The Dying Days

Summary: 9/10 He's back, and it's about time....The New Doctor, Bernice, and the Brigadiers find themselves in the middle of Independence Day, UK-style.

Can you believe it was a year ago since we were introduced to this Doctor? Lance Parkin picks up after last year's TV movie -- and it's amazing how well he picked up the tone of this Doctor, but he's also done some other interesting things. He's taken classic Doctor Who elements -- the space landings of The Ambassadors of Death, the Ice Warriors, but also added a bit of a modern, X-Files style to it as well.

There were some interesting threads running through the book -- the inevitable comparisons to last years Independence Day aren't just because it's an alien invasion, but like ID4's strong American nationalism, The Dying Days has a strong British nationalism. (Certainly a reaction towards the American involvement in the TV Movie.) With a relatively traditional plot, it's certainly a Doctor Who novel that could have fit on the screen, with only some of the cameos as unlikely elements.

Of course, this isn't a traditional Doctor Who story. Besides being the second "complete" Eighth Doctor story, it's also the last Doctor Who New Adventure. The book certainly plays with that, and it means that Lance can do some things that may surprise you, and there are some knowing glances about this side of the story.

Lance has had a remarkable success when it comes to Doctor Who books. He's got the style down -- and he's able to play it both as a traditional Doctor Who story and as something new. We'll be able to survive quite well with this Doctor -- especially if the BBC Books can keep up the high standard that all of the Virgin crew has put out over the last few years. They've kept Doctor Who alive when almost no one else did, and they deserve a lot of credit for that.