Doctor Who_ Time and Relative - Kim Newman [45]
There is something elemental about the Doctor. Especially presented as he is here, the Doctor becomes a force rather than a personality. It is not by accident that Kim's 'villain' is also an elemental force – the most appropriate of opponents.
It is unfair to describe any Doctor Who story as an archetype. But Kim
has given us something that touches on so many of the nerves of Doctor Who, yet which offers us so much that is new. It is deep and thematic, enthusiastic, well-written and expertly-presented. Yet at the same time the story drives it onwards, the excitement pulls us in, the fear makes us shiver with cold realisation.
Because that is what the Doctor Who format is really about, what makes it so successful on so many levels for so many people. It is about telling the most exciting and interesting stories in the best possible way. It is a cause for celebration that this format is inexhaustible. It is heartening that so many of us appreciate being drawn into the endless worlds that it opens up. And it is a testament to the power of that format that it is strong enough to appeal to writers of the calibre and talent of Kim Newman.
Justin Richards
BBC Books – Doctor Who Range Consultant August 2001
About The Author
Kim Newman is an author, film expert and critic, an enthusiastic pundit of SF writing and one of Britain's great eccentrics. Born in Brixton in 1959, he grew up in Somerset and graduated in English at Sussex University. He came to London in 1980 and worked with a Bridgwater Arts and Entertainment Collective called Sheep Worrying as a Kazoo player and cabaret performer.
Kim has published several highly successful novels with Simon and Schuster: The Night Mayor, Bad Dreams, Jago, The Quorum, Life's Lottery and his earlier reworkings of the Dracula mythology Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula, cha, cha, cha, plus four collections of short stories: Famous Monsters, The Original Doctor Shade, Seven Stars and Unforgivable Stories. He has also published a collection of his Where the Bodies are Buried... stories in one volume and is a regular contributor to several anthology series. He is the author of several specialist film books and is a regular film reviewer for Empire and Sight and Sound magazines.
Anno Dracula won the Children Of The Night Award for Best Novel from the Dracula Society and the Best Novel Award from the Lord Ruthven Assembly. It was also shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. The Where the Bodies are Buried book won the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. The Quorum, Dr Shade and Anno Dracula have all been optioned for movies.