Doctor Who: The King of Terror

Past Doctor Adventures #37

by Keith Topping

Two alien races -- the Jex and the Canavitchi -- are engaged in a battle to invade and either conquer or destroy the planet Earth. The Doctor is summoned to a meeting with Brigadier who shows him a photograph of a powerful media mogul named Sanger -- who has bought enough plutonium to destroy the world ten times over. UNIT are on the case and it seems that Sanger is one of a frightening number of alien Jex who came to Earth twenty years ago to sow the seeds of their ruthless world-domination... When the Canavitchi launch their counter-attack and their alien fleets embark upon full-scale destruction, the Doctor finds himself engaged in a race against time to save planet Earth.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 15, 2000

About the author

Keith Andrew Topping is an author, journalist and broadcaster most closely associated with his work relating to the BBC Television series Doctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety of television and film series, specifically Buffy the Vampire Slayer.He is also the author of two books of rock music critique. To date, Topping has written over 40 books.

One of the leading players in British Doctor Who fandom's fan-fiction movement during the 1980s, Topping's first published fiction was the BBC Books "Past Doctor Adventure" The Devil Goblins from Neptune in 1997. The novel was co-written with his friend and frequent collaborator Martin Day.
The pair quickly followed this up with the acclaimed novel The Hollow Men in 1998. Following Day's move into TV scripting, Topping wrote the novels The King of Terror (2000) and Byzantium! (2001) solo. The latter novel is the only BBC Books Past Doctor Adventure to be set entirely within one episode of the television series Doctor Who — 1965's The Romans by Dennis Spooner. Topping also wrote the Telos Doctor Who novella Ghost Ship which was published in 2002 and proved so popular that it was one of only two novellas reissued as a paperback edition in 2003.

As well as writing fiction, Topping has also authored numerous programme guides to television series as diverse as The X Files, The Avengers, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Sweeney and The Professionals. These were all published by Virgin Books, and co-written with Martin Day and Paul Cornell. Cornell, Day and Topping also collaborated on the popular Doctor Who Discontinuity Guide, published by Virgin Books in 1995 and re-issued, in the US, by MonkeyBrain Books in 2004, a lighthearted guide to the mistakes and incongruities of the television series. The trio had first worked together co-writing two editions of The Guinness Book of Classic British Television (1993 and 1996 respectively).

Subsequently, Topping wrote The Complete Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Every Episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a number of related texts on this popular series as well as guide books to The West Wing (Inside Bartlet's White House), Angel (Hollywood Vampire), 24 (A Day in the Life) and Stargate SG-1 (Beyond the Gate), amongst others. According to the 2003 book Slayer Slang by Michael Adams (Oxford University Press), Topping was the originator of the word 'vampiry' (adj. "exhibiting features of a vampire") in the January 2000 edition of his book Slayer (pg. 26). In addition, Topping is a regular contributor of articles and reviews to several TV and genre titles including TV Zone, Xposé and Shivers and is a former Contributing Editor of Dreamwatch. He also worked as Project Consultant on Charmed: The Complete DVD Collection.

On radio, Topping was the Producer/Presenter of the monthly Book Club (2005-2007) and currently co-presents a daily television review slot, Monday to Friday, on The Simon Logan Show for BBC Newcastle. He has also contributed to the BBC television series' I Love the '70s, Call The Cops and The Perfect Detective and has written for Sounds, the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times Culture Supplement and many other magazines and periodicals.

Topping writes, and occasionally performs, stand-up comedy and has written radio comedy sketches, an (unproduced) stage play and a TV pilot (with Martin Day) that is, currently, stuck in “Development Hell.”

Topping continues to live and work on Tyneside. He achieved a lifetimes ambition in 2005 when his book on The Beatles, Do You Want to Know a Secret was published by Virgin Books.

Reviews

[Isabella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 stars

Eh. This book was ok. Turlough was the only one doing interesting stuff for once. But he was still being captured, as he always seems to be. This quote was funny though:

" 'And Turlough?' [...]
'He was sent to kill me. I greatly admired that!' "

A very Doctor-y quote. Well done. Oh, this one was good too:

“ 'Strange girl,' said Paynter.
‘I like her,’ replied Milligan. ‘She's got spunk.'
‘Yeah, but she's an Australian,’ noted Paynter, as if that was a crime in itself. ‘London bars are full of them. Big mouths and smelly shoes.’ “

I love any and all references to Tegan’s Aussie-ness.

