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| What: | The Green Death (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Nick, UK,bristol |
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| Date: | Friday 28 May 2004 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
excellent - superb pertwee story WAY ahead of its time. Extras are done well top marks for the quality of the restoration team. Sod the giant fly effect - yep it's bad, however I'd rather have one bad brief effect than a shoddy story.
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 | The Ambassadors...ZING!!!...of Death |
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| What: | The Ambassadors of Death (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Max Wilkie, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Jon Pertwee's era at it's best. In fact, Doctor Who at it's best. It's my absolute favourite story - no question. While at 7 episodes long it does drag a bit it has excellent casting, crew and great lines. John Abineri is wonderful, as is Nick Courtney.
From twisting and turning story of Dalek Empire I we have Dalek Empire II - Dalek War. This is the concluding section to bring an end to the travels of Susan, Alby and Karlindorf. It however doesn't end the series as a truly magnificent ending has ensured Big Finish a preorder for their next installment. The series explores the events after the opening of the temporal gateway, which ushered into our universe a race of "good" Daleks who are out to punish the "bad" Daleks for their war crimes in our universe. However, the rumours of missing systems and the ruthlessness of these new Daleks soon leads to suspicion being raised over their goodness. An ironic mirror of the Daleks in our universe sets up a new and interesting foe: the Mentor. This series has an excellent pace, great story telling and despite a little strong language in parts is a great conclusion to the opening chapters and opens the way for the continuation of the Dalek Empire. Despite being defeated in our galaxy the Daleks are returning and this time there may not be anything to stop them...
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| A totally immersive adventure |
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This is the eight part tale of the Dalek invasion of the galaxy and the attempts of our three protagonists: Susan Mendes, Alby Brooks and Karlindorf, to rid the galaxy of its evil dictators. Many twists and turns are set up in this the first chapter of Dalek Empire and as the series progresses the reader learns that nothing is as it seems in this universe. The Daleks are once again out to take over the entire galaxy - or are they? This is a question that remains unanswered until the conclusion of the first Dalek Empire installment but very quickly is picked up in Dalek Empire II - Dalek War. This audio collection has great acting, sound and creates wonderful images inside your head. A real pleasure to listen to!
| What: | Warmonger (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
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| Date: | Monday 24 May 2004 |
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| Rating: |  9 |
I have only quibble about this story - the character that Peri develops into in this book does not sit well with the Peri we see in The Caves of Androzani.
And that's my only quibble. Setting that aside this book is brilliant, by far one of the best Doctor Who novels I have read. I will admit to not being keen on some of Dick's novelisations and to most of his Virgin or BBC novels. So this book came as a surprise.
For me a book has to have a number of factors - it has to be readable, it has to be enjoyable and it has to be a good story told well. I've come across too many badly written books which fail to tell what could have been a good story. So it was a delight to read Warmonger which is readable, enjoyable, entertaining, well-written and a very good story.
The Doctor's transition from simple traveller to the leader of a stellar alliance which includes Sontarans, Draconians and Cybermen is well told. This is as close to the plot for a brilliant multi-million dollar Doctor Who film as you are ever going to get. Contrary to what some people say, the character of the 5th Doctor does sit well in this book. Davison ably demonstrated that there was a harder side to his Doctor, not just the vulnerable aspect which people tend to fixate on.
If you want a book that you really can't put down this has to be it. It is sheer fun and, without giving to much away, serves as a prequel to events that the Doctor was involved in earlier in his life.
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| The First Men on the Moon |
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| What: | Imperial Moon (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
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| Date: | Monday 24 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
As Turlough points out at the start, this seems to be a fusion of Wells and Verne: three of Her Mjaesty's astral ships set off from a remote Scottish isle, destination - Moon. Its the 19th century and the impeller drive promises to expand the British empire beyond the confines of Earth.
When the TARDIS is caught in a temporal wake, the time safe opens and the Doctor finds a diary written by Captain Haliwell telling of the British expedition to the Moon. When he reaches a point in which Haliwell meets two travellers, known as the Doctor and Turlough, the Doctor stops reading and declares that they must go to the Moon and fulfill their part of this history. The question is - is it real history or is an alternate timeline about to be created?
