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Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures #2
Doctor Who: Timewyrm - Exodus
The pursuit of the Timewyrm leads the Doctor and Ace to London, 1951, and the Festival of Britain -- a celebration of the achievements of this small country, this insignificant corner of the glorious Thousand Year Reich.
Someone -- or something -- has been interfering with the time lines, and in order to investigate, the Doctor travels further back in time to the very dawn of the Nazi evil. In the heart of the Germany of the Third Reich, he finds that this little band of thugs and misfits did not take over half the world unaided.
History must be restored to its proper course, and in his attempt to repair the time lines, the Doctor faces the most terrible dilemma he has ever known...
Someone -- or something -- has been interfering with the time lines, and in order to investigate, the Doctor travels further back in time to the very dawn of the Nazi evil. In the heart of the Germany of the Third Reich, he finds that this little band of thugs and misfits did not take over half the world unaided.
History must be restored to its proper course, and in his attempt to repair the time lines, the Doctor faces the most terrible dilemma he has ever known...
234 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 1991
10 people are currently reading
493 people want to read
About the author
Terrance Dicks
327 books220 followersTerrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
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July 25, 2011
Having read my way through the wooden beginning that was Timewyrm Genesys I turned my attentions to this novel, the second in the opening Timewyrm arc of the New Adventures and the first New Adventure by Terrence Dicks. Having been disappointed by Genesys I was hoping for a much better novel this time around. That was exactly what I got and more.
For starters Dicks has a much better grasp on the characterization of the seventh Doctor and Ace then John Peel did. From their first appearance in chapter one all the way to the epilogue I never once got the feeling I was reading anyone but the Doctor and ace I have come to enjoy so much from the TV and audio stories. There's a moment in chapter seven of the first part of the novel (or pages 61-63 to be more precise) that stands out as a moment where Dicks perfectly captured the personality and (quite possibly) the inner workings of the seventh Doctor. Then there's the final chapter before the epilogue as well which, to my mind at least, perfectly captures the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. My only real qualm with the characterization is that given the Doctor's comment about Hitler in The Curse of Fenric it seems odd to see him socializing and becoming chummy to a degree with some of the Nazis he becomes involved with in the course of the novel. Otherwise Dicks gives on the best novel sketches of a TV TARDIS team.
The supporting characters are well drawn out as well. From those who occupy the alternate 1951 London to the leaders of Nazi government to the return of old foes of the Doctors and right down to one of the worst madmen of the last century Adolf Hitler Dicks fleshes out intriguing little portraits of those surrounding the Doctor and Ace. As someone who has read quite a bit on World War II and the Nazis I was surprised by the detail that Dicks put into the personalities of those in the Nazi leadership with some pretty accurate portraits especially of Himmler. Even more intriguing is Dick's use of the villains from The War Games and how Dicks manages to show how those characters have progressed since we last saw them and even adds some much needed background to the lead villain of that story. All in all it's a nice cast of characters.
To understate a fact Dicks does a lot of things better then Peel did. He uses continuity references sparingly and when they feel generally needed like the background of a character as listed above. In fact mostly avoids them and uses them really only to reintroduce elements from The War Games. After all the needless references in Genesys this comes as a pleasant surprise. Dicks trades this fact off by creating a convincing atmosphere of not only Nazi occupied Britain but of Nazi Germany itself. And into all this Dicks brings sci-fi elements into the mix in a much more convincing (if not better handled) way then the wooden elements of Genesys. In fact judging from the prologue at the beginning Dicks has a better handle on Genesys then Peel himself!
There is one thing that both Genesys and Exodus share. Despite having the Timewyrm in the title both have it mentioned in the beginning and suddenly has it appear at the end. Yet, believe it or not, Dicks manages to actually put this weakness to good use. Because the Timewyrm appears in the last place you'd expect it to and, unlike Genesys, it doesn't feel like a cheat. That said it's still a weakness.
Recently I was asked by an interesting question by a friend. It was that if Genesys wasn't a good place to start fro someone wanting to get into the New Adventures where would be? Well with this novels excellent characterization, nice use of continuity form the TV series and a much better science fiction plot I think I have that answer. Skip Genesys and go straight to Exodus! It's one of the best New Adventures I've read and one of the best Doctor Who adventure stories I've read period.
For starters Dicks has a much better grasp on the characterization of the seventh Doctor and Ace then John Peel did. From their first appearance in chapter one all the way to the epilogue I never once got the feeling I was reading anyone but the Doctor and ace I have come to enjoy so much from the TV and audio stories. There's a moment in chapter seven of the first part of the novel (or pages 61-63 to be more precise) that stands out as a moment where Dicks perfectly captured the personality and (quite possibly) the inner workings of the seventh Doctor. Then there's the final chapter before the epilogue as well which, to my mind at least, perfectly captures the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. My only real qualm with the characterization is that given the Doctor's comment about Hitler in The Curse of Fenric it seems odd to see him socializing and becoming chummy to a degree with some of the Nazis he becomes involved with in the course of the novel. Otherwise Dicks gives on the best novel sketches of a TV TARDIS team.
The supporting characters are well drawn out as well. From those who occupy the alternate 1951 London to the leaders of Nazi government to the return of old foes of the Doctors and right down to one of the worst madmen of the last century Adolf Hitler Dicks fleshes out intriguing little portraits of those surrounding the Doctor and Ace. As someone who has read quite a bit on World War II and the Nazis I was surprised by the detail that Dicks put into the personalities of those in the Nazi leadership with some pretty accurate portraits especially of Himmler. Even more intriguing is Dick's use of the villains from The War Games and how Dicks manages to show how those characters have progressed since we last saw them and even adds some much needed background to the lead villain of that story. All in all it's a nice cast of characters.
To understate a fact Dicks does a lot of things better then Peel did. He uses continuity references sparingly and when they feel generally needed like the background of a character as listed above. In fact mostly avoids them and uses them really only to reintroduce elements from The War Games. After all the needless references in Genesys this comes as a pleasant surprise. Dicks trades this fact off by creating a convincing atmosphere of not only Nazi occupied Britain but of Nazi Germany itself. And into all this Dicks brings sci-fi elements into the mix in a much more convincing (if not better handled) way then the wooden elements of Genesys. In fact judging from the prologue at the beginning Dicks has a better handle on Genesys then Peel himself!
There is one thing that both Genesys and Exodus share. Despite having the Timewyrm in the title both have it mentioned in the beginning and suddenly has it appear at the end. Yet, believe it or not, Dicks manages to actually put this weakness to good use. Because the Timewyrm appears in the last place you'd expect it to and, unlike Genesys, it doesn't feel like a cheat. That said it's still a weakness.
Recently I was asked by an interesting question by a friend. It was that if Genesys wasn't a good place to start fro someone wanting to get into the New Adventures where would be? Well with this novels excellent characterization, nice use of continuity form the TV series and a much better science fiction plot I think I have that answer. Skip Genesys and go straight to Exodus! It's one of the best New Adventures I've read and one of the best Doctor Who adventure stories I've read period.
January 5, 2026
This is only the second book in The New Adventures Doctor Who series featuring Sylvestor McCoy and Sophie Aldred known as Ace. At first they arrive in Britain after the war only to discover that Nazi Germany won.
After the events in this time period they travel back in search of The Timewyrm and find a complex situation involving an enemy from his past as well. Another fantastic book in the series. Really enjoyed this action packed adventure. Well worth a read 📚 4.5 stars
After the events in this time period they travel back in search of The Timewyrm and find a complex situation involving an enemy from his past as well. Another fantastic book in the series. Really enjoyed this action packed adventure. Well worth a read 📚 4.5 stars
March 23, 2020
Last month, I re-read Timewyrm: Genesys for the first time in two decades. John Peel kick-started the New Adventures with the first of a four-part series, and while this resulted in a Doctor Who story that would have easily earned an 18+ certification if filmed, it didn't quite fulfill the promise for taking the Who-niverse in a more mature direction. Bare-breasted teenage prostitutes and hacked-off limbs can only take one so far, and after that you need a story that rises to the occasion. Peel's work isn't bad, but I was amazed the responsibility for carrying on the franchise essentially fell on his shoulders. He's an author whose previous works revolved mostly around writing the Doctor's comic book adventures and a couple Target novelizations of Terry Nation's older Dalek stories once all the rights on those were sorted. Again, nothing against the man, but you'd think launching a paperback line would have warranted a writer more experienced in both long-form prose and Who continuity.
Well, apparently so did Virgin, because a mere two months after Genesys hit shelves, Exodus arrived penned by none other than veteran chronicler of Whovian adventures for the Target line (and writer of numerous Who teleplays) Terrance "Uncle Terry" Dicks. This comes not a moment too soon, because even if one loved Peel's entry, it was going to take someone better versed in the television program's history to reassure readers that Virgin really were taking this seriously. Gone, for the moment, are the nudity and graphic violence which Genesys wore like a gauche scarf, and in their place is a fantastically uncomfortable adventure set in the middle of World War II.
As if the title didn't give it away, the Timewyrm wasn't disposed of at the end of Genesys. In fact, thanks to a miscalculation on the Doctor's part, she's actually more powerful and more dangerous than her original incarnation in ancient Mesopotamia. Scattered into the time stream after her first confrontation with the Doctor, she's fled through the corridors of time and re-emerged on Earth several thousand years in the future. Gilgamesh and his ilk were too primitive to create the sort of long-lasting disturbance the Timewyrm seeks to manufacture. But history has shown there to be a man who amasses almost godlike power and a cult-like following among his countrymen; a petty tyrant and despot of the highest order who drags the entire world to the brink of destruction for the sake of his insane ambitions. The swastika on the cover should give away the mystery, but just in case you need the spoiler, it's Adolf Hitler.
It's astonishing to think that, for all the different places in Earth's timeline the Doctor's shown up, everywhere from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the OK Corral eight centuries later, he'd never investigated anything involving the single largest military conflict in our planet's current history (Yes, Curse of Fenric is set during that time period, but takes place in Northumberland, well away from the Nazis and their war machine). Maybe it's because, especially at the time of the show's premier, but even up through the 1980's, World War II was an enormous and personal part of history to a great many people. Here, today, more than seven decades after the fighting stopped, there aren't many from the so-named "Greatest Generation" alive to personally recall its horrors. Yet even those of us who were born decades after shiver at the thought of "what might have been", playing games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, seeing films like Dunkirk and Saving Private Ryan bringing its nightmares to life. It's too fresh in our cultural memories in ways that other historical conflicts like the Punic Wars, or the American Civil War, are not. Plus, having the Doctor meet Adolf Hitler opens up all kinds of temporal worm cans with wriggly bits like, "Why not just kill him and spare the planet all those years of agony, genocide, and conflict?"
