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| Almost killed the series for me. |
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| What: | Demon Quest: Starfall (BBC classic series audio) |
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| By: | Philip Frey, Rochester, NY, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday, February 01, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
  1 |
Almost killed the series for me.
The Macros is a funny one; it's overall fairly enjoyable, but some bits of it are a bit lifeless, and had they had more energy to them, this story truly could have been something excellent. The sections of this story set onboard the USS Eldridge are great. They're atmospheric, well-characterised, and just genuinely interesting scenes which draw the listener (ie, me) in with consummate ease. However, the other half of the story takes place on the planet Capron, and while these portions of the story have some good moments (Peri posing as a singer is laugh-out-loud stuff) the overwhelming impression I get from those bits was that Capron is a dull, one-dimensional world, which I was gonna forget about the moment Episode 2 finished. And yet... it feels like it should be so much better. Osloo should be a brilliantly pathetic villain, a woman who has her horizons expanded exponentially, and as a result just decides to conquer the universe. But as written, the character is a not-very-interesting matriach, with a line in pompous put-downs. Linda Marlowe does some good work, but she can't overcome the shortcomings of the script. With a few more drafts, to truly convince me with regards to Osloo's development, and to add more life to Capron's other inhabitants, I would happily rant about this one all day. And yet, it doesn't quite get there.
This one's received a lot of praise, and I don't entirely understand why. While it has some good ideas, and is nicely paced, it's characters are almost entirely shallow ciphers, who really needed to be developed more deeply to truly engage me in the story. The Captain, for example, is too simplistically 'evil' for me to truly sympathise with him when his (actually quite convincing) backstory is revealed. That said, the whole atmosphere of the story, switching between the factory ship and the belly of the Ghaleen, is truly great, and makes this one an enjoyable, if a touch simplistic, listen.
Barbara Clegg, despite only delivering one story for 'Doctor Who', is one of my favourite writers, as that story was the excellent 'Enlightenment'. So to have another of her stories made was a great treat for me, and it was everything I hoped for. While its plot isn't that complex, the whole story is extremely dark and ghoulish, with some of the images it conjures it up possibly being too extreme for audiences nowadays, let alone the 80s. This story isn't about complex plotting, but about atmosphere, and it has that in bucketloads. Kit Marlowe makes for a great historical character, and his turn to the 'darkness' of Velez is astonishingly well-portrayed. And the Omnim are suitably grizly monsters, which work all the better for not appearing too much. This is my favourite of the first series of Lost Stories, and deserves to be heard by everyone. Now. I mean it. Get up, and go buy a copy now. :P
This Lost Story isn't quite as it would have appeared, as part of the 'Trial of a Time Lord', but that's perhaps to the story's advantage, as it is able to develop on it's own merits, rather than being piggy-backed onto the Trial. It's perfectly paced, and has beautiful atmosphere, which allows the listener to just settle back and enjoy the imagery that the story conjures up. However, it's also got some great moral dilemmas in it; the truth about the Cherubs is horrible, and forces even my beloved morbid Sixth Doctor to get a bit squeamish and upset. The gay couple who serve as the story's villains are also deliciously pompous characters, particularly Gabriel, who is perfectly pitched as a character.
It's interesting to note that this even would have fitted in with the Trial's overall criticism of capitalism, following on very well from 'Mindwarp' in that respect. I really wish that it had been made, as it would have made a far better story than 'Terror of the Vervoids', and also would have made a great introduction story for Mel. My only complaint about this story is the disgusting music, which is utterly tuneless and evil. Despite what fans tend to think, Doctor Who's incidental music in the 80s was often quite subtle and beautiful ('Enlightenment', 'The Two Doctors', 'The Keeper of Traken') so I don't know why the composer bashed out this horrific racket. Other than that, though, this is a really good story. Go out there and get it now!
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| A Good Story in the Wrong Medium |
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I'm a fan of Bidmead, both as a script editor and a writer. He writes weird, sprawling narratives, which take in lots of different ideas, but somehow come out as something coherent. And, had it been made, 'The Hollows of Time' would have been no different. There's lots of great ideas in here; the use of the Tractators is ingenious, I LOVE the sequences of the car in space, and even little things, like the 'turtle', are marvellous. And yet, by transferring the story to audio, and robbing it of it's original villain, the story loses something, and becomes a random sequence of images, which don't really add up. The score is magnificent, and I love all the acting, but the adaptation of the script robs it of something. It's one of the few times that the production by Big Finish has failed slightly. So I'm giving it a good grade, but that's more for the ambition of the original story than the final realisation here.
