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Primitive Who

What:Doctor Who and the Pescatons (Miscellaneous audio dramas)
By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Wednesday 8 December 2010
Rating:   2

The Pescatons really has the feel of the early 70s to it - not early 70s Who, just early 70s in general. There's a Jon Pertwee-ish minimal electronic music score for the incidental music, and the dialogue recordings are noticeably off - done in a reverberant booth evidently, which makes the outdoor scenes rather cheesy-sounding. Then there's a chain-smoking chief alien (well, that's what he sounds like), and the scenes of aliens attacking the city is mainly just REALLY LOUD, grating screams... pause, then MORE REALLY LOUD grating screams!

The best thing about this production is simply the voices of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, giving this their best efforts, though it's mostly narration by the Doctor, with sound effects and a few acted scenes here and there, some of them featuring Sarah Jane. It was interesting to hear them on this, from shortly after Sladen's time on television, but other than that, it's mostly dreadful. A bit like a circus side show curiosity, I suppose...



Half and Half

What:The Lost Stories: The Macros (The Lost Stories audio dramas)
By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Wednesday 8 December 2010
Rating:   7

So, we reach the final story in the Sixth Doctor's Lost Stories season. The Macros starts off nicely, visiting the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment - a great story for Who to finally explore. The first episode's scenes on the USS Eldridge are intriguing and atmospheric - this part of the story works well. But then we get taken off to the planet Capron in what it seemed was a micro-dimension of some sort, and this part doesn't go as well. The tyrannical Osloo is a truly vile character; so much so that this actually pulls down the story on that side, as this character is actually quite unpleasant to listen to, and adds nothing of interest to the story.

Another quibble is with the title. It is fairly unclear just who "The Macros" are supposed to be, as the people of Capron should be "The Micros," coming from their micro dimension. But then, it could be that the Eldridge had generated its own micro-dimension... but this still doesn't make the people of Capron "The Macros." Well, it's confusing.

Then there's some poor writing for Old Sixie. As he might put it, he looks like a real blockhead here as he attempts to adjust past events and believes that what is a very weak attempt will surely work. Peri too gets herself dim-wittedly into a couple of pretty bad spots, but this isn't quite so out of character for her, actually...

Still, in spite of these issues, The Macros remains an interesting end to this "lost season." Well done, Big Finish!



Shoulda Been Televised

What:The Creed of the Kromon (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures)
By:Jake Johnson, America
Date:Monday 6 December 2010
Rating:   8

Creed of the Kromon is an action story, involving a lot of moving about and tension. This story could easily have been pulled off on television, and the story does surprisingly well without the visual aspect. Although the ending isn't as climactic as one might hope, it introduces some fun new characters and pits them against an evil force.
The only thing keeping this at an 8 is the fact that it doesn't do too much with the Divergent Universe arc. It certainly moves it along a couple inches, but this story could easily have been set on Mars or Skaro.



A Great Season-Starter

What:Scherzo (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures)
By:Jake Johnson, America
Date:Monday 6 December 2010
Rating:   10

Despite several shared themes and ideas amongst Robert Shearman's other works, Scherzo delivers an original, puzzling storyline about love, life, and music.
Highly recommended.



The right choice for Audio!!

What:Hothouse (Eighth Doctor Adventures audios)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Monday 6 December 2010
Rating:   9

Having read the reviews below I got the feeling that this story wouild be rather much a letdown. And yet everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. So mine has to be that I dont agree with this view at all. If you can bring your imagination into playing when listening to these tales then this is a very successful sequel to that excellent Seeds of Doom.

There are only two things wrong here within this story. The first thing is that Lucie Miller is tragically uinderused. I love Sheridan's stab at this character, she knows her in and out and she deserves better and more scenes than she's in here. The second thing is all the OMGs, some people just get tired by this after a while.

Aside from this this is a very strong outting. Paul McGann gets to be moral again, and here his stance is a bit stronger than usual, for his Doctor seems to be the most laid back and softly spoken of the incarnations of the Time Lord. He is an excellent Doctor. Good to hear him getting the chance to show us just how good he is.

