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| What: | So You Think You Know Dr Who? (Miscellaneous factual books) |
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| By: | Devon dalek, Between Kitten Natatvidads boobs |
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| Date: | Wednesday 2 February 2005 |
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| Rating: |   2 |
An ok read,needs pictures.
| What: | Longleat '83 (Miscellaneous video interviews / documentaries) |
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| By: | Kolchak, Somewhere |
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| Date: | Wednesday 2 February 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I got this tape & was bowled over by the memories..buy this one 10/10!!!
Dave Stone is definatly not one of my favorite DW writers. His stories have potential but never live up to there fullness and get dragged down by unneed extra story bagage.
By the title of the book I was hopping for more detail on the workings of the TARDIS. It is almost like he took two stories that were to short and combined them to make one larger story.
Not a story I would read again, but definatly read at least once. After all it is DW.
Storm of Angels by Joe Ford
“When you’re ankle deep in tears and blood you can’t let people suffer because it’s history!” Susan to Susan.
Breathtaking…this is what Doctor Who on audio is all about. Forget overblown tripe like The Next Life this is the level of quality every Big Finish release should be! And no hint of the name Gary Russell on any of it, I don’t know about you but I am starting to see a disturbing pattern emerging (cough, cough this is the best release since …the Pirates).
I want to start by discussing the postproduction work, which is absolutely stunning and makes this one of the most distinctive Big Finish releases yet. I have absolutely no idea who or what ERS is (they are credited for the music and post production) but this is a superb achievement, one that takes you from the humdrum of everyday life (I spent a week listening to this on the interminable walk to work and back) to a magical, dazzling world of magic, drama and wonder.
The sound effects were far more dramatic than usual from the powerful shots echoing from the canons of The Hind, the instant transportation of the time rings and the sharp, tingling force of the sentient crystals. The ideas give the story its heart but John Ainsworth’s unique interpretation of the story is what kept me listening so avidly, hanging on every scene. The music was a delight too and did a marvellous job of capturing the poetic, supernatural atmosphere of the story. Early episodes are awash with an epic score to accompany the timeless travel through space and as events move onto Earth the music takes on a more cultural style, a pleasing mix of Chinese and Indian fashions.
Marc Platt has now won me over completely and I would now suggest he is far more suited to writing for audio than novels and television. His ideas always feel a bit heavy for television and novels afford him too much chance to explore and take ideas too far beyond their potential and exhausting their power. Audio traps Platt in a comfortable middle zone, where he has to keep the plot moving to keep his audience interested but also affords the opportunity to capture his ideas raw without the disappointment of visuals to drag them down. His dialogue is absolutely beautiful; you cannot listen to one track on this CD without being blown away by the strength of his language.
Platt had already won over the audience with his touching re-interpretation of the first Doctor in Auld Mortality, one who was trapped on Gallifrey and lost in his fictional adventures. That play ended with the glorious re-establishment of the Doctor out in the universe with his granddaughter by his side. Storm of Angels continues their adventures some time later with the Time Lords on their tail and Susan growing sicker by the minute. To make it matters worse it would appear that the Doctor is starting to have a profound impact on timelines. Things aren’t quite as he remembers…surely humans weren’t exploring the stars in the 1500’s?
What a fabulous idea to hook a story on especially considering Hartnell’s Doctors reaction to Barbara attempting to change history in The Aztecs. Storm of Angels cheekily name checks that story (and the Doctor still can’t get the High Priests name right!) but in this reality the forgetful Doctor warns the Aztecs of their impending fate. He also takes Leonardo Da Vinci for a trip to the stars to reward his imagination. But what influence can one harmless old man really have on the timelines…Storm of Angels takes the brave outlook of having the Doctor being one of the greatest threats to Earth’s (and the rest of the universes) history. A prod here, a poke there and suddenly Leonardo is inventing spacecraft and Elisabeth is ruling England in a giant floating palace above the Earth.
These ideas have all been flirted with before (Inferno for example) but Storm of Angels takes the braver route by having this as the REAL timeline, buggered beyond recognition and the playing field of the story. I loved how little we are reminded that this is all wrong and that a secondary story is allowed to play out so we can except this reality with no fuss. Francis Drake flying around the galaxy in his ship The Hind collecting tribute for Gloriana, the Queen of England who is in desperate need of funds thanks to the space programme. There are some absurd details scattered about the story, genuine historical details that are given a little tweaking.
