shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 2, 2023 11:12:11 GMT
And The Cybermen
Very obviously a clone of The Tenth Planet - an isolated base, a space vehicle in peril, a fight outside the base, a gruff commander - but Davis writes well and builds a lot of atmosphere before letting rip with plenty of action and a little body horror.
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Post by sherlock on Sept 4, 2023 21:39:41 GMT
60th Marathon: [Insert fan theory here]th Doctor The Wilderness - Event: The Infinity Doctors
“Of course you can rewrite history, but you shouldn’t. As long as you have these great powers, nothing is real.”
In which, for the 35th anniversary, Lance Parkin says “nice continuity you have there, be a shame if something happened to it”, and then goes on to make the fact that continuity is up for grabs and anything can change the theme of the entire book. It’s the most in-depth exploration of Gallifrey and what the power the Time Lords have really means. And then as a subplot the Sontaran/Rutan War is finally fleshed out and that in turn links back to theme of deciding to change the future, not by relitigating the past.
Oh and on this re-read I spotted the Page 229 gag. Absolute genius.
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Post by sherlock on Sept 16, 2023 12:35:52 GMT
60th Marathon: Ninth Doctor - Event: The Wintertime Paradox: A Day to Yourselves
“He needed to put things out of his head. Move on. Keep moving, as far as he could.”
The closest thing that the Ninth Doctor’s era has to a multi-Doctor story, and it’s quite a neat way of doing. Nudges from the future encourage their past to really look forward after the trauma he’s been through. As with most of Dave Rudden’s short stories, it’s sweet and comes with aplenty of pleasing continuity nods, and really gets to the heart of the central character.
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Post by sherlock on Oct 2, 2023 19:52:36 GMT
60th Marathon: Eleventh Doctor - Favourite: Touched by an Angel
“He wanted to fall on his knees and beg the heavens; please, take time back.”
A man who is trapped in the past both figuratively and literally is haunted by Weeping Angels, whilst the Doctor is thrust into an almost antagonist role trying to stop him falling into the Angels’ trap. It’s another book on the theme of changing history, but this one sees that desire weaponised by the Angels, in what is probably their most emotionally manipulative scheme ever. It’s a very well done book which amidst the drama also sneaks in moments of levity, and that in turn only make the ending all the more effective.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 3, 2023 9:44:20 GMT
The Faceless Ones
This is a later Dicks novelisation so it unfolds carefully and doesn’t feel rushed like some of his late 70s/early 80s efforts. And it’s a good, well-paced read, taking care to let us know a little more about the characters and their part in the story. The Chameleons feel like a proper group of people in this book, too, with personalities beyond their role in the proceedings, rather like the airport staff do.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Oct 4, 2023 9:43:51 GMT
Saw a random post on twitter - someone posted a pic of all 80+(?) Who books from wilderness years/Virgin etc. I wonder how many people have every book in physical form.. Would be an achievement. There was a post about "imagine if they were all audio adapted"..
EDIT. I smsd the pic to my mate, we went through kindy and primary school - lost touch for about 10-15 years after that and been back to being bro's the last 25ish years..
He is the one who got us in Doctor Who back in 1981 - he is a quiet guy, always has been- at 1 point he was on the Committee for the official Australia Doctor Who fan club ..
he casually SMS'd me back.. "Shane you do know I have.every.single.book"
I am now drilling him with questions.. 1stly.. 25+ years and you never told me this in our daily sms/facebook convo's? Which Doctor is represented the most? What is with the cover of the pink poodle?
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Post by newt5996 on Oct 4, 2023 15:25:08 GMT
Saw a random post on twitter - someone posted a pic of all 80+(?) Who books from wilderness years/Virgin etc. I wonder how many people have every book in physical form.. Would be an achievement. There was a post about "imagine if they were all audio adapted"..
EDIT. I smsd the pic to my mate, we went through kindy and primary school - lost touch for about 10-15 years after that and been back to being bro's the last 25ish years..
