‘And buy they did. Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm, customers flooded in, prowling display stands and shelves, grabbing overworked assistants, spending all they could afford and more. Anything to keep their precious computers and electronic gadgets up to date – even though up to date would be out of date by next week.’

Made of Steel by Terrance Dicks.

The Cybermen are introduced in the first chapter of the Quick reads book Made of Steel, and, in keeping with their on-screen appearance, they were helping themselves to high-tech equipment. In chapter 2, the Doctor and Martha are in a jungle, observing dinosaurs. They return to Royal Hope hospital, so Martha can catch up. Which is where the Cybermen pick up the trail of the Doctor. In The Research Centre at Chadwick Green, Major Tom Burton, chief security Officer, and Captain Sheila Sarandon, are already aware that the Cybermen are still around, and put out their own alert for the Doctor.  So the Doctor pretty much lands right where both security and Cybermen want him. Although as it happens, the TARDIS is picking up some strange readings and Martha and the Doctor figure out it’s alien, could possibly be the Cybermen.

‘The Doctor smiled reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry. Whatever it is, it isn’t Cybermen. The Cybermen were all sucked into the void. Doubt if it’s llamas either, actually.’ ‘Maybe they got out again. The Cybermen.’ ‘Impossible. The gap into the void is sealed, sealed forever. It can never be reopened. Never.’ The Doctor’s smile faded, and, just for a moment, he looked incredibly sad. ‘If it could be…’

Made of Steel by Terrance Dicks.

(if it could be, he would dump Martha like a hot potato and be racing round to Rose’s)

And that is the story set up, the Doctor and Martha even split up, always a bad idea, and Made of Steel is predictable from there. Martha, to me, does not read like her character at all. The Doctor, at one point, is jabbed in the ribs by a policeman, so he pulls the man’s nose and has his revolver in his hands, which he does quickly hand over. That was a strange moment. There was also a moment, where the Doctor has been arrested, along with his TARDIS, and Martha is deciding on the best place for her to go, and mentions her family as the lesser of the evils because of the questions they would ask, but I thought Martha had her own flat? Or student housing? She lives with her family? No wonder she wanted to get away with the Doctor.

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