The Lost Stories desperately needed a corker fairly early in it's run, and this story kept me engaged enough to look forward to the rest of these stories. It's reputation has perhaps been over-inflated by fans since release, but it would be unfair to deny that this is all round, a good story. The plot twists and turns, constantly surprising the listener, and the characterisation is surprisingly complex, considering the massive number of characters within this story. If I'm honest, I thought that it lacked some depth, and revolved a bit too much around it's plot twists, but this is still a clever, fun story which is a constant delight to listen to.
Anyone who thinks this is an accurate representation of 'Who' in the 80s can sod off; it was never this moronic or offensive. Philip Martin's best talent as a writer is for coming up with gruesome and horrific settings for his stories ('Vengeance on Varos' and 'Mindwarp' both have almost no plot, but are carried fantastically by their grim, horrific settings) and with Magnus being presented as a stereotypical 'planet of women', Martin is left with a fairly dull plot, and some horribly sexist bits towards the end, where the men of a neighbouring planet essentially walk in and take over from the women of Magnus. As always, the production is excellent, but, barring some really funny scenes featuring Sil, this is not a good story. Avoid.
Once you get over the thrill of hearing an unmade story, this loses it's overall appeal somewhat. There's lots of amusing scenes, and I love the use of the Toymaker in the story, but the second episode in particular has almost no plot, consisting mostly of long scenes featuring the main characters sitting in a prison cell. However, it's very well-made, and is still a perfectly fun, enjoyable story with a few points to make on the nature of immortality. Good fun.
| What: | Spare Parts (New Audio Adventure) |
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| By: | Patrick Alexander, Bellevue, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday, January 25, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
7 |
Not bad.
I was really looking forward to this. Michael Moorcock writing a proper Dr Who novel. It's strarts off really well. A group of colonists on a future world wanting to be posh Brits but not quite getting it right. Lots of nice cricket references and almost Douglas Adam' s style but after a good start the story goes nowhere and meanders into total whimsy with no idea what to do. A good start but a real disappointment in the end.
| What: | Destination Nerva (Fourth Doctor Audio Adventure) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday, January 24, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
9 |
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. This is a real treat. Something you thought would never happen. The 4th Doctor & Lela back together. And what a cracker. The story starts off with a bang rather in a James Bond style an then zoom we are straight into the action as the story starts. Tom & Louise are in fine form an really play off each other in fine style. The story itself has slightly disappointing end but that I a small complaint in an other wise excellent adventure
| What: | The Sensorites (BBC classic series DVD) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday, January 24, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
5 |
This story gets off to a cracking start. The TARDIS landing on a spaceship with corpses, mind controlling aliens and then ...... There is 5 episodes of tedium as a thin plot is stretched ever further & William Hartnell stumbles on. The real problem is the Sensorites themselves, neither scary or interesting.
The DVD has a really good feature "Looking for Peter" in which Toby Haydock searches for the writer Peter R. Newman. Entertaining & surprising.
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| A great end to a great season |
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| What: | The Lost Stories: Earth Aid (Lost Stories audio) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday, January 23, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
10 |
Id love to hear more from Andrew Cartmel's Raine. Beth Chalmers was chosen well to play the part. She's a ruddy brilliant character in the first degree. She holds her own against the already tough to beat duo of the Doc and Ace, adds spice aplenty which makes these lost stories really enjoyable for me. And all Andrew's scripts just have a major good plot line, but not several offbranching loads of incomprhenesible rubbishes! Its just good story telling, laced with some brilliant characters and some soaring humour too. Sylvester and Sophie are as brilliant as ever, delivering that same quality that makes every one of their stories something memorable and special. And the Grub/ Metatraxi story line is done brilliantly, and I love the characterisation of the Grubs in particular! A great end to a great season that should have been put on screen.
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| Maybe not totally original, but.... |
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| What: | Beyond the Ultimate Adventure (Companion Chronicles audio) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday, January 23, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
10 |
Terrance Dicks at last has been asked to do a new script for the Big Finish audio range, at long last. I dont know why in the hell its taken this long to have him on board. Im waiting for his first full four parter to come along, it has to be soon! Terrance is by far the most reliable of the classic series Who writers for delivering just quality entertainment.
Here we are treated to a rare one. We have the great great Noel Sullivan and Claire Huckle back as Crystal and Jason! And boy is this a good tooting idea too, at least it is to me. I seriously cannot see why someone of amazon has given this tale one out of five, this is laughable. Noel and Claire just light up the whole production with perfect delivery, and to have the added assured talent of Colin Baker added to the mix then this story just cant go wrong. The acting is first class and all the miriad of voices well done by both Noel and Claire.
