DOCTOR WHO: FEAR OF DARK

Trevor Baxendale’s “Doctor Who: Fear of the Dark” features the Fifth Doctor as portrayed by Peter Davison, Tegan Jovanka as portrayed by Janet Fielding, and Nyssa of Traken as portrayed by Sarah Sutton. The story takes place sometime during season 20 of the original run of “Doctor Who” based on references to the stories “Snakedance” and “Kinda.” In the story, the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa arrive on the moon of Akoshemon, a planet believed to be cursed. They find a rogue mining group there trying to find valuable ores in order to stake a claim before the Consortium uses its power to jump their claim. As they dig, they uncover an old evil created by scientists who used genetic modification in the search for a better method of suspended animation. Now the Doctor must help uncover the mystery and save the miners from the creature.Baxendale’s portrayal of the Fifth Doctor and his companions honors their appearances in the show while also offering opportunities for character exploration. For example, Nyssa muses of the Doctor, “Sometimes she felt as though there was more to learn about life than could possibly be squeezed into just one lifetime. She envied the Doctor his seemingly limitless knowledge and experience, and had tried to learn as much from him as she could” (pg. 49). The story is great for longtime fans as well as those who have only seen a few adventures starring the Doctor. This edition of Baxendale’s book came out for the fiftieth anniversary of “Doctor Who,” but it’s worth revisiting with the approaching sixtieth anniversary.

"Fear of the Dark" is quite the engaging thriller. Written by Trevor Baxendale, it follows the fifth incarnation of the Doctor as he winds up on the dark and desolate planet Akoshemon with companions Nyssa and Tegan. On the planet, they run into an "archaelogical dig" lead by one Jyl Stoker. She's the somewhat brash, cigar-chomping leader of the crew on the planet. We are also introduced to the massive man-boy Bunny Cheung and Vega Jaal, a sensitive alien from a planet known for its inhabitants' mastery of geology. Of course, the reader automatically knows that this is not an archaelogical dig, but an expedition to find something of value on Akoshemon.As expected, the Doctor, his companions, and the crew run into something terrible on the planet. However, it isn't your run-of-the-mill alien intruder. This "thing" is actually a "darkness" of evil. I won't say much more on this so that I don't give away the entire plot. Just know that a few other characters show up, the main ones being Silas Cadwell and Lawrence, which change the course of events and make for a very interesting tale full of atmosphere.This is one of the most violent tales that I've experienced involving any of the Doctors. The body count is high, and the deaths come in quick succession once they begin. Mind you, some of the characters are given deep backgrounds and then swiftly exit the story in violent death sequences. This makes the reader feel more for the characters, and thus makes the story that more engaging.Baxendale nailed the fifth Doctor's mannerisms on the head. You can actually see Peter Davison running around in the dark corners of Akoshemon. Baxendale also visualizes Nyssa and Tegan perfectly. They are perfect foils to one another. Perhaps I'm a little biased, but this trio was one of my favorite groups in the old TV series and I love their interactions in this book.There is a constant air of terror throughout the book. This is probably due to the fact that almost all of this story takes place in near dark and completely dark environments. Baxendale uses the fear of the dark and of being isolated perfectly.Overall, a very good read that moves along at a quick pace. I'll agree with another reviewer in that the conclusion does take its time on coming to fruition, but it is well worth the wait.Highly recommended.

