Customer Reviews

Business Unusual (Dr. Who Series)

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The Doctor has arrived on Earth in 1989 to correct a problem that the Master has created. The Doctor manages to get it taken care of, for the most part, but he needs someone who is familiar with the simpleness of the Earth's computers at that time to help him. Enter Melanie Bush. The Doctor has seen his future (thanks to the Matrix) and doesn't like what he has seen. He believes that if he can prevent Mel from traveling with him he can avoid the existence of the Valyard. thus, he spends the whole book being rather short with Mel, trying to deliberatly put her off of traveling with him. On the up side, Gary Russell has nailed the character of Colin's Doctor (my personal favorite) right down to his fondness for children and the ego the size of the universe. Absolutely wonderful! BUT!!

Considering that the Doctor knows his future and wants to avoid it he takes great pains to keep it from happening. He knows that he cannot interfere with what he knows will happen (I refer any confused readers to "Festival of Death") yet he insists on doing just that. As a Time Lord he knows that he cannot change the future, and yet he tries his hardest to change it. He evnetually gives in however, after the final heart-renching scene when he tells Mel that she cannot travel with him and she manages to sneak aboard anyway, he knows that he cannot escape what he knows will happen.

As far as the main plot, I thought it was inventive and well written. I wish that we had seen more interaction between the 6th and the Brigadier, but it was well done nonetheless. Gary Russell did an excellent job in explaining the presence of Mel during the "Trial" and her subsequesnt disapearance. Overall a very excellent book, with just one annoying little temporal law flaw.

This is a story I wish they would have filmed. Not only does this feel like Doctor Who, we finally are able to see how the Doctor picks up Mel Bush! One of the better Doctor Who novels I've read!

Having assisted UNIT to defeat a plot by the Master and the Usurians from wreaking economic havoc on Earth, the Doctor is left with one problem: how to undo the computer virus that they have left behind. The Doctor is not familiar with the primitive Earth computer language involved, and so a local is needed. Imagine his horror when that local turns out to be the woman he is trying to avoid: Mel Bush, his future companion...

In the wake of 'The Trial of the Time Lord', we have a Doctor who knows that he has the potentials to become the antithesis of what he believes in. During his trial, he became aware that he would one day have Mel as a companion, and sees this as a step down the path towards becoming the Valeyard.

This story is the real introductory story for Mel, who must prove herself as worthy in ways that other companion have never had to. One of the least popular of the Doctor's companions in her TV appearances, Gary Russell takes on the difficult task of proving Mel worthy to both the Doctor and the readers. I guess the extent to which he succeeds is a matter of opinion: this book certainly makes Mel a less one-dimensional character than she appeared on TV.

As well as coping with that continuity issue, though, Mr. Russell might have been wiser to have set the whole thing up with an enemy who is mining the Doctor's past adventures on Earth for weapons. Recognising and appreciating all the threats that arise later in the book really requires a bunch of knowledge of the Doctor's earlier adventures.

Now this is more like it. I always consider the Missing Adventures (or Past Adventures, or whatever the heck the BBC called them) to be a step below the brandy-new original Eighth Doctor adventures because they couldn't go and take the same kinds of risks that those books would often do. The best they could do was recreate the feel of the show on paper, maybe with a better budget, especially since they couldn't really do much to mess with established continuity. However, this is probably a darn sight better than the last few original adventures, which were at best lackluster. As the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker often gets a bad rap, but most of the so-so quality of his episodes were due to factors that were out of his hands, the scripts were variable, the BBC started to actively hate their own show and the notion of making the Doctor unlikeable first in order to eventually win the audience over hardly got past the "unlikable" stage before it went on a brief hiatus and came back for the admittedly uneven Trial of a Time Lord season. Then he got fired. Needless to say, his Doctor could benefit the most from a proper focus and Russell does his best here to show how Baker's Doctor would measure up against all the others. His characterization is spot-on, showing the Doctor as arrogant but proactive, full of energy but moody, and fiercely intelligent and moral. The Doctor finds himself on Earth to tie up some loose ends, only to find himself caught up in another adventure entirely, one that involves companion Melanie Bush. Except she isn't his companion yet, he's been trying to avoid her in order to dodge the timeline that could potentially lead to him becoming the Valeyard (long story). Now he's forced to work with her. Meanwhile, forces of evil intent are kidnapping kids and using some familiar devices to enact their plans. And there's a giant crazy dog. Even though there are long stretches where the main characters are barely in the same room and hardly any action, Russell makes this story one of the tautest so far, dispensing with chapters to go with a crosscutting timeline format that keeps the story moving even when a lot isn't happening. Plus he keeps the Doctor unaware of the nature of the plot for a while, forcing him to react to things that he's not totally sure of. Mel, long one of the least favorite companions, comes across as three dimensional and not actually annoying for once, the typical elements of her personality are there but toned down slightly and maybe if this was the version that appeared on the screen the collective memory of her time aboard the TARDIS might not be so . . . distasteful (this may have something to do with Bonnie Langford's acting, while not terrible it certainly didn't help, from what I remember). With all the plots and characters circling around, he keeps the story engaging, even when you're pretty sure you know what's going to happen. It's not perfect, some knowledge of continuity is probably required, there's no real overriding reason why the Brigadier has to be involved (it's nice to see him though) and the main villain's reason for doing all of this isn't that impressive. But in terms of sheer readability and entertainment value, it may be the best Past Adventure of the BBC line so far. It doesn't break any ground but it does help reimagine the Colin Baker era to what might have been and that counts for a whole lot.