Doctor Who: Dracula!, by English author Paul Magrs, is the eighth and last title included in the Doctor Who Puffin Crossovers series. The story features the First Doctor and his companions Susan, Barbara and Ian, who are inadvertently transported by the TARDIS to the seaside town of Whitby.
As readers would know, in Bram Stoker’s renowned 1897 novel Dracula, Whitby, in North Yorkshire, England, is the town terrorised by Count Dracula after his ship runs aground on the shore below the East Cliff on the 8th of August.
In his novel, Stoker did not specify in which year the vampire descended on Whitby. But the author is known to have holidayed in that town in 1890, where he found the name “Dracula” in a book while visiting the local library.
It turns out that the Doctor and his companions have arrived in Whitby in 1901, ten years after a certain monster descended on the town and caused despicable madness and mayhem. Now the locals are getting worried because gruesome murders are once again occurring – and all the victims have puncture wounds on their necks.
As one of the townsfolk speculates, could it be someone deliberately copying a popular theatre production based on Stoker’s novel that is currently performing at the local opera house? “Either that, or these performances are summoning evil back to our shores!”
Treating the two stars from the theatre production as suspects, the Doctor teams up with the “dapper and elegant” Professor Abraham Van Helsing to investigate the mysteries. “Of course! Van Helsing! The vampire-hunter in the novel,” Ian thinks at one stage. “So, he was real!”
Thus ensues a thrilling adventure full of twists and turns, with fiction and “facts” overlapping each other in typical fast-paced and happily chaotic Doctor Who fashion. As multiple storylines converge in an epic climax, all our presumptions and prejudices are thrown out the window in the most charming way.
The story is absolutely, wonderfully well-written, somewhat silly yet highly satisfying, with plenty of suspense and creepy atmosphere, plus a modest amount of blood and violence that will soothe even the most fervent fans of vampire lores. There is no doubt that Stoker would be pleased.
The author does an awesome job blending make-believe and truth-telling, highlighting the notion that storytelling itself is a sort of TARDIS that transports readers across different timelines and dimensions. Stories, like dreams, are always “bigger on the inside”, and there are such enthralling adventures in there if we dare to explore them.
To this reviewer, who knows very little about the original Doctor Who series (1963-1989), it is interesting to note the non-existence of the sonic screwdriver. Instead of relying on exhilarating racing and chasing (think of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, for example), the First Doctor uses his logic and wit to resolve conflicts and overcome unexpected challenges. Fascinating!
Note: This book review was originally titled “A great introduction to the First Doctor”, and was partially published under the title “A great introduction” by Ranges Trader Star Mail on May 12, 2026, P.20.
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 