The Fifteenth Doctor #04

'Caged' (2024) from BBC New Series Adventures.

Unfortunately I don't have much to say on this and it just didn't particularly interest me on many fronts. The whole first half feels purposefully vague and confusing in a frustrating way, and once everything narratively lines up it's all a bit whatever really. I get what it's doing and it's quite a typical Doctor Who plot, but I just found the main companion to be annoying - plus I kept picturing her like the red panda from Turning Red and that's never a good thing. Some okay stuff here and there: I like the idea of the octopus-type race although their names were infuriating, same with the panda people also really, and I like the general concept of a planet which is a laboratory for an alien race, but it just didn't interest me that much in execution.

Man oh man, what an enjoyable read.

When I saw the announcement of of new book in the New Series Adventures range, I was so excited. Especially considering the lack of novels for 13, which in my opinion are better than some of her episodes but that’s neither here nor there. Caged proves that the range can still provide really good books but is just a really good 15th Doctor story that’s perfectly fitting of the vibe of Season 1/Series 14.

Right off the bat, the characterizations of 15 and Ruby are pitch perfect. Una did an amazing job depicting the infectious rapport that Ncuti and Millie had on TV. She got the voices and the dialogue down pat.

The premise itself is very fun. A group of aliens called the Ixites have been observing and abducting another group of aliens (who don’t really go by any name in this story). It’s later revealed that the Ixites made the planet that the Unnamed aliens inhabited and plan to basically evict them and demolish their home to have the Ixites move in instead. The story follows Chirrachar who in the beginning gets abducted and sets out on a journey to find who abducted her and why. She’s a very cute and likable character who just wants to make friends with the aliens that abducted her.

The story is just really fun and whimsical with great themes of the question of other beings in the universe and what that means in the grand scheme of things. If you’re like me and want more than the 8 episodes we were given, check this book out.