pass with Anachrophobia and The Tomorrow Windows). As such this is almost a prelude to everything that Morris would be known for, being a blend of Season 17, Douglas Adams-esque comedy, the gothic horror of the Philip Hinchcliffe era, and what would become a staple of the revived series, time travel shenanigans.
Morris opens the book with a prologue of a family leaving old lives behind but the poor son, Koel, is left behind while the transport is destroyed. This is a horrific scene to open a Doctor Who novel to and it eventually becomes a bookend where Morris makes the situation all the more depressing. This is a book where every page ends up tying itself together right by the end as Morris has crafted an incredibly clever narrative around a simple story told almost entirely out of order. The story begins and ends with the inciting incident and the resolution happens less than a third through the novel meaning for a very different reading experience. Before this book really only Steven Moffat had done a story even kind of similar to this with “Continuity Errors” in Decalog 3: Consequences, but Morris essentially perfects the formula.
The Doctor, Romana, and K9 arrive at the Festival of Death in the year 3012 where a man called Paddox has set up the Beautiful Death, a tourist attraction that kills, before bringing you back. The idea attracts thrill seekers from across the galaxy, including a group of hippy reptiles who provide some comic relief for the proceedings. The visitors to the Beautiful Death have been steadily increasing under Paddox’s orders until one fateful day when 218 people enter the Beautiful Death and don’t come back, at least not fully. There is also a time corridor sending people back and forth between 3012 and 2815 while Paddox’s megalomania is slowly revealed, going against Metcalf, in charge of security of the station, and determined to still get more people in the Beautiful Death, even if they become zombies. The attraction has been sabotaged by a galactic terrorist known as the Doctor who is determined to see it shut down, except when the Doctor arrives he hasn’t done it yet.
The Doctor, Romana, and K9 are characters Morris understands perfectly, filling each of their dialogue with witty one-liners ranging from pithy to incredibly serious, like the quip that the reason the Doctor leaves K9 in the TARDIS is so he can rescue him and Romana. This leads to a comedy of errors when K9 leaves the TARDIS with the Doctor and Romana and they must rely on their future selves setting up an escape simply because K9 is with them. Yet, when the primary motivation arises and it is revealed that the Doctor is already dead (okay it’s the future Doctor, but still) there is that level of severity from the Doctor that underpins a lot of the humor. That darkness was something that was missing from the weaker stories of Season 17, Destiny of the Daleks and The Horns of Nimon especially, and Morris implements it here perfectly. He also gives Romana an initially exasperated persona, but it is quite clear just how much she cares for the Doctor and she’s the one most affected by the news of his future death. There isn’t an attempt from Romana to change history, she is far too intelligent, but she is determined to ensure history is maintained while still getting the Doctor out alive, though this is never outright stated. K9 is perhaps the one with the least development here, though that is fine as he is more a supporting character, with the aforementioned gag being a perfect example of the sarcasm of the character.
Overall, Festival of Death is perhaps the closest thing we have to a perfect debut for a Doctor Who novel. Jonathan Morris’ novel is full of thrills and chills with a beautiful supporting cast (I didn’t even get into the hippy lizards or the eco activist/terrorist Evadne or the depressed/comedically suicidal computer ERIC). It’s a novel that paints a rich picture of the era, exploring the absolute best elements and really what makes it work. It’s truly the successor to the Gareth Roberts trilogy and among the absolute best of Doctor Who novels. 10/10.
Morris opens the book with a prologue of a family leaving old lives behind but the poor son, Koel, is left behind while the transport is destroyed. This is a horrific scene to open a Doctor Who novel to and it eventually becomes a bookend where Morris makes the situation all the more depressing. This is a book where every page ends up tying itself together right by the end as Morris has crafted an incredibly clever narrative around a simple story told almost entirely out of order. The story begins and ends with the inciting incident and the resolution happens less than a third through the novel meaning for a very different reading experience. Before this book really only Steven Moffat had done a story even kind of similar to this with “Continuity Errors” in Decalog 3: Consequences, but Morris essentially perfects the formula.
The Doctor, Romana, and K9 arrive at the Festival of Death in the year 3012 where a man called Paddox has set up the Beautiful Death, a tourist attraction that kills, before bringing you back. The idea attracts thrill seekers from across the galaxy, including a group of hippy reptiles who provide some comic relief for the proceedings. The visitors to the Beautiful Death have been steadily increasing under Paddox’s orders until one fateful day when 218 people enter the Beautiful Death and don’t come back, at least not fully. There is also a time corridor sending people back and forth between 3012 and 2815 while Paddox’s megalomania is slowly revealed, going against Metcalf, in charge of security of the station, and determined to still get more people in the Beautiful Death, even if they become zombies. The attraction has been sabotaged by a galactic terrorist known as the Doctor who is determined to see it shut down, except when the Doctor arrives he hasn’t done it yet.
