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| What: | Scream of the Shalka (Miscellaneous TV spin-offs) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 30 September 2013 |
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| Rating: |   7 |
And so the Doctor Who that could have been, the Doctor who briefly was, makes it on to DVD.
While glad that this wasn't the future of Doctor Who there are things to admire in this oddity.
A great story by Paul Cornell, a great cast Richard E Grant, David Jacobi, Sophie Okenodo & even David Tennant in a very tiny, blink & you'll miss it, role. Some beautiful artwork including a lovely TARDIS console & some great monsters.
Yes it's not the best Dr Who ever & thank goodness RTD brought it back to our screens, but it's a fun romp.
The DVD extras are excellent including an exploration of the BBC online. The commentary is not really a commentary because apart from the episodes that feature Paul Cornell it's obvious that Toby Hadoke & guest aren't watching the story but it's still full of interesting nuggets including the fact that Robbie Williams was considered for the role of the Doctor.
All in all for fans only but a fun release.
| What: | The Book of Shadows (Miscellaneous short stories) |
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| By: | Time Rotor, Earth, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Cracking good read!
Author has put sample text here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/gsd9l269niuvhur/3_books_-_info_and_sample_text_-_01a.pdf
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 | why weren't these stories pulbished? |
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| What: | The Age of Broken Miracles (Miscellaneous short stories) |
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| By: | Time Rotor, Earth, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
bought mine from Lulu. simply put: brilliant. A bit skimpy on author comment (would have voted 10 otherwise) but the ideas are crazy. the author has put hi res covers on his deviant art page (search for Jim Mortimore on deviantart) with a link to sample text for the books.
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| Strange writing style - disappointing |
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There are so many conflicting accounts of this book. So many people seemed to really love it, and I hoped that I would be one of them.
Unfortunately, in the end this book just didn't appeal to me. The concept was interesting and parts of it were reasonably well done. However, I couldn't get past the fact that there was no actual dialogue in the book at all, and in my opinion that reduced the plot to a dull two dimensional story that just dragged awfully. Quite a let down, sadly.
| What: | The Murder Game (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I must admit I approached this book with some trepidation because I'm not really a crime/murder mystery/ whodunit fan & after reading the blurb on the back of the book I thought that's what I would be reading.
And that's what it is, a whodunit, but oh so much more. It slowly evolves into a base under siege, thrill a minute, throughly riverting read.
It builds to a wonderfully excting page turner & I found myself racing towards the end to find out how it ends as the spaceship/hotel comes under attack.
Steve Lyons "gets" the 2nd Doctor, Ben & Polly spot on. You can really hear the voices reading the lines.
This feels like Ben's story as he has the bulk of the action.
All in all one of the best PDA I have read.
The two lost stories combined here provide an interesting glimpse into the Doctor Who that might have been. "The Foe from the Future" was originally supposed to be the series ender in 1977, but proved unworkable given television standards at the time, so "Talons of Weng-Chiang" was quickly substituted. "Foe" begins in the Gothic style of the time, with ghosts, a lonely English village, a haunted mansion, and a crumbling church. By the second half, however, it has become more straightforward science fiction than much of what had been produced in the Hinchcliffe era. Baker and Jameson work well together. The script, even at 6 parts, is fast-paced and manages to avoid endless capture-rescue-capture plotting that slowed down some of the longer stories. There are a few too many confrontations between the Doctor and Jalnik, all of which happen in pretty much the same way. The jokes are not too egregious. Baker's delivery is a bit slower than would have been in the 1970s, but that's age for you.
"Valley of Death" starts as a kind of Lost World story for the first two parts, then becomes something a bit like the early parts of "Shada" in the next two parts. Baker has picked up speed a bit in this story and seems more comfortable returning to the Doctor role. Whereas "Foe" was produced as a pastiche of Hinchcliffe era, "Valley" is produced as a pastiche of Williams era Doctor Who, when the original storyline had been submitted. Thus, there is much more off-the-cuff joking and less attention to plot logic than in "Foe." The story itself is, as the extras commentary says, "bonkers." In particular, the magical properties of the Lurian sun just make no sense whatsoever.
