The Twist Part 2

"What does a fox do when it's cornered? It fights."

Writer: George Mann 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 25th August 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 10

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis 

Verdict 

The Twist continued in terrific style with this very good second part of the story. It brings an end to my reading of the latest issue of Doctor Who Comic's Tales from the TARDIS but it won't be too long before I'm reading the next issue. That reading will probably take back at university and that scares me slightly because time is quite simply flying by. This story served as less of a struggle to reread with just the one previous part and there's also no apparent story arc spreading across the range with the Twelfth Doctor stories following Clara's departure from the comics after she was written out last year in Face the Raven and Heaven Sent/Hell Bent. Hattie has been filling in for her in the companion role in this story so far and I'm quite liking her. I'm not sure she has the potential to become a companion for the rest of the second year of stories but I'm liking her whilst she's here. Her appearance is certainly a contrast to the traditional companion and that might be appealing to some and whilst I'm not objected to someone like her becoming companion, I'd rather go with the safe and conventional option. Jakob is a good character and I liked how he reacted to getting some sort of confirmation about what he was researching regarding the Fox-like creatures. The Doctor helped confirm that by getting into some places he wasn't supposed to with the sonic screwdriver. There really was quite a lot of exploration of the Twist in this part which was magnificent and I was once again mightily impressed with the artwork. It really was outstanding. I'm loving that George Mann is writing as he is a superb writer and I hope that he pens some more stories in the future. The history of the Twist being explored was excellent and I thought it was explained very well indeed. In a comic strip explanation can sometimes be a problem but that was no issue in this story which was good to see. Things can be quite pacy and I must admit I have been a little surprised with how big some of the artwork has been, taking up two pages at a time on some occasions with just one bubble of speech. That seems strange to me but I guess it does show the scale of things and I'd imagine that was the intention but it does take up an awful lot of space. Canek was good and I'm intrigued by the fact that the original colonists, or those that were at least intended to be the colonists, all died and that the Foxkin took over and cloned the current colonists' ancestors from the dead. I found it interesting that it was all kept secret and with the Doctor, Hattie and Jakob now knowing the truth about the Twist, they would not be allowed to return. They could stay where they were in isolation or enjoy a quick death. I'm not too sure I would appreciate having to make a choice like that but it certainly served as a good cliffhanger. Overall, another good part of the story and the advancement of the adventure was very good. I'm looking forward to seeing things continue in the next part.

Arena of Fear Part 2

"It's a wonder you've survived this arena at all."

Writer: Nick Abadzis  

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 25th August 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy, Captain Jack

Synopsis 

DEATH MATCH Part 2! It's the Doctor and Gabby versus Captain Jack, Cleo and Cindy, with the mysterious Mr. Ebonite pulling the strings! Forced to race each other for an extraterrestrial artefact, friendships are put to the test in the most surprising of ways – and the TARDIS team changes forever!

Verdict 

Arena of Fear concluded in excellent style and brought to a close the story already started in Medicine Man. It could also be argued that Cindy, Cleo and the Magic Sketchbook is where the story begins but with the gap between those characters appearing, I would say that's a lead in whilst the previously named story was part of the same adventure. I did reread the previous four issues which was a little time consuming but it was very helpful as it has been longer than usual between my readings of Doctor Who Comic. Things did get quite crowded with a lot of familiar characters but it was good to see everybody come together to defeat the mysterious Mister Ebonite. I think he's a fantastic character and I just love how enigmatic he is and the aura that follows him really is good. I get the feeling we might be seeing him again which is something I'm absolutely not opposed to. For me though, this part of the story was all about Cindy and after some strong outings in recent stories she officially joined the Tenth Doctor and Gabby as companion. That pairing has been the best thing to come out of Doctor Who Comic in my opinion and I think it's a little risky to add Cindy but she already has a history with both characters so I'm looking forward to seeing how she reacts to travelling in the TARDIS. I must admit I was expecting a little more from Captain Jack's return and I'm actually quite disappointed that he didn't take up his role as companion once again. I thought he might at least travel until the end of the second year of stories but instead it looks like he's going to set up another Earth defence team alongside Cleo and Erik. I don't think it will be quite as successful as Torchwood but I'm pretty sure the Doctor, Gabby and Cindy will be visiting again. Jack displaying his inability to die was good and I loved the graphic of everyone's reaction to that which can be seen above. Gabby's turn from being manipulated by Ebonite to her normal self was good and I loved how The Singer Not the Song was referenced to bring Gabby back around to normality. The Doctor was very happy to see his companion back, especially after the recent memory loss. Jack seemed to fix that by dying and helped trigger everyone else's memories whilst the Doctor worked out that they had actually shrunk. That's why Ebonite looked like a giant. Munmeth was excellent once again and I was quite impressed with how easily he grasped some of the modern concepts considering he was a Neanderthal. His relationship with Effrid was wonderful to see. The rest of Effrid's crew were quite minor characters in this part which was fine and scar was needed really with a crowded character involvement. There was a lot of action and pace which was good and I loved how Cindy was narrating. Everything was new to her and she now understood why Gabby was risking everything for the Doctor. She had come to find him and that's exactly what she did. She was now in the big blue box. Cindy was now a companion. Overall, a terrific comic strip that concluded the last two titled stories. That's what the rating counts for.

Rating: 9/10

The One Part 2

"The prison planet where the Gallifreyans imprisoned the worst, most malevolent war criminals in the history of time."

Writer: Rob Williams  

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 25th August 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 10

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Squire, Abslom Daak, River Song

Synopsis 

Shada. The lost prison planet of the Time Lords. The Eleventh Doctor is after the Master's TARDIS and seeks information to prove that he did not commit the crimes he has been accused of. But he may not be pleased with what he finds...

Verdict 

The One continued in scintillating style with this brilliant second part of the story! As with my reading of Doctor Who Magazine, it's taken me a little longer than I would have liked to get round to reading Doctor Who Comic and I only actually purchased the issue this week which is highly unlike me. Things have been a bit hectic but they're slowly falling back to normality now so it shouldn't be too long before I'm blogging the next issue of this comic. Of course, I've still got two more stories to read after this and they will shortly follow in the days to come. As per usual, I reread the first part and I enjoyed it just as much and it was fantastic to see the Doctor and his companions on Shada. The Doctor having made himself forget its name was interesting but when the memory of it came back to him, it definitely wasn't comparable to Skegness. The references to Shada were absolutely magnificent and I loved how the Doctor mentioned the book that told the story in full where the television serial failed as it was never completed due to a BBC strike. It's a shame that the story was not finished but I'm glad that its impact is still being felt today. It really does have quite a lasting legacy and I think being incomplete is a big reason as to why that is. River's reaction to discovering where the Doctor had brought them was terrific but I must admit I was surprised she knew about it. This story was particularly interesting in regards to the Squire and I think it's mightily intriguing how she is a person without history. Just how that is possible I'm not quite sure but I do look forward to seeing the truth about her come out. She clearly knows all about the Doctor and is familiar with the Time War but I suspect there's something a little more hidden beneath the surface of the character. Shada itself was very good and I liked how the Doctor was using the Then and the Now as a means of getting past the prison planet's security. Abslom Daak didn't really have much of an impact in this part of the story and that came with a quite crowded TARDIS team of five members. River Song was as terrific as ever and I love the fact that she's featuring in the comic at all. The Doctor's trust in her was marvellous to see. The flashbacks and imagery of A Good Man Goes to War, The Wedding of River Song, Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer and After Life were excellent and the purpose they served was very good. The hunt for the Master's TARDIS was good but I was hoping we would see the physical form of the Doctor's arch nemesis. That sadly was not to be. We did though gain access to the interior of the infamous pillar TARDIS that was the Master's and it was quite horrifying to see that he had experimented on its brain. The Doctor was disgusted but the TARDIS logs disgusted him even more. Whatever it was that the Doctor did that caused the consequences seen in The Then and the Now were too sick even for the Master. That horrified the Doctor and it also revealed that it wasn't his old enemy that framed him. With the War Doctor being so different, could it have actually been the Doctor that committed the crimes he was accused of? I've got a sneaky feeling the Squire might have a pivotal connection and I look forward to things being revealed. But for now, it was another fantastic story! I really am loving the second year adventures of the Eleventh Doctor so far.

