There are 4,137 reviews so far. To add a review of your own, click on the item in question, then click the Vote link.
| What: | The Rani Elite (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 13 October 2015 |
|
| Rating: |   7 |
"The Rani Elite" features a new incarnation of The Rani, because of the death of Kate O'Mara. Siobhan Redmond is an excellent replacement, instantly making the character her own while keeping in touch with O'Mara's particular brand of cool snide. The story also follows logically from the pattern set in the TV series of The Rani's trying to create some kind of superbrain that will give her access to the secrets of the universe. It's standard fair, not particularly original or deep. It has some funny moments and a few jokes that miss their targets. The major drawback is the amount of speechifying and pontificating from The Doctor. Yes, probably Doctor 6 was the most prone to making speeches, but it happens just a bit too often in this production. These speeches really slow the pace.
| What: | The Lost Stories: Power Play (The Lost Stories audio dramas) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 13 October 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
"Power Play" originally began as "Meltdown." The story got shelved when Doctor Who went on its first hiatus. The story itself involves multiple story lines that seemingly have little connection, but come together at the end. An interplanetary police force of two rather incompetent lizard aliens is after The Doctor. They manage to force the TARDIS to land near a nuclear power station, where some protesters are picketing a special project that produces high amounts of waste. Among the protesters is The Doctor's old friend Victoria. The project seems to be managed by a mysterious second in command, whose intention does not seem to be increasing Britain's power supply. The story is rather typical of the complicated multi-setting approach of the 1984-5 season. The soundtrack music is also highly reminiscent of this period. What brings the story down somewhat is the amount of it that is predictable. The Victoria and Doctor meeting scene has the expected "You're not my Doctor" bits. There are the hypnotized companions bits. There is a noble self-sacrifice by a secondary character. So, high marks for nostalgia and medium marks for originality.
| What: | A Device of Death (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 13 October 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
"A Device of Death" is probably the best Christopher Bulis novel I have read. It works well conceptually, with the three lead characters separated and then brought back together consistently with the central idea. The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry get blasted off course while traveling back to Nerva Station via the time ring. They each find themselves in a different section of a long interplanetary war. However, the war is not quite the war that it is publicized as. Bulis does a good job with the companion characters, making both Sarah and Harry believable and clever. Harry gets some especially good characterization, with something to do that makes a real change. The trick at the beginning of the novel that gets our heroes thrown into their separate situations seems too contrived. There is also some timey-wimey stuff at the end that also comes off as contrived and a bit convenient. However, these are minor flaws that do not detract from the overall entertainment of the novel.
 |  |  |
 | Good Despite OTT Ranting in Part 4 |
|
| | |
| What: | The Lost Stories: The Elite (The Lost Stories audio dramas) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Saturday 3 October 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
John Dorney completed an outline for an episode Barbara "Enlightenment" Clegg supplied for the 1983 series. This would have slotted in before "Enlightenment" had it been approved. The story involves the Doctor and companions swept off course by a freak event and finding themselves in an enclosed city in constant preparation for war. No one is over 30. The rationale for all this is that The High Priest arrived in a blaze of light from the sky and convinced everyone in this city that they must perfect themselves, starting with weeding out all the lesser types from surrounding cities. The story plays very well in exploring the strange appeal of fascism. The last part loses some prestige when the church leader turns into a raving megalomaniac Professor Zaroff style. The background music is probably meant to recreate the 1983 style, but doesn't. Other than that, this plays very well, following the logic of the story to its dire end.
| What: | JN-T: (Crew biographies) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 30 September 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 10 |
JNT was a a person who lived life to the max and it really shows in this excellent, well written book.
Richard Marson, who's excellent biog of Verity Lambert is highly recommended, chronicles the good, the bad and the ugly in the amazing life of JNT.
All the main players are there and everything, warts n all, is included.
For me JNT comes through as a pretty decent person, loved by nearly all who worked with him, unlike his partner Gary who comes through as a pretty unlikable person.
