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This adventure was fun to read. It's got everything you need for a good pirate story, with the Doctor Who twist.
| What: | The Stone Rose (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Bethany, Madison, Ohio |
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| Date: | Tuesday 12 August 2008 |
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| Rating: |   9 |
I enjoyed this adventure.
Its not bad really. the ideas great but the aliens are a bit unimaginative
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 | Very Entertaining Audio Play |
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| What: | The Dark Husband (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 9 August 2008 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The Dark Husband is a superb audio production. Top marks for the sound design, production and editing, to say nothing of the excellent writing. Yes, Danny Webb is quite over-the-top (and sounding very much like Brian Blessed) as Ori, but it works here. The script offers plenty of very enjoyable, believable and genuinely funny banter, particularly between Ace and Hex, and the actors carry it off with a full-on flair that shapes this all into a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. Sophie Aldred sounds as cute as ever, and Sylvester McCoy as well sounds like he might have in 1990. I don't know what magic was worked here, but the two of them sound very much like they did on television. The story on its own, though it is good, wouldn't merit such a high rating, but together with the sound design, scripting and acting performances, The Dark Husband is deserving of high praise.
A brief description of the story: The story takes a bit of time to get going, and does so in a very amusing way, taking some time to really have a bit of fun. Even once the story does get properly under way, it continues in an unrushed but highly entertaining direction for some time. The Doctor has arranged things so that his companions will be enthusiastic about visiting the planet Tuin, where, unknown to them at first, he intends to end a war that's been going on for thousands of years - "just too long" - between the inhabitants: the Ri and the Ir. He has a vague idea of how to accomplish this, but doesn't know precisely what it will end up requiring. He just knows that he will need to offer himself as "the Suitor" - he will become "The Dark Husband." As fair warning to those who might have heard enough of these kinds of stories from Big Finish, The Dark Husband ends up being another sort of tongue in cheek 'God-bashing' story, but it really isn't too heavy-handed in this, and maintains its sense of humor fairly well, through to the end.
Highly recommended. This one of the best examples of Doctor Who audio drama to be found.
| What: | Sick Building (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Matthew, leeds |
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| Date: | Saturday 9 August 2008 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
This was very dissapointing. Its slow and theres not much danger or shocks. And for goodness sake the doctor defeats a monster with a burp!!!
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| Beautiful Photos, Very Informative |
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| What: | Regeneration: (Miscellaneous factual books) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 8 August 2008 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Coauthored by Philip Segal (executive producer of the telefilm) and Gary Russell (all-around Who aficionado), Regeneration presents the whole story behind the 1996 Fox t.v. movie, "Doctor Who." In turns, Segal and Russell hand off back and forth to each other from time to time, and the typeface alternates between two styles to clearly indicate who is contribuiting what.
The book is beautifully designed, and is packed with exceptionally nice photos, from the telefilm as well as from other eras of Doctor Who. These include very detailed photos of the amazing TARDIS interior from this production, giving the reader a chance to really explore the vast control room, with its library area, as well as the music room, green room, and cloister room.
There is also lots of interesting information about the production, including details on the various stages it went through, from the earlier script (and its accompanying "bible") by John Leekley, which would have basically been a complete "reboot" of the series mythology, to the final form that used the script by Matthew Jacobs, with its greater continuity to the original series. Reading about the entire process makes it much easier to understand why it took so long to get new Doctor Who in the 90s, why this production didn't lead to a new series, and why certain oddities showed up in the script, such as the "half human" reference and the apparent necessity of featuring the Master. Since three production entities - Universal, the BBC, and Fox - all required creative control of some degree, there were frequent squabbles between the various production personnel, and just too many cooks.
And Regeneration is not only about the telefilm - it basically chronicles the entire period from the end of the original series in 1989, through the early 1990s, to a few years after the 1996 telefilm. In the course of this, it covers the attempts at bringing Doctor Who to the big screen, which began in the late 80s, and the 1993 production, The Dimensions of Time.
Published in 2000, Regeneration is now out of print. After becoming aware of this book last year, I decided I had to find myself a copy, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The only thing about it detracts from its quality is the surprisingly sloppy editing job - many typos and other minor errors made their way into the final publication. But that's a minor fault, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed or has an interest in the 1996 telefilm.
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| One hell of a Pertwee episode!!! |
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So many people have something to say about this story and its not hard to see why. Everything thats said is good and thats because the effects are good and up to scratch, the actors and actresses show that thay have alot to give and so does the surporting cast and the plot that follows in thier footsteps.
