From the House of Lungbarrow
By Matthew Kresal
Column 3:
The Eight Doctors
27th February 2011
The Doctor Who Book Club has chosen The Eight Doctors as the book for their next podcast as you may know. It will be theie third podcast but the first they have done where I have read the book in question. In fact I would go so far as to say that The Eight Doctors is a bit of a favorite of mine. Which is especially surprising if you consider that it isn't what you might call high rated.
To be honest I've never understood why that is. I can guess of course. I suspect it may have to do with the fact that it's author Terrance Dicks has a stated disliking of what the book is a sequel to; The 1996 TV movie. Or perhaps it's the fact that the book starts a whole new book range, but going back through the history of the show up to that point.
While I can not speak for the former I can speak about the later. For me, that's part of the appeal of The Eight Doctors and why I like it so much. By making the Eighth Doctor amnesic at the book's beginning, Dicks sets up a trip down memory (or perhaps Trotters) lane. It's a chance to go back and look at moments from the past before setting off for the future.
In visiting the past, Dicks fills in gaps in the past. Ever wondered what made the First Doctor hesitate killing that injured caveman in An Unearthly Child? Or what happened after the Master escaped in that hovercraft at the end of The Sea Devils? Or that coup on Gallifrey that's mentioned in The Trial Of A Time Lordperhaps? Well The Eight Doctors is the place where you can do just that.
[Editor's note: You're going to make them read the book to find out, aren't you, Matthew? Or at least what for the Book Club Podcast....]
It's also important for another reason. Part of the novel takes place on a present day Gallifrey where Lord President Flavia looks over the Eighth Doctor's actions. Why mention this? Because according to the Virgin Adventures, which in theory proceeded this with only the TV Movie in between, Romana was Lord President. At least one person, Lawrence Miles, found this to be a problem. Miles took it upon himself to try and reconcile these two facts and in doing so created the idea of a universe in a bottle. That in turn would become just a part of the vast Faction Paradox universe that was to dominate not only an arc of the Eighth Doctor novels to come before creating a universe of its own. Everyone seems to overlook that fact though.
There's a big reason why it stands out though. There has always been a lot of talk about one Doctor handing over to another, or at least on a symbolic level there has been. This is the place where that happened for real. It happens from pages 264 to 266 where the Seventh and Eighth Doctors meet. The Eighth Doctor, knowing that the Seventh's regeneration will be soon, tries to warn him. The Seventh though stops him and says simply: “We'll just let things follow their destined course shall we? Time will tell-it always does!” With that piece of dialogue and a quick thank you, the torch is passed from one Doctor to the next. It is a way the end of the beginning and a new beginning for the Doctor in print.
The Eight Doctors isn't meant to be a deep, thought provoking book. It isn't a Human Nature, Lungbarrowor The Infinity Doctors. It is a fun trip through the history of Doctor Who on television. It's a chance to visit the past before moving on a future filled with wars in heaven, the fall of Gallifrey, an amnesic exile and much more. It's another chance to say goodbye to the Doctor with whom the literary adventures started with and say hello to the one who would take it onwards until the television show itself returned. That's why I like The Eight Doctors.
To be honest I've never understood why that is. I can guess of course. I suspect it may have to do with the fact that it's author Terrance Dicks has a stated disliking of what the book is a sequel to; The 1996 TV movie. Or perhaps it's the fact that the book starts a whole new book range, but going back through the history of the show up to that point.
While I can not speak for the former I can speak about the later. For me, that's part of the appeal of The Eight Doctors and why I like it so much. By making the Eighth Doctor amnesic at the book's beginning, Dicks sets up a trip down memory (or perhaps Trotters) lane. It's a chance to go back and look at moments from the past before setting off for the future.
In visiting the past, Dicks fills in gaps in the past. Ever wondered what made the First Doctor hesitate killing that injured caveman in An Unearthly Child? Or what happened after the Master escaped in that hovercraft at the end of The Sea Devils? Or that coup on Gallifrey that's mentioned in The Trial Of A Time Lordperhaps? Well The Eight Doctors is the place where you can do just that.
[Editor's note: You're going to make them read the book to find out, aren't you, Matthew? Or at least what for the Book Club Podcast....]
It's also important for another reason. Part of the novel takes place on a present day Gallifrey where Lord President Flavia looks over the Eighth Doctor's actions. Why mention this? Because according to the Virgin Adventures, which in theory proceeded this with only the TV Movie in between, Romana was Lord President. At least one person, Lawrence Miles, found this to be a problem. Miles took it upon himself to try and reconcile these two facts and in doing so created the idea of a universe in a bottle. That in turn would become just a part of the vast Faction Paradox universe that was to dominate not only an arc of the Eighth Doctor novels to come before creating a universe of its own. Everyone seems to overlook that fact though.
There's a big reason why it stands out though. There has always been a lot of talk about one Doctor handing over to another, or at least on a symbolic level there has been. This is the place where that happened for real. It happens from pages 264 to 266 where the Seventh and Eighth Doctors meet. The Eighth Doctor, knowing that the Seventh's regeneration will be soon, tries to warn him. The Seventh though stops him and says simply: “We'll just let things follow their destined course shall we? Time will tell-it always does!” With that piece of dialogue and a quick thank you, the torch is passed from one Doctor to the next. It is a way the end of the beginning and a new beginning for the Doctor in print.
The Eight Doctors isn't meant to be a deep, thought provoking book. It isn't a Human Nature, Lungbarrowor The Infinity Doctors. It is a fun trip through the history of Doctor Who on television. It's a chance to visit the past before moving on a future filled with wars in heaven, the fall of Gallifrey, an amnesic exile and much more. It's another chance to say goodbye to the Doctor with whom the literary adventures started with and say hello to the one who would take it onwards until the television show itself returned. That's why I like The Eight Doctors.
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The Eight Doctors is available to buy from the Amazon Marketplace |