Doctor Who: Frayed

Telos Doctor Who Novellas #11

by Tara Samms (Pseudonym), Stephen Laws (Foreword), Stephen Cole

'I like to stare into the sun, eyes wide. It burns incredible colours into my head, great shifting continents of them that blot out all else. And I try to keep looking until I imagine all the pretty blue has boiled away from my eyes and they are left a bright, bloody red and quite sightless.' On a blasted world, the Doctor and Susan find themselves in the middle of a war they cannot understand. With Susan missing and the Doctor captured, who will save the people from the enemies from both outside and within?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction

120 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2003

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit underwhelming, to say the least. As one of the earliest published adventures in the Doctor's timeline, I was interested in reading it for purposes of continuity and completism. For those purposes, it's an OK book - not unexciting or hard to get through - but it's far from being one of the best Doctor Who books I've ever read.

I'd read a lot beforehand that this book was unnecessarily gross, and while there are a couple bits of gore I could do without, it's really not that bad. The main problem with this book is that the plot feels very rushed and rough - like it was an early draft that got published without enough revision. Several pieces of important information are withheld from the reader for a long time, but at the same time aren't treated as mystery elements either. The way in which the story keeps switching back and forth between two different viewpoints really inhibits the kind of clarity - or at least entertaining mystery - necessarily to really get involved in the book.

The characterization of the Doctor and Susan is far from developed - they're really non-characters. The Doctor in particular acts in a manner at odds with the way he acts not only in Telos' other First Doctor novella, Time and Relative, but also in the first few TV stories as well. Cole also feels the need to establish how the Doctor and Susan got their names, as they're obviously not their Gallifreyan names, but they way he does it is as a couple of asides that are so underwhelming it took me back from the page for a minute as I just thought, "that's IT?" Not to mention how fan-service-y the entire conceit of showing us how the Doctor and Susan got named actually is.

All that criticism aside, the book isn't unenjoyable: it's exciting at times, easy to get through, and I thought the big concept behind the story, once revealed, was pretty clever, although, again, it could have taken a little bit more polishing. Frayed is worth the read for die-hard Whovians such as myself, but it's not something I would push anyone to track down: the effort and expense necessary to find a copy isn't worth the actual reading experience.

[R.A. Danger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the oldest stories of the Doctor, the others being: The Longest Story in the World-(Short Trips and Side Steps) and The Exiles-(Short Trips: A Universe of Terrors). Which I’ll have to read someday.
The story starts off with Jill a telepathic child talking to us about her life and the stories that Olmec has told her, we don’t find out her name until Susan literately enters Jill’s world. Meanwhile the Doctor and Susan lands on Iwa in the TARDIS (which is in boulder form at this point in time). Iwa is not even on the Doctor’s maps and of course it’s not long before they caught up in the mist of a war between the humans and foxes. Which none of the humans know why they’re attacking them. In a fox attack the Doctor gets separated from Susan, the humans take the Doctor in thinking he was sent by Earth, the Doctor plays along, but only wants to find Susan at first. Everyone figures they have two choices: go into the Dream Chambers to wait out the fox attack until help comes or escape with the Doctor (who doesn’t plan on taking anybody with him). The Doctor instead decides to finds out what’s wrong with the Dream Chambers.
The story jumps from Jill, the other humans, and the Doctor. It also jumps from first person to third person. Two world’s living side by side. The world of Jill can be described as a horror-ish nightmare, from the way the writer describes what goes on there. Why the second one is engage in war and some doubt Mosely’s leadership. It ends up all centering around the Dream Chambers

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tara Samms is, as most by now know, really Stephen Cole. The novel is an interesting mix of Doctor Who and Philip K. Dick. The Doctor and Susan some time prior to "An Unearthly Child" but very soon after their escape from Gallifrey, land on a colony planet in trouble. The two get split up, hence the two types of stories. Susan finds herself trapped in a weird world that seems to be the construct of a girl named Jill. The Doctor, separated from Susan, tries to find her, but gets corralled into trying to save the colony from falling totally apart. The Susan half is the Philip K. Dick part, providing a "what is reality, anyway?" story, and the Doctor half presents us with the idea that these events lead the Doctor to become the interventionist he will be. Characters in the novel are difficult to like. I figured out what was going on long before other characters did, and I assume most readers will have a similar experience. The novel has an interesting concept and certainly gives early Doctor Who a contemporary science fiction makeover. Think of Neal Stephenson writing Doctor Who and you may get the sense of what this story is about.

