Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2024 14:27:00 GMT
Currently reading Doctor Who Origins. I think the criticism it recieved - that it's just "young companion meets the Doctor then forgets about it" every time - is justified, but the stories themselves so far are well-written. The one about Davros, which takes BF's "I, Davros" continuity and ties young Davros from "The Magician's Apprentice" into it; that's a terribly fanfic-y idea but it's a great story. I thought there was more to do with that premise, especially Kate's story. Growing up with tales of The Doctor, taking over UNIT with The Doc unaware she even exists, turning it away from the military and towards science...
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 6,008
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Post by lidar2 on Aug 5, 2024 9:50:00 GMT
Not often I post in this thread, but have just finished City At World's End. Hartnell is not my favourite TV Doc, but he is definitely one of the best book Doctors. Chris Bulis is generally good, with one or two exceptions, and this is not one of the exceptions. Bulis will never set the world on fire, but he generally writes good solid adventure yarns and this is one of them. this book is an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.
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wildsheepchase
New Member
Hello! I'm fairly new to Big Finish but I've heard bits. Thanks for having me.
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Post by wildsheepchase on Aug 9, 2024 10:52:41 GMT
Recently finished Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Paul Magrs is insane and I love it. What a cover, too!
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Post by fitzoliverj on Aug 11, 2024 8:46:04 GMT
Recently finished Mad Dogs and Englishmen. Paul Magrs is insane and I love it. What a cover, too!
Speaking of whom, just finished "Josephine and the Argonauts", which I'm convinced he wrote with a copy of Roger Lancellyn Green's Greek Myths by his side. And good thing, too. It also reveals that Brenda the Bride of Frankenstein was the tea-lady at UNIT HQ, there's got to be potential for a story there!
Interstingly enough, the book has the same background for Jo as appears in Katy Manning's story in Doctor Who Origins, "Velvet Hugs", leading me to suspect that Magrs may have ghostwritten that story for her (as it is, he's credited for granting permission for Iris to appear).
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Aug 13, 2024 11:59:35 GMT
Loch Ness Monster/Terror Of The Zygons
There’s an awful lot of “Little did they know…” in this otherwise entertaining adaptation of a genuine Who classic. As the first story of a new season, this is chicken soup for the nerd soul. It just feels a little slight compared to the source material.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Aug 18, 2024 9:59:22 GMT
Planet Of Evil
The fourth Doctor’s second season continues with a fun pastiche of Forbidden Planet. Dicks translates the fabulous jungle set of Zeta Minor wonderfully to the page and builds the tension nicely. The characterisations of the main players work well but I’d have liked the climactic scenes - conclusion and episode cliffhangers - to have been played out with a little more detail.
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revan
New Member
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Post by revan on Aug 31, 2024 1:10:11 GMT
I finished Love and War today. I'm surprised at how much enjoyed it, and I'd probably rank it third in my list of best Doctor Who books after Spiral Scratch and closely tied with Vampire Science. It was a really good analysis of both Ace and the Doctor, and I appreciated Benny's introduction. While the Seventh Doctor has always been a schemer, his actions here are worse than anything he did on TV (though I'd argue that he goes even further in stories like Dark Universe or The Last Day. I'm looking forward to giving the audio another listen to see if it's grown on me more.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Aug 31, 2024 3:34:27 GMT
The Pyramids Of Mars
An excellent recount of a story that seems to defy the endless revisionism that Who goes through every few years. Dicks adds depth to the story, adding characterisation and history to the slim cast and settings, making the events of the story even more impactful.
Something I liked about Empire Of Death was the way that RTD quoted from the story and used imagery from that story to call back to this tale. But here, Dicks explicitly calls Sutekh’s fate a death, although other characters have cheated death with greater difficulty.
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Post by number13 on Aug 31, 2024 10:32:35 GMT
The Pyramids Of Mars An excellent recount of a story that seems to defy the endless revisionism that Who goes through every few years. Dicks adds depth to the story, adding characterisation and history to the slim cast and settings, making the events of the story even more impactful. Something I liked about Empire Of Death was the way that RTD quoted from the story and used imagery from that story to call back to this tale. But here, Dicks explicitly calls Sutekh’s fate a death, although other characters have cheated death with greater difficulty. And in the TV original, Robert Holmes obviously intended he was gone: 'He lived about another 7000 years'. Lived, past tense. And when Sarah then says 'Sutekh is dead.' the Doctor replies 'At last.' There's that great line in the novel that isn't on TV about the Doctor using 'the weapon of the Time Lords', Time itself.
Now of course the Doctor has been wrong about the Master dying more times than we can remember and we always knew the Toymaker has played multiple rounds with the Doctor, but they're just minor nuisances compared with the Last of the Osirans. Sutekh had to die, definitely, or he would destroy everything and everyone else. I liked BF's New Benny 2 set very much and the structure of the story cleverly avoided the 'returning villain' problem, but in general Sutekh is too powerful to bring back - every return diminishes him from being the ultimate, unstoppable power of evil to yet another arch-enemy who will be back one day.
