The Target Storybook edited by: Steve Cole

 

The Target Storybook was perhaps one of 2019’s most anticipated anthology releases in the line of Doctor Who books.  It was a celebration of all the Doctors and their prose, starting way back with 1965’s Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and the first ever novelization, the Virgin New Adventures, the Eighth Doctor Adventures, and the trio of Thirteenth Doctor novels released in 2018.  Each Doctor gets at least one story celebrating their era and the entirety of the show’s history, yet not for any special anniversary of the books, 2019 doesn’t fit with the start dates of 1965, 1973, 1991, 1997, or 2005 for any of the book ranges.  This just seems to be an anthology for the sake of celebrating Doctor Who in prose, with writers being chosen who have deep connections to the era, form novelists, to screenwriters, to actors, and even fans given their shot writing for the show that they clearly all adore, all placed in the hands of editor Steve Cole.  Each story comes from a place of love and dedication to the show, and the anthology is one that shows that each era has its ups and downs while all making up one small part of Doctor Who as a whole.

 

The current Whittaker era bookends The Target Storybook from two Series 11 writers.  Up first is “Gatecrashers” by Joy Wilkinson, set immediately after The Witchfinders.  “Gatecrashers” is a locked room murder mystery in a space pizza parlor where the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan stumble on a dead body.  It doesn’t take long to find the murderer, Ronan Sumners a man attempting to keep his people inside, controlling socializing by a teleportation network a la Three’s a Crowd.  This is a story where there is one real flaw that just leaves the reader dissatisfied: the TARDIS team.  This is a short story and as such having a four person TARDIS team means that the writer has to be creative in using them so each character feels like they serve a purpose and have a depth of field.  Wilkinson, however, does not do this, sidelining Yaz and Ryan meaning that they have absolutely no character while the Doctor and Graham take center stage.  They are great together, but cutting back to Yaz and Ryan still being stuck in a room doesn’t work, especially as “Gatecrashers” is only 20 pages long, meaning that things wrap up just as they are getting started.  6/10.

 

“Journey Out of Terror” takes us back to 1965’s The Chase and another four person TARDIS team, however, Simon Guerrier’s short story is much more resourceful than Wilkinson in effectively using each character.  This takes place after Journey Into Terror, the fourth episode of The Chase where Vicki is captured by the Daleks, and “Journey Out of Terror” deals with the emotional fallout of the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara having lost a companion.  This is a point in the show’s history where the TARDIS is uncontrollable, and the Doctor is unable to actually go and rescue them.  Guerrier injects tension into the story as the Daleks are clearly on the tale and an intentional homage to The Rescue begins as the TARDIS lands in a comic book where Julia Jett is waiting.  She wishes to escape her existence by travelling in the TARDIS and the Doctor is almost ready to oblige.  This creates conflict in the TARDIS team as Ian and Barbara cannot believe the Doctor is so readily willing to move on from Vicki.  Guerrier’s story is a highly emotional one that helps build to Ian and Barbara’s eventual departure from the TARDIS while examining just how Ian, Barbara, and the Doctor’s dynamic actually works.  9/10

 

Legendary Doctor Who scribe and Target Novelist Terrance Dicks provides “Save Yourself”, a Second Doctor story set right after The War Games.  “Save Yourself” is short, taking place as the Doctor waits to be punished and is interfered with by an operative of the Celestial Intervention Agency, offering him an out.  Dicks sends the Second Doctor on missions for the CIA, bringing Season 6B to the forefront, but with one final twist on the theory that I will not spoil.  The mission of this story is the first of many chances of the Doctor to save himself, being sent to the planet Karn where the War Lord has escaped his execution and it is up to the Doctor to stop him from acquiring immortality through the Sacred Flame of Karn.  Bringing The War Games and The Brain of Morbius together is an interesting prospect, but much of the story is not concerned with exploring the world or anything, just leading the Doctor to his eventual demise is where this story succeeds.  Dicks’ style never wanes in what is his last story, although the revelations here may not be for everyone.  It’s a fitting story to go out on and although this is not dedicated to him, it gives one last hurrah for such an integral writer to Doctor Who’s history.  7/10.

