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Doctor Who by Douglas Adams #3
Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet
The hugely powerful Key to Time has been split into six segments, all of which have been disguised and hidden throughout time and space. Now the even more powerful White Guardian wants the Doctor to find the pieces.
With the first segment successfully retrieved, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 trace the second segment of the Key to the planet Calufrax. But when they arrive at exactly the right point in space, they find themselves on exactly the wrong planet – Zanak.
Ruled by the mysterious ‘Captain’, Zanak is a happy and prosperous planet. Mostly. If the mines run out of valuable minerals and gems then the Captain merely announces a New Golden Age and they fill up again. It’s an economic miracle – so obviously something’s very wrong...
With the first segment successfully retrieved, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 trace the second segment of the Key to the planet Calufrax. But when they arrive at exactly the right point in space, they find themselves on exactly the wrong planet – Zanak.
Ruled by the mysterious ‘Captain’, Zanak is a happy and prosperous planet. Mostly. If the mines run out of valuable minerals and gems then the Captain merely announces a New Golden Age and they fill up again. It’s an economic miracle – so obviously something’s very wrong...
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2017
59 people are currently reading
785 people want to read
About the author
James Goss
231 books181 followersJames Goss has written two Torchwood novels and a radio play, as well as a Being Human book. His Doctor Who audiobook Dead Air won Best Audiobook 2010. James also spent seven years working on the BBC's official Doctor Who website and co-wrote the website for Torchwood Series One. In 2007, he won the Best Adaptation category in the annual LA Weekly Theatre Awards for his version of Douglas Adams' novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
March 8, 2017
Don’t panic, the Doctor is here!
This is a novelization of the classic TV serial, “The Pirate Planet”, which was the second sub-arc inside of the major arc titled “The Key to Time” which comprised the Season 16 in the classic era of “Doctor Who”.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Romana I & K-9 (Mark II)
WHERE & WHEN
Planet Zanak (more or less). Non-disclosure date.
WHAT
The Doctor is on quest around time and space, to search for the six missing parts that when together they can form a cube known as the powerful Key to Time, with the capability of putting the universe on equilibrium. Locating the fragments isn’t easy since those six parts can take any shape or size. (So, you may think like the seven Horcruxes from Harry Potter shaping the Tesseract of The Avengers, but conceived in 1978).
The mysterious White Guardian is the one who calls the Doctor to engage into this quest, which is assisted by K-9 (Mark II), a robot dog, and Romana I (first regeneration of the Time Lady, played by Mary Tamm), and they must find all the six fragments before that the even more mysterious Black Guardian would be able to collect them for himself, for not good intentions.
The merry band of the Doctor, Romana I & K-9 had been already able to secure the first part of the Key to Time, and now they have a lead to the second fragment, and they need to set the TARDIS to go to the planet Calufrax, but while it’s supposed to arrive to the right coordinates, they found themselves in the wrong planet…
…a Pirate Planet!!!
This wacky tale was the first contribution for a screenplay by the iconic Douglas Adams, who was part of the Doctor Who production crew at the time, and he was already working to develop his famous trilogy of five parts (yes, you read right) of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so it’s no a surprise that you can find in this Doctor Who’s story, some little things here and there, that Adams eventually incorporated at some level in his own books.
Why a novelization of this 1978’s serial until now? Easy. Douglas Adams never allow novelization of his Doctor Who scripts, until briefly before his death that he signed a permission to BBC (while he said that he was fooled and he didn’t recognized what he was signing) but the important thing is that that enable BBC to release the long waited novelizations: Shada, City of Death and now finally The Pirate Planet…
…which is brilliantly adapted into this novelization, obviously giving deeper detail to the narrative, and with some small changes here and there, like with the Mentiads (a group with psychic powers) that in the book are known as the Mourners.
The Doctor & Company soon enough find out that they are in the planet Zanak, which is a world where they enjoy golden ages of prosperity, since the population there, have full access to absurdly vast amounts of richness, to the point that there are diamonds and rubies (just for mentioning some examples) lying everywhere in the streets of their cities.
Equal wealth for everybody?
Mmh...
The Doctor knows that something very wrong is happening in Zanak since the natural order of the universe is against of true equality, especially if it’s about money.
For not saying that the planet Calufrax should be where now Zanak is.
I’m sure that the Doctor can’t decide which scenario is weirder between the two.
And since any pirate thing, not matter if a ship or a planet, must have a captain, you can bet all your Oolion reserves that here there is a captain…
…The Captain!
Fearsome cyborg pirate with his own robot parrot!
Oddbal doctor with his own robot dog!
Bring it on!
So, what are you waiting for? Go and join the Fourth Doctor, Romana I & K-9 in their insanely funny quest for the second fragment of the Key to Time along with solving the mystery behind Zanak, the Pirate Planet!!!
This is a novelization of the classic TV serial, “The Pirate Planet”, which was the second sub-arc inside of the major arc titled “The Key to Time” which comprised the Season 16 in the classic era of “Doctor Who”.
WHO
The Doctor:
The Fourth Doctor
Companions:
Romana I & K-9 (Mark II)
WHERE & WHEN
Planet Zanak (more or less). Non-disclosure date.
WHAT
The Doctor is on quest around time and space, to search for the six missing parts that when together they can form a cube known as the powerful Key to Time, with the capability of putting the universe on equilibrium. Locating the fragments isn’t easy since those six parts can take any shape or size. (So, you may think like the seven Horcruxes from Harry Potter shaping the Tesseract of The Avengers, but conceived in 1978).
The mysterious White Guardian is the one who calls the Doctor to engage into this quest, which is assisted by K-9 (Mark II), a robot dog, and Romana I (first regeneration of the Time Lady, played by Mary Tamm), and they must find all the six fragments before that the even more mysterious Black Guardian would be able to collect them for himself, for not good intentions.
The merry band of the Doctor, Romana I & K-9 had been already able to secure the first part of the Key to Time, and now they have a lead to the second fragment, and they need to set the TARDIS to go to the planet Calufrax, but while it’s supposed to arrive to the right coordinates, they found themselves in the wrong planet…
…a Pirate Planet!!!
This wacky tale was the first contribution for a screenplay by the iconic Douglas Adams, who was part of the Doctor Who production crew at the time, and he was already working to develop his famous trilogy of five parts (yes, you read right) of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, so it’s no a surprise that you can find in this Doctor Who’s story, some little things here and there, that Adams eventually incorporated at some level in his own books.
Why a novelization of this 1978’s serial until now? Easy. Douglas Adams never allow novelization of his Doctor Who scripts, until briefly before his death that he signed a permission to BBC (while he said that he was fooled and he didn’t recognized what he was signing) but the important thing is that that enable BBC to release the long waited novelizations: Shada, City of Death and now finally The Pirate Planet…
…which is brilliantly adapted into this novelization, obviously giving deeper detail to the narrative, and with some small changes here and there, like with the Mentiads (a group with psychic powers) that in the book are known as the Mourners.
The Doctor & Company soon enough find out that they are in the planet Zanak, which is a world where they enjoy golden ages of prosperity, since the population there, have full access to absurdly vast amounts of richness, to the point that there are diamonds and rubies (just for mentioning some examples) lying everywhere in the streets of their cities.
Equal wealth for everybody?
Mmh...
The Doctor knows that something very wrong is happening in Zanak since the natural order of the universe is against of true equality, especially if it’s about money.
For not saying that the planet Calufrax should be where now Zanak is.
I’m sure that the Doctor can’t decide which scenario is weirder between the two.
And since any pirate thing, not matter if a ship or a planet, must have a captain, you can bet all your Oolion reserves that here there is a captain…
…The Captain!
Fearsome cyborg pirate with his own robot parrot!
Oddbal doctor with his own robot dog!
Bring it on!
So, what are you waiting for? Go and join the Fourth Doctor, Romana I & K-9 in their insanely funny quest for the second fragment of the Key to Time along with solving the mystery behind Zanak, the Pirate Planet!!!
July 5, 2017
With his adaptation of "The Pirate Planet," James Goss has done what multiple authors have tried but rarely succeeded in doing -- recreating the spirit of Douglas Adams on the printed page.
Goss takes the original shooting script as well as notes kept during the development of the second installment of the Key to Time season to produce one of the more entertaining, fun and delightful novel adaptations of the Tom Baker era. Searching for the second segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive on what should be the planet Calufrax. But instead of finding an icy, desolate world, they discover a planet that regularly declares new ages of prosperity under the rule of the tyrannical Captain.
