shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 21, 2024 0:57:19 GMT
The War Games
A breezy but frustrating adaptation of one of the most ambitious stories in the show’s history. Hulke manages to abbreviate a lot of scenes without losing their impact but the whole novel feels like it needs some breathing room and introspection at times. There’s very little depth to the characters and the settings are perfunctory at best.
On to Pertwee…
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 26, 2024 0:36:13 GMT
The Auton Invasion
Ah, if only the quality of the Target novelisations could have kept this up. Mr Dicks adds a lot of detail and background to make it feel like a “proper” novel but it does still feel a little bare on the important details: we don’t really get a decent description of the Brigadier or Liz or many other characters but we do get a proper look into their characters which are fleshed out wonderfully. Dicks also recaps the conclusion of The War Games to give us an explanation for why the Doctor is on Earth in the first place. It’s quite gripping, just a little threadbare on some details.
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Post by number13 on Jan 26, 2024 10:26:50 GMT
The Auton Invasion Ah, if only the quality of the Target novelisations could have kept this up. Mr Dicks adds a lot of detail and background to make it feel like a “proper” novel but it does still feel a little bare on the important details: we don’t really get a decent description of the Brigadier or Liz or many other characters but we do get a proper look into their characters which are fleshed out wonderfully. Dicks also recaps the conclusion of The War Games to give us an explanation for why the Doctor is on Earth in the first place. It’s quite gripping, just a little threadbare on some details. It's a classic and I agree, the early novels were the best and not matched until some of the excellent later novelisations like 'The Myth Makers' etc. made wild divergences away from being straight translations of the script to the novel. And of course, the early ones were the ones I read first, being right there as they were published in paperback! 'The Auton Invasion', 'The Cave Monsters', 'The Curse of Peladon', 'The Daemons' and of course 'The Day of the Daleks'.
In 'The Auton Invasion' the part I found scariest as a young reader was that early morning when all hell breaks loose and the order of our society starts to collapse so easily under the attack from without and within, really excellent writing. With hindsight, that theme is very much of its time in the Cold War, not that I realised that when I was 11-ish!
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Jan 26, 2024 11:05:08 GMT
The Auton Invasion Ah, if only the quality of the Target novelisations could have kept this up. Mr Dicks adds a lot of detail and background to make it feel like a “proper” novel but it does still feel a little bare on the important details: we don’t really get a decent description of the Brigadier or Liz or many other characters but we do get a proper look into their characters which are fleshed out wonderfully. Dicks also recaps the conclusion of The War Games to give us an explanation for why the Doctor is on Earth in the first place. It’s quite gripping, just a little threadbare on some details. It's a classic and I agree, the early novels were the best and not matched until some of the excellent later novelisations like 'The Myth Makers' etc. made wild divergences away from being straight translations of the script to the novel. And of course, the early ones were the ones I read first, being right there as they were published in paperback! 'The Auton Invasion', 'The Cave Monsters', 'The Curse of Peladon', 'The Daemons' and of course 'The Day of the Daleks'.
In 'The Auton Invasion' the part I found scariest as a young reader was that early morning when all hell breaks loose and the order of our society starts to collapse so easily under the attack from without and within, really excellent writing. With hindsight, that theme is very much of its time in the Cold War, not that I realised that when I was 11-ish! I think that’s part of the success of the Pertwee era, and one that the man himself referred to quite often: the “Yeti in the loo” situation. The transition to colour marked a real change to the show: more, I think, than the earthbound status of the new Doctor, for all that it meant that the budget might have gone a little further.
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Post by sherlock on Jan 27, 2024 22:31:32 GMT
The collected edition of Liberation of the Daleks.
As I suspected this works so much better as one than it did spread over an entire year’s worth of DWMs. It’s rapid storytelling makes it a swift and easy read. Its not the deepest Who comic out there, but it’s a quick and dramatic Dalek epic.
In the introduction Barnes explains how it was written basically episode by episode over the course of the run rather than mapped out, which does explain the “and then” plot where more stuff just keeps getting thrown in. In a single read, I don’t mind this as it feels like an epic that just keeps escalating whereas spread over the year it just felt like the storyline was getting strung out.
So yeah, with the entire story in front of me and Fourteen having now had his dues on TV, I feel much happier about Liberation.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Feb 3, 2024 13:03:41 GMT
The Cave Monsters
Aside from a couple of moments where Mr Hulke remembers that this is ostensibly a series for kids, this is a great read. The tension is great and you find yourself feeling sympathetic towards both sides, which is the mark of a thoughtful story. The Doctor is portrayed in a way that recalls the humour of Troughton and the archness of Hartnell but is definitely Pertwee. It passes my “Doctor test” which is where I try to imagine any other Doctor saying a line or performing an action and it manages it beautifully: the coffee cup scene with Masters and Laurence could have been written for Matt Smith’s Doctor while the final scene could have easily been enacted with Peter Davison.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Feb 13, 2024 13:47:31 GMT
The Ambassadors… of Death
Terrance Dicks does a fantastic job but even his prose can’t conceal that big chunks of this story are just padding. It’s fun, but very slight. Which is a pity because the story itself is terrific.
