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Reviews for The Silver Turk

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I felt sorry for the Cybermen...

By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Friday 27 April 2012
Rating:   10

Mary Shelley is a wierd but definitely worthwhile kind of companion for the eigth doctor here. Julie Cox is flawless in bringing her to life in her first full four oart story. And what better way to bring her in than to bring back those metal fleshy chaps from Mondas into the mix.

The cybermen have been atrociously used in the new series, but never in a big finish play. Marc's previous script, Spare Parts, was a brilliant and resonating story about the metal giants from Mondas, it dripped with intenseness and some horrible body science and let us know that the Doctor had, although be it unwilling, a hand in their very creation. Which always was a neat little twist that was unexpected and revealing. And now he brings us this new horror tinged brilliant sci fi fest.

The Silver Turk builds up tension, and the eye taking scenes are rather morbid and original and cringe inducing. Things like this would never have been allowed on the old classic series I feel I know. But it makes for some great nasty moments. And also the interplay between the characters in this one is highly engaging.

But I feel the best part of this story is in how I felt sorry for the metal giants in this one, both of the two cybermen present being so damaged and wracked with pain and used by the callous humans, which again is no surprise at all. Being that humans usually are the worst monsters in the whole of the universe. And the wooden cybermen, or whatever you wanna call them are well realised and nasty.

This story has a good pace and builds up nicely to a very satisfying climnax. And Julie immediately makes her presence felt. And this bodes well for her character in the future which Im sure will be exciting and dangerous, if this story is anything to go by...



Bits and pieces

By:Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom
Date:Saturday 14 July 2012
Rating:   6

I'm not sure how many more ways we can find for cybermen to be found in bits and pieces trying to come back. Starting well, this feels like two stories in one, the first half good, the second no so, but as ever the strong cast keep it going.



Madness

By:Doug W, An Alternate Reality (formerly Pocono Summit), United States
Date:Saturday 10 November 2012
Rating:   8

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about some of The Silver Turk. Overall, this is a great, dark (but not too dark), atmospheric, compelling story, made more interesting than average by the presence of Mary Shelley as the Doctor's companion, and a pair of very, very early Cybermen on Earth, some time before the Mondas incident of The Tenth Planet (this is the linear timeline - no time-travelling Cybermen here). There's a lot going on here that's very intriguing, and often creepy, as in the scuttling noises made by the band of animated marionettes that come into this.

However, some elements here, including the above mentioned band of animated marionettes, try to push the plot into the realm of nonsense. While the concept of the living marionettes is a bit fascinating, it veers sharply off of what the Cybermen are, into the realm of fairytale land. Just how are the marionette voices made so much better than the Cybermen's own voices? How are so many produced? Are they crafting more of themselves, and if so, just how is this level of programming and functionality achieved, based on damaged Cyber technology? Are they duplicating clothing as well?

Those are some of the questions that started popping into mind by the end of this story, and which I couldn't hold back. But the setting, production and performances are done so well, with the possible exceptions of some of Paul McGann's lines being delivered without a lot of engagement, that the weaknesses in the otherwise very intriguing script are compensated for, for the most part.



Doctor Who by the Numbers

By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Sunday 3 May 2015
Rating:   7

"The Silver Turk" gives Mary Shelley her first outing as the Doctor's companion. As such, it is always going to be a bit of a "companion piece," in that much of the narrative is meant to introduce audiences to the new character. This character cannot be overwhelmed by the story, so like other such pieces - Rose, Smith and Jones, for instance - the plot is mostly Doctor Who by the numbers. All the elements of a typical Doctor Who story are in place. We get a historical location, some not overwhelmingly dangerous baddies, enough contrary motivations to move along the plot, the Doctor making self-righteous pronouncements about how much the world is in danger, and the new companion stepping in at the last minute after having second thoughts about this Tardis travel stuff to save the day. It is all entertaining enough and moves along at the right speed. Thankfully, Marc Platt did not go for his usual bizarrely complicated "is this reality" kind of plot.



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