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Doctor Who: Missing Adventures #15
Doctor Who: Millennial Rites
'The Millennium, Mel: the last New Year's eve of the Twentieth century. But it's definitely not party time.'
England, 1999: the Sixth Doctor and Mel have come to London to celebrate the new year with old friends - and to heal old wounds. But others are making more sinister preparations to usher in the new millennium. A software house is about to run a program that will change the fabric of reality. And an entity older than the universe is soon to be reborn.
When Anne Travers' fear of the Great Intelligence and millionaire philanthropist Ashley Chapel's secret researches combine, London is transformed into a dark and twisted mirror image populated by demons and sorcerers. Only the Doctor can put things right, but his friends have also been shockingly changed and he cannot trust anybody - least of all himself.
England, 1999: the Sixth Doctor and Mel have come to London to celebrate the new year with old friends - and to heal old wounds. But others are making more sinister preparations to usher in the new millennium. A software house is about to run a program that will change the fabric of reality. And an entity older than the universe is soon to be reborn.
When Anne Travers' fear of the Great Intelligence and millionaire philanthropist Ashley Chapel's secret researches combine, London is transformed into a dark and twisted mirror image populated by demons and sorcerers. Only the Doctor can put things right, but his friends have also been shockingly changed and he cannot trust anybody - least of all himself.
311 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 1995
1 person is currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Craig Hinton
25 books7 followersCraig Paul Alexander Hinton was a British writer best known for his work on spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who. He also wrote articles for science fiction magazines and was the Coordinator of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. He taught mathematics in London, where he was found dead in his home on 3 December 2006. The cause of death was given as a heart attack.
Hinton first was known for his articles about science fiction television programmes, including Doctor Who and Star Trek. These brought him to the attention of the editor of Marvel UK's Doctor Who Magazine, who offered him the job of reviewing merchandise for the magazine's Shelf Life section. Whilst writing for the magazine, Hinton had his first novel published. The Crystal Bucephalus was part of Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures range. The book - which Hinton often jokingly referred to as "The Crystal Bucket" - was originally submitted for Virgin's New Adventures, and 50,000 words of this version were written before the change was made.
This novel was followed by a further Missing Adventure, Millennial Rites in 1995, and then by Hinton's only New Adventure in 1996, GodEngine, which features the Ice Warriors as well as oblique appearances by the Daleks.
Following Virgin's loss of their licence for Doctor Who merchandise, Hinton began submitting proposals to BBC Books. In 2001 they published his novel The Quantum Archangel as part of their BBC Past Doctor Adventures range. This was followed in 2004 by Synthespians™. This had started life as a proposal for the Eighth Doctor before being adapted to a previous Doctor. An image of the television show Dynasty was used on the cover: the cover's creators had arranged for permission to use the copyrighted image, but had neglected to get permission to alter it. At the last minute a replacement cover had to be produced. It is this that appears on the cover.
Hinton's Doctor Who novels often contain references to or explanations of elements of past continuity. He claimed to have been the originator of the term "fanwank", which he applied to his own work.
Hinton continued to work with Virgin, writing pseudonymously under the name Paul C. Alexander for their Idol range. He wrote three books in the range: Chains of Deceit, The Final Restraint and Code of Submission. These titles were a major departure from his science fiction. They explored aspects of his sexuality only suggested in his other works.
Hinton wrote for Big Finish Productions' Audio Adventures. The play Excelis Decays was produced in 2002 for their Doctor Who range and The Lords of Forever in 2005 for their The Tomorrow People range. Hinton also wrote short stories for their short fiction collections.
Outside of the science fiction world Hinton was a noted IT journalist in the UK. He edited magazines in the mid-1990s for VNU Business Publications in London and moved on to ITNetwork.com shortly afterwards.
Hinton first was known for his articles about science fiction television programmes, including Doctor Who and Star Trek. These brought him to the attention of the editor of Marvel UK's Doctor Who Magazine, who offered him the job of reviewing merchandise for the magazine's Shelf Life section. Whilst writing for the magazine, Hinton had his first novel published. The Crystal Bucephalus was part of Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures range. The book - which Hinton often jokingly referred to as "The Crystal Bucket" - was originally submitted for Virgin's New Adventures, and 50,000 words of this version were written before the change was made.
This novel was followed by a further Missing Adventure, Millennial Rites in 1995, and then by Hinton's only New Adventure in 1996, GodEngine, which features the Ice Warriors as well as oblique appearances by the Daleks.
Following Virgin's loss of their licence for Doctor Who merchandise, Hinton began submitting proposals to BBC Books. In 2001 they published his novel The Quantum Archangel as part of their BBC Past Doctor Adventures range. This was followed in 2004 by Synthespians™. This had started life as a proposal for the Eighth Doctor before being adapted to a previous Doctor. An image of the television show Dynasty was used on the cover: the cover's creators had arranged for permission to use the copyrighted image, but had neglected to get permission to alter it. At the last minute a replacement cover had to be produced. It is this that appears on the cover.