Ever since the relaunch in 2005, I've been a fan of Doctor Who (and have later gone back to watch the classic series as well). And when I discovered there were a ton of novels based on the show as well, I knew I had to check them out. All of them have different writers, and all of them vary in degrees of quality. But all of them still capture the spirit of the show; playing out like actual episodes, while being able to utilize things that would be extremely difficult to create on the show (in terms of special effects).Taking place during the time of the Fifth Doctor, he and his companions, Tegan and Nyssa, arrive on the moon of the planet Akoshemon--a world known around the galaxy for its endless history of war and bloodshed that led to the planet's destruction. There, they come across a team of archeologists studying the planet's history...but as their scholarly investigation takes a sudden, deadly turn, our heroes quickly discover that not everyone on the research team is who they appear to be, and that their curious prodding into the planet's past may have unearthed a deadly, unstoppable evil.These books are pretty much just for fans of Doctor Who, as there's plenty of references to various episodes of the show, so the writing pretty much expects you to already know who the Doctor and Tegan and Nyssa are, what the TARDIS is, and so on. These books pretty much play out like a professionally published fan fiction, and all the main characters behave and sound like they would on the show proper. After reading so many books that took place during the 9th and 10th Doctor eras, it was nice to go back and read anything pertaining to one of the "classic" Doctors. The author's got Five's mannerisms down perfectly, as well as the unfortunate luck he had in so many people dying whenever he was around. This book holds the record for not only being one of the longest Doctor Who novels I've read, but also the darkest. The second the monster shows up, no character is safe, and many people we get to know and enjoy quite personally over the course of the story meet gruesome ends that are described in fairly gory detail that would never make it past network sensors, today or years ago.But as much as this story plays out like a slasher movie, the plot IS well written, with constant twists and turns to keep the reader guessing as to who the real villain is. And when the Doctor finally confronts the monster, it's defeated in a rather clever way, while also leaving the reader to ponder the very nature of the fear of the unknown, and good and evil itself.So while this was an interesting outing with a past Doctor, it's definitely NOT for everyone. Between all the death, gore, and somber ending, this is one adventure that's for adults only...and only the ones with strong enough hearts.(I'm marking this as three stars, because while I recognize the excellent writing, it's hard to say "I like it", when the book is so sad and unsettling, and ends on a less-than-triumphant note.)

This was my first Doctor Who novel. I was disappointed with the novel because I did not get the sense that it was Doctor Who. The Doctor's character did not stand out for me in the novel as it does on screen. The story was simple and easy to guess the ending.

A highlight of the Virgin Missing Adventures, this is one of the best Fifth Doctor novels. It plunges him into a Gothic sci fi mix not typically associated with his incarnation. The writing is instilled with a strong sense of suspense throughout, giving the story a claustrophobic and paranoid feel. It possesses an atmosphere akin to ‘The Horror of Fang Rock’. More intriguingly, it bares quite a lot of similarities to much later televised story ‘The Impossible Planet / the Satan Pit’, so much so that it is easy to suspect that it probably influenced it.As a general impression from Doctor Who novels and novelisations it seems that the Fifth Doctor is often a difficult incarnation of the Doctor to fully realise in literary form. The author makes a decent attempt of it here, however., capturing particularly well a more fallible and worried side. After all, this is a story that plays on the Doctor’s fears.He is accompanied by Nyssa and Tegan, setting the book sometime between the loss of Adric and the events of ‘Mawdryn Undead’. It clearly takes place sometime after Tegan’s return to the Tardis crew after being inadvertently left at Heathrow at the close of ‘Time Flight’. Her quick return wasn’t given a great deal of attention in the actual programme and it is a nice touch that the author addresses her anxieties about the time she was absent, concerning envy at what she has missed and the growth of Nyssa’s relationship with the Doctor during this time. It provides a psychological explanation for her change of attitudes about travelling in the Tardis, the contrast of desiring to be returned to Gatwick and her job and the new enthusiasm she adopts for these travels once she has missed them. It also foreshadows the reasons for her eventual leaving at the end of ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’Nyssa is also quite well realised by the author who gives her more to do than usual. Ostensibly this is because of her link with Akoshemon and the Dark. She essentially becomes the catalyst that send the Doctor to Akoshemon. Her semi-possession serves well as a plot point as well as creating some of the more eerie scenes. It also raises questions about how the Doctor sometimes uses his companions in a way that places them in danger.The novel has a relatively small amount of characters but all are quite well defined and realised. There’s a palpable tension that emanates from the entire cast of characters. Stoker, in particular, comes across as a well-rounded character with plenty of development during the course of events. She experiences quite an emotional journey as she loses her crew and those around her, making her quite a sympathetic figure by the books’ close despite her early obstinacy. There are some nice parallels with the Doctor as they both experience moments of self-doubt and fear as their confidence suffers in the face of the threat against them and those they care for.The story does adhere to the very tried and tested plotline of having a set group of people confined to a certain place as they are systematically killed off. But such a plot is a reliable staple and ‘Fear of the Dark’ does it very well indeed.

