Dragonfire

"You don't want to go believing in myths and legends..." 

Writer: Ian Briggs

Format: TV

Broadcast: 23rd November - 7th December 1987

Series: 24.04

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Mel, Ace

Synopsis

At the Iceworld Space Trading Colony on Svartos, the Doctor and Mel unexpectedly encounter an old 'friend'. The penniless and desperate Sabalom Glitz has only one option to leave Svartos - to find the fabled 'Dragonfire' treasure concealed somewhere in the depths of the planet.

Joined by Ace, a teenage waitress with a love for explosives, the group venture off to uncover lost riches, not knowing that Kane, Iceworld's ruthlessly intimidating overlord, will gladly murder them all to gain possession of the Dragonfire himself. Before long the Doctor finds himself playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Kane's mercenaries, descending through the ice caverns ever closer ti the deadly gaze of the monstrous dragon that lurks below...

Verdict 

Dragonfire was a decent story but one that definitely could have been improved. I'm not saying it was bad, it was far from it, but I almost get the feeling like this is a somewhat forgettable adventure which is a real shame. It's hugely significant in the timeline of the Doctor as we see one companion depart and another arrive but both just seemed a bit sudden and I think that perhaps hurt the serial a little bit. I mean, Ace was established as a character in part one before becoming a companion in the third part but it still seemed quite out of nowhere that she would join the Doctor. I feel like it should have been hinted at during the story but that was never the case. Mel's decision to leave the Doctor was ridiculously sudden and unexpected but I must admit that I did like the Doctor's reaction to knowing that he'd be losing another friend. I just don't understand why Mel would want to leave and go off with Glitz instead. His return was good but he's not exactly a character you would expect to be coming back following his first appearance in The Trial of a Time Lord. I thought his relationship with the Doctor and Mel was once again good but I wasn't overly struck on his acceptance of the Doctor changing his appearance. His role in the story though was actually very good and I enjoyed his problems with gambling being a big part of why he wanted the source of the treasure located on Iceworld. His scepticism regarding myths was good but the irony of him looking at the map for it was terrific. Back to Ace and I don't think I've made it any secret in past blog entries in which she features that I'm not her biggest fan but on television I really do dislike her. Even in this introductory story for her, I really disliked her. I don't understand why she was so popular and it's also just not believable that Sophie Aldred is only sixteen years old. The explanation of how she got from Perivale to Iceworld is an intriguing one but I think it still could have been better. Sylvester McCoy was excellent as the Seventh Doctor in this one though I must say and he probably was the saving grace of the story when it came to the regular cast. The cliffhanger to part one and its resolution were beyond strange and I'm still not quite sure just what happened. Maybe I'll have to read the novelisation to get a better understanding but it really didn't make much sense at all. I watched this story with my cousin who's growing fast but he really didn't enjoy it much. He described it as boring after part two which humoured me and I could see that he wasn't able to appreciate the finer details of the adventure which was a shame. The concept of the Dragonfire was actually really good and I thought that Kane made a superb villain. That was certainly a positive. The revelation regarding Iceworld and the spaceship was good and well timed and I thought the ending to the plot aspect of the story was actually really good and quite exciting. The source of power being retrieved from the dead creature was good and Kane's desire for its head was a little disturbing but that uneasy characteristic in his personality was what made him. The ending though was partly where this story falls short and the change of companion just seemed so sudden, unexpected and well, unnecessary. Overall though, a more than decent story but it certainly could have been improved. 

Rating: 7/10

Galaxy Four

"Freedom of thought can have dangerous consequences."

Writer: William Emms

Format: Novel

Released: April 1986

Series: Target 104

Featuring: First Doctor, Vicki, Steven

Synopsis

Following a skirmish in deep space, two alien spacecraft have crashlanded on a barren planet in Galaxy Four.

The Drahvins are a race of beautiful females, led by the imperious Maaga. The Rills are hideous tusked monstrosities, accompanied by their robotic servants, the Chumblies.

