The Eternal Dogfight

"He acts the fool and plays for laugh, but there's moments where you get a glimpse of something else..."

Writer: Rob Williams

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 13th August 2015

Printed in: DWC #7

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Jones, ARC

Synopsis 

Alice, Jones and ARC have joined the Doctor aboard the TARDIS. During a time-twisting adventure where the flow of time reversed inside the vortex, the Doctor succeeded in preventing Jones' death and the destruction of the entire planet. 

Now Alice must return to London and confront the challenges of everyday life. With her landlord in the process of evicting her, and as she mourns the loss of her mother, the last thing she needs is to face a sky full of alien fighter pilots. But travels with the Doctor never do turn out quite as you'd expect...

Verdict 

The Eternal Dogfight was an excellent opening part to a two part story featuring the Eleventh Doctor and his comic strip exclusive TARDIS team that concludes on the very next page that this one ended on! As it's a unique summer special extended edition of Doctor Who Comic this month, we were given two Eleventh Doctor comic strips that form the same story. I'm not sure why the Eleventh Doctor section has to differ from that of the Twelfth and Tenth Doctors, but just like Whodunnit?/The Sound of Our Voices, it appears that we have another two parter but with each part having a different name. On television it's understandable why they went with that direction with the exception of The End of Time, but in a comic strip it just seems daft when in the very same comic we've got two stories having their second part and it being called just that. It also seems strange that we've got two different writers for one story but as long as it's good I don't care. I think I actually quite liked Alice in this story for probably the first time since The Friendly Place. I loved the opening quote (of the comic not my blog entry) and it just summed Alice up perfectly. She had all of time and space on her doorstep but all she wanted to do was go home. Does that not scream boring? I think it does and that's what she's been most of the time in her travels. But she actually had some quite intriguing incidents in this story! It appeared that the Time Lord we saw lurking in the streets in After Life was back but this time much less subtly and far more triumphantly! It screeched Alice. I do hope it is a Time Lord! Literally any member of the race, old or new. However, judging by the fact that the next thing we saw of Alice after she encountered the apparent Time Lord was her with her mother, who is actually dead and the reason for Alice being so downbeat on her travels, and she'd somehow made her way to the Amstron ship. The display of the 'Eternal Dogfight' was superb, as you can say from my accompanying picture, but I did find it to be a little bit of a rip off from the Sontaran-Rutan war, the latest chapter of which appeared in DWM's The Instruments of War. The Amstrons themselves even looked like a cheap knock off of the Sontarans! The J'arrodic didn't look much like the Rutan though thankfully. In saying that, I did like the Amstrons especially when they totally ignored the psychic paper. I bet the Doctor thought he was being really clever. I'm not quite sure where they're trying to go with Jones as companion to be honest. There's just no direction at all. He doesn't seem to be anything like the character we first met in What He Wants... and now they're going with a silly porky angle. However, after the 'Serve You' mention from ARC, I think there's a lot more going on for this strange companion. I thought the angle with SERVEYOUinc had ended in the last two parter story but it appears I'm wrong. I'm surprised but I'm looking forward to seeing what more can be done! The Eternal Dogfight simply being a firework show for humanity was good and I loved how the leaders of both races assured Earth that they weren't under attack or the target and that once they'd finished obliterating each other they'd soon be on their way. Superb. The cliffhanger was magnificent with the Doctor needing to end the war that had been going on for millennia, the Time Lords didn't even know the cause, and find a cure for Jones after he ate some very bad Astron food. The Doctor really has got a lot to do! The characterisation of the Eleventh Doctor was very good in this story which was nice as it's been mixed over the last seven issues. However, he could have done without the distraction of Alice and her dead mother being on close proximity! Just what will happen next? I look forward to finding out! 

The Fractures Part 2

"I'm the Doctor. This world is under my protection. Go back to your own reality - while you still can."

Writer: Robbie Morrison 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 13th August 2015

Printed in: DWC #8

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

When the Doctor returned Clara to Earth, she expected a brief respite from adventure. Instead, a crack has formed in the Void between universes - and trouble is spilling out. 

In our world, UNIT scientist Paul Foster was killed in a car crash, while his family survived - in his, it was his wife and daughters that perished. Now, this alternate Paul Foster has made the leap through the Void to reunite with his family. But he doesn't belong in this dimension, and a menacing group of body-hopping entities known as the Fractures are hunting Foster to stop reality from rupturing! Can the Doctor save the universe and bring a family back together - or will sacrifices have to be made?

Verdict  

The Fractures continued magnificently with this second part in the latest issue of Doctor Who Comic. The entry is a day late after release and that's due to yesterday being the small matter of A-Level results day! I'm happy to report that I achieved ABC and met the conditions of my firm choice of Bath Spa University! So, six weeks on Sunday I will be moving out and starting an exciting chapter in my life. Sadly, I think that'll mean a reduction in the amount of blogged entries partly because a lot of stuff will be left at home! But there's still six weeks to get through a lot of things and I'm starting with this comic which is a summer-special feature length and has 2 consecutive Eleventh Doctor stories. But we'll get to those in the next few days. I really loved this part and I thought it was better than the first which I reread prior to reading the latest part. I loved the detail of the multiverse ongoings and I really like how in Doctor Who it's not a theory. Inferno, the E-Space Trilogy and Rise of the Cybermen have shown us that all before! But it has been quite a while since any kind of story dealing with different realities. I really liked the determination of Paul who just couldn't bare the fact that he had lost his wife and daughters. His intelligence must be quite incredible and it's no wonder he was working with UNIT seeing that he was able to track the reality where it was he that died in the car crash and not his family. The characterisation of both the Twelfth Doctor and Clara was superb and these comics are really coming into their own across all three Doctors. I've criticised comic strip interpretations of Clara in the past but this story in both parts has been brilliant for the English teacher and it certainly seems like the character of Series 8. That's where the story appeared to take place and with that I loved the foreshadowing of Dark Water/Death in Heaven when Clara described what she'd ever do if she lost someone. Some dialogue in this story contradicts with the UNIT arrival in the second part of that TV story but I'm willing to let it slide. Osgood really would be gutted to miss seeing the Doctor though, no matter the appearance! Kate didn't feature much but I like how she's increasingly having a bigger role in stories across all mediums. She was characterised really well. I must say that the artwork of this story so far has been astounding. It literally looked as though the Doctor and Clara could have been photoshopped in it was that good. Hannah dealing with the emotional turmoil of her dead husband returning must've been difficult but this is where my skepticism comes in. The Fractures are a new race for the Doctor to encounter (that in itself is rare) but why didn't they threaten Mickey after he stayed on 'Pete's World' or Rose after she was trapped there when Pete saved her from the Void? I do hope they're new species but that to me didn't seem to make sense. That was a shame really as the story really is fantastic so far and I can see that the high quality ratings are set to continue. But we'll have to wait until this story concludes for a rating! 

Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth

"We are the masters of Earth."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: March 1977

Series: Target 17

Featuring: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

Synopsis 

The TARDIS lands in a London of future times - a city of fear, devastation and holocaust... a city now ruled by Daleks. 

The Doctor and his companions meet a team of underground resistance workers, among the few survivors, but after an unsuccessful attack on the Dalek spaceship, they are all forced to flee the capital. 

A perilous journey through England finally brings them to the secret centre of Dalek operations... and the mysterious reason for the Dalek invasion of Earth!

