Doctor Who: Heart of TARDIS

Past Doctor Adventures #32

by Dave Stone

In the American Midwestern town of Lychburg, something is afoot. Its citizens are being killed in inexpressibly horrible and brutal ways and the police don't have a clue who's responsible. The only suspects are a mysterious and sinister stranger, who calls himself the Doctor, and his young companions Jamie and Victoria.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana, meanwhile, have been summoned by the Gallifreyan High Council. A force has been unleashed into the space/time continuum... a force so unimaginably terrible that it is set to rip the universe itself apart and plunge it into primal, screaming chaos from which nothing will survive.

Of course, since something of this nature happens every other day of the week, the Doctor's really far more interested in finding out what's happened to a close personal friend, who seems to have vanished under mysterious circumstances. And quite right, too. The fate of a universe plunging into fetid and unending chaos can look out for itself for a change...

This is an adventure concerning the Second and Fourth Doctors, and takes place between THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN, THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN, THE STONES OF BLOOD and THE ANDROIDS OF TARA. You lucky people.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Judge Dredd.

Stone also contributed a number of comic series to 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on the Dreddverse (Judge Dredd universe). In collaboration with David Bishop and artist Shaky Kane he produced the much disliked Soul Sisters, which he has described as "a joke-trip, which through various degrees of miscommunication ended up as a joke-strip without any jokes." Working independently, he created the better received Armitage, a Dreddworld take on Inspector Morse set in a future London, and also contributed to the ongoing Judge Hershey series.

Stone’s most lasting contribution to the world of Judge Dredd might well have been his vision of Brit-Cit, which until Stone’s various novels had been a remarkably underexplored area.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two of my favorite Doctor's are the Second and Fourth so was quite looking forward to reading this book.

The author has both incarnations spot on and you do get a feel of both the era's, the story is set in a two different time zones so both Tardis crews don't actually meet.
The story started out fine, but as it progressed I found myself getting more and more bored with it.

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be a bit of a spoiler, however it will take away one expectation from the story. The 2nd and 4th Doctor never interact with each other. Due to the cover showing both of them, you expect this to be a Doctor team up story, but alas it is not. When I first read this book, that was one the thing I remembered from this story. How disappointing that was. Knowing that this won't happen, I was able to focus on the story more.

With that being said, this story does involve both the 2nd and 4th Doctors, but there stories run in tangent with each other. You know somehow they are linked, the question while reading is how are they connected. With each chapter switching between them, it helps with the pacing of the plot.

Dave Stone does a good job of writing, and at time it comes close to feeling like a story from the Douglas Adams script editor period. There are some nods and winks sprinkled through out the story that are fun. At the same time they get a bit tiring, especially when you pick up on some Simpsons nods. However, his writing and structure of the novel help with making the plot simpler compared to other Past Doctor novels.

For the characterization of the Doctor and his companions, Dave Stone does a good job. One of the strengths of the Past Doctor stories is giving a wider place outside the BBC budget for the Doctor. The 2nd Doctor sequences work in this environment, as it creates something that could not have been done on screen with the 2nd Doctor. It also brings in the extra treat of the 4th Doctor interacting with UNIT again.

The only thing I would question is placing it during the Key to Time season. The way it is written it could be placed after The Armageddon Factor and before Destiny of the Daleks. It has no bearing on the hunt for the key to time. The Key to Time is referred to, but is not integral to the 4th Doctor's story.

In the end it is a enjoyable read and could be read as a stand alone Doctor story. You won't need to worry about continuity with anything. At the same if you miss some of the references made, it doesn't impair the enjoyment of reading it.

