By Rona Munro

BBC Books, out now

The Doctor takes Bill and Nardole back to second-century Scotland to learn the fate of the ‘lost’ Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman Army.

Rona Munro’s return to Doctor Who in 2017 after a 28 year gap since Survival was always going to be something special. And while the episode as transmitted was interesting, it did feel like we were missing something. With the opportunity to give the story more room to breathe in a Target novelisation, the author gives us a more rounded experience.

While James Moran took the opportunity to up the gag count in his Target novelisation, Munro appears to have stripped out the broader humour and gives us something a lot more poetic. Shorn of the modern-day teaser and the Missy epilogue, this reads like a self-contained fable, with a straight-forward narrative, beautifully told.

Verdict: A more magical experience than we experienced on TV, it’s a joy to see how an author has taken their original work and transformed it, while still fitting perfectly into the Target range. 9/10

Nick Joy

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