When the Doctor arrives, he discovers that the planet will explode in two days' time. The Drahvins desperately ask for his help in escaping the planet and the belligerent Rills.

But things are not as they seem...

Verdict

Galaxy Four was a brilliant novelisation of the mostly lost story of (almost) the same name. I was very excited to be reading this book because of how much of the story is currently missing from the television archives and I have watched the one surviving part that was of course recently discovered. I have also watched the recons on YouTube of the three missing parts so my understanding of this story is still good despite the fact that 75% of it is missing. However, it has been a while since I have watched this story so reading the novelisation was almost like it was brand new. I thought the format of the book was very intriguing with just four chapters. That obviously meant that it was one per part but chapters of nearly forty pages is almost unheard of when it comes to the Target releases. Following the cliffhanger of World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls I have been anticipating the return of the First Doctor at Christmas so doing a story of his has been something I've wanted to do for a while now. I thought the characterisation of William Hartnell's first incarnation of the Doctor was very solid but that's not to say that it couldn't have been slightly improved. The trio of him alongside Vicki and Steven is a very underrated one in my opinion and I thought they worked terrifically well here. Vicki really was terrific and I particularly liked Steven when he was left as the hostage to the Drahvins. The alien race comprised of beautiful women is a good concept and considering this story was originally written during the 1960s, the comments about the uselessness of men really made me smile. Maaga proved herself to be quite the ruthless villain and her position as leader of the race was good. She was the one who gave orders simply because she was the one who thought. Her hatred towards the Rills despite them wanting to help her and her people was quite a shock and I really liked how the TARDIS trio immediately realised that things weren't quite as the Drahvin had explained them. The threat of the planet only having two dawns before destruction was a great subplot and I liked how the Drahvin intended on stealing the Rills' spaceship once it was repaired. Even though they had been offered sanctitude, they wanted to wipe out the Rills instead. The history of how the two races ended up on the planet was really intriguing and I liked how significant the deaths were despite them being accidental. The Chumblies were quite amusing in the novelisation but I think they were better utilised on television but that doesn't take away from their role in the book at all. I still really liked them. One thing that really irked me about the book though was the attempts to say that the Doctor in this story was not the first incarnation. There were way too many mentions of this Doctor's body being too weak and aged and that he needed to a new one. It was implied that he'd changed before and I really didn't like nor understand that. The cliffhangers of the parts didn't seem overly great in a novel but that's not as important as the televised format so that was absolutely fine. The ending was excellent and well paced and I liked how Maaga was left on the planet to deal with the consequences for her actions. The Rills were safely on their way and the TARDIS departed just in time before planetary destruction. Overall, a fantastic book! 

Rating: 8/10

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

"Naturally occurring Christmas trees... how cool is that?"

Writer: Steven Moffat
Format: TV
Broadcast: 25th December 2011
Series: 2011 Christmas Special

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

Christmas Eve, 1938. Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel, the Eleventh Doctor, who promises to repay her kindness - all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for dilapidated house in Dorset. Crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over the English Channel, she wishes to give her children the best Christmas ever. The Arwells are greeted by the Doctor, who acts as their madcap caretaker. However, a mysterious Christmas gift from him leads them into a wintry, magical world. Madge must learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible... and that wishes can come true.

