Miracle Day: Rendition

"I'm arresting Torchwood."

Writer: Doris Egan

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21st July 2011

Series: Torchwood 4.02

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Rex, Esther

Synopsis 

Jack and Gwen travel to America by plane whilst Rhys is left behind. Jack is poisoned en route, whilst at the CIA Esther Drummond discovers more about Torchwood and those seeking to stop her. Vera Juarez attends a conference and learns there will be even more ways for the human race to run itself to a painful extinction while Oswald Danes seeks sympathy in a live television interview...

Verdict 

Miracle Day: Rendition was a very good episode of Torchwood to continue the fourth series very nicely. After a strong start, this second episode advanced the story along very nicely and oversaw the transfer of what remains of the Torchwood team from the UK to the USA. The rendition itself surprisingly lasted the whole episode and whilst it was good, it dragged out just a tad. Rex taking command of the operation was interesting and I liked how he was still obviously a good guy despite what he was doing. His splitting up of Gwen and Rhys provided some real emotion and that's where we saw Gwen at her very best. I bloody love Eve Myles I must say and it's just wonderful that we have a Welsh women in a lead role. That accent really makes me feel at home and I honestly did forget how terrific she is. She's simply delightful. Speaking of delightful characters, I'm really loving Esther and I liked the way the new look team assembled by the end of the episode. It might not be under the banner of Torchwood, but we have our team for the series ahead now. The 'next time' trailer has already told us that Vera will soon get in the mix but for now she's not quite joined. I like her relationship with Rex though and it does provide a lot of humour in what is a rather daunting and uneasy atmosphere. Death has been eradicated and the problems it is causing are off the scale. People are still ageing and disease is getting stronger, but death just isn't happening. The connection between the miracle and Torchwood intrigues me greatly and I'm looking forward to seeing what it is that they have in common. Lyn and Brian, as well as presumably most of the CIA, attempting to eradicate Torchwood altogether was unexpected but I do hope we get to see the reasoning behind that soon. The former attempted to kill Jack whilst the latter tried to kidnap Esther. A bit of curiosity nearly got her killed! She was now $50,000 better though, even if that money was used to try and frame her. I loved her ingenuity though in escaping the compound and even turned up at the airport in a blue mini as the getaway car, something Gwen was horrified by. The scenes on the plane were good and I just loved the relationship between Jack and Gwen. They really do care a great deal about each other and that's wonderful to see. When Jack was poisoned, I thought the attempts to find a cure were a little dragged out and a tad far fetched. Don't get me wrong, it was funny in places and especially with the gay remarks towards Danny, but it went on a little too long. Gwen was once again magnificent though and she didn't think twice about any of her actions. Jack was cured and despite being too long, it did demonstrate to us that Jack could die. It almost seems strange to think of him dying in a story set long after (chronologically) Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways. The feel of Torchwood is certainly different with this series and with the co-production in the USA, it really has a more drama like feel. That's not a problem but it's so recognisably different. The Oswald Danes interview was quite disgusting and people feeling sorry for him is just a tragedy. What he did is despicable and he should be dead for his actions. Jilly's interest in both him and Vera is fascinating and I look forward to seeing her role in how things play out. The references to Children of Earth: Day Five and Miracle Day: The New World were very good and overall, this was another strong episode to continue the series. The moment Gwen punched Lyn saying "I'm Welsh!" in a response to being called English could have been the episode alone. Marvellous.

Rating: 8/10

Miracle Day: The New World

"Wales is insane!"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14th July 2011

Series: Torchwood 4.01

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Rhys 

Synopsis 

One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next and the next. People keep ageing, they get hurt and sick, but they never die.

This can't be a natural event. CIA Agent Rex Matheson investigates and the answer lies in a dead and buried secret organisation. Torchwood.

Verdict 

Miracle Day: The New World was a fantastic start to the fourth series of Torchwood! Well, it's been an incredibly long time since I blogged Children of Earth, which was the whole of the third series, and despite doing a few audios in the gap between watching, a gap that is done twenty or so months long, I must say that it was tremendous to be watching Torchwood once again! It really was back with a bang. There's a noticeable gap since the last series and I think the production point of the story makes it more obvious that this series was on prime time BBC1. It certainly seems more like a drama and I must say that Russell T Davies does an excellent job in pleasing the faithful viewers as well as placing this as a perfect jumping on point for any new watchers of the programme. I was really impressed by that. The episode kicks off a mammoth asventure of ten stories so it's no secret as to what the next nine blog entries are going to be. And it started excellently. The concept is just incredible with death being pretty much cancelled. Nobody at all was dying. It didn't matter what happened to a person. They just couldn't die. We even saw a man who had been blown up have his head severed from his body and still he survived. It was stupendous really but it now seemed that the human race had achieved immortality, whether it wanted it or not. Seeing the death sentence of Oswald Danes being carried out without an execution actually occurring was interesting and I must admit that I was surprised the "she should have ran faster" line found a place in the Doctor Who universe. I had no problem with it but I imagine some fans may have been put off by it. His character was horrible but that was exactly what he was supposed to be so that was good. Bill Pullman played the role sublimely. We were introduced to a number of new characters and I particularly liked Esther. She really is lovely and I liked how she was investigating the mysterious Torchwood which had suddenly disappeared from all records. The continuation from Children of Earth with the numerous mentions of the 456 was good and I also loved the references to Day One, Day Four and Day Five of that third series umbrella title. Rex was a very good character and I loved his reaction to Wales. I think it's the first time the name of my nation has appeared in my opening quote but I had no other option. The Severn Bridge comment was marvellous and really made things feel homely. The scenes in Cardiff also had that effect on me. I probably should've waited until I go back to university to watch this but now I've started I'm not going to stop. Speaking of Wales though, I was delighted to see Gwen once again and I think I had forgotten how wonderfully Welsh she is. Eve Myles is just lovely and she was just awesome in the episode. Gwen was glad to see Jack again which was good and I loved how proudly she said 'Torchwood' after shooting down the helicopter when asked who they were. Jack referencing Tooth and Claw to Esther was terrific and I liked that there was still a Doctor Who element to things. Andy appearing again was great and I liked that the story managed to establish what the series was to focus on as well as having its own good little story. The ending was unexpected with Rex ordering rendition for Torchwood and an extradition to the USA. It sets things up nicely and the problem of curing immortality can now be handled. I look forward to seeing how things pan out but for now, a great episode and it's great to have Torchwood back on my screen! 

Rating: 9/10

The Star Beast

"He must not know he is now... a living bomb!"

Writers: Pat Mills & John Wagner 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February-April 1980

Printed in: DWM 19-26

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sharon, K9

Synopsis 

Pursued by the Wrarth Warriors, Beep the Meep crashes his craft in Blackcastle where he is found by the young Sharon and Fudge. The Doctor and K9 arrive on the Wrarth ship but don't understand the whole situation until it's too late...