Dicks, of course, is all too ready with his answer when Ace tries to do just that and argues with the Doctor when he attempts to stop her. Not only would killing Hitler before his rise to power create ripples upon ripples throughout the time stream that no one could either foresee or correct, it would, as he has the Doctor explain, be just about the worst misfortune to befall the planet:
For all the damage the Reich did, for all the havoc it sewed across the continents, all it takes is to imagine a military commander who doesn't stop the siege and Dunkirk, who doesn't try to take Stalingrad in winter, and suddenly I'm writing this review in German, probably about a totally different book about Herr Doktor Wer and his efforts to spread National Socialism throughout the galaxy. Man, apparently I can imagine something worse than the Human Centipede franchise of horror films. Who knew?
Right, um, back to the story.
The Doctor is using the TARDIS to track the Timewyrm through history, and the TARDIS alights on Britain in 1951 as a source of temporal disturbance. He and Ace disembark to discover an England under German occupation six years after World War II ended in Ace's timeline. The giant cultural festival expected by the Doctor is nothing more than a long-running affair celebrating the Reich's dominance over the island. The BFK, a volunteer British version of the Hitler Youth, stir up trouble in the streets while the police have no choice but to look the other way. It doesn't take long for the Doctor and Ace to be pegged as outsiders, and they're rounded up first by the Gestapo for questioning, then by the local resistance. Failing to find a way to undo the damage from the 50's, but seeing the damage to the timestream as too intricate for even a being like the Timewyrm to commit individually, they hop back in time to the 1920's to learn what happened to Hitler before his rise to power, where they encounter the first inkling of something besides the Timewyrm causing trouble, then skip ahead to the 1930's after Hitler's ascent to try and stop the German Wehrmacht from being too successful in spreading the swastika across Europe.
The thing I find most amusing about this story is the way Dicks basically tells the Timewyrm to sod off while he gets down to business. While seizing upon the strength contained in Hitler's oratory and her personal charisma, she mis-judges his mental power and spends virtually the entire book herself locked up in the mind of a failed artist, unable to do much of anything save cause Hitler distress and manifest some scary paranormal powers during these "fits". This hilariously allows Dicks to throw the one character tying all four books together under the bus while he gets down to business telling the story he wanted to tell in the first place. With Genesys, you had to have the Timewyrm: she was the catalyst behind everything. In Exodus, she's a side-note when compared with not only Hitler's Third Reich but also a second adversary hearkening back to one of the biggest stories ever told in the TV program. No, I'm not going to spoil it--read for yourself. It'll help immensely if you're familiar with the Troughton era, and understanding a modicum of German may clue you in before the reveal, but I was quite surprised.
For hardcore fans and continuity hounds, Dicks drops plenty of references to previous adventures. Ace dreams of Daleks in a post-Remembrance of the Daleks nightmare, the Doctor shows off an army knife once belonging to Castillan Spandrell from The Deadly Assassin, heals Ace up with a dollop of Sisterhood Salve from The Brain of Morbius, remarks on Borusa's fate at the conclusion of The Five Doctors, recalls his death due to radiation poisoning from Planet of the Spiders, and quotes his Fourth incarnation from The Talons of Weng-Chiang with the line, "Sleep is for tortoises." And those are just the ones I caught--there are likely plenty more that I missed, but this is a game Uncle Terry plays well, and one I enjoy playing with him.
Earlier in the review I described this story as fantastically uncomfortable, and it really is. This is a situation for the Doctor where he's literally caught between a rock and a hard place and has to straddle a tightrope with no give in either direction. Failing to fix the corruption to the timeline means an indomitable Nazi empire taking over not just Europe, but the entire planet. Fixing the problem, on the other hand, still subjects tens of millions of people to death under brutal, agonizing conditions. The Doctor makes a deal with the devil by chumming up with Hitler, gaining his confidence, and guiding his actions--actions we know will result in unimaginable suffering. There's literally no choice he or anyone else can make that improves the situation. Though not touched on, we know the Holocaust will happen, and the only check the Doctor can place on it is to see that it gets no worse than the already-intolerable number of murder victims recorded in our history books. It's a dark choice, one the Doctor does not relish, but one he must undertake anyway, and yeah, it's damned uncomfortable reading some of the scenes where he's getting buddy-buddy with Hitler, Himmler, Goering, or anyone in service to the Reich.
I didn't like it, but I wasn't meant to like it. It's goddamn terrifying, and that was the point. That's a mature take on a Doctor Who story, not the T&A and battle porn of Peel's entry. Of course, in true Who fashion, the Doctor and Ace manage to come out on top (though, again, there's absolutely no way for them to 'save the day'), the Timewyrm is loosed from her mental prison in Hitler's brain, and it's back into the TARDIS to try and track her down in Timewyrm: Armageddon, the next chapter of the saga. (What, no Timewyrm: Leviticus?)
If there's one thing I didn't like, it's the way Ace winds up playing the victim one too many times. In the 1951 part of the story, she's roughed up by Nazis, and once she and the Doctor get to the actual war years, she's kidnapped for use as a sacrifice during an unholy occult ritual. At one point she actually faints, and I had to roll my eyes. Was this the same Ace who firebombed Gabriel Chase, went toe-to-toe with a Dalek armed with only a baseball bat, conquered her bestial and bloodthirsty nature on the planet of the Cheetah people, and held and comforted a young girl who had only just moments before been trying to murder her? Ace is many things, but a fainter isn't one of them. Perhaps to atone for this, she does get to gun down a slew of real Nazis in the story's climax, but still...Ace don't faint.
There's a second, rather potent, problem with one of Exodus's story elements as well, but it veers into spoiler territory if I get too in-depth with it, so I'll say one of the major players on the bad guy side absolutely should not exist due to circumstances surrounding his own father portrayed in the TV show. I saw nowhere in the book where Dicks was able to side-step this paradox, and to be fair it'll slide right past you if you've not seen the episode this story is using for that particular continuity grab, but I caught it right away. Ultimately the rest of the story is so satisfying that I'm willing to hand-wave this one away. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Well, apparently so did Virgin, because a mere two months after Genesys hit shelves, Exodus arrived penned by none other than veteran chronicler of Whovian adventures for the Target line (and writer of numerous Who teleplays) Terrance "Uncle Terry" Dicks. This comes not a moment too soon, because even if one loved Peel's entry, it was going to take someone better versed in the television program's history to reassure readers that Virgin really were taking this seriously. Gone, for the moment, are the nudity and graphic violence which Genesys wore like a gauche scarf, and in their place is a fantastically uncomfortable adventure set in the middle of World War II.
As if the title didn't give it away, the Timewyrm wasn't disposed of at the end of Genesys. In fact, thanks to a miscalculation on the Doctor's part, she's actually more powerful and more dangerous than her original incarnation in ancient Mesopotamia. Scattered into the time stream after her first confrontation with the Doctor, she's fled through the corridors of time and re-emerged on Earth several thousand years in the future. Gilgamesh and his ilk were too primitive to create the sort of long-lasting disturbance the Timewyrm seeks to manufacture. But history has shown there to be a man who amasses almost godlike power and a cult-like following among his countrymen; a petty tyrant and despot of the highest order who drags the entire world to the brink of destruction for the sake of his insane ambitions. The swastika on the cover should give away the mystery, but just in case you need the spoiler, it's Adolf Hitler.
It's astonishing to think that, for all the different places in Earth's timeline the Doctor's shown up, everywhere from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the OK Corral eight centuries later, he'd never investigated anything involving the single largest military conflict in our planet's current history (Yes, Curse of Fenric is set during that time period, but takes place in Northumberland, well away from the Nazis and their war machine). Maybe it's because, especially at the time of the show's premier, but even up through the 1980's, World War II was an enormous and personal part of history to a great many people. Here, today, more than seven decades after the fighting stopped, there aren't many from the so-named "Greatest Generation" alive to personally recall its horrors. Yet even those of us who were born decades after shiver at the thought of "what might have been", playing games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, seeing films like Dunkirk and Saving Private Ryan bringing its nightmares to life. It's too fresh in our cultural memories in ways that other historical conflicts like the Punic Wars, or the American Civil War, are not. Plus, having the Doctor meet Adolf Hitler opens up all kinds of temporal worm cans with wriggly bits like, "Why not just kill him and spare the planet all those years of agony, genocide, and conflict?"
Dicks, of course, is all too ready with his answer when Ace tries to do just that and argues with the Doctor when he attempts to stop her. Not only would killing Hitler before his rise to power create ripples upon ripples throughout the time stream that no one could either foresee or correct, it would, as he has the Doctor explain, be just about the worst misfortune to befall the planet:
"In history, the real history, Hitler's Thousand Year Reich lasted from 1933 to 1945. Twelve years and that was it. Finished. The main reason was that Hitler was an incompetent madman. You blow him to bits and maybe a competent madman takes charge. Someone who really can make the Reich last for a thousand years."
For all the damage the Reich did, for all the havoc it sewed across the continents, all it takes is to imagine a military commander who doesn't stop the siege and Dunkirk, who doesn't try to take Stalingrad in winter, and suddenly I'm writing this review in German, probably about a totally different book about Herr Doktor Wer and his efforts to spread National Socialism throughout the galaxy. Man, apparently I can imagine something worse than the Human Centipede franchise of horror films. Who knew?
Right, um, back to the story.
The Doctor is using the TARDIS to track the Timewyrm through history, and the TARDIS alights on Britain in 1951 as a source of temporal disturbance. He and Ace disembark to discover an England under German occupation six years after World War II ended in Ace's timeline. The giant cultural festival expected by the Doctor is nothing more than a long-running affair celebrating the Reich's dominance over the island. The BFK, a volunteer British version of the Hitler Youth, stir up trouble in the streets while the police have no choice but to look the other way. It doesn't take long for the Doctor and Ace to be pegged as outsiders, and they're rounded up first by the Gestapo for questioning, then by the local resistance. Failing to find a way to undo the damage from the 50's, but seeing the damage to the timestream as too intricate for even a being like the Timewyrm to commit individually, they hop back in time to the 1920's to learn what happened to Hitler before his rise to power, where they encounter the first inkling of something besides the Timewyrm causing trouble, then skip ahead to the 1930's after Hitler's ascent to try and stop the German Wehrmacht from being too successful in spreading the swastika across Europe.
The thing I find most amusing about this story is the way Dicks basically tells the Timewyrm to sod off while he gets down to business. While seizing upon the strength contained in Hitler's oratory and her personal charisma, she mis-judges his mental power and spends virtually the entire book herself locked up in the mind of a failed artist, unable to do much of anything save cause Hitler distress and manifest some scary paranormal powers during these "fits". This hilariously allows Dicks to throw the one character tying all four books together under the bus while he gets down to business telling the story he wanted to tell in the first place. With Genesys, you had to have the Timewyrm: she was the catalyst behind everything. In Exodus, she's a side-note when compared with not only Hitler's Third Reich but also a second adversary hearkening back to one of the biggest stories ever told in the TV program. No, I'm not going to spoil it--read for yourself. It'll help immensely if you're familiar with the Troughton era, and understanding a modicum of German may clue you in before the reveal, but I was quite surprised.