Not to be misses by any Who fan!
| What: | Brave New Town (Eighth Doctor Adventures audios) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 2 August 2008 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Briefly...
Paul McGann: Excellent as usual.
Sheridan Smith: Also excellent as usual.
The Story: Meh.
The Sound Design: Meh.
Think The Android Invasion, only scaled down, half the length, and less interesting, and you've just about got it.
| What: | Snowglobe 7 (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Gary Brook, Brisbane, Australia |
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| Date: | Thursday 31 July 2008 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
SnowGlobe 7 is one of the best new series books there is. Mike Tucker is a great author. Very well written, the Doctor is exactly like he is in the show. One of the best things in this book, is who the Doctor and Martha meet after they separate. Martha spends time with a telepathic Flisk called Ku'ra, and the Doctor meets a robot called Twelve. It's a shame Twelve didn't become a companion, though.
9.7/10
| What: | The Bride of Peladon (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Matt loves everything ;-) |
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| Date: | Wednesday 30 July 2008 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
First, just a little note about how I view the ratings scale - to me, 5 simply means average (not necessarily poor).
What we have here in The Bride of Peladon is a bit of a mixed up story, which gives us sort of two sequels in one, a switcheroo, and a drop off (for Erimem). We return to Peladon, and circumstances are basically modeled off of the vastly superior Curse of Peladon, complete with the kingdom of Peladon, Alpha Centauri, an Ice Lord, an Arcturan, and Aggedor. But the heart of the story is really not about Peladon. There is what seems like a very improbable evil force lurking there that has been hidden away for ages. It all works into a fairly good fourth episode, which provides a means for Erimem to find a place in which to end her travels with the Doctor. The choice of Peladon for this is, in my opinion, a bit unimaginative and her choice ends up coming off as being quite rushed. As the real story is really not about Peladon, it leaves me asking, Why Peladon? The answer seems to be that it provided a convenient, familiar set of characters to work with, and a somewhat logical, if unimaginative place for Erimem to decide to stay on with.
Nevertheless, as I mentioned, the fourth episode is pretty good, and the entire play is reasonably adequate (though the script and corresponding performances are a bit flaky here and there).
While a good story and idea, it is utterly ruined by Christopher Robbie's dramatic performance as the Cyberleader, seeming quite camp and emotional. Many of the other cybermen seem like proper cybermen, but the leader ruins what could be one of the best.
| What: | Wetworld (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | The Master NM, London |
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| Date: | Tuesday 29 July 2008 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Well, the doctor gets alot of characterization. Martha Jones gets next to nothing to do at the beginning of the book and the rest of the charcaters are well characterized. All in all though, this book is a very good read but gets a tad boring towards the end. Still, a good book!
I now come to evaluate ths little tale and as a who fan I was impressed. What a tale to end on. And on such a high as this, its reguareded as such a classic that in all the DOCTOR WHO videos I have and havent, I'm glad I own this.
The masters last before the TV movie and sylvesters and Sophies swansong together. I loved this episode when i first saw it and i'm glad that they made this as a DVD when they did. A serious WHO FAN would already have this in his or her collection. Its a must!
I'm not keen on this annual, its quite poor to be honest. Theve done even better than this and to be honest, i feel that its a waste of money. A shoddy comic strip x2 and if i had to be frank, the storybooks are worth the while!
Sorry to those who did enjoy this because i didnt.
This annual i have owned now since i inherited my Doctor Who collection off my brothers. This annual should be amoung your collections. There are intersting fact files on monsters and good comic strip to be had. Nice cover art and a promising read for a good hour and a half.
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| Infinitly Superior!!!!!!!!! |
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As much as you may think of this being a cartoon, its not. Its an episode that works rather well but on a grander scale being the fact its a cartoon. I dont think any of you should jump the gun. Its not at all as bad as you may think and i feel that its a welcome addition to the 2007 series!
I absoloutly adore this episode. It features not only the master as played by the great Roger Delgado. I saw a repeat viewing of this on BBC4 only recently and have made up my mind, this episode truely is as DOCTOR WHO should be.
I once intended to watch this on UK Gold when i was small but was made to go to church and missed the episode but honestly, its a beauty!
With quality written all over it, the dialogue, the acting, and the actors themselves. All my fave's....The Brigadier, Mike yates, Seargent Benton, The Doctor as played by John Pertwee and Jo Grant and not forgeting the master of all....Roger Delgado.
