In The Blood – Jenny T Colgan
All over the world, people are venting their fury at one another on social media. Dropping their friends, giving vent to their hatred, and everywhere behaving with incredible cruelty. Even Donna has found that her friend Hettie, with her seemingly perfect life and fancy house, has unfriended her. And now, all over the world, internet trolls are dying…
As more and more people give in to this wave of bitterness and aggression, it’s clear this is no simple case of modern living. This is unkindness as a plague.
From the streets of London to the web cafes of South Korea and the deepest darkest forests of Rio, can the Doctor and Donna find the cause of this unhappiness before it’s too late?
An original novel featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna, as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
My thanks to Tess at BBC Books for my review copy
I am writing this review in the early days after UK EU referendum – the internet is awash with anger, fear, accusations and aggression and it makes for a pretty bleak outlook. Why am I mentioning this in review of a Doctor Who book? Well it is that internet anger that Jenny T Colgan is highlighting in the excellent 10th Doctor adventure: In The Blood. I don’t believe any new book will have a better timed release this year.
The Doctor is on Earth and travelling around without his TARDIS – a jetsetting adventure takes him into peril in different corners of the globe as he tries to track down who is using the internet to interfere with the human race. People are going online and what they see is making them angry, there does not seem to be a single contributing element…people are just getting annoyed when they spend time surfing. That anger is pouring through them and when they return to the world around them people are lashing out at those nearby – a volatile situation is about to get 100 times worse.
In The Blood features The Doctor in his 10th incarnation and he is travelling with the Runaway Bride, Donna Noble. Where we have Donna we also get her grandfather, Wilf, too so a welcome return to two fan favourites.
Capturing the Doctor/Companion dynamic is essential in any Doctor Who story. Nothing lets down an original Doctor Who novel quite like a generic story which could be ANY regeneration with ANY companion. Jenny Colgan captures the David Tennant/Catherine Tate relationship perfectly and it is an absolute joy to read. I am not sure there has ever been a companion less in awe of the Doctor than Donna Noble (except perhaps Romana) and Jenny Colgan gives Donna all the best lines in this book. It is great to have the chance to enjoy a Doctor Who adventure that remembers to include the fun.
In The Blood sees Donna given the chance to shine. I felt she had much more time driving the story and (without spoiling too much) it is her determination to get to the cause of the excessive internet rage which seems to push the Doctor into action. A fun adventure with the added bonus of a cross-over with the 10th Doctor Big Finish audio adventure (also written by Jenny Colgan) Time Reaver.
I hope BBC Books have asked for a few more adventures featuring previous incarnations of The Doctor. I’ve always been a 2nd Doctor & Jamie fan…
In The Blood is published by BBC Books and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Jenny-T-Colgan/dp/1785941100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466624789&sr=8-1&keywords=in+the+blood+doctor+who