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Post by number13 on Nov 20, 2023 1:24:14 GMT
The Gunfighters Long held to be one of the worst stories in the range, this is actually a lot of fun. Mr Cotton has clearly worked hard on this but it suffers from having too many characters with the same sort of voice as the narration. Good fun, though. I love it! I love the style, the jokes, the anachronistic cultural references and the endless wise-cracking. Yee ha! I've never actually read it but the audiobook performed by Shane Rimmer is terrific.
Well, I think so anyhow. And if anyone wants to make somethin' of it, they'll find me out front of the 'Last Chance' at high noon...
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Nov 20, 2023 10:10:20 GMT
The Gunfighters Long held to be one of the worst stories in the range, this is actually a lot of fun. Mr Cotton has clearly worked hard on this but it suffers from having too many characters with the same sort of voice as the narration. Good fun, though. I love it! I love the style, the jokes, the anachronistic cultural references and the endless wise-cracking. Yee ha! I've never actually read it but the audiobook performed by Shane Rimmer is terrific.
Well, I think so anyhow. And if anyone wants to make somethin' of it, they'll find me out front of the 'Last Chance' at high noon... All three of Cotton’s novelisations play with the structure a bit. I was fortunate enough to read The Myth Makers almost simultaneously with Shakespeare’s Troilus And Cressida (I alternate books in series so that I don’t get bored with an author’s style and I had a ton of really nice Folio Society editions that I was reading a the time) and the anachronisms that a lot of readers complained about on publication and in subsequent reviews were simply borrowed from Shakespeare (Ben Johnson has a whole chapter where he complains about things like Roman names in Ancient Greek legends).
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Post by number13 on Nov 20, 2023 19:23:51 GMT
I love it! I love the style, the jokes, the anachronistic cultural references and the endless wise-cracking. Yee ha! I've never actually read it but the audiobook performed by Shane Rimmer is terrific.
Well, I think so anyhow. And if anyone wants to make somethin' of it, they'll find me out front of the 'Last Chance' at high noon... All three of Cotton’s novelisations play with the structure a bit. I was fortunate enough to read The Myth Makers almost simultaneously with Shakespeare’s Troilus And Cressida (I alternate books in series so that I don’t get bored with an author’s style and I had a ton of really nice Folio Society editions that I was reading a the time) and the anachronisms that a lot of readers complained about on publication and in subsequent reviews were simply borrowed from Shakespeare (Ben Johnson has a whole chapter where he complains about things like Roman names in Ancient Greek legends). 'The Myth Makers' novelisation is fabulous, Homer speaking with a literary style somewhere between P.G.Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome and yes it's packed with anachronisms. And I love every one of them! My theory is that the Doctor came to visit Vicki in Carthage on more than just the one occasion and spent a lot of time chatting with Homer in his olive grove. And told him rather more tales about the future than a responsible Time Lord should...
I re-read 'The Iliad' (in translation I hasten to add) before my first time with 'The Myth Makers' and decided that of the two, the original work is easily the more fantastical. Even with 'Lord Zeus' and his blue temple in the sequel! TV & film retellings of the Trojan War never include all those scheming and fighting gods and goddesses that are included for obvious comedy value to counter the grim story of the war. So the precedent for making 'The Myth Makers' part-comedy was set a very long time before. 'Doctor Who', in the footsteps of classical giants!
EDIT: While I think of it, highly recommend Stephen Thorne performing the audiobook version. Could not be improved on.
