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| What: | The Dalek Generation (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 |
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) |
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| By: | Ellie Acheson, Charlotte, United States |
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| Date: | Friday 16 August 2013 |
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| 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) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 July 2013 |
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| 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) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 22 July 2013 |
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| 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) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 22 July 2013 |
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| 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.
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 | In space, no one can hear you grumble. |
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| What: | Ten Little Aliens (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Andrew Stephen Wilkinson, Bristol, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Saturday 20 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Publisher's summary: Deep in the heart of a hollowed-out moon the First Doctor finds a chilling secret: ten alien corpses, frozen in time at the moment of their death. They are the empire's most wanted terrorists, and their discovery could end a war devastating the galaxy. But is the same force that killed them still lurking in the dark? And what are its plans for the people of Earth?
Ten Little Aliens is the first in a series of reprints of old Doctor Who books, done to commemorate Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary. Now if you've already read these books then there really is no point in you getting them, as aside from the new author's introduction, there is nothing new in these. But for someone like me, who completely missed out on the entire BBC books range for Doctor Who, this is a really useful chance for me to read some of these now long out-of-print books, and Ten Little Aliens is one of them that I very much enjoyed.
At first I thought it was odd to choose the First Doctor for this type of book, seemingly with the style and type of the story being completely out of place with this Doctor's era. At the time of William Hartnell being the Doctor, the stories were generally meant to be for families, with the Doctor being the leading "grandfather" figure to guide the stories through for the children. The stories of this period are usually rather charming, quirky and alot of the time crap. They are about flying butterfly people or meeting Richard the Lionheart or becoming really small and meeting giant ants. On the whole, gritty space thrillers in the style of Starship Troopers or Alien aren't at all common in this period. It would seem like this would be better suited to any post-Troughton Doctor really.
But despite that, Cole still pulls it off. Having Ben as the companion does help, as he's the energetic young man needed for a story like this. And really it works fine with the 1st Doctor and this is largely down to how well Cole writes for him. He nails all the mannerisms of Hartnell's Doctor perfectly, and every time he utters a little "Hmm", or a "Dear, dear" and calls people "child" and "sir", I am instantly able to hear his voice in my head, which is a credit to Cole's masterly writing.
The first words that I would use to describe this book straight from the word go would be "dark", "tough and "moody", or variations on these same words. By making the opening of the book seen through Shade's (one of the main characters) eyes is a clever way of conveying the usual exposition that is needed for futuristic books, and at the same time giving us an insight into Shade's world-view, thus making us sympathise with the character more.
It's clear right from the head-off that this book is considerably adult in tone, with Shade being shot right in front of the whole military academy as an example of the cell-replacing suits they wear. Cole manages to conjure a really very nasty image of Earth's future empire, with it being authoritarian, repressive and being almost monomanically fuelled by blind hatred of "others". They have headsets in this time, which are used by soldiers in training sessions and your thoughts are capable of being looked at and recorded for training purposes. The idea of anyone managing to read your thoughts is a horrific thought, and only gives us an insight into how we as a species presumably feel about individual's privacy by this time, adding to the bleak and repressive ideas behind Earth's first Empire.
Cole continues to present us with this vision cold, uncaring future throughout the book, and he does this partially through the supporting characters, who are nearly all dicks. Almost every character (Aside from The Doctor, Polly and Ben) are shown to be assholes. There are nearly all shown to be xenophobic, jingoistic, selfish, indifferent, bullying, reactionaries. Often Needlessly cruel to one another and indifferent to the suffering of others. One character named Frog was repeatedly raped as a child and her father slashed her face open one night when she came home late, and the other characters who tell this story merely reply that that's the thing to do to "wayward 14-year olds".
It makes you really despair sometimes, to think that one day this could just be common viewpoint amongst people. It also makes me despair to think Earth could one day very much have a bloated, grotesque empire in which there's rabid hatred for anything "non-human" and a callous indifference to other planets and the people on them. In which there's a "kill-or-be-kill attitude" in everyone's mind that makes them hostile and unfriendly as a result of it. Although another part of feels that is merely be the next logical step for humanity, judging by people's attitudes already.
Anyway, if you are squeamish, beware. This book is quite graphic. People don't just die, they get their body mangled up. The character of Frog almost get's turned into a Schirr (the villains of this piece who are seen on the original front cover of this book), with huge white bits sticking out of her body. The way she tries to deal with it is by stabbing herself repeatedly, making blood squirt out rapidly. Another character called Joiks has his arms and legs ripped from his body and then the remaining torso ripped to pieces a dumped into a massive engine. Things like that add to the bleakness of Cole's universe, as no one can even die nicely. They lived horrible lives and they have horrible deaths. Nothing can ever be peaceful or happy. And that's one of the reasons I like it so damn much.
