The Christmas Invasion

"It was the night before Christmas: but something was stirring."

Writer: Jenny T Colgan
Format: Novel
Released: April 2018
Series: Target 158

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

Earth is under attack by power-hungry aliens. This is no time for the Doctor to be out of action.

When a British space probe is intercepted by a sinister alien vessel on the eve of Christmas, it marks the beginning of an audacious invasion of the Earth by the Sycorax - horrifying marauders from beyond the stars. Within hours, a third of humanity stands on the brink of death with not a single shot fired.

Our planet needs a champion - but the Doctor is not fit for service. He's just regenerated, delirious in a new body and a dressing gown. Forced into his battered shoes is his friend, Rose Tyler, a girl from a London council estate. Will she save the world from this nightmare before Christmas - or see it destroyed?

Verdict

The Christmas Invasion was an outstanding novelisation of the televised story of the same name. From start to finish, this was an absolute joy to read. Ever since it was announced that modern Who was going to be getting a few Targets, I've been very excited to see how they fit in with the Classic versions and I have to say this was a wonderful addition! I have finally joined my local library and I was delighted to see that they had this book on the shelves and I didn't hesitate in borrowing it. I'm going to be sad to give it back because it was a real delight. I loved the extension of the dialogue between the Doctor and Rose moments after the regeneration was complete and it was great to get an insight into Rose's thoughts about what had just happened. Her Doctor had just been eaten and now this skinny chap was babbling nonsense and quite scaring her. I loved how throughout the book she kept referring to the Ninth Doctor as 'her' Doctor and the way she learnt to deal with the regeneration with the words of the Doctor from The Parting of the Ways echoing in her ears. He had changed. But now he was asleep and the Earth was being invaded. The origins of the Guinevere One getting a little exploration was wonderful and showed just how good the Targets are as they always tell a little more than the television story can. Mickey was an unsung highlight in this book and it was quite hard to see how he felt about Rose having left him for another man, particularly the line where he saw that another man was making her smile. The effect of Rose's travels in the TARDIS must be incredible on him and that was seen a little here. Jackie was her usual brilliant and barmy self and I loved the scene where she kept interrupting the Doctor about what he needed being replicated in prose. The arrival of the Sycorax was nicely done and I enjoyed how prominent UNIT featured, along with the mentions of Torchwood that seemed much more noticeable on the page. The relationship between Llewellyn and Sally was a fantastic inclusion and the way the former's death was written was blunt - which was perfect. I liked how subtly the tea was dropped to aid the Doctor's healing and the moment that Rose realised the TARDIS translation was working again was terrific. I thought the Sycoraxic language was good and Colgan did a tremendous job in presenting them as being strong and mighty. The fact that Harriet Jones called out for the Doctor sold that fact as well. The Doctor's emerging from the TARDIS was great and the sword fight was really well-written - I thought it was very good that a chapter ended with the Doctor losing his hand. The rudeness of the Tenth Doctor was wonderful when he was realising what kind of man he was now but he took no second chances and the Sycorax were defeated. Harriet Jones saw that they were murdered and the Doctor didn't like that but the ending was intriguing with the Doctor's feelings about Rose of particular interest. I also loved that it was written in that the Doctor's eyes were fuzzy and that's why he needed glasses. Overall, a simply superb novelisation of what is a terrific story!

Rating: 10/10