Something doesn't quite add up -- and it's not just that the Doctor and Romana can't easily locate the second segment of the Key. As with many classic Doctor Who serials, there are plucky rebels, a nefarious leader who stands in the way of our heroes and has to be overthrown by story's end and hints of something bigger going on here. Goss expands the original television story for the printed page, adding some depth to characters, changing the name of the Mentiads to the Mourners and including some scenes that would never have made it to the screen given the budget limitations of classic Doctor Who. But he never loses sight of the charms of the original story, even as he expands the scope a bit to hint that other cosmic forces are helping the rulers of Xanxia stay in power and wait for the Doctor to arrive to thwart his quest for the second segment.
If Goss were able to do all that, it might be enough. But where the novel excels is the way Goss seems to be channeling Douglas Adams in this adaptation. Of the many laugh-out-loud funny asides in the story is one in which the Doctor imagines the glee the Supreme Dalek will have in sending a telegram to the Cyberleader detailing the Doctor falling victim to the Polytrase Avatron (the half-mechanical Captain's mechanical parrot).
Clocking it at close to eleven hours, the audio version of this story never wears out its welcome, thanks in large part to another superb performance by John Culshaw. Not only does he sound eerily like Tom Baker in bringing the fourth Doctor to life, but he does a great imitation of actor Bruce Purchase as the Captain. He even brings a bit of depth to the poor, put-upon Mr. Fibuli.
It all adds up to a Doctor Who novel that absolutely delights. And like any good adaptation, it left me wanting to visit my DVD version of this story again.
Goss takes the original shooting script as well as notes kept during the development of the second installment of the Key to Time season to produce one of the more entertaining, fun and delightful novel adaptations of the Tom Baker era. Searching for the second segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive on what should be the planet Calufrax. But instead of finding an icy, desolate world, they discover a planet that regularly declares new ages of prosperity under the rule of the tyrannical Captain.
Something doesn't quite add up -- and it's not just that the Doctor and Romana can't easily locate the second segment of the Key. As with many classic Doctor Who serials, there are plucky rebels, a nefarious leader who stands in the way of our heroes and has to be overthrown by story's end and hints of something bigger going on here. Goss expands the original television story for the printed page, adding some depth to characters, changing the name of the Mentiads to the Mourners and including some scenes that would never have made it to the screen given the budget limitations of classic Doctor Who. But he never loses sight of the charms of the original story, even as he expands the scope a bit to hint that other cosmic forces are helping the rulers of Xanxia stay in power and wait for the Doctor to arrive to thwart his quest for the second segment.
If Goss were able to do all that, it might be enough. But where the novel excels is the way Goss seems to be channeling Douglas Adams in this adaptation. Of the many laugh-out-loud funny asides in the story is one in which the Doctor imagines the glee the Supreme Dalek will have in sending a telegram to the Cyberleader detailing the Doctor falling victim to the Polytrase Avatron (the half-mechanical Captain's mechanical parrot).
Clocking it at close to eleven hours, the audio version of this story never wears out its welcome, thanks in large part to another superb performance by John Culshaw. Not only does he sound eerily like Tom Baker in bringing the fourth Doctor to life, but he does a great imitation of actor Bruce Purchase as the Captain. He even brings a bit of depth to the poor, put-upon Mr. Fibuli.
It all adds up to a Doctor Who novel that absolutely delights. And like any good adaptation, it left me wanting to visit my DVD version of this story again.
March 4, 2017
I will raise my hands and admit this wholeheartedly, I picked up this book because Douglas Adams' name was on the front cover (I am a HUGE fan of Douglas Adams and will read anything that has his name on it). I am happy to report that this book did not disappoint and it thoroughly reminded me of why I love Doctor Who. James Goss has done an excellent job of bringing Douglas Adams' vision into a fantastic story. Full of tension with the right amount of humour and wit, this book quickly became one of my favourite books.
The plot was easy to follow and did not require an avid knowledge of any of the Classic Who episodes, especially those regarding the Fourth Doctor. Prior to reading the Pirate Planet, the only Classic Who I had encountered was Gareth Roberts' Shada which was also adapted from a Douglas Adams script (You might be noticing a pattern here) but I still enjoyed the story. The characters are fantastic and thoroughly complex with brilliant character developments. There were strong female characters which really pleased me. I really enjoyed the relationship which developed between the fourth Doctor and Romana. At first, they found each other somewhat frustrating but by the end, they had become friends. It was really interesting to see develop. Also, I really enjoyed the extra material at the back. It showed extracts from Douglas Adams' original notes and scripts and it was really interesting to see how Goss had adapted it to make The Pirate Planet and how Adams' ideas evolved.
Thoroughly enjoyed the Pirate Planet and would recommend to anyone who loves Doctor Who.
The plot was easy to follow and did not require an avid knowledge of any of the Classic Who episodes, especially those regarding the Fourth Doctor. Prior to reading the Pirate Planet, the only Classic Who I had encountered was Gareth Roberts' Shada which was also adapted from a Douglas Adams script (You might be noticing a pattern here) but I still enjoyed the story. The characters are fantastic and thoroughly complex with brilliant character developments. There were strong female characters which really pleased me. I really enjoyed the relationship which developed between the fourth Doctor and Romana. At first, they found each other somewhat frustrating but by the end, they had become friends. It was really interesting to see develop. Also, I really enjoyed the extra material at the back. It showed extracts from Douglas Adams' original notes and scripts and it was really interesting to see how Goss had adapted it to make The Pirate Planet and how Adams' ideas evolved.
Thoroughly enjoyed the Pirate Planet and would recommend to anyone who loves Doctor Who.
April 14, 2017
I was confident that, as a novelization, Gareth Roberts' adaptation of the unfinished Douglas Adams story "Shada" would remain unsurpassed. However, James Goss -- with a combination of his own writing talents, access to an untapped archive of earlier drafts & script treatments, and much wit -- has produced an adaptation of Douglas Adams' first "Doctor Who" story that rivals and even surpasses the genius that Roberts mines in his "Shada" adaptation. To a newcomer to the story, this will read as pure, joyous, zany adventure. To old school fans, who can recite lines from "The Pirate Planet's" television episodes verbatim, this is a surprising breath of fresh air; a new window into a story we all thought we knew. Now we get to know it and love it a second time. A surprising triumph that I don't believe anyone was expecting...but we should all be grateful for the end result. A work of art.
November 2, 2018
Jolly good fun! Full of light hearted witty laughs in true Adams fashion and a brilliant much desired ‘Doctor-Whoness’ about it, this book leaves you with a smile every time you put it down... something I found myself doing a bit too often.
Having never read Hitchhikers or seen any old Doctor Who, this book instantly succeeds in making you fall in love with Tom Baker’s Doctor. Romana; the strong and intelligent female lead, is excellent too.
I struggled, however, to care about any other characters (including the villain). As the writer admits, when not reading about Romana or the Doctor, you’re “twiddling your thumbs”. And in a book where all the dramatic scenes about people you don’t care about are undermined by prevailing humour, you really are.
If you’ve ever wondered what the raggedy man in his magic box is like in the heart of the guy who gave us the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster then the the answer is 42... and this book.
If you think the Doctor should start carrying around a towel on this adventures you’ll soon discover that a mice long scarf does the trick just fine!
Having never read Hitchhikers or seen any old Doctor Who, this book instantly succeeds in making you fall in love with Tom Baker’s Doctor. Romana; the strong and intelligent female lead, is excellent too.
I struggled, however, to care about any other characters (including the villain). As the writer admits, when not reading about Romana or the Doctor, you’re “twiddling your thumbs”. And in a book where all the dramatic scenes about people you don’t care about are undermined by prevailing humour, you really are.
If you’ve ever wondered what the raggedy man in his magic box is like in the heart of the guy who gave us the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster then the the answer is 42... and this book.
If you think the Doctor should start carrying around a towel on this adventures you’ll soon discover that a mice long scarf does the trick just fine!
August 10, 2021
Secondo romanzo che leggo con protagonista il mitico Doctor Who (ho seguito la serie tv britannica su Rai 4) e anche questa volta, come in Doctor Who: Shada, vi troviamo il Quarto Dottore (beh per chi non conosce la storia del Dottore dovete sapere che lui è in grado di rigenerarsi potrei dire quasi all'infinito, fino ad oggi ci troviamo alla presenza di ben 13 dottori, pur continuando ad essere la stessa persona. Fu uno stratagemma per giustificare il cambiamento degli attori che interpretavano lo stesso Dottore, ognuno con una sua personalità specifica e diversa, incluso l'abbigliamento). E anche questa volta l'autore ha fatto un lavoro incredibile, perché è andato a cercare tutto il materiale scritto da Douglas Adams (purtroppo non era riuscito a portarlo a compimento) per poter scrivere questa opera (ce ne parla benissimo nella postfazione).