This book is also quite experimental in nature, with a "pick your own adventure" section towards the end. It's a neat inclusion and a fun thing to actually read, and also quite impressive when you realize how complex it is, and how badly someone like me would probably have screwed it up.
However, I find the ending to be a little lacklustre. We've gone through quite a bit in this story, and seen plenty of graphic, horrific and also incredible things. And it just ends. They all just sort of joke about it and then they say goodbye. It's such an anti-climax. Nothing particularly dramatic happens, no one saves there life for the sake of the crew or anything bold like that. It's just "bye" and that's it. For a book so bleak, ending it like the end of a 1980s ThunderCats episode and have everyone laugh merrily about the adventure they just had, felt out of place. But whatever, in some ways it's calming to know things went aright in the end.
So all in all, a book I like. Dark and grim, with just enough gore in it to be readable, it's the kind of book I like.
| What: | The Unfolding Text (Miscellaneous factual books) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 11 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Tulloch and Alvarado wrote the first book-length academic work on Doctor Who. The period it covers is 1963-82. That the first long academic study of the program is also a good study helps. This is a book written for academics, people with at least one degree in Liberal Arts. Specifically, the authors discuss the show from the perspective of media studies. The authors presume that readers are aware of the terminology and methods of media studies. The authors treat the program with respect, discussing the various factors that made the program a success at the time. They discuss production policy and methods, politics, social factors, and other external forces that helped shape the program. The book includes original interviews with some of the producers. The book also includes some literary analysis of a few key episodes. This is not a book for fans who want their egos stroked, or for getting the usual lightweight publicity information that one often finds in the slicker publications about the series. Instead, this book is for anyone who wants to make a serious investigation into how the program relates to popular culture in Great Britain and the politics of the BBC.
| What: | Who Killed Kennedy: (Miscellaneous original novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 11 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
David Bishop has concocted a good alternate look at the first two seasons of Pertwee-era Who. The novel is written as a memoir-exposé by a journalist, James Stevens, who was involved on the periphery of various adventures from the 1970-1 period of Doctor Who. From these vague contacts, he develops an obsession with UNIT as a top-secret organization of nefarious intent that uses another top-secret organization, C19, as its enforcer. His investigations ruin his life, but lead him closer to the answer to a secret, not the nature and purpose of UNIT, but unbeknownst to him to the answer to another of his obsessions, the question of who killed JFK.
The book reads partly as reportage, partly as political thriller of the John Buchan variety (innocent man caught up in deadly secret plots), and partly as apologetic autobiography. The plot holds together well. Bishop has cleverly used actual dialogue from the broadcast series. Though the regular Who characters make mostly small, even cameo appearances, with two notable exceptions, the book is still a Who novel because UNIT and the Doctor are so central to Stevens' motivation.
The two characters from Who that are more critical to the story are the Master and Dodo. The Master is the Master and never strays from the Delgado portrayal. The inclusion of Dodo is far more problematic. Given her role in the novel, this character need not have been Dodo. Also, Bishop proceeds on the tired premise that anyone who has the slightest contact with the Doctor lives a horrible life because of it. I do not see this as a logical consequence of spending time with the Doctor. The inclusion of Dodo, plus a few other little bits, seem to me to be throwing in too many nods and winks to the fans that detract from an otherwise well plotted story.
| What: | Cobwebs (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matt Saunders, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
...but brilliant. Great to hear them back!
| What: | Dark Eyes (Dark Eyes audios) |
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| By: | Benjamin Embry, Kokomo, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 9 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
My friends that got me into Doctor Who warned me about the Movie. Nobody seemed to like the Eighth Doctor. That meant I was going to. The first classic Who DVD I bought was the Movie. Dark Eyes was my first audio adventure. I absolutely love Paul McGann's Doctor.
This is a great adventure! It has inspired me to collect all the audio dramas I can, not just Paul's. That says al ot about his Doctor!
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| The Best Way to get into the Modern Who |
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This was mu first Doctor Who purchase once I got into the series last Summer. I found it on Amazon, and wanted to get a good chunk of Who. The biggest complaints about this unit was the scratching of the discs coming out of the packaging. I found a way around that, and this has become a treasure in my Doctor Who collection.
| What: | Earthshock (Target novelisation readings) |
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| By: | Matt Saunders, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 8 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
This is a very well realised audio, except for some reason Nicholas Briggs decided to voice the wrong Cybermen instead of the ones in the TV story. Now, I understand that he might like to suggest that the 80's Cybermen were not very good in Earthshock and beyond - but to do it in this audio reading is a true travesty. It wrecks the whole thing for me, because I know the voices are totally wrong - and yet Davison is excellent and the background noises are excellent. Why did you do this Briggs? Why? Very sad..
