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Past Doctor Adventures #75
Doctor Who: The Time Travellers
"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension, to be exiles?"
24 June, 2006. The TARDIS has landed in London. Ian and Barbara are almost back home. But this isn't the city they knew. This city is a ruin, torn apart by war. A war that the British are losing.
With his friends mistaken for vagrants and sentenced to death, the Doctor is press-ganged into helping perfect a weapon that might just turn the tables in the war. The British Army has discovered time travel. And the consequences are already devastating.
What has happened to the world that Ian and Barbara once knew? How much of the experiment do the Doctor and Susan really understand?
And, despite all the Doctor has said to the contrary, is it actually possible to change history?
24 June, 2006. The TARDIS has landed in London. Ian and Barbara are almost back home. But this isn't the city they knew. This city is a ruin, torn apart by war. A war that the British are losing.
With his friends mistaken for vagrants and sentenced to death, the Doctor is press-ganged into helping perfect a weapon that might just turn the tables in the war. The British Army has discovered time travel. And the consequences are already devastating.
What has happened to the world that Ian and Barbara once knew? How much of the experiment do the Doctor and Susan really understand?
And, despite all the Doctor has said to the contrary, is it actually possible to change history?
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 21, 2005
3 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Simon Guerrier
168 books61 followersSimon Guerrier is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of Doctor Who and its spinoffs. Although he has written three Doctor Who novels, for the BBC Books range, his work has mostly been for Big Finish Productions' audio drama and book ranges.
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 25, 2011
The BBC's Past Doctor Adventures, like their Virgin predecessors the Missing Adventures, could often be mixed affairs. Some Doctors and eras proved difficult to replicate either character or story others would be overdone to the point of being nothing but a series of cliches. Occasionally though, there would be moments when authors would not only be able to recreate Doctors and era but take them in new (or more contemporary) directions. One such example of blending past and present would be The Time Travellers by first-time novelsit Simon Guerrier, a novel that holds the distinction of being the next last novel of its range and also being one of the best books to come out of it.
Guerrier manages to recreate his TARDIS crew splendidly. That TARDIS crew being the very first featuring the first Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Their reactions to the world(s) they find themselves in throughout seem spot on to what fans have watched and listened to for close to half a century. In a way, Guerrier is at something of an advantage by writing for this TARDIS crew. The novel gives the reader the chance to get inside the character's heads in a way a TV story never can and Guerrier puts that to full use here with a TARDIS crew that is still getting to know one another. You have to remember that this was a time when the Doctor was more mercurial if not downright mysterious then later incarnations and we're reminded of this at moments throughout the novel where Ian and Barbara worry about the Doctor possibly leaving them behind. Guerrier also foreshadows some things still in the character's futures as well such as Susan leaving the TARDIS crew in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (for which we are given a reason why the Doctor let her) and even get a mini-sequel to the final minutes of The Chase as well (one that thankfully isn't as cringe-worthy as that story). The result of all this is that the characterizations are all spot-on in a way that is both familiar yet surprisingly fresh at the same time.
There's also fine supporting character's as well. With such spot-on work on the TARIDS crew, it would have been easy to make the supporting characters bland and barely noticeable. Yet Guerrier chooses to invoke one of the things that the Hartnell era would occasional do right: create supporting character's as interesting as the regulars. Bamford, Kelly, Griffiths, Andrews (splendid chaps all of them) and Wu all come across as three dimensional characters rather then possible cardboard character's. That sense of realism is heightened by Guerrier choosing not to delve into their motivations though we are given plenty of glimpses into what those might be. Plus, like all good supporting character's should, they give the protagonists something to bounce off of. In fact the novels best character moments come out of such moments with Barbara's moment of realization on page 162 being one that stands out most clearly in my mind. The result is a series of fascinating characters populating the novel throughout.
It is in the plot that the book truly becomes a true mix of past and present. Whether Guerrier intended it to or not, this novel has the feeling of being one that puts the earliest TARDIS crew in a story that could be right of the New Series of Doctor Who. The characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era of Doctor Who that occurred nearly fifty years ago now. Yet elements like its time travel paradox, a big reveal involving one member of the TARDIS crew that comes out in the final chapter as a consequence, its Canary Wharf setting during much of its length (if not the whole embattled 2006 London setting in general), pacing, even the prologue and epilogue all seem to be from the New Series. These styles should clash, at least in thought, you say? In practice though, Guerrier makes them work together to create a story that both honors the show's past while embracing its present without hesitation.
The icing on the cake is the fact that the novel is both a sequel and prequel to a first Doctor story still in his future that also has references to a few other stories here and there that are done in a way that is great if you get them but aren't necessary to understanding the story really. Yet Guerrier keeps in mind that this is a novel set during Doctor Who's earliest days and as such when he references things he keeps them vague such as not naming the Doctor's people for instance. Plus he takes one of the most (in)famous lines from the show's earliest days, "You can't rewrite history! Not one line!" and gives a much needed explanation for it that is truthful not only to what was originally intended when it was said and what ended up happening in the show's future as well. In short that means it's fan-wanking done right.
Even being a first novel The Time Travellers proves to be a standout novel. While the characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era the past other elements such as the time travel paradox, a big reveal that comes out as a consequence, its setting during much of its length, pacing, even its prologue and epilogue bring to mind the Who of the present day. As a result Guerrier achieves a rare thing in either runs of the BBC;s Past Doctor Adventures or the Virgin Missing Adventures: a story that blends the past with the present and comes out all the better for doing so.
Guerrier manages to recreate his TARDIS crew splendidly. That TARDIS crew being the very first featuring the first Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Their reactions to the world(s) they find themselves in throughout seem spot on to what fans have watched and listened to for close to half a century. In a way, Guerrier is at something of an advantage by writing for this TARDIS crew. The novel gives the reader the chance to get inside the character's heads in a way a TV story never can and Guerrier puts that to full use here with a TARDIS crew that is still getting to know one another. You have to remember that this was a time when the Doctor was more mercurial if not downright mysterious then later incarnations and we're reminded of this at moments throughout the novel where Ian and Barbara worry about the Doctor possibly leaving them behind. Guerrier also foreshadows some things still in the character's futures as well such as Susan leaving the TARDIS crew in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (for which we are given a reason why the Doctor let her) and even get a mini-sequel to the final minutes of The Chase as well (one that thankfully isn't as cringe-worthy as that story). The result of all this is that the characterizations are all spot-on in a way that is both familiar yet surprisingly fresh at the same time.