Stavolta il nostro Dottore si trova a cercare la seconda chiave del tempo e si imbatte in un pianeta misterioso che subito, nota, non dovrebbe trovarsi lì. Presto verremmo a conoscenza di un cattivo tiranno, il Capitano, che tiene in schiavitù i suoi abitanti. Riuscirà il Dottore aiutato da Romana e dal suo cane robot K-9 ad aiutare la popolazione soggiogata?
James Goss riesce a descriverci bene le caratteristiche tipiche che l'attore inglese Tom Baker ha dato al Quarto Dottore (per chi vuole approfondire basta andare su YouTube e trova alcune scene), il Dottore con la sciarpa lunga e colorata, che ama mangiare le caramelle gommose. Il Dottore, nonostante si trovi spesso in situazioni pericolose e, anche questa volta, dovrà pure salvare la nostra Terra (che rischia di venire schiacciata come un'arancia!), non smette di fare battute, essere ironico su ogni cosa, anche quando rischia di morire nell'abisso in cui viene lanciato. L'autore ha fatto un buon lavoro, perché è riuscito a riproporci il tipico humor di Douglas che ritroviamo in Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti.
Consigliato a chi ama Doctor Who, senza ombra di dubbio.
Stavolta il nostro Dottore si trova a cercare la seconda chiave del tempo e si imbatte in un pianeta misterioso che subito, nota, non dovrebbe trovarsi lì. Presto verremmo a conoscenza di un cattivo tiranno, il Capitano, che tiene in schiavitù i suoi abitanti. Riuscirà il Dottore aiutato da Romana e dal suo cane robot K-9 ad aiutare la popolazione soggiogata?
James Goss riesce a descriverci bene le caratteristiche tipiche che l'attore inglese Tom Baker ha dato al Quarto Dottore (per chi vuole approfondire basta andare su YouTube e trova alcune scene), il Dottore con la sciarpa lunga e colorata, che ama mangiare le caramelle gommose. Il Dottore, nonostante si trovi spesso in situazioni pericolose e, anche questa volta, dovrà pure salvare la nostra Terra (che rischia di venire schiacciata come un'arancia!), non smette di fare battute, essere ironico su ogni cosa, anche quando rischia di morire nell'abisso in cui viene lanciato. L'autore ha fatto un buon lavoro, perché è riuscito a riproporci il tipico humor di Douglas che ritroviamo in Guida galattica per gli autostoppisti.
Consigliato a chi ama Doctor Who, senza ombra di dubbio.
May 25, 2022
(Synopsis) - With the first segment successfully retrieved, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 trace the second segment of the Key to the planet Calufrax. But when they arrive at exactly the right point in space, they find themselves on exactly the wrong planet.
(Review) - To quote the 9th Doctor here, but this book is simply "Fantastic!!" There is no other way to put it, I haven't had this much fun with this collection of lost stories since I first read Shada. The story is funny, silly, crazy and all out Adams! Douglas is the god of comedy science fiction for a reason and it still kills me that he is no longer around to bless us with his ideas and concepts of the wonderful universe in which we live, so his mad genius mind, added to Doctor who is a win win. I love the 4th doctor here and he is on top jelly baby eating form. The narrator does an awesome job narrating the book, and his impression of tom baker is just uncanny. You'd even believe it was the man himself, and it really helped me to immerse myself into the story. And this is just an outstanding book that i was sorry to see end, it just makes me want to go back and watch the episode of this story! And yeah I can't reccomend this enough for all Doctor who and science fiction fans. So if you want a fun, and hilarious time travel through space and time, then this is the book for you!!
5/5 Stars GoodReads 🌟⭐⭐⭐⭐
100/100 GingerPoints 🔥
(Review) - To quote the 9th Doctor here, but this book is simply "Fantastic!!" There is no other way to put it, I haven't had this much fun with this collection of lost stories since I first read Shada. The story is funny, silly, crazy and all out Adams! Douglas is the god of comedy science fiction for a reason and it still kills me that he is no longer around to bless us with his ideas and concepts of the wonderful universe in which we live, so his mad genius mind, added to Doctor who is a win win. I love the 4th doctor here and he is on top jelly baby eating form. The narrator does an awesome job narrating the book, and his impression of tom baker is just uncanny. You'd even believe it was the man himself, and it really helped me to immerse myself into the story. And this is just an outstanding book that i was sorry to see end, it just makes me want to go back and watch the episode of this story! And yeah I can't reccomend this enough for all Doctor who and science fiction fans. So if you want a fun, and hilarious time travel through space and time, then this is the book for you!!
5/5 Stars GoodReads 🌟⭐⭐⭐⭐
100/100 GingerPoints 🔥
January 9, 2024
Dieses Buch fühlt sich 1 zu 1 wie ein "originaler" Douglas Adams an. Was es ja auch ist, aber James Goss hat grossartige Arbeit dabei geleistet, aus Skripten, Fragmenten und Notizen ein richtig gutes Doctor Who-Abenteuer zu schreiben. Das sich, wie schon gesagt, eben so liest, wie alle Bücher von Adams.
Die Geschichte macht einfach enorm viel Spass. Anfangs dachte ich noch, dass Romana hier verschenkt und nur auf ihr Äusseres reduziert wird, aber je mehr sie sich entwickelt, desto mehr weicht auch die Beschreibung davon ab und zeigt uns, was alles in ihr steckt. Ihre Wortgefechte mit dem Doctor sind einfach genial zu lesen und haben mich mehr als einmal zum Lachen gebracht.
Es ist von der ersten Seite an eine geschriebene Doctor Who-Episode, die für gute Laune sorgt, aber auch zum Nachdenken anregt. Die Kluft zwischen Alt und Jung, das Festhalten an allem, was bisher immer so war... es gibt vieles in dieser Geschichte, worüber es sich zu diskutieren lohnt.
Die Geschichte macht einfach enorm viel Spass. Anfangs dachte ich noch, dass Romana hier verschenkt und nur auf ihr Äusseres reduziert wird, aber je mehr sie sich entwickelt, desto mehr weicht auch die Beschreibung davon ab und zeigt uns, was alles in ihr steckt. Ihre Wortgefechte mit dem Doctor sind einfach genial zu lesen und haben mich mehr als einmal zum Lachen gebracht.
Es ist von der ersten Seite an eine geschriebene Doctor Who-Episode, die für gute Laune sorgt, aber auch zum Nachdenken anregt. Die Kluft zwischen Alt und Jung, das Festhalten an allem, was bisher immer so war... es gibt vieles in dieser Geschichte, worüber es sich zu diskutieren lohnt.
August 25, 2018
This interpretation of this Douglas Adams story is OK but sadly Mr Goss is no Douglas Adams. The sad thingos their are moments when this book shines and he gets it spot on otherwise ot grates.
The three stars are for the 20+ pages about the research that went into writing this book, this could have gone on at least another 40 or more.
Not too bad.
The three stars are for the 20+ pages about the research that went into writing this book, this could have gone on at least another 40 or more.
Not too bad.
June 27, 2021
Doctor Who stories have been novelised since time immemorial (or 1964), but for various reasons a few escaped the original run of Target books.
The stories by Douglas Adams were among them, and these gaps have now been plugged in as much detail as possible. There was the untransmitted story Shada, the much celebrated One They Filmed In Paris, aka City Of Death, and now this. The Pirate Planet was Adams’ first script for the series, and it was made before he became script editor. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a lot of material that wasn’t on the screen. James Goss includes as much as he can comfortably get away with, neatly outlined in the afterword.
The Pirate Planet is unusual for Adams in that it has a really solid plot. (Jokes were his main currency.) The book executes it with more flourish than the TV production, heightening the themes that were meant to underpin it all. There’s quite a compelling story about the young recognising the mistakes of the old, hidden beneath a clever comedy about a planet that materialises around and mines other planets. The “new” scenes, such as a mental torture chamber, work brilliantly.
Goss writes with constant enthusiasm and deference to Adams’ brand of wit, which is funny and authentic. The downside is the sheer abundance of jokes: every sentence is fair game. After a while it’s like endlessly eating ice cream. Would Adams have written it like that, tasked with cranking out the novelisation? We’ll never know, but in all likelihood his one would be considerably shorter. Possibly we’d have edited out some of the cool stuff all over again.
It’s a hugely jolly read building on one of Adams’ more quietly impressive efforts. Even if it can be a little much in the comedy department.
The stories by Douglas Adams were among them, and these gaps have now been plugged in as much detail as possible. There was the untransmitted story Shada, the much celebrated One They Filmed In Paris, aka City Of Death, and now this. The Pirate Planet was Adams’ first script for the series, and it was made before he became script editor. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a lot of material that wasn’t on the screen. James Goss includes as much as he can comfortably get away with, neatly outlined in the afterword.