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth was a tremendous novelisation of one of my all time favourite stories. It really was a pleasure to read though I was quite surprised by how much the novelisation deviated from the television story. I've never really noticed massive differences between the TV and novelisations of stories before, and I've now read my fair share of Target novels, but I did immediately with this book. It wasn't a problem at all and it gave an interesting perspective with a few changes to such a landmark story. I'm not sure if I noticed it hugely this time because I know and love the televised The Dalek Invasion of Earth so much, but there was a lot of change. The explanation of the Daleks having survived the events of The Daleks was very different but probably much more logical than just saying those events took place in the far, far future. The farewell to Susan wasn't as heartfelt from the Doctor which probably ties in well with William Hartnell's first incarnation, but it didn't seem as special as it appeared on screen but that would have been extremely difficult to capture regardless. Terrance Dicks did a brilliant job of presenting us this story and with it being novelised I found something intriguing about the story. The Doctor here isn't trying to prevent the evil from coming to Earth. It's way too late for that, as we saw in The Mutant Phase set prior to this story but during the Dalek invasion. The Daleks were already here and they'd conquered. Earth was theirs. So now it was up to the Doctor to stop their plans from coming into fruition and with quite a helping hand from Ian that was achieved. Another deviation from the TV story that seemed a lot more emotional was the deaths of Larry and Phil. They died quickly after each other and their corpses lay together. I loved how Dicks made a lot of the image of the Daleks being in the same picture as the Houses of Parliament on Westminster Bridge. He really wanted to sell how good that moment was on television and he did a stellar job. The relationship between Susan and David was wonderful and with reading the novelisation obviously taking a lot longer than watching the dvd, seeing that pan out was great. They really did grow to love each other. David was desperate for Susan to stay with him and finally belong to a time and place of her own. I liked how she mentioned leaving her home planet when she was very young, which we would finally see in The Name of the Doctor, and I also liked how An Unearthly Child was referenced as well. The moments with the Slyther were good and I liked how the desperation of Ian and Larry was portrayed when they sent the beast to its death. The Daleks were fantastic enemies and it's quite incredible that this is only their second appearance chronologically. How audacious of them to literally try and steal our planet! They were mining in Bedfordshire to replace the core of the planet so they could pilot it. If The Runaway Bride is anything to go by, they'd have a shock when they encountered the Racnoss! The Dalek Supreme as I prefer to call him (do I call a Dalek him?) was magnificent and clearly led the race. I loved how it was mentioned that the Daleks were sent. From the aforementioned audio story, we know it was the Emperor who ordered the mission. But because that character didn't appear until The Evil of the Daleks, it makes the continuation an extra bit special. The way the TARDIS foursome were split up in London and reunited in Bedfordshire was wonderful and they quite simply defeated the Daleks by giving the Robomen and slaves orders to attack the Daleks all over the world. They were fighting back. Ian had dealt with the bomb and it would actually destroy the Dalek ship. A quite sublime resolution to a simply superb story novelisation. 

Rating: 10/10

The Visitation

"Such pride in something so stupid!"

Writer: Eric Saward 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 15th - 23rd February 1982

Season: 19.04

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan

Synopsis 

England, 1666 - the darkest days of the Great Plague. When the Doctor and his companions step from the TARDIS into a land gripped by fear and mistrust, they soon discover that they are not the only new arrivals. Strange lights have been seen in the sky, the Grim Reaper stalks the local woods and evidence of advanced technology is all around...

Verdict 

The Visitation is a fantastic little story to continue along Season 19 nicely. For what is still an early story in the Fifth Doctor era, Peter Davison gives an assured performance as the brand new Time Lord. I would argue that he had the toughest job of a new Doctor in that he was following the ever so popular Tom Baker who was in the role for 7 years! Of course, Patrick Troughton also had quite the tough act to follow in being the first ever successor of the role. But with Davison being so young and essentially bringing the series into the 1980s, he does a marvellous job. I sometimes criticise him in audio stories but on television I think he's brilliant. I thought the companions were all a little bit useless in this story and maybe that's why I noticed the Doctor standing out so much. Nyssa spent most of her time in the TARDIS building a contraption to eliminate the android. After help from Adric and barely a test, she'd succeeded and excellently got the upper hand of the robot in the final part. She made quite a mess of the TARDIS though! It really was untidy to say the least. Tegan was probably my favourite of the companions in this story and once again she didn't end up on her flight that she's been waiting for since Logopolis! The reference to that story was great. Her reaction to landing at Heathrow, just about 300 years too early was fantastic! "Call yourself a Time Lord?" How dare she criticise the Doctor after all he's shown her! I joke, I really enjoyed it. I loved how she told Adric straight when they were breaking out of their cell that she should be the one removing the panels because she was the most determined of the pair. There's no denying that was true! The continuation from Kinda was good even though I'm not a huge fan of that story but I do enjoy it when stories directly continue on from one another. Her being captured by the Terileptils was interesting and I thought Janet Fielding played the role terrifically well. So that now brings me to Adric. Ha, what a boring character. He's easily the worst companion and this story just highlights it a treat. He barely does anything other than moan. He just wines and winges and deserves a good punching. To be fair, he did pilot the TARDIS to the Doctor, who didn't exactly seem pleased to see him which I liked. Tegan and Adric seemed to get on well for the first time though. The historical    setting was very good and I love how this is Doctor Who's take on the Great Fire of London. Although, if that's the direction they were going I'd have preferred a more prominent Pudding Lane setting than just the final part. It was fine the way it was but I think more time could have been spent there. Richard Mace was a marvellous character and he certainly saw quite a lot in one day for a 17th century Englishman! The Plague was no match for the Terileptils. The design of the creatures was wonderful and the figurine of them is one of my favourites. Their ship crashing was good and I liked how they were damaged and on their last legs. The three remaining were soon dealt with though rather easily which highlighted how weak they were. I loved the ending's simplicity and the Doctor just let the fire have its place in History. He was the one responsible, who else?

Rating: 8/10

Fellow Travellers

"They're relentless and aggressive... and they always travel in pairs."

Writer: Andrew Cartmel

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September - October 1990

Printed in: DWM 164-166

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ace unintentionally pick up something whilst travelling in the TARDIS and bring it to Earth, where the danger can be in literally anything, or anyone...

Verdict 

Fellow Travellers was a very good start to the comic stories in my reading of The Good Soldier graphic novel. I skipped ahead a few pages a couple of days back to read the somewhat disappointing Teenage Kicks which was printed in the DWM prior to the one which this story began so it made logical sense to me. Sadly it gave me a sour taste to start off the graphic novel which I was really hoping to be superb but after reading this, despite the excellent rating, I'm not sure it's going to live up to my expectations when I first bought it shortly after its release. After reading the Voyager graphic novel relatively recently, I was absolutely fine with the comic strip being in black and white but I don't think is going to be up to the standard of that fantastic collection of Sixth Doctor comic adventures. But hey, this was only one story and there are plenty more to come so it's way too early to start judging. I think the name of the story is very clever and I was also very surprised to see that Andrew Cartmel himself was penning the story! Will we be seeing the intended and infamous Cartmel Masterplan pan out in comic strip format? I'd sure love that to happen! At three parts this seemed pretty short considering it was set out over 21 pages and I guess that must be due to a more than usual amount of artwork without speech/lettering. I'm not sure what the possible reason or desire for that may be but that's what seemed to happen in my opinion. The characterisation of the Seventh Doctor and Ace wasn't as good as my recent novel readings but it was an improvement from my latest text story reading with the pair which was nice. I thought the Hitchers were an interesting enemy and I liked the fact that they travelled in pairs as it left the threat still massively open once the first had been defeated in the form of the cat. That scenario playing out was most intriguing I must say. Mrs Lacy being revealed as the other location of the second Hitcher was good and I really liked the Doctor's comment about her being similar to the cat in that it was suited for aggression, just what the Hitchers were after. The resolution was mixed in all honesty I thought with the rage and aggression being only for defence in Ella and that's the only time it would surface again, which would obviously be for good and protection. I liked the Doctor and Ella's relationship very much and it was certainly a highlight of the comic strip. However, the picture that was in itself a reference and a flashback to The Abominable Snowmen was just beautiful. A magnificent inclusion to a great story to kick off the comic strip adventures of this graphic novel. It seems the Doctor owns a hose! 

