Kit Pedler (1927–1981)

When I first read this in the early '80s, I was a cynical undergrad with a taste for the absurd; "Mutant 59" struck me then as over-the-top and darkly funny. Nearly forty years later, I'm a bit more weathered and the world a more pandemic-scarred place. This book is still overwrought in places, leaning into territory often associated with Terry Gilliam films and morbid laughs are unavoidable where I think pathos was the aim, but this reading was more a grim experience than my first. The cautionary core of the story, though, is stronger now than in 1971, since lab researchers are actively trying to generate plastic-reducing bacteria and plastics are even more integral globally.

The pacing, characters, and slice-of-life vignettes all clearly demonstrate Pedler & Davis' experiences creating and writing for TV, particularly "Doctor Who" and "Doomwatch" (this book is an expansion of the first episode of the latter); the problem here is that this reads way too much like a TV story treatment than a true novel: it's difficult to develop a sense of Reader Comfort along the way. The minor plot with the jewel heist, for instance, is truly unnecessary and pedestrian. Also, the book is indeed dated, with the casual smoking, gender stereotypes, cheap gay jokes, and "Mad Men" corporate meetings, but the thick, cliched _arch-Britishness_ of it all is so.....well, it's exactly what Douglas Adams lampooned with the Vogons and Arthur Dent.

All this being said, this short, dark, fascinating, and weirdly funny novel would (in the right hands) make a brilliantly entertaining movie. As it stands, it's still a decent summer read, especially if you like "Quatermass and the Pit" or mucking about in a Tardis.… (more)

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1999423.html

The script of what is still the best Cyberman story, published in 1989 at a time when the episodes were still lost. There's a brief introductory interview with Davis (and a few words also with script editor Victor Pemberton) pointing out the roots of the story in Erich von Dãniken, and the advantages of using very few sets and of not giving too much away. Though actually what struck me was that this is partially a reboot, the first time a season had opened without William Hartnell, and so there are a couple of background information moments - the Doctor's age, and his thoughts about his family - that we don't often get. Victoria also gets more action than usual, though Jamie is more comic relief and Doctor's boyfriend. Interesting to approach it from a different angle.… (more)