Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

"EMPIRE OF DEATH – A TARGET-SIZED TOMB FOR SUTEKH'S RETURN"

Scott Handcock’s Empire of Death—the novelisation of The Legend of Ruby Sunday and The Empire of Death—joins the recent crop of Doctor Who Target books that don’t just adapt their televised counterparts but enrich them. With Handcock’s insider insight as the series' script editor, this version feels like the definitive director’s cut of the 2024 finale. It may not fix every flaw from the TV version, but it adds texture, atmosphere, and thematic clarity in all the right places.

EXPANSIONS THAT BREATHE LIFE INTO DEATH

Right from the outset, Handcock adds value. The book opens with a newly written prologue that sees the Doctor travel to 1940s America and to several alien worlds (such as Vortis, from The Web Planet), hoping for a chance encounter with the ever-present mystery woman. It’s a compelling cold open that deepens the creeping paranoia surrounding Susan Triad’s many incarnations. Just a few chapters later, another clever use of structure emerges: a mid-book “prologue” that recounts Susan Foreman's adventures, grounding the Doctor’s emotional stakes and subtly introducing long-time fans to the novel’s mythic aspirations.

The core plot remains faithful to screen. Every major beat, from Ruby’s quest for her origins to the final confrontation with Sutekh, is here—complete with intact dialogue, as one might expect from a Target novelisation. But what elevates the book is the way it fills in the cracks.

Minor characters are fleshed out, notably Colonel Chodozie, whose fate on-screen was swift but shallow. Ruby’s adoptive mum Carla gets more room to breathe in an extended scene at home before being whisked away to UNIT, adding warmth and grounding. Susan Triad’s chilling transformation is granted more interiority, while additional glimpses of the “other Susans” across the universe being corrupted by Sutekh give the cosmic horror a grander sense of scale.

Rose Noble—sadly sidelined on screen—is given a touch more material here, and a few reinstated moments (like the origin of the dog whistle) help explain unresolved plot threads.

WHERE EVEN A NOVELISATION CAN’T SAVE EVERYTHING

For all Handcock’s efforts, some of the issues that plagued the TV episodes remain unsolved. The infamous “SUE TECH” anagram reveal is still as nonsensical in prose as it was on screen. The Time Window sequence—visually striking in the episode—loses a great deal of its mystique in pure description, and the longer 2046 interlude continues to bog down the pacing between Sutekh’s reveal and the final showdown.

Harriet Arbinger is no more developed here, remaining a cipher despite being the herald of death itself. And the final battle, while clearly described, just can’t match the punch of seeing the Doctor dragging Sutekh into the Time Vortex. The visual spectacle is too intrinsic to the moment to fully replicate.

Perhaps the biggest sticking point is the continued deflation around Ruby’s parentage. The story goes out of its way to suggest a monumental reveal, only to undercut itself by insisting Ruby is “just an ordinary girl.” This may be thematically noble, but it feels anticlimactic, and the novelisation doesn’t offer any additional insight to reframe it more satisfyingly.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE:

Empire of Death is a thoughtful and textured adaptation of the 2024 Doctor Who finale. Scott Handcock’s prose is clean and propulsive, and his additions offer new emotional depth and world-building flourishes that enhance the televised story without smothering it. While the novelisation can’t entirely salvage the plot’s more questionable choices—especially the SUE TECH twist and the drawn-out middle act—it delivers what fans come to Target books for: clarity, character, and expansion. Not a perfect resurrection, but a worthwhile one.

Rating: 7/10