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Doctor Who: Human Nature
Doctor Who: Human Nature
Jul 24, 2025 10:00 PM

Author:Paul Cornell,Lisa Bowerman

Doctor Who: Human Nature

An unabridged reading of the 7th Doctor novel by Paul Cornell which formed the basis for the 10th Doctor television story Human Nature / The Family of Blood. Hulton College in Norfolk is a school dedicated to producing military officers. With the First World War about to start, the boys of the school will soon be on the front line. But no one expects a war – not even Dr John Smith, the college’s new house master…

The Doctor’s friend Benny is enjoying her holiday in the same town. But then she meets a future version of the Doctor, and things start to get dangerous very quickly. With the Doctor she knows gone, and only a suffragette and an elderly rake for company, can Benny fight off a vicious alien attack? And will Dr Smith be able to save the day?

Reviews

'Will appeal to fans of C.S Forester and Patrick O'Brian'

—— Mail on Sunday

'Nelson writes with the eagerness of a young man sailing his first command'

—— Patrick O'Brian

'Spirited adventure and great reading'

—— Boston Globe

An affecting debut. Hannah proves himself a worthy inheritor of the lip-trembling English tradition.

—— Guardian

Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.

—— LISA JEWELL

Hannah's debut is told on the deathbed of 40-year-old Ivo as he looks back on his life in the confidence of his nurse Sheila and the love of his life, Mia. Expect tears.

—— Grazia

An engagingly light touch, shot through with humour

—— The Daily Mail

It is wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right.

—— @sambakey

As The A to Z of You and Me drew to a close (with me sobbing), I thought about how kind people can be. How hard, beautiful and frustrating life is. And how we should make the effort to engage with it fully. It is, after all, fleeting at best.

—— Stylist

I loved The A-Z of You and Me. James Hannah has an unerring eye for the tiniest detail within the biggest picture. This wry and tender love story is powerful, lyrical and moving'

—— Catherine O'Flynn, author of Costa prize-winning WHAT WAS LOST

Beautifully constructed and hugely moving. Deserves to be a smash hit.

—— LISSA EVANS, author of Crooked Heart

Funny and sweet, whilst also being heartbreaking and thoroughly real throughout.

—— TheBookBag.co.uk

What a book! I am heartbroken.

—— @BookGeekWearsPajamas

So beautiful ... a stunning, unique debut

—— @caroline_Smailes

Wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right.

—— bakeysbookblog.blogspot.co.uk

Sad and funny in equal measure but also quite uplifting about the power of the human spirit. An author who I am sure will continue to go from strength to strength.

—— @jaffareadstoo

This book broke my heart.

—— handwrittengirl.com

This is a really engrossing, interesting read and a book I just couldn't put down.

—— tealadymumbles.co.uk

The story is sad, yet it is uplifting. The characters are flawed, yet human. I was very impressed by this novel. It is a delight to read and to recommend to others.

—— randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk

I was completely sucked into this book and flew through the pages. I loved it.

—— www.cosybooks.com

This book has moved me and it has changed me, and isn't that what it is all about? It is only March and I don't know if anything will top this one this year for me. Essential reading.

—— reflectionsofareader.blogspot.co.uk

Take Trainspotting, cut out the swearing, and add a filter of nuanced meditations on love: welcome to The A to Z of You and Me. I absolutely loved this book.

—— sarahjasmon.com

'David Nicholls' school of commercial fiction. An accomplished piece of fiction, both entertaining and thought-provoking

—— alifeinbooks.co.uk

Spare, poignant and with a quirky charm all of its own, it reminds us how kind people can be

—— RACHEL JOYCE

Wonderful and heartbreaking.

—— CLAIRE FULLER, Desmond Elliott Prize winner 2015

Hannah writes with emotional acuity. Warm, wry, thoughtful and devastating in places, this is a life-enhancing missive from death's door.

—— The Sunday Times

Told its heart-breaking tale with tenderness and verve.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

A work full of secrets, shame and scandal.

—— Fiona Wilson , The Times

A story of what can be found when so much has been snatched away.

—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s Magazine

A meditation on enduring the unendurable… This is a wonderful and deeply moving novel.

—— Clare Clark , Guardian

A beautiful, heart-rending novel of quiet, understated tragedy… Sensitive and insightful, heart-breaking and hopeful… [A] tender, wise and hopeful novel.

—— Hannah Beckerman , Observer
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