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| A good but not great start |
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| What: | Timewyrm: Genesys (New Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Vince Rayner, Havant, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Saturday 6 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Not bad but I found none of the characters that interesting and found myself speed reading the last chapters so I could get to the far superior second book.
I was rather going under the impression that this story would not match Farewell Great Macedon. After that masterful historical it would be hard for anything to reach that high point. But boy was I again glad to be proved wrong. This story boasts some very intriguing and interesting ideas, which actually seem well ahead of their time. The sound design again is absolutely corking. And the result is that The Masters of Luxor rips along and doesn't feel like three hours long whatsoever. Carole and William again seriously make me smile with their spot on recapturing of that golden age time of the first TARDIS crew who made the series get off on such a brilliant high footing. And this story doesn't half boast some memorable set pieces. This story doesn't seem much of a story geared for children, its a real mature adult tale with some pretty bold statements peppered throughout. Joe Kloska also seriously impresses in all his roles, and the Perfect One is a seriously heartless, tragic villain. Never has the look at robots and if they could possess feelings been done quite as brilliantly as it is here I this story. Really, the BBC often astounds me. I wonder every time almost why these great stories were never created. but I don't have to ask anymore. Big finish have done a stunning job and the result is an instant Doctor Who classic, just as bold and noticeable as the epic Farewell Great Macedon. Big Finish just keeps on getting better and better all the time.
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| SOUND SCENE IMPRESSIVE.... |
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| What: | Phantoms of the Deep (Fourth Doctor Adventures audios) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 5 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This Tom and Mary season just keeps getting better. Still is so brilliant to listen to the delightful Mary. She will be sorely missed now. These stories too just keep getting better and better. Jonathan Morris again has his brilliant fascination with the concept of time, but here we get the deep and the water soundscape of the deep also into the mix. And add to that a real fast paced decent storyline and great performances and we get what we always expect of Big Finish. I first rate adventure that just gets going and doesn't pause for breath. The TARDIS crew of 1978 is so brilliantly evoked so far in this second run of Tom's story for Big Finish. All I cat wait for now is the Fourth Doctor meets the Cybermen again...its been too long since Revenge of the Cybermen. This story really does have an awesome deep sea feel sound scene to it. It makes you feel the claustrophobia palpably. Jonny Morris has just gone and done it again. A corker of a story. And I don't think I need to mention Alice Krige relly do I?
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| Nothing new...well almost... |
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| What: | Regeneration (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 5 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Probably many fans will be acquiring this book/dvd set mainly for the early treat of the Tenth Planet, like I did. For this reason alone this set is to be commended. The restoration of this story is in the BBCs usual excellent high standard. The animated episode four those is an unequivocal delight. All the likenesses are there for everyone, but its the brilliant recreation of the Mondas giants that truly grabs the attention. This episode, you can tell, has been lovingly done. There is no fault with this brilliant episode, and it is a must have for any person who calls themselves a fan of the great Doctor. And William Hartnell is clearly unwell, but still manages such a magnificent performance as the great Doctor. He was the man who brought this character to life. And his regeneration scene frankly to me is still the best of all of them. One cant see where he goes and Pat Troughton comes in.
The other stories may well all have been previously released, but there are some great stories in amoungst these. There is the epic The War Games, Pat Troughton's brilliant swansong, in which I believe this fine actor was at his all time best with the exception of his later re-appearance in the Two Doctors with Colin Baker. Theres not many shows that can run for four hours and keep the interest and fast pace that the War Games manages with consummate ease. This is another extremely enjoyable story that has always been one of my top Who tales. There is so much revealed in this story, and so many excellent ideas.
Planet of the Spiders may well not have the best regeneration scene, but it certainly has some classy moments all along the way. Jon Pertwee goes out with one of the most touching regeneration scenes I think. He bows out in amazing style. And Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney off course are and will always be fondly remembered for their brilliant roles both now and back then when this story was first put together.
Logopolis as well sees a tremendous bow out for that most recognizable of Doctors, all tooth and curls Tom Baker. Tom had a lot to live up to, being that he was not quite as well known when he took over the role of the Doctor as the previous actors. But boy, he did not disappoint. His tenure boasted so much, so many iconic villians, so many lush scripts and stories and settings. And Logopolis adds a fitting end to 7 extremely impressive years as the Doctor. Tom Baker had some brilliant out of this worldness to him. And the harder science base to this story is also different and engaging. And the regeneration scene is awesomely done.
