Doctor Who: The Shadow in the Glass (Doctor Who: Past Doctor Adventures) by Justin Richards

Doctor Who: The Shadow in the Glass (Doctor Who: Past Doctor Adventures) Reviews

• 
  Natalie

  Another solid addition to Sixie's novel universe. Yes, the concept is a little silly, and yes, it does require you to get on board with the 'Hitler survived past WWII' conspiracy theory, but we're talking about a series where an alien time travels. You'll have fun if you just go along for the ride. Sixie is his good old brash, arrogant self, crashing cars, stuffing his face and not caring what anyone thinks about his attitude or his garish coat. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart serves as his companion, and it's great fun. Good old Brigadier both grounds the Doctor and trusts him along with his crazy schemes. There's not too many subplots to get stuck on here, and everything is relevant, unlike other DW installments where it feels like other characters are added in just to fill pages. The TARDIS gets used quite a bit, even giving Brigadier and sidekick Claire a few rides; which is refreshing, because most times it is indisposed or used to collect dust. Six travels through time to follow a Scrying glass, an alien artifact from a crashed ship in 1944, which is connected to the rise of the fourth Reich and the possible fuhrer himself. There's a little bit of history, a lot of license, and a few twists at the end which I really appreciated. It was interesting throughout, and quite a ride. Final score: 3.5 rounded up to a 4, for the twists and the Brigadier himself, of course.
• 
  Nicholas Whyte

  
  http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2524784.html
  
  uniting the Sixth Doctor and the Brigadier in investigating the true facts of alien involvement in the death of Adolf Hitler. It's generally well-researched, but there is a little bit of a sense of historical box-ticking, and a particularly egregious fridging at the end.
• 
  Jacob Licklider

  The Shadow in the Glass is a book which should not be good. It’s Doctor Who tackling post-World War II conspiracies involving the survival and lineage of Adolf Hitler, yes Adolf Hitler survival conspiracies are the main drive of this book. Justin Richards and Stephen Cole also only had a limited time to write the novel after Gary Russell’s Instruments of Darkness was delayed and they needed a Sixth Doctor book to fill the slot stat. This is kind of indicative of the issues at BBC Books, if this were Virgin Publishing there would have been a delay a la So Vile a Sin and the slot would have been essentially skipped over that month. Because this is the BBC and they are pushing out a lot of Doctor Who content in the early 2000s, with 2 books a month, the final VHS’s and by this point the growing DVD range, there seems to be no time to stop and let a release just deal with the delay. Now having Richards and Cole cowriting this actually helps with the compressed writing time, the ideas are allowed to bounce off one another and the novel is wrapped around a fairly simple idea: an alien craft shot down during World War II near the British coast cause a legacy of military occupation guarding a secret which involves a conspiracy about the Hitler lineage surviving the apparent suicide in the bunker somehow. The book has the Doctor being called in by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to help investigate and eventually unravel the conspiracy, culminating in a climax that travels to the bunker to see how it is done. It's very much a novel going from point A to point B with little subplots or diversions, except the alien aspect which is perhaps where the book fails. The alien threat is such a non-entity that despite often being brought up it leaves the reader’s mind quite quickly as the historical elements from Richards and Cole are far more interesting.
  
  This is also hyped up as one of the best of the Past Doctor Adventures, and while it is very good, it still is a book that underutilizes its science fiction elements, though that is buffered by coating it in mysticism almost in parallel to Terrance Dicks’ Timewyrm: Exodus. There’s also the more egregious example of essentially fridging the main and essentially only female character of note, Claire Aldwych, a journalist who serves the role of companion. She is a wonderful character who honestly could have been a perfect match for the Sixth Doctor had the decision been made to keep her on, but her death is essentially the wrap up of the novel so Adolf Hitler Jr. can exist…or possibly not exist as it implies history is rewritten. She is shot and her body burned to be the body double for Hitler’s wife and lover, no seriously. This is a plot point that Richards and Cole try to treat with severity, but as it comes at the end outside of some genuinely painful reactions from the Doctor and the Brigadier, the ramifications of the death just aren’t dealt with and literally the entire plot, a plot involving almost exclusively other male characters, is hung on this brutal death. It’s an added shame as the climax itself is excellent, there is some brilliant tension work as the Doctor, Brigadier, and Claire figure out some of the conspiracies before liaisons with Winston Churchill and Soviet forces, and having Hitler Jr. brought back in time (who could have easily been the body double as he is quickly shot by his father).
  
