There are 4,107 reviews so far. To add a review of your own, click on the item in question, then click the Vote link.
 |  |  |
 | I love the creepy ones.... |
|
| | |
| What: | White Ghosts (Fourth Doctor Adventures audios) |
|
| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Monday 15 September 2014 |
|
| Rating: |  10 |
I love Doctor Who in creepy mode. And on audio its hard to achieve roper creepy. This story by Alan Barnes achieves this perfectly. The only thing is that the story has a really short first part, and although it isn't a rushed story in any sense, one feels one would have liked just a tiny bit more length! But that said, the story is extremely well produced and directed. Tom Baker continues to be excellent as the unpredictable fourth Doctor we all know and love, and Louise Jameson's Leela seems to be getting ever more better stories to get her teeth into. Virginia Hey is superb in her role. This has all the brilliant cramped elements of tv stories like Horror of Fang Rock, with its tiny outpost of humanity set against a weird and nasty menace.....And yet again BFP have hit the mark with a story that's fast but intensely enjoyable.
| What: | The King of Sontar (Fourth Doctor Adventures audios) |
|
| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Monday 15 September 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 10 |
The third series of Fourth Doctor stories starts with a true bang. Tom is still as marvellous in his most famous role, and he's ably assisted by Louise as the ever brilliant Leela. Its great to hear David Collings again in a Doctor Who story, and even greater still to hear him being just as good as his previous three outtings in the classic Who series. Add to that a story about the meanest Sontaran ever cloned and the fact that this is a John Dorney tale, then you're sure to be onto a winner. An excellent, breathless, fast paced start to a great season....this story doesn't let up....Dan Starkey gives his best Sontaran performance to date, and its good to have a real bruiser of a Sontaran again, after the laughable (although in a good way, for once!) Strax of the new TV series.....
| | |
| Good Sequel to The Time Monster |
|
| | |
| What: | The Quantum Archangel (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | Dan Mould, Feltham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Sunday 14 September 2014 |
|
| Rating: |  7 |
Story has many good points, such as the level of detail Hinton goes into concerning the Chronovores and their relationship with the universe. Story is fast-paced as you are constantly moving from place to place as the Doctor struggles to keep the universe together whilst under threat from the Chronovores and the Archangel. Overall this book is a welcome addition to the Doctor Who Universe and for die-hard fans who know too much about the whoniverse (that is possible) this is a definetly worth a read.
| | |
| Capaldi More Than Earns the Mantle! |
|
| | |
| What: | Deep Breath (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
|
| By: | Earle DL Foster, Invercargill, New Zealand |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 9 September 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 10 |
I never saw the extra components in the cinema version, but I nonetheless enjoyed the televised debut of the first genuine Twelfth Doctor adventure. The context is slightly reminiscent of the Fifth Doctor's transformation into the Sixth (Clara, as Peri, struggling to accept this new, more brusque, and dangerously unpredictable "imposter" who occasionally demonstrates a ruthless side to his personality), but much better handled on a storytelling front. The reappearance of the Clockwork Droids (spoiler alert!) was intriguing, along with the debut of a new "temptress" to plague the Time Lord. And I even cried when the unfortunate female T-Rex was tragically vaporised!
| | |
| Fantastic all-encompassing package |
|
| | |
This just arrived today and I'm extremely pleased with it - it's everything you could want relating to the 50th anniversary packaged in a gorgeous box.
If you've bought the previous individual releases, this doesn't contain much more, but you do get the hilarious 'The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot', written and directed by 5th Doctor Peter Davison, which was one of the highlights of the anniversary for me. Also of note is the brilliant docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, chronicling the genesis of Doctor Who back in 1963, lovingly produced and still incredibly touching.
My only minor quibble is the lack of commentaries, particularly for the 50th special itself Day of the Doctor, but beyond that the set is as close to perfect as could be wished for - certainly worth the wait. Highly recommended.
| | |
| Very Good, A typical Pertwee Adventure |
|
| | |
| What: | Catastrophea (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | Dan Mould, Feltham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Sunday 24 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
This book is placed after Planet of the Daleks and flows excellently, with Terrance Dicks's writing casting your mind off to a jungle world that seems a cross between Spiridon with its strange plant and animal life, whilst also encapsulating the deity aspect from Face of Evil, The Aztecs etc. The book answers a lot of questions left over from Frontier in Space, such as the Doctor's rank on Draconia & elaborating on the Draconians' view of the Doctor & the state of the tense relations existing with Earth. Overall, Dicks delivers a strong, suspensive tale that delivers with a well driven plot that leaves you wanting more. A must read for any Pertwee era fans.
| What: | Harvest of Time (BBC prestige novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 18 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 5 |
This is another in the series of original novels featuring old Doctors, written by "proven" science fiction writers. Alastair Reynolds has credentials, though judging by this book I am not sure why. One reviewer here said the plotting was Doctor Who by the numbers, and I would agree with that assessment. However, the problems are larger than that. Reynolds attempts to write in the mode of the Pertwee UNIT era. This would be fine, except that he copies all the problematic aspects of that era and leaves out many of the better ones. Thus, for instance, UNIT is pretty useless. The Doctor is rather abrupt and dismissive with both the Brigadier and Jo. The Master is too much "I'm a bad guy and I love it." Another problem is that the invasion plot by the Sild is far too complicated, preposterously so. The Sild as an enemy are difficult to get interested in. They want to take over Earth, and that is about as far as it goes. The novel is not irredeemable. There is some interesting dialogue. Jo is a more developed character than she was in the series.