For hardcore fans and continuity hounds, Dicks drops plenty of references to previous adventures. Ace dreams of Daleks in a post-Remembrance of the Daleks nightmare, the Doctor shows off an army knife once belonging to Castillan Spandrell from The Deadly Assassin, heals Ace up with a dollop of Sisterhood Salve from The Brain of Morbius, remarks on Borusa's fate at the conclusion of The Five Doctors, recalls his death due to radiation poisoning from Planet of the Spiders, and quotes his Fourth incarnation from The Talons of Weng-Chiang with the line, "Sleep is for tortoises." And those are just the ones I caught--there are likely plenty more that I missed, but this is a game Uncle Terry plays well, and one I enjoy playing with him.
Earlier in the review I described this story as fantastically uncomfortable, and it really is. This is a situation for the Doctor where he's literally caught between a rock and a hard place and has to straddle a tightrope with no give in either direction. Failing to fix the corruption to the timeline means an indomitable Nazi empire taking over not just Europe, but the entire planet. Fixing the problem, on the other hand, still subjects tens of millions of people to death under brutal, agonizing conditions. The Doctor makes a deal with the devil by chumming up with Hitler, gaining his confidence, and guiding his actions--actions we know will result in unimaginable suffering. There's literally no choice he or anyone else can make that improves the situation. Though not touched on, we know the Holocaust will happen, and the only check the Doctor can place on it is to see that it gets no worse than the already-intolerable number of murder victims recorded in our history books. It's a dark choice, one the Doctor does not relish, but one he must undertake anyway, and yeah, it's damned uncomfortable reading some of the scenes where he's getting buddy-buddy with Hitler, Himmler, Goering, or anyone in service to the Reich.
I didn't like it, but I wasn't meant to like it. It's goddamn terrifying, and that was the point. That's a mature take on a Doctor Who story, not the T&A and battle porn of Peel's entry. Of course, in true Who fashion, the Doctor and Ace manage to come out on top (though, again, there's absolutely no way for them to 'save the day'), the Timewyrm is loosed from her mental prison in Hitler's brain, and it's back into the TARDIS to try and track her down in Timewyrm: Armageddon, the next chapter of the saga. (What, no Timewyrm: Leviticus?)
If there's one thing I didn't like, it's the way Ace winds up playing the victim one too many times. In the 1951 part of the story, she's roughed up by Nazis, and once she and the Doctor get to the actual war years, she's kidnapped for use as a sacrifice during an unholy occult ritual. At one point she actually faints, and I had to roll my eyes. Was this the same Ace who firebombed Gabriel Chase, went toe-to-toe with a Dalek armed with only a baseball bat, conquered her bestial and bloodthirsty nature on the planet of the Cheetah people, and held and comforted a young girl who had only just moments before been trying to murder her? Ace is many things, but a fainter isn't one of them. Perhaps to atone for this, she does get to gun down a slew of real Nazis in the story's climax, but still...Ace don't faint.
There's a second, rather potent, problem with one of Exodus's story elements as well, but it veers into spoiler territory if I get too in-depth with it, so I'll say one of the major players on the bad guy side absolutely should not exist due to circumstances surrounding his own father portrayed in the TV show. I saw nowhere in the book where Dicks was able to side-step this paradox, and to be fair it'll slide right past you if you've not seen the episode this story is using for that particular continuity grab, but I caught it right away. Ultimately the rest of the story is so satisfying that I'm willing to hand-wave this one away. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
October 31, 2021
‘Timewyrm: Exodus’ is the second entry in the Timewyrm arc and the second ever VNA book. It is also one of many books in the wilderness years that acts as a kind of sequel to the war games. It takes the concept of ‘what if the nazis won WWII’ and makes it into a Doctor Who story. The plot of the book revolves around The Doctor exploring alternate history and trying to discover how/when said history was altered.
As a whole this book is quite fun, though there are a few problems. Firstly, the characterisation of The Doctor and Ace are really well done and keeps the book consistently fun to read no matter what is happening. The other thing I specifically enjoyed was the increased scale of storytelling with a lot of locations and alot of secondary cast members. It was just good to see the book utilize it’s format and play out in a way that didn’t seem like a TV story with a set budget, something a lot of the early VNAs don’t realise
The part this book gets wrong is the portrayal of the Nazis, specifically in the second half where the book turns back to real history that actually happened. Specifically the plot point where the War Lords (this book’s returning villains) are revealed to be manipulating and using the Nazis. For fucks sake this book has the titular Timewyrm live in hitler’s brain until the end. It’s the main problem mentioned with this book in discussions but it leaves quite a bad taste whilst reading. It was summarized perfectly in another review, but it’s this kind of writing that devalues Hitler’s actions and enables Nazism.
On the other hand, The Doctor’s interactions with actual Nazis are some of the best parts of this book. It goes well with the surprising fun and adventurous vibe this book has, which kind of goes into the earlier criticism. Maybe this book is too fun, equally i think an overly serious and bleak tone wouldn’t work at all. There are a few serious moments reflecting on the shit the Nazis did but now that I've finished the book I feel there could’ve been more to even it out a bit.
Overall - this is a good book that I would recommend reading if you can find it at a reasonable price, even if it has its flaws.
As a whole this book is quite fun, though there are a few problems. Firstly, the characterisation of The Doctor and Ace are really well done and keeps the book consistently fun to read no matter what is happening. The other thing I specifically enjoyed was the increased scale of storytelling with a lot of locations and alot of secondary cast members. It was just good to see the book utilize it’s format and play out in a way that didn’t seem like a TV story with a set budget, something a lot of the early VNAs don’t realise
The part this book gets wrong is the portrayal of the Nazis, specifically in the second half where the book turns back to real history that actually happened. Specifically the plot point where the War Lords (this book’s returning villains) are revealed to be manipulating and using the Nazis. For fucks sake this book has the titular Timewyrm live in hitler’s brain until the end. It’s the main problem mentioned with this book in discussions but it leaves quite a bad taste whilst reading. It was summarized perfectly in another review, but it’s this kind of writing that devalues Hitler’s actions and enables Nazism.
On the other hand, The Doctor’s interactions with actual Nazis are some of the best parts of this book. It goes well with the surprising fun and adventurous vibe this book has, which kind of goes into the earlier criticism. Maybe this book is too fun, equally i think an overly serious and bleak tone wouldn’t work at all. There are a few serious moments reflecting on the shit the Nazis did but now that I've finished the book I feel there could’ve been more to even it out a bit.
Overall - this is a good book that I would recommend reading if you can find it at a reasonable price, even if it has its flaws.
May 16, 2017
Probably because by the time he wrote this Terrence Dicks was twenty-five years into his Doctor Who writing career, he isn’t as interested in a new adult Who as John Peel was. There are a few moments of violence, but nothing too gory and nothing – to be frank – to scare the horses. Instead we have an entertaining if undemanding tale of alt history. Actually alt history is an area that Doctor Who hasn’t explored as much as it could have, and so that old fall-back of ‘what if the Nazis had won the war?’ is as good a place to start as any. Even if Dicks does seem to lose interest in it mid-way through
What I took away from this book more than anything is a sense of annoyance, as Dicks can clearly only see the rise of Hitler and his cohorts through means of some other-worldly power. It wasn’t charisma, a gift of oration, and the perfect moment of history for such extreme beliefs to reach the mainstream – no there has to be more than it than that, there has to be an extra evil which goes beyond man’s comprehension. Surely though fiction’s tendency to do this is dangerous. If you are going to ascribe Hitler’s rise to some demonic (or other) power, if you see him as something more than just a man, you run the risk of not spotting the next Hitler, as what you’ll be looking at in the now is just a man, while your imagination of Hitler makes him so much more than that. Therefore this man – no matter how dangerous he looks – cannot (except in hyperbole) be like Hitler, because Hitler was more than just a man. He was something other.
The fact that Dicks does that – not only having Adolf manipulated by one extra-terrestrial power, but two – and leaves that standing at the end, just makes this book that trivialises the evil that man – and it was man, and man alone – can do. Which is a shame really.
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What I took away from this book more than anything is a sense of annoyance, as Dicks can clearly only see the rise of Hitler and his cohorts through means of some other-worldly power. It wasn’t charisma, a gift of oration, and the perfect moment of history for such extreme beliefs to reach the mainstream – no there has to be more than it than that, there has to be an extra evil which goes beyond man’s comprehension. Surely though fiction’s tendency to do this is dangerous. If you are going to ascribe Hitler’s rise to some demonic (or other) power, if you see him as something more than just a man, you run the risk of not spotting the next Hitler, as what you’ll be looking at in the now is just a man, while your imagination of Hitler makes him so much more than that. Therefore this man – no matter how dangerous he looks – cannot (except in hyperbole) be like Hitler, because Hitler was more than just a man. He was something other.
The fact that Dicks does that – not only having Adolf manipulated by one extra-terrestrial power, but two – and leaves that standing at the end, just makes this book that trivialises the evil that man – and it was man, and man alone – can do. Which is a shame really.
If you get chance, please visit my blog for book, TV and film reviews - as well as whatever else takes my fancy - at frjameson.com
LIke my Facebook page
Or follow me on Twitter or Instagram: @frjameson.
February 8, 2023
A good read and a vast improvement on its predecessor. Timewyrym Exodus builds on the previous novel and benefits from not having to reintroduce any of the sci-fi elements, instead being able to jump straight into action.
And the theme is Nazis this month. First off a section set on an alternate future Britain where Germany won the second world war. Now in the grand context of the book this part seems of not much importance - all the real action comes in part two where the Doctor and Ace go back and time and meddle in Nazi history. This first section also fails to make the Nazis seem like credible and dangerous villains, they come across like useless goons who the Doctor runs rings around. The second section is more effective giving us some true baddies and also giving quite an intimate and morally ambiguous look at the man that is Adolf Hitler. And not in a contrarian, deliberately divisive way either, it's quite effective. 4 stars.
And the theme is Nazis this month. First off a section set on an alternate future Britain where Germany won the second world war. Now in the grand context of the book this part seems of not much importance - all the real action comes in part two where the Doctor and Ace go back and time and meddle in Nazi history. This first section also fails to make the Nazis seem like credible and dangerous villains, they come across like useless goons who the Doctor runs rings around. The second section is more effective giving us some true baddies and also giving quite an intimate and morally ambiguous look at the man that is Adolf Hitler. And not in a contrarian, deliberately divisive way either, it's quite effective. 4 stars.
July 3, 2019
An alternative What if the Nazi's had won the second world war?
THIS BOOK WAS BRUTAL.
I absolutely loved this book.
Terrance Dicks is a genius when it comes to historical Who books, especially about famous Wars as proven in the War Games and Exodus certainly lived it up to that.
Seventh Doctor and Ace fighting and even working Nazi's whilst fighting their one true enemy-Ishtar or the Timewyrm as best known as but even she wasn't fully behind this movement of the Nazi's taking over the British Empire.
But the War Cheif's son was.
