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 | Doctor Who at its very best |
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| What: | The Curse of Fenric (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Tom Lingwood, Broseley, Shropshire |
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| Date: | Tuesday 30 April 2002 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
This was the penultimate Doctor Who story to be shown before the show was cancelled. It’s an exciting and brilliant tale, which is why the BBC should’ve kept the series. Why did you have to axe the blessed series you fools?
When I got this book, I read it all on the day I brought it. It’s exciting and enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down.
| What: | Hope (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | John Ellison, Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 27 April 2002 |
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| Rating: |  8 |
A solid story that never forgets that Fitz, Anji and the Doctor are the "stars of the show"! A story that truly pays homage to what I think WHO is all about while still beginning to explore the Doctor's new "humanity". A few more with this type of characterization and I might be able to appreciate the man called the Doctor as much as the Time Lord. Great read!
I found "The King Of Terror" to be a lot like the television episodes that used to air on the public television station, but with expanded views of the characters and how they interplayed with one another. I was quite surprised when Tegan actually lip-locked with someone totally unlike her, and when Turlough nearly went berserk when he found a way out of capture. All in all, a first-rate book all around...may there be many more like it!
I’ve just read this book, or rather booklet, for the first time, and was most pleasantly surprised, given the lack of depth in some of the short novelisations, at its success in conveying the sinister atmosphere created by the interim – dare I even say best – version of the Master. I have never really cared for this somewhat over-used character, even when played by Roger Delgado, but the wizened and malevolent creature described here by Terrance Dicks is genuinely frightening, in the best possible sense. A pity that this walking cadaver was later transformed into the tedious Anthony Ainley interpretation on television. I have never been much struck on the Time Lords, or even the concept of them, much preferring the mysterious old wanderer with a virtually unknown past portrayed by William Hartnell, but again Terrance Dicks makes both Castellan Spandrell and fussy little Co-ordinator Engin as likeable and believable a pair of characters on the printed page as they were on screen. Quite an achievement, the whole thing, considering the slimness of the volume and the rapidity with which Dicks must have been obliged to produce it. Even the fourth Doctor didn’t come across as a buffoon stuffing jelly babies in this one. No, I never liked him much – blasphemy, I quite realise.
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| Almost as good as first annual |
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We find the Doctor still travelling alone in this second selection of stories. While these tales do not have quite the depth, or length, of those in the preceding annual, there are some memorable ones. My own particular favourite has always been Terror on Tiro, and especially the first two thirds of it, where the Doctor makes his way through a decidedly unfriendly primeval forest, and at one point resorts to climbing into a giant cabbage to snatch some rest. There are no creatures from the series in this volume, though the Zarbi are mentioned once in Terror on Tiro, and a couple of the creatures the Doctor finds imprisoned in The Sons of Grekk look very much like Zarbi and Menoptera. The first annual is harked back to, as in the reference to the planet Kandalinga in Ten Fathom Pirates, thus providing that pleasant feeling of continuity beloved of many Doctor Who fans, myself included. A thousand pities, then, that apart from the one-off story Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space, this volume is the last we see of the Hartnell Doctor and his lone trips through time and space. I’ve felt the lack so much that, for my own pleasure, I resorted to writing another myself, proving I suppose that I really have got it badly!
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| Soul of the Hartnell Doctor |
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I well remember the day back in 1965 when my Dad bought me this, undoubtedly the finest Dr Who Annual ever, and pretty high up in any list of Dr Who books. Personally, I think these stories, in which the Doctor travels on his own, capture the heart and soul of his character, at least as played by William Hartnell (his interpretation being 'the' Doctor anyway). Without the endless questions/whingeing of companions, we are treated instead to less dialogue as the Doctor explores, and more of his own thoughts and reflections, both on his destinations and on time and space travel in general. All the stories are interesting and well crafted, though the two featuring the Zarbi and Menoptera, plus 'Peril in Mechanistria' and 'The Fishmen of Kandalinga', are in my opinion the best. If you want to experience the magic of Doctor Who as it was originally intended to be, and almost feel as if you are his silent companion on his voyages in the Tardis, then find yourself a copy of this truly memorable volume.