[Leela42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Past Doctor Adventure (PDA) interweaving the second Doctor (with Victoria and Jamie) and fourth Doctor (with Romana (I)), plus a little UNIT circa 1984. Aimed at grown-ups. I enjoyed this book tremendously, and eagerly anticipated each reading session. The author has a refreshingly looney style, although the style of the wit got repetitive toward the end and any canonicity should be taken with a big grain of salt. Beautifully marries the second Doctor's buffoonishness and his dead seriousness. Dave Stone is one of only two writers I have read who treats Victoria as the intelligent pragmatic daughter of a scientist instead of a superstitious backwards naif. I was shocked to discover every review on Amazon.com is scathing and disappointed, so either they're missing something or I am.

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Renowned oddball Dave Stone returns with his take on a multi-Doctor story. It’s a dark and weird adventure featuring a town that no longer follows any rules and invaders who use black magic against UNIT. Doctors Two and Four never exactly meet, with the former never even aware of the latter; as with most of Stone’s endeavours, this is all setup for a joke.

Heart Of TARDIS *is* funny, and it’s bursting with ideas, but it’s also a bit of a fever dream and I can’t quite tell if I enjoyed it. I’m leaning towards yes for the sheer audacity of the thing. It’s one of the oddest BBC Books I’ve read.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dave Stone is a writer who often has this air of being ungodly clever with his books in an attempt to be funny and that’s kind of what Heart of TARDIS entirely is. Prominently displaying the Second and Fourth Doctors on the cover with some abstract timeline and the TARDIS at the center, there really isn’t any cover which can prepare a reader for the absolute trip one undergoes reading this book. Essentially Stone writes two novels which are interconnected by the theme of time, Time Lord intervention, and an obsession with the idea of continuity. The Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria find themselves in a midwestern town in the USA where they become suspects in a series of brutal murders while the Fourth Doctor and Romana are taken away from their quest for the Key to Time by a Time Lord agent of the High Council against an enemy threatening Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, and the whole universe. Like every other Stone novel which I have read, Heart of TARDIS is dense, boasting two distinct plotlines that all nearly collide while the main enemy, Continuity and the Jarakabeth, make their evil plans for the Doctor. Stone’s book is also fairly slow going in terms of pace, it takes about 80 pages for the Fourth Doctor to actually get involved in his plot while the Second Doctor had already been accused of the murders. The ending is also equally slow, ending nearly 20 pages before the book actually concludes as Stone includes an appendix essentially to attempt to squeeze as many jokes out of the premise.

As this is a book of two halves, that is how it should be discussed, starting with the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria’s half. This is the weak half of the book and is one that is incredibly difficult to read, especially if like me your familiarity with the pop culture phenomenon of The Simpsons is only through cultural osmosis. Stone essentially sets half of the book in Springfield from The Simpsons with several characters having their serial numbers filed off in the style of E.L. James form the work of Stephanie Meyer (which I have not read). Bringing up an author like James is not a good sign for the book as Stone, while cleverly building up ideas and commentary on those fans obsessed with continuity, just gets lost in a plot for this Doctor which does not really amount to anything outside of some explanations for what actually is going on. The start of the plot, mainly the scenes with the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria in the TARDIS, are actually really good and the characters are well characterized, but as soon as they step out, they somehow become generic.

This is infuriating as Stone opens the book thanking those with whom he consulted to ensure the Second Doctor at least had a decent characterization. Victoria is the one who perhaps gets the best characterization, as Stone does nail the idea of her being a little orphan girl alone in the universe, though this may be because much of the book spends time in her headspace. There are several attempts at fish out of water humor with Victoria throughout, however, those actually come across more as creepy and Stone seems to revert her back in places to the stereotypical screaming companion archetype which isn’t actually accurate to her as a character. There is at least one reference that actually works, and that’s doing a chalkboard gag right in the epilogue with Jamie and his tendency to stab people and monsters.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana’s plotline is actually sublime. Stone clearly has a joy in writing this particular TARDIS team, capturing the spirit of the Graham Williams era while still stylistically having Stone’s style right at the forefront. The story, almost like The Banquo Legacy, is told from an outsider’s perspective, Katherine Delbane, a woman living a normal life, a boring life, and slowly being entangled with UNIT. The Brigadier and Sergeant Benton appear here and their interactions with Delbane, the Doctor, and especially Romana, are absolutely wonderful. Benton is clearly a character whom Stone loves, as the lovable Sergeant is given quite a bit of backstory and an interesting skillset as he’s the one at points to go and help save the day. The Brigadier and Benton reacting to Romana is also an interesting reflection on the characterization of the ice queen as Stone captures Tamm’s upper class airs and graces from The Ribos Operation, although this is supposed to occur after The Stones of Blood. The actual villains are explained here as well which feels purely like something out of Douglas Adams in City of Death. It’s also dripping with tension and the standard Stone madness throughout the book making this half make up for the lackluster other half it is sadly interspersed with.

