Enlightenment

"How could she have thought that space was empty, when it was so full of stars."

Writer: Barbara Clegg

Format: Novel

Released: May 1984

Series: Target 84

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough 

Synopsis

In response to a warning of great danger given by the White Guardian, the Doctor set new coordinates and the TARDIS materialises on the heaving deck of an Edwardian racing yacht. 

But the Doctor soon discovers that this is no ordinary yacht – and no ordinary race. Captain Striker is competing for an unusual prize – 'Englightenment'. 

The crew will be lucky to reach port safely – but with such a prize would they be lucky to win?

Verdict

Enlightenment was an excellent novelisation of the serial of the same name! I think this story really is an underrated gem as for whatever reason it never really comes into my thinking when I ponder on some of the best Classics or even some of the best Fifth Doctor serials, but it really is tremendous! It rounds out the Black Guardian trilogy very nicely and on screen the cliffhanger to the end of part one with the imagery of the Edwardian ships sailing in space is one of my all time favourites! That doesn't quite have the same impact in prose but it doesn't take anything away from the story at all. I think it's superb. I think the concept of a space race by itself is a tremendous setting for Doctor Who, but when the players are Eternals things get a little different. They were fantastic villains and it was so strange to almost hear their demeanour on the page in being so calm and to the point. They really didn't care all that much about Ephemerals and that wasn't out of being evil or anything, they really did just think they were so insignificant. Their lifespan was minuscule compared with eternity. I thought Turlough's inner battle with the Black Guardian was presented very well although I was slightly surprised with how long he took to actually arrive in the story! There definitely felt like some omissions were made with what happened on screen and if I had any room for improvement for the novel, it would be a little more background on the relationship between Turlough and the Black Guardian. Obviously, for a fan like myself who has watched the trilogy of serials many times and read Mawdryn Undead and Terminus relatively recently, I was well aware of what was happening but I don't think it was explained all that well. It didn't bother me though! This is just a point for the more casual readers. I thought the dynamic between Tegan and Turlough was tackled brilliantly here as they have always had a frosty relationship and that was captured on the first page with the chess match. Turlough was almost angered at the fact that he had to stop mid-game when he had her in check due to the TARDIS power playing up. The White Guardian being the cause of that was intriguing and I liked how the eternal conflict between each Guardian was presented. The emergence of Wrack as the true villain of the story was really good and in prose format I was surprised with how long it felt until she actually arrived. The moment where Turlough jumps overboard is a shocking one to have her emerge in picking him up on the Buccaneer, and the desperation and helplessness of the Doctor was palpable. I thought the energetic style of the Fifth Doctor's characterisation was true to this incarnation which was a big positive. I thought the marker buoys representing the planets of the Solar System was excellent and the scale of the race was perfect for beings such as Eternals. The use of the mind reading worked fantastically in prose and that got particularly uncomfortable when it came to the interactions between Tegan and Mansell. His desire for existence because of her became a little obsessive and I completely related with Tegan in how she was struggling to handle it. Turlough realising the voice the Eternals were hearing was also that of the Black Guardian which was causing him such inner strife was really good and the pace of the reveal was just perfect. I was a big fan of that and the way things concluded with the Guardians facing off and Turlough choosing the Doctor's survival over enlightenment was marvellous. He finally felt free of the Black Guardian's shackles and the Eternals were questioning how they'd been defeated by mere ephemerals round out what was a really great book. A fantastic novelisation! 

Rating: 9/10