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now this story has a bad reputation but I think its brill HONEST! its just so easy to watch and very entertaining. Good performances good location work and good music top of a simple easy script. Ok it can be a little corny but thats what makes it so good in my opinion. This is one of the most strangest storys ever comisioned I mean what person would have comeup with such a corny plot its quite weird. But still thats what makes it so brilliant and one of my favourite storys. I LOVE IT!
| What: | Interference: Book One (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Highbury, London |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 August 2005 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
... heavily-plagiarised by Big Finish for their interesting Zagreus release.
| What: | Interference: Book Two (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Glyn Viney, Isle of Wight, UK |
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| Date: | Friday 5 August 2005 |
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| Rating: |  7 |
Right... so I.M. Foreman's travelling circus, IS I.M. Foreman... The 3rd Doctor gets shot and regenerates, and the 8th Doctor doesn't do a great deal. Still, not a bad read.
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 | Pass the Prozac PLEASE!!!! |
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| What: | Interference: Book One (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Glyn Viney, Isle of Wight, UK |
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| Date: | Friday 5 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
What a depressing book!
The 8th Doctor locked in a cell, being tortured, and forced to use his own blood to write time equations.
Fitz incorporated into Faction Paradox.
The only uplifting bits involve Sam and Sarah, fighting the Remote.
And then there's the 3rd Doctor, meeting I.M. Foreman on Dust.
| What: | Emotional Chemistry (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Glyn Viney, Isle of Wight, UK |
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| Date: | Friday 5 August 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
After all the interminable multiverse Sabbath books, it was nice to hit a change of pace. Here is a book with a plot that, basically, boils down to a love story. No major villain to sort out, no planet to save, (well, not really), no universe to destroy/save (depending on plot), just the Doctor trying to re-connect two lost loves, seperated by time. It did take a little while to gather momentum, but when it did, I didn't want to put it down. One of the better 8th Doctor books.
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| the best film in the world |
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| What: | Series 1 Volume 3: (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | ellie, worlsly manchester |
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| Date: | Friday 29 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
i wached it every week
every episode i enjoyed
and so now i want to buy all of the D.V.Ds
so i can wach it every day
docter who is the best
docter who rules, docter who rules,
xxxxxxxxxxx
| What: | The Harvest (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, Highbury, London |
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
If the converted human that chases Ace and Hex is 8 foot tall, how does it fit behind the wheel of a Mercedes?
Badly underwritten. Excellent core idea, rubbish development, indifferent execution.
| What: | The Gallifrey Chronicles (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, USA |
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| Date: | Wednesday 20 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Like most, I awaited this book with mixed emotions. I knew the job of bridging the books with the new series was going to be hard and I, for one, was happy to see it put in the hands of Lance Parkin. I knew he would at least deliver an honest attempt to pay homage to the books while trying to bridge them with the history presented by the new series.
The homage! Wow, as a reader since the first of the Virgin novels was published, I was floored! Parkin makes reference to so many bits of trivia (Timewyrm, Bernice, etc.) that it really fleshes out the book for me...making the whole feel more real. As I've said before, I like it when the novels acknowledge their own continuity--but to see one that celebrates the written continuity from beginning to end was an unexpected treat.
Parkin has done an exceptional job of taking the darkest themes ever introduced in the novels (Grandfather Paradox, Faction Paradox, and the destruction of Gallifrey) and turning a solution that felt like a loss at the time into at least a partial victory.
I walked away from this novel satisfied. The Doctor knows what he did and doesn't regret it because he saved those he could and gave up his past to do it. In the end, that is what Doctor Who has always been about for me...the ability to make the hard choices even if the cost is self-sacrifice.
And at the end of the day, the story is left so that this Doctor can still find his fate. Perhaps even restore what he can of his world before the "unknown enemies" of the Time War strike the final blow.
Thank you, Lance Parkin, for a job well done.
