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| What: | EarthWorld (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Huddersfield, UK |
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| Date: | Thursday 26 May 2005 |
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| Rating: |   1 |
After the dreadful Pirates CD adventure I wondered how much was due to the notion or to the author. Having endured this book I can see that the fault lies squarely with Jacqueline Rayner.
This book is appalling - there is little story to speak of, the situations are poorly thought of, the characters are uninteresting and badly realised, all too often some characters simply disappear...then again, who cares.
Its badly written, plain and simple. There is nothing worth mentioning about this book. There is a kernel of a good idea but it is discarded quickly and replaced with dreary meandering. The final third of the book is an utter mess and an utter drudge. AVOID!
| What: | The Monsters Inside (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Tuesday 24 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Much darker than I would imagine with far more adult references than I thought would be allowed, this was still a superb read from Steve Cole. The prose is much denser than it was in Winner Takes All and the plot mechanics, characters and dialogue were good enough to keep me going. Its a great use of an underated of some underated monsters and the feeling of paranoia they exude helps the book no end.
| What: | Jubilee (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Steve Bundy, Bangor |
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| Date: | Friday 20 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
I watched dalek before listening to this, and can say its just as fab after watching its cut down copy!
The characterisation of the dalek is spot-on! Much more so than in the later show, but they have more time in the play to discuss the nature of fascism etc.
Also, since this was the first Sixth Doctor / evelyn play i have listened to (not including the slightly dodgey but free -yey- real time and the madness of zagreus)- and have to say they make a great coupling. Might have to break the trend of buying eighth doctor cds and try a few of the other sixth doctor ones after this...
Recommended 8/10
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 | Saved by Collin and Maggie.... |
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When rating this story, it is important to take into consideration that you can listen to it free on the bbci website - a fact that gets it an instant extra two points from me as a poor student!
The half cybermen and the suprise about the controllers past are really really good, but alas there is something wrong when the emotionless, dispassionate cybermen manage to out act the human cast. Both the doctor and evelyn are amazing as ever, but the rest of the acting is a little dire (with specific mention of the guy who was also in the tvm...forget his name now...)- not something ive ever had to say about a big finish play before!
So yeh, a mixed bag, but as a freebie with the animations on bbci it makes for a fairly ok listen.
Ha love this story it certainly has a good pace going! If only things like the chase had only had four parts...
Sebastian Grail makes an excellent villain, and all the supporting actors throughout are fantastic. The Doctor and Charley are probably my fab team on audio and make for great light listening.
And the "suprising" enemy? I nearly howled with laughter when i found out but they are actually nicely underplayed...
A definite nine for me - an excellent story from an excellent season.
| What: | Divided Loyalties (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | AKB, LouKy |
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| Date: | Thursday 19 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
I'm not totally sure how I feel about this book. Peter Davison was/is my favorite Doctor, followed closely by Jon Pertwee, but I'm just not sure I can get behind this book.
The thing that constantly irritated me was the fact that Gary Russell doesn't seem to like Peter Davison. Everytime he narrates from Adric's perspective, he makes some reference to how Tom Baker was better, or the "real" Doctor, or some other such nonsense. I wasn't sure if he was trying to portray that as Adric's perspective, or if it was his own opinion, but it came across as his own feelings, and this is not the forum for voicing those opinions.
Also, having never seen a William Hartnell episode, and disliking long flashback sequences in writing in the first place, I was utterly bored with the entire flashback sequence. Readig it was more like a chore than fun, and I constantly wanted to get back to MY Doctor, the reason I got this book and started reading it: Peter Davison.
Overall, I suppose I didn't especially like it, but I didn't hate it either... but not what I am looking for from Who fiction.
| What: | Amorality Tale (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Claire Chaplin, Gillingham, Kent, Ebgland |
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| Date: | Thursday 19 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A different story appproach here, and a very well written third Doctor story. The gangsters can be a bit annoying at first, but trying to fit together what is happening and what role the Doctor and Sarah need to fufill because of a photograph, to prevent a greater tragedy, may make the book complicated but it is a brilliant read!
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| better,better...but not best |
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I love a good ghost story. Even better I love a story about a mysterious ship of unkown origins. I was hoping for something similar to Rondivous With Rama by Authur C. Clark or Ringworld by Larry Nivan. I was a little disapointed.
The story was very well writen. Sometimes being a bit over complicated. If you can use a simplier word to explain something why use a word that makes you have to stop and think. A very good story flows. This one kind of hick ups sometimes.
And while I can wrap my mind, with a little difficulty, around the way the author choose to end this book. It is not the way I would have chose to do it. personally I'm not much for stories that out of 280 pages lead up to a 2 page explaintion of events for an ending. It could have been much better developed. So little of the ship and its function was actually explored.