Another brilliant star here is the tragic Lysette. I love this girl, she's genuinely so brilliant. Ive not seen her playing a bad character on or in anything. Something tells me she could be the perfect choice for a new companion! Well, thats just my view anyway.

The Krynoids are well realised here. With the voice treatment maybe not quite as cheap sounding as the Keeler one back in the Seeds of Doom. They sound good. And this has a suitably different theme than the Seeds of Doom too, despite the fact that they both possess a moronic plant obsessed nut. But this is not a bad thing. I love the Doctor Who idiot. Its a brilliant breed.

Blooking Horrible? No, blooming brilliant overall!



a real pea souper

What:Amorality Tale (BBC Past Doctor novels)
By:j richards, swansea wales
Date:Monday 29 November 2010
Rating:   10

This is an exicellent book, The Doctor and sarah jane are spot on David bishop knows his era with out makeing them steriotipical. The relationship between Sarah jane and Tom Ramsey has to be one of the most beliveable in the entire book range. Tom Ramseys character is incerdible both amiable and ruthless and like all other main players in this story have depth and beliveability. The plot is a soud one and dose not fall into lifting moments from classic gangster films of the fiftys, sixtys although a few wouldnt feel too out of place in Get Carter or the The Krays. A very clever thing useing the pollution crisis of the London pea souper as a vehicle for alian invasion. The menaceing force of the story the Xhinn are more memorable than some of the aliens to come out of the range. To sum it up go out and buy it (or steal it of some one!) its worth the money



Rise of the Historical

What:The Angel of Scutari (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Sunday 28 November 2010
Rating:   10

Yes, Big Finish are brilliant because they know that some fans still really like the historical story. But sadly, they dont have the balance of Will Hartnell's time still. one sci fi, one historical: that could and should be the formula even to this day! History is bad enough without having a sci fi gloss put all over things! Frankly, history is far more horrific than sci fi anyway.

So when Big Finish actually do bring that odd history tale into the mix, its a long awaited pleasure! The Angel of Scutari is yet another very fine piece of storytelling from Paul Sutton. This story is well paced, very realistic action, very good dialogue. This story is very intense. And we have Florence Nightingale. And brillianter still is the fact that this is just a history tale! No psuedo thing except the TARDIS, and that isnt even in it for long. This is just in the same vein as the Aztecs and The Massacre and has about the same high quality acting and same hard and lasting impact.

And Phil Olivier is particularly excellent here. Hex is such a good mix with the Doctor and Ace. And I dont really need to say anything about Sylvester McCoy, other than this is his usual brilliance brimming over, the most mysterious and manipualtive, yet at the same time compassionate and human, of all the Doctors still to this day. The Angel of Scutari is a very strong story indeed, and comes highly recommended from me once again....Roll on more history!!!



In The Tower

What:Jubilee (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures)
By:Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Date:Monday 22 November 2010
Rating:   9

I really enjoyed listening to this as I am currently listening to them in order and was releaved to have a better story come along which is my type it is excellently thought out got a bit confused with the split time bit especially the ending I expected something different happen (still good though) but one of my favourite parts was the cliffhanger with the prisoner in the tower, I bet everybody was expecting the obvious ( I wont say incase of spoiling it for someone. but all round great story and proves again Colin Baker is an excellent Doctor.



Topping Matures

What:Byzantium! (BBC Past Doctor novels)
By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Friday 19 November 2010
Rating:   8

I am not sure whether the other reviewers and I read the same book. Though the novel is set in ancient Rome and has the requisite political intrigue, gore, and luxury, I see hardly any "Life of Brian" in here and only a little "I, Claudius." So, let us get to the novel as is. This is a first Doctor adventure separated into five "episodes." The novel is set between "The Rescue" and "The Romans" and Topping provides justification for this by having the TARDIS stolen by the man whose villa the crew will occupy in "The Romans." Each chapter is titled based upon pop song references, but each also has an epigram from the Gospel of Mark. Title and epigrams bear only passing relationship to the contents of each chapter. These references then are a weakness, an attempt maybe to give literary depth to the story. Getting the other weaknesses out of the way, we have these: After the crew gets split up, the Doctor features very little in the novel and has no impact at all on the main events. The ending is too rush-rush, as though Topping knew he had run the length and just needed to get our heroes back together again. Ian at times seems disturbingly nonchalant about killing people.

