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| What: | Trail of the White Worm (Fourth Doctor Adventures audios) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Saturday 12 October 2013 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
Trail of the White Worm is more evidence of Big Finish's efforts to make the 4th Doctor adventures feel like a continuation rather than a rewrite. The production features a brilliantly over-the-top performance from Michael Cochrane, a superbly sinister performance from Geoffrey Beevers, and a nicley modulated performance from Rachel Stirling. Tom Baker is by this point falling back into the role. The story itself is classic in structure, even when it contains elements that could not have been done in 1977, such as Col. Spindleton's tank and helicopter. Alan Barnes seems to be aiming for Robert Holmes in the writing, using quirky and very English characters, mixing offhanded joking and serious danger. The major complaint that I have is that it has not much new, that the writer has tried a little too hard to recreate 1977 without stretching the form just a bit.
| What: | The Creature from the Pit (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
Oh dear. Where to start. Don't get me wrong, I love Douglas Adams but this is a good example of why, after the glories of City of Death, he was the wrong choice for Doctor Who.
The main problem with this is Tom Baker at this point his ego seemed to be out of control as is the 'comedy' it's far to much and as such the direction is all over the place.
Thank goodness Chris Bidmead rained in Tom for the 4th Doctor's glorious swan song.
The story itself is just silly and uninteresting. As for the Erato, worse Doctor Who enemy ever anybody ?
| What: | The Space Museum / The Chase (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Space Museum.
Like The Sensorites, this story has a wonderful haunting, genuinely creepy first episode followed by episodes of uter tedium. Thankfully the Space Museum is only a 4 parter. The only thing of interest outside the first episode is when the Doctoris being quizzed.
The extras on this DVD are very thin.
The Chase
Easily the worst Dalek story ever. 6 episodes of silliness that never seems to go anywhere with the absolute low point the robot "Doctor" how would that fool anyone???? The story had one lovely scene, Ian & Barbra getting back home and running around London like giddy, lovestruck teenagers.
The DVD is rescued by an excellent set of (mostly) Dalek relegated extras including some 60's film of Shawcroft model makers who created most of the monsters seen in 60's Who.
| What: | Black Orchid (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Dull, dull, dull. This is my least favourite Dr Who story ever. Why ? Because it commits the cardinal sin of being dull, not bad dull. Everybody looks throughly bored. You think I'm kidding, look at the "party" outdoors, have you ever seen a bunch of more bored people. The story, such as it is, is a Sci-Fi story with no Sci fi & a murder mystery with no mystery because we no who did it. The two plus factors on this DVD, Peter Davidson's impressive cricket action & the excellent Stripped For Action covering the 5th Doctors comic strip adventures. Avoid like the plague.
| What: | The Sontaran Experiment (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
A fun romp in which the Doctor, Sarah Jane & Harry get to run around Dartmoor being chased by Sontarons. A light story that doesn't always work but is enjoyable enough.
| What: | The Mark of the Rani (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 10 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
Recently watched this for the first time in ages. What a mess. A story that meanders all over the place & makes no sense at all. The Rani's plans seem amazingly over complicated and what the hell is the master doing in this ? Why is he necessary to the story ? What does he add ? Poor old Colin a Baker does his best with this mess & poor Nicola Bryant has to wear a dress that looks like a tent. The Rani's TARDIS is a thing of beauty & the one good thing in this story & then people get blown up into trees ????!!!!
Another Pip & Jane Baker mess. Avoid.
| What: | The Emperor of Eternity (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks) |
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| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 9 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I love the 2nd Doctor stories anyway and all the companion releases seem to have the theme of his sort of time and you could imagine the B/W on the TV of them & I would have loved to have seen this I can probably understand with them not having Fraser playing the voice of Patrick to steal the story from Deborah as its her tal but it sounds great the only part what would be dfferent if when she hears the recoerder being played as he only knew one tune and this tune being played was a well played different tune so it had me thinking it was someone else playing it, I really think if this was made properly it would be great on TV but it would have been even better if Patricks voice was done by Fraser, but I thought that about the old man as soon as they were talking about him, but good story again, wish we had the episodes of his and Hartnell's stories because I love them both but Troughton comes a very close second to Tom Baker in my favourite Doctor's...........
| What: | Terror of the Zygons (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 9 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
With Zygons coming out it's the end for the range of 4th Doctors glorious run on DVD.
