The Many Hands

The Tenth Doctor and Martha visit 1759 Edinburgh to see the city as the New Town is being built. Apart from the surprise of seeing a loch where you’d expect the Princes Street Gardens, Martha and the Doctor end up facing some 18th-century mad science, an alien bent on immortality, and seriously creepy sentient hands. Overall, this was a good story. Having been to Edinburgh myself I enjoyed the setting, and I found the scenes with the hands to be delightfully creepy (Chapter 6 was the best in that regard). If you like the more historical stories of Doctor Who, or are interested in early science or the era of the Scottish Enlightenment, you might like this one.

The Doctor loved Rose but I liked Martha Jones so my first Doctor Who book had to be The Doctor and Martha. Doctor Who: The Many Hands by Dale Smith was one of the few Doctor books just waiting for me to read them so I picked it up and gave it a whirl. Smith captured The Doctor's voice so well, the spirit of the book and the TV show is the same and it reads like the roller coaster ride that most of the Television episodes show you.

The Many Hands is fast, fun and highly entertaining. I flat out did not want to put it down, in the beginning there are zombies but of course as Martha and The Doctor dig deeper we find out that the "zombies" are in fact part of a sinister experiment being conducted by a local scientist and his "son" using show more alien technology. I love when Doctor Who links "real" history into their episodes and books in this one keep an eye open for Benjamin Franklin. This one gets two thumbs up I can't wait to pick up my next Doctor Who novel. show less

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A jolly good Tenth Doctor and Martha novel, which would have made a brilliant TV episode (or couple of episodes). Mostly set in eighteenth-century Edinburgh, where alien tech has created a flock of semi-sentient hands which are terrifying the locals. A good sense of place and a couple of David Tennant in-jokes referencing Bathgate and Hamlet. Entertaining stuff.

This is one of the best of the current crop of Who books. The alien is extremely creepy and the characterizations of the Doctor and Martha are spot on. The plot is fast paced with an evenly interesting path for both regulars. The supporting players are all well-rounded and interesting, especially McAlister (who I was waiting to be revealed as an ancestor to the Brig). Dale Smith is one to watch with the Who books, he should write for the show.

This Doctor Who book was ultimately somewhat disappointing as it fails (though it does try) to capture the personality of the show and the Doctor as portrayed by David Tennant. The story was passable, the writing fair (point of view, point of view, who's got the point of view?).

Despite being a big fan of the TV series, this was the first Doctor Who book that I had tried. The format is a little smaller than most books, which made it really nice to hold and read.. especially in the bath! It also allows for the story to be fast paced, so that it feels like a TV episode.

This one was based on the 10th Doctor and Martha - The Doctor’s character is well written, which makes it very easy to picture him whilst reading (always a pleasure!), but I did feel that Martha wasn’t captured quite as well.

The actual storyline was actually like many of the TV episodes.. it could have been quite silly, and yet somehow, it works. I don’t know which age groups this book is aimed at, but younger readers may find this one a show more little frightening.

All in all, if this one is anything to go by, these books are great for fans, offering yet more time with The Doctor. I’ve already spotted some more I’d like to pick up! show less

Great reading by David Troughton, but I didn't particularly like the story.