Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Time Travellers (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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For a while I thought this First Doctor adventure was a recycled reject from the lengthy Alternative Universe cycle recently concluded over in the Eighth Doctor books. Landing in a war-torn London in June 2006, the First Doctor and his original TV companions stumble across an audacious time-travel experiment that causes its test pilots to materialize in great numbers, each one a slightly different version of the original test pilot from a slightly different timeline (from what one would assume is another "quantum universe"). The Doctor grips his lapels a lot and murmurs about untold damage being done to the timelines. Ian meets an eerie alternate version of himself who does things Ian dares not do. Barbara learns that, in spite of what happened on TV in "The Aztecs" (when the Doctor told her "You can't rewrite history. Not one line!"), sometimes indeed history turns out wrong and does have to be changed.

What makes "The Time Travelers" fresh is the as-told-in-1963 approach. It goes beyond obvious to say that, in the reader's world, the London of 2006 has not been at war with a distant foreign power ever since a cataclysm that struck the city in 1966 and crippled humanity's growth. However, for the Ian and Barbara of 1963, whose lone vision of the future was the 28th Century of the TV adventure "The Sensorites", this apocalyptic 2006 is the inexorable future they must one day face.

The reader also learns early on that this future history is triggered by events that happened in the much later, post-Ian and Barbara, First Doctor TV adventure "The War Machines". What becomes obvious then is that the Doctor can in fact rewrite history. We know going in that this awful vision of 2006 is not going to be completely resolved at the end of the book -- the Doctor will have to wait for several companion changes to go by until he lands at the Post Office Tower in June 1966 in Episode 1 of "The War Machines". The ending to "The Time Travellers" is destined to be bittersweet rather than happy.

The first 200 pages are a bit dull, with several characters named after the author's friends fighting a desperate rearguard, both military and scientific, against the approaching foreign power. Things take a sharp left turn, however, when we learn who the titular "Time Travellers" are. A few big plot twists are revealed all at once. The action doesn't exactly get more interesting after page 200, but the character revelations, primarily about Susan, and Ian & Barbara, are worth the wait.

An odd book, then, one that on its surface is very similar to the EDAs of a few years' past, but which in the end proves to be much more imaginative than it may seem at first glance. You'll have to be familiar with a wide range of 1st Doctor TV stories (and catch a tangential reference to the 7th Doctor actioner "Remembrance of the Daleks") in order for all this to hang together in the way the author intended... but there's nothing wrong with any book that begs you to watch more 1st Doctor stories.

One of the better Doctor Who books published in the last couple of years. Newcomer Guerrier writes a good if slightly slow tale of time travel paradoxes.

Ever play the video game Lemmings or hear the myth that "Lemmings mindlessly moving into danger en masse?" Well, in this book, the same idea holds true, only with one time traveler in particular that keeps being copied & each copy spawns right into danger. The idea that each copy of the time traveler is a bit different is rather amusing in the book, as there are sometimes 5 or more of the same person, different copy, running around at any given time.

The downfall of this book was the story. The paradoxes of time travel can be confusing, which I admire the author for taking on the subject. However, they should at least make some sense, which at times, the story doesn't make sense at all. I'm not sure if it was the actual concepts involved or just the amateur writing skills of the author. In time, Simon Guerrier has the potential to be a great writer, but considering this was his first novel, it did read as such. Coupled with the concepts involved & the fact this was the author's first book, led to this novel being average at best, but very much worth the read.

One other final note, I'm also unsure how I actually felt about the author's portrayal of the feelings Ian & Barbara had for each other. In the actual TV series, they are nothing more than friends. Though, it is likely after all they had been through, after they got back home, they had become much more... so perhaps this story is a glimpse into their life after their travels with the Doctor. Its also a glimpse into the Doctor's desire for his grand daughter to begin a normal life. Again, overall its a fun if not confusing read.

The BBC's Past Doctor Adventures, like their Virgin predecessors the Missing Adventures, could often be mixed affairs. Some Doctors and eras proved difficult to replicate either character or story others would be overdone to the point of being nothing but a series of cliches. Occasionally though, there would be moments when authors would not only be able to recreate Doctors and era but take them in new (or more contemporary) directions. One such example of blending past and present would be The Time Travellers by first-time novelsit Simon Guerrier, a novel that holds the distinction of being the next last novel of its range and also being one of the best books to come out of it.

