Catastrophea (Doctor Who) [Paperback]

Terrance Dicks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

A jubilant Doctor has been given freedom again by the Time Lords to roam time and space. But when he and Sam arrive on the planet of Catastrophea, he begins to wish perhaps his exile on Earth had remained imposed, for the Doctor becomes embroiled in the schemes of off-world drug-smugglers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: BBC Pubns (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0563405848
• ISBN-13: 978-0563405849
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,121,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Pertwee Yarn, September 27, 1998

By 

Reuben Herfindahl (River Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catastrophea (Doctor Who) (Paperback)

It was with rather mixed feelings that I approached Catastrophea. I had quite enjoyed the only Dicks NA that I had read (Timewem:Exodus) but lothed the Eight Doctors. However the temptation was too great, the 3rd Doctor, and Jo Grant are perhaps my favorite Doctor companon team.

Review:The back cover blurb sets the story directly after Planet of the Daleks and before the Green Death. There are two Virgin MA's set up in this same gap (Paul Leonard's Dancing the Code, and Speed of Flight), but both are earth bound adventures so Catastrophea easially fits in with their continuity. Dicks captures the feel of the 3rd Doctor's era very well.....

The bottom line: Just because the Eight Doctors was a load of horse dung, doesn't mean you should assume Dicks has lost his talent to tell a good yarn. Nothing new and groundbreaking, just a entertaining read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Catastrophea by name, catastrophe by nature, November 28, 2000

By 

"grrreg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catastrophea (Doctor Who) (Paperback)

In my reviews of various Doctor Who stories adapted to a book form by Terrance Dicks, I have often commented that they lack spark. When it came to writing original Doctor Who novels, I have found that Mr. Dicks usually does a far better job. However, 'Catastrophea' is an example of the fact that he can produce some right stinkers.

Set during the show's tenth season, the Doctor and Jo are travelling away from the planet Spiridon when the Doctor senses a huge amount of pain. He materialises the TARDIS to investigate.

On the planet Kastopheria, they find native race, the People, are being repressed by human colonists. The Doctor is mistaken by the humans as revolutionary leader El Llama (and being a revolutionary, he has to have a Spanish sounding name - very lazy writing!) while the People recognise him as a prophesied saviour.

As it turns out, the humans are using a drug known as skar to keep the People passive. But the Doctor soon discovers there is more to skar than the humans understand...

I think the main problem with this story is that Mr. Dicks came up with some ideas and wrote the book before thinking it through properly. It hangs together OK (Mr. Dicks is too professional a writer for it not to), but there are sudden turns of events that just seem so unlikely.

For Doctor Who completists only!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book captures the 3rd Doctor era very well., September 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Catastrophea (Doctor Who) (Paperback)

Overall the book was fun to read. It really brings out the nostalgia for the Pertwee era in the TV show. The plot, although not very complex, illustrates the Doctor, and his companion Jo wonderfully. The book borrows visually from the film 'Casablanca' and plotwise from the serial 'The Mutants.' It's also pleasant to have a reappearence of an old adversary -- the Draconians...