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The Start of the Target Storybook is off to a great Start, we get the Return of a great TV Writer from the Whittaker Era, who I would have loved to seen a more televised Episode. Thankfully this Short Story does fill my Hunger a bit, the World building in particular is a Highlight of this one and a lot of fun and the writing for 13 & the Fam feels fittingly taken out from the TV Show. Although there are few Head-scratching Decisions here, but overall I enjoyed it honestly!
I read this story earlier as part of the 13th Doctor marathon.
Gatecrashers has an intriguing sci-fi idea at its heart but squanders it with flat writing, mischaracterised leads, a nonentity villain, and a rushed ending. Despite a fun final nod to classic Doctor Who with Thirteen’s use of nitro-9, the story never builds meaningful momentum and leaves the reader feeling unsatisfied. An unfortunate stumble out of the gates for the Target Storybook collection.
Here’s my non-spoilery review for those of you who fancy a read. Thanks!
Well, well, well @MrColdStream - we seem to be in disagreement. I thought this was a brilliant opening to this collection. The regulars are all spot-on and the rhythm of their dialogue matches their TV performances brilliantly. There were so many arresting images in this, not least the one illustrated at the start of the story of the Doctor and Graham on a moped squirting spray cheese ahead of them to avoid invisible teleport highways.
Yaz and Ryan get to do some proper investigating and I liked how the mystery was revealed bit by bit and how the whole team was motivated by the death of one random girl who would never know they had avenged her - and saved an entire planet at the same time.
Yes, the villain is a bit underwritten but I did like the way it didn’t just paint him as a meglomaniac but as someone who had lost their way.
This wasn’t a collection I was planning on reading any time soon but the power of a TARDIS Guide club exerts itself over me yet again. But I’m glad I did and I’m really looking forward to seeing what else this anthology has to offer.
Finally got round to reading this, and yeah, I quite liked this!
Like Delta said, I could almost hear the actors as I read the character’s lines, everyone seemed in character and well written. I think stories like this where you get to split the group up a bit are the ideal way to do stories with a slightly larger TARDIS team, and I’m surprised at how well that works even in a medium with less time to devote to each group.
Does it maybe feel a bit rushed? Sure, but we often hear about The Doctor downing regimes in an afternoon, it’s nice to see it actually done here, and the framing device neatly sectioning everything off by location is fun, especially with such a satisfying pay off
A nice little story to start this book! Thirteen and her companions are all excellently written, and I really like how this story uses the different locations
Back home and finally got around to this one. It was fun!
The central concept of the world itself is excellent, the regulars are decently characterised, but as people have said already the ending is super rushed and unsatisfying. Still a good read and I’m looking forward to reading the whole collection along with the Book Club!
I was surprised by the darkness that runs through this story, but having read a few stories ahead of this one, I see that that fact sets the tone for this tome.
That was fun. It really felt like a lost TV episode. Well-written, interesting ideas, the cast captured amazingly. I liked the world-building, the mystery and the ideas this presents are just delicious. I wouldn’t mind of they could get Wilkinson to write some of the Thirteen audios.
I just got my copy in the mail today and started to read it. Gatecrashers was an interesting story to start it off. Opening with a murder mystery for the characters was interesting. It was a good beginning to the story and the end of the villain of accidentally putting him in a pizza oven was a bit of a surprise.