Hinton's Doctor Who novels often contain references to or explanations of elements of past continuity. He claimed to have been the originator of the term "fanwank", which he applied to his own work.
Hinton continued to work with Virgin, writing pseudonymously under the name Paul C. Alexander for their Idol range. He wrote three books in the range: Chains of Deceit, The Final Restraint and Code of Submission. These titles were a major departure from his science fiction. They explored aspects of his sexuality only suggested in his other works.
Hinton wrote for Big Finish Productions' Audio Adventures. The play Excelis Decays was produced in 2002 for their Doctor Who range and The Lords of Forever in 2005 for their The Tomorrow People range. Hinton also wrote short stories for their short fiction collections.
Outside of the science fiction world Hinton was a noted IT journalist in the UK. He edited magazines in the mid-1990s for VNU Business Publications in London and moved on to ITNetwork.com shortly afterwards.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 26, 2015
This is a packed little book, containing references to serving as a prequel to Trial of a Time Lord, all the original Great Intelligence stories, The Invasion, and (I'm told by the internet) a HP Lovecraft crossover to boot. As a result, it's not a very complete read on its own, and probably would be more enjoyable with previous background of those stories plus other books contained in this publishing line...
That said, the story containned does stand on it's own: as with the author's previous DW attempt (Crystal Bucephalus) the original cast of the day is very compelling and layered (both Barry and Louise are afforted nice little backgrounds that don't take up too much time but make them reachable and sympathic). The science-fiction elements(particularly the whole programming of "The Codex" in the first part) are all really interesting. The urban fantasy elements in the second part also have a nice "80/90"-ness to it that makes them feel retro (instead of just dating the book).
There's a huge jump in the second half of the book, after the events set to montion in the first part are finally trigerred. It is glarring, and dumps so many descriptions of "the new reality" that it becomes kinda hard for the reader to get their bearings again and picture what's happening. The descriptions physical appareances of the two "cosmic entities" also sounded a bit silly, instead of terrifying and chilling like they should be.
Overall though, an excellent above-avarage, Doctor Who adventure. Melanie and Six are at their best throughout the whole story, and the book is an invaluable piece of EU material in fleshing out their individual characters and their companionship.
That said, the story containned does stand on it's own: as with the author's previous DW attempt (Crystal Bucephalus) the original cast of the day is very compelling and layered (both Barry and Louise are afforted nice little backgrounds that don't take up too much time but make them reachable and sympathic). The science-fiction elements(particularly the whole programming of "The Codex" in the first part) are all really interesting. The urban fantasy elements in the second part also have a nice "80/90"-ness to it that makes them feel retro (instead of just dating the book).
There's a huge jump in the second half of the book, after the events set to montion in the first part are finally trigerred. It is glarring, and dumps so many descriptions of "the new reality" that it becomes kinda hard for the reader to get their bearings again and picture what's happening. The descriptions physical appareances of the two "cosmic entities" also sounded a bit silly, instead of terrifying and chilling like they should be.
Overall though, an excellent above-avarage, Doctor Who adventure. Melanie and Six are at their best throughout the whole story, and the book is an invaluable piece of EU material in fleshing out their individual characters and their companionship.
June 2, 2025
Lots of continuity tidbits and a vibrant 90s backdrop aren’t quite enough to hold my attention. It became a bit of a slog once the second act took a fantasy twist. There’s gems in there for sure though - the Valeyard making his entrance at the end of chapter Twelve and into Thirteen is a stroke of genius/miraculous luck.
December 30, 2023
Still epic, after all these years. And fabulous. Could be my favourite Doctor Who novel ever - certainly a contender.
I sit, perhaps, in an odd little corner, when it comes to being a Doctor Who fan. I’m not trying to engage in self-flattery, or self-deprecation. Things just are as they are, between me and Doctor Who…that is, I’ve read more of the novels than I have seen the TV stories. I got into buying the novels around 1998-99, having seen a smattering of Fourth Doctor, Third Doctor, and First Doctor stuff. Maybe I was just getting into what has survived from the Second Doctor era. Anyway, the rate at which I saw TV episodes - the whole videocassette, and then DVD, wave came and went - was always eclipsed by how much Doctor Who I read; I’m talking about Virgin, and then BBC, books offering original Doctor Who adventures during ‘the wilderness years’ (no TV show). The problem is, the novels are not, I think, considered canon.
That may be so, but it doesn’t change the fact that good Doctor Who novels can be as fun for a fan as the TV stories; all the history and characters are used, and referred to. The novels didn’t break off from the continuity and create something different than what was on television; it can be said of course that some of the books feel truer to the TV show than others. Some writers ‘got’ the Doctor they were writing about better than others; that also happened on the show.
