By Gary Russell

Target/BBC Books, out now

It’s December 1999, and strange things are happening as the new millennium nears. A British police box appears in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the mysterious occupant is shot down in the street.

Gary Russell’s adaptation of Matthew Jacobs’ script for the 1996 Paul McGann Doctor Who TV movie finally gets released in Target livery… and it’s about time! Love it or hate it, and there are many aspects of this anomaly that continue to frustrate so many fans, it’s still a key transition between old school BBC Who and the 21st Century revival. And whatever the author feels about it, he’s clearly got its back and treats it not only with respect, but helps smooth some of the more jagged edges.

In his introduction, Gary explains that while the text is fundamentally what was published in 1996, he’s taken the opportunity to fix a few minor details (costume descriptions and hair colour, and avoiding saying that the Golden Gate Bridge goes over a river!) as well as bringing us some legacy links – notably references to Ace and her A Charitable Earth programme and a sequence where Lee he sees the previous faces of the Doctor.

The muddled opening sequence of the movie where the Master is sentenced to death by squeaky Daleks now has more context and a greater involvement by the Doctor as he travels to Skaro. The cathedral-like setting of the Eye of Harmony is far grander than the TV budget would allow, and the Master reads a lot better without some of the excesses introduced by Eric Roberts’ camp performance.

Russell helps reduce the impact of that kiss (although you can still feel the heat of fans’ blood boiling) and the ‘I’m half-human on my mother’s side’ is offered up more as a joke than fact. We even address the question as to how the Doctor knew that the firehouse would reach the top of the car as he and Grace descended from the lab – it was an educated guess – and how lovely that he makes time to remember his granddaughter.

Verdict: As Doctor Who stories go, the TV Movie will always be the black sheep, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t earn its place in the show’s lexicon, and now it can sit proudly between Target shelf-mates Survival and Rose. 7/10

Nick Joy

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk