(Warning: This review will mention spoilers from Season Four of the Doctor Who series)

Gary Russell’s tenth Doctor and Donna Noble series tie-in novel was one of eleven chosen for reprinting as part of 2013’s 50th Anniversary celebration of Doctor Who. Having just tearfully turned the final page of the book it is apparent to me how wise a choice it was to have this novel represent the tenure of David Tennant in the titular role.

I suspect I am not alone in feeling some initial trepidation in the choice of Catherine Tate to play the role of the Doctor’s companion in season four, and this despite being a fan of her comedic talent. After emotional turns with Rose and then Martha I was fearful of what direction the show would take with the introduction of Tate as Donna Noble. If you have experienced that season, which saw the end of Tennant’s run as the Doctor (coupled with the specials), then you are aware that Catherine Tate’s contribution to the series was special indeed.

In the Introduction author Gary Russell writes of his desire to reflect in words the talent and energy he witnessed in the performances of David Tennant and Catherine Tate.  He writes of wanting “to write a story about loss, sadness, triumph and living the only life we have, despite–or even because of–what fate hands us“.  Russell states that he wanted to write a story “about real people coping with real situations against a background of a fantasy adventure story“.

He managed to carry off his goals, brilliantly.

My Rating: 9/10 stars

Beautiful Chaos is a Doctor Who adventure that takes place entirely on Earth during a visit home for Donna Noble to spend time with her family, most notably her mother Sylvia and her grandfather Wilfred–Wilf as he is affectionately known.  During the visit she is also introduced to Netty, a woman that Wilf has romantically befriended who is suffering from the occasional loss of place and time common to her ever-advancing Alzheimer’s disease.  Those familiar with Doctor Who know there is never such a thing as a simple visit home, a reminder that is brought home when the Doctor wanders off to tell a young boy that he has been sent to save his life, although he has no idea who sent him nor why.

At the same time that the Doctor and Donna are about their respective tasks, CEO Dara Morgan of the computer giant MorganTech is about to broker the final stage of a deal that will have a worldwide, nay universal, impact come Monday of the upcoming week.  For Dara Morgan and his business partner Caitlin are working in concert with one greater than themselves, one on her way from another dimension who has plans for humanity, and a desire to wreak vengeance on the good Doctor.

Before all is said and done the Doctor will not only involve Donna but will also involve Wilfred and Netty in a dangerous battle for the survival of the human race, a battle that will not be achieved without sacrifice and loss.

The main story of Beautiful Chaos is surrounded by a bookend set in the time period after Donna Noble’s memory of her time with the Doctor has been wiped clean but before the Doctor’s regeneration.  The show writers and actors of Doctor Who, in particular David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins (who played Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott), gave viewers some of the most gut-wrenching emotion of Doctor Who‘s 50 years of existence.  All three characters were so deservedly beloved by viewers and Gary Russell reminds readers of that emotional connection with his delicate handling of this sad chapter in the Doctor Who adventures.  In between the opening and closing chapters Russell writes a taught adventure that brings all these familiar characters to vivid life, capturing their energy and dialogue and the nuances of their performances so brilliantly in his prose.  You cannot help but see and hear these actors in your imagination as your eyes flow across the page.  It really is the triumph Russell hoped it would be.

In creating the additional character of Netty, Russell demonstrates that he can do more than build off of familiar, established characters but can also bring dimension to a character of his own imagination.  Netty plays a pivotal role in the story in more ways than one.  Not only is she intricate to the plot, but she also inhabits a role that allows the reader to see more deeply into Donna Noble’s family.  Her Alzheimer’s is not merely there for some heart-tugging emotion but is there as a catalyst to bring the Noble family together to voice and face some of the fears and tragedy witnessed in the television series.  All this works together to create  character development in a way that is deeply satisfying and frankly unexpected in a television series tie-in novel.

While there is something of a formula to shows like Doctor Who, particularly in the appearance of and ultimate end of the introduced villains, Beautiful Chaos rises above the formulaic in its examination of family, of responsibility, of relationships and of the fact that despite having this seemingly invincible Time Lord in their lives, tragedy remains an unavoidable part of existence.

Beautiful Chaos is full of the wit and fun and adventure that fans of David Tennant and Catherine Tate are familiar with in their shared episodes while also exhibiting the emotional depth and drama that also accompanied their tenure.  It is a relatively short novel, particularly by today’s standards, but oh does it pack a punch.   Perhaps the best compliment I can give Gary Russell is that not only do I want to encourage everyone to read Beautiful Chaos, but I also want nothing more than to go back and watch all the Tennant/Noble episodes again, despite the havoc I know it will wreak on my emotions.

Well done, Gary Russell.  Well done.