Rating: 9/10

The Pestilent Heart Part 3

"Divide... Replicate... Consume!"

Writer: Mark Wright 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 25th August 2016

Printed in: DWM 503

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis 

Disaster spreads as a deadly plague is mutating the human population into hawk like creatures! The Doctor is close to the source and when reunited with Jessica Collins, her father is struggling with infection...

Verdict 

The Pestilent Heart continued in excellent style with this terrific third part of the comic strip adventure! It's been a bit longer than I had hoped for me to get down to reading this but I always ensure that I finish reading an issue of Doctor Who Magazine prior to starting the next and last month's seemed to take a bit longer with other reading, a holiday and quite a lot of football on my agenda. But hey ho I was glad to start reading the next issue and there really is no feeling like starting a new issue of DWM. It's a terrific magazine and I'm really looking forward to the extended interview with Peter Davison. It was wonderful to read how much the Fifth Doctor meant to editor Tom Spilsbury and I do hope that it's him that gets to conduct the interview. Steven Moffat's column was quite humorous and I loved how enthusiastic he was about getting asked what his favourite flavour crisp was. He does get asked some strange questions but he also gives some rather witty and sometimes unrelated answers. The Season Survey results are always a favourite feature of mine and I'm very intrigued to see what the magazine's audience thought of the latest series, as well as other formatted stories. I'm bound to disagree with the results but that's only natural and that's the beauty of Doctor Who fans. We all absolutely love the show but our opinions are so differing. Things really are varied quite considerably from fan to fan and that's fantastic. I always anticipate reading Relative Dimensions with great joy as I just love everything Jacqueline Rayner does. She's a magnificent writer and her column is just superb but it will be sorely missed. I'm also looking forward to the Brian Minchin interview as well as the always excellent Galaxy Forum and DWM Review. Anyway, back to the comic strip at hand and after a fantastic cliffhanger to part two, I was looking forward to this third part. I reread the first two instalments this morning as is always my routine with DWM and DWC stories. I really liked how action packed this third part was and it really was full of pace and excitement. That's all you can ask for in a comic strip and it continued the story very nicely and was definitely the best of the three parts so far. We had people everywhere turning into humanoid Hawks whilst Jessica's Dad had run off with her after turning into one himself. Lloyd was still inside though and was actually protecting his wife and daughter from being infected like the rest of the population were. The characterisation of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor was very good once again and I'm not sure the writers, whoever they are, ever fail in that whether it's in DWM or DWC. He's an excellent Doctor and that shows even in the comic stories. The Doctor using the TARDIS to rewrite the DNA of the local population was quite impressive but it seemed to take its toll on the old girl as the TARDIS seemed to cave in on itself. The console room was nowhere to be seen and it was hardly bigger on the inside anymore. The Doctor had overloaded her and although he was confident she'd heal and regenerate just fine, he was temporarily homeless. The Collins family soon saw to fixing that problem but I'm more interested in the TARDIS. The last time it healed and regenerated itself was in The Eleventh Hour and we got a brand new console room. I do wonder if DWM will introduce a new TARDIS interior. I highly doubt it but I'm not entirely ruling it out. The ending was interesting as it didn't state that the story was over but that was indeed the case. Overall, a great comic strip!

Rating: 9/10

Dr. Who and the Daleks

"We will go to the city of the Daleks..."

Writer: Milton Subotsky

Format: Movie

Released: 25th June 1965

Series: Movie Adaptation #1

Featuring: Dr. Who, Susan, Barbara, Ian 

Synopsis 

Accidentally thrown together, Dr. Who, his granddaughters, and their friend Ian cross the universe in Who's new invention, the space and time machine known as TARDIS. When they land on the planet Skaro, the travellers meet the kind and placid Thals, who live in fear of the dreaded Daleks. Somehow, the Doctor and his party must find a way to help the Thals overcome the deadly mutants who live inside impenetrable metal casings.

Verdict 

Dr. Who and the Daleks was a very interesting watch and serves as my first blog entry that I would consider not to be canonical. For a start, it's name is something I immediately dispute as although it was common throughout the 1960s and a good proportion of the 70s, this programme is called Doctor Who. Doctor is not a two letter word when it comes to this glorious show and it's the one thing that pains me about the early Classic era. This film is obviously based upon The Daleks but this really was a quite different story. For a start Susan and Barbara were sisters! Susan was a young girl of around nine years old and Ian arrived as Barbara's boyfriend. Now there's no secret that we know Ian and Barbara had feelings for each other we didn't quite see things like this movie portrayed. Despite my annoyance, I will call Peter Cushing's character Dr. Who because he is absolutely not the Doctor. It's a very strange interpretation of the lead character from Doctor Who and we actually see him in his bloody living room! It's claimed that he invented TARDIS and for some reason we seem to have lost a 'the' prior to referring to the time and space machine. I thought the interior was absolutely shocking to be honest and considering some of the sets in the Dalek city, the inside of the TARDIS was just clustered. It looked tacky and just a downright mess which was a shame. The fluid link section looked horrendously bad I must say. I did like though that we could see the police box doors from inside the TARDIS and that's something that the modern interior would have. Well it's good that at least something good came from this movie. I thought the design of the Daleks was actually brilliant and seeing them in colour in the 1960s must have been a real treat for fans, even if the story wasn't too good. I actually love The Daleks and it is up there with my favourite stories of all time, but the deviations in this film really ruined it. It was rushed, sloppy and unclear in a lot of places. If you weren't an avid Doctor Who fan and were watching this film I imagine you'd be confused. The petrified jungle looked similar to the original televised version which was good but I'm not sure why Ian was so clumsy about pretty much everything. The Thals looked good but I wasn't too struck on the women looking to impress. That seemed to be the excuse for mirrors to be used to interfere with Dalek signalling in what was a pretty poor resolution to dealing with the Daleks and help prevent the atomic bomb from being dropped. The radiation inclusion was good and they didn't really deviate from that part of the story but things leading into the Dalek city, the ambush on the Thals and Susan retrieving the radiation tablets just seemed rushed. Alydon was a good character once again although he still trusted the Daleks far too quickly. I can understand that it had been generations since the war had raged on Skaro but things were still premature. The ending was at least exciting and you always need a good climax in a movie, even if it is based on a Doctor Who story. The film must have been a success for a second Dalek movie to have been commissioned and I will also be shortly blogging that but sadly I must say that I wasn't a huge fan of this adaptation for the big screen. Peter Cushing played his role well, but for me he is not the Doctor. Overall, strange and intriguing but just not for me. 

Rating: 6/10

The Lost Boy

"Without purpose we cease to be."

Writer: Phil Ford

Format: TV

Broadcast: 12th-19th November 2007

Series: SJA 1.06

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde, K9

Synopsis 

A missing child turns out to be, both visually and genetically, Luke. Sarah Jane is forced to hand him over to the "parents". Heartbroken, Sarah Jane rejects Maria and Clyde, and with Maria's dad threatening to sell the house to keep his daughter out of danger, it seems the gang's adventures have come to an end, whilst Luke discovers his new "parents" are not all they seem - an old enemy has returned, and this time, they are in league with a member of Sarah Jane's faithful team in a plot to bring the moon crashing to Earth...

