You're a T H White fan too? That's wonderful! Unfortunately any resemblance to Human Nature completely escapes me. Are you comparing Tim to the Wart and the Pod to the Sword, or what?

Actually, I was mostly thinking of the Disney cartoon (which I guess was based on the book). Yes, that is the comparison I'm making. I think the author even makes a comment to that affect.

Boy oh BOY are you in trouble now Mike...

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

That cartoon bears NO RESEMBLANCE WHATSOEVER to the book! How DARE you watch that pile of festering dung instead of reading the greatest classic of all time!!!!!!!!!! That film should be burnt at the stake, along with everyone who’s ever watched it (except me, of course, because I switched off after one and a half minutes in order to preserve my blood pressure). Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Go away and read The Sword in the Stone IMMEDIATELY! And then read The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind (you have my permission to skip The Queen of Air and Darkness and The Book of Merlyn). And then get down on your knees to T H White and apologise for thinking he had anything whatsoever to do with that blasphemy.

Er....believe it or not, I've never read anything by TH White. I just knew the basic story from the cartoon. They both had the bit about Arthur/Wart removing the sword.

I'd like to go on record as stating that my comparisons in no way validates the artistic merit of any work cited. I'm just pointing out similarities in plot and/or themes.

Believe me, I'm fully aware of Disney's crimes against literature.

Mike, what was the link this has with Sawney Bean? I read the book a while back and noticed nothing. (Or I might've done but can't remember. I've got a chronic memory for such things).

One, (one), of my many dreams would be to, (if I was ever in a position to make new Who), make a Sawney Bean-based historical adventure. It has all the ingredients for a good Doctor Who romp.

Sawney Bean was a 15th(?) century Scotsman who lead his family into the hills, where they captured local travellers and ate them. Not unlike the aliens in this story, who like to munch on the odd human.

A pleasure to read this after wading through the molasses that was 'Sanctuary'. A little quote which may have had some relevance to a certain 1996 movie (this book certainly had more snogging in it) :

"Why? Is he not a part of you? The human part?"
"There is no human part. I'm a Time Lord. A different species".

From page 242.

Oddly enough, when the Doctor's human I don't actually MIND him kissing people (or even trees!) too much...

Lawrence actually blamed Human Nature when coming up with a theory to explain that 'half human' nonsense - something about the Doctor still being contaminated by his human experimentation when he regenerated into McGann, hence he became half-human, and - being the Doctor - did it retroactively so it suddenly applied to all his previous regenerations. Sadly the editor wouldn't let him put it in Alien Bodies.

Rumour is that this book is being adapted as a two-part story in series three. More evidence that the RTS doesn't consider the books canon.

RTD explained in Doctor Who magazine that the BBC's charter indicates that the programs it produces can't be dependent on the purchase of another product - he highlights the destruction of Gallifrey in the EDAs... it's not the same destruction as referred to during the Time War.

He says, the EDAs destroy, it must come back into existence again, then is destroyed again in the Time War.

So, no, he doesn't consider the books canon - he's bound by the BBC charter.

Although you think they wouldn't have to keep going back to previous stories - that's Jubilee and Spare Parts from Big Finish, and now Human Nature.

Didn't know that, thanks. Of course, Gallifrey's two different destructions, as you say, can be rectified in future books, but repeating something like Human Nature would be much harder. Not impossibile, though. I'm sure this Faction Paradox thing can handle it quite easily.

I've never read any of the books, largely because I don't live in a country where you can buy them and even if I did, I do have a doctorate of my own to work on. But with developments like this, I must say I'm glad I never did.

Much as I enjoy Human Nature, it's a bloody awful idea to adapt it for TV (though I don't doubt I'll be eating these words come Season Three/Twenty-Nine). The entire POINT of Human Nature is that the Doctor decides to experience life as a human being and - as a result - falls in love. Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't new series Doctors fall in love ALL THE TIME, thus rendering the plot of Human Nature not only repetitive but ENTIRELY POINTLESS???

Oh, OK...

*Munching noises as words are being eaten*

....and what a sweet sound it is.....

Matthew Jones in DWM: 'The idea of the Doctor making himself human in order to find some rest is so beautiful it still makes my eyes prickle with tears.' - Was THAT why he did it?! I didn't get the impression it was made REMOTELY clear in the actual book, though I do remember Paul Cornell saying that MAYBE it was so he'd understand what Benny was going through after her Sanctuary bereavement.

The idea of the Doctor making himself human in order to find some rest is so beautiful it still makes my eyes prickle with tears.

The idea of the Doctor making himself human, for whatever reason, is suicidal. With all the enemies he made during his adventures, one or more of them are bound to learn about it and take advantage of it to eliminate him once and for all.

Hear, hear.

Bloody stupid idea.

'Evil future incarnations of the hero were by now as routine a nuisance as surrendering your superpowers to marry a mortal girl (Paul Cornell, we're looking at you)' - About Time. Oh. You mean this wasn't ORIGINAL?

Human Nature reprint introduction:

'The villains were a particular problem. At one point they were all thirteen incarnations of the same Time Lord, hanging around together. That would have been pretty hard to write' - though Lawrence managed PERFECTLY WELL in Interference.

'I named a schoolboy Clive Ian Alton,...to indicate that he might be an agent of the...Celestial Intervention Agency' - !!

'Owls, at this point, were regarded as messengers of the great Time Lord Rassilon' - can't the guy PICK UP THE PHONE?

'Steven Moffat, my drinking buddy, had a hand in John Smith's diary entries...and, as you'll see, sort of appears in the book. I figured then that it was the closest he'd ever get to Doctor Who' - ha! (And where the hell is Moffat in this book?!)

'Wolsey the cat, based on a particularly surly animal owned by a friend' - what's this rubbish about 'owned'?! And since when has darling furry purry fluffikins been SURLY?

'Steven Moffat, my drinking buddy, had a hand in John Smith's diary entries...and, as you'll see, sort of appears in the book. I figured then that it was the closest he'd ever get to Doctor Who' - ha! (And where the hell is Moffat in this book?!)

About Time 8 helpfully explains:

'A cameo as a curly-haired Scotsman who makes fun of Sylvester McCoy's dialect and may or may not be having it off with the local barmaid.'

Hmm.

(Oh, and apparently HN shouldn't have had mayonnaise in a jar.)

Bookwyrm:

'The time barrier doesn't kill Stanley because he believes it's God, but it brutally murders Torrence who was "a lot less of a churchgoer". Quite why the time barrier behaves in this inexplicably anti-atheist way would appear to be another example of "because the author says so"' - !! Look, Cornell can believe in any gibberish he chooses (maybe it's harder to worship the Lord Doctor as you should when S/He's actually a character in some books you're writing?) but he shouldn't be contaminating the Whoniverse with it.

Time barrier!?

No such thing appeared on the televised episodes that were based off this.

There are a LOT of things in the novel that don't appear on TV. Bernice Summerfield. The Aubertides (NOT 'Family of Blood') getting turned into cows. A white poppy. Most importantly, Wolsey the Cat.

The Aubertides (NOT 'Family of Blood') getting turned into cows.

I beg your pardon!?

Well, the Aubertides are all shape-shifting or something (hence their desire to get their hands on Time Lord essence) and I seem to remember (ages since the reread cos why would I reread Human Nature when I can WATCH its shining perfection instead) they jumped into cows to escape the Doctor or something, and then said cows got dragged off to the abattoir...

Which, let's face it, is considerably more plausible than all this mirror/black hole/scarecrow/dwarf star alloy nonsense.

The Aubertides (NOT 'Family of Blood') getting turned into cows.

O_o

Why has nobody else commented on how this is similar to the ending of Fantastic Four #2 (January 1962) where the shapeshifting Skrulls are hypnotized into turning into cows?

Because no one else has any idea of what Fantastic Four #2 is?

As Ben Aaronovitch once said, 'While talent borrows and genius steals, New Adventure writers get it off the back of a lorry, no questions asked.'

The Fantastic Four is a very well-known comic book in America and it did appear in England and other countries.

they jumped into cows to escape the Doctor or something, and then said cows got dragged off to the abattoir...

Hamburgers all around!

I dunno, were hamburgers really a thing in 1914 England?

Dunno

Well, ground beef did exist, and there are claims of actual hamburgers, or hamburger like dishes, going all the way back to the 1880's

So they could have been made into hamburgers then.

Or steaks, which I think existed in those days.

Okay, I haven't read the above comments yet because I'm only five chapters in. For the most part, I'm enjoying it so far. It's interesting to compare it to the version that eventually made it to television. Lots of differences, but so far the main story elements are certainly there.

I'm making this comment now because while so far I like it, there was one point that was unforgivable It's about a quarter of the way down page 33.

"That's the thing about Aberdeen. You get all sorts. Liquorice?"

Liquorice? All sorts???? If I should ever meet Paul Cornell, what would be the appropriate punishment to give him?

Liquorice?

Very fitting.

Okay, having finished it now, I can say that the liquorice all-sorts pun is still unforgivable but as to the rest...

I can now say that Paul Cornell wrote my TWO favorite New Adventures ("No Future" is NOT the other one)!

I already knew the gist of the story from having seen its television version a few times and I knew there would be some major differences, but those differences almost made it a completely different story even though the basic plot points are still the same.

So Wolsey becomes a Companion???

I can now say that Paul Cornell wrote my TWO favorite New Adventures ("No Future" is NOT the other one)!

Oh gods, not Timewyrm: Revelation...

So Wolsey becomes a Companion???

Yes! Best Companion EVER!

No, not Timewyrm: Revelation either.

Guess it must be Love and War rather than Happy Endings. Unless you count the Benny NAs in which case Oh No It Isn't! is OBVIOUSLY your other favourite cos Wolsey starts talking and is voiced by the Brig in the audio version and OF COURSE that more than atones for the (literal) pantomime plotting...

I haven't gotten to Happy Endings or the Benny NAs yet actually

I thought this epic marathon was your first time but my memory is so rubbish these days I couldn't be sure you weren't going through everything AGAIN like some sadomasochistic lunatic, viz, myself.