The Pirate Planet is unusual for Adams in that it has a really solid plot. (Jokes were his main currency.) The book executes it with more flourish than the TV production, heightening the themes that were meant to underpin it all. There’s quite a compelling story about the young recognising the mistakes of the old, hidden beneath a clever comedy about a planet that materialises around and mines other planets. The “new” scenes, such as a mental torture chamber, work brilliantly.
Goss writes with constant enthusiasm and deference to Adams’ brand of wit, which is funny and authentic. The downside is the sheer abundance of jokes: every sentence is fair game. After a while it’s like endlessly eating ice cream. Would Adams have written it like that, tasked with cranking out the novelisation? We’ll never know, but in all likelihood his one would be considerably shorter. Possibly we’d have edited out some of the cool stuff all over again.
It’s a hugely jolly read building on one of Adams’ more quietly impressive efforts. Even if it can be a little much in the comedy department.
April 17, 2018
It's an odd experience, reading a Who book now. The characters are such a fundamental part of my imagination (shots from the Tom Baker period, including the reveal shot of the Captain's face from this story, are some of my earliest memories; and I'm never likely to read more books by a single author than I have those by Terrence Dicks) that it's hard to distinguish the effect the words I'm reading are having from those generated by the bits of my brain that deal with what K9 saying "Master?" sounds like.
This effect caused some problems here: Adams' story is epic and audacious SF, but even though I don't remember more than a few seconds of the TV broadcast I couldn't help but mentally translate it into BBC production values circa 1978. Maybe if Adams had actually written this novelisation his prose could have lifted it out of that particular hole (my mind assigns itself a bigger budget when reading Hitchhikers).
That said, James Goss has a good stab at moving in the right direction. He gets the tone right, and from the notes it sounds like he's made good choices in including material from other drafts that didn't make it to the television. Plus there's some excellent Adams dialogue – it's easy to imagine Tom Baker delivering it with relish.
This effect caused some problems here: Adams' story is epic and audacious SF, but even though I don't remember more than a few seconds of the TV broadcast I couldn't help but mentally translate it into BBC production values circa 1978. Maybe if Adams had actually written this novelisation his prose could have lifted it out of that particular hole (my mind assigns itself a bigger budget when reading Hitchhikers).
That said, James Goss has a good stab at moving in the right direction. He gets the tone right, and from the notes it sounds like he's made good choices in including material from other drafts that didn't make it to the television. Plus there's some excellent Adams dialogue – it's easy to imagine Tom Baker delivering it with relish.
Read
September 25, 2019Sometimes one needs a nice jaunty breather, and I'm not sure any modern writer so reliably does high quality jaunt so well as James Goss working from a Douglas Adams script – here, the original draft of the less celebrated of Adams' two televised Whos. As ever, he captures the sense of Tom Baker's Doctor as a barely controlled force of cheerful chaos, though seeing Tom paired with the rather more formal first Romana, as against her more Doctor-adapted successor, allows for a certain variation in the chemistry. There are a few concessions to the intervening decades here and there, mostly in the internal monologues, and obviously the story has become no less relevant: a world run with murderous tunnel vision, built on a genocidal devouring of resources, and in which the citizens are told they're richer than ever even as they can't find any food, the land dies around them, and their notional wealth comes to seem increasingly abstract. Despite which uncomfortable reminders of our present plight, the tripping prose means that the reading experience is something close to pure joy.
March 26, 2020
I'm not sure how this isn't a full rate 5 star book. It's a showcase of the absolute hilarious Genius that is Douglas Adams and in my opinion his perfect capture of the 4th Doctor and Romana. It's getting to the point after Shada and this that I never want to bother with 4th Doctor Stories that are not from him(and yes I know there's not very many). I really believe this gets funnier as it goes, but it has its moments throughout. I cannot wait to dive into the next Adams story I have waiting for me.
May 7, 2017
I really didn't enjoy this, which is why it took so long for me to finish - nowhere near as good as The City of Death, it tries to hard to be funny and falls far short. The last quarter of the book is better than the rest, but it's a low bar.
The end of the book contains some interesting information about the Douglas Adams archive in Cambridge, though, and the bits that weren't in the TV version show Adams's creative process in an interesting light.
The end of the book contains some interesting information about the Douglas Adams archive in Cambridge, though, and the bits that weren't in the TV version show Adams's creative process in an interesting light.
March 7, 2017
This book perfectly novelizes one of the best Doctor Who stories. It fleshes out the story I loved on tv beautifully. The bonus materials at the end of the book provide an amazing wealth of knowledge into both the story and Adams' thoughts on the story. If there was a sixth star to give this one would've earned it, and more.
February 26, 2021
James Goss fills Douglas Adams boots pretty well here with a warm and witty novelisation of Douglas Adams TV 4 parter expanded to a novel.
In a way i really wish I hadn't known the source TV story as with the expanded elements the story throws of its low budget TV offering and ploughs its own furrow.
Enjoyable hokum in the extreme.
In a way i really wish I hadn't known the source TV story as with the expanded elements the story throws of its low budget TV offering and ploughs its own furrow.
Enjoyable hokum in the extreme.
February 4, 2019
The flawless marriage of Douglas Adam's wit and humor paired with the miraculous misadventures of the Doctor. At the best of times slapstick silly, James Goss did a phenomenal job of staying true to Douglas's writing style.
September 13, 2018
3,5 ⭐
Nachdem vor kurzem der große Classic-Who-Stream auf Twitch stattfand, hatte ich wieder Lust auf ein Doctor-Who-Roman.
"Der Piratenplanet" ist die Buchadaption von mehreren zusammenhängenden Folgen der Serie. Der vierte Doktor und seine Begleiterin Romana sind auf der Suche nach den Segmenten des Schlüssels der Zeit und landen dafür auf dem Planeten Calufrax, mit dem aber irgendwas nicht stimmt. Natürlich.
In diesem Buch treffen der typische klamaukartige Humor von Doctor Who auf rasante Actionszenen. Der Roman deckt zeitlich nur knapp einen Tag ab, indem allerdings jede Menge passiert. Ruhepausen gibt es keine für den Leser, was ich als sehr gut empfand. Die Geschichte kommt dadurch zackig voran und es kommt rein handlungstechnisch keine Langweile auf.
Wie auch schon bei "Die Stadt des Todes" gefiel mir der Schreibstil von Goss nicht. Ich werde einfach nicht warm mit seiner Art zu schreiben. Manche Szenen hat er schön herausgearbeitet und andere wirken einfach nur schnell dahingeschludert. Auch bedient er sich teilweise sehr ungelenk wirkender Phrasen und Redewendungen. Manchmal kam es mir wie schlechte Fan-Fiction vor. Das hat das Lesevergnügen für mich leider ein gutes Stück getrübt.
Für Doctor-Who-Fans, die keine große Einführung mehr in das Who-Universum benötigen, ist der Roman eine schöne Sache, der einige nostalgische Gefühl weckt (K9!!). Für Einsteiger finde ich das Buch eher ungeeignet, da gibt es definitiv bessere Doctor-Who-Bücher.
Nachdem vor kurzem der große Classic-Who-Stream auf Twitch stattfand, hatte ich wieder Lust auf ein Doctor-Who-Roman.
"Der Piratenplanet" ist die Buchadaption von mehreren zusammenhängenden Folgen der Serie. Der vierte Doktor und seine Begleiterin Romana sind auf der Suche nach den Segmenten des Schlüssels der Zeit und landen dafür auf dem Planeten Calufrax, mit dem aber irgendwas nicht stimmt. Natürlich.
In diesem Buch treffen der typische klamaukartige Humor von Doctor Who auf rasante Actionszenen. Der Roman deckt zeitlich nur knapp einen Tag ab, indem allerdings jede Menge passiert. Ruhepausen gibt es keine für den Leser, was ich als sehr gut empfand. Die Geschichte kommt dadurch zackig voran und es kommt rein handlungstechnisch keine Langweile auf.
Wie auch schon bei "Die Stadt des Todes" gefiel mir der Schreibstil von Goss nicht. Ich werde einfach nicht warm mit seiner Art zu schreiben. Manche Szenen hat er schön herausgearbeitet und andere wirken einfach nur schnell dahingeschludert. Auch bedient er sich teilweise sehr ungelenk wirkender Phrasen und Redewendungen. Manchmal kam es mir wie schlechte Fan-Fiction vor. Das hat das Lesevergnügen für mich leider ein gutes Stück getrübt.
Für Doctor-Who-Fans, die keine große Einführung mehr in das Who-Universum benötigen, ist der Roman eine schöne Sache, der einige nostalgische Gefühl weckt (K9!!). Für Einsteiger finde ich das Buch eher ungeeignet, da gibt es definitiv bessere Doctor-Who-Bücher.
August 8, 2017
Questa volta non ho riguardato il video prima di leggere la trasposizione, quindi il ricordo dell'episodio non ha interferito con la versione scritta. Prossimamente recupererò l'avventura per capire quali parti sono state ampliate o approfondite e quali smussate.
