Part of the joy of reading novelisations is the new, unexpected elements they bring to familiar tales. It’s probably the one thing that makes novelisations relevant in the days of endless repeats and binge watching.
So it’s no surprise that Russell T. Davies has added a few new details to the novelisation of the first very first nu-who episode, Rose, which has been adapted from his own script. However, where you might have expected more fully realised Auton invasion of London on the page, where money is no object, you probably weren’t thinking future incarnations of the Doctor.
Not content with totally reinventing Doctor Who once, he’s now trying to do it via novelisations too!
According to the Radio Times, and please tread carefully here if you want to avoid any spoilers for the new Target novelisation which goes on sale today, this potentially huge change in the show’s mythology sees Rose (Billie Piper) go to see amateur investigator Clive (Mark Benton) for more information after her first encounter with The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston).
In this new version, Clive goes through his rolodex of photographic evidence of The Doctor’s past incarnations through history, including the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and the soon-to-debut Thirteen (Jodie Whittaker).
Clive even scrolls over a photo of Ten (David Tennant), although Rose misses it by looking away – thus preserving the timeline between her and the Doctor.
However, Clive’s photographic evidence includes Doctor’s that viewers haven’t encountered yet — described by Davies as “a tall, bald black woman wielding a flaming sword” and “a young girl or boy in a hi-tech wheelchair with what looked like a robot dog at their side”.
Okay, so maybe Davies isn’t being entirely serious here, but it at least gives us more alternative Doctor’s to play with in the expanded universe (Hello Loose Canon!)
Russell T. Davies adaptation of Rose is available to buy now from Amazon for £5.24