I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable, well-written book. It is very much in the style of The First Men in the Moon with echoes of From Earth to the Moon. It is easy to imagine this as one of those 1930s cinema serials. It is also easy to imagine this as an actual Doctor Who adventure, displaying the imagination and sense of wonder that appealed to so many.
I only have one quibble - Kamelion pops up now and again but his use is very sporadic.
Nevertheless, this is an excellent book from Christopher Bulis, ranking alongside State of Change and Sorceror's Apprentice. It is highly readable and enjoyable - two major factors in any book.
| What: | The Axis of Insanity (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Simon Black, UK |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
One of the better Davison releases, but I still find Erimem annoying
| What: | Eternity Weeps (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | michael, Hobart,Tasmania,Australia |
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| Date: | Tuesday 18 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Yep the world ends again.
This time its all Jason Kanes fault.
The world gets covered in yellow toxic goo and Liz Shaw dies screaming.
Gee the planet Earth sure does get a beating doesn't it...
I liked the idea of aliens/timetravellers version of Ricks Cafe entertaining but was more impressed with the refugees than the leads. Kate introduces and develops some excellent characters, including the spatula, but I found basic premise a bit confused.
This novel has more telepathy than you can poke a stick at, as well as Roz and Chris shagging.
| What: | Shakedown (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | michael, Hobart,Tasmania,Australia |
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| Date: | Tuesday 18 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 3 |
Predictable, trite and really dissapointingly written, I expect more from Terrance than this.
Plus I hate the Sontarnans because their heads look like giant dried grapes, I hate the Rutons because the idea has great gaping holes in it, and I hate the Ruton/Sontarnan war because the entire deadlock idea never had a lick of sense to it, ever when the Dalek/Movellians did it.
| What: | Original Sin (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | michael, Hobart,Tasmania,Australia |
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| Date: | Tuesday 18 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This book has the quintessential elements that a Dr Who novel should (only no quarry scenes)there are goodies who are bad, there are baddies who are very very bad, and there is the Doctor trying to save the universe.
Hey what else does a bloke/chick want from a Dr Who story?
The introduction of Chris and Ros is a fairly interesting occurance in the sceme of things, worth it just for Chris's body-bebble.
| What: | Blood Harvest (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | michael, Hobart,Tasmania |
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| Date: | Tuesday 18 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I really enjoyed the entire take on Chandler/Hammett detectives novels.
Unfortunately it would have been better if Terrance had read more Chandler/Hammett because his writing in this one falters.
And of course the plot lacks originality, depth and character development, but hey, its only a book.
I thought that the obsession with historical PLAYERS such as Hitler in DR WHO throughout its manifestation is interesting, such as in timeworm:exodus and in other books like Players.
The question remains, do the books actually build something by using the historical obsession, or is it just recycling ideas?
The other question is: how come Ace has full use of her hands if she is continually playing with explosives?
| What: | Doctor Who and the Pirates (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
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| Date: | Monday 17 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Evelyn visits an old friend, a friend who is in trouble. She decides to out her friend's heart at ease and her problem into perspective by recounting an adventure she had with the Doctor on the high seas. The ship the TARDIS landed on was attacked by pirates...oh by the way, the Doctor joins in and decides that at last one part of the story should be sung.
I have noticed a disturbing trend among people to confuse novelty with good storytelling. It doesn't matter how bad the story is or badly told it is, if you put an interesting spin on it then suddenly everything is all right.
This is dire! For a start, because the story is told from the point of view of either the Doctor or Evelyn then events that occur outside their POVs are not told. And there is quite a lot that happens outside their POVs - especially in part 4.
Ok, so the 6th Doctor could be given to moments of melodrama but seriously...he would suddenly decide to sing his story? No, no, a thousand times NO!
Big Finish obviously heard about the musical episode of BTVS and set out to do their own version.
