Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen
started life as a proposed Doctor Who film from Douglas Adams early in
Tom Baker’s run as the Doctor. When
plans fell through it’s main ideas were rewritten into Life, the Universe,
and Everything, the third book in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,
so it was very odd when in 2018 the BBC announced James Goss would be adapting
it into a Doctor Who novel. This
may seem like an incredibly odd decision as the story has already been told, until
you actually pick up and read the book.
Douglas Adam’s proposal for Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen isn’t a
standard short story proposal, it lasts about 30 pages and is included in the
back of the published book, unedited.
The basic premise is the same as Life, the Universe, and Everything,
but a lot of the ideas didn’t make it into that later book so Doctor Who and
the Krikkitmen ends up being a unique reading experience. James Goss should be praised as he clearly
understands Douglas Adams’ specific style of writing, though there is a slight lacking
of the depth that Adams usually puts in his scripts. This is more of a Douglas Adams sendup than
something that Adams would always right, though Goss does put in some of his
own satire on Doctor Who and the Graham Williams era which makes sense. Changing a 30 page storyline into a
full-length novel means that things must be added, however, some of the deeper Doctor
Who references like to the Racnoss, the Vampires, and the Kastrians feel a
bit too much like adding references for the sake of references.
The first third of the novel is where most of the
comparisons to Life, the Universe, and Everything can be made: the
Doctor and Romana go to a cricket match which is invaded by the Krikkitmen who steal
the Ashes to destroy the universe and a diverting exposition dump to explain
who the Krikkitmen are. Instead of
taking place in a time travelling restaurant run by bistronomics, it’s moved to
Gallifrey in the Matrix, something that was in the original script. The history of the Krikkitmen is a chapter
which takes paragraphs straight from Life, the Universe, and Everything
including many of the famous lines about the universe groaning and the
motivation of the Krikkitmen. It’s just
put in a Doctor Who framework, though it is undeniably written by
Douglas Adams. Goss’s inclusion of
Borusa, giving him a relationship with Romana as her tutor which Goss uses to
reflect on the relationship between the Doctor and Romana.
The Doctor and Romana are essentially played here as
two sides of the same coin: both sick of Gallifrey and going on to have their
own lives, saving the universe one planet at a time. Romana, while regenerated, is still the
calculating and rational one, knowing that she’s going to have to save the universe
but not putting up with having to give explanations for why she needs
help. There’s this great portion late
into the novel where the Doctor and Romana are apart which is really where each
of them shine. Romana has to try to get
some people on Earth to try and save the universe where she has this incredibly
direct response to any of the questions.
It makes her one of the most interesting characters, coming straight
from the era and Goss uses the opportunity to reflect on how Romana will
eventually leave the TARDIS in E-Space before returning to Gallifrey. There’s a remark where she insists she would
never make it as the President of Gallifrey which becomes one of the best gags
in the book. The Doctor is also
incredibly well characterized as the over the top Tom Baker performance that fits
so well with Douglas Adams’s style of storytelling.
There is also an effort to make this feel like a script
for a Doctor Who film, taking full advantage of the Doctor Who premise,
sending the Doctor, Romana, and K9 all around the universe, fighting a mad
computer which makes the Ultimate Weapon, a Krikkitman robot who has broken its
programming, and even the White and Black Guardians. This turns the story into one dealing with
the “gods” of the universe, not gods in the religious sense, but in the sense of
having power and reputation throughout the universe. This involves proposing three gods of the
universe including the Doctor, which becomes musings and a complete rejection
of the concept. The Doctor isn’t a god,
he’s just having fun. The variety of
setting and scenarios are really what make Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen shine. Overall, Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen
shouldn’t work, but ends up being both a tribute act and genuine Douglas Adams
story. James Goss should be praised for
his work on creating a fascinating little tale which finally got the chance to see
the light of day. 9/10.
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