The Doctor, Romana, and K9 are characters Morris understands perfectly, filling each of their dialogue with witty one-liners ranging from pithy to incredibly serious, like the quip that the reason the Doctor leaves K9 in the TARDIS is so he can rescue him and Romana. This leads to a comedy of errors when K9 leaves the TARDIS with the Doctor and Romana and they must rely on their future selves setting up an escape simply because K9 is with them. Yet, when the primary motivation arises and it is revealed that the Doctor is already dead (okay it’s the future Doctor, but still) there is that level of severity from the Doctor that underpins a lot of the humor. That darkness was something that was missing from the weaker stories of Season 17, Destiny of the Daleks and The Horns of Nimon especially, and Morris implements it here perfectly. He also gives Romana an initially exasperated persona, but it is quite clear just how much she cares for the Doctor and she’s the one most affected by the news of his future death. There isn’t an attempt from Romana to change history, she is far too intelligent, but she is determined to ensure history is maintained while still getting the Doctor out alive, though this is never outright stated. K9 is perhaps the one with the least development here, though that is fine as he is more a supporting character, with the aforementioned gag being a perfect example of the sarcasm of the character.
Overall, Festival of Death is perhaps the closest thing we have to a perfect debut for a Doctor Who novel. Jonathan Morris’ novel is full of thrills and chills with a beautiful supporting cast (I didn’t even get into the hippy lizards or the eco activist/terrorist Evadne or the depressed/comedically suicidal computer ERIC). It’s a novel that paints a rich picture of the era, exploring the absolute best elements and really what makes it work. It’s truly the successor to the Gareth Roberts trilogy and among the absolute best of Doctor Who novels. 10/10.
July 14, 2024
This was a clever one. A book written like this needs to be carefully plotted, and the advance work was clearly done. It’s great one if you like stories where time travel plays an integral role in the plot.
September 20, 2017
"Festival of Death" could have been one of the best Doctor Who novels. However, Morris trips himself up by introducing some unnecessary components that are obviously unnecessary. First, the good. This is another "time turning round itself" story from the author of the CD audio drama "Flip Flop," which is equally convoluted in regard to characters running past each other at different points in their personal histories but at the same point in general history. For the first half of the book, the story is an example of the science-fiction "problem" story. This is the kind of story in which a disaster caused by a technical problem requires fixing in a desperate hurry. In this case, the problem involves two components. One is the demolition of several space ships, the result of a sudden collapse of a hyperspace tunnel. About 200 years in the future, the second problem emerges. The ships have now become a tourist attraction and the main feature of this is a new entertainment called The Beautiful Death, in which participants actually get to experience death for a brief, controlled period of time. Something has gone wrong, however, and in the latest and biggest of these events the dead tourists return as killer zombies. What is the connection between these two events separated by two centuries? It is an intriguing problem. Morris introduces the reader to it by having The Doctor, Romana, and K9 arrive after they have already solved this problem. So, they have to work out how they did it, and then go back in time to do it and thus prevent a catastrophic time quake. It's a clever set of problems. Morris handles it extremely well, so that all the various plot points past and present work out and everything falls into place. Some other good elements are the way that Morris handles The Doctor-Romana relationship, keeping it in line with 1979 and deepening just a little in the ways that a novel allows. Morris does not overdo Doctor 4's quirkiness, the great pitfall of most writers who try to write for him. There is still a joke bit (typical of 1979) in which The Doctor is apparently completely unaware of how the TARDIS works and is studying for a time travel exam with Romana as his tutor. It does not work for me, because The Doctor is obviously capable of controlling the TARDIS when he wants, and so the whole thing seems a throw-away bit of humor (also typical of 1979). Still, it does fit with the era Morris emulates.
