Since the Internet here is too slow to begin watching Classic Series five (Second Doctor), I decided to focus on the expanded universe novels instead. I got tired of goody-goody Sam two novels in and skipped ahead to number thirty-one,The Shadows of Avalon, where the alien Compassion undergoes a wonderful transformation.I don't feel like bothering with spoiler warnings or explanations, so if you ever plan on reading this book and being surprised, just stop reading now.
I'd already read both Interference novels, which introduced Compassion and her species, the Remote. Basically, they're gigantic receptor dishes, absorbing any media signals and responding accordingly. At some point, the Doctor adjusted her receivers to only respond to the TARDIS. In this novel, the transformation culminates in Compassion's rebirth as a type 102, humanoid TARDIS (which President Romana then attempts to kidnap and force into a breeding program, but I can't judge the rationality of that, as I haven't read how she became evil).
Most of the novel is set in the dream dimension of Avalon, with the Brigadier trying to recover from his wife's death. I'm really glad he had a role in this novel--it made me care about the events of the story more than if the Doctor was interacting with some random character. The author seemed to really understand the Brig's character and how he'd react to loss. The scenes describing battle between Avalon and England tend to drag, but the rest of the story is fairly good.
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