The set comes with an extra disc of about an hour of interviews with the cast. This is mostly in the typical "everything is wonderful" making-of style that one expects from these things, and not much is here to edify.
In sum: The stories are well produced to recreate the feel of this period in Doctor Who history. In this respect, the writers got things absolutely right. "Foe" is in general the better story because even though longer it is more tightly plotted and more careful about its dialogue.
| What: | Self Portrait (Cast biographies) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 22 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A fascinating insight into the swinging Sixtes from one who was there, the lovely Anneke Wills.
Truth be told the Dr Who bit is only a small part of the book, as it was in her life, but the book is an interesting insight into her life. Recommended.
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| The Second Doctor Returned |
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| What: | The Glorious Revolution (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks) |
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| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This was a great story in my opinion I had never seen Jamie do anything like this before and want to alter history and it had me wanting to listen to more all the time and again Frazer Hines portrayel of Patrick Troughton is superb it actually sounds as if Patrick is reading his own lines, he has a great talent there I love watching the second doctor and his group so this is a top story in my opinion.
I'm in the minority, as in I came to listen to this story not knowing *anything* of it's back-story. Also, not as much of a fan of the black&white era of the show, or rather, not having seen enough of it to know if I was a fan of it. I think I've only seen three stories of the first Doctor. Regardless, I liked this. After listening to it, I've seen comments about this story being dull, but I didn't find it that bad. I thought everyone involved in the production did a good job, from voice actors to sound design. The story wasn't awesome, but it wasn't horrible either, and it evoked the feel of those 3 stories I'd seen many years ago. Despite the length, it was worth the time to listen to it.
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| Vengance on Varos Special Edtion |
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| What: | Vengeance on Varos (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 4 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A wonderful SE of this, my favourite 6th Doctor story, is most welcome.
The original release of VoV was one of the earliest releases & as such was very thin on content apart from the story itself & a great commentary.
This newly buffed up and shiny new version features lots of new extras including a great making of with writer Phillip Martin.
It also features an optional 3.1 surround sound mix which is just wonderful and adds new layers to the enjoyment of this wonderful, multi-layered, ahead of its time story.
Buy it, you won't regret it.
| What: | The Ice Warriors (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 3 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
And so at last the Doctor's first meeting with the Martian warriors is out on DVD & it's been worth the wait.
The story is excellent. A well crafted "base under siege" story that manages to engage for all 6 episodes though I've all ways thought it would have been better as a 4 parter.
The cast are excellent and really believable.
The real stars are the Ice Warriors themselves, a great example of the BBC creating brilliance on shoe string.
Some people have been less than pleased with the animated episodes 1 & 2. While they aren't up to the quality of The Invasion or Reign of Terror they were okay as far as I was concerned.
The DVD also has an excellent set of bonus features.
Reccomended.
| What: | Dark Horizons (BBC prestige novels) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 2 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
An okay sort of book that for me took to long to get going and just never really got the 11th Doctor at all.
| What: | Dying in the Sun (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Chris Arnold, Bundaberg, Australia |
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| Date: | Wednesday 28 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The first two 'reels' of this novel grabbed my attention greatly. A refreshing setting and interesting characters. The movie Hollywood style lends the text an almost noire feel and I quite liked Chate as a character. Unfortunately once the alien threat was revealed I found it hard to warm to where the novel was taking me. The cult sections lacked interest for me but I enjoyed the attention to detail given to the regulars. A strong novel overall with much to enjoy.
| What: | Heroes of Sontar (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 23 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
"Heroes of Sontar" is the Doctor Who take on Dad's Army, with a bunch of hapless Sontarans as the fighting fools. To the extent that this is the principal idea of the story, it works quite well. The Doctor and crew arrive on a planet of peace and love only to find that everyone is dead and the only things left are the ruins and some pinkish (or was it orange?) moss covering it all. Then, the Sontarans arrive, whose mission, unknown to them, is simply to die and thus break a "curse" that has led to multiple Sontaran defeats. Of course, nothing is quite as simple as that.