He is the one who got us in Doctor Who back in 1981 - he is a quiet guy, always has been- at 1 point he was on the Committee for the official Australia Doctor Who fan club ..
he casually SMS'd me back.. "Shane you do know I have.every.single.book"
I am now drilling him with questions.. 1stly.. 25+ years and you never told me this in our daily sms/facebook convo's? Which Doctor is represented the most? What is with the cover of the pink poodle?
The pink poodle is obvious, the book features quite a few pink poodles.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 8, 2023 10:59:18 GMT
The Evil Of The Daleks
Peel’s portrayal of the characters and settings is terrific but the story is an almost never-ending spiral of bluff and counter-bluff that feels almost like it was put in to pad out an extra episode or two, which I can’t believe would ever happen in Doctor Who </s>
(I checked out the history of this book because it’s interesting to find out more about the writing process, but my main takeaway is that the resale value of this book is, oh, what’s the word… INSANE!)
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 20, 2023 19:55:04 GMT
Tomb Of The Cybermen
Victoria makes this book: her perspective makes this a lot more thoughtful than it might have been. There’s a large supporting cast who are all given distinct personalities and roles and there’s also a bit of decent body horror as there should be in a Cybermen story. However, I think this is quite an uneven book as well: there are parts that just don’t gel as well as others. Like when Davis repeatedly refers to the Doctor as “Doctor Who” several times in the early chapters then drops it, or describes Victoria as having fair hair. But I love the little character bits he adds as well, mostly about Victoria and her life before she met the Doctor, which makes her out to be a lot smarter and proactive than we get later.
While I’m on it, Tomb Of The Cyberman is No. 66 in the Target range. The story before it, Evil Of The Daleks, is No. 155 and the story after it, Abominable Snowmen is No. 1. At what point did the editorial team realise that they were going to run out of alphabet before they ran out of stories?
The road to hell is paved with similar good intentions.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Oct 23, 2023 12:53:59 GMT
The Abominable Snowmen
Mr Dicks novelises a beloved Troughton classic. This is a pretty standard novelisation: it doesn’t add terribly much detail but it give the universe a nice lived-in feel. The Great Intelligence, combined with the setting, gives this a tense, claustrophobic feel and the running around in corridors - an essential part of any Who story - seems to be kept to a minimum here. The characters are given some depth but only enough to engender some conflict between them. Fun and far from the depths that the Target range would deliver before too many more years were up.
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Post by shallacatop on Oct 26, 2023 15:21:33 GMT
Rebellion on Treasure Island Enjoyed this one a lot. What started off as a long sought after new adventure for Eleven & Clara quickly became apparent that it's a celebration of his own tenure, to the point where Clara is barely in it! Brilliant appearances for River Song and The Paternoster Gang, which I'm surprised were never previously announced; River being on the back cover synopsis was never mentioned on the web listings. They all leap off the page and work wonderfully in the Treasure Island setting, which of course also works brilliantly given Eleven's tenure being very inspired by fairytales and the like. There's even some timey wimey-ness thrown in for good measure. A lot of fun and it's always lovely to revisit this era. I was a little confused about the timeline placement, though... They make it quite explicit that they'd encountered the Great Intelligence in the events of The Snowmen & The Bells of Saint John, but also seem too knowing about Clara's arc, which only really becomes apparent to them all in The Name of the Doctor. And River is regularly alluded to as being much more aware of the events of Rebellion on Treasure Island than all the others, but it never really comes into play, or any suggestion of the bigger picture. They all get their minds wiped in the end, so it's a moot point I suppose, except River so that still remains a mystery!
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Post by shallacatop on Nov 2, 2023 15:14:54 GMT
Wannabes
Peculiar one, I thought. The Doctor & Donna are characterised spot on, but the story is far too slight. I was surprised, as Dave Rudden’s short stories are usually lovely, but I think this one tried to tell a much bigger romp than the story allowed, so a lot of stuff is brushed over or just suddenly unfolds.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Nov 2, 2023 22:22:20 GMT
The Ice Warriors
There’s nothing actually wrong with this book but it’s a Target that I’ve never really cared for. The characters are well-written, the settings (all three of them!) are striking, but I just don’t enjoy it: it’s very much a ‘me’ problem rather than a Brian Hayles problem, I’ll add, because there’s a lovely bit early on where the Doctor and Jamie are scouting carefully through the mansion where the Ioniser is based and Victoria is just struck by how wonderful it all is, but that’s really about it for me: the rest is just a heap of stuff that’s been done before (mostly by Gerry Davis).
