Running Time: Approx. 345 minutes. Written by: Juno Dawson. Performed by: Clare Corbett.
THE PLOT:
On the planet Lobos, the Doctor and her friends stop a war between the ruling dog-like Loba and human colonists. They persuade the leaders to sign a treaty granting both races joint governance of the planet. It's a job well done - until, shortly after dematerialization, Ryan discovers that he left his phone behind.
The Doctor reluctantly returns so that they can pick up the phone, only to discover that they have traveled centuries into the future. The former situation has now reversed, with the humans ruling and the Loba reduced to a slave race. They worship "The Good Doctor," using the word of the Doctor to justify abuses against Loba and human women.
They have an image of their "Doctor," preserved from a photograph taken before the time travelers departed. Their image, however, is Graham, who is none too comfortable at suddenly being treated as a god!
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Clare Corbett does a wonderful job as reader, which should be no surprise to anyone who's listened to her previous work. More surprising is how dead-on her Thirteenth Doctor is. She doesn't just capture Jodie Whittaker's accent, she also nearly perfectly replicates her speaking pace and pitch, and the Doctor-centric scenes play particularly well as a result.
She plays along with the monks' belief that Graham is the Doctor, encouraging him to use this opportunity to gather information. This book was written as a tie-in with Series 11, and this incarnation's near-pacifism is evident, but it's used to stronger dramatic effect. Twice, the Doctor is confronted by armed opponents, only to rattle them by refusing to fight and instead asking questions to make them question their own actions - a much more satisfying portrayal of this character trait than what was shown on television.
Graham: He finds it exhausting to playact as a divine being, seeking any opportunity to get people to defer to "The Nurse" so that he can relax for a moment. He feels genuine guilt upon learning that an offhand comment he made about dogs being "man's best friend" has been used to further cement the slavery of the Loba. He's observant enough to notice the locked compartments in Mykados's private library; and, when he gets the chance, he breaks in to find out what the High Priest is hiding.
Yaz: She is the last to leave the TARDIS, going out to investigate after the Doctor, Graham, and Ryan are gone for a little too long. She quickly finds herself arrested for being an unaccompanied woman out after curfew. She gets rescued during a jailbreak by rebel leader Pry, and she spends the bulk of the story with the rebels.
Ryan: Juno Dawson's prose pays more attention to Ryan's dyspraxia than most of his television tenure, particularly in the early chapters, with multiple moments in which Ryan feels anxiety about potentially losing his footing. A couple of character beats from Series Eleven are evident in the book. He's more distrustful than his friends, and when he meets the rebels, he tells Yaz that they're just as fanatical as the people in the temple. Later, when worried about Graham, he starts to refer to him as his granddad but stops himself mid-word.
Mykados: The fanatical High Priest of "The Good Doctor," and the villain of the piece. Through backstory, we learn that the faith was less rigid before he took over, and that he gradually imposed his own extremist interpretation. This helps to make it believable when the Doctor and her friends are able to instill doubt in several followers. Since the fundamentalist turn is comparatively recent (say, 10 - 20 years), rather than ingrained over generations, it makes sense that people's fervor is mostly surface-level. There is little doubt that Mykados believes in his version of his religion - but there is equally little doubt that he has used that religion to consolidate ever more power for himself.
Pry: Mykados's opposite, the leader of the Loba rebels. Mykados is cold and calculating. Pry is emotional. This can be positive, as seen by his rapid befriending of Yaz and his clear love for his human wife, Mariya, and their daughter, Jaya. It can also be dangerous, as his rage at the injustices his people have suffered leads him to murderous intent, which includes an increasing willingness to shrug off any collateral damage that may occur as a result of his plans.
THOUGHTS:
The Good Doctor is a generally good book. It's well-paced, with every chapter doing something to move the story forward. It enjoys the advantage of a full book to make full use of the Series 11 ensemble, with important roles for all four characters. It even manages some decent commentary on extremism - and by contrasting Mykados with other, more reasonable and well-meaning monks, it does so without attacking religion as a concept in itself.
Some of the writing is excellent. The story opens with a standoff between the Doctor and a Loba general in a destroyed settlement. The descriptions of both the damage and of the Doctor's reactions to it are vivid. The same is true when the quartet lands in the planet's future, with author Juno Dawson doing a fine job of building to the reveal of the "Temple of Tordos," the hub for the planet's religion... whose appearance is based on the TARDIS itself.
There's a fine set piece about two thirds of the way in, with the Doctor facing down a strong and angry opponent. The scene again benefits from Dawson's talent for description. It's beautifully paced, building slowly to the confrontation and remaining controlled. Then events spin suddenly out of the characters' control, at which point the sentences become fast and the transitions slightly fragmented to reflect the chaos of the situation.
Unfortunately, there are a handful of clunky lines and descriptors in smaller moments, particularly in the middle of the book. Had I been reading the text version, I almost certainly would have skimmed over them without noticing... but audio is unforgiving of clunky prose. I know that tie-in books often have tight deadlines that can force authors to prioritize specific chapters when polishing; given how well-written all the major scenes are, I suspect this is why some of the minor moments seem a bit rough by contrast.
One thing that's definitely not rough is Clare Corbett's reading. She's all but dead-on with her Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz. She also finds ways to differentiate the male characters: Graham and Ryan have differing accents; Myados and idealistic young priest Tempika speak at different registers; rebel leader Pry spits out his words gruffly. Descriptions and actions are read well, with variances in tempo between calmer moments and more action-oriented ones. It is, quite simply, an exceptional performance from start to finish.
OVERALL:
The Good Doctor is one of the better New Series tie-in books that I've read. A well-structured story is backed by interesting ideas, and author Juno Dawson does a fine job juggling the sometimes unwieldy Series 11 ensemble.
The audiobook exposes a few moments of clunky "rough draft" writing in some of the quieter scenes in the middle. However, the quality of reader Clare Corbett's performance outweighs this issue, and the reading is enough in itself to recommend the audio version of this story.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Set during: Series 11
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