Lia reviewed Doctor Who: Wishing Well by Trevor Baxendale (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures, #19)
It's okay
3 stars
This story is set in a small English village around a wishing well. Martha and the Doctor decide to investigate the old well after hearing strange stories and events surrounding it.
My issue with the story was that it reminded me too much of Doctor Who: The Art of Destruction and Doctor Who: Forever Autumn. All of them occur in or near small villages, where something lurks beneath the ground. A recurring theme is mind control, which is tedious after a while. Seriously, authors, you need to suggest something creative. Because of its lack of originality, this story loses points. The ending feels abrupt, but there are some interesting scenes.
Mostly, the side characters are fine. Doctor Who: Forever Autumn had precocious children, but Wishing Well had precocious old people, and I prefer the latter. There were some interesting side characters that helped the doctor in the end, so I …
This story is set in a small English village around a wishing well. Martha and the Doctor decide to investigate the old well after hearing strange stories and events surrounding it.
My issue with the story was that it reminded me too much of Doctor Who: The Art of Destruction and Doctor Who: Forever Autumn. All of them occur in or near small villages, where something lurks beneath the ground. A recurring theme is mind control, which is tedious after a while. Seriously, authors, you need to suggest something creative. Because of its lack of originality, this story loses points. The ending feels abrupt, but there are some interesting scenes.
Mostly, the side characters are fine. Doctor Who: Forever Autumn had precocious children, but Wishing Well had precocious old people, and I prefer the latter. There were some interesting side characters that helped the doctor in the end, so I thought it was pretty cool they were not entirely useless.
Overall, the story was okay. It’s nothing really special, though. If you are a die-hard fan, it would be best to borrow this book from the library unless you plan on collecting it.