Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
In our previous chapter we started the second episode proper, a pet was lost, and I forgot to note that our crew is back together.
We are now halfway through the book visually, but that doesn’t account for the four pages list of other novelisations plus an order form for posters based on production art or something. So maybe we were halfway through the story when we started last time? Not sure. Point is we’ve reach the halfway point. There have been some added scenes that I can only assume are there to pad out the book. Novelizations (or “novelisations” if you’re British) are usually interesting to see what got lost on the cutting room floor or cut from the recording for time. Here we have Marter taking advantage of being a book that doesn’t need a budget for costumes to fill in gaps, which not only helps with the mental visuals of the scene but you can bring them back to watching the episodes. This lets your brain fill in gaps left by the budget, and classic Doctor Who never had much of a budget.
With that in mind (heh) let’s head back to see how Vicki handles her pet being lost and maybe what our villain will be trying next.
This is an extended version of the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki back in the ship’s remains. Added is the Doctor telling Vicki about Dido’s future, Vicki yelling at the trio that they came here to “take control” of things (she should meet some of the later Doctors), and that everything was okay until they showed up. We do get moments of the Doctor trying to convince Vicki to forgive Barbara and the Doctor wanting to meet with Bennett, which are from the episode. There’s not much to summarize here even if I didn’t post the episode in Saturday Night Showcase prior to starting this novelization review.
“The Rescue” is not a major action piece. Frankly, most of the first Doctor’s tales weren’t. When your title character is a frail old man (one of few Doctors to ever reach old age, and the only actor to do so during their original run, not counting crossovers and Big Finish) and only one of your regulars is even in position to be a fighter, that’s going to happen. Remember that classic Who didn’t start out what it became. So despite the episodes being titles “A Powerful Enemy” and “Desperate Measures”, this Doctor isn’t going to be killing off his enemies, not that this was a Doctor norm either. Younger incarnations allowed for a bit more action, but no more than you’d see in classic Star Trek. The closest the Doctor came to Bond was the Third Doctor being a gadget lover who knew Venusian martial arts, something none of the other Doctors before or since have ever utilised. The Fourth Doctor still tinkered, more in the comics than in the show, but he’d rather defuse a situation with wit and charisma. Each Doctor was unique in how they would handle a situation, which is what makes all of them potentially interesting. (Though the last few haven’t been all that interesting.)
So when the First Doctor doesn’t want to resort to violence (this would be the same incarnation that was once ready to kill a caveman to protect himself, though he would soften over time with the influence of his Companions), it simply means trying to force the door open despite Bennett on the inside telling him not to enter, which Marter describes as a mechanical way of speaking, specifically “nasal, almost mechanical”. Well, one thing that has been true of all the Doctors is they don’t take “no” for an answer when they’re trying to save the day. Overall its a chapter that works as the team is reunited and a better understanding of the situation and the mysteries involved are considered. What happens next if you didn’t watch the episode or jump to the next chapter without me? Find out next time.
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