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 | Limited Edition Signed Version. |
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| What: | Return to Devil's End (Miscellaneous video interviews / documentaries) |
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| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Tuesday 6 March 2012 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
The only reason it got a 10 for this video is because, it is a limited edited copy of only 500 made where the cover was signed by all the Cast involved including Jon Pertwee, so that makes it extra special also watching it makes me remember watching the Daemon's, & usually makes me want to stick it on.
This is a brilliant book. Very dark. Twisted. Surreal.
Almost baroque. And very gothic.
Some people have difficulty with it. The writing is the most precise I've ever seen. Almost Dickensian, but more exact. The author has an astonishingly powerful brain. Very bizarre and unique, and his imaginative vision remains, to my mind at least, utterly unparlleled.
Unfortunately, my experience reading this novel seems to have been unusual.
Nobody I know can read this book. Everyone I give it to has difficulties with it. The colossal visions it contains remain locked away in the dust.
The huge two-headed worm of the Process. The vast dead grey city. The rearing tower of metal refuse that squeals with machinery at the center of it all. And of course, the wondous powers of the TARDIS.
I have never seen such writing. It is the pinicle of human achievment. Marc Platt possesses an extraordinary intelligence. One that comparably few people seem to understand.
Several people have complained about the ending of this book. Some have said that when you figure out what's going on, you just shrug, and say: "It makes sense, but what was all the fuss about?"
I cannot understand this attitude. This book is so intricate it beggars the imagination. The end has implications for the beginning. The middle is echoed throughout. And the ending is a mystery hidden in an emigmatic image that must be reasoned out to be understood.
I firmly regard this book as THE novel of twentieth century literature. Even today, I have never seen writing or imagination like it. It is completely unique. Monumental complexity and originality that is found nowhere else.
Read it for the brilliance and the weird.
| What: | The Shadow in the Glass (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Matt Saunders, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 24 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This book is simply one of the best of these Past Doctor novels. These guys really should write more together. It's got the Brigadier and the Sixth Doctor in a really clever adventure against Adolf Hitler. Well worth a read and picking up second hand. :)
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| The Uwe Boll of authors... |
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| What: | Managra (Missing Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Todd Snider, Green Bay, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 21 February 2012 |
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| Rating: |  1 |
The Uwe Boll of authors...
| What: | Alien Adventures (2-in-1 Eleventh Doctor novels) |
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| By: | C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand |
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| Date: | Monday 20 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I did enjoy these two stories. The first is the classic Dr Who plot of the Dr trying to stop a war between two side that should just sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat togehter, although the plot is good and it is enjoyable to read the bit where the dr is learning the "colour language" of the sea creature seems a little silly (why didn't the TARDIS translator thing not work?)
The 2nd story Raion of Terror was the better of the two stories. It has the wonderful plot of a swarm that is eating everything in its path, And two idiots that are trying to make a lot of money and trying to kill everybody else aswell. It could probably have been another 150 pages longer as I was really enjoying it. and It would have worked well of TV only the plot is very similar to Planet of the dead - only the diffrence is its little bugs instead of sting rays and its a train and not a London bus.
Even thoe this is aimed at younger readers give this a go - you wont regret it.
| What: | The Eyeless (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | Hessel Hoekstra, Maassluis, Netherlands |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Great book! The lonely Doctor was very well detailed, and the setting, writing style, and even the cover created an ultimate setting for the story. The story was very good, and the Eyeless were scary!
