Doctor Who: The Winner Takes All...Review

About the book:
Rose and the Doctor return to present-day Earth to visit Rose's mum, and become intrigued by the latest craze -- the video game, Death to Mantodeans. Is it as harmless as it seems? And why are so many local people going on holiday and never returning? Meanwhile, on another world, an alien war is raging. The Quevvils need to find a new means of attacking the ruthless Mantodeans. Searching the galaxy for cunning, warlike but gullible allies, they find the ideal soldiers - on Earth. Will Rose be able to save her family and friends from the alien threat? And can the Doctor play the game to the end - and win? 

I've always enjoyed novelizations of my favorite television shows. I think I've read all the Angel and Quantum Leap novelizations. So, when I came across Doctor Who novelizations at my library, I was excited.

The Winner Takes All features the Ninth Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston and Rose. Thinking her mother has won the lottery, Rose and the Doctor return to Earth and discover that a video game has captured everyone's attention.

The porcupine-like Quevvils are fighting the Mantodeans, and in order to win, they need soldiers. Enter The Last Starfighter plot here. The Quevvils create a video game which mimics their war and "test market" that game on earth and those who play it well suddenly win a "holiday" where they are transported to the Quevvil world. It's up to the Doctor, Rose and Mickey the Idiot to save the day. Along the way, they meet Robert, who has been transported to the Quevvil world, along with his over-protective mother.

Even for Doctor Who, the Quevvils are a silly, strange, monster. Robert's little Harry Potter-type fantasies were cute, but annoying. In fact, the whole novel was just annoying. I simply wanted it finished.

The author definitely captured Eccleston's voice, I could hear it in my head, which was great. I could not, however, translate this story to the screen. It just didn't work. It was silly and disjointed and hard to follow.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.

Read 8/09

* *
2/5 Stars

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