Imaginary Friends

"November 1963 would live long in the minds of people."

Writer: Jacquline Rayner

Format: Novel

Released: October 2023

Series: 60th Anniversary 01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Ian

Synopsis

It's Christmas, 1963, when nine-year-old Gerald starts dreaming of strange worlds and monsters.

His parents think it's harmless at first. But Gerald is convinced it's real – his dreams of Daleks and cavemen and insects as big as a person.

Desperate for help, what Gerald's family really need, right now, is a Doctor.

Verdict

Imaginary Friends was a wonderful book to kick off the Decades Collection celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who! It's taken me a little longer than I would have liked to get stuck into these celebratory stories, but alas better late than never! It's a shame that the releases of these adventures weren't a little more spread out in the build up to the anniversary, but it is what it is. I think they'd sell better and provide a bit more anticipation, but that is not the approach taken which is absolutely fine. This is the only book in the collection I knew a little bit about but I couldn't have imagined it to go as far as it did! It was sublime and whilst Jacqueline Rayner has long been a favourite prose writer of mine in the Whoniverse, this might just be her best work yet. In her Acknowledgements she described the book as a love letter to Doctor Who and that is absolutely what it was. It was tremendous. The idea of a little boy dreaming the Doctor's adventures starting with An Unearthly Child and essentially experiencing things real time was outstanding. It was so good. The book staying with young Gerry and his family for the bulk was a bold move but it absolutely payed off. Whilst the Doctor doesn't feature until the very end and he isn't around for long, the story is all about Doctor Who which makes it so readable. I have watched every story possible from the 1960s, many on more than one occasion and several also in a novelisation format, so the references here were a dream to me. I adored reading how Gerry reacted to events such as The Edge of Destruction and The Reign of Terror. They're quite niche stories in how they're appreciated but he didn't hold back with the comments. He was less than favourable about the latter in particular which is particularly harsh. His waking up screaming because of Susan leaving in The Dalek Invasion of Earth was something I could relate to, but he was soon okay once he experienced The Rescue and Vicki came along. We stayed quite consistent time wise until Ian and Barbara would depart, but even then the events of The Chase had upset Gerry as the two teacher companions departed. The real world implications for the family were fascinating to explore as Ray got sick and became almost existing just to work which then had a detrimental impact on his relationship with Claire. The other children didn't offer too much but that was absolutely fine as the focus should have been on Gerry. I almost envied him as imagine going to bed and having adventures with the Doctor? How good would that be! Gerry's reaction to the Doctor changing in The Tenth Planet was quite fun and I was wondering how he'd feel about Doctor Bear from that point. The importance of that teddy was extraordinary and the reaction of horror when his dad punished him by taking it away was scary! Gerry was inundated with it. I felt so sorry for him when the burglary occurred just to take away the young lad's book where he jotted down the Doctor's travels. Ray being a chemical engineer meant his description of Planet of Giants was misinterpreted which was quite amusing, insecticide be damned! Gerry actually getting a letter from UNIT for an invite to meet the Doctor was a lovely touch and the use of his special pound note from Grandad Campbell was a very strong moment. Meeting the Doctor at last would be a very special moment indeed. The Doctor finding out about the call to Gatwick Airport as Gerry believed the events of The Faceless Ones were unfolding in real time was terrific, and it all made sense as he met him. Gerry took to believing that the velvet coat wearing man was the Doctor, changed again, and that was quite touching. He got to meet his hero at last. The explanation regarding what had happened with the Doctor experimenting with telepathic circuits of the TARDIS but having to leave quickly because of Ian and Barbara forcing their way in was tremendous. I thought that was excellent and actually was logical! The TARDIS had been linked with Gerry and now it could show him what it saw when he was dreaming. An appearance from Ian too was a lovely treat and Gerry being delighted at finding out that he had got home in the Dalek Time Machine was glorious. The Doctor's speech when it came to severing the TARDIS link was just beautiful and I loved that he replaced Doctor Bear. I couldn't believe it had been destroyed in the first place! Each regeneration sparking a new letter and a change of clothes for the bear was a lovely touch, going right up to the unseen Fifteenth Doctor at the time of release! A real treat. Overall, a bold idea that absolutely pays off. A fan's dream. 

Rating: 10/10