When I bought Millennial Rites, I had just started reading Doctor Who novels. I was trying to only buy the ones that featured Susan, but then I decided also to look for books that featured Liz Shaw…and then suddenly I had seen Paradise Towers and, unlike many fans, wanted more Mel. I had not seen Trial of Time Lord, but knew a bit about the Valeyard, an evil, future version of the Doctor himself. Very soon, the mental dam would burst, and I would be all “well, I guess I’m buying ALL Doctor Who novels…while falling behind catching up on the show…”.
Millennial Rites features a villain’s attempt to alter reality, on New Year’s Eve, 1999. Not one, but two, well-meaning meddlers alter his insidious computer program that is steeped in ancient magicks, so that the resulting dreadful reality is a nightmarish mishmash of ‘rules of existence’ from the Universe that preceded ours, the Universe that will exist after ours, and surviving bits and pieces of our crappy but somewhat livable Universe (sorry; me, editorializing; I meant to say our reality is just lovely, is it not?).
Demons, spells, magic weapons, an elder god, a future god, a Lovecraftian landscape as tweaked by careless computer programming (and hacking)…it was fun, at first, to imagine what’s depicted in Doctor Who books in the way it looked on TV, with wobbly sets and gaudy colours further flattened by that videotape sheen…but this book forced me to ‘blow the meagre budget’ in my imagination, and see it all in a way the show couldn’t deliver on TV. The altered London of Millennial Rites, even the armor Mel wears when she changes into Melaphyre - better suited to the fantastical new London around her - would need a big budget to do this epic story justice. As the new reality infects the Doctor himself, and the Valeyard starts to emerge as the dominant personality inside him, formerly just lurking but now ready to flourish in a Universe as dangerous and merciless as him, it becomes clear that all the wonderful supporting characters - also transformed to suit the new environment - must step up and help reset existence, and help the Doctor find his better self again. Hurry is required; the next phase of this mutilated phase of reality is apparently - due to an inherent instability - simple and permanent disintegration of reality itself.
Hinton runs a fairly large cast, but he takes care of each and every character, fulfills every supporting thread, so that all the small things matter, as Big rocks and rolls throughout. Mel is getting a second chance on TV, these days, but here she is at her very best- as the Mel we know, and as Melaphyre the Technomancer. Two of the four TV stories Melanie appeared in, during her one full season on the show, had her being pushed aside as not one but two potential Companions were being ‘tried out’ - in Delta and the Bannermen, and then Dragonfire. Ace beat out Ray, and through that mini-battle, Mel was being handled, somewhat, as a Companion practically out the door of the TARDIS already. I say this, even with Delta and the Bannermen being one of my all-time favourite Who TV adventures.
So this particular book is for Mel fans, as is Business Unusual and a few others, but of course it’s way more than that. It’s breathless, blockbuster, blazingly ambitious Doctor Who, kind of like what we take for granted these days.
I sit, perhaps, in an odd little corner, when it comes to being a Doctor Who fan. I’m not trying to engage in self-flattery, or self-deprecation. Things just are as they are, between me and Doctor Who…that is, I’ve read more of the novels than I have seen the TV stories. I got into buying the novels around 1998-99, having seen a smattering of Fourth Doctor, Third Doctor, and First Doctor stuff. Maybe I was just getting into what has survived from the Second Doctor era. Anyway, the rate at which I saw TV episodes - the whole videocassette, and then DVD, wave came and went - was always eclipsed by how much Doctor Who I read; I’m talking about Virgin, and then BBC, books offering original Doctor Who adventures during ‘the wilderness years’ (no TV show). The problem is, the novels are not, I think, considered canon.
That may be so, but it doesn’t change the fact that good Doctor Who novels can be as fun for a fan as the TV stories; all the history and characters are used, and referred to. The novels didn’t break off from the continuity and create something different than what was on television; it can be said of course that some of the books feel truer to the TV show than others. Some writers ‘got’ the Doctor they were writing about better than others; that also happened on the show.
When I bought Millennial Rites, I had just started reading Doctor Who novels. I was trying to only buy the ones that featured Susan, but then I decided also to look for books that featured Liz Shaw…and then suddenly I had seen Paradise Towers and, unlike many fans, wanted more Mel. I had not seen Trial of Time Lord, but knew a bit about the Valeyard, an evil, future version of the Doctor himself. Very soon, the mental dam would burst, and I would be all “well, I guess I’m buying ALL Doctor Who novels…while falling behind catching up on the show…”.
Millennial Rites features a villain’s attempt to alter reality, on New Year’s Eve, 1999. Not one, but two, well-meaning meddlers alter his insidious computer program that is steeped in ancient magicks, so that the resulting dreadful reality is a nightmarish mishmash of ‘rules of existence’ from the Universe that preceded ours, the Universe that will exist after ours, and surviving bits and pieces of our crappy but somewhat livable Universe (sorry; me, editorializing; I meant to say our reality is just lovely, is it not?).