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| Promised so much but didn't deliver |
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After just discovering the 8th Doctors book series hopefully linking my childhood nostagic (maybe rose tinted view) of Doctor Who with the excellent 9th Doctor new series I was expecting great things. Years ago Terrance Dicks was the "don" when it came to Doctor Who but having re read many of his "Dalek" stories recently found that the 8 doctors followed a very simplistic plot line which as I read found it to be to brief and basic and was left feeling that far more could have been done to cover what is an excellent premise to start the book series.The book on the second hand market is hardly worth its sometimes high price tag and in my view is only worth buying if you intend reading them in sequence.
I was very unsure about buying a Doctor Who audio from Big Finish the company behind this new series, but I thought a new adventure with everybody's favourite monsters, who wouldn't want that? My biggest concern was that an adventure without The Doctor is scarcely worth thinking about. But I was wrong.
From the start the plot, characters and sound is great, the listener is drawn into the story and you don't notice that Doctor Who isn't there to rescue everyone, we and the Daleks manage very well without him and the plot doesn't suffer without him.
A great start to the new series of CDs, quite a few are out there to collect, well worth it.
| What: | The Monsters Inside (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Tom Webster, Tokyo |
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| Date: | Thursday 14 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This book is excellent! Anyway, vote me! You get free pizza and everything!
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| Christopher Ecclestone is the Doctor |
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The DV'Ds are released as "vanilla" meaning no extras. But that does not detract from the overall standard of this release. The Dalek story obviously stole the show for me when it was first aired, and I still get that buzz when it starts to talk in the darkness of the cage. Christopher's performance as the Doctor is truly brought to life in this episode. The Aliens in the earlier episodes, the Slitheen are some of the most impressive of the series history, and the amalgamation of Live action and CGI is almost seemless. Hey were talking about the BBC here. For this reason I say go on buy it, you won't regret spending your hard earned cash, I personally have had hours of fun watching this with my family - the kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed the togetherness that this programme brings.
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| What is substance, in TV land, anyway? |
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| What: | The Leisure Hive (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Luke Robinson, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Friday 8 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
'The Leisure Hive' blows me a way, surprises me every time I rewatch it. I forget how creative it is and how 'expensive' it looks (remembering that it is 1980). It is wonderous to look at, the DVD brings all the colours to life, and the 5.1 sound is fabulous with highly inventive use of what was once mono sounds. All in all it is highly cinematic. OK the narrative progression has some problems but everything else is so fresh that I can personally ignore these quibbles and enjoy the ride (into the stars).
Well, I read the reviews on here before I ever received my book. What was once eager anticipation slowly became worry. I was so hoping to see a book that tied everything together and nicely introduced the new series.
Well, I finally received my book and sat down to read it, knowing what other people thought of it. All I have to say is BRILLIANT! It was an awesome book. I loved how it tied things togheter from the entire 8th doc run, the previous series and the movie. I even like how it alluded to the controversial half-human story line and the fact that Marnal mentions three different 9th doctors.
My only complaint comes with the new series. I was hoping to see how the doctor actually regenerates (although Fitz did make a mention to it when explaining the doctor invading the hive) and I am very confused over the new series' Time Wars. I was hoping this book would have something to do with how the Time Wars involved the daleks and destroyed Gallifrey when in the 8th doctor run of books, the Time Wars were with Faction Paradox and the Doctor obviously destroyed Gallifrey awhile ago. There is just this one loose end that hasn't been answered.
All in all, it was an outstanding book and one of my top 10 favorites for the 8th doctor. Well done Lance!!!
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| Tom Baker reads Dr Who; it can't be bad! |
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| What: | State of Decay (Target novelisation readings) |
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| By: | Dave, Australia |
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| Date: | Monday 4 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A little known treasure! Is it one of the better stories? No. Does Baker give it his all? Well, not his all but not his worst either. His classic voice does carry the story along. Basically, it's one of the actors who played the Doctor reading one of his own stories. It is better than similar readings produced by the BBC. When Jon Pertwee reads "Planet of the Daleks" and "Curse of Peladon"; you can hear his age in his voice. When Colin Baker reads "Vengence on Varos" and "Attack of the Cyberman"; his accent for Peri can be a distraction. Peter Davison reading "Kinda" and "Warriors from the Deep" is rather good but Tom Baker has the better reading voice. Like those recordings, if there is a problem with the script it's either the choice of story or the novelisation leaves out much that the viewer rememebered. However, it is one the few times we have (or will ever have) of Tom Baker performing Dr. Who on audio. For that alone, it's a must have!
