FOR a change we have an original Doctor Who novel which does not feature the current incarnation of the Doctor.

OK, so we had Shada, but that was a special novelisation of an unfinished television adventure.

In this excellent book by Stephen Baxter – the man who now collaborates with Terry Pratchett – we go back to the time of the Second Doctor as played by Patrick Troughton and his stalwart companions Jamie and Zoe (played on Tv by Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury).

The TARDIS materialises unexpectedly on a small moon in amongst the rings of Saturn.

The ship was reacting to energy signatures that it could not ignore and somehow it involves an amulet worn by a 16 year-old girl.

The moon is actually a mining colony and various items of equipment have been going missing; the blame falling on the children of the colony.

But what are the blue dolls that people have been seeing?

Soon, the Doctor and his friends are deep in the throes of a mystery involving an entity that has been waiting, entrapped, for billions of years.

And, as our heroes venture deep into the ice world, they are unaware of treachery from someone who is supposed to be helping them.

The story is fast-flowing and it’s refreshing to read about an earlier Doctor and putting him in a more ‘up to date’ setting than we had on our monochrome TV’s.

The characterisations are spot-on, with the Doctor’s seemingly bumbling attitude and Zoe and Jamie’s verbal sparring; and it is apparent that this adventure takes place not long after Zoe joins the TARDIS crew.

Also, if you care to look, there are some subtle references to Star Trek, Gerry Anderson and part of the plot has elements of 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Stephen’s grasp of the world of Who is nothing short of inspired, and it is hoped – on this evidence – that this won’t be the last ‘new’ adventure of an ‘old’ Doctor.

BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84990-182-6