 

Environmentalist stories just seem to define the Third Doctor’s era and Matthew Sweet’s entry into The Target Storybook, “The Clean Air Act”, is no exception.  This story is one of those stories where the UNIT family is explored, as are many Third Doctor short stories.  Sweet’s is notable as it does not feature the Master, lampshading this fact, with a character with the surname Mastersson thought to be the Master, however as she is female, it is dismissed with a joke that lands like a brick (though the image of Roger Delgado in a female disguise is something I wouldn’t say no to seeing at some point).  The actual plot involves alien parasites in a story that feels like a tribute to 1960s and 1970s science fiction films like The Day of the Triffids.  Jo and the Doctor are always fun to have a story centering around them, but sadly once it gets going, the story is over far too quickly.  Sweet’s prose is worth the read as there is a lyrical charm, making it surprising that he has never written a full-length novel for Doctor Who. 7/10.

 

Newcomer Susie Day provides “Punting”, the Fourth Doctor story for the collection, and an interesting take on Shada and The Five Doctors.  The story opens with the scene from Shada playing out with the Doctor and Romana being taken into the Timescoop, and continues from there as they attempt to break into The Five Doctors’ plot while providing witty, Douglas Adams style commentary on events and the other four incarnations of the Doctor which are present.  Many of these witty comments have been echoed by fans over the years, such as laughing as Sarah Jane is menaced by a gentle sloping hill, or the shabby state of the Yeti, or the misunderstanding of Borusa being evil.  Day’s story is one which should not be taken seriously, as it sets itself up from the off as a farce.  This farcical nature makes the story an incredibly jovial read, even if it’s slightly derivative of two other stories.  The derivative nature of “Punting”, however, seems to be part of the point that Day is making about the anniversary special and the nonsensical plot that has entertained so many audiences since 1983.  Day is one newcomer who’s first story is pure perfection, and it will be interesting to see what she continues to do in the future.  10/10.

 

The biggest surprise of The Target Storybook is that Matthew Waterhouse was chosen to represent the Fifth Doctor’s era in “The Dark River”.  Waterhouse would not strike any Doctor Who fans as a writer, but his story, set with Adric and Nyssa flying the TARDIS during The Visitaiton, is an excellent character study.  One complaint of Adric is that he is an insufferable know it all, though “The Dark River” allows him to be wrong as he accidentally pilots the TARDIS to the United States of America interacting with a runaway slave, James, whom they immediately help to get to safety by traveling up the Mississippi River when the TARDIS is stolen by a rival Time Lord.  The rival Time Lord is an interesting character and gives Adric and Nyssa a real view into the ineffectual nature of Time Lord society.  Adric and Nyssa as protagonists is also incredibly interesting, as both are flawed companions and this story accentuates their flaws.  Nyssa has to learn to rely on Adric for help while Adric has to find a way to get the TARDIS back, and think outside of his standard intelligence to help the renegade Time Lord featured here.  Waterhouse also just knows how to capture the reader immediately and shows that he clearly understands what worked and what didn’t work about the character he played, being willing to criticize his own performance through the text of the story.  Tackling racism with two alien companions also provides an interesting perspective, if limited by the nature of being a short story with a small page count.  9/10.