This episode is number 1 in my all time favroute Doctor who serials. This episode is as dark and spooky as say for instance Ghost Light or Battlefield. This episode hooked me if i have to be honest. Its got a great plot, the Doctor and Ace are a fully functional team and work so well together that its true that the show should have gone on longer than it was pulled off. The Heamovores are superb, forgive the spelling mistakes however, they and the surporting cast bring something otherworldly to this serial. It was the second to last to be shown and though that has nothing to with why they took DR WHO off the airwaves, it shows that if the episodes had all been as consistently good as all those in season 26, then the show might have continued.
Sylvester and Sophie work really well together and contribute so much to make this easily the best episode Doctor Who had made in ever such a long time.
Its dark, its myserious, its set in WW2 and works exteamly well considering the success the revival has brought to the very same nature in the 'Empty Child, Doctor Dances.' Also, the surporting cast are well established in what they do and its as though they had researched what it was they had rehearsed.
The Doctor played here as a dark and almighty being minipulating events leading up to the end of the series run and the sheer joy of seeing Ace come into her own. Its a wonderful storie and one I appreciate more tha anyone as this re-defined what DR WHO meantn to me. The Doctor should be a mystery to those who are'nt from his time, nor place and had the new adventure taken place during season 27, Doctor Who might have taken a leap tonew hieghts.
Today though, we should be thankful that DR WHO has made a return to our screens and that the Doctor hasnt changed to save his life.
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| Mascarading as a human..... |
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The Zygons are magnificent creations. Thier ship looks stunning and the abilities grotesque bu simply horrifying. The fact that they can morph into a human body is something Doctor Who had failed to do in a long time. Broton, what a name. Warlord of the Zygons and of his pet the Skareson. He's a suitable candidate to face the Doctor and does so in style. Thier characters are sly and terribly cunning. However once the Doctor becomes involved, theres nothing on Erath that can get in the way of ruling over his favroute planet.
The Doctor is on fine form here and his character develops a little further in each episode. Sarah to is given something to do and her charcter too develops and Harry, a favroute of mine should not have gone in this episode. He truely is of the most suitable companion material. He, the doctor and Sarah have a great relationship though, he should have stayed. He was a great assest to the DR WHO universe.
Unit to are fantastic. The Brigadier is a fine actor. I am ever so glad that Nicholas Courtney stayed on for as long as he did and hes returning to new WHO too i'm glad to announce to those who havent heard.
All the surporting characters are well suited to what they do best. Benton shows he's not just a tea boy, blasting bombs at the Zygon ship that lay beneath the sea and thier are plenty of laughs to be had throughout for example....the Brigadier wearing a tartan quilt.
The action scenes are brill and the opening of the story is a fantastic way to begin an adventure on such a scale as this. Also, the cliff hangers are some of the best yet and poor old Angus- the landlord.......
I so badly wanted to contribute to this and say that this episode truely is a beauty. I'll start of by saying that John Pertwee is a marvel. He steals the show in terms of charcterisation, motive for what he believes is right and for wanting to make a peace with those he beieves are good and not evil.
Liz Sahw was always one of my favroutes. She knows what she's talking about and has a good scientific mind thats used now and again but is never used to combine her cleverness alongside the Doctors. However, i like her because she had respect for the Doctor. She was his equal in terms of knolage but did on occasion disagree with him when it came down to what she though was right and what was'nt.
The plot is of high standard. The Doctor believes that man can share his planet with the Silurians, though man has already made up his mind and disreguards them for mindless killers where on the contrary, thier inteligent, scientific and as human as man in terms of sharing hostilty towards them in self defence and showing kindness in return for peace.
The Silurians remind me of the sea Devils and are given good dialougue that suits them like thier cousins the Sea Devils. They are shrouded in mystery for the first episode but are taken quite seriously throughout and the plague they set loose amoung one of ther victims is horrific, with pure rage as London becomes infected with a desease that would have killed off the human race altogether.
There are rival factions where the Silurians are concerned as though mimicking the reactions of the humans who disagree with what the doctor has in mind, preventing war and making peace.
Unit also has bite of more than they can chew as they tackle the threat of the Silurians and bring a whole new dimension to DR Who. With Unit around, the Doctor could use them as a tool of making peace with creatures who wanted nothing less for eg The Sea Devils when the Parlimentary secratary puts his trust in the doctors hands in starting a peace. The Pertwee episodes were some of the best the series ever produced and this episode was one of the episodes that had a solid impact on Doctor Who.