The strengths of the novel are much more forceful. This is Topping's best for Doctor Who in a number of ways. First, he has a better grasp on his style, and seems much more comfortable with advanced rhetorical and literary technique than in previous novels. Second, he seems to have found his niche in the historical genre. The research shows through, and Topping does very well in capturing the flavor of life in Byzantium, 64CE. Third, Topping smartly avoids incorporating well-known historical figures, so that the reader gets a sense of "people's history" instead of official history. His characterizations of the various ethnic groups treats them with the dignity of maintaining ethnic identity without stereotyping or degrading. He is realistic about the types of people he uses to populate the story. The political intrigue story involving the prefect and the general is particularly interesting and keeps the novel going apace.

In short, I really think this is an underrated work, perhaps more mature than what readers may have expected.



Solid story

What:Attack of the Cybermen (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays)
By:Jay Y, Bear, DE USA
Date:Thursday 18 November 2010
Rating:   8

I really enjoyed this DVD. Strong performance by Colin Baker, good effects, well put together story, and solid performances from the supporting players. Extras were also entertaining. THE Colin Baker is vastly underrated as a Doctor.



Very good addition.....

What:The Prisoner of Peladon (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Tuesday 16 November 2010
Rating:   9

David Troughton returns to the role of King Peladon after over thirty years. And it is well worth it. The Curse of Peladon was rather a weak start to the Peladon quadrilogy. King Peladon was a realistic character, but the story for me was so stilted and stagey and utterly unmemorable.

But here David reads a far far better story than his first as King Peladon. He has a very soft, and calming reading voice which is also good to listen to. This story keeps well with all the other Peladon outings. It has all the essential ingredients, with a few extras thrown in so as not to make it a carbon copy of any of those beforehand.

This also is good for the fact it has different ages of Ice Warrior within the tale. And here again its still a surprise to hear if the Warriors are going to be good or bad. (Although in big finish, they seem to be predominantly bad most of the time) And it always helps when the story is easy to grasp and follow.

The Prisoner of Peladon is a very good tale in many ways. The onyl little snags are the fact that it dispatches the troublesome warriors in exactly the same way as The Monster of Peladon, and the fact that once again an overbearing hot head King starts to blame the Doctor for the situation yet again like in so many stories these days. This line of storytelling is becoming greatly tedious.

Gladly the rest of the tale is strong enough to make this still one of the best Companion Chronicles for a long time. The character of the third Doctor is totally spot on for a start, as strong and commandeering as he was on screen all those years ago. Its so sad Jon is gone now. He always was an excellent Doctor.

Another part of this story i love is the fact that Alpha Centauri could be hiding something along the way. And the shock of the death of the KIng's Champion. Mark and Cavan definitely know how to bring out sudden twists in the tale. That was a genuine surprise. And we also get a child warrior at last. Something that hasnt been done before. And I love the fact that the King is obviously telling this story to little Thalira. A nice little touch to end this chronicle. Overall, very good indeed, as strong as The Monster of Peladon.

I look forward to some more Peladon stories in the near future, please Big Finish.....The Bride of Peladon was a great start, and Prisoner might even just edge that story in a lot of ways....



Depressing but interesting

What:Nightshade (New Adventures novels)
By:Mark List, Midland, United States
Date:Sunday 14 November 2010
Rating:   7

This book was a nice change from some of the earlier novels. I thought it was well written and definately well thought out. There wasn't really any "dead" space in the story.

Other than being a little depressing in parts, it was quite an enjoyable read.