| What: | The Lost Stories: Animal (The Lost Stories audio dramas) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Monday 18 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 6 |
First, Angela Bruce is awesome. The rest of the production just did not grab me. It has many of the elements of Cartmell's period as script editor. We have the Doctor on a mission of some kind, one that he lets no one in on, including himself. There is some plot - counterplot happening. Much of the background is missing. For instance, how does the health food lunatic know about the aliens to contact them? We are just to take it that he does, and no more is said about it. The killer plants are stuck in as a kind of ruse, with the beginning of the story seemingly all about them, yet they get dropped pretty quickly only to be brought back in because, apparently, it was convenient for the plot. The sergeant who assists Brigadier Bambera is there just to be stupid. That said, there are some pleasant bits. The aliens are interestingly different. We get to learn more about Raine. It has some snappy dialogue. It just did not pull together for me.
| What: | Paradise Towers (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
|
| By: | simon blackwell, rotherfield, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Sunday 17 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 1 |
And that's just Mark Ayers music. this story so far is the worst I've had the misfortune to watch beating by a country mile, gunfighters, castrovalva and Delta and the Bannermen. Shocking, hopefully none of the remaining 3 McCoy stories I am yet to watch will sink to such depths
...of some beautiful pictures & sumptuous art work. Hardly an essential lurches but a thing of beauty.
| What: | The Wheel of Ice (BBC prestige novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 6 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
If a Doctor Who movie were made, it might be very much like this novel. Stephen Baxter is a "real" science-fiction writer, award winning and everything. That he has a soft spot for Doctor Who is apparent throughout the book. It has a loving attention to detail regarding the classic Doctor Who series, and in many ways follows the late 60s formula. At the same time, Baxter has updated some of the sensibilities. The novel itself involves the second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe stuck because of a time anomaly late in the 21st century on a corporate-run colony mining one of Saturn's moons. Strange things are happening, and of course early on the TARDIS crew gets blamed for it, but they soon get on the right side of the good guys and become deeply involved in saving the colony from whatever menaces it. This has all the hallmarks of the classic Who, with a tightly confined setting, a base under siege plot, an officious baddie representing a large institution and making matters worse, and an apparent monster to defeat. The differences from classic Who are that the monster turns out not to be one, and that the scale on which things occur is much larger. It all would have been impossible to make in 1960s TV, and probably would be extremely hard using current TV technology. This is what gives the story a movie-plot sense. Because Baxter is a "real" science-fiction writer, this novel is probably the closest one will ever get to hard-science Doctor Who. Baxter spends quite a bit of time explaining how and why things work on Mnemosyne colony. The Whovian elements, of course, make total commitment to hard science impractical, but wherever he can, Baxter grounds his story in the scientifically plausible and has an engineer's sense of how it would all work. Though slow in parts, the novel nevertheless has an interesting plot, some good character development of the TARDIS crew, especially Zoe, and a believable space-colony community. What holds me back from giving this novel an unqualified rating are the following concerns. The first is that the officious baddie, Florian Hart, is too one-dimensional, and seems bad merely because the story requires certain plot complications. Baxter tries to give her some psychological rationale, but this is really weak and ineffective in explaining why she does what she does. Another is MMAC, the Scots robot. He becomes too cute and irritating, and again the rationale for his personality is not convincing. Finally, there is the scale of the problem. This rests on a five-billion year old piece of damaged hardware. Granted it is highly advanced hardware, but few natural things last that long, let alone any manufactured thing. These qualifications aside, "The Wheel of Ice" is a very good read and well worth getting.
| What: | The Day of the Doctor (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
|
| By: | Lego Whovian, Bedford, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Wednesday 6 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 1 |
This episode disgusts me. I boycotted the simulcast, and when I finally got round to watching it on Blu-ray in January I was horrified. The starting sickened me. The ending depressed me. Not a tribute, but an insult to 50 years of Doctor Who. The other anniversary television specials (The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, Dimensions in Time) make this look like utter crap. All the other 50th anniversary specials (Prisoners of Time, The Light at the End, An Adventure in Space and Time, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot) showed this for what it really is. No Classics? No 50th!
| What: | Blue Box (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
|
| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Tuesday 5 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 5 |
This is yet another PDA that's well written, very clever and intreging book that for me fails because it just doesn't feel like a Dr Who novel at all. I just can't imagine this being on TV.
Whilst this adaptation of the first doctor who story ever is not extravagant by any means, it does it's job perfectly. It very nicely adapts the events that transpire on screen and relate them on to the page in what is still a very entertaining story. If anything the lack of extravagance in this story actually plays to is its strengths as it means the book is not too long but manages to maintain reader interest.