Presa senza paragoni, la novellizzazione è buona. Pur essendo la seconda avventura di una serie di sei non risulta confusa. I personaggi sono ben presentati e tutto si segue senza problemi.
James Goss riprende la sceneggiatura di Douglas Adams e la rende ancora migliore.
L'interpretazione di Jon Culshaw è ottima. I personaggi sono ben caratterizzati e, quando parla il Dottore, sembra di ascoltare Tom Baker.
Nel complesso un ottimo prodotto, si spera non l'ultimo dall'era Adams della serie.
Presa senza paragoni, la novellizzazione è buona. Pur essendo la seconda avventura di una serie di sei non risulta confusa. I personaggi sono ben presentati e tutto si segue senza problemi.
James Goss riprende la sceneggiatura di Douglas Adams e la rende ancora migliore.
L'interpretazione di Jon Culshaw è ottima. I personaggi sono ben caratterizzati e, quando parla il Dottore, sembra di ascoltare Tom Baker.
Nel complesso un ottimo prodotto, si spera non l'ultimo dall'era Adams della serie.
March 10, 2017
Оригинал: https://olegeightnine.wordpress.com/2...
Страшно любимый всеми нами Дуглас Адамс написал три серии классического Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet, City of Death и недоснятую Shada. И все три входили в число не получивших традиционные новелизации, потому что Адамс хотел написать их сам, но из-за его склонности отвлекаться и заваливать себя обязательствами этого так и не случилось (некото��ые идеи из Shada он утащил в книги о Дирке Джентли). Недавно BBC наконец-то набрались смелости или наглости (или еще какие неизвестные мне факторы произошли), и в 2012-м вышла написанная Гаретом Робертсом Shada, в 2015-м честь перешла Джеймсу Госсу, который сначала разобрался с City of Death, а сейчас вот можно почитать результат его работы над The Pirate Planet.
Я вообще очень рекомендую хотя бы посмотреть серию, если у вас есть свободный вечер, там всего четыре части по двадцать минут, и, естественно, Дуглас Адамс — одна из высших точек в истории шоу. Но если кому нужно пересказать завязку: квест по сбору мистического и могущественного Ключа ко Времени приводит Доктора и молодую тайм-леди Роману на планету Кальюфракс, но на ее месте они обнаруживают планету Занак, которой правит тиранический Капитан, и населению которой практически нечего есть несмотря на их фантастическое богатство.
«To describe the Captain would be to spoil the surprise.»
Я уже говорил, что Капитан — мой любимый одноразовый злодей классического DW, если не вообще всего DW. Я в основном о серии до пересмотра помнил только его и самую идею «планеты-пирата» (спойлер: она отличная). Во-первых, он — классно выглядящий киборг, который все время громко и развлекательно ругается самым изощренным образом («By the left frontal lobe of the Sky Demon!»), и уже этого было бы достаточно, чтобы получить от The Pirate Planet тонны удовольствия. Но под этой маской еще спрятан в меру компетентный злодей (он регулярно убивает хенчменов, так что только «в меру») с трагичной предысторией. И, что важно прямо сейчас, с этими элементами книга работает лучше и раскрывает их подробнее.
И еще у него есть робот-попугай по имени Полифазный Аватрон. Угадайте, как оно сокращается.
Кстати, про роботов (слава им!): лучшим дополнением новелизации являются главы с точкой зрения К-9, робособаки Доктора. Они содержат забавные описания событий в терминах компьютерной логики, которая как бы не содержит эмоций, но на самом деле вполне содержит их, и комментарии по поводу поведения Доктора. Плюс, книга умудряется втиснуть даже немного сольных приключений для К-9, потому что он — полноценный главный герой, а не какой-нибудь компьютер на колесах.
«K-9 considered this latest input and drew the following conclusion: the present rotation around the binary star system was most unfavourable to his optimal operation. In other words he was having a bad day.»
(Эта цитата на самом деле использует неправильную терминологию, потому что первое предложение содержит определение года, а не дня, но мне нравится попытка.)
Ну а теперь можно поговорить о самом важном для обычном: насколько творчество Джеймса Госса похоже на стиль Дугласа Адамса. Я, наверно, поставлю ему четыре из пяти. Кроме абсурда первоисточника текст регулярно отвлекается на типичные для Адамса объяснения или рассуждения о самых разных аспектах событий, и в основном они очень смешные. Но, возможно, Госс слегка перестарался, потому что эти прерывания порой вредят темпу сцен, написанных для телевидения (очень страдает, например, сцена «Strangers are forbidden»).
Приблизительно такой же результат с добавленными элементами (основанными на ранних версиях сценария и заметках Адамса). Второстепенные персонажи стали богаче и интереснее, а дополнительные сцены в основном выглядят естественно и помогают с ворлдбилдингом. Но иногда расширение заключается в том, чтобы несколько раз отвлечься от приключений Доктора и Романы ради короткого напоминания, что в третьей сюжетной линии люди все еще просто идут по пустыне (со смешным и/или важным комментарием, естественно). И темп очень важен для этой истории, потому что первоисточник был очень насыщенный событиями по меркам своего времени, так что очень заметно, когда новелизация спотыкается.
С другой стороны — в каком месте вы еще получите мнение Четвертого Доктора по поводу Годзиллы?
Не знаю, смогу ли я уговорить кого-нибудь прочитать эту книгу, но серьезно: хотя бы посмотрите The Pirate Planet.
Страшно любимый всеми нами Дуглас Адамс написал три серии классического Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet, City of Death и недоснятую Shada. И все три входили в число не получивших традиционные новелизации, потому что Адамс хотел написать их сам, но из-за его склонности отвлекаться и заваливать себя обязательствами этого так и не случилось (некото��ые идеи из Shada он утащил в книги о Дирке Джентли). Недавно BBC наконец-то набрались смелости или наглости (или еще какие неизвестные мне факторы произошли), и в 2012-м вышла написанная Гаретом Робертсом Shada, в 2015-м честь перешла Джеймсу Госсу, который сначала разобрался с City of Death, а сейчас вот можно почитать результат его работы над The Pirate Planet.
Я вообще очень рекомендую хотя бы посмотреть серию, если у вас есть свободный вечер, там всего четыре части по двадцать минут, и, естественно, Дуглас Адамс — одна из высших точек в истории шоу. Но если кому нужно пересказать завязку: квест по сбору мистического и могущественного Ключа ко Времени приводит Доктора и молодую тайм-леди Роману на планету Кальюфракс, но на ее месте они обнаруживают планету Занак, которой правит тиранический Капитан, и населению которой практически нечего есть несмотря на их фантастическое богатство.
«To describe the Captain would be to spoil the surprise.»
Я уже говорил, что Капитан — мой любимый одноразовый злодей классического DW, если не вообще всего DW. Я в основном о серии до пересмотра помнил только его и самую идею «планеты-пирата» (спойлер: она отличная). Во-первых, он — классно выглядящий киборг, который все время громко и развлекательно ругается самым изощренным образом («By the left frontal lobe of the Sky Demon!»), и уже этого было бы достаточно, чтобы получить от The Pirate Planet тонны удовольствия. Но под этой маской еще спрятан в меру компетентный злодей (он регулярно убивает хенчменов, так что только «в меру») с трагичной предысторией. И, что важно прямо сейчас, с этими элементами книга работает лучше и раскрывает их подробнее.
И еще у него есть робот-попугай по имени Полифазный Аватрон. Угадайте, как оно сокращается.
Кстати, про роботов (слава им!): лучшим дополнением новелизации являются главы с точкой зрения К-9, робособаки Доктора. Они содержат забавные описания событий в терминах компьютерной логики, которая как бы не содержит эмоций, но на самом деле вполне содержит их, и комментарии по поводу поведения Доктора. Плюс, книга умудряется втиснуть даже немного сольных приключений для К-9, потому что он — полноценный главный герой, а не какой-нибудь компьютер на колесах.
«K-9 considered this latest input and drew the following conclusion: the present rotation around the binary star system was most unfavourable to his optimal operation. In other words he was having a bad day.»
(Эта цитата на самом деле использует неправильную терминологию, потому что первое предложение содержит определение года, а не дня, но мне нравится попытка.)
Ну а теперь можно поговорить о самом важном для обычном: насколько творчество Джеймса Госса похоже на стиль Дугласа Адамса. Я, наверно, поставлю ему четыре из пяти. Кроме абсурда первоисточника текст регулярно отвлекается на типичные для Адамса объяснения или рассуждения о самых разных аспектах событий, и в основном они очень смешные. Но, возможно, Госс слегка перестарался, потому что эти прерывания порой вредят темпу сцен, написанных для телевидения (очень страдает, например, сцена «Strangers are forbidden»).