I do believe it deserves better then the 5.2 rating it has so far. I give it a 7 out of 10
| What: | Verdigris (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Claire Chaplin, Gillingham, Kent, Ebgland |
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| Date: | Wednesday 18 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
It's a matter of taste with Paul Magrs novels, if you like the bizzare then this is definately the novel for you.
A friend lent it to me to read and we're still talking about it now!
An enjoyable read that is a change from the norm.
| What: | The Wormery (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Claire Chaplin, Gillingham, Kent |
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| Date: | Wednesday 18 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A typical Paul Magrs style script, which is a very easy listen. Iris is played brilliantly by Katy Manning, and this now has a firm place as one of my favourite BIGFinish audios.
There aren't many things that I want to listen to again a few days after originally listening to them - this is the exception.
Memorable lines that you can be quoting for months afterwards, although weird, this is a must for fans of the audios!
| What: | Kinda (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
"Kinda" is one of the top Doctor Who stories in its TV version, an intriguing concoction of comparative religion and critique of English colonialism. In this respect, it is like Doctor Who does Roger Zelazny. Therefore, it would have been very interesting to have read a novelisation by the original scriptwriter, Christopher Bailey. Instead, Terrance Dicks does his usual bare bones writing here. I have said elsewhere that Dicks is a better scriptwriter than novelist, and this one proves that beyond doubt. Dicks provides simple descriptions in primer sentences, but principally just transcribes dialogue. One can hardly call this writing. Most frustrating is his verb choice. No part of speech can make writing come alive better than a well-chosen verb. Dicks, however, sticks to neutral and general-purpose verbs, such as "was" and "looked" and "found." Additionally, he adds little descriptive detail and few phrases or adjectives that would enhance one's mental picture of events. It all makes a lively story go flat.
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| Like Dicks' Novelisations |
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| What: | Enlightenment (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
In its TV production, "Enlightenment" was like several other Davison-period serials, larger in conception than the BBC were capable of producing. At least in one respect it was very successful - namely in bringing the "Black Guardian" story arc to a close (we can all be thankful for that). This one is very much a Turlough-oriented story. Turlough was the first of the complex companions. Others may have provided some challenges for the Doctor, notably Leela and Romana, but Turlough was the first whose history and motivations allowed for writers to develop beyond one-dimensionality. This story is one of the better ones in this regard, bringing complexity to Turlough's character.
On the down side, Barbara Clegg, the original scriptwriter, has taken the Terrance Dicks approach to novelising the script. It is a brisk read through mostly dialogue, with only a few very basic descriptive and analytical passages. Clegg missed an opportunity here to fill in gaps left in the TV version. Thus, none of the descriptions has the grandeur or elegance or detail that can separate a novel from a TV production. It reads as if one is simply getting a description of what was on the TV screen.
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| Not as kiddie as you might think! |
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| What: | The Clockwise Man (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Sunday 15 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This was much better than I dared to hope for, for I feared that with the reduced page count and the new kiddie audience to cater for we would be dealing with dumbed down novels. This is another great Justin Richards book with his trademark twists and ability to capture the early twentieth century so atmospherically but with a re-captured sense of zest and fun that has been lakcing in his past few books.
The Doctor and Rose are captured beautifully and the guests characters all have something to contribute.
The Big Ben staged climax is rather brilliant, especially when the Dooctor is smashed through the clock face. Fantastic!
I got my books this morning (13/5) which gobsmacked me as I thought they weren't out for another week....I got Winner Takes All and Clockwise Man but this is a quick review of Winner Takes All...
So far I am a few chapters in and what strikes me most is...
1: The personalities of the characters have been captured beautifully...when the Doctor is being sarcastic towards Roses mum you can imagine him being this way (not hard if you've been following the series).
2: The plot is actually good! It is taking the most awful elements of the human character (greed & innocence) and exploiting it in this storyline. Who would have thought a computer game would be so addictive? Raising questions the media has asked a thousand times already.
3: The new books design is fantastic....much more worthy of that place on the bookshelf!
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| Brilliant....But spoiled by my curiosity |
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I really enjoyed this story. One of Sylvester McCoy's best adventures.
I liked the fact that The Doctor and Ace had been working undercover for a while and not just happened to arrive juat as any trouble started!
The only thing that spoiled it for me was before I got it I looked on the internet to find out what the story was about and on one website they gave away the "surprise" ending...
I honestly wouldn't have guessed what or who were the "baddies" it if I hadn't read it online first.
It would have made the surprise of finding out that much better!
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| Dazed and Confused by The Dreamtime! |
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| What: | Dreamtime (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Billy Rees, UK |
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| Date: | Monday 9 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
After listening to the brilliant "Harvest", I was really looking forward to the next release featuring Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor, Ace and new companion Hex.
Unfortunatly, this CD left me dazed and confused as to what was going on...
I have enjoyed most of the McCoy releases with "Fearmonger" and "Colditz" being good examples of how brilliant the TV series could have become had it been allowed to continue.
