Doctor Who review: Twice Upon a Time’s novelization greatly improves on a flawed story
By James Aggas
Having read the novelization of the Twelfth Doctor’s final story Twice Upon a Time, we have to ask: does it improve on a rather flawed Doctor Who story?
For a long while, I was reluctant to read the novelization of Twice Upon a Time. The episode isn’t exactly one of my favorites, and even with Doctor Who legend Paul Cornell handling it, I couldn’t help but feel that the story had some key issues that wouldn’t necessarily be fixed in another medium.
To some extent, that is true. Particularly with the biggest flaw of the original story: the characterization of the First Doctor. Sometimes, the episode got him exactly right – his speech to Bill on the nature of good and evil particularly stood out.
But Moffat also felt the need to add in some “awkward comments” for comedy’s sake at the First Doctor’s expense. Maybe one or two of these comments, you could see Hartnell’s Doctor making – after all, the Sixties were a different time, and the First Doctor’s comment about “the Red Indian” in the first episode would never be said today by a modern Doctor.
But these kind of comments were few and far between during the original era, while ironically, the “modern” episode was full of them. The First Doctor in Twice Upon a Time kept commenting on how the companion should give the TARDIS a good clean – something he never said in the original series. Even an actual quote he made about giving Bill a “smacked bottom” was much more awkward than when it was originally said to his granddaughter. It took an already dated comment about family discipline and made it far worse!
Understanding the First Doctor better
These moments are still in the novelization. Still, Paul Cornell does his best to justify them a little better. One of the highlights of the book was this key passage:
"What about Barbara, the Doctor wanted to yell. She was one of your greatest friends, brilliant in every way, and she wouldn’t have stood for a statement like that. What, is this you acting up because we’ve got company?"
I had to resist punching the air after reading that. Not only does it try to provide an explanation for the First Doctor’s strange behavior. It also remembers the brilliance of Barbara, one of the Doctor’s greatest companions. And it’s correct, she would never have stood for it. (Seriously, just watch The Edge of Destruction if you don’t believe me.) It’s a small moment that improves the story considerably.
The first Doctor had some significant characterization issues in the original TV episode. Does the novelization handle him better?
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: BBC.)
Improving a flawed story
In fact, one thing that instantly leaps out about Twice Upon a Time is the amount of love Cornell has for the First Doctor era. There are a number of lovely little references to previous companions, and you get the sense that Cornell respected the First Doctor far more than Moffat did.
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The story also gives us glimpses inside the characters’ heads and gives us a better understanding of what they’re going through. The First Doctor’s fear of change; the Twelfth Doctor wanting to let go; the Captain’s fear of death and so much more. These elements were strong points in the original episode already, but it’s nice to see them expanded on further.
Finally, the novelization works very nicely at rounding off the Twelfth Doctor’s era, particularly in the final chapters. Little details like finding out what happened to Bill and Nardole after The Doctor Falls are greatly appreciated, and help to add just that little bit more closure to his era.
If you didn’t enjoy Twice Upon a Time – particularly how it handled the First Doctor’s characterization – you will enjoy the book more. Even while it can’t entirely escape the original episode’s problems, it’s still a respectable job of improving on some of its biggest weaknesses while enhancing some of its strengths. Definitely a novelization that’s stronger than its original episode.
Next. Review: Tom Baker’s Scratchman is a novel of two distinct halves. dark
Have you read Twice Upon a Time? Do you think it’s a strong novelization? Which is your favorite of the new Target novelizations? Let us know in the comments below.