We are getting ready for the return of Doctor Who with Nguti Gatwa on May 11th.  Last week, we revisited the second story of Doctor Who’s 60 year history, so this week we go back to the second-to-last story.  Stick with us as we approach the new season.  But first, let’s talk about the Toymaker…

If you’re wondering why I read The Giggle before The Star Beast or Wild, Blue Yonder, I confess, it was for one reason alone: I disliked what Chris Chibnall did with the Doctor, effectively negating William Hartnell as the first Doctor, Jodie as the first female Doctor, and taking Gallifrey away from us all in one fell swoop.  In the televised version of this episode, the Toymaker says he made a jigsaw out of the Doctor’s past.  I wanted to know if they built up on that in the novel.  So while I went on to read the others, I was hoping for confirmation that others disliked Chibnall’s writing.  Maybe everything about his past and his home world were made up by the Toymaker to break the Doctor’s psyche.

Small spoiler: 217 pages later, there was very little indication that James Goss was helping my cause.  There’s a reference to the Doctor being a “Time Lord” – even “the last of the Time Lords” – and that he’s from Gallifrey; there’s even a mention of the Doctor having been a grandfather himself but none of that takes away what Chibnall did.   I’ll just have to accept that for now, because the written form of the story is just as good as the visual.  It captures the entire televised version astoundingly well.  Although, there is one small exception…

Let me start by saying this is one of my favorite Target books of all time and one I urge you to go read it before reading on.  That might limit readers of this post, but seriously, stop!  Go get the book, and read it.  Then come back and let me know what you think.

Alright, you’ve been warned: Spoilers follow!

The book is a visual treat.  Yes, you probably haven’t heard that said before.  Structurally, it’s 217 pages comprised of 55 chapters.  As a slow reader, short chapters help me blitz a book!  Those 55 chapters are not called “chapter 1, chapter 2, etc.” nor do they have titles, like some books.  They are called “Move 1, Move 2, etc.” because there are parts of the book that work like a Choose Your Own Adventure.  If you decide to help the Doctor, go to Move x… You see what I mean?  While I did not read it like that, I did peek each time and it worked like a game so you’re definitely getting value for this book.  In fact, games make up a lot of the book.  There are half a dozen little puzzles on the pages, including a maze to represent an American President’s brain.  Well played, Mr. Goss!  Well played, indeed!

When I had started reading the book, I could hear the voice of the Toymaker and it wasn’t lost on me from page one.  When a pair of eyes appear in the book, I realized he was watching me.  Then he started talking to me.  Oh, this was delightful fun!  He doesn’t just talk to me; he takes time out during the “Musical Number” to talk to a legal agent about copywrite laws.  I wanted to hate that because it was the one area that didn’t capture the story as well… and yet, it worked so well that I loved it anyway.  The Toymaker even makes reference to a story called… well, he won’t tell us actually, but it’s just such a wild ride, the act of reading this book made me incredibly happy.

You know what else made me happy?  References to the past.  Gel Guards, Axons and Devil Goblins from Neptune were all nice reminders of the things that have come before.  Then there was talk of Steven and Dodo (she can do all the accents…), Mel talks about the 6th Doctor’s regeneration due to the Rani in Time and the Rani, adding a nice bit of continuity about how she knows about regeneration, and we even have a reference to mavity from Wild Blue Yonder.  There are lots of great lines and the Toymaker’s comment about the Doctor’s “push” regeneration scene had me laughing out loud.  Someone is concerned about the gifs!  And just as the book is nearly complete, there’s a description of the sound of the Tardis that made me tear up – it was perfect.

One thing that gets a special call out here is the writing around the Toymaker’s voice.  It’s ironically timed because my friends were having a discussion about this sort of thing at the very time I was reading this book.  Many of them feel that writing doesn’t work when the reader has to “translate” the written word into meaningful English; it’s too much of a challenging for the reader.  While that may be true in some books, I didn’t find any challenge here.  Maybe it was helped by the fact that this episode stood out so well in my mind but I could read the Toymaker’s German accent and hear it as if he was speaking the words.  Well, based on the writing of this book, he was, wasn’t he?

I’m thinking about buying this book for a friend because it would be her first Doctor Who book and it might spark the desire to collect them all – like what happened to me 43 years ago.  I don’t think there’s a better book to start with because it’s more than just the story, it’s a fun read.  You’re engaging with the Toymaker and reliving the adventure.  And what an adventure this was, eh?

Well, I think we’re about ready for the 15th Doctor to start a full season.  I’m certainly psyched.  Come back next week for the start of Nguti’s season.  But you might want to go out and grab this book in the meantime.  It’ll help with the wait and give you a delightful experience in the meantime.  Enjoy!   ML