An excellent book
| What: | The Man Behind the Master: (Cast biographies) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 30 September 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 9 |
A well researched, well written book that after reading still leaves the reader with no clear idea who Anthony Ainley really was. This isn't the fault of the writer, it's just that Ainley was such an intensly private man that no one, not even those who knew and worked with him, knew him really well.
Nonetheless this is an interesting book about a fascinating person.
| What: | The Auntie Matter (Fourth Doctor Adventures audios) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 30 September 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
"The Auntie Matter" sees the return of the Doctor 4 - Romana 1 pairing. This would probably be the start of season 2 for this pair had Mary Tamm stayed. As it is, the program would have fit very well into the Graham Williams era of Doctor Who. It is light, with bits of adventure and danger, and has many British cultural references. The basic idea is to mix Doctor Who, P.G. Wodehouse, and Agatha Christie. The Wodehouse gets the bulk of the material, though. So, the story is all about a rather stupid upper class bachelor, his exceedingly helpful butler, and his attempts to please the latest in a succession of overbearing aunts. We get mixups, and a plot involving the Doctor and Romana going to exactly the same place, meeting exactly the same people, and never once crossing paths, not even knowing that the other is there. Julia Mckenzie plays the latest two aunts, who both happen to be the same aunt, sort of. For the first, she does an uncanny Maggie Smith impersonation. It's all good fun in that Wodehouse way. Of course, this is Doctor Who, so it cannot be left just there. An alien, two robots, and a crashed spaceship serve to provide the requisite science-fiction spice to this stew. It's all good fun, quite lighthearted, but does not go beyond being just good fun.
The box set contains two stories from the 1960s rediscovered. One is the aborted pilot episode for a proposed Daleks series in the US. This is a very Terry Nation script. It involves a military taskforce trapped in a dangerous environment. The planet has bizarre, flesh-eating monster plants, as in many Nation scripts. A main character is Sara Kingdom, from Daleks' Masterplan. However, this is a very different Sara Kingdom from that one. In this story, Sara is generally a whimpering, emotional "female" and not much else. Since this is a pilot episode, it is mostly all setup for what would happen later in the series.
Two is a script commissioned for the 1969 series but dropped presumably because it was too humorous. In this story, the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe stumble into a future Earth in which the feminists have taken over, turned men into second-class citizens, and instituted a dictatorship under the leader Chairman Babs. The story moves along briskly, with a mix of humor and danger. This story is very much part of the 60s women's lib period with many jokes about gender roles. Naturally, it will be sexist in various ways compared to today's attitudes.
Both the episodes here are treated as dramatic readings rather than full cast dramas. The narrative interludes are not too obtrusive. Jean Marsh does well in changing her vocal registers between narrator and Sara. Prison in Space gets dual narrators with Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury. Hines does an extraordinary impression of Troughton's Doctor.
The stories here are really products of the 60s, so most of their flaws derive from that period. One should give credit to Big Finish for leaving these in and going with the spirit of nostalgia. The sound design and background music are all done to bring back that 60s feeling. The signature tune for the Daleks episode is perfect in recreating this musical genre.
The stories here are good fun. If I could, I would give it 7.5 rather than just 7.
| What: | Winner Takes All (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 16 September 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 9 |
Really, really enjoyed this romp. Good story, tightly told with no filler. The writer gets the TARDIS crew (and Micky) spot on. Highly recommend.
| | |
| A good idea but it was too long! |
|
| | |
| What: | The Bounty of Ceres (The Early Adventures audio dramas) |
|
| By: | Harry Ross Gorman, Bromborough, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Saturday 5 September 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 5 |
I thought this story had a very good central idea and I thought all the characters were great. The trouble is everything takes too long to happen and it took me several weeks (on and of) just to listen to it as I just got bored. I also think the 1st doctor early adventures needs a separate voice actor for the 1st doctor e.g. John Guilor who provided the excellent impression for the planet of giants dvd and the Day of the Doctor.