There's also fine supporting character's as well. With such spot-on work on the TARIDS crew, it would have been easy to make the supporting characters bland and barely noticeable. Yet Guerrier chooses to invoke one of the things that the Hartnell era would occasional do right: create supporting character's as interesting as the regulars. Bamford, Kelly, Griffiths, Andrews (splendid chaps all of them) and Wu all come across as three dimensional characters rather then possible cardboard character's. That sense of realism is heightened by Guerrier choosing not to delve into their motivations though we are given plenty of glimpses into what those might be. Plus, like all good supporting character's should, they give the protagonists something to bounce off of. In fact the novels best character moments come out of such moments with Barbara's moment of realization on page 162 being one that stands out most clearly in my mind. The result is a series of fascinating characters populating the novel throughout.
It is in the plot that the book truly becomes a true mix of past and present. Whether Guerrier intended it to or not, this novel has the feeling of being one that puts the earliest TARDIS crew in a story that could be right of the New Series of Doctor Who. The characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era of Doctor Who that occurred nearly fifty years ago now. Yet elements like its time travel paradox, a big reveal involving one member of the TARDIS crew that comes out in the final chapter as a consequence, its Canary Wharf setting during much of its length (if not the whole embattled 2006 London setting in general), pacing, even the prologue and epilogue all seem to be from the New Series. These styles should clash, at least in thought, you say? In practice though, Guerrier makes them work together to create a story that both honors the show's past while embracing its present without hesitation.
The icing on the cake is the fact that the novel is both a sequel and prequel to a first Doctor story still in his future that also has references to a few other stories here and there that are done in a way that is great if you get them but aren't necessary to understanding the story really. Yet Guerrier keeps in mind that this is a novel set during Doctor Who's earliest days and as such when he references things he keeps them vague such as not naming the Doctor's people for instance. Plus he takes one of the most (in)famous lines from the show's earliest days, "You can't rewrite history! Not one line!" and gives a much needed explanation for it that is truthful not only to what was originally intended when it was said and what ended up happening in the show's future as well. In short that means it's fan-wanking done right.
Even being a first novel The Time Travellers proves to be a standout novel. While the characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era the past other elements such as the time travel paradox, a big reveal that comes out as a consequence, its setting during much of its length, pacing, even its prologue and epilogue bring to mind the Who of the present day. As a result Guerrier achieves a rare thing in either runs of the BBC;s Past Doctor Adventures or the Virgin Missing Adventures: a story that blends the past with the present and comes out all the better for doing so.
October 18, 2013
Hey, if you're going to go out, you might as well go out old school. Although there was still one more Past Doctor Adventure to go before the line was put to bed presumably forever, it would have been probably entirely fitting to end with a novel featuring the original TARDIS team and calling it "The Time Travelers", a nice look back into what made that first crew work so well and the days when being in the show was about being a lost explorer who occasionally managed to save the day but more often than not got into danger that had less to do with saving the world as much as saving yourself and the three people you came in with. All so you can dive back into your magic box and do it again. Yay!
First Doctor adventures are interesting because at the time the show was more an ensemble cast with a serial nature, so at least in the first season or so you got to watch Ian and Barbara and Susan and the cranky Doctor all kind of learn together and grow into a weird sort of family, as opposed to the focus being on the dude with allegedly two hearts who's out to save the world because he's a genius, while everyone else is along for the ride and conveniently around to ask questions or have things explained to them. Thing is, I'm not sure how well that reads, which puts an author in a weird position of recreating the creaky halcyon studio bound days of 1963 or rendering it so modern as to sandpaper away all the charms it once has.
To his credit, the author here makes a valiant attempt and really only fails by being too ambitious, which you can probably chalk up to First Novel Syndrome. The Doctor and his sprightly companions land in London in 2006 and instead of being greeted by a cheeky blonde with a dead-end job, they encounter a London that has been destroyed by war (again, presumably) and in fact realize that the war is still going on. Immediately after arriving they find a man dead but soon after discover him alive again. As it turns out, both things are true simultaneously. Did someone say time travel paradox?
For the most part it seems that the only way to make time travel paradoxes work is by sketching out notes for all the shifting timelines in a way that would probably take up the entire room of a house. And maybe he did, but it doesn't come across here. He's attempting to do two things here when he should have just stuck with one concept and brought it all the way home. On the one hand you have the time travel experiments, which result in multiple copies of one person from all different parallel timelines (and all you Eighth Doctor readers thought we were done with that stuff) and seems to be capable of breaking down time. On the other hand you have the idea of a world in peril and twisted beyond recognition, with England's enemies making plans to finally fix things once and for all. Oh, and did I mention it's all the fault of a certain homicidal computer?
The problem is everything feels vague. Once we have the initial situation, the book more or less treads water, giving us various people doing various things, but none of it really moving the plot forward so much as getting us page-count wise to the point where the plot can start to matter. We have hardnosed generals, double agents, the dark threat of war, some history to learn but in the finest tradition of a four part episode given two extra parts it didn't need, there's an awful lot of vamping going on here. And what's worse is that the threat never feels specific, the Doctor keeps insisting that time is broken but he never goes into detail (and there's at least two points where we've given something to be believed at face value and at the point where it would get in the way of the plot, the Doctor simply says "I lied" and we're in Opposite Land suddenly). We see preparations but it's just generic war, we don't get a sense of what's at stake. If time is broken the multiple copies of Colonel Andrews should be a symptom but instead it seems a way to kill him over and over while still having ones left around to be useful. It's not even played for absurd comedy, despite comments about their differences. There's very little spark given to the concept, as if we're supposed to be dazzled by the concept of Broken Time (and the Doctor suddenly saying that his bold statement of not being able to change history by one line was just him being over-enthusiastic, extra fiber and all that, you know) and not notice that everyone surrounding the concept is a bit drab.
The shift in scenery about two-thirds through is welcome but doesn't really improve things too much. Multiple copies of Ian attempt to shake things up but we'll get to that in a moment. Our heroes have to change history but it seems it's simply easy enough to change the course of history by going out for a few drinks. Not the world's greatest climax, unless it's one of those Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movies where everyone's a right bloke at the end, wot? Nor is there any sense of history actually changing, as everyone just leaves, content that everyone is okay now and they're not going to emerge from a TARDIS into an Earth where the currency is clown noses.
