This novel was the first Doctor Who novel i’ve ever read and with hindsight i probably shouldn’t have simply started from no.1 and gone on from there. It wasn’t terrible, but neither was it that good. I think choosing to write about a subject-matter that’s already been portrayed in the TV series anyway was probably seen as a safe bet but in my opinion just doesn’t work. It was like re-reading a book after a short space of time, and just didn’t hold my attention as well as i’d hoped it might.

Having read the second novel as well at the time of writing, i can tell you that this was in fact a damn sight better than the second one, but still... doesn’t excuse the unoriginal storyline.

Just OK i’m afraid.

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Pure entertainment. The main characters felt a bit off, but the story made up for it with some very exciting, and Whovian, plot elements. Best bits include... a cat with emerald eyes, the real Anastasia, clockwork machines, a revolutionary, missing things, and a sad Doctor.

Don't mistake this for high-quality, literary-fiction. This is a fun romp through 1920s London, and that is all it should be expected of delivering. ( )

This was interesting. I enjoyed reading about the adventures that we didn't see. I had always imagined there were dozens of trips in between the television versions. I had read that some people were let down by the Doctor Who books, but I don't see why. This was as good as any of the sticky situations they found themselves in on TV only a bit more in-depth. If that's even possible; they seem to fit quite a bit into a single episode. All-in-all the book and story were good. I plan to continue reading the "New Adventures Series". ( )

I am going to be upfront and just admit that I am a massive fan of Doctor Who. Anything even remotely related to Doctor Who immediately catches my attention. It's still a little while to go until the next series and finding myself going through a serious case of withdrawal, I have decided to give the books based on the series a shot.

The Clockwise Man is the first book in the New Who series. New Who began when the series was brought back to life after a sixteen year hiatus. Christopher Eccleston played the role of the 9th doctor and had the immense responsibility of introducing the Doctor to an entire new generation of fans. Naturally, the rebirth of the series spawned a new series of books, allowing the fans to have even more adventures with the Doctor and his companions.

The Clockwise Man takes the Doctor and Rose backwards in time to 1924 London and takes place between the episodes "The Long Game" and "Father's Day" of series one. The Doctor and Rose decide to see The British Empire Exhibition and naturally even a sight seeing trip with The Doctor leads to a mystery which must be solved. It's not long before not only the Tardis (the doctor's time machine disguised as a police box), his leather jacket and precious sonic screwdriver go missing. It seems that the painted lady has determined that The Doctor is the vicious butcher that she has been looking for.

The Clockwise Man felt quite a bit like steampunk because of the mechanicals in the story. It did however contain little references to the series for the sake of continuity. For instance, Rose changes completely into to period clothing while the Doctor runs around in his leather jacket with no one batting an eye. There's even a mention of "Bad Wolf," which fans of the series will immediately recognize as a warning to the Doctor that trouble is coming.

Even with all of the little references, The Doctor really felt off to me. First off, no true Doctor would ever struggle to find a word. Not only is he fluent in English, he often thinks so quickly that few can keep up with him. I found myself wondering repeatedly where the Doctor's arrogance, sarcasm and confidence went? Then, there is the issue that in many ways, The Clockwise Man turns the Doctor into an action hero. Yes, I said action hero. Instead of outsmarting the bad guy, the Doctor actually gets into a physical altercation and allows someone else to try and save the world using their mind and abilities to shut down some tech. An action doctor is not unheard of (see the 6th doctor and the 3rd doctor); however, that certainly wasn't a part of the 9th doctor's personality. He didn't even say, "Fantastic" which fans of the series will recognize as the 9th Doctor's catchphrase. Who is this man? The answer is, not the Doctor or at the very least, not a proper representation of The Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston.

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The ninth Doctor and Rose land in 1920s London, where they meet a number of people with largely mysterious backgrounds. There are robots and exiled royals and cats and a sick child, and all in all it's a rather fun little tale. However, as much as I enjoyed this story, it didn't feel all that specific to Doctor Who. Heck, the Doctor had neither TARDIS nor sonic screwdriver for the majority of the book. Neither he nor Rose spoke like their television counterparts. He didn't even ever say, "Fantastic!" ( )