I cannot fully describe the book without giving away too much spoilers but it was amazing and I absolutely love bleak and grim books such as this and Terrance dicks certainly lived up to that.
THIS BOOK WAS BRUTAL.
I absolutely loved this book.
Terrance Dicks is a genius when it comes to historical Who books, especially about famous Wars as proven in the War Games and Exodus certainly lived it up to that.
Seventh Doctor and Ace fighting and even working Nazi's whilst fighting their one true enemy-Ishtar or the Timewyrm as best known as but even she wasn't fully behind this movement of the Nazi's taking over the British Empire.
But the War Cheif's son was.
I cannot fully describe the book without giving away too much spoilers but it was amazing and I absolutely love bleak and grim books such as this and Terrance dicks certainly lived up to that.
September 5, 2008
As a kid, I grew up reading the Target novelisations of the Doctor Who stories. We didn't have digital archives (or even videos!) in those days - when you saw an episode on Saturday night, you only had your memories to remind you and, later, the Terrence Dicks version of the story in print. (Or even to read those earlier stories which you were too young to have seen.)
And Dicks had a reputation. Yes, he had written for the tv show, but he was best known for turning out these straight-forward simply-written adaptations on a regular basis. So no-one really expected much from a full-length Doctor Who New Adventure (even though Dicks had a perfectly good track record with other writing.)
But Exodus changed everyone's minds. Not only about Dicks, but also about what the NAs could do in the right hands. For a show about time-travel, Doctor Who rarely dabbled in the actual nuts-and-bolts of the implications of changing history - if it did, it was typically to stop someone before it happened. So to throw the reader in at the deep end with a depiction of Britain after a Nazi victory in the Second World War is jarring to say the least. The exploration of this new world is well-drawn, with very little tell and lots of show instead. And there are some excellent farcical elements as well - the Doctor passing himself off as a Nazi bigwig and getting genuine officers into trouble is a hoot. And the "what-if" moment Dicks uses is also interesting, keeping the historical element a crucial part of the story.
And the second element of Exodus that is significant is the reintroduction of a character from the history of Who itself, showing the possibilities for NAs building on a twenty-five year back-catalogue of a universe that might be inconsistent but not irretrievably so (after all, fans have spent just as long reconciling these inconsistencies themselves - a process known as "retro-continuity" or "retcon" for short.)
And finally, Dicks manages a genuine sense of menace in the story. There is a real feeling of danger at times, even if you know our heroes are going to survive. In Genesys there was no threat - too much "supervillain gloating" instead; but here you are occasionally concerned that the threat of torture might actually be carried out.
Exodus showed that the NAs had proper credentials - they weren't going to be merely long Target books, but stories with ideas that, if not original, were going to be never less than interesting. Next up:Timewyrm: Apocalypse.
And Dicks had a reputation. Yes, he had written for the tv show, but he was best known for turning out these straight-forward simply-written adaptations on a regular basis. So no-one really expected much from a full-length Doctor Who New Adventure (even though Dicks had a perfectly good track record with other writing.)
But Exodus changed everyone's minds. Not only about Dicks, but also about what the NAs could do in the right hands. For a show about time-travel, Doctor Who rarely dabbled in the actual nuts-and-bolts of the implications of changing history - if it did, it was typically to stop someone before it happened. So to throw the reader in at the deep end with a depiction of Britain after a Nazi victory in the Second World War is jarring to say the least. The exploration of this new world is well-drawn, with very little tell and lots of show instead. And there are some excellent farcical elements as well - the Doctor passing himself off as a Nazi bigwig and getting genuine officers into trouble is a hoot. And the "what-if" moment Dicks uses is also interesting, keeping the historical element a crucial part of the story.
And the second element of Exodus that is significant is the reintroduction of a character from the history of Who itself, showing the possibilities for NAs building on a twenty-five year back-catalogue of a universe that might be inconsistent but not irretrievably so (after all, fans have spent just as long reconciling these inconsistencies themselves - a process known as "retro-continuity" or "retcon" for short.)
And finally, Dicks manages a genuine sense of menace in the story. There is a real feeling of danger at times, even if you know our heroes are going to survive. In Genesys there was no threat - too much "supervillain gloating" instead; but here you are occasionally concerned that the threat of torture might actually be carried out.
Exodus showed that the NAs had proper credentials - they weren't going to be merely long Target books, but stories with ideas that, if not original, were going to be never less than interesting. Next up:Timewyrm: Apocalypse.
October 3, 2017
Now this what I expect. Terrance Dicks is a Doctor Who legend and a writer I admire.
Horror of Fang Rock and The War Games are my all time favourite pieces of Television.
And Timewyrm: Exodus is one of greats when it comes to the Doctor Who books.
The plot itself is enough to make me interested: What if - Germany won the world war?
That enough you can do so much and Terrance delivers with flying colours.
The first part is we can see Britain occupied by German control and we can see just how vile they can be. An example would be with a background character minding his own business when a German parade goes past. Everyone salutes the flag but this man doesn't. The Parade stops, they look at him and proceed to beat the living crap out of him and the authorities don't care. The Doctor explains it could of been far worse for him. Either execution right on the spot or even sent to a concentration camp.
The Doctor and Ace are characterised perfectly. Excellent action and dialogue.
LT Hemming's is a real nasty character who really shows his superiority and dominance straight away and nobody to threaten.
The first part is fantastic 10/10 material. And has a very mysterious scene with Hemming's which is addressed in the final part of the series Revelation.
The Doctor and Ace have been tracking The Timewyrm which sent them to this what if timeline and it comes up with a question straight away of the true villains. The Timewyrm is more chaotic and destructive in nature and this what if timeline is more of a intelligent and sophisticated mind at work. Yes there is another villain and it's a returning one. It's brilliant! All that stuff is in part 2 and 3
Overall, almost perfect! I will still give it 5 stars. The third part I give a 9/10 as I have a few nit picks with that part which I discussed in my YouTube review but it really is one of my favourite Doctor Who books and it's the true start of the New Adventures! I pretend Genesys never happened. ;)
Thank you Terrance Dicks for this classic.
9.5/10
Horror of Fang Rock and The War Games are my all time favourite pieces of Television.
And Timewyrm: Exodus is one of greats when it comes to the Doctor Who books.
The plot itself is enough to make me interested: What if - Germany won the world war?
That enough you can do so much and Terrance delivers with flying colours.
The first part is we can see Britain occupied by German control and we can see just how vile they can be. An example would be with a background character minding his own business when a German parade goes past. Everyone salutes the flag but this man doesn't. The Parade stops, they look at him and proceed to beat the living crap out of him and the authorities don't care. The Doctor explains it could of been far worse for him. Either execution right on the spot or even sent to a concentration camp.
The Doctor and Ace are characterised perfectly. Excellent action and dialogue.
LT Hemming's is a real nasty character who really shows his superiority and dominance straight away and nobody to threaten.
The first part is fantastic 10/10 material. And has a very mysterious scene with Hemming's which is addressed in the final part of the series Revelation.
The Doctor and Ace have been tracking The Timewyrm which sent them to this what if timeline and it comes up with a question straight away of the true villains. The Timewyrm is more chaotic and destructive in nature and this what if timeline is more of a intelligent and sophisticated mind at work. Yes there is another villain and it's a returning one. It's brilliant! All that stuff is in part 2 and 3
Overall, almost perfect! I will still give it 5 stars. The third part I give a 9/10 as I have a few nit picks with that part which I discussed in my YouTube review but it really is one of my favourite Doctor Who books and it's the true start of the New Adventures! I pretend Genesys never happened. ;)
Thank you Terrance Dicks for this classic.
9.5/10
September 10, 2024
The Doctor stared at him in horror. First the Timewyrm, and now a super-Hitler. And it was all his fault.
March 8, 2025
Categorically an improvement over the John Peel title that launched this series, thank goodness. We're still traveling with final Classic Who TV heroes the Seventh Doctor and Ace, but the writing this time feels more sure of itself, with less to prove and none of the prurient elements that marked the previous volume. Terrance Dicks, having worked as a writer and script editor for the television program as well as an author on numerous episode novelizations, is a steady hand at these characters and the broader sci-fi saga around them, and he delivers a fine tale of alternate history and genre derring-do.
The plot: the villainous Timewyrm, cast out into the void at the end of the first book (which you absolutely don't need to read in order to follow along here), has survived by latching onto the brain patterns of one Adolf Hitler. Subsumed within his mind, she's able to exert enough influence to alter the course of World War II -- as Ace and the Doctor discover when they land in 1951 London to find it a dystopian occupied territory. For the first half of this novel, they are scrambling around in that time period, making contact with the resistance and trying to stay one step ahead of the local authorities and their collaborators while figuring out the scope of the changes to the timeline. Next they travel back to the war itself and infiltrate the German high command, whereupon the story pivots to become a surprise sequel to an old Second Doctor serial that Dicks co-wrote, The War Games. The Time Lord's enemy the War Chief and his people have a nefarious scheme of their own in progress, which the protagonists must now manage to foil without giving either the Nazis or the greater alien threat an undue advantage in the meantime.
The whole thing moves with a propulsive energy, and the time-travelers feel like themselves again while still pushing the franchise forward into new arenas. It's just what these spinoff books needed to cement the concept as a viable continuation of the Doctor Who brand.
[Content warning for gun violence, antisemitism including Nazi atrocities and slurs, and gore.]
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The plot: the villainous Timewyrm, cast out into the void at the end of the first book (which you absolutely don't need to read in order to follow along here), has survived by latching onto the brain patterns of one Adolf Hitler. Subsumed within his mind, she's able to exert enough influence to alter the course of World War II -- as Ace and the Doctor discover when they land in 1951 London to find it a dystopian occupied territory. For the first half of this novel, they are scrambling around in that time period, making contact with the resistance and trying to stay one step ahead of the local authorities and their collaborators while figuring out the scope of the changes to the timeline. Next they travel back to the war itself and infiltrate the German high command, whereupon the story pivots to become a surprise sequel to an old Second Doctor serial that Dicks co-wrote, The War Games. The Time Lord's enemy the War Chief and his people have a nefarious scheme of their own in progress, which the protagonists must now manage to foil without giving either the Nazis or the greater alien threat an undue advantage in the meantime.
The whole thing moves with a propulsive energy, and the time-travelers feel like themselves again while still pushing the franchise forward into new arenas. It's just what these spinoff books needed to cement the concept as a viable continuation of the Doctor Who brand.
[Content warning for gun violence, antisemitism including Nazi atrocities and slurs, and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
October 31, 2013
A well executed time travel story worthy of the title character. Dicks' prose and dialogue are generally free of the melodramatic commentary that plagued the previous novel although some problems remain in continuity (Ace's admission that she isn't fluent in German is.swept away once the characters are ensconced in Berlin,.for.example). As a story, Exodus succeeds in building risk, conflict, and a few genuine twists. Like Genesys, this story also uses continuity to tie it to the previous series of the Dr. Who tv show and does so in a way that neither alienates readers who didn't watch (like myself) nor overloads on exposition.