Verdict 

The Star Beast was a brilliant comic strip adventure! It continued my reading of The Iron Legion graphic novel wonderfully and I must say that I have been very impressed with the quality of the stories thus far, especially considering how early on Doctor Who Magazine was to producing comic strip stories at this point. This story gets the same rating as the title story of the graphic novel, but it is ever so close to being the best comic in the collection so far. There is a story that separates this adventure and City of the Damned in the form of the much shorter Timeslip. I didn't go back and read it again as it actually wasn't long ago at all that I read it because it was the bonus comic strip of The Tides of Time graphic novel. I've been doing a lot of comic strips lately with six of my last seven blog entries being one so I think tomorrow I'll be moving back to a different format, but it has been a busy week or so and comic strip stories can be done quickly. I do like to try and blog daily so they just seem an easy option. Anyway, on to the story itself and I thought it was brilliant. This is the earliest comic strip that I knew considerable detail about prior to reading and I think a lot of that might be down to The Ratings War audio adventure in which Beep the Meep returns and makes his performed Doctor Who debut. The furry creature was adorable at the start and had I not known about him being evil, the moment he revealed his true colours would have been a huge shock! In some respects it still was but I loved thinking back in envy to those who would've purchased what was Doctor Who Weekly and read that moment without knowing it was coming. I must say I am very jealous of those people. As well as introducing us to a classic villain, the story also provides us with a new comic strip companion - the first from DWM! I thought Sharon was terrific and her shocked reaction to learning the truth about Beep the Meep was fantastic. She didn't want to believe it at first but once he pulled a gun on her she was soon all ears! I thought Fudge was pretty good as her friend but as the story went on, the focus was fully on her. I found it interesting that she was referred to as a schoolchild and I must say it does seem a tad weird that his companion will be that young. Nevertheless, I'm confident that she'll be great (and if you scour back to somewhere in 2014 on this blog, you'll find this comic was not my first experience of Sharon as the Doctor's companion. I thought the cliffhanger to part three was absolutely phenomenal and I'm not using hyperbole when I say it's one of the very best of all time. It's right up there with The Reign of Terror part one, The Stolen Earth and Dark Water in my opinion. The Doctor discovering he's a living bomb just as the Wrarth Warriors hit the detonation button is simply astounding. The resolution was a very shaky though and I think it's a large part of why the comic doesn't secure that elusive perfect rating. The other cliffhangers were still very good. Blackcastle provided a very good setting and I loved the use of the steel mills and a cover story when it came to the UFO sighting. We even had UNIT soldiers appear which was marvellous. The characterisation of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was once again excellent and that always the comic adventure all the more exciting. The Wrarth Warriors were very good and I liked how they started off as looking like the enemies but we eventually learned that was not the case. The different flashbacks to the history of the Meeps was terrific and I also enjoyed the references to Revenge of the Cybermen and the Key to Time season. The ending was done well and I'm glad that it finished strongly and with pace. 

Rating: 9/10

City of the Damned

"Do not smile. Do not laugh. Do not cry. Do not care. Abandon hope."

Writers: Pat Mills & John Wagner 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: December 1979 - January 1980

Printed in: DWM 9-16

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Fourth Doctor arrives on Zom, in the city of Zombus and discovers that the city is almost completely devoid of emotions. Soon seen as the Great Emoter, the Doctor must stop the Barabara from destroying everything in the city's sights...

Verdict 

City of the Damned was a very good comic strip and continued my reading of The Iron Legion graphic novel fantastically. Initially, and if you'd ask me before even reading one, I wasn't at all keen on one part of the comic being just four or five pages long as I think that's incredibly short but when the stories span over eight parts, that length format actually works hugely in the story's favour because it makes things very pacy which is something I'm a big fan of here. Now this story wasn't quite as good as its predecessor but I really liked that the pacing of both have been similar. The cliffhangers seem to pop up out of nowhere and it often seems that as soon as you've started the next part, it's ending already! The comic really does go by rather quick considering it is eight parts long. I have been intrigued to learn that both this and the very first Doctor Who Magazine comic strip were rejected for television stories. I honestly couldn't see either working on the TV but in the comic strips they are allowed to blossom like many of the Lost Story audios have been allowed to by Big Finish. It's still very interesting to see the Fourth Doctor travelling alone and that must mean the comic adventures are set somewhere close to The Deadly Assassin. I thought the characterisation of the Doctor was superb and it really was terrific to see how good the writers' capturing of Tom Baker's likeness was. It was brilliant and it made the scenes with the Doctor that much more enjoyable. I've been surprised that the two stories thus far haven't been affected by the lack of companion as in stories where the Doctor is on his lonesome, it really can be missing a companion on times. But this hasn't been the case so far and again that is a very good sign. The city of Zombus was a good setting and I thought the artwork that accompanied it portrayed the city in quite a dark light and as I was reading I could see that was exactly the way to go. A city without emotion is unfathomable really and it just doesn't at all seem viable! I must admit I was surprised that the Cybermen didn't make a return in this comic strip but once it was clear that they wouldn't be coming back, I was even more shocked that they didn't even get a mention! A story all about emotion being bad for you and the word 'Cyberman' doesn't even appear. I highly doubt that has happened twice. The Moderators acted as good villains and I liked how committed they were to not having emotion. Due to the Brains Trust though, it didn't seem like they had a lot of choice in the matter. They were committed to living in harmony and if you were being eaten to death by a stampede of Barabara then you were supposed to just stand there and feel nothing, as well as doing nothing. I thought the rebel ZEPO group were very good and I liked how they were all named after an emotion. The Angry brothers was a hilariously ingenuous move and I also liked the inclusion of Nervous, Deceitful and Humble. The splinter group that was committed to hate, led by Big Hate, was also good and I liked how they took the action against the Moderators by unleashing the Barabara. The Doctor giving the city's people their emotion back was a good resolution and I liked the way in which it came. Overall, a very good comic strip!

Rating: 8/10

Medicine Man Part 2

"I know many stories... but none so strange as the time I met the medicine man."

Writer: Nick Abadzis 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 08

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Gabby are still caught between two factions as modern humanity is born. Neanderthals and Monaxi clash, and their actions will shape the direction taken by humankind in the millennia to come...

Verdict 

Medicine Man continued in excellent style with this terrific second part of the story! It's far from over yet and is now set to be the longest comic strip of the second year of Tenth Doctor comic adventure and it's showing us exactly why! I love the setting of prehistory (a term I don't really agree with) and the Neanderthals are such an intriguing part of history that it's amazed me really that they haven't featured in more stories. I know that without doing a pseudo-historical there isn't an awful lot that can be done, but with the stupendous amount of Doctor Who stories that exist across the many, many formats, I'm surprised that my only other blogged story to feature them was my relatively recent reading of Only Human. Even then, they weren't the absolute centre of attention and although that wasn't the case in this part due to story advancement, it did occur in part one which was really nice to read. But as I say, things really did advance rapidly here and the part was quite pacy which made for brilliant reading. A fast paced environment is where the Tenth Doctor thrives and I've actually done a lot with this incarnation lately by watching The Christmas Invasion and reading Wetworld in the last week or so. All three stories are at such different points in the life of the Tenth Doctor but his personality never really changes. The characterisation here was superb and I loved how David Tennant's likeness was easily captured. I liked the reference to The Visitation with the appearance of a Tereleptil (not the one we saw in the aforementioned Fifth Doctor story) and it was good to be introduced to the five mysterious figures that provided the cliffhanger to part one. I thought Effrid was really good and I liked how he was the one to introduce the rest of the team to Gabby. Mem-Brain, a name I'm not sure whether I love or hate, was also decent and I also really liked Unta, even if she wasn't overly struck on Gabby at first. Sunzberro, the Tereleptil, was great and I just love that one of the species has reappeared in this comic strip. Tony is probably the character that intrigues me most because he looks suspiciously like ARC, with whom the Doctor would later travel in his next incarnation, and I'm sure something more will come of him. Gabby was as wonderful as ever and I must say she really is just magnificent as companion. I really do love her and she's undoubtedly my favourite character to come out of a comic strip from any era. Munmeth was also brilliant and I really do like his reactions to the strange words. I was surprised that the mysterious missing word didn't continue but I don't think it's too important really. The Monaxi really came into their own in this part of the comic which was excellent and I loved how they had history with the Time Lords. Their reaction to the Doctor's existence was fantastic but I liked how arrogant they were in not being worried. The mention of having to go back to primeval times to evade the time lock of the Time War was outstanding and that's something I hope might get explored further as things continue in the next part. But I'll have to wait until next month for that now, though I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. Overall, a very good second part to continue the story and I'm interested to see where the cliffhanger takes us next!