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Post by mark687 on Nov 23, 2023 11:15:53 GMT
Illustrated Rose Out Today
Regards
mark687
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Post by shallacatop on Nov 23, 2023 11:56:29 GMT
Once Upon a Time Lord
Lovely read and probably the best Who outing from Titan since their ongoing ranges ended. A wonderful tribute to the show from Dan Slott, specifically leaning into the RTD era, as well as being a clever collection of tales in their own right.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 2, 2023 8:35:20 GMT
Fury From The Deep
A well-written novelisation but the story feels way too similar to a lot of other stories from this season to be genuinely exciting. Which is a shame because in a lot of ways it is a great read: there’s just too many characters we’ve seen before in earlier stories. I’d probably have enjoyed it more if I’d been reading it in isolation rather than as part of a series.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2023 10:22:36 GMT
Fury From The Deep A well-written novelisation but the story feels way too similar to a lot of other stories from this season to be genuinely exciting. Which is a shame because in a lot of ways it is a great read: there’s just too many characters we’ve seen before in earlier stories. I’d probably have enjoyed it more if I’d been reading it in isolation rather than as part of a series. I do recall it being mentioned in one of the On Target documentaries on the DVD range that there was an edict sometime in the mid 80s that more adaptations had to be quite rigid and straight forward adaptations. Primarily as it became apparent they were missing so many stories in the archives and the home video market for Who had kicked off exceptionally well, the novels would be THE way for fans to experience the classics. So a lot of the offbeat formats and presentation of just a few years earlier became a lot more homogenised. Terrence Dicks always said that's why he got to do so many in the late 70s and early 80s - on top of being fast with the typewriter he was giving them an accurate version of script to novel. Wheras some of the novels which make for much better reads, especially as a marathon when you want some diversity, were perhaps not quite replacements for the TV versions by a certain point in the range. Of course, time restraints and deadlines as they were - some stuff got through anyway. That's probably also why Terrance felt quite dated when the Virgin New Adventures, 8DAs and PDAs kicked in - he really wasn't used to doing anything much outside the TV show or straight adaptations. I love his work but by the 90s next to Lawrence Miles or Paul Cornell, who were pushing the "show" to new places, it did seem quite antiquated and often relied on TV continuity more than other books did.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 2, 2023 10:53:20 GMT
Fury From The Deep A well-written novelisation but the story feels way too similar to a lot of other stories from this season to be genuinely exciting. Which is a shame because in a lot of ways it is a great read: there’s just too many characters we’ve seen before in earlier stories. I’d probably have enjoyed it more if I’d been reading it in isolation rather than as part of a series. I do recall it being mentioned in one of the On Target documentaries on the DVD range that there was an edict sometime in the mid 80s that more adaptations had to be quite rigid and straight forward adaptations. Primarily as it became apparent they were missing so many stories in the archives and the home video market for Who had kicked off exceptionally well, the novels would be THE way for fans to experience the classics. So a lot of the offbeat formats and presentation of just a few years earlier became a lot more homogenised. Terrence Dicks always said that's why he got to do so many in the late 70s and early 80s - on top of being fast with the typewriter he was giving them an accurate version of script to novel. Wheras some of the novels which make for much better reads, especially as a marathon when you want some diversity, were perhaps not quite replacements for the TV versions by a certain point in the range. Of course, time restraints and deadlines as they were - some stuff got through anyway. That's probably also why Terrance felt quite dated when the Virgin New Adventures, 8DAs and PDAs kicked in - he really wasn't used to doing anything much outside the TV show or straight adaptations. I love his work but by the 90s next to Lawrence Miles or Paul Cornell, who were pushing the "show" to new places, it did seem quite antiquated and often relied on TV continuity more than other books did. Donald Cotton’s novelisations of his own scripts are frequently the same story with a few “improvements” added by a writer who had grown in his own talent. John Lucarotti’s The Massacre was based on the script he submitted rather than the one that was shot because he had that one handy and felt it was truer to what he wanted to do with the story, and by this point the story was “lost” so nobody would know the difference. Terrance was a great translator from screen to page - and, if you look at his versions of Sunmakers and Android Invasion, interpreter of what the show should look and feel like. i wasn’t a big fan of the NAs: they largely just seemed like an opportunity for young writers to push their cyberpunk or show how knowledgeable about the show they were. Not many of them really were “too deep (or) too broad” and those that were got soundly shot down for being too far out of the wheelhouse (thinking of Ben Aaronovich’s Transit here, which was an ok SF novel with the germ of a good Who story in it, as were a lot of NAs, if they were lucky). I have to say that part of my dislike of them was from their portrayal of the Doctor as a massive puppetmaster rather than the stranger who stumbled into adventures, which was something I disliked onscreen as well. I really should emphasise that I’m nearly at the end of the fifth season in my read through and I haven’t hit a novel that is a dud yet. Part of it has been that I’ve been alternating it with loads of other books along the way so I don’t get bored with the format. And with Troughton’s bases under siege, the format can get quite repetitive. It’s a credit to the authors that they’re able to bring something fresh to it each time… in book form at least.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 5, 2023 11:07:43 GMT
The Wheel In Space
A fairly perfunctory translation from screen to page. Mr Dicks works hard to give the various guest characters some personality but the story sometimes feels barely capable of supporting them. There’s a fair amount of running around and but the tension just wasn’t there for me until the climax which is pretty good.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Dec 9, 2023 19:58:15 GMT
The Age of Chaos Graphic Novel
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2023 17:39:53 GMT
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 19, 2023 3:20:25 GMT
The Dominators
Probably the best iteration of this adventure. Characters are fleshed out more, the setting is expanded on and it feels quite exciting in places.
(Also: a note to self - do not go looking up one-word titles on Goodreads, especially when sitting next to your wife)
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 25, 2023 10:45:46 GMT
The Mind Robber
A lot of public domain characters menace the Doctor and friends in a story that works hard to be better than it is. This is a fantasy produced by people who seemingly disapprove of escapism despite working on a science fiction show.
I really don’t like this story: the central message seems to be that liking stories is a Bad Thing. It also suffers from that television problem that fantasy must take place in white, empty spaces with a lot of “highly symbolic” shots representing ideas and scenes that they could never produce on a tv budget (Warrior’s Gate is one of the few examples of fantastical television that gets away with doing this) but insist on including anyway.