Demons, spells, magic weapons, an elder god, a future god, a Lovecraftian landscape as tweaked by careless computer programming (and hacking)…it was fun, at first, to imagine what’s depicted in Doctor Who books in the way it looked on TV, with wobbly sets and gaudy colours further flattened by that videotape sheen…but this book forced me to ‘blow the meagre budget’ in my imagination, and see it all in a way the show couldn’t deliver on TV. The altered London of Millennial Rites, even the armor Mel wears when she changes into Melaphyre - better suited to the fantastical new London around her - would need a big budget to do this epic story justice. As the new reality infects the Doctor himself, and the Valeyard starts to emerge as the dominant personality inside him, formerly just lurking but now ready to flourish in a Universe as dangerous and merciless as him, it becomes clear that all the wonderful supporting characters - also transformed to suit the new environment - must step up and help reset existence, and help the Doctor find his better self again. Hurry is required; the next phase of this mutilated phase of reality is apparently - due to an inherent instability - simple and permanent disintegration of reality itself.
Hinton runs a fairly large cast, but he takes care of each and every character, fulfills every supporting thread, so that all the small things matter, as Big rocks and rolls throughout. Mel is getting a second chance on TV, these days, but here she is at her very best- as the Mel we know, and as Melaphyre the Technomancer. Two of the four TV stories Melanie appeared in, during her one full season on the show, had her being pushed aside as not one but two potential Companions were being ‘tried out’ - in Delta and the Bannermen, and then Dragonfire. Ace beat out Ray, and through that mini-battle, Mel was being handled, somewhat, as a Companion practically out the door of the TARDIS already. I say this, even with Delta and the Bannermen being one of my all-time favourite Who TV adventures.
So this particular book is for Mel fans, as is Business Unusual and a few others, but of course it’s way more than that. It’s breathless, blockbuster, blazingly ambitious Doctor Who, kind of like what we take for granted these days.
May 13, 2016
This book has big, colorful ideas, inspired by comic books and the weirder kinds of sci-fi. And on the one hand, the writing can't quite live up to them - the characters are stiff and the style is lacking. But on the other hand - first, there are sudden, surprising moments of powerful emotional honesty that appear out of nowhere and end just as quickly; and second, the writing is good enough to get across some of the sheer coolness of the ideas. It's not a great book, but it can be a good one.
January 19, 2011
First, the cover will make any Doctor Who fan tingle. As for the story...could it get ANY more wild and epic? A titanic, mythological battle, with an EVIL Doctor, a well characterized Melanie, framed as the sequel to end all sequels. A true roller-coaster ride, from start to finish.
February 10, 2025
One of the most ambitious stories in the entirety of Doctor Who, with all the magical concepts and nuances explored. Although it had a lot of highs and lows, it was nice to see that they kept the integrity of 6th's characterization that set the foundation of his arc both before and after the trial. Mel hasn't honestly been one of my most favorable companions of his, but she definitely carried her own in this story alongside the side cast that also managed to pull through towards the end. The continuity is so easily noticable and with context of the outcome of the Trial, makes this novel alot better than what it actually was - Valeyard's appearence, 6th's benevolent nature shining and the alluding to the change of him in his next incarnation. Hinton's mythological display in the Doctor Who universe was not something I expected to like, and to be frank, it sadly fell short for me at least, since there was too much exposition at once that the readers totally felt overwhelmed, but it was nice to see a different take on the worldbuilding as previously done by other writers. This novel seems to be a direct sequel to the 'Time's Champion' book, mainly because of how important narratively the change of nature from 6th to 7th is, and it all leading towards him accepting that harder choices will fall his way and the outcome will remain the same as according to the rhetoric of the Valeyard's future, which might be something they explore further in other stories.
The ending sequence and discussion of free will between the two entities of the Doctor were very intriguing and served for some really great context about how sinister the change between him soon to come and the mention of how the 6th has always, as I've mentioned earlier, been an incarnation on the cusp of imbalance, which makes perfect sense as to why the Valeyard is his main antagonistic force. All of the Doctor's various opposing villains are somewhat a reflection of himself—7th and Fenric, 8th and Paradox, and so on—which defines and accentuates how important the everlasting battle of control it symbolizes between the Valeyard and 6th. All in all, a decent book that I had fun with, and I'm excited to continue with some more 6th-focused books tomorrow.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟔.𝟓-𝟕/𝟏𝟎
The ending sequence and discussion of free will between the two entities of the Doctor were very intriguing and served for some really great context about how sinister the change between him soon to come and the mention of how the 6th has always, as I've mentioned earlier, been an incarnation on the cusp of imbalance, which makes perfect sense as to why the Valeyard is his main antagonistic force. All of the Doctor's various opposing villains are somewhat a reflection of himself—7th and Fenric, 8th and Paradox, and so on—which defines and accentuates how important the everlasting battle of control it symbolizes between the Valeyard and 6th. All in all, a decent book that I had fun with, and I'm excited to continue with some more 6th-focused books tomorrow.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟔.𝟓-𝟕/𝟏𝟎
June 18, 2016
Millennial Rites is the last Doctor Who Missing Adventures book that I have in paperback, though I have a few more to read as e-books. It was published by Virgin Publishing, and it's an original novel featuring the Sixth Doctor as played by Colin Baker and Mel (Melanie Bush) as played by Bonnie Langford. The story is told in three distinct parts.
