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My review of Death to the Daleks Is That it's Great And The Daleks Dont Have Any Power To fight they are so weakkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got mine from Oxfam..10p..I was very dissapointed!!
A super annual,a great Doc,what more could you need?
| What: | Five Rounds Rapid! (Cast biographies) |
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| By: | Devon dalek, Skaro |
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| Date: | Monday 3 January 2005 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
a marvelous book from a superb actor..no TARDIS shelf should be without it.
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 | Made Mighty by Madness... |
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| What: | The Sleep of Reason (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, USA |
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| Date: | Friday 31 December 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Wow!
I hate when the Doctor and his companions are reduced to secondary characters within a Who novel. I hate it even more when the Doctor and his companions don't appear until late into the novel.
Yet, Martin Day has managed to craft what is one of my favorite Who novels in several years. Everything just seems to work! The novel is very mature and manages to portray a sense of Lovecraftian horror while staying true to the Who take on the universe.
It brings to mind the Virgin title, "White Darkness" and the 4th Doctor classic, "Horror of Fang Rock". If you like your horror to involve things best left unseen, then curl up and enjoy "The Sleep of Reason".
I opened this with some trepidation but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the stories. All good. If you fancy a Christmas romp through a series of well-written pieces I recommend this.
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| Excellent value for money |
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An excellent set - worth every penny, packed with loads of the early years stories, if you are a fan of William Hartnell & Patrick Troughton you must own it now :-)
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| One of the finest episodes |
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| What: | The Ark in Space (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Edd Paffett, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 December 2004 |
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| Rating: |  8 |
The story and dramatic presentation of such was one of the finest in the entire collection. Special effects do not make stories. Those who need realistic effects must not have the imagination required to fully enjoy great science fiction drama at its finest. I pity those who need such. As enjoyable as
| What: | Amorality Tale (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | tom, usa |
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| Date: | Saturday 27 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
its kind
| What: | The Banquo Legacy (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
An excercise in clever narration, The Banquo Legacy is Stephen Cole's last great edited book. Billed as a horror it really is nothing of the sort until the second half. Whereas the first half is happy to indulge in some lovely period drama and character building, the second lurches into gothic horror with a terrifying zombie on the loose trying to kill the characters. There is even a terrific 'Ahaha! You thought I was just a helpless victim! I was controlling the zombie all along!' moment that would have been a sterling cliff-hanger in the series!
Hopkinson and Stratford come of best of course and it is marvellous when we see the same scene from their induvidual point of view, highlighting just how different they are.
I got a genuine buzz out of reading this, the next time I hear somebody mouthing off about the 8th Doctor books i'll point them at this twisted masterpiece.
| What: | Beltempest (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Jim Mortimore is great author, he writes books that make you think and allow to experience the drama vividly through the characters. Until Beltempest I thought he would never deliver a truly awful book (although Parasite came close). This book is a mess though, one that takes the omnipresent tone of a God like narrator who cares much more for the fate of planets than the people living on them. Indeed you could say the entire book is filled with the planets AS the characters because they are certainly descrbied in more detail than any of the actual characters.
His handjob over death never ends and the deathtoll in this book is phenomenal, far exceeding any other Doctor Who book.
And to make things worse the eighth Doctor is a babbling fool at this point (hurry up and sort him out JR!) and Sam is unbearably annoying in a 'i'm a teenager and you can't tell me what to do!' sort of way.
Dissapointing.
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| One of my favourite Doctor Who books |
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| What: | Camera Obscura (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Lloyd Rose proves her worth once again by writing a book that not only matches the quality of City of the Dead but, by the end, tops it. The writing is phenomenally good, she captures scenes with a rare sense of horror and beauty. I loved her take on Victorian London, considering how many Doctor Who stories have been set there it is amazing that she manages to make it seem this fresh.
The eighth Doctor has never been so vivid, totured horribly throughout but still picking himself up and fighting on. He sparkles in this book, especially his powerhouse scenes with Sabbath, the two of them fighting over the nature of the universe.
Two chapters stand out, Fitz and Anji's adventures in Crystal Palace and the Doctor's chase across the Dartmoor moorland, both are extrordinary pieces of writing.
It is just a fabulous book, perhaps a little light on plot but complimented by stunning detail and rock solid characterisation.
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| Slow Start, but gets there almost. |
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I must say watching the first two episodes, explains why the show died! Slow, boring, and pointless. Poor script writing & direction being the main problem.
However, the next two episodes were an improvement. If given some editing it would make a good two parter.
-4 for the first two epidsodes. 6 for episodes 3 & 4.
I'm certain nobody thought this would be the end result of Nick Briggs' third Dalek Empire saga but it is certainly a return to form after the last few discs treading water. Characters are dispatched left, right and centre and the level of drama maintained is nail biting, especially at the climax when it is uncertain whether the goodies have achieved ANYTHING.
