Time and Relative [Hardcover]

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.

As it's now getting on for nine years since the first of Telos Publishing's "Doctor Who" novellas was published, I thought it was high time that I finally scoured eBay and found out what all the rumpus was about. Having originally been put off by high prices and low word counts, now that I've read "Time and Relative" - the first of what would eventually prove to be fifteen decidedly contentious releases - I wish that I'd have taken the plunge much sooner.

These novellas are the most beautifully bound of any "Doctor Who" books that I've ever come across, new series tie-ins included. Hardbound in plain, textured covers, sullied only with the classic series logo; the title of the story; and the author's name, these books have a sense of elegance about them that eludes even the most discerning of their full-length counterparts. The whole package reeks of care and attention to detail - we have glossy frontispieces (in the deluxe editions); forewords from distinguished writers and actors; heck, there's even a built-in bookmark! And so whilst these novellas (particularly the deluxe editions) may cost a small fortune when compared to standard "Doctor Who" pulp fiction, it isn't hard to see where the extra money went.

However, as important as a book's binding and presentation is, it isn't worth a jot unless the story that it houses is worth its salt. It is fortunate, then, that noted scribe and pundit Kim Newman's introductory effort is one of the most engaging and refreshing pieces of "Doctor Who" fiction that I've read in years.

Set around eight months prior to the series' iconic first episode, "An Unearthly Child," "Time and Relative" was a bold - and I dare say inspired - attempt to recapture the initial magic and mystery that is commensurate with the Doctor's initial spate of black and white adventures. But if handled poorly, a "Doctor Who" prequel could have had exactly the opposite effect - it must have been so tempting to flesh out the tentative framework fashioned by those such as Marc Platt in earlier books, but doing so would have all but killed the magic that this novella strives so hard to bring back. You won't find any references to Gallifreyan Academies, cousins or progenerative chambers here; indeed, even the words 'Doctor' and 'TARDIS' are noticeably absent. In the same vein, Newman also resists the urge to pander to certain prequel traditions, such as having Susan name the TARDIS here (it remains "the Box" throughout) or explain how the travellers came to be on Earth. He does, however, include some suitably nostalgic, but nonetheless potentially baffling, elements. For instance, John and Gillian (erstwhile stars of the series' "Action!" and "TV Comic" strips) appear here as school chums of Susan, and Susan reveals that she has two hearts (a facet of Gallifreyan physiognomy that wasn't revealed on television until "Spearhead from Space" in 1970).

Furthermore, coming to these novellas many years after the event, I was delighted to find that the pace and economy of the format suited my ever-diminishing attention span quite perfectly - in fact, the structure and speed of "Time and Relative" put me in mind of a new series episode (albeit a Doctor-lite one!)

What I think makes "Time and Relative" so remarkable though is how it manages to capture what I imagine the London of 1963 must have been like. The author's use of Susan's diary as a conduit allows him to instil his story with so much flavour - the journal is positively flooded with references to the Beatles, the cane, detention, bullies, and even the atom bomb.

And Susan certainly makes for an interesting narrator; the character is drawn better here than she ever has been. Newman circumvents the potentially mystery-killing problem of her revealing too much about herself by having her afflicted by "fog patches" in her memory - "fog patches" that are evidently shared by her grandfather. This device also allows Newman to be rather liberal with some of the series' basic tenets, deepening the intrigue further. For instance, here Susan isn't even sure whether she is actually from another planet, or another plane of existence altogether. It certainly makes you think...

Further, Newman's menace is one that could have plausibly sprung from the Big Freeze of 1963 - the Cold itself. Snowmen coming to life with hostile intent, animated by a dormant life form that inhabited the Earth long before humans (or indeed Eoscenes) ever did, is an enchanting proposition in so many ways. Thought-provoking, eerie, and wholly redolent, Newman could not have come up with a better hook to hang his story on.

And although the idea of a pre-existing life form laying claim to the planet may not be an original one, the dilemma that it creates for the Doctor allows Newman to explore the dark and mysterious aspects of his character that, inevitably, have since been despoiled. The author's portrayal of the pre-"Unearthly Child" Doctor is even darker and more ominous than the man that would pick up a rock with murderous intent on the TARDIS's next journey. When we eventually meet Susan's mysterious "grandfather" here, he isn't trying to save the world from the Cold Knights - in fact, he's desperately trying stop his ship tipping the balance of the conflict one way or the other. "Fog" or no "fog", that's not our Doctor.

"You'd let your own granddaughter die rather than throw a switch. You're worse than anyone in history ever. Don't you have feelings at all?"

And, although the Doctor does ultimately decide to meddle (presumably) for the first time, more than anything else his decision to do so appears to be based on his granddaughter's counsel. This is particularly interesting given that, by her own admission, Susan's decision to champion humanity could quite easily have gone the other way on a whim; on the back of something as fickle as horrendous session of "Double Geog", or the ill-timed attentions of the school bully, "F.M."

Overall then, I found "Time and Relative" to be an unremitting delight; if not one of the best, then certainly one of the most thoughtful and evocative "Doctor Who" stories that I've ever read. Fair enough, it may be a little bit liberal when it comes to the droves of continuity that inevitably accompany a forty-odd year old franchise, but even so I think it feels more like a natural extension of the canon, as opposed to a "Death Comes to Time"-style reinvention of it. Besides, as the Doctor himself says here, whilst lost in the throes of a beautifully apt rant: "we mustn't be too consistent..."

Originally published on "The History of the Doctor," December 2009. Reproduced with kind permission.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars