Just finished this one, and thought it was 'okay'. Fitz is definitely the high-light, even if his cowardice brings Turlough to mind. Not crazy about the God-hating crazy people, though. It was nice to have that little second epilogue tagged on, with the cops finding the ruins of the house and a now-insane Dr.Roley. I guess after the Doctor leaves it isn't always back to normal, is it? But I think it's a definite bonus to have Fitz from the 60's,as another 90's companion would have been somewhat unoriginal. As you can tell,I'm about 18 books behind, but I'm crawling my way up to you guys!

When Sam thinks about "Scooby Doo", she remembers Velma and Frank. It's Freddy, not Frank.

Well, that could be deliberate. One doesn't remember one's childhood programmes with perfect clarity. For the longest time I thought there were two different Sarahs rather than Romanas...

That'd be fun: "Lavina Sarah" regenerates into thirty years younger "Sarah Jane Sarah"

It wouldn't just be FUN, it would be REALLY REALLY USEFUL if only Sarah had accidentally picked up powers of regeneration (and why the hell not? River did, AND there's a Chameleon Arch lying around that TARDIS that a curious journalist really should have experimented with, not to mention Captain Jack, Ian and Barbara all picking up some immortality during their travels). We would still be blessed with The Sarah Jane Adventures instead of having to survive solely on the pitiful scraps of Who that Moffat occasionally tosses in our direction.

The Doctor (and/or TARDIS) have carefully avoided Earth for SIX MONTHS?? Yeah, RIGHT.

'Your son seems virtuous and trustworthy' - what bit of Fitz lying pathologically to him at the drop of a hat gave the Doctor THAT impression?

So pool cost 50p in Sam's day (mid-90s) and three and ten pence ha'penny (46.5p) in Fitz's day (mid-60s)? Shouldn't there have been more INFLATION?

How come Sam's 'loaded' with Sixties money given to her by the Doctor when earlier he only had two pence on him - and didn't go back to the TARDIS in the interim?

'Do you believe it possible that one incident of mental seizure could generate a membranous sac of semisolids that size in less than a day?' - why a day? They were last examined two weeks ago.

Not really getting why Roley's so taken with Maria's Cunning Plan that, instead of kicking the Doctor out of the house, they let him experiment on people while they promise to stop experimenting on people themselves...in order that they can secretly experiment on said people uninterrupted...

Roley knows the names of all his patients' great-great-grandparents offhand?

'He was sitting on the bed, Lucy's pale hand in his own. Couldn't he see what an unfit harlot the girl was?' - THAT'S Nurse Bulwell's main problem with Lucy? Not that she's just, say, TORTURED A MAN TO DEATH??

'Thick hunks of white bread, Cheddar cheese and chutney, absolutely delicious...For a few moments, he'd felt like a young man again...Roley placed his sandwich on the table, untouched' - haaaang on, why did he get QUITE so excited about the delicious, youth-bestowing properties of a cheese sandwich he didn't actually EAT?

The Doctor's so worried about getting a parking-ticket he accosts a complete stranger in the street and hands his (borrowed!) Rolls-Royce over to her to drive around? Jeez. I'm not saying he needs to adopt a Ricky-Smith-style attitude, but...

Ah. Billions of years, journeying through the stars, thousands of contain-and-destroy programs in hundreds of galaxies...well, now we know where the audios got their Viyran Virus Strand from.

The Doctor FORGETS TO LOCK THE LAB in the lunatic asylum where his alien experiments are bubbling away?

The whole Beast thing is a pretty rubbish idea. If there was one thing we needed even less than an another alien race interfering in human evolution, it was an alien race of invisible intangible bloated monsters from another dimension feeding off Earth's entire population...without actually harming or changing anyone or making the blindest bit of difference.

The Doctor has 'nothing to offer that kind lady who'd car-sat for him' - whatever happened to his capacious pockets? He was producing some extra-strong alcohol for a tramp a minute ago...

Boy, SOMEONE can't plot a book to save their life. In the whole of London, the Doctor JUST HAPPENS to spot Sam sitting on a bus...?

