[Copy of review written June 2024]

It seems a bit hard to write a review for Time’s Crucible. The novel is certainly surrealistic, and I find it difficult to hate the novel entirely, in part due to its ambition. In a world where it seems that too many Doctor Who stories rely on recurring villains or tired sci-fi concepts, Marc Platt says “NO!” However, I can’t shake the feeling that a greater novel is hiding behind the Time’s Crucible that we have. Perhaps in a parallel timeline, it is better? It seems to fall into the trap of confusing avant garde with being an avant garde take on confusing. I did enjoy the fact that there were scenes set on ancient Gallifrey, and I also enjoyed the brief exploration of telepathy. I think that one of the things that I appreciate about the VNAs from reputation and my sample size of one is that I like the alien take on the Doctor. The fact of the matter is, going with a strange man in a box is somewhat terrifying, and I think that tapping into the alien nature of the Doctor paradoxically makes stories more realistic. Although this novel focuses more on shaping the society that shaped the Doctor, I think that exploring what it means to be a Gallifreyan is a plus to the story.

At the same time as I was reading Time’s Crucible, I also read Cloud Atlas by David Michell. Interestingly enough, it also covers similar concepts to Time’s Crucible, such as utilizing non-linear storytelling, reincarnation, and the corrupting influence of power. Ultimately, I think that Cloud Atlas is a better novel than Time’s Crucible, and I would recommend that anyone who enjoyed Time’s Crucible, did not enjoy Time’s Crucible, or could not bring themselves to finish Time’s Crucible, to read Cloud Atlas to have a better experience. *

*WARNING: Cloud Atlas does not contain The Doctor, any of The Doctor’s companions, the Daleks, or obscure Doctor Who side characters that have not been seen on TV since the 1970s. It is a novel intended for GENERAL AUDIENCES. It may contain some sci-fi concepts, though.

I think that this is one of my favorite Hartnell stories that I have seen so far. I felt that it did a great job of making the Doctor and companions seem different from each other, as we see Barbara struggle with the proper etiquette for a time traveler, while the Doctor seems to tread in Aztec society with greater ease. I think that this is an excellent showpiece for Barbara, as the story has her in an interesting position where she has a great deal of agency as the supposed incarnation of a goddess. My mother, who is not particularly familiar with this era of Doctor Who, said that she liked Barbara purely based on seeing a few scenes in this serial.
The agency and authority that Barbara displays is an intriguing contrast with the fact that she is an unwitting time traveler at the mercy of a mysterious and sometimes apathetic man known as the Doctor. Perhaps Susan’s plot thread, though not as developed, puts her in the opposite position, as she is used to spending time in societies in which she has more agency, but is expected to acquiesce to marry a man she does not love. Ian’s hand-to-hand combat was also exciting, though I did find it slightly tedious that he was framed for murder again, as Ian was framed for murder in the previous serial.

It is also interesting that this is a story in which our heroes do not get to win the day. This does not happen particularly often in Doctor Who, so it is interesting that we establish our heroes as fallible. I think establishing the fallibility of the heroes, the Doctor especially, is something that the First Doctor Era of the show does especially well. Without this framework, The Aztecs would not work as well as a story.
Overall, I was impressed by this serial, especially considering that I did not find John Lucarotti’s Marco Polo to be nearly as enjoyable. A well-earned 8/10.