Time and Relative (Doctor Who)

Rating:
Summary: Fine and Relevant
Review: As the first in a new line of Doctor Who books, TIME AND RELATIVE had a lot that it needed to accomplish. Not only is the first story of a series held up (perhaps unfairly) as representative of how the line will progress, but it helps to establish the tone and style of a particular publishing group. With the Doctor Who book market already stretched to almost the breaking point, this new line will have to accomplish great things in order to justify its existence to the consuming public. Fortunately, it turns out that this book is a fine example of a good Doctor Who story. It isn't the greatest Doctor Who adventure that has ever been written, but there are many little reasons that definitely make this worth the time it takes to read.

As a story that is told entirely from the POV of Susan's diary, one may be a bit concerned with exactly how well this will be executed. During the course of her travels on-board the TARDIS, Susan was not always the most interesting of companions despite the unique relationship that she shared with the Doctor. When I heard that TIME AND RELATIVE was set before AN UNEARTHLY CHILD and that there would be no viewpoint outside of Susan's, I feared the worst. Susan dealing with rotten teachers. Susan dealing with catty classmates. Susan dealing with... boys. The horror, oh, the horror.

To my complete shock, my favourite portions of the book were those that focused on Susan's comparatively mundane adventures at Coal Hill School. Those diary entries are excellent. Many teenagers feel like outsiders at times, but an alien from a far off place stuck in an English school in the 60's is truly a unique individual. And Kim Newman captures her perfectly. As a character study of the two explorers that we met in An Unearthly Child, this story excels. The mystery that was so prevailing and compelling about those early days is back in full force, though there is a slight added twist, which you'll have to read for yourself to discover.

The story actually takes a slight dip once the main plot begins and the inevitable Doctor Who monsters show up. They're quite well written and interesting, but these passages simply aren't as good as the sections that heavily feature Susan's thoughts. Her viewpoints and opinion come through occasionally, of course, but they're spread too far apart. Susan and her strange Grandfather are the real stars of this story, and we hate being distracted from them, if even for a moment.

The plot itself is fairly simple and occasionally borrows from other stories, but it is quite well suited to the novella format. The ending is perfect, with the actual turning point at the conclusion being a stroke of genius. There are only a few points where it feels like a run-around, which it really is at the heart of it. It's all this other wonderful stuff around the bare plot that makes it so enjoyable.

As the beginning to a new line of books, TIME AND RELATIVE largely succeeds. If you're curious about this series, then know that this story is a great beginning. It plays to the strengths of its novella-sized format and includes some excellent character pieces. It may not be the greatest Doctor Who adventure that you'll ever read, but it's certainly one of the better ones.

Rating:
Summary: Time And Relative
Review: This is a very special Doctor Who tale, because in terms of the elephantine continuity of the series, this little ditty is set just before the events depicted in the Very First (First) Doctor Who episode broadcast back in 1963. Since I am a big fan of Susan Foreman--the Doctor's granddaughter--I was especially glad to see this bizarre "prequel" to the whole enchilada told from her perspective. I was also hopeful that Kim Newman wouldn't blunder and create a horrendous false start.

He didn't. Time And Relative is a wonderful story that hearkens right back to the feel of those first few Who episodes, while adding new wrinkles to the way we see the Doctor.

Of course here we have the Doctor and Susan not long after they have made the monumental decision to run away from home, and their boring, dictatorial kin, the Time Lords, who monitor space and time with a strict policy of non-interference. It has made them dull, and this story shows that it had rubbed off on the Doctor, who, at this early stage in his self-imposed exile, is too much a product of his previous environment (ie. "It is Forbidden!...It is Forbidden!...It is Forbidden!"; "Don't you dare meddle!"). The Doctor is, unknown to himself, on the brink of becoming Time's Champion by actually interfering in what goes on around him--but, it seems, he's not too sympathetic with humans when an ancient being of pure Cold re-awakens and attempts to freeze the planet and extinguish all life. It's a bit disturbing to see a Doctor so Cold himself, that he actually considers coming down on the side of the Cold entity, such is his complete apathy towards Earthpeople. This is a return to the Doctor as he was, originally: crusty, uncaring, somewhat selfish and preoccupied, and yet ultimately noble. I liked the whole concept of tying the Doctor's discompassion to "brainwashing" from his own people, who had previously stamped down his desire to think for himself, empathize, or make a difference. In Time And Relative, we learn to sympathize with the First Doctor more than we ever could before, even as he starts to care about us, just in time to try and save the world for the very first time.

This small Doctor Who story is bigger on the inside than on the outside, and has been embraced wholeheartedly by many fans who always wondered what happened to the Doctor and Susan just before we met them. Come see the Doctor begin to think outside the Box.