Mark Gatiss

Mark Gatiss’s novel, Doctor Who: Last of the Gaderene, features the Third Doctor as portrayed by Jon Pertwee from 1970 – 1974 with his companion Jo Grant as portrayed by Katy Manning. The story focuses on a small village where the military has recently mothballed the local aerodrome. Overnight, a group of black-clad paramilitary types calling themselves Legion International moves in, claiming that they’re setting up a new airport, though they continue to run roughshod over the townsfolk. People begin disappearing only to return changed, not quite themselves. UNIT dispatches the Doctor and Jo to investigate and they soon find an intricate plot at work, though UNIT faces difficulty in arranging an inspection of the aerodrome due to high-placed connections.

Gatiss wrote several episodes of Doctor Who as well as appearing in them, portraying characters such as Professor Lazarus and Captain Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart. His knowledge of and love for the franchise comes through in the story and its characters. He first published this novel in 2000, when the franchise’s television future remained uncertain, and BBC Books re-issued it in 2013 for the 50th Anniversary, which coincided with the seventh series of the revived era. An enjoyable story for fans of the Third Doctor in particular as well as for anyone who loves Doctor Who.… (meer)