In 1975 I'd have said I was well past the age of finding 'Doctor Who' scary (being at High School and all! ) but Robert Holmes did it with 'Pyramids of Mars'. Not the mummies etc. but the idea, seen by Sarah (and us) in her flight forward in Time, of the end of everything unless Sutekh is defeated. And this in a story he had to rewrite from scratch at short notice; I still think he's the best writer of Who, ever.
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Post by mark687 on Aug 31, 2024 11:23:37 GMT
I finished Love and War today. I'm surprised at how much enjoyed it, and I'd probably rank it third in my list of best Doctor Who books after Spiral Scratch and closely tied with Vampire Science. It was a really good analysis of both Ace and the Doctor, and I appreciated Benny's introduction. While the Seventh Doctor has always been a schemer, his actions here are worse than anything he did on TV (though I'd argue that he goes even further in stories like Dark Universe or The Last Day. I'm looking forward to giving the audio another listen to see if it's grown on me more. Agreed its fantastically raw and gritty. Regards mark687
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 2, 2024 12:03:35 GMT
The Android Invasion
This is an ok serial and a pretty good retelling of it. Dicks glosses over a lot of faults in the plot and adds a lot of detail to lull the reader into thinking the story is a lot tighter than it really is. I think that Dicks found the exposition so easy to place into the story which is why we get such a scathing final paragraph in the book which explains what the mopping-up of such an invasion just might look like.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Sept 3, 2024 17:28:18 GMT
"In Wonderland" - Turlough has recently joined the TARDIS crew with a mission to kill the Doctor (a slightly odd choice of era for a children's book, which suggests to me that this range is perhaps only a pastiche of children's books, rather than actually aimed at younger readers) when the TARDIS visits Christchurch in 18-something, where they meet Charles Dodgson, only for all the guests at the Dean's garden party to turn into animals
(Another subtle reference to Brenda, in this one, when the Mad Hatter recognises the scent of Spicy Masala tea)
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 7, 2024 2:50:07 GMT
The Brain Of Morbius
A fun retelling of Frankenstein, complete with a torch-bearing mob at the climax. All it lacks is the reader/viewer’s sympathy for the monster. It moves swiftly, almost makes you forget that there are only three sets and five speaking guest characters and adds to the backstory of the show without being a chore.
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Post by number13 on Sept 7, 2024 10:41:25 GMT
The Brain Of Morbius A fun retelling of Frankenstein, complete with a torch-bearing mob at the climax. All it lacks is the reader/viewer’s sympathy for the monster. It moves swiftly, almost makes you forget that there are only three sets and five speaking guest characters and adds to the backstory of the show without being a chore. That's no less than four main sets, I'll have you know! (Karn landscape, cave of the Sisterhood, Solon's 'castle' main hall, Solon's lab. And some stairs and corridor bits!) Some quite large sets so I guess the studio space was full.
It is a very well done studio-bound story isn't it and I think Robin Bland showed what a true pro he was by novelising it as shown, without trying to revise it back towards his original version.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 7, 2024 11:56:11 GMT
The Brain Of Morbius A fun retelling of Frankenstein, complete with a torch-bearing mob at the climax. All it lacks is the reader/viewer’s sympathy for the monster. It moves swiftly, almost makes you forget that there are only three sets and five speaking guest characters and adds to the backstory of the show without being a chore. That's no less than four main sets, I'll have you know! (Karn landscape, cave of the Sisterhood, Solon's 'castle' main hall, Solon's lab. And some stairs and corridor bits!) Some quite large sets so I guess the studio space was full.
It is a very well done studio-bound story isn't it and I think Robin Bland showed what a true pro he was by novelising it as shown, without trying to revise it back towards his original version. Both versions are a delight, frankly. What I object to, though, is being reminded through the writing that there are only a limited number of locations which a really great writer might possibly try to hide. This is a lot of fun but it’s something that I’ve really noticed in this readthrough is that it is ridiculously hard to convey an epic or fast-paced or atmospheric story when you keep wondering why the characters are only in a couple of places. It really only came to the fore in The Reign Of Terror when I noticed that no less an author than Ian Marter couldn’t make a story set in an inn and a prison and various Exterior Locations hide its roots. The Ambassadors… Of DEATH was probably the worst, being set pretty much entirely in a bunker/prison and the UNIT lab. It’s the theatre actor in me noticing this, frankly: being confined to one set for an evening and having conversations that are only overheard because the characters have nowhere else to go to have them can put a dampener on your suspension of disbelief.
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Post by number13 on Sept 7, 2024 18:28:31 GMT
That's no less than four main sets, I'll have you know! (Karn landscape, cave of the Sisterhood, Solon's 'castle' main hall, Solon's lab. And some stairs and corridor bits!) Some quite large sets so I guess the studio space was full.