Verdict 

The Lost Boy was an excellent story and a great way to conclude the first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The idea of a Doctor Who spinoff had already been utilised magnificently with Torchwood but whereas that was aimed at adults, we also needed a spinoff series that was targeted at the younger audience of Doctor Who fans. It maintains its youthful appeal whilst also keeping the older viewers like myself interested with some fantastic storytelling and constant references to the parent show. I really loved the plot of this story and the idea of Luke actually being a missing child was more than feasible. Sarah Jane quickly bought into the fact that he was kidnapped rather than created by the Bane and Mr Smith confirmed that. However, Mr Smith wasn't all he set out to be and was actually working to his own agenda! He was a Xylok and had intended on rescuing the rest of his race from far beneath the Earth where they had been since crash landing around sixty million years ago. He was using both Sarah Jane and the Slitheen to actually try and cause a collision between the Earth and it's moon! Now that's quite a plan. It would have freed the rest of the Xylok species but it would have meant devastation and the end of the human race. But it didn't matter to Mr Smith. He had his purpose and that's all that mattered. I really liked that Alan was now in on the aliens secret and his reactions to some of Maria's methods of gaining information were great. Maria telling him all about her recent life with references to Invasion of the Bane, Revenge of the Slitheen and Eye of the Gorgon was terrific and I just loved his reaction to finding out that he'd been turned to stone at one point. He found it difficult to grasp but he was soon getting on board. At first he was going to put the house on sale but soon saw some more wonders of the universe and what that meant to Maria. The return of the Slitheen was done in a fantastic way and I loved how it wasn't hinted at throughout the story. That made the reveal of Ashley's parents a superb moment. The cliffhanger was great and I liked the return of the child Slitheen from Revenge of the Slitheen. Nathan was a bit too good to be true and Sarah Jane saw that when she met him. The missing child press conferences were convincing and I liked the image of Sarah Jane getting arrested. It's just not what you want to see but it's so striking. Luke, or as we were led to believe Ashley, returning to what was said to be his home was interesting and the mentions of football and skateboarding were what got Clyde and Luke sceptical about the claims. The talk of the Xylok was good but the revelation that was the species of Mr Smith was fantastic! It was unexpected and that's exactly what you want. Clyde was taken inside of the super computer and managed to communicate with Alan which was good. Alan in turn provided an Armageddon virus that saw fit to dealing with the Xylok and Sarah Jane convinced him of his new purpose which was to save the Earth. He gave up on using Luke and telekinesis to crash the Moon into the Earth and saved the planet. Sarah Jane couldn't have done it without K9 who emerged in superb style to fight off Mr Smith. Clyde seeing him for the first time was a good moment. Sarah Jane narrating to close the series, just as she did to open it, was a fantastic way to finish what has been an excellent spinoff series. Here's to the next four!

Rating: 9/10

Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?

"If it wasn't for Sarah Jane we'd all be dead."

Writer: Gareth Roberts 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 29th October - 5th November 2007

Series: 1.05

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde 

Synopsis 

One day, Sarah Jane Smith exists. The next, only Maria Jackson knows of her. Andrea Yates takes her place, but Maria knows that Andrea has done something to remove Sarah from the space/time continuum. It is up to Maria to uncover the identity of the "Trickster" if the human race is to survive. But with Sarah and Luke wiped from existence and Clyde having lost all knowledge of his former adventures, Maria must save the world single-handedly. But she finds it may be time to tell her father about her secret life with Sarah if the whole world is to survive.

Verdict 

Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? was an excellent story and the best adventure of the spinoff series so far! After an extremely consistent opening four stories, this adventure finally saw the Sarah Jane Adventures reach what I would consider to be the upper level of my ratings. It is definitely the best story from the show so far and even though I'm only five adventures in, it's always great to be able to say that what you've just watched is the best. But it really was. The Trickster was a superb enemy and his appearance is just so perfectly evil for a monster in a Doctor Who universe story. The face was devoid of features because it didn't have any! Just a mouth that was full of sharp teeth was what accompanied a blank face. The Trickster was quite opposing and standout with his height and stature and being dressed in all black made his evil intentions well noticed. His desire and need for chaos was interesting but what better way than to destroy the Earth for no reason at all. There was a meteor heading for Earth that the scientists of the world weren't able to detect so could do nothing to deal with it. But Mr Smith had the solution and with that Sarah Jane would save the world without anybody realising. That's how she liked it much to Maria's shock. I thought it was a lovely touch of Sarah Jane to give Maria the Verron puzzle box as it was her that she trusted the most. Maria just needed to remember and that's exactly what she did when the Trickster struck and altered the timeline. Sarah Jane now failed to exist beyond the age of thirteen and that really would mean a bundle of chaos for the Trickster to feed off. I'm not sure how the life of the Doctor during his third and fourth incarnations would have been altered but I'm sure it would have caused quite a substantial effect! The Trickster soon caught on about the Doctor and wondered what chaos the universe would be in if the Doctor never existed. With this being broadcast in 2007, I do wonder if that was a foreshadowing of the events of Turn Left. Life without Sarah Jane would also prove pretty fatal to the human race as here it would mean the destruction of the planet at the hands of a meteor. Without Sarah Jane there would be no Mr Smith and that meant the meteor couldn't be dealt with and Earth would be destroyed. The military missile strike failed and it seemed that the planet would be goners, but there was one women who could save the Earth. A women who died in 1964 at the age of thirteen. Andrea Yates. She had struck a bargain with the Trickster whilst hanging from a pier and it meant that Sarah Jane would die in her place. Andrea was made to forget her awful decision but Maria soon brought the memories flooding back and when she did we saw how terrible of a person she really was as she also agreed and even went out of her way to see that Maria was moved from time. Alan though was protected from the Verron puzzle box as the Graske arrived and provided some humorous chase scenes with Maria. I liked how she ended up in 1964 and saw a young Sarah Jane but I also liked the resolution with Alan and particularly Sarah pushing Andrea to break her bargain. In a climactic ending she did in an emotional way and the timeline was restored and the meteor averted. Overall, a quite excellent story! The best SJA yet.

Rating: 9/10

Warriors of Kudlak

"Just bring me children."

Writer: Phil Gladwin

Format: TV

Broadcast: 15th-22nd October 2007

Series: SJA 1.04

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde 

Synopsis 

Children have been going missing, but how? Will Luke and Clyde win Combat 3000? And who is the mysterious Mr Kudlak?

