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 | Fantastic sketch book of Daleks & Dr Who |
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24 Exciting pictures to colour of TV's notorious space raiders, created by Terry Nation in 1978 Doctor Who series backgrounds.
the dvd of the invasion is excellent,-the two episodes that have been reconstructed are very good and the fact that the best versions of the
soundtracks have been used for them certainly adds to their enjoyment.
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| Take slow, deep breaths... |
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| What: | Three's a Crowd (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 November 2006 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
It often seems that reviewers here fail to take note of the audio format that these stories have been produced in. I must give Three's a Crowd an 8 partly because I found the sound design to be unusual, quite interesting and very well produced. Being set in space, the story lends itself to the use of an array of high-tech, futuristic sound effects, such as the excellent station computer voice, the "Butler" droid voice, and the sounds produced by the numerous transmat activations throughout the story, some of which Blake's 7 fans will recognize as being the same as the teleport sound in that series.
In addition to all of that, the incidental music is essentially absent, a nearly constant sort of looped, minimalistic, spooky ambient tone sound taking its place. Very atmospheric. This design lends itself very well to the stark storyline, which is played out in the rather dismal setting of the corridors of a spartan colony ship and a few confined habitation cells within it. Stuck in solitary lives in these habitation cells, a few of the colonists communicate online or by voice communication only, and they have "become shy" - to the point of becoming agoraphobic.
The revelation of the extent of this agoraphobia is fascinating to listen to, the most extreme case being that of Lucy Beresford's Bellip, whose repeated panic attacks unfortunately begin to grate on the listener as the story goes on.
Peter Davison is as great as ever in this production, though unfortunately his voice has gone a bit raspy again. Peri and Erimem work well here and don't get ridiculous, as has been the case a bit in some of their other recent outings.
Three's a Crowd actually fits in quite well with the mounting angst and dark pessimism that were trademarks of Eric Saward's Season 21 and which increasingly built up as the show headed toward the dramatic climax of The Caves of Androzani.
An engaging, sonically scintillating production that kept my attention througout.
| What: | Marco Polo (TV episode audio soundtracks) |
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| By: | Lord Nimon, Skonnos |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Classic. Can't see how this could be sortened.
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| At last, it all makes sense! |
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| What: | The Dalek Conquests (Miscellaneous audio interviews & documentaries) |
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| By: | Lord Nimon, Skonnos |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Takes all the dalek stories in order, and ties it all together with the new series, and the Time War. A fantastic idea, that works.
And the extra 'Dalek' narration, such as the prologue to Power of the Daleks, with the capsule crashing on Vulcan is seamlessly done. You can almost imagine the film of it being junked!
| What: | Heart of TARDIS (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Jamie, Kent |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A good crossover betweem the second and fourth doctors (albiet they never meet) definatly worth a read.
| What: | Catch-1782 (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 18 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
I agree with the other reviews of this story, but in defense of it, I must say that the time passed swiftly as I listened and I enjoyed the story in spite of its weaknesses. This production was well-acted, and the premise is rather interesting (since it's already been revealed in the reviews): When the Doctor's companion is harshly whisked away into the past by an artifact composed of an unstable new element, she finds herself unwittingly and undesirably becoming part of past history, and her rescue would appear to require the creation of a paradox.
Of course, the trouble is that it's all resolved a bit too easily.
As to the previous reviewer's objections to the way the burial of the chest was lazily written into the story, I'd agree that the writer could've done better with that. But it was already clear that the Doctor could not have brought the "device" back to 2003 because of its effects on the TARDIS, so they really *had* to leave it there and bury it. This was not, however, clearly stated in the script.
