A review by hammard
Doctor Who: Time of Your Life by Steve Lyons
1.0
10 years before this aired Vengeance on Varos, 10 years after we got Bad Wolf. Whilst all three address the growth of sensationalism in television and make an attempt to engage with the audience on a meta level, Time of your Life fails in a way the other two do not. I think it is interesting to look at why:
1. Anger: Whilst this book comes from a place of disgust at the state of television (and also to some extent Doctor Who fandom) in the early 90s. The others come from a place of exploration of the issue and look at what the ramifications of this could be.
2. Format: Whilst Steven Lyons has proved himself to be an adept writer of other Doctor Who novels, here he shows writing action is not his forte. Whilst they may work on screen here they just become increasingly tedious.
3. Structure: The story here however also has structural problems. The first half starts well enough, with exploration and careful introduction of characters leading up to a reveal. However, it then just keeps on at the same level with increasing violence.
4. Depth: Whilst the two tv stories reflect much more complex ideas about society, this one does not have much else to say once you identify what is Coronation Street, which show is Doctor Who and who is Mary Whitehouse in this satire. As such it just becomes more of a time capsule than anything else.
Points in its favour is the characterisation of The Doctor is excellent and it has a good start. But this is not enough to raise it above the Not Recommended level.
1. Anger: Whilst this book comes from a place of disgust at the state of television (and also to some extent Doctor Who fandom) in the early 90s. The others come from a place of exploration of the issue and look at what the ramifications of this could be.
2. Format: Whilst Steven Lyons has proved himself to be an adept writer of other Doctor Who novels, here he shows writing action is not his forte. Whilst they may work on screen here they just become increasingly tedious.
3. Structure: The story here however also has structural problems. The first half starts well enough, with exploration and careful introduction of characters leading up to a reveal. However, it then just keeps on at the same level with increasing violence.
4. Depth: Whilst the two tv stories reflect much more complex ideas about society, this one does not have much else to say once you identify what is Coronation Street, which show is Doctor Who and who is Mary Whitehouse in this satire. As such it just becomes more of a time capsule than anything else.
Points in its favour is the characterisation of The Doctor is excellent and it has a good start. But this is not enough to raise it above the Not Recommended level.