It was too bad that Nightshade met the end he did, but as the story was written, it was fitting. It was nice to see the old man find the nerve to do the things that he did.

This is one book that I would read again.



Consistent, strong, brilliant...

What:The E-Space Trilogy (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Saturday 13 November 2010
Rating:   9

Full Circle begins the trilogy set in E Space very well indeed. The fact that this story was written by the youngest writer for the series so far is astonishing, for this story has many moments that possess a Robert Holmesy feel to them. This story is rich with atmosphere and menace. The set pieces here are also largely original and surprising, like the fact that the people do not know how to fly the starliner! Also, yes, lets mention the introduction of Matthew Waterhouse, perhaps the most abused of all the Doctor's past companions by fans and reviewers alike. Matthew was never even a quarter as bad as many people seem to think! He makes a sure and steady intro within this story. All the other outlers too give very good performances. Its good to see Alan Rowe back yet again too. Add to this mix a very strong central performance by Tom Baker and you get a brilliant tale that is one of the strongest from 1980. (Well, perhaps all that lets this down for me is the twaddle of the evolving life cycle) And the marshmen are shot well, especially when they emerge from the marsh for the first time. K9 gets poor treatment again, but its not surprising from the location is it?

State of Decay is a very strong vampire tale. This is definitely a work on characters more than blood. The central vampires are all so wonderfully chilling. And their demise is perhaps the best vampire deaths Ive ever set eyes on. One thing that also strikes me here is that aside from Ibol's son and Adric and the good Doc, there are a lot of extravagent beards on show here! But the story itself is extremely well written, even the Great Vampire isnt quite as bad as all that. Other vampire tales could learn a lot from this story. Its a return for one story to the horror classics of Tom's earlier times. The set design here too is incredible. And again all the acting is of a first class standard.

Warrior's Gate is a very interesting and slightly mind bending piece of filming. Some of the effects are the best in the series up to this point in time in the series history. That frozen coin scene really is rather good. So are the negative photo shots. The Gundans are a brilliant set of robots, and Rorvik is another in the classic line of Who morons. We even get Kenneth Cope here! Who gives it all he has as usual. The science isnt actually as hard to follow as it first appears either. Space is contracting. Some of the dialogue is extremely witty and well written too. Perhaps the only slight letdown is the very fast goodbye to Romana at the end of the story. All far too rushed and again, like the Elisabeth Sladen farewell, all rather emotionless and void. But aside from the few quibbles Ive mentioned, everything else about these highly excellent stories is memorable and some very well produced television.



Classic Davison

What:Cobwebs (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures)
By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Friday 12 November 2010
Rating:   7

The Big Finish trilogies have worked fairly well. Here is the first of a new trilogy which reunites the 1983 TARDIS crew. Intriguingly, though, Nyssa is now an older, wiser woman, while Tegan and Turlough are their younger selves. Fielding's voice does not pass as 20 years old. Otherwise, the characters are very much as they were. The story itself is typical of 1983. Think "Terminus," which has the characters presented with a seemingly insoluble problem, split apart, threatened by everyone in the situation. It is not special, but does deliver at the level its makers intended.



Not The Beast Below

What:The Lost Stories: The Song of Megaptera (The Lost Stories audio dramas)
By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Thursday 11 November 2010
Rating:   6

Here and elsewhere, reviewers have noted the similarity this story bears to the recent Matt Smith episode, The Beast Below. Other than the two both featuring huge space whales, there isn't much that's actually that similar. The Song of Megaptera has much more of an ecological activist face to it, and throws in some veiled (or not so veiled) references to Moby Dick and the story of Jonah.

The Song of Megaptera is good, but not great. Parts meriting special mention would include Peri's hilarious delirium, which is really kind of like a really well-delivered, long stream of drunken puns and non sequiturs, the ship's computer, which is a bit like a psychotic version of "Eddy" from the Hitchhiker's Guide after the Doctor messes with it, and the humorously creepy members of the "framily" living inside the whale.

