14 June 2016

Review: Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect by Malorie Blackman

Mass market paperback, 85 pages
Published 2014 (originally 2013)

Acquired December 2014
Read July 2015
Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor: The Ripple Effect
by Malorie Blackman

The idea of the Doctor being forced to confront good Daleks has potential, but I don't think it's always realized to the extent that it could be. Dark Eyes explored it as part of its theme of "hope," for example, but sort of chickened out before the end, not quite tackling the idea that the one bit of hope the Doctor will never allow himself to have is that the Daleks could be good. The Ripple Effect offers some interesting moments, too, and some effective characterization of the seventh Doctor and Ace (one of my favorite TARDIS teams), but the necessity of returning to the status quo means the story gets too bogged down in "TIME WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE THIS WAY," which I think is hard to create compelling drama from.

Next Week: The eighth Doctor goes it alone against an alien Spore!

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