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Post by Star Platinum on Feb 14, 2024 14:29:33 GMT
I’m currently listening to A Big Hand for the Doctor and I’m not impressed.
Funnily enough, I’m wondering if Eoin Colfer has ever watched read or listened to anything featuring the First Doctor. The character is completely unrecognizable, and Susan is reduced to a damsel in distress. The story throws around timelords and Gallifrey very easily so the whole thing doesn’t even feel representative of the era.
It’s very frustrating listening to this story, and it won’t be one I return to for a very long time.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Feb 28, 2024 14:18:33 GMT
Inferno
If it wasn’t for the mutants, who serve no real purpose in the story, this would be utterly perfect. Dicks retells a cracking yarn in a wonderful breakneck pace that isn’t afraid to stop for a moment to catch its breath. A hoot.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Mar 4, 2024 13:05:43 GMT
Terror Of The Autons
A total delight. A brisk retelling of a classic story written with the benefit of Dicks’s nearly incomparable knowledge of the show as it stood then, even throwing in a reference to the Sontarans, three years before their first appearance. On a more literary note, I loved how the Doctor mused that the cosmos would be duller without the Master, neatly echoing the Master in The Five Doctors, 12 years later (or 8 years after the novelisation was written).
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Post by dangfish on Mar 5, 2024 2:58:42 GMT
My first post here in a looong time....ive been a lurker on this thread for a while now though. I'm halfway through The Infinity Doctors. This is my first read by Lance Parkin. My primary Doctor Who readings would be the Target Novelizations. I read a ton of those when I was a youngster. I've read maybe a dozen of the non-target novels. I've always been curious about this one so I finally picked it up. I know there has been heated debate over the years regarding when this story takes place and which Doctor this is. At first I pictured the 8th Doctor but a few chapters in they mentioned a couple of things that made it very difficult for me to imagine any of the known doctors here. Now I'm comfortable imagining this as an alternate universe/ Unbound Doctor story. The more I read the more convinced I become that the book works better if you consider it unfettered from everything else. Anyway..I am enjoying the book but every entertaining section seems to be followed by something mildly annoying. On the one hand I am finding the story intriguing. The descriptions of Gallifreyan culture and the in-depth look we get at timelords is really interesting. Im also really enjoying what we are learning about the Sontarans & the Rutans. That whole story is fascinating. On the other hand, all the detailed descriptions of the architecture and the physics involved in all the space/time stuff makes for a somewhat ponderous read in spots & tends to slow down the momentum of the story. Still ...it apparently isn't slowing things down too badly...being that I keep wanting to pick it up to see what happens next. In fact, I think I will do that very thing now.. perhaps I will post again after I finish.
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Post by number13 on Mar 5, 2024 20:53:32 GMT
Terror Of The Autons A total delight. A brisk retelling of a classic story written with the benefit of Dicks’s nearly incomparable knowledge of the show as it stood then, even throwing in a reference to the Sontarans, three years before their first appearance. On a more literary note, I loved how the Doctor mused that the cosmos would be duller without the Master, neatly echoing the Master in The Five Doctors, 12 years later (or 8 years after the novelisation was written). I've just been listening to the audiobook (Geoffrey Beevers and a shedload of stereo sound effects really bring it to life) and yes it's a cracking novelisation. One point that's always a bit of an eyebrow-raiser for me is right at the end when the Brigadier gives the Master an extra incentive to help the Doctor - do it or get shot! Terrance Dicks tended to novelise from the scripts I think, so I'm guessing that was a Robert Holmes idea which was cut for TV as not being in the right spirit for the Brig., which it isn't.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Mar 5, 2024 22:05:17 GMT
Terror Of The Autons A total delight. A brisk retelling of a classic story written with the benefit of Dicks’s nearly incomparable knowledge of the show as it stood then, even throwing in a reference to the Sontarans, three years before their first appearance. On a more literary note, I loved how the Doctor mused that the cosmos would be duller without the Master, neatly echoing the Master in The Five Doctors, 12 years later (or 8 years after the novelisation was written). I've just been listening to the audiobook (Geoffrey Beevers and a shedload of stereo sound effects really bring it to life) and yes it's a cracking novelisation. One point that's always a bit of an eyebrow-raiser for me is right at the end when the Brigadier gives the Master an extra incentive to help the Doctor - do it or get shot! Terrance Dicks tended to novelise from the scripts I think, so I'm guessing that was a Robert Holmes idea which was cut for TV as not being in the right spirit for the Brig., which it isn't.