The Fourth Wall

"The story you're reading isn't a story. It's real."

Writer: Robbie Morrison

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 08

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara 

Synopsis 

It's the long awaited return of a deadly foe, as the Doctor and Clara face a monster that will have you checking your stack of comics for suspicious movement! Dare you continue reading, when every page turn could bring you into MORTAL DANGER?! You have to - you're the Doctor's only hope!

Verdict 

The Fourth Wall was an outstanding comic strip story and may just have eclipsed Relative Dimensions as my favourite Twelfth Doctor comic adventure to date. Yes, that includes the run that is also occurring in Doctor Who Magazine because I'm actually yet to award a perfect rating to a DWM comic story featuring the Twelfth Doctor. I must say that Doctor Who Comic is considerably better but I think that's only natural because it's longer and is solely a comic whereas the comic is only a part of a much wider magazine. Anyway, enough about DWM. This comic strip is a real treat and shows the beauty of the format in a number of ways. We have some astounding artwork, an unexpected returning enemy and reader involvement! The very first page was incredible and I love the idea of a comic strip breaking the fourth wall. It is the format where you can get away with things the most and you only need to read the Voyager graphic novel for a few examples of that. We had the Doctor breaking down the slides that make up the comic, conservation changing as we read and even speech bubbles coming off the page! It really was phenomenal. The characterisation of the Twelfth Doctor was once again sublime with Peter Capaldi's likeness captured with effortless ease. Not only that but the story was so recognisably set in the latter stages of Series 9 so that was nice. Clara was magnificent and I liked how she had to take a lot of the limelight in the story with the Doctor stuck in a comic strip. What an ending to a sentence that was! That really does sum up the comic - it was incredible. The return of the Boneless was something I did not expect so I was absolutely delighted to see them return! Following on from the return of the Sontarans in my reading of The Judas Goatee yesterday, this DWC issue really has been a bargain! The Doctor ridiculing some of the comics in the store was terrific with him mentioning Cybermen, Metebelis III and Leela as comparisons to some so called superheroes was terrific. He was then horrified to see himself in a comic strip entitled 'Time Surgeon', a title that didn't humour him at all. He was horrified by what was inside (and that was before he knew the Boneless were the culprits). The references to Flatline were fantastic and I'm just pleasantly shocked to see that the Boneless got a quick return. That episode was very good and with the comics replacing graffiti, what a format for them to return. The concept of them is brilliant and when I come to think about, a return in this format was surely inevitable. It just had to be done because there's just too much potential not to bring them back. I liked the reference to The Runaway Bride but I also liked how the comic strip reminded people that they should be proud of collecting comics. People often get ridiculed for collecting comics or are too embarrassed to admit it which I think is a real shame. I love the comics and take great pride in collecting them! I thought the ending was very clever with the Doctor uniting all of the people trapped into the comics to almost think themselves back into reality and literally stamp out the Boneless and catapult them back into their two-dimensional existence. The Doctor closing the story by addressing the reader again was wonderful and I just loved that the fourth wall was broken. Overall, a simply delightful comic adventure! One of the very best. 

Rating: 10/10

The Judas Goatee

"Look like potatoes, think like potatoes, mash like potatoes."

Writer: Si Spurrier

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 08

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Squire, Abslom Daak

Synopsis 

Time to take the fight back to those who have accused the Doctor of horrible war crimes! The TARDIS team needs to break into a remote prison to get the tech that will allow them to pull off an incredible heist... Sounds kind they'll need some expert help!

Verdict 

The Judas Goatee was an excellent comic strip story to continue the second year of Eleventh Doctor adventures very well! I must admit, it was not at all what I was expecting and I'm actually laughing at how they swerved us all with that title! I really did think the Master was going to appear and I was so looking forward to it but it now appears I'm going to have to wait to see him come back. I'm honestly not sure we'll actually see him interact with the Eleventh Doctor, something that was outstanding in The Choice, and my prediction is that we will see some sort of a flashback through Alice on how he framed the Doctor which lead us to the events we saw in The Then and the Now. Speaking of which, I love how that Time War abomination continues to follow the TARDIS through everywhere and when in time and space and I loved that the Doctor was getting very annoyed by it. The characterisation of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor was very good which hasn't often been the case in Doctor Who Comic, but I must say the second year of stories has been better for that than was the case in the first. I'm really starting to like Alice more and more and even though I initially wanted her to travel alone with the Eleventh Doctor, the intriguing Time War element that the Squire and Abslom Daak have brought has made things very interesting in this segment of DWC. The relationship that is starting to blossom between Daak and Alice is very interesting and something you would think of as a mismatch but it's clear that, even though they may not want to, they're getting along pleasantly. Alice catching him saving the Rassilon Timeflies was magnificent and it showed us that despite the rough exterior, there was a soft side to our old chainsword happy Abslom Daak. The Squire was very quiet in this comic strip but I liked the moment the dark contrast between the War Doctor and the current incarnation was highlighted with how he (or she?) remembered the Doctor compared to how Alice knows him. The ambiguity of the story title was fantastic with it also referring to the bearded Sontarans! That was not what I expected to see and their appearance really was a welcomed surprise. They're a favourite enemy of mine so to see them here was a real treat. And the fact they had Time War implications was just tremendous! I liked the continuation from Outrun with Alice still getting those flashbacks of the Master's pillar TARDIS and the very interesting 'Exterminhate' that is playing on the mind of the Doctor. The TARDIS quartet really is a conflicting one but weirdly it does seem to be working well. There's still some obvious distrust and a number of unanswered questions but I think that might be part of why it works. I'm liking that the War Doctor continues to get cameos in these stories, especially with them set prior to The Name of the Doctor in which the hidden incarnation of the Doctor was revealed. That renegade Doctor was another ambiguous referenced that the story title was referring to and that was fantastic. But now the hunt is on for the Master and for that the Doctor needed some expert help, so he enlisted River Song! I was not expecting her to show up in the comic strips but the prospect of River doing battle with the Master excites me very much. I already can't wait to see what happens next!

Rating: 9/10

Wetworld

"The only people who've called me a threat are people who are up to no good."

Writer: Mark Michalowski

Format: Novel

Released: September 2007

Series: NSA 18

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis 

When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice but to abandon Martha and try to find help. But the tranquility of Sunday's swamps is deceptive, and even the TARDIS can't protect Martha forever.

The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers to face: homeless and alone, they're starting to see that Sunday's wildlife isn't as harmless as it appears. Why are the otters behaving so strangely, and what is the creature in the swamps that is so interested in the humans, and the new arrivals?

The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that human intelligence doesn't become the greatest danger of all.