In part one, the Doctor is unusually pre-occupied with his own future, having just gone through his Trial at the hands of the Time Lords and the Valeyard. He and Mel land in London on New Year's Eve 1999. There they run into Anne Travers who after the events of the Doctor Who Missing Adventures novel, Downtime, has become even more determined to defeat the Great Intelligence. Mel attends her 10-year college reunion, only to have someone slip her a request to hack a computer company that's closing it's doors on New Year's Eve, making the staff redundant (in other words, they are all fired except a small research group). Two of the fired employees: Barry and Louise get involved in the situation (as does Louise's very young daughter, Cassie).
Barry shows Louise a CD of computer code he lifted from the office - but when he does so, her computer becomes alive, then a monster attacks them. The three escape, Louise leaves her daughter with her mother, then they attempt to find the other fired employee that Barry stole the computer disk from. But another of the Cybrid monsters has already killed him.
In the fracas, Barry and Louise meet up with the Doctor and Mel. The Doctor fears Ashley Chapel of the computer firm is trying to bring back Verocyl - but he's wrong. The Doctor tries to prevent Anne Travers from casting her banishment spell - and fails. Everyone rushes to Ashley's computer company to stop him running the Millennium Codex - and again, the Doctor fails.
In Part Two, everyone suddenly wakes in a fantasy world ruled by three continuously fighting monarchs: The Technomancer, Majestrix Melaphyre (Mel), ruler of the Ziggurat of Sciosophy; The Archimage, Magnus Ashmael (Ashley Chapel), ruler of the Tower of Abraxis; and the Hierophant, Bibliotrix Anastasia (Anne Travers), ruler of the Labyrinth of Thaumaturgy. Mel is attended by fantasy versions of Barry and Louise, who have a daughter, Cassandra, in the fantasy world as well.
The Doctor appears to be unchanged at first, and quickly escapes the Archimage. However, in the fantasy world he is slowly being changed into the Valeyard. However, it is the Doctor who establishes an alliance between Melaphyre and Anastasia - who must prevent Magnus Ashmael from further destroying not simply the new and unstable fantasy universe, but the real universe. This time he succeeds.
The final part wraps up the story. As life in London in the New Millennium is returned to normal.
Millennial Rites is two stories in one - part one is a Cyberpunk "nightmare" as a computer guru attempts to take over the world with malicious code. Part two is an intriguing fantasy. I enjoyed both parts - and I liked the idea that the Doctor, especially Colin's Doctor would be so arrogant about his ability to stop Chapel - he fails. Though the Doctor gets to do the same thing again in Part Two. Besides the fantasy elements, Part Two is also fueled by the Doctor's fears of becoming the Valeyard - something never really dealt with in either televised Doctor Who or the various novels, comics, and audio plays that I've read. It made Colin's Doctor surprisingly vulnerable and approachable.
Recommended!
In part one, the Doctor is unusually pre-occupied with his own future, having just gone through his Trial at the hands of the Time Lords and the Valeyard. He and Mel land in London on New Year's Eve 1999. There they run into Anne Travers who after the events of the Doctor Who Missing Adventures novel, Downtime, has become even more determined to defeat the Great Intelligence. Mel attends her 10-year college reunion, only to have someone slip her a request to hack a computer company that's closing it's doors on New Year's Eve, making the staff redundant (in other words, they are all fired except a small research group). Two of the fired employees: Barry and Louise get involved in the situation (as does Louise's very young daughter, Cassie).
Barry shows Louise a CD of computer code he lifted from the office - but when he does so, her computer becomes alive, then a monster attacks them. The three escape, Louise leaves her daughter with her mother, then they attempt to find the other fired employee that Barry stole the computer disk from. But another of the Cybrid monsters has already killed him.
In the fracas, Barry and Louise meet up with the Doctor and Mel. The Doctor fears Ashley Chapel of the computer firm is trying to bring back Verocyl - but he's wrong. The Doctor tries to prevent Anne Travers from casting her banishment spell - and fails. Everyone rushes to Ashley's computer company to stop him running the Millennium Codex - and again, the Doctor fails.
