Author: Paul Cornell
Title: Happy Endings
Publication Info: London : Doctor Who Books, 1996.
Previously Read by the Same Author: Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War, Human Nature and Doctor Who: Four Doctors.
Summary/Review:
This is the 50th book in the Virgin New Adventures and after five years of publishing books instead of producing Doctor Who tv shows, it’s time to celebrate. In traditional Doctor Who style, anniversary celebrations mean bringing back past characters. In this case, Cornell writes in connections to all 49 previous books in the series. If you’re like me and only read select few of the books in the series it means I don’t know who a lot of these people are, but it doesn’t prove to much of a problem.
The setting is the English village of Cheldon Bonniface, the same place featured in Cornell’s Timewyrm: Revelation, and the occasion is Bernice Summerfield’s marriage to Jason Kane. Berenice’s main plot is basically sitcom hijinks about getting into fights with Jason over his perceived infidelity and then having makeup sex. It’s so embarrassing it’s unbearable. Luckily, there’s a lot more going on. Ace, now going by the name Dorothee, is there as a bridesmaid and boasting about her sexual conquests, hoping to add Jason to the list (the books are VERY different from the tv show, no?). Both UNIT and a some Ice Warriors are there as an honor guard (they end up brawling in a village pub). Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson enlist Roz to aid them in solving a mystery. The Doctor gets the Isley Brothers as the wedding band. And there’s a very long cricket match where the wedding guests challenge the villagers.
It’s all rather cornball and daft. It’s not much as a book, but it’s a fun celebration of the continuity the Virgin New Adventures had created in keeping Doctor Who alive at a time when the show returning seemed unlikely. Obviously, this one is for fan’s only.
Rating: **1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 