Verdict 

Warriors of Kudlak was yet another consistently good episode in this first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The spinoff from Doctor Who has remained very consistent throughout this debut run and that's a very positive thing from a brand new show that carries with it the immense pedigree of its parent show. This isn't Doctor Who, but it still has an impact on it and it's testament to the writers that whilst accommodating a much younger television audience, the quality of story is still there and everything is still recognisable as being a part of the Doctor Who universe. I like how Sarah Jane keeps reminding us that aliens have been coming to Earth for years in what I hope is a little nod to the Classic era of Doctor Who but she was also quick to remind Maria that not everything she did involved aliens. However, it's certainly seeming that way! Ever since Maria moved in across the road from Sarah Jane she's battled Bane, Slitheen, Gorgon and now Kudlak! That was not the species name of course but rather the General in an ongoing war. Or so he thought. The Uvodni were an interesting race but they seemed so out of touch with Earth as they were recruiting children for the front line in an intergalactic war just because they liked war games. I don't mind a little violence in a game at all but I'm certainly no killer! The Uvodni really didn't understand culture on Earth, particularly amongst British children. Mr Grantham was a very good character and I liked his reaction Sarah Jane and Maria going through his office. I was surprised he bought into the fake journalistic ID that Sarah presented him but he soon saw through it once she wapped out the sonic lipstick and had him threatening her in her house. The idea of a laser tag game for a story in the Doctor Who universe is actually terrific and I think it was absolutely the right choice to have that take place in the Sarah Jane Adventures. A lot of children watching will have experienced playing laser tag so to have alien involvement across the country with Combat 3000 was terrific. The rain phenomena that temporarily occurred when the children went missing was good and that allowed Mr Smith some crucial details in discovering just what was going on. Luke and Clyde playing Combat 3000 and reaching level 2 was good and I thought the cliffhanger was quite strong which was very good. The Mistress that Kudlak was serving was interesting and I just loved the revelation that Luke discovered with the war they were fighting having been over for a decade. Kudlak's Mistress was merely a programmed computer and peace did not compute with the systems. She wanted children for the war but the war was over. Kudlak wasn't very evil at all which was a nice ending and I liked how he vowed to try and return the other children back to Earth. Sarah Jane let him keep his life and forgave him which was a really nice touch. The scenes that led up to that were good and I liked how despite Luke and Clyde being in space, Sarah Jane had no worries about rescuing them. Clyde and Maria's reaction to seeing Earth from space was magnificent and I also really liked how Sarah Jane saw an incredible sight once again. She knew how much of a privilege that was. Luke hooking Clyde's phone up to the Uvodni ship was excellent and their hunt for a shuttlecraft was really good. Luke getting a kiss back on Earth for all he did was marvellous and Clyde and Sarah Jane's reactions were really good. Overall, another very good adventure!

Rating: 8/10

Eye of the Gorgon

"The things she must have seen. Now everyone thinks she's crazy..."

Writer: Phil Ford

Format: TV

Broascast: 1st-8th October 2007

Series: SJA 1.03

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde 

Synopsis 

A haunted nursing home leads Sarah to a mysterious order of nuns with an ancient - and alien - secret...

Verdict 

Eye of the Gorgon was another great story in this first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures. The Doctor Who spinoff has certainly started off very consistently with these three opening stories and I think this was probably the least silly of the adventures so far. I liked the inclusion of a figure from Greek mythology as an alien and there didn't really seem to be any scenes directed at the younger viewers. I mean, the whole series is aimed at that audience but there was no farting as we saw in Revenge of the Slitheen. The story actually presented some strong messages and a lot of that was through Maria and the family troubles she's having with her mother and father going through a divorce. She's old enough to understand how it works but Maria just wants her parents together, even if they don't get along. She wanted to be close to both of them and that's something I can still relate to at 19. My parents split up (they weren't married) when I was just 2 and I can't ever remember them being together but it can be tough being separated from one at a time, even now. Maria is dealing with that amiably... by fighting aliens! When her Dad was turned to stone by the Gorgon in what was a fantastic cliffhanger, her reaction was one of anger at Sarah Jane before being given hope that there might still be a chance. There was a good reference to Invasion of the Bane and I liked how Sarah Jane is there to console Maria about her troubles at home. Luke and Clyde got along well in this story which was nice and I liked the humour behind the latter recognising what not to say to a nun when it concerned an alien gizmo. The talisman was an interesting and greatly-named device and its role in the Gorgon mission was pretty pivotal. It was the way home to the Gorgon planet and the means of invading Earth. That's what they really wanted. The story had a bit of a similar feel to Tooth and Claw but just seemed like the female version which was good. The Gorgon being protected and helped for over 3,000 years by the nun family was interesting and I liked how they were not situated in a retirement home. Bea was a lovely character and I admired how she was a much travelled person. Travelling is quite a passion of mine and I can't wait to grow a little older and finish university to get a decent job, of which a lot of the money will fund trips abroad! She'd been everywhere and with her Edgar she had even ran into Sontarans which was quite incredible. Sarah Jane has met them twice as well so I loved her reaction to them being mentioned. The cliche resolution of Maria using a mirror to reflect the Gorgon's own image and powers into her was good and I liked how with the Gorgon turned to stone, her hold on the nuns was loosened. They were disoriented and unaware of what they had done. But there was still the problem of Alan being a stone statue. Thankfully for Maria, the talisman saw to reversing the change in molecular structure. Mr Smith was quite humorous in his explanation which was good. Bea being given the talisman back at the end of the story was a nice touch and it was wonderful to see how happy putting it on made her as she heard her late husband's voice one last time, just like she wanted. Overall, another very good story!

Rating: 8/10

Revenge of the Slitheen

"Humans. Even the clever ones are stupid."

Writer: Gareth Roberts 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 24th September-1st October 2007

Series: SJA 1.02

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, Clyde 

Synopsis 

First days at school are always difficult. For Maria Jackson and Luke Smith, the task of blending in is made all the more difficult when their teachers turn out to be aliens from outer space, back for revenge...

Verdict 

Revenge of the Slitheen was a great story to kick off the regular series of the Sarah Jane Adventures! Although generally considered as the second story of the first series, this adventure actually kicks off the weekly broadcasting of the Doctor Who spinoff show and comes some ten months after the first episode actually aired. I thought the idea to bring back a familiar monster for the first regular story was a good one and even though Sarah Jane is the main character, we are still reminded that this show is absolutely a part of the Doctor Who universe. Prior to yesterday, it had been around five years since I had watched the Sarah Jane Adventures and I think it's fair to say that life is a bit different now at 19 than it was in 2011 at the age of 14. I may even have been younger the last time I watched this spinoff series. In that time, I've blogged all of Torchwood and ventured into the Doctor Who audios and this show has such a different feel. I honestly didn't remember it being so oriented for children. It's silly in places but I think that's part of its appeal. It aired on CBBC so I should expect it to be for more of a younger viewer. But to me it's still in the Doctor Who universe and that thought will stay with me when Class starts airing next month. I thought the Slitheen were terrific and I liked the idea of them returning to Earth to avenge the other members of their family for what occurred during the events of Aliens of London/World War Three. I would assume that Boom Town was also included in the reasoning for this batch of the Slitheen family hoping to strike revenge against mankind. Their plan was actually incredible and the fact that they almost succeeded in turning off the Sun just shows that the Slitheen are not to be messed with. They needed a bit of help from Luke to actually almost end the world but I'm sure they'd have gotten there on their own in due course. I loved Maria once again and I think it's brilliant how she's just such a likeable character. Clyde's introduction was very good and his fascination with Luke was really good. The way he was so proud of realising that Slitheen were prone to vinegar was great. Sarah Jane seems to have assembled quite a good little team here, even if she's not entirely thrilled with putting youngsters in danger. Luke trying to fit in with the rest of humanity was interesting and it was nice that Sarah Jane wanted to give him as normal a life as possible. She had adopted him with the help of Mr Smith but Luke was quite commonly making social mistakes which was a little humorous. He was so direct and his reaction to his classmates finding farting funny was hilarious in itself. I think the farting is why the Slitheen were brought back to boost the series. That would have been popular with the younger fans whom this series is aimed at. I thought the cliffhanger was excellent and the child Slitheen actually sparked a lot of emotion at the end of part two. He had to see his family die while it appeared that he in turn teleported away. Sarah Jane wasn't much thrilled about that occurrence. The school setting on the first day back was good and it seems that Sarah Jane isn't getting a lot of luck in them lately! Her remembering of Rose's comment about the Slitheen in School Reunion was very good. I liked the image of the Beast appearing on Mr Smith and I also enjoyed the mentions of the Judoon and Clom. Sarah Jane again referenced The Time Warrior and The Hand of Fear when reminiscing about her time with the Doctor and I'm always going to love those stories getting mentioned. The ending was well paced and although the story was a tad silly in parts, for my older eyes, I still thought it was terrific. Overall, a great adventure!

