Doctor Who – The Indestructible Man

[hazel]

(I make no apologies for putting this into the Fan Fiction board - it IS fan-fic, just paid for!)

I’ve never read a Doctor Who novel before, but if I was ever going to read one, it was going to be The Indestructible Man, by Simon Messingham
I was a bit uncertain what to expect. Would there be chunks of impenetrable prose that I would only ever understand by getting my own time machine and going back to re-watch the series? Was it really important that I knew the minutiae of The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions, Zoë and Jamie? Fortunately, my Guide To All Things SF-ish, SFX Magazine, had said nice things about the book, so I knew I wasn’t going to be letting myself in for totally rubbish reading.
It’s actually not bad. Not bad at all. The story concerns a semi-secret organisation known as SILOET, the successor-organisation to PRISM who, thirty years before the opening of the book, fought mysterious aliens known as The Myloki. Into SILOET’s airborne HQ, SKYHOME, drop a trio of people, one of whom proves to be indestructible, one a neurotic, and one a slave. Yes, I got a bit confused at that point, too. The Indestructible Man that SILOET has captured is not OUR indestructible man, or his analogue, or even the Indestructible Man mentioned in the book’s title – it’s The Doctor. (A lollipop to whoever managed to follow that sentence without going “huh?” at least once.)
The Doctor has bad news for SILOET – The Myloki, believed to been destroyed thirty years ago by The Indestructible Man’s (hereinafter referred to as TIM) ultimate sacrifice, are coming back. Everything hinges on finding TIM before an impoverished and shattered Earth is finally destroyed by the alien incursions.

This is not a particularly easy read, but rewards close study. The Anderson polymath will have hours of fun spotting all the homages and pastiches of our favourite series. The semi-sinister organisation of SILOET, for instance, may be a little hard to place until given the more conventional spelling of silhouette. Which, of course, is SHADO, from UFO. The C-I-C being called Hal Bishop should give it away, of course. Not to mention its secret base – underneath a certain circular building called The Centre, in Shepherds Bush… (hint: Doctor Who was made there. Another hint - http://www.transdiffusion.org/pmc/studio1/tvcentres.htm)
Even non-UK readers will recognise the Sharon family as the Tracy family from Thunderbirds, even if they don’t get the Sharon/Tracy joke (ask me in private, and I’ll see if I can explain it), and I also spotted nods to Stingray. There are probably several others I haven’t noticed yet.
Character names are a great source of nerdy recognition joy, e.g. Grant Matthews (TIM); Kurt Taylor (his nemesis); Adam Nelson (his best friend); Colonel le Blanc, ex-CiC of PRISM; Hal Bishop; Lts. Anouska and Gabrielle on SKYHOME; Lt. Verdana, comms officer from PRISM, (Verdana, from the root “verdant”, meaning “green”. Gosh, when I review a book, I review it with a sledgehammer, don’t I?) and many more.
Damn… I haven’t mentioned the Cherubs, PRISM’s all-female fighter pilot squadron, described as a bunch of leathery-faced old boilers…

Through the whole book, entertaining though it was, I kept wishing that it was about OUR Indestructible Man. Being a proper cross-over might have improved it a bit. Or not. I dunno. You’d have to be a REAL Anderson fan, and at least a bit of a fan of Doctor Who, to enjoy this book. I think I’d only recommend it to completists, but all the same, it has a place on my bookshelf. I’m glad I read it.

Published by BBC Books, BBC Worldwide Ltd, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 0TT
ISBN 0 563 48623 6

[Kambei]

Spoilers ahead. If you are going to read this book, don't read this. I read this book several weeks ago, and being a fan of both Captain Scarlet and Doctor Who, found it a very good read. It meshed the two ideas very well. Taking Strakers paranoia and obsessive behaviour to the next level was a logical thing. The only characterisation that did not really gel with me was the alternate version of Alec Freeman, or was he supposed to be Paul Foster. I couldn't really tell. Neither of these characters would have become like that. In UFO, they acted as a counterpoint to Straker. Almost a Jiminy Cricket to his computer-like personality.
I liked the idea of a world prejudiced against Scarlet because he was changed by the enemy, and the resentment and jealousy shown by Green. His self imposed exile made sense.
My one gripe, though, is what happened to Captain Black. If the weapon did not work against Scarlet, why would it work on Black Or was he a far inferior clone as he was the first one made?
Personally I enjoyed it. Very dark in places, but tells a grim story of the aftermath of war.

[Kambei]

I want my lollipop !!!!!!
And believe me, I get the Sharon/Tracy joke. Used to have a girlfriend from Essex

[hazel]

Kambei - if you have/had anEssex girlfried - that's cheating! However, not to be a sore loser:

-------0

One lollipop
(Note to self - restrict such offers to Americans in future)

[Elentari]

I've just started reading the book (I'm roughly about half way through). However, I've had to take a brief pause to open Word and create a new document - to list all the GA references I can recognise ...and I will probably have to read the book a few times to get them all - especially the very UK ones.

I'm enjoying it even though I'm more a fan of just the original series rather than any new Dr Who stories. I do think it is very clever though - and a lot of fun to decipher.

Elentari

[shaqui]

Kim Stevens, my co-producer at GACCH, read this a while back.

While having a good grounding in the Gerry Anderson series, Kim still had to ask me about several possible references. I'm not entirely sure they all worked, but you have to admire the attempt.

[Captain Indigo]

I bought this on offer in Forbidden Planet, and I've only had the chance to read the prologue. I don't think I could sit and read it in one go - I'd be laughing too much!

I like the ending of the acknowledgements, though. Forgive me if I misquote, but I think it reads

Thanks to Mr. Anderson, who did so much

How true

[Captain Indigo]

Okay, I have now completed my reading of the aforementioned novel.

I had a slight panic when I discovered that this was a Second Doctor novel, as I tend to stick strictly to Eighth (so sue me, I'm in that 'Generation without their own Doctor'. Rubbish - you just had to know where to look), but I was pleasently surprised. There is practically no relating to previous adventures, so no nasty bogging down with the back-story. A thorough grounding in all things Anderson is, however, most definately required.

As the title suggests, and as Hazel has already mentioned, the story is set in a Scarlet/UFO universe where the Myloki have plunged Earth deep into recession. The Indestructible Man has disappeared without a trace and the key to finding him lies with an embittered former computer technician from PRISM (think Green).

You soon get over the initial giggles caused by the prologue and settle into an intreguing and sometimes complicated read.

Bringing in the Sharon family (aka the Tracys) is a nice touch, particularly the details of how they were put out of business. Didn't we all think about it at some time or another? I think (and I stress the word think) I spotted a reference to Supercar in it somewhere.

Black is scary in this! His character in the Classic Series is NOTHING compared to this guy!

Well worth a read, and even parting with some hard-earned cash to acquire it if necessary.

Enjoy,

Rose

[Carrie]

I managed to get hold of a copy from my local library (nice to know I can claw back some of our tax money..!!!) and I read it over the Christmas period.

I enjoyed the story..I felt it wasn't merely a re-hash of any existing stories but had an interesting plot in it's own right, although I confess I initially found the refererences to 'the patient' a little confusing..as I thought HE was the Indestructable Man.
However, I, (like everyone else here no doubt!) had fun finding all the references to the Anderson universe.
To Kambei's question, I think Storm was meant to be Freeman..there is a reference to his 'pock-marked' face.. I wondered if Captain Drake might have been the Col Foster character, even though the name didn't provide any clues..other than belonging to the lovely actress who played Lt Gay Ellis in UFO...

And for the pedantic amongst you...did anyone spot the clanger on page 236 paragraph one? It just smacked me in the face as I was reading it en-route along the M6...Nice to see even paid-for fiction lets a few mistakes through on the final proof-read. Hazel...were you with me on this? Hint...he got the villain's name confused.

[hazel]

Well spotted! Must confess, in a rather shame-faced manner, that I didn't notice that. And I call myself a beta...

[Captain Indigo]

Oh, well done, Carrie! I think I missed it, too. (I just went and checked my book - and I had to look hard to spot the mistake!)