Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder by Mark Morris (book review).
‘Wild Blue Yonder’ works very well as a treatise on how hard it is to know a person; it’s also full of frantic chases and added body horror. So yeah, for the kids’ nightmares.
In a deserted spaceship, the Doctor and Donna end up at the edge of the universe. The TARDIS takes a moment and disappears, leaving them stranded. All Donna can think of is the need to get back to Rose. There are no stars at the edge of the universe, but there is something else that wants to come in.
How could things get any worse after accidentally changing the word “gravity” to “mavity” due to coffee on the console? That’s easy; imagine the TARDIS on fire, playing marching music, and running away scared.
The doctor and Donna meet themselves. There is a saying somewhere about being so busy you meet yourself coming back, but this is eerie and complicated. These are copies who want to learn all about the juicy universe. They could just eat it up.
As malevolent beings go, it’s hard and yet so easy to see this in the faces of the well-loved doctor and companion. They know all the secrets and share some of them in a way the originals never could. Both Doctor and Donna learn about the problems they’ve had, whereas the real people spare each other the knowledge.
I enjoy this and the episodes it records. There’s a sparseness and clarity to having only four characters. There is some funny stuff, too, that breaks up the bleakness and fear. It’s one of my favourites.
Sue Davies
April 2024
(pub: BBC Books/Penguin, 2024. 176 page paperback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-78594-846-6)
check out website: www.penguin.co.uk/books/457029/doctor-who-wild-blue-yonder-target-collection-by-morris-mark/9781785948466