| What: | The Crystal Bucephalus (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Stephen Rider, Mount Prospect, Illinois, United States |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 18 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 9 |
I'm surprised at some of the other reviews, as this was one of my favorite Missing Adventures. The setting is clearly a significant homage to Douglas Adams, but it is overall a very clever concept in its own right. and the unique nature of the setting in turn provides opportunities for some creative plotting. The story moves a long and actually gives the companions something to do, while – ironically – the Doctor himself is missing for long-ish stretches of the story. But that works out well. This book also contains one of my favorite "fiendish traps", and a hysterical yet very clever escape from said trap. The only real stumble is a highly UNcharacteristic moment for the Doctor, where he grabs somebody by the throat and lifts them off the ground. Huh – the Doc must have been working out...? But other than that, I really enjoyed this book throughout. And yes, as the cover suggests, it even allows Kamelion a bit of room to run around and get into trouble. Overall a fun read, and the only New or Missing adventure I've ever read twice.
| | |
| Amazing this was even published |
|
| | |
| What: | The Pit (New Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Stephen Rider, Mount Prospect, Illinois, United States |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 18 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 1 |
The writing on this one was so poor I'm amazed it was actually published by a professional publishing house. Where was the editor? Was there blackmail involved?
I used to make a point of finishing any book I started, but this book was so poorly put together I couldn't force myself to continue – though I somehow made it about two-thirds of the way. Scarcely a plot to speak of, no characterization, random unrelated events that appear to have been jammed in there by a drive-by fanboy (such as the Doctor landing in Victorian London just long enough to encounter Jack the Ripper – for about a page or two – before flying off again.) I'm truly shocked this ever saw press; somebody somewhere along the line should have recognized how unreadably bad it was and put a stop to it.
| What: | Plague of the Daleks (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 10 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
The end of the Stockbridge Trilogy brings the Daleks in as they are often brought in, to boost ratings. So, the Daleks somehow found the Tardis in Stockbridge and posted a task force in deep freeze for 1700 years just to get their hands on the Doctor. It all proceeds pretty much as a normal Dalek story. Their appearance gets delayed until the very end of part two. They have a cunning plan for bagging the Doctor. The plan backfires. Daleks make many threats, kill nearly all the secondary characters, and crash in flames themselves. On the plus side, Nyssa is particularly strong in this story. It has no major logical gaffes. The Doctor is clever and brave without being too clever and brave. It's enjoyable, though not terribly original.
| What: | Amorality Tale (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 5 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 6 |
I cannot understand what the other reviewers saw in this book. The story is that Sarah spots a picture of the Doctor (3) taken in 1952 along with a news story about killer smog, and off they go back in time to prevent a catastrophe. This story is mostly an excuse to write a Doctor Who version of the John Carpenter movie The Fog or Stephen King's The Mist. It's poison miasma plus zombie policemen all run by a religiously fanatical trio of aliens whose ideology is convert or destroy. The plotting of the novel is rather thin, and it gets thinner as it goes along, unlike the smog so prominent in the story. Some good things about this novel, though, are that Sarah is rather well characterized and the author creates the 1950s London East End feel well.
| What: | The Eternal Summer (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Saturday 1 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
Part Two of the Stockbridge Trilogy is a major step up from Part One. The Doctor and Nyssa, seemingly blown to pieces at the end of Part One, find themselves alive, intact, and cast in a modern village drama, except that this drama cannot settle on the year in which it takes place. It seems that a sixty-year period of Stockbridge history has been folded on itself, with time jumping along the creases, all of it restarting in about a day's time. And then Maxwell Edison from the Doctor Who comic "Stars Fall on Stockbridge" turns up, played brilliantly by the always brilliant Mark Williams. Williams brings pathos to the character without making the character pathetic. The story concept in general works very well. The script supplies some nice surprises. Nyssa emerges as a very strong character in this one. The reservations I have concern the Lord and Lady of the Manor and the ancient evil that has been reawakened, Veridios. These are cardboard villains that take our attention away from the technical problem driving the plot. The whole would have been much better without them. Still, this story is worth listening to for the intriguing ideas and excellent performances.
