The novel “Downtime – Child of the New World” by Andy Frankham-Allen was published for the first time in 2020.

Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart managed to build a relationship with his daughter Kate and see his grandson Gordon regularly. The fact that Gordon also built a relationship with his cousin Conall is another great achievement. However, this slowly built harmony suffers a terrible blow when the two cousins get kidnapped.

The old world of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart seems to suck him back, also because the Great Intelligence seems once again involved in the problems that struck his daughter Kate and his grandson Gordon. To save his grandchildren, Lethbridge-Stewart enlists the help of old friends and colleagues in a mission unlike any other in which his family’s role is crucial.

The Lethbridge-Stewart series tells the adventures of the character who became famous in the “Doctor Who” TV show when he works without the Doctor. The stories start from the period immediately following the debut of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the TV show and then extend the period covered. These stories include some characters that appeared in the TV show, some invented for other productions connected to it, and others that were created specifically for these novels.

The direct-to-video film “Downtime” introduced the character of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, who was later reprised in the new “Doctor Who” television s. The series of books about Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart mainly covered the years following this character’s first meeting with the Doctor but after some years, it told more and more often stories set in his last years of life. This also included his family.

Andy Frankham-Allen is the main author of the Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart series, so he knows the most complex elements of the character’s life and his family. “Downtime – Child of the New World” is a direct sequel to the film “Downtime” set almost a decade later that also includes other characters featured in it with the consequence that it’s better to have watched it. At the same time, this sequel inserts Kate and Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart into the broader story of their family.

This novel also contains some references to “Dæmos Rising”, the second film for the direct-to-video market that has these characters as protagonists. These are occasional references and I didn’t feel like I was missing important information because I haven’t watched this movie.

Giving a continuation of the story of “Downtime” and at the same time bringing together several members of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart’s family makes the plot of this novel complex. Bearing in mind the length limitations of the books in this series, in my opinion, Andy Frankham-Allen did a good job mentioning various relatives when he needed and focusing on the ones important to the plot. The readers who want to get to know all the family members can read other stories in which they are present and get developed.

There’s a good balance between the intertwining relationships among the various family members and a plot full of twists and turns in which the pace becomes very fast after Gordon and Conall get kidnapped. The part of the plot that follows the two cousins perfectly represents the synthesis between their relationships and the misadventure that sees them involved in their grandfather’s world.

My only misgiving about this novel is that Kate Lethbridge-Stewart doesn’t seem to have changed over the course of a decade. When she was introduced in the movie “Downtime”, she didn’t know her father’s real job and she got estranged from him because she considered him too focused on his job and detached from his family. After nearly a decade, she now knows at least part of the truth and she knows that the “fairy tales” he tells his grandchildren are heavily inspired by his deeds. I would have expected a Kate already close to the one seen in the new television series, so I look forward to reading more stories in which she is featured to understand how her personal story is developed.

Grievance about Kate Lethbridge-Stewart aside, “Downtime – Child of the New World” seemed to me a good novel in which various stories that were completely independently created are combined. I recommend it to fans of the Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart series.