Things go wrong, though, with the entry of two unnecessary baddies. One is the Arachnopods, robotic spider warriors who want only "eats." They seem to be there mainly as a plot complication to keep the story moving along. They are easily dealt with, and both their presence and their demise contribute nothing of note to the plot as a whole. They could be easily removed and the story would not suffer in the slightest. Another is The Repulsion. We know we are in for a needless and boring baddie when we get a powerful being from another dimension with an abstract name that has "The" in front of it. These are almost universally dull as villains go. The Repulsion has no personality as such, just a desire to enter our universe and destroy all life. Why? Revenge of a sort? It is never quite clear what motivates The Repulsion. All it is amounts to clichés - I am evil, I will take over your mind, the universe is mine, and all that sort of thing. The story could proceed much better without it. We already have badguy enough in Paddox, the scientist who created The Beautiful Death. He is far more interesting, having a clear and rational motivation, even if it is wholly unethical.
So, count "Festival of Death" as a flawed gem. Had it been left with the fundamental problems, it probably would be a 9 or even a 10 out of 10 in my estimation. The addition of too many badguys drags it down.
Things go wrong, though, with the entry of two unnecessary baddies. One is the Arachnopods, robotic spider warriors who want only "eats." They seem to be there mainly as a plot complication to keep the story moving along. They are easily dealt with, and both their presence and their demise contribute nothing of note to the plot as a whole. They could be easily removed and the story would not suffer in the slightest. Another is The Repulsion. We know we are in for a needless and boring baddie when we get a powerful being from another dimension with an abstract name that has "The" in front of it. These are almost universally dull as villains go. The Repulsion has no personality as such, just a desire to enter our universe and destroy all life. Why? Revenge of a sort? It is never quite clear what motivates The Repulsion. All it is amounts to clichés - I am evil, I will take over your mind, the universe is mine, and all that sort of thing. The story could proceed much better without it. We already have badguy enough in Paddox, the scientist who created The Beautiful Death. He is far more interesting, having a clear and rational motivation, even if it is wholly unethical.
So, count "Festival of Death" as a flawed gem. Had it been left with the fundamental problems, it probably would be a 9 or even a 10 out of 10 in my estimation. The addition of too many badguys drags it down.
December 21, 2017
This book was my second Doctor Who Book, and the Fourth Doctor was easily the easiest Doctor to start with.
I love this book because of several reasons.
First, the writing. Jonathan Morris writes well, and pens down the Fourth Doctor just as Tom Baker plays him. Teeth, smiles, uppercuts, scarf, everything. The story flows consistently, and in some places its slightly over explained, but sometimes that isn't a bad thing.
Second, the science fiction. All the events of temporal physics described in this book except one are accurate and do not defy any known laws of physics as we understand them. I'm not sure if that appeals to many people, but in the words of Dan Brown(yes I apologise for quoting him) "Good science fiction has it's roots in good science."
I love it when a story holds up to extended and bitter scrutiny, and I grew up in a house of two physicists and few hundred physics students, and this book still survived the onslaught.
Third, the humor. Tom Baker always imbues the Doctor with a sense of wit and good spirit, and this book captures that perfectly.
Finally, the fact that you can give this book to ANY reader, even one who has no idea who the Doctor is, and expect them to love it.
The Doctor, Romana and K-9, fighting a battle they know is already lost. Doctor Who at its best.
I love this book because of several reasons.
First, the writing. Jonathan Morris writes well, and pens down the Fourth Doctor just as Tom Baker plays him. Teeth, smiles, uppercuts, scarf, everything. The story flows consistently, and in some places its slightly over explained, but sometimes that isn't a bad thing.
Second, the science fiction. All the events of temporal physics described in this book except one are accurate and do not defy any known laws of physics as we understand them. I'm not sure if that appeals to many people, but in the words of Dan Brown(yes I apologise for quoting him) "Good science fiction has it's roots in good science."
I love it when a story holds up to extended and bitter scrutiny, and I grew up in a house of two physicists and few hundred physics students, and this book still survived the onslaught.
Third, the humor. Tom Baker always imbues the Doctor with a sense of wit and good spirit, and this book captures that perfectly.
Finally, the fact that you can give this book to ANY reader, even one who has no idea who the Doctor is, and expect them to love it.
The Doctor, Romana and K-9, fighting a battle they know is already lost. Doctor Who at its best.
February 19, 2024
In the 2013 reprint of Festival of Death, the author warns you in his introduction that he was 'trying too hard' when he wrote this, his debut novel. And he wasn't wrong. There is a lot to like here - a complex plot that focuses on time, a genocidal maniac who's plan and motivation are only slowly revealed, a plethora of Tom Bakerisms - but there is too just much: too many plot details, too many characters, too many words. It (almost) starts to become a slog, and by the time you reach the conclusion, the twist at the end is too distant from that one scene at the beginning it refers back to. It lacks the lightness of touch to feel like a Douglas Adams penned Doctor Who, which was what the author was clearly aiming for; as others have noted, it feels more like an appropriation of Adams' work than a homage to him. And it also feels less 'Doctor Who' than, for example, the previous book in this 50th anniversary series (Mark Gatiss, 'Last of the Gadarene'), despite the attempt to recreate a mid-1970s low-budget TV imaging of the future with the printed word.