I have mixed feelings about the somewhat light treatment Dicks gives the Nazi characters...although the alternate 1951 characters were downright contemptable, the historical figures have some comedic touches that are almost endearing. There's something to be said for sympathy-for-the-devil stories but I don't think Nazis are worthy of them. That said, Dicks generally stays on the right side of taste; besides, no one ought to expect a Dr. Who novel to be Schindler's List.
I have mixed feelings about the somewhat light treatment Dicks gives the Nazi characters...although the alternate 1951 characters were downright contemptable, the historical figures have some comedic touches that are almost endearing. There's something to be said for sympathy-for-the-devil stories but I don't think Nazis are worthy of them. That said, Dicks generally stays on the right side of taste; besides, no one ought to expect a Dr. Who novel to be Schindler's List.
November 10, 2012
Uncle Terry proved that, after two decades of novelizing "Doctor Who" TV episodes, he can also kick butt with original Doctor Who fiction by writing "Exodus" -- the second ever original DW novel. It remains one of the most re-readable books in any range, and it's my personal favourite original DW novel authored by Mr. Dicks.
April 27, 2021
The "What if the Nazis won?" story is a bit of a cliché, but it's very compelling. The characters were strong and Hemmings in particular was a real villain I loved to hate.
Overall, a really entertaining book, and a strong improvement on the preceding entry in the series.
Overall, a really entertaining book, and a strong improvement on the preceding entry in the series.
May 30, 2021
Outstanding! Really enjoyed this one, the sort of plot I wish the TV show would do. Great to see a darker 7th doctor. And great folllow on to the previous book.
April 27, 2022
Timewyrm: Genesys got the new novel series off to a rocky start. Timewyrm: Exodus, by expert hand Terrance Dicks, steadies the ship nicely. It is not that this is a spectacular novel. As with all of Dicks' novels, the word that comes to mind is competent. That's enough. Dicks does not dazzle the reader with his prose. He does, however, manage to pack the most information in the least number of words, a trick that keeps the plot moving swiftly, and the pages turning. Doctor 7 and Ace are trying to track the Timewyrm using her connection to the TARDIS. They arrive in 1951 England, but an England in an alternate time line in which the Nazis won World War II. Ace thinks this has something to do with the Timewyrm, but The Doctor is not so sure. After a few scrapes, and some research, the TARDIS team take off to trace the political history of Adolf Hitler. The novel is interesting in several ways. First, though it does contain some violence and Dicks does not flinch in acknowledging the pain of violence, this novel is nothing like the many gore fests that will follow in Doctor Who original novels. The violence is not gratuitous and he does not let the ending get away from him in a free-for-all of violent mayhem. Indeed, as Doctor Who adventures go, this one is leisurely. The Doctor very cleverly insinuates himself and Ace into Nazi upper echelons, which allows the plot some breathing space. There are the occasional capture and dungeon scenes, but these do not last long and are not too many. Dicks also is very careful to get the history mostly right, to explore little-known aspects of history, and to deviate from history only when necessary. Had he wanted to, Dicks could have been a very good novelist of historical fiction. The plot still, in the end, comes down to The Doctor versus the Bad Guy. Also, the Timewyrm is pretty much out of action for most the novel, which advances the story arc of the series very little. All in all, this novel is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon.
September 17, 2025
Easily one of the best original novelizations to come from Dr.Who and I just happened to stumble upon it at a used book store recently. 7&Ace are in the running for my favorite duo and I certainly think 7 is devious in a way most other incarnations of the Doctor are not.
I do think one has to take care however to recognize that even for all the Doctors scheming, and playing nice, the Nazis playing nice back and the relative ineptitude of the Nazis in this book, it goes without saying that the characters portrayed in this novel are absolutely without a doubt some of the most evil men to ever live.
That said it is hilarious how the Doctor essentially walks into authority with the fascists using the simplest methods. It is so true that deference to authority is an inherently right wing trait and of course the Doc uses it against them with precision.
I do think one has to take care however to recognize that even for all the Doctors scheming, and playing nice, the Nazis playing nice back and the relative ineptitude of the Nazis in this book, it goes without saying that the characters portrayed in this novel are absolutely without a doubt some of the most evil men to ever live.
That said it is hilarious how the Doctor essentially walks into authority with the fascists using the simplest methods. It is so true that deference to authority is an inherently right wing trait and of course the Doc uses it against them with precision.
June 29, 2025
Doctor Who does pulp alt-history. And dodgy history at that. Still relatively fun for all its faults. After the catastrophe of Genesys, it’s a solid entry, but rather generic. Dicks hardly does much to justify the existence of the VNAs. Also, very odd choice of returning villain. Entirely pointless and seemingly only implemented for shock value… which itself fails because the reveal was so predictable.
November 11, 2024
Disjointed but entertaining.
December 1, 2011
This is the second story in the New Adventures book series that aimed to continue where the original television show left off. It is written by Terrance Dicks, a man with a massive influence on the history of the show.
This story is a direct sequel to Timewyrm: Genesys, and succeeds where that book failed. For a start, the author is interested in telling a good story rather than describing Ace with her kit off, or dropping in needless paedophile sexual innuendo, and what we are left with is a classic style Who story, with historical characters, and interesting set up, and a satisfactory - if somewhat predictable - conclusion.
If I have any criticism, it is this: Exodus will not attract a casual reader, because the roots of the story are based in a 1960's story (that was originally co-written by Dicks). As a fan I loved the idea, but for a casual reader it might just be a little to "so what?" Loved the idea of the deformed character (see? No spoilers!) but again unless you are familiar with the events of "The War Games" you might not care less. I however did get it, and did enjoy it, and as it has been twenty years since I have read these, I am looking forward to where the Timewyrm saga takes me next!
This story is a direct sequel to Timewyrm: Genesys, and succeeds where that book failed. For a start, the author is interested in telling a good story rather than describing Ace with her kit off, or dropping in needless paedophile sexual innuendo, and what we are left with is a classic style Who story, with historical characters, and interesting set up, and a satisfactory - if somewhat predictable - conclusion.
If I have any criticism, it is this: Exodus will not attract a casual reader, because the roots of the story are based in a 1960's story (that was originally co-written by Dicks). As a fan I loved the idea, but for a casual reader it might just be a little to "so what?" Loved the idea of the deformed character (see? No spoilers!) but again unless you are familiar with the events of "The War Games" you might not care less. I however did get it, and did enjoy it, and as it has been twenty years since I have read these, I am looking forward to where the Timewyrm saga takes me next!
December 29, 2025
November 2019
3.5/5
I'm not sure if the Timewyrm is really interesting enough to sustain a four book cycle, to be honest. Still, I enjoyed this a bit more than the last one...it helps that Dicks, whatever my problems with him are, is an experienced writer for the series and knows how to start a story off, so at least we don't have to deal with a character like Gilgamesh for several chapters before the Doctor and Ace start properly interacting with the plot. I found the first part in alternate 1951 England to be the most interesting, but it's a pretty solid book overall.
November 2025
As with Genesys my estimation of this one has gone down a little over time. It's more compelling than the first book, and has some effective moments, but I never got the impression that Dicks was wholly comfortable with Ace and the Seventh Doctor (slipping into Pertwee era paternalism with the latter and damsel in distress antics with the former), and the uneasy way this tries to straddle real history and behaving as though Hitler's rise was inexplicable without alien help frustrated me more than anything.
3.5/5
I'm not sure if the Timewyrm is really interesting enough to sustain a four book cycle, to be honest. Still, I enjoyed this a bit more than the last one...it helps that Dicks, whatever my problems with him are, is an experienced writer for the series and knows how to start a story off, so at least we don't have to deal with a character like Gilgamesh for several chapters before the Doctor and Ace start properly interacting with the plot. I found the first part in alternate 1951 England to be the most interesting, but it's a pretty solid book overall.
November 2025
As with Genesys my estimation of this one has gone down a little over time. It's more compelling than the first book, and has some effective moments, but I never got the impression that Dicks was wholly comfortable with Ace and the Seventh Doctor (slipping into Pertwee era paternalism with the latter and damsel in distress antics with the former), and the uneasy way this tries to straddle real history and behaving as though Hitler's rise was inexplicable without alien help frustrated me more than anything.
October 31, 2017
Virgin Publishing's The New Adventures follow on immediately after Doctor Who was put on hiatus, and feature the Seventh Doctor as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy, and in this story his companion Ace. Timewyrm: Exodus is the second volume in the four-volume Timewyrm series. Timewyrm: Exodus opens with the TARDIS landing in London in 1951, but upon leaving the TARDIS the Doctor and Ace realize something is very, very wrong. They've landed in an UK where the Nazis won World War II. It's a bleak, war-torn, depressed London, with no freedom. The Doctor and Ace stay just long enough to try and figure out where history went wrong, discovering that the Miracle of Dunkirk never happened, the German airstrikes on civilian British cities destroyed those cities (London and others in the Industrial North), and the Lightening War included a quick strike at England that the British were unable to combat.
Following some complications, the Doctor and Ace are able to return to the TARDIS and head back in time to correct the aberration.
The TARDIS lands in Munich where Hitler's led a completely unsuccessful attack by the Nazis. As the defeated Hitler runs away, he remarks that he considers suicide an answer. The Doctor aids Hitler in his escape and talks him out of it. Ace is flabbergasted. But the Doctor insists that history must follow it's course and if it doesn't it could lead to the disaster they just left.
The next section makes up the bulk of the novel, as the Doctor and Ace arrive in Nazi Germany, just before the Germans invade Poland. Hitler welcomes the Doctor with open arms as the man who saved him in Munich. Ace is appalled by everything - the "No Jews" signs in parks; the atmosphere of fear on the streets, the Nazi-controlled newspapers that report that Poland is rattling the sabre at Germany and threatening the Germans (the exact opposite of the truth) and the other daily horrors of life under a racist dictatorship.
The Doctor and Ace attend a Nazi Rally in Nuremberg, and as Hitler finishes speaking the Doctor asks Ace what she just heard. Ace can only report vague thoughts: blame on everyone else, the idea to make Germany Great Again, etc. But mostly Ace only experienced emotions. The Doctor tells her that her emotions were played like a violin, manipulated, that it was a form of psycho-conditioning, and something that shouldn't even exist yet. He suspects something alien is aiding Hitler. After the rally, the two are caught, Hitler welcomes the Doctor, and the Doctor meets with him alone. Hitler has a fit - a storm of psychic activity. Items fly off walls, swirl around the room, crash on the floor. The Doctor sees the Timewyrm in Hitler. Then Hitler collapses. Only Hitler's private secretary (by instinct) and the Doctor (by knowledge and by his own telepathic abilities) can calm Hitler's fits. The Doctor obtains a medical history.