What surprises even more is just how traditional this story really is when you take away the trappings of the Unbound Doctor and Susan and the screwed up timelines. This is actually a very simple tale of alien conquest, jewel like creatures inhabiting human bodies to get their mother stone to Earth and thereby attracting their home ground (an asteroid belt) to attack and conquer. What makes this superior to a depressing yawnathon invasion like The Apocalypse Element (the Daleks attempting to invade Gallifrey!) is the confidence of the writing and the commitment of the actors involved. There is grace and beauty to the writing that makes this far more memorable than your standard invasion.
Some of the ‘visuals’ could only have come from Platt’s mind…a storm of angels flocking past the ship and pushing it back to Earth, crystals growing through the eyes and skin of people, Gloriana descending on his subjects in a floating throne, the asteroids chasing the ship as it departs from the Earth…the story shoots from one distinctive image to another (which is doubly impressive considering there are no images to see!).
Had Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke turned up earlier this could have been how the Hartnell era turned out with the Doctor and Susan constantly running from the Time Lords, threats through the audio systems forcing them to make one shock materialisation after another. The gorgeous Ian Hallad makes an impressive lead as their devious pursuer Zeuro; one who will stop at nothing to halt the old mans pollution of the timeline. There are several exception scenes between the two Time Lords, discussing the implications of the Doctor’s interference where the Doctor’s hatred of the Time Lord’s impotence and their frustration at his meddling shines through. In a cruel twist of fate Zeuro takes a far bigger role in the action than he desired and is stripped of his identity and life as the alien jewels infect his body and use him as their envoy. This faltering, snarling amalgamation of Time Lord and alien intelligence is truly frightening and provides the story with a fantastic cliff-hanger to episode two. His relationship with the Queen is sweet and disturbing and their scenes together dancing sent chills down my spine.
Geoffrey Bayldon makes a much stronger impact here, his throaty voice threatening to undermine the Doctor’s authority but Bayldon delivers his lines with a forcefulness that would have knocked Hartnell for six. It is wonderful how he gleefully defends his travels and interference and the script takes the time to sum up his morals and feelings on a very profound level. Bayldon’s chemistry with Carole Ann Ford is extraordinary and they make a very believable team both as family and fellow explorers. His quiet pleading at her bedside when she falls exhausted with another bout of sickness captures his love for his granddaughter with genuine sentiment and I found this tears on the cheeks stuff.
The final twist that Susan is not in fact real but a fake the Doctor knocked up in the possibility generator comes right out of the blue and makes perfect sense of the Sliding Doors-esque scene at the end of Auld Mortality where Susan both accepts and declines the Doctor’s invitation of a jaunt around the universe. This leads to further introspection, this time of Susan who has the obligatory conversation with her other self and comes to realise that resting on her laurels and accepting the ideals of the Time Lords is not so easy when people are dying all around you. Sometimes you have to get involved in one of the best scenes of the play the real Susan makes a choice that sees her exiled from Gallifrey, forcing Gloriana to take action. In a twist that is bound to leave a lump in your throat the two Susan’s give the Doctor a gift that he can never admit to knowing about.
I have lavished plenty of praise on Storm of Angels but it deserves it. A beautiful, triumphant story that knocks pretty much every one of the regular Doctor Who releases into the second league. Awesome stuff and not just recommended but essential listening.
The book itself has some silly stories and made up stuff by and for the book about the DALEKs, but I used the Dalek pattern to create Daleks for years!
Re-creates the feel of the Pertwee era exactly.
As someone else has said, the premise of this book feels like it could be an episode of Sliders: What if outcomes of the past were different in shaping the present we now live in? Although this was established in the previous novel, this is the first time we have spent any time on Earth under these conditions.
My main gripe with the story is how stupid Anji appeared in the opening few chapters: she knew from the last couple of stories that they were unlikely to be on 'her' Earth, yet when she encounters such hostile racism she fails to put two and two together for too long. It may have made a dramatic point to the story, but it wasn't very realistic.
Besides that, the Earth that we encounter is very interesting, and this is a good 'What If?'. All the character revealations at the end seem a bit over the top, and The Oracle may be a straight steal of The Annoited One from Buffy, but we'll let those slide...
