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Old Doctor Who - Part 3

Started by Ambient Sheep, October 21, 2016, 05:20:01 PM

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There is a good reason. Three authors, towards the start of the series, were asked to introduce trial companions. So, over Love and War, Transit and The Pit, there are three prospective new companions. By the time these books got to publication, Virgin had decided on Bernice, so she had to be added to the two books. IIRC, it does have an in-universe explanation in Transit but its weak.

The Pit, though, yeah, looking forwards to that one.

purlieu

Aha. That would explain Kadiatu's dominance on the story, and the fact Benny and The Doctor have barely even spoken to each other yet.
From memory, The Pit is the lowest rated Doctor Who book on Goodreads. So I'm looking forward to that.

Camp Tramp

I noticed that Eric Saward has released his novelisation of Resurrection of the Daleks. Revelation is out later this year.
The covers look very bland.

Anyone read Resurrection yet? The reviews aren't great.

purlieu

Bloody hell, I'd forgotten all about them. Weren't they announced about a year ago?

Transit

Fucking hell. That was a chore. Fundamentally a lot of unpleasant characters, many of whom never even meet The Doctor, wandering around an unpleasant solar system on some trains. The actual threat is really vague and barely even explored - a couple of scenes where some possessed people go on a killing spree aside - and The Doctor is even more vague about how he understands what's going on. Throw in some dead ends and red herrings and you end up with a nothing of a book, but with so much unpleasant nothing in it that it's difficult to read. The last couple of chapters are a bit more imaginative and entertaining, there are some nice references to some of the earlier books, and a cliffhanger which might have some impact on some up-coming books, but otherwise a waste of time.

I started Gareth Roberts's The Highest Science last night and it's already a huge load better in the writing alone.

Camp Tramp

Quote from: purlieu on July 31, 2019, 06:29:40 PM
Bloody hell, I'd forgotten all about them. Weren't they announced about a year ago?

Transit

Fucking hell. That was a chore.

I think it was.

I'm happy to say that Ben Aaronvitch's other Dr Who novels are much better.
Even if he only co-wrote his last book.

that's the hard drive crash one, right?

Bad Ambassador


Action Fish

I remember enjoying Transit so much I lent it to my Grandad as I thought he'd enjoy it (from memory, he did, although thinking about it he also said he enjoyed a microwaved cheese and sweet chilli sauce sandwich I'd made for him which couldn't possibly have been true, so it's possible he just always endeavoured to be encouraging). I'll have to give it another read and see if I was just a tiny idiot.

I never read So Vile A Sin because I hadn't enjoyed Kate Orman's other Dr Who novels and I thought I'd be disappointed.

mjwilson


Bad Ambassador

The official line is that BA (!) had a massive systems crash and was unable to finish the book, so handed it off to Kate Orman.

What I believe actually happened, and it's hardly that salacious, is that he had massive writer's block and nearly had a breakdown over being unable to finish the book, so his editors asked Orman to take over.

So it was a systems crash really, but the systems were the ones in his mind.

Norton Canes

I wonder if it was anything like the ECM attack he writes about in Remembrance that causes a Dalek to flood its life support chamber with its own waste matter

mjwilson

Quote from: Camp Tramp on July 31, 2019, 04:49:07 PM
I noticed that Eric Saward has released his novelisation of Resurrection of the Daleks. Revelation is out later this year.
The covers look very bland.

Anyone read Resurrection yet? The reviews aren't great.

The best reviews seem to go along the lines of "well this is certainly one novelisation closer to a complete set".

purlieu

I've added them to my 'final bits and bobs' list which I'll be going through once I've finished all the other books, along with Scratchman and a couple that I somehow missed from earlier in my run (a Third Doctor Telos novella and a Seven / Ace PDA). Whether this will be once I've finished all the Doctor Who novels or whether they'll come after all the anthologies, Torchwood, Class, Bernice Summerfields, etc., only time will tell.

I have no real hopes for the novelisations themselves. Having already read competent and decent novelisations, respectively, I'm not eager to read more versions, especially as I don't rate Resurrection as a story.

purlieu

The Highest Science

Pretty good. Gareth Roberts might be a cunt but he writes pretty well. It's effectively a classic-era story doing Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. The Chelonians aren't the most original race created - although Roberts did better with them in The Well-Mannered War - but they serve their purpose here, and the twist near the end is good. Wittily written with reasonably well-rounded characters.

Taking a break to read a few non-Who books and then I'll be back with the seemingly reviled The Pit.