But there are also rumors of the Black Coven, a secret SS group that is helping Hitler and the Nazis to gain power and control. An invitation is sent to the Doctor, but Ace receives it, and as she's bored (she keeps getting left behind in hotel rooms with nothing to do) she goes to investigate. She's captured, and a threatening message is left for the Doctor. Ace is taken to Drachenberg Castle, a secret SS stronghold and home to the Black Coven. In due course, the Doctor follows to rescue Ace.
At Drachenberg Castle, the Doctor and Ace discover the War Lords and the War Chief are out to manipulate time. These are characters from the aired Doctor Who episode, "The War Games", and I must admit it was fascinating to read a story that bought them back, though there plans were horrifying (bringing about a Nazi Earth, then a Nazi Galaxy, and an Nazi universe - horrifying). Among other things, the War Lords have set up a nuclear reactor in the basement of the castle, have used conditioning on SS stormtroopers to not only make them totally loyal but to make them unafraid of death, and have found a way to bring dead soldiers back to life as zombies. The War Lords remark that it' easy to finish conditioning the solders because they were half there already. Ace and the Doctor discover what's going on. The SS plan to sacrifice Ace in a occult ceremony to the Teutonic gods (mostly to appease the superstitious Nazis). During the ceremony, the Doctor frees Ace and uses one of her Nitro-9 capsules he'd confiscated earlier to bring down the roof - and killing most of the War Lords and their SS hoards. The Doctor had also called in the "cavalry" so to speak, and the German regular army attack the castle and SS, and Hitler arrives in a plane. The Doctor explains he uncovered a plot to overthrow Hitler himself and replace him with someone more reliable. But the SS zombies attack. In the end, the Doctor overloads the reactor, and he and Ace escape in the TARDIS.
But the Doctor realizes he's made one mistake - he taught Hitler how to control the Timewyrm trapped within him. He and Ace take the TARDIS to Felsennest, where the Doctor goads the Timewyrm to leave Hitler and be dispersed. The Doctor also gives Hitler a lot of bad military advice, which assures that World War II will follow it's historical path - Dunkirk, the failure of bombing the UK, Germany's attack on Russia, etc.
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor is extremely depressed. He can only think of all the death the six-year war will bring. He feels guilty and responsible. And he's not even sure if history is on the correct path. Ace talks him into returning to 1951 London. They do and it's the London they know. They attend a fun fair festival.
Although it was very hard reading a novel set for the most part in Nazi Germany, this was a good story. I can't say I enjoyed it because who enjoys reading about Nazis slaughtering people because they are different or simply for kicks? But the story did flow well, and wasn't predictable. I was not expecting the War Lords and War Chief to show-up, even though in the story the Doctor tells Ace they are dealing with multiple forms of manipulation of the time lines. The Timewyrm really isn't in the story that much, much to my surprise. She's basically trapped - and in the end, the Doctor must free her. No doubt she will be back as there are two more books in the mini-series. Terrance Dicks does treat Ace terribly though - he keeps having her faint. This is completely out of character for Ace - this is the woman who attacked a Dalek with a baseball bat after all. But every time he wants to get Ace out of the way - Dicks has her faint. It's pretty sexist writing. But aside from that, I can honestly recommend the book.
Following some complications, the Doctor and Ace are able to return to the TARDIS and head back in time to correct the aberration.
The TARDIS lands in Munich where Hitler's led a completely unsuccessful attack by the Nazis. As the defeated Hitler runs away, he remarks that he considers suicide an answer. The Doctor aids Hitler in his escape and talks him out of it. Ace is flabbergasted. But the Doctor insists that history must follow it's course and if it doesn't it could lead to the disaster they just left.
The next section makes up the bulk of the novel, as the Doctor and Ace arrive in Nazi Germany, just before the Germans invade Poland. Hitler welcomes the Doctor with open arms as the man who saved him in Munich. Ace is appalled by everything - the "No Jews" signs in parks; the atmosphere of fear on the streets, the Nazi-controlled newspapers that report that Poland is rattling the sabre at Germany and threatening the Germans (the exact opposite of the truth) and the other daily horrors of life under a racist dictatorship.
The Doctor and Ace attend a Nazi Rally in Nuremberg, and as Hitler finishes speaking the Doctor asks Ace what she just heard. Ace can only report vague thoughts: blame on everyone else, the idea to make Germany Great Again, etc. But mostly Ace only experienced emotions. The Doctor tells her that her emotions were played like a violin, manipulated, that it was a form of psycho-conditioning, and something that shouldn't even exist yet. He suspects something alien is aiding Hitler. After the rally, the two are caught, Hitler welcomes the Doctor, and the Doctor meets with him alone. Hitler has a fit - a storm of psychic activity. Items fly off walls, swirl around the room, crash on the floor. The Doctor sees the Timewyrm in Hitler. Then Hitler collapses. Only Hitler's private secretary (by instinct) and the Doctor (by knowledge and by his own telepathic abilities) can calm Hitler's fits. The Doctor obtains a medical history.
But there are also rumors of the Black Coven, a secret SS group that is helping Hitler and the Nazis to gain power and control. An invitation is sent to the Doctor, but Ace receives it, and as she's bored (she keeps getting left behind in hotel rooms with nothing to do) she goes to investigate. She's captured, and a threatening message is left for the Doctor. Ace is taken to Drachenberg Castle, a secret SS stronghold and home to the Black Coven. In due course, the Doctor follows to rescue Ace.
At Drachenberg Castle, the Doctor and Ace discover the War Lords and the War Chief are out to manipulate time. These are characters from the aired Doctor Who episode, "The War Games", and I must admit it was fascinating to read a story that bought them back, though there plans were horrifying (bringing about a Nazi Earth, then a Nazi Galaxy, and an Nazi universe - horrifying). Among other things, the War Lords have set up a nuclear reactor in the basement of the castle, have used conditioning on SS stormtroopers to not only make them totally loyal but to make them unafraid of death, and have found a way to bring dead soldiers back to life as zombies. The War Lords remark that it' easy to finish conditioning the solders because they were half there already. Ace and the Doctor discover what's going on. The SS plan to sacrifice Ace in a occult ceremony to the Teutonic gods (mostly to appease the superstitious Nazis). During the ceremony, the Doctor frees Ace and uses one of her Nitro-9 capsules he'd confiscated earlier to bring down the roof - and killing most of the War Lords and their SS hoards. The Doctor had also called in the "cavalry" so to speak, and the German regular army attack the castle and SS, and Hitler arrives in a plane. The Doctor explains he uncovered a plot to overthrow Hitler himself and replace him with someone more reliable. But the SS zombies attack. In the end, the Doctor overloads the reactor, and he and Ace escape in the TARDIS.
But the Doctor realizes he's made one mistake - he taught Hitler how to control the Timewyrm trapped within him. He and Ace take the TARDIS to Felsennest, where the Doctor goads the Timewyrm to leave Hitler and be dispersed. The Doctor also gives Hitler a lot of bad military advice, which assures that World War II will follow it's historical path - Dunkirk, the failure of bombing the UK, Germany's attack on Russia, etc.
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor is extremely depressed. He can only think of all the death the six-year war will bring. He feels guilty and responsible. And he's not even sure if history is on the correct path. Ace talks him into returning to 1951 London. They do and it's the London they know. They attend a fun fair festival.
Although it was very hard reading a novel set for the most part in Nazi Germany, this was a good story. I can't say I enjoyed it because who enjoys reading about Nazis slaughtering people because they are different or simply for kicks? But the story did flow well, and wasn't predictable. I was not expecting the War Lords and War Chief to show-up, even though in the story the Doctor tells Ace they are dealing with multiple forms of manipulation of the time lines. The Timewyrm really isn't in the story that much, much to my surprise. She's basically trapped - and in the end, the Doctor must free her. No doubt she will be back as there are two more books in the mini-series. Terrance Dicks does treat Ace terribly though - he keeps having her faint. This is completely out of character for Ace - this is the woman who attacked a Dalek with a baseball bat after all. But every time he wants to get Ace out of the way - Dicks has her faint. It's pretty sexist writing. But aside from that, I can honestly recommend the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2021
The second Virgin New Adventure was certainly more exciting than the first given a certain factor: Terrance Dicks. Beloved Dr Who legend of the 1970s, writing the second novel, supposed to canonically continue on from season 26, was obviously incredibly exciting. Having to incorperate the Timewyrm arc definitely took an effect on the story being told, but for what the main story was, it was excellent.
Another pseudo-historical just like Genesys, Timewyrm: Exodus does the story format slightly more justice involves you with real historical events and almost does what the Hartnell’s used to do, trying to teach you as well as entertain you. I was absolutely transfixed learning about Nazi Germany, especially all the details they left out when I was in school, giving the story’s setting and characters and incredibly lifelike feel. Incredibly descriptive settings and descriptions of what goes through the characters minds, help develop the educative element, and of course it’s the timey wimey elements that give the story its entertainment.
History being changes and the outcoming world as a result is a tried and tested idea in Dr Who, sometime it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but in this it definitely does. The opening half of Ace and The Doctor exploring Nazi occupied England is very tantalising, and I feel we definitely do get to see the characters, main or otherwise, interacting with their surrounding environment to new feel shortchanged, or feel as if the idea has been wasted. The story continues to enterain as The Doctor and Ace go back to shortly after the invasion of Poland, and we get to see some incredible pieces of history play out. Bits like Ace seeing a Jewish man harrased, and get interrogated as a spy are an amazing glimpse into what that era was like.
I see a lot of people who whinge about the dynamic between Ace and The Doctor in Genesys, but honestly its the same in this book, and that’s no bad thing. Loveable and light-hearted, but evenly pragmatic and manipulative, which is tonally a perfect blend of seasons 25 & 26. They interact perfectly with the surrounding world and characters and nothing feels amiss about them. I can hardly commend or criticise characters like Goerring and Himmler as they are just history book characters there to inform, not so much be crucial to the story, that role… is for the villain!
I won’t spoil who the real villain of the book is, as everyone loves an old cameo but it’s certainly nice to see throwbacks and incorperate a bit of Dr Who’s past into it’s future. If you are waiting for the Timwyrm’s next evil appearance after the events of Genesys, then get reads to be dissapointed as she is barely in it, she just sort of shows up, turns Hitler into a god then vanishes. Honestly the only thing that stops this book from being faultless is the fact that it spends so much time going on about the Timewyrm, which detracts from the story and doesn’t allow you focus on events, too busy anticipating a surprise that never really happens.
Aside from this I absolutely loved the book, and am definitely a fan of the Virgin New Adventures so far, just hope that it can maintain this strength of quality, and ideally the Timewyrm pisses off so we can have stories, not about bland and mostly crap villains like her.
Another pseudo-historical just like Genesys, Timewyrm: Exodus does the story format slightly more justice involves you with real historical events and almost does what the Hartnell’s used to do, trying to teach you as well as entertain you. I was absolutely transfixed learning about Nazi Germany, especially all the details they left out when I was in school, giving the story’s setting and characters and incredibly lifelike feel. Incredibly descriptive settings and descriptions of what goes through the characters minds, help develop the educative element, and of course it’s the timey wimey elements that give the story its entertainment.
