Doctor Who: Superior Beings

Past Doctor Adventures #43

by Nick Walters

The planet Rocosia consists of nothing but immaculately-cultivated plant life, which propagates and cultivates itself -- there are no mammals, insects, aquatic or avian creatures living there. So the plants seem to exist for no apparent ecological reason, but visitors to the planet are soon distracted from the enigma by the dazzling beauty of the gardens.

One night, Peri spots a strange, multi-limbed creature picking fruit from one of the trees, and she decides to follow it. She gets lost though, and ends up attacked by a Decimator, a vicious, thorny plant. Regaining consciousness, she finds herself the captive of a humanoid fox in tight-fitting leather who is clearly very excited about eating her...

Meanwhile the Doctor finds Rocosia in a state of chaos as the Decimators appear in force and embark upon systematic destruction of the entire planet. The Doctor is rescued by the Valethske -- the creatures holding Peri captive. What are the Valethske doing on Rocosia and why are the Decimators trying to destroy the planet? And will the Doctor and Peri be able to escape before the entire planet is consumed by fire?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In

280 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look here's how it is; the Fifth Doctor is my favourite and when I don't think you've captured him very well there's a problem. It's even more jarring when you read something like Fear of the Dark first.

There's some fine world building here, but the Doctor doesn't really do much of anything and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The description on Goodreads is an entirely inaccurate summary of this book. In actuality, Peri and the Doctor land on a small vacation planet during a party for a race of hedonists. The Valethske invade this planet, killing and eating almost everyone before kidnapping Peri and a few of the survivors to freeze and eat later. Only after all this carnage has taken place do we eventually get introduced to the garden planet in the description.

The plot mainly consists of the human characters getting captured by the Valethske, escaping/being rescued in various ways, and then being recaptured again, over and over, with most of them getting killed along the way.

I suppose one of the benefits of a book based on a TV series is that it can include content you can't show on television, but I would have preferred that to be more through exploring interesting ideas and the inner worlds of the characters (though to be fair, there is some of that), and less through continuous graphic violence.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel gives off the same vibe as Paul Leonard's "Speed of Flight" -- an incredibly thorough exercise in alien anthropology, but not exactly a story that held my attention. On top of which, as a die-hard 5th Doctor fan, I'm not sure I suitably felt the era depicted within these pages. That said, it scores over "Speed of Flight" by having a much more exciting & epic climax that literally scorches the earth.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took several novels but finally after so much time we have a second good Fifth Doctor novel to be published by BBC Books. Nick Walters’ third Doctor Who novel takes the Fifth Doctor and Peri to an apparent utopia, a garden planet perfect for exploring Peri’s skills as a botanist and give them a vacation. Perhaps what makes Superior Beings work is that the Fifth Doctor and Peri for the first time have perfect characterization. This could be because Big Finish Productions had been releasing Doctor Who audio dramas for over two years by the time this novel was released, indeed Red Dawn was already released and Justin Richards’ characterization seems to be the blueprint for making a Fifth Doctor/Peri relationship work and I suspect as editor he was able to bring Walters on board with the proper characterization. The Fifth Doctor in particular shines more like the older Davison’s portrayals, with some added snark at direct moments which cut through what had been quite the bland portrayal of the character up until this point. The opening chapters with the Doctor are a delight as here he is brimming with life and emotion, and Walters makes it feel like shackles have been lifted now that Tegan and Turlough have both left.

It is actually Peri who perhaps shines the most throughout Superior Beings, as Walters decides to explore just what someone growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in Maryland would actually be like. Peri as an “American” on television wasn’t really a thing, Nicola Bryant is attempting an American accent and John Nathan-Turner’s baffling and borderline abusive forcing the accent on the actress is well documented (even when she wasn’t performing plus Bryant recently coming out to document the backhanded abuse of power by Nathan-Turner), and after Peter Davison left before the end of Season 21 the character was quickly shifted from a plucky college student to this jaded woman trying to deal with a Doctor who is very unstable. Walters really picks up on the pluck throughout the novel to expose her to the wonder of the universe, even if Superior Beings is a book which is quite dark throughout. Heck, this is a book where Peri is propositioned for sex through a cultural misunderstanding, the people on the planet are in such bliss that there genuinely wouldn’t be a reason for people not to engage in sexual behaviors. There’s also so much violence, and the book itself ends in a very dark manner with a lot of the characters dead, yet you never get the sense that Peri is losing her sense of wonder. It’s very much an are you kidding me, there’s still a whole universe to see and of course it can’t get any worse. This doesn’t mean Superior Beings doesn’t have it’s problems, the plot itself has this tendency to meander in places and the characterization of the supporting characters genuinely leave a lot to be desired, but the main threat of the Valesthke is wonderful with this sinister religious undertone as there is a sense of things possibly being bigger. The title itself is a bit misleading however, implying some sort of genetic engineering plot which doesn’t really happen.

