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 | One of the greatest Doctor Who stories |
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| What: | The Horns of Nimon (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Glyn, Isle of Wight |
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| Date: | Thursday 1 September 2005 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
This story rocks!!!
I know why some people think it's one of the worst. The Bloodknock SFX, the Nimon heads, the overacting... but it all comes together to create a fantastic story. And it's got the lovely Janet Ellis in too!
| What: | Terror Firma (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Herb Romansa, Iraqi Free State - God Bless America |
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| Date: | Tuesday 30 August 2005 |
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| Rating: |  2 |
Why would you go to the trouble of ending a story arc planned to take several years because new fans brought to the audios by the Eccleston series on the telly might find it alienating and then make your first release in this new, cleansed 8th Doctor series such a piece of fanwank? Why would you do that?
I think the fact that the third Doctor regenerated at the end of the book is stupid because he is suppose to regenrate at the end of planet of the spiders.
I have never been able to warm to Justin Richard's writing, and the only Andy Lane novel I've found engaging was his collaboration with the wonderful Jim Mortimore on "Lucifer Rising", so I was prepared for "The Banquo Legacy" to leave me cold. I was surprised and delighted (sorry, was channelling JN-T there) to find that the opening few chapters of this book are rather marvellous. There is atmosphere, pace, and intrigue. And then...it suddenly all falls apart. It becomes dull, pedestrian, and fails to hold interest once the first death has taken place, withering into a hideously padded Agatha Christie-esque plodder for the central chunk of the book, only to recover slightly towards the end. The characters are lifeless during this section, and as The Doctor and Fitz are very much in the background, it does become very difficult indeed to sustain any kind of interest in what is going on (or not going on, to be more accurate). Endless meandering conversations that do nothing to move things forward, and a plot that fails to ignite mean that The Banquo Legacy sees a huge falling off in quality once you're past the first 50 or so pages. Approach with caution.
| What: | Blue Box (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt Bennett, Cardiff |
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| Date: | Thursday 25 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I've been trying to put my finger on what it is that makes Kate Orman's novels so bloody good. The writing is crisp, the characterisation is always of a high standard, and the ideas are large and well developed. These things can be found in other DW authors works though. What separates Kate Orman is that her books have a real clarity to them, they're beautifully structured. Blue Box is a success on many levels; it's depiction of the Sixth Doctor and Peri, it's choice of location, it's supporting characters, and it's strong plot. I really don't think Kate Orman is capable of producing a novel that is anything less than engaging.
An absolute joy to read, from start to finish. All the regulars are wonderful here, as are all the supporting characters. Witty, summery, and charming, The Also People is one of the very best NAs.
This first offering from Kate Orman is a truly superior piece of work. The dialogue, plot, and prose are all spot on, and guide one easily though a story that could have been off-puttingly complicated in lesser hands. It's often been said that Orman's Doctor Who novels are built around the emotional response of the main characters to their situation, rather than merely detailing plot, and this is certainly true here. The Doctor in particular is put through the wringer. This is an astonishing book, and I can't priase it enough.
Lucifer Rising is one of the chunkier NAs but seems to justify it's unusual length. It never drags or drops into clunky prose, and the writing really lifts off the page. The opening sequence is wonderfully written, and achieves a level of emotional potency that is sustained through the entire novel. Recommended.
Your response to Verdigris will depend upon what your expectations are, and whether you enjoy camp nonsense or not. If you are expecting a faithful re-tread of a Pertwee tv story, you won't get it. What you will get is a marvellously silly camp-fest that parades it's love of all things Seventies. Luckily, this kind of thing is very much my bag, and so I love it.
A good barometer of the usefulness of a book is how well-thumbed it is. Certain pages of my copy of The Discontinuity Guide now resemble the Dead Sea Scrolls, such is my regular usage of this marvellous paperback. Ok, so it gets some of its facts wrong, but to dwell on this is to be churlish. The Discontinuity Guide is very, very funny, fresh, informative and a marvellous companion when watching a particular Doctor Who story on DVD or video. I believe it is about to be reissued in a revised form - you would do well to get a copy.
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| Impressed and impressionable |
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| What: | Terror Firma (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Outside your house ... waiting ... |
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| Date: | Monday 22 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
SPOILERS
The broadly efficient but over-rated 'Master', sketches a background to the Doctor about which he'd forgotten and which we'd previously known nothing. In 'Terror Firma' - good title, shame about the play - 'Tiny' Joe Lidster repeats his revisionist trick. It's hard to understand why Joe bothered because the 8th Doctor's previously unknown travelling companions are abysmally-written, facelessly-dreary 'young persons' so common to Bog Flush productions.
Additionally, 'Tiny' is evidently (and justififably) impressed by Robert Shearman's 'Jubilee', taking that story's trailers and comedy leader to liberate a Dalek-infested Earth.
Repetition replaces creation, allusion replaces narrative. There really isn't a plot, 'Terror Firma' is the closest BF have yet got to the empty, stupid, amateurish, overblown bollocks which poor inept Eric Saward threw up in 'Ressurection of the Daleks' and 'Attack of the Cybermen'; umpteen references to umpteen stories, even quoting directly from the 'Genesis of the Daleks' capsule speech - " ... enough to break the glass etc" - and achieving nothing more than sullying their memories whilst highlighting its own lack of invention.
The wonderful Julia Deakin does what the guest stars often do, she does her best and turns in a performance as Harriet Griffin which ... well, it can't be, can it!? It seems to be modelled on Beryl Reid's turn as Briggs in 'Earthshock' but a version from a (slightly) altered reality where Briggs got the keys to the grog during part 2 and spent the rest of the story slurring drunk.
Some notable details are Lidster's original idiom "clutched onto" - Track 7, around 3' 00" in.
