New Adventures, Coming of Age

[Andrew Curnow]

I've had a quick look and I don't think we have a general 'New Adventures' thread. Or at least we didn't until now, so you see just how quickly things change!

The first one was of course released in June 1991 - however, I started reading it 18th of August 1991, that is to say exactly 18 years ago today. I'm able to pinpoint it so closely as it was the day before my parents moved house, and consequently it was the day I moved my stuff into my brother's flat, to begin what ended up as nearly five years kipping on the sofa!! In our case, it was the parents that flew the coop and so this time 18 years ago, it really did seem like the start of something new - and so by accident as much as anything, that evening I was able to sit down and start reading Timewyrm: Genesys, the first new adventure...

So, in a nutshell, for me they always have that nostalgic 'out alone in the big world as a grown up' kind of association, quite apart from having some excellent books in the range as well.

So, any other thoughts, and praise, criticisms, fave raves or clanking clunkers? Did you collect & read them all, did you read one and give up forever, and why, why, why?

[stuartdg]

Do the Missing Adventures count as well?

I collected them all and apart from its development of The Seventh Doctor and Ace,they did introduce Benny

Faves include

Just War
Conundrum
Blood Heat
Deceit
Nightshade

from what I remember

[Rob McCow]

I tried, heaven knows I tried, but in the end I gave up.

It's hard to express how exciting original Doctor Who written fiction was back in 1991. The Target books had grown in length and maturity over the years, to the extent that reading the later McCoy Targets was like reading entirely new stories. There was a feeling that there was so much untapped potential in the writers of Doctor Who.

After the disappointment of the cancellation, they felt like a chance for Doctor Who to grow up and to expand.

"Stories too deep and broad for the television screen."

That was how they sold it, because calling them "Sloppy seconds" wouldn't have been quite so enticing to the reader.

And they had to prove straight away how adult they were! Within a year there was nudity, sex, swearing and violence. John Peel introduced Doctor Who to prostitutes. Andrew Cartmel lovingly described Ace's brown nipples. Ben Aaronovitch became the first person to say 'F***' in the context of Doctor Who. Paul Cornell wrote an intelligent and poetic story that was a metaphor for AIDS.

Many of the books were great, but all of them had flaws. The most common one was that they seemed to be nothing like the Doctor Who that we all remembered. The concept can and should go anywhere, but I think we would have appreciated it more if there had been a few more traditional adventure stories in the mix. Everyone was creating their ULTRA EXTREME Doctor Who story and there was little room for the jobbing, Terrance Dicks style, normal story.

And, of course, some of them were dreadful. That said, I quite liked Iceberg - and Transit stood up well on a re-reading a few years ago.

In the end I was reading Iceberg's companion novel, Birthright when my Dad said 'Why do you read all that pulp fiction?'

And I came to agree with him over the next few books.

The last one I bought was, appropriately 'No Future'. It was the end of a long and very weak story arc. Paul Cornell was starting his cycle of writing something awful and then something brilliant. No Future was awful. The Vardans and the Meddling Monk? Anyone would be hard pushed to make a good story out of that.

With the Missing Adventures starting, it seemed that it wasn't a bold new venture any more, it was a tie-in cash cow. So I saved myself £10 a month. Eventually, my subscription to DWM ended. The final nail in the coffin was the TV Movie, but that's another story!

[SiHart]

I actually have my 1991 diary next to the PC at the moment, for reasons that aren't clear, interesting or really worth mentioning in general. So I looked up June 1991. I was in the middle of my GCSEs. I had a cold. The Hartnell/ Troughton Years came out... but there is no mention of me reading Genesys. All the others merit an entry though, which I will come back to after I've cooked dinner!

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

For all their flaws, I must say I really enjoyed them (sorry Rob). I do remember kind of wishing for a more 'trad' story back in the day... until we got Witchmark which was certainly a bit more that way, but was one of the weakest (but with one of the best covers). After that I started to be more careful what I wished for!!!

That said, it's probably a bit unfair to characterise the range as totally different to TV. Love & War has various layers, but one of them is a very solid 'evil alien menace plots to conquer planet' story, and is one of the most traditional, in that sense, of the whole lot. Nightshade, The Highest Science, those are both more akin to the TV show in style - and of course, in terms of 'writing style' Terrance and Nigel Robinson both contributed early on with novels very much in their Target style.

I found Revelation a real struggle to get through I must admit, although the same is true of Transit which I hated then but quite enjoyed when I re-read it a few years back. Original Sin is very good (even with it's rather superfluous Hannibal Lecter character) and so is Headgames (IMHO anyway).