September 12, 2016
It was a little hard to get thru and stay with the constant time jumping. I think we could have got the entertainment of multiple time hoping Doctors with one or two less iterations than this book provides. It was clever, but it was too much for me. Otherwise a pretty good story, I enjoyed the idea of the Beautiful Death and the necroport.
November 1, 2016
An excellent example of how a time travel story SHOULD be! Great story, Mr. Morris!
February 17, 2024
Beginning Note: The Fourth Doctor is by far my favorite of all the various versions throughout the long series, which is why I’m always very apprehensive about reading a new adventure featuring this Doctor, because there are two schools of thought in my mind: those being the story will add to the collection of classic tales of my Doctor or not.
Jonathan Morris’ The Festival of Death is a great exercise in thought; however, it’s a classic example of poor execution. It’s Eighteen Chapters of watching paint dry in the mind, because it starts out and quickly becomes a bear to read as the novel progresses.
During the novel, we find our main characters arrive at the end of an adventure by being celebrated for the conclusion of another harrowing adventure; however, the Doctor dies during the conclusion, and each time the Doctor goes back a little bit in time no one believes the Doctor and company that they are meeting the characters out of order.
As the novel progresses, we find that the Doctor and companions have to go further and further back in time to discover how the missing pieces of the story comes slowly together, until the Doctor discovers he has to go further back. This happens over and over again: a Wash, Rinse and Repeat cycle and by the second or third time this occurs, when the novel begins to become really boring, because neither the Doctor or Mr. Morris has come to the conclusion of finding the starting point of the story and begin from that point.
While this concept has become an interesting twist, I’m specifically referring the River Song timeline; however, in contrast, Song’s timeline was interesting, because they were a separate selection of stories, that continued to develop the character of River Song, by not giving the entire backstory away from the first.
This is something that The Festival of Death falls to do, and take advantage of from the beginning, because if this was a small collection of stories, which brought about a conclusion, then I would have been more inclined to be interested on any of the secondary characters, but I just can’t find a suicidal computer, a narcissistic manager or whatever happened during The Festival of Death ride very interesting. The novel just rambles on and on to where I just want to go to sleep, and wake up with hearing the words The End.
I can’t really say the characterizations of the main characters is truly convincing (and by chapter five I no longer cared), because at times they seem to be vague, and the author feels the need to remind us every so often which Doctor is the main character, by describing his multi-colored long scarf, grey coat and brown curly hair.
So, if you find yourself stranded on an island alone or don’t have anything else to do during the course of several days, then by all means please read this book, but if you have to eat or live a life then avoid this long drawn out journey by all costs.
Jonathan Morris’ The Festival of Death is a great exercise in thought; however, it’s a classic example of poor execution. It’s Eighteen Chapters of watching paint dry in the mind, because it starts out and quickly becomes a bear to read as the novel progresses.
During the novel, we find our main characters arrive at the end of an adventure by being celebrated for the conclusion of another harrowing adventure; however, the Doctor dies during the conclusion, and each time the Doctor goes back a little bit in time no one believes the Doctor and company that they are meeting the characters out of order.
As the novel progresses, we find that the Doctor and companions have to go further and further back in time to discover how the missing pieces of the story comes slowly together, until the Doctor discovers he has to go further back. This happens over and over again: a Wash, Rinse and Repeat cycle and by the second or third time this occurs, when the novel begins to become really boring, because neither the Doctor or Mr. Morris has come to the conclusion of finding the starting point of the story and begin from that point.
While this concept has become an interesting twist, I’m specifically referring the River Song timeline; however, in contrast, Song’s timeline was interesting, because they were a separate selection of stories, that continued to develop the character of River Song, by not giving the entire backstory away from the first.
This is something that The Festival of Death falls to do, and take advantage of from the beginning, because if this was a small collection of stories, which brought about a conclusion, then I would have been more inclined to be interested on any of the secondary characters, but I just can’t find a suicidal computer, a narcissistic manager or whatever happened during The Festival of Death ride very interesting. The novel just rambles on and on to where I just want to go to sleep, and wake up with hearing the words The End.
