6) The Scales of Injustice, by Gary Russell
I think the first Doctor Who spinoff novel I read was Gary Russell’s Invasion of the Cat-People, long long ago. I was so deeply unimpressed that it was years before I read another one. Since then, of course, I’ve become aware of Russell as the host of numerous DVD commentaries and as a talking head on Doctor Who Confidential, not to mention being reminded of his activities as child actor in the Famous Five and editor of Doctor Who Monthly. It’s not always a howling success when someone who writes about the genre turns their hand to fiction, but after my recent bout of Serious Reading this seemed like a relaxing option, snagged from the BBC website in electronic form.
And to my relief the book is OK. It’s basically a boiled together combination of Doctor Who and the Silurians plus The Sea Devils, with flash forward to Warriors from the Deep, plus some back-story about the breakup of the Brigadier’s first marriage and what Liz Shaw was really up to in Cambridge. The book also includes a very nicely done farewell scene between Liz and the Doctor, which of course was not shown on screen. The book could pass as an above-average novelisation of a seven-part TV story, which I think is what the author was aiming at, so can be rated a success.
I am re-reading the series at present — but haven’t seen the TV shows yet (I won’t get Sky so will wait for the Blu Ray). I do not recall Eddard promising to tell Jon about his mother. But there was quite a bit of internal angst about Jon’s parentage on Eddard’s part — and that sort of thing is quite hard to show onscreen. A verbal promise would cut through that straightforwardly.
[spoilerish side material]…
… and I have seen something that says that the chaps who made AGOT persuaded Martin that they were the people for the job by explaining who they thought Jon Snow’s mother was and why.