Just for a change, it’s the BBC’s Past Doctor range that has come up trumps in this month’s round-up from the exciting worlds of Doctor Who publishing. Both of the other two, whilst ambitious, can be tagged as flawed but interesting. (…)
Meanwhile, Who newcomer Dale Smith gives the old hands a run for their money with his Seventh Doctor novel Heritage. The book starts quietly enough as Dale sets up a mystery on a run-down mining colony, but his confidence is impressive and about halfway through he does something quite audacious. He doesn’t do it simply for its own sake but uses it as the springboard for an exploration of certain issues with the Doctor’s adventuring, and his prose is often excellent.
There are a few faults - the book could do with some more background characters and occasionally Dale passes over plot points a little too quickly - but it’s still better than the rest of this year’s Past Doctor books (just edging it from Relative Dementias) and it’s hopefully indicative of an upward trend in the range.
**** (out of five)
Eddie Robson