[Gareth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Keith Topping co-wrote two very good books with Martin Day, and this is his first solo effort. Unfortunately it makes me wish he’d get the band back together.

The King Of Terror is dreadful: it has no clear grasp of tone, juggling broad comedy and often brutal violence, earnest philosophising and meta pop culture snark. The writing is all over the place and the plot moves along in awkward spurts.

The regulars are terribly written — when has the Fifth Doctor ever been this rude, and why does Tegan fall for an appalling misogynist? Said catch, wide boy UNIT operative Geoff Paynter, is our de facto protagonist for much of this. Sadly he’s a leaden sack of clichés.

All in all, the editor must have taken the day off. Dire.

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Characterizations seem off, even for a book set during season 21. To be honest, I tuned out when Turlough got roofied and anal probed. Avoid.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a joke in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy about two warring factions uniting to find the being that insulted them, that being Arthur Dent. The punchline being that the two factions of alien races are small, and Arthur never even knows they’re after him. It is that joke which feels like the inspiration for The King of Terror, Keith Topping’s first solo novel, and third overall, and honestly, it might just be why the book falls incredibly flat. It’s premise is essentially a cliché, Adams only makes it work by turning it into an absurdist joke. The book starts out perfectly fine with the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough finding their way into a conspiracy involving UNIT and with UNIT comes Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This is a Brigadier post-Battlefield as the book also takes place at the turn of the millennium, something that several Past Doctor Adventures would do. It doesn’t take long for the conspiracy to lead to California and that’s where the book slows down its pace to essentially a drudge. The initial chapters are promising, Topping displays the prose that made The Devil Goblins from Neptune and The Hollow Men such enjoyable reads with the only quibble being the characterization of the leads is a touch bland, but hey this is a Fifth Doctor novel, so he tends to be on the bland side at times.

Tegan and Turlough have little to do in the opening chapters and once the action moves to America, their characterization is thrown off-kilter, Turlough especially taking the more annoying aspects of the character and amplifying them to an extreme degree. He gets drunk and whines constantly throughout the book, and there is a rather unfortunate subplot that is unnecessarily dark for everyone involved. The central aliens at the core of the book, the Jex and the Canavitchi, could have been fun in a campy B-movie style plot, something that the cover of the book actually looks like it’s going for, but Topping plays them straight as being behind a grand conspiracy to bring their battle to Earth, creating as the Brigadier says at one point a war in heaven. Topping has some imagery feel like it’s meant to be referencing the Eighth Doctor Adventures’ concept of the War in Heaven, but it isn’t explicit and feels more like Topping attempting to be creative with the imagery in the book. The pace of the book also is actively working against it, instead of a mystery slowly revealing layers and putting pieces together, the book is a slog to get through. Usually it only takes me a couple of days to get through a book this size, but this one took me over a week and a half simply because there wasn’t much motivation for me to continue. There is some effort in the book to make a conspiracy at the American UNIT work and set up some things for a potential sequel (a sequel that Topping would never write due to only penning one more book), but this is a book which had an inkling of a good idea that wasn’t capitalized on.

Overall, The King of Terror is a book which should work on paper but does not in practice. There are scant few moments when it does shine, and it is just a little shorter than the other Past Doctor Adventures. It is mainly let down by a plot that comes across as cliched, less than standard Doctor Who fair, and characterization that either doesn’t seem to understand why a character would work, or just keeping the bland aspects to a character. There are a few good ideas, but it’s one of the most skippable Past Doctor Adventures. 2/10.

[Irredeemable Shag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 3.5 rating… a solid 4 for interesting characterization and making me get invested in the secondary characters. Though a 3 for the violence that goes far beyond typical Doctor Who.

Overall enjoyed and would be interested in reading more from the author.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions Tegan and Turlough star in this Past Doctor Adventures book.
The Doctor is called in by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT to investigate the powerful conglomorate InterCom. Amid subterfuge and espionage, they discover that the Earth is the latest battleground in a war between two powerful alien species.

This book has a serious tone problem. The author never seems to decide what sort of tone he wants to set and therefore bounces back and forth between various ones seemingly at random. You may think that the tone of a book isn't that important overall, but when it gives us things like a crew of mass-murdering terrorists who are played for laughs or a tense ultra-violent action sequence which turns into a cheesy romance subplot, it definitely is important.
At times the author writes as if this story shouldn't be taken seriously at all and then he throws in a chapter of Turlough being tortured and anally violated (yes, you did read that right). In short, this book is a mess.

