The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

"Well yes, of course. I've never been able to visit it before now, but I've got all sorts of souvenirs. Copies of all the advertising satellites that have ever been sent out. All the posters. I had a long correspondence with one of the founder members too, soon after it started. Although I never got to see the early days, I know it's not as good as it used to be but I'm still terribly interested."

Things to love about The Greatest Show in the Galaxy:

• Ian Reddington's Chief Clown. Possibly the most malevolent villain in Doctor Who's history.
• The Doctor dragging Ace to the circus against her will. Possibly foreshadowing the events of Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric.
• The fact that it was acutely filmed in a big-top (the closure of the studios at Television Centre due to asbestos forcing the whole story to be filmed in a car park at BBC Elstree. Which brought it own challenges). It looks more effective that it might have done if it had been recorded at TV Centre.
• Jessica Martin as Mags. Especially when she's transformed into a werewolf.
• The Whizzkid. A delightful send-up of the more extreme elements of Doctor Who fandom (and the only character everyone willingly sends into the ring. The look on Morgana's face when she does so says it all!).

One of the highlights of the McCoy era.

The Silent Stars Go By

I've got mixed views about this book. I guess my problem is while it's nice that distinguished science-fiction authors like Michael Moorcock, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds are writing Doctor Who  novels, it doesn't mean they're good Doctor Who writers like Mark Gatiss, Gareth Roberts or Gary Russell. Dan Abnett for me falls somewhere in between those two categories.

The Silent Stars Go By didn't really grab me until the last 100 pages when the Ice Warriors turned up and things really got into gear (a bit like some Eleventh Doctor episodes). The bit where the Doctor confronts the Ice Lord was a classic Matt Smith moment. Still it was better than Moorcock's The Coming of the Terraphiles where I thought he got more caught up in the exposition rather than the action.

Beautiful Chaos

First observation: the Tenth Doctor would be one of the hardest to capture in print. Like the Second Doctor, much of the characters success is down to David Tennant's portrayal. The good news is Gary Russell (a man who knows his Doctor Who and was also a script editor during the Tennant era) captures not only the Tenth Doctor but also (this being set during season four) Donna and the Noble clan too.

I think this novel would have made a great two parter for the TV series. Pity that it wasn't.

The Enemy of the World

      " Dinner tonight's going to be a national disaster! First course interrupted by bomb explosion. Second course affected by earthquakes. Third course ruined by interference in the kitchen. I'm going out for a walk. It'll probably rain..."

In a way it felt a bit weird watching this story. It's old Doctor Who, but in a way it's new Doctor Who as most of us would never have seen it before (unless you'd seen episode 3 on the Lost in Time DVD. Up until two weeks ago it was the only episode from this story known to have survived).

And a very strange story it was too. It's the only one from season 5 not to feature a monster. But it does have Patrick Troughton's double turn as both the Doctor and the villain Salamander (someone asked me if Troughton's outrageous Spanish accent gets digitally remaster. Sadly, no). It's got some good set pieces; the opening sequence set in Australia is very well directed (and the Doctor strips off to his long-johns and dives into the "Australian" surf! My first reaction was "I never realised that happened!" My second was "that's such a Troughton thing to do!" But I digress) along with the climax with Salamander being sucked out of the TARDIS into the vortex. And Reg Lye's Griffin was probably one of the most ordinary characters to appear in Doctor Who (at least until Jackie Tyler came along). But otherwise it was a bit all over the place.

Still, it's good to have another complete story from Doctor Who's black & white era back in the archives. And for that reason it should be celebrated.

Save the Day

Only Human

We're in uncharted territory now. I stoped reading the novels after Doctor Who came back in 2005. I tried reading a few Ninth Doctor novels when they first came out, but I couldn't get into them. I just didn't seem the same now that the show was back where it belonged (plus I got the feeling they were aimed at a younger audience than the Seventh/Eighth Doctor novels had been). So this is the first time I've read a Ninth Doctor novel from cover to cover.