Verdict 

Wetworld was a pretty good novel but I must admit that after a fantastic first five books with the Tenth Doctor and Martha I was hoping for better. Reading on the usual train journey home from mid to South Wales, I again noticed that my reading speed has drastically increased as I read to just over 200 pages in the three-and-a-half hour journey, whereas on previous trips I've been happy to get to the halfway stage of a modern era original novel. I quickly finished the last forty pages upon arriving at home but sadly I couldn't be delighted with what I had read. Despite how negative I'm sounding, I must iterate now that I didn't think the novel was bad but I just thought it could have been gratefully improved. I thought the Sunday setting was good although for what was stated, only setting a century or so into the future seemed a little unlikely and quite ambitious. However, that's not massively important because who's to say we won't be colonising planets 92 years in the future? I thought the characterisation of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor was pretty good although Michalowski did go over the top a little bit with the constant talking and humorous ignorance. But you could still see the traits so that was absolutely fine. His characterisation of Martha was very good I thought which was terrific to read and I did like how he split the TARDIS pairing up very early on and even after their initial reuniting, they were rarely together due to Martha's condition. That was suffered at the hands of the swamp monster and now I need to talk about something that irritated me very much. I just hate it when the main enemy or antagonist in a story doesn't have a name. The Doctor referred to it as 'swampy' on more than one occasion and with a nickname like that I just couldn't take it seriously as a monster. The concept of it was actually very good with it using the intelligence of others rather than having its own and I also liked it's reproduction method. That's all the monster thought life was for - to reproduce. The Doctor instantly opposed that with a great speech about living your life which was fantastic. I thought Candy was a wonderful character and she was probably my favourite part of the book to be honest. Her little backstory was terrific and I loved how she, and the Doctor, hated her nickname. Ty was a humorous character and she became rather attached to the Doctor which was something Martha didn't like. You could really see in this novel just how much Martha loved the Doctor and with him just mentioning the word 'babies', it seemed like she was planning her future family. I did like how she hated herself for some of her thoughts though. Col and Orlo were also good characters but I wasn't too keen on Marj sadly. Pallister was a pretty decent villain and was a good puppet for the swamp monster during its final moments. The Doctor injecting himself with all sorts of RNA and poison was intriguing to say the least but it showed just how far he was willing to go to get the upper hand. His constant use of the 'Doctorotronic' was excellent. Martha wanting flying lessons for the TARDIS was interesting and I also liked the references to The Seeds of Doom, Gridlock, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks and Human Nature/The Family of Blood. The latter reference meant that the book was placed quite late into the pair's travels together which often isn't the case with a book, or at least the ones I seem to have read. I still have so many to get through but I'll get there. This one ended pretty well and I liked that the Doctor made it clear that the swamp monster had a choice. However it didn't take it and paid the price thanks to some ingenuity from Ty and the Doctor. Overall, a decent enough novel but it wasn't without its problems. I mean, otters being a central part to the plot? Come on, it's so ridiculous I didn't even want to mention them.

Rating: 7/10

The Iron Legion

"Yes, I know I'm impossible!"

Writers: Pat Mills & John Wagner

Format: Comic Strip

Released: October-December 1979

Printed in: DWM 1-8

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Doctor has discovered an alternative Earth where Rome never fell, but went on to conquer the entire galaxy! He must now face the evil Ironicus and avoid the wrath of the devious Magog before it's too late...

Verdict 

The Iron Legion was an excellent story to kick off my reading of the graphic novel of the same name! I really was mightily impressed with what I read considering this was the first ever comic strip produced by Doctor Who Magazine! It was a little lengthy at eight parts but with each part consisting of just four or five pages, it allowed for a terrific pace and a number of fantastic cliffhangers! It really did go through an awful lot which, if done right, is very good and I'm grateful to say that things were done very right here. I must say, I thought the artwork was outstanding for this story with so much going on both in the foreground and background so a great deal of work must have gone into the production of the comic strip. It really was marvellous and although I wasn't reading the story in the first eight issues of what was then Doctor Who Weekly, I did feel very privileged to be reading the very first comic strip adventure produced by what is now Doctor Who Magazine. 501 issues later and the comic strip is still going very strong with the latest story of The Pestilent Heart. It's incredible really to think that this is where all these comic strips kicked off. Right here with the Fourth Doctor and an alternative Rome. The idea of Rome never falling and actually going on to conquer the entire galaxy is marvellous and it worked excellently with the evil Malevilus at the helm. The explanation of their intervention in history, creating this alternate timeline, was very good but the fact this was set in an alternative Rome is where the story loses its one mark for me. I just thought there should have been considerably more explanation as to how the Doctor had arrived in the alternate timeline and the Doctor then just popped off and left immediately after the Malevilus were defeated. There needed to be a little bit more clarity but other than that, the story was terrific. There were numerous references which I loved with The Claws of Axos, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, The Abominable Snowmen and The Dæmons all getting a wonderful little mention, as well as referrals to the Daleks and Autons. I must say I thought the characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was superb with the likeness of Tom Baker being effortlessly captured by the writers. For the first comic strip, that really was marvellous. I thought Ironicus was a decent villain but he didn't pale in comparison to the Malevilus who were the true enemies of the story. Vesuvius was a humorous character and I liked how the Doctor associated himself with him. He also got friendly with another robot in the form of Morris and his speech also added some comedy to the story. His death was rather sad though with the Doctor conceding there was nothing he could do. The role of the TARDIS in bringing about the defeat of the Malevilus was crucial but actually unexpected. I was unaware they carried a spare empty dimension to throw enemies into but it was so sudden that I enjoyed it. Magog would do very well to return from that kind of imprisonment. Overall though, a brilliant start to the comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine! I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the graphic pans out now.

Rating: 9/10 

The Five Doctors

"The Doctor. Wonderful chap... all of them."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: TV

Broadcast: 23rd November 1983

Series: 20th Anniversary Special

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, Fourth Doctor, Romana II, Third Doctor, Sarah, Second Doctor, Brigadier, First Doctor, Susan

Synopsis 

The Doctor's past incarnations are being snatched out of time and space and transported to the Death Zone on Gallifrey, where they are reunited with some old friends and pitted against their deadliest enemies in the Game of Rassilon. Someone is manipulating the Doctor and his companions in order to claim the most ancient and powerful secret of the Time Lords... but can they survive the challenges and uncover the traitor before it is too late?

Verdict 

The Five Doctors is just a wonderful Doctor Who story and celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the show in style. Of course, we've since surpassed the fiftieth anniversary but this story celebrated an incredible landmark at the time with the show going twenty straight seasons. That's quite staggering really as even in the modern series, we had a gap year for the 2009 specials and we're currently experiencing a year break in 2016 so for Doctor Who to achieve twenty seasons in a row was quite remarkable. As was the case with the tenth anniversary, past Doctors returned to our screens for this adventure. It's a great shame that Tom Baker declined to reprise his role as the Fourth Doctor and also that William Hartnell had passed away so couldn't appear as the First Doctor. Richard Hurndall instead takes that role and although he looks pretty similar, I only thought his performance and likeness of Hartnell was adequate. This was yet another watch with my young cousin and was actually a story he personally requested I brought up with me. I had only read the Target novelisation a few weeks ago so this is definitely quickest turnaround in doing both versions of the story so to spice things up a little I went with the special edition DVD. I didn't think things were too different but the special effects were certainly noticeably improved. This was my cousin's first experience of the First Doctor and I had some trouble trying to explain that the actors were different but the brilliant inclusion of the First Doctor's speech from the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth made things a little easier. I talked about the story in some depth with my blogging of the novelisation last month so I'm not going to focus on that so much as you don't need me to tell you how brilliant I think it is. It's a stark contrasting watching a story compared to reading it and I think that comes with the actors a lot for this story. A number of them have aged a lot from what our imaginations envisage them as when it comes to reading and I found that noticeable with both Susan, Zoe and Mike Yates particularly. Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee step back into their roles as the Doctor with absolute ease which was just tremendous to see. Some of the images we get with a blend of Doctors and companions of young and old were magnificent and it's just fantastic when the Doctors all get together and interact. The Brigadier's presence made that all the more interesting which was also great. I loved the references to The Three Doctors but there were also good mentions of The Web of Fear, The Invasion, Planet of the Spiders, The War Games and The Keeper of Traken. I always like references and in an anniversary story they do tend to come in abundance. The Master's inclusion hit home more in the televised version that in novels, I found, and it was just fantastic to see him standing opposite all the different incarnations. That's the one thing you don't get in the novels and the scenes of the Master, as well as the Daleks, Yeti and Cybermen, were outstanding. The Death Zone looked very good and I thought the Tower of Rassilon was overpowering in the scenery which was exactly how it should've been. I honestly forgot that an image of Rassilon appeared in this story with the projection and it wasn't too far from what we saw in The Tides of Time graphic novel. Borusa being the traitor was hinted at more so here than in the book and that was fine but I did think he could have been a tad more emphatic in his speeches. Overall though, a truly brilliant story to celebrate twenty years of Doctor Who!