Приблизительно такой же результат с добавленными элементами (основанными на ранних версиях сценария и заметках Адамса). Второстепенные персонажи стали богаче и интереснее, а дополнительные сцены в основном выглядят естественно и помогают с ворлдбилдингом. Но иногда расширение заключается в том, чтобы несколько раз отвлечься от приключений Доктора и Романы ради короткого напоминания, что в третьей сюжетной линии люди все еще просто идут по пустыне (со смешным и/или важным комментарием, естественно). И темп очень важен для этой истории, потому что первоисточник был очень насыщенный событиями по меркам своего времени, так что очень заметно, когда новелизация спотыкается.
С другой стороны — в каком месте вы еще получите мнение Четвертого Доктора по поводу Годзиллы?
Не знаю, смогу ли я уговорить кого-нибудь прочитать эту книгу, но серьезно: хотя бы посмотрите The Pirate Planet.
May 20, 2022
When James Goss adapted City of Death he had the original scripts and television story to base the novelization on, but for The Pirate Planet there was substantially more material. The Pirate Planet begun life as The Perfect Planet and in the original storyline, several drafts, and notes that Goss had available were also added material on Adams’ thoughts on the Key to Time and the idea of a Time Lord assistant. This novelization is not really a novelization of the television story, but an amalgamation of as much material as Goss can fit in and while it shouldn’t work, through the sheer charm of Douglas Adams’ style and wit it does. It also helps that in putting it in a book, there is the opportunity taken to restore some of the elements which had to be cut for simple budgetary reasons. As The Pirate Planet follows the plot of the television serial with several expansions, the ending in particular gets expanded to include more special effects as well as added torture sequences of the Doctor and Romana early on. The climax still involves a spanner in the works, but a lot of the explosions after it and the plot with the Captain and Xanxia don’t just fall apart in the end, there is a final confrontation between the Xanxias to actually kill them off, and the Doctor and Romana nearly destroy the TARDIS in the process. These additions could not have been done on television without going overbudget or just presenting an impossible scenario.
There is also a sequence where the Doctor and Romana have to face their fears as a torture, the Doctor having to face a Dalek and Romana having to face the existential concept of failure. This torture sequence is perhaps the most humorous making it such a shame that it was lost on television, as the Doctor and Romana have the chance to form a bond. The Doctor and Romana’s bond while established in Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation, is expanded on, partially by Adams, partially as a Goss original, but all of it fits into how Mary Tamm played the role on television. Romana is young and doesn’t quite know what to make of the Doctor, this being established as their second adventure, and she decides that she should be attempting to do what he would do in a situation. This makes her slightly more proactive on television and able to predict that the Doctor will get himself to walk the plank, which she uses to pilot the TARDIS (by the book) to save him.
There is also an expansion of the Mentiads, here going by the original name and idea of the Mourners. Making them the Mourners helps bring to the forefront the themes Adams had been writing with The Pirate Planet, it’s all about responsibility, guilt, and their place in society. Zanak is a planet where those who attempt to address the guilt of the planet killing other planets are made outcasts, forced to mourn the loss of other planets and people they will never know. Balaton, the elderly man who on television disappears, is expanded here to represent those who put up blinders to the responsibility of their sins while Pralix and the Mourners take on the responsibility of attempting to make things right. There is also the added element of the problems of society having a tendency to snowball out of control with time as the time dams around Old Queen Xanxia are failing due to increased power as more and more planets are eaten and destroyed.
Overall, while the other two Douglas Adams novelizations worked on a level to expand upon their television counterparts, The Pirate Plaent is one which provides an entirely new experience. There are several added plot points and depths of character to expand the novel into over 400 pages and the subtle themes of the television story are brought to the forefront as the almost anarchist nature of the story bubbles over here. Goss brings Adams’ style to life and makes it a must read for not only Doctor Who fans, but also fans of Douglas Adams and science fiction in general. 10/10.
There is also a sequence where the Doctor and Romana have to face their fears as a torture, the Doctor having to face a Dalek and Romana having to face the existential concept of failure. This torture sequence is perhaps the most humorous making it such a shame that it was lost on television, as the Doctor and Romana have the chance to form a bond. The Doctor and Romana’s bond while established in Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation, is expanded on, partially by Adams, partially as a Goss original, but all of it fits into how Mary Tamm played the role on television. Romana is young and doesn’t quite know what to make of the Doctor, this being established as their second adventure, and she decides that she should be attempting to do what he would do in a situation. This makes her slightly more proactive on television and able to predict that the Doctor will get himself to walk the plank, which she uses to pilot the TARDIS (by the book) to save him.
There is also an expansion of the Mentiads, here going by the original name and idea of the Mourners. Making them the Mourners helps bring to the forefront the themes Adams had been writing with The Pirate Planet, it’s all about responsibility, guilt, and their place in society. Zanak is a planet where those who attempt to address the guilt of the planet killing other planets are made outcasts, forced to mourn the loss of other planets and people they will never know. Balaton, the elderly man who on television disappears, is expanded here to represent those who put up blinders to the responsibility of their sins while Pralix and the Mourners take on the responsibility of attempting to make things right. There is also the added element of the problems of society having a tendency to snowball out of control with time as the time dams around Old Queen Xanxia are failing due to increased power as more and more planets are eaten and destroyed.
Overall, while the other two Douglas Adams novelizations worked on a level to expand upon their television counterparts, The Pirate Plaent is one which provides an entirely new experience. There are several added plot points and depths of character to expand the novel into over 400 pages and the subtle themes of the television story are brought to the forefront as the almost anarchist nature of the story bubbles over here. Goss brings Adams’ style to life and makes it a must read for not only Doctor Who fans, but also fans of Douglas Adams and science fiction in general. 10/10.
December 9, 2017
Jon Culshaw does a flawless Tom Baker impression in Dead Ringers. It's still on full-form in the audiobook adaptation of The Pirate Planet, first written for television by Douglas Adams then novelized by James Goss.
The book itself is worth it. While it differs significantly from the televised serial, the result derives from Douglas's old notes and drafts Goss had access to while writing this book. I would say this is the closest thing to an author's preferred text that we will get and it's just that good. Culshaw's impersonations make it even better.
The book itself is worth it. While it differs significantly from the televised serial, the result derives from Douglas's old notes and drafts Goss had access to while writing this book. I would say this is the closest thing to an author's preferred text that we will get and it's just that good. Culshaw's impersonations make it even better.
February 25, 2018
The last Doctor Who novel I read was extremely disappointing (Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles). I was worried that someone creating a novel from a TV story by Douglas Adams would fall short and disappoint me again. I could not have been more wrong. Where the Michael Moorcock story completely fails to capture the character of the Doctor, James Goss nails it. Of course, it helps that he had access to early drafts, full scripts and a bucket load of other stuff from the Adams Archive. It is difficult to see where Adams ends and Goss begins; an astonishing achievement. I will be looking for more James Goss soon to see what else he can do.
I’ll finish with a couple of (non-spoiler) quotes that to me say Douglas Adams but could be James Goss. What do you think? Can you see the join?
Quote 1:
Quote 2:
Update
Famously, Adams was writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy while working on Doctor Who. The links between the two are clear in this book (for example, the “very improbable” quote above) but it is particularly clear in the section at the end where James describes some of the material he had access to from the Adams archive. My favourite from the archive is in the appendices where James reproduces Adams’ thoughts on who might be behind the Key To Time. There, at the end of a list of possible villains, Adams had handwritten a single word: “Mice”!
I’ll finish with a couple of (non-spoiler) quotes that to me say Douglas Adams but could be James Goss. What do you think? Can you see the join?
Quote 1:
Romana still had a lot to learn about the universe. How could a planet have a soul? Well, she had yet to see an English country garden on a summer's day.
Quote 2:
‘Doesn’t matter. We’ll never get in!’ Last time, she’d had the element of surprise on her side. And had landed an air-car on them. This time, they were pinned down.
‘Never?’ The Doctor looked hurt. ‘Never say that to a Time Lord.’
‘Never say what?’
‘Never.’
‘Never what?’ asked Romana.
‘Mind,’ the Doctor sighed.
‘What mind?’
‘Never mind.’
‘Never mind what?’
‘What?’ Now the Doctor was thoroughly confused.
‘What?’ Romana heartily hoped someone would shoot them. The Doctor first, though.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ the Doctor said. ‘We’ll get in somehow.’
‘We can’t!’
‘Never say that to a Time Lord,’ the Doctor beamed.
‘Oh, you’re impossible.’
‘No, just very, very improbable.’