I dunno - I'd really have to say that this was kind of a neat time travel story, the charaterization was good and the script worked well. Maybe not a solid 7, but worth more than a 6.
| What: | Ghost Ship (Telos novellas) |
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| By: | Paula, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 18 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Interesting story with great potential, great build up with a rather quiet lackluster ending. But I enjoyed reading it.
| What: | City of Death (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Matthew B, Cardiff |
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| Date: | Monday 13 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
"City of Death" is fluid, very watchable, and hugely enjoyable provided that you like "this sort of thing". "What sort of thing?" you may well be asking. For those of you that are indeed putting this very question to your computer screen, I shall try and answer it for you.
Well first of all, "City of Death" is funny. So if you don't like humour in your Doctor Who, I suggest you hurtle away towards something a bit less frivolous. Try "The Space Museum". But don't blame me if your brain turns to sludge and dribbles out of your ear.
Secondly, "City of Death" has a Pleasingly Rubbery Monster. Now, this may not seem especially signficant, after all, Pleasingly Rubbery Monsters are the mainstay of Doctor Who. The thing is, usually they're rather silly. But here, in "City of Death", the P.R.M becomes rather sinister because it exists within such a contrasting environment. One doesn't expect to see a P.R.M in a John Travolta suit. Living in a chateau in Paris. With a wife. It's the juxtaposition of the potentially silly with the recognisably normal that stops you laughing at the thing. Very clever. Or you may just laugh at the P.R.M anyway. Go ahead, it won't matter. You'll still like "City of Death".
Thirdly, "City of Death" has Big Ideas and Witty Banter. These things often turn up in Doctor Who, but usually not together. Thanks to Douglas Adams, we get both at once here. I'm not going to list all the great lines. It's been done before, and I don't want to spoil it for those who've yet to hear them.
Much is made of the Paris location work. It does look nice, I'll agree, but all it really does is give the whole thing a bit of space to let the story breathe.
If you watch "City of Death" and end up loving "this sort of thing" it'll be because of Tom and Lalla. Because of the great cast and characters. Because of the dialogue. These things are special, and are all at their very best here.
DVD EXTRAS
Marvellous doco about the story, and about the wider story of Douglas Adams' work on Doctor Who. Loads of Easter Eggs, some of which are rather marvellous, some of which are a bit dull. Two rather pointless bits of effects footage. Some nice studio footage to peer at (squint everyone, its a bit blurry). What we're missing is a commentary and/or features with Tom and Lalla. "City of Death" is so much about them that their absence here really cripples this disc.
There are certain things about The Ark in Space that are done very, very well; The Nerva Beacon sets (Roger Murray-Leach's design work is the major reason why this story is considered a classic), Baker and Marter, some good dialogue, and a general air of newness brought about by incoming producer Phillip Hinchcliffe. What is interesting is that these positive elements almost completely obscure several dreadful ones. The story has promise but the dialogue is very patchy, swinging wildly from the good (Tom's "humanity" speech, most of Harry's lines) to the painful (virtually all the other cast, but especially Noah). The Wirrn are just as dreadful as Alpha Centauri or any number of other heavily-ridiculed monsters, and yet are somehow let off the hook by fans - why these and not any other? The supporting cast are very stilted (except perhaps Libri), and even Sladen is below par here.
It is the invigorating presence of a new Doctor and those aforementioned sets that make this story stick in the mind; take these elements away and you have a story that would have fitted in well with the more tired sections of Season Eleven. Promising, but far from successful.
DVD EXTRAS
The commentary by Baker, Sladen and Hinchcliffe is reasonably enjoyable, but not worth getting the disc for. The archive interview material is rather fun, shot during the "Revenge of the Cybermen" location work and showing a marvellously spaced out Baker. The new CGI effects are beautifully done but not far reaching enough, though I can see how it would have been difficult to recreate the shots of the Wirrn scampering over the surface of the shuttle. The unused title sequence is not as exciting as it sounds, but the Roger Murray-Leach interview is lively and interesting.
THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET
There is an intelligence to this script that is missing from the vast majority of new series Doctor Who. This is partly because the two-parter format allows for finer strokes, but mainly because of Matt Jones’ writing, which, like Steven Moffat’s in the previous season, really shows up RTD’s shortcomings. There are so many great things; the sets, the cast, Toby’s possession, Gabriel Woolf’s voice work, the black hole, Scooti’s death, the slow build up, the palpable sense of enormity and fear. Tennant is irritating only once in the entire episode (another bloody “Aren’t humans wonderful” scene again. Dreadful), and Piper is as reliable as ever. The whole shebang builds to a great end of episode moment, and then...
THE SATAN PIT
...falls flat. The elegant simplicity of the first episode gives way to half-baked explanations and action sequences nicked from Aliens. Given that the whole story is based around the reveal of the “Beast”, the rationalisation of its nature and origins are vague at best and embarrassingly feeble at worst. The episode is still enjoyable on its own level but fails to capitalise on the strengths of Part One. Very disappointing.
LOVE AND MONSTERS
A nice little episode, easy to digest (mwahahaha)as it keeps itself limited. It's also rather a relief not to have to put up with Tennant's irritating performance, at least for the first two thirds of the episode. Criticism has been levelled at Peter Kay's Northern accented Abzorbaloff, something I expected to annoy me, but which actually seems...sinister rather than amusing. And it's far less annoying than Tennant's hideous Mockney. Love and Monsters is more watchable than at least five other episodes this season. Give it a go.
| What: | Timelash (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Matthew B, Cardiff |
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| Date: | Monday 6 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
Timelash is generally loathed, and although it is hardly deserving of HUGE amounts of affection, it is by no means the worst Doctor Who story. There are some nice ideas (the Timelash itself, the use of H.G Wells, the Borad design) and it is watchable in a way that huge chunks of the Troughton era are not. Oddly, given the poor material, Pennant Roberts manages to turn in one of his better directing efforts. Sadly, this is faint praise. The story is very slight and what little there is makes no sense, the dialogue is generally either lifeless or just plain bad, and most of the performances are weak. Also, one simply doesn’t give a stuff about any of the characters, even the regulars – Colin Baker’s performance feels like someone doing an impression of The Doctor and is very unlikeable, and Peri is sidelined throughout, tied up and left screaming at a Morlox. Things brighten up once the Borad appears, making one wish he’d been revealed a little earlier and had played a greater part, so sinister is the character. Timelash is, in the final analysis, not very good.
An exercise in sustained insanity, The Twin Dilemma is utterly awful from start to finish. There is nothing that redeems it – the location work seems nice until Colin Baker comes on screen and starts overacting. The effects seem good but then Womulus and Wemus appear and spoil it all. The music is horrible (unusual for Malcolm Clarke) and the costumes are even gaudier than those seen in Shada. Painful to watch, The Twin Dilemma isn't even amusingly bad. Hideous.
| What: | Underworld (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Matthew B, Cardiff |
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| Date: | Monday 6 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Season Fifteen is the very first time that it is possible to detect boredom in Tom Baker’s performance, and it’s easy to see why. Quite apart from the lack of strong directorial control (apart from Paddy Russell) or effective supporting casts, the scripts in this season are of a much poorer quality than any since Season Eleven, with a couple of notable exceptions. Underworld is a good example of this generalised lack of quality. The story is potentially interesting, but the dialogue is lifeless. The design and effects are good but the direction is patchy. The characters have potential but are all so under-acted that they become totally unmemorable. Only one actor seems to understand the need for a cranked up performance and that is Alan Lake. The general feeling is that no-one can be bothered, and this shows in Baker’s performance too. The cliffhangers are particularly dull, too. On the plus side, the effects (including all the CSO) are very well done, and the few sets on display are magnificent. Part One is actually rather good, believe it or not. Underworld isn’t bad as such, it’s just disappointing.
