The Christmas Invasion by: Jenny T. Colgan

 

The Christmas Invasion was written by Jenny T. Colgan, based on the story of the same name by Russell T. Davies.  It was the 169^th story to be novelized by BBC Books.

 

It’s kind of a shame that I’m doing these novelizations of Russell T. Davies era stories in series broadcast order, as it means I have already experienced two adapted by their original writers which allows this elevation from a standard novelization and expansion of these 45-minute episodes into something genuinely amazing.  Jenny T. Colgan was already an established novelist and storyteller both in and out of the Doctor Who world, having written two full length Doctor Who novels, several short stories and audios, and her own series of young adult romantic comedies.  She is a lifelong Doctor Who fan, and you can tell she is relishing the chance to adapt a story from the man whose era returned her love of the show.  The Christmas Invasion is a Target novelization and I mean that in the absolute best way possible: it takes the 60 minute Christmas special and adapts it to the short novel format wonderfully, but unlike the other two modern novelizations I have covered (perhaps because Colgan didn’t write the original script) there isn’t actually all that much added in terms of plot or characterization.  There is an added prologue and epilogue which are nice, a few moments scattered throughout that add mini scenes including a nice description of the Guinevere space program being stared, and an added adaptation of “Born Again” as a single chapter, but other than that The Christmas Invasion is “The Christmas Invasion”.  It doesn’t take steps to iron out some of the issues of the televised story, or maybe give Harriet Jones more to do, it’s perfectly content to be the story and to be just as enjoyable.  Colgan’s prose is light and breezy, focused on converting the performances and emotions of the characters to prose very well in her added descriptors.  There is an adherence to the script to perhaps too large of a degree, some of the dialogue being very mid-2000s television dialogue.  And of course, the story still has the Doctor out of the action and the uncertainty of where the Tenth Doctor’s characterization could go which was something Colgan perhaps could have added to in a novelization like this.  The chapter titles being all lyrics or titles for Christmas carols was a nice touch to enhance the Christmas atmosphere though.

 

Overall, The Christmas Invasion is a perfectly enjoyable read from an author who knows exactly what she’s doing, though is perhaps a bit too reserved when it comes to converting an hour long script into prose.  It’s an experience that if you enjoy “The Christmas Invasion” as a story on television you are going to enjoy The Christmas Invasion in prose form.  It does make me want to see Colgan let loose with the ability to fully expand an episode and maybe not adhere so closely as she did here, but this is a book that I can happily recommend as a fun time.  7/10.