In Part Two, everyone suddenly wakes in a fantasy world ruled by three continuously fighting monarchs: The Technomancer, Majestrix Melaphyre (Mel), ruler of the Ziggurat of Sciosophy; The Archimage, Magnus Ashmael (Ashley Chapel), ruler of the Tower of Abraxis; and the Hierophant, Bibliotrix Anastasia (Anne Travers), ruler of the Labyrinth of Thaumaturgy. Mel is attended by fantasy versions of Barry and Louise, who have a daughter, Cassandra, in the fantasy world as well.
The Doctor appears to be unchanged at first, and quickly escapes the Archimage. However, in the fantasy world he is slowly being changed into the Valeyard. However, it is the Doctor who establishes an alliance between Melaphyre and Anastasia - who must prevent Magnus Ashmael from further destroying not simply the new and unstable fantasy universe, but the real universe. This time he succeeds.
The final part wraps up the story. As life in London in the New Millennium is returned to normal.
Millennial Rites is two stories in one - part one is a Cyberpunk "nightmare" as a computer guru attempts to take over the world with malicious code. Part two is an intriguing fantasy. I enjoyed both parts - and I liked the idea that the Doctor, especially Colin's Doctor would be so arrogant about his ability to stop Chapel - he fails. Though the Doctor gets to do the same thing again in Part Two. Besides the fantasy elements, Part Two is also fueled by the Doctor's fears of becoming the Valeyard - something never really dealt with in either televised Doctor Who or the various novels, comics, and audio plays that I've read. It made Colin's Doctor surprisingly vulnerable and approachable.
Recommended!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2023
Craig Hinton is a very divisive Doctor Who writer when it comes to us fans, his work is known for being incredibly fanwanky (Hell Hinton, coined the term himself!) in a way that no other writer would dare, he would also contribute very Lovecraftian elements to well known Doctor Who villains, an idea that again is very mixed with fans. But since I really enjoyed Synthespians and have been dying to read Time's Champion, I wanted to read Millennial Rites and The Quantum ArcAngel before embarking on his epic and final 6th Doctor novel.
Arriving in 1999 before the start of a new century, The Doctor is reunited with Anne Travers whose fear of The Great Intelligence returning has grown substantially after the previous incident that took away her father. Meanwhile, Mel is being manipulated into repairing the Millennium codex with her impressive computer skills for the sinister Ashley Chapel whose secret research project could reshape reality itself. Is The Great Intelligence returning or is something far more sinister coming to Earth? The Doctor has a lot to deal with already, let alone his darker self, The Valeyard...
Considering this is supposedly the beginning of a trilogy of novels leading up to Time's Champion (A novel completed by Chris McKeon and published by the British Heart Foundation), Craig Hinton has written a novel of epic proportions with plenty of action, terrific characterization, interesting moral dilemmas, and some really fantastic twists. The ideas introduced in this novel are implemented brilliantly. I love how the first half is very much a typical evil corporation threatening the future of humanity storyline, whereas the second half does a complete 360 and grants us an epic fantasy tale.
Overall: It's hard to go into this one without giving too much away, but honestly it's a very underrated novel that I wish more people would give a go, it's brilliant! 10/10
Arriving in 1999 before the start of a new century, The Doctor is reunited with Anne Travers whose fear of The Great Intelligence returning has grown substantially after the previous incident that took away her father. Meanwhile, Mel is being manipulated into repairing the Millennium codex with her impressive computer skills for the sinister Ashley Chapel whose secret research project could reshape reality itself. Is The Great Intelligence returning or is something far more sinister coming to Earth? The Doctor has a lot to deal with already, let alone his darker self, The Valeyard...
Considering this is supposedly the beginning of a trilogy of novels leading up to Time's Champion (A novel completed by Chris McKeon and published by the British Heart Foundation), Craig Hinton has written a novel of epic proportions with plenty of action, terrific characterization, interesting moral dilemmas, and some really fantastic twists. The ideas introduced in this novel are implemented brilliantly. I love how the first half is very much a typical evil corporation threatening the future of humanity storyline, whereas the second half does a complete 360 and grants us an epic fantasy tale.
Overall: It's hard to go into this one without giving too much away, but honestly it's a very underrated novel that I wish more people would give a go, it's brilliant! 10/10
August 18, 2020
This may be Craig Hinton's best novel. It is more controlled than the others I have read. There are still problems with it that are common to his Doctor Who books, but these do not quite get in the way as much as they do in the others. The story is that Doctor 6 and Mel are in London for the Millennium change. Mel is meeting up with old college friends, while the Doctor looks up his old friend Anne Travers, now Dame Anne Travers, a powerful civil servant who was the person most responsible for funding UNIT. However, nefarious deeds are afoot involving Ashley Chapel from Gary Russell's novel System Shock, who once worked closely with Tobias Vaughn and has taken his mentor's idea of giving order to the world in a different direction. This first part of the novel, more than half, is mostly a techno-thriller. Chapel's plans go wrong, though, and he creates instead a pocket dimension out of a large part of London which is its own world ruled by magic, and all the major characters in the first part reappear here in different form in the second part. This second section is a mixed magic-tech / swords and sorcery story. What ties these all together is an attempt from Hinton to pull in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Generally, the novel is interesting enough. Hinton still indulges in many of the things I have found annoying in his other novels. One is the gods of the universe, super-powerful beings from "dark times." These are almost impossible to write well because they end up becoming too mundane and human. Another is to throw in too many winks and nods to previous Doctor Who to make a poor little ultrafan's heart go pitter-patter. We also get clumsy emotional scenes in the midst of violent chaos, presumably because Hinton could not think of where else to put them. Overall, though, this is an enjoyable read despite its flaws.