Overall, Heart of TARDIS is one of those absolutely dense Dave Stone books that is not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, but it does somehow manage to have half of its page count be absolutely terrible while the other is absolutely brilliant. The brilliance and commentary on Doctor Who fans in particular here is also enough to just allow the good to outweigh the bad, but other readers may end up disagreeing depending on their tolerance for Stone and his style. As it stand’s it’s a decent read. 6/10.

[David Layton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because Dave Stone has a distinctive style and voice for narrating a story, his works can be offputting to those who like a plot delivered straight. Stone's style is of a certain kind of narrator in modern British fiction, one who maintains a long distance between the narrator and the story, commenting ironically on events, stepping in with whimsical observations and seeming non-sequiturs. It's the style of Douglas Adams, Gwyneth Jones, Ford Maddox Ford, and others. A reader looking for some style in the narrative, however, finds this approach rewarding and probably, in the case of Heart of TARDIS, the best thing in the book. The main problem dragging this novel down, though, is the plot. It's as though Stone paid so much attention to the style that he ignored the fact that a novel in a popular genre needs a plot.

The premise is promising enough. Doctor 2, Jamie, and Victoria are having one adventure while Doctor 4 and Romana (K-9 gets only briefly mentioned) are having another, but even though these are at different times and different places they are in some way happening simultaneously and each is affecting the other. The concept is daring, but it requires a writer skilled in maintaining the connections, one who knows at each point what the link is. This is where Heart of TARDIS falls to pieces. We learn that the connection has something to do with a prototype TARDIS gone haywire, and that the proximity of Doctor 2's TARDIS accidentally landing near the anomaly created by the prototype TARDIS sets off a kind of chain reaction. Had the story been left at the level of just this problem, it would have been fine. However, Stone heaps on top of it some extra-dimensional demons acting like Cthulu mythos monsters, a possessed Aleister Crowly with extended life, a secret US military base in England, and a secret government agency infiltrating UNIT. Early parts of the novel work well, keeping the reader guessing as to what is causing events and how they are connected. However, about 3/4 of the way through, Stone loses control of the plot. It becomes "and then reality went all crazy" and "look, an elephant in pyjamas, isn't that weird?" and a giant human pyramid of 250,000 people creating a human analog thing of some kind. Adding to the catastrophe are dozens of off-hand references to popular television scattered throughout the novel - The Simpsons, The X-Files, Queer as Folk, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and on and on. Finishing with an ending that isn't an ending, just "and then it was all over" more or less, the last 1/4 of the book is one of biggest disappointments for a Doctor Who novel. It's sad because given the premise, Heart of TARDIS could have been one of the best Doctor Novels.

