Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
BBC Digital (2018), 224 pages
Description
Meet the new Doctor Who classics. When the entire universe is at stake,three different Doctors will unite to save it. The Tenth Doctor is huntingshape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England. The Eleventh is investigating arift in space-time in the present day. And one other - the man they usedto be but never speak of - is fighting the Daleks in the darkest days ofthe Time War. Driven by demons and despair, this battle-scarred Doctor is set totake a devastating decision that will threaten the survival of the entireuniverse... a decision that not even a Time Lord can take alone. On thisday, the Doctor's different incarnations will come together to save theEarth... to save the universe... and to save his soul.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
In Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, Steven Moffat adapts his story for the 50th Anniversary Special to the novel format in the style of classic Target novelizations of Doctor Who episodes. Using the prose format, Moffat writes a story that revels in the out-of-sequence series of events as the
Moffat uses the freedom of prose to include new asides and references to earlier stories. For example, when portraying the perspective of the newly-regenerated War Doctor and his perception of color, Moffat suggests that the reason the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton episodes appeared in black-and-white was that those incarnations were color blind (pg. 18). He also finds a way to explain how the Eleventh Doctor appeared to move past the events of the Time War that so plagued his Ninth and Tenth incarnations (pg. 129). In this novel, the Peter Cushing Dr. Who films were the result of information about the Doctor and the TARDIS getting out to the public and the Doctor so enjoyed the films that he befriended Peter Cushing, thereby explaining Cushing's posthumous film credits (pg. 144). Moffat also references the Fourth Doctor story, "Terror of the Zygons" (pg. 152), as a UNIT file. Interestingly, there's a sly reference to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor as well. These asides, while fun, also come with some continuity errors. Moffat makes reference to the Doctor receiving a message from River Song before she headed to The Library, which would seem to contradict "The Husbands of River Song" (pg. 62) and he gives the Twelfth Doctor a much larger role at the end of the Time War (pg. 218).
The overall effect of this novel is fun and Moffat's adaptation offers a sufficiently different experience from the televised episode to keep the reader engaged. Further, the "Easter Eggs" and other references add a layer of depth that goes beyond what the show could do in a televised format. This novelization recalls all the fun of the original Target books and offers something new for those who didn't grow up with them.
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Doctor experienced them. Chapters are deliberately numbered out of order based on which Doctor they describe and when in his own narrative they occurred, though the story still follows the same internal order as the televised episode. Also included are segments between the chapters from the "author" of this account, who uses psychic paper to guide the reader through the events. That author's identity plays a key role to the organization of this retelling. Based on the seemingly interactive nature of the novel, Moffat works in a metatextual reference to the Silence (pg. 133) that's sure to delight.Moffat uses the freedom of prose to include new asides and references to earlier stories. For example, when portraying the perspective of the newly-regenerated War Doctor and his perception of color, Moffat suggests that the reason the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton episodes appeared in black-and-white was that those incarnations were color blind (pg. 18). He also finds a way to explain how the Eleventh Doctor appeared to move past the events of the Time War that so plagued his Ninth and Tenth incarnations (pg. 129). In this novel, the Peter Cushing Dr. Who films were the result of information about the Doctor and the TARDIS getting out to the public and the Doctor so enjoyed the films that he befriended Peter Cushing, thereby explaining Cushing's posthumous film credits (pg. 144). Moffat also references the Fourth Doctor story, "Terror of the Zygons" (pg. 152), as a UNIT file. Interestingly, there's a sly reference to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor as well. These asides, while fun, also come with some continuity errors. Moffat makes reference to the Doctor receiving a message from River Song before she headed to The Library, which would seem to contradict "The Husbands of River Song" (pg. 62) and he gives the Twelfth Doctor a much larger role at the end of the Time War (pg. 218).
The overall effect of this novel is fun and Moffat's adaptation offers a sufficiently different experience from the televised episode to keep the reader engaged. Further, the "Easter Eggs" and other references add a layer of depth that goes beyond what the show could do in a televised format. This novelization recalls all the fun of the original Target books and offers something new for those who didn't grow up with them.
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LibraryThing member Kindleifier
Great fun
Brings back memories of watching The Day of the Doctor, but with plenty of surprises and fresh laugh-out-loud moments. Brilliantly written by the inimitable Steven Moffat. One to treasure.
Brings back memories of watching The Day of the Doctor, but with plenty of surprises and fresh laugh-out-loud moments. Brilliantly written by the inimitable Steven Moffat. One to treasure.
LibraryThing member bragan
This is a novelization of the Doctor Who episode "The Day of the Doctor" written by Steven Moffat, who, of course, also did the original script. And a wonderful job he's done of it! This version adds in a few new scenes, as well as a lot of character insights, and it takes us fairly deep into an
Definitely recommended for Who fans, or at least for those who liked Moffat's approach to the show. (Which I did. I really, really did.) Heck, I sort of expected this to be a really quick, easy read, much like the Who novelizations of yesteryear, most of which I could read in one short sitting, but it ended up taking me much longer than I expected to finish it, just because I found myself wanting to savor it and to get as much as I could out of every sentence.