It's a real shame too because Topping's prose is easy to read and of compelling quality on the small scale and he even gives us some interesting new UNIT characters to get to know and understand. Unfortunately, however, he also recycles awful characters from the miserable 'The Devil Goblins of Neptune' (not to mention the convention of having a really terrible title), without ever really justifying doing so.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *

[James Lotshaw III · Rating 1 out of 5]

The King of Terror by Keith Topping is one of the worst Doctor Who books I’ve ever read, which includes The Twin Dilemma novelization. It’s as if the writer hasn’t put any thought or effort into writing a novel based the 21st season, which includes the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlogh, whose characterizations were never like the show.

My own measuring stick is if the book engages me within the first 100 pages, and if the novel fails to deliver, then I feel that I want to escape and leave this book behind. By page 92, I no longer cared about anything regarding this book, and it felt more like painfully watching paint dry, but with no quick ending or remote direction where the plot is heading.

It has been postulated the group CIA could be the Central Intelligence Agency, the Celestial Intervention Agency or Control; however, I wouldn’t care if this group was a bunch of evil bunnies out to dominate the carrot patches throughout the world, because this group comes off as faceless and vague.

The plot isn’t very original because there are other novels that cover the same ground, but only better or a less convoluted way by dragging the Doctor and companions on a trip to Los Angeles from England.

Note: I’m completing this novel because it has the Brigadier, and I’m interested in how this novel ends.

[Justin Partridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Do you really want to end your lives squabbling about the greatest album in the world ever?!”

Not too shabby! Definitely wooly and absolutely has that “first novel” indulgence that you get with certain franchise tie-ins like this but a pretty fun time!

It’s very interesting how the one move with these in regards to The Fifth Doctor is just “put him and his companions in a super fucked up/moral grey situation and go from there”. Any time The Doctor brushes up against America and American power structures (The Company here, and even a few cameos from the “current” (nee’ 2000) President is always fun but I feel like the plot skirts against some really unpleasant stuff I don’t really love being woven through DW.

I will say though, I appreciate Turlough getting so much to do here. Despite it being at the cost of Tegan’s whole plot which is just…REALLY frustrating consistently (despite also having a few genuine sweet moments).

I don’t think this one does a lot to convince me I need to keep going on the Fifth Doctor efforts but I’m happy I finally brought this one home (mainly so I can get onto another Eighth Doctor or maybe even the next PDA directly after this one which is a Sixie book I like a lot that I had as a lad!)

[Mole Mann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The landmarks of one of the most beautiful cities on Earth flashed by them as they drove through Golden Gate Park at high speed. But neither the Time Lord nor the soldier seemed particularly interested in their surroundings.
Hmm so I didn't like this one. On the level of concepts, this should have been good. The idea of an evil company taking root because of the convenience of their technology is... worryingly valid in the modern era. The idea of aliens using the Earth as nothing more than a battlefield is also interesting. Along with this, Topping isn't a bad writer of prose. The references to International Electromatix (or whatever that company from The Invasion is) border the line between being metatextual in a smart way and simply annoying because they remind you of a better story.
The main problem with this is character. Topping doesn't really get the voice of the regulars (especially Turlough, who feels wildly mischaracterized, and Tegan who gets saddled with a terrible romance sideplot) and basically wastes them by sidelining them. The plot also feels very wonky, like Topping didn't think it out while writing it. It definitely suffers from first novel syndrome, though with a more experienced Topping (or even a better writer) this could have been good.

[John Longeway · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is, quite simply, terrible. It isn't that the writer is awful at writing, but the story is awful as Doctor Who. Want to read about a drunken Turlough getting turned on and trying to turn a one night stand? Want to read about blood running down Turlough's thighs after being anal probed? This is your book! Want to see the Doctor's most headstrong companion, Tegan, literally do nothing and be passive? This is the book for you! Want to read a Doctor Who book where the Doctor and his companions, who literally do nothing for 100 pages, are barely in it? You can find it right here! Or, you can spare yourself and skip it. I mostly only finished this by hate-reading it and spent nearly the entire book agitated.

[John Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

So you've written the dumbest, cringiest romance subplot that makes no sense in your sci-fi novel and in one scene where the characters are making out this bit of dialogue occurs:

"This is stupid...It's a crass romantic comedy subplot that's impressing precisely no one."
"Agreed!...It's an insult to our intelligence!"

