After the novelisations of Douglas Adams’ three Doctor Who stories (‘City of Death’, ‘The Pirate Planet’ and ‘Shada’) have been published successfully over the last few years it was probably inevitable that his un-commissioned script would undergo a similar treatment.
Novelised by James Goss, who did a superb job with ‘City of Death’ and ‘The Pirate Planet’, ‘The Kirkkitmen’ seems to be set somewhere between Tom Baker’s sixth and seventh series as the Doctor. It opens with the Doctor and Romana attending a cricket match at Lords that gets invaded by a group of killer robots intent upon depriving both England and Australia of the Ashes.
This is just the beginning of a madcap, jaunt across space, time and dimensions and a variety of planets with bizarre scenarios as the Doctor, Romana and K-9 endeavour to save all life in the universe from being extinguished by the machinations of some dangerous, insane and highly intelligent foes.
If any of the content or the plot seem familiar that is because they probably are. After the script for ‘The Kikkitmen’ failed to become either a Doctor Who film or a serial it was re-used for ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’. Whereas Adams pulled ideas and elements for his Dirk Gently novels out of ‘Shada’ after its production failed to be completed, the third Hitchhikers novel is essentially ‘The Krikkitmen’ without the Doctor Who elements. Obviously, there are plenty of differences between the two, but, essentially, they are the same plot. Therefore ‘The Krikkitmen’ is a bit like a radical and controversial remix of a famous song that you’re not really sure whether it works or was worth doing but enjoy it anyway.
There is a whole mass of ideas included which sometimes seem a little bit of a mess, but typical of the work of Douglas Adams they all manage to coalesce into a satisfying, coherent whole. Thus, the style and structure reflect the nature of the plot.
Along the way James Goss includes references to Doctor Who after the era of the Fourth Doctor. Most are fun and frivolous and include where the Fifth Doctor got his liking for cricket from presumably and perhaps how Romana gets a taste for being a President/Prime Minister.
Of course, this story didn’t originally feature Romana and K-9 as companions despite them being those associated with Douglas Adams’ time working on the programme. However, they have been re-worked into this novelisation to provide some continuity with the other recent novelisations of Douglas Adams’ Doctor Who. And it works really well. A considerable amount of material comes from the perspective of Romana. It utilises her attitude of frustrated exasperation mixed with admiration towards the Doctor and works as a substitute for Arthur Dent’s relationship with the mad aliens he finds as his companions.
The story was rumoured to have featured Sarah-Jane Smith (interestingly the appendices cover this and other variations). However, it is a little tricky to see how this style of story would have fit tonally into the period where Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes presided over the show. It feels much more suited to the Romana period. Because of this, though, there is a bonus at the end of the book that is a reimagining of the opening of the novelisation featuring Sarah-Jane Smith instead of Romana.
Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen: 4th Doctor Novel
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Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen: 4th Doctor Novel
Douglas Adams
(Author),
James Goss
(Author),
Dan Starkey
(Narrator)
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Product details
| Listening Length | 9 hours and 45 minutes |
|---|---|
| Author | Douglas Adams, James Goss |
| Narrator | Dan Starkey |
| Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
| Audible.com.au Release Date | 18 January 2018 |
| Publisher | BBC Digital Audio |
| Program Type | Audiobook |
| Version | Unabridged |
| Language | English |
| ASIN | B0759Y8LD8 |
| Best Sellers Rank |
56,710 in Audible (See Top 100 in Audible)
224 in Time Travel Science Fiction (Audible) 303 in Movie Tie-In Fiction (Audible) 839 in Time Travel Fiction |
Customer reviews
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Top international reviews
Alaran
Life, the Universe and Doctor Who
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 April 2019Verified Purchase
Mervyn Capel
Romana Almost Upstages The Doctor in Adams/Goss Saga.....With Sarah Jane as a Bonus!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2019Verified Purchase
PlanetBeth
A most hitchhiking Who.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2019Verified Purchase
Captain AWESOME
If you liked Hitchhikers...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 May 2019Verified Purchase
mr stephen marsh
Colourful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 November 2019Verified Purchase
paul hilton
A good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2018Verified Purchase
Marmalade
Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2018Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Drivel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 August 2018Verified Purchase
Chris Coyne
Another lost story.
Reviewed in the United States on 20 January 2018Verified Purchase
Michelle C. Flowers
It was ok but tries a bit too hard
Reviewed in the United States on 13 August 2018Verified Purchase
Kirin
Another Douglas Adams DW meets Hitchhiker
Reviewed in the United States on 22 July 2019Verified Purchase
Louis Vigo
Excellent ghost writing
Reviewed in the United States on 2 May 2018Verified Purchase
Dr. Fred
A big let down.
Reviewed in the United States on 14 September 2018Verified Purchase
Rick Lundeen
A bit too much Hitchhikers infused within......
Reviewed in the United States on 31 March 2019Verified Purchase
Walker
Not as funny as it thinks it is.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 January 2018Verified Purchase