Divided Loyalties

by Gary Russell

An adventure featuring the fifth Doctor Who, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric, and delving into the past of the first Doctor. The story explores the relationship between the universe and one of the Doctor's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0563555785
• ISBN13: 9780563555780
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: BBC Worldwide Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Where does he get those wonderful makers of toys?

It's generally not a good sign when the stated intention of the author is to explain things that probably didn't need to be explained. For therein lies the realm of fan-fiction. In his afterword Gary Russell explains that, among other things, one of his goals for this novel was to explain why the Celestial Toymaker had a different personality between his first appearance and his later would-be appearance in the untelevised story "The Nightmare Fair". Think about that. He feels a need to explain a change from a story that literally no one has ever seen (it comes from the cancelled season of the show, though in all fairness a novel and an audio play do exist of it). Here's an idea, how about we not bring back any characters at all? Still, we won't hold it against him because he does give it a game try. In this instance we have the Fifth Doctor and his band of merry companions winding up on a world where everyone seems to be dreaming. An Earth crew is monitoring the planet from overhead and wind up getting involved with them, but it quickly becomes clear that something sinister is going on. Something toyishly sinister. The early sections of the book, where the Toymaker is literally doing anything he wants (including cheating) are effective, depicting exactly what our team is up against. Unfortunately for us, we've got the team of Tegan, Nyssa and Adric in full soap opera mode, where their problems become projected against the larger tableau. Thus, Tegan just wants to go home, Nyssa wants her home (and father) to exist again, and Adric just wishes for the old fun Doctor to come back. And wonder why nobody likes him. All the various degrees of interpersonal moping tend to bog the book down a bit. Russell seems to have a particular problem with Adric, making him almost unbearably whiny and smug, and constantly wishing for the girls to be gone so he and the Doctor can have fun adventures alone together again. It gets so bad you want a Cyberman spaceship to come and smash into him several episodes too early, just so he can shut up. Everyone else just seems to work the same themes, which only gets worse as the Toymaker begins to play their loyalties against the Doctor, sowing distrust and strife. With toys. If this all sounds a little thin, it is. The original "Celestial Toymaker" was no great shakes (seeing what it actually looked like took it down a few notches) but the Toymaker was an interesting character. The problem is that he's a bit of a one-trick pony . . . he plays games with people and cheats, or at least rigs the game, until the Doctor comes along and turns the tables. Russell tries to one-up matters by making him one of the Great Old Ones, which pretty much wholesale co-opts HP Lovecraft concepts, and a Guardian of dreams. Like Morpheus from "Sandman", only without the cool hair. None of this really disguises the fact that the story is fairly standard, a series of obstacles that kill time until the final confrontation.

Some games are played rough!

The TARDIS is invaded by a force from the past, which asks him "How many doors must you slam, Doctor, before you understand the magnitude of what you did?" And so it's off to the planet Dymok, where a shadow from the past places the present under threat and the Doctor must try to undo a past mistake.Featuring the return of the classic William Hartnell foe, the Celestial Toymaker, and the crowded TARDIS of the Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan, this book is written in three parts (or rounds, as it puts them). The first and third feature the TARDIS crew, but the middle round is an all-star visit to Gallifrey's past to discover exactly how the Doctor and the Toymaker first came to be in conflict. So many Time Lords you'll need a score card to keep track!Aside from this visit to Gallifrey's past, the other great feature of the book is the characterisation of the Doctor's companions. For instance, we are treated fairly early on to Tegan's impressions of the Doctor, Nyssa and Adric, and complimentary is not a word that springs to mind. As the book progresses, discord is sewn amongst the four friends with potentially disastrous results.So, here we have a book which not only deals with the "present", but has its eyes fixed firmly on the past as well as the "future" - in the form of the unmade but novelised Sixth Doctor story 'The Nightmare Fair'. If Doctor Who's continuity gives you a headache or makes you nauseous, leave this one to those (like me) who enjoy it.

the origin of the toymaker, the doctor at school , fun!

This missing adventure features the fifth doctor ,tegan,nyssa and adric. The doctor and his companios get into a squabble over how the TARDIS lands in a space station over a planet in the future.Meanwhile the Toymaker is screwing around with the doctor companions minds of their trust of the doctor. The Doctor goes back in his mind to his school days back home on gallifrey. This brings some answers but not enough to stop the Toymaker plan with his friends. Eventually the Doctor and his friends escape the Toymakers world. The Toymaker leaves his world for other places while the world his lives is repaired. This novel also explains how the guradians came to be ( such a example Black/white guradians)! This novel is a fast story and it a little slow at first, but gradually the pace of the story picks up! Over all a fun read with my favorite doctor and companions! please do more adventures of the 5th doctor please (this a note to the authors! ) there a great addition to the novels of my favorite doctor (besides Tom Baker! )

Academy Days, Tegan's Perspective and Celestial Toymaker!

This is one of the best Doctor Who books in a long time. A long, long time! It's writing style is straightforward and enagaging, much like the literature of Terrance Dicks. The companions were fleshed out as to reveal insights and opinions on issues we always wondered about. Tegan's disgust with Adric's poor teenaged hygene, Adric missing "His" Doctor, the Fourth, and the like. The passions and hidden resentments make this very soap operatic for Doctor Who, but it works. It's fun and yet quite insightful and revealing. Even the young First Doctor's "Luke Skywalker" type yearning to escape into adventure makes its mark. Granted, the entire second part dedicated to the early days can EASILY have "Toymaker" replaced by "Q" or "Trelane", the "Gallifreyan Academy" replaced by "Federation Academy" and "The Doctor" replaced by "Kirk" or "Picard". But that's what adds to it's fun and appeal. This book isn't overly complex and full of high level concepts like other books in the range. It's an entertaining tale in the spirit of the original series that deals with beginnings and relationships. It DOES feel a lot like a Star Trek type of novel, but I was pleased with that. Through many references (DW Television, novels, even comics) and by utilizing elements that DO work for other sci fi (such as Star Trek and Star Wars), Gary Russell brought back style, humility and a sense of "fun" to Doctor Who. As a devout fan of Parkin's A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE and Platt's LUNGBARROW, I really liked the Academy scenes and the appearance of Badger, Koschei (and others) and the mention of the nickname "Snail". I can see how many die hard fans who dislike too much of Gallifrey revealed may be a bit hostile. But I just think this novel was so full of rich characterization and held such a fun mood that I was overjoyed with every bit of it, Trek-like or otherwise. Tegan's descriptions of her companions on pages 24-25 and the Doctor's teacher's lecture on pages 108-110 are alone worth buying and cherishing this richly rewarding book. This is TRUE Doctor Who if EVER such a thing existed in any form. I loved it.