Verdict

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe was an excellent episode of Doctor Who and whilst maintaining its lighter feel as a Christmas Special, it was still a terrific story. Now I know it's a little weird to be doing a Christmas episode in the middle of summer but it had been such a long time since I blogged a performed Matt Smith story that I just had to do one. He is my favourite incarnation of the Doctor and the only stories of his I had left to blog were Christmas ones so this one got the nod. It has much of a different feel to the ending of Series 6 and obviously some of that may be down to the broadcast date but I was just delighted to see the Eleventh Doctor on my screen again. Matt Smith was as wonderful as ever and his delight at showing Cyril and Lily their bedroom was a wonderful scene. He really is the most childish Doctor and I think that is why I love him so much. The initial setting of 1941 in the midst of World War Two was excellent and I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because it wasn't a story about the War. We just saw the effects it was having on one family and I think that really helped bring home its trauma. This family had been torn apart and had Christmas ruined because their father had died fighting in the air over the English Channel. It was really tough to know that Madge was hiding the information from her children because she didn't want the special times that come with Christmas to be overshadowed by the grief that the death of their father would bring. The Doctor's reaction to that was terrific and I loved the idea of him repaying the favour for Madge helping him through a wish. That was a nice Christmassy feel. I have never actually seen The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which this episode is obviously loosely based on but the similarities to what I do know about that story were terrific. The curiosity of Cyril was excellent and I really enjoyed how much the Doctor liked this young lad. He really admired the old bear and blanket trick which was a nice moment. The links this story had to The Caves of Androzani were great and I also loved the moment in the forest where Madge mentions she was looking for her children whilst holding her gun. That really was outstanding. The Wooden King and Queen were very intriguing and I loved the concept of aliens made out of wood. That obviously brought problems when it came to the sonic screwdriver and the Doctor's comments regarding that were wonderful. It was bound to happen in all of time and space. The forest itself looked mesmerising and the way it was so alive and alien was certainly appealing. I loved Lily's reaction to stepping foot there but she also realised that they needed to save Cyril. His adamance that his mother would come simply because she always does was excellent and the moment she did show up, Madge really did take centre stage. She took on the role of the pilot for the life-force of the forest and I loved how she was strong enough because she was a mother and a mothership was needed. The forest was saved from harvesting and a lovely Christmas family reunion occurred. The Doctor's mentions of happy tears being so human was intriguing and I loved the ending when he returned to Amy and some of his own. A lovely end to a terrific Christmas Special. Overall, an excellent episode!

Rating: 9/10

Council of War

"And then I remembered the space man..."

Writers: Simon Barnard & Paul Morris
Format: Audio
Released: June 2013
Series: Companion Chronicles 7.12

Featuring: Third Doctor, Benton

Synopsis

At the Doctor's request, Sergeant Benton is investigating ghosts and missing people in Kettering, while undercover as a local councilor.

And that's how he comes to meet Margery Phipps.

An alien incursion in the town hall leads them on a journey to a terrible future - where Margery discovers how she changed a world, and the life of a whole civilisation hangs in the balance...

Verdict

Council of War was a pretty decent little audio adventure! It was my first Companion Chronicle in quite some time and I must admit it was quite refreshing to dive back into the range that I have enjoyed so much in the past. They're easy to listen to at around an hour long and with the focus being on the companion and the story usually told through them, it often gives the listener a lot more exposure to the companion which may not be something that occurs if the Doctor is present in a story. After all, the show is all about him but these audios go some way to proving that his friends are just as important. When Big Finish offered this story at just £2.99 last month, I could hardly resist and I was also delighted to see that this month's special offer story of the same price is another that I have not listened to so I have also purchased that today. But that's for a future entry. This story was quite an intriguing one and it was interesting to have a non-traditional companion lead the story in the form of Sergeant Benton. He was a very comical character during the Third Doctor's era but we never really got to see him shine on his own. That changes in this story though and I thought its placement soon after The Green Death was very good. There was a lot going on at UNIT at this time with Mike Yates still not himself following his interactions with BOSS and then there was the departure of Jo and the Doctor not dealing too greatly with that. I really liked that we got to hear some of that despair that the Doctor must obviously have felt following his friend's departure to the Amazon. The Doctor didn't appear in the adventure much but I thought John Levene's impression of Jon Pertwee's third incarnation was pretty solid for how long he featured. The cameo of the Brigadier was also pretty well done too. As is the usual format with the Companion Chronicles, the companion actor is accompanied by somebody who voices a character in the story and in this adventure Margery Phipps played quite a crucial role. She was a very good character but I must say that I was a little confused by the logic behind her trial in the future on Kettering. Her legacy as a Prime Minister and politician seems to be historic but for the Blatherians to follow her lead but then blame her for their planet coming under attack seemed just baffling to me. It was hardly a form of justice. Benton's idea of an illumination of an army to scare off the Blatherians was intriguing and I liked the historical connections but it was a risky one. Speaking of risks though, him risking his life to protect the people of this future was courageous. The references to The Invasion and The Claws of Axos were terrific and I liked the relationship between Benton and Margery throughout but this audio did lack a little in terms of excitement. Kettering Council wasn't exactly the most thrilling of themes and settings and it took a little while to get going. I also found it a tad ironic how the Doctor had to step in at the last minute and save the day in a story that focuses on the companions. It's what would usually happen but something about that didn't quite feel right to me which was a little bit of a shame. Overall though, it was still a very decent little adventure and considering I thought Benton might be too weak of a character to lead a story, I was impressed with what I listened to.