August 15, 2018
Colin Baker is so terribly underrated as the doctor but I think he’s actually one of the best actors to take on the role. I’ve wanted to experience more of the sixth doctor books so I decided to read this one which is written by Craig Hinton who sadly is no longer with us.
The book itself is split into two main parts which act like episodes, with chapters in between. It does have a third part however this only consists of a small number of pages. The first part was absolutely fantastic with some truly engaging scenes and great chapter endings that made me wanting to read more. The second part however dipped a little in quality.
The first part of the book introduces the reader to the characters and here we have some characters that were well written and made me care about them. The Doctor and Mel arrive on Earth, London 1999 near the time of the Millenial and they realise that something evil is going on inside Canary Warf.
After an epic build up and a brilliant cliffhanger, the second part feels somewhat convoluted and a little rushed. The characters get teleported into another dimension and from then on the book starts to go down hill. Even though the latter half was still enjoyable to an extent, there were certain parts that did feel completely rushed. However there were some nice twists and turns along the way.
Overall Millenial Rites is a decent read. As previously mentioned, the first half was amazing with the latter half being not so great. If you’re a fan of the Sixth Doctor and Mel I would say that you might enjoy this one. I do wish the Great Intelligence was used a little bit more but I guess the writer had to save room for another major returning villain.
The book itself is split into two main parts which act like episodes, with chapters in between. It does have a third part however this only consists of a small number of pages. The first part was absolutely fantastic with some truly engaging scenes and great chapter endings that made me wanting to read more. The second part however dipped a little in quality.
The first part of the book introduces the reader to the characters and here we have some characters that were well written and made me care about them. The Doctor and Mel arrive on Earth, London 1999 near the time of the Millenial and they realise that something evil is going on inside Canary Warf.
After an epic build up and a brilliant cliffhanger, the second part feels somewhat convoluted and a little rushed. The characters get teleported into another dimension and from then on the book starts to go down hill. Even though the latter half was still enjoyable to an extent, there were certain parts that did feel completely rushed. However there were some nice twists and turns along the way.
Overall Millenial Rites is a decent read. As previously mentioned, the first half was amazing with the latter half being not so great. If you’re a fan of the Sixth Doctor and Mel I would say that you might enjoy this one. I do wish the Great Intelligence was used a little bit more but I guess the writer had to save room for another major returning villain.
October 31, 2019
A science fiction/fantasy story with some lovercraftian horror thrown in and packed with references to past stories could be a bit too much for such a small book, but it all works marvelously.
While the story is a sequel of sorts to System Shock (and the 2nd Doctor's era serial "The Web of Fear"), Millennial Rites was written by another author. I mention this because, if you look at my System Shock review you'd see I have some Opinions about the technology in that book and the way it was written. This one was written by an author with actual understanding of technology and the tech industry, and it shows. Even though the story is not without some very 1990's ideas about computer systems and their possibilities, the author makes up for it by crafting a good story with and, crucially, by having a much more interesting antagonist. Without spoiling anything I can say that while the story starts as a classic evil genius meets evil aliens set-up, things are much more complicated. It's a very straight forward plot, but the fact that it's complicated by the actions of the characters is what makes it shine. Agency! We all love when characters have agency and ruin things all by themselves.
Besides that, Sixie and Mel are very well characterized as are the secondary characters, which not only are well-rounded and show humanity, but even have their own subplots and get their own closure at the end.
All in all, this is the sort of book that makes me wonder what else the author wrote.
While the story is a sequel of sorts to System Shock (and the 2nd Doctor's era serial "The Web of Fear"), Millennial Rites was written by another author. I mention this because, if you look at my System Shock review you'd see I have some Opinions about the technology in that book and the way it was written. This one was written by an author with actual understanding of technology and the tech industry, and it shows. Even though the story is not without some very 1990's ideas about computer systems and their possibilities, the author makes up for it by crafting a good story with and, crucially, by having a much more interesting antagonist. Without spoiling anything I can say that while the story starts as a classic evil genius meets evil aliens set-up, things are much more complicated. It's a very straight forward plot, but the fact that it's complicated by the actions of the characters is what makes it shine. Agency! We all love when characters have agency and ruin things all by themselves.