Overall, Superior Beings is honestly a book I can recommend if you actually want good Fifth Doctor content. The characterization of the regulars is the best the BBC Books has to offer and Nick Walters brings this great tension and suspense to the rest of the book which makes it all worth it, despite some issues with things not quite adding up to their full potential. 7/10.

[Trevor Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fast paced, throughly excting yarn which held my attention for the entire book.
Sometimes in these PDA books, the writers get bogged down in the description of the aliens & there history. It often becomes all sub Tolkien (I'm not a fan) and starts to drift off into fantasy.
This novel keeps the alien baddies very basic but also very interesting.
Been warned. This is a very graphic (violence) novel in places and is probably not for the faint hearted, however if like me your a fan of the Ailen/Ailens films I think you may like this all though having said that its nothing like either !
The Doctor, Peri & the rest of the cast are really well fleshed out and throughly interesting, though like Caves Of Androzani not many of them survive, and I really enjoyed the ending.
A highly reccomended book with a bounus feature of Peri being naked in a couple of scenes, if only it was on film !

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my re-read of the Classic Doctor Who books in order, this has to be the darkest one yet. Nick Waters' writing style allows the plot to be followed, and keep you guessing on the direction the story takes place. Though it takes a while to remember some of the names of characters.

What makes this story hard is how dark it is. Due to how dark, it would not be shown on TV. Since this is taking place shortly after Peri joins the Doctor, I'm surprised she does not have PTSD for the rest of her time with him.

At the same time, the story does have some interesting concepts. The trouble I have, which is why I did not give it a stronger rating, is that it is an odd fit into Doctor Who, because of how dark it is. I'm avoiding spoilers with why. Then again, I'm not sure how this story could be told, without a key re-write if it did not involve the Doctor.

If you are a Doctor Who fan, I would say still give this book a chance. Then you can decide if you think it is too dark or not.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have noticed that this series of Doctor Who books are darker and more violent than their other series. In this book, the 5th Doctor and Peri are still at the beginning of their friendship having only recently started to travel together. Which was one of the things that intrigued me enough to want to read this book. I have read a fair amount of the 6th Doctor and Peri but nothing with the 5th Doctor. Plus, we do not get much with the two of them on the show, so I have always wanted to explore their dynamic a bit more. They land on a planet only to get quickly separated and then taken prisoner by vicious aliens. This is an interesting story but also there is a lot of death in this book. All in all, too much graphic violence, and the way it ends made me sad.

Warnings for: explicit scenes of violence and humans being eaten.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor and Peri land on a planet that seems like paradise, until a group of cat-like aliens start hunting everybody. It's an interesting storyline that has some unusual plot twists. This felt like a proper sci-fi novel, with 3 distinct races and cultures. Peri is still getting to know the Doctor and is starting to realise how much danger he can be involved in. Although the Doctor and Peri are well depicted, it doesn't feel like a 5th Doctor story. A good read.

[Douglas Yannaghas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waaaay more explicit than I was expecting from a Doctor Who Novel. There's definitely the Torchwood trap for dark Doctor Who stories (the level of edgy, dark elements can make the story seem more childish rather than more adult), but Superior Beings avoids this easily. Grusome monsters contrasted with beautiful "superior" humans and a gorgeous setting that is slowly twisted by the violence and bloodlust of the Valethske.

[Martin Krumpholz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good start. Way more sex and graphic violence than the television series could get away with. Some interesting plot ideas. But the second half (maybe last three-quarters) dragged on too much for my liking.

[John Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite straightforward, although I don't mean that as an insult. In other words, it's a standalone story rather than being part of an ongoing narrative, so you don't need to read umpty-ump other books or remember every past episode in order to understand what's going on.

It involves the 5th Doctor and Peri, and it's effectively a "missing adventure", i.e. it could easily have been an episode of the TV series. They travel to an alien world, get mixed up in various goings on, then continue on their way at the end. Reading a few Dr Who books has made me realise that I'm really just a casual fan of the TV series (relative to others), so this is the type of story that I'm really after. The characters are well defined, and there's some decent speculation about alien life. It's not very uplifting, but I can live with that.

[Nicholas Whyte]

"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1335947.html?#cutid3[return][return]Walters has done rather well on characterising Peri as young, vulnerable, and actually interested in botany; she is pursued as sexual prey by one non-human and then as literal prey by the nasties when they show up. The nasties are engaged on a mad religious quest as well as killing and eating passers-by, and the Doctor inevitably has to put a stop to it. It is a decent enough novel but I could have survived without quite so many scenes of brutal dismemberment, and also there was the odd annoying editorial slip."

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the many companions of the series, Peri suffered from some of the worst characterization. The novels and audios have gone a long way to fix that error, and in this novel we get a Peri whose appeal is more than just sexual. The Doctor 5/Peri combination had only two stories to develop, so it is nice to see and hear it go further. They would have been an excellent combination had things worked out. About the novel itself, Walters writes an exciting story about the consequences of cult worship. The gods are not what they seem. His vulpine aliens are nasty, but nasty by nature, and certainly have redeemable traits. This is one definitely worth reading.