| What: | Castle of Fear (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Saturday 1 August 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 6 |
Most of the other reviewers here have stated the main problems and successes with Castle of Fear. This is the first part of a Stockbridge Trilogy. In this story, the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves characters in a traditional local play with origins in the Middle Ages. They travel back to the Middle Ages and get involved in a kind of farcical adventure. Some have compared this to Monty Python, but I believe the closer comparison is to Carry On, without so many sexual jokes. Virtually no one, except poor Maud the Withered, who gets offed in Part Three, is what he/she claims to be. Everyone is incompetent or stupid or both. There are moments of amusement, but of course these depend upon one's personal sense of humor. The exceptionally talented John Sessions is rather wasted here, mainly left to let out a rather preposterous French accent and act bombastic. Perhaps it's just too light to work well.
| What: | Evolution (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Josh Lee, Fort Wayne, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 20 July 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
This was a straight ahead adventure and the kind I like the best. The secondary characters were there just enough to keep it going and then they got out of the way. The Doctor and Sarah felt like they just popped off the TV screen, which is a big plus for me. My favorite stories are historicals that have a science fiction or time travel twist. My next favorite type occurs when the Doctor meets a real figure from history. I don't know much about Kipling but I am a huge fan of Doyle, so that was a big treat. If the science is implausible, I don't care. It's all in fun. This was a tribute to Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes and a big check in the win column for me.
| What: | Managra (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Josh Lee, Fort Wayne, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 20 July 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 6 |
I liked this one overall but it was very bloody in places, not to mention just strange. The creativity is off the charts and well done on that score. There were nice touches throughout whether it was a good line here or a colorfully specific description there. The big picture was always clear and there was plenty of action. Plus, it never hurts to have villains you want to strangle and there were many of them from which to choose. The Doctor was true to form and Sarah had some good zingers, too. A mixed bag for me. I wish it hadn't been as dark as it was. I know, Tom's stories were very Gothic at this time and this wasn't nearly as bad as The Man in the Velvet Mask but I was still creeped out here and there. Excellent writing, though.
| What: | A Device of Death (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Josh Lee, Fort Wayne, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 20 July 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
I've gotten to appreciate Harry Sullivan more and more over the years. Nice to see him as a more fully developed character here. Sarah was never my favorite, definitely placing me in the minority. Tom was my Doctor and he is in fine form. The worlds in this book are interesting but the three leads are the focus (as it should be) and they carry the story. In typical fashion, they're separated at the beginning and have (thankfully minor) memory problems, too. If the goal of these novels is to fit in the TV stories, then this book does an admirable job because that's exactly what it does and I enjoyed it on that basis. I know a novel should have a bigger scope and focus on more than just the Doctor but I think of the Missing Adventures as comfort food. This one may be "standard" but it's the best kind of standard - the kind where the good guys come out on top and you had some fun with them along the way. I liked the machine with a personality, too.
| | |
| Well worth the (36 year) wait |
|
| | |
| What: | City of Death (BBC prestige novels) |
|
| By: | John Hubbard, Northants, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Saturday 18 July 2015 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
This is not the book that Douglas Adams would have written but James Goss has written a book which captures the anarchic elements to the story and fleshes it out but also one which will satisfy the purists who want an rendition of what was on screen.
Romana in particular benefits from the expansion to the page and there are some lovely self referential jokes (and affectionate jibes at Doctor Who fans). I read this book with a smile on my face from start to finish.
I am now looking forward to his adaptation of The Pirate Planet and hoping that Eric Saward sees which way the wind is blowing before fans start posting copies of Misery through his front door