History being changes and the outcoming world as a result is a tried and tested idea in Dr Who, sometime it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but in this it definitely does. The opening half of Ace and The Doctor exploring Nazi occupied England is very tantalising, and I feel we definitely do get to see the characters, main or otherwise, interacting with their surrounding environment to new feel shortchanged, or feel as if the idea has been wasted. The story continues to enterain as The Doctor and Ace go back to shortly after the invasion of Poland, and we get to see some incredible pieces of history play out. Bits like Ace seeing a Jewish man harrased, and get interrogated as a spy are an amazing glimpse into what that era was like.
I see a lot of people who whinge about the dynamic between Ace and The Doctor in Genesys, but honestly its the same in this book, and that’s no bad thing. Loveable and light-hearted, but evenly pragmatic and manipulative, which is tonally a perfect blend of seasons 25 & 26. They interact perfectly with the surrounding world and characters and nothing feels amiss about them. I can hardly commend or criticise characters like Goerring and Himmler as they are just history book characters there to inform, not so much be crucial to the story, that role… is for the villain!
I won’t spoil who the real villain of the book is, as everyone loves an old cameo but it’s certainly nice to see throwbacks and incorperate a bit of Dr Who’s past into it’s future. If you are waiting for the Timwyrm’s next evil appearance after the events of Genesys, then get reads to be dissapointed as she is barely in it, she just sort of shows up, turns Hitler into a god then vanishes. Honestly the only thing that stops this book from being faultless is the fact that it spends so much time going on about the Timewyrm, which detracts from the story and doesn’t allow you focus on events, too busy anticipating a surprise that never really happens.
Aside from this I absolutely loved the book, and am definitely a fan of the Virgin New Adventures so far, just hope that it can maintain this strength of quality, and ideally the Timewyrm pisses off so we can have stories, not about bland and mostly crap villains like her.
September 16, 2022
I don't normally read 2 doctor who's back to back, but after the terrible schlog that was "Rags" I needed to wash my brain out with one i was reasonably sure i'd like. And well, yeah, i did enjoy this one quite a bit more than Rags.
The first thing you'll notice is, yes, of course this is a WWII book. Oh my god does DW like talking about WWII. its like their favorite thing ever. i can think of at least 5 DW stories off the top of my head that deal with WWII. We get it. England was awesome in it. Can we please talk about anything else? I swear, the doc has been to WWII so many times at this point, you'd think that all the different incarnations would be bumping into each other.
Anyway, despite the rather stock setting, I have to say that this book was pretty good. The first thing is that it's written by Terrance Dicks, aka, a writer on the original show. And it really shows as this book actually does feel like an episode of the series.
While Genesys was DEFINITELY WAY more adult than the series normally is with violence and flagrant nudity, this one brings it back to normal TV safe levels. (i'm not saying i prefer one or the other, i'm just saying it's something i noticed) the 2 were written by different authors and it's VERY obvious this was the case.
Something i loved about this book was that it was seriously 90% the doctor and ace. So many doctor who books have this strange fascination with focusing on random characters that are one offs just to have them die in horrible ways after spending 50 pages learning about their backstory. This book was like "nah, the audience is here to see doc and ace, and we're going to give them doc and ace." Seeing this was such a breath of fresh air, that i can forgive the static, boring setting.
Terrance really liked bringing in real life actual important nazi people into this book. like hitler, himmler, goerig, etc, all play important roles and it's interesting to see all these real evil people talking to the doctor from their point of view. Also seeing 7 be Hitler's spiritual counsel WAS quite amusing.
There's also less animosity between 7 and Ace in this one. in Genesys, 7 was a bit out of character with how annoyed he was at ace, but this one makes them more like they were in the show and i can appreciate that.
The story itself is just fine. 7 and ace have to find out how the nazis won WWII when obviously they shouldn't have all while tracking down the timewyrm (from book 1) and have to travel back to 1939 for the majority of the book.
All in all, i had enough fun with this one. It wasn't too long and didn't overstay its welcome, it was easy to follow without too many nonsensical descriptors, and there weren't 45 useless side characters. it really did feel like an episode of the show.
Excited to read part 3 in the Timewyrm quadrilogy.
3.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 3.
The first thing you'll notice is, yes, of course this is a WWII book. Oh my god does DW like talking about WWII. its like their favorite thing ever. i can think of at least 5 DW stories off the top of my head that deal with WWII. We get it. England was awesome in it. Can we please talk about anything else? I swear, the doc has been to WWII so many times at this point, you'd think that all the different incarnations would be bumping into each other.
Anyway, despite the rather stock setting, I have to say that this book was pretty good. The first thing is that it's written by Terrance Dicks, aka, a writer on the original show. And it really shows as this book actually does feel like an episode of the series.
While Genesys was DEFINITELY WAY more adult than the series normally is with violence and flagrant nudity, this one brings it back to normal TV safe levels. (i'm not saying i prefer one or the other, i'm just saying it's something i noticed) the 2 were written by different authors and it's VERY obvious this was the case.
Something i loved about this book was that it was seriously 90% the doctor and ace. So many doctor who books have this strange fascination with focusing on random characters that are one offs just to have them die in horrible ways after spending 50 pages learning about their backstory. This book was like "nah, the audience is here to see doc and ace, and we're going to give them doc and ace." Seeing this was such a breath of fresh air, that i can forgive the static, boring setting.
Terrance really liked bringing in real life actual important nazi people into this book. like hitler, himmler, goerig, etc, all play important roles and it's interesting to see all these real evil people talking to the doctor from their point of view. Also seeing 7 be Hitler's spiritual counsel WAS quite amusing.
There's also less animosity between 7 and Ace in this one. in Genesys, 7 was a bit out of character with how annoyed he was at ace, but this one makes them more like they were in the show and i can appreciate that.
The story itself is just fine. 7 and ace have to find out how the nazis won WWII when obviously they shouldn't have all while tracking down the timewyrm (from book 1) and have to travel back to 1939 for the majority of the book.
All in all, i had enough fun with this one. It wasn't too long and didn't overstay its welcome, it was easy to follow without too many nonsensical descriptors, and there weren't 45 useless side characters. it really did feel like an episode of the show.
Excited to read part 3 in the Timewyrm quadrilogy.
3.5 out of 5 rounded down to a 3.
March 15, 2021
First of all, THE WAR LORDS!!! I was so surprised and excited to see them turn up in this book! The War Games is my all time favorite Classic Who serial, and because of how they wrote the War Lords and the War Chief out of the story at the end of that serial, I didn't think I would ever see those villains show up again. And then, as they were describing the castle lair, I couldn't help but think the description sounded similar to the lair from War Games, but it seemed too slim a chance to hope that it would actually turn out to be them. And then when the reveal finally happened, I wondered how Dicks would explain their presence given that the War Lords were written out of time by the Time Lords. But this explanation really worked. I got the villains from my favorite serial back (which I never thought I'd see), and I will take any explanation for it, no matter how far fetched.
In other pros, I enjoyed the brief nods we got to other classic serials such as Brain of Morbius and Planet of the Spiders. And Ace being her awesome self. And the Doctor acknowledging that he loves Ace which just warmed me up completely, from my heart all the way to my toes. Because of course he does. No one who ever watched their dynamic would ever doubt it, but it made me so happy to read the Doctor actually telling Ace that; Ace had such a rough childhood and the Doctor manipulated her so much during the course of the visual series that it feels drastically important that Ace know someone -- and the Doctor, no less -- truly loves her and cares about her. Ace deserves all the affection and devotion in the world.
Also, can I just say, this is what I had hoped "Let's Kill Hitler" would turn out to be when I read the title of that episode before it aired. I wanted the Doctor put in a situation where he would have to choose between maintaining history and stopping the future genocide of millions of people. Instead, I got Rory locking Hitler in a closet...and that was it. I really wish they had simply reworked the plot line of this book instead (as they did with Human Nature for s03). Man, this plot would have made such a great episode.
The only cons were that the showdown with the Timewyrm at the end was rushed and anti-climactic and that the Doctor got on way too well with Nazi leaders. I mean, I understand why and I know the Doctor was disgusted by them but he needed to figure out what was going on and fix the time stream. But it's also pointed out that the Doctor was, at other times, just genuinely intrigued by what certain characters had to say sometimes. And while that is completely in character with the Seventh Doctor, it doesn't make it any easier to read.
In other pros, I enjoyed the brief nods we got to other classic serials such as Brain of Morbius and Planet of the Spiders. And Ace being her awesome self. And the Doctor acknowledging that he loves Ace which just warmed me up completely, from my heart all the way to my toes. Because of course he does. No one who ever watched their dynamic would ever doubt it, but it made me so happy to read the Doctor actually telling Ace that; Ace had such a rough childhood and the Doctor manipulated her so much during the course of the visual series that it feels drastically important that Ace know someone -- and the Doctor, no less -- truly loves her and cares about her. Ace deserves all the affection and devotion in the world.
Also, can I just say, this is what I had hoped "Let's Kill Hitler" would turn out to be when I read the title of that episode before it aired. I wanted the Doctor put in a situation where he would have to choose between maintaining history and stopping the future genocide of millions of people. Instead, I got Rory locking Hitler in a closet...and that was it. I really wish they had simply reworked the plot line of this book instead (as they did with Human Nature for s03). Man, this plot would have made such a great episode.
The only cons were that the showdown with the Timewyrm at the end was rushed and anti-climactic and that the Doctor got on way too well with Nazi leaders. I mean, I understand why and I know the Doctor was disgusted by them but he needed to figure out what was going on and fix the time stream. But it's also pointed out that the Doctor was, at other times, just genuinely intrigued by what certain characters had to say sometimes. And while that is completely in character with the Seventh Doctor, it doesn't make it any easier to read.
June 25, 2024
I've been a Doctor Who fan for most of my life but have never dipped a toe in the waters of the Virgin or BBC Books. For all the respect they're held in I couldn't quite get past the slight whiff of methadone about them. But a recent poll of the Virgin New Adventures piqued my curiosity so armed with a list of their faves and a few other recommendations I ventured in, reading 4 of the early novels on a mini-break.
They are easy, entertaining reads, of course! This was the worst one I read, and it was still highly readable, being done by the guy who wrote more of the Target novelisations than any other. Terrance Dicks can do zippy, unflashy, page-turning prose like few others. For the first chunk of the book, set in an alternative-history Festival Of Britain where the Nazis won WW2, I was gripped.
After that the magic faded a bit, partly because doing a Nazi-themed story in Doctor Who is always a bit tricky. Once the Doctor had established his M.O. as a guy who will occasionally lend a hand in overthrowing monstrous regimes, the question does rather arise as to what makes the historical monstrous regimes of Earth so special that he won't raise a hand against them. The real reason for it is obvious, but it's still hard - not impossible, but hard - to square the circle in a satisfying story.
