Doctor Who: Icons Books in Order

The Doctor Who: Icons books pair the Doctor with real life figures from history, telling compact adventures that mix time travel, aliens and moments from the lives of inspiring people.

In Frida Kahlo and the Skull Children, Sophie McKenzie brings the Thirteenth Doctor to Mexico City, where a young Frida is recovering from the accident that will shape both her body and her art. A strange disturbance draws the TARDIS to the city just as eerie creatures begin taking over local children.

Working together, the Doctor and Frida uncover an alien presence that is using the children as hosts and leaving a trail of deaths behind. The story balances creepy set pieces with quieter scenes that show Frida wrestling with pain, anger and the question of whether she can still become the artist she wants to be.

Like many Doctor Who stories, the tone is adventurous and sometimes scary, but there is a streak of humour and hope. Young readers get a fast paced science fiction plot along with a first taste of who Frida Kahlo was and why her work matters.

This background will help you place the Icons series in the wider Doctor Who universe and decide if a short, character led adventure like this is a good way into McKenzie’s writing or into the show itself.