  Overall, The Shadow in the Glass is a book with some genuinely shocking elements, some terrible uses of fridging, and a Doctor Who book with Adolf Hitler on the cover (luckily completely redesigned for the 2015 reprint). It’s also a book that genuinely works at telling a good story from writers who were on a terribly short deadline but managed to include a lot of researched history, something Richards happened to be doing at the time, and tries to take some care with the subject matter. It’s also a book that somehow manages to be leagues ahead of the previous Past Doctor Adventure, Rags, which is somehow more offensive than the one that literally features the son of Hitler so it’s weird that I actually recommend this as at least an interesting and really fun read. 8/10.
• 
  Matthew Kresal

  The Sixth Doctor era on TV never quite gelled with me as a fan, and I have to confess I had the realization around 2013 or so that if I wanted a story with Colin Baker's Doctor, I was far more inclined to get out one of his Big Finish audios. Yet the Sixth Doctor renaissance had its origins in the various spin-off novels of the Wilderness Era. The Shadow in the Glass, published in 2001 just as the Big Finish audios were taking off, is a neat example of the literary Sixth Doctor in a different setting.
  
  That's something owed in no small part to the story that authors Stephen Cole and Justin Richards tell between its covers. Doctor Who has built a reputation for pastiching other genres, and The Shadow in the Glass takes on the World War II mystery-thriller genre, perhaps best exemplified by the likes of Jack Higgins. One that starts in the (then) present-day of 2001 before sending the Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart across Europe and eventually back in time toward the final days of the war as a threat from the past raises its head in the present. Those with a knowledge of the conspiracy theories around the Nazis, from Hitler's alleged escape to supposed secret bases and alien tech, will find plenty to recognize and enjoy in this fast-paced adventure laced with historical details.
  
  Of course, this is a Doctor Who story and a Sixth Doctor one, in particular. What Cole and Richards accomplish is to mash up a Jack Higgins style thriller with Who elements, including time travel and the presence of aliens. The resulting novel fits neatly into the Whovian sub-genre known as the pseudo-historical, something that this Doctor had only a single smattering of during his screen tenure. The darker feel of that era neatly fits into such a story, and there are moments when Cole and Richards perfectly capture it in prose. Perhaps no more so than in their finale, which perhaps goes a tad too far but is nonetheless a powerful read even two decades on from its publication.
  
  Not to mention that, for a novel written in something of a hurry as the forward of this latest edition of it alludes to, far better than it has any right to be.
• 
  Susan Brand

  This is my all time favourite Doctor Who book. A wonderful story that mixes fact and fiction to perfection.
  
  A reporter find something creepy going on in an abandoned village. A village taken over by the military just before D Day!
  
  I love the Brigadier in this book. An older and wiser Brig. He is called in by an ex subordinate when the modern UNIT leader doesn't want to know and the big man at the MOD is acting suspiciously!
  
  At a loose end while is wife is on a girls week away he decides to call in the Doctor to see if he can help solve the problem.
  
  The relationship between the Brigadier and the 6th Doctor is wonderful.
  
  Claire, the reporter, makes an excellent 3rd member of their team (but beware the ending is not a happy one!)
  
  This is a solid story that moves at a good pace! The Doctor and the Brigadier are a perfect fit for the TV versions. You can almost hear Colin Baker and Nicholas Courtney saying the lines. The other characters a very well developed!
  
  A great read!
• 
  Adam James

  Why can't all Doctor Who books be like Shadow in the Glass??
  
  Much like Festival of Death, Shadow in the Glass is timey-wimey in all the best possible ways, its twists do not disappoint, and its characters act in a way that are consistent with what we expect from these characters.
  Except for maybe The Doctor, who, to be honest, is one of the least important elements of this story. The Sixth Doctor is irascible, and often cowardly, and annoyingly pompous. But The Doctor that is written here by Lyons and Richards, is calm, and funny, and brave...which...doesn't make me picture Colin Baker very vividly. The story works better if you envision The Doctor as Peter Davison, or even David Tennant (for NuWho fans).
  
