Virgin New Adventures #08 - "Nightshade" by Mark Gatiss

Sike! I’ve gone back in the VNAs, I’m unpredictable! I’ll always keep you on your toes! Ok, jokes aside, I’ve reread Nightshade because since I first read it a few years ago, I've been calling it my favourite Doctor Who book of all time. However, having recently read the fantastic Conundrum, I began to wonder about that verdict. I began to wonder if Nightshade truly was the greatest Doctor Who book. Bizarrely written by the often middle of the road author Mark Gatiss, Nightshade is a tight, sensational and immaculate horror story that hits just about every note I love in a story. But do I love it as much as I once did?

The Doctor’s had enough. Finally considering retirement, he decides to think things over in the sleepy town of Crook Marsham. But as Ace gets cozy with the locals, the Doctor discovers that a malevolent force is returning to the village, and that he can’t escape his past so easily.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

It’s been a few years and I’m still not entirely sure how Gatiss wrote this. On the tin, there are bits I can understand; Gatiss specialises in… let’s call it model Who: the man clearly gets the show and so writes episodes that don’t feel particularly out of the box, that follow the show’s formula intensely and often consist of simple stories told relatively well. Nightshade is not a complicated or innovative story for the most part, it is just a horror story. Granted, it’s an amazing horror story, but it’s just that: a simple story told well. But the thing is, there are elements to this that Gatiss never seemed to approach again. Something I take note of with other works by the guy is that they are lightweight, often comedic and aren’t particularly deep. Here though? We have a harrowing character drama that pushes our lead to the extremes.

Whilst I adore the plot and the thrills, the best part of Nightshade is the Doctor. Burnt out, irritable and tired of adventures, the Doctor has become despondent, intent on wandering around the TARDIS and snapping at Ace every so often. Within the first twenty pages, the Doctor has raged at his young companion in a way we’ve never seen before, immediately telling us that there’s something wrong with him. This is the most sensitive and, honestly, human we’ve ever seen Seven, but it works so well. It works because it’s not like this character to show pain and suffering, it’s not like this character to lose his temper. It’s fascinating seeing his sensitive side emerge and see that clash with his alien indifference. The talks about retirement are done here better than they ever will be in the revival. And there’s so much good stuff he does, from his denial at the beginning as to if anything alien is happening in Crook Marsham, to when the regret-feeding entity plaguing the village takes the form of Susan, to when he full on dislocates his arm and has to beg Ace to help him. He gets thrown around in this story and it makes for some truly incredible character building that sends ripples throughout the rest of this series. When Ace asks to leave him, and he refuses, that is the character defining moment of the VNAs’ version of the Doctor.

But I’ve talked enough about the Doctor, what else has this book got to offer? Well, for one, we have an absolutely incredible plot. I will say, it isn’t perfect, the first half drags on just a bit too long but once it gets going, it does not slow down for a second. Drenched in atmosphere, this is a genuinely horrifying story with some really bleak undertones. This is a book where anybody could die, where any character could just get wiped out in a half second and it makes for one of the most engaging and tense Doctor Who stories of all time. It all explodes in the third act, when the malevolent Sentience takes a hold of the town and begins feasting on its residence. There are so many expertly written scenes here of pure dread mixed with some genuinely brilliant action. From the horrifying deaths of the old peoples’ home residents to the tense as balls elevator fight scene that had me speed reading the page to find out what happens next, Gatiss handles a brilliant pace effectively and mixes it with some stark, horrifying imagery to really hook you. Seriously, the way people die in this story is terrifying - rapidly decomposing as they’re absorbed by ghosts of their past.

Actually, let's talk about the antagonist because it’s one of my favourites. The Sentience is just that - a sentience, an unknowable thing that doesn’t even understand itself, a force that dredges your deepest fears and regrets and uses them as weapons, feasting on your past uncaringly. The way it so easily takes a grip on the town, the looming presence it has over the whole story, the way it so effortlessly ties into the Doctor’s character arc in this novel. It’s all sublime. I love unknowable entities from the dawn of time!

And none of this would be so effective if the town of Crook Marsham didn’t feel so alive. There aren’t many members of our cast that feel particularly deep but they all feel particularly believable, they all feel like flawed, genuine human beings who fall and rise and triumph and fail throughout the story. The highlight besides our main character was easily retired TV actor Trevethick, who goes from a jaded old man living in his past to facing down ghosts of his lost golden years so as to let others get on with their lives. His death scene was the most heartbreaking and bittersweet thing in this whole novel. I also like how Gatiss didn’t shy away from the problems of the 60s. Yes, it’s a little shocking to see slurs getting used in Doctor Who but they are being used in the dialogue of a horrible racist. I personally hate it when social issues are sanitised in commentary (*cough* *cough* RTD2 *cough* *cough*), because it harms whatever message is trying to be told.

All in all, this is a well written, nuanced, evocative chiller with a top cast and an incredible interpretation of our lead. Has to be my favourite, right? Well, not quite. I already mentioned how the first one hundred pages or so are too slow for my liking but that’s not what really puts a spanner in the works for me. No, it’s Ace and Robin. So, Ace has her first major romantic involvement here, something that’ll get expanded on in the next book, and it’s pretty goddamn terrible. I like the sentiment but it was so clearly forced in to give a reason for Ace wanting to leave and is uncomfortably awful. For one, Ace and her love interest have zero chemistry and Robin is uncharacteristically wooden for this book, feeling more like a function than a character. Secondly, there is no development to this relationship, they see each other once and are instantly madly in love; this could’ve worked if Gatiss gave it some more attention but as it stands, it is some shockingly awful writing for an otherwise immaculate book and it annoyed me so much I was close to marking this down to a 9/10.

However, I eventually decided “sod it”. Less than five percent of an otherwise near perfect novel will not damper my enjoyment of it. Nightshade is my kind of novel, this is the book I like to read. It hits so many things I enjoy in a piece of literature and for that I adore it. It is a tense, scary, emotional joy ride that I always get a kick out of and as it stands, this is the best thing Mark Gatiss has ever written. I consider it the true beginning of the VNAs and I think everybody who's ever enjoyed an episode of Doctor Who should read it. And to answer that burning question at the beginning, no, I don’t think this is the greatest Doctor Who book ever anymore. But it is pretty damn close.

10/10

Pros:

+ Genuinely really horrifying

+ An incredible exploration of Seven’s character

+ Drenched in sinister atmosphere

+ The Sentience is an all time great antagonist

+ Our side cast is consistently strong

+ Simple but endlessly effective

+ The third act is utterly perfect

Cons:

- The story takes a long time to get going

- Ace and Robin’s relationship is underbaked and contrived