I found it quite interesting to learn that this story had originally been worked on for Tom Baker, then again for Peter Davison, and finally for Colin Baker before being totally abandoned. Why it ever got that far is difficult to understand, for the simple reason of the virtual impossibility of realizing any kind of half-decent version of an enormous space whale on TV with the technology and budget available in the late 70s to mid-80s.

6.5, if I may be more precise.



Better and Better

What:Demon Quest: A Shard Of Ice (Nest Cottage audio dramas)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Tuesday 9 November 2010
Rating:   10

This is in the same vein as Hornets Nest: Paul Magrs relies more on simplicity, which therefore makes the tales all the more engaging and easy to follow. Its all well and good thinking of mind blowing plots but its sad if theyre so convuluted you cant get your brain around them. Gladly, Paul always keeps away from that sort of story writing.

A Shard of Ice is just simply chilling and cold at the core. This fits so well in with the Fourth Doctors tenure as the Doctor on screen, its up there with the greats like The Sunmakers and State of Decay, and The Seeds of Doom. All of those stories had simple plots too, with very interesting and deep characters. And thats what we've got here too. A minimal cast, with everyone getting a decent chance to shine.

Jan Francis is brilliant as the Ice Queen. She oozes Ice! And Tom sparks off her brilliantly, as he did with most villains in the past. Its also really nice to hear Richard Franklin back again as Mike Yates. He was always one of the most interesting UNIT characters.

This has good moments of horror along the way. This Demon Quest series is already better than the brilliant Hornet's Nest. The "Gobbets of flesh" line immediately brings nasty visions to the imagination.

Its wetting my appetite more and more this series. It just keeps on getting better and better all the time. I cant wait to hear the final two installments.

Its so good to have Tom back as the Doctor. This is all that Doctor Who should be. Simple, engaging and entertaining.



Excellent read

What:Doctor Who Volume One: Fugitive (IDW graphic novels)
By:jo car, sydney australia
Date:Tuesday 9 November 2010
Rating:   10

i couldn't put this down it was very entertaining and a very enjoyable read cant wait to read the next one.



This is the scariest tale of the past...

What:The Curse of Fenric (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Saturday 6 November 2010
Rating:   10

There is a common and very flawed notion going around it seems in the annals of Whodom that Sylvester McCoy wasnt much of a Doctor. I can plainly state here that that notion is total twaddle. For me, his twelve stories in the lead role of the Doctor were totally unforgettably awesome, each in their own ways. And towards the conclusion of his stories, the tone got far more darker, with so much more mystery being wrapped around the character of the Doctor. And Sylv managed with consumate ease to bring back this mystery in buckets. His character was a lot harder to fathom than many of the previous Doctors, one neever quite knew how he would react to any one situation. And add to that the additional brilliance of Sophie Aldred as the supremely brilliant Ace, and youve got the perfect mix.

The Curse of Fenric has to be one of the deepest, and is certainly the scariest, story of the classic run of Doctor Who. It has so much packed into it, and the extra of the extended addition just makes it even heavier on impact. All the characters are so well acted too, Nicholas Parsons is excellent as the Vicar whose faith has all but been destroyed by the war. A feeling that must have been rife through that time in history.

And those who say there was never much emotion in the classic series want to pay attention to this story. The scenes where Ace discovers the baby she loves is in fact the mother she hates is a very poignant scenario, and the fact that the Doctor must break her faith in him to defeat Fenric through the ancient one is a gut wrenching moment. This is truly weighty stuff.

And then we get the vampiric haemovores too, one of the freakiest designs of the series too, very realistic indeed. They exude menace in a way no other design really managed to do, except the Zygons in Tom Baker's time on the series. This is a vampire tale that is better than almost every other horror film of the same subject Ive seen.

That Fenric too should be so confused by a simple game is a brilliant little bit of scripting too. So consumed with evil he cant see that working together is the answer to the Chess problem. And all the other characters are so raw and real too. Yet again, as i seem to be saying a lot recently, the new series could learn a lot from this story. And the classic series as a whole was far more enjoyable than most of the new episodes.

