Doctor Who: Tip Of The Tongue - A Review

Maine, New England.  1945.  Nettie is a mixed-race tomboy who prefers working on cars to more feminine pursuits.  Jonny is doubly cursed to be Jewish and German in a time and place where neither is widely accepted.  The two have bonded together as only outcasts can but Jonny has designs on joining the popular crowd.  Or at least winning the attention of his crush, Marisa.  And he plans to do that with his newly acquired Truth Teller.

The Truth Teller is the latest fad -a  living creature that is strapped to one's chin and then immediately beings speaking the truth about whatever is in front of it.  Naturally the town's teenagers are easily amused by the trouble and pain such creatures can cause.  But the truth behind what The Truth Tellers really are proves far from playful, as Nettie and Jonny will discover when The Doctor pays their town a visit.



There is a good story at the heart of Tip Of The Tongue.  Unfortunately, it's not a good Doctor Who story.  Indeed, The Doctor's presence almost seems to be an afterthought.  We don't get to see The Doctor in action until the very end and even then he's just there to explain away what's been going on in the background to the story's main characters.  Nyssa is a non-entity, who receives no more description than "sounds British" and "wears trousers" and is given nothing to do save provide The Doctor with someone to talk to.

Patrick Ness might have written a good historical novel for young adults with Nettie and Jonny.  Indeed, I hope he does, for they are the best thing about this story and one can easily see why The Doctor would invite them to travel with him.  As a period piece, Tip Of The Tongue is enjoyable.  As a Doctor Who story, it falls flat.

Doctor Who: Fear Of The Dark - A Book Review

The planet Akoshemon is widely regarded as the most wretched hive of scum and villainy the universe has ever produced.  Even now, generations after the planet and its people fell, it is viewed with hostility and suspicion - even by those who do not believe the old legends of an ancient evil living in the heart of the Akoshemon system.  The planet itself is a polluted wreck and its location on the edge of the universe makes it impractical for exploration.  Which makes it a prime target for Jyl Stoker and her band of mineral pirates.

Of course The Doctor has little interest in minerals or pirates.  His concern lies with a telepathic force that is attacking his companion Nyssa.  His attempts to track the assailant lead him to the moon of Akoshemon, where Stoker and her crew have just uncovered a hidden underground laboratory.  But there is more beneath the surface than old labs and strange tombs.  And in the heart of a dark world, The Doctor will have to confront more than an ancient evil beyond even his understanding - he must also confront his own fears.
 



In may ways, Fear Of The Dark perfectly captures the essence of the Fifth Doctor era.  The problem is that it captured the essence of a mediocre episode of said era.  Author Trevor Baxendale has some incredibly good ideas but fails to fully realize most of them.

The base concept of the villain is a prime example of this.  The menace The Doctor faces is Lovcraftian in nature, lacking form and existing only as malevolent, possessive thought. Baxendale slowly builds the horror of the story, portraying The Doctor's out of character behavior as a result of subtle psionic manipulation.  The idea that The Doctor - never cowardly and never cruel - could be so easily turned by this menace is truly horrific.  And yet the other-worldly menace - when finally revealed after over 200 pages of subtle manipulation - monologues like The Master at his hammiest! 

Another problem is the supporting cast.  Baxendale is capable of creating interesting character concepts that defy the standard cliches of science-fiction.  And yet, as soon as we feel some emotional attachment to a character, they are killed off before anything can be done with them.  Vexingly, it is the dullest characters with the least definition who survive the longest.  Some cite The Fifth Doctor's tenure as the bloodiest in the show's history in terms of supporting character deaths and this novel does little to prove them wrong.

In the end, Fear Of The Dark is not a bad story but it hasn't aged particularly well.  The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit presented the same basic plot more effectively.  And it may be difficult for modern science-fiction readers to read about the cigar-chomping, tough-as-nails but still model-gorgeous Jyl Stoker without thinking of Katee Sackhoff.  Fifth Doctor fans will probably enjoy it but other Whovians can safely skip this one.