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

“Only Human: Neanderthals, Culture Clashes, and the Weirdest Time Travel Yet”

Gareth Roberts’ Only Human opens with a compelling mystery: a Neanderthal named Das, plucked from 28,000 years in the past, finds himself in modern-day Bromley. The prologue and early chapters establish the premise effectively, capturing the feel of a revival-era Doctor Who episode with its brisk pacing and sharp prose. However, the story quickly shifts focus, immersing readers in the Stone Age for the bulk of the narrative, where the Doctor, Rose, and Jack face new challenges.

The book shines through its clever exploration of culture clashes. Das’ observations of modern life are both humorous and thought-provoking, presented through diary entries that form a fascinating subplot. His evolution as a character defies stereotypes about Neanderthals, painting him as intelligent and resourceful. Meanwhile, Captain Jack’s mission reports—showcasing his bafflement at 21st-century norms—add depth and humour, though his on-page role is limited.

The blending of times is another highlight, as Rose navigates interactions with both a future society dulled by emotion-suppressing drugs and a Stone Age tribe, while the Doctor mediates between these disparate groups. This future society, where “wrong feelings” are chemically erased, is chillingly believable and provides an unsettling commentary on human behaviour.

Characterisation is strong across the board. The Ninth Doctor feels authentic, his sharp wit balanced by vulnerability as he grapples with the effects of the future society’s drugs. Rose is recognisably herself, though her brief alliance with the prehistoric tribe feels somewhat extraneous. Captain Jack is charming but underutilised, primarily appearing via his mission reports while acting as Das’ babysitter.

The supporting cast is memorable, particularly Das, who is an instant favourite in the Doctor Who franchise’s portrayals of Neanderthals. The prehistoric humans are well-drawn, and while the Osterberg people lack individuality, their manipulation through drug use adds intrigue. Chantal Osterberg, though not groundbreaking as a villain, stands out as the most compelling antagonist in the New Series Adventures so far, and the Hy-Bractors make for eerie, tragic monsters with an unsettling design.

The book ventures into darker, more graphic territory than typical Doctor Who fare, evoking the feel of a Virgin New Adventures novel. This is balanced by the inclusion of sharp humour and pop culture references that keep the tone dynamic. Roberts also takes risks with concepts that wouldn’t have worked on TV, such as Rose’s head being separated from her body, adding a surreal edge to the narrative.

📝Verdict: 9/10

Gareth Roberts blends wit, heart, and intrigue in a refreshingly imaginative Doctor Who novel that explores humanity’s past, present, and future with surprising depth.

Only Human stands out in the Doctor Who novel range for its rich characterisation, inventive setting, and deft balancing of suspense and humour. It’s a captivating adventure that feels both daring and quintessentially Doctor Who.

Random Observations:

• Bold of the author to suggest we haven't invented time travel by 2076!
• Knowing what we know about John Barrowan and his behaviour today, the scene where he stages a distraction by running around stark naked feels very wrong.
• The Doctor doesn't seem like a fan of Coldplay!

3/5

Very interesting premise, plot and opening, but leaves me wondering why Jack was included in this story as he is side-lined for much of the story – although his role seems appropriate, it’s disappointing he doesn’t have more to contribute, especially with only appearing in three of these early new series adventures.

When remembering this book though, my first thought is always of some mild but strange decisions, mostly later in the book, that to me gave it an air of immaturity that I just don’t particularly think works.

Very interesting premise let down by its tone and how it treats its main characters.

Echoing what most People have said, this is by far the best NSA Book from the first few, at least. A lot of this has to do with the Fact that this one feels much refined in its Identity of being Part of the Revival, while I appreciate the more ‘Serial’ Approach of Past Novels, I don’t think it worked overall as well as some of the Authors would have hoped. This one is clearly written in Mind with the Pacing that the Revival has, and since it’s a Book it has often enough Time to breathe properly.
Of course the Dialogue is the biggest highlight here, I think there are some wonderful Lines to be found, Jack especially gets a good Treatment in this book. It’s always fun seeing the Trio of Rose, 9 & Jack interact or have another Story and this one delivers it quite well I must say. Ohh, and how can I forget Jackie? Perhaps the most enjoyable Character in this entire Book!
While this all sounds great, I still had a few Issues with the Novel, I don’t think 9 and Rose have been translated perfectly to the Page and fall at times a bit short. Similarly, I didn’t like some Decisions made in this book, but I can overlook most of them.