| What: | The Reaping (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Joseph Lidster has tried to do something that Jonathan Morris did so well with Flip-Flop: write a circular story where each part feeds into the other. The Reaping is a companion to The Gathering, with Peter Davison. Each relies on the other to complete full story of Kathy Chambers and what she tries to do with cyber technology. Of the two stories, The Reaping is far superior to The Gathering. Whereas The Gathering is 85 minutes of whine and moan about how the Doctor makes everyone's life miserable, The Reaping affirms the Doctor's heroic status. Peri gives an admirable speech about why she travels with the Doctor and what makes him a superior character. Because such moments are highly unusual in the Big Finish CDs and Virgin/BBC novels, that perspective alone makes The Reaping worth getting. As far as the story goes, it is standard Cyberman fair, and the time-travel twist does not really change that fact. That is alright, as far as it goes. The one big problem in the script is that while creeping around trying to be quiet, while running away from cyber-possessed policemen, while confronting a half-cyberized corpse in a graveyard, people still apparently have time discuss their personal differences. There are continual disconnections between the scenes and the dialogue. If Lidster had wanted to write a family drama, he could have chosen a different sort of story, one that would make such dialogue realistically in context.
| What: | The Nowhere Place (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 November 2006 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
This is one of those stories that is all setup and no payout. A mysterious bell, a door to nowhere, people compelled to jump over the edge like Disney-fied lemmings all make the first two parts genuinely spooky and compelling. Alas, like The Greatest Show In The Galaxy, the answer to the mystery is a let down, a kind of easy out that gives us very little of the why. Additionally, for some reason, in the 2005-6 crop of Colin Baker CDs, it seems a requirement for him to say "I'm sooo sorry" at least once in the story. A script editor, please.
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| Grim, but not the typical Master story.. |
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| What: | Master (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Monday 30 October 2006 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
As the cover indicates, Master is a dark and dreary tale. But this story shows us the Master in a new light and makes it believable. In doing so, it turns the Geoffrey Beevers Master into the richest character of the four incarnations we've seen (counting Eric Roberts' version as one), which is rather amazing, given that this incarnation has really only had three appearances at this point (plus The Deadly Assassin, where this incarnation is played by Peter Pratt).
True to what was done in Dust Breeding, the Beevers' Master is again shown to be quite scary and genuinely menacing in this story. I won't give away what it is here that expands his character so much.
It's also interesting to hear Philip Madoc again, and all of the small cast give top-notch performances here. Overall, the story is quite intriguing, and is one of the more imaginative of the Big Finish series.
| What: | The Gathering (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 October 2006 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
In both the Big Finish CDs and the Doctor Who novels, there has been this habit of knocking the Doctor. Either "its all the Doctor's fault," or the Doctor makes everyone around him miserable. Joseph Lidster in The Gathering decides to use both. I am beyond tired and annoyed by story after story in this vein. It is not a new idea and not a particularly smart one to say that everyone the Doctor comes into contact with is miserable. The return of Tegan, even for just a one-off, should have been much better than this. As the third longest-running companion, she deserves better consideration. At the end, she does get a 5-minute speech in which she says how it was all worth it to travel with the Doctor, but that does not make up for 85 minutes of her an everyone else saying how awful the Doctor makes their lives.
| What: | Pier Pressure (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 October 2006 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
The previous two reviewers have said much of what I have to say about Pier Pressure. It is just plain dull, taking seemingly forever to get going. Even then, what are we faced with? - a bad showman mentalist and an alien so uninspiring it does not even get a name. And how do we deal with it? Just stick a wire in the right place? No, the whole thing is ill-conceived and unredeemable.
| What: | Medicinal Purposes (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 October 2006 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
I am sure that Robert Ross took the idea that the Doctor should have "alien" attitudes, but the ideas he hands to the Doctor here simply contradict all that we know of the Doctor's morality. Praising murder because it somehow indirectly advanced medical science is not the broad view, but just the worst kind of ends-justify-the-means thinking that the Doctor always crticizes. The basic idea of replaying history as a snuff film is interesting. However, we never learn just where this audience. This script needed a serious rewrite.