'He couldn't open his eyes. They felt swollen, squeezed into their sockets, boiling under his eyelids' - ah yes, I knew we'd get to the eyeballs sooner or later...still, at least they're not LITERALLY boiling, for a change...

...Oh.

'Her eyes fixing his with outraged accusation before they turned milky white and burst all over her face.'

Ah well.

'The number of different permutations that Sam's ten billion brain cells could take would need a line of figures almost eighteen miles long to describe it. He knew: he'd written it out, once' - SERIOUSLY?

'Fitz couldn't believe what a lousy bluffer the Doctor was' - neither can I. I know it's Eight, and he's not exactly the most master-manipulatory of Docs, but still...

'He'd known he was cheating. Twice now he'd pulled that trick [temporal orbit]...but time could not be cheated too often, and he knew it' - so he knew he could do the temporal orbit thing twice, but not a third time, even to save Sam's life? How did he know he couldn't get away with it ONCE OR TWICE more?

Oh god, now the Doc's FORGOTTEN TO LOCK THE TARDIS DOOR TOO.

The TARDIS does not have a bed and several swimming pools IN THE SAME ROOM.

Dear gods, that must be the most boringly long-drawn-out-chase-scenes denouement. And after waiting so many hundreds of boringly long-drawn-out pages for said denouement.

Okay, I had to do this one in two gos, as I mentioned in another thread. I started it months ago, and then ended up with a heavy work schedule that left me little time for reading. As I mentioned on that other thread, I barely remembered anything of what happened in the first half and was thinking of either rereading it or reading the summary in the Doctor Who Reference Guide, until Emily--in the goodness of her heart, I'm sure--advised me that I shouldn't torture myself that way and so I read the Reference Guide instead.

That refreshed my memory, while at the same time reminding me of why I couldn't remember it.
Fitz doesn't really make a first impression, does he? Not that he isn't an interesting character, but I'm surprised that Sam didn't complain more about him joining them on their travels.

Then I finally got to the last couple of chapters, which surprised me. I thought it actually became exciting and I actually enjoyed the ending. That being said, I'm not sure it was really worth reading the first three quarters just to get to it.

Sometimes you just know that a character is doomed to die. I'm looking at you, Maria Bulwell! Nobody that annoying is going to survive a Doctor Who story.

I see it was already mentioned, but the characters in Scooby Doo are Freddy and Velma, not Thelma and Frank. Michael Collier, please get your pop culture references straight, or people will think you a bad writer. Oh wait, that's already happened hasn't it?

Part of me would love to know what happened to Roley afterward, but I'm guessing we're never told.

Well, it's finally finished. I'm going to start reading during my breaks at work again so I can get through these faster. I'm jumping back to the New Adventures next with Original Sin (I forget, do we like Andy Lane in this forum?). And I just noticed that it introduces two Companions who I have heard of but hadn't read before. Nice coincidence that I'm reading right after the book in which Fitz joined.

Fitz doesn't really make a first impression, does he?

No he doesn't, which makes it so weird that he turns out to be such a perfect Companion. AND that so many women are prepared to sleep with him.

I'm surprised that Sam didn't complain more about him joining them on their travels.

Yeah, who WOULDN'T want the Doctor all to themselves?

I actually enjoyed the ending. That being said, I'm not sure it was really worth reading the first three quarters just to get to it.

It's doing your Nitcentrally duty that makes it all worthwhile!

Part of me would love to know what happened to Roley afterward, but I'm guessing we're never told.

*Checks TARDIS Wiki* Nope.

Well, it's finally finished. I'm going to start reading during my breaks at work again so I can get through these faster. I'm jumping back to the New Adventures next with Original Sin (I forget, do we like Andy Lane in this forum?)

Not particularly...EXCEPT for Original Sin, definitely his classic.

Sometimes you just know that a character is doomed to die. I'm looking at you, Maria Bulwell! Nobody that annoying is going to survive a Doctor Who story.

Oh, I don't know, there's a certain Melanie Bush who seems to have fared quite well.

She did get murdered in the PDA Heritage, though that was obviously a matter of too little, too late...