Reviews

"The new sections added are peripheral - the characters in the prologue are flat and uninteresting, while the insertion of the two extra Outlers, who no sooner appear than are given an overenthusiastic ducking by Barney Lawrence and friends is slightly bewildering - their deaths as outsiders are less effective than the broadcast version's attacks on the Citizens, all safe and cozy as they were... Though characterisations are a little sparse beyond giving everyone a second name (with the exception of Adric and Varsh), Adric comes across as a more pleasant and sympathetic character rather than the pain in the bum he became outside E-Space (especially in Four To Doomsday). Garif is nicely made more of a wimp, though unfortunately so is Keera - typical of the sexism in the story, indeed, typical of sexism in the series as a whole - there is no reason why all but one of the main characters needs be male."
- Andrew Martin, ‘Shada’ (number 12), 1982

"The opening chapter is particularly striking for expanding the ideas seen in the teleplay insofar as it goes back to the original crash of the Starliner on Alzarius and covers, in roundabout fashion, the fate of the first crew and passengers… With, once again, the view that authors know best their own screenplays Andrew Smith’s novel goes a long way towards explaining the evolutionary links between the riverfruits, the spiders, the Marshmen, and the Starliner personnel the Doctor and Romana encounter following their passage through the C.V.E. … In tackling the task of turning his script into book form Andrew Smith told a recent gathering of fans in Edinburgh he was asked to keep his manuscript to within a 40,000 word limit. Whether he has or not is difficult to assess but there is no question that Doctor Who – Full Circle is a very good read. With each of its 122 pages packed with detail and description the book would be a leading contender for Doctor Who Novel-of-the-Year if such a prize were ever awarded."
- ‘Doctor Who Monthly’ (number 68), September 1982

Miscellaneous

Author

ANDREW SMITH

Prior to writing for the show, Andrew Smith was a fan of Doctor Who. In his first season as producer, John Nathan-Turner was keen to encourage new writing talent and Andrew Smith was an example of this policy.

The writer contributed at least one more idea to the show, that was not taken up.

Doctor Who - Full Circle

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Gift Set

Formed part of The Second Dr Who Gift Set released in 1982. These sets comprised four recently released (or re-released) novelisations in a cardboard slip case. The four novels that made up the second set were The Leisure Hive, Full Circle, Warriors' Gate and The Visitation. The box set cover utilised the Bill Donohoe artwork from The Programme Guide. The gift set had ISBN 0 426 19289 3 and it sold for £5.25. In all there were nine gift sets released in between 1982 and 1986. The first and second were flimsy cardboard slip cases but the remainder were quite sturdy.