Guerrier manages to recreate his TARDIS crew splendidly. That TARDIS crew being the very first featuring the first Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Their reactions to the world(s) they find themselves in throughout seem spot on to what fans have watched and listened to for close to half a century. In a way, Guerrier is at something of an advantage by writing for this TARDIS crew. The novel gives the reader the chance to get inside the character's heads in a way a TV story never can and Guerrier puts that to full use here with a TARDIS crew that is still getting to know one another. You have to remember that this was a time when the Doctor was more mercurial if not downright mysterious then later incarnations and we're reminded of this at moments throughout the novel where Ian and Barbara worry about the Doctor possibly leaving them behind. Guerrier also foreshadows some things still in the character's futures as well such as Susan leaving the TARDIS crew in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (for which we are given a reason why the Doctor let her) and even get a mini-sequel to the final minutes of The Chase as well (one that thankfully isn't as cringe-worthy as that story). The result of all this is that the characterizations are all spot-on in a way that is both familiar yet surprisingly fresh at the same time.

There's also fine supporting character's as well. With such spot-on work on the TARIDS crew, it would have been easy to make the supporting characters bland and barely noticeable. Yet Guerrier chooses to invoke one of the things that the Hartnell era would occasional do right: create supporting character's as interesting as the regulars. Bamford, Kelly, Griffiths, Andrews (splendid chaps all of them) and Wu all come across as three dimensional characters rather then possible cardboard character's. That sense of realism is heightened by Guerrier choosing not to delve into their motivations though we are given plenty of glimpses into what those might be. Plus, like all good supporting character's should, they give the protagonists something to bounce off of. In fact the novels best character moments come out of such moments with Barbara's moment of realization on page 162 being one that stands out most clearly in my mind. The result is a series of fascinating characters populating the novel throughout.

It is in the plot that the book truly becomes a true mix of past and present. Whether Guerrier intended it to or not, this novel has the feeling of being one that puts the earliest TARDIS crew in a story that could be right of the New Series of Doctor Who. The characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era of Doctor Who that occurred nearly fifty years ago now. Yet elements like its time travel paradox, a big reveal involving one member of the TARDIS crew that comes out in the final chapter as a consequence, its Canary Wharf setting during much of its length (if not the whole embattled 2006 London setting in general), pacing, even the prologue and epilogue all seem to be from the New Series. These styles should clash, at least in thought, you say? In practice though, Guerrier makes them work together to create a story that both honors the show's past while embracing its present without hesitation.

The icing on the cake is the fact that the novel is both a sequel and prequel to a first Doctor story still in his future that also has references to a few other stories here and there that are done in a way that is great if you get them but aren't necessary to understanding the story really. Yet Guerrier keeps in mind that this is a novel set during Doctor Who's earliest days and as such when he references things he keeps them vague such as not naming the Doctor's people for instance. Plus he takes one of the most (in)famous lines from the show's earliest days, "You can't rewrite history! Not one line!" and gives a much needed explanation for it that is truthful not only to what was originally intended when it was said and what ended up happening in the show's future as well. In short that means it's fan-wanking done right.

Even being a first novel The Time Travellers proves to be a standout novel. While the characterizations of the TARDIS crew, the scientific explanations, the occasional runarounds and even the title itself are all evocative of an era the past other elements such as the time travel paradox, a big reveal that comes out as a consequence, its setting during much of its length, pacing, even its prologue and epilogue bring to mind the Who of the present day. As a result Guerrier achieves a rare thing in either runs of the BBC;s Past Doctor Adventures or the Virgin Missing Adventures: a story that blends the past with the present and comes out all the better for doing so.

This was a very intriguing book with an eye-catching cover. Before talking to the author, Simon Guerrier, in person, I didn't even realize that the traffic-light tree really existed! I had thought that he just created the image for the book cover and for the story within. Concerning the story itself, I won't spoil too much except to say that it's a sort of "What If?" tale: set between "Planet of Giants" and "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", it examines what might have happened had the Doctor not defeated WOTAN in the TV story "The War Machines". But ties and reference to "The War Machines" are minimal, allowing this to be a free-standing story in its own right, and no less enjoyable for those who are unfamiliar with the events of "The War Machines".

a lot of things. Dangerous. Action packed. Confusing. Mostly confusing. The Doctor and gang find themselves in a London of their future (our past) rocked by war, death and ruin. England seems to have fought itself into a corner while trying to hold back progress and technology. This has only allowed its enemies to gain the upper hand.
The answer seems to be in the past (but once again a future the Doctor has yet to see) and the novel itself, while somewhat confusing and slow, is worth the read in the end. Doctor Who fans, who know their Doctor Who history, will enjoy it.