The Book Report #79
Episode #78
Doctor Who – The Price of Paradise
By Colin Brake
The Book
My copy is a hardback 6th print released in 2006. This book was published by BBC Books, which is now an imprint of Penguin Random House. Originally connected and still is to BBC Worldwide Limited.
This copy has 258 pages, including Acknowledgements, About the Author and advertisements for other books in the series.
What Did I Think
On a hidden and lost planet, a baby arrives in an escape pod. The indigenous people take the baby in and raise him. There is a problem. The living planet doesn’t like having anything else there apart from the life it created. And if anything that isn’t a part of the original ecosystem disrupts the natural order. And because of this, the planet is slowly destroying itself, and there is no way to prevent it.
Well, there is, but we will have to wait a few years for them to be able to fix it.
Over a decade later, the local people are going missing, and there are no signs of them.
An expedition is in search of the Paradise planet. They have the records of a previous ship that came through what they believe is the area many years before.
When they arrive in an unknown area of space, an EM pulse hits them, and they begin their descent towards the planet. As they descend, they send a distress signal.
Rose Tyler and the Doctor are searching for their next adventure when they receive a call for help. And of course, they go to help.
Is This The Doctor?
This was the first story in this series so far that I believed was a Doctor Who story. Everything fitted just right. Mr Brake seems to know what he is doing.
Which makes a nice change. Mr Brake sees that Doctor Who is, in essence, and has always been, a children’s program and he plays on the lightness and fun of the adventure. Even with an added touch of scaring the audience.
The concept and idea of a living planet is not a new one, but he tells the story in a simple way that everyone can understand. Fair enough, he doesn’t go into any depth about it, you can follow what is happening. I even like the idea of using the life on the planet and transforming them into antibodies to help remove the unwanted alien intruders/ infection, even though no harm was meant.
The Stand Out Character
The winner of the best character of the book goes to Brother Hugan. He is the character who knows the reason behind everything, as does everyone else and sticks to his guns about how to fix the problem. Dedicating his life to making sure the planet has what it needs to survive. Even if that means being looked down upon, or seeming to be behind the times or being the bad guy. A Karen even.
However, he was right from the beginning and remained so right until the very end.
Would I Recommend
This is one of the first books in this series that I actually enjoyed. There is nothing special about the plot, but it is a good, well-written story.
So, yes, I would recommend this book as I felt I was reading an actual episode from the TV Show.
Please give this book a go.
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/USA, Barnes & Noble or eBay UK/USA.
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.
