Catch people off-guard, give them something out of the ordinary to consider, and then be terribly polite- it usually worked wonders.
I don't recall any of the Timewyrm books, the initial batch of NAs, being particularly highly regarded, but this is top stuff. Easily the best historical adventure since Hartnell. Not saying much? Well perhaps. We have a bickering Doctor and Ace in Mesopotamia, assisting Gilgamesh to battle the seemingly invincible Timewyrm, respelendent in the guise of the goddess Ishtar. Sophie Aldred goes to great lengths in the book's forward to emphasise her familiarity with Gilgamesh and Enkidu from her schooldays, but they were new ones on me. When Sophie Aldred makes you feel like an ignorant oaf you've got problems. There's a cracking energy to this, and Peel adds layers to the Doctor-Ace relationship that were hinted at but never really explored on screen. You can tell there are fireworks down the line, and again that's the author doing his job well, setting up things to come.
The weak link here is Ishtar / Timewyrm. She's just not terribly interesting in either of these forms- just a shouting, gloating, megalomaniacal super-being, and darling they are three-a-penny round here. More interesting is the little team of outcasts the Doctor gathers around him- bare-breasted priestesses, hairy throwbacks and semi-talented street performers. And that's just Ace! Nah, I'm kidding. Peel actually works some decent educational material in here, again making this feel like a weird hybrid of an early 60s story and something more faithful to the McCoy TV era. It's no masterpiece of course, but weighing this up with 'The 8 Doctors' I know which series I'm more looking forward to spending time with.
'I never make stupid mistakes,' he retorted, trying to muster all his dignity. 'Only very, very clever ones.'
Four stars- and my goodness these books are turning out to be more expensive on ebay than I was expecting.
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