The Caves of Androzani has often bee cited as one of the all time greats of Doctor Who. And its not hard to see why. There is a level of acting in this serial that even every modern actor would be hard pressed to beat. For a start, peter Davison really gives all his oomph into the role of the Doctor, even though the Doctor isn't actually the centre of the story. But his scenes are immediately attention grabbing. Then we have the supremely excellent Chris Gable as Sharaz Jek. A very good multi-layered character who gets a really decent level of development along the way. Morgus and Salateen and Chellak and Stotz are all portrayals of the worst kinds of villain.
Time and The Rani has always been so badly maligned. But aside from the flimsy regeneration, which could not be avoided due to the shocking treatment of Colin Baker in the role of the Doctor. But this slight wobbly start gives way to me what is a real firm and stolid start to the Seventh Doctor. Sylvester immediately grabs the role with both hands and makes himself noticed. And Kate O'Mara is awesome as the time lady villainess the Rani. And the other effects in this story are of a very strong kind. The spinning spheres of the Rani's traps particularly are of note. And Bonnie Langford is not half as bad as Mel as she's frequently accused of being. She's a real marvel actually in my view.
Paul McGann should have been given a series. Glad Big Finish have had the sense to give him such brilliant chances in the audio series. But desite many of the elements of the Movie being rather weak in my book, Paul is immediately the Doctor. He has a great presence that makes him just as good as any before or after him. And his chemistry with Daphne Ashbrook is clear to see, and they do rise the movie from being totally rather a wash out. And Ric Roberts definitely deserves plaudits for the role of the Master. We at last get a Master who is really nasty and slimy. Just the rest of the storyline is a little forgettable in my view. But Paul certainly is impressive, and still is an amazing Doctor. What I wouldn't give to see him back in the new series some time.
Chris Eccleston and David Tennant and Matt Smith have all been formidable in the reimagining of Doctor Who for these modern times. Just a pity so often this new series for me has failed to hit the mark. The stories, NOT the actors, are what let them down most of the time. But one thing is truly sure, every actor whose been the Doctor so far has been seriously impressive. The guys at the bbc have always chosen well and no man has yet failed in being The Doctor. Chris seriously delivers the hurt broken side of the Doctor after the time war, which makes one feel for him almost all the time. David is really a goliath of a Doctor, and his tenure does boast most of the new series great tales, and he's never boring to watch. Catherine Tate was a serious revelation too. And Bernard Cribbins was so endearing as her Dad. And now Matt Smith is nearing the end of his time as the Doctor, and boy has he been all the Doctors in one so many times. A classy actor who just deserves better story treatment. But his acting class cannot be denied. Thanks to all the Doctors for making this programme what it is today! I thank you very much for Doctor Who is still my favourite show ever. Long may it carry on......
| What: | Prisoners of Fate (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 2 July 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Nissa's subplot comes rushing to a twisting turning, mind bending conclusion. Starting with a traditional plot, with the tardis crew landing on an alien planet with strange forces at work the plot slowly builds revealing glimpses of the cause, with a sudden twist.
The final episode requires a lot of concentration, at times confusing, but still overall an enjoyable story.
| What: | The Lady of Mercia (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 June 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
This time it's Tegan's turn and the lady of Mercia plays well to her strengths.
Big finish has covered the middle or dark ages a couple of times and whilst entertaining the period seems to limit plots to lots of running around.
Whilst there is lots of running around, there are some great scenes and dialog mixed with some comical moments making this an enjoying outing for the gang.
| What: | The Romance of Crime (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 26 June 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Embarrassed to admit it but I'd never read any of Gareth Roberts Who books before his recent wonderful adaptation of Shada but since then I've been catching up & this is my favourite so far.
It's not as good as Shada, but then what could ?, but it's not far off.
Gareth gets the 4th Doctor, Romana & K9 perfectly. You can hear the voices in your head, the Doctors humour & bluffing, Romana's aloofness & frustration with her fellow time lord & K9's inscrutable logic & whirring engine.
All the rest of the characters are well rounded & interesting & the story zips along at a cracking pace.
The Ogrons get a nice little back story as well, though my one disappointment with this book I'd that the Ogrons are own the front cover & so the surprise of them suddenly turning up some way into the story has been removed.
That little quibble apart this book I one of the best past doctor books, in any range, I have ever read. Highly reccomended and it can only be hoped that Gareth Roberts gets to write more past Doctor books in the future.
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| Fails to building the original |
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| What: | Eldrad Must Die! (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Clive T Wright, St Lawrence, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 21 June 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Eldrad must die in many ways is a good solid story, but overall fails to build on or take forward the original plot from the 4th Doctor story.
That aside it is still an enjoyable audio in which the doctors companions are put to good work and in typical style one of them is let hanging about a bit.