Rating: 8/10

Invasion of the Bane

"Life on Earth can be an adventure too."

Writers: Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 1st January 2007

Series: SJA 1.01

Featuring: Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria

Synopsis 

Investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith teams up with her new, thirteen-year-old neighbour, Maria Jackson, to face the scheming Mrs Wormwood, the head of a company producing a popular and addictive soft drink called Bubble Shock!

Verdict 

Invasion of the Bane was an excellent story and a great start to the Sarah Jane Adventures spinoff series. The infamous companion getting her own television spinoff after the failure of A Girl's Best Friend to get K9 & Compay commissioned further into a series is just wonderful and she's so deserving of it. Sarah Jane is a brilliant character and by allowing her to have a spinoff series, we get to see what life after the Doctor is really like for the companions. We met her once again in School Reunion which was just magnificent and that episode was heavily referenced here as one might expect. But based on that, Sarah realised that she could do things alone, or rather without the Doctor. Aiming the series at a younger audience was a good idea and I think Elisabeth Sladen became that loveable elderly lady that all children are bound to love. The series doesn't though just appeal to children of course! Now, it's taken me over 840 blog entries to start rewatching the Sarah Jane Adventures, but it's better late than never! Sarah Jane features and that's more than reason enough for me to be watching. The introduction of Maria as her companion if you like was wonderful and I really do enjoy her character. She's faced with family trouble whilst dealing with a divorce and a house move and that emotional trauma I think makes her perfect to be fighting aliens alongside Sarah Jane. We of course also have Luke but his introduction is a little more unconventional as he serves a purpose in the plot of the story. He's known as the Archetype to the Bane and he was simply grown and made as an amalgamation of over 10,000 different children to try and find why 2% of the population did not like the Bubble Shock! drink. Sarah Jane's thoughts on it were most interesting and I liked how she had already been investigating. Mrs Wormwood was a decent villain and I loved how Sarah immediately caught onto her biblical meaning. Not such a subtle choice of name after all. I wasn't too keen on Kelsey I must admit and I'm very glad that she didn't stick around for long as part of Sarah's gang. Chrissie was also a character I didn't like much at all although I think that's the intention. Alan is a likeable enough character. I very much enjoyed the reference to The Hand of Fear and seeing photos of Harry, the Brigadier and a young Sarah Jane was a real treat I must say. Sarah's sonic lipstick was a terrific little device and I also liked the communicator she was granted from the Star Poet. The story was maybe a little too long at an hour's duration but it ticked all the boxes of what a first episode of a new series should establish. We know what it's about and we know our characters. The Bane were a pretty good monster and although I liked their image translator, their true form seemed a bit big and silly. The way Sarah, Maria and crucially Luke defeated and destroyed the Mother Bane was very good and I loved how thrilled Sarah was to have won. The cameo appearance of K9 was a real treat and I also liked the introduction of Mr Smith. Overall, a very good first episode and a great start to the spinoff series!

Rating: 8/10

Grave Matter

"Who gives you the right to decide on a whim what is right and what is wrong?"

Writer: Justin Richards 

Format: Novel

Released: May 2000

Series: PDA 31

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis 

Dorsill: a group of islands shrouded in fog, the community facing economic ruin and struggling to survive.

When Christopher Sheldon buys the islands outright, the locals owe him a debt of thanks. They don't ask too many questions about what Sheldon and his friends are up to; they don't care that he seldom ventures into the one small village; they don't ask why he saw fit to spend such a large amount of money - or where he got it from...

Even when the first few people die, there's an assumption that it's down to natural causes; allergic reactions, an especially virulent strain of flu, a tragic fishing accident... And if the sheep and chickens are behaving oddly, that's hardly a worry.

No, if there's anything to arouse suspicion, it's the arrival of a retired civil servant Sir Edward Baddesley. But generally life goes on, with its little triumphs and upsetting tragedies.

Until the two strangers arrive...

Verdict 

Grave Matter was a very good novel and an enjoyable read on the usual train journey back home from mid to South Wales. It'll be the last time I make that journey for a while now which is a shame as I get ready to embark on my second year of university in just a few weeks. As is always the case with an original novel, I didn't finish the book during the journey as I usually do with the Target novelisations but that wasn't a problem as I finished it relatively quickly after returning home. This was actually only my second novel of any kind to feature the Sixth Doctor and it has been some time since I read Players so it was excellent to see Colin Baker's incarnation presented in the prose format. His characterisation was actually excellent by Justin Richards and that always makes the reading easier. A story has got to suit the Doctor that is featuring and I felt that was nailed with this adventure. I liked the mysterious atmosphere that came with the misty setting of Dorsill and I loved how the Doctor and Peri believed they had arrived on the isolated island in the nineteenth century rather than the twentieth. The emergence of the helicopter accompanied with the Doctor's reaction was brilliant. I thought some of the characters in the story were very good with Sheldon and Madsen particularly standing out. The latter shooting his brains out and then beginning to get back up again was really good. I thought the plot of the story was pretty decent and I liked how the intentions of the Devarians seemed to be pretty much what occurred in Miracle Day. Death was to be eradicated but the difference between this and the Miracle was that under the influence and infection of the Devarians, humanity would also quickly repair any damage and injuries. Blood was playing a big factor and the way it was congealing was the main instrument of the healing. I liked how the story was placed immediately after Vengeance on Varos as there was some brilliant continuation from that story as well as a reference or two to the adventure. Mrs Tattleshall was quite a funny character but I found it quite sad that her death was met with laughter because of the irony behind her being silent. I did find that quite touching, especially as the Doctor got on with her quite well despite her tendency to go on and on. Sir Edward, or Sir Anthony as would later be revealed, was a very good character as well and I liked his turn towards the end due to the infection. Janet was great also and I liked Hilly's minor relationship with Peri. That causing the companion to be infected was terrific and I liked how shocked she was when she realised what had happened some time later. I enjoyed the story but I felt a bit mixed about the ending. It was well paced and exciting which was very good but the Doctor pouring the antidote liquid substance from a helicopter and covering every piece of ground just seemed a bit too good to be true, even for him. I did enjoy the ambiguity behind the seagulls scene at the end though. That was a really good way to finish on. Overall, a very good read!

Rating: 8/10

Spider-God

"The villagers aren't human! They hatch from eggs!"

Writer: Steve Moore 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: May 1981

Printed in: DWM 52

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Terran Survey Vessel Excelsior, commanded by Louis B Frederick, lands on planet UX-4732. They find the TARDIS nearby. The Doctor steps out to greet them. He introduces them to a primitive but rather idyllic village populated by deaf, mute humanoids.

