Doctor Who: The Wonderful Doctor of Oz – Review

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think about getting this book or the second book released in this batch, I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t very inspired by the cover art, which failed to catch my interest. But having seen good things said about them on social media, a rare thing these days, I took the plunge and bought both. I was very pleased that I did, both these books, The Wonderful Doctor of Oz and Legends of Camelot are well worth the read.

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Doctor Who crossed over with The Wizard of Oz, then this is the book for you. I’ve never read The Wizard of Oz, though I have done it in Pantomime, so I’m very familiar with the story and you’d be hard-pressed, I’m sure, to find anyone who hasn’t heard of it in some shape or form.

Jaqueline Rayner kicks things off with the TARDIS and its occupants, the Thirteenth Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arriving in LA in 1939 for the movie premiere of The Wizard of Oz. When they arrive at the cinema, they are shocked to hear that no one has heard of it, the book was never written and the movie was never made. Things take a turn for the worse when the Doctor and her companions, I still refuse to call them ‘Fam’, find a stowaway and then the TARDIS is whisked away by a tornado to a land called Oz. The only way out is through and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz and Theodore, the young stowaway have to re-enact the book to find the Wizard of Oz.

Rayner very quickly throws the characters into the action, and while I was a little confused why things happened so quickly, it is explained by the end, I guess reading The Virgin New Adventures range alongside these, I’m just very used to things taking forever to happen! And Rayner also very quickly gives the occupants of Oz, the Doctor Who treatment. This is where fans of the series old and new will no doubt really enjoy themselves with creatures like The Chumlies, Orgons, Cybermen, Krynoids, Axons, even Kroll and the Myrka get a small cameo. It’s the sort of thing that would be amazing to see on screen and Rayner treats them well, especially the Ogrons, who replace the Flying Monkey’s this time. And replacing Toto is none other than K-9, though he does vanish through the middle section of the book, only to reappear out of nowhere towards the end, whether this was because of not enough story for him or he was just in the way, it does feel in keeping for poor K-9 who used to stay in the TARDIS when the script or location didn’t agree with him!

Rayner also rightly takes the essence of The Wizard of Oz, finding yourself and being the best person you can be, and turns that on its head, what if what makes you, you, is stripped away. Graham gets his wit and wisdom taken away, Ryan loses his heart and Yaz losses her courage. This leaves the Doctor alone for the book, luckily Theodore does step into the companion role. This allows us to experience another one of those ‘what-if’ companions and Theodore joins those ranks easily.

However in taking these things away from the characters for me, this was one of only a few slip-ups the book makes, I won’t say that these companions rank amongst my favourites but here, they might come across as a little annoying. Ryan losing his heart becomes completely unlikable and while Graham and Yaz do feel like they earn their essence back, Ryan however doesn’t for me. Still, they couldn’t leave him in that state, given how this book takes place, presumably through Series 12, that wouldn’t make much sense! Another misstep for me lies in the cover. I don’t think giving away the main villain on the cover was the best idea, especially as about halfway through Rayner tries to make us believe us it might not actually be Missy but actually the Rani. In fact, one wonders if they were a little uncertain who they were going make the villain here as Missy actually feels like she could be swapped out for the Rani with no problem.

Rayner’s handling of all the characters are excellent though and like much of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era on screen, it’s the writers who aren’t Chris Chibnall who seem to have a better handle on who they are. Stripping the companions away of what makes them, them, allows for some good character work, especially in Yaz’s case and the Doctor comes across much more Doctor-ish here than she has ever done on screen. It would be a massive spoiler to give much away when it comes to Theodore, but the arc there is excellent and feels rightly like something we would see in the show proper. And it’ll sit well with modern audiences proving that the original idea of The Wizard of Oz, being the best person you can be, hasn’t been completely lost here.

Upon finishing the book, you do have to wonder why a crossover like this hasn’t been attempted or done before. Rayner’s prose bursts with excellence and creativity, as we’ve come to expect from her stories, including those in prose, on-screen or on audio, and she immediately captures the characters we know and possibly, love, from the television series. As with everything, there are little niggles here and there, but I’ve talked about them above. But the heart of the book is extremely well handled and it’s worth reading this book for that alone if nothing else. It also captures the essence of Doctor Who brilliantly, it’s fun, creative, a little scary but most of all, it’s hopeful and after the last few years we’ve had in real life, we all need stories like that.