[Peer Lenné · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was soll man nur über dieses Buch schreiben? Es ist absoluter Müll! Nein... Es ist ein Meisterwerk! Oder ist es meisterwerklicher Müll? Bis zum Schluss hin konnte ich mich nicht entschieden, ob ich das Buch mag oder nicht; ob ich es bis zum Ende weiterlesen sollte oder nicht. Stone ist ein Wortkünstler, so viel steht fest. Jeder seiner Sätze ist Gold und es macht alleine schon Spaß sie zu lesen. Dabei ist es nicht mal wichtig was da steht, wie es da steht ist wichtig. Inhaltlich bringen die ersten zwei Drittel des Buchs nämlich fast gar nichts zustande, und das was er zustande bringt, ergibt erst am Schluss wirklich Sinn... oder besser "Sinn"!
Stone schiebt am Ende einfach alles so hin, dass es schon irgendwie passt und ich bezweifle, dass das von Anfang an so geplant war, sondern wohl eher gewachsen ist. Bei einigen Dingen von Deus Ex Machina zu reden wäre eine freche Untertreibung.
Von der Qualität des Buchs kann man sagen was man will, was Stone aber in den meisten Fällen gelingt ist, die Charaktere zu treffen. Die beiden Doctoren, Romana und der Brigadier sind hier besonders gut gelungen, auch wenn letzterer, genau wie Jamie und Victoria, eigentlich etwas zu wenig zu tun hat.
Das Buch zu beurteilen ist mir eigentlich gänzlich unmöglich, aber es sei gesagt, dass ich am Ende jedenfalls nicht das Gefühl hatte meine Lebenszeit mit dem Buch verschwendet zu haben.

PS: Wenn jemand das Buch lesen sollte und vor dem Ende beschließt aufzugeben, dem sei gesagt, dass er zumindest noch die beiden lächerlich guten Kurzgeschichten im Appendix lesen sollte.

[William Norrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style of Dave Stone is hard to get past. He uses techno-babble that feels out of character for the Doctors, multi-syllable uncommon words that slow down the pace, and overuses suspense by means of being vague, cliffhangers, and/or lack of explanation/information. The first 200 pages are confusing with each Doctor having their own story and a smattering of other (seemingly unrelated) subplots sprinkled in. If you can get through that the story does start coming together…sort of. The ending chapters were a bit of a letdown. The conclusion lacked weight and felt too convenient.

With the exception of the techno-babble, Stone does a good job capturing the voices of both doctors and his companions. His use of Unit is disappointing and left me with a lot of questions. It seems that Unit’s only purpose is to introduce the Brigadier into the plot and then disappear into the background. There are a few moments of levity in the book that I enjoyed like a reference to Norm from Cheers and The Comic Book Guy from Simpsons.

The story(s), particularly Tom Baker’s, are good enough that I finished the book. With all the Doctor Who books that are available this one is easily skippable.

[DK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm conflicted about 'Heart of TARDIS'. There are some really great ideas in there, some fantastic dialogue, and the characterisation of the Second and Fourth Doctors and their respective companions is note perfect. However, for every good thing contained in these pages, there seems to be something to counteract it - the plot can often be a confusing mess, with far too many asides, preambles, and irrelevancies to stymie the momentum of the story. The Adams-style humour can often feel forced, and the threat - convoluted as it is - never seems fully formed.

It's entertaining enough, and the choice to not simply have the Doctors meet up (like every other multi-Doctor story in existence) refreshing, yet despite this, it never seems to actually go anywhere, with an overly long build-up leading to a denoument that wraps itself up in a very short space of time - as though the author reached his page count, and suddenly realised he needed this thing to end. It's fun in parts, and recommended for the characterisation, alone. Just don't go in expecting a classic.

[John Parungao · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a number of ways to write a multi Doctor adventure. Sometimes it involves various versions of the Doctor being plucked out of time because of some crisis. Sometimes it involves two versions of the Doctor meeting because they both happen to be visiting the same place. Then there's what happens in this novel, where the fourth Doctor and second Doctor are involved in two seemingly unconnected adventures. The novel unfolds with alternating chapters split between the fourth Doctor and the second Doctor and their respective supporting casts.
The resulting story can be confusing, but by the end it will make sense. My only real complaint is that the two incarnations of the Doctor don't get a chance to meet and interact.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got two problems: (1) Dave Stone's throw-everything-at-the-wall eccentric humour, which works as often as it misses, and (2) the 2nd Doctor's plot line isn't as interesting as the 4th Doctor's plot line. In fact, the best thing about this book is the late-70s era 4th Doctor & Romana sauntering into the middle of an old school UNIT setting and upending all expectations. I would have much preferred that the entire novel be set in this zanier yet hilarious milieu.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly less bonkers tale from Dave Stone, but still rather a mad tale. I didn't like the laboured jokes about Victoria and her shock at more modern sexual behaviour and the Doctor's obliviousness to it all. The fourth Doctor and Romana didn't get much to do and I'm still not entirely sure who the big bad was. I liked the silly tales at the end and what happened to the town but why do so many writers want to include Aleister Crowley?