Verdict 

Spider-God was a very good little comic strip and continued my reading of the Dragon's Claw graphic novel in great fashion. Now, it's actually been about three weeks since I blogged War of the Words which was my last entry from this comic collection which is unusually strange for me when it comes to reading a graphic novel. However, this copy isn't actually mine and belongs to my young cousin with whom I have recently watched Pyramids of Mars and Warriors of the Deep on his request. I'm not sure I'll be able to get through the rest of the unblogged stories whilst I'm here as it's a hectic week and unfortunately this is the last time I will be up for a while ahead of my return to university for second year. I'm really looking forward to getting back now even if it means a lot less Doctor Who. I'm not sure if I'll ever beat the 2014 amount of entries but I think this year could be close. This graphic novel will certainly help towards the entry count. I liked how the message of not judging by appearances shone through and it showed that even in Doctor Who, not all spiders are evil. We had the ludicrousness of humans hatching out of eggs and then the normal humans we recognised as Frederic and co shooting a spider dead. I think this story could have been improved if it was extended beyond just the one part. The pace is always quicker in a shorter story but sometimes things can go too quick and that was the reason this story didn't get what I consider as the highest level of rating. It was close and if there was a bit more explanation at what was happening then I think it would have achieved it. The characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was good in what little it was needed with the likeness of Tom Baker's incarnation easily captured. The Doctor's casual arrival was majestic as he was just sauntering about and not having a care in the world about what was going on and the likes of Frederic being flabbergasted by his arrival. He simply joined up with them and quickly formed a friendship or relationship of sorts. They soon discovered the altar on which the spiders were being worshipped and the other humans, not including the Doctor of course, shot the spider dead which caused a bit of a stir. Shooting or destroying something that people worship always causes some form of riot. This was no different but the story time advanced quickly to a point in a different village with a different spider being worshipped. That's where the Doctor learnt the truth about everything that was going on and we saw humans hatching out of eggs! That sort of meant that they weren't actually humans but I'm not sure what else to call them at this point. They seemed to blossom into something resembling the Menoptera from The Web Planet but I highly doubt that was the case. The ending was a little abrupt but the story as a whole really was great. Overall, another good comic strip!

Rating: 8/10

The Haunted Wagon Train

"You have to get all those Hollywood ideas of Cowboys and Indians out of your head."

Writer: Colin Brake

Format: Novel 

Released: October 2007

Series: DYD 08

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha 

Synopsis 

Pioneers travelling across the American Midwest report ghost sightings, but you, the Doctor and Martha believe it's extraterrestrial activity. Can you teach down the aliens before it's too late? 

Verdict 

The Haunted Wagon Train was a great little read and another fine book in the Decide Your Desting series of novels. This time last year, or even a few months ago, I was very sceptical about reading this type of story as it just didn't seem suited to me nor appropriate for my age. The latter still probably holds but despite the target audience of this novel obviously being for children, I still thoroughly enjoyed. I think the thing I've liked most about these stories is that we as the reader feature as a character and it gives a taste of what travelling with the Doctor might be like. It's a wonderful idea and if I'm feeling that as a nineteen year old, I can only imagine what younger readers are feeling when this books whizzes them off through time and space with their favourite hero. It's such a wonderful idea and given how cheap the books are, as well as how quick they can be read, I think I definitely need to invest in some more as I've now completed all in the series that I own. There are many more available so I think I'll have to check for availability or keep an eye out in charity shops. I liked how this story got straight into the action and the reasoning behind us as the reader joining the Doctor and Martha was short and sweet. I liked the decision making in this one and when given the choice, I decided that the story would take place in native America. That's the History student in me. It was a good setting and I really enjoyed the mystery behind the wagon train potentially being haunted. What made it really interesting was the fact that the train was constantly on the move, but the strange lights continued to follow them wherever they went. Running Bear was a good and likeable character and I liked the description of him moving around with a deft quietness. He was skilled in his art and that was impressive. The characterisation of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor was pretty decent with his likeness being well captured but I thought the representation of Freema Agyeman as Martha was actually better. I'm not sure why that was but it could have been due to her conversing with us as the reader a little more than the Doctor did. I enjoyed the references to Smith and Jones and The Lazarus Experiment very much as past story mentions are always something I love. Mrs Robinson was another good character and I loved the names of her children. Prudence, Courage and Endeavour are wonderful names in a Doctor Who story and although I would only consider the first name for a child of my own, I thought it was just fantastic. Prudence, in the route that I took, was particularly outspoken about the haunted mystery surrounding the wagon train. Martha picked up on that which I liked. The ending of this story was the first in my readings of the DYD that didn't come abruptly and seemed to flow well which was a great thing. The story wasn't perhaps quite as strong as some of the others in the range, but having an ending that flowed really did make a difference. My decision making this time also seemed to make the story last a little longer than my previous readings of books in the same range. It worked out very well indeed. Overall, a brilliant little book!

Rating: 8/10

Warriors of the Deep

"The Silurians have long since abandoned the way of mediation."

Writer: Johnny Byrne 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5th-13th January 1984

Season: 21.01

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough

Synopsis 

Earth, 2084. Two global superpowers hover on the brink of war. When the TARDIS is forced to make an unplanned visit to Sea Base Four, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough find themselves accused of being enemy agents. Quickly embroiled in a deadly game of paranoid intrigue, it becomes clear that others on the base have sabotage and murder in mind. However, there is a greater threat to mankind; the Silurians and the Sea Devils, prehistoric reptiles seeking to reclaim the Earth. Can the Doctor prevent them implementing their 'final solution' and triggering a war that could wipe out the entire human race?

Verdict 

Warriors of the Deep is a decent story but sadly it doesn't do itself justice on the television screen. The plot itself is very good but the costumes, set and some of the voicing were not great and that's what let things down. It wasn't brilliant and that's a shame because the Target novelisation shows just how good this story really is. It's a quite brilliant adventure but it's hard to buy into some of the decisions that were made by the production team. The design of the set didn't really suit the atmosphere of the story and that's something that wasn't a problem in the novelisation. In my blogging of The Myth Makers novelisation a couple of days ago, I mentioned that it was the first time that a television story and its novelisation have deviated by a raying of two points and as irony and coincidence would have it, this story has just been added to the list. It's a shame really but it just shows that the way a story is presented can have such a huge effect on somebody's enjoyment of it. These deviations now give me great hopes for the novelisations of The Gunfighters and Paradise Towers, two stories I really was not a fan of. I still maintain that the cliffhanger of part one is up there with the very best of all time and although the resolution is pretty non-existent, the ending itself was simply sublime and it's right up there with the likes of The Reign of Terror, The Stolen Earth and Dark Water. It really is excellent. Turlough is interesting as the companion here in his relatively early days and the relationship with Tegan is particularly intriguing. He was more than prepared to leave the Doctor for dead than risk himself in saving him and that was something that was so unlike a companion. That allowed the Doctor and Tegan to be closer in the story which was really fascinating as they haven't always enjoyed the best of relationships. The return of Icthar from the original Silurian Triad we saw in Doctor Who and the Silurians was fantastic and I liked how we also had a nice reference to The Sea Devils. For the viewers who weren't perhaps around during Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Third Doctor, it told them that the Doctor had met these two reptile species before. The Sea Devils themselves didn't look great in appearance and I thought they sounded a bit like the Ice Warriors which wasn't a good thing in all honesty. The design of the Silurians wasn't much changed from the last time we saw them which was good but I thought their voices sounded far too robotic and considering they were in need of oxygen and at the subject of gas during the latter stages of the story, I couldn't buy into it. Nilson was a pretty decent villainous character but he seemed pretty out of depth when it came to being challenged by the Doctor. I liked how our Time Lord hero again wanted mediation between humanity and the Silurians but as is the case with seemingly every Silurian story, they end up dead. The Doctor is always horrified and that was the case here with him being convinced there could have been another way. And that's kind of my thoughts on the story's presentation and production. The adventure is great but it just doesn't feel it on television.

Rating: 7/10

Pyramids of Mars

"There are ancient powers gathering in this place..."

Writer: Stephen Harris 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25th October - 15th November 1975

Season: 13.03

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah 

Synopsis 

When the TARDIS is infiltrated by a mysterious force, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are drawn off course and arrive in England at the turn of the 20th century. Dark forces from aeons ago are beginning to stir, and the whole future of life on Earth is at stake. Sutekh, last of the Osirians, is breaking free from his ancient prison, and no power in the universe can stand in his way...