Otherwise, he's pretty good. He gets the tones right, with the Doctor being all cranky and grandfathery, Susan not as fluttery and screamy as she could be, and Ian and Barbara being the steady levelheaded presences they all were, best friends and noth-
Actually, about that. While the aims of the plot itself aren't so detailed, the book does devote large sections of text to Ian and Barbara musing on their feelings for each other, which turn out to be rather deep. And in case you missed that, we have future versions of Ian who seem to be married to Barbara and discussions between the two of them about said feelings and futures together. It's hard to argue with any of this on the face of it, since if you're going to put together anyone who ever traveled on the TARDIS, it might as well be them and in fact they make a better couple based on the chaste televised evidence than a couple seasons of Amy and Rory actually being a couple. By now it's probably an accepted piece of fanlore that they're together after travels end (and if "The Romans" proved anything it's that it probably didn't start when they left the Doctor) but having our usual stiff upper lip heroes spend pages wringing their respective hands over their feelings for each other feels oddly out of place, like a fan-fiction draft that got mixed in with the other stuff. This isn't the first time the BBC novels have delved into this and once that door was kicked in everyone probably felt obligated to put their personal stamp on it, but as much as I like these people on paper, I just can't imagine William Russell and Jacqueline Hill mooning over each other like this. For goodness sakes, they were adults, not lovestruck children. If I wanted to experience a real mediocre time traveling romance, I'd watch "The Lake House" in all its glory.
Still, for all my complaining, he manages to extend their farewell scene in "The Chase" a couple more minutes and get a perfectly charming romantic ending, as well as a nice point to say goodbye to these two, so I can't say that I mind it completely. It just seems that at some point during the writing he became so interested in making connections to other stories and setting those little balls in motion that he forgot to put as much passion into the plot. As it stands, he conjures up the spirits of these people just enough to make it roll pleasantly along fueled by our affection for them and to a lesser degree by their open affection for each other. It's a good effort from a first time writer, but if there was a need for an inaugral book for the "TARDIS Romance" line, we wouldn't have to look much further for a good candidate.
First Doctor adventures are interesting because at the time the show was more an ensemble cast with a serial nature, so at least in the first season or so you got to watch Ian and Barbara and Susan and the cranky Doctor all kind of learn together and grow into a weird sort of family, as opposed to the focus being on the dude with allegedly two hearts who's out to save the world because he's a genius, while everyone else is along for the ride and conveniently around to ask questions or have things explained to them. Thing is, I'm not sure how well that reads, which puts an author in a weird position of recreating the creaky halcyon studio bound days of 1963 or rendering it so modern as to sandpaper away all the charms it once has.
To his credit, the author here makes a valiant attempt and really only fails by being too ambitious, which you can probably chalk up to First Novel Syndrome. The Doctor and his sprightly companions land in London in 2006 and instead of being greeted by a cheeky blonde with a dead-end job, they encounter a London that has been destroyed by war (again, presumably) and in fact realize that the war is still going on. Immediately after arriving they find a man dead but soon after discover him alive again. As it turns out, both things are true simultaneously. Did someone say time travel paradox?
For the most part it seems that the only way to make time travel paradoxes work is by sketching out notes for all the shifting timelines in a way that would probably take up the entire room of a house. And maybe he did, but it doesn't come across here. He's attempting to do two things here when he should have just stuck with one concept and brought it all the way home. On the one hand you have the time travel experiments, which result in multiple copies of one person from all different parallel timelines (and all you Eighth Doctor readers thought we were done with that stuff) and seems to be capable of breaking down time. On the other hand you have the idea of a world in peril and twisted beyond recognition, with England's enemies making plans to finally fix things once and for all. Oh, and did I mention it's all the fault of a certain homicidal computer?
The problem is everything feels vague. Once we have the initial situation, the book more or less treads water, giving us various people doing various things, but none of it really moving the plot forward so much as getting us page-count wise to the point where the plot can start to matter. We have hardnosed generals, double agents, the dark threat of war, some history to learn but in the finest tradition of a four part episode given two extra parts it didn't need, there's an awful lot of vamping going on here. And what's worse is that the threat never feels specific, the Doctor keeps insisting that time is broken but he never goes into detail (and there's at least two points where we've given something to be believed at face value and at the point where it would get in the way of the plot, the Doctor simply says "I lied" and we're in Opposite Land suddenly). We see preparations but it's just generic war, we don't get a sense of what's at stake. If time is broken the multiple copies of Colonel Andrews should be a symptom but instead it seems a way to kill him over and over while still having ones left around to be useful. It's not even played for absurd comedy, despite comments about their differences. There's very little spark given to the concept, as if we're supposed to be dazzled by the concept of Broken Time (and the Doctor suddenly saying that his bold statement of not being able to change history by one line was just him being over-enthusiastic, extra fiber and all that, you know) and not notice that everyone surrounding the concept is a bit drab.
The shift in scenery about two-thirds through is welcome but doesn't really improve things too much. Multiple copies of Ian attempt to shake things up but we'll get to that in a moment. Our heroes have to change history but it seems it's simply easy enough to change the course of history by going out for a few drinks. Not the world's greatest climax, unless it's one of those Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movies where everyone's a right bloke at the end, wot? Nor is there any sense of history actually changing, as everyone just leaves, content that everyone is okay now and they're not going to emerge from a TARDIS into an Earth where the currency is clown noses.
Otherwise, he's pretty good. He gets the tones right, with the Doctor being all cranky and grandfathery, Susan not as fluttery and screamy as she could be, and Ian and Barbara being the steady levelheaded presences they all were, best friends and noth-
Actually, about that. While the aims of the plot itself aren't so detailed, the book does devote large sections of text to Ian and Barbara musing on their feelings for each other, which turn out to be rather deep. And in case you missed that, we have future versions of Ian who seem to be married to Barbara and discussions between the two of them about said feelings and futures together. It's hard to argue with any of this on the face of it, since if you're going to put together anyone who ever traveled on the TARDIS, it might as well be them and in fact they make a better couple based on the chaste televised evidence than a couple seasons of Amy and Rory actually being a couple. By now it's probably an accepted piece of fanlore that they're together after travels end (and if "The Romans" proved anything it's that it probably didn't start when they left the Doctor) but having our usual stiff upper lip heroes spend pages wringing their respective hands over their feelings for each other feels oddly out of place, like a fan-fiction draft that got mixed in with the other stuff. This isn't the first time the BBC novels have delved into this and once that door was kicked in everyone probably felt obligated to put their personal stamp on it, but as much as I like these people on paper, I just can't imagine William Russell and Jacqueline Hill mooning over each other like this. For goodness sakes, they were adults, not lovestruck children. If I wanted to experience a real mediocre time traveling romance, I'd watch "The Lake House" in all its glory.
Still, for all my complaining, he manages to extend their farewell scene in "The Chase" a couple more minutes and get a perfectly charming romantic ending, as well as a nice point to say goodbye to these two, so I can't say that I mind it completely. It just seems that at some point during the writing he became so interested in making connections to other stories and setting those little balls in motion that he forgot to put as much passion into the plot. As it stands, he conjures up the spirits of these people just enough to make it roll pleasantly along fueled by our affection for them and to a lesser degree by their open affection for each other. It's a good effort from a first time writer, but if there was a need for an inaugral book for the "TARDIS Romance" line, we wouldn't have to look much further for a good candidate.