Dicks' solution is not a completely happy one. Hitler's power is being enhanced by not one, but two alien baddies, and defeating them puts history back on a track where Hitler only rules for 12 years, not a lifetime. So the Doctor IS intervening, but to avoid something even worse than what happened. The problem is that what happened is already so bad as to make the alien threats feel more than a bit frivolous.
Still, unconvincing or not, it gives Dicks the chance to write the book he wants, one in which the Doctor gets mixed up in the internal politics of the Nazi High Command, and comes face to face with Hitler, Goring and others. The scenes with Hitler are a deft bit of writing, with the Doctor convincing Hitler to trust him without once saying anything which even the most ungenerous reader could count as an endorsement. But the overall effect is of a book biting off a bit more than it can chew.
They are easy, entertaining reads, of course! This was the worst one I read, and it was still highly readable, being done by the guy who wrote more of the Target novelisations than any other. Terrance Dicks can do zippy, unflashy, page-turning prose like few others. For the first chunk of the book, set in an alternative-history Festival Of Britain where the Nazis won WW2, I was gripped.
After that the magic faded a bit, partly because doing a Nazi-themed story in Doctor Who is always a bit tricky. Once the Doctor had established his M.O. as a guy who will occasionally lend a hand in overthrowing monstrous regimes, the question does rather arise as to what makes the historical monstrous regimes of Earth so special that he won't raise a hand against them. The real reason for it is obvious, but it's still hard - not impossible, but hard - to square the circle in a satisfying story.
Dicks' solution is not a completely happy one. Hitler's power is being enhanced by not one, but two alien baddies, and defeating them puts history back on a track where Hitler only rules for 12 years, not a lifetime. So the Doctor IS intervening, but to avoid something even worse than what happened. The problem is that what happened is already so bad as to make the alien threats feel more than a bit frivolous.
Still, unconvincing or not, it gives Dicks the chance to write the book he wants, one in which the Doctor gets mixed up in the internal politics of the Nazi High Command, and comes face to face with Hitler, Goring and others. The scenes with Hitler are a deft bit of writing, with the Doctor convincing Hitler to trust him without once saying anything which even the most ungenerous reader could count as an endorsement. But the overall effect is of a book biting off a bit more than it can chew.
November 27, 2023
Quite the improvement from the previous book! I don't think it's a controversial statement to suggest that Terrance Dicks knows how to write Doctor Who. There's a lovely frantic pace from the get go, which really adds a sense of tension throughout! The premise is pretty interesting and does break new ground for Doctor Who (what if the Nazis won WW2). There's a rather excellent villain too, who was long overdue a return. Dicks also takes advantage of the novel medium to jump around from location to location, something that he wouldn't have been afforded the luxury of when writing for TV.
If I'm to be critical, I'd say that Dicks doesn't fully grasp the Seventh Doctor and Ace as characters but he does have such a strong grasp of the generic Doctor and Companion dynamic he gets away with it. There is an argument to say too that perhaps this story does highlight why Doctor Who hasn't really tackled the Nazis before, because it reduces the actual threat they have. This story in particular perpetuates the myth that Hitler was a powerful speaker when in fact a lot of his rise to power had many more factors (one reason he had such big crowds was due to the fact he was one of the few politicians who used a public address system). Also reducing the Nazis to cartoon characters like this dimishes their very real horrors in some way. I'd also say that the Timewyrm elements feel like an afterthought, with it appearing in a few pages. It felt like there was already a story and the Timewyrm was thrown in just to fit the overarching narrative.
That being said, it's certainly an interesting story that should grip fans of Doctor Who. It's also good to see Terrance Dicks use the format to try new and interesting things that he wouldn't have been able to do with TV. Well worth a read!
If I'm to be critical, I'd say that Dicks doesn't fully grasp the Seventh Doctor and Ace as characters but he does have such a strong grasp of the generic Doctor and Companion dynamic he gets away with it. There is an argument to say too that perhaps this story does highlight why Doctor Who hasn't really tackled the Nazis before, because it reduces the actual threat they have. This story in particular perpetuates the myth that Hitler was a powerful speaker when in fact a lot of his rise to power had many more factors (one reason he had such big crowds was due to the fact he was one of the few politicians who used a public address system). Also reducing the Nazis to cartoon characters like this dimishes their very real horrors in some way. I'd also say that the Timewyrm elements feel like an afterthought, with it appearing in a few pages. It felt like there was already a story and the Timewyrm was thrown in just to fit the overarching narrative.
That being said, it's certainly an interesting story that should grip fans of Doctor Who. It's also good to see Terrance Dicks use the format to try new and interesting things that he wouldn't have been able to do with TV. Well worth a read!
August 11, 2024
Timewyrm: Genesys proves to have been a huge misfire when it stands in the shadows of its immediate sequel. In fairness, trying to compare much Doctor Who material besides that of Terrance Dicks would reveal problems, but going from the ending of Genesys to the start of Exodus is a stark and immediate improvement. I say the start because it's a structural odd duck. The first third is in effect its own story, with its own cast of characters, differing antagonist included. It's the book's strong point, wherein The Doctor flirts with the boundaries of evil and gets up to shenanigans alongside Ace that can instantly be pictured as the events of an Andrew Cartmel story. It's persistently funny and bold.
The second two-thirds aren't bad, but aren't nearly as good. They retread much of the same ground as the first act, except that the subtext has been ripped away. Hitler, Goering, and Himmler become actual players in the story. It's an odd choice that pays lip service to the edge implicit in 'more mature Doctor Who stories'. Whether that's a critique or a compliment depends wholly on taste, and it's hard to fault an author for delving deeper into their themes, I just wasn't quite done with the established setting before it was taken away from me.
If there's one compliment that doesn't need saying about the long-time Who adaptationist, it's that he's got a fantastic grip on characters and dialogue. To once again contrast this with Genesys at the expense of poor John Peel, Terrance Dicks is able to get into the heads of Seven and Ace remarkably well. Gone is the Seven who's actively cruel to Ace, and the Ace who is constantly subject to the whims of the plot, here we have the duo last seen defeating The Master and his Cheetah people, who walked into the sunset prepared for more adventure.
The second two-thirds aren't bad, but aren't nearly as good. They retread much of the same ground as the first act, except that the subtext has been ripped away. Hitler, Goering, and Himmler become actual players in the story. It's an odd choice that pays lip service to the edge implicit in 'more mature Doctor Who stories'. Whether that's a critique or a compliment depends wholly on taste, and it's hard to fault an author for delving deeper into their themes, I just wasn't quite done with the established setting before it was taken away from me.
If there's one compliment that doesn't need saying about the long-time Who adaptationist, it's that he's got a fantastic grip on characters and dialogue. To once again contrast this with Genesys at the expense of poor John Peel, Terrance Dicks is able to get into the heads of Seven and Ace remarkably well. Gone is the Seven who's actively cruel to Ace, and the Ace who is constantly subject to the whims of the plot, here we have the duo last seen defeating The Master and his Cheetah people, who walked into the sunset prepared for more adventure.
June 11, 2020
Surprise, surprise. This is a Doctor Who novel! Terrance Dicks’s Timewyrm: Exodus is the second of its series of Doctor Who.
In this novel, we learned that Timewyrm is up to no good and decided to find a point in history where technology will be the cause of global devastation. Oh, she found it, and she needs a vessel. Her vessel turns out to be a man with suspicious mental health conditions. Moreover, she got trapped in the man’s mind.
The Doctor and his companion, Ace, followed Timewyrm and found themselves in 1951 London. But to their horror is that the Nazis won World War II. Thus, they make it a mission to find when history changed.
It’s intriguing to read about The Doctor helping young Adolf Hitler when he met him in 1923. Without truly exposing himself, he told Hitler that he will rule Germany one day (sort of like a “Don’t give up!” gesture). Lo and behold, he did.
But when The Doctor and Ace found out about Hitler’s plan after ruling Germany, they had to—again—do something about it. They managed to bait out Timewyrm from Hitler’s mind, but she was thrown out from that time. The Doctor convinced Hitler to delay his invasion, which resulted in the real history maintained as we know.
This makes you think of who are the people you helped before in your life. You will never know what kind of person they will end up to be after a few years.
In this novel, we learned that Timewyrm is up to no good and decided to find a point in history where technology will be the cause of global devastation. Oh, she found it, and she needs a vessel. Her vessel turns out to be a man with suspicious mental health conditions. Moreover, she got trapped in the man’s mind.
The Doctor and his companion, Ace, followed Timewyrm and found themselves in 1951 London. But to their horror is that the Nazis won World War II. Thus, they make it a mission to find when history changed.
It’s intriguing to read about The Doctor helping young Adolf Hitler when he met him in 1923. Without truly exposing himself, he told Hitler that he will rule Germany one day (sort of like a “Don’t give up!” gesture). Lo and behold, he did.
But when The Doctor and Ace found out about Hitler’s plan after ruling Germany, they had to—again—do something about it. They managed to bait out Timewyrm from Hitler’s mind, but she was thrown out from that time. The Doctor convinced Hitler to delay his invasion, which resulted in the real history maintained as we know.
This makes you think of who are the people you helped before in your life. You will never know what kind of person they will end up to be after a few years.
July 25, 2023
A huge step-up in comparison to the quality of Timewyrm: Genesys. I read both novels over pretty much the same span of time, the first due to excitement from starting a new series, this from genuine interest in the plot.
Dicks is a very comforting hand on the rudder. His well-versed nature in the world of Doctor Who - in all its elements, and particularly the format of its stories - gives the novel an effortless flow. Despite jumping through time and space throughout the story, the plot feels concise, and only containing what is necessary for telling an interesting story. I'm in love with the way Uncle Terry writes. It's a very straightforward style of prose, his description of location being mainly just the necessary details but still managing to be incredibly evocative. Seven and Ace return to what is recognisably their characters after the meander that was the previous book. The Doctor is placed in a situation he can't control and is forced to be more rash in his decision-making in comparison to their usual adventures, which is somewhere that I really love for writers to take the Seventh Doctor. It's this incarnation at his absolute limits and its a joy to read.
I haven't heard great things about the next novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, so I'm a little wary going in. I'll be happy if it's better than Genesys, basically.
Dicks is a very comforting hand on the rudder. His well-versed nature in the world of Doctor Who - in all its elements, and particularly the format of its stories - gives the novel an effortless flow. Despite jumping through time and space throughout the story, the plot feels concise, and only containing what is necessary for telling an interesting story. I'm in love with the way Uncle Terry writes. It's a very straightforward style of prose, his description of location being mainly just the necessary details but still managing to be incredibly evocative. Seven and Ace return to what is recognisably their characters after the meander that was the previous book. The Doctor is placed in a situation he can't control and is forced to be more rash in his decision-making in comparison to their usual adventures, which is somewhere that I really love for writers to take the Seventh Doctor. It's this incarnation at his absolute limits and its a joy to read.
I haven't heard great things about the next novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, so I'm a little wary going in. I'll be happy if it's better than Genesys, basically.
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