Really this series of Dalek Empire feels like a prelude to the next with some tantilising possibilities opened up for future development but it has been an entertaining six disc series, full of good characterisation and superb production values.
Nick Briggs has earned the right to voice the Daleks in the new series.
| What: | The Infinity Race (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Monday 22 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
The only thing Doctor Who cannot survive is being boring. The Infinity Race struggles to be funny and scary and silly and clever and ends up being none, just a little mundane. Simon Messingham switches narratives in an annoying fashion, jumping from first to third with jarring unpredictability.
The scenes from Anji's POV are quite fun, especially her hilarious commentary on Fitz's action hero moments. But when that is the best part of the novel, you have problems.
| What: | The Last (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
This should have (and could have) been the best eighth Doctor audio ever. The idea that he could land on a doom laden planet set to explode, mix in with the survivors, lose both his companions and wind uo being the last survivor is gripping and dramatic. Unfortunately this production is not brave enough to go through with these changes and the big shiny reset button is pressed at the end basically rendering the entire production worthless.
Not only this but Paul McGann's performance is lazy, he sounds totally bored throughout and cannot even perk up when Charley and C'rizz pop their clogs. This is especially bad on the part of the director who should be keeping his actors in check but the Doctor's bored reactions to the story means we can hardly be thrilled by events either.
A shame because there are a few seminal scenes hear, the moment Charley is smothered by a pillow is discomforting to say the least and the sort of uncomfortable tone the whole story should have adopted.
Could have been so much better...
| What: | The Eleventh Tiger (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
It would appear that David A. Mcintee's time away from Doctor Who has done him the world of good, whereas when he was writing three books a year his work suffered as a result this colourful historical drama has clearly been lavished with a lot of time and love.
I'm not sure what was better, the glorious setting in the East, the intelligently written first Doctor (who gets an excellent moment away from his wisdom to have a Kung-fu fight!)or the sweet romance developing between Ian and Barbara. There are a number of excellent secondary characters who light up the book and the main villain is enough of a creep to make you want him put out of the way.
It not only has the best McIntee plot since Face of the Enenmy but the writing has improved tenfold too with a slower, less OTT prose style which suits the story perfectly.
| What: | The Indestructible Man (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The cover and blurb might lead you into thinking this might be a fluffy Gerry Anderson-esque romp but nothing could be further from the truth. Simon Messingham has written his best PDA yet, a disturbing, exciting thriller that takes the Anderson idea of hero worship and twists it so we can all see the darker side of it.
The writing is crisp and readable, the regulars are caught perfectly (and really put through the wringer) and the Myloki make a great, mysterious enemy. Some of the dialogue was pure Troughton, you can almost hear him ad libbing the story!
Zoe gets some fine development and Jaime is put through hell, you can finally see why they love the Doctor so much as they go through hell just to get back to him in this excellent read.
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| Get me out of this universe! |
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| What: | Caerdroia (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, Eastbourne |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 2 |
Absolute nonsense from begining to end, Caerdroia encapsulates the inherent weaknesses of this silly divergents arc. The whole story builds up to a confrontation between the Doctor and the divergents...and it never happens. It is basically a plodding runaround with the characters splitting up, meeting up again, splitting up, meeting up again, splitting up one final time, meeting up again and leaving. Kro'ka gets some development but because we still know so little about him it is hard to care about his fate. Even Charley and C'rizz are still a rubbish set of companions, is there anything that we will learn from him and is there anything else still to learn from her?
Gary Russell is going to have to work a lot harder than this if he wants the disapointing reviews to end. If it weren't for Paul McGann's excellent performance it wouldn't even get the two.
| What: | Illegal Alien (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | PJ Johnson, Hoddesdon, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 21 November 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I thought Illegal Alien was a gripping read, and ENTIRELY original, not at all like some of the crap John Nathan-Turner was churning out in the later years. For a start, it is missing one of the most prominant (and most annoying) JNT trademarks, which was relying on continuity and constant references to past stories (as in Attack of the Cybermen for example).
The setting for the book is superb, and the backdrop of war-torn London adds greatly to the tension of the lurking (no pun intended - you'll understand if you've read it) cyber menace.
I also felt that both the Doctor and Ace were very well written, and I have always found the Seventh Doctor fascinating, as he alway seems to manipulate events from the shadows, as opposed to getting more involved in the action like his previous incarnations. I also enjoyed the character of McBride, who proves that American characters don't always have to be annoying time wasters if written properly.
I also thought the ending was well conceived, acting as a prequel (of sorts) to The Invasion, explaining where the Cybermen in the sewers came from. This is a nice touch for serious Who fans, but doesn't alienate the casual reader - it merely suggests that London may have more problems with Cybermen in the future.
Illegal Alien is certainly one of the best past Doctor adventures - if only stories like this had been produced back in the late 80s, Doctor Who may well have been on our screens for a lot longer.
