Book info

• Title Doctor Who: Only Human
• Author Gareth Roberts
• Year 2005
• Genre Science Fiction

Reports of a time disturbance lead the Ninth Doctor to modern-day London, where he discovers a Neanderthal Man, twenty-eight thousand years after his race became extinct. A trip back to the dawn of humanity only deepens the mystery: who are these strange humans from the far future now living in the distant past? The Doctor must learn the truth about the Osterberg experiment before history is changed forever.

Thoughts

This is a fun Doctor Who read, featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose head back in time to investigate a mystery surrounding Neanderthal Man. It’s got great action sequences in there, but also some thoughts about humanity, what it means and what we can do better. I’m not sure the underlying motives of the ‘villain’ were well explained but it didn’t detract too much from the story.

I liked the moments where Das was adapting to modern life but I don’t think Jack came across very well really, and he wasn’t given a lot to do. Rose was fun though, particularly her wrestling with an attempted arranged marriage.

Rating: 4 / 5