Rating: 10/10

The Christmas Invasion

"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25th December 2005

Series: 2005 Christmas Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

It's Christmas Eve and high above London the alien Sycorax are holding Earth for ransom. The Tenth Doctor must recover from his regeneration in time to save the human race from slavery. 

Verdict 

The Christmas Invasion is a very good Christmas Special episode of Doctor Who and does a great job in continuing where Born Again left off in introducing David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. This was another watch with my cousin who is fast approaching eight years old now and this was one of the very few modern episodes he was yet to see and judging by what he was saying, it was the one he was most eager to watch. He has made it no secret that the Tenth Doctor is his favourite Doctor so I can understand him wanting to see his first adventure. I've watched this episode many times in the past but seeing things through his eyes was excellent. I don't really think of the episode as being quite humorous but with the Christmas tree attack, post-regenerative effects of the Doctor and his attire, there's a good amount of comedy which is always welcomed in my book. When I thought of this episode prior to watching earlier today I did think the robot Santas, or Pilot Fish, featured more heavily but I guess that was more so the case in the following year's special. The Doctor doesn't appear a great deal in the story but he doesn't need to really. All the Sycorax have with the blood control is threats. The Doctor soon calls their bluff on that by pushing the big dangerous red button. But the points that lead up to that moment were terrific. The idea of blood control is excellent and I liked that the Sycorax supply came from a Mars probe. I thought the return of Harriet Jones was good and seeing my cousin laugh at her constant introductions made me realise how simple but good that is. There was the obvious reference to Aliens of London/World War Three but as well as that we had nice mentions or references to The Unquiet Dead, Dalek, The Long Game, Boom Town and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways with the latter actually receiving numerous mentions as one might expect. The return of UNIT in a major role to the series in the modern era was fantastic to see and it would go on to play an important role in the show's future. Jackie and Mickey were as good as usual at this point in the series with it still having a very first series feel despite the change of Doctor. They quickly accepted that he could change his face but they were helpless to do anything really as he just lay in bed dealing with his regeneration. I found it hilarious that Jason Mohammed appeared in the episode as a news reporter as he's someone I really dislike. He's a very pro-English but Welsh football presenter and that's something that can't be allowed. I follow my nation in every game and he is someone I just have no time for. The use of the TARDIS translation circuits to indicate the 'fixing' of the Doctor was decent but I did enjoy the translations that came whilst it was out of operation. The Sycorax ship was a little bland but I did very much love the interior with the hoards of Sycorax overlooking events. The Doctor trying to work out what kind of man he was during the episode was brilliant and the moment he discovered he was a no second chances man was superb. He had defeated the Sycorax Leader in combat and had spared his life but still he wanted to kill the Doctor. The TARDIS wardrobe being seen was great and I liked how Rose still very much wanted to travel with the Doctor, even with the freaky new hand. The Doctor though was disgusted with PM Jones after she gave the order for Torchwood to bring down the Sycorax ship despite them leaving and he soon had questions raised about her health. Overall, a very good episode!

Rating: 8/10

Born Again

"I changed... right in front of you."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 18th November 2005

Series: 2005 Children in Need Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

The Doctor has regenerated following an epic battle with the Daleks on Satellite 5. But the change is having an adverse effect on the Time Lord and things are beginning to go wrong...

Verdict 

Born Again is a fantastic little minisode and it's actually rather incredible that it sees the first real look at David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor! It's only seven minutes long and was produced as part of the 2005 Children in Need telethon. This little story often gets forgotten about which is a shame because this is where we see Rose come to terms with the Doctor changing faces right in front of her. She doesn't cope very well in the immediate aftermath but by the time the seven minutes are up she has a smile on her face. The Doctor appears to be coping with his regeneration very well at first but that would later change as the minutes rolled on. He was rather impressed with his hair and sideburns and I thought the mole comment was just ludicrously typical of David Tennant, even at this extremely early stage in his run as the Time Lord. Tennant gives a confident performance but I was actually rather surprised at how normal he appeared to be. I hadn't yet discovered the wonderful world of Doctor Who when this was broadcast but I think my viewing today was only the second time I have watched it. It's not widely known which is actually staggering to me because it's the first time we get to see David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor! It continues directly where Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways left off and we even got a nice little flashback to lead us up to where this story begins. Rose was obviously right to question the Doctor's identity and I loved the story references that came in his convincing of Rose that he was truly the Doctor. We had excellent references to The Unquiet Dead, Aliens of London/World War Three, Boom Town and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances but the reference that was most striking was the Doctor taking us all the way back to Rose and the moment he first took Rose's hand and said "run". That was terrific. Something that I found particularly intriguing was the Doctor and Rose talking about Captain Jack. I figured Rose thought he hadn't survived but that was clearly not the case with her mentioning going back to him. It was the Doctor's reply that really struck me with him mentioning that "he's rebuilding the Earth". I do hope that's an ambiguous meaning and that the Doctor has always known Jack finds his way back to twentieth century Earth. I'm not too sure that's the truth but I'd love to believe it was. Towards the end of the minisode, the Doctor started to become quite erratic with his steering of the TARDIS and set sights on landing on Christmas Eve in the Powell Estate. These events would of course lead straight into The Christmas Invasion so I don't think it's difficult to work out what story I will be blogging tomorrow. Overall, short but very sweet. I don't really think I can give it a higher rating than I have because of its length but there weren't really any problems. David Tennant has arrived.

Rating: 8/10

The Pestilent Heart Part 1

"Death. It has a habit of following me around."

Writer: Mark Wright 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th June 2016

Printed in: DWM 501

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Jessica 

Synopsis 

London. 1972. Six months on from the horrific events of Highgate Cemetary, Jessica Collins is trying to get on with her life. But on her way into college, she spots the Doctor and now things will never be the same for her again...

