DRAGONFIRE

[Tony]

Here we are discussing Ian Briggs' novelization of DRAGONFIRE! If you want to hear your review of or comments on this book read on the air, or you have a specific question about the book, please post it here by no later than 11pm CST on Friday, April 25!

[Michael]

I recall DWM telling us that Dragonfire was the best story of season 24 back in the day. This meant I was even more eager to see it, even if it was the dreaded movie version. Overall fan opinion has changed since it aired but I still find myself liking this one.

The novelization was a particular favorite of this era -- from the great cover art work to Briggs' attempt to retell the story on the printed page. Briggs tries to explain the cliffhanger to part one (not sure he succeeds) and fleshes out the characters a bit. It's a warm up for what i consider his masterpiece in Fenric, but I liked it. I'd give this one four out of five stars.

[Dave]

The last story for Bonnie Langford, or so we thought. I won't lie, I was happy to see the back of her. I haven't changed that opinion, though some of my reasoning has changed, and I was just as glad to see her return, first in Big Finish audio plays (where a writer put in just one scream, for continuity, and Langford threw it straight out) then in the TV series in 2023.
In the 1990s, John Nathan Turner wrote an article for Doctor Who Magazine (or whatever it was called then) in which he claimed that he'd been instructed to make the new companion that followed Peri more "traditional", i.e. lots of screaming. Since all the other companions JNT was responsible for introducing were progressively less likely to scream, aside from Turlough (in Frontios), this account rings true. It looks like Langford wasn't miscast, as I'd thought, but undermined, even before she got the role. Consequently, most fans didn't notice her brilliant self deprecating humour. In this story it appears on screen when Mel screams while Ace is next to her, and Ace's face shows the pain of a near ruptured eardrum. It's a nod to fan criticism, which was echoed by the new episode, Lux, with the fans telling the Doctor what their favourite episode was. That's probably lost in the book.
Also lost, thankfully, is the nice middle class accent that Ace uses to deliver her "street" dialogue. That's just how it was in the old days. Regional accents were not encouraged unless it was for comedic effect. That was beginning to change in the 1980s, which is why we have a Scottish Doctor. At the time, Ace was a breath of fresh air, and only sounds twee in retrospect.
The only improvement the book makes over the TV version is, in my opinion, THAT cliffhanger, which now makes a little more sense. If you squint. And turn the lights down.
Nevertheless, I got through it with no real effort, and quite enjoyed it, so 3.25 stars.

[Samuel]

'Dragonfire' marks Doctor Who’s attempt to pivot from pantomime theatrics to more traditional sci-fi. On screen, its ambitious ideas pushed against the limits of an end-of-season BBC budget and studio-bound production. In print, Ian Briggs has free rein to expand his scope beyond the twelve galaxies - though not without some turbulence.

It very much feels like a first novel, overpacked with ideas and good intentions. As such, the tone bounces all over the place. Much of the 'Aliens'-inspired action works well with lavish descriptions of the ice caves, explosions and such. The dialogue, however, often feels cliched and strained. On occasion, the Doctor reads more like Colin Baker than Sylvester McCoy in his formality, and various attempts at verbal comedy fall flat and add little - especially running gags repurposed from films like 'Airplane!' and 'The Naked Gun'.

That said, there are plenty of intriguing ideas at play. Kane’s backstory is compelling, and his controlling powerplay with Belazs hints at an underlying sexual dynamic. The dragon - referred to as "the creature" - is also far better realised in the gloom than it could ever be on screen. The return of Glitz is a welcome addition too, complete with problematic boorish chauvinism, which is effectively questioned and parodied.

There's also an attempt to write around the much-derided "cliffhanger" stunt, though the logic of the whole sequence still makes no more sense in print.

Most significantly, new companion Ace makes her entrance in a rough prototype form. She's full of tantrums, bouncing enthusiasm and tongue-wagging sass. But it's all slightly childish and irritating. The intention is to present a relatable, youthful character, but it often feels more like a middle-aged writer assuming what teenagers are like rather than truly understanding them.

Mel, on the other hand, is badly neglected and fades into the background as Ace takes centre stage. A parting scene repurposed from Sylvester McCoy's screen test makes it into the book, adding some last-minute emotional closure. But it all feels like an afterthought, much as it did on screen.

Perhaps Briggs' manuscript could have used a tighter edit. Typos mistakenly refer to Ace as “Alice,” and “space” is so over referenced it starts to feel like a running joke (we get it: it's set in space!). Certain sections suffer from excessive repetition, and one key event hammers home “squeezing” multiple times without variation, giving the prose an amateurish, one-note quality.

Despite its flaws, Dragonfire remains a fun, pulpy read about a space dragon and space criminal, running a space supermarket as part of a grand revenge plot in space. Not quite a supernova, with some characterisation and gimmicks that leave you cold, Briggs was clearly just warming up with this first effort. A somewhat pivotal tale, with even better things on the horizon.

3 / 5 space stars.

[Bart]

Doh! Missed the deadline. An errata to a podcast assumption is that Ace _is_ my era…