The Mind Robber

"We've reached nowhere... it's as simple as that."

Writer: Peter Ling
Format: Novel
Released: April 1987
Series: Target 115

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

To escape a catastrophic volcanic eruption, the Doctor takes the TARDIS out of space and time – and into a void he can only describe as 'nowhere'.

But the crisis is far from over and when the time-machine's circuits overload, the TARDIS explodes.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe come to in a dark unearthly forest. There they encounter a host of characters who seem somehow familiar: a beautiful princess with long flaxen hair, a sea traveller dressed in eighteenth-century clothes, and a white rabbit frantically consulting his pocket watch...

What is happening to the three time-travellers? What strange power guides their actions? In the Land of Fiction, who can really tell?

Verdict

The Mind Robber was a fantastic novelisation of the televised story of the same name! I always knew this was going to be a good read because the adventure from which it was based upon has always been one I've loved and things did not disappoint! This was a joy from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed some of the deviations from what occurred on television. I definitely think they aided the story as a whole. This adventure quickly became a standalone story as there was no mention of Dulkis and no continuity from The Dominators as the TARDIS was escaping the eruption of Mount Vesuvius instead! That was unexpected, but it worked really well and must have been beneficial for those readers who would not have been reading in chronological order. It still had the same effect and saw the TARDIS enter the Land of Fiction. I think that concept is just tremendous and it worked even better in the novelised format because things weren't limited by the resources and technology of 1968. I loved the little moments with Zoe as Alice in Wonderland and I also thought the Karkus was brilliant with the idea of him speaking in comic strip special effect format. The Doctor initially mistaking that for a language that he didn't recognise was really great. The characterisation of the Second Doctor throughout was wonderful and I have always adored how he puts Jamie's face together wrong. Of course, you don't actually need that in the book because Frazer Hines is not required, but it just has too much comedic value to be taken out! I love it. I didn't realise just how long it takes for the trio to depart the TARDIS and they do it at quite different paces. Zoe gets tempted out and Jamie quickly follows, but the Doctor is less willing to journey into nothingness. Trying to comprehend 'nothing' really is mind-blowing but I thought the presentation worked very well here. The only slight qualm I have with this adventure is that once the Doctor convinces his companions to say that fictionalised terror isn't real, it then become very obvious what the direction will be for the rest of the story. However, it didn't fully stay that way which was terrific because the moments where the Doctor and the Master, who was firmly addressed as just sharing the same name as the Time Lord villain, were writing fiction to suit their gains. The Doctor nearly fictionalising himself has always been one of my favourite moments in the story and I enjoyed waiting for it to happen again here. The pace with which the fictionalised characters appear almost on a spinning wheel was really good and made for an exciting read. We went from Gulliver to Rapunzel to Madusa in quick succession which was very exciting. The use of words was also wonderful throughout and the idea of a forest made up of them is brilliant. I'm sure that could work in a story set in the real world as well. The Doctor enjoying his surroundings because of the challenge it posed was very enjoyable and quite ironic given how trepidatious he was about leaving the TARDIS in the first place. Zoe's overcoming of the Karkus was great and another excellent moment was when Rapunzel's attitude towards Jamie instantly changed when she found he wasn't a prince. The ending was very action-packed with the battle of fictions against the Great Brain and the Doctor disconnecting the Master from it and reverting him back to his true 19th century self was good and he even took him with them in the TARDIS! Would he be able to get him home? Who knows. The ambiguity there is nice and something you could only get away with in the Target novelisations. Overall, a tremendous little read.

Rating: 9/10