Not our name, but our passion
Galil stuffed eggplants are small finger sized aubergines stuffed with rice, onion and tomato and slightly flavored with mint.
The eggplants are fully cooked and ready to eat
They make a nice vegetable side dish either cold or hot with a mild flavor
8 out of 10
Tonnino Tuna is sustainably caught and packed as whole fillets in olive oil. We made a tuna fish sandwich and gave this a try.
Large chunks of tuna
Mixed with some mayo a superior sandwich
9 out of 10
Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive by David Fisher is the novelization of the Fourth Doctor story The Leisure Hive. It is the 39th volume in the Target library of novelizations.
This is a straightforward novelization of one of the poorer Fourth Doctor stories. I admit it is not one of the ones I have revisited many times and my memory was a bit hazy before reading the novelization. The Doctor and Romana find themselves on the planet Argolis to partake in a relaxing holiday in the Leisure Hive or so they think. I found the novelization of the story better then what I remembered. The foamasi were an interesting “monster” with no explanation given as to why they needed a translation device to communicate. The foamasi ambassador being the “good guy” was a nice touch and the warlike Pangol was truly a despicable character. 7.5 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.
Series 2 is one of my least favorite in all of NuWho and yet two of the stories covered in this volume are two of the very best. School Reunion brings back to the program Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah Jane remains my favorite companion of all time ever since I first watched her on an endless loop back in the 1970s. It was thrilling to see her return here. It may be nostalgia but just seeing Sarah back with the Doctor is worth my rating of 10 out of 10.
I never liked the dynamic between The Doctor and Rose finding it totally unbelievable and out of character. It is not that I felt that the Doctor could not have an affection for a companion but that Rose would not be the most logical choice. The Girl in the Fireplace gives us a reasonable alternative in the intelligent and sophisticated Madame de Pompadour. The scene where she looks into the Doctor’s mind is both indicative of her intelligence and gives insight into the Doctor’s psyche as well. The use of the passage of time and the poignancy of the ending cements Steven Moffat as the greatest of all Who writers. 10 out of 10.
The two part story Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel begins the downfall of the season. I was immensely disappointed when first watching the story. Although I am a great fan of parallel Earth stories having the first appearance of Cybermen in NuWho not be a continuation of the ones from the classic era was upsetting. This plus the reappearance of the most annoying character in all of Doctor Who Jackie Tyler made this a slog to get through. 6 out of 10.
Mark Gatiss the writer of The Idiot’s Lantern is a long time Doctor Who fan and a great writer, however this is not one of his better works. The story made such little impact to me that I found myself having difficulty remembering any details. I do remember that the Tenth Doctor – Rose relationship was starting to get very annoying. 6 out of 10.
Terry Nation The Man Who Invented the Daleks by Alwyn W. Turner is a chronicle of the professional life of writer Terry Nation.
This is not a true biography in the sense that there is little to no references or details of Nation’s personal life included. It does however chronicle his professional output from his beginnings as a comedy joke writer to his creation of the wonderful series Survivors and Blake’s 7. I feel that Nation is an underrated writer with many of his later Dalek stories labeled as derivative. His creation of Davros and the first episode of The Android Invasion show he could draw out thrilling plotlines even late into his tenure as a writer for Doctor Who. After he finished with Doctor Who Survivors and Blake’s 7 are two of the best science fiction programs ever envisioned and they are both creations of Nation. I prefer biographies where we learn some personal details and how they influence his work but this is still a solid effort in following Nation’s career and getting some details on his most famous creations. The Daleks, Survivors and Blake’s 7 are a lasting and well earned legacy to a great writer. 7 out of 10.
