Review: Doctor Who: Touched By An Angel

Doctor Who: Touched By An Angel
by Jonathan Morris

Plot Summary:

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. Her husband Mark is still grieving. Then he receives a battered envelope, posted eight years ago, containing a set of instructions and a letter with a simple message: "You can save her."

Later that night, while picking up a takeaway, Mark glances at a security monitor - to see himself, standing in the restaurant in grainy black and white. And behind him there's a stone statue of an angel. Covering its eyes, as though weeping... except, when Mark turns, there's nothing there. As Mark is given the chance to save Rebecca, it's up to the Doctor, Amy, and Rory to save the world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using history itself as a weapon...

A note:

I picked up this book based on a recommendation from Doctor Who guru Aidan from Chair With a Panda On It.

Review:

The Weeping Angels are my favorite Doctor Who villians. They don’t “exist” if you are looking at them, they can’t speak, you can’t hurt them, and they don’t give up. They are so insidiously menacing. Touched By An Angel takes these now classic Who villians and puts a new spin on them. They are ever resourceful, and in this story their plan to feed off of even more concentrated time energy is ingenious. And wrapped up in the life of Mark and Rebecca Whitaker. This novel has Mark backtracking through his life, as he realizes that many things that happened when he was young was influenced by his older self. And this is dangerous as the Doctor, Amy and Rory must monitor Mark’s life in an effort to make sure Mark does not attract the Angels by creating a paradox.

This is such an intelligently engineered time travel story that uses the Angels extremely well. Their appearance in the beginning is especially chilling because there is a different approach to how they stalk their prey. The Doctor and his companions are not the focus of the story, but Mark is a complex enough character to carry the narrative interest. His relationship with his wife and the unfolding of their lives is very touching and romantic. I especially felt the ending was particularly clever and perfectly resolved Mark’s emotional trauma. I thoroughly enjoyed this Doctor Who adventure!

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