Verdict 

The Pestilent Heart started excellently with this first part of the brand new comic strip! After a staggeringly historic 500th issue, Doctor Who Magazine shows no sign of returning to normal with this issue! Released yesterday, I think this is actually my quickest turnaround in blogging the comic strip in quite some time. I'll get to the comic story in a little bit but first I must talk about the magazine itself, as per usual with my blogging of DWM comic strip adventures. Amazingly, nearly the entire issue is an enormous interview with Tom Baker! I'm intrigued to see how it goes as I must admit I am a little sceptical about its length. The idea is good but although the snippet of the interview in DWM 500 told us that it would continue in the next issue, I didn't expect to take up about two-thirds of the magazine's pages! I'll of course read it and I'm sure I'll report on my thoughts in my blogging of this comic strip's second part. The rest of the magazine just features the regular features, which are all pretty much great, and after reading the little preview on the Classic Doctors, New Monsters audio boxset I am very excited for that release. I think it'll be brilliant and it's actually one where I can agree on the price! I don't understand how Big Finish varies so much in price but I have no arguments with what they're charging for this upcoming release which is sure to be blogged in due time. I'm looking forward to reading Galaxy Forum fresh off the landmark issue and Gallifrey Guardian was also terrific. I absolutely love the issue's cover and I do hope they revert to the outstanding diamond logo. It's just so wonderfully good! I doubt they will though and I just see this as an overflow of the 500th issue celebrations. Anyway, back to the comic strip now and I must admit I was quite surprised to see Jessica back in the comic strip after her appearance in The Highgate Horror. That story was nicely referenced and I love how this magazine is filling the gap 2016 has with no television series as this story is quite clearly set after the events of Series 9, and particularly Heaven Sent/Hell Bent with the Doctor forgetting Clara. He's got his new sonic screwdriver in operation which is good and I must say Mark Wright absolutely nailed the characterisation of Peter Capaldi's incarnation. His rudeness to Jessica, particularly about Art History, was tremendous but I also adored his reaction to her doorstepping him! He was utterly shocked which doesn't happen for the Doctor at this stage in his life. DWM have made the right decision to be ridded of Clara from the comic strip and the timing was excellent too. DWC continues her travels so I'm excited with what's to come here for the Twelfth Doctor. I'm gonna stick my neck on the line here and say Jessica will travel with him until Bill pops up on our screens next year so I look forward to their travels should they occur. With the focus on the London Underground, I half expected the cliffhanger to reveal a Yeti but instead we got the skinless emerge of a type of dinosaur! Or at least that's how I interpreted it. It was strange and unexpected and I guess that's what you want in a cliffhanger! I look forward to the next issue very much now. This was a brilliant start!

The Underwater Menace

"Life can be very beautiful here under the sea."

Writer: Nigel Robinson 

Format: Novel

Released: July 1988

Series: Target 129

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis 

When the TARDIS lands on a deserted volcanic island the Doctor and his companions find themselves kidnapped by primitive sea-people. Taken into the bowels of the earth they discover they are in the lost kingdom of Atlantis.

Offered as sacrifices to the fish-goddess, Amdo, the Doctor and his companions are rescued from the jaws of death by the famous scientist, Zaroff.

But they are still not safe and nor are them people of Atlantis. For Zaroff has a plan, a plan that will make him the greatest scientist of all time - he will raise Atlantis above the waves - even if it means destroying the world...

Verdict 

The Underwater Menace was a very good novelisation and was a much welcomed relaxing break from work after seven days straight of early wake ups and long days. I'm amazed I've been able to keep up with the blog but I'm very glad that I have because I'm on quite the daily streak at the moment. I do hope I can make it continue through most of the summer! I read this novelisation on the usual train journey from south to mid Wales and with my speed of reading randomly increased since starting university, I broke with my tradition of doing the c.120 page Target novels and went with this one which was closer to the 140 page mark. And despite not having a seat until nearly an hour into the journey, I still managed to finish the book before arriving at my destination. I was quite impressed with that. I made it adamant to myself that I would be doing a Second Doctor story today because since October, this is only my third story to solely feature Patrick Troughton's incarnation of the Doctor and that's simply not good enough. I try to do my best in varying the Doctor I do in a story but I've simply not done enough that features the Second Doctor. Even this was my first ever Target novelisation of one of his stories! I've also only done one previous novel solely featuring him as the Doctor but I have blogged every televised story he appeared in as well as quite a few Companion Chronicle audios. I was quite surprised with the amount of deviations from the television story and despite half of it being missing from the archives, it's a story I knew very well and whilst the changes weren't major, they were certainly noticeable and deviation between television and book is a common thing. I'll soon be embarking on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels and I'm sure that'll be mightily different to the HBO TV series. I really liked the uniqueness of this novelisation having a prologue and epilogue to separate things out. We saw the aftermath of The Highlanders as well as the lead into The Moonbase which I thought was great. Jamie's reaction to what was going was fantastic with this being his first full story. His relationship with his new companions blossomed wonderfully as things went on. I was impressed with how well the relationship between Ben and Polly was captured in print and was done so in a similar way to my relatively recent reading of The Smugglers, a story that got a good reference here. The other references to Galaxy 4, The War Machines and The Tenth Planet were also terrific. The setting of Atlantis in a close to present day time is certainly an interesting place to set a story but actually worked very well indeed. Professor Zaroff's madness was presented very well in prose which impressed me and I like how his infamous line got itself a chapter title. The book cover is brilliant and I liked how the novel made me realise how little the Fish People actually feature in the story - it wasn't much at all. The revolt was planned well but I loved Polly's earlier reaction to the fact she was almost operated on and would become a Fish Person. She admired what had happened but didn't at all want it for herself. Zaroff's plan for Atlantis was just ludicrous and calling him a mad scientist was a bit of an understatement really. I enjoyed his relationship with the Doctor, whose characterisation was very strong, very much. The way his defeat was brought about was excellent and I liked the idea of Atlantis being preserved under the water, just as its inhabitants wanted. Overall, a great little read!

Rating: 8/10

Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer

"You have chosen exile as a Dalek-Killer!"

Writer: Steve Moore 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February 1980

Printed in: DWM 17-20

Featuring: Abslom Daak

Synopsis 

Hardened criminal Abslom Daak chooses a suicide mission as a Dalek Killer as an alternative to vaporisation. Arriving on the newly colonised Dalek planet of Mazam, Daak joins forces with Princess Taiyin and sets out to kill as many Daleks as he can before he gets killed himself.

Verdict 

Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer was a very good little comic strip adventure! After listening to the Cyberman spinoff audio series for eight days straight, I wasn't expecting to be doing another story that didn't feature the Doctor so soon. But hey ho, plans became what they were and after a busy day at work and other things to do, I was just glad to be doing something and when this little gem of a story presented itself as an opportunity to read quickly, I pounced at it. I've been keen to do this story for quite some time now due to the ongoing Eleventh Doctor adventures in Doctor Who Comic in which Abslom Daak has returned and is pretty much a companion at the point I'm currently at with the UK release. I'm assuming that this was Daak's first story in the Doctor Who Universe so I think it's definitely beneficial for me to have read it with the next DWC issue out this week. His trial was interesting with him getting the choice of being vaporised or to become a Dalek Killer. The choice was obvious I would think. Even though the odds were severely against someone surviving a Dalek onslaught, there's still a chance of survival and taking it is surely a must? Even if someone was going to die, killing a few Daleks prior to perishing must at least be a little bit of a consolation. I'd certainly have thought so anyway. The planet of Mazam didn't have much to it other than the Princess Taiyin who Daak didn't really seem interested in until she died, despite sharing a rather passionate kiss during the events of the story. I thought he was a little bit sexist and quite vulgar at times and I get that it's his character as a murderer and what have you but I imagine some female readers of 36 years ago were quite offended. I'm a male but even I found things like "dumb broad" a step too far. Sexism and degrading of women are things I absolutely despise and with his actions, I was amazed that Taiyin wanted to remain with him and even go as far as being with him! If I was in his position and had a women want me like that, I'd jump at the opportunity and do everything in my power to treat her well. I'm not at all convinced that Daak would have done the same. I'm a little confused how in The Then and the Now that she is referred to as Daak's wife because she kind of died at the end of this story. The extermination was brutally but brilliantly timed with Taiyin professing her love for Daak just as she was killed. Doctor Who at its sinister best. I liked that. The action that came in the comic was fantastic with numerous Dalek killings! I liked Daak's vow to kill every Dalek and he would soon get that nickname that the story titles him as. I'm not too sure how he got from this story to where we see him now in travelling with the Eleventh Doctor but one way or another, via a route of some kind, I will find that out by eventually getting through all the comic strip stories. It'll be long and potentially expensive task but I'll certainly get there. Overall though, an insightful and excellent little comic strip that I very much enjoyed.