Rating: 8/10

Cyclone Terror

"They have a compelling desire for power, but also a horror of weapons..."

Writer: Glenn Rix

Format: Short Story

Released: September 1976

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1977

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah

Synopsis 

The Fourth Doctor and Sarah arrive on Zoto to a hero's welcome for the good the last time the Doctor did on his last visit many hundreds of years ago. But now he's back and there's a new threat in the form of cyclones...

Verdict 

Cyclone Terror was an excellent little short story from the 1977 Doctor Who Annual! Compared with the post-revivals Annuals, the ones that are part of the Classic era really are so much superior. It's just a detailed collection of little short stories and comic strips. For a text story, this was much better than my recent reading of Teenage Kicks as it wasn't just all chucked together in block text with a whole one page illustration containing the story's title. This was a much better example as it was probably about the same length words wise but it was spread evenly over four pages with half-page illustrations on each page to give us a better understanding of what's going on and to help us imagine the Fourth Doctor and Sarah being there on Zoto. Although the illustrations aren't the best (they're not bad at all but just look at the photo that I've used for the blog entry that's supposed to be Sarah), they certainly help the imagination when it comes to text stories of this length. The target audience of these Annuals are definitely what the current Annuals should be with a family aim in my opinion. The text stories are detailed but the illustrations obviously help with the younger audiences. The youth will obviously favour comic strips and there's still some fun special features in the Annual but nothing as child-orientated as what we get nowadays. I will purchase the Annual every year no matter how much I may criticise it as I still like it to stand in my collection, but I do hope that with DWM taking over DWA they also got the Annuals and take inspiration from stories such as this. I really liked the Doctor and Sarah's arrival and I thought the characterisation of both was superb. The cyclone threatening the Zotons was interesting and I liked the timing of the Doctor's return - just when he was needed once again. The Zanons were an extremely intriguing species and they seemed to be irony personified! As my quote suggests, they were thirsty for power and land and their ways were certainly of interest. But for a race who seeked power they themselves were petrified of weaponry! The Doctor and Sarah used weapons (that were pretty poor in all honesty) to scare away the whole party who outnumbered the pair by at least ten to one. They scampered and fled. For a race as ingenious to use cyclones as a way of conquering land, keeping themselves distance, they certainly had a fragile weakness! Show a weapon to them and off they'd go running back home with their tails between their legs. It amazes me that they ever conquered any land! The Doctor surely defeated them just as easily as he did here. My only qualm with this story, well Classic Annuals as a whole, is that they don't call the TARDIS all in caps! It's an acronym so it should be more than just the 'T'. But hey, I can let that slide no problem. The story was very good for an Annual which was a nice change of tone! I can't thank Scribd enough for having these Annuals on their app as I highly doubt I'd find it in a shop anywhere around me - though I was lucky enough to purchase the 1980 Annual which I prize in my collection. Overall, a very enjoyable short story. 

Rating: 8/10

The Doctor Dances

"Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!"

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 28th May 2005

Series: 1.10

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis 

The plague of the Child is spreading throughout Wartime London with its zombie army on the march. The Doctor and Rose form an alliance with Captain Jack, but find themselves trapped in the abandoned hospital. The answer lies at the bombsite, but time is running out...

Verdict 

The Doctor Dances is a superb conclusion to the already brilliant story started in The Empty Child. It's obvious why this story always scores highly in the polls charting the best stories in DWM and on the internet - because it's brilliant! After the superb cliffhanger of the previous part, I adored the resolution with the Doctor standing up to the gas mask wearing hospital patients and told them, as any angry parent would, to go to their room! Marvellous. With the Child looking for his mummy, he would listen to the obedient parent figure in the Doctor. The irony was though that the Doctor had sent the Child straight for he, Rose and Jack. I loved the moment where the trio could still hear the Child talking but the tape had run out. He was right there in the room with them and the panicked chase out of the hospital ensued. It was very entertaining and action packed! The banter between the Doctor and Jack regarding their sonic instruments was brilliant. Jack had a rather impressive sonic blaster whilst the Doctor had a sonic screwdriver. Jack's reaction to that was magnificent I thought and the Doctor actually seemed ashamed of his little device which was quite sad. I loved how he was trying to resonate concrete when he immediately got himself into trouble with Rose in stating that she assumed he couldn't dance. She trusted Jack, because he reminded her of the Doctor, so she wanted to see what moves her Time Lord friend had. I can't recall the Doctor dancing as we saw here but he seemed to have some moves! The Eleventh Doctor surely is the best dancer though I would say. But Eccleston's Ninth wasn't bad at all! The Doctor executing the switch between the sonic blaster and banana was wonderful and is just a reminder that, even in an episode as dark as this, the Ninth Doctor is nowhere near as dark as his reputation may suggest. I loved the comical reference to Rose and it certainly gave Jack an insight to what life with the Doctor will be like. The revelation surrounding Nancy at the crash site was fantastic and the story then started to make some kind of sense. Nancy wasn't Jamie's sister at all. She was actually his mother as she was older than she looked. She had a teenage pregnancy during the late 1930s and being a single parent during war must have been incredibly difficult. But her son had been affected by the ambulance that Jack used as bait to lure the Doctor and Rose. Jack thought it was empty but the continuation of the nanogenes from healing Rose's hands was superb. They didn't know what humans were and believed they were like the Child so would set out to 'fix' the rest and make them like Jamie. However, when Nancy finally acknowledged that she was his mummy he'd been asking about, the nanogenes recognised the superior DNA and Jamie was fixed. The whole hospital was and for once the Doctor had a great day. He bloody deserves it! Everybody lived just this once. Dancing, he even went and saved Jack from the bomb. Psychology at its finest. Jack was now companion and he was impressed by the TARDIS interior! Overall, a magnificent end to a simply sublime two part story. 

Rating: 10/10

The Empty Child

"Are you my mummy?"

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21st May 2005

Series: 1.09

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis 

London, 1941, at the height of the Blitz.  The army guards a mysterious cylinder and homeless children, living on bombsites, are terrorised by an unearthly child. Rose meets the dashing Jack Harkness and wonders if she has found a hero even better the Doctor...