December 16, 2009
One of the best of the Doctor Who novels. Guerrier manages to land our heroes in a bleak dystopia and yet the story never loses its heart. This is a must-read for all First Doctor fans, and in particular those who love the original TARDIS team of Ian, Barbara and Susan. Guerrier's characterization is perfectly balanced and each of the familiar characters is given equal time and care. Those who regularly read Who novels know that this is a rare thing. Not only are the characters well-drawn, Guerrier takes the time to answer some long-standing continuity questions such as explaining the Doctor's motivations in the final scenes of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, as well as what happens to Ian and Barbara when they return to London 1965.
This is, by the way, the ONLY Who novel to get Susan right. She is the perfect combination of Time Lady in training and teenager.
The book would be worth reading on the solid characterization alone, but a few words praising the plot are also in order. The story is based on a mind-bending cascade of temporal paradoxes that may have inspire you to try to map out how exactly all this is supposed to fit together. I confess that I didn't pick up on everything, but the good news is it doesn't matter. The story is fun, surprising and kind of trippy. I have to wonder if Guerrier was inspired by the freaky temporal paradox introduced in the fist episode of The Space Museum. This isn't just a romp to tide you over until the next time Doctor Who comes on television -- it stands alone as serious science fiction.
The bottom line is that The Time Travellers is a showcase example of how good a tie-in novel can get. Not only does it fill in gaps, it stretches convention and when you're done, you feel like you know those characters better than when you started.
This is, by the way, the ONLY Who novel to get Susan right. She is the perfect combination of Time Lady in training and teenager.
The book would be worth reading on the solid characterization alone, but a few words praising the plot are also in order. The story is based on a mind-bending cascade of temporal paradoxes that may have inspire you to try to map out how exactly all this is supposed to fit together. I confess that I didn't pick up on everything, but the good news is it doesn't matter. The story is fun, surprising and kind of trippy. I have to wonder if Guerrier was inspired by the freaky temporal paradox introduced in the fist episode of The Space Museum. This isn't just a romp to tide you over until the next time Doctor Who comes on television -- it stands alone as serious science fiction.
The bottom line is that The Time Travellers is a showcase example of how good a tie-in novel can get. Not only does it fill in gaps, it stretches convention and when you're done, you feel like you know those characters better than when you started.
March 22, 2018
A great blend of original TARDIS crew in a modern New Series style setting. Great read!
August 16, 2018
I don't envy authors who write novels for established media franchises, as doing so poses challenges that they don't face when writing their own original creations. For such works to succeed, they must capture a certain tone of the series in a way that is true to the source material while broad enough to acknowledge their readers' often differing interpretation of it. This is especially true in terms of characterization without the filtering role that an actor or actress plays by taking scripts from multiple authors and filter them into their performance. Without this standardizing step, authors risk writing characters that can seem false to their source, even before having to address how an audience already familiar with these characters regards them.
For these reasons, writing such a book means crossing a high bar of authenticity in order to succeed, one that is even more challenging for the Doctor Who franchise, with its shifting tone over the decades and often outdated elements, Yet Simon Guerrier manages the feat successfully. His novel goes back to the beginnings of the franchise itself, offering a story in which the first Doctor and his original group of companions — his granddaughter Susan and teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright — arrive in London in 2006 after the TARDIS encounters a man while traveling inside of time and space. The crew finds themselves in a future in which the city is under attack from an unknown power, with a team of scientists developing a primitive form of time travel in the hope that it might prove the key to victory. As the Doctor and his companions discover, though, the experiments have resulted instead in a mounting series of problems, all of which must be solved amidst an impending invasion and while dealing with a hidden agenda.
Working as he does with the very first group of travelers Guerrier tackles attitudes and outlooks that are increasingly dated to his readers. Yet he manages to portray them in a way that is respectful while making it work for a story very different from the ones written by the writers of the day. His characters find themselves in a nightmarish world ingeniously constructed by Guerrier out of other stories from the show, imagining the world that would have resulted had not the Doctor defeated the threats that faced it. While the result is a world traumatized and grim, the genius of his approach is that because this is happening so early in the Doctor's travels he and his companions are unable to recognize the situation for what it is: an alternate future shaped by the evil the Doctor would go on to avert. None of them appreciate that the broader setting is wrong; for them it is simply is a future that is far darker than they imagined it could be.
In this respect what Guerrier has accomplished is much more than simple fan service, as he has drawn from nearly a half-dozen serials from the original series to develop his plot. And while the logic of the story does not hold as well as it might, overall the book is a remarkable feat: a novel that entertains on multiple levels while remaining true to its original source material. It is a book that every Doctor Who fan should read, ideally after having seen the episodes from which Guerrier draws the elements that serve as the source material for his novel so as to better appreciate the extent of his success with it.
For these reasons, writing such a book means crossing a high bar of authenticity in order to succeed, one that is even more challenging for the Doctor Who franchise, with its shifting tone over the decades and often outdated elements, Yet Simon Guerrier manages the feat successfully. His novel goes back to the beginnings of the franchise itself, offering a story in which the first Doctor and his original group of companions — his granddaughter Susan and teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright — arrive in London in 2006 after the TARDIS encounters a man while traveling inside of time and space. The crew finds themselves in a future in which the city is under attack from an unknown power, with a team of scientists developing a primitive form of time travel in the hope that it might prove the key to victory. As the Doctor and his companions discover, though, the experiments have resulted instead in a mounting series of problems, all of which must be solved amidst an impending invasion and while dealing with a hidden agenda.
Working as he does with the very first group of travelers Guerrier tackles attitudes and outlooks that are increasingly dated to his readers. Yet he manages to portray them in a way that is respectful while making it work for a story very different from the ones written by the writers of the day. His characters find themselves in a nightmarish world ingeniously constructed by Guerrier out of other stories from the show, imagining the world that would have resulted had not the Doctor defeated the threats that faced it. While the result is a world traumatized and grim, the genius of his approach is that because this is happening so early in the Doctor's travels he and his companions are unable to recognize the situation for what it is: an alternate future shaped by the evil the Doctor would go on to avert. None of them appreciate that the broader setting is wrong; for them it is simply is a future that is far darker than they imagined it could be.
In this respect what Guerrier has accomplished is much more than simple fan service, as he has drawn from nearly a half-dozen serials from the original series to develop his plot. And while the logic of the story does not hold as well as it might, overall the book is a remarkable feat: a novel that entertains on multiple levels while remaining true to its original source material. It is a book that every Doctor Who fan should read, ideally after having seen the episodes from which Guerrier draws the elements that serve as the source material for his novel so as to better appreciate the extent of his success with it.
April 29, 2023
A very complex but exciting novel and a must-read for Ian and Barbara fans.