Update
Famously, Adams was writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy while working on Doctor Who. The links between the two are clear in this book (for example, the “very improbable” quote above) but it is particularly clear in the section at the end where James describes some of the material he had access to from the Adams archive. My favourite from the archive is in the appendices where James reproduces Adams’ thoughts on who might be behind the Key To Time. There, at the end of a list of possible villains, Adams had handwritten a single word: “Mice”!
April 20, 2020
Doctor Who – The Pirate Planet (A Story by Douglas Adams), by James Goss. BBC Books, 2018. 407 pages, hardback. ISBN: 978-1-84990-677-7.
This story features the 4th Doctor and the 1st Romana. It is based on a mix of the original treatment, first draft scripts, and the final televised script.
That there is a copyright by a company called Completely Unexpected Publications just tickles me so. Goss captures the voice of Douglas Adams so well that at times it’s hard to believe that Adams didn’t write this novelization. Goss’ own voice shows throughout the book but it isn’t so different from what he’s trying to convey in the narrative voice of the book that it distracts the reader. For anyone familiar with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Adams’ association with Doctor Who, that there are some cross-references will come to no surprise and I found them delightful.
As I mention above, Goss used a mix of materials for the novelization, including some bits that didn’t make the transmitted episode and there are some differences in the versions. Those familiar with the televised story will spot all this. I felt that there were only a couple of bits included in the novel that probably could have been cut or, at least revised, to have better fit the feel of the televised story. I thought his characterizations the Doctor, Romana, and K-9 missed the mark a few times.
Goss does tend to go on a bit in the narration. The length of this novel would never have fit the original Target guidelines but I don’t think that he was trying to fit the feel of the original Target range. There are some modern society references that, while probably connecting with today’s audience, I felt had no real place in story originally written in the 1970s.
Goss also includes Adams’ notes, original draft scripts, and an original treatment of the story that is nothing like the finished product. These are gold. Getting to see an author’s development of a story, for a writer, is truly nothing short of pure gold.
James Goss’ Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet is a delight to read. Highly recommended.
This story features the 4th Doctor and the 1st Romana. It is based on a mix of the original treatment, first draft scripts, and the final televised script.
That there is a copyright by a company called Completely Unexpected Publications just tickles me so. Goss captures the voice of Douglas Adams so well that at times it’s hard to believe that Adams didn’t write this novelization. Goss’ own voice shows throughout the book but it isn’t so different from what he’s trying to convey in the narrative voice of the book that it distracts the reader. For anyone familiar with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Adams’ association with Doctor Who, that there are some cross-references will come to no surprise and I found them delightful.
As I mention above, Goss used a mix of materials for the novelization, including some bits that didn’t make the transmitted episode and there are some differences in the versions. Those familiar with the televised story will spot all this. I felt that there were only a couple of bits included in the novel that probably could have been cut or, at least revised, to have better fit the feel of the televised story. I thought his characterizations the Doctor, Romana, and K-9 missed the mark a few times.
Goss does tend to go on a bit in the narration. The length of this novel would never have fit the original Target guidelines but I don’t think that he was trying to fit the feel of the original Target range. There are some modern society references that, while probably connecting with today’s audience, I felt had no real place in story originally written in the 1970s.
Goss also includes Adams’ notes, original draft scripts, and an original treatment of the story that is nothing like the finished product. These are gold. Getting to see an author’s development of a story, for a writer, is truly nothing short of pure gold.
James Goss’ Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet is a delight to read. Highly recommended.
February 10, 2024
Absolutely incredible. I have always been fond of Douglas Adams, but this book has caused me to fall i love with his work -and James Goss too, of course!
Tom Baker's Doctor and Mary Tamm's Romana are both treated to some of the greatest characterisations in this story, and Romana even gets a pretty satisfying character arc too. They are written so vividly that your imagination can't help but fill in every minor facial expression they express between sentences.
The rest of the cast are wonderful too. I took the liberty of rewatching the serial after finishing this book and the most disappointing thing to see was how watered down the side cast were in the final product. Mula especially was reduced from a great character to someone who felt mostly like window dressing - most of her best moments either absent completely or pawned off to another character.
The end of the book details some of the behind the scenes for this story, such as the many different versions Adams wrote across one Summer, as well as Goss' process for adapting the original scripts into a novelisation. I wish this section was a bit longer, because of how interesting it was, but I imagine the subject matter of Douglas Adams, his imagination and his work ethic could fill an entire book on its own (and maybe has?).
If I had to give a slight criticism, it would be that the writing style, though fun, can sometimes border flanderisation of Adams' style. But even that is a fairly minor complaint because the writing is just that fun. It's been a while since I was genuinely excited for the next time I was able to pick up the book to start the next chapter.
Overall, a strong recommendation from me! One of the best Doctor Who novels I have ever read!
Tom Baker's Doctor and Mary Tamm's Romana are both treated to some of the greatest characterisations in this story, and Romana even gets a pretty satisfying character arc too. They are written so vividly that your imagination can't help but fill in every minor facial expression they express between sentences.
The rest of the cast are wonderful too. I took the liberty of rewatching the serial after finishing this book and the most disappointing thing to see was how watered down the side cast were in the final product. Mula especially was reduced from a great character to someone who felt mostly like window dressing - most of her best moments either absent completely or pawned off to another character.
The end of the book details some of the behind the scenes for this story, such as the many different versions Adams wrote across one Summer, as well as Goss' process for adapting the original scripts into a novelisation. I wish this section was a bit longer, because of how interesting it was, but I imagine the subject matter of Douglas Adams, his imagination and his work ethic could fill an entire book on its own (and maybe has?).
If I had to give a slight criticism, it would be that the writing style, though fun, can sometimes border flanderisation of Adams' style. But even that is a fairly minor complaint because the writing is just that fun. It's been a while since I was genuinely excited for the next time I was able to pick up the book to start the next chapter.
Overall, a strong recommendation from me! One of the best Doctor Who novels I have ever read!
August 14, 2021
TARDISes do not speak. Or, if they do, we live too quickly to listen. But, as TARDIS hurtled out of Space-TIme Vortex to see the planet earth, it allowed itself to say one thing.
"Wheeeeeeee!"
A great read! Funny and fresh, I really enjoy the sci-fi. The dynamics between the Doctor, Romana, and K9 this is very delightful. The story progressed at a nice pace and always keeping me at the edge of my seat. I love Doctor Who <3
December 8, 2018
Gosh, so I've never been a dedicated fan of Doctor Who, as I've stated with the two previous posthumous adaptations of Douglas Adams material from it (Shada, which to that point had been famously incomplete, but has now been more or less completed; and City of Death, which was also adapted by James Goss, though less deftly than Pirate Planet). Reading a third book still hasn't done the trick, but I don't mind getting around that.
But I can't help thinking about what exactly the Doctor represents. If you analyze him from the perspective of this kind of story, you might think of him, much like Godzilla and the Japanese, as a trip through a nation's post-WWII psyche. The Doctor miraculously prevents disaster after disaster, a sci-fi superhero, a futuristic wizard, all while representing England as depicted by the alien world of Gallifrey. Am I overthinking it? I mean, Captain Kirk was basically the supersize western explorer type for Americans; why can't the British get in on that kind of action? And where's the harm in seeing the Doctor in that light?
Because the main draw in these stories is the nearly unflappable, incorrigible, irreverent Doctor, who somehow has answers to everything, even while his latest assistant, the Time Lady Romana, wonders how he achieves anything at all given his apparent lack of discipline. Toss in robot canine...K-9, and of course the TARDIS, and you have protagonists capable of confronting any challenge, no matter how improbable they appear to be, especially asked to work as a team.
The story behind Pirate Planet is, even as it finally unfolds all its secrets, fairly preposterous, with paper-thin logic and enough gonzo science and silly names for technological wonders, you wonder how anyone could get into this stuff without somehow being, I dunno, born into it. But that's what people who love this sort of thing love best, the truly absurd bits of pop culture, and Doctor Who seems to have been designed to occupy exactly that space (/time).
Pirate Planet seems in some respects to be a response to Star Wars. The character of the Captain, at least as depicted in Goss's vision, reads like a pastiche of Darth Vader, and there's enough that reads like it's inspired by the Vader of all three original Star Wars movies, it's either something Goss took and ran with or was at least there in some small kernel in Adams's original version(s). Anyway, I'm a Star Wars guy, so maybe it's just easy to see it even if it's not even there.
By the time you reach the bonus material wherein Goss explains how he cobbled his version together, I think Adams and his creative process begins to feel recognizable, for anyone who's ever developed stories, and that's pretty interesting, and perhaps the most valuable thing about this novelization (in his lifetime Adams actually forbade his Doctor Who scripts from being adapted), while the adaptation itself also helps the story feel more approachable than a 1978 TV episode will seem to the mostly uninitiated (production values aging poorly and all, much like Queen Xanxia).