What I really like though, and probably moreso looking back than I did at the time, is how varied the books are. If you pick up a Star Trek book, or a Buffy book, or whatever, they tend to be very much within the style of the TV show - the Doctor Who books are their own creature, and show the same variety and range as the TV show itself, while at the same time being in many ways totally different (to the old show anyway). I think that courage, even in things like bringing in new companions (and so early - Love & War is only about the tenth book isn't it?) was an essential part of their success.

[SiHart]

I was probably at just the right age for the NAs, being 15 as Genesys was released and the range seemed really new and exciting at the time, especially as it was effectively the only new Doctor Who there was at the time. I lapped them up!

I bought them all up No Future, but only then because I was a student who'd spent all his money in his first term at Uni and just couldn't afford them. Eating was more important. They then became treats. If there was one that looked good I'd buy it, or I'd get some as presents or to read on holiday, so I never really gave up on them. Eventually in 1997, as they finished really I went for it, and made sure I bought the set. I was lucky enough to be working to get the rare ones at the end of the range as they came out and I picked up the others from remaindered bookshops and stuff, so I did get a set.

I can't say I've read them all because I'd be lying. I've managed to avoid reading the Dave Stone ones (after the start of Sky Pirates put me off him forever) and at last count I haven't read Parasite, Sky Pirates, Death and Diplomacy and God Engine... which actually isn't bad really, is it?

I struggled through some of them- Transit, Times Cruicible, Deceit, Lucifer Rising (all the sci-fi ones really it seems!) but adored many of them- Exodus, Revelation, Nighshade, Blood Harvest, Damaged Goods and of course, Human Nature being particular highlights for me I reckon.

As the first range of original Doctor Who fiction they will always be seen as innovative and they really did take Doctor Who in unexpected directions. They encouraged new authors- many of whom have gone on to have good careers. They weren't always successful, but they've left a legacy that the new series is still following to this day.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

One I really enjoyed, despite it's rather naff cover art, is the Sherlock Holmes one - is it "All-Consuming Fire" or "St Anthony's Fire", I can never remember which?

[Jon Masters]

One I really enjoyed, despite it's rather naff cover art, is the Sherlock Holmes one - is it "All-Consuming Fire" or "St Anthony's Fire", I can never remember which?

All Consuming - St Anthony's was the Mark Gatis one about religious lizards

1991 was a great time for a new DW range of books - I just finished Uni and was about to start work and have a high disposable income (those were tha days). The idea of proper novels was soemthing to treasure.

Although things started OK, there were niggles that put me off almost from the start. The linked stories became very annoying - Timewyrm was OK but Time's Crucible was deathly dull and I never finished it, and I hated Cartmel's version of DW (with Warlock being as far away from good DW as its possible to be). I soon started to fall behind, not helped by having a miserable Ace, a cocksure Benny and a Doctor who seemed to hate his adventures and caused misery wherever he went. The Alternative Future Cycle just about finished me off. How much happier I was when the MAs started !

Although I bought most of them (and made up most of the gaps) I've never read the whole lot - I've tried to restart a few times but always hit the buffers about half way through. Too much cyberspace, too many AIs, too many books where authors were too interested in their own creations and not the Doctor, too much fanw@#k with old monsters. I have dipped in and out to read later books and enjoyed them , but only those I know stand alone.

They did set the bar for the later series, but I have to say I much prefered the MAs and the BBC books (both PDA and EDA) overall.

Highlights - Nightshade, Highest Science, Theatre of War, Just War, Lucifer Rising, Dying Days (thanks bbc online), Sanctuary

Nadirs - Time's Crucible, Transit, No Future, Parasite, Warlock, The Also People, Falls the Shadow

[Andrew Curnow]

I agree about Falls the Shadow, I thought I was going to die before ever reaching the end!!

[Rob McCow]

It's strange, I loved Time's Crucible. Lots of great imagery, but it's very heavy going and bludgeons the reader with it's extreme MYTHOLOGY!!!! (You thought he was taking the Pythia?)

I do have fond memories of lots of them, though. I even started re-reading them a year or two back with an eye to doing a piece for The Vervoid, but then I discovered it would be exactly the same as the wonderful 'I Who' books. And it would have taken far too much time. And so on. I got as far as Nightshade.

[Rob McCow]

Like This:

Timewyrm: Genesys.
In which Ace meets a messy potty man and the Doctor lets Ishtar wyrm her way in time.