  Regardless, Shadow in the Glass is damn near perfect.
• 
  Adam Graham

  This is an unusual yet fascinating Doctor Who novel that begins with a reporter for a conspiracy TV show investigating strange goings on at a village that has been sealed off since World War II. She finds herself drawn into a massive mystery involving the fate of Adolf Hitler and whether he may have somehow survived and returned decades later to lead a new reich.
  
  This story is just a good thriller. Even without the specific Doctor Who elements (such as time travel), it displays emaculate research, and delves well into the mystery of what happened. The story features the Brigadier and he's superbly written as is Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor.
  
  India Fisher is a fantastic reader and does a great job keeping you in the story. While I've primarily heard her doing Charlotte Pollard-related short trips, she's a phenomenal narrator and does a great job creating all these characters she never played.
  
  If I had one complaint (other than the poor way the CDs are separated) is that the back story and all the details often meant a lot of talking and limited action. However, the last part of the book makes up for this.
• 
  Anne

  An alternate subtitle to this book should've been the Doctor vs. the Nazi's. I really was not prepared for quite so much of the Doctor and Brigadier's involvement with the 3rd Reich. I originally picked up the book because the Brigadier is one of my all time favorite Doctor Who characters so I was intrigued to read about his and the Sixth Doctor's adventure. Although I could've done without the rather lengthy history lesson in the middle that seemed to go on and on about the final days of Hitler. It seemed a bit too long and unneeded honestly. Also just FYI this one is a bit darker then most Doctor Who stories, I was definitely surprised by some of the events that ended up happening. Overall though it was an interesting and well written story.
• 
  Bill

  The Sixth Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart have to keep the contents --and the passengers--of a wrecked alien starship out of the hands of a Neo-Nazi group, an effort that sends them back to the last days of World War II. There are a lot of things to like here, including some clever use of the known facts surrounding Adolf Hitler's death and some good interaction between the Doctor and the Brig. I wish Colin Baker's TV adventures had been this good.
• 
  Benedict Reid

  I really enjoyed this book, perhaps because it was the first bit of fiction I'd read for a couple of months. But some lovely weaving of conspiracy theories into a sci-fi plot, even if the sci-fi element was a bit shakey (the focus of the plot seemed very much on keeping it consistent with what is know of Hitler's last days).
• 
  Jon

  A clever plot weaving fact and fiction to great effect and nice to see the Brigadier once again. I even quite liked the Doctor - who was on of my least favourite incarnations. The story ran at a good pace but left you a bit unsatisfied at the end, despite the multiple threads coming together very well.
• 
  Tony

  An absolutely absurd book about Hitler, Eva Braun, Aliens, the Occult, Hitler and the Doctor. Seems right that the Brigadier is with the Doctor on this adventure & it’s fun hokum all the way. Rooted in some research by the authors
• 
  Katy

  The 6th Doctor meets Hitler...
  
  Great characterisation- loved six and the Brigadier - well worth a read! Interesting blend of history and sci-fi. Great read!
• 
  Phillip

  I did a non-spoiler-y review for our Doctor Who podcast "Time & Space" here -
  https://www.thenerdparty.com/timeands...
• 
  Philippe Hyndrikx

  a pretty good doctor who story coming from the dark ages but nicely updated
• 
  Sam Ables

  Not bad, not what I expected and not my favorite Doctor but I enjoy any adventure with the Brigadier.
• 
  Angela

  The 6th Doctor meets with the Brigadier and has to solve a mystery. This mystery involves Hitler, a crashed spaceship and an unusual cult.
  
  This is a clever story with some very unforeseen twists in the plot. The brigadier as always, is a highlight of the novel, and its nice to see how he works with the 6th Doctor. The Hitler plot is very well done and does not turn out how you would think.
  