I can’t really say the characterizations of the main characters is truly convincing (and by chapter five I no longer cared), because at times they seem to be vague, and the author feels the need to remind us every so often which Doctor is the main character, by describing his multi-colored long scarf, grey coat and brown curly hair.
So, if you find yourself stranded on an island alone or don’t have anything else to do during the course of several days, then by all means please read this book, but if you have to eat or live a life then avoid this long drawn out journey by all costs.
February 4, 2021
Part of the series of books specially selected in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, eleven books, one for each doctor (up to the anniversary). This one was originally written in 2000 and featured the Fourth Doctor and no, not Sara Jane, but the time lord Romana. Plus his robot dog K-9.
Tom Baker (#4) was “my doctor” meaning the actor playing the role when I first discovered the show. I particularly enjoyed that he was both goofy and eternally optimistic but at the same time strangely alien. In other words, the perfect doctor. My next favorite doctor (David Tennent #10) I think channeled Baker more than anyone else.
The anniversary version of this book contains an intro by the author, and in it he admits the first five chapters took a while for him to get his footing in writing a compelling story. It was cracking too many jokes too quickly, relying on cliches and heavily on a reptilian alien acting as if it were a hippie from the 1960s for no discernible reason. Plus some cut scenes to some alien being born in some peaceful setting that was completely disjointed from the rest of the story.
Needless to say I was disappointed. Then the story finally slams into gear and we get one of the earliest Doctor Who stories where the Doctor and company are interacting within their own timeline in order to solve the problem they find themselves in - the Festival of Death. Tourists pay to genuinely die for approximately thirty minutes and then are revived with the memories of their experience. Only something has gone horribly wrong - or later/earlier on - will go horribly wrong depending on how you look at it. The Doctor must be careful not to break the second/first rule of time travel (changing your own past) but also reconcile one major problem... it appears he is going to sacrifice his life in order to save hundreds of people at this festival.
The author does a great job putting all the pieces together, making a compelling antagonist, and not leaving you the reader as if he cheated in order to get to a satisfying conclusion. Plus you can’t help but love K-9.
Well done. Three stars because of the missteps in the beginning otherwise would be four.
Tom Baker (#4) was “my doctor” meaning the actor playing the role when I first discovered the show. I particularly enjoyed that he was both goofy and eternally optimistic but at the same time strangely alien. In other words, the perfect doctor. My next favorite doctor (David Tennent #10) I think channeled Baker more than anyone else.
The anniversary version of this book contains an intro by the author, and in it he admits the first five chapters took a while for him to get his footing in writing a compelling story. It was cracking too many jokes too quickly, relying on cliches and heavily on a reptilian alien acting as if it were a hippie from the 1960s for no discernible reason. Plus some cut scenes to some alien being born in some peaceful setting that was completely disjointed from the rest of the story.
Needless to say I was disappointed. Then the story finally slams into gear and we get one of the earliest Doctor Who stories where the Doctor and company are interacting within their own timeline in order to solve the problem they find themselves in - the Festival of Death. Tourists pay to genuinely die for approximately thirty minutes and then are revived with the memories of their experience. Only something has gone horribly wrong - or later/earlier on - will go horribly wrong depending on how you look at it. The Doctor must be careful not to break the second/first rule of time travel (changing your own past) but also reconcile one major problem... it appears he is going to sacrifice his life in order to save hundreds of people at this festival.
The author does a great job putting all the pieces together, making a compelling antagonist, and not leaving you the reader as if he cheated in order to get to a satisfying conclusion. Plus you can’t help but love K-9.
Well done. Three stars because of the missteps in the beginning otherwise would be four.
February 3, 2019
Following along reading the Doctor Who books I own in chronological order to the Doctor's time line, comes Festival of Death. This is the last BBC Past Doctor Adventure story, and it ends with something that I'm surprised has not been done yet.
The 4th Doctor and Romana arrive on G-Lock something has occurred that would have been much worst, if the Doctor and Romana had not stepped in. The catch is to the Doctor and Romana, they have not saved people yet, it happens in their future. This is a first in the Doctor stories of this happening.
Jonathan Morris does a great job of helping us follow the Doctor and Romana as they have to figure out what happened and how their actions lead to thing we see. With his writing, we figure out how the timeline goes as we read it. At the same time I did not catch any continuity errors. Very creative story and well written.
The only objection I have to his writing is two minor issues. The first since this takes place after The Well Mannered Ward in the order of book writing, no mention to the resolution of the cliff hanger from that book. Even a one/two sentence line would have been nice. The other part, which is bigger, but still does not detract, is his writing of the 4th Doctor.