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| Dr Who preserves St. Mark |
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| What: | Byzantium! (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Michael Baxter, Coalville, Leicestershire, UK |
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| Date: | Saturday 20 April 2002 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I must say I expected this novel to be something of a send-up when I saw it described as 'I, Claudius meets The Life of Brian at the pub'. This almost persuaded me not to buy it! Thankfully I did, and avoided missing the wonderful passages where Dr Who (yes I will call him that if I want to) criticises the three pompous scribes for robbing St. Mark's writing of its soul as a side-effect of their translation. The book is influenced by I, Claudius in a way I found hugely enjoyable, and the input from The Life of Brian was happily understated. I did find it difficult to imagine that schoolmaster hero of my childhood, Ian Chesterton, stripped naked and being chased around a bedroom by the lascivious Antonia, though I felt confident throughout that Barbara would be never be betrayed by her champion to the extent of Ian actually bedding this strumpet from antiquity. I didn't like the top and tail of the novel with its glimpses at a future, henpecked Ian, but then I never have cared for this sort of inclusion: it disrupts the flow of the adventures, especially if one tries to read them in their logical order. Overall, though, a delightful little tome, and its content a welcome change from one new alien race after another being trotted past us, often the case in post-Hartnell Dr Who.
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| Hartnell historical for Pertwee |
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This book, with its bleak evocation of pre-revolutionary Russia, conclusively demonstrates that the decision to drop purely historical stories from the TV series was a lamentably short-sighted one. Pertwee would certainly have lapped them up! I certainly had no difficulty whatsoever picturing him enacting the scenes in 'The Wages of Sin'. The Doctor's hair's-breadth escape from the train was particularly exciting, I thought, and typical of the third Doctor. Where the other characters were concerned, Prince Felix and Rasputin provided an extended helping of nail-biting tension where Felix is attempting to administer a fatal dose to the mad monk. I was a trifle disappointed that we didn't meet Czar Nicky at all: it might have been interesting to have his point of view to contrast with that of Alexandra, piously attempting to conceal her fancy for a bit of rough beneath a veneer of saintly good works. Jo Grant and Liz Shaw rubbed along together rather uneasily; perhaps it might have been better to include one or the other, or even neither, for their contribution to the plot was rather marginal. The best character of all was the engaging Kit Powell, who played the role of the Doctor's companion far more effectively than either of the two women. I was really concerned in case he got himself wasted somewhere along the way! Perhaps the Doctor didn't manage to 'drop him off at Whitehall' quite immediately? I hope I can safely leave that little hint with David A. McIntee.
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| What 6th Dr. adventures SHOULD have been |
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| What: | The Holy Terror (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Puddleglum, Southern Ettinsmoor |
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| Date: | Friday 19 April 2002 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
It is a great pleasure to see that the writers agree with the fans when it comes to the 6th Dr - he wasn't a bad Doctor, he just got really bad stories. This is a story worthy of any Doctor.
This story starts with the TARDIS needing to recouperate after Frobisher decides to hunt fish in the pool and uses the TARDIS to generate the fish. They land in a castle where Frobisher is promptly declared a god. This ends the up side of their day. To describe anything past this really runs into spoilers-ville, so suffice it to say that what you think is happening may not really be what is happening.
the almost perfect mixture of humor, drama and intrigue (for Dr. Who, anyway), this adventure is easily worth the money. My hat's off to the writer(s). Thank you.
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| Good idea, but nothing new |
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The Davros Box Set, in my eyes, offers nothing new. I am only 13, but don't let that put you off reading this.
I have been a Doctor Who fan since I saw Planet of the Daleks, which I saw when I was 5 on BBC2 in 1992.
I have every Doctor Who video ever released, except for The Three Doctors and Logopolis, but I have them both on UK Gold copy any how.
Anyway, back to the Davros Box Set. I think it was a good idea, and seeing it was joint second in buying ratings, it must show the BBC we need more Box Sets like this.
It's nothing new, unfortunately, as the picture is the same, there are no new effects (which is a shame, seeing as the covers show the Daleks firing out a Yellow stream laser from there gun - stick), and Revelation of the Daleks cover is the same as the one that came out in the second Dalek Box Set in 1999, although it has a different background on the back cover, and the top picture is turned the other way.
I would have liked to have seen this Box Set on DVD, but don't think it would have selled as good, as more people have VHS players, and anyway, Rememberance was released on DVD just two years before this did.
| What: | The Seeds of Death (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | Gerry, London |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 April 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I'm a bit surprised at the low rating this story has received as I tend to think it is better than the first Ice Warriors story.The Scenes in the Moonbase are particularly tense as is the scene inside the weather station.
| What: | Relative Dementias (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Gerry, London |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 April 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A very enjoyable book with a clever-and intelligible - temporal paradox as part of the plot.It's the usual alien invasion stuff but there are enough surprises to keep you guessing up until the end.