| What: | Dying in the Sun (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Sunday 19 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
"Dying in the Sun" is an attempt to extrapolate "movie magic" to a Doctor Who setting. The basic idea is that the allure of the stars and the compelling nature of film can be enhanced. In this way, the novel's writer can fit in the cliches of Hollywood and blame them on the aliens. So, here is what we have. The Doctor, Ben, and Polly are in Los Angeles 1947 generally being tourists. The Doctor's friend who works in the business is murdered, and this murder turns out to be part of a plot by some liquid aliens who live inside people and on film. One of the characters names the aliens Selyoids (get it, the celluloids). Alright, I'll go with the idea. However, four problems block the execution of the novel. The first has to do with anachronisms. I live in Los Angeles, so I can say that Miller never quite made Los Angeles 1947 seem real. He throws about some place names, but appears to be unfamiliar with the geography and history. He gets American dialogue wrong, such as having a character say "Go on then" rather than "Go on" and similar slips into Britishisms. Yellow crime scene tape was not in use in 1947. The second problem is the story of Robert Chate, which seems beyond improbable. Granted, alien slime that alters film is improbable, but that is the science fiction angle. Where normality runs, it should stay within the probability lines. Chate's story, involving his escaping a police dragnet, killing a gangster, knocking unconscious a police officer watching his property, dragging the body of the fat gangster up three flights of stairs and then setting a building on fire all before the unconscious policeman awakes, just does not hold up. The third problem is the Selyoids themselves. Just what do they want? Why do they do what they do? Only the vaguest of explanations are given. The fourth is Miller's handling of the Doctor's character. He spends most of the novel going here and there trying to tell people that the sky is falling. Every time the Doctor says something like "We have to do something," that something is to talk to someone who doesn't believe him. One would think that eventually the Doctor might consider some other course of action. To summarize, lack of imagination killed this story.
..especially David Troughton playing The Visitor! Really excellent, these audios are really starting to grow on me.
I first read this book many years ago when I was much younger. I got the video and then the DVD and have to say I really do like this story.
I read it again at the weekend and once the action started I just couldn't put the book down
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| The best DVD of series one. |
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| What: | Series 1 Volume 3: (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Pieter Knotnerus, Ter Apel, Netherlands |
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| Date: | Monday 13 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
The best DVD of series one.
| What: | Series 1 Volume 2: (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Pieter Knotnerus, Ter Apel, Netherlands |
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| Date: | Monday 13 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Daleks are back.
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| good beginning for the new series |
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| What: | Series 1 Volume 1: (BBC new series DVDs/Blu-rays) |
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| By: | Pieter Knotnerus, Ter Apel, Netherlands |
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| Date: | Monday 13 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
good beginning for the new series
| What: | Touched By An Angel (BBC new series audiobooks) |
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| By: | C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand |
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| Date: | Sunday 12 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I reviewed this in the BOOK section of this web site but have also listened to this CD and Clare Corbett does very very very well!!! Great to listen to if you have a few hours to kill, or need something to listen to while your working and doing the house work.
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| BLOODY WELL DONE MR MORRIS!!!!! |
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| What: | Touched by an Angel (BBC New Series Adventures novels) |
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| By: | C G Harwood, Dunedin, NZ, New Zealand |
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| Date: | Sunday 12 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This book is absolutly fantastic. The Angels are the best thing to happen to Dr Who since they killed of Adric, But always wondered if they would work in book form. Now I have my answer and they were absolutly brilliant!!! The fact that I read this in 2 days says to me how good this book was as I'm not the fastest reader. And when Rebekah dies in his arms at the end of the book there was actually a tear in my eye and that never happens (I'm a 40 year old guy for god sake!!!!!)
Even the romance in this book was great - If you were sent back in time, who wouldn't have some things that they would want to change about there past, or try to save someone inportant to you that died, Or maybe (if they could) go back in the past and invest a few thousand dollars into something like Apple computers or invest money into a play like Phantom of the Opera when it first came out.
Well done Jonathan Morris this is very near the the best Dr Who book I have ever read.
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| Almost killed the series for me. |
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| What: | Demon Quest: Starfall (Nest Cottage audio dramas) |
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| By: | Philip Frey, Rochester, NY, United States |
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 February 2012 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Almost killed the series for me.