Having seen the episode myself I believe this to be a very nicely written book that very nicely adapts the episode itself.
A nice little homage to the first episode and making sure people who can't get their hands on the original episode can relive the first few moments of the best show ever with the rest of us.
"The First Sontarans" was scheduled for the 1985 season, but got set aside when Robert Holmes submitted "The Two Doctors." With all respect to Holmes, "The First Sontarans" is the better script. Andrew Smith, who wrote "Full Circle" in 1980, returns with another concept piece. Without giving away too much, I can say that Smith's title is both leading and misleading, and that is not a bad thing. You might think this is an origins story, and for two episodes it isn't, but then it is, but mainly as part of the background. The story itself would have fit well with 1985 Doctor Who. Like "Attack of the Cybermen," it starts small, then gets bigger and bigger. Part 4, though, would probably have blown the TV budget. Other good things in the story are the Doctor-Peri relationship and the characterization of Peri in general. In part 1, Doctor 6 and Peri start as the bickering couple typical of that season, but about 10 minutes in, that is all gone, and instead we see the trust and respect each accords the other. Peri is here played not as the wilting flower type of some of the TV stories, but as smart and even a little over-confident, as wanting to prove herself to the Doctor. With this Peri, one sees why the Doctor would accept her as a travelling companion. Finally, we get to experience a Sontaran vs. Rutan battle. One of the lesser aspects of the story is that once again everyone in the universe seems to know all about the Doctor and Time Lords. For some reason, the Sontarans have time corridor technology, which they do not have in the TV series. I think it is better to limit the numbers of time travellers. If everyone can time travel, there is nothing special about time travel. Those matters aside, "The First Sontarans" is a good example of what the 1985 TV series lacked.
| What: | Foreign Devils (Telos novellas) |
|
| By: | Rhonda Knight, Hartsville, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 1 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
I enjoyed the Agatha Christie mode of this. Not everything makes sense, but neither do the classic episodes :)
| | |
| Has the author ever seen an episode? |
|
| | |
| What: | Ghost Ship (Telos novellas) |
|
| By: | Rhonda Knight, Hartsville, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 1 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 3 |
First, 1st person narration with any Doctor is a mistake. This voice esp. does not sound like the Fourth Doctor at all. Too brooding and introspective.
| What: | Time and Relative (Telos novellas) |
|
| By: | Rhonda Knight, Hartsville, United States |
|
| Date: | Friday 1 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
Not enough Doctor, but still true to the first episode.
| What: | Decalog (Decalog short story collections) |
|
| By: | Chris Arnold, Bundaberg, Australia |
|
| Date: | Friday 1 August 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 8 |
I quite liked the overarching plot strand of the detective and psychic. On first reading years ago I was genuinely surprised at the twist but on second reading it is a little cliché and easy to spot.
Standout stories for me were Fallen Angel (although I'm not really sold on the Time Lord prison stuff, the characterisations were excellent), The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back (A nice evocation of season 7) and Lackaday Express (I didn't quite get it the first time but is well worth re-reading. A thinker for sure).
Clangers were The Duke of Dominoes (the strange and ethereal plot was confusing) and Prisoners of the Sun (an excellent idea for a story but I found it a little unengaging) with the rest of the group being fairly solid and dependable reads. I kind of liked the humour of the First Doctor Steven and Dodo in The Golden Door, and Peri is served well in Fascination.
Poor old Sixy gets the rough end of the deal, only appearing in The Golden Door (sharing the page count with the aforementioned First Doctor team), but other than that each doctor is represented well. A strong start for the Decalog series and for Doctor Who in the Short Story medium as a whole.
| | |
| Invasion of the Cyborg Termites |
|
| | |
| What: | Dancing the Code (Missing Adventures novels) |
|
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
|
| Date: | Thursday 31 July 2014 |
|
| Rating: | 5 |
"Dancing the Code" is a particularly gory novel that I think is supposed to be an anti-war statement. The story centers on the fictional north African country of Kebiria, which is in the midst of a civil war. The country is run by a typical strong-man dictator who wants to wipe out (read genocide) the tribal peoples fighting against him. He believes he has a novel way to do this by using some alien cyborg insects that have been lying in the desert for centuries. This description perhaps gives away too much, because Leonard keeps so much of the what is going on well hidden. The story does involve the insects making copies of people and technology. This creates much confusion in a country at war.
The main idea itself is interesting, but the story is not well executed. It is all pretty gory and violent, just to begin with. Leonard wants to insist on just how horrible war is by turning the reader's stomach, often. He also describes just about everyone else's turned stomachs. Through the first half of the novel, just about everyone is in a constant state of nausea, apparently. UNIT proves utterly worthless, and pretty much gets wiped out. The Doctor is unduly harsh with the Brigadier, who here proves rather tame. Also, in the last few chapters, Leonard forgets that the Brigadier had a dodgy ankle as a result of a helicopter crash. Leonard's prose is serviceable, but not scintillating. Still, I do have to say that the main idea for the story, of a world over-run by cyborg termites, is handled with some logic.
