This has been a great couple of months for lovers of Douglas Adams’ Doctor Who. Shortly after the DVD release of Shada (completed with animation) comes this novelisation of an unmade TV story from the beloved creator of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

Based on the author’s original notes, Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen opens with the Doctor and Romana attending an apparently harmless (if boring) game of cricket. However, when killer robots dressed in cricket whites arrive to steal the Ashes, the time travellers get caught up in an intergalactic adventure involving creatures from the Time Lords’ darkest nightmares. The Krikkitmen are coming…

First of all, the success of a novel like this depends on how well it evokes the feeling of Adams. Thankfully, it’s in highly capable hands with James Goss, who has adapted the writer’s works twice before with his books based on City of Death and The Pirate Planet. Unlike those, though, The Krikkitmen was never seen on TV so this is our only chance to enjoy it. That said, long-time readers of Adams will recognise the driving force of the book from Life, the Universe and Everything (Adams was brilliant, but he was infamously a bit lazy).

This is probably for the best, though. It would have no doubt been an entertaining ride but it’s hard to imagine the TV show’s budget managing to live up to the extent of the tale’s expanse and imagination. That might even be why the serial was ditched in the first place (as explained in an intriguing introduction, Adams had hoped to turn the story into a movie). The Krikkitmen, which rolls along at a terrific pace, jumps around the galaxy just as much any exploit from Arthur Dent.

Speaking of which, Goss captures Adams’ technique and writing style to a tee, as he peppers the text with spot-on authentic touches. In particular, the author’s all-important comedic, omniscient narrative voice, frequently veering off into informative off-shoots, is achieved thanks to the inclusion of the Matrix – the hub of all Time Lord knowledge – filling a role much like the Guide. That said, Goss takes the time to make the story his own. e.g. the sprinkling of references to future Doctor Who stories.

Though his ideas are skillfully stitched together by James Goss, The Krikkitmen is a perfect testament to Douglas Adams’ endless imagination as well as a reminder of just how perfect a fit he was for Doctor Who. The idea might first have been published as part of the Hitch-Hiker’s series, but the concept of evil cricket-playing aliens is as Who-y as they come.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE KRIKKITMEN / AUTHOR: JAMES GOSS / PUBLISHER: BBC BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 18TH