https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-prisoner-of-zenda-by-anthony-hope-the-androi...

this is actually the 2022 print version of a 2012 audiobook, slightly adapted for the page (as Steve Cole explains in an endnote). It is thoroughly satisfying. The social structure and recent history of Tara are explained in depth, if still not completely believably, and it’s very clear that the relationship between Count Grendel and his engineer Madame Lamia is sexually as well as economically exploitative. The whole thing feels very much bulked up rather than padded out, and I’m very glad that the BBC asked Fisher to have another go at it before it was too late. ( )

This is a new re-novelization of the classic 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Androids of Tara" by the script's original author, created initially as an audio book but now available in slightly edited form as a print version. Which is a backstory that might almost convoluted enough to make a good Doctor Who plot!

I have a lot of nostalgic fondness for the old Target Doctor Who novelizations written (mostly) by Terrance Dicks, so it's very cool to see a revival of the idea. Dicks' novelizations tended to be pretty simplistic and bare bones (although I haven't read his version of this particular story to compare them specifically). I was hoping to see a bit more depth and fleshing-out of things from this new version, and to some extent it delivers, with some amusing glimpses into the history of the planet Tara and its odd mixture of feudalism and cybernetics. I don't know how much any of it really enhances the story, but it was neat to get a bit more of Fisher's take on the world he'd built, and some of it gave me, if not exactly a laugh, then at least a smile. Although I did miss the elements that you really only get by watching the TV version itself, particularly the Fourth Doctor being... well, Tom Baker. It's a bit hard to capture that kind of personality on on the page.

One thing that really struck me reading this now, without having seen the episode itself in quite some time, is how utterly ridiculous the entire story is. Like, pretty much every single thing about it is silly. But it's ridiculous in a fun way, mostly, and sometimes that's pretty much everything you want and need from Doctor Who.

Anyway. Did this greatly enhance my experience of this particular piece of television? Eh, probably not. Is it a must-read for any fan of this particular era of the show? Probably not. Am I still quite pleased to be able to sit it on the shelf with my collection of old Target novelizations? Absolutely! ( )