He does a good job of capturing the essence of the Doctor, but he has the Doctor saying all these quotes from stories, people, and other things. Even though some are funny, it does take me out of the moment. However, it is not bad enough to impact the enjoyment of this book.
In the end, here is another well done Doctor Who story that can be enjoyed by fans, or anyone else interested in Science Fiction.
The 4th Doctor and Romana arrive on G-Lock something has occurred that would have been much worst, if the Doctor and Romana had not stepped in. The catch is to the Doctor and Romana, they have not saved people yet, it happens in their future. This is a first in the Doctor stories of this happening.
Jonathan Morris does a great job of helping us follow the Doctor and Romana as they have to figure out what happened and how their actions lead to thing we see. With his writing, we figure out how the timeline goes as we read it. At the same time I did not catch any continuity errors. Very creative story and well written.
The only objection I have to his writing is two minor issues. The first since this takes place after The Well Mannered Ward in the order of book writing, no mention to the resolution of the cliff hanger from that book. Even a one/two sentence line would have been nice. The other part, which is bigger, but still does not detract, is his writing of the 4th Doctor.
He does a good job of capturing the essence of the Doctor, but he has the Doctor saying all these quotes from stories, people, and other things. Even though some are funny, it does take me out of the moment. However, it is not bad enough to impact the enjoyment of this book.
In the end, here is another well done Doctor Who story that can be enjoyed by fans, or anyone else interested in Science Fiction.
May 22, 2025
I've always loved Jonathan Morris' Big Finish work, so it was a dream to find this book on the shelves of Oxfam and go back to his beginnings as a DW writer.
First and foremost, he captures the spirit of Four and Romana so well. Several authors have struggled to capture their dynamic and those of other TARDIS teams as well, but here, Morris understands these characters perfectly. I had no trouble envisioning them in this story, and the same goes for the distinct supporting characters too; my favourite being ERIC, the chronically depressed supercomputer.
This book is basically told in reverse chronological order, with the Doctor and Romana travelling backwards through their own history to figure out how they saved the day. The premise is fantastic and, at the time, it was something new. This was long before the revived series came along, so if you can cast Series 5 out of your mind, you'll have a great time experiencing a then-original and wonderful concept here. It's not even too confusing to follow either. Morris did a fantastic job of making sure readers could keep up with Four and Romana's course and how it all overlaps; in the introduction of the reprinted edition, he even says that he plotted events out with a flowchart, and this planning is clearly evident in the text.
I also love Morris' depiction of the Arachnopods. Disgusting giant spiders, and the scene where they swallow the corpses in the Great Hall is both grotesque and thrilling at the same time.
And likewise, the epilogue is also fairly brutal, but it brings everything full circle and I'm confident in saying that Morris tied everything up nicely with no loose ends. A truly fantastic read.
First and foremost, he captures the spirit of Four and Romana so well. Several authors have struggled to capture their dynamic and those of other TARDIS teams as well, but here, Morris understands these characters perfectly. I had no trouble envisioning them in this story, and the same goes for the distinct supporting characters too; my favourite being ERIC, the chronically depressed supercomputer.
This book is basically told in reverse chronological order, with the Doctor and Romana travelling backwards through their own history to figure out how they saved the day. The premise is fantastic and, at the time, it was something new. This was long before the revived series came along, so if you can cast Series 5 out of your mind, you'll have a great time experiencing a then-original and wonderful concept here. It's not even too confusing to follow either. Morris did a fantastic job of making sure readers could keep up with Four and Romana's course and how it all overlaps; in the introduction of the reprinted edition, he even says that he plotted events out with a flowchart, and this planning is clearly evident in the text.
I also love Morris' depiction of the Arachnopods. Disgusting giant spiders, and the scene where they swallow the corpses in the Great Hall is both grotesque and thrilling at the same time.
And likewise, the epilogue is also fairly brutal, but it brings everything full circle and I'm confident in saying that Morris tied everything up nicely with no loose ends. A truly fantastic read.
June 30, 2025
For Jonathan Morris's first published work this is a very ambitious, non-linear piece of storytelling with a lot of moving parts, so much that he apparently made a flow chart to keep track of everything. The core gimmick is the Doctor visiting the same location multiple times in the wrong order. In his first visit he discovers he has apparently already saved the day and supposedly sacrificed himself in the process, which is a strong hook. There is a danger with a story like this of it becoming an exercise in showing off how clever the writer is by tying off loose ends (see Steven Moffat's The Big Bang), but in this case the concept of the Beautiful Death ride and the mystery that is gradually revealed about the history of the G-Lock is pretty intriguing even without the time travel gimmick. I wasn't believing for a moment the Doctor was actually going to die but fortunately Morris doesn't lean on that plot element excessively for emotional weight, even playing the Doctor's melodrama about his upcoming "death" somewhat comedically.