Rating: 7/10

Doctor Who and the War Games

"This process of elimination, in which all those who fail shall die, will be called the War Games."

Writer: Malcolm Hulke
Format: Novel
Released: September 1979
Series: Target 70

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

Mud, barbed wire, the smell of death... The year was 1917 and the TARDIS had materialised on the Western Front during the First World War.

Or had it? For very soon the Doctor found himself pursued by the soldiers of Ancient Rome; and then he and his companions were reliving the American Civil War of 1863. And was this really Earth, or just a mock-up created by the War Lords?

As Doctor Who solves the mystery, he has to admit he is faced with an evil of such magnitude that he cannot combat it on his own - he has to call for the help of his own people, the Time Lords.

So, for the first time, it is revealed who is Doctor Who - a maverick Time Lord who 'borrowed' the TARDIS without permission. By appealing to the Time Lords he gives away his position in Time and Space. Thus comes about the Trial of Doctor Who...

Verdict

Doctor Who and the War Games was a wonderful novelisation of my all time favourite Doctor Who story and it was the only choice when it came to blogging my 1000th entry. I never imagined that I would persist this much and this far with my blog when I started back in 2013 but here I am four years later with four digits worth of entries! That is quite mind boggling to me, especially considering the sheer amount of stories I have yet to blog. There really does seem to be an endless catalogue of Doctor Who stories out there, across numerous formats. I was tempted to re-watch this story but considering I was yet to read the Target novelisation I thought that would be more beneficial as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed the read as expected and it was just wonderful to have the story fresh in my mind once again. It is just superb from start to finish. I love History so all of the numerous time zones depicting a different war from the past is a stunning idea and one that I just adored. We had the primary focus being on the First World War which was good but then we also had characters from the Second Jacobite Rebellion, the American Civil War and the Boer War. This is just fantastic and I loved the idea of soldiers from all of these wars eventually coming together and forming an army of resistance to thwart the plans of the War Lords and their hopes to conquer the galaxy. They were an intriguing race but the relationship between the War Chief and the Security Chief was probably of more interest throughout the story, especially once we learned that the former was of the same race as the Doctor. This story is obviously a monumental one in that it introduces the Time Lords, the Doctor's species. The hints given about them during the early stages of the book were good and the Doctor being familiar with the technology was very good. I must say though, I thought the synopsis of this novelisation was awful as it basically tells you everything that happens. That is not what you want to know prior to reading a book! The SIDRATs was a very clever take on travelling through time and space and I liked how they weren't overly powerful or reliable which gave them a clear distinction from the TARDIS. Carstairs and Lady Jennifer were terrific characters and I'm glad their quality was captured in the novelisation, as was the evilness of General Smythe. I really liked him. I was quite surprised by how short this book was at just over 140 pages long due to it being broadcast in ten parts. It wasn't much longer than your usual novelisation and that made for a very fast pace. I did hope for a little extra when it came to the Time Lords forcing the Doctor to change his appearance and given that the novelisation was released a decade after the story broadcast, I don't see why it couldn't be referred to as a regeneration. I think Malcolm Hulke followed the script too literally but it certainly didn't take away from the story. I don't think anything could because I just hold it in such high regard. The deaths of the Security and War Chiefs are quite sudden and this novelisation also made me realise how sudden the Doctor's goodbyes to Jamie and Zoe were. The emotion behind their departure wasn't quite captured in the book and I thought the Doctor's trial was rushed but the story as a whole still remains my favourite. The book is excellent and despite the story being my all time favourite, this is not my favourite Target novelisation. Overall though, an incredible story and the only one worthy of being #1000.

