Extraction Point

"It was as though she were being inflated from the inside."

Writer: MG Harris 

Format: Novel

Released: August 2023

Series: Doom's Day

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Second Doctor, Doom

Synopsis

The finest time-travelling assassin in the cosmos is running scared. Doom's own death is coming for her in a matter of hours. And the only person in the universe who might just be able to save her is the Doctor – so long as it's the right Doctor.

But as Doom searches for aid, the hits keep coming in. Kill a crabby Kraal and his replica world! Assassinate a ghost on Satellite Five! Eliminate a living asteroid! Doom finds her talents – and patience – stretched to breaking point.

But these apparently random jobs are linked in a way Doom could never imagine. And when not one but two different Doctors get involved, on the trail of an old enemy, the ensuing fireworks might just end the lives of billions. Can Doom solve the mystery before her allotted hours are up? It's not only a planet she must save from destruction, but herself...

Verdict

Extraction Point was a really great novel to continue my way through the multimedia Doom’s Day saga! I’d love to be getting a story across multiple formats like this every year as I think there’s so much potential there, but this serves as a fun addition to the sixtieth anniversary celebrations! I really loved the format of the book in how the four hours were utilised because they all tied together and the missions were all linked with the focus on Vassta. I think it was definitely the best utilisation of the format so far and initially as I was reading the first couple of missions, I thought the book would have been better served as four short stories with their own title but they soon changed once I was done. It tied together very nicely. I’ve felt that some elements of this saga so far have been slightly rushed and whilst unfortunately I haven’t delved into the games elements so I can’t comment on them, I felt the Four Hours from Doom’s Day from Doctor Who Magazine in particular was guilty of that. However, here in the novel format we were really allowed to flesh out some details and five into the story as a whole. It was brilliant to hark back to Hour One in terms of both Terri assigning the missions and not giving Doom a huge amount of details on the target for assassination, but also to firmly establish that the elderly version of the Doctor that Doom was searching for to aid her deathly predicament was in text the First Doctor. That’s good to know as we move forward and I thought the way we found out was terrific with the Second Doctor recognising Doom from the diary writings of his previous incarnation! That was a really nice touch. I liked the opening mission on the ski resort and the way things harkened back to The Android Invasion was very well presented. Despite being an assassin, it’s intriguing that Doom is not very well acquainted with the world that follows the Doctor so her reaction when Mandra turned out to be an android was one of immense shock. The involvement of the Kraals could definitely have been more, but it was just fun to have everything there be a simulation. I mean when ice caves aren’t icy it does make sense! Doom fearing death herself as time ticked on and she surpassed the halfway point was good and I liked the focus on her missions having a temporal distortion. It was good to get more information about the missions and how they came with a fee and target, but also that some were carrying the threat of an extinction level event. That obviously added to the urgency and threat. The inclusion of the time remaining in each mission was presented well in the book and I liked how we got to know Doom more and more before the Doctor emerged. I was a big fan of the Ninth Doctor being the main incarnation for the novel as if the Slitheen are going to be involved, which other one would it be? It took a while for the Doctor to arrive but when he did he stole the show. His relationship with Doom was actually really good and I liked that she got the ‘run!’ moment as well as getting a very quick glimpse into the TARDIS. She wouldn’t get to go inside, but that brief look made a strong impression on her. She learned a lot about the Doctor here which will hopefully aid her moving forward. Although his changing of the timer meant a strong glimpse of Death which was fantastic. I was intrigued that the Ninth Doctor kept returning back to her but it was nice that he was dropping hints to her. His description of her being a peripheral from the diary was excellent and came back around very nicely. I thought returning to Satellite Five was magnificent and something that has not happened long enough. We weren’t far removed from The Long Game being in the year 200,003 which was great fun, especially with Cathica being the Director now! Floor 500 was still shrouded in death and mystery which seemed right, but Doom sending a message in the television show that was being made about her was very nicely done! I thought the whole connection being a ploy to extract the valuable abzantium was right up their alley, but I do think their reveal should have been kept a secret instead of appearing on the cover! It would have been a more impactful moment. Their plan in crashing the asteroid into the planet and tapping into the war between the Mahds and Kahds was actually fantastic if not a little convoluted. It was fun to span across the different missions, although Doom claiming kills she didn’t actually do felt a little wrong, as did an asteroid being the target. Stalgon being the first victim only to emerge from the TARDIS in the final mission was a fun twist too and I liked his character throughout. The way things finished were a little sudden but it certainly had impact, but I do think the only issue with this kind of story series is that we’re also going to be left feeling a little incomplete and wanting more. But that will come! Overall, a terrific read. 

Rating: 8/10