Pretty sure I’ve mentioned a time or two that I’m a big fan of Doctor Who, otherwise known as a Whovian. I love time/space adventures and seeing just how the Doctor will manage to solve the latest problem and save himself (and, usually, the Earth or another planet/civilization to boot). So I was intrigued when I heard about the publication of Doctor Who: The American Adventures, a collection of stories about the 12th Doctor’s time in the US. 

Now I’d never actually read any Doctor Who stories before this, but had read a few of the Who-adjacent Torchwood novels. I was always impressed by how well those stories captured the feel of the show and the voices of the characters. So considering this collection is “official” (i.e., distributed by the BBC), I had high hopes and I was not disappointed.

The American Adventures contains six short stories, each around 30 pages long, covering some of the Doctor’s adventures throughout the US from 1815 through 2017. Not surprisingly, the stories aren’t exactly in chronological order, but that’s not an issue. They involve significant locations or events and, of course, the Doctor comes across some sort of anomaly that must be corrected.

I think they’ve done a good job of capturing the essence of Doctor Who in these stories, both the character and the feel of the show. There are times when reading this that it could have been any of the Doctors involved in the particular plot and there were other times when it was most definitely the 12th. (If you’re a fan, you’ll know what I mean.) There were also some slightly oddball antics, as well as little twists but everything seemed to work out fine in the end.

My only criticism is that a few details got a little repetitive and predictable. For example, half of the stories involve a potential invasion of Earth – each is a bit different, but it’s obvious who’s going to win so it doesn’t feel like there’s much of a threat. Then again, that happens pretty often on the show as well, so it’s possible these things only become more noticeable when reading the stories one after the other.

Overall, this is a great collection of stories for fans of Doctor Who. I’m not sure that the uninitiated would enjoy the stories quite as much, not being familiar with the character and typical plots he’s involved with. But I think Whovians will appreciate what the Doctor does in a change of setting.