May 3, 2008
The first Doctor, along with Susan, Ian and Barbara, materialize in London in 2006. (It's London, but not as we know it.) In 1966, Britain came under the domination of the (not well explained) Machine, which controlled people through television and radio. Since that time, British society has steadily fallen apart, the House of Windsor has been eliminated, and the country has become a military dictatorship. (Funny how would-be dictators see the monarchy as an obstacle to the advance of totalitarianism.) What's more, Britain is at war with the South Africans (who had successfully resisted the Machine). Under the stresses of societal breakdown and war, foreigners, vagrants, and people who don't easily fit face swift execution.
When our story begins, London has been largely destroyed by aerial bombardment and awaits imminent invasion. Amidst the carnage, the British army has been experimenting with time travel. They are a bit cack-handed at it; alternate versions of their test-pilots keep showing up from different time streams, only to be executed by the army.
Obviously, under such a regime, things do not go well for our protagonists, who are outsiders in almost every possible way. For Barbara and Ian, who left their own time in 1963, this version of Britain is especially horrific, because it is their future. That, and they're taken prisoner and sentenced to death.
I rate this book somewhere between three and four stars. The first two thirds of the story dragged a bit, with a lot of arrests, escapes, re-arrests, and so on. The Doctor walks around the time experiment facilities, holding his lapels and tutting. Part of the weakness of the book (for me anyway) is down to the Doctor. As someone who judges all Doctors relative to Tom Baker, I was never much of a William Hartnell fan. I always thought he didn't do very much, except stand around being intellectually superior, uttering cryptic statements and expressing displeasure at any messing about with Time. He does a lot of that in this story.
Despite that, it's still the Doctor, and the author could have done more with his character. The first Doctor wasn't a man of action; however, he was a Time Lord, and the humans in the story are mucking about with Time. I figured the Doctor could have been more assertive, I guess.
There was a lot that I liked about this book. The last third of the story, when our heroes go back to the nascent beginnings of the dictatorship, was first-rate. The characters of Barbara and Ian were quite strongly portrayed. I also thought the author did a good job of exploring the ethical dilemmas of trying to change history, without being merely theoretical about it. As I mentioned, Ian and Barbara are brought face to face with the bad turn their own future would take, and this gives that dilemma an added poignency. The Doctor has warned against the perils of meddling with history, but isn't there also a moral imperative to try to build a better future?
Another good thing about this book is the author's ability to create a believably grim setting for his story. I got a strong sense of how such a entropic environment must look and feel, which was hammered home by accounts of destruction of familiar London landmarks.
The author, in conceiving his version of un-cool Britannia, seems to draw on parallels between the alternative future and the current security situation in the West. It's easy to go too far with comparing our own unease with terrorist threats, distrust of outsiders, and questionable actions taken by security forces with the dictatorship in the book (and I might have read too much into it), but it added a compelling aspect to the story.
When our story begins, London has been largely destroyed by aerial bombardment and awaits imminent invasion. Amidst the carnage, the British army has been experimenting with time travel. They are a bit cack-handed at it; alternate versions of their test-pilots keep showing up from different time streams, only to be executed by the army.
Obviously, under such a regime, things do not go well for our protagonists, who are outsiders in almost every possible way. For Barbara and Ian, who left their own time in 1963, this version of Britain is especially horrific, because it is their future. That, and they're taken prisoner and sentenced to death.
I rate this book somewhere between three and four stars. The first two thirds of the story dragged a bit, with a lot of arrests, escapes, re-arrests, and so on. The Doctor walks around the time experiment facilities, holding his lapels and tutting. Part of the weakness of the book (for me anyway) is down to the Doctor. As someone who judges all Doctors relative to Tom Baker, I was never much of a William Hartnell fan. I always thought he didn't do very much, except stand around being intellectually superior, uttering cryptic statements and expressing displeasure at any messing about with Time. He does a lot of that in this story.
Despite that, it's still the Doctor, and the author could have done more with his character. The first Doctor wasn't a man of action; however, he was a Time Lord, and the humans in the story are mucking about with Time. I figured the Doctor could have been more assertive, I guess.
There was a lot that I liked about this book. The last third of the story, when our heroes go back to the nascent beginnings of the dictatorship, was first-rate. The characters of Barbara and Ian were quite strongly portrayed. I also thought the author did a good job of exploring the ethical dilemmas of trying to change history, without being merely theoretical about it. As I mentioned, Ian and Barbara are brought face to face with the bad turn their own future would take, and this gives that dilemma an added poignency. The Doctor has warned against the perils of meddling with history, but isn't there also a moral imperative to try to build a better future?
Another good thing about this book is the author's ability to create a believably grim setting for his story. I got a strong sense of how such a entropic environment must look and feel, which was hammered home by accounts of destruction of familiar London landmarks.
The author, in conceiving his version of un-cool Britannia, seems to draw on parallels between the alternative future and the current security situation in the West. It's easy to go too far with comparing our own unease with terrorist threats, distrust of outsiders, and questionable actions taken by security forces with the dictatorship in the book (and I might have read too much into it), but it added a compelling aspect to the story.
November 10, 2010
What I did not care about this story is that it was an alternative universe story that really did not fit into the actual Doctor Who timeline. Most people would be scratching their heads at this because you can do just about anything when time travel is involved, right? Well, the way the author put this one together ended up creating an alternate reality that the characters are subject to that is not in alignment with the ending of the series for these characters. Interesting story, but just didn't fit into the established universe.
February 22, 2021
This started off really good but I don't think it met its potential. While trying to explore concepts of time travel it didn't give a consistent interpretation and sometimes contradicted itself. There were some moving moments and I thought this covered emotions better than many other Doctor stories but I found my interest in the plot waning as I got further into it.
The characterisations seemed a bit inconsistent too but I think they were pretty good most of the time. I did enjoy that all of the characters were used well throughout the story.
The characterisations seemed a bit inconsistent too but I think they were pretty good most of the time. I did enjoy that all of the characters were used well throughout the story.
July 28, 2022
So I have read a lot of doctor who. and specifically, i really like the first doctor. However...his books tend to be..not so good for some reason. and sadly, this book is no exception.
First doctor books tend to fall into 2 camps. 1, bash on religion or 2, boring/depressing.
This one definitely falls into the latter.
Th book starts out good enough. The premise is kind of interesting, but the book really begins to unravel about 1/3 of the way through. it gets dragged down by boring talks between scientists, military leaders, the main characters either running around hiding, or talking to said scientists and military leaders.
I wish i could say that at least the finale is satisfying, but...no, i can't even say that as they wrap the problem of the book up in like 5 pages thanks to a very helpful person just being there.
This books leans HEAVILY on the ian/barbara romance thing. i don't know why nearly every book with ian/barbara lies so heavily on this. yes, you gathered there was some romantic tension in the series, but it was never THIS bad. It's basically making it the crux of their characters, which it's not.