It is a very well done studio-bound story isn't it and I think Robin Bland showed what a true pro he was by novelising it as shown, without trying to revise it back towards his original version. Both versions are a delight, frankly. What I object to, though, is being reminded through the writing that there are only a limited number of locations which a really great writer might possibly try to hide. This is a lot of fun but it’s something that I’ve really noticed in this readthrough is that it is ridiculously hard to convey an epic or fast-paced or atmospheric story when you keep wondering why the characters are only in a couple of places. It really only came to the fore in The Reign Of Terror when I noticed that no less an author than Ian Marter couldn’t make a story set in an inn and a prison and various Exterior Locations hide its roots. The Ambassadors… Of DEATH was probably the worst, being set pretty much entirely in a bunker/prison and the UNIT lab. It’s the theatre actor in me noticing this, frankly: being confined to one set for an evening and having conversations that are only overheard because the characters have nowhere else to go to have them can put a dampener on your suspension of disbelief. I've never read 'Ambassadors'. On screen it's an epic thanks to all the location filming and action but yes there are only a handful of sets aren't there.
Doesn't feel that way when watching though, I enjoy all 7 episodes of the Third Doctor Bond movie: 'From Mars, With Love'.
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Post by mark687 on Sept 7, 2024 21:34:41 GMT
Both versions are a delight, frankly. What I object to, though, is being reminded through the writing that there are only a limited number of locations which a really great writer might possibly try to hide. This is a lot of fun but it’s something that I’ve really noticed in this readthrough is that it is ridiculously hard to convey an epic or fast-paced or atmospheric story when you keep wondering why the characters are only in a couple of places. It really only came to the fore in The Reign Of Terror when I noticed that no less an author than Ian Marter couldn’t make a story set in an inn and a prison and various Exterior Locations hide its roots. The Ambassadors… Of DEATH was probably the worst, being set pretty much entirely in a bunker/prison and the UNIT lab. It’s the theatre actor in me noticing this, frankly: being confined to one set for an evening and having conversations that are only overheard because the characters have nowhere else to go to have them can put a dampener on your suspension of disbelief. I've never read 'Ambassadors'. On screen it's an epic thanks to all the location filming and action but yes there are only a handful of sets aren't there.
Doesn't feel that way when watching though, I enjoy all 7 episodes of the Third Doctor Bond movie: 'From Mars, With Love'. I've said it before and I'll say it again Target Novels really do lift a 3rd TV Ep as the ambition is unlimited by budget and pacing Regards mark687
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revan
New Member
Likes: 7
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Post by revan on Sept 7, 2024 22:11:14 GMT
Finishing Harvest of Time today. Since we're on the topic of budgets for Thurd Doctor stories, this one does it really well, taking advantage of the format to create unique scenes that wouldn't have been impossible to do on TV but are greatly enhanced by the theater of the mind.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 7, 2024 23:10:27 GMT
Both versions are a delight, frankly. What I object to, though, is being reminded through the writing that there are only a limited number of locations which a really great writer might possibly try to hide. This is a lot of fun but it’s something that I’ve really noticed in this readthrough is that it is ridiculously hard to convey an epic or fast-paced or atmospheric story when you keep wondering why the characters are only in a couple of places. It really only came to the fore in The Reign Of Terror when I noticed that no less an author than Ian Marter couldn’t make a story set in an inn and a prison and various Exterior Locations hide its roots. The Ambassadors… Of DEATH was probably the worst, being set pretty much entirely in a bunker/prison and the UNIT lab. It’s the theatre actor in me noticing this, frankly: being confined to one set for an evening and having conversations that are only overheard because the characters have nowhere else to go to have them can put a dampener on your suspension of disbelief. I've never read 'Ambassadors'. On screen it's an epic thanks to all the location filming and action but yes there are only a handful of sets aren't there.
Doesn't feel that way when watching though, I enjoy all 7 episodes of the Third Doctor Bond movie: 'From Mars, With Love'. I enjoyed it a lot on screen but it does like there’s a lot of padding to get those seven episodes filled and the endless to and fro of Liz escaping and getting recaptured does make that obvious - more so if you’re watching it in one go rather than in smaller, weekly doses.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,882
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 7, 2024 23:17:16 GMT
I've never read 'Ambassadors'. On screen it's an epic thanks to all the location filming and action but yes there are only a handful of sets aren't there.
Doesn't feel that way when watching though, I enjoy all 7 episodes of the Third Doctor Bond movie: 'From Mars, With Love'. I've said it before and I'll say it again Target Novels really do lift a 3rd TV Ep as the ambition is unlimited by budget and pacing Regards mark687 Oh, definitely. In the hands of a competent writer they have no dull bits and they can fix the pacing issues you might get on the screen. I’m only up to Season 13 but I haven’t read a dud yet. The closest would probably be Genesis Of The Daleks which starts superbly and then just limps towards the conclusion, possibly because summarising six episodes into about 120 pages is very tricky. I was also amused by a lot of Terrance Dicks’s expositional asides in Android Invasion when he was doing some worldbuilding and backfilling on Terry Nation’s behalf. I haven’t yet reached the point where Terrance was channeling Michael Moorcock and putting out a book every few weeks, but I know that I’m only a season or so away from that.
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