Books: Doctor Who: Rebellion on Treasure Island by Bali Rai (2023)

“Summoned to 1700s Plymouth, the Doctor and Clara must investigate a mysterious thievery from the Crown of King George. Their travels take them to a remote island - but as the secrets of the theft are unearthed, the Doctor discovers something far more sinister. The spectre of a terrible intellect is afoot. Thankfully, the Doctor and Clara won't be alone. A pirate called Long John Silver, a runaway called Janey Hawkins, and professor called River Song, are all along for the ride.”

Doctor Who: Rebellion On Treasure Island is the fifth tale in the Puffin Classics Crossovers series that features various Doctor’s interacting with public domain literature characters and situations. After dealing with the Wizard of Oz (13th Doctor), Camelot (10th Doctor), Robin Hood (4th Doctor), and the Greek Myths (3rd Doctor), the 11^th Doctor and Clara arrive to take on Long John Silver and Janey Hawkens.

Set just after the events of the TV episode Cold War, this book relies a lot on previous knowledge of the Eleventh Doctor’s era, especially knowing about Vastra, Jenny, Strax, and River Song. There is also a return of a villain from that season which adds up to a very crowded short kids books (it’s a continuity overload which reminded me of the various writers of the original tales published in the 1990s where this was fairly rampant then). Plus I’m not counting on the various one-off characters from the book and ones on Skelton Island. It also seems that author Rai was aware of this, as Clara essentially disappears for a good while.

Also, for a book inspired by Treasure Island, there is very little references to the Robert Louis Stevenson tale and what does pop up are not explained in any detail.

Rai also does not get the Eleventh Doctor’s voice down or Clara’s for that matter. And while I don’t want to complain too much about Rai’s attempt at social commentary (having human beings as slaves is bad) or rewriting James Hawkins as a teen girl, I’m not sure why we needed to be hit over the head with it constantly.

A great concept wasted.