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| What: | Jubilee (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Brett Gabbatt, Halifax, Canada |
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| Date: | Monday 10 February 2003 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
Quite a unique storyline with some wonderfully uncharacteristic Dalek scenes.
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 | Better than most seem to think |
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Refreshing, new, and a fantastic alternative story for the Doctor Who universe.
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| generic title (there, happy now?) |
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| What: | Seasons of Fear (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Paul DeLong, Edison, New Jersey, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 2 February 2003 |
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| Rating: |  9 |
Great story - a nice romp through time and a time-related mystery. Excellent music (the music had some serious atmosphere...). Though I wasn't happy about the hand-waving dismissal of the paradox at the end.
This felt a LOT like "Anachrophobia". I had to go back and check to see if it was the same author. It also felt a little bit like "Ghost Light".
All-in-all, I enjoyed the story, but it got overly sentimental and self-serving. Bordering on preachy. The stories seem to be focusing way too much on Charley and her past. To me, she's just a watered-down and less threatening version of Ace.
And what's with the "my poppet" thing. I was gettin really sick of hearing that expression. Enough already. If someone called me a puppet, I'd want to smack them. No, my limbs are not tethered to strings from an indeterminate location above me, so stop caling me that. In "Mrs. Doubtfire", Robin Williams' character used the word "moppet" all the time too. Is it an English thing?
I enjoyed this immensely. The "real" aliens were very comical. The cliffhangers were good. The noir was a nice added touch. My only complaint is that some of the characters were a bit stereotypical and hammy, but that only added to the humour of it all. A nice Who-style comedy.
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| great music, a little high on melodrama |
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The music stood out most of all in this story. It absoloutely set a very mournful bittersweet mood. I'd listen to this again just for the music.
The big revelation came as no surprise. And I got a little sick of the melodrama towards the end.
But Magrs' reference to "The Scarlet Empress" was priceless. I'm guessing some other utterances in that scene were also self-referential, but I haven't read some of his other stuff, so I can't be sure.
Though, for technical reasons, I can't see why people would be trapped in Venice. If it's the far future, then I'm sure people have more transportation options than just boats. But Paul Magrs is odd like that. Scarlet Empress was an odd mix of antiquity and futurism, so all bets are off with him.
| What: | Divided Loyalties (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Holly Carver, England |
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| Date: | Sunday 2 February 2003 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
OK, just to get things straight, it's true I'm no die-hard Dr Who fan, true I haven't seen every ep there is or bought any collectable items off e-bay for £1000 or anything but I am a MAJOR fifth doctor obsessive, I guess being 15 and a girl when I first saw Peter Davison acting as him probably had something to do with it.
Anyway, having been collecting for the past 3 odd years anything Peter/Dr Who related, including all the eps and BBC books, I'd like to think I have quite a good grasp on the character and his companions and to be perfectly honest I really don't see why so many people have such a major problem with this book. It captures Peter's whole innocent-and-tourtured-by-any-type-of-immoral-action act and his whole dependence on his friends is very clear (everyone has seen Castrovalva right?). Plus I thought the idea of the Toymaker trying to turn the Doc's companions against him was quite a good one, considering the fifth Doctor is the one who was likely to be hurt most by such an action. The back story was also interesting and it was fun seeing a time when the Doctor and the Master were friends.
What is the huge problem everyone has with this story? it can't just be Adric (who I also happen to like by the way, but that's a different story altogether). This book has a lot going for it and the Toymaker, who is as I gather one of the more highly regarded villains (and certainly is by me, which makes me constantly devistated that the original William Hartnall ep is unavailable!), is handled brilliantly. Conceptions of Gary Russell seem to be constantly based on this one novel, and while that is a slightly unfair way to judge an author I am inclinded to feel that if that is the ways things must be then, far from viewing him negatively because of it, Gary should be praised for his achievements and I for one (and it really does seem the only one!) look forward quite eagerly to any knew project I know Gary to be involved in.
Give this book a break guys, true it has quite a bit of continuity in but if you're a Dr Who fan why should it bother you? we understand it all and that's the important thing right? To be fair, I wouldn't think of recomending this book to anyone who wasn't a long term fan, but I do think this book has been grossly overcriticised and hope this review (small as it is) will be able to somehow stand out in it's defense.
| What: | The Infinity Race (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
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| Date: | Sunday 2 February 2003 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Careful what you wish for, you just might get it. I have on occassion found myself wishing for a return to the "classic" Doctor Who stories and this novel delivers just that. Sadly, it never seems to stray from the "formulaic" into new teritory. At times the book even calls attention to its stereotyping when the characters point out specific examples.
