Matthew Kresal's Reviews > Doctor Who: Endgame

Terrance Dicks' second (and final) entry into the Eighth Doctor Adventures pays homage to the Cold War spy genre. Set during that Doctor's long exile to Earth with amnesia and no TARDIS, Endgame has the Cold War finally catching up with the Time Lord in 1951. Opening with shades of John le Carre classics like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Smiley's People, the Doctor is reluctantly drawn into events by a friend living in exile. Eventually connected with the soon to be infamous Kim Philby, he becomes involved with the Cambridge spy ring before finding himself caught up in the secret machinations of the superpowers. Except someone else is involved, trying to push both sides towards nuclear war: the Doctor's old foes the Players, if only he could remember them.

The resulting novel is a fun, breezy Cold War spy thriller that runs the length of that genre from serious to spy-fi, all the while held together by a firm characterization of Paul McGann's Doctor as the reluctant hero who nevertheless finds a missing purpose in being involved. If you're a Who fan who also likes spy fiction, you'll very much appreciate it for what it is. Otherwise, it's an enjoyable outing from Doctor Who's most dependable writer.