INTRODUCTIONS ON A RATIONAL PLANET: The New Adventures.

“I’m very honoured to have been asked to write the foreword for what marks the start of an exciting journey ahead for Doctor Who. I wish the writers good luck and happy hunting, for there are an infinite number of stories yet to be told.” Sophie Aldred – February 1991.

“Our objectives in publishing this series of novels are: to continue the time and space peregrinations from the point at which last saw them on television, at the end of the story Survival; to continue the Doctor Who traditions of exciting science fiction stories laced with humour, drama and terror; and to continue the trend of recent seasons of television stories towards complex, challenging plots with serious themes.” Peter Darvill-Evans – February 1991.

“’Or…’ She glanced at the door leading to the bedroom at the far end of the room, ‘Am I here to serve you in your bed?’
Niani sighed. ‘Does everyone in your family think of nothing but sex?’” John Peel – Timewyrm: Genesys – 1991.

It was the dawning of another new age for Doctor Who. They were called ‘The New Adventures’, (which is surely a bizarre choice of name, because every month when a new book was released, last month’s book became an Old Adventure). Every month we would be treated to a new story, which was an incredible rate of production, given that previously it had been merely 4 stories a year! To add to the delight, Doctor Who fandom had been given a taste of a new, dark and manipulative Doctor plus a multi-layered and strong companion in Ace. There was a sense that the series was finally becoming ‘Adult’, whatever that means. To the fans who had been sneered at for years for liking a kid’s show, this was a blessed relief. At last you wouldn’t have to search for Doctor Who in the teen novels, between Choose Your Own Adventure and The Babysitter’s Club. If the New Adventures were ever placed in the kid’s section in WH Smiths, a diligent Who fan would pick them all up and put them in the science fiction section, right in front of the Star Trek books.

The first author chosen was an exciting choice at the time, being the man who brought The Chase and The Daleks Masterplan vividly to life in some of the best Target novelisations ever written. Although he’s much derided nowadays, John Peel was the man of the hour. With all this going in its favour, how could Timewyrm: Genesys fail?

IN 100 WORDS:

The Doctor uncovers a warning about the Timewyrm, which leads him to ancient Mesopotamia. He finds Ishtar, a cybernetic being who feeds on people’s minds. She crash-landed on Earth and has taken control of the city of Kish. With the help of King Gilgamesh, Ace locates Utnapishtim who fought Ishtar on her homeworld. Using a computer virus created by Utnapishtim, the Doctor forces Ishtar’s consciousness into the TARDIS memory banks. She tries to take control of the TARDIS but the Doctor jettisons her into the vortex with a part of the TARDIS. Ishtar absorbs the material and becomes the Timewyrm.

APOCALYPSE REVIEW:

Doctor Who fans never wanted an adult series. They wanted the same old Doctor Who with more continuity, gore and sex, which they got plenty of in Genesys. Gilgamesh is a bloodthirsty murderer, hacking and slashing at thousands of guards with his huge axe. There are whores all over the place and in a thoroughly disturbing and invasive scene, we join an amnesiac Ace as she wakes up naked in bed and tries to work out how to wear her knickers. The idea of having her lose her memories is a good way to re-introduce the Doctor, but it just goes a step too far into voyeurism. We don’t need to know that she sleeps naked. We don’t need to imagine her staring at her naked body in the mirror, trying to work out who she is. She describes herself as ‘muscular but still feminine’. It’s even worse if you imagine Sophie Aldred as Ace!

The plotting doesn’t work too well. Having Ace and the Doctor meet Avram in Uruk is too much of a convenience. Then Ace carries the main plot on her own while the Doctor farts about getting captured by Ishtar in the city of Kish. The amount of time Ishtar and Utnapishtim spend on Earth seems wrong; when Avram sings of Utnapishtim, it seems as though his guardians have been there for decades, but it also appears that Ishtar hasn’t been in Kish for very long. There’s a mention of spies and traitors in Gilgamesh’s city that isn’t built on.

This really is the start of the New Adventures. From the opening scenes, the Doctor and Ace from the TV show are gone. The new Ace is quite prepared to use her nitro-nine against people and the Doctor is more sinister than friendly, trying to out-manipulate, out-confuse and out-wit the pants off everyone. Although the psycho-analysis is a bit simple and the story is essentially a run-around adventure, the focus is still the exploration of the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. Ace says she hates spending time with Gilgamesh, so that’s exactly what the Doctor makes her do.