All of the 4th Doctors adventures are now available & the run comes to a finish with an all time classic.
The 4th Doctor, Sarah-Jane, Harry, a The Brig, UNIT, Zygons & the Loch Ness monster. What a treat.
A real corker of a story that rattles along at a fair pace & now includes an extra opening scene that you will never have seen before. Once again the RT have performed wonders in not only buffing up the story to make it look like it was made yesterday but also to splice in the fully restored opening scene of the TARDIS landing in Scotland ( or Sussex standing in for Scotland)
You'll have probably seen this story lots of times so you don't need me to tell you what a corker it is. If you haven't, you're in for a treat.
There are lots of lovely extras on the 2nd disc including lengthy interviews with Tom Baker & the much missed Liz Sladen.
Do yourself a favour, buy it know. You won't regret it.
| What: | Harvest of Time (BBC prestige novels) |
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| By: | Earle DL Foster, Invercargill, New Zealand |
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| Date: | Monday 7 October 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
An equally impressive follow-up to the introductory new Past Doctor Novel, and an ever interesting twist to the multi-incarnation storyline. Mr Reynolds has penned a fitting homage to the Pertwee era, and I for one hope this rejuvenated series will continue well into the upcoming 2014.
I was very disappointed by the rubbish cardboard sleeve around it, what a shame. I've now got it, so can't do anything about it - why BBC? Why? Not happy, because it doesn't match my other CDs, and it also doesn't look right and is bent in the wrong way. Stupid idea BBC - and more trees have been cut down for it too. Disappointed.
| What: | Scream of the Shalka (Miscellaneous TV spin-offs) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Monday 30 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
And so the Doctor Who that could have been, the Doctor who briefly was, makes it on to DVD.
While glad that this wasn't the future of Doctor Who there are things to admire in this oddity.
A great story by Paul Cornell, a great cast Richard E Grant, David Jacobi, Sophie Okenodo & even David Tennant in a very tiny, blink & you'll miss it, role. Some beautiful artwork including a lovely TARDIS console & some great monsters.
Yes it's not the best Dr Who ever & thank goodness RTD brought it back to our screens, but it's a fun romp.
The DVD extras are excellent including an exploration of the BBC online. The commentary is not really a commentary because apart from the episodes that feature Paul Cornell it's obvious that Toby Hadoke & guest aren't watching the story but it's still full of interesting nuggets including the fact that Robbie Williams was considered for the role of the Doctor.
All in all for fans only but a fun release.
| What: | The Book of Shadows (Miscellaneous short stories) |
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| By: | Time Rotor, Earth, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Cracking good read!
Author has put sample text here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/gsd9l269niuvhur/3_books_-_info_and_sample_text_-_01a.pdf
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 | why weren't these stories pulbished? |
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| What: | The Age of Broken Miracles (Miscellaneous short stories) |
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| By: | Time Rotor, Earth, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
bought mine from Lulu. simply put: brilliant. A bit skimpy on author comment (would have voted 10 otherwise) but the ideas are crazy. the author has put hi res covers on his deviant art page (search for Jim Mortimore on deviantart) with a link to sample text for the books.
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| Strange writing style - disappointing |
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There are so many conflicting accounts of this book. So many people seemed to really love it, and I hoped that I would be one of them.
Unfortunately, in the end this book just didn't appeal to me. The concept was interesting and parts of it were reasonably well done. However, I couldn't get past the fact that there was no actual dialogue in the book at all, and in my opinion that reduced the plot to a dull two dimensional story that just dragged awfully. Quite a let down, sadly.
| What: | The Murder Game (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I must admit I approached this book with some trepidation because I'm not really a crime/murder mystery/ whodunit fan & after reading the blurb on the back of the book I thought that's what I would be reading.