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com...

[Denis Southall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful, tedious, disappointing Dr Who story from a Douglas Adams wannabe.

[Sara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun combination of characters!

[John Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

AKA Dave Stone Travels Smugly Up Himself

[Danny Schiffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

lots of fun! i think the book couldve benefitted from a better editor bc some of the phrasing decisions were confusing/unclear, but a great story!!!

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who in a cross-over with both The Professionals and The Simpsons.

Well, all right, not really. Or at least, while there's some truth in it, the end result rather less entertaining than that might sound. This is, basically, a comedy, and its tone is rather uneven, at times crossing the line into merely being silly.

For example, while there are three characters in it that certainly look like those from the The Professionals (for copyright reasons, they obviously have different names) they don't really act much like them, and aren't even a particularly funny pastiche of the show they're pinched from. At least using The Simpsons for comedy makes sense.

Okay, so the fusion with these two shows (and, actually, a few others) is really a very minor part of the book. But they are an illustration of how it wanders about, flitting between crazy humour and dark horror in a way that never quite coheres. Supporting characters are never really developed, and the whole thing feels rather patched together.

Which is a pity, because there are some rather good bits in it. The story features both the Second and Fourth Doctors, and the basic threat (once we get round to it) is quite a good one. There are some genuinely funny parts, as well as real menace when appropriate. If the author would only stop messing about and get some focus, this would be an easy four stars.

The Second Doctor parts are, on the whole, better than those with the Fourth. The set-up is interesting, the monster rather cool, and he and his companions are all well written and believable. That's what gets this three stars, rather than two.

But, on the whole, you rather get the impression that Stone is just trying too hard. Nor does the novel fit terribly well with its supposed place(s) in continuity, and there's the odd bit where things that are ostensibly 'real world' don't make sense, either.

Final conclusion: should have been better, but could have been worse.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a Past Doctor Adventure featureing Two, Victoria and Jamie in one time-line, and Four, Romana I and K9 (plus Brigadier and Benton) in another, dealing with a weird space-time anomaly which traps the earlier Doctor in a small town based on the Simpsons. I thought there were some good characetr moments - especially for the two Doctors and the female characters - but rather lost track of the plot. Apparently there are lots of Simpsons in-jokes which sailed over my head. Indeed I felt that a lot of the book was the author thinking he was being funny, but it didn't really work for me.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a doctor who adventure that stars the second and fourth doctors it begins when the second doctor and co. get stranded in a small town in the middle of nowhere that is under the control of an unknown intelligence that is influencing random people to murder each other in the most gruesome ways possible.the fourth doctor is also called to earth by an old friend being kidnapped it had a strange writing style and interesting enemies for the doctors to face, but the plot is nowhere to be found and it loses its hook about halfway through the 6th chapter.

(has a male protagonist)

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2nd Doctor gets trapped in a strange American town. The 4th Doctor gets called in by UNIT to help them with a problem. Both are involved in the same invasion, just from different time zones. First off, the Doctors do not meet, so dont get too excited. The characterisations are spot on, and it is a light, fun read. I just wished that the Doctors met up. A good read.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun (sometimes funny) writing, interesting plots, good characters, and a good non-crossover crossover. On the other hand, pretty slow and with a somewhat unsatisfying ending.

[Peter Roe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the idea but written too tongue in cheek, got bored with how funny the author thought he was with his little asides. Could have been so much better.

[Simon Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry Dave, I just don't get your writing style.