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| What: | Memory Lane (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 15 June 2007 |
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| Rating: |   7 |
Okay, I feel the need to defend Memory Lane a bit here. The other reviews so far are very short, and make it sound like this is a bad story. Unfortunately, I can't say a lot without ruining the story's punchline resolution for those who haven't yet listened to this one, and that's something I just don't want to do. But I'll say this: I think it's necessary to approach Memory Lane with the right expectation. This story is *not* best approached with the expectation of it being a surreal, spooky brain-twister. The beginning is strange and interesting, yes. But it's not so much a bizarre story as a fun story. This is not the Twilight Zone, it's more like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is not The Girl in the Fireplace, it's more like Love and Monsters. The regulars are in great form here, and are very enjoyable to listen to. They're given some good banter and some great, oddly humorous elements to work with. There are lots of mysterious things going on in the early part of the story, and we are gradually shown the reality behind the mysterious "Matrix" of Memory Lane. I felt that when we finally understand the full truth, it is not just a silly, weak joke, it's the revelation of a very alien race and its society, and a very interesting, if not earth-shattering concept. Approach Memory Lane with the right mindset, stick with it to the end, and you may find this to be a very entertaining installment.
| What: | Robot (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Michael Liddy, Surreys |
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| Date: | Thursday 7 June 2007 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A terrific Dr. Who story - I always love those unit storys (sic) with Brigadier and Bentons. The special effects were good for the time, though not as good as now with the CGI imagine what could of been achieved now with that storie
Still I must get back to work - I am currently trying to sort out this blocking sheet at work for my colleagues and am giving myself all the best bits because I am rubbish! Joke! Go watch Robot now.
Having giant robots again after the previous release and also robots in Phobos BBC7 gives rise to the thought that there isn't enough depth. Its a good story and the one parter is funny and orginal a shame exotron wasn't but its simples and entertaining - however I would like something that has you listen, a subplot, getting to know the people more and more - or are Big finish saying there is nothing left so its a light hearted plot or nothing?
Phobos like most of this range and like most of the latest Big Finish stories has improved in terms of pace and feel, but there is something missing in terms of depth and feel, there is an attempted subplot but its nothing gripping, you know the headhunter is there but where is the build up. A good story and an enjoyable listen.
| What: | The Monsters Inside (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | alex, sunderland,england |
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| Date: | Monday 21 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
this book was cool i loved the way they expanded the allready cool slitheen and brought in the blathereen
My guess is the author was sitting down with a couple of friends, watching TV (Cartoon Network or Boomerang, the classic cartoon channel, natch!) and celebrating his getting to work on a DOCTOR WHO novel. Someone asked "So...what are you gonna write about, mate?" And the author--just kidding, mind you--might have said "What would happen if the Doctor & his friends landed in the world of cartoons?"
I just gotta say some things. One: BRAVO! One of the most imaginative books I have read yet, and I have ALL of the Eighth Doctor's books! Two: I hope you didn't break any copyright laws, because you took characters from three different franchises; Tom & Jerry belong to MGM, the Warner Bros. characters are from Time Warner/WB, and the "Spooky Gang" and "Angel Falls" are really you-know-who and the dog, plus Penelope Pitstop from Hanna Barbera.
What I REALLY want to know is...if you were taking from cartoons...where were Pinky & The Brain? THEY would have made good villians! All in all, a great book! Too bad I can't recommed it to any of my friends--they don't like science fiction!
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 | 2 for 1 or Brief and to the point |
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| What: | I.D. (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | writingbluebear, Jersey |
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| Date: | Thursday 17 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
ID I found as a light hearted affair, nothing at all original or challanging but it held you. If a 4 parter I would have fallen asleep but with at 3, its pace and energy kept you listening
Phone Booth and the idea of a single story is new and the first effort was entertaining although I'm not convinced over the long term will be appealing.
| What: | Immortal Beloved (Eighth Doctor Adventures audios) |
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| By: | writigbluebear, Jersey |
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| Date: | Thursday 17 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Focusing more on the moral issues of the surrounding cast this is a strong "traditional" doctor who, dealing with the cost and risks of immortality are nothing new but with a strong cast and good story an enjoyable listen
This is a great story. Great job Nigel.This is well worth a read and I cant help but wonder if people have read the same book. The only thing I dislike was that the book relies on the big bang theory and it is to definate for my liking. The reference to Logopolis is a tad weak. It certainly makes you look forward to the final instalment of the Timewyrm series.
| What: | The Highlanders (TV episode audio soundtracks) |
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| By: | Sean Gibbons, Ireland |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is a cracking adventure! Full of fun, humour, playful intrique, this is a swashbuckling, character-filled, action-packed, witty take on material like R L Stevenson's classics, "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped". Twinned with the equally gung-ho and enjoyable Doctor Who tale, "The Smugglers", these two stories represent the 60's Doctors at their most historically adventuresome best!
