There are 4,152 reviews so far. To add a review of your own, click on the item in question, then click the Vote link.
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) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Sunday 22 September 2013 |
|
| 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.
 |  |  |
 | The Second Doctor Returned |
|
| | |
| What: | The Glorious Revolution (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks) |
|
| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 17 September 2013 |
|
| 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.
| | |
| Vengance on Varos Special Edtion |
|
| | |
| What: | Vengeance on Varos (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 4 September 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 3 September 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Monday 2 September 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | Chris Arnold, Bundaberg, Australia |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 28 August 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 23 August 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| 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.
| | |
| Excellent expansion of a good story |
|
| | |
| What: | The Rescue (Target novelisations) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| 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) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| 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.
| | |
| Great characterization and humor! |
|
| | |
| What: | The Empire of Glass (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| 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.
| | |
| Strong story with lots of nostalgia |
|
| | |
| What: | Shroud of Sorrow (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| 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.)
| What: | The Dalek Generation (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
Nick Briggs' first foray into novel writing was quite fun. If you like seeing Daleks acting unusual the central mystery of this book -- the Daleks appear to be benevolent caretakers of paradise planets! -- will interest you. The Doctor was well-characterized but the ending was a bit of a cop-out. A very quick read good for a day of diversion but it won't be the kind of book that sticks with you when you're done.
| What: | Chicks Unravel Time (Miscellaneous factual books) |
|
| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
A really excellent essay compilation that examines each season/series of Doctor Who. Sometimes the essays are an exploration of if the stories are feminist but not every essay is like that. For instance, season 5 examined the use of sound in Who and season 2 addressed the First Doctor's character growth. With the exception of one or two that I didn't like (Diana Gabaldon's essay on season 6 didn't seem to have much of a point other than "I think Jamie is hot" and "Women like Doctor Who because of gender essentialism or something") these were mostly very good. I didn't read every single piece because I haven't got enough knowledge of every season yet but I certainly enjoyed the 60% or so of the book that I did read.
One other minor quibble is that the table of contents gave titles of the essays but not which season they corresponded to, and they were not arranged in season order, so if you open it like "I want to read about season 26 first!" you'll have to flip through the whole book to look for it. That was annoying.
| What: | Spearhead from Space (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 23 July 2013 |
|
| Rating: | 10 |
And so the only classic story on film gets the HD upscale it deserves.
I'm sure your all familiar with the story.
This is a brilliant introduction to the 3rd Doctor via the genius of Robert Holmes's writing.
The Autons, the Brig & Liz Shaw all make up a cracking tale.
The HD quality film is just staggeringly good, an improvement on even the 2010 re-release.
It looks as though it could have been made yesterday instead of 1970.
It's packaged with 2 new documentaries one on Jon Pertwee the other on Caroline John.
Both are excellent.
It should be noted that none of the extras from the 2010 re-release are on this documentary.
Highly reccomended.
| What: | The Final Sanction (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Monday 22 July 2013 |
|
| Rating: | 7 |
This is an okay sort of story. Not terrible but not great either. The story never really griped me enough & felt more like a Star Trek story than Dr Who. This TARDIS team are my favourite team but for me it never really feels like the Doctor, Zoe & Jamie.
| What: | Verdigris (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 22 July 2013 |
|
| Rating: | 2 |
This book seems to be an attempted parody of The Tomorrow People, here called The Children of Destiny. Instead, it just rambles along without rhyme or reason from one stupid incident to the next. It shifts point of view for no clear reason, and the author indulges far too many throw-away ideas as though they were inspired acts of genius. The basic idea is that a low-rent Time Lord, the loudly drunk Iris Wyldthyme, has concocted a plot to rescue Doctor 3 from his exile on Earth, but has for a long time completely forgotten all about it. This rescue involved magic, of all things, but Green magic, whatever that is, and not Black or White magic. This Green magic is the strange being Verdigris, who takes Iris's instructions and then concocts a preposterous plan involving duping an alien race into transporting themselves dressed as characters from historical fiction onto Earth, creating robotic killer sheep, duping a bunch of teenagers into believing they have super powers and are working for the galactic federation, and brainwashing UNIT members into believing they are running a convenience store. Throughout the book, the Doctor is pretty much useless. In addition, somehow this Verdigris creature has come to be employed by the Master, though where or when they met and what hold the Master has over the creature is never spelled out. None of it gets explained to any degree of credibility and little of it gets explained at all. Magrs should know, and probably does, that "magic" explains nothing and is simply his get out of jail free card so he can dodge his obligation of making sense.