This starts out ok, if a little more like an episode of classic trek than doctor who. In fact it's a bit like the episode Devil in the Dark, with a monster lurking about in the tunnels etc . The characterisation and dialogue for the doctor is pretty good to start with, and you can picture the fifth doctor. Nyssa has little do for most of the book except be ill or asleep. Tegan is written reasonably well. The other characters are corny. There are some shameless and crude attempts to get us to care about them, such as repeatedly talking about the young daughter of one of them and how she needs her daddy to come home. These characters are too cartoon for us to really give two hoots about them.When Captain Lawrence arrives in response to a distress call, and has an antagonistic relationship with the female leader of the rogue mining team, I groaned then laughed out loud to read that, you guessed it, they had a romantic past together. I will leave you to take a wild guess as to how their apparent loathing of each other turns out. . . . Suffice to say that this was cheese of the corniest nature. There is to be fair a good degree of interest story wise for the first half or so of the book. This degenerates rather, into a repeating pattern of the doctor insisting that they go towards the danger and then have to run away. This all feels a bit pointless. The end result is that the doctor feels pretty useless and if anything more likely to get people killed. He is never in control and rarely appears to have much to offer, but instead gets dragged along by the events. It's sort of the antithesis of the tenth doctors almost messiah like powers. I accept that the fifth doctor was much more dithering and unsure, but in this story he starts to feel more of a blundering liability than he should. To be fair this is made at least in part inevitable by him being under the mental influence of the enemy, but that to me renders him pretty un-doctor like for much of the time, which is not really what I want in a doctor who book.When the remaining humans finally decide to blast off of the surface, they take an absolute age doing so. This being despite the monster that can kill them in a second being hot on their heels! They even allow someone to give a long explanation of their back story and current position, including why they think as they do, when there is no reason why he can't do this after they have safely taken off.The various futile encounters with the blood sucker and the 'Dark' finally come to a climax during one of the many to'ing and fro'ings into the caves etc . The doctor finally has a brief lucid moment of doctorish behaviour and its all over. So it's not terrible and entertaining in parts, but rather let down by corny additional characters, too much pointless advance and retreat, and a doctor who is not himself.

Taking life easy for a few days, having a nasty cold, I've read a couple of the 50th anniversary editions of Doctor Who novels. The Fourth Doctor story, Festival of Death, was great and I've reviewed that.This one is the Fifth Doctor story representative for the 50th anniversary celebrations. Fear of the Dark was first published in 2003, and is set after the tv story Arc of Infinity, when Tegan returns to the Tardis after the adventure in Amsterdam with Omega. Tegan, Nyssa and the Doctor are still feeling the loss of Adric, and Nyssa is haunted by nightmares of Traken. When the Tardis is attacked by some kind of psionic force, they land on what turns out to be the moon of Akoshemon, a planet where centuries of fear and horror have haunted the landscape. There the Tardis crew meet up with a team led by Jyl Stoker; but what are they doing there and what does it mean for the Doctor and his companions?This is a great story; the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan are captured perfectly. I love the way the author has captured Tegan's quickfire temper, and there is humour laced among the action and mounting horror of the narrative. Beyond that, the story itself is a clever, multi-layered narrative, which starts off seeming like its going to be quite straightforward but along the way turns into a very complex story with many sidelines. That's a good thing; the characters all get a chance to develop into `real' people, and the mounting tension and horror of the story becomes a real tangible thing. The Doctor's fear of his own vulnerabilities makes the story never seem like a sure-fire neatly tied up opportunity, and there is real tension and concern in the story right to the end. Totally, utterly recommende. This is a great Doctor Who, and a great story.

I would have hidden behind the sofa for this one! Exciting but traumatic at the same time. I thought the characterisation was good - got the feeling of sadness that you felt from the Doctor in this incarnation!