Okay, here we are. We all know the Eighth Doctor first appeared on our screens 30 years and some months ago. I only had the idea to do this a while after the TV movie’s anniversary, and have only got around to actioning it a month after that. Not sure this bodes well for keeping up with the novel releases when that time rolls around. BUT, there’s not heaps to catch up on at this point so I’m still going to try.
I have never consumed a book, a short story or a comic featuring the Eighth Doctor. But I’ve heard that his are some of the best books and comics out there. So, as it’s his big anniversary year, I thought, why not (start to) read each release on the 30th anniversary of its publication? Whether I’ll stick at this long enough to get to the Big Finish stuff too (some of which I have listened to before) remains to be seen. That’s a long way off. But first.
I’ve decided to read the novelisation of the TV movie before rewatching the film itself. This is largely because I think I’ll pay more attention to it if its visual events aren’t fresh in my memory - but it’s also justified because the book was published in the UK before the film was broadcast in this country. So, I started the novel yesterday. I’m quite enjoying it. An insightful opening sequence from before the initial events we see on screen, and some fun backstory to Chang Lee. That’s largely as far as I’ve got but I’m looking forward to more.
Once I finish the novelisation, I’ll rewatch the TV movie because why not. After that, I’ll have to catch up on the first Radio Tmes comics, which were (I believe) the Eighth Doctor’s first appearance in the EU. I’m a very slow reader (which makes this project a little daunting once we get to a new book every month) but I’m hoping I’ll be ‘up to date’ by the time his appearances in the DWM comics begin, which was on 26th September 1996 in Issue 244.
I’ll aim to share the relevant releases on here on the right dates, even if I haven’t got to them yet, so that others can join in if they wish to. As I say, there’s not much to catch up on so far - the TV movie and/or its novelisation (and/or the script book if that floats your goat. My personal goat is drowning when it comes to script books), and the ten-part comic stories Dreadnought and Descendance, which were published in the Radio Times between June and October in 1996.
If anyone chooses to join me, welcome! I hope we have fun. If not, I may well post some brief thoughts here anyway.
Well, this is an interesting project. And I’ve wanted to dive into the Eighth Doctor novels a bit, so this seems like a good opportunity (even if it’ll take us a while to get there).
Genuinely really excited to have you along for the ride. As you’ve observed, the novels don’t start for a long while yet. But I’m hoping that means I can plough through some other backloggy bits with some pace and motivation ahead of the tidal wave of EDAs!
I’m now a third of the way through the TVM novelisation - which naturally means the regeneration has just happened (absolutely wild to me that it takes so long for Eight to actually appear). Some nice introductions to key players, but a particularly fascinating page of the Doctor attempting to recognise his own face and figure out who he is. I’ve never read a novelisation of a regeneration story, nor any account of regeneration from the first person, so this was quite exciting and enlightening.
I’m a little skeptical about the rest of the book as I think the plot post-regen is a little weaker. But I have a hefty train journey tomorrow so I’m hoping to make some good progress!
I read the novelization of the film about a month and a half ago, and since then I’ve really been enjoying the character of the 8th doctor. I started the novels, and just began the fourth novel. So far its been a great experience.
Sadly didn’t get as much reading done as I’d hoped on the train due to having to deal with both train delays and personal dramas, so I’m now only halfway through the novelisation. I’m enjoying it though - I don’t know the film’s dialogue well enough to be often sure which bits in this book are new, but Gary Russell seems to capture the voices of McGann and Roberts exceptionally well.
I’m intrigued by how much time is spent with Chang Lee, compared to Grace. In my brain, the balance on screen is the opposite way round so I’ll be interested to rewatch and see if that’s the case.
I’m also fascinated to know what someone would make of this book if they had no prior knowledge of the franchise. Obviously, the TV story was intended as a jumping-on point and I get the impression that this novelisation, while a little confusing at points, would be fascinating and mysterious enough to grip someone new successfully.
My final thought from the pages I just finished is that where the infamous ‘half-human’ moment is (I believe) essentially just a passing reference in the film, a far bigger deal is made of it here. One suspects that may have been avoided had more time been left between the making of the episode with hopes of going to series, and writing the book. But then again, maybe if they’d left it longer, the book would never have been written on account of no series happening!
A train journey must of course have a return journey, and I’ve just finished the novel now. It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoyed most of Gary Russell’s embellishments, particularly what he does with the final confrontation when he’s not faced with visual budget restraints. I wouldn’t say there was anything particularly ground-breaking from either a literary or Who perspective (though I can tell what side of the ‘kissing’ fence Gary Russell was on based on how he changes the Doctor’s reaction. Still, it’s got my hyped to get going with this project.