This book was a CHORE to get through. for example, i normally finish a doctor who book in about... 4-5 days. This one took me 25. I had to push myself to read 10 pages at a time.
I liked the way the 1st doc acted, it was very in character, and susan wasn't as annoying as she's been in others, but my god was this story boring and depressing. If the story in itself is bad, it doesn't matter how good the characterization is. If i had to place this book somewhere in the lineup, i'd put it probably say it wasn't as good as salvation, but not as bad as witch hunters.
so i'm going to give it a 2.5. however, as goodreads won't seemingly EVER let me give anything a 1/2 star, i can't in good conscience give it a 3. a 3 is a book that MAYBE in the distant future i MIGHT go "eh, i'll read that again maybe." this is not that. i will not read this again. So, sadly, it's a
2.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 2.
First doctor books tend to fall into 2 camps. 1, bash on religion or 2, boring/depressing.
This one definitely falls into the latter.
Th book starts out good enough. The premise is kind of interesting, but the book really begins to unravel about 1/3 of the way through. it gets dragged down by boring talks between scientists, military leaders, the main characters either running around hiding, or talking to said scientists and military leaders.
I wish i could say that at least the finale is satisfying, but...no, i can't even say that as they wrap the problem of the book up in like 5 pages thanks to a very helpful person just being there.
This books leans HEAVILY on the ian/barbara romance thing. i don't know why nearly every book with ian/barbara lies so heavily on this. yes, you gathered there was some romantic tension in the series, but it was never THIS bad. It's basically making it the crux of their characters, which it's not.
This book was a CHORE to get through. for example, i normally finish a doctor who book in about... 4-5 days. This one took me 25. I had to push myself to read 10 pages at a time.
I liked the way the 1st doc acted, it was very in character, and susan wasn't as annoying as she's been in others, but my god was this story boring and depressing. If the story in itself is bad, it doesn't matter how good the characterization is. If i had to place this book somewhere in the lineup, i'd put it probably say it wasn't as good as salvation, but not as bad as witch hunters.
so i'm going to give it a 2.5. however, as goodreads won't seemingly EVER let me give anything a 1/2 star, i can't in good conscience give it a 3. a 3 is a book that MAYBE in the distant future i MIGHT go "eh, i'll read that again maybe." this is not that. i will not read this again. So, sadly, it's a
2.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 2.
June 26, 2023
I was excited about trying another First Doctor PDA after surprising myself at how brilliant ‘City at World’s End’ was. Unfortunately, this just didn’t match up. The first two thirds feel very repetitive and largely uneventful. Things do pick up after an important turning point and the final act was far more gripping, but it took a while to get there. I was impressed by how much ‘City at World’s End’ feels like an original science-fiction novel in its own right rather than a contrived spin on some Doctor Who lore. There are points where ‘The Time Travellers’ comes closer to this, but often it can’t help but feel like a long-winded way of trying to solve the ‘you can’t change history’ problem and give a little more impetus for the Doctor’s eventual abandonment of Susan in the televised show. It goes some way to fill these holes but not without feeling shoehorned and detracting from the engagement of its own story.
February 19, 2023
This book does something that very few Doctor Who stories do. It actually used time as a major part of the plot and not just as the means of conveyance between episodes or when it’s convenient to escape some cliche danger.
Simon Guerrier writes a splendid book that reframes the characters and even some events from the show as the major conflict of the book ripples through time. I will not go into detail as it’s really a book that benefits from experiencing it first hand.
The ending I will say is incredibly cathartic, and gives a particularly tender moment between a TARDIS crew that is so often depicted as at odds with each other.
Simon Guerrier writes a splendid book that reframes the characters and even some events from the show as the major conflict of the book ripples through time. I will not go into detail as it’s really a book that benefits from experiencing it first hand.
The ending I will say is incredibly cathartic, and gives a particularly tender moment between a TARDIS crew that is so often depicted as at odds with each other.
Read
July 21, 2024Bit of a slog, this one. Guerrier has good intentions, but I was more lost than anything else, with his conception of Doctor Who's time travel rules not really being integrated into the plot so much as delivered as a lecture within it. The early attempt at doing a "Turn Left" is interesting, but that ends up being more of a backdrop to some very boring and uninterestingly violent battle scenes - ones that, frustratingly, I quickly lost track of.
The book picks up in the final quarter-or-so, with some decently moving character stuff revealing a better understanding of the characters than I had initially given it credit for. But by then, it's too little, too late.
The book picks up in the final quarter-or-so, with some decently moving character stuff revealing a better understanding of the characters than I had initially given it credit for. But by then, it's too little, too late.
December 3, 2024
The penultimate PDA does not disappoint, with a gripping tale featuring the 1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan.
This story is an absolute whirlwind, totally bonkers and confusing at times, really stretching what can be done within the boundaries of time travel, but suggesting interesting concepts that hadn’t really been explored before.
A great book that is definitely worth reading (if you can get your hands on it)
This story is an absolute whirlwind, totally bonkers and confusing at times, really stretching what can be done within the boundaries of time travel, but suggesting interesting concepts that hadn’t really been explored before.
A great book that is definitely worth reading (if you can get your hands on it)
June 17, 2018
When Doctor Who does Dystopia, I'm not much a fan of Dystopian Stories but with Doctor Who I let this slide. This one is basically a "What If" Story.
November 5, 2023
3.5 stars, not a bad book
September 29, 2022
The Time Travelers was the first Doctor Who novel I ever read (I've read a lot more since then) and I loved it. Re-reading it now, with a lot more Who under my belt, I find it still a really good novel that while somewhat lore-heavy and complexly timey-wimey, is still a really good book. And, it's a debut novel (though, as best I can tell, the author had written some Big Finish print short trips prior to this).
The plot revolves around the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara arriving in a dystopian 2006 London where England is losing a war with South Africa and the scientific part of the army is working on a time machine. The novel is set between the TV Stories Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth for the TARDIS Crew, while the London they find themselves in is a direct result of what would have happened if the Doctor had not interferred in The War Machines in his personal future. There are also references to The Tenth Planet and Remembrance of the Daleks. But on the whole, it's very much a self-contained, character-driven story.
There are plenty of twists as it progresses, but it's never overly confusing and everything is worked out well. The regulars are all written superbly with each of them getting good moments and something to do. The way the novel deals with time, and the First Doctor/Susan and the vague threat of the Time Lords is done very well. With the benefit of hindsight, Guerrier is able work in the aftermath of the "You can't rewrite history" speech from The Aztecs, as well as foreshadow, and make a bit less abrupt, Susan's departure in the next chronological story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. So, this is an excellent novel for Who fans in general, but especially if you like the mechanics/philosophy of Time Travel, and/or the original Tardis Team or the First Doctor era.
