It took me all of five minutes, dutifully electing to start on the 8th Doctor books I had been lent, to decide to return downstairs and read King of Terror instead. Not hard to spot why - Tegan, Turlough and the Brigadier, an irresistible combination.
But then Paynter and Barrington turned up, and before I knew what I was doing, I'd fallen completely in love. This isn't something I do very often. For me, the minor characters are usually a distraction from what the regulars are doing, which is always my top priority in these things. Furthermore, liking extras in Doctor Who is a bit of a wasted experience - they're there soley to die. But both were wonderfully written (especially Paynter, I know someone just like that), as was their friendship and the casual way their professional life weaves into their private conversations. And I did spend a lot of time worrying about their chances of survival.
The Doc didn't have a lot to do, but I suppose that's in keeping with the realistic tone of the book. The author tries very hard to give us realistic reactions to getting hurt, seeing violence and being in a tense situation, which I somewhat approve of. Particularly in terms of placing, with it being very near the ultra-violent Resurrection of the Daleks (I'm led to believe Warriors of the Deep is no picnic either). The downside is, its then unrealistic for the Doctor to zoom in, play cricket with the Jax for the right to conquer Earth, or talk them out of it, or whatever. Giving them The Sontaran Stratagem treatment just wouldn't work; so instead, the Doctor lets UNIT and the CIA do all the hard work, which doesn't exactly gel with me. He couldn't be less involved if he tried. Not only is he only on the periphery of the alien invasion plot, he doesn't find time to rescue Tegan or Turlough either. He doesn't want to attack the aliens, but doesn't object to the Brig doing it too strenuously, and doesn't seem to have a plan to talk to them either. I know Five had a reputation for being a bit of a useless case, but this is taking it to extremes.
What was there was very good though. I picked on Goth Opera for exposing the core of the character too much. Here there were shades of everything, I felt it was all there, but nothing was made obvious.
I like how well it fitted into the TV canon too, especially in terms of character development. Haven't seen Frontios and Awakening, but we've got some shadows about Trion, and both Tegan and the Doctor have a nod towards their psychological state in a few episodes time - she, going through another unpleasant and violent experience, starting towards her breakdown in Resurrection, and he starting to become introspective about the right level of violence to use and whether his efforts are helping at all (and they don't in this book).
The companions were both well done. I've heard it said Turlough doesn't work well in the novels, and I can understand why - his character is entirely built on Mr Strickson's twitchy performance, and hardly on the lines he is given. In addition, he's a favourite companion, so I was extra concerned. But I knew things were alright from his first entrance - having gone to see his Trion solicitor, he returns with both a bloodied nose and a smile. Classic Turlough, and while he's not given much to do, what he is passes my seal of approval. Particularly some details about Brendon. I also like the fact he suffers from apparent asthma and migrane, which is actually an alien reaction to the climate. Never mentioned in the show, but it seems to fit. Poor chap has, how shall we put this, something of a hard time in the book - which, while I didn't enjoy, did seem strangely fitting. I feel more people should make Turlough cry - it just reinforces the fact he is shamelessly puny. Tegan is well caught also. The miniromance didn't annoy me as much as it should have.
And the Brig! The opening dialogue with the Doctor is just wonderfully done, although I'm amused by the various plot-kinks people have used over the years to keep him in the story. Quite frankly, I don't remember him ever coming out of anything badly. He's just too well loved by pretty much everyone for anyone to dare do him badly.
In many ways, it's the polar opposite of Goth Opera - the "better book" but one I liked less. Overall, it hung together well, but the little things really got on my nerves. Here, the plot - and particularly, the character involvement - leaves a lot to be desired, but the individual scenes are irresistable. Things like Paynter explaining the Doctor to himself, as he talks about the Charge of the Light Brigade; or a throwaway reference to an unseen adventure in which the Doctor, Himmler and Heydrich chasing the Master through Berlin on the Night of the Long Knives. I like all the references to all the other Doctors - The Brig and members of both UNIT and the CIA are naturally familiar with several different versions, leading to some wonderful moments. I love the Doctor defining why Tegan is so important to him (and, unlike in Goth Opera, he does it when she's out of the room).
The one thing that really wound me up was the minor-character description. Saying someone looks like a cross between Alesteir Crowley and Ringo Starr is fine if you recognise the reference (which I do, in this case), but not if you don't (which I normally didn't). It's just lazy and annoying. And I'm furious that some readers have spotted continuity crossovers with Cold Fusion, my favourite so far, that I have missed (turns out I did spot it, but it was at the very start so I'd forgotten). I'm also amused that Tegan remarks on the Doctor's ability to "talk himself out of confrontations with Cybermen", because as my memory of Earthshock goes, the Cyberleader was doing all the talking.
All in all, depending on why you read these things, it wouldn't be wasted time to check this out. Especially because its one of the few still on shelves.
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