Verdict 

The Empty Child is a magnificent episode of Doctor Who to kick off this incredible and highly commended two-part story. It really is a sublime start to Steven Moffat's contribution to Doctor Who and it's definitely a sign of things to come once he became the showrunner for Series 5 and onwards. It just has such a good feel and its eeriness is the perfect mix of fright and excitement. The setting of 1941 during the London Blitz is just wonderful and I love the irony of Rose wearing a Union Jack t-shirt. Probably not the best choice when you end up hanging from a barrage balloon over London during the height of the bombing. I thought it started off very well with a mini-chase through the time vortex but yet again during Series 1, we have an Earth story. I'm not sure why every story was set on our homeworld, and that actually made The Monsters Inside a breath of fresh air, but at this point in history it's marvellous. The Ninth Doctor was superb in this story with a stellar performance from Christopher Eccleston. It's just a real shame he wasn't committed to the role and didn't do at least a second series. The Doctor's reaction to the TARDIS phone running, after venting his frustrations about companions wondering off to a cat, was wonderful. As he said, how can a phone that's not a phone be ringing? Nancy was very good and I love the mystery behind her character. She obviously knows more than she's letting on and the Doctor will get that out of her that's for sure. If there's information to be found then he's the man to find it. The scene where he just pops up at the dinner table full of children is brilliant. The story behind Nancy losing her brother Jamie in an air raid was a sad one but it's nice to see she's helping out other children as a consequence. The Doctor knowing that she's lost someone was excellent. This was a fantastic introduction for Captain Jack Harkness, a character who would go on to have his own incredibly successful spinoff series and then return to the series alongside the Tenth Doctor. He and Rose immediately hit things off and the chemistry between them is immense. They're clearly attracted to each other and I loved the humour surrounding the communication on the psychic paper. I was quite intrigued that Rose, despite her relationship with Mickey, said that she was very available. The story behind Jack being a conman was unexpected though I liked how Rose played him into thinking she was a Time Agent. Jack was now a freelancer but once meeting the Doctor he knew they weren't really agents. The Chula Warship of Jack's was pretty remarkable I must say and I loved how he and Rose were simply having champagne on top of it in front of Big Ben. Not a bad first date of sorts. The 'bait' that the TARDIS followed being an ambulance was intriguing and it'll set things up wonderfully in the next episode. Jamie constantly asking for his mummy is actually quite saddening but there's definitely something more there in that when he touches you, you become like him with the gas mask being fused to the skin. All the patients at the hospital having exactly the same injuries seemed impossible but it was right there in front of the Doctor, Rose and Jack. The cliffhanger though was superb with the trio being cornered with the gas mask wearing army of the not quite dead. Just one touch and they'd be like them. Nancy was also in danger with Jamie closing in. Overall, a sublime episode and I look forward to the concluding part which is where the overall rating will appear. 

Teenage Kicks

"Perhaps everybody gets the alien they deserve."

Writer: Paul Cornell 

Format: Short Story

Released: August 1990

Printed in: DWM 163

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis 

The Doctor brings Ace to a present-day London pub in autumn, landing the TARDIS in the pub basement. The Doctor busies himself on the pub's trivia machine before going over to talk to a woman sitting on her own with a bunch of carnations. He sends Ace over to engage with a guy at the bar sitting on his own, but there's something more to the strange character...

Verdict 

Teenage Kicks wasn't the best story in the world by any stretch of imagination. I was quite disappointed really seeing that it was written by the usually very strong Paul Cornell. It just didn't have a lot riding for it in my opinion and may have benefited more from a few more illustrations instead of just blocked text which became a little tedious. Now I know it was only two pages (not counting the above illustration) but somehow it seemed to drag a little. This story saw me kick off my reading of The Good Soldier graphic novel, a couple of months after purchasing it shortly after it was released, only to then win a copy as my letter praising Blood and Ice won the DWM Star Letter of the Month. Seeing that the first comic strip story was printed in DWM 164, and there was a text story later in the graphic novel that was printed in DWM 163, I thought I'd go with logic and do the stories in the order they appeared in DWM. I'm not a huge fan of text stories at all and that's largely why I've been put off doing my 2007 and 2009 Storybooks. They're a struggle on times and they always seem to take longer than you'd expect. That happened here which was a shame. The characterisation of the Seventh Doctor was pretty good but not as strong as in my recent readings of Ghost Light and The Ripple Effect. Ever since watching Remembrance of the Daleks with my cousin a few weeks back, I seem to have been doing an awful lot of stories with this TARDIS pairing, one that is far from my favourite. I did enjoy the reference to The Curse of Fenric as I do enjoy any opportunity for a past story to get a mention in any kind of story. Ace meeting up with people, unexpectedly, who shared card names with her was certainly intriguing. Characters with names such as Jack, Queen and King definitely had my interest and momentarily I thought we'd get more of an insight into Ace's past. She's the first companion where we get to learn quite a lot of her past in Perivale and the story behind her being known as Ace. I suppose the point could be argued for Nyssa seeing as we got a whole story in The Keeper of Traken to learn about her people and culture and then the torment of her losing her father to the Master before she officially became companion in Logopolis. But Ace just has something unique about her in that she's undoubtedly the closest companion to being like the revival companions. Desiree that though we still don't know a hell of a lot about her! I hoped that would be elaborated here but instead we just had violence. I liked the Doctor's mention of people betting on things they know the outcome of and I immediately thought of the magnificent Back to the Future trilogy and the Sports Almanac! I do love those films. I think this story highlights just how much Ace means to the Doctor and they've definitely gone through a lot together. It was quite a nice touch that he'd let Ace pick their next location, if the TARDIS was of course up to it! Their relationship is growing on me but I'm still not struck on the pairing. I'm not sure I ever will be sadly. Hopefully this graphic novel could do something to change that. But it hasn't got off to the best start unfortunately. 

Rating: 6/10

The Three Doctors

"So you're my replacements - a dandy and a clown."

Writers: Bob Barker & Dave Martin 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 30th December 1972 - 20th November 1973

Season: 10.01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo, Second Doctor, First Doctor

Synopsis 

UNIT HQ comes under attack by an alien force, and the Doctor has no other option but to call on his own people, the Time Lords, for help. Breaking the first Law of Time, the first two Doctors are lifted out of their time-streams and sent to help the third. But in a universe of anti-matter, an all-powerful figure from Time Lord history is waiting, and even three Doctors may not be enough to stop him...

Verdict 

The Three Doctors is just a joyous story and one that deserves celebrating. Doctor Who had reached its tenth season, which in the 1960s and going into the 70s was quite a remarkable achievement. What better way to celebrate than to reunite all three Doctors for one epic story! This was the first time I've done a Jon Pertwee TV story in probably over two and a half years and it was great to see the Third Doctor in action once again. Not only that but we had the triumphant return of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor! This incarnation really was marvellous but it's just a damned shame that William Hartnell was too ill to perform in an active role. His scenes in the chair trapped in the time eddy were heartbreaking at times. Despite this, Hartnell did his best and he still managed to bring his First Doctor feel across. He truly is the Doctor. Now, you can't just have three Doctors together and expect a good story to just happen. So credit to the writers for introducing Omega, a character who is absolutely cemented in Doctor Who history. He was the solar engineer that gave the Time Lords the power of time travel but in doing so he found himself exiled and imprisoned in a universe of anti-matter. The concept of that universe was intriguing and I liked how Omega's will was the sole reason it had been created. That gave us quite an indication of what this Time Lord was capable of. The Doctor's reaction, both of them, to seeing that they were face to face with Omega would have been enough anyway but that just added something extra. The appearance of the infamous Time Lord was superb and he really did look all mighty and powerful. I thought the Brigadier was superb in this story and he just couldn't believe that there were three different Doctors! He was convinced the Doctor had reverted back to his appearance when they first met but when they were both together he really was shocked. His and Benton's reaction to going inside the TARDIS for the first time were wonderful. I just loved that the Second Doctor criticised the redecoration. I also loved how there seemed a method to this Doctor's madness when rambling on about the recorder to see how much self control Omega had. Jo was lovely as usual and I really like how committed she is to the Doctor. Dr Tyler was a fantastic character also and I loved how he was fascinated by the events that had brought him through a black hole. The Gell Guards were decent minions of Omega and I'll let their somewhat questionable costume design slide given that it was 1973. The references to The Invasion, The Web of Fear and Spearhead from Space were magnificent and filled with good humour on times. The conference call as Jo dubbed it between the Doctors was a useful way of quickly gaining information. The way they fooled Omega with the luck of the recorder was magnificent. Omega was keeping the anti-universe alive but the moment he stopped controlling it he couldn't leave. He was trapped. The trick from the Doctors was simple but just genius! They quickly escaped in the TARDIS and returned to normality. Everyone was safe and Omega was trapped. The Time Lords had their power back and as a reward, the Doctor's exile was over. He was free to travel in time and space once more. Overall, just a wonderful anniversary celebration! 

