Superior Beings by: Nick Walters

 

It took several novels but finally after so much time we have a second good Fifth Doctor novel to be published by BBC Books.  Nick Walters’ third Doctor Who novel takes the Fifth Doctor and Peri to an apparent utopia, a garden planet perfect for exploring Peri’s skills as a botanist and give them a vacation.  Perhaps what makes Superior Beings work is that the Fifth Doctor and Peri for the first time have perfect characterization.  This could be because Big Finish Productions had been releasing Doctor Who audio dramas for over two years by the time this novel was released, indeed Red Dawn was already released and Justin Richards’ characterization seems to be the blueprint for making a Fifth Doctor/Peri relationship work and I suspect as editor he was able to bring Walters on board with the proper characterization.  The Fifth Doctor in particular shines more like the older Davison’s portrayals, with some added snark at direct moments which cut through what had been quite the bland portrayal of the character up until this point.  The opening chapters with the Doctor are a delight as here he is brimming with life and emotion, and Walters makes it feel like shackles have been lifted now that Tegan and Turlough have both left.

 

It is actually Peri who perhaps shines the most throughout Superior Beings, as Walters decides to explore just what someone growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in Maryland would actually be like.  Peri as an “American” on television wasn’t really a thing, Nicola Bryant is attempting an American accent and John Nathan-Turner’s baffling and borderline abusive forcing the accent on the actress is well documented (even when she wasn’t performing plus Bryant recently coming out to document the backhanded abuse of power by Nathan-Turner), and after Peter Davison left before the end of Season 21 the character was quickly shifted from a plucky college student to this jaded woman trying to deal with a Doctor who is very unstable.  Walters really picks up on the pluck throughout the novel to expose her to the wonder of the universe, even if Superior Beings is a book which is quite dark throughout.  Heck, this is a book where Peri is propositioned for sex through a cultural misunderstanding, the people on the planet are in such bliss that there genuinely wouldn’t be a reason for people not to engage in sexual behaviors.  There’s also so much violence, and the book itself ends in a very dark manner with a lot of the characters dead, yet you never get the sense that Peri is losing her sense of wonder.  It’s very much an are you kidding me, there’s still a whole universe to see and of course it can’t get any worse.  This doesn’t mean Superior Beings doesn’t have it’s problems, the plot itself has this tendency to meander in places and the characterization of the supporting characters genuinely leave a lot to be desired, but the main threat of the Valesthke is wonderful with this sinister religious undertone as there is a sense of things possibly being bigger.  The title itself is a bit misleading however, implying some sort of genetic engineering plot which doesn’t really happen.

 

Overall, Superior Beings is honestly a book I can recommend if you actually want good Fifth Doctor content.  The characterization of the regulars is the best the BBC Books has to offer and Nick Walters brings this great tension and suspense to the rest of the book which makes it all worth it, despite some issues with things not quite adding up to their full potential.  7/10.