Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen [PROSE/2018.1.18]

★★★★☆

  Well, I never. James Goss is scarily good at writing in the style of the late great Douglas Adams, with all the signature rapid-fire humour and larger-than-life concepts. If I didn't know any better, I'd have assumed that this was some long-lost unpublished novel of his. Sometimes, we really do need to count our blessings — who would've guessed not ten years ago that we would have a complete version of Adams' lost Doctor Who pitch?

  I am, of course, a huge fan of the works of Douglas Adams, and not just his Doctor Who stuff. His novels have had a great impact on me during my youth, and this obsession of mine has brought about a cripping side effect of loving practically anything that either pays homage to or closely resembles Adams' prose style. A realisation of Douglas Adams' famous lost pitch in the medium Adams is best known for, then, should be an immediate winner in my book. Thankfully, it very much is. The rather lengthy book flew by in a breeze, my eyes and mind taking in the unmistakeable boundless imagination and laugh-out-loud humour (I indeed laughed out loud in all the right spots) with much relish. The Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 are on top form here, with Goss taking inspiration from the very best moments of Season 17, and of course... the greatest threat to the Universe as we know it boils down to what we humans understand as cricket. Classic Douglas Adams, and the Adams-ness only gets more prevalent as the pages go on. I had such a fun time reading through the Key to Time-esque journey through time and space to gather special pieces (and, of course, the madcap worlds the TARDIS landed on for each piece), and the second part thankfully carried on the addictive fun. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Giant supercomputers with a rather glum outlook on life, cricket balls with the power to destroy the Universe, and an entire planet of sea (minus that one island no one gives a fig about) turned into an industrial/capitalist nightmare because someone couldn't be bothered to find refuge on another planet — yes, this is Douglas Adams' Doctor Who, and it's glorious. James Goss makes this the ultimate love letter to all things by Adams by not just adapting the unproduced story but writing it in the iconic Adams style as well. If you're willing for an epic, smart and silly (not necessarily in that order, mind) adventure throughout the cosmos and/or you love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, pick this book up immediately.