Doctor Who: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller (Time Trips)

Presenting Doctor Who: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller (Time Trips) by Joanne Harris.

Here is the summary of the book:

Struggling to get back to UNIT HQ, his body being destroyed by radiation, the Third Doctor arrives in the most perfect English village, where everyone is happy. But is he really on Earth, or somewhere far more strange? As his body weakens, the Doctor and the Queen of the village begin to unravel the truth.

Time Trips – groundbreaking Doctor Who adventures by some of the most respected writers in the Universe. Short stories that are bigger on the inside…

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller ..... title is quite the mouthful I agree but is one well paced and well endowed adventure. This is also my first Jon Pertwee adventure in a book. I watched all of his 3rd Doctor episodes and was quite the James Bond-esque Doctor.

Setting a timeline of all of the Doctor Who is not always accurate. We always take a new adventure, a new story for its own arc but here the timeline can be accurately placed and I must say I remember it too. This story takes place right after the planet of the spiders and before he regenerated into the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker.

Suffering from the radiation poisoning from the cave of the Metebelis III, the Doctor had set the Tardis to send him back to Sarah Jane if anything like this happening but before that somehow he ends up at the picture perfect English village and the Doctor is as always curious at oddities such this. He can feel his end coming but he just can't seem to help it. His curiosity. There is a carnival parade everyday, the village inhabitants must done on a smile and show that they are happy or the sky opens up and swallows them whole. Even the parade floats are much more sinister looking than they ought to be. And the Doctor knows he must get to the bottom of this mystery.

Joanne Harris did a wonderful job with layering out this adventure. Jon Pertwee's Doctor was quite the spry fellow and the author did a great job with layering all facts out. Of course "Reverse the polarity" is a dialogue that always makes us happy. Thus, I enjoyed it very much and actually finished this in one hour too.

"Exciting and a well paced 3rd Doctor adventure"

Genre :      Fantasy, Sci-fi, Tv tie-in

Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Release Date: 4th September, 2014

My Copy: publisher and netgalley

Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

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Time Trips #1 Doctor Who: The Death Pit

Presenting Time Trips #1 The Death Pit by A.L. Kennedy.

Here is the summary of the book:

Something odd is going on at the Fetch Brothers Golf Spa Hotel. Receptionist Bryony Mailer has noticed a definite tendency towards disappearance amongst the guests. She's tried talking to the manager, she's even tried talking to the owner who lives in one of the best cottages in the grounds, but to no avail. And then a tall, loping remarkably energetic guest (wearing a fetching scarf and floppy hat) appears. TheFourth Doctor thinks he's in Chicago. He knows he's in 1978. And he also knows that if he doesn't do something very clever very soon, matters will get very, very out of hand.

Till now regarding DOCTOR WHO. I have watched all the episodes of the 9th Doctor till the 12th one and from the classic series covered the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd and just began with the Tom Baker (4th) episodes. And as far as the literature goes, only some graphic novels and WHO-OLOGY..... So this is a new experience for me..... I do plan on reading the other books, the story already in the market and if possible the BIG FINISH audio dramas too if I can get them....

Time Trips. The name of the new series from BBC. Novellas containing adventures of the Doctor (almost all the regenerations), in no specific order. This 1st one is a 4th Doctor adventure..... and while I am still scratching the surface with his stories I must say that Kennedy did a perfect job of establishing him through this novella. Although the other prominent characters Bryony & Putta were pretty good enough too but the plot had quite a few chinks in the armor..... On the whole it was quite a good start.

"He grinned with rather more teeth than one person should have. He appeared to have been dressed by a committee, possibly a drunk committee: wing collar and something that might once have been a cravat, baggy checked trousers, brown checked waistcoat, long purple velvet frock coat with bulging pockets, raddled shoes... an immense and disreputable scarf with a life of its own..."

I was going to give it a 3 star but the above description of this regeneration was spot on.... so 4 stars couldn't hurt. While the alien entity, the golf bunker, was definitely well put, but it still did not explain its placement there or the erratic behavior of old lady Julia Fetch and the twins.... They felt like they were important  but were very much underdeveloped.. There was much of an action-sequence....... Yes there was the battle with the creature but following the level of the classic series in terms of the today's Doctor WHO episodes.... it was quite good. Looking forward to the next one.

"A good start to a new DOCTOR WHO series"

Genre :      Tv tie-in, , Sci-fi

Publisher: BBC Digital

Release Date: 5th December, 2013

My Copy: publisher and netgalley

Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

Buy:           Amazon