Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters

"You're so stubborn, Doctor. You ought to have an L-plate on that Police Box!"

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: 20th January 1977

Series: Target 08

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Jo land on a cargo ship crossing the Indian Ocean in the year 1926. Or so they think.

Far away on a planet called Inter Minor,  travelling showman is setting up his live peepshow, watched by an eager audience of space officials...

On board the ship, a giant hand suddenly appears, grasps the TARDIS and withdraws. Without warning, a prehistoric monster rises from the sea to attack...

What is happening? Where are they? Only the Doctor realises, with horror, that they might be trapped...

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters was a superb little read! I've only seen the TV story that this novel is based upon once before, around two and a half years ago now, so this was almost like a relatively new story for me which is a bonus I think. Though in saying that, when I was reading Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken, a story I've watched at least three times, I loved knowing what was coming. The anticipation was great but here I didn't get that and I was just looking forward for the story to unfold. The relationship between the Third Doctor and Jo was wonderful throughout and I loved the bickering between them. The Doctor's utter defiance to admit they had landed on Earth was just magic. After having his freedom of travelling in time and space restored following the events of The Three Doctors, it just wouldn't be fathomable for the Doctor to have misguided the TARDIS. The controls told him that they'd landed on Metebelis Three but the outside surroundings suggested they had landed fifty or so years in the past on Earth. Judging by the ship, the SS Bernice, all signs pointed to another landing on Earth but the Doctor was noticing little smidgens being out of place which to him made him think that something far grander was going on and that they weren't on Earth at all. To the reader, that was confirmed early on as we were introduced to Inter Minor and the main characters. Vorg and Shirna were very good and I liked how they had spent their last credit bars on coming to this planet which had only just reopened its trading lines after being corded off following the inspection of a space plague. The Officials and the Functionaries shared an intriguing relationship and I liked how utterly controlling the Officials were. Pletrac not understanding the concept of a game was great and I liked how he thought amusement was irrelevant. Despite that, he was mightily interested by the Scope. He thought entertainment might spark a Functionary revolution so demanded the Scope and its owners be thrown off but delays ensured that wasn't going to happen. Kalik and Orum were brilliant and I liked how the former was hoping to lure the Drashigs out of the Scope to force a revolution. Speaking of which, I liked the Drashigs and I thought the fact that they lacked all intelligence not enabling them to be controlled was wonderful. The front cover surprisingly didn't feature them though and instead showed the ancient dinosaur that lurked in the waters of the Indian Ocean surrounding the ship. The scenes on the ship encountered by the Doctor and Jo were great but when things started repeating themselves in a loop, I must admit I had a smile on my face as I love that concept. The way things beyond their comprehension such as the octagonal plate weren't seen was similar to my recent watching of The War Games. Andrews, Daly and Clare were fantastic characters with the former shining the brightest. The Doctor trying to use 1920s slang was hilarious. Jo getting riled up about the Doctor refusing to accept he was wrong was nice to see and I also loved how the Doctor went back into the Scope to save her despite the power becoming increasingly critical. The fact that Vorg had merely won the Scope and didn't know how to control its detailed components was quite funny but where the story slacked off a little was the resolution was perhaps a tad too easy. Would simply connecting it up to the TARDIS allow all the inhabitants to be returned to the moment they left? I'm not so sure. I guess it was quick and easy though. The Doctor's saving of Jo was nice and sweet and I really liked how the book ended with the SS Bernice characters reaching Bombay but after the loop it'd seemed an incredibly long journey. Daly finally finished his book and the mystery of its disappearance was no more. It seems that every Target novel I read is written by Terrance Dicks and whilst that isn't a problem and I'm more than used to his style of writing, I would like a change so I'm going to try and ensure my next Target reading isn't by the great man. I don't think I've read a book not by him since Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus which was a long time ago now! Overall, an excellent novel and I liked the inclusion of Ogrons, Cybermen and Ice Warriors in the Scope. If the resolution was bit lees easy then I'm sure this would have scored higher despite the rating being an impressive one! 

Rating: 8/10