by Phil Ford

BBC Books, out now

On Bowie Base One, a viral life-form infects the water supply, transforming humans into terrifying monsters.

David Tennant’s penultimate story The Waters of Mars was transmitted as part of a short run of specials in November 2009, written by Phil Ford and Russell T Davies. Ford alone assumes the duty of adapting the screenplay for his first Target book and it’s a cracking read.

The Doctor is still haunted by the words of Carmen from his previous adventure – ‘Your song is ending. He will knock four times.’ This sense of impending doom hovers over the story, which is essentially an old-fashioned ‘base under siege’ tale. Ford has constructed the book in short, snappy chapters (19 and a prologue), and gives us background information on the crew members as they enter the story.

In the transmitted episode, Adelaide briefly describes the moment when she confronted a Dalek during the events of The Stolen Earth, and here it becomes a full section, filling us in on what she’d been up to and who with. And as the countdown to disaster begins, the prose becomes more urgent, punctuated with the numbers descending to zero. Exciting stuff

Verdict: A welcome reminder of the time that we witnessed the hubris of the Time Lord Victorious, excitingly retold by the author. 8/10

Nick Joy

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