Doctor Who: Dark Horizons Review

Does Jenny Colgan's sci-fi debut hit the mark?
In the past few years, we've had plenty of well-established authors- Michael Moorcock, Gareth Roberts, the list goes on- attempt to capture the essence of Doctor Who in literature form. Time and time again, though, these science-fiction franchise names have simply not had the confidence or free reign with the source material to take these novels where they needed to go to attain the best possible quality. While the latter constraint still clearly has an influence in her new piece, chick-lit author J.T. Colgan has far more confidence with Dark Horizons, a genuinely innovative piece which harkens back to the days of the classic series. The premise, for starters, comes from the mind of a self-confessed fan through and through: looking for a game of chess with someone, the Doctor lands in the time of the Vikings, only to find an island of unlikely allies plagued by an evil flame-based menace with little remorse and a need to survive. This may initially sound like a mere echo of The Curse Of The Black Spot, yet Colgan seems to almost toy with this narrative familiarity, creating lovable bands of memorable characters who find themselves forced to work together in the most unlikely of situations. The author's status as a fan certainly rings true throughout the storyline too, with references to the likes of Martha Jones, The Impossible Astronaut and the city of Atlantis placed at key points as sources of humour and nostalgia without becoming overly indulgent. Colgan's characterisation of the Doctor himself sometimes feels a little disjointed, treading the line between a portrayal of Matt's now-lonely hero of the shadows and indeed the even more insane Tom Baker incarnation, but if you consider each of the eleven versions of the character to be one 'man', then this should feel of little consequence overall.

As I mentioned earlier, the core crux of the narrative is strong, quintessential Who- however, there is still a sense that the team at BBC Books didn't want their new writer straying too far from well-covered territory in her first project, seeing as the Doctor is allowed to do little which would have any chance of impacting his overall series arc or indeed which would take the story in a hugely different direction to where Steven Moffat's on-screen interpretation heads in Series Seven. For the most part, though, this is fine, as Colgan does a brilliant job of maintaining one or two of her romantic writing roots while keeping up the sense of fun and adventure all the while. It's arguable that the story's second act sags a little, with the Doctor and pals basically thinking of ways in which to stop the fire menace impending upon the island, yet it's certainly not enough of a dull point to keep fans from seriously enjoying the book as a whole.

Doctor Who: Dark Horizons stands as one of the best tie-in novels to the show in recent times, a thoroughly compelling piece which leaves me very excited to see how Jenny Colgan would be allowed to handle a second entry should she be allowed to return as is her clear wish!
4/5