Rating: 10/10

The Forgotten Army

"The largest mammoth ever discovered had come back to life."

Writer: Brian Minchin

Format: Novel

Released: April 2010

Series: NSA 39

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy

Synopsis 

"Let me tell you a story. Long ago, in the frozen Arctic wastes, an alien army landed. Only now, 10,000 years later, it isn't a story. And the army is ready to attack."

New York - one of the greatest cities on 21st century Earth... But what's going on in the Museum? And is that really a Wooly Mammoth rampaging down Broadway. 

An ordinary day becomes a time of terror, as Ice Age creatures come back to life, and the Doctor and Amy meet a new and deadly enemy. The vicious Army of the Vykoid are armed to the teeth and determined to enslave the human race. Even though they're only seven centimetres high.

With the Doctor kidnapped, and the Vykoid army swarming across Manhattan and sealing it from the world with a powerful alien forcefield, Amy has just 24 hours to find the Doctor and save the city. If she doesn't, the people of Manhattan will be taken to work in the doomed asteroid mines of the Vykoid home planet.

But as time starts to run out, who can she trust? And how far will she have to go to free New York from the Forgotten Army?

Verdict 

The Forgotten Army was a magnificent novel and in my opinion is definitely the best of the first trilogy of stories released for the Eleventh Doctor and Amy. It was a breeze to complete and I really enjoyed the pace. It was well planned out and fitted the consistent 248 page format with ease. The setting of New York is a special one for me after visiting there in 2010 and I was just overwhelmed by the scale of the place. It really is a concrete jungle and nothing does it justice until you actually go there. Some of the geography of the city wasn't actually true but in a Doctor Who novel released for a UK audience, you can get away with that no problem. My favourite thing from my trip to New York was visiting the Museum of Natural History - it was just incredible and I literally could have spent all day in there. So having that as a heavy part of the setting was really great and it brought back quite a lot of memories. Brian Minchin seemed to have quite a desire to include a lot of toilet humour, just why I'm not so sure, but the book definitely had a comedic feel which was nice. It certainly was a change in theme from Night of the Humans that's for sure! I really liked the Doctor referencing his last visit to New York in Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, and his future visits to the new New York (I'm not going to write 'New' numerous times!) in New Earth and Gridlock. I quite liked how Amy seemed jealous about the Doctor having gone there with other girls though. Amy was quite the little minx in this story and she really was rather seductive! She toyed with Oscar a treat. But when I come to think of the point that this book is placed, it's well in line with her characterisation in the early episodes of Series 5. I loved the reference to Children of Earth: Day One as it's very rare that Torchwood gets a mention in Doctor Who stories. It's usually the other way around! The story of the mammoth having been found was brilliant but I'd never have thought it would contain an army of mini aliens! The Vykoids really were unique and I loved the idea of a time freeze so they could take advantage of being quicker. Their size should obviously thwart them at 7cm but they'd conquered many worlds before Earth and were extremely technologically advanced. General Erik was left bemused once the Doctor foiled their plans in quite a simple way. He simply changed the transmat pattern from human to Vykoid, so every mini alien in Broadway was taken back home whilst the humans remained on Earth and wouldn't be mining excrement. The characterisation of the Eleventh Doctor was at its best from the trilogy so far though I think that may be down to me now being used to imagining Matt Smith's incarnation in prose after reading the three books in quick succession. I really liked how the Doctor communicated through the psychic paper, which intrigued me as I would generally associate that with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. The story of Sam and Polly was lovely and they just had to get together in the end. The Doctor inspiring the schoolchildren was a stunning moment as well. He made ten-year-olds feel like heroes which I thought was just typical Doctor. The climax as already discussed was good and overall this was an excellent novel. I thoroughly enjoyed! 

Rating: 9/10

The Waters of Mars

"The Laws of Time are mine, and they will obey me!"

Writers: Russell T Davies & Phil Ford

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 15th November 2009

Series: 2009 Autumn Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Doctor arrives on Mars. Bowie Base One. 21st November 2059. The day the Base is obliterated and the crew die. With the infectious Flood on a rampage, can the Doctor really just leave and condemn the crew to their deaths? Or does he have the right to change time?

Verdict 

The Waters of Mars is a superb episode of Doctor Who and serves well as the penultimate story for David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. The Doctor goes on quite the emotional journey in this story and it really is quite hard to watch at times, knowing what he's going through. Tennant's performance is as sublime as ever and I think it was very well written in the way that the Doctor was just looking on at what was happening. He knew the result but he just couldn't do anything except watch. It must have been heartbreaking for the Doctor. His arrival was quite humorous to me. I do wonder how dangerous things could be if the Doctor was just travelling through time and space all on his lonesome. Why would he just pop to Mars? Or was it another random landing from the TARDIS? That was left ambiguous. Once he realised where and when he was, the Doctor knew he should leave immediately. The events that would unfold in this story would set in place a chain of events that would alter human history for the better and see it expand into the stars. The Doctor knowing all the details about the crew members was interesting as it meant that this base was obviously of high importance. They were the first human space colonists so they were extremely important! But each time the Doctor named a crew member, we saw that they all died in 2059. It appeared from the off that this was going to be quite a harrowing episode. Death was going to be a plenty and the Doctor could do nothing about. The rising of the Flood was quite shocking and I thought the transformation process was brilliantly disturbing! They really did look scary. They just literally flooded with water. They were dripping and dribbling water and could emit at will! With humans being approximately 60% water, they were the perfect hosts. And with a planet so rich in water, what better planet to target than Earth? The Doctor being in a dilemma regarding fixed points was quite the story throughout the episode. The reference to The Fires of Pompeii was very emotional and it was a perfect example of why the Tenth Doctor appears so desperate here. It was foreshadowed in Planet of the Ood that his song was ending and in Planet of the Dead his ending was again foreseen. Not here, not now. Just the three knocks. But it was soon. Instead of leaving things to history, the Doctor was going to change a fixed point. Even though a Dalek spared Adelaide's life, which we saw a magnificent flashback taking place during The Stolen Earth, the Doctor declared himself the Time Lord victorious. He had won the Time War, whether he liked it or not. Now the Laws of Time were his. He had the power to say who lived and who died. But Adelaide thought that was wrong. The Doctor had saved Mia, who was absolutely stunning, and Yuri but saving someone as influential as Adelaide could change the future drastically. The Doctor didn't seem too bothered about what he'd done until Adelaide took her own life ensuring her legacy lived on and her granddaughter would still be inspired by her. Ood Sigma was briefly seen and the Doctor realised he had gone too far. But he still wasn't accepting death. On he went! Overall, this was a very powerful episode and my only qualm was Gadget who I wasn't struck on. I also wish more was said about the Ice Warriors! But still, marvellous. 