[Percy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book! It was definitely written for a more mature audience as some of the descriptions can be quite graphic (think fallen off lips and maggots)

I do think some of it was a bit hard to follow, like the stories about lots of different gods, with names like the Mayan gods (for example: HunHunahpu and Xbalanque).

In the end though I liked the plot and it was interesting enough to make me finish the book in a day or 2.


"'Very quaint', he observed. 'You even have a rudimentary fault locator.'"

-The Doctor

[Graeme Wyllie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who Chronology Read - #1

One of the earliest entries in the Doctor's chronology and set prior to the start of the TV series. It's dark, bloody and a clear riff on the classic Who base under siege scenario so beloved of the Troughton era though this is a far more violent variation on that theme. Cole under the aliasTara Samms perhaps underused the Doctor focussing more on characters of the base, in part a wise choice as how to characterize the Doctor prior to the series could easily fall into the crotchety old man cliche whereas the Doctor here is a little more proactive when he features. Susan is even more underused but overall the novella works as a solid piece of adult science fiction. Having read most of the various Who ranges, this is a solid middle of the road effort. Works well at novella length, perhaps would have suffered as a drawn out full length novel.

[Numa Parrott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is this the earliest Doctor Who story? The first adventure? It's certainly the first time Hartnell's Doctor encounters humans. Even if it's not good for anything else, THAT is cool.
The story was creepy but still a bit dull. The characters had a kind of gritty realism going on, but the Doctor and Susan were just background elements and I never really like that.
I never did understand what the fox things wanted.

If you love the Doctor or want a cool glimpse into where he began, check it out.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt the book was a bit short, and some of the descriptions of the various creatures in the story could have been better. But I've gotta say that they really captured the 1st Doctor well. I'm not really an expert on the 1st Doctor, but his mannerisms and attitude/personality were spot on from what I've seen of William Hartnell, and that really helped the story a bit.

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scenes with Jill were brilliant, and that's why I always dreaded switching back to the lackluster scenes at the Space Station thingy. All the characters there were so annoying and I just couldn't bring myself to care whether any of them lived or died.

Nice idea, "meh" execution.

[Denis Southall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story set before An Unearthly Child, slightly more gory than the usual Dr Who style of writing. The 'dream' sequences contrast well with the reality of life in the eugenics school / hospital and the foxes are truly scary.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Lips are to stop your mouth from fraying, did you know that?”

So, this was my first Classic Who novella and, given it featured the first Doctor & Susan, in one of their first adventures prior to the events of An Unearthly Child, let me just say…
I was NOT expecting a horror story, with body horror and creepy kids and all sorts!

I went into this not having read the synopsis or anything else to indicate what the book was going to be about, other than that it was an early 1st Doctor adventure. And.. my word.. I was not prepared for the elements of body horror and child abuse and murder, and all the rest of the elements that made up this book. I think it all worked in context, but given that this was a Classic Who story (and had all the elements of a Classic Who serial - including a lot of story with the characters on the base-under-siege that wouldn’t have time to be there in a NewWho episode but was always prevalent in the Classic era) I just wasn’t expecting a horror story.

The story was good and kept me guessing, whilst also feeling for certain characters when certain things happened. (Trying to keep it spoiler-free, here!) Though it was quite confusing because one character was somewhere and then suddenly they were somewhere else for the rest of the book, without any explanation as to how until nearer to the end. But at least that did get semi-explained!