I like the interviews over all, but they should have been shown has one after the other
| What: | Myth Makers: Roger Delgado (Myth Makers VHS & DVD interviews) |
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| By: | Charlie, Garland, TX USA |
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| Date: | Monday 24 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I wish there had have been more clips of this great Actor. I though this was great over all
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 | The Best Doctor Companion |
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| What: | Myth Makers: Frazer Hines (Myth Makers VHS & DVD interviews) |
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| By: | Charlie, Garland, TX USA |
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| Date: | Monday 24 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
When I started watching the Doctor in Germany at my friends house who he and his family was from London, Jamie was his companion. He was my hero and over the years I still say he was his best Companion. The video was great for me to see it gave a great insight.
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| Something Wicked This Way Comes... |
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Something wicked this way comes...The Pescatons is one of those little productions that sounds more interesting than it actually is. There was a mystique surrounding this "rare" audio recording. I was lucky enough to buy it when it was first released on CD in the 1990s. Despite a number of listens over the past few years, I have never been able to find anything remotely likeable about this production.
It has none of the story-telling, charm, personality or spirit of the series. The listener could almost be forgiven for believing that this had come from someone who knew nothing about Doctor Who. However, Victor Pemberton had not only contributed one story to the original series, he had also been its script editor for a time.
It begs the question of how something unspeakably awful like this could emerge? You would be better off finding a short cartoon strip printed on the inside of a ice-lolly wrapper. It would have more depth and intrigue than this vapid affair.
This new, 2005 release, has only one feature of note - an interview with Elisabeth Sladen. Apart from that, there is little to commend this travesty. If I included this as an "official" Doctor Who story - then it ranks as the worst story ever made.
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| Solid trad audio. Terry Molloy rocks! |
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| What: | The Juggernauts (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Axel F., Canada |
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| Date: | Monday 24 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A great 'trad' story with solid performances. The bottom line here is that I really enjoyed this one. It will have its critics as there really nothing 'new' here (it may also upset continuity fans who may be after more of an answer as to what happens to Davros between this story and ‘Remembrance of the Daleks –didn’t bother me). However the characters are memorable and well-defined. Scott Alan Woodard does a good job as a first time Big Finish writer with a story that keeps your interest and doesn't drag. The Daleks are, as is usual with Davros stories, mainly on the periphery but Terry Molloy is so good as Davros that it doesn't seem to matter. The Mechanoids get arguably as good a treatment as they can on audio. Kudos to Scott Alan Woodard and Bonnie Langford for making Mel such a strong character here. Another great Sixth Doctor performance from Colin Baker and a welcome addition to his adventures.
great book love it.
it's a good book the illistrations are except the ones of the master and brigideer.
This book i got for $3(aus) and have been reading it ever since. it has very good stories as well as illistrations.
Another fantastic book (I get the best luck when I buy books). This book keeps you guessing to the stories climactic end. The characters are in their usual style. The sixth Doctor never really got to meet the brig in the actual series, so it was inevitable that he would feature in this story. What really impresses me about this book is the tremendous dedication and research that Richards and Cole have so obviously poured into their writing. Wow!
| What: | Imperial Moon (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | tom webster, London |
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| Date: | Sunday 23 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
finally we get to see what chameleon can actually do, instead of falling on the floor screaming like a cybernetic version of David Bowie ten minutes into the story. The Doctor's survival on the freezing dark side of the moon is exciting stuff, the scary Warden gave me nightmares and the Vrall are the stuff of nightmares. Very good.
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| talking dolphins with cigars |
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| What: | Storm Harvest (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | tom webster , London |
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| Date: | Sunday 23 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is a stunning book. Mike Tucker and Robert Perry again have written something that rivals any other classic Doctor who novelisation (even Matrix). This book reminds me so much of the Alien films, the Krill aren't too Dissimilar to the Aliens either. The Cyothsi are scary too. Sigorney Weaver eat your heart out.
| What: | Players (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Tom webster, London |
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| Date: | Sunday 23 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I loved this book, another classic Terrance Dicks book, which pits the Doctor and Peri against some mysterious Foes, and they're powerful too. This book keeps you thinking right to the bitter end. Stunning.
| What: | Catastrophea (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Tom webster , London |
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| Date: | Sunday 23 January 2005 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
When I finsihed reading the blurb I thought it sounded rubbish (truth), however I decided to read it, mainly because it was written by Terrance Dicks and I'm now glad I did read it. It's a book where nothing really happens and the story line isn't that clever either. What really made me like this book was it's excellent characterisation of the doctor and Jo grant. The writing is also a fantastic example of what Dicks can do. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable book throughout.