Rating: 9/10

Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils

"They have established themselves in the sea. Now they plan to emerge and conquer the world."

Writer: Malcolm Hulke 

Format: Novel

Released: October 1974

Series: Target 09

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis 

Whilst visiting the Master, who has been exiled to a luxurious castle prison on a small island, Doctor Who and Jo Grant learn that a number of ships have vanished in the area. Whilst investigating these mysterious disappearances Jo and the Doctor are attacked by a Sea-Devil, one of a submarine colony distantly related to the Silurians. Soon they discover that the Sea-Devils plan to conquer the Earth and enslave humanity, aided and abetted by the Master. What can Doctor Who do to stop them?

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils was a superb novelisation of the TV story it's based upon! It had been quite a while since I had blogged a Third Doctor story, with The Spear of Destiny being the last, so I made a point of doing a Third Doctor adventure once I'd decided on doing a Target today. After reading, I'm very happy with my choice as it was magnificent. I really like The Sea Devils TV story and Malcolm Hulke did a stellar job of converting that script into prose. The characterisation of Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor was particularly impressive. The dialogue was exactly as the third incarnation was and some of the traits appearing, such as Venusian karate, were great. Jo Grant is a wonderful companion but incredibly she's my third favourite companion of this era! I just loved Liz and Sarah. Following The Dæmons, the Master was isolated on a prison island and I loved how through the novelisation we got an extended insight into how that came about. Both the Doctor and the Brigadier had written to the Prime Minister, and the Doctor had even pleaded in a trial to keep the Master alive rather than execute him. The UNIT dating controversy was at large in this story with Jo mentioning something about 1977. It really is all over the place but like the clever references in The Day of the Doctor, we can let it slide. Considering the title, in the novelisation I was surprised to notice how little the Sea-Devils actually featured! This felt definitely more like a story for the Master. But I guess it is testament to the Sea-Devils themselves that they became such an iconic monster. This warranted their TV return in Warriors of the Deep and I was thrilled when they unexpectedly showed up to battle the Eleventh Doctor in The Silurian Gift novel! They really are great monsters. The references to Doctor Who and the Silurians were good and I like how it's implied that they're cousins with those cave monsters. It would make sense seeing as they united in the future. Like the Silurians, they believed the planet was their own. They'd gone into hibernation fearing the Moon was going to collide with Earth, but it just went into orbit so they never awoke, until now. But millions of years had passed and man now ruled Earth. This wouldn't do. The idea of a Chief Sea-Devil was good and I think it's definitely a good idea to have a leader of a villainous species. The Doctor again wanted them to make peace with humanity but it was never going to happen. Surely he'd have learned from the Silurian incident. The Master was fantastic in this story and even in prose, Roger Delgado's incarnation still came across as being my favourite of the Master. It really is difficult to beat the original. Captain Hart was a brilliant character and I liked how he got along with Jo very much. Mr Robbins the boatman was the subject of some quite humorous ongoings at the start of the novel. First he had his boat stolen by the Doctor and then Jo ran off his bicycle! Sadly for him, his boat then got blown up. I don't think he'd be getting that back! I liked the reference to Colony in Space and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that story is novelised after I picked up Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon last week in Cardiff market. Trenchard was a brilliant character and his association with the Master was very interesting. He was supposed to be the Governor of the prison but instead he was in allegiance with the only prisoner! The Master is rather clever like that though. He almost convinced Jo to feel sorry for him, even after all that he'd put her through! The climax was pretty sad for the Doctor as to thwart the Master and to prevent a planetary war, he had to blow up the Sea-Devils and the oil rig. The Master, who later escaped, told the Doctor that he'd committed mass murder and he just couldn't deny it. It was quite a harrowing ending to a superb story! 

Rating: 9/10

Nekromanteia

"The temple of Shara is threatened once more."

Writer: Austen Atkinson

Format: Audio

Released: February 2003

Series: Main Range 41

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem

Synopsis 

In the depths of space a little known district harbours a terrible secret. Long known as a place of death, it claims thousands more lives as a great corporate space-fleet goes to war. As the fleet screams out in fear and pain, an irresistible voice calls out to three travellers and a macabre mind sets a deadly trap.

The Doctor, Peri and Erimem face the terrors of Talderun and the wrath of a corporate empire as they struggle to understand the hideous secret of the domain of the dead, a district known in legend as Nekromanteia.

Verdict 

Nekromanteia was a very intriguing audio story, and a very good one of that. I really liked the theme and it was quite enigmatic and ambiguous throughout which gave it a superb feel. It really did feel quite magical but also dark at the same time which was a very good mix of themes. It was perfectly suited for a story that contained witches! It wasn't similar at all to The Shakespeare Code, the only other Doctor Who story I can recall to feature witchcraft, as they were more of a cult here rather than the scavenger trio of Carrionites who were trying to control Shakespeare. After a hugely successful outing in The Church and the Crown, I was thrilled to see that the trio of the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem were back for another story this soon. They probably weren't as good together as the aforementioned previous audio, but they were still thoroughly enjoyable together. Erimem really is coming into her own and although this is only her third story, I'm starting to see a wonderful companion and I'm really looking forward to seeing her character develop in the upcoming audios. I'm sure she'll work out marvellously as I was surprised to see the news in the latest DWM that Erimem is now having her own book series! I'm not sure they'll sell overly well but if I see them I'd probably pick them up, though I do still have a ridiculous amount of novels to get through and my task wasn't helped by the fact I picked up ten original Targets last week! But I'll get through them all eventually and have them readily blogged in time. There really is no rush. That's the same with audios! I'm only what, 160 odd behind in the Main Range? I'll catch up one day. But for now we're on number 41 and it was the last we saw of Antranak, Erimem's quite humorous cat. The farewell was in line with the story in being magically eery and that's the feeling I got for most of this adventure. Peri went through quite a lot in this story and her relationship with Rom was superb. It was quite a sorry ending for the pair though and it was Erimem who was the strongest companion of the pair. How the tides have turned since we last listened to them in audio. With her being from Ancient Egypt, she understood what rituals meant and she really didn't blame any of the witches and cult for what they were doing. She understood what a sacrifice meant and Peri denying them that was obviously going to cause problems. Harlon served as a good enemy and I really liked Shara and that realm of reality. The first two cliffhangers were extremely strong with the first suggesting that Erimem had been shot (which she had, just not fatally), and the second implying that the Doctor had been decapitated and his head was being paraded about! Were we in 1930s Italy? The references to The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Eye of the Scorpion were terrific, but not as terrific as it might have been witnessing Peri naked! She actually was naked in a Doctor Who story. It's quite incomprehensible but I'm now envious of the audio format. At least we could let our imagination run wild. The climax was very good and at 105 minutes this audio was very well paced. Overall, a good ending to a fantastic audio adventure. I'm really liking this trio. 

Rating: 8/10

Jubilee

"The Daleks have gone but the evil that men do will echo on forever."