Of course, the reason I read these books at all is because of Adams, his trademark writing style so key to the appeal of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy(ish). Goss still seems totally disinterested, for the most part, in trying to match that style. He assumes, I guess, that readers of these things are more interested in Doctor Who than Adams, although he has flashes of the Adams spark, but mostly by including snippets of elements from Hitchhiker.
But I can't help thinking about what exactly the Doctor represents. If you analyze him from the perspective of this kind of story, you might think of him, much like Godzilla and the Japanese, as a trip through a nation's post-WWII psyche. The Doctor miraculously prevents disaster after disaster, a sci-fi superhero, a futuristic wizard, all while representing England as depicted by the alien world of Gallifrey. Am I overthinking it? I mean, Captain Kirk was basically the supersize western explorer type for Americans; why can't the British get in on that kind of action? And where's the harm in seeing the Doctor in that light?
Because the main draw in these stories is the nearly unflappable, incorrigible, irreverent Doctor, who somehow has answers to everything, even while his latest assistant, the Time Lady Romana, wonders how he achieves anything at all given his apparent lack of discipline. Toss in robot canine...K-9, and of course the TARDIS, and you have protagonists capable of confronting any challenge, no matter how improbable they appear to be, especially asked to work as a team.
The story behind Pirate Planet is, even as it finally unfolds all its secrets, fairly preposterous, with paper-thin logic and enough gonzo science and silly names for technological wonders, you wonder how anyone could get into this stuff without somehow being, I dunno, born into it. But that's what people who love this sort of thing love best, the truly absurd bits of pop culture, and Doctor Who seems to have been designed to occupy exactly that space (/time).
Pirate Planet seems in some respects to be a response to Star Wars. The character of the Captain, at least as depicted in Goss's vision, reads like a pastiche of Darth Vader, and there's enough that reads like it's inspired by the Vader of all three original Star Wars movies, it's either something Goss took and ran with or was at least there in some small kernel in Adams's original version(s). Anyway, I'm a Star Wars guy, so maybe it's just easy to see it even if it's not even there.
By the time you reach the bonus material wherein Goss explains how he cobbled his version together, I think Adams and his creative process begins to feel recognizable, for anyone who's ever developed stories, and that's pretty interesting, and perhaps the most valuable thing about this novelization (in his lifetime Adams actually forbade his Doctor Who scripts from being adapted), while the adaptation itself also helps the story feel more approachable than a 1978 TV episode will seem to the mostly uninitiated (production values aging poorly and all, much like Queen Xanxia).
Of course, the reason I read these books at all is because of Adams, his trademark writing style so key to the appeal of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy(ish). Goss still seems totally disinterested, for the most part, in trying to match that style. He assumes, I guess, that readers of these things are more interested in Doctor Who than Adams, although he has flashes of the Adams spark, but mostly by including snippets of elements from Hitchhiker.
April 24, 2020
"The Pirate Planet," Douglas Adams' first contribution to Doctor Who, has long been sought after for novelization. Finally, in 2017 it was done. James Goss became the writer for the job. He is a good choice in that he genuinely likes the Graham Williams period of Doctor Who and he has a sense of humor very similar to Douglas Adams'. It is a sense that nothing is sacred or above ridicule and that wherever someone is being serious, that is when they are being most ridiculous. It is tough, therefore, for writers like Adams and Goss to get the right tone for Doctor Who, where the threats need to feel credible, but the Doctor's "live and let live" attitude still needs to prevail. For this novelization, Goss had access to multiple early versions, not just the shooting scripts and the adventure as shown on TV. Goss has, therefore, incorporated the elements of the early versions while mostly retaining the plot of the televised version, and keeping all of the characters. The result is a remarkably different experience from watching the TV version. For instance, all the characters are boosted, given both more to do and more overall character. The reader finds out much more why characters are as they are. The character boost becomes most apparent in secondary characters whose function in the TV version was mostly to be cogs in the plot machine, delivering information in amusing ways. Thus, Balaton, the old man who is the voice of conformity in the society of Zanak, gets a motivation for this, a desire not just for an easy life, but also to keep his family together. Mr. Fibuli is another such character, a man whose goal is to be an ordinary civil servant type, but more or less resigned to his fate as inevitably another victim of the Captain's wrath. Goss has also made efforts to enhance the Captain as a character, making it clearer that the robotic elements of his body are the patchwork job of a novice, and that he is more understandably mentally unstable - part genius, part maniac, part naughty boy. Additionally, Goss changes much of the dialogue, adds whole scenes, deletes some scenes that never quite made sense in the TV version, and adds a layer that was scrapped from the TV version, but actually makes sense of what is happening. This has to do with the question of how Queen Xanxia, who could not be expected to be a technical wizard, is able both to perform robotic surgery on the Captain and build the time dams. Answers are in the book and I won't spoil it here, but suffice it to say that they are pure Douglas Adams. Ultimately, a reader's pleasure from this book is going to depend greatly on how well the reader feels that the writers get the mix of serious and silly. My own feeling is that the whole veers just a little too far on the side of silly, especially with regard to how many pirate clichés are thrown in. Nevertheless, the novel in this case is actually more satisfying than the televised version.
April 2, 2018
Jo, všechno, na co Douglas Adams za svůj život jenom sáhl, musí být důkladně vytěženo. Takže není divu, že se vyhrábli jeho realizované i nerealizované scénář k Doctorovi Who a zpracovali se do knižní podoby. Tohle už je třetí kniha, která u nás vychází... a stejně jako předchozí dvě, je pořád hodně zábavná. Jednak se liší od televizní verze - vychází z původního scénáře, včetně nepoužitých scén - a jednak je napsaná příjemným úsměvným stylem, který evokuje Adamsovu prózu, aniž by se vyloženě snažil imitovat.
"Doktor spával málo, a když už spal, pak čistě jen pro zábavu a kvůli potěšení ze snídaně, která bude následovat. Spánek mu báječně pomáhal zvládat život plný omráčení, kómat a bezvědomí navozených ránou do hlavy."
Díky tomu se těchhle čtyři sta stránek přečte skoro na jeden zátah. Kniha, stejně jako ty minulé, drží koncepci seriálu, takže je rozdělená do čtyř částí, každá obvykle končící tím, že Doktor někam padá, něco ho mlátí do hlavy, nebo prostě nějakým jiným cliffhangerem. Do toho se samozřejmě hodně utíká, vysvětluje a nabízí gumoví medvídci, neboť jde o čtvrtého Doktora. Větší roli tu má i K-9 a nová parťačka, Romanadvoratrelundar, jinak též Romana.
Rozhodně fajn kniha, ale řekl bych, že jí spíš ocení fanoušci Doctora Who než Douglase Adamse. A samozřejmě, nejvíc ji ocení fanoušci obou. Což ale k sobě stejně tak trochu patří.
"Doktor spával málo, a když už spal, pak čistě jen pro zábavu a kvůli potěšení ze snídaně, která bude následovat. Spánek mu báječně pomáhal zvládat život plný omráčení, kómat a bezvědomí navozených ránou do hlavy."
Díky tomu se těchhle čtyři sta stránek přečte skoro na jeden zátah. Kniha, stejně jako ty minulé, drží koncepci seriálu, takže je rozdělená do čtyř částí, každá obvykle končící tím, že Doktor někam padá, něco ho mlátí do hlavy, nebo prostě nějakým jiným cliffhangerem. Do toho se samozřejmě hodně utíká, vysvětluje a nabízí gumoví medvídci, neboť jde o čtvrtého Doktora. Větší roli tu má i K-9 a nová parťačka, Romanadvoratrelundar, jinak též Romana.
Rozhodně fajn kniha, ale řekl bych, že jí spíš ocení fanoušci Doctora Who než Douglase Adamse. A samozřejmě, nejvíc ji ocení fanoušci obou. Což ale k sobě stejně tak trochu patří.
November 27, 2020
This is a fun read for fans of Doctor Who. I have never seen the episodes this is based on so it did seem a little confusing to me at points. The Doctor is teamed with Romana as a companion, who is a Time Lord (Lady?) in training. They are searching for 6 segments of the Key to Time and this book focuses on their adventure in retrieving the 2nd piece. It was nice to see their relationship and Romana's character evolve through the course of the story. But as I said, there was so much going on that I sometimes felt Goss just got weighed down in the details. I appreciated the end matter, which shared how much original source material he used to write the book, and he says how hard it was to cut some of it, but I think maybe he could have cut a little more. Also, the language itself was sometimes difficult for me to decipher exactly what he was trying to say; I think some were typos and some might have been him using the original draft and changing it incorrectly or just trying to sound more like Adams or Dr Who. All that being said, I am glad that I read it. It was an interesting story and as a Doctor Who fan, I could envision and hear the Doctor and K-9 acting their parts throughout.
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