Doctor Who: New Human Nature sequel/prequel connects both versions of the story
By James Aggas
Last week, we got an interesting little tale from Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell, which connected both the novel and the TV adaptation of his much-loved story, Human Nature.
Following on from last week’s Doctor Who watchalong of Human Nature, I also decided it was time to read and review the original novel. For those of you who don’t know, before it was a two-part story starring David Tennant, Human Nature was originally a novel for the Seventh Doctor.
Unlike other TV stories that have used audios or books as inspiration, Human Nature‘s adaptation seemed to follow the overall story of the original novel very closely. It was roughly the same time period – shortly before the First World War broke out – and the core story is the Doctor hiding as John Smith, having no idea of who he really is. Because they’re so similar, it’s been rather difficult to reconcile the two versions as occurring in the same universe.
Until now.
Shortly before the watchalong of Human Nature was scheduled to begin, a brand new short story was released. Written by Paul Cornell – writer of both the original novel and its adaptation – Shadow of a Doubt offers a clear link between the two versions. You can listen to it yourself in the clip below.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
Past and future
Despite being just a couple of minutes long, there’s a lot to process with this one. The first is the rather clever idea that sometimes – just sometimes in the Doctor’s life – events have a habit of repeating themselves. It’s not a big deal, it’s just something that seems to happen to the Doctor. Considering how complicated the Doctor’s history has become – especially when you throw in the Time War – this makes a strange sort of sense.
What really makes this little story so fantastic is who narrates it: Professor Bernice Summerfield. The Seventh Doctor’s companion during the events of the original novel, it’s through Bernice’s eyes that the story is told. Lisa Bowerman performs this short story in character as Bernice, which is the best way to tell this story – after all, Bowerman has played Bernice for over two decades now.
If linking two stories that seemed impossible to reconcile wasn’t enough, there are also mentions of the Doctors who visited the girl in the mirror. Along with Doctors we recognize, there are mentions of incarnations that we don’t know about – including a Doctor that couldn’t walk and a red-haired incarnation that “thought he was the last”. Along with presenting intriguing possibilities regarding the Doctor’s future, it’s also a nice reference to the Doctor wanting to be ginger, first brought up in The Christmas Invasion.
To sum up: Shadow of a Doubt is a story that links two distinct versions of the same adventure while also giving hints of the Doctor’s future. Not bad for a purely narrated story just under three minutes long.
Human Nature – How does the novel compare to its TV adaptation?. dark. Next
What did you think of Shadow of a Doubt? Did you enjoy how it referenced both versions of Human Nature? What did you make of the future Doctors? Let us know in the comments below.