Handcock, Scott
About the Author:
Scott Handcock worked as a Script Editor on Doctor Who from 2022.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
2 out of 5
(1 book)
Doctor Who: Empire Of Death
The novelisation of the two part Series 1 finale episodes 'The Legend of Ruby Sunday' and 'Empire of Death', originally written by Russell T. Davies. The Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion Ruby head to UNIT HQ in the hopes of using UNIT's resources to uncover the identities of two mystery women; one who has appeared in one form or another across all of the Doctor's recent travels and a more personal one, in the form of Ruby's long-lost birth mother.
It's not Handcock's fault. Although, he was script editor at the time, so maybe he bears some responsibility. This is a perfectly readable and serviceable novelisation of the episodes involved. They just happen to be absolutely terrible episodes.
Mystery Box storytelling is the laziest and stupidest way of creating tension in a story, and these stories double-down on it by not only really leaning into the importance of two separate mysteries, but by having the resolutions to both of them be enormous anticlimaxes. Too many filmmakers in recent years have focused on 'subverting expectations' as if that in and of itself makes a story compelling, but if you set up a mystery, subverting the reasonable expectation that the mystery might mean something isn't clever, it's stupid and insulting to the people trying to enjoy the story.
There is good stuff here. The idea that Sutekh (I'm not worrying about spoilers because they put him on the cover) has been dogging the Doctor since their first encounter during the Tom Baker era was intriguing. I also liked seeing the Memory TARDIS and having Mel actually travel with the Doctor once again.
Unfortunately, all of the good stuff is totally overshadowed by just how stupid the reveal of Ruby's mother is. According to rumour, the story had to be hastily re-written when Millie Gibson (Ruby) decided to leave the show early (much like what happened with Gatwa's exit at the end of Series 2) and that would fit perfectly as an explanation of the wet fart that is the conclusion to Ruby's story here. Her mum is special (like, deceiving a god and fooling the Time Window special) because she's completely ordinary? Get stuffed.
So, yeah, a functional novelisation of a dreadfully put-together story.
2 out of 5
Read more...
Doctor Who (here)