SPOILERS
Another of Gary Russell's inexplicable switches of script from one Doctor to another. As with The Game earlier this year, the story was originally conceived as a 6th Doctor adventure (which it makes sense as). It was then switched to be a 7th Doctor whom it fits as snuggly as did Baker's coat on Sylvester McCoy in Time and the Rani.
The performance of the primary villain - Rigan played by Gail Clayton - is truly awful but the lines that the poor woman is given and the relentless stupidity of her character make an alternate portrayal hard to conceive.
Rigan is a Time Lord, a CIA operative, a Co-ordinator. Now that Russell's creation - Co-ordinator Vansell - has been killed off, the Big Finish world clearly needs another unutterably stupid Time Lord and David McIntee has delivered this in spades.
Rigan is a shrill, stupid, senseless, purposelessly cruel (another Russell tradition), in short, an irrational tit. Being the protagonist, this poses an insurmountable problem; Unregenerate! just plays so dumb.
Bonnie Langford - God love her - is still shit; not specifically as Mel but as an actress in a companion role.
McCoy - who has done a sublime turn on Shadow of the Scourge as a babbling madman - can't quite keep it up here. Insane from the opening of part one until the final episode, dear Sylvester's talents are largely wasted as usual.
Unregenerate! would be dull whoever the cast was because the characters aren't characters, they're mere personalities and their actions, reasoning, responses, rationale and intentions are those of stupid fictional children not masters of the universe.
A very poor entry in Big Finish's interminably stale Doctor Who series.
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| Winner Takes All is a winner! |
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| What: | Winner Takes All (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Luke Spillane, London |
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| Date: | Saturday 2 July 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
When I first read Winner Takes All I was taken back by the likeness of the page to screen in the format, the chracters and the settings. The first few chapters felt warm and friendly, with a visit to Jackie's and Mickey's the story is a nice little adventure and has its laugh out loud moments; the description of the Quevvils and the Doctor's usual humour resembling Russell T Davies superb scripts. Yet Jaqueline Rayner's writing is 'fantastic' and has its own character to it, she writes for the Ninth Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Jackie so well, you can almost see the Doctor's ever familar grin on the pages! The story of the new FREE video game 'Death to the Mandetoans' (can't spell, sorry!)is gripping and as mystery unfolds it becomes more and more gripping, furthermore despite reviews of a quick ending i think that it is satisfying and pleases to what it has been.
As a 15 year old teenager aka life long fan i feel that Winner Takes All isn't to childish as some fans feared of the Ninth Doctor books and instead it is book for everyone including the fans, enjoy.
Oh and by the way, when's Death to the Madateons out?
| What: | Revelation of the Daleks (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 30 June 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Revelation of the Daleks is the shining gem of season 22, which was a very troubled season for Doctor Who. The transition from Peter Davison to Colin Baker had not been particularly well received, and complaints were continuously pouring in from concerned parents regarding the increasing levels of violence in the show. The new 45-minute episode format was also proving to be unpopular with the majority of viewers, because not only did it half the length of the season from 26 weeks to 13, but it also halved the number of cliffhangers in each story, which had always been a fundamental and much-loved aspect of Doctor Who.
