How would the Doctor do if he was thrust into a ghost story? Ghost Ship explores this question entirely from the Doctor's point of view, in first person form.

The one thing that has rarely been touched on, if ever, in the history of Doctor Who is a story told from the perspective of the Doctor. Virgin's guidelines told authors to "never get inside the Doctor's head", Jim Mortimore told a chapter of Eye of Heaven from the Doctor's point of view. The novella format, and the aims of Telos to push the envelope when it comes to Doctor Who have allowed Keith Topping to tell Ghost Ship entirely from the Fourth Doctor's perspective. Unfortunately, this is Ghost Ship's biggest letdown.

Keith Topping makes a good start at telling the story entirely in the first person from the Fourth Doctor's point of view, starting with a moody and reflective Doctor in the TARDIS, following the events of The Deadly Assassin, but there are a number of points throughout the novella where the characterisation of the Fourth Doctor slips, ruining the effectiveness of the start, however Topping manages to get back into the Fourth Doctor's mind each time.

Another problem with telling the story from the Fourth Doctor's perspective is that the atmosphere on board the Queen Mary is told, not shown; losing some of the impact. For scenes where the Doctor comes under attack from the ghosts, this intensifies the action by allowing the reader to see the attack from the Doctor's perspective directly.

Secondary chracters are well drawn out: the tragic Miss Lamb, and her employer, the self made man Raymond Bryce; poor Simpkins, the steward, a very likable character who serves as a companion substitute when the Doctor needs someone to explain things to. Eventually, Simpkins lets the stories of the Queen Mary overwhelm him, leading to his suicide.

Of particular note is the scientist Osbourne; whose attempts to construct a Time Visualiser lead to the events of the novella. Apart from being the focus of a newspaper article the Doctor reads, Osbourne only appears at the climax of the novella; on reflecting back, his presence can be felt throughout the novella.

The secret of Room 472 is rather original for the ghost story genre, and the explaination for the hauntings on the Queen Mary is quite inventive, adding a tragic element to the story.

Anthologist and editor Hugh Lamb provides a very interesting foreword, looking at the history of ghost stories set on or around ships before going on to explain briefly the history of the Queen Mary, wrapping up with a look at where Ghost Ship takes the "ghost ship" area of the horror genre.

In summary, Topping makes a good attempt at telling a story from the Doctor's point of view, but characterisation doesn't always seem to be that of the Fourth Doctor. The explaination for the haunting of the Queen Mary is however, very inventive. A tight mood piece that manages to push the right buttons most of the time.

7.6/10

Next time: The Second Doctor goes ghost hunting...

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