And that's what it is, a whodunit, but oh so much more. It slowly evolves into a base under siege, thrill a minute, throughly riverting read.
It builds to a wonderfully excting page turner & I found myself racing towards the end to find out how it ends as the spaceship/hotel comes under attack.
Steve Lyons "gets" the 2nd Doctor, Ben & Polly spot on. You can really hear the voices reading the lines.
This feels like Ben's story as he has the bulk of the action.
All in all one of the best PDA I have read.
The two lost stories combined here provide an interesting glimpse into the Doctor Who that might have been. "The Foe from the Future" was originally supposed to be the series ender in 1977, but proved unworkable given television standards at the time, so "Talons of Weng-Chiang" was quickly substituted. "Foe" begins in the Gothic style of the time, with ghosts, a lonely English village, a haunted mansion, and a crumbling church. By the second half, however, it has become more straightforward science fiction than much of what had been produced in the Hinchcliffe era. Baker and Jameson work well together. The script, even at 6 parts, is fast-paced and manages to avoid endless capture-rescue-capture plotting that slowed down some of the longer stories. There are a few too many confrontations between the Doctor and Jalnik, all of which happen in pretty much the same way. The jokes are not too egregious. Baker's delivery is a bit slower than would have been in the 1970s, but that's age for you.
"Valley of Death" starts as a kind of Lost World story for the first two parts, then becomes something a bit like the early parts of "Shada" in the next two parts. Baker has picked up speed a bit in this story and seems more comfortable returning to the Doctor role. Whereas "Foe" was produced as a pastiche of Hinchcliffe era, "Valley" is produced as a pastiche of Williams era Doctor Who, when the original storyline had been submitted. Thus, there is much more off-the-cuff joking and less attention to plot logic than in "Foe." The story itself is, as the extras commentary says, "bonkers." In particular, the magical properties of the Lurian sun just make no sense whatsoever.
The set comes with an extra disc of about an hour of interviews with the cast. This is mostly in the typical "everything is wonderful" making-of style that one expects from these things, and not much is here to edify.
In sum: The stories are well produced to recreate the feel of this period in Doctor Who history. In this respect, the writers got things absolutely right. "Foe" is in general the better story because even though longer it is more tightly plotted and more careful about its dialogue.
| What: | Self Portrait (Cast biographies) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 22 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
A fascinating insight into the swinging Sixtes from one who was there, the lovely Anneke Wills.
Truth be told the Dr Who bit is only a small part of the book, as it was in her life, but the book is an interesting insight into her life. Recommended.
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| The Second Doctor Returned |
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| What: | The Glorious Revolution (The Companion Chronicles audiobooks) |
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| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This was a great story in my opinion I had never seen Jamie do anything like this before and want to alter history and it had me wanting to listen to more all the time and again Frazer Hines portrayel of Patrick Troughton is superb it actually sounds as if Patrick is reading his own lines, he has a great talent there I love watching the second doctor and his group so this is a top story in my opinion.
I'm in the minority, as in I came to listen to this story not knowing *anything* of it's back-story. Also, not as much of a fan of the black&white era of the show, or rather, not having seen enough of it to know if I was a fan of it. I think I've only seen three stories of the first Doctor. Regardless, I liked this. After listening to it, I've seen comments about this story being dull, but I didn't find it that bad. I thought everyone involved in the production did a good job, from voice actors to sound design. The story wasn't awesome, but it wasn't horrible either, and it evoked the feel of those 3 stories I'd seen many years ago. Despite the length, it was worth the time to listen to it.
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| Vengance on Varos Special Edtion |
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| What: | Vengeance on Varos (BBC classic series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Trevor Smith, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 4 September 2013 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
A wonderful SE of this, my favourite 6th Doctor story, is most welcome.
The original release of VoV was one of the earliest releases & as such was very thin on content apart from the story itself & a great commentary.
This newly buffed up and shiny new version features lots of new extras including a great making of with writer Phillip Martin.
It also features an optional 3.1 surround sound mix which is just wonderful and adds new layers to the enjoyment of this wonderful, multi-layered, ahead of its time story.
Buy it, you won't regret it.
