Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel

This is another of the previously published Doctor Who novels, first published in 2011 and now republished in the Monster Collection in 2014. This one is unusual in the Monster Collection of stories in that it features a ‘monster’ which does not carry over from the ‘classic’ series like the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans etc. Instead, this story features the Weeping Angels who are a ‘monster’ created for the new series and first featured in the 2007 story “Blink”.This story is also quite unusual in that it is very much a tale of human interest. The Doctor, with Amy and Rory are important features of the story, but the story is really that of Mark Whitaker, a lawyer whose wife is killed in a car accident in 2003. When the Doctor arrives in 2011, Mark is starting to think he’s going mad; he can’t really be seeing stone angels everywhere, can he?I really enjoyed this story; there’s a good depth of characterisation in it, and a real sense of living the story through Mark’s life. There’s a lot of time wibbliness in the story, and that’s necessary for the whole truth of the narration, but you need to keep track of where/when you’re reading about. Matt Smith’s Doctor is well portrayed here, and Amy and Rory have small but vital roles to play as well. A really good Doctor Who novel, and a good addition to the Monster Collection series.

I've tried reading some other Doctor Who novels, based on the recent series character of Amy and Rory, but they have either been faintly upsetting or big cat's pants.Touched by an Angel, is different. Written by Jonathan Morris, a regular writer for the books and audio plays, the novel hits all the right notes and manages to capture all the aspects of the characters that make them unique. It also has a good and straightforward plot, with enough time twists to keep everyone happy.Very good location detail and dialogue make this much more enjoyable than many of the other books in the series, and it acts as a good companion piece to the show.At some times I was sure it was based on parts of my life, but only the lame college disco and holiday in Rome with a cute girl - as so far I haven't been followed by angels in TV sets.I would recommend it for any who fan, but particularly those in their mid to late 30s: as they'll know all the tunes.

Everyone who has ever lost a loved one in a terrible accident has at some point wished they could go back in time and prevent it from happening. So what if by some freak occurrence that happened. You where sent hurtling through time and space to a point before you lost that special person. What wouldn't you do to save them. But then a strange man in a blue box wearing a tweed jacket and a ridiculous bow tie told you the ramifications of changing the past in such a way would be more than devastating. That to save the person you love more than anything could possibly end everything. That's the dilemma facing Mark Whiticker in this heart wrenching book. Can the Doctor convince Mark that saving his wife from certain death is the wrong thing to do before it's to late and before the Weeping Angels end time itself. It's s brilliant and emotional story and I highly recommend you read it. But don't blink, don't take your eyes of the pages, don't turn around and whatever you do don't blink!!!

I've always greatly enjoyed Jonathan Morris's "Doctor Who" stories as he always seems to come up with interesting and dynamic concepts that have rarely been explored in the series before.Here he presents a magnificently human story with characters for which you genuinely empathise and care which makes it all the more compelling and all the more terrifying when the sinister stones statues start to appear.This book features a brilliantly innovative use of the Weeping Angels and their unique facets and abilities which contribute to a story with an amazing heart and an aching poignancy which leave you questioning even the Doctor's assertion that history cannot be rewritten...

Given the almost total absence of new Doctor Who fiction this year, I decided to take the option of catching up on the Eleventh Doctor novels. This is the first of the ones I selected to read as I'd heard good things and was curious as to how the Weeping Angels would come across in prose, due to their nature as a very visual menace. I was extremely pleasently surprised at the way they are written - with some genuine menace that creates a very vivid impression in the head. If they were to take novels and adapt them - not unlike how Human Nature was used - then this would be one I would want to see get that production treatment!