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Post by shallacatop on Nov 3, 2023 10:22:10 GMT
The Angel of Redemption
A complete contrast to the preceding Wannabes. Told in the viewpoint of a very specific Weeping Angel and entirely through the use of poetry. I think the most unique Doctor Who book I've ever read; certainly very ambitious. I think some of it is a little wasted on me, as someone who's not a massive fan of poetry or knows a lot about it, but that's no reflection on the book itself and I enjoyed it.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,700
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Post by shutupbanks on Nov 5, 2023 12:01:20 GMT
The Enemy Of The World
This is a victim of the Target page limit of the late 70s/early 80s. Marter is brilliant for about 75% of the story; the other 25% is just a collection of scenes that have been summarised brutally and told in exposition. A shame because it is (mostly) wonderfully written. It also features the first use of a swear word in the Target range and, indeed, the world of Doctor Who.
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Post by ollychops on Nov 8, 2023 14:16:59 GMT
Once Upon a Time Lord - a nice little comic tale, a bit basic but to be expected given the length. Wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork used for the story Martha was telling - the style for the framing bits (and the Nine/Rose story) was much better.
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Post by ollychops on Nov 9, 2023 22:05:11 GMT
The Weather on Versimmon - currently a little over a quarter of the way through and really not gelling with it 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: 5,700
|
Post by shutupbanks on Nov 12, 2023 3:52:56 GMT
Web Of Fear
A claustrophobic thriller that takes a nearly-tired Who formula (base under siege) and still manages to make it exciting. Dicks is a great translator of screen to page and keeps it fresh. You can tell that introducing a key element of the show’s history (Lethbridge-Stewart) is just as exciting for him as it is for us.
As an aside, this was one of the first Targets I owned (along with Dalek Invasion Of Earth) and it’s great to see that the Suck fairy hasn’t been by in the interim.
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Post by sherlock on Nov 19, 2023 21:10:32 GMT
60th Marathon: Thirteenth Doctor: Adventures in Lockdown
“Remember, you will get through this. And things will be alright. Even if they look uncertain. Even if you’re worried. Darkness never sustains.”
I don’t own much 13th Doctor expanded material but this anthology more than sufficed. A little memory of those dark days of 2020 and how Who’s candle kept burning.
A range of stories, irreverent and sincere in equal measure, which capture that time, and sport some lovely material for Thirteen (and a few other Doctors too).
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Post by number13 on Nov 20, 2023 1:13:24 GMT
Web Of Fear A claustrophobic thriller that takes a nearly-tired Who formula (base under siege) and still manages to make it exciting. Dicks is a great translator of screen to page and keeps it fresh. You can tell that introducing a key element of the show’s history (Lethbridge-Stewart) is just as exciting for him as it is for us. As an aside, this was one of the first Targets I owned (along with Dalek Invasion Of Earth) and it’s great to see that the Suck fairy hasn’t been by in the interim. I've just seen your comments on some of the Troughton novelisations & they chime very much with my own views on each title. And brought back happy memories of my first readings of them back in the 70s. This was how I got to know the Second Doctor and his friends and some of the classic monsters, 'lost 'forever'. I never believed that one day I would get to look inside the Tomb of the Cybermen, see Victoria pursued through the glacier by Ice Warriors or encounter a youthful Colonel doing his best to tackle the Yeti in gloomy tube lines smothered by the Web of Fear. Or watch the Doctor playing doubles with Salamander!
I was recently listening to The Web of Fear audiobook and it really is a great story, from the early part of the Target range when they had time to make them good novels and not simple transcriptions. Some of the late ones rank very highly imo too, but mostly of less iconic stories than 'The Monster Season'.
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