Gareth Roberts is a safe pair of hands (and this was his first Doctor Who novel since 1997s The Well-Mannered War, a fact which surprised me). He got Eccleston's spiky Ninth Doctor spot on along with Rose and Captain Jack. The plots itself is pretty straightforward, hardly a classic but I enjoyed reading it.

EarthWorld

I'm guessing the rationale behind the 50th anniversary collection was to find stories that represent each Doctor;s era. Once you get to Paul McGann, that was going to be a problem (remember officially the Eighth Doctor's era only lasted 90 minutes).

Thus out of all the Eighth Doctor Adventures that were published between 1998 and 2005 we get EarthWorld. Taking place shortly after the Doctor's 100 year exile on Earth after having his memory wiped after blowing up Gallifrey and the Time Lords (pre-Time War), it feels like a story that, if the Eight Doctor had lasted longer than one TV movie, would have worked well on TV. Even the ending was surprisingly moving.

Still, I wouldn't have minded if they'd picked Vampire Science either.

Vengeance on Varos

When did they last show something worth watching?
Last week.
That was a repeat!

I have to confess I was really reluctant to re-watch this story. I feel like Vengeance on Varos was trying to be something out of the Philip Hinchliffe era, but without the wit or flair. There are some good things about it: Nabil Shabin's Sil is probably the best monster of the Colin Baker era. The Greek chorus of Arak and Areta are entertaining, There's some good set pieces. I'm not saying it's a bad story or even one of the worst of this era (hello The Twin Dilemma and Timelash). It's just one I don't particularly care for.

Lost in Time No Longer

\If you haven't heard by now, on Friday the BBC announced that 11 episode from the Patrick Troughton - all of The Enemy of the World and all but one episode of The Web of Fear - had been found in Nigeria and returned to the BBC. The BBC have realised them onto iTunes where they shot straight to be the top of the TV charts.

To have even just one missing episode is great news. To have nearly two whole stories (especially the one that features the first appearance of the then Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart) is excellent news (and in the 50th anniversary year too). So I find myself in the somewhat surreal situation of having thought I'd seen every Doctor Who story in existence, I'm now watching old Who, but to me it's new Who.

So the brings the total number of missing episodes down to 97. Surely this proves that they must be out there somewhere?

Remembrance of the Daleks

This is a bit of a strange one. The only title in the 50th anniversary collection that's a novelisation of a TV story, and the only title not originally published by the BBC (having been originally published in 1990 by W.H. Allen).

Not that I'm complaining. Remembrance of the Daleks is one of my favourite stories and the best story of the McCoy era.  I remember reviews at the time of its original publication praising Ben Aaronovitch's adaptation of the teleplay. And being a fan of Ben's Peter Grant series, I know how good a writer he is. So I enjoyed it (even though I'm positive I'd read it before. But perhaps I was mistaken).

What else is there to say?

Players

I've been writing this blog for about two years now. And this is the first time I've commented on anything to do with Colin Baker's Doctor.

Without going into the issues with the Sixth Doctor's era (I like Colin's portrayal, but the era itself - bar Revelation of the Daleks - is rubbish). The novels the featured the Sixth Doctor are the stories you would have wished were made for TV. While I would have picked one of the ones written by Gary Russell for the 50th anniversary collection, I fondly remembered reading this effort by the legend himself Terrance Dicks. It's a story you wish had been made for TV and not Timelash or Vengance on Varos.

The Visitation

          "I have appeared before some of the most hostile audiences in the world. Today I met death in a cellar. But I have never been so afraid until I met the man with the scythe."

The Visitation is one of the underrated gems of Doctor Who. It's a lovely little story (which is surprising when you consider Eric Saward's later efforts) and very traditional (even Matthew Waterhouse isn't as annoying as usual).

The other thing I liked about this realise was The (Television) Centre of the Universe. Yvette Fielding takes Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson on a final tour of the BBC Television Centre in a rough approximate of what a normal days filming would involve. We also hear from various backstage personnel (including a film manager with a very interesting story about Jon Pertwee. And can we please give Sue Heddon her own documentary?). As it ended on a cliffhanger when we entered the studios themselves, I'm guessing there'll be a part two on a future realise?