The Witchfinders

"This was living history and that woman was dead."

Writer: Joy Wilkinson

Format: Novel

Released: March 2021

Series: Target 163

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

'I am an expert on witchcraft, Doctor, but I wish to learn more. Before you die, I want answers.'

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt.

But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive. The Doctor and her friends must save not only the people of Bilehurst Cragg from the wakening forces, but the entire world.

Verdict

The Witchfinders was a very good novelisation of the televised episode of the same name! It's a decent choice to serve as the first novelisation from the Thirteenth Doctor era and whilst I probably would have gone for an alternate adventure, it's a smart choice given that it's largely self contained. It also worked well with the historical setting and getting to write that into the prose was excellent. I liked the additions as I always expect with the Target novelisations and the beginning having an addition to the Morax story with the Queen and King and hearing of how they were imprisoned at Pendle Hill. It was a little quick and didn't seem entirely worthy of a lifetime imprisonment, although as I write that I realise that murder on that scale of innocents was obviously punishable! It's a little weird to think that the Morax then don't show up until well over two-thirds into the novel. The other interludes from Willa whilst she was in her own gaol cell was very good and whilst it was clear who the author was throughout, I liked that this wasn't revealed until later in the book. I thought the writing of Team TARDIS throughout was impressive and I really enjoyed the backstory of Yaz getting fleshed out here. It was powerful to learn of how she was bullied to an extreme level and relaying that to Willa here was a really nice touch. Reading their relationship was terrific and I think she made a brilliant character. The entire setting of Lancashire during witch hunts was fantastic and I love the dynamic that presents with the Doctor's recent change in gender following her latest regeneration. The continuity from Kerblam! was a welcomed piece of continuity and I loved that the Doctor was also harking back to The War Games and The Trial of a Time Lord when it came to her turn to be accused of being a witch. The annoyance in her voice at the predicament she was faced with because of the time period and the thoughts on women was great. I didn't think that Graham and Ryan featured a huge amount and that was absolutely fine and I liked how with the focus on women not being equal, it was good to focus on Yaz as the companion. Becka made for an excellent villain and her story was quite incredible as we got the reason for all of her actions and killings of supposed witches. The mud could have sounded more impressive if it had a special name but I liked its role with the tree that wasn't a tree and the tendrils were a fun addition that sparked Yaz into action. King James didn't seem as fun in this novelisation and that's not to say that he turned bad, because he really didn't, but I think the relationship with Ryan was much more prominent on television than was the case in this book. I didn't mind that though it was just a stark contrast from the broadcast episode. The episode itself is a really good one and I found myself surprised that the Morax Queen and King were dealt with whilst there were still twenty-five pages to go. It was fast-paced and a little simple to conclude the chapter, but the addition we got to the fate of Willa was a nice touch and a good expansion, if not a little cheesy. I thought it was wonderful to have the Doctor and the fam rescue her from the witch trial in her adulthood in 1634 after going back to Bilehurst Cragg following their finding of the letter she'd written, but the add on with her seemingly seeing out her days with Clara and Me a little too much. Still, this served as a nice expansion on the character and I thought the overall book was well written and a fine novelisation of what is a very good episode! Overall, a great read.

Rating: 8/10