Besides that, Sixie and Mel are very well characterized as are the secondary characters, which not only are well-rounded and show humanity, but even have their own subplots and get their own closure at the end.
All in all, this is the sort of book that makes me wonder what else the author wrote.
March 29, 2025
Utterly wild novel, crammed with material but never seeming over-busy, and tackling Doctor Who concepts from years past others might have considered too tainted to properly handle. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
November 13, 2024
Two average story ideas crudely stapled together at a very noticeable halfway point, this pile of directionless fan service and bizarre Cthulhu references might be Hinton's most entertaining novel, though that is not saying much.
June 27, 2022
It stared well, but then went all high magic. That's why it gets 3 stars instead of 4.
July 18, 2025
September 2021
3.5/5
It was mostly a pretty enjoyable read, albeit not a favourite, but I did have some reservations. In terms of Mel's character, I don't buy her belief in women having to wear makeup, and even if I thought it was in character it never gets addressed as a flaw that needs addressing. My other qualm was that I wasn't convinced by Anne Travers: her bitterness might've needed the background showing more, given this is the first time we meet her post-Web of Fear, and
July 2025
I mostly stick by my feeling on this one last time I read it. It has some high highs - concepts and imagery I really like, an ending that feeds really satisfyingly into the concurrent ideas the VNAs were playing with at the time. But the same stuff still bothers me around Mel's characterisation and the oddly catty way she and Anne get off on the wrong foot, and I'm not sure it always has the most interesting take on the Valeyard. I'd say it's pushing a four star read but I might be more firm about giving it four stars or higher if not for what I feel to be a streak of misogyny holding it back.
3.5/5
It was mostly a pretty enjoyable read, albeit not a favourite, but I did have some reservations. In terms of Mel's character, I don't buy her belief in women having to wear makeup, and even if I thought it was in character it never gets addressed as a flaw that needs addressing. My other qualm was that I wasn't convinced by Anne Travers: her bitterness might've needed the background showing more, given this is the first time we meet her post-Web of Fear, and
July 2025
I mostly stick by my feeling on this one last time I read it. It has some high highs - concepts and imagery I really like, an ending that feeds really satisfyingly into the concurrent ideas the VNAs were playing with at the time. But the same stuff still bothers me around Mel's characterisation and the oddly catty way she and Anne get off on the wrong foot, and I'm not sure it always has the most interesting take on the Valeyard. I'd say it's pushing a four star read but I might be more firm about giving it four stars or higher if not for what I feel to be a streak of misogyny holding it back.
Read
December 23, 2009"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1348972.html#cutid2[return][return]This was the first book I had read by the late Craig Hinton, and I thoroughly enjoyed it: resurrecting Anne Travers from The Web of Fear, references also to The Invasion; also rather intriguingly the action is set around the 1999/2000 New Year's Eve, and the top floor of Canary Wharf plays a prominent role. (This was written a year or two before The TV Movie, let alone Army of Ghosts.) And as an extra bonus the book is a sort-of prequel to All-Consuming Fire, my favourite of the New Adventures. It also follows through on the logic of the Valeyard from the Trial of a Time Lord, which is less exciting for me but it all hangs together rather well. I shall look out for more of Hinton's books."
October 21, 2009
I love a Doctor Who - Cthulhu Mythos crossover. However Millennial Rites didn't make the crossover the primary subject of the story, more of a fanwanky throw in. The main story is unique and interesting enough to stand on its own even without the crossover (really, Yog-Sothoth could have been any random beastie from another dimension of reality (and that's not a spoiler, Yog-Sothoth is identified very early in the story)).
Ancient tomes, magical incantations, alternate reality, and if the cover doesn't give it away, the emergence (or re-emergence) of alternate personas for the Doctor and Mel. Wild stuff.
Ancient tomes, magical incantations, alternate reality, and if the cover doesn't give it away, the emergence (or re-emergence) of alternate personas for the Doctor and Mel. Wild stuff.
May 21, 2008
New Years eve and the millennium is coming. Along with old friends, old foes, lots of Who history, possibly the end of the universe, Mel's college reunion and an attempt to explain that whole Valyard thing.
This book reminds you that the sixth Doctor was a cool character, and Mel actually was a decent companion. Shame the writing on the TV show wasn't this good. Maybe Colin Baker would have been able to stick around longer.
This book reminds you that the sixth Doctor was a cool character, and Mel actually was a decent companion. Shame the writing on the TV show wasn't this good. Maybe Colin Baker would have been able to stick around longer.
February 20, 2021
Interesting but fannish story. There are a lot of imaginative elements and is a great attempt to do a post-trial 6th Doctor but the amount of fan service (several points of which are not even right) and some random attempts to add a bit of edginess to it drag it down.
August 30, 2013
I enjoyed this outing with the Doctor and Mel. liked the change half way through, and good to see the Valeyard in action.
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