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 | Pestering you to listen on |
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Simpling amazing the only words you can use to describe this. David reads this brillantly, the scenes were Donna and the Doctor talk are really good.
This could be a audio play but who cares.
A Doctor Who Classic in its own right
a must read for sci fi fans
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| Gritty, real and gripping |
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From the get go, you feel like stepping on Skaro for the first time, then Genesis of the Daleks but still feeling original. Hex and Ace's plot moves along but with a real feeling of the price and impact of traveling with the doctor. The only negative is some feeling of Brother Hood of the Daleks, research centre etc. Otherwise a real ripper.
| What: | The Claws of Axos (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Huw Davies, Taunton, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 1 June 2009 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
This is a really fun story - as the DVD booklet says, classic Pertwee. The episodes are driven by the hilarious Mr Chinn, and also the brilliant Master. Unfortunately we have only had one more taste of Delgado's brilliance recently with the Sea Devils, but with Frontier in Space up soon, we'll all be in for some more Master magic!
As for the extras, they are relatively poor, a few boring documentaries and some other stuff.
Story: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Final: 8/10
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| The end of Who's gothic era |
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| What: | Image of the Fendahl (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Huw Davies, Taunton, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 1 June 2009 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
People are always on about things "going out with a bang", and in the case of Doctor Who's gothic period, in my view my favourite era of the show, this story saw it out well.
The story is well written by the super Chris Boucher, writer of one of my faves, The Robots of Death, and the mystery of the ancient skull keeps the ball rolling all the way through. And although the monster is visually disappointing, its effect on the story is momentous and this makes up for it I think.
In the case of the extras, they are rather limited - a good making-of documentary, and some interesting deleted scenes.
Story - 5/5
Extras - 4/5
Final score - 9/10
| What: | Orbis (Eighth Doctor Adventures audios) |
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| By: | writingbluebear, Jersey |
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| Date: | Sunday 24 May 2009 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
After the amazing run and cliff hanger of the last session, I waited hoping for something amazing to answer my many questions. Jelly and Shell fish wasn't top of my list, and whilst the handling of the seperation of the Doctor and his companion is done well, the rest just comes across as weak. This is the mid session light hearted romp we like from time to time. It was just too silly and at the wrong time for fans.
After the horrific opening to the new Session Hothouse was a welcome return to normality. Whilst not original, the introduction of an old foe in a modern context, was handled well. The underlying subplot of the doctor and lucy attempting to re establish thier relationship is very strong.
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| A "Legendary" End To The Hartnell Era? |
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Watching The Tenth Planet some four plus decades after its original broadcast makes for some interesting viewing for any Doctor Who fan. This is for two reasons: the first because of its legendary status it has in Doctor Who fandom, because it contains two of the elements of the show's longevity: the Cybermen and the Doctor's ability to regenerate. The other is reason is to view it from the production values of the time and its realization of those two items of interests to fans. In fact, it's those values that make this an interesting story to view. So how does The Tenth Planet actually rank so to speak?
Well this was of course William Hartnell's final Doctor Who story and judging from this story's three surviving episodes (and episode four's reconstruction on the VHS release) his time had come. Whether it was by design in the script or the fact that Hartnell was ailing, the first Doctor does very little in his final story. In fact the first Doctor's final story consists almost entirely of him being either a captive or (as in the case of episode three) being unconscious. It's a shame really, considering that Hartnell shows that even in his final story he is still capable of bringing authority to his Doctor with the emotions speech to the Cybermen in episode two. As I said, it is a shame that the first Doctor can only react to the events around him and not be more proactive like in earlier stories.
The upside to the underwhelming Hartnell is that the companions get to shine. In particular, Michael Craze gets to show some chops as Ben. This is no more evident then in fighting a Cyberman in episodes two or episode three where he in fact becomes the focus of the episode. Anneke Willis plays up her role as 60's secretary Polly for the most part though even she gets some good scenes like the scene with her and others in the tracking room talking to the Cybermen in episode two. While Hartnell might not have shinned very brightly in this story, his companions sure did.
The supporting cast though is a mixed bunch. There is the pompous and over-the-top performance of Robert Beatty as General Cutler, who lacks any realism is and more like a walking talking cliche. On the upside there, is David Dodimead's wonderful Doctor Barclay who is as underplaying and believable in his role as Beatty is over the top. That in fact makes Dodimead the best of the supporting cast. While the supporting cast is mainly a group of nameless technicians, there is another group of supporting cast that stands out: the Cybermen.
These Cybermen may look rather silly physically with their cloth faces and car lights attached to their heads but there is potential in them that would later be realized and it is in fact these Cybermen's voices that really stand out some four plus decades later. These Cybermen may also lack the physicality of later stories like The Invasion or Earthshock, but one should keep in mind that these Cybermen are a product of their time. That said, while the Cybermen would have better stories later in the 60's (especially The Tomb Of The Cybermen and The Invasion) they make a striking debut here.
In fact, it is the Cybermen and the regeneration that raise up this whole story. Without both of them I suspect this would be just another average 1960's "Doctor/companions/supporting cast all under attack" story. Looking at the writing of this story in terms of both plotting and dialogue, there is really little stand out material except the dialogue introducing the Cybermen's background and lack of emotions in episode two. While it is not a bad story by any means, it lacks many elements of the "classic stories".