Rating: 8/10

Vengeance on Varos

"This place is where the innocent are tortured..."

Writer: Philip Martin 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 19th-26th January 1985

Season: 21.02

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis 

The TARDIS is adrift. Deprived of a vital power source, the Doctor and Peri have one last hole - the planet Varos. But Varos is a dangerous place. Trapped in the dreaded Punishment Dome, the Doctor and Peri must fight for their lives - and save the starving population from the machinations of the villainous reptilian Sil...

Verdict 

Vengeance on Varos was a brilliant story! The story has been widely criticised in the past but despite its admittedly extremely violence, it is very good. Watching this story actually made me realise how little Colin Baker actually did as the Sixth Doctor on our screens as I now only have three televised stories left to blog featuring his controversial incarnation! I think it'll be a while now before I watch another story with him as I really don't want to run out anytime soon but after eight straight days of the Cyberman spinoff audios, it was great to be doing a story again that featured the Doctor. Despite both things being from the world of Doctor Who, they were so different and I think that's the dynamic that the Doctor brings to a story. He owns the place and that's how it should be but after doing the Cyberman spinoff, I can appreciate how good things around him are a lot more when he isn't actually there. Colin Baker was as magnificent as always in this story and I really can't understand why he's so unpopular amongst fans. It baffles me. I love him in the audios but even here he displays his brilliance as the Doctor. Talking about being on display, Nicola Bryant didn't leave much to the imagination with her attire in which she looked spectacular! Peri was marvellous in this serial and I loved her questioning of the Doctor in the TARDIS, so much so that she brought him the long forgotten TARDIS manual. I really liked that. I thought the Governor was an excellent character and the main antagonist in Sil is obviously just terrific. He's a slimy slug creature, what's not to love? That laugh is absolutely devious. It's no wonder that he made a relatively quick return in The Trial of a Time Lord. He's since returned in the very good Mission to Magnus and as far as I'm aware has also appeared in a pretty recent Main Range audio. I'm still way behind with those and the length of my next story is proving rather difficult to fit in but I'm hopeful I will do it on my next day off from work. The violence in this story didn't personally bother me but I can see why some had negative reactions. The concept of death being a form of entertainment is pretty despicable but that was the culture on Varos. As I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan, a smile was brought to my face as I saw Owen Teale on my screen as Maldak. His character was terrific but far different from Ser Allister who he portrayed in GoT before being hung earlier this season. Quillam and the Chief Officer were intriguing characters but I thought they could have been more aggressive. The cliffhanger wasn't bad at all and I liked how the story ended with what it proposed at the start with the Doctor getting his Zeiton-7. I liked that. The whole adventure being spectated upon by the Varosians was terrific but the concept of the vote for the Governor seemed incredibly harsh! I liked the rebel factions on the planet with Jondar being key to that after his rescue. Sil representing the Galatron Mining Corporation was good but his negotiations would prove terrible by the story's end. Overall though, a fantastic serial! 

Rating: 8/10

Extinction

"The Cybermen will not tolerate weakness."

Writer: James Swallow

Format: Audio

Released: December 2009

Series: Cyberman 2.04

Featuring: Samantha, Barnaby

Synopsis 

In the war for the future,

Fear is the only weapon.

The Cybermen are triumphant; nothing can stand in their way. First they will absorb mankind, and obliterate their android spawn; then they will stride the stars once more, to transform the galaxy into an empire of icy, flawless logic. The battle must end; only one race will emerge victorious.

Verdict 

Extinction was a fantastic audio adventure to sadly bring a close to the second, and thus far final, series of the Cyberman spinoff series. I've now quickly matched my listening of Dalek Empire and whilst both spinoff series are extremely different, I think they're both actually of similar quality and I do think it's a great shame that there has yet to be a third Cyberman series. Dalek Empire went on a four series run but I must admit that whilst I'm saddened that this series only did two series, I can see why there hasn't been a third as everything concerning the Cybermen was mopped up nicely. I'll get to the ending later on though as there was a lot that led up to it. My favourite part of the audio had to be the reunion of Samantha and Barnaby after they were separated at the end of Outsiders at the start of this series. It hasn't been quite the same in the last two stories having them apart so it was wonderful to hear them reunited during this audio. It was a great shame how things panned out for them at the end but I did like how we heard Samantha reveal her true feelings about Liam. She loved him. We already knew he loved her so it was brilliant to see an android and a human in love during the midst of the Orion War. They had united against a common enemy and even Samantha's android identity would soon be known to more than just Hazel after she found out at the close of Machines. Yan and Dane were very good in this story and I also enjoyed the idea of a rebel rising against the Cybermen. I mentioned in yesterday's blog that I thought the small numbers of Cybermen would prove to be a weakness and that was ultimately the case here. Paul Hunt was as sinister as ever with his story about Barnaby being a war criminal and I liked how disgusted Janice sounded with the orders she was given. Hunt would be given a justified end though as the Cybermen's use for him had ran out so they fully converted him from Cybrid to Cyberman. Hunt wasn't happy with that at all, as so many people working for the Cybermen are not, but he didn't have much choice against the might of his superiors. Chessman was pretty cunning in this story too and I liked Samantha's reaction to seeing that he was the traitor. Her willingness to sacrifice herself to see the Cybermen defeated was admirable and it just showed how terrible the Cybermen really were in the grand scheme of the Orion War. An android was willing to die to save Earth and the human race. This spinoff really has come full circle! This story will be remembered for an emotional ending with the death of Samantha. She sacrificed herself to defeat the Cybermen and more directly the Cyber Planner and I loved her emotional speech about their position on the planet. So, using the cold logic that the Cybermen are best known for, they simply packed up and left. That seemed to be that but then the departing Cybermenv were greeted by an angry Android fleet who gave them quite a chilling ultimatum. I also loved how the story, and with it the spinoff series, ended with the line of "there is nothing to fear." That's been the cornerstone of the entire series really so it was quite a fitting way to end things. It's been a tremendous little spinoff and completing both series back to back over the last eight days has been fantastic. It's been a great run but I do now look forward to a return to a story featuring the Doctor! Overall though, a solid and consistent second series and the second series ended very well.

Rating: 8/10

Machines

"A fusion of flesh and steel..."

Writer: James Swallow

Format: Audio

Released: December 2009

Series: Cyberman 2.03

Featuring: Samantha, Barnaby 

Synopsis 

All war is deception.

As the conspiracy of hate and distrust brings death in its wake, the sinister plans of the Cybermen are revealed, and events move on a collision course as the invaders prepare for the final phase of their rebirth. Only a handful of rebels, human and android, stand ready to confront their common enemy; but if they cannot trust themselves, then the battle is already lost...