A great follow up from a great writer. The Doctor becomes chums with Adolf to put things as they should be. Im convinced now Goring was a good egg & the Warlords are back with real malice. Fantastic.
This was the first of the new adventures featuring the 7th Doctor. I remember looking forward to reading it so much. I was not dissapointed at all. It is a simple story, easy to follow and yet so adult in its approach. John Peel did an excellent job in being the first to start of this much needed novels. I felt it was a tough act to follow and that often prooved to be the case. Dont listen to anyone that knocks this, (as many do) read it for yourself. Like so many of the new adventures it knocks spots of the basic poor quality hard backs that are based on the current Doctor. For a while those that grew up with the programme had the magic of the show but also had an adult flavour which was much needed. In my reviews I wont go into the story to much at all but Qataka, come Ishtar, come Timewyrm is one of the best baddies ever. Gilgamesh is comical and tough at the same time and it would of been nice for Mesopotamia to have another visit from the Doctor.
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| Squiggly End for the Sixth Doctor |
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| What: | Spiral Scratch (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 4 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Being a Sixth Doctor fan, I just had to read this book when I found out about it. The idea is that this is the final story of the Sixth Doctor that leads directly into the beginning of Time and the Rani, and as such it delivers well.
But getting there was quite a journey, and at times a trial (no pun intended). The book starts out slowly and perplexingly, moving back and forth between rather dull stories (except for the naked green teenagers...) set in a small village in the middle ages (or earlier?), eastern Europe during the time of the Nazis, and the estate of a wealthy Englishman in 1958 (I think). Things start getting more interesting when we finally get to the point where the Doctor and Mel arrive at the library of Carsus to visit the Doctor's friend, Professor Rummas. The library turns out to be the center of some sort of temporal nexus that becomes increasingly bizarrely mangled up as the (at first) ghostly images from parallel universes begin to bleed into it, literally. Rummas, and sometimes the Doctor, are repeatedly seen murdered in these strange, but incorporeal images. And somehow, this all involves pentagon-shaped buildings or forms throughout time and space.
Rummas begins to send the Doctor off to various times and places in an attempt to track down the cause of the disturbance, and an epic story begins to unfold, bringing together the players in the three settings mentioned above, and spanning the multiverse, as alternate-universe Doctors and Mels begin to overlap and run into each other.
After slogging through the slowgoing early parts, Sprial Scratch becomes a fun and interesting read, as the nature and scope of what the Doctor is faced with becomes increasingly apparent: a creature of immense power has become an apocalyptic threat to not just one universe, but all of them. Gary Russell does right by the Sixth Doctor here, basically sending him out with the biggest bang of them all. Mel's character is also expanded, though I found Russell's revisions of her character to be somewhat disagreeable at times. He certainly has a lot of fun here, as he brings in all sorts of brief nods to multiple continuities from the various Doctor Who lines by the end of the story. His knowledge of the Doctor Who universe truly is rather frightening.
Another thing that's a bit frightening, but quite impressive, is how Russell is able to keep track of the multiplicity of timelines and the excursions into and interplays between past, present, and future he's weaved throughout the story.
Spiral Scratch is an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending, but somehow, after finishing it, I just don't feel the need to rate it more highly than a 7. Go figure. Maybe the dizzying cover is part of the problem...
| What: | The Nowhere Place (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 4 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
"Time's end. I am always here. Now you will be too."
This is top-notch writing and design from Nick Briggs, who delivered a masterful production here in his roles of writer and director, as well as in the role of Trevor Ridgely in the drama itself. The Nowhere Place features fantastic sound effects, incidental music and overall sound design, and the story, in my estimation, is brilliant, tightly constructed, and very imaginative, even if a major plot point bears some incidental similarity to what we've seen in the Eighth Doctor's "Divergent" storyline. I do not agree that this can be written off as a retread.
How can I summarize the story without major spoilers? One thing I'll say, unlike the other reviewers, is that the resolution is not a let-down. This is another one of those stories that really messes with your mind, involving a wicked time paradox, and placing the Doctor in a role of astounding importance. At the beginning of the story, as the Doctor and Evelyn are about to materialize on Earth a few centuries after Evelyn's time, the Doctor gets scared so badly that he immediately throws the TARDIS backward in time and back out into space. Yet, the reason he became so afraid is vague and uncertain to him. They then begin to hear a mysterious, impossible bell sound. Investigation of it leads them to warship in space, in the future, on which they discover an impossible door, and on which the crew members begin to hear the bell as well. The next step takes the Doctor and Evelyn back to 1952, to the source of the sound. By the end, there is a revelation of just what it was the Doctor had sensed that caused his fearful reaction, and I must say, the concept is brilliant.