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exploration of the Doctor, including the Doctor at the most pivotal moment of his life. It's also got lots of timey-wimeyness (of course!) and cheeky in-jokes and complex layers of meta-ness. Some of that works better than others for me, but overall I enjoyed it greatly, in the way that I enjoy so much of Moffat's work: it may be a bit of a mess, but it's a glorious, entertaining mess. I'll also add that when I first saw this particular episode, I had somewhat mixed feelings about the way it's resolved, but whether it's due more to the passage of time since then or to the way Moffat presents it here, I've found that it now actually works quite well for me.Definitely recommended for Who fans, or at least for those who liked Moffat's approach to the show. (Which I did. I really, really did.) Heck, I sort of expected this to be a really quick, easy read, much like the Who novelizations of yesteryear, most of which I could read in one short sitting, but it ended up taking me much longer than I expected to finish it, just because I found myself wanting to savor it and to get as much as I could out of every sentence.
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LibraryThing member davidbrider
Absolutely excellent novelisation of the original episode. Moffat expands imaginatively on his original script, as well as playing fast and loose with our expectations of what a novelisation could be. In some respects, it actually manages to improve on the original episode (in particular, the last
Wonderful.
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couple of chapters), and is an even better celebration of 50 (well, now 55) years of my favourite TV programme.Wonderful.
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LibraryThing member thoroughlyme
Steven Moffat should absolutely consider novelizing more of his episodes if the BBC decides to do more of these. This book brilliantly expands on all the best parts of the episodes while filling in gaps that weren't able to be filled in in the episode itself. There are so many unexpected elements
Moffat plays with point of view a lot in this book and uses the fact that it's a multi-Doctor story to his advantage when it comes to exploring the Doctor's thoughts in regards to the action happening around him. There's a chapter, about midway through the book, where the 10th Doctor, 11th Doctor, and War Doctor are being transported to the London Tower and the chapter really goes into how it feels for the Doctor to be experiencing the same events, over and over again, throughout these three incarnations. This exploration comes to a head in a later chapter that covers the events inside the prison cell where the multiple incarnations of the Doctor confront themselves over how many children were on Gallifrey when it was destroyed. It's a beautiful moment in the show that's made even more beautiful by the way Moffat uses the prose to explore the thoughts and feelings of each of these three Doctors and how it feels to know what's about to happen and having to feel the pain of the realization over and over again. My words don't do the beauty of the chapter justice.
Like many of Moffat's best episodes, this adaptation of The Day of the Doctor features many timey-wimey elements, least of which being the fact that the chapters aren't at all in the correct order (the first chapter of the book is actually Chapter 8, and they continue to be out of order for the remainder of the book). There's a reason for all of this, of course, but it still feels very Moffat-y. The action jumps around from scene to scene and features lots of added scenes and asides to flesh out the book, and it's all narrated by a rather surprising narrator. At the end of the day, if you liked the episode, you'll love the novel even more. It's Moffat at his best.
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of this book that I don't wanna go into any detail about them for fear of ruining the fun. Needless to say, if you loved the episode, you'll love the book. And the best part is that it's still a surprising book even if you've seen the episode one hundred times. It begins with an adaptation of the 8th Doctor mini-episode, Night of the Doctor, and that's everything you'd ever hoped it would be, and continues from there, more or less following the sequence of events as they happened in the episode, while adding lots of new details here and there as appropriate. There are many, many little moments that Moffat sprinkles throughout this adaptation that really adds to the magic of the episode, especially towards the end when the multiple incarnations of the Doctor come together to save Gallifrey. Moffat plays with point of view a lot in this book and uses the fact that it's a multi-Doctor story to his advantage when it comes to exploring the Doctor's thoughts in regards to the action happening around him. There's a chapter, about midway through the book, where the 10th Doctor, 11th Doctor, and War Doctor are being transported to the London Tower and the chapter really goes into how it feels for the Doctor to be experiencing the same events, over and over again, throughout these three incarnations. This exploration comes to a head in a later chapter that covers the events inside the prison cell where the multiple incarnations of the Doctor confront themselves over how many children were on Gallifrey when it was destroyed. It's a beautiful moment in the show that's made even more beautiful by the way Moffat uses the prose to explore the thoughts and feelings of each of these three Doctors and how it feels to know what's about to happen and having to feel the pain of the realization over and over again. My words don't do the beauty of the chapter justice.
Like many of Moffat's best episodes, this adaptation of The Day of the Doctor features many timey-wimey elements, least of which being the fact that the chapters aren't at all in the correct order (the first chapter of the book is actually Chapter 8, and they continue to be out of order for the remainder of the book). There's a reason for all of this, of course, but it still feels very Moffat-y. The action jumps around from scene to scene and features lots of added scenes and asides to flesh out the book, and it's all narrated by a rather surprising narrator. At the end of the day, if you liked the episode, you'll love the novel even more. It's Moffat at his best.
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Language
Original publication date
2018-04-05
ISBN
9781473531260