Verdict 

Machines was another very good audio adventure to continue along the second series of the Cyberman spinoff! It doesn't seem too long since I started this excellent spinoff with scepticism and after a shaky start I have been absolutely chuffed with what I've listened to if I'm honest. And just as it began a week ago, tomorrow the spinoff ends after I will complete an unprecedented back to back series. I explained in my blogging of Outsiders why I decided to do the second series immediately after the first and I must say now with things nearly complete that I'm very much thrilled with my decision. I think I've definitely become more acquainted with the characters than I would have done with a lengthy break and my understanding of the story has absolutely been enhanced by following the first series with the second. My initial thoughts about the humans and androids joining forces to combat the Cybermen was technically realised for the first time in this audio with Samantha joining up with, or rather being rescued by, the humans we have been introduced to over the past two stories in Hazel, Yan and Dan. I mentioned in my last blog that things on Earth under the rule of the Cybermen were very similar to life for humanity in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and I like how this audio series has provided us with the Cybermen ruling supreme on Earth. It's not just the Daleks who conquered the planet. Although in saying that, I wouldn't quite call what the Cybermen have achieved here as conquering. The continued deployment of 'SCUs' is very good and the Cybermen along with Paul Hunt have, it would seem, tricked the nation into believe something that simply wasn't true. That is very reminiscent of recent events here with a horrifying referendum result. But I'm not going to talk real life politics on my blog. I will talk about Earth Government in this story though as I liked the scheming by Hunt in convincing Janice that the recording he had obtained, or rather forged, saw a brief flashback of Karen Brett. She really did come to an unfortunate end and it would appear that Barnaby might soon be joining her as he found out that the truth about a traitor being aboard. He first figured that it was Taggart and that was also my assumption but it was soon revealed, admittedly to my surprise, that it was Chessman who was working for the Cybermen. Well, it was disturbingly more than that. He was a Cybrid. That concept seems to be contradictory to the existence of the Cybermen and I think that might be why it's so shocking. I was also quite surprised to hear that the Cybermen were cloning human beings to convert into Cybermen. That says to me that they're running thin on the ground and I think that may have a part to play in their ultimate defeat which is bound to occur in my listening of the series, and spinoff, finale tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to listening to that after this audio's conclusion with Hazel finding out that Samantha was actually an android - something she labelled as the enemy. But she was soon brought around to the thinking that it was the Cybermen who were the true enemy. Humans and android needed to unite and the agreement between Hazel and Samantha might just be the first step. Notably a small step, but at least it's one step in the right direction. I look forward to seeing how things pan out next. Overall, another brilliant little story to continue the spinoff series!

Rating: 8/10

Terror

"The humans have brought this upon themselves."

Writer: James Swallow

Format: Audio

Released: December 2009

Series: Cyberman 2.02

Featuring: Samantha, Barnaby 

Synopsis 

A secret war is raging; a war with no soldiers - only casualties...

Two species - one organic, one synthetic - face their greatest challenge to their existence: the cold logic and ancient power of the Cybermen. Earth lies trapped between oppression and destruction, and the future is shrouded in darkness. Plans are drawn and choices are made; but the hidden truth that lurks in the shadows may be more terrible than anyone could imagine...

Verdict 

Terror was another fantastic audio in this superb Cyberman spinoff series! After listening to this story I am very happy with my decision to do both series back to back because they really do follow on immediately from one another. I kind of wish I did that for Dalek Empire now because that spinoff's first series pretty much led directly into the second and I can definitely see, or rather hear, the benefits in doing things back to back. I think this story actually marks the longest run of stories in my blog's history not to feature the Doctor after it eclipsed the five episode run of Torchwood's Children of Earth third series. I might soon beat that record as I am planning on watching the Miracle Day fourth series at some point soon but for now I'm just enjoying this brilliant spinoff. And I hate to admit it, but I was very sceptical going in to listening to Scorpius just six days ago. That seems a lifetime ago now and thinking back over the last week or so, it's fantastic to think how much story development occurs in each hour long audio. Things advanced hugely in this story with Barnaby starting the story as a prisoner continuing on from Outsiders but actually ended the audio by helping depose Richter of his status as captain. I must say that I missed hearing Samantha and Barnaby together as I have absolutely loved their relationship in both series and to hear them separated is a bit of a shame. I think both will develop without the other but I can't envisage them not reuniting in one of the next two stories. I will be devastated and hugely disappointed if that does not occur! There was a good reference to Telos and I liked the struggle that Barnaby had in trying to explain to Richter, Taggart and co about the position of Earth's Governnent and how it was under the control of the Cybermen. Hearing Yan and Hazel sneak around into the city, something that was not permitted, really took me back to how life was for humanity after the Dalek invasion in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. There were striking similarities and with the 26th century setting, I was kind of expecting a nice little reference! It sadly did not arrive but that was not a problem. Samantha was as terrific as ever and I think she's probably topped Suz as my favourite spinoff series main character. It's so easy to forget that she's an android but then you hear her literally hook up to her ship to quickly remind yourself. I do really like that. Barnaby feeling rejected by Samantha's escape was rather sad as we know that certainly wasn't the case. It was clear at the end of the last story that she didn't want to leave him but sadly she had no other choice if she wanted to live. Samantha did at least help Barnaby's position in pretending that he wasn't aware of her true identity. I liked how much the Cyber Planner featured in the story and Paul Hunt seems to be getting more devious by the story, which is great. This audio was very good, as the rating shows, but I felt that if it had a bit of action or shock moment then it could have achieved a higher score. Nonetheless, it was still very good! Overall, another great story in the Cyberman spinoff series.

Rating: 8/10

Outsiders

"There is nothing to fear..."

Writer: James Swallow

Format: Audio

Released: December 2009

Series: Cyberman 2.01

Featuring: Samantha, Barnaby 

Synopsis 

Earth has fallen to the Cybermen;

But the war has only just begun...

Across the planet, the silver legions stand impassive in every city; mankind has sacrificed its freedoms for the sake of a distant conflict against its android creations, and now the price must be paid. On the streets, in the depths of space, a web of lies and deceit draws ever tighter, and the lines between human and android, between enemy and ally, are blurred. Only one choice remains - resist or surrender...

Verdict 

Outsiders was an excellent start to the second series of the Cyberman audio spinoff! I must admit I was not expecting to be listening to the second series immediately following the first but after doing some research on purchasing the boxset of series two, I found out that getting a physical copy of the CDs, something I always prefer to have, would prove either extremely difficult or very expensive. I have just started work for the summer (something else that contributed to my listening of this today) and my intention is to save a considerable amount for sight seeing holidays abroad and Wales away trips in the football. After watching my beloved nation at the Euros recently, I absolutely loved going to France to support my team and I'm now hoping to watch us away as often as I can. University will get in the way of that but once my student loan comes in again, I'm looking forward to saving up the money. That might mean I have to choose my Doctor Who purchases very wisely and really concentrate on what I already have, something I really should do more of. However, having a large supply of unblogged Doctor Who is beneficial. But as I say, purchasing this audio physically would be around the £50 mark whilst downloading alone would've been £25. So thanks to Audible and a free trial that I immediately cancelled, I was able to download this second series completely free of charge which is just incredible! With the length of the audios, and starting work, I thought I may as well continue straight away with the second series and complete the spinoff. It's going to be hugely beneficial considering there was a four year gap between each series original release but I liked how despite a change of writer, the atmosphere and style of the stories remain very much the same. One thing I must criticise though is the covers. I think they're horrific I must say which is a shame because I thought the ones for the first series were fantastic. I'm delighted that Samantha and Barnaby are going to continue to be the main characters and I liked where their story went here. They were separated at the end after Samantha blew her cover as an android on the Antares and the rescue team were soon quick to arrest Barnaby and chase after Samantha who escaped. Some of the new characters were great with Hazel, Yan and Milo particularly standing out. I love the situation on Earth with the Cybermen ruling supreme and Paul Hunt being used as nothing more than a puppet. The Cybermen really are in control now and I'm looking forward to seeing how their plans come into action. I certainly got a similar to feel to how life on Earth was in the year that never was under the Master's rule in Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords and that was excellent. The reference to Telos was great and I liked the action packed ending with the main characters getting separated. Overall, a fantastic start to the series!

Rating: 9/10