 

Colin Baker’s “Interstitial Insecurity” is another standout story, this time taking place in between Mindwarp and Terror of the Vervoids, as the Doctor is picking out evidence for his trial in the Matrix.  Baker offers an interesting glimpse into The Trial of a Time Lord as he shows the reader some of the changes made by the Valeyard to the testimony, something the Doctor claimed in Terror of the Vervoids.  Colin Baker clearly was against the Doctor committing genocide as this implies that he genetically altered the Vervoid pods to allow the species to grow, though not as an evil race intent on universal domination.  The Doctor also spends much of this story in the Matrix, examining his future, being manipulated into choosing Terror of the Vervoids, while being shown adventures with Dr. Evelyn Smythe and Charlotte Pollard as possibilities, giving Big Finish Productions their one big mention in this collection.  Baker also clearly understands how to write for Doctor Who, understanding just how Peri’s death breaks the Doctor and revives a determination to route out evil in the universe, becoming attached to a Time Lord program in the Matrix who is really only there to help.  While it is no surprise that the Valeyard has a hand in events, Baker stays restrained in keeping him only in brief appearances, right at the beginning and right at the end as the two stories are bridged by “Interstitial Insecurity”.  10/10.

 

The Virgin New Adventures range of books is represented here with “The Slyther of Shoreditch” by Mike Tucker, though by using a television story, Remembrance of the Daleks, as linking material.  This is fitting as the novelization of Remembrance of the Daleks is essentially where the VNAs as a range started and Mike Tucker’s story adds a second element to the story’s already vast mythos and worldbuilding.  The Daleks don’t actually appear as the premise is that a modified Slyther from The Dalek Invasion of Earth is attempting to recover the Hand of Omega late at night while Ace sleeps.  The Doctor, just before the café scene (you know the one), is on the streets trying to stop it when he is first informed of the forthcoming Time War by the same Time Lord from Genesis of the Daleks.  Tucker has excellent use of the Seventh Doctor, a Doctor who easily could have won the War given the chance, essentially being manipulated into avoiding the War at all costs as it is implied the Time Lords fear this incarnation of the Doctor in particular.  It helps to bridge the VNAs right in with the rest of the show and it’s a nice little intrusion into one of the best Doctor Who stories, like many stories in this anthology, being a supplemental to an already good story.  9/10.

 

Eighth Doctor Adventures range editor Steve Cole provides “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming” where the Eighth Doctor, Fitz, and Trix face off some evil accountants in a scathing satire of bureaucracy which ends in a paradox.  Like many of the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, the big plus here is the Eighth Doctor and Fitz’s relationship being stunning as the characters have this brilliant repartee and while Trix is not a character I am familiar with, her first impressions here makes for an exciting time as this is set right near the end of the Eighth Doctor Adventures line.  Fitz’s appearance in particular is a welcome one as he is the only book exclusive companion with Bernice Summerfield to really have transcended the book range he is a part of, even if he never got a spin-off series like Benny.  Cole’s prose is also suited to the short story format, making “We Can’t Stop What’s Coming” a nice little glimpse into a long dead range of Doctor Who novels that may make new readers come to try it out.  8/10.

 

Engines of War author George Mann provides “Decoy” for the War Doctor in The Target Storybook, taking readers straight into the Last Great Time War where Rassilon has made an Auton duplicate of the Doctor in an attempt to end the War, as the title suggests, as a decoy to end the Daleks.  The Time War as a setting is not that interesting here, as it amounts to the cliché Daleks and Time Lords shooting each other, and not the Lovecraftian horror a Time War implies.  The story also does not succeed in showing the War Doctor as anything other than the other incarnations of the Doctor, something made such a big deal of that should be explored.  It is not a bad story by any means: Mann’s prose is enjoyable and it is an incredibly easy to read as the Doctor has some fury against Rassilon.  The interactions between the Doctor and Rassilon are where “Decoy” succeeds as Rassilon is a desperate man attempting to end the War at any cost, even if that doesn’t actually mean changing history.  The final decoy of the story is also a surprising little twist that on reread is set up rather nicely in the end, though this one is not one that deepens the War Doctor as a character.  7/10.

