Doctor Who: Festival of Death

The Best (Classic) Doctor Who Novel You'll Ever Read

This book is often hyped as one of the best Doctor Who novels ever written and it absolutely lives up to its reputation. Morris not only manages to capture the tone and style of the Tom Baker era brilliantly, he goes one step further and improves upon it. The Doctor and Romana's banter has never been wittier, probably because Morris writes Romana as very few writers ever did: as the Doctor's equal. (Her indignation when she mistakenly believes the Doctor wants to kiss her is a hilarious high point.) The basic plot concerns the Doctor and Romana trying to figure out what their future selves did to save a space station (and the universe) from disaster. But in order to know what their future selves did, they keep having to go further and further into the past. Sometimes stories that involve jumping around and playing with time result in gaping plot holes that reduce the story to nonsense (like most of Matt Smith's adventures), but FESTIVAL OF DEATH makes complete sense from beginning to end. The action barrels forward (or backwards) at a great pace. And along the way Morris introduces a wonderful assortment of memorable supporting characters. (One minor character has a particularly moving death made especially poignant by the fact that the Doctor knows she's going to die and yet he can't interfere with time and save her.) This is a great novel for any fans of the Tom Baker era. Morris really does the impossible. He takes you back in time and gives you a perfect Doctor Who adventure. Read more