Review: Doctor Who – Touched by an Angel / Author: Jonathan Morris / Publisher: BBC Books / Release Date: Out Now
The Monster Collection is a blast from the past, as it’s a series of re-releases of the more famous novels from the Who franchise.
In Touched by an Angel, the Weeping Angels get a rare outing in something that Steven Moffat hasn’t written. What’s great about this is that it gives Morris the chance to bring some fresh ideas to the table, such as the Angels’ new abilities.
Mark Whitaker, the main character, acts like many of us would do if we were ever in the same situation. He gets sent back in time to the ’90s and has to live his way back. We do have to take issue with the Doctor’s claim that Mark’s situation is unique. In Blink, the Angels sent back someone who was around for his younger self’s lifetime.
Morris has written about the last few decades with the kind of detail that makes us relive them. So much so, in fact, that it’s like having the ’90s walk up and punch you in the face. The writing will also remind older readers of how they felt when they were young and a bit of an oblivious idiot like Whitaker. Younger readers might experience a touch of pain at reading this in a post-Angels Take Manhattan world.
The only failing of the book is the almost inevitable turn that the narrative takes towards the end. It plays out in a way that genre-savvy readers have seen a thousand times before. Indeed, it’s not a million miles away from Doctor Who’s own Father’s Day and The Fires of Pompeii. Having said that, if you can get past that (and it’s possible), you’ll enjoy the book. We definitely did.
