10 Doctor Who Novels That Would Make Great TV Episodes
9. Blood Heat
During Matt Smiths era viewers were reacquainted with the Silurians, a civilisation of intelligent reptiles that ruled Earth long before man. Blood Heat is a novel that asks the famous comic book question What If a famous event had had a different ending. In this case, what if during the Jon Pertwee story The Silurians, the Doctor had been actually been killed whilst a prisoner of the Earth Reptiles (the cliffhanger of episode 5 as a matter of fact). So there was no one to successfully counter the deadly plague which they unleashed to eradicate humanity. The programme has explored parallel universes before, and this is one of those classic settings, an Earth where the dinosaurs never died out. Or rather in this case, an Earth where the dinosaurs and the Silurians have awoken and successfully reconquered the planet. Dinosaurs are great arent they? Instantly appealing because they are both monstrous and yet we know they really existed. Published in 1993 the same year as Jurassic Park hit the cinemas, Jim Mortimore creates a rollercoaster adventure yarn that crosses the Seventh Doctor and Ace with familiar faces from UNIT, which has now an underground human resistance movement. There are some great set pieces, such as a Sea Devil attack on a vintage submarine and the Doctor finding the skeletal remains of his own body in the Silurian base. Not to mention the Doctors ingenious solution to the nuclear attack which an embittered Brigadier tries to launch at the climax. The fascinating alien civilisation of the Silurians is also explored to great effect. A TV adaptation could easily swap the time break from The Silurians to the more recent Silurian introduction two-parter The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, putting the Doctor is a world where his Eleventh version and perhaps Rory or Amy had been killed, leaving the other alive to lead the resistance with plenty of motive for revenge. Convincing dinosaurs are also much more achievable now. We could meet an alternative Vastra, now a ruthless leader who never benefitted from the Elevenths influence. Alternative Silurian Earth is a great playground for a story.