So how does The Tenth Planet hold up? Well, it has an underwhelming final show by the first Doctor, a good showing by his companions, a mixed supporting cast, the first appearance of the Cybermen, the first regeneration and an average script. It is true that while The Tenth Planet does have some stand-out elements, it is not a classic story. In fact, is rather average in many ways and a little undeserving of its legendary status in my opinion. In short: average but not great.
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| Excellent "What If" Story |
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Back in 2003, Big Finish Productions got an idea for a way to celebrate forty years of Doctor Who. The idea was to do a series of "what if" stories. These stories would be so outside the normal universe of stories that the only way to described would be Doctor Who Unbound. This story is the second story of the Doctor Who Unbound series and its "what if" is "what if the third Doctor hadn't been science advisor to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT)?"
The story opens in 1997, the night before the UK is to hand over Hong Kong to China. A blue police box suddenly appears and a man pops out of it. And he soon realizes he's in the wrong place - or rather the wrong time. His name: the Doctor. Soon he finds an old ally now discredited after years of disasters and alien invasions. His name: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Their reunion is interrupted by the crashing of a highly advanced Chinese stealth plane. As UNIT attempts to recover the plane and its passenger, the Doctor soon realizes he is facing an old enemy with evil plans of his own.
David Warner plays an alternate third Doctor (replacing the late Jon Pertwee). Warner's Doctor is terrific, even though the Doctor is in a daze for most of the story due to his regeneration. Nicholas Courtney (reprising his role of the Brigadier from the TV series) gets a chance to play a very different version of the Brigadier. This Brigadier is a man who has been let down and feels like he has failed in life, but it only takes a bit of prompting from the Doctor to convince him otherwise. Warner and Courtney have excellent chemistry and it's not surprising that the two have gotten another story together in the new Unbound story Masters Of War.
The story's villain is all too instantly recognizable, scheming and killing here, threatening and cowering there, and generally causing as much damage and disaster as possible. Having said that, I'll let you the listener figure out who the villain is. Needless to say who'll figure it out very quickly (at least I did).
The supporting characters fare very well too, with a highlight being Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. Brimmicombe-Wood is a fantastic foil for the Brigadier as he, for example, shows no respect to the inhabitants of the Monastery, he is largely insensitive towards the way events have affected civilians, and he really cements the listener's dislike by referring to the Brigadier simply as "Lethbridge". As an interesting note on the actor who plays the Colonel, does the name David Tennant mean anything to you?
The story is terrific, taking many elements from the Pertwee/UNIT era stories. These include a list of UNIT"s failures under the Brigadier (The Auton invasions of Spearhead from Space and Terror of the Autons were dealt with by the "plastic purges", which caused a shortage; Captain Mike Yates took a UNIT team back into the past with several nuclear warheads to prevent the Silurians from awakening, and half of present-day London suddenly became a crater; the "Probe 7 fiasco" lead to a line of radioactive craters across America; lives were lost whenever UNIT provided security at a peace conference) and the main part of the story centers around a very strong plot element from The Mind of Evil. The ending is interesting and leaves the door open to the sequel story, Masters Of War.
Overall then, Sympathy For The Devil is a very strong story for Big Finish, and a great contribution to the Unbound range. The script sparkles and shows just how much flexibility there is with the format of basing a script around a question. In many ways, the question is more "What if the Doctor was too late?" than "What if the Doctor had never been UNIT's scientific advisor?" but both are covered very well. In short, this is a fine example of Big Finish at work.
| What: | Image of the Fendahl (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Charles Curtis, Culver, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 19 May 2009 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Even on a limited budget, this and other stories from that era demonstrate what is possible with some imagination. The writing and acting are excellent. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are in top form.
| What: | Companions and Allies (Miscellaneous factual books) |
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| By: | Charles G. Dietz, San Jose, CA, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 14 May 2009 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Excellent Book. Great way to see how the role of companion changed from the early 1960s to today. Only major part of book that is lacking are: Dalek movies companion and allies, Big Finish companion and allies and comics.
Its a great book with an easy to follow plot. I loved Nikki and the Judoon (they should so get together!) The twists were suprising and the ending was pleasing.
All in all great!
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| this was toattly brilliant |
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this was toattly brilliant it was fab very dark and immaganitive whilst capturing the true picture.10/10
this may be a lot better than you think 4.3 what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!give it a chance
it was alright
The Magic Mousetrap has a great plot, setting, cast, excellents twists and role changes, but falls badly after part one. The pace remains steady, dialog is good and well acted but without a raise in temo or real urgency, fear etc it just falls down. Could have been better with the toymaker up and running, taking everyone on. Whilst there was an excellent sense of the unknown it never went anywhere, but should have been great.
Excellent story, with an excellent plot. Well recommended.
| What: | The Stone Rose (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | rebecca, scunthopre |
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| Date: | Wednesday 6 May 2009 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
i like it
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| A great end to a great series |
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The title says it all, this is a must listen.
Dance of the Dead is a classic sci-fi plot and a classic Benny Story, she handles the struggle and twist and turns in a normal special manner. Normally the ice warriors voices are a pain but soften from the normal hissing helped the plot.
