Book Review: Doctor Who – City of Death by James Goss and Douglas Adams

Hardback by BBC Books, £16.99
In the days before video and DVD, if you wanted to relive any of the classic Doctor Who adventures, you had to rely on the novelisations by Target. However, there was one transmitted adventure that never
saw print – until now.

When Douglas Adams was the Script Editor, he was responsible for some of the most memorable adventures of The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and ‘City of Death’ was definitely one of those. It was partly filmed in Paris and also featured Romana II (Lalla Ward) in a schoolgirl uniform!

The Doctor arrives in Paris in 1979 for a bit of a holiday, but gets involved with a plot to steal the Mona Lisa by Count Scarlioni, who just happens to be Scaroth, the last of the Jagaroth, who has been stranded on earth for millennia. The plot also features a scientist trying to build a time machine and Duggan, a Private Investigator who seems to enjoy hitting people.

Coincidentally, as I was reading the novel, the story was broadcast on TV and the comparisons between the broadcast version and this novel are very good. Mr Goss has faithfully reproduced the feel and mood of
the television story and has embellished it with extra detail which makes it all the more enjoyable.

The byplay between The Doctor and the Count – and Romana, plays out as if you were watching it on the screen and the narrative never gets bogged down with unnecessary details.