Deep in the heart of a hollowed-out moon the First Doctor finds a chilling secret: ten alien corpses, frozen in time at the moment of their death. They are the empire’s most wanted terrorists, and their discovery could end a war devastating the galaxy. But is the same force that killed them still lurking in the dark? And what are its plans for the people of Earth?
An adventure featuring the First Doctor as played by William Hartnell and his companions Ben and Polly
Agatha Christie in Spaaaaaaaaaaaace!!!! My first thoughts when reading the introduction were that William Hartnell’s Doctor just wouldn’t work with a squad of space marines, and to be fair the first couple of chapters did nothing to dispel this. However, once it got into it’s stride it became quite entertaining with Hartnell’s character taking much more of a back seat manipulating events rather than the in your face, abrupt and crotchety character portrayed on screen. This works well as this attitude just wouldn’t be believable up against a bunch of squaddies, and expands on an area of the character which can often be overlooked with Hartnell.It’s great to see Ben and Polly portrayed pretty well as they are an oft overlooked pairing, and while I times I thought some of their actions seem a little out of character it’s an unusual Tardis team that fits well with the situation rather than what might have been an easier a more obvious grouping of the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria / Zoe.All in all a good start to the Anniversary year.
Tiresome Stephen Cole thanks Agatha Christie’s daughter in the acknowledgements of Ten Little Aliens, and well he should. While I have not read Ten Little Indians (or, as it’s known now, And Then There Were None), I know enough about it to recognize a pastiche when I see one. The question is, is it a good one? While there is an entire 46 page experimental section that makes the reader work a bit too hard, it is overall an exciting and suspenseful mystery in space and well worth a read.
There is very little to this book at all. A group of soldiers on a training exercise make an assault on an asteroid interior. They find the bodies of some aliens and three travellers – the Doctor, Ben and Polly. Predictably the asteroid and the exercise are not what they seem and something begins to affect the soldiers.