The characterisation of the Doctor was very good in this, and I could hear William Hartnell (and at times David Bradley) speaking his dialogue as I read.
I’ll be honest, I never really connected with Susan as a character in the show as she was constantly just a damsel in distress, so I haven’t got much to say on her in this book either, but I mean she was.. there. She was certainly there.

I’d give this book 3 & 1/2 stars if I could, because whilst the overall story was solid, and I think the narrative structure worked well, there were some issues I had.
It felt a little long for the story it was telling and then there’s the 12-year-old who had the crush on the adult guardian… how that particular part of the story ended was just… ick.
Also, whilst it’s interesting to add to the lore of how the Doctor chose his name… did we really need that for Susan??

[Biblioteca de evocaciones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Para quienes no lo saben, "Raído" es una novela del universo de Doctor Who que se desarrolla antes de la primera temporada de la década del sesenta. Lamentablemente, no tengo muchas cosas positivas que decir sobre esta obra. El autor, que es un seudónimo de Stephen Cole, intenta crear tanto misterio que el libro termina sin ofrecer respuestas claras. La descripción de los zorros es confusa y resulta difícil seguir el ritmo de la historia. Los eventos ocurren demasiado rápido y no se comprenden bien. La experiencia se asemeja a una mala película de Michael Bay, pero sin la espectacularidad visual. La estructura del libro es infumable: alterna entre dos narraciones distintas, una de las cuales está en clave y solo se revela cerca del final. Esto hace que, cuando finalmente sabemos quién es el narrador, ya nos hemos olvidado de la mayoría de las cosas que dijo. Es una historia que podría ser apreciada solo por fanáticos acérrimos de la serie (yo soy uno, pero no lo suficiente como para decir que esto me gustó). Aunque la mayoría de las reseñas son benévolas, yo no conecté con el libro en absoluto. De no ser por mi fanatismo por la franquicia, lo habría dejado después de la segunda página. A pesar de mis críticas, reconozco el valor del lugar que ocupa en la mitología de la serie, especialmente con el primer contacto del Doctor con los humanos y la adquisición de los nombres de los personajes. Este aspecto contribuye al desarrollo de la franquicia, aunque no haya logrado captar mi interés de la manera que esperaba.

[Rafe · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very intriguing elements to this story that make it hard to put down. I found myself very invested in finding out how everything would connect. That being said, the ending was a bit of a let down and I simply cannot forgive Stephen Cole for describing an Asian character in the most racist ways possible. 3/5 stars.

The Doctor is such a dick in this, I love it.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this gory story. The language was a bit crude at times and unfortunately the Doctor and Susan didn't feature significantly compared with other new faces but I thought the Doctor felt enough like a Hartnell performance and that the ending was rather cute.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who being ADHD and forgetting all about us lowly humans the second he’s out of orbit was a highlight for me

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this, typos and all! I loved reading about the Doctor and Susan prior to their meeting with Ian and Barbara.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2020/0...

[Billy Martel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read, listen to, or watch a Doctor Who story, I am willing to go along with any ride it wants to take me on. But secretly deep inside, I wanna get fucked up. I want some “blink and you’re dead” energy. I want a computer with the Doctor’s face and the voice of a child screaming “who am I?” I want a child trapped in a basement for their whole life to kill everyone, but no one cares cause they realize that none of them are real and their lives don’t matter. I want to be so disturbed and upset that I’m different coming out of the story than when I went into it.

I understand this is probably not what other people go to Doctor Who for… but I do. And I got that from this. So it’s now one of my favorite Doctor Who books.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first (chronologically speaking) Doctor Who story, set on a planet where a war is raging between humans (at a research facility) and aliens referred to as "foxes". The Doctor and Susan find themselves separated on a planet called Iwa, where a refuge/school has been set up to teach undesirables. You see, in the future, a new form of eugenics has arisen. Children can now be screened in the womb to see if they feature any traits indicative of future criminal behavior. Those who can't be cured with potentially-mutating hormone therapy are sent to this school to see they are raised in a positive way. Unfortunately, most of the adults are the cruelest, coldest batch of "Brick in the Wall"-type teachers who probably do more to drive kids toward a deviant life than away.