(edit: I’ve just noticed that I haven’t enjoyed the last few stories very much. The books have been ok - I haven’t read a genuine dud yet - but the stories have involved a lot of padding and uninteresting characters. Oh well - there’s a couple of Robert Holmes scripts coming up soon isn’t there…)
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 30, 2023 2:37:31 GMT
The Invasion
This is a bit more like it: Marter produces a thrilling adaptation of an excellent story. There’s still a lot of running around between just a few locations but you barely notice because it is so gripping. Like The War Machines and Web Of Fear, this gives us a glimpse into the near future of the show and it looks great.
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Post by number13 on Dec 30, 2023 12:54:51 GMT
The Mind Robber A lot of public domain characters menace the Doctor and friends in a story that works hard to be better than it is. This is a fantasy produced by people who seemingly disapprove of escapism despite working on a science fiction show. I really don’t like this story: the central message seems to be that liking stories is a Bad Thing. It also suffers from that television problem that fantasy must take place in white, empty spaces with a lot of “highly symbolic” shots representing ideas and scenes that they could never produce on a tv budget (Warrior’s Gate is one of the few examples of fantastical television that gets away with doing this) but insist on including anyway. (edit: I’ve just noticed that I haven’t enjoyed the last few stories very much. The books have been ok - I haven’t read a genuine dud yet - but the stories have involved a lot of padding and uninteresting characters. Oh well - there’s a couple of Robert Holmes scripts coming up soon isn’t there…) Fun note: As I recall from the DVD production notes etc., the white empty space of the first episode wasn't an artistic choice. It was because 'The Dominators' had (thankfully) been cut to "only" 5 episodes and they suddenly had to expand 'The Mind Robber' to 5 episodes to fill the gap. With no extra budget, no scenery, no actors except the regulars and almost no time to write or make the episode! But make it they did. 60s Who, hanging on by its fingertips with practically no money, but nerves of steel!
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Dec 30, 2023 13:28:42 GMT
The Mind Robber A lot of public domain characters menace the Doctor and friends in a story that works hard to be better than it is. This is a fantasy produced by people who seemingly disapprove of escapism despite working on a science fiction show. I really don’t like this story: the central message seems to be that liking stories is a Bad Thing. It also suffers from that television problem that fantasy must take place in white, empty spaces with a lot of “highly symbolic” shots representing ideas and scenes that they could never produce on a tv budget (Warrior’s Gate is one of the few examples of fantastical television that gets away with doing this) but insist on including anyway. (edit: I’ve just noticed that I haven’t enjoyed the last few stories very much. The books have been ok - I haven’t read a genuine dud yet - but the stories have involved a lot of padding and uninteresting characters. Oh well - there’s a couple of Robert Holmes scripts coming up soon isn’t there…) Fun note: As I recall from the DVD production notes etc., the white empty space of the first episode wasn't an artistic choice. It was because 'The Dominators' had (thankfully) been cut to "only" 5 episodes and they suddenly had to expand 'The Mind Robber' to 5 episodes to fill the gap. With no extra budget, no scenery, no actors except the regulars and almost no time to write or make the episode! But make it they did. 60s Who, hanging on by its fingertips with practically no money, but nerves of steel! Oh yes, there’s a lot to admire in the production of this story - the painted horse standing in for a unicorn is one of them - but it’s just left me cold in a lot of ways. Given how much I love the Williams era of the show, I should appreciate the seat-of-your-pants approach to production but this just doesn’t do much for me at all.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 8, 2024 11:03:50 GMT
The Krotons
I love watching the Doctor toppling corrupt hierarchies but The Krotons is pretty ordinary. Holmes’s script is pretty basic compared to what we got from him later, and Dicks enlivens it nicely.
Honestly, this is a blueprint for what the Doctor would do a couple of times a season in the 70s and 80s. Of course it was written by Robert Holmes.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 9, 2024 7:57:31 GMT
The Seeds Of Death
A fabulous retelling of a classic story. Dicks keeps the pace up and gives us a lot more detail about the settings, the characters, and the peril they find themselves in. A delight.
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Post by number13 on Jan 9, 2024 11:55:15 GMT
The Seeds Of Death A fabulous retelling of a classic story. Dicks keeps the pace up and gives us a lot more detail about the settings, the characters, and the peril they find themselves in. A delight. One I've never read. And the audiobook performed by David Troughton was released last year, so a purchase is imminent, thanks!
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,687
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 13, 2024 9:00:58 GMT
The Space Pirates
The increased page count of the late-80s suits this overly-padded story, paring it back into something a little more exciting. It’s an okay read, featuring the lovely pastiches that Robert Holmes would later become famous for, but it’s also a weak story.
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