Despite all this, however, Revelation of the Daleks remains a very popular story, and the only story of the season which really bears repeated viewing. Appearing at the end of the season, the story benefits from a much more stable relationship between the sixth Doctor and Peri than we saw in their early stories together - while they still argue and irritate each other, there is clearly a strong bond between the two characters, and Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant both give sterling performances. The guest cast are just as engaging, particularly the immensely unlikeable Mr Jobel (played by famous actor Clive Swift), the pathetic sycophant Tasambeker, the treacherous Kara (well-known comedy actress Eleanor Bron), the energetic DJ (comedian Alexei Sayle), and Orcini, the honourable assassin and his filthy squire, Bostock. In fact, one could be forgiven for mistaking this story to have been written by Robert Holmes rather than Eric Saward, packed as it is with highly effective (and on the whole humorous) double acts: the Doctor and Peri, Jobel and Tasambeker, Orcini and Bostock, Kara and her secretary Vogel, and the wrongly accused 'bodysnatchers' Natasha and Grigory. Davros, too, is well presented here, and Terry Molloy gives a reasonable performance in the role, although for me his portrayal of the character will always be second best to that of Michael Wisher. The only characters who seem under-developed and somewhat boring are the Takis and Lilt - whose jobs never quite become clear (Takis seems to be nothing more than a glorified flower arranger), but who, ironically, play a far larger role in the conclusion of the story than the Doctor or indeed any other character.
The story itself is far from typical Doctor Who territory, which has won it both criticism and praise over the years - some find it too different, while others enjoy the fact that it is attempting something radical. Many of the themes featured in the story had never been touched in Doctor Who before - adultery, cannibalism, alcoholism and even necrophilia all appear in the script in one form or another, but with such subtlety and underlying humour that, somewhat miraculously, the story largely escaped complaints. The story of Davros' attempt to rebuild a new Dalek army in order to wipe out the Daleks that betrayed him and once again embark on a mission of universal conquest provides a solid backbone for the proceedings, and the individual stories of the other characters keep the viewer engaged throughout. Criticism has been aimed at the Doctor's lack of involvement in the story and its conclusion - in fact, the Doctor and Peri don't even arrive at Tranquil Repose until the end of episode one. While this is a fair comment, I feel that the wealth of other characters and sub-plots prevents the Doctor's lack of involvement from detracting from the viewer's enjoyment of the story.
The production is superb, the newly redesigned Daleks looking suitably menacing, thanks in large part to Graeme Harper's stunning direction, shooting the Daleks from low down, overhead and close up, ensuring that they dominate the screen every time they appear. Other striking visual images include impressive model shots of the renegade Dalek ship landing and lifting off, and Natasha's discovery of her father's mutated head inside a glass Dalek. Roger Limb's superb incidental music creates suspense and adds greatly to the atmosphere created by the dark, claustrophobic sets of Davros' catacombs.
All of these elements combine to make the strongest story of the sixth Doctor's era, and one of the shining gems of eighties Who. Revelation of the Daleks is a not a traditional Doctor Who story, it tests uncharted waters with regards to style, content and characterisation - it is an experiment, and, all things considered, the experiment was a tremendous success. It provided a powerful conclusion to a particularly weak season, and ranks among the all-time great stories of Doctor Who.
| What: | To The Slaughter (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, USA |
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| Date: | Wednesday 29 June 2005 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
What went right: Cole does (as my counterpart mentions in his review) a decent job of really using Trix to great effect. Her most involved adventure yet. Likewise, he references past events (Fitz's time spent on Mechta) and I find continuity nice although not an absolute must. The last third of the book really pulled it out of the fire for me giving it the 6 I ranked it rather than the 4 it was on course for.
What went wrong: I know writing is no easy task so I don't presume to know better than the author. However, that said, I found the constant shift in tone to be quite annoying. Am I reading this as a comedy, a farce, a horror, a drama, what? I am capable of following any form but at certain moments a dramatic scene could be totally wrecked by referencing something "atonal". Tinya's knickers...enough said.
While the novel follows the successful formula of many a Who story (divide, separate from TARDIS, run up-and-down corridors, etc.) that is exactly what prevents it from ever really working for me. It had it's twists and had some original ideas (the ultimate weapon was different) but in the end it just left me a little flat.
If you have a taste for jazz music with all its weird flares and misplaced resonance, then you may find this novel to be one of your favorites...in the end it comes down to personal preference. I've just never cared for all that jazz.
| What: | Winner Takes All (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | William Cody Winter, Laggan |
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| Date: | Saturday 25 June 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The new 9th Doctor books were realy good, I could'nt put them down. Love the hard back style.
