Regeneration. A familiar concept for anyone reading this, and one that is no doubt fervently fresh in the mind. But where does that leave the outgoing Twelfth Doctor, now that the new girl has come in to steal his last few months in the spotlight? Has he, in a way, stopped being the incumbent Doctor, even as Christmas continues to loom over us in the distance? If the future is now, then what does that make the present?
This isn’t a new phenomenon, of course. Matt Smith’s final few episodes were so overshadowed by his incoming successor that Peter Capaldi actually showed up a month too early. As they reach the end of their tenure, it seems that each Doctor enters something of a transitional period, moving from the definite article, to the figurehead of their own individual storytelling sandbox. An almost unfettered timeline, growing indefinitely with the addition of new adventures, but still ultimately tied between a beginning and an ending. Regeneration.
Which brings us neatly to The Eight Doctors (1997). A fresh-faced Eighth Doctor, suffering from amnesia after his battle with the Master, travels back across his timeline to seek the help of his former selves and regain his memories. It’s a story that relishes in the Doctor’s history, even as it prepares for the inevitable first step into an uncertain future. It seems a perfect way to begin a series focusing on a new Doctor, while sneakily introducing new fans to the myriad of characters that would pop up in the accompanying Past Doctor range. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, what looks good on paper doesn’t exactly produce results in practice.
The most glaring issue facing The Eight Doctors is that it technically isn’t a novel at all. As implied above, it is more of an advert for the past thirty years of the series more than anything else. Rather than presenting a continuous narrative, the novel is instead a collection of short vignettes, with the Eighth Doctor visiting a previous version of himself in each one. While this is not necessarily a bad premise, the fact that each vignette is awkwardly bolted onto pre-existing tv episodes leaves the vast majority of the novel feeling empty and frustratingly weightless.
As a result of this enforced adherence to established events, more problems begin to arise. The returning characters, while not quite written incorrectly, rarely get anything to do. What should be a tantalising glimpse of characters strong enough to endure for decades becomes a mere book of sketches, accompanied by brief background notes. Furthermore, while this could potentially be excused for the pre-existing characters, the same cannot be said when the problem extends to the cast of the Eighth Doctor’s own vignette, including his new companion.
The vignettes themselves suffer a similar issue. While most simply feel a little flat, a few are hardly more than basic retellings of the episodes attached to them. The Fourth and Fifth Doctor’s stories, especially, come off as less-focussed, low-stakes retreads of State of Decay (1980) and The Five Doctors (1983) respectively. However, the worst victims of this lack of depth are without a doubt the First and Second Doctors, relegated to simply offloading exposition about how the plot works, before telling the Eighth Doctor to get lost. Wonderful characters such as Susan, Barbara, and Jamie are used purely for set dressing, only serving to let the reader recognize pivotal moments from An Unearthly Child (1963) and The War Games (1969) without even seeing the Eighth Doctor at all.
However, the strongest aspect of a short story anthology is its variety, and The Eight Doctors definitely has its moments. The Third Doctor’s story, for example, demonstrates how this premise can really shine. It feels just like a miniature Pertwee story, and even manages to provide character development for both Doctors. The Third Doctor’s entourage of Jo, the Brigadier and the Master, likewise, manage to serve both the purposes of the story and the greater arc of the Eighth Doctor’s development. Had more of the novel been like this, we would likely have had a definitive classic kick-starting this Doctor’s tenure on the page.
Speaking of the new Doctor, he also forms one of the book’s major high points. While his growth across the novel is subtle, it is more often than not the heart that keeps everything else together. From a good-natured but clueless romantic, to a confident, charismatic presence, to a quiet, humble saviour of worlds, the Doctor’s path is expertly handled, and especially satisfying to experience knowing who he would eventually become. Arguably, his position in the individual stories reinforces this growth, as he finds himself easily bossed around by his earlier incarnations, before finding himself on equal footing with the Fifth Doctor, and completely overshadowing the Sixth Doctor. Even as it struggles to be a simple advertisement, there is the clear framework of a solid Eighth Doctor adventure to be found here.
Although, perhaps, the most interesting part of The Eight Doctors isn’t to be found in the book itself, but rather in the way it handles its context. Doctor Who, for the most part, can be seen as an almost non-linear series. In a world where everyone knows that Jo leaves in “that one with the maggots,” is there still any necessity in watching all of these episodes in order? After so many years, Doctor Who is essentially an amorphous bulk of stories, with the only constants being the handful of strands that run through and link it all together. In a climate where adventures starring the Doctor’s previous lives are released and held up just as much as the ongoing story of his current life, which of those lives are truly current?
So, after what seems like an eternity, the Twelfth Doctor will soon stop being the definite article. He’ll say his goodbyes, a new woman will go sauntering away, and she’ll be the Doctor. These next few months may feel like an ending, but while the Thirteenth Doctor’s life starts, so the Twelfth Doctor’s life will start afresh. An unfettered storytelling sandbox, ready to be revisited even while Thirteen carries on taking steps into the future. It’s far from being all over, that we can be sure of. Besides, it’s not like this hasn’t happened before, right?
The Eight Doctors should be bought for around $20 in Good condition or higher.
Will Martin
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