Holmes said in an interview that he’d often put in lines and scenes that he knew would be cut to distract from the really disturbing things that he wanted to get through. Given the controversy over Terror of the Autons (questions in parliament, Mary Whitehouse, etc), I’d say that line was one of the red herrings. Although it does go a long way to explain why the Brigadier was so pleased to be able to finally punch out the Master in The Five Doctors. And given that there have already been deaths from the Auton/Master scheme, I don’t think the Brig is completely unjustified here.
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Post by number13 on Mar 7, 2024 9:42:55 GMT
I've just been listening to the audiobook (Geoffrey Beevers and a shedload of stereo sound effects really bring it to life) and yes it's a cracking novelisation. One point that's always a bit of an eyebrow-raiser for me is right at the end when the Brigadier gives the Master an extra incentive to help the Doctor - do it or get shot! Terrance Dicks tended to novelise from the scripts I think, so I'm guessing that was a Robert Holmes idea which was cut for TV as not being in the right spirit for the Brig., which it isn't.
Holmes said in an interview that he’d often put in lines and scenes that he knew would be cut to distract from the really disturbing things that he wanted to get through. Given the controversy over Terror of the Autons (questions in parliament, Mary Whitehouse, etc), I’d say that line was one of the red herrings. Although it does go a long way to explain why the Brigadier was so pleased to be able to finally punch out the Master in The Five Doctors. And given that there have already been deaths from the Auton/Master scheme, I don’t think the Brig is completely unjustified here. You're telling me! It was my first* 'Doctor Who' and it scared the socks off me (that doll and the black chair made of polynestene!) And I've been a fan ever since.
I agree the situation is desperate and the Brig. has already lost men to the Master's scheme on top of all the civilian deaths, so it could be justified. But the Brigadier, like the Doctor, is a hero and dramatic heroes have a higher standard - something the Master, Daleks, Cybermen etc. have often mocked the Doctor for. Then he defeats them yet again.
* I have a very dim memory of Major Barker locked up in the cages talking to the Old(?) Silurian from the previous season. But I was simply too young to be interested in Season 7 and didn't watch. A year later you couldn't get me away from the TV on Saturday teatimes!
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Mar 17, 2024 12:20:24 GMT
The Mind Of Evil
A brilliant retelling of what was originally an overlong story. There’s a lot of characters and plots, some of which get dumped by the wayside, but the whole is such a wonderful exercise that you don’t mind until you think about it afterwards. There’s very little padding in this version and it’s all wonderfully written.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 26, 2024 8:47:34 GMT
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Post by ollychops on Mar 27, 2024 16:43:29 GMT
Recently finished Rebellion on Treasure Island - it's an OK read (as in, it's not a slog to get through) but Eleven and Clara don't really ever feel like they're written well, it never feels like the author got their voices or characters down - in fact Eleven ends up feeling like a generic Doctor, to me he doesn't really resemble Eleven. There's also a host of returning characters - alongside new guest characters - so ends up feeling a bit overstuffed.
And as a timeline nerd, there seems to be conflicting/confusing references so it's hard to pin down exactly when it's meant to take place.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Apr 5, 2024 7:26:51 GMT
The Claws Of Axos
Dicks makes a satisfactory dish of a story I’ve never had a lot of time for. The secondary characters are delightfully fleshed out and the settings are wonderfully described, making this a lot more fun than the televised version, which relied rather too much on lava lamp-style lighting for me to really take it seriously.
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Post by number13 on Apr 5, 2024 8:08:59 GMT
The Claws Of Axos Dicks makes a satisfactory dish of a story I’ve never had a lot of time for. The secondary characters are delightfully fleshed out and the settings are wonderfully described, making this a lot more fun than the televised version, which relied rather too much on lava lamp-style lighting for me to really take it seriously. I especially like the expanded sub-plot of the Doctor's supposed abandonment of Earth. It's too compressed on screen for one of the most interesting strands of the story, but then there is a lot happening in four parts. Living lava lamp spaceship included.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Apr 5, 2024 10:51:55 GMT
The Claws Of Axos Dicks makes a satisfactory dish of a story I’ve never had a lot of time for. The secondary characters are delightfully fleshed out and the settings are wonderfully described, making this a lot more fun than the televised version, which relied rather too much on lava lamp-style lighting for me to really take it seriously. I especially like the expanded sub-plot of the Doctor's supposed abandonment of Earth. It's too compressed on screen for one of the most interesting strands of the story, but then there is a lot happening in four parts. Living lava lamp spaceship included. It’s ridiculous that there is so much going on here but not enough for it to be expanded to another episode while cutting back something from one of the bloated six parters we also get this season.
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