Day: November 10, 2023

Doctor Who The Complete History was a series of hardback volumes which came out every two weeks and covered 3-4 stories each. These were in-depth volumes covering the production of each episode from the first in 1963 to the end of the Peter Capaldi era of the show. In addition to the extensive production notes there were also merchandise and publicity updates and actor profiles. The quality of each volume was exceptional overseen by several different editors. The volumes were only available in the UK and Ireland so were difficult to obtain in other locations. I am more of a Watsonian fan but if you are a Doyalist you will greatly appreciate these books. Even so I give the entire series a solid 8 out of 10. I will rate each episode covered below.

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The Seeds of Death is the second story to feature the Ice Warriors and is a nice base under siege story. 8 out of 10.

Unfortunately this story is mostly missing with only one of the six episodes extant. The Space Pirates is a great story based on the Target novelization and the audio reconstruction. It does not deserve its poor reputation. 8 out of 10.

The War Games changes the direction of Doctor Who forever with its introduction of the Time Lords and their home planet. The story maintains the action throughout even with its ten parts. 9 out of 10.

Doctor Who The Complete History was a series of hardback volumes which came out every two weeks and covered 3-4 stories each. These were in-depth volumes covering the production of each episode from the first in 1963 to the end of the Peter Capaldi era of the show. In addition to the extensive production notes there were also merchandise and publicity updates and actor profiles. The quality of each volume was exceptional overseen by several different editors. The volumes were only available in the UK and Ireland so were difficult to obtain in other locations. I am more of a Watsonian fan but if you are a Doyalist you will greatly appreciate these books. Even so I give the entire series a solid 8 out of 10. I will rate each episode covered below.

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The Curse of Peladon is the first of the two Peladon stories for the Third Doctor and the third story featuring the Ice Warriors. This story (long before Star Trek did it) features the rehabilitation of a previously evil monster the Ice Warriors. The Ice Warriors become an interesting race over the course of the Whoniverse with their warrior code and system of honor. The hexapod hermaphrodite Alpha Centauri also makes their debut in this story. The story itself is somewhat plodding only redeemed by the Ice Warriors and the unique characters 7 out of 10.

The Sea Devils see another interesting race of Homo reptilia this time emerging from the sea to attack the Royal Navy. The navy cooperated with the production of the show and it shows with backdrop and advanced equipment on display. It all provides an interesting milieu for the story 8 out of 10.

The Mutants is a story I need to revisit. My main recollection of the story is that it was unmemorable. The summary make the story seem interesting with its political intrigue and I like the appearance of the mutant Mutts. 7 out of 10.

The Time Monster is another not very highly appreciated story. Atlantis, Kronos, a minotaur, UNIT and Ingrid Pitt make for a captivating group of characters and situations. This is the episode where the Doctor tells Jo about his youth with his mentor the hermit and tells the story of the “daisyist daisy.” Not as bad as conventual wisdom dictates 7 out of 10.

The Blakes 7 Unofficial 2023 Annual was published on part as a celebration of the program‘s 45th anniversary. The annual has stories covering all four seasons of the show.

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It is a great boon to modern day fans with the amount of these fan made productions that are available especially in the Whoniverse. This publication has stories and comics from all four seasons of the show, it was nice to see characters like Soolin and Slave have stories. 8 out of 10.

The Zygon Invasion is one of the five new Target novelizations published in 2023. It was written by Peter Harness the author of the original two part television episodes The Zygon Invasion and the Zygon Inversion. The story features The Twelfth Doctor, Clara, UNIT and the Zygons.

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Seldom does the novelization of a TV story and the television story itself both achieve high quality but this is the exception. Harness covers all of the highlights of his original story and documents the Doctor’s anti-war speech towards the end of the story exceptionally well. The best part of any novelization is the added bits added to the original story. Harness does this to great effect with his examination of Bonnie’s backstory. The only drawback to the novelization is the length. Having to squeeze two episodes of narrative into one volume is tough, I would have loved to see Harness getting a larger page count to work with 9.5 out of 10.