I cant even locate any bad points here. The menace in the story just continues to build up to a rollicking crescendo of intense emotion and brilliance. The scenes of the haemovores coming out of the sea is very well presented. The direction throughout the story is very taught indeed.

Jean and Phyllis are a tragic pair too. And one can clearly catch the writers intention with these two. two virgin's lost...they both act so well, the two girls here. And their transformation is very well acted, like every other scene amidst this tale. its a rather adult theme, but who cares? And i think for once in its history that this story should have been a 12 certificate. Also, Commander Millington sums up the very worst kind of enemy. So Doctor Who has to contend with so many different problems here.

What I also like is the fact that the BBC here had sense to give the companion at last far more of a back story. That Ace should be so manipulative as to chat up one of the guards so the Doctor can free Sorin is about the strongest scene given to a companion in the classic series. This is Doctor Who at its creepy, darkest best. And to add to that some excellent make up too, and some impressive location work, and for once quite a chunk of underwater photography too. What more could a Doctor Who fan want?

It really was so short sighted of the BBC to halt Doctor Who at this point, just as it was getting ever more brilliant. Sylvester McCoy didnt ensure the death of Doctor Who, he ensured its survival! The additional film scenes in the extended version too are all brilliant, and Im glad theyve been included on this double disc set.

All the additional extras too are memorable, with some deep insight into the making of the story. From this point is where the extras got really good with the Doctor Who DVD series. We get a lot of titbits of info we never knew before. Which is never a bad thing. So, yes, overall, this has to be one of the very best stories of Doctor Who and one of the best dvd releases so far.



Absolute Brilliance

What:The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Third Series (The Sarah Jane Adventures DVDs/Blu-rays)
By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Saturday 6 November 2010
Rating:   10

One has to say that this series, just gets better and better all the time. This is better than the Doctor Who new series by far. It has far more likeable characters, far more happy endings, far more interesting stories. Elisabeth Sladen is brilliant as Sarah Jane, she's really developed her character now, after a strong start with Jon Pertwee her character suffered a little during the Tom Baker period, with only a few flashes of the guts she had during her first season. The BBC have had the sense to return to her brilliant roots! And Lis has renewed her character so well. She leads all the cast strongly and with some style. And to say the least all the teens aint bad either. They proove that their are some pretty good talented young actors out there.

The stories themselves are all different, but all brilliant. Prisoner of the Judoon adds a little comedy to the Judoon, which cant be a bad thing at the end of the day. And Androvax is a creepy new alien. The Mad Woman in the Attic is very rare indeed, for it has a wonderful, totally happy ending for once. This episode is brilliant to the fore! One of the finest stories for a long time. The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith is a very worthy trip, especially as it features David Tennant in his recorded scenes as the Doctor. He was always a great Doctor, just a shame most of his stories werent a patch on Sarah Jane Adventures. The Eternity Trap is an excellently creepy little haunted house tale, with all the right scares along the way. Mona Lisa's Revenge is a brilliant piece of comic genius. This one had me smiling all the way through. Mona Lisa really has a brilliant attitude. The Gift wraps all the series up so very well indeed. This story is excellent, with some great effects throughout and some supremely great moments. This also has a particularly strong performance from Lis, who really conveys Sarah's anger at Luke being infected by the rakweed well.

I have seen the first four stories of the fourth series now too, and this series still keeps on continuing on the upward match. Doctor Who could learn a lot from this series. Its overtaking it very quickly indeed, and thats not hard when you have a totally shoddy finale in the Big Bang. At least here in the Sarah Jane Adventures the stories are not as complicated as goodness knows what.

Thanks BBC for creating this brilliant series, its absolutely tops!!!!!!!!



Best one yet

What:Solitaire (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks)
By:writingbluebear, jersey
Date:Friday 5 November 2010
Rating:   10

Solitare is the best in the series so far. Moving away from the tradditional style,to deliver a tight, clever, cripping and surprising story. I loved it.



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