Who Reviews Beautiful Chaos by DJ Forrest

Written by Gary Russell

For BBC Books

Published 2008

Beautiful Chaos is up there for me, with Forever Autumn and Ghosts of India, three books that have so much going on that you have to pause every now and then, for your brain to catch up, ferment the contents and enjoy the flavour of the moment.

This is the 10^th, back with Donna, but bringing the Noble family back to Who, with Wilfred and Sylvia, and the family still dealing with the grief, the void left by the Dad who had died a year before, and still not forgotten. Knowing Sylvia’s gruff exterior, we see why she’s so abrupt in her approach to her daughter – having to keep going, in the knowledge that after her husband being in relative charge, she’s now keeping an eye on her aged Dad, and now in tow with a woman she fears is replacing her Mum.

Donna, on the other hand, knows that that’s far from the case, but putting these two strong headed women together is bound to cause friction – and you can understand why Wilf heads to the allotment – for that bit of peace. I would too!

This story is after the Dalek Invasion and the Sontaran plot and after Journey’s End but obviously before the final 10^th episode which saw him regenerate.

Donna is back with the Doctor, and a new threat seems set on controlling the whole of planet Earth by the unlikeliest of possibilities – the Internet. What a cool idea – controlling the masses by the purchase of a computer – who’d have thunk it?

It’s such a brilliant idea – and the way it’s thought out is almost too terrifying to imagine – but the brilliance of writer Gary Russell, spins such a web of intrigue that he could make anything possible.

Wilfred Mott is being awarded at a social gathering after spotting a Chaos star and putting his name to it. He’s taking his new girlfriend with him, who is often ‘away with the fairies’ due to her condition, and Wilfred knows it will be only a matter of time, before she forgets him altogether. I did think this was June Whitfield character from an old episode, but it appears not to be. Of course, when the Doctor spies the Chaos cluster, he sees something that Wilf hasn’t. Another. A purple form, that wasn’t there earlier.  

This doesn’t bode well and all manner of chaos ensues.

It’s a brilliant story, and I hated the fact that I only had half an hour for lunch but the chapters could range from 32 pages to more. The story starts on a Friday, and continues to the impact of control that’s due to take place on the Monday.

There are background histories of the main characters, of the villains of the piece, and a startling, shocking almost, discovery of Caitlin, which surprised even me, and how she enacts her revenge on the very man you thought she loved. Wow!

I loved every minute of the novel, and only wish it had been a visual story, as this would have been wonderful, actually seeing the action on the screen, instead of just imagining it in my head.