By Juno Dawson

BBC Books, out now

When Ryan accidentally leaves behind his mobile phone behind on an alien planet he changes the course of history and it’s up to Team TARDIS to set things right.

Author Juno Dawson’s first Doctor Who novel boasts one of those tasty ‘A Sound of Thunder’ plots that’s always fun to read. Stamping on a butterfly in the past can change a civilisation, and in William Hartnell’s First Doctor story The Ark companion Dodo changes the future through her cold. We’re in similar territory here but for many of the young readers picking up these 13th Doctor hardback originals it will be an original idea to enjoy.

Maybe I’ve watched too many Doctor Who serials, as I always assume the the name of a planet describes its people’s characteristics or its climate (Desperus, Florana, Aridius) so I immediately assumed that the inhabitants of Lobos would act like they’d been lobotomised, but far from it. We’re immediately thrown into a battle zone between the Loba and humans, but the Doctor soon brokers peace and we’re at the end of the adventure by page 16… until Ryan realises what he’s done. It’s a lovely and credible plot device, teenagers forever putting down their phones in the wrong place, but normally without such consequences.

And the consequences of the action begin hundreds of years later with a tower block in shape of TARDIS, except it’s a place of worship for deity The Good Doctor, with a stained glass window of Graham! Yaz gets into trouble for violation of a holy law and it’s great to see her out on her own with something to do, or paired up with Graham. Equally, it makes a change to have the Doctor paired up with Ryan.

The story soon has a lot going on, the civilisation now being blighted with religious zealotry, misogyny, ethnic cleansing and racism. Some of it is subtle, some deliberately on the nose, but never to the point where it becomes polemic.  One cheeky line even posits: “The Good Doctor, a woman? Can you even imagine such a travesty?” I see what you did there.

The Doctor’s friends even have a feast named after them (no, not Steven!) – the Feast of Rasmin – which is a hybrid of their names. The Doctor fares less well, being accused of blasphemy for claiming to be the Doctor and is sentenced to trial by combat.

Verdict: War, politics, racism and more come to the fore in this socially-aware allegorical novel, but never to the point where it stops being fun. The TARDIS crew get a lesson in consequences and luckily they manage to get things back on an even keel by the end. Now where’s my phone? 7/10

Nick Joy

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