Well, after the news broke about Doctor Who’s new showrunner, I’ve been doing very much the same thing as everyone else. Revisiting some of the modern classics of Doctor Who, as written by Russell T Davies, arguably the greatest TV writer. Others might add qualifiers of Welsh, male, British, gay, or others; he sits up there with/above John Sullivan, Victoria Wood, maybe Roy Clark, Michael Shur, Vince Gilligan, and a fistful of others. Not just Doctor Who, but near enough anything Davies’ has worked on recently has been solid. From recent credits like It’s A Sin to his 2018 novel version of his very first episode of Doctor Who, “Rose” I am very fond of his work.

It would be lazy of me to say, “it is just like the episode” and stop there because that’s the point of the Target Novelizations. Starting life back in 1964 with script editor David Whitaker’s take on the Terry Nation serial “The Daleks,” only the second story in Doctor Who, it was published under a different house at the time. It wasn’t until the dying days of the third Doctor that Target took over. Since then, the script’s writers and editors, or more experienced book writers, have adapted specific episodes. These serve to further detail the show’s all too beautiful and mad adventures in time and space. I’d argue that they also add more depth to a show that is sometimes hampered by budget and visual effects of the time. This extra depth is accentuated by the adventurous and playful mind of the writers behind this wonderful show and fans alike.

Nonetheless, Rose is almost a note-for-note perfect recap of the episode. I’d argue this is good and bad in somewhat equal measure. Autons, Ricky-Micky, Wilson, the Nestene Consciousness, and our lovely Doctor and companion, all show up as intended. It also adds flecks of additional work for the editors of the Doctor Who fan-Wikis to either fact-check or just assume is part of the show’s (quite frankly) stupefyingly complex and all too messy history. I love it when I see someone attempting to gatekeep in the Doctor Who fan-base, a majority of which wouldn’t know at the best of times when the first mention of Bad Wolf came into the series. They likely wouldn’t know that (according to rumor) there was an attempt to do a crossover with Star Trek in the show before the comics ever did.

This is to say that while details such as Sally’s mention of Bad Wolf, set before it is ever said in the show, might make some sputter out that it is revisionist by adding these details. Adding details to Clive, LGBTQ+ characters such as Sally, and the slight touching up of lines or moving metaphorical chess pieces on the board to fit the medium, doesn’t lessen the memories of the episode. Mind you, they don’t entirely alter the show to the point that Chibnall’s mess with “The Timeless Children” actually works either. They shed new light on something I’ve held near and dear for the majority of my life.

Does that mean I am less exhausted by the Autons and The Nestene Consciousness? No. I still think that the entire bin-thing with Micky from “Rose” is awful in a written format. This is where we do the reverse of “the book is always better [compared to the film],” kind of. You already have the image built in your head of what happened previously, so that influences your opinion in any adaptation. It is hardly a criticism of Davies, Noel Clarke, or the VFX team at The Mill that worked on the show in 2005. It was hard enough to execute that as well as they did for the show. However, the extra detail and time took to get through what was only a few seconds (45 to 90 at most) left me ready to move on quickly.

What I find strange in comparison with the show’s viewpoint on the story of “Rose,” is simply the overall perspective that is employed. The reason we woke up with Rose, went to work with Rose, and the reason we got to see Rose in her world before we ever saw the Doctor or the TARDIS was simple. We were seeing the world through a 19-year-old woman’s eyes before the bloke from the north (lots of planets have a north) came in. It is her story. Here everything is in the third person. It may just be an editorial move by Target though, as I’m also reading The Day of the Doctor. There is no use of “I” unless they are in dialogue, it is all names, pronouns, and so on. It is certainly a shift that distances the reader from where we should be.

For the majority of the entire story we continue to stay with Rose, hardly leaving her side as we continue to see her world. However, it is filled with “Rose felt…” and “she thought.” I’d say this makes the entire adventure feel distant, merely an observer of something I’ve always thought we as an audience were meant to be connected with. With Rose being the audience surrogate and simple human gawking at the wonders of the stars, it seems natural that we’re seeing the world from her perspective. The Doctor is a little arrogant, full of himself, and just trying to do the best he can with all his knowledge. However, we’re much like Rose, clueless thus far as to what lays within a manhole cover, behind a shop window, or in a shed.

I do find it strange knowing how “sanitized” the BBC likes to keep the image of Doctor Who. So when you find little bits of the show’s history that is, for want of a better word, dirty or unpolished to be as squeaky clean as possible, you take a step back. The Virgin New Adventures or Big Finish audios take a slight turn to more teenage themes, and with only slight innuendo-filled lines in the New Who-era of the show, it might not be surprising to know Davies didn’t skimp. Though the wording around the sex shop mentioned is strange, as leather-clad mannequins stomp along the high street in speedos, harnesses, and spiked trousers. Even the mention of decapitation for a show that was sparing of blood early on is odd.

Ultimately, I don’t think anyone would consider Rose to be a “must-read” in the chronology of Doctor Who. Despite not being a word-for-word recreation of the episode, it is close enough that if you want to spend a few hours reading the episode instead of watching it, you’ll love it. The details added don’t tie up any more loose ends than there were before, setting down the path of the ending almost the same way. A few more particulars are given to Wilson, we know more about Rose and Micky’s friends, and there is little more than that by the end. It is a fun short read if you want a quick adventure given a new light.

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Target Novelization: Rose

$9.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Feels like a good nostalgic memory giving you a hug.
• More LGBTQ+ characters retroactively imprinted in the show's history.
• The sly mention of Chiswick.
• I can see Eccleston's dopey big smile with every word.

Cons

• The shift in perspective is jarring.
• Despite a change in medium, some hokey aspects remain "tainted."