Childish attempt to write a bad fantasy rip-off of Lord of the Rings. This is as bad as Doctor Who writing can get...toxic.
| What: | The Tomb of the Cybermen (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 5 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Tomb of the Cybermen is a good story, and a typical example of the 2nd Doctor's era of clear 'good vs. evil' style story-telling. It isn't, however, the classic it is often made out to be.
The story does contain some excellent and highly-memorable moments, the best by far being the sight of the Cybermen emerging from the tombs. However, there are too many aspects of the story which don't make sense, lots of annoying slip-ups and a few cases of god-awful acting. For example, the Doctor is fully aware of the threat posed by the Cybermen, and yet it is he who grants the expedition access to the tomb and then to the catacombs beneath. Now I know the Doctor has a tendency to show off, but to the extent that it puts the lives of his companions and others at risk? I find that very difficult to believe. Also, why on earth would the Cybermen design the tomb so that the Cyber Controller's regeneration chamber is on the upper floor, so far from the catacombs, especially considering that it is vital to the Controller's survival? Why not just have it located right next to the catacombs?
These major plot holes aside, there are many other annoyances throughout the story. Why, for example, is the Doctor so shocked to hear that Cybermen are involved when there are two huge cybermen clearly carved into the wall right in front of him? In the regeneration room, how does Kaftan know which switch to operate to trap Vicki in the revitalising chamber? How does Vicki, a frightened young woman from the 19th century, not only know how to fire a gun but also manage to hit a tiny Cybermat on the other side of the room with her first shot? Other annoyances include the shot of Toberman throwing the painfully obvious empty Cyber Controller suit across the room, and the earlier shot in which a Cybermen lifts Toberman into the air and the wires lifting the actor can clearly be seen.
Add to all these flaws some utterly atrocious acting from some of the cast, particularly Shirley Cooklin (Kaftan) and George Roubicek (Captain Hopper), and I fail to see how this story is held in such high esteem by so many fans.
Let me stress, however, that I am by no means slating the story as a failure, I do believe that it is a good story, with some excellent dialogue, genuinely frightening and memorable moments, and strong themes running thrughout. I just feel, that with all the flaws mentioned above, that it cannot be the classic story that so many seem to think it is, and it is certainly not the best Cybermen story.
| What: | Festival of Death (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 5 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I, like many others, am of the opinion that the partnership of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward was largely wasted in the television series, especially in Season 17, which (with the exception of City of Death) was made up of several disappointing stories. With Festival of Death, Jonathan Morris single-handedly makes up for that waste, in an entertaining, gripping, funny and complex tale.
In the vast majority of television stories, the TARDIS was used simply as a means of getting the Doctor and his companions from one story to the next, and the idea of travelling through time during an adventure was rarely exploited.
Here, it is exploited to excellent effect, and provided the reader is paying attention, the multiple Doctors/Romanas running around the space station make for a very interesting story, with several moments of revelation throughout the proceedings as the events of each timeframe unfold. The final revelation, however, comes at the end of the book, with one final, tragic twist which made me want to turn back and re-read the entire book, just to reach that ending all over again.
Morris combines tragedy, comedy and suspense with expert precision, and for every tragic death or unbearably tense cliff-hanger, there is a moment of laugh-out-loud humour, usually provided by ERIC, the station's manically depressed computer, or Hoopy the drug-addled hippie lizard (it has to be read to be believed!). It has been suggested that ERIC is simply a rip-off of Marvin the paranoid android, but to me this seems obvious - of course it is, and there is very little wrong with that, considering that this story is meant to have taken place at the end of Season 17, for which Douglas Adams acted as script editor. In fact, the humour throughout the book is very reminiscent of both Doctor Who's seventeenth season and Adams' most famous creation, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - which reinforces the notion in the reader's mind that the events of the book did take place between Shada and The Leisure Hive.
Festival of Death is utterly superb, and a must-read for every Who fan, especially those who enjoyed the Baker/Ward partnership on TV and in other books.
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| A Funny Thing Happened... |
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| What: | The Romans (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Tim Neal, Leeds, UK |
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| Date: | Monday 2 May 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Donald Cotton restored originality and flair to the Target series with his three novelisations published in the mid-80s. And in this age of CD, DVD and MP3 photo-novels, his and David Whitaker's books alone stand worthy of repeat visits because of their twisted takes on what was shown on TV. Where Cotton scores over the boys-own-adventure style of Whitaker is the humour. They really are funny - and clever! What is fantastic is that Cotton enjoyed himself so much on his own adaptations that Nigel Robinson (series editor) was able to tempt him to do The Romans (written for TV by Dennis Spooner). Fandom in the 80s was not welcoming to these (to use a 21st century phrase) 're-imaginings' but when looking at the perfect balance of humour and character focus reached by Russell T in the new series, I do wonder if Cotton wasn't simply ahead of his time...