There is of course the Business in regard to its Writer, by now most People know about Robert’s horrid Views and while I can separate the Art from the Artist, I don’t blame anybody at all for feeling uncomfortable giving any of his Work a go. There are probably a lot of Opinions on the Subject, so I will just leave it at it with: Buying second hand is the ideal Way to go about it, if one is interested in this book.

NEW SERIES ADVENTURES: BOOK FIVE (Ninth Doctor: Book Five)

Only Human is often called one of the best NSAs.

Well, I disagree.

The author is a problem, but not the reason I dislike this book.

I just find it uninteresting. I was glad to finish it.

It’s not a fun or exciting experience. Far from it.

The concept is rather nice, but it’s just a boring story.

But I do recommend you try it for yourself, because I can see why people would like it.

• Roberts doesn’t know how to write someone who isn’t from the 21st century, to be honest — all the characters broadly have the priorities of 21st century normies, and the author doesn’t seem to realize this. Even when there are differing cultural norms from modern ones, they are generally not well thought out and rely HEAVILY on standards of today’s society. For example, WHY would neanderthal era humans want, like, or even care about having filed nails??? Also, why did they hold a wedding that was basically a modern one in structure? Unsurprisingly given the author, there are a couple transmisogynistic jokes along with this (there is no reason why Neanderthals should think it would be funny to call a man a woman — that is very much a modern hangup).
• I also thought the worldbuilding of the cultures of the Neanderthal-era people was very weak and kind of, I don’t know what the word would be, but prejudiced? The Neanderthals are clearly supposed to be ugly from the text (fat, hairy, big noses — I personally would very much disagree with the idea that these traits are ugly) and the (Neanderthal-era) humans more attractive (white teeth, which doesn’t make sense given they don't have dental care yet). Also, the ancient humans are described as having what sounds like a London accent and then their last name is Welsh, which doesn’t make a lot of sense — why shouldn’t they have the accent that co-evolved with Welsh as a language? Rose is also shown to be disrespectful of the (long, Welsh) last name, which I thought was unfair. Then the resolution with that is VERY contrived given the plot previously.
• The point the writer is trying to make about the future humans never feeling "bad" emotions and getting eugenics style beauty surgery is very much undercut by the fact that the one Refuser of these ideas is portrayed as fat, ugly, undesirable, and unable to keep to his own personal space. It really confuses the message he’s trying to make — are you endorsing the Refuser’s ideas or aren’t you?
• Roberts just sort of shelves Jack for the vast majority of the adventure, and there isn’t a very good reason for why it would be him and not Rose. Sure, the Doctor says it’s because he likes Rose more, but then he and Rose immediately split up to investigate different things. The other thing I didn’t like about this is how it throws Rose straight into a misogynistic storyline — she basically gets kidnapped by Neanderthal-era humans and is put into a forced marriage. It would have been nice if this was Jack instead, and Rose had stayed behind to deal with Das — this would remove a lot of the cultural baggage.
• The characterization of the villain was thin and cookie cutter, same with a side character in the beginning who instinctively trusts the Doctor with no reason given for it.
• This does have the bones of a good story, but it’s very poorly executed re: the aforementioned errors.
• Some things I did like, though: the Doctor randomly showing up with a horse (who he persuaded to let him ride via the Psychic paper), canonization of the TARDIS swear filter, some of the things the Doctor said (leaving Jack behind instead of Rose because he likes her more, he travels with humans because they can be good or bad but never boring), the Doctor being literally taken apart and having his organs and stuff messed with, the bit at the end where the Doctor talks Rose into getting her body out of the cabinet while her head is detached, the bit at the beginning where the kid messes about with the pet, the Hybractors