The strongest element of the book has to be Ishtar. She’s an awesome baddie, slinky, callous and alien. Wiring your brain up to a cobalt bomb that would destroy half the planet if you happened to get killed is fairly vindictive. Her party trick is planting electrodes in people’s brains so she can control them. She thrives on death, feeding on minds as they die. She’s almost too powerful a villain, though the Doctor doesn’t make much of an effort to finish her off. In the end he relies on the TARDIS and even that isn’t enough to stop her.

Although there’s a sense that the book was written very quickly and could do with a bit of tightening up, it’s an entertaining adventure. Its not nearly as fast paced as Sophie Aldred reckons in her introduction, but it keeps moving. There’s no depth, but the characters are quite memorable and lots of fun.

LOVE:
The Whores of Ishtar have dresses that reveal their breasts.
Gilgamesh tries to get it on with Ace, who refuses.
Ishtar attempts to seduce Gilgamesh.
En-gula, one of Ishtar’s whores, assumes that the King’s daughter Nianni wishes to sleep with her.
John Peel makes love to continuity.

WAR:
Gilgamesh’s axe cuts a swathe through everyone and everything, with blood and entrails going everywhere.
Ace uses nitro-nine on some Kishite soldiers, as well as blowing up Ishtar’s temple, probably killing some of the priests.
Gilgamesh, Ace and Enkidu get involved in a bloody bar-room brawl.
Gilgamesh, Ace and Utnapishtim arrive in Kish on Utnapishtim’s flyers, Utnapishtim and Ace use Needle guns.

CONTINUITY:
Planet of The Daleks: The telepathic circuits are accessed by touching two silver panels on the TARDIS console.
Invasion of Time: When the 4th Doctor went into the matrix data bank on Galifrey he found out about the Timewyrm. He turns up in his burgundy jacket (which he didn’t wear in that story) to warn himself 3 regenerations later as his memories of what he learnt in the matrix were fading.
The Daleks Masterplan: The Doctor uses the time path indicator. Katarina turns up on the TARDIS scanner to direct the Doctor to a temple.
Victoria, Jamie and the Brigadier also turn up on the TARDIS scanner.
Paradise Towers: Ace remembers going to Paradise Towers, though she never went there.
Dragonfire: The time-storm is referred to, as well as Ace’s time spent waitressing.
Remembrance of The Daleks: Ace thinks about Daleks.
Ghost Light: Enkidu reminds Ace of the other Neanderthal she met, Ian Levine.
Survival: The Doctor and Ace have just left Perivale. At the end of the story, Ace asks the Doctor if it is the Master following them.
Ace also remembers most of her other stories at one point or another. Fenric and Greatest Show definitely get namechecked.
Doctors: The fourth Doctor turns up as a holographic message. The Doctor uses the third Doctor’s personality when he absorbs Ishtar into the TARDIS. Apparently, his third incarnation was the most technically adept, despite the Time Lords erasing his knowledge of space-time travel.

[Captain Tancredi]

In contrast to Si, I was probably just slightly the wrong age when the Timewyrm series came out, because I would have been into the summer of my first year at Bristol and quite frankly I was devouring English literature at the time. Nobody in their right mind would read 'Genesys' while there was Marvell and Pope to be had. But in the end I bought all of them up to 'Witch Mark', occasionally struggling to find something which felt like actual Who, before losing interest again for a couple of years then picking them up again in the last couple of years of the range. There must still be a couple of dozen I haven't read, but it was weird a couple of years ago to pick up 'Love and War' again and realise that what seemed quite out-there and edgy in the early 1990s (Dear God! Lesbians and hippies!) now comes across as par for the course.

But Paul Cornell is writing Marvel comics now and Mark Gatiss has written the Lucifer Box novels and done very well for himself out of the League of Gentlemen- and still I don't think you could accuse either of them of writing for the NAs purely out of careerist motives.

[Jon Masters]

At last you wouldn’t have to search for Doctor Who in the teen novels, between Choose Your Own Adventure and The Babysitter’s Club. If the New Adventures were ever placed in the kid’s section in WH Smiths, a diligent Who fan would pick them all up and put them in the science fiction section, right in front of the Star Trek books.

And yet, ironically

1. That's exactly where you'd find New Series DW Books
2. The idea of WHSmith having a whole section for SF

[Rob McCow]

Nobody in their right mind would read 'Genesys' while there was Marvell and Pope to be had.

Surely you're missing the emoticon there?

And WH Smiths in Bracknell still has a couple of SF shelves! They wouldn't want them getting all mixed up with the 'real' books written by such classic writers such as Dan Brown, Mark Billingham and Jeffrey Archer.