Yes, true, it may not be anything mind blowingly new, but boy its great sheer entertainment. And I love the cameos from three great stalwart enemies of the Doctor, the vampire, the rutan and the Raston Warrior Robot. I feel there could be the most awesome who tale to come from utilising the Raston Warrior race. After all theyre indestructable, so itd make for brilliant drama. Terrance's script is brilliant in its handling of the robot and how the Doc defeats it!
Maybe this would have been even better as a full cast production, but boy its great as a companion chronicle. Its got a lot of thrills along the way and the Aidalon, though only at ten minutes at the end, still comes across as a very threatening and real villain. And at last Terrance is back, and this short tale prooves he still has a lot to offer to Doctor Who. I hope he is back very soon in the future!
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| A lot better than I originally thought.. |
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| What: | The Sensorites (BBC classic series DVD) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday, January 23, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
10 |
Good acting.
Good characters.
Strong scripting.
Effective aliens, not inherently good or evil, quite human in fact.
The tardis team are brilliant, the four greats who started the whole thing off so well.
Far better than I thought now Ive watched it a few more times. Now its one of my favourite Will Hartnell tales.
Also I like Carole's chance to shine a lot in this one, and her relationship with William is so well done all the way through this tale.
Peter R Newman should have done another story for Doctor Who.
The Snesorites are really very well done for the time, and their husky muffled tones are slightly unsettling and creepy. And the first scene where the sensorites are seen is done fantastically for the time, they look quite creepy until theyre found out to not be wholly evil or good.
So this has to be one of the strongest of William's tales. It has it all, brilliant first class acting from all the cast, especially the fear in the guy who acts as John, he deserves a bafta for that performance!!!!!
This is by far the best Christmas special by far that the new series has produced. Matt Smith is at his comic best, and the humour is there, but is offset by great moments of sentiment and great sparkle and a little CS Lewis thrown in for good measure. All the other Christmas tales seriously lacked something in them, and they didnt actually feel that much like Christmas. But this story does, and it just happens to be one of Steven Moffats finest scripts so far. Very few new series stories have the genuine little touch of magic about them that this smart, easy flowing tale does. And there are no mind boggling twists and turns, and the story is far more enjoyable because its easier to grasp. I wish the next series to stay like this episode more, no mind warping rubbish and all that please. This is a great episode.
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| Pretty awful restoration... |
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| What: | U.N.I.T Files (BBC classic series DVD) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday, January 20, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
7 |
I have to admit to being highly dissapointed by this release from the BBC overall, mainly because of the awful colour restoration to part One of Invasion of The Dinosaurs, its nothing like the excellent restore of part three of Planet of the Daleks, its all wonky, and faded and frankly very distracting. And the sound and visual aspects dont seem to have been so well restored either this time. I am annoyed at this as Invasion of the Dinosaurs has been one of my favourite stories, and this shoddy restoration is sad. The quality jars terribly with the final five parts. The story itself always was brilliant, despite the dinosaurs, but now here on this DVD the video version is almost preferable.
The Android invasion is far better in terms of restoration and quality. But watching it now I can see maybe just a few flaws in the plotting. Although the big how could the android attack Styggron after its been jammed surely is answered by the Doctor when he says he reprogrammed it, and possibly the reprogramming overrode the jamming too? So this isnt too much of a sore point with me. And Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are frankly at their best here, and chilling as their android counterparts, its always unsettling to see heroes become villains if only for one story. Harry and Benton make a welcome one off comeback, the last for both of them. But the whole eye patch thing may be a little stupid and ill thought through, unless the Kraals brainwashing of Crayford made him never wanna wash that thing. (Mind you, i wouldnt want to look at an evil eyeless mess either!) So, only tiny minor quibbles, and the story on a whole is a great and creepy one. And the androids look brilliant. But just not the best set by far.
A very festively poignant and humorous little tale with just a secondary smidgeon of C.S Lewis influence thrown in. And an equally touching climax regarding the outcome of Season Six's "The Wedding of River Song." I would certainly recommend this truly Christmas-laced adventure which truly demonstrates the concept that miracles can happen.
| What: | Time and the Rani (BBC classic series DVD) |
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| By: | Tarquin Summerbutts, Paris, France |
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| Date: | Wednesday, January 18, 2012 |
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| Rating: |
10 |
....love this very much indeed.
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| Displaying 1 to 20 of 2,932 reviews
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