Verdict 

Pyramids of Mars is a fantastic story and another brilliant watch with my young cousin. It hasn't been too long since our last viewing together and this was one story that he requested I bring the DVD of up to our grandparents'. I mean, the story has quite a legendary status but as with my opinion on Terror of the Zygons, it's good but it's quite overrated in my view. I'm not saying it isn't good in the slightest, my rating reflects that I enjoyed it but I'm not sure why it's so adored. Maybe that is a tad unfair but I'm struggling to understand the immense praise it gets. I'm probably sounding like I hate this story but that really isn't the case. The Fourth Doctor and Sarah are at their best together and I did enjoy their relationship. Sarah wearing a dress that formerly belonged to Victoria was lovely and a nice touch to the show's past and I also really loved the reference to Death to the Daleks. The 1911 setting was excellent and the implications this story had on the creation of UNIT HQ was superb. The Doctor playing a role in the fire that saw the priory destroyed isn't much of a surprise at all and I loved how he just laughed at the realisation that he was responsible for its collapse. The mention of the Great Fire of London was an interesting foreshadowing of events to come in The Visitation as well. Sarah stating she was from 1980 really puts a spanner in the works when it comes to dating The Time Warrior and just adds a great deal of unwanted controversy to the UNIT dating trouble. It's just impossible for that to be resolved now. Sutekh is an excellent villain and I think he'd have worked better if he wasn't confined on Mars. The Mummy Robots acted as good monsters and I thought the appearance was impressive. Marcus Scarman was another good villainous character and the breakdown in the brotherly relationship with Laurence was a sad state of affairs. Sarah particularly saw that with the latter being murdered by the former. Laurence's relationship with both the Doctor and Sarah was good and I liked how the former realised the importance of the situation with five people already dead. I wasn't too struck on the Doctor showing Sarah her own time as it would be if Sutekh ruled as I felt it was a bit of a contradiction to things. We know that history would be drastically altered without some intervention from the Doctor but for him to just pack up and leave and see how things would be if he didn't get involved seemed a bit like cheating to me. I'm not sure why I felt like that but I just didn't like it. I also thought the cliffhangers could have been improved a little to reach into the highest level of ratings as I wasn't really shocked by any of the three cliffhangers. Although this was my third viewing of the story, and I've read the novelisation, I still hoped the cliffhangers would strike me but sadly they did not. The ending was very good though and I liked the way the Doctor dealt with Sutekh very much. The Osirians could be deadly and I liked how their perspective on evil was what the Doctor knew as good. Sutekh was proud to be bringing death and destruction. The Doctor couldn't allow him to threaten Earth and sent him flying years into the distance. Overall, a very good story but not quite as legendary as fandom would have you believe.

Rating: 8/10

The Myth Makers

"That's what betrayed husbands do, damn it! They kill their wife's lovers."

Writer: Donald Cotton

Format: Novel

Released: September 1985

Series: Target 97

Featuring: First Doctor, Vicki, Steven

Synopsis 

Long, long ago on the Great Plains of Asia Minor, two mighty armies faced each other in mortal combat. The armies were the Greeks and the Trojans and the prize they were fighting for was Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world.

To the Greeks it seemed that the city of Troy was impregnable and only a miracle could bring them success.

And then help comes to them in a most unexpected way as a strange blue box materialises close to their camp, bringing with it the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, who soon find themselves caught up in the irreversible tide of history and legend...

Verdict 

The Myth Makers was a pretty decent novelisation of the televised story of the same name but I thought it was quite inferior to its on screen serial. There were quite a few deviations and I really didn't like the fact that the book was from the point of view of Homer, a pretty minor character in the story. I'm not a fan of stories being from the point of view of a character that isn't the Doctor or a companion as we miss quite a lot really. Because of the point of view format of storytelling, we missed some good scenes with the TARDIS regulars and the story just seemed very strange. I must admit I wasn't a fan of Donald Cotton's writing style, especially given the fact there were 27 chapters in a book that was just 141 pages long. That's far too much stop and starting for my liking. I was reading this on the usual train journey from south to mid Wales and I finished the book with about 5 minutes of the trip left so I timed things very well. I finished reading A Clash of Kings yesterday so when it came to deciding a book to read on the train this one jumped right out at me. There were similarities to those series of books but this was lacking in quality compared to that, and this own story's televised format. For a story that is completely missing from the BBC archives, doing a point of view format of novelisation was an awful idea as I think the fans deserve as much detail about what happened as possible. It was a shame really because I know how good this story is. I just felt this format spoiled things somewhat. I believe this is the first time a story's rating has a two-point difference between its on screen and novelised format and I think that can only be down to the style of writing. I'm studying for a History degree at the moment and I do enjoy ancient history and particularly mythology because it is just so fascinating. Seeing some of those famous mythical characters interact with the Doctor was brilliant. The story's take on Cyclops and Achilles was fantastic and I just love the setting of Troy in general. The Doctor playing a large role in the infamous Trojan horse fiasco was superb and I really love that the Doctor and Vicki were inadvertently on different sides of the Trojan-Greek War and were battling wits against each other. Vicki's confidence in beating the Doctor really was intriguing. I was quite saddened by the ending of the book as I felt that Vicki's exit could have had a lot more detail in the novelisation but it seemed to somehow manage to have less! Katarina barely featured before flying off with the Doctor and Steven and I was really gutted the goodbye between Vicki and her companions was not presented in this book. It could have so easily been done. The characterisation of William Hartnell's First Doctor was pretty good and I loved his reaction to first being heralded as Zeus. He played along while it suited him but then the reveal that he wasn't the great God nearly got him killed! Steven's characterisation was absolutely on point which was a big positive. Vicki taking the name of Cressida was good and I must say that really is a stunning name. Cassandra was evil and that seems to be synonymous with characters of that name in Doctor Who as we'd later learn in the series following the revival. Odysseus was a good character and I also thought Agamemnon and Paris were great too. The plot played out pretty well even if nearly every chapter was far too short. It wasn't dull which was good and I liked how a future incarnation of the Doctor, probably the Second Doctor, revisited Homer when he was telling the events of this story. Overall, it is a good story but I just thought the format did it no favours and really let things down. It still wasn't bad though.

Rating: 7/10

Journey's End

"Something is destroying everything..."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5th July 2008

Series: 4.13

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Rose, Martha, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane, Mickey

Synopsis 

The Daleks are the masters of Earth. The Doctor has been exterminated and now Davros schemes to end all of reality itself. Can the Children of Time do anything to save creation? Even when one of them will die?