As I was getting up to leave the train, the man next to me pulled out a toy TARDIS he’d just bought in a charity shop. And thanks to the exchanges on this forum the last time something similar happened, I plucked up the courage to say something. A thoroughly awkward exchange that led me to chicken out of mentioning the site but one step closer to doing that next time!
Today, I rewatched Doctor Who (that is, the TV movie) - and I always have so much fun with this. It’s very odd but just so glorious.
It was of course particularly interesting it with the novelisation in mind, and comparing which things are done better and worse in each. For me, the Doctor is considerably more likeable in the film, and Grace’s possession is a lot better more effective. But I stand by what I said in my previous post that the Master’s rise and fall is a little more dramatic (and believable?) in the book. The book gives us substantially more time with the Seventh Doctor (I’d previously marvelled at how long it takes for Eight to appear in the film, but now I’ve read the book, where it’s almost halfway through, this felt like no time at all!) and also as I said before, elevates Chang Lee to a more substantial character on a par with Grace, which I missed here.
I was also surprised by how faithful the book is, I hadn’t realised when reading it that the vast majority of the dialogue in the existing scenes is lifted straight from the script (albeit an earlier script than the final one used).
Finally, it was only on this fourth watch through that I first appreciated the score of this film. There are some slightly eggy, OTT moments, but much of it is really impressive, dramatic and enjoyable. I’d be fascinated to hear what John Debney would do with a more ‘standard’ Who story.
Anyway, I hope to fit in a little bit of VAM tomorrow and then it’s on to the really fresh stuff. Can’t wait!
I’ve just seen this thread and honestly it’s a fantastic idea!!! EDAs and other wilderness years content often feels daunting to start for me, so breaking it up by release date on the real schedule makes the idea a lot easier in my brain!! I am currently midway through a book and also a slow reader but hopefully after that I might just join you!
Please do! The main books themselves won’t start until well into 2027. Just comics til then! I’m also an incredibly slow reader, so we’re in this together!
Rewatched Doctor Who again today but with the original DVD commentary with director Geoffrey Sax. It was absolutely riveting, with such insights as ‘we cast Daphne Ashbrook because she had the qualities we were looking for’, ‘Eric is flying on a harness here but we actually removed the wire in post production’ and ‘that snake is CGI’ X3000.
Certainly not worth it. The special edition commentary will have to wait for another day because I simply cannot bring myself to consume this story for a fourth time in a week. Bring on the Radio Times comics!
Dreadnought was published in ten very brief segments in the Radio Times between 1st June and 3rd August 1996 (so the first part was released less than a week after the BBC1 broadcast of Doctor Who. This meant I was seriously impressed by how well the comic captures the distinct voice of the Eighth Doctor - arguably better than his first couple of Big Finish outings do! Then I saw that it was written by Gary Russell, who of course had early sight of the TV Movie script because he wrote the novelisation!
Still, this is quite a charming little story. It’s not got much too it at all and the resolution is quite messy. It really does its best to pack as many TV-Who tropes into its tiny space as possible and tell a full story, which results in a some slightly odd forced sentiment for a character we barely met. BUT, Lee Sullivan’s art is really beautiful, it’s fun to see the Eighth Doctor with the cybermen, and we’re introduced to a new companion in Stacy, who, seems likeable enough! Not that she is given much space to develop. As I say, it’s a bare-bones thing. But for what it is, I’m quite impressed. (There’s also an astral-plane scene with a cyber-Doctor, complete with ringlets and frock coat. I kind of love and hate it in equal measure).
The next story is Descendance, which started a week after Dreadnought finished, on 10th August, and ran for another ten issues, meaning we haven’t yet reached the 30th anniversary of the publication of its final part. So, when I next get the chance, I’ll read up to where we have ‘got to’, and then I’ll aim to start posting on the appropriate anniversaries of each publication.
Thirty years ago today, the seventh part of Descendance was published in Radio Times. The first Eighth Doctor DWM strip would be published before the eighth part of Descendance, so this felt like a good day to get ‘up to date’, so I can start (attempting to) match the anniversaries from the start of the Big Boi Comics.
So, I’m only two thirds of the way through Descendance. It’s okay… I’m not sure Russell captures the voice of the ice warriors as well as he does the Doctor, but I’m very aware of my general anti-ice warrior bias, I tend to find them so deathly dull. Admittedly, not entirely so here, although the inter-faction politics wasn’t something I was expecting, and some of their names are borderline headache-inducing (‘Shssur’?!)
This shrug panel from Part Six did make me laugh though:
The first part of the first Eighth Doctor DWM strip, Endgame, was published on 26th September 1996; that’s thirty years this Saturday. I’m actually with friends from dawn til dusk so I may well fall at the first hurdle. But looking forward to it sooner or later!