The Doctor and Romana's portrayal is probably one of my favourite aspects of the book as Morris captures their relationship very well and I can very easily picture the banter between them happening between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward onscreen. Most of the other characters populating the world are quite memorable as well, especially Hoopy the space-hippie lizard. There's also some loathsome, casually cruel characters you just love to hate like Rochfort. Overall a very well realised cast.
The Doctor and Romana's portrayal is probably one of my favourite aspects of the book as Morris captures their relationship very well and I can very easily picture the banter between them happening between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward onscreen. Most of the other characters populating the world are quite memorable as well, especially Hoopy the space-hippie lizard. There's also some loathsome, casually cruel characters you just love to hate like Rochfort. Overall a very well realised cast.
January 23, 2022
“It is the fact that you only get one chance that makes the small joys of life so precious.” The Doctor smiled at Romana.
—-
This book is a twisty, timey-wimey Dr. Who classic featuring the Fourth Doctor, Romana (presumably Romana II), and their robotic dog K9.
There’s a lot going on in this supersized story of time and space shenanigans. There’s a traffic jam in a hyperspace tunnel caused by careless negligence and momentum. There are multiple scarfed Doctors jumping between timelines. There’s a depressed, suicidal computer AI named Eric. A drugged up, talking lizard person that seems inspired by Hunter S Thompson. A tourist attraction called the Beautiful Death where - you guessed it - you can experience the wonder and terror of life after death. There’s also giant, hungry spider aliens looking for good eats, and zombies… of course.
The clever dialogue sounds authentic, and there’s a bohemian, metaphysical undercurrent to the frenetic energy of the plot that helps this story feel like it could have been an episode from the heyday of the series. Perhaps one even written by a pre-fame Douglas Adams. And really, what better compliment can one give a Tom Baker Doctor Who story than that?
#WhoReview / 4 of 13 / 12 months. 13 Doctors. One 60th Anniversary
—-
This book is a twisty, timey-wimey Dr. Who classic featuring the Fourth Doctor, Romana (presumably Romana II), and their robotic dog K9.
There’s a lot going on in this supersized story of time and space shenanigans. There’s a traffic jam in a hyperspace tunnel caused by careless negligence and momentum. There are multiple scarfed Doctors jumping between timelines. There’s a depressed, suicidal computer AI named Eric. A drugged up, talking lizard person that seems inspired by Hunter S Thompson. A tourist attraction called the Beautiful Death where - you guessed it - you can experience the wonder and terror of life after death. There’s also giant, hungry spider aliens looking for good eats, and zombies… of course.
The clever dialogue sounds authentic, and there’s a bohemian, metaphysical undercurrent to the frenetic energy of the plot that helps this story feel like it could have been an episode from the heyday of the series. Perhaps one even written by a pre-fame Douglas Adams. And really, what better compliment can one give a Tom Baker Doctor Who story than that?
#WhoReview / 4 of 13 / 12 months. 13 Doctors. One 60th Anniversary
December 24, 2017
This Doctor Who story is an enjoyable read...once you get past the initial confusion of the book starting in the middle of the story. Don't worry, it's confusing for the Doctor and Romana too as they land on a former cruise ship that is now a theme park stuck in a wormhole in space for the first time only to find out everyone knows who they are. The adventure ensues and as the book gets closer to the end a lot of things fall into place and the story finally makes sense (well, sense for a time travelling story about Time Lords crossing into their own time stream, breaking the first law of time while doing so). This story is typical of pretty much all complex time travel stories.....huge plot holes, inconsistencies and things that just don't make sense but as a fan of the genre, you expect them going in. One of the important things for me when reading a Doctor Who book is if the author can capture the essence of the character from the tv screen and translate it to the book. I think Jonathan Morris did a wonderful job portraying both the Doctor and Romana. I could easily see Tom Baker and Lalla Ward in my mind as I was reading.