This one left me wanting after the last several have seemed so very strong. I am also getting a little bored with Sabbath--he is no substitute for the Master and the teaser about his "masters" is just getting pushed a little too far. How about some revelations now?
This was a poor start for what is supposedly a new arch in the series. Never the less, I will aptly await the next novel!
| What: | Fear of the Dark (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Holly Carver, England |
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| Date: | Sunday 2 February 2003 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Typical Tegan, typical Nyssa, fifth doctor nicely handled and most of all no confusing plots relating to Gallifrey, God-like beings or the Doctors past (not that those types of stories aren't great, i just seem to have had rather too many of them lately)- overall, nice, standard Dr Who at it's best, with the added bonus of being able to take the situation slightly further than was possible with the TV series at the time. True, there is probably slightly more violence than was strictly necessary, but then again in terms of deaths the story is not dissimilar to "Warriors of the Deep" except that the absence of having the monsters visualised for you makes them much more convincing! one of the better fifth doctor past adventures so far.
Planet Of Gaints is a nice short story especially for the time period of the 60's the sets for it were great!
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| Innocent Era and Mick Lewis Don't Mix |
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I had read Rags, Mick Lewis' other book and though I thought it was too graphic, I though it did have an admirably creepy atmosphere that made checking out his future books seem worthwhile.
I dislike Combat Rock. No, I take that back, I despise Combat Rock. Never have I wanted to burn a Doctor Who book until now.
Is it because Doc 2 is my favorite, because I don't like gore, extreme violence, or think mixing the most unlikely things just because it can be done is a good enough reason? All of the above I guess.
I've heard the era of the 2nd Doctor called the most innocent of the Doctor Who eras. I would agree with that. That being the case, it just doesn't make sense to me to mix Mick Lewis and the 2nd Doctor together. It's like oil and water. The gore, extreme violence, mix in a little sexual content, force the character of Victoria to watch people being killed brutally... Maybe if you disliked the 2nd Doctor, didn't like the innocence of Victoria would you come up with a story like this written by Mick Lewis.
Another aspect of the story was the author's voice coming through too clearly in Victoria. I get the distinct feeling that Mick Lewis strongly dislikes the character, her time period so chooses her voice to speak for him in questioning colonialization. I don't disagree with what he says, but he's so heavy handed that his voice speaking through her seems jarringly wrong.
And the Doctor does nothing much until the end, is cardboard and is portrayed as mostly helpless.
I think that not everyone's way of writing, how they prefer to write fits DW. Mick Lewis is definately one. Especially for the 2nd Doc.
If you don't mind lots of violence, gore, some sexual content, cardboard characters with cardboard motivations, a poorly done Doctor portrayed as helpless, the author speaking strongly through Victoria making it a poor characterization and a muddled story composed of cannibalism, murder and running around the forest trying to keep from being killed horribly, this book may be for you after all. If you like something different than the usual Doc 2 stories, this is definately it.
| What: | The Face-Eater (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Phil Ince, UK |
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| Date: | Thursday 16 January 2003 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A neglected little gem.
It absolutely belts along. Very trad - very much has the vigour of the TVs with complimentary / opposing personalities in a threatened setting. Some fun, gentle digs from the Doctor at the companion, Sam - a sometimes irksome, even self-important girl, whose mouth almost lands them in touble.
Nice capturing of that archetypal DW moment when - appearing in the wrong place, at the wrong time - the Doctor's personality and manner overcome the inevitable suspicion and hostility. Neatly done.
No sign of required prior knowledge, either. The sort of straightforward, well-written book that - after crawling through the wan prose of Scarlet Empress - is a treat to take to bed. 9 / 10.
This is quite simply the best novelisation of a Doctor Who story. Writing for the Daleks is hard, as I've seen in other Dalek stories. So, instead of trying to turn them into more human characters, Aaronovitch goes the other way towards making them even more machine like, which is completely the way to go, and I'm sure influenced the way John Peel did Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks. Fantastic!
| What: | Fear of the Dark (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Gail Carey, England |
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| Date: | Thursday 9 January 2003 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Imagine that between "Arc of Infinity" and "Snakedance", that Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton had gone off and filmed a Doctor Who movie. Now imagine that that Dr. Who movie was an out and out horror movie which would keep you awake after you got back home from watching it at the cinema. That movie would be "Fear of the Dark". I just read the book in one sitting an I'm still tingling with the excitement from it.
