Doctor Who: Touched By An Angel

Ace and Hex arrive in 1989, on the day of the outbreak of World War III. The story takes place primarily in the isolated home of a retired couple, trying their best to prepare for, and then survive, the resulting nuclear apocalypse. The title of the play is, of course, taken from the government information leaflets produced in the late '70s/early '80s about just this eventuality (with Patrick Allen's readings for the video versions being famously sampled in the hit song “Two Tribes”), with relevant snippets of them being broadcast on the radio at intervals throughout the play.

The nature of the story changes as it progresses, but always remains gripping and, for Doctor Who, unusually dark. The atmosphere is claustrophobic, with a significant chunk of the story taking place within the confined space of the fallout shelter, with everyone helpless in the face of the initial blast and then the slow horror of radiation sickness. It's particularly notable, of course, that the Doctor doesn't turn up at all until the half-way mark... to deliver a particularly disturbing cliffhanger.

To say anything at all about what happens in the second half would be to go too far into spoiler territory, although there are a couple of hints in the first half that point towards the reason that any of this is possible, given what we know of real-world history. I can say that the story remains just as tense and doom-laden even as the true nature of events slowly becomes clear.

It's possible that this story won't resonate quite so much with those too young to remember nuclear paranoia (although even I can't say I lived through the worst of it, with events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis being before my time). And the fact that the story is focussed on the companions, with the Doctor mostly absent or in the background, may not appeal to everyone. But to me, this was a great piece of storytelling. The easiest 5 stars in a while, from me.

Oh, and there's a further development in the “white TARDIS” plot arc that's been simmering since way back in Angel of Scutari. And a cliffhanger ending.

I went into this book a bit worried because I wasn't sure if the same formula that generally works on TV would still work on paper. Also, The Weeping Angels are my favourite villains/monsters whatever you called them, and I feared that they wouldn't be used as effectively as in the show.

Luckily, I was proven wrong. It felt as I was reading a longer episode from the show. The author did a wonderful job making the Angels as creepy in book form as they are in TV form. Even though there were a lot of everyday events described in the book, they helped to build the relationship between the characters and make the reader feel more attached to them.

I especially enjoyed that the narrator was an omniscient one and took turns in describing all the characters' feelings in the different situations. Rory continues to be my favourite and I felt that he was very well portrayed.

Finally, the humour was spot on. I appreciated the little comedy relief moments, especially with a heart-breaking storyline as this one. The jokes were quite good and the references both to the show and pop culture (Back to The Future reference WOOHOO!) made me squee like the little fangirl I am.

As I said, I wasn't expecting much but I was very pleased with it. I really want to get my hands on some of the 10 stories now.