Well, after dragging through the first half of this book, I was pleasantly surprised. The second half really made up for the slow beginning and all things were definitely explained to eliminate the confusion caused by certain plot twists.
| What: | Lungbarrow (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Simon Ferns, Sydney, Australia |
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 March 2002 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Overblown, overegged, overlong. As pretentious and as bad as Ghostlight and Cat's Cradle. Get me an aspirin.
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| A (fairly) remarkable book |
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Initially a little difficult to feel 'drawn' into the contiuum of the novel, ultimately I was entranced by the descriptions of the alien races described here.
It is clearly not easy to describe what amounts to an utterly alien culture - with a variety of sub-cultures - as well as a phtsical appearnace that takes some getting used to.
The author , however, succeeds not the once, with the age old Venusians, but twice, with the Sou(ou)shi - ultimately revealed as more preying mantix than humanoid.
As the story of a decaying, though ancient, civilisation - some billions of years before life begins on Earth - unfolds, a genuine sense of both sadness and belonging emerges.
The Doctor, Ian and Barbara - all in their separate ways - once again find themselves drawn into the fears and hopes of their hosts. A surprsing amount of true 'horror' also exhibits itself, as the Sou(ou)shi are properly revealed.
All in all a (fairly) reamrkable book. I thorughly recommend it.
I was expecting a lot from Mad Dogs and was unfortunately dissapointed. It wasn't very funny and the threadbare plot reveloved around a concept that was just plain silly.
I realise that after the shock of 'Adventuress' and it being the 100th novel they wanted to do something a little lighthearted but the story totally undermines what's just been going on and throws the series off track. I think I would have appreciated this more if it had come before 'Adventuress'. As it was, I was wanting to know how the Doctor was dealing with the loss of his heart, how the others felt to be travelling again after a year in 1782 etc. Whilst these are more gripes with the range, I felt the novel was spoiled by its' inability to deal with these issues. The story itself was too inconsequential to stop me wondering about the continuity problems.
After getting a bit bored with the range of late I was very pleasantly surprised by the new direction this novel took it in. The writing style was unique (for the series) and engaging, whilst creating an intriguing story. This book actually makes one think about what will happen next and the consequences of actions are dealt with. There is obviously not going to be a reset button at the end and one can only feel that the characters are all the more real for it. This literary version of the eigth Doctor is having a hard time but his adventures (if they continue along this vein) are unlike anything he's ever encounted before- that can only be a good thing to keep people interested.
In dealing with issues of witchcraft and magic in general the book does a good job, it doesn't specifically break the 'science comes first' rule of the series as the incantations are often representations of scientific concepts. There's also a neat explanation of the Doctor's use of 20th century technology on his advanced machine!
| What: | I, Who 2 (I, Who books) |
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| By: | Ryan, Canada |
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| Date: | Wednesday 27 February 2002 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I, WHO 2 is a fine work which gives you a good gist of what is going on
in the books. To give it a failing grade is ridiculous in the extreme.
This version may not a step up from the original as one might hope but
it certainly maintains the high quality of th original.
Right, lets get one thing straight before we begin. I’ve never really been a follower of the PDAs (Previous Doctor Adventures) apart from the seventh Doctor range, as I didn’t join the WHOniverse until Sylvester was treading the boards.
Thus, I’m not too familiar with the 6th Doctor’s print adventures, but while I was waiting for Relative Dementias and Hope, I needed a stop-gap tale to tide me over. So, I picked up Instruments of Darkness by long time Who scribe Gary Russell.
Well, slap me with a rusty TARDIS, its really rather good. The dialogue fits perfectly with the larger-than-life mental image of Colin Baker’s Doctor, and well I never, Mr. Russell has managed to make Mel ALOT less annoying, whilst still putting her across as Bonnie Langford’s character. Quite an achievement there!
The plot, concerning a supposed shadow government controlling the world’s nations, is a rip-roaring yarn full of twists and thrills. I’ll not give too much away about the plot, as I’d be going on all day, but rest assured it grips you until the final page. The quality of the writing, as ever from Gary, is superb, and aside from a couple of typos, there is very little that I would change.
Evelyn Smythe plays a chunky part in the story, aiding the Doctor and Mel on their quest to discover the truth about the Magnate and its operatives. She is a wonderfully rounded character considering her allotted space, and the scene set in a library in Sheffield during which there is mayhem galore involving her and Mel had me on the edge of my proverbial seat.
Instruments of Darkness, while maybe not everyone’s cup of battery acid, is certainly a damn fine traditional Doctor Who story that I would (and have done) recommend to any DW fan in need of their fix.
8.5/10
Andy