I have no hesitation in giving this book 10 out of 10. All Doctor Who novels should be this good!
| What: | The Troughton Years (BBC Years videos) |
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| By: | Luke Robinson, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Tuesday 7 January 2003 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A fairly good collection, not brilliant but I am thankful for any opportunity to watch Troughton!
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| Nice cover, shame about the book |
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| What: | EarthWorld (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | J. Harrison, UK |
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| Date: | Thursday 26 December 2002 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
At last, the 8th Doctor is once again free to travel through time and space - hurrah! Perhaps author Jacqueline Rayner thought that a zany comedy adventure would be a great way to celebrate the end of the "Earth Arc", or maybe she wanted to write the kind of book that has made Paul Magrs a fan favourite... either way she got it wrong. This book is so bad that one wonders how it got past the editors. I usually give away books that I don't like but I actually threw this one out (really) rather than inflict it on someone else.
In a word: "Avoid!"
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| Out with a bang. In with a whimper. |
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Welcome return for McCoy's dafter 7th Doctor in a spoof murder mystery. The episodes have some good lines, effective Roddenberry pastiches and several very good moments - Graeme Garden's Fassbender on his death bed; the Doctor being seduced; some of the song contest from the final episode.
However ... it's over-long and doesn't really concentrate, it drifts and feels padded in the first episodes especially. It's the length of a 6-part TV, about 2 hours and a half. There's no real drama and it can feel like quite a long wait between jokes. The Wogan take-off, whilst accurate, seems interminable in part 1; it adds nothing to the drama and, by its length, detracts from the comedy.
Could lose 15 or 20 pages per episode and be more effective, I think. It lacks the clarity of One Doctor and the comedy suffers for that.
Agatha Christie's memorable locked room mystery gets updated in this retelling by author Stephen Cole. The ten various people trapped on an isolated island have been exchanged for a squad of cadet soldiers and their marshal on a moving planetoid.
Part of the reason why this story works is because the author has chosen an unlikely Doctor to take part in the inevitable action - the elderly Hartnell incarnation lends an uniqueness to the plot, and makes the story more tangibly noticeable and interesting.
It's true that the story is gorier than your usual type of First Doctor tale. And the part where the soldiers and the TARDIS crew live their feelings and experiences through an amplified network of neural transmissions (substituting for the typical Christie first-hand narration by lead characters) can be admittedly confusing, if you choose to follow the sections and pages outlined - I just ignored them and plowed through in a regular, linear fashion.
Those possible quibbles aside, I was thoroughly enjoyably transfixed by the aura of terror and intrigue woven through this book. If this story had been televised, I imagine it would even make a good replacement for the legendary "Tenth Planet" - Hartnell's incarnation would certainly have gone out in a blaze of noble glory.
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| The Early Years of Doctor Who |
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| What: | The Infinity Doctors (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Tom Lingwood, Broseley, Shropshire |
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| Date: | Monday 23 December 2002 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is probably the most interesting Doctor Who I have read. This 35th anniversary book is beautifully written. It talks about the Doctor’s early life when he was a teacher on Gallifrey. We also see Time Lords Hedin and Omega (and what happened to him) and find out how the war between the Sontarans and Rutans begin.
I would recommend this book to every Doctor Who fan. It’s one of the greatest books written.
The Doctor in this story is debatable. Some say it’s the Eighth but the best choice in my opinion would be a young version of the First before the events of 100,000 BC. Or it could be a Doctor in a parallel timeline.
I suggest you go out and get this book now.
| What: | Warmonger (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | J. Harrison, UK |
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| Date: | Saturday 21 December 2002 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
This is the book where Terrance Dicks really loses the plot. I suppose it sounded like a good idea to try and present a darker side to the 5th Doctor by tempting his most humane incarnation with the trappings of power. Trouble is, the way Dicks handles the transformation of the adventurer in cricket whites to jack booted military leader is heavy-handed and unconvincing. Also, are we really supposed to believe that the whining Peri we see in The Caves of Androzani had previously been something of a military strategist and leader herself?
Dicks seems to tire of the concept about mid-way through the book and starts throwing in old enemies and Time Lord conspiracies to pep up the book but it doesn't work.
Oddly enough this book could have worked very well if it had been written for the 6th Doctor and Peri and set between Revelation of the Daleks and The Mysterious Planet. It might have provided a good explanation for the mellowing of the realtionship between Dr. 6 and Peri, and the temptation of the Doctor might have linked in with the creation of the Valeyard.
As it stands, Warmonger comes across as Terrance Dicks' darkest hour not the Doctor's.