Davros whimpering like Homer Simpson forced to choose between free slices of a favourite cake and springing Bart from gaol.
The opening rant from the Daleks causes one to visualise them as a pack of stupid, tethered dogs.
The outstanding moment, however, is Davros' becoming the Emperor Dalek in the denouement though Christ alone knows why this happens and at no stage is any explanation proposed. Lidster flatters us by declining to insult our intelligenc on that point and his play is, it has to be admitted, commendably free of technobabble. It's also though largely and sadly free of sense. When Davros becomes the Emperor, the first thing that the blindly-obedient Daleks do ... is ignore his order to destroy the Doctor.
After Erimem's sanctimonious turn as Adric in last month's 'Council of Nicaea', C'rizz is finally discovered to function as Turlough - a viper in the Doctor's skinny bosom.
Maybe, Joseph, you could have said, "No."
Maybe ...?
| What: | Series 1 Volume 3: (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Your Arse |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
Once upon a time, there were 3 Doctor Who fans. They loved Doctor Who soooooooooooooooooooooooo much that they decided to write their own episodes. Unfortunately, their love is of the blissed out, uncritical kind.
Moffat writes a pair of the most anodyne, sluggish, simpering episodes yet committed to screen; Davies does the usual and writes half a good episode before ejaculating the premature climax required by the 40-minute format; The Cornball however exceeds his seniors with a short tear-jerking sketch (played with some power) surrounded by the shortest-winded, most witless writing of which he is capable (and after Screech of the Shelduck it was reasonable to suppose he'd touched bottom).
Of maximum offence is the opening, pre-titles scene in which an aged-looking Camille Coduri tells her 6 year old daughter that her (Rose's) father died alone. A mother with a feeling bone in her body would say this?
This series' reputation for characterisation is so much horseshit but in keeping with the series' tiny and unconvincing scope.
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| For real fans of the actor! |
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| What: | Who is Tom Baker? (Miscellaneous video interviews / documentaries) |
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| By: | Jim, Indiana, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 19 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
If you are really a Tom Baker fan, and not just a "Whovian", then this is a pretty good vid. Mr Baker is pretty direct in his answers, but does try to fend off a few questions that, apparently, are still a little too touchy for him. You see a very polite, well-educated, and honest Tom Baker. You also see a few interviews with his cohorts, and some con footage. Hopefully you'll enjoy it for the man who gave so many of us 7 wonderful years as a fantastic Doctor, and several well-acted and memorable roles in other films/series.
| What: | Parallel 59 (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Steve, Bangor |
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| Date: | Thursday 18 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
The title says it all. People dont seem to like this book because its "not traditional doctor who". I fail to see how this is the case, as allot of the normal elements are there - split tardis crews, politics, mystery, a darkness in the background etc. Maybe i have a soft spot for this book as i have a growing fondness for the character of Compassion, but i still think its worth a read. 7.5/10
| What: | Last Man Running (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Ted, Texas |
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| Date: | Wednesday 17 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
This is the first of the BBC Past Doctors books I've read, and I was disappointed. Chris Boucher may be a good writer, but he missed the mark here. The doctor's dialogue is often out of character -- just doesn't have the right tone. And the plot, what there is of it, alternates between boring and confusing. Leela's character rang true, but it wasn't enough.
| What: | I Scream (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Rab Nesbitt's sweatband |
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| Date: | Tuesday 16 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Excellent and actually frightening.
Lance Parkin's absorbing story is performed and produced with force and imagination. Lisa Bowerman - who I usually want to slap when I hear her glibly performing the tiresome Bernice Summerfield - is given the opportunity to demonstrate her range and to my great surprise it's wide and without a false note.
The denouement is reminiscent of the more sinister episodes of The Twilight Zone and the sound effects contribute profoundly to the atmosphere. Unexpectedly wonderful.
| What: | The Clockwise Man (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Georgina, London |
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| Date: | Monday 15 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
The Clockwise Man is a Fantastic read ! It was exciting, puzzling and brilliantly written. The storyline was dark yet mysterious. I just couldn't put the bok down . I would give this book 10/10 !!
| What: | The Monsters Inside (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Georgina, London |
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| Date: | Monday 15 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I thought The Monsters Inside was brilliant!!
I found once I had started reading this book I couldn't put it down.
If you have been watching the Doctor Who series you will especially enjoy this book. The whole way through the story I had an picture of The Doctor and Rose doing all they could to find each other again.
The story line was great and I loved the idea of the Slitheen/Blathereen returning and trying to take over lots of planets instead of planet Earth. All together I would definitely give this book 10/10!
| What: | EarthWorld (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Podmix, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Monday 15 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
I didn't mind the story, quite cute. I didn't mind the setting, some nice twists. What I did mind was the complete disregard for characterisation (compare the Anji here with her more sophisticated verion in Escape Velocity!). It's a challenge for any reader trying desperately to become familiar with characters in books (I still haven't completely pegged Fitz...), but it becomes near impossible when their basic language\thought patterns become garbled this early in their in-book life. Instead of consolidating the strength of the character, we instead get a completely bimbo-ised version - shame! I've since managed to warm to the character, no thanks to this book. Maybe I should've skipped it and gone straight onto Vanishing Point.
| What: | Escape Velocity (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Podmix, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Monday 15 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I thoroughly enjoyed this conclusion to the story arc beginning with The Burning: it manages to reunite the central characters in a satisfying way, and also introduce Anji and making her identifiable. The shock of going from one narrative style to another (from this one's intelligence to the portrayal in a patronisingly simplistic Anji of "Earthworld") made this book so much the better in comparison. True, it's probably a year since I read it, but if it's made that strong a positive impression that I still remember it...