Big ol' undeserved wink there from the author. You don't get to do that. But then a couple of chapters later the author goes out of his way to criticize a bad line of dialogue from a 60s David Whitaker story. The cajones, man...

[David Layton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one got a thrashing on other Doctor Who review sites, though the one other review here, so far, praised it. I lean more towards thrashing, but will not exactly take that course. Here is the basic premise - an international conglomerate that has swiftly taken over the communications systems of earth is really a bunch of aliens. The idea goes back at least as far as John Carpenter's underrated film "They Live" and has appeared in other Doctor Who novels. To give the notion some novelty, Topping has included a second group of aliens bent on wiping out the first. Earth is merely part of their strategies. The first seek domination and enslavement, while the second seek total annihilation. This is fine and provides plenty of room for cloak and dagger play. However, cloak and dagger requires carefully controlled and tight plotting, which "The King of Terror" utterly lacks. Far too much in this book is throw-away. For instance, there is a useless prologue involving an interview with an ancient Brigadier, which provides no clues at all about the rest of the novel. Much of the early going involves two UNIT operatives following a courier of illegal plutonium from Amsterdam to Los Angeles. Then, they get stopped, the courier makes his delivery, gets blown away, and that is the end of it. The whole carefully described extravaganza is merely a novelist's excuse to get our two UNIT men to L.A. Similarly, Tegan gets sent on a useless trip to the desert that again serves no particular plot purpose other than the convenience of having her see a UFO. There is a throwaway reference to a pop star that we are supposed to infer is the son of Ian and Barbara and who apparently had some kind of relationship with Tegan in his past but her future. This last incident is only one of the many pointless diversions in order to give a wink to the fans. The main characters are mostly wasted. Turlough spends 3/4 of the novel being imprisoned and tortured. Tegan spends 3/4 of the novel arguing with everyone and being utterly useless. The Doctor and the Brigadier spend most of their time chatting to this person, then that person, and not much else. Finally, there is the matter of numerous references to one of Topping's previous books, with Martin Day, "The Devil-Goblins From Neptune." The only actual carryover from that book is the head of the CIA, Control (yes, I saw "The Equalizer" too). In this case, I believe, there are some heavy hints that the CIA is not the Central Intelligence Agency, but really the Celestial Intervention Agency, or at least Control is. Again, what for? All in all, it is a frustrating read because of all the things it could have been.

[Nicholas Whyte]

"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1335947.html?#cutid1[return][return]I am relieved to report that King of Terror is the best Doctor Who book I have read by Keith Topping. This is faint praise, because I really did not like either Byzantium! or Ghost Ship. The prose style seemed a bit more under control here, though it still isn't a very good book: lots of gratuitous violence, rather improbable scenes not quite involving sex (separately) for Tegan and Turlough, and peculiar unexplained irrelevancies like the Doctor's dislike of the CIA, and Tegan's future marriage to the rock-star son of Ian and Barbara. One to skip."

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a considerable lack of glowing reviews for this particular novel, but I found it contained a great deal I enjoyed: an excellent command of the 5th Doctor, Tegan & Turlough; a solid updating of a retired Brigadier and late 90s UNIT, and a surprisingly violent tone that manages to remain adult without descending into gratuity. However, there are far too many characters and sub-plots to keep track of with any comfort, and the terrorist sub-plot in particular didn't hold my attention very well. In spite of those caveats, I wish I could give this a 3.5 star rating, because the positives of "The King of Terror" definitely outweigh the negatives.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

All said and done I enjoyed this it features the fifth doctor ,Tegan,Turlough and UNIT.
Due to the UNIT involvement this adventure has a more militaristic flair than some of the others I have read with the Doctor appearing as in some ways a strategist rather than being a wholly central figure going alone.
That said in many ways I enjoyed this as it feels a different sort of adventure despite it being the usual alien infiltration/invasion type tale.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough get asked by the Brigadier to look into a company that is run by aliens. This is an interesting story, and it is always nice to see the Brigadier with different Doctors. Turlough goes through hell, an event that would be character changing, but it doesn't seem to be. I think giving Tegan a romance was a lazy thing to do with that character. That being said, the UNIT thing was well played and the Control character was intriguing. A good read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book i loved it

[James Bowman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very uneven Fifth Doctor novel. There are a few decent bits here and there (mainly some character moments early in the book), but mostly it's a mess.