The plot revolves around the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara arriving in a dystopian 2006 London where England is losing a war with South Africa and the scientific part of the army is working on a time machine. The novel is set between the TV Stories Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth for the TARDIS Crew, while the London they find themselves in is a direct result of what would have happened if the Doctor had not interferred in The War Machines in his personal future. There are also references to The Tenth Planet and Remembrance of the Daleks. But on the whole, it's very much a self-contained, character-driven story.
There are plenty of twists as it progresses, but it's never overly confusing and everything is worked out well. The regulars are all written superbly with each of them getting good moments and something to do. The way the novel deals with time, and the First Doctor/Susan and the vague threat of the Time Lords is done very well. With the benefit of hindsight, Guerrier is able work in the aftermath of the "You can't rewrite history" speech from The Aztecs, as well as foreshadow, and make a bit less abrupt, Susan's departure in the next chronological story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. So, this is an excellent novel for Who fans in general, but especially if you like the mechanics/philosophy of Time Travel, and/or the original Tardis Team or the First Doctor era.
September 30, 2015
Yes, it explores the territory of time travel and causality, which is a subject which otherwise goes largely unmentioned in a series of adventures across time and space. Yes, it is very deftly pigeonholed before Susan's departure from the TARDIS crew, giving us some insight into the Doctor's decision. Yes, it offers some sorely-missing plausibility to the scenario of Daleks invade the Earth of their past. It even foreshadows some of the stories yet to come.
How does it manage to be such a tedious novel, then?
Normally I'm a sucker for science fiction stories relying heavily on time travel. I'm longing for a Doctor Who story along the lines of Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. The medium is right there in all its pioneering, boxy blue glory. I'm having great expectations from this premise. In this case, I was disappointed.
The story takes place in a (relatively) future London, ravaged by a war that shouldn't exist. Ian and Barbara suffer the most from this setting, as the timeline is close enough to their own to make their hopes and memories come back to haunt them. And it features the military ineptly meddling with time travel, which horrifies our two resident Time Lords, the Doctor and Susan. All in all, the premise serves to elicit extreme responses from the TARDIS crew, which is one of the nice elements of the book. Ian and Barbara finally talk their feelings out somewhat; the Doctor explains the responsibility of minimizing the footprint that the TARDIS crew leaves on timelines; and Susan seesaws between juvenile wanderlust and no-nonsense scientific responsibility. Dialogue among the main characters is, I believe, the strongest point of ths book.
The quality of the rest of the scenes is more nebulous. Only a few of the secondary characters escape two-dimensionality and, even for them, it's difficult to care after their continuity is messed up among the multiple timelines. As has been already commented upon by more competent reviewers, the "good part" of the story starts about two thirds into the book. But it's a mostly self-contained mini-quest, in a mostly separate timeline in a parallel universe. It's difficult to care for the first portion of the story if even the author is keen to sweep that reality under the carpet and shunt the TARDIS along the multiverse.
All things considered, I think that it was a noble effort, held back by a disjoined story layout. But the Doctor Who premise easily invites this kind of adventures, so hopefully there will be more where that came from!
How does it manage to be such a tedious novel, then?
Normally I'm a sucker for science fiction stories relying heavily on time travel. I'm longing for a Doctor Who story along the lines of Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. The medium is right there in all its pioneering, boxy blue glory. I'm having great expectations from this premise. In this case, I was disappointed.
The story takes place in a (relatively) future London, ravaged by a war that shouldn't exist. Ian and Barbara suffer the most from this setting, as the timeline is close enough to their own to make their hopes and memories come back to haunt them. And it features the military ineptly meddling with time travel, which horrifies our two resident Time Lords, the Doctor and Susan. All in all, the premise serves to elicit extreme responses from the TARDIS crew, which is one of the nice elements of the book. Ian and Barbara finally talk their feelings out somewhat; the Doctor explains the responsibility of minimizing the footprint that the TARDIS crew leaves on timelines; and Susan seesaws between juvenile wanderlust and no-nonsense scientific responsibility. Dialogue among the main characters is, I believe, the strongest point of ths book.
The quality of the rest of the scenes is more nebulous. Only a few of the secondary characters escape two-dimensionality and, even for them, it's difficult to care after their continuity is messed up among the multiple timelines. As has been already commented upon by more competent reviewers, the "good part" of the story starts about two thirds into the book. But it's a mostly self-contained mini-quest, in a mostly separate timeline in a parallel universe. It's difficult to care for the first portion of the story if even the author is keen to sweep that reality under the carpet and shunt the TARDIS along the multiverse.
All things considered, I think that it was a noble effort, held back by a disjoined story layout. But the Doctor Who premise easily invites this kind of adventures, so hopefully there will be more where that came from!
May 20, 2014
The danger in this book is not the plot. It is the boredom factor of Pages 1 - 198.... Once you get through the tedious grind of those pages - a very improved twist occurs that makes you interested again for the remaining 86 pages. For me, it was positive reviews from the rest of the gang on GoodReads that made me persevere - I toyed with giving up several times and very nearly did at approx Page 150. Andrews and the many duplicates; painful and the character was almost John Cleese on an unfunny day (and I doubt the actor has many of those). At least Susan wasn't just the screamy cryer this time, but I still found her irritating in print. Ian and Barbara were consistently good throughout, and I only really warmed to The First Doctor in the last few chapters when some rarely seen depth and substance was added. Up to then, he was just tetchy for the sake of it. I DO recommend readers who enjoy the original crew of the TARDIS to try this book, but it is hard going for more than the 1st three quarters. The Paradoxes were intriguing to a point, and I liked how Bamford's different characterisation in the alternate realities was explained; although her apparently "not being born" was hard to swallow. And you have to accept somehow that it was also a kind of Prequel to a 1966 story so all that happens between 1966 and 1972 shall theoretically change again and make this plot in itself paradoxical. Not for casual Who readers, more for the die-hard fan.
January 17, 2016
I think this book really looked at some interesting topics in the Doctor Who mythos, namely, "Can time be changed?" While this interesting premise extrapolates on the stories around it (both TV and original novels) and actually gives the main characters some development, its kind of slow moving and repetitive at times.
While some of the constant back-and-forth and running around in the first half of the book is similar to a lot of storylines of the time, it would have been nice to break away from that and provide a more driven tale. The second portion of the book fairs better, even though it pulls on the trope of "missing TARDIS."
Ian and Barbara definitely come out as the featured players in this story. It's great that Guerrier gives them a lot of narrative and development that the main series lacked. It will make the remainder of their stories more interesting and compelling. Susan gets her moments as well, but it mostly sets up what's directly ahead for her in "Dalek Invasion of Earth." While the Doctor himself has a few wonderful moments, most of his narrative is focused on Susan and maintaining some distance from the experiments going on.