  A very good read.
• 
  Stephen Hartwell

  A strong entry in the series that posits a range of mysteries to do with what happened to Adolf Hitler at the end of the war, and did he somehow survive? After reading of how this book was a last minute replacement to fill the schedule I am very suitably impressed how wholesome and well-written this novel is despite its short gestation period. The authors do a grand job of fleshing out the main characters of the Sixth Doctor, the Brigadier and Claire, and even the supporting characters get some good moments too. All in all an enjoyable read with enough plot twists and changes of location to keep this feeling fresh all the way through. Top Notch
• 
  Jon Arnold

  The dedication and author’s note will give the alert reader a hint as to why The Shadow In The Glass even exists – it’s a child of circumstance, a last minute replacement to fill a sudden gap in the ravenous two book per month schedule Doctor Who books were on. Essentially it doesn’t exist out of a burning desire to tell a story but to keep the schedule churning over.
  
  Given those circumstances it’s more successful than it has any right to be. It’s Doctor Who does The Boys From Brazil, with all sorts of time travelling shenanigans. Cole and Richards, old hands by this point, keep enough fresh elements and plot twists coming to ensure the reader doesn’t notice the novel’s rushed genesis. It’s also fun to see the Brigadier encounter the one Doctor to that point that he’d never met onscreen, even if their roles in the plot are fairly generic. The big twist at the end’s somewhat contrived but (literally) well executed. It doesn’t dazzle with originality but as an energetic adventure it’s a good baseline for a Doctor Who novel.
  
• 
  John Parungao

  Not fond of the initial opening chapters, with the mix of documentary and the paranormal "ghost hunters" aspect with the imps in the video footage. Did enjoy the conspiracy aspects of the story and the way time travel was used as a means of investigating some of the plot. I also loved the fact that UNIT is treated as an investigative force. This give the Brigadier a reason for being involved in the development of the story, he also has an excellent foil in journalist Claire Aldwych. Having these two work together makes up for the absence of the Doctor at various points. It's also interesting to note that both Churchill and Hitler have heard of the Doctor, which helps the Doctor to investigate events once he goes back to the WWII era in the Tardis. I also appreciated the chapter at the end about the historical context of the fictious events in the novel.
• 
  Chrissy

  I enjoyed probably the last 75 pages of this book and that's it.. Really, that's when the story actually gets going and becomes interesting. The rest is an interminably long set-up that didn't feel necessary. This book could easily have been a novella and not a full-on novel. The Doctor was barely in it until the middle, which knocks it down even more. So, five stars for the final 3-5 chapters, and one star for the first 5/8 of the book for not being a very good Doctor Who novel (it's a great story about the conspiracies surrounding Hitler's death - but the Doctor doesn't become relevant until the end, and I'm not here for that).
• 
  Andrew

  reading up on the genesis of this book this one appears to be a stop gap option as the proposed book in this series was late...given that it is a far better book than it would have been.
  It started well in fact you find yourself a fair bit into the book before the Doctor or TARDIS appear which allows the plot to develop quite nicely before familiarity kicks in.
  It's a book that marries intergalactic imps...Nazis and an element of conspiracy theory a recipe that works as well as you would expect.
  Certainly a readable enough tale featuring the sixth doctor with a fair bit to recommend it...not a four star read however as its more a solid but predictable entry than anything earth shattering..
• 
  Daniel Kukwa

  A very surprising novel. It starts off very claustrophobic and rural-English...and then transforms into an incredibly dense epic spanning WW2, Russia in the present day, and everyone from Churchill to Hitler. It also has one hell of a tragic & twisted conclusion for one of the guest characters...and you never see it coming.
  
  That said, I hold back a perfect rating because I'm not convinced that the 6th Doctor was the right choice for this Past Doctor Adventure. The far more dashing/heroic 5th and 8th incarnations would have suited this story in a much more satisfying manner.
  
• 
  Garrett

  A bit less of the 6th Doctor than could have been here, and an unfortunate sort of throwaway death make this one a little below the bar; Lethbridge-Stewart is great fun to read, but with aliens, Hitler, energy fields and such, this one had a lot going on. The circumstances under which it was written will explain some of this, but maybe it ought not have to be explained. I think this would have made one hell of a two-part story, though.
• 
  Gayle

  Awarded this story three stars. Would have been four but I got a bit confused three quarters of the way through, with regards to the aliens, but apart from that I really liked it.
  
  It is always good to have the Brigadier on board for an adventure, and this time was no different. He and Six work well together, in my opinion.
  
  Nice (but sad) twist near the end which I never saw coming.