Verdict 

Journey's End was an incredible finale and a brilliant conclusion to the story already started in The Stolen Earth. We don't get to see a great deal of the Torchwood team or Luke, whom were both representing the Doctor Who spinoff shows, but what we got was still absolutely superb. It begins immediately where the previous episode finished and that was with the Tenth Doctor regenerating. I think the resolution of using the spare hand to feed the regeneration power into should have occurred before the opening credits as we knew immediately that a regeneration wouldn't be occurring. Well, that's not strictly true I guess. We would later learn in The Time of the Doctor that this did in fact use up one of the Doctor's twelve permitted regenerations despite not changing physically. The amount of control Time Lords have on regeneration is interesting and I liked how The Christmas Invasion was referenced and brought full circle where the Doctor's hand was chopped off by the Sycorax Leader. We saw the hand throughout the first series of Torchwood and it's been in the TARDIS since the finale of Series 3 and now we saw the hand grow into another Doctor! The prophecy told in Planet of the Ood of the DoctorDonna came true and we technically saw three versions of the Doctor. The Daleks were still as ruthless as ever and I liked how they transported the TARDIS to the Dalek Crucible. The Doctor was reunited with Davros once again and it was brilliant to see them together again. The former didn't want the nostalgia tour, he just wanted to put things right. Davros was as insane as ever in this episode and that was absolutely fantastic. Davros and the Daleks were intending on a reality bomb which literally meant the end of everything. The Daleks wanted to be the only species in existence and in achieving that, Davros also wanted to show the Doctor his soul. It was quite harrowing really when the Doctor realised what his companions had become. Martha was in Germany and prepared to actually blow up the planet whilst Jack and Sarah had connected a warp star to the Dalek Crucible and were just as prepared to blow the ship up. Davros forcing the Doctor to remember all the sacrifices people have made for him was tough to see and we saw a lot of those who had died in helping the Doctor to victory. Davros recognising Sarah Jane from Genesis of the Daleks was a wonderful moment and I liked how Sarah mentioned she'd grown up since that first meeting. Tosh perfecting a time lock in the Torchwood hub to save Gwen and Ianto from extermination was good and I liked the quick arrival of Mickey and Jackie to save Sarah Jane. There were brilliant references to School Reunion, The Runaway Bride, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime and The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. The metacrisis Doctor was intriguing to say the least and I loved how he was part human, had one heart and even acted a little like Donna! The differentiation by wearing a blue suit was terrific and I liked how Army of Ghosts/Doomsday was brought full circle with the Doctor finally telling Rose that he loved her, even if we didn't get to hear it. The metacrisis Doctor committed genocide on the Daleks and the real Doctor made him stay in the parallel universe with Rose. They could go grow old together and that was a nice touch. Donna being the companion that died, or at least the metacrisis version of her, was really emotional and the fact she had to have her memory of her time with the Doctor was a sad ending. Overall, an incredible finale full of action, emotion and brilliance! Seeing all of the companions in the TARDIS was a real treat.

Rating: 10/10

The Stolen Earth

"The human harvest will commence."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 28th June 2008

Series: 4.12

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Rose, Martha, Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Sarah Jane, Luke

Synopsis 

Planets are disappearing. Earth has moved in space. The Daleks are the planet's new masters and the Doctor is nowhere to be seen. Davros has returned and his creations are more powerful than ever. Can the Doctor's former companions unite and contact the Time Lord before all is lost?

Verdict 

The Stolen Earth is an incredible episode and serves as a quite brilliant first part to the finale of the fourth series. Not only does it unite all of the Tenth Doctor's companions but it also acts as a crossover between Doctor Who, Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures. As if that wasn't enough, we see the return of the Daleks but rather more significantly we see their creator for the first time since the revival in 2005. Davros is an incredible character and his return here really is superb. He's still devious, insane and downright evil and I loved how good of a job the production team did in bringing him back to life with a bit of a revamp. We saw continuation from Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks with the details behind Dalek Caan's emergency temporal shift revealed. He flew into the Time War itself and saved Davros from death. The Doctor's reaction, and Sarah's, to hearing his voice was fantastic. It was a look of pure horror and disbelief and that sold to the newer viewers just how important Davros was and the threat he provided. The emergence of a red Supreme Dalek was great and I really liked the voice and appearance standing above the other Daleks. Seeing the Torchwood team in a Doctor Who episode was marvellous and actually seeing the inside of the Hub was excellent for me as it's been a long time since I blogged an episode in which that featured. I have well over 800 blog entries by now but not one of them is of a Sarah Jane Adventures story yet so seeing Luke and Mr Smith again was a real treat as it must be at least five years since I watched one of those stories. The concept of planets disappearing was great and I liked how that sparked references to The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii. There were also brilliant mentions of Genesis of the Daleks, The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky and Midnight. The return of Harriet Jones was both comedic and emotional as she actually united those who knew the Doctor through the subwave network but was still sure to remind even the Daleks of who she was. Rose not being able to communicate was rather sad and it was tough to see her left out of things. Her reaction to Martha was quite funny though. I loved Wilf's efforts of dealing with the Daleks with a paint gun almost as much as Gwen's reaction to the Doctor. I'm not sure Rhys would approve! The communications between all of the companions was a wonderful sight to behold and I also enjoyed the references to The Lost Boy and Exit Wounds. The Doctor and Donna heading for the Shadow Proclamation was excellent and I must commend David Tennant for delivering his speech in the language of the Judoon. I was very impressed with how he kept a straight face. The efforts of the companions, or 'Children of Time' as Davros dubbed them, to contact the Doctor was superb and I liked how they eventually broke through. The Doctor was brought up to speed on events and found his way back to Earth, and was reunited with Rose. Or, he almost was. They saw each other from afar and started running towards one another, only for a Dalek to appear and exterminate the Doctor. Talk about cruel! Jack arrived to deal with the Dalek but the damage had been done. He was quickly helped into the TARDIS and Rose and Jack knew what was coming next. The regeneration started and one of my all time favourite cliffhangers took place. I remember watching on broadcast as an 11 year old and being completely shocked. I was stunned and that's what you want out of a cliffhanger! Overall, an incredible episode to start the finale.

Turn Left

"Turn right and never meet that man. Turn right and change the world!"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21st June 2008

Series: 4.11

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Rose

Synopsis 

What would life be like if the Doctor didn't exist? If his victories were reversed and evil took precedence? Well, thanks to the Trickster's Brigade a certain Donna Noble is about to find out as a life changing decision is altered...

Verdict 

Turn Left is an outstanding episode and really does a great job of not only setting up the series finale but highlighting just how important the Doctor is to humanity, and not only that but by also doing a stellar job in promoting the importance of the companion role. If the Doctor ever doubted that he needed somebody travelling with him then he need just remind himself of the events of this story and the experience Donna went through at the hand of the Trickster's Brigade. After recently watching The Runaway Bride, I thought it was a good time to watch this episode even if it further limits my pool of new series episodes left to blog. We see how crucial Donna was to the Doctor's survival in battling the Empress of the Racnoss as he needed to be told to stop and that he'd done enough to see out the threat. As this alternate reality showed, if Donna wasn't with him he would have perished and too quickly for regeneration to commence. The way the sorceress deduced the crucial moment in Donna's life that saw her meet the Doctor was excellent and actually something I'd failed to pick up on in my previous viewings. We see the devastating effects that the events of Smith and Jones had on the people in the hospital that was taken to the Moon and the lack of the Doctor meant the deaths of Martha and Sarah Jane. Life was continuing to take a turn for the worst with the Doctor dead as the events of Voyage of the Damned were realised and London was obliterated. Donna only managed to survive thanks to a warning from Rose. Their relationship as the episode went on was superb and I remember how brilliant it was first time around to see two companions who hadn't previously met interact for the first time. Then came the events of Partners of Crime and without the Doctor and Donna to stop Miss Foster, the scale of death was frightening with sixty-million lives claimed in America alone. That was quite a difficult number to comprehend. Still no Doctor, and things were getting worse as the ATMOS attack at the hands of the Sontarans in The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky came next and that claimed the lives of the Torchwood team. By now, Donna and her family had been relocated to Leeds and with the stars going out, she was now ready to fix things and find out why she was so important and what exactly was on her back. UNIT and Rose made quite the team and with the help of the TARDIS, Donna was sent back in time to put things right and ensure that she turned left instead of right. The lack of the Doctor was hardly felt and I think that's testament to how great the characters of Donna and Rose are. Despite the Doctor being absent, the story was still all about him and that's why his no show was not felt. He literally appeared at the start and end of the story and although his realisation of Rose meeting Donna meant trouble, the finale was set up very nicely with every word changing to Bad Wolf. Overall, a superb episode! 

Rating: 10/10