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APRIL 2008

Mike Tucker’s seventh Doctor Who novel is built upon some bold, bleak and brill-

iant concepts - the long-term devastation wrought by global warming and the immigration

of the Flisk (a race of alien refugees) alone could sustain several seasons’ worth of some throwaway American science-fiction television series. But in the world of Doctor Who, such innovation is required for every story, and that’s only half the battle. Regrettably sometimes

– just sometimes – even the most breathtaking of ideas refuse to translate into compelling drama, and unfortunately I found this to be the case with Snowglobe 7.

After the first fifty pages or so of wonderful world building, Tucker’s vivid and enthralling near 22nd century Earth gives way to a stale and clumsy, knockdown-runaround corridor romp. Monsters and snow and ice and little else of note.

Nevertheless, some elements of the book do work

rather well. The snow globes themselves are rather a

fascinating concept, as is the notion of their inevitable

corruption and commercialisation. Indeed, I think the

most enduring aspect of Snowglobe 7 is the miserable

but entirely plausible picture that it paints of our future –

it’s like anti-Star Trek!

On the other hand though, all of the characters - perhaps with the exception of Marisha -

are instantly forgettable. Whatever happened to the likes of George Limb and Bev Tarrant? Tucker has proven that he can do better than this. That said, his handling of the two regulars is pristine. Martha is served well by the story, and it is often the Doctor’s zeal that drives the narrative forward, holding the reader’s attention even when all interest in the plot has long since been lost.

Altogether though, Snowglobe 7 is certainly not a patch on The Nightmare of Black Island, Tucker’s seventh Doctor novels, or even his two Big Finish audio plays. And the worst thing of all is that this novel had so much potential. It’s amazing, really: even the most pedestrian

of Doctor Who novels can still contain enough imagination to put a blockbuster Hollywood movie to shame.

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2008

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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