12 July 2016

Review: Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock by Neil Gaiman

Mass market paperback, 67 pages
Published 2014 (originally 2013)

Acquired December 2014
Read November 2015
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: Nothing O'Clock
by Neil Gaiman

This book is a delight, definitely in the top tier of the 12 Doctors, 12 Stories novellas. Neil Gaiman's televised Doctor Who stories have been mixed at best ("The Doctor's Wife" was pretty good; "Nightmare in Silver" probably set back the potential of the Cybermen and didn't make much sense to boot), but this is nearly perfect. The eleventh Doctor and Amy discover that someone has bought up every residence on Earth (legitimately), leaving no room for its people, who all die off, leaving the Earth free for some aliens to take over. Gaiman does a good line in creepiness (the aliens all wear animal masks, and go under names like "Mr Rabbit"), Gaiman captures the performances of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan extremely well, there are lots of great Doctorish lines (the Doctor suggests a lack of gazpacho in 1984 would be cause for alarm), and there are some nice references to things the show established after Series Five (like Mels and the War Doctor). A perfect little novella, and probably the best work Neil Gaiman has done on Doctor Who.

Next Week: We reach the end of this literary Doctor Who adventure with a twelfth Doctor adventure, in Lights Out!

No comments:

Post a Comment