Alberon

This must be the first appearance of the Chelonians, of course. I always quite liked them. Warlike alien races all tend to be much of a muchness but who doesn't like violent bipedal tortoises?

purlieu

Yes, it's slightly odd reading them in 'canon' order rather than publication order, as the books were definitely written to be read as they went out. This was their first story, and they are given a decent amount of dialogue to lend them a fair amount of character and even a satirical edge, in how any blunders are covered up as brave deaths to keep the image of the unbeaten warrior race up.

H-O-W-L

Rewatched the Tenth Planet. Cracking serial.

Replies From View

Quote from: H-O-W-L on August 13, 2019, 11:02:30 PM
Rewatched the Tenth Planet. Cracking serial.

Telesnaps or animation for episode 4?

Norton Canes

Must get round to watching eps 1-3. Love the Cyber-voices in it, shame they went all vocoderesque for the Troughton stories. Was bored the other night thought I'd stick on an episode from the Lost In Time DVD, ended up watching The Moonbase ep.4, which is, let's not prevaricate, hilariously bad.

purlieu

I like the monotone electronic voice of the Troughton Cybermen, it's the least human and thus most scary for me.
The Revenge voices were shit, like a bloke talking with a bit of paper in front of his mouth, and the less said about the Mr. Blobby '80s ones the better.

Replies From View

Quote from: purlieu on August 14, 2019, 10:51:14 AM
I like the monotone electronic voice of the Troughton Cybermen, it's the least human and thus most scary for me.
The Revenge voices were shit, like a bloke talking with a bit of paper in front of his mouth, and the less said about the Mr. Blobby '80s ones the better.

I agree with all of this.

daf

#2301
Quote from: purlieu on August 02, 2019, 09:31:36 PM
all the other books,  (. . .) Bernice Summerfields

Just incase you need a few of the Bernice Books, Big Finish are having a warehouse clearance sale - and the Benny books are on sale for 99p each - https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/big-finish-warehouse-bargains1

Quote
Head to URL: https://www.bigfinish.com/offers/v/endofline19 and use access code AUGUST for all these fantastic discounts, starting from just 99p. These offers are only available until 23:59 UK time on 19th August 2019.

Still available :
Bernice Summerfield: The Gods of the Underworld
Bernice Summerfield: Life During Wartime
Bernice Summerfield: Old Friends
Bernice Summerfield: The Two Jasons
Bernice Summerfield: Nobody's Children
Bernice Summerfield: Missing Adventures
Bernice Summerfield: The Vampire Curse
Bernice Summerfield: Secret Histories
Bernice Summerfield: Present Danger
Bernice Summerfield: Filthy Lucre
Bernice Summerfield: Adorable Illusion *

* (a couple have already sold out since this morning - so get in quick if you want any!)


pigamus

Quote from: purlieu on August 14, 2019, 10:51:14 AM
I like the monotone electronic voice of the Troughton Cybermen, it's the least human and thus most scary for me.
The Revenge voices were shit, like a bloke talking with a bit of paper in front of his mouth, and the less said about the Mr. Blobby '80s ones the better.

Yeah, absolutely. With the Tomb-era Cybermen, you've got the height, the voices, and the death masks - perfect for scaring the shit out of kids, which is probably why Tomb is rated so highly even though it's a bit shit. I don't think the Invasion/Revenge ones are as good.

Replies From View

Everyone always seems to rave about 80s Cybermen as a fantastic redesign but they're far too chunky in my view.  Give me any of the spookier, gaunt 60s ones instead any day.

pigamus

I think they look fantastic - Fat Controller aside, obviously - but they do become a joke after Earthshock. They're supposed to loom over you menacingly, not fall to bits like gaylords at the mere sight of a gold coin.

Norton Canes

Eh what? Apart from the big shoulders the 80's Cybermen looked spindly as fuck.

Replies From View

Quote from: Norton Canes on August 16, 2019, 03:27:01 PM
Eh what? Apart from the big shoulders the 80's Cybermen looked spindly as fuck.

The shoulders and head section is quite bulky and I wouldn't describe the rest as "spindly" at all.  I kindly spindly disagree.

I like to feel that Cybermen are almost at death's door, being kept alive by all this stuff that has stripped away their humanity.  You just don't get that with the 80s ones.

pigamus

It's just a bloke in a suit sprayed silver, how is that "spindly"?

Norton Canes

Because the blokes are tall and thin. And the big spongy moon boots don't help.

Replies From View

Quote from: Norton Canes on August 16, 2019, 04:03:19 PM
Because the blokes are tall and thin. And the big spongy moon boots don't help.

I think the face is the important bit and that the 80s one is too chunky so there.

I already said hardly anyone agrees with me on this, so you don't really need to tell me.