The novel “The Monsters Inside” by Stephen Cole was published for the first time in 2005.
The Ninth Doctor brings Rose Tyler to another planet. The girl expects to find some aliens, instead she and the Doctor find human beings and they discover that it’s the Justicia system, a huge prison that includes the system’s six planets. The presence of the two travelers is immediately discovered and guards quickly arrive to capture them.
The Doctor and Rose are separated, imprisoned in different sections of the prison. The prison authorities believe that they’re criminals came to free some inmates and don’t believe in their innocence. The two travelers must find a way to escape from a prison in which humans but also aliens from various systems are locked up and the presence of Slitheen suggests that there’s something very strange.
“The Monsters Inside” is one of the first novels connected to the new “Doctor Who” series, published a few weeks after it started. They’re targeted to a wide audience by being linear enough to be appreciated even by very young readers but sophisticated enough to interest more mature readers.
The Tardis can travel anywhere in space and time and yet in the new “Doctor Who” series the Doctor takes his companions mostly to Earth or in its vicinity, often to London, and that’s become the subject of jokes in the fandom. The first Rose Tyler’s adventures took place in the solar system and “The Monsters Inside” is her first visit to another planet. Obviously, the situation immediately gets complicated and not in a good way.
Rose hoped to see something really different from her previous adventures, instead she runs into humans. That’s because the Tardis landed in the Justicia system, a prison where criminals are from many planets are locked up. The Tardis passed through beacons and barriers that warn the starships passing nearby to stay away so the Doctor and Rose are mistaken for criminals and their justifications are not being heard.
Soon, the tone of “The Monsters Inside” become really dark for a novel written for very young readers too. The Justicia system is a place where other planets can dump their criminals and not just the really dangerous ones but also the ones who made mistakes for various circumstances.
In prison, there aren’t only humans and the Doctor and Rose discover the presence of Slitheen, the main aliens introduced at the beginning of the new “Doctor Who” series. They can camouflage fitting into the human skin of their victims so the novel’s title is a reference to them but also to the fact that the prison is used to isolate the monsters, human and not, inside it.
In “The Monsters Inside” there are also the Blathereen, another family of the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. They have subsequently appeared in “The Sarah Jane Adventures”. The strong rivalry with the Slitheen is one of the elements developed in this novel.
The plot of “The Monsters Inside” is really complex for a novel that has a limited length. The Doctor and Rose are separated for most of their adventure, which means that it’s divided into two subplots that follow the attempts of the two travelers to find a way to escape from the prison.
The Doctor is recognized as an alien and, thanks to scientific knowledge he demonstrates, is assigned to one of the projects developed in the Justicia system. Their results are a source of income for the prison so the inmates that can contribute to them can enjoy some privileges. In “The Monsters Inside” the Doctor shows especially his ability to improvise to get out of difficult situations.
The scientific side is also more developed than the average in the novels connected to the new “Doctor Who” series and also the TV episodes even if it’s developed only up to a certain point. Because of the limited length of the novel, it’s very plot-oriented while the many supporting characters inevitably have a limited development.
“The Monsters Inside” is a bit different from the usual adventures of the new “Doctor Who” series. The limitations of the these books format allowed Stephen Cole to develop the theme covered only up to a certain point but overall I found it a good novel.