March 15, 2019
One of the best Doctor Who books I have read. I usually don't like time loops but in this case, it worked really well. The Doctor , Romana and K-9 arrive on a space station during the aftermath of some crisis, an incident which caused death and injury. Some of the survivors are keen to congratulate the Doctor and Romana for saving their lives. This means the Doctor and Romana need to go back in time to do what they seem to have already done. This is a difficult subject to write on. In this case, how to keep a linear narrative when time is bouncing about. Yet the author does a good job at keeping the pace of the story and keeping the threads from getting tangled. The story made sense. Sometimes, parts of the story were retold but it was actually effective. There was a slight hiccup in that something that was supposed to happen, didn't happen and I thought the explanation a bit weak. And the epilogue didn't quite make sense. But these are minor quibbles. If you like Doctor Who, this is a great book. If you want to sample a Doctor Who book, this is a great one to read. As a science fiction book, it can stand alone on its own merits.
September 27, 2020
God, I love time travel stories like this.
Granted I was enjoying it from the get go but with the almost constant "scene" changes it got a little confusing and hard to follow at times, jumping perspectives, locations and time lines, though in hindsight that's kind of the point until you finish the book. Granted it made the first hundred pages a little slow to get through but once things started making sense I flew through this and couldn't put it down (and when I did it was always on my mind!).
Theres something infinitely satisfying about time travels stories like this, getting thrown into a situation where you meet strangers in the wrong order and being told that you've done something you haven't done, and to see all the confusing mismatched conversations, events and little details coming to light in the "future" of the story, is just so great to experience all the pieces coming together and working out how they did something that has already been established... just as they do? Love it 👌
Plus there was a lot of funny moments and just enjoyed the experience overall! So glad I'm finally picking through these books after having them on my tbr for like 5 years 😅
Granted I was enjoying it from the get go but with the almost constant "scene" changes it got a little confusing and hard to follow at times, jumping perspectives, locations and time lines, though in hindsight that's kind of the point until you finish the book. Granted it made the first hundred pages a little slow to get through but once things started making sense I flew through this and couldn't put it down (and when I did it was always on my mind!).
Theres something infinitely satisfying about time travels stories like this, getting thrown into a situation where you meet strangers in the wrong order and being told that you've done something you haven't done, and to see all the confusing mismatched conversations, events and little details coming to light in the "future" of the story, is just so great to experience all the pieces coming together and working out how they did something that has already been established... just as they do? Love it 👌
Plus there was a lot of funny moments and just enjoyed the experience overall! So glad I'm finally picking through these books after having them on my tbr for like 5 years 😅
February 22, 2020
I couldn't decide between 2 or 3 stars but since I almost gave up on the book several times and only continued because something of modest interest had just popped up I went with 2. I didn't like the author's writing style. I'm not familiar with Morris but I thought I saw someone mention he is young write and this is his first Doctor Who novel (??) I am 72 years old and became watching Doctor Who in the early 70's with Tom Baker and enjoyed it very much. This book wasn't able to evoke the Doctor Who I was familiar with and the same goes for Romana and K-9. If I have to make a choice i think he did a slightly better job on Romana. In this novel i felt that Doctor Who wasn't acting true to the character developed in the TV series. The plot was a little complicated and the mediocre writing didn't help much. The constant change of view between situations wasn't handled well and was occasionally jarring when it occurred so often.
June 23, 2021
This is a marvelous time travel story, one that has the Doctor making multiple loops around his own timeline. Temporal paradoxes (or the harrowing attempts to avoid them) can make for real headaches. This author deftly tosses all the time balls in the air and keeps them spinning in a whirl that delights the reader and challenges the mind.
All the familiar quirks, foibles, speech patterns and mannerisms of the Fourth Doctor are on full display, revealing this author to be a true Whovian, one who doted on his no-doubt favorite Timelord. His attention to detail, his careful construction and reconstruction of the various timelines reveals a masterly grasp of the BBC tv show as well as an impish sense of humor.
Tom Baker’s Doctor is here in all his glory, from acerbic scrutiny to puckish humor, grim morbidness to self-congratulatory aplomb. This was and is my favorite Doctor and I’m happy to reach out to him across time and space once more.
All the familiar quirks, foibles, speech patterns and mannerisms of the Fourth Doctor are on full display, revealing this author to be a true Whovian, one who doted on his no-doubt favorite Timelord. His attention to detail, his careful construction and reconstruction of the various timelines reveals a masterly grasp of the BBC tv show as well as an impish sense of humor.
Tom Baker’s Doctor is here in all his glory, from acerbic scrutiny to puckish humor, grim morbidness to self-congratulatory aplomb. This was and is my favorite Doctor and I’m happy to reach out to him across time and space once more.
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