Harvest of Time

This is a review of the novel version. This is one of the best portrayals of the Doctor and the Master. The best novels tell the story through characterization and dialogue. You can clearly see the author's enthusiasm for the 3rd Doctor. The supporting characters are done well and add to the story. The best part is the interaction between the Doctor and the Master as they are forced to work together. Overall, a well told and intelligent story that bring out the best of the 3rd Doctor era.

Initially, Harvest of Time is a little slow to get going, but after an hour or so, it turns into a gripping Third Doctor tale and it has absolutely everything fans of this era of the show could wish for: the Doctor sparring with the Master, Jo, the Brig and the whole UNIT family, Bessie, drilling platforms and a frightful alien invasion. With all those familiar ingredients thrown in, Harvest of Time manages to evoke the feeling of the Pertwee era perfectly. There are even some little references to various of the tv episodes for good measure. At the same time however, there are enough original ideas to make the plot distinctive from any of the televised adventures. One of the key aspects of the story is the examination of the character of the Master and his (changing) relationship with the Doctor, all of which is intriguingly written and only slowly unravelled to good effect.

Most of the action is split between the Doctor/Master pairing on the one hand and Jo/UNIT on the other, thus allowing the listener to follow different character perspectives and wittness the parallel developments within the story.

Geoffrey Beevers is a very good narrator and it's only some of the more lively, action-packed scenes that didn't really work for me, due to the creepy, Master-ly delivery he employes throughout his reading. Otherwise Beevers' performance fits this story perfectly, as he manages to ramp up the tension and suspense with those sinister tones of his.

Never having read any other books by Alastair Reynolds, I can't comment on whether this is typical of his style or not, but he certainly knows how to write a gripping Third Doctor story. Recommended.

'Harvest of Time' is a Third Doctor novel set when the Doctor was exiled on earth, and it ticks every box that a fan of that era would want; The Doctor, Jo Grant, Bessie, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT and of course The Master... then we've North Sea oil rigs, dodgy Government officials, plus the obligatory alien invasion of Earth! So everything is here, including the kitchen sink.

Geoffrey Beever's did a great job narrating this audio-book. He has a very creepy voice, perfect for The Master. Although I was so immersed in the story that all of his voices fitted in well. The dialogue between The Doctor and The Master was brilliant, I could almost hear Pertwee and Delgado sparring with one another in my head.

'Harvest of Time' is more like an expanded novelisation of a Jon Pertwee TV story than a typical Alistair Reynolds novel. The author obviously knows his Doctor Who though, as everything is spot on and this story perfectly captures the era of Doctor Who in which it is set. (Somewhere between The Daemons and The Sea Devils.) It is a well written Third Doctor adventure... and jolly good fun.