Product Description

In 1920s London the Doctor and Rose find themselves caught up in the hunt for a mysterious murderer. But not everyone or everything is what they seem. Secrets lie behind locked doors and inhuman killers roam the streets. Who is the Painted Lady and why is she so interested in the Doctor? How can a cat return from the dead? Can anyone be trusted to tell or even to know the truth? With the faceless killers closing in, the Doctor and Rose must solve the mystery of the Clockwise Man before London itself is destroyed...Featuring the Doctor and Rose as played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in the hit series from BBC Television

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151782 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

About the Author
Justin Richards is the Creative Consultant for the BBC’s range of Doctor Who books, and has written a fair few of them himself. As well as writing for stage, screen and audio, he is also the author of The Invisible Detective and Time Runners series of novels for children, and Agent Alfie for younger readers.

As well as collaborating with thriller writer Jack Higgins, he writes standalone novels for older children including The Death Collector, The Chaos Code, and The Parliament of Blood.

Justin lives in Warwick, with his wife, two children and a nice view of the castle.

Customer Reviews

Going in the right direction
When I first approached this book I struggled to see its place in the canon of Doctor Who works. It seemed to read as a hybrid of the TARGET novelisations and the Virgin New Adventures; not really sure which way it wanted to commit. As I read on however, the narrative took off and I was left with a more intelligent and intriguing story than the old TARGET adaptations of the classic series and something that wasn't trying to hard to reach a more 'adult' audience.
Sometimes the author has The Doctor trying too hard to match Chris Eccleston's screen persona; resulting in a breakdown of coherence in some of the narrative. There are also too many characters squeezed in at the start, however this group is fairly quickly diminished one way or another!
The hardback format is excellent - giving this range of books a more sophisticated and pleasing finish - the cover of 'The Clockwise Man' also scores highly, for the great look and accurate depictions of The Doctor and Rose (no squashed up faces and unrecognisable garments here!) The writer also makes much of The 9th Doctor's leather jacket and sonic screwdriver meaning the novel is definitely going to appeal to new fans as well as established 'Whovians'.
All-in-all the story is well-paced but a little overlong; it knows what it wants to be and is a definite improvement on the patchy 'Monsters Inside'. The Doctor is dead - Long live The Doctor!

A decent start to the new range
In the absence of the TV series both Virgins 7th Doctor and BBC Books 8th Doctor ranges did their best to take the continuing narrative of Doctor Who forward in an ongoing series, while the return of the TV series mean these new 9th Doctor novels have to slot in as standalone 'missing' adventures. The novels have also been simplified, and are now aimed at older children rather than adults, though thankfully The Clockwise Man has enough interesting material to still be readable for older Who fans.

The premise, concerning a disguised alien exiled on Earth being hunted down by his vengeful fellow aliens, isn't particularly original, but Richards fills the book with enough colourful characters and ideas - including infamous fictional Russian Revolution survivor Anastasia Romanov; mechanical clockwork men (including one machine who touchingly doesn't realize it isn't human); a masked killer; two men who each believe the other to be insane; a young would-be hero cursed with haemophilia; and the mysterious never-seen man who is locked away on the top floor of a London club - to keep things interesting. The novel as a whole is split into two distinct parts - the opening atmospheric build-up will be enjoyable for older readers who like a mystery, while younger readers looking for excitement may well be bored by the talky nature of the plot - while conversely the extended action-packed finale set atop Big Ben will be perfect for younger readers, while adults may find it starts to get a little shallow and tiresome after a few dozen pages of blow-by-blow action prose.

The Doctor and Rose both stay true to their TV characterisation, and pleasingly the Doctor seems a little more heroic here than the often peripheral character seen thus far in the new series. Perhaps due to aiming the book at children the book is almost constantly seen through the eyes of either the Doctor or Rose, and the downside means that some of the supporting characters (particularly the aliens) are a little shallow, but Richards prose is readable enough. By no means a classic of Doctor Who literature, The Clockwise Man is nevertheless an enjoyable romp, and should contain a good enough mixture of action and intrigue to please both young and old fans alike.

Enjoyable Read.
Enjoyable story, more of a young adult's book than I would have preferred but still has the edgier feel of the ninth Doctor series. Allusions to 'Bad Wolf' again, very curious indeed.