The theme of the story is essentially reason vs. fear, rationality vs. primal energies. It is also an excursion into eternity, playing with the idea that all of time is happening in the same moment. The Nowhere Place is essential listening. Highly recommended.
| What: | Something Inside (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 4 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
Advice to all: If you come to Something Inside expecting a cool alternative take on the movie, Cube, you will be disappointed. Well, you'll probably be disappointed no matter what, though it didn't seem that the other two reviewers were.
If you've seen the film, Cube, aside from the visual conceptualization of the Cube itself, which itself is enough to attract the viewer's attention, what are the main draws of the movie? The puzzle of figuring out which rooms were booby-trapped and the diabolical variety of the types of booby-traps, yes? Well, take away all of the above characteristics, put basically nothing in their place, and you have Something Inside. Oh, I'm forgetting... yes, the "brain worm," of course. Oh no! It's the brain worm! Not the brain worm! How many times can you hear "brain worm" before becoming really irritated? Listen to Something Inside and you'll find out.
That's pretty much it. Throw in a couple of psychotic characters and a couple of exploded heads and you've just about got the gist of Something Inside. Even McGann's presence could barely save this one.
| What: | The Last Dodo (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | The Next Doctor, Sunderland |
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| Date: | Friday 4 May 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
This is a superbly well written book as it combines the great story telling of Jacqueline Raynor in 3rd person, while keeping Martha's dairy a fun and great way to be able to understand the book in the 1st person aspect
I read this on a long flight and the time zipped past. It's very easy to read, especially for those of us who love Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and even though the author's British, I was amazed how much his childhood was like mine. Very funny, very nostalgic. Recommended!
| What: | Survival (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Paige Martin, England Essex Southend |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 April 2007 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I loved it and i was so pleased with it i even got up and 6 o clock just to watch the second half. i think survival is so good that ive been BEGGING my mum to let me have the dvd, book and video!
| What: | Heritage (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Martin Smith, England |
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| Date: | Saturday 28 April 2007 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Heritage has some interesting ideas, but it never really manages to make them into a compelling narrative. Instead the reader becomes as clogged in the prevalent ennui as the characters are in the planet's red dust.
It doesn't help that The Doctor is completely unengaging here, continually wavering between depression and reluctant involvement, which in turn makes Ace continually comment about his mood and how he's not "the proper Doctor".
Smith's prose is competent yet rarely makes you sit back and feel impressed. It spends FAR too long continually describing every character's eyes in greatly detailed imagery.
Ultimately Heritage the novel manages to be as uninteresting and disappointing as the Heritage the planet is meant to be.
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| Will Forever Divide Opinion |
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| What: | Timewyrm: Revelation (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | James, Melbourne |
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| Date: | Friday 27 April 2007 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
As you can see, this book provokes extreme reactions. The book is VERY pretentious and laid the way for all the "high-concept Who" that followed (The Ancestor Cell etc.)
I read it quite recently and what got me most was Cornell's ability to surprise, especially given I knew that tons of Who fiction would follow this. There really are lots of twists and turns to this story, and most of them make sense if you can swallow the basic premise.
So, what is this premise? Well, the Doctor has been pursuing the timewyrm, an entity that messes up time and is supposed to someday destroy Gallifrey. The timewyrm has set a trap for the Doctor involving Ace's paradoxical death and his own... past?
You see, whilst the timewyrm's trap is ostensibly set in a fake village on the Moon, most of this story takes place in the Doctor's head. It's actually rather cleverly described - all of the Doctor's incarnation's (except the 6th - he still sucked at this point) show up, though they are mainly described in terms of archetypes (e.g. "the wise librarian").
If you read past this book, you'd become familiar with the whole "Doctor manipulates Ace for the greater good". But at this point, it was all contraversial and I think there'll be many that dislike it. At one point, the Doctor begs for his life with "Take Ace, not me". Yeah.
So, what you have is a novel that's bursting with ideas. The problem is that it often feels episodic and bitty. Oh, and very pretentious.
And amongst these bits, there's something for everyone. I personally liked the psychic church and the bit where Ace reads "Ace, duck" in a copy of NME, which saves her from being shot. At the end, they go back and put that message in NME.
Special mention goes to the characterisation of the Timewyrm. For once, I felt that the Doctor was up against a scary villain. The Timewyrm is basically a sentient computer virus - very powerful, but not entirely in control of herself. She warps everything she touches but is also changed by the guises she adopts and the things she warps. Paul Cornell's writing is punchy, clever and "televisual" - every paragraph ends on a punchline.
But there is a lot of stupid stuff. The 5th Doctor being tied to a tree, saying "I didn't want to go to war, I just wanted to drink tea and play cricket!" Ace's random deviation into a Perivale dystopia. And the fake people on the moon too.
So, it's very pretentious and there'll be bits you'll love and hate.
But one thing that everyone will agree with; none of this high concept stuff has made it into the new series. For better or worse, Russel T Davis has rejected it in favour of witty, character-driven fun. Timewyrm and all it's timewyrmlets are preserved as a Who that never was.