 

Una McCormack’s poignant “Grounded” represents the Ninth Doctor’s era in an interesting way.  This is a story that doesn’t feature the Doctor in any capacity, instead focusing on Clive Finch, the man in Rose whom Rose sees to learn about the Doctor and gets killed by the Autons at the climax as New Who’s first real casualty.  “Grounded” explores Clive’s relationship to one of his sons who is grounded for breaking a neighbor’s window with a football, while his mother and other brother go out for the day.  Ben Finch is an interesting narrator as McCormack perfectly captures the voice of a child and once again there is a poignant twist as it is revealed that this story is relayed after the events of Rose.  The entire point of “Grounded” is to show just how Clive is a good father, despite his eccentricities in finding aliens in the world and his unending search for the Doctor.  He comforts his son and brings him along on an expedition to a place where a genuine alien crashed and they end up helping the creature get back to its spacecraft and leave the Earth quietly.  It’s melancholic as a story and that is just what McCormack needed to do with this particular character at this particular time. 8/10.

 

The Target Storybook this far hasn’t had a bad story, but “The Turning of the Tide”, by far the longest story in the collection, is the weakest.  It follows Rose Tyler in her parallel universe with Corin, the name she gives to the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor.  The plot of the story is serviceable: Jenny T. Colgan brings in an alien invasion which has been going through parallel universes for business opportunities which could be fun, but Corin and Rose’s relationship, which is the main thrust of the story is where things fall apart.  Colgan writes Rose with introspection on how Corin doesn’t actually count as the Doctor and the inner turmoil would be nice, but she is also pregnant with his child.  The issue here is that there is no implication that Colgan understands how messed up of a situation this is and how the introspection must have happened before this.  Also they’ve been living together, but Colgan writes it as if they’ve just gotten back to their universe which doesn’t feel right.  Add that to the fact that Corin is just the worst aspects of the Tenth Doctor with little of David Tennant’s charm, “The Turning of the Tide” is a story that just loses the reader quickly.  3/10.

 

The quality then immediately increases with Jacqueline Rayner’s critique of the Moffat and Chibnall era’s “Citation Needed”.  “Citation Needed” is told as entries in the Encyclopedia Gallifreya, essentially a chronicling in the TARDIS library of the Doctor’s time stream, while the Thirteenth Doctor and company are making themselves breakfast.  Rayner takes the time to take jabs at Clara, the Meta-Crisis Doctor, the War Doctor, and the current era, much like Day coming from a place of love.  The entire point of the story is all about poking fun at obsessive continuity and just letting those who enjoy stories enjoy those stories, continuity be damned.  Rayner is the perfect writer to do this as she has written for many Doctors in many eras and clearly loves writing.  The non-traditional storytelling is also one thing that sets this story out as the rest of the entries are generally written traditionally, while Rayner here writes as if this is a series of encyclopedia entries.  It’s a breath of fresh air just for how different it is.  8/10.

 

Bill, Missy, and Nardole are the stars of new writer Beverly Sanford’s “Pain Management” which is also an examination of an aspect of the Moffat era.  This story is one where Missy’s turn to the side of good is examined, and parodied as the Twelfth Doctor lets her out of the vault on a day trip, falls asleep, and she attempts to cure humanity of the flu by turning them into zombies.  Yeah, Missy’s plan doesn’t quite make sense which is fine as it fits into Michelle Gomez’s portrayal of the character, which is lovingly imitated here, and Bill and Nardole’s inability to stop her is also excellent.  Sanford writes a story straight out of Series 10, showing just what worked about that particular series and made Moffat’s last such a good one.  7/10.

 

Finally is Vinay Patel’s bookend “Letters from the Front” which is a reflection on Demons of the Punjab and a story that does must be read to be understood.  Patel plays around with Prem, showing his time as a soldier, drawing on the history of the era and genuinely ending this book on a high note, though one that does not connect to any Doctor in particular.  9/10.

 

Overall, Steve Cole has curated an excellent collection of short stories celebrating Doctor Who prose with only one falling short.  This comes highly recommended to old fans and new as it is a nice primer to what each Doctor’s era is like in prose format and beckons you to read more.  7.8/10.