Writer: Robert Shearman

Format: Audio

Released: January 2003

Series: Main Range 40

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Evelyn

Synopsis

Hurrah! The deadly Daleks are back! Yes, those loveable tinpot tyrants have another plan to invade our world. Maybe this time because they want to drill to the Earth's core. Or maybe they just feel like it. 

And when those pesky pepperpots are in town, there is one thing you can be sure of. There will be non-stop high octane mayhem in store. And plenty of exterminations!

But never fear. The Doctor is on hand to sort them out. Defender of the Earth, saviour of us all. With his beautiful assistant, Evelyn Smythe, by his side, he will fight once again to uphold the beliefs of the English Empire. All hail the glorious English Empire!

Now that sounds like a jubilee worth celebrating, does it not?

Verdict 

Jubilee was a brilliant audio story and it's no wonder that this story was adapted into the Series 1 TV story Dalek! It really was excellent. Robert Shearman gave us a hugely different slant on a Dalek audio story from what we've had previously in the Main Range with the loose Dalek Empire arc. It's all change here though as we have a temporal paradox, Dalek juice being drunk (it's as disgusting as it sounds) and even a Dalek invasion which may seem strange when thinking about what story this inspired. Although this story was the basis for Dalek, it wasn't as closely resembled as I thought it would be. I'm now particularly looking forward to reading Human Nature to see if that's any closer to being similar to the TV story of the same name. I like the idea of alternate timeline stories and the Doctor actually being the key to what happened in 1903 and what was happening in 2003 was intriguing. He, seemingly unbeknownst to himself, was holding back the Dalek invasion of 100 years previous from merging with 2003. But it was getting tougher and things were getting through. Things like Daleks exterminating. The similarities in relationships between the Dalek and Evelyn here and the Dalek and Rose in the TV adaptation were probably what you could draw on as being the most resemblant between the two stories. Evelyn meeting the Doctor, who had been locked away for 100 years, was an incredibly powerful moment. I thought Evelyn was marvellous in this story and I really do think my thoughts on her as companion are changing because for the second consecutive story I'm going to say it was her best! It was her second meeting with the Daleks and it's fair to say she's had two very unpleasant and eventful meetings! The Apocalypse Element had the Daleks invading Gallifrey and now she was being respected by one! That's quite disturbing. The Dalek being a soldier and craving orders was brilliant. It had failed to destroy Earth but hadn't died trying. It hadn't carried out its orders and now it needed new ones to redeem itself. But there had been 100 years since the last orders. I thought it was quite incredible that the Dalek wanted the Doctor to be its commanding officer! Now that's ironic. The performance of Colin Baker was astounding here and it's no wonder that this story got a mention in the editor's column of the latest DWM in listing some of the Sixth Doctor's best moments in audio. It really was magnificent. The only problem I have with this story is that the Doctor had become legless and was simply exterminated by the Daleks. They finally got their man but nothing was really made of it. Surely after losing his legs, the Doctor would just regenerate? I didn't get that. Why was it suddenly disabled? Miriam was a wonderful character and her reaction to seeing Farrow's head was priceless. She just wasn't shocked at all! And they were to be married! She was just barmy. If you don't believe me - she wanted to marry a Dalek! How ridiculous is that? It's so ridiculous that I love it. When the Daleks were coming through, the in-laws comment was just comedic gold. Sublime. I thought Rochester was a really good character too and his relationship with the Doctor was interesting throughout. His collection of dwarves to go inside Dalek shells was pretty disturbing I must say. I thought it was intriguing that he was President though. Time had certainly gone wrong! The climax was action packed which was great and the destruction of the Daleks was always going to happen, but I liked the way it was done. Overall a superb story with fascinating references to History as a whole. A nice reference to The Marian Conspiracy as well! 

Rating: 9/10 

The Ripple Effect

"What possible excuse can you have for attacking a defenceless Dalek?"

Writer: Malorie Blackman

Format: Novella

Released: November 2014

Series: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories: 07

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis 

The TARDIS lands on Skaro, homeworld of fhe Daleks. The Seventh Doctor and Ace are shocked to discover that the Daleks have become a force for good, and their once battle-torn planet is now a universal centre of learning. But how long can peace last?

Verdict

The Ripple Effect was yet another excellent little novella from this quite brilliant 12 Doctors, 12 Stories collection! With the exception of Tip of the Tongue, this story continues the trend of all stories scoring at least 9/10 as my rating which is obviously a phenomenal standard and I'm so glad that's it continued just as well after the Fifth Doctor was the unfortunate incarnation to get the blip in quality. Seeing as these stories were intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary, which actually seems quite a while ago now, it's only right that the Daleks appeared in at least one of the adventures. The Master has been in two and now I do hope the Cybermen get an appearance before I finish the collection. I highly doubt they'd appear in quite the same way the Daleks did her though. Something had gone desperately wrong with the universe, the Doctor could feel it. Well, it wasn't just that. There was the small matter of the Daleks being considered good, Skaro being a universal centre of learning and that they performed emergency surgery on a Time Lord! Things were obviously incredibly imbalanced. Ace wasn't too great in this story sadly and I just don't think I'll ever get to like her as a companion. She was characterised very well here though I must say. I wasn't too fond of her challenging that the Doctor couldn't change things just because he was a Time Lord. However, I was firmly on his side in thinking that alone gave him more than enough right! If even the Time Lords didn't know things had gone seriously wrong then the universe was in great danger and only the Doctor could do anything about it. Seeing the climax foreshadowed in the early parts of the story with Ace seeing another police box in the Plexus was very good but to me that was the only slight problem with the story and the reason it doesn't score full marks - it was a tad predictable which was a shame. I'd worked out almost immediately that it was the Doctor making the star go supernova that set the chains in motion allowing the Daleks to become a centre of good. The Doctor not allowing his greatest enemies to flourish was absolutely right in my opinion. After all the atrocities he's seen them commit, why should he allow them attention? I thought that after Remembrance of the Daleks, which was neatly referenced, Ace would understand that but she just sympathised with the Daleks! How ridiculous is that? These were capable of anything and she seemed on their side. Similarly to The Evil of the Daleks, we had Daleks with names! Though, they weren't injected with the Human Factor. Tulana was a good character and I really liked how she got along with Ace splendidly. I'd like to believe that it was her and not the Daleks that made her so adamant in not wanting to revert the universe to normality. The Doctor's attempt to convert the TARDIS into a Vortiscope were intriguing though the description of the console room sounded quite typical of what I'd imagine the Seventh Doctor doing! He of course would save the universe and once he prevented the star from going nova, he intentionally went to Skaro to see if the Daleks were their normal hating selves! And they were. So that meant the universe was saved. Ironic, huh? Overall, a superb little story. 

Rating: 9/10

 

Night of the Humans

"They've developed an entire culture based around the scraps of what survived the crash. Old a Westerns... a cartoon clown..." 

Writer: David Llewelyn 

Format: Novel

Released: April 2010

Series: NSA 38

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy

Synopsis 

"This is the Gyre - the most hostile environment in the galaxy."

250,00 years' worth of junk floating in deep space, home to the shipwrecked Sittuun, the carnivorous Sollags, and worsr of all - the Humans. 

The Doctor and Amy arrive on this terrifying world in the middle of an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and Humans, and the countdown has already started. There's a comet in the sky, and it's on a collision course with the Gyre... 