While some of the background and exposition is muddy, this book is well worth reading just for the character development. Who fans will like to see what stirs the hearts of these classic characters.
While some of the constant back-and-forth and running around in the first half of the book is similar to a lot of storylines of the time, it would have been nice to break away from that and provide a more driven tale. The second portion of the book fairs better, even though it pulls on the trope of "missing TARDIS."
Ian and Barbara definitely come out as the featured players in this story. It's great that Guerrier gives them a lot of narrative and development that the main series lacked. It will make the remainder of their stories more interesting and compelling. Susan gets her moments as well, but it mostly sets up what's directly ahead for her in "Dalek Invasion of Earth." While the Doctor himself has a few wonderful moments, most of his narrative is focused on Susan and maintaining some distance from the experiments going on.
While some of the background and exposition is muddy, this book is well worth reading just for the character development. Who fans will like to see what stirs the hearts of these classic characters.
June 7, 2010
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1448919.html
A very neatly put together novel of the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara, set between Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth in a dystopian and devastated London of an alternative 2006, facing invasion from a South African army and disintegration as a result of the local boffins' time experiments; the last quarter of the book takes us back to 1972 (but a 1972 where WOTAN won, though only briefly) to try and put things right. Apart from the grimness of his militarised and failing future society, Guerrier has a lovely take on the Ian / Barbara relationship, and while his First Doctor isn't quite as consistent he still fills out some of the gaps in the character rather well (less so poor Susan, whose main characteristics are her skills in time-keeping and cooking). The time-paradox plot is not resolved with mathematical rigour, but is satisfying all the same. Good stuff.
A very neatly put together novel of the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara, set between Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth in a dystopian and devastated London of an alternative 2006, facing invasion from a South African army and disintegration as a result of the local boffins' time experiments; the last quarter of the book takes us back to 1972 (but a 1972 where WOTAN won, though only briefly) to try and put things right. Apart from the grimness of his militarised and failing future society, Guerrier has a lovely take on the Ian / Barbara relationship, and while his First Doctor isn't quite as consistent he still fills out some of the gaps in the character rather well (less so poor Susan, whose main characteristics are her skills in time-keeping and cooking). The time-paradox plot is not resolved with mathematical rigour, but is satisfying all the same. Good stuff.
February 9, 2019
The Doctor always lies. With The Time Travellers Simon Guerrier creates a story that if it was aired, would have been an excellent wrap up to the concepts in Season 1 with preparing for the departure of Susan. Also, it delivers something the series could not, time travel showing the affects of the Doctor in futures stories to come.
We are shown shown that history is changed as soon anyone leaves the TARDIS. This shows that is is possible to change time, but when the Doctor doesn't it is by choice. The plot does captivate you as you try to work out what is going on with the experiments of the loop. You are also given references to four other future stories, rwo Fist Doctor stories and two Seventh Doctor stores.
With a strong plot, Guerrier also builds depth to the characters we are familiar with, and life to the supporting characters as well. The details are great as well. This book is worth repeat reading.
We are shown shown that history is changed as soon anyone leaves the TARDIS. This shows that is is possible to change time, but when the Doctor doesn't it is by choice. The plot does captivate you as you try to work out what is going on with the experiments of the loop. You are also given references to four other future stories, rwo Fist Doctor stories and two Seventh Doctor stores.
With a strong plot, Guerrier also builds depth to the characters we are familiar with, and life to the supporting characters as well. The details are great as well. This book is worth repeat reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2022
Time travel paradox stories are difficult to work effectively. The trouble is not returning to strict cause-effect thinking. So, the resolution does not fully work. That being said, the premise of the story is very interesting. It reminds me of a classic "Outer Limits" adventure. The Doctor and companions arrive in London, but swiftly find out that this is not their London, but one belonging to a parallel time track, or an altered future. The culprit is a device that the users think is a time machine. However, it does not work in time machine fashion. One person goes in, but copies of that person from parallel time tracks start coming out. The original has been inserted into one of those parallel tracks. The Doctor and crew must somehow get things back to their proper order. It is interesting enough, and has many twists. For me, the problem in reading this novel was that too many characters do what they do for stupid reasons.
November 15, 2015
Not a bad read, but very frustrating at times. I like many of story's threads and much of the guest cast, but a lot of the plot feels overly drawn out, with chunks that drag and far too much narrative plate-spinning. The opening teaser is also a pretty cheap trick, and some of the things Guerrier puts the main cast through (including not one, but several threats of rape) are more than a bit too much, and the resulting drama comes off feeling forced. Still, I don't dislike it for the most part. Good scifi, great "horrors of war" exploration, some nice twists in the final act, and the prose is striking and vivid. I just don't think it'll be high on my list to revisit any time soon if ever, and I have a few too many reservations to ultimately give it a recommend.
August 10, 2018
A stunning exploration of time travel gone wrong, with one of the most powerful depictions of the William Hartnell Doctor ever put to print. At times, the temporal machinations can make your head spin a little too fast...and it does help to have a passing familiarity with the events of the 1966 story "The War Machines"...but don't let either of those quibbles stop you from reading this excellent novel. Original companion Ian Chesteron's tragic-yet-noble fate in this story is something breathtaking to behold.
December 30, 2012
Overall, it was very enjoyable! Very timey-wimey! The original characters were three-dimensional and their interactions with team TARDIS were great. There are lots of moments that show how Susan is this awesome Time Lady and is a total genius, but there is also the moments were you're reminded she's still young. Ian and Barbara have some really fantastic parts too – about what they mean to each other (alsjalsjsk). And of course, there is the Doctor and how he longs for travel and thrill of adventure.
Very great addition for the First Doctor era!
Very great addition for the First Doctor era!
February 22, 2011
You can't help but adore the first doctor after reading this. Ian also proves to much more of an action-loving, adrenaline-junkie in this one than could ever be shown on screen. The book proves very interesting and I would put it next to "Festival of Death" in my competition for 'which is the best Doctor Who book?'... pssht... who am I kidding.... they're all the best!
June 7, 2012
A slightly confusing storyline but very well done. The first Doctor with the original team lands on a very strange London that has been at war for years following an incident with a computer trying to take over the world. (The War Machines) Some really good character stuff, and its nice to see a Dr Who book that doesn't shy away from proper scifi concepts.
December 20, 2012
The Doctor (William Hartnell), Ian, Barbara and Susan land in London in the middle of a war between Britain and South Africa. There are foreshadowings of The Tenth Planet and Brigadier Bambara (from Battlefield). I did enjoy the theory of extra dimensions and multiple copies of people that kept showing up; but thought that this could have been more fully explored.
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