| What: | The Lost Stories: The Macros (The Lost Stories audio dramas) |
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| By: | Jeremy Matthews, Brisbane, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 January 2012 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
The Macros is a funny one; it's overall fairly enjoyable, but some bits of it are a bit lifeless, and had they had more energy to them, this story truly could have been something excellent. The sections of this story set onboard the USS Eldridge are great. They're atmospheric, well-characterised, and just genuinely interesting scenes which draw the listener (ie, me) in with consummate ease. However, the other half of the story takes place on the planet Capron, and while these portions of the story have some good moments (Peri posing as a singer is laugh-out-loud stuff) the overwhelming impression I get from those bits was that Capron is a dull, one-dimensional world, which I was gonna forget about the moment Episode 2 finished. And yet... it feels like it should be so much better. Osloo should be a brilliantly pathetic villain, a woman who has her horizons expanded exponentially, and as a result just decides to conquer the universe. But as written, the character is a not-very-interesting matriach, with a line in pompous put-downs. Linda Marlowe does some good work, but she can't overcome the shortcomings of the script. With a few more drafts, to truly convince me with regards to Osloo's development, and to add more life to Capron's other inhabitants, I would happily rant about this one all day. And yet, it doesn't quite get there.
This one's received a lot of praise, and I don't entirely understand why. While it has some good ideas, and is nicely paced, it's characters are almost entirely shallow ciphers, who really needed to be developed more deeply to truly engage me in the story. The Captain, for example, is too simplistically 'evil' for me to truly sympathise with him when his (actually quite convincing) backstory is revealed. That said, the whole atmosphere of the story, switching between the factory ship and the belly of the Ghaleen, is truly great, and makes this one an enjoyable, if a touch simplistic, listen.
Barbara Clegg, despite only delivering one story for 'Doctor Who', is one of my favourite writers, as that story was the excellent 'Enlightenment'. So to have another of her stories made was a great treat for me, and it was everything I hoped for. While its plot isn't that complex, the whole story is extremely dark and ghoulish, with some of the images it conjures it up possibly being too extreme for audiences nowadays, let alone the 80s. This story isn't about complex plotting, but about atmosphere, and it has that in bucketloads. Kit Marlowe makes for a great historical character, and his turn to the 'darkness' of Velez is astonishingly well-portrayed. And the Omnim are suitably grizly monsters, which work all the better for not appearing too much. This is my favourite of the first series of Lost Stories, and deserves to be heard by everyone. Now. I mean it. Get up, and go buy a copy now. :P
| What: | The Lost Stories: Paradise 5 (The Lost Stories audio dramas) |
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| By: | Jeremy Matthews, Brisbane, Australia |
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| Date: | Sunday 29 January 2012 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This Lost Story isn't quite as it would have appeared, as part of the 'Trial of a Time Lord', but that's perhaps to the story's advantage, as it is able to develop on it's own merits, rather than being piggy-backed onto the Trial. It's perfectly paced, and has beautiful atmosphere, which allows the listener to just settle back and enjoy the imagery that the story conjures up. However, it's also got some great moral dilemmas in it; the truth about the Cherubs is horrible, and forces even my beloved morbid Sixth Doctor to get a bit squeamish and upset. The gay couple who serve as the story's villains are also deliciously pompous characters, particularly Gabriel, who is perfectly pitched as a character.
It's interesting to note that this even would have fitted in with the Trial's overall criticism of capitalism, following on very well from 'Mindwarp' in that respect. I really wish that it had been made, as it would have made a far better story than 'Terror of the Vervoids', and also would have made a great introduction story for Mel. My only complaint about this story is the disgusting music, which is utterly tuneless and evil. Despite what fans tend to think, Doctor Who's incidental music in the 80s was often quite subtle and beautiful ('Enlightenment', 'The Two Doctors', 'The Keeper of Traken') so I don't know why the composer bashed out this horrific racket. Other than that, though, this is a really good story. Go out there and get it now!
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| A Good Story in the Wrong Medium |
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I'm a fan of Bidmead, both as a script editor and a writer. He writes weird, sprawling narratives, which take in lots of different ideas, but somehow come out as something coherent. And, had it been made, 'The Hollows of Time' would have been no different. There's lots of great ideas in here; the use of the Tractators is ingenious, I LOVE the sequences of the car in space, and even little things, like the 'turtle', are marvellous. And yet, by transferring the story to audio, and robbing it of it's original villain, the story loses something, and becomes a random sequence of images, which don't really add up. The score is magnificent, and I love all the acting, but the adaptation of the script robs it of something. It's one of the few times that the production by Big Finish has failed slightly. So I'm giving it a good grade, but that's more for the ambition of the original story than the final realisation here.