The whole is indeed quite amusing. There are many good lines, and Peter Davison has excellent comic timing. Because this one is played for laughs much of the time, the companions get simplified into their respective types. Turlough is ever so cowardly, Nyssa ever so helpless, and Tegan ever so bossy. In fact, the most amusing moments come from Tegan, either through sarcastic putdowns of Sontarans or bossing around Sontarans.
Like other Alan Barnes scripts, this story's detriments mainly come from stretching a premise too far and not having a clear and plausible rationale for the events. In typical Barnes fashion, there is much about beings melding with each other; the moss is melding into Nyssa and the phantom swordsmen are a gestalt entity who become powerful by absorbing other beings and merging together. These same sorts of ideas are central to "The Next Life," another Barnes script. Frankly, the swordsmen do not make much sense as a concept. What they are, what they do, and why they do it remain rather hazy. If they want to grow stronger by absorbing Sontarans, they seem to be going about it in an overly complicated manner with low chance of success.
So, high marks for comedy; just passing marks on rationality.
I will admit that when I tried to watch The Ice Warriors on TV I didn't like it and was so bored by the plot that I fell asleep in the middle. That said, in book format I liked it much better. Brian Hayles' writing has a lot of flourish even though he is writing for children, it is very evocative. A must-read for fans of the big green Martians.
| What: | The Myth Makers (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
To adapt this entirely missing 60s story Donald Cotton went with an unconventional approach. The book is narrated in first person by none other than Homer himself, who turns out to have been personally involved in the events of the Trojan War. If you know the story of the Aeneid you will love this parody of it. More than once I laughed out loud while reading this.
My only real criticism is the characterization of Vicki, she is continually dismissed and called stupid and silly. I have a soft spot for her as a companion and think she was much better than many people give her credit for but here she is just as flighty and dumb as popular fan opinion would lead you to believe.
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| Excellent expansion of a good story |
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| What: | The Rescue (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
I have always thought The Rescue was an underrated little serial. Because it's only 2 episodes long, Ian Marter has to expand it significantly in order to fit the length of a Target book. This is done very well with added sequences adding flavor and answering many of the questions you might have had when you watched the original story. If you liked this story on TV you will like it even more in book form.
| What: | Fear of the Dark (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan get stuck in a claustrophobic horror story with a disembodied terror from the dawn of time chasing after them. Don't get too attached to the well-characterized secondary cast or you'll be quite upset by their grisly deaths. But if you want to read a DW horror story, check this book out.
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| Great characterization and humor! |
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| What: | The Empire of Glass (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
A perfect blend of the 1st Doctor era with later Who without making either of them feel out of place, this book is just fun from start to finish. Vicki and Steven both feel like the people they were on screen while simultaneously having more depth and backstory explored in their characters. For Vicki fans, this is a great one, as I think it has the best characterization of her from any of the books she appeared in. History nerds like me will love the setting of Venice in the 1600s and the appearances of various historical figures. And all the humor is great. I really have no complaints about this book!
Also if you like the Bernice Summerfield stories you may want to check this book out for its having an appearance of a younger Braxiatel.
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| Strong story with lots of nostalgia |
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| What: | Shroud of Sorrow (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Clara had good characterization considering that I think this was written before she would have been seen on TV at all. This is a good book for long-time fans who would like to read the Eleventh Doctor going on an adventure with a lot of callbacks and references to Classic Who. The monster is memorable and frightening -- it would have looked great on television -- but I didn't really like the ending. (It involves a world full of clowns and comes out of nowhere. I was a bit baffled.)
