Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Awakening (The Doctor Who Library, Book 95)

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The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, are on their way to a pleasant visit with Tegan's grandfather in 1984. However, upon arrival, it looks like everyone the meet is dressed for the 17th century. Turns out the town is going to reenact a battle from the Civil war.

However, something is wrong (isn't it always when the Doctor is around). Tegan's grandfather is missing and strange things are afoot at the old church. And the reenactment is turning into a far more serious and deadly affair than most of the villagers thought. Oh, and the vargaurd force of an alien invasion is driving the town's leader into madness. Can the Doctor help? Or will evil win the day? Lots of action in this one, with a higher page count than most of the Doctor Who novelizations. Still a quick, fun read though!

The Doctor takes the TARDIS to the village of Little Hodcombe, in order to visit Tegan's grandfather. Initially it appears that they have arrived in the wrong time period, but in fact there is an historical reenactment of a battle during the English Civil War being carried out. But there is something more at work behind the scenes, and Tegan's grandfather is missing...

Based on a 2 episode TV serial by the scriptwriter Eric Pringle, this book seems less rushed than the original series (which probably should have been 3 episodes long). With a little more time and room, the story is better in this form than the televised version.

Unfortunately, the story itself has some problems not uncommon in Doctor Who. The Doctor has two companions, Tegan and Turlough, who each end up with not much to do. Instead, some supporting characters that feature in this story get to do all the companion-type things. One would have hoped that the story could have been written a little differently to allow the regulars larger roles.

However, the idea behind the story is quite a good one, so this particular failing is probably something more likely to be seen in retrospect rather than as the story progresses.