I'm sorry but this was awful, its a dire story in which very little happens and it ends badly. Take my advice and don't buy this. Borrow a copy, wait until everyone is out of the house for a couple of hours and listen to it (with the windows closed). It is embarassingly awful!
| What: | Deep Blue (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Stephen Carlin, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
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| Date: | Friday 14 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
The book begins quite promisingly as the crew of a fishing ship haul something nasty on board their ship. From that point on the book slowly deteriorates. What could have been an intriguing story slides down towards a disappointing finale.
Mike Yates is in Tayborough Sands (a few months after the events at Global Chemicals) when the fishing boat is found, its crew dead - most of them torn apart. The arrival of the 5th Doctor, Tegan and Turlough assures him that a solution will soon be found. The other UNIT stalwarts soon arrive to try and sort out the situation as inexplicable violence grips the population of the seaside resort.
The Doctor's preoccupation and secrecy regarding his telepathic contact with the menace drives Tegan away to find her own space - she meets a pleasant young policeman and they start to get close. Yes, you've guessed it...tragedy cannot be far away.
And that's one of the problems with this book. Some of the characters are potentially good but are quickly wasted. The young girl that Mike takes care off disappears for a sizeable portion of the book.
The Xaranti could have been an interesting foe but too much of the book seems to concentrate on people being torn apart or key characters transforming (very slowly). Of course, this is a personal opinion but its formed from "hindsight" ie knowing that certain characters will be all right.
As to continuity - for UNIT the events of The Time Warrior have yet to take place - Turlough ponders at one point why the Brigadier does not recognise him when he meets Turlough later in his life. Surely Turlough recalls the memory "wiping" in Mawdryn Undead, he was there after all?
Its not a bad book, its enjoyable, but it leaves you wishing that it had been tightened up in some places, polished in others and with a bit more time spent with other characters and other situations developed better. At least its better than the TV story which preceded it - Warriors of the Deep.
| What: | Halflife (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Hatfield, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Thursday 13 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
I thought it was a great book. One of the few EDAs that has properly utilised the 8th Doctor's amnesia in a way that has worked with the plot, and not undercut it. Good characterisations of both Fitz and Trix give this book some substance to the series and the characters. One book I had trouble putting down.
I must admit to not being a great fan of the Big Finish productions. Usually they are bland and uninvolving.
This Unbound story grips from the start. David Collings demonstrates how good an actor he really is. Although I enjoyed Sylvester McCoy's dark Doctor, David Collings how well a dark Doctor can be done. There can be no accusations of ham or "r" rolling. His performance is subtle and intelligent.
As to the story itself - the build up is excellent as the Doctor, stranded on Earth for many years, prepares to dive beneath the sea and return to an underwater facility he escaped from all those years ago. The Doctor's overriding urge to return to the TARDIS and escape Earth is very reminiscent of the early Pertwee stories - with that added Cartmel era twist.
And that's where the controversy starts and it seems that some people have misunderstood the principle of the Unbound stories - to go beyond the expectations of the series. Collings's Doctor is definitely not bound by the expectations of the TV Doctor - as I said, here is a truly dark Doctor and yet it is easy to understand his resentment.
Only the ending disappoints - without giving away too much, I refer to the confrontation between the Doctor and the entity in the underwater base. The reaction of the Doctor's companion is perhaps harder to understand and begs more background to the prior relationship between this companion and the Doctor. Evidently it was strained - think of Ace constantly forced by the Doctor to confront her fears (a la Ghost Light).
Overall - a sterling effort, generally well written with a brilliant performance from David Collings.
really refreshing with lots of surprises
great production also
I found this an interesting book, especially as I have been reading the Virgin NAs somewhat piecemeal. It struck me as a good attempt to show the sort of character the TV Doctor is (and perhaps was going to be if you remember the last series) as well as show how he has changed as a person and in his dealings with his companions. It also tries to show the impacts on companions past & present.
| What: | Halflife (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Joe Ford, England |
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| Date: | Tuesday 4 May 2004 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Another terrific EDA and proof that the superlative Sometime Never... did not shut the lid on what this series can do. This book is the funniest in ages and while it is making you wet yourself with laughter it deals with the Doctor's amnesia in a very thoughtful and engagin manner. Highly reccomended.