Rating: 10/10

The Doctor Falls

"We've been debating the best way to kill you."

Writer: Steven Moffat
Format: TV
Broadcast: 1st July 2017
Series: 10.12

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole

Synopsis

How many times have you died? How many different ways? Have you burned? I know you've fallen. Have you ever drowned? Have you ever felt the blade? Death is always more frightening when it strikes invisibly.

Verdict

The Doctor Falls was a very good conclusion to the story already started in World Enough and Time and as a pairing they formed a terrific finale of the tenth series of Doctor Who. Now, this is probably going to be a little bit of a weird blog entry given my rating but I think I'm going to be quite critical of an episode that I actually thoroughly enjoyed. Right off the bat, I wasn't the biggest fan of how much story advancement there was and I was actually really looking forward to seeing the immediate aftermath of the cliffhanger with the Doctor's stunned reaction to seeing two incarnations of the Master as well as his companion now a Mondasian Cyberman. Instead we barely returned to that through flashbacks and instead we had the Master and Missy almost victorious over the Doctor already. The Doctor though had managed to attract the Cybermen to the Time Lords rather than humanity in a scuffle and I loved his boastfulness in assuredly stating that the only thing to stop that many Cybermen was himself. Nardole was terrific in this episode and I loved how he just popped up with a spacecraft but even after that, when leading the defence against the impending arrival of the Cybermen, he was magnificent and I think I really am going to miss him as a companion. Bill provided an immense amount of emotion to the story but I must say that I'm not overly thrilled that she got a happy ending with Heather. It was nice to come full circle from The Pilot but I do wish she just stayed dead as a Cyberman. I think her departure would have been more heartfelt had it been that way. I'm still not sure how she wasn't a Cyberman any longer either. The Doctor being attacked by a Mondasian Cyberman and then shot by one later in the episode prompted the Time Lord's regeneration but he was very eager to put it off. That didn't surprise me and I loved how the Twelfth Doctor didn't want to change again. That was very much in line with Capaldi's incarnation. He even said no more and let himself be blown up with the Cybermen on Floor 507. That whole setting was intriguing and I thought Alit was a wonderful little character. It was good to see that she was not scared of Bill, even though she was a Cyberman. The moments that the Master and Missy shared with each other were wonderful but I was hoping to see them in a bit more action. The explanation of John Simm's incarnation survival and return from The End of Time was a neat inclusion and I liked the ambiguity surrounding whether Missy was indeed the next regeneration along. I certainly hope it's not the case otherwise the fate of the Master could be very sketchy indeed. The idea of two versions of the Master meeting themselves and killing each other was quite a shock but the fact that Missy had changed and was standing with the Doctor seems to be the perfect catalyst for that. The numerous references to Cybermen stories such as The Moonbase, The Tomb of the Cybermen and Revenge of the Cybermen were wonderful and I also loved the mentions of Planet 14 and Marinus. This essentially serves as the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration story and I liked how we heard echoes of phrases from other incarnations from the mouth of the Doctor himself. Where there's tears, there's hope. And that brought the Doctor back. He'd lost Bill. He'd lost Nardole. He was dying and his body demanded change but he just didn't want to go on anymore. Not as anybody else. But then the TARDIS brought him somewhere he never thought he could go. To himself. His first self. That cliffhanger with the emergence of David Bradley playing the First Doctor put an incredible smile on my face and I really cannot wait for Christmas now! Overall, a decent episode and a great finale as a whole!

Rating: 9/10