Doctor Who: Earthworld by Jacqueline Rayner

And for my second stop today, my final post in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary TLC tour, with Doctor number eight and Jacqueline Rayner's Earthworld.

Since I'm crunched for time, I'm going to once again use the book's synopsis:

Anji has just had the worst week of her life. She should be back at her desk, not traveling through time and space in a police box. The Eight Doctor is supposed to be taking her home, so why are there dinosaurs outside? The Doctor doesn't seem to know either, or else he surely would have mentioned the homicidal princesses, teen terrorists and mad robots? One thing is certain: Anji is never going to complain about Monday mornings in the office again. 

I discovered that the original edition of Jacqueline Rayner's Doctor Who contribution (released in 2001) has a much different and slightly spoiler-y synopsis than the new edition. I've used the new edition info above but if you really want to, you can read the old one here. (I think it might slightly spoil the fun, though.)

I would imagine that Doctor Eight is the incarnation that allows authors the most room for creative license - or at least for the folks who first took on writing him. On screen, Doctor Eight was played by the excellent Paul McGann. Unfortunately, he's the shortest lived Doctor in the show's history! His version appeared in a single TV movie that was meant to inspire the return of the series in the 90s.

The movie is fun, even if Eric Roberts is pretty cheesy as the Master, but it's worth seeing as a fan nonetheless.

Since he had such a short run, Doctor Eight's companions here in Earthworld are new to me. Based on the intro from Rayner, they were created for the purpose of the books so there are additional adventures with them if one were inspired to track down the old Doctor Eight publications. As such, there was no history or attachment with them on my part, but I thought they were interesting and I would probably have liked to have seen them had they ever made it to the show (and more Paul McGann, too, if I'm honest. I like him!).

Trivia: Even though McGann had limited screen time as the Doctor, he has had a longer run as the voice of the Doctor, recording a number of audio dramas and new stories as Doctor Eight.

(Extra trivia, McGann has most lately been seen by BBC American viewers on Luther. His younger brother, Stephen, stars as Dr. Turner in Call the Midwife.)

To see all of the stops on the tour and a full list of the anniversary titles, check out the official TLC tour page here.