Classes are no longer in session, though, since the refuge has found itself under attack by alien "foxes" -- large tooth-and-claw creatures that form without warning from stray strips of fabric and flesh which drift along the desert air. Since the school has also been denied supplies, the children have all been "plugged in".

Plugged into what? There exists, in this future, a dream chamber into which surgical patients can be placed while undergoing a long series of computer driven operations. The system is now being used to hold all non-essential personnel in a type of virtual hibernation. This, of course, brings about another problem in the form of a child who has telepathically linked the dream chambers into her own terrifying nightmare world. A world in which both the Doctor and Susan soon find themselves.


The story is somewhat confusing at first, since each regular "chapter" is divided into 2 separate chapters, labelled by Roman numerals and spelled out, (i.e. XII and TWELVE) which is used to separate the two distinct narratives which finally converge at the end of the story. Also, the story is rather violent, and surprisingly gory... not that I have a problem with that, but if this story were ever filmed, it would give The Waling Dead a run for it's money for the "ewwww" factor!

[Ben Dutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chronologically, Frayed is the earliest novel to feature The Doctor, the hero of the BBC Television series Doctor Who, and his grand-daughter Susan. Published under the name Tara Samms – a pseudonym for Stephen Cole, a frequent Doctor Who novelist – and released through the small press Telos – this is novella length, but no weaker for it.

The story is immediately more adult than a normal Doctor Who tale – adult in that unlike most DW serials, in this we actually see blood and body disfigurement, and the story deals with issues such as foetal genetic manipulation. It all starts out promisingly, with some excellent writing and great set-up, but loses grace and subtlety in the final third when it descends into a typical base under invasion storyline. The story also purports to tell us how The Doctor and Susan settled on their names – and here is one of the problems with Doctor Who chronology – a later written audio play, set before this story, has them already called The Doctor and Susan. But then Doctor Who novels and audio plays are not considered canon to the series, so it might be a moot point.

Telos should be recommended for publishing more adult material in the Doctor Who universe, and Stephen Cole (aka Tara Samms) is a good writer, capable of carrying such a task of with aplomb – but allowing for more adult material means we could have had a more troubling, adult finale, not the sort of ending the TV show would have gone for. Good, but could have been a lot better.

[Don · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not care for this at all. For what might be the (chronologically) earliest Doctor Who story, I was hoping for something a little less pedestrian than yet another "base under siege" plot. There are the occasional interesting moments, but in no way does it feel like a "First Doctor story"; the military stuff doesn't fit, and the book is appallingly, needlessly gross. Does a Hartnell story really need descriptions of blood and maggots every three pages? Can anyone really picture the 1960s Susan spending a great amount of the plot with rotting teeth and a blood-spurting mouth? Why would anyone want to?

As a final nail in the coffin, the story also chooses to dispense with the mystery, and explain where the Doctor and Susan got their names. If you expected a reason that was interesting and insightful, prepare to be disappointed.

Not good.

[Nicholas Whyte]

"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1359975.html[return][return]It is a little odd - the old man and the girl who travels with them only decide at the end of the story that they will adopt the identities of 'the Doctor' and 'Susan', and the story combines the fairly standard base-under-siege-by-telepathic-horror story with a rather subtly done reflection on establishing and keeping identity. Worth

[Robert Helmadollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slightly darker adventure than expected, and seemingly the Doctor's first substantial encounter with humans, Stephen Cole captures the speech and mannerisms of William Hartnell's Doctor perfectly. Recommended for fans looking for more 1st Doctor adventures.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly dark Dr. Not what I'm used to lately, but still a good story.

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

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