When the Doctor is kidnapped, it's up to Amy and 'galaxy-famous swashbuckler' Dirk Slipstream to save the day.

But who is Slipstream, exactly? And what is he really doing here?

Verdict 

Night of the Humans was a very good read and another solid outing for the Eleventh Doctor and Amy in their early tenure during the novels. This had a much darker feel than Apollo 23 and it was intriguing that for quite a large proportion of the book, it was Humans who were the enemies! The Doctor has faced all sorts during his many lives from Zygons and Sontarans to Macra and Nimon, but I bet he never felt he'd come against Humans in the quite the way they were presented here. The Humans weren't at all like you and I, partly because this story was set some 250,000 years into the future. Amy reminiscing of being so far from home was fantastic and there's absolutely no disputing that this story is set prior to The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone due to the wedding dress references, so she's still getting used to hopping around space and time in a police box with her raggedy man. The references to The Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below were brilliant and I loved how Amy still couldn't quite believe she'd been on a spaceship in her nightie. The characterisation of Amy here was very good and I loved how she questioned the Doctor calling her 'Pond'. The characterisation of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor was an improvement from the last novel in my opinion but that may be down to me getting used to transferring this incarnation into prose. The traits were definitely there from what we seen on screen during the early episodes of Series 5. The Gyre was an interesting setting and the story behind the Sittuun crashing during their mission was quite an eventful one! They'd been here 108 days and on the day the comet was set to blow the flat planetoid into smithereens, causing disaster for the nearby planets, things got very interesting. The Doctor and Amy arrived and they had quite an eventful start to things with them being separated right away. Charlie and Amy got along splendidly and their goodbye was magnificent! The alien wanted to ask Amy on a date. How sweet. The comment about eyebrows being wigs for your eyes was hilarious I must say. Jamal was a great character too and I liked how he just couldn't leave without his son. He was the one that had gotten him the job and he wouldn't be leaving without him. Slipstream was an interesting villain and I liked how he lured the Doctor in. However, I'm not a fan of characters that have had eventful past meetings with the Doctor that we don't know about! Had we read the original meeting and then this story, Slipstream's arrival would've been a great shock factor moment. He was cunning and only concerned with Mymon Key, an object so incredibly powerful that you could literally control the universe. It could even be used to travel through black holes. The power was immense, but it belonged to the Gyre. The moment the Doctor knew Slipstream hadn't departed with the key was wonderful. The story behind the culture of the human descendants of those who survived the original crash centuries ago was most intriguing. A whole culture had been built around Westerns. I couldn't think of anything worse to be honest! I absolutely despise Western films (it's no secret why The Gunfighters is my worst rated TV story ever) so a whole culture based around them would be horrendous. The Chamber of Stories depicting soundless old films was intriguing but to me this showcased just how ridiculous religion is. I firmlly think its fact that religion nowadays, all of it, developed similarly to what was presented here. As silly as Gobo the clown was here, I think it's just as credible as a man dying on the cross and then being resurrected in a cave. It's just rubbish. And you can't just make a walkway in the sea. It's beyond ridiculous, as were some of the policies of Django and co here. But credit to them, even when the Doctor fixed the projector and showed the onlookers that the 'Olden Ones' were actually speaking quite differently to what was being said, they stood by their belief. They couldn't accept what they considered heresy. The Doctor pleaded with them to get off the Gyre but they wouldn't listen. There was nothing he could and the Doctor was devastated. Having the countdown of the Nanobomb definitely helped the pace of things and added believability to the danger. The Sollags were depicted as quite awful creatures and it was pretty obvious Slipstream stood no chance once he chased after the key in the swamps. He was devoured. The Nanobomb was always going to go off and once it did the description of the way it just gorged through the Gyre in an instant was quite chilling. The Doctor couldn't watch but Amy couldn't help herself from looking. The references to Revenge of the Cybermen, The Christmas Invasion and Utopia were very good! The Humans perished but what a unique culture of them. I kind of imagined them as being a cross between the Tribe of Gum and the Futurekind. Not the best of combinations! Despite everything that had happened and the lives he couldn't save, I thought it was a lovely touch that the Doctor said he was okay because Amy was okay. A nice point to end the novel on, which overall was really good! 

Rating: 8/10

Planet of the Dead

"I don't usually do Easter. I can never find it."

Writers: Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts

Format: TV

Broadcast: 11th April 2009

Series: 2009 Easter Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis 

When a London bus takes a detour to an alien world, the Tenth Doctor must join forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina. But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets and time is running out as the deadly Swarm gets closer...

Verdict 

Planet of the Dead was a very good episode to have as the first ever Easter Special! It's quite a ludicrous event to have a Doctor Who special for but I'll take any excuse! The Doctor referencing that he could never find Easter seemed a nice subtle way of explaining why this was the first ever Easter Special and I liked him saying that it's always changing. There's a huge reason right there for me being an Atheist and thinking religion is just a load of rubbish. Supposedly Jesus died on the Friday and rose on the Sunday (yep, of course he did). If that's so then how can it change every year? Christmas doesn't so why should Easter? Anyway, back to the episode following the Easter reference shenanigans. We had quite the expertly planned robbery at the International Gallery, police chasing a bus and then the bus just disappearing! Why the police didn't just pull the bus over I'm not sure. I'm also not entirely convinced as to why the Doctor got on the bus but they were the major qualms I had with the episode really. The Doctor and Christina got along marvellously and there was definitely the chemistry of a Doctor and companion there but it just wasn't going to work when he found out she was a criminal. Michelle Ryan played the role wonderfully and she looked incredible whilst doing so. She wanted to see the stars for the thrill of it but after the Doctor's hurt in losing Donna it seemed like he was adamant in having no more companions. I wonder what Gabby did to convince him to change his mind! She does seem the smart choice in all fairness. The damage sustained to the bus in passing through the wormhole looked realistic and I liked how it acted as the shell for protecting people. The bus driver didn't quite have the same luck in returning back to Earth. All that returned was the burnt crisp of his skeleton. The Tritavores were an interesting species although as with the Hath in The Doctor's Daughter, I'm not a fan of not being able to understand what the species is saying. Fair play to David Tennant though in speaking the language! How he kept a straight face in delivering that scene is testament to what a good actor he is! Those on the bus who came through to San Helios were a mixed bunch I thought. Carmen and Lou were a sweet couple and I loved the psychic ability of the former. She would of course foresee the events of The End of Time at the end of the episode and continue what was said in Planet of the Ood. The Doctor's song was ending. Nathan and Barclay didn't really offer too much other than a story of where they were going on the bus, of which become locked in sand and ran out of petrol. Now that's a challenge for the Doctor! He just seemed to embrace it though as the great man would. The Titravore's ship anti-grav crystal and clamps would be the way to get home. The Doctor promised everyone he would get them home and he duly obliged. Malcolm was the star of the episode in my opinion with Lee Evans playing him magically well. The Robot reference was just wonderful and I loved their chemistry. The new best friends. I think it was a real missed opportunity not to have him meet the Eleventh Doctor! I think Matt Smith and Lee Evans would have been astounding together. Tennant was great in his own right though. The Doctor allowing Christina to escape going to jail was a nice compromise for not letting her become companion. But I maintain what she said - they'd have been great together! I think she'd have made a fine companion and offered a lot. She'd always find herself in trouble. Overall though, a very solid episode. The storm actually being a swarm of destructive Stingrays was excellent. 

Rating: 8/10