The Crimson Horror

And wasn't that enjoyable? Very classic Doctor Who.  Lots of mystery and black humour. Easily one of Mark Gatiss' best episodes.

And next week we've got Neil Gaiman. It'll be interesting to see if he can top The Doctor's Wife.

Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends to a space tracking base in the Antarctic - and straight into trouble. A space mission is going badly wrong, and a new planet has appeared in the sky. Mondas, ancient fabled twin planet of Earth has returned. Soon its inhabitants arrive. But while they used to be just like the humans of Earth, now they are very different. Devoid of emotions, their bodies replaced with plastic and steel, the Cybermen are here. Humanity needs all the help it can get, but the one man who seems to know what's going on is terminally ill. As the Cybermen take over, the Doctor is dying...

First thing to like about this ebook was the introduction by Tom MacRae (he who wrote Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel and the wonderful The Girl Who Waited) where he recounts a conversation he's had with an 8 year old fan. And this fan is astonish to discover we lived in an age before DVDs, iView, Red Button, BBC3 (or ABC2 or UK-TV), downloads... an era where you saw a Doctor Who story once (maybe twice if it was repeated) and then it was never seen again in the case of some stories, forever). So it you missed it, that was it... until the novelization was published (and sometimes that was years after the original broadcast). Which goes to show just how important these books were.

But what of the story itself? Having seen the three and a bit episodes that exist of The Tenth Planet I can say that Gerry Davis' novelisation of his and Kit Pedlar's scripts is faithful and enjoyable. He tweaks a few things here and there (like when Ben's watching a Roger Moore James Bond in the projection room. Remember the TV story was broadcast several years before Moore took on the role) but not the extent that David Whittaker did in Doctor Who and the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Crusaders. But that's not a criticism. Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet is a cracking read and a faithful retelling of one of the most important stories in Doctor Who's history (being the first story to feature the Cybermen and the first regeneration).

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

It was okay. Nice to see more of the TARDIS than we normally do (and nice to see her fighting back after the salvagers were cutting off bits of her). Love to know what Clara found out in the library (and what a library it was too!) but I guess we'll find out in three weeks time.

Hide

I had high hopes for this episode, based on the trailer at the end of Cold War. I was a somewhat disappointed  It was okay, just not the in the same league at Blink (which is what I was hoping for).

Doctor Who and the Crusaders

"I admire bravery, sir. And bravery and courage are clearly in you in full measure. Unfortunately, you have no brains at all. I despise fools."

Arriving in the Holy Land in the middle of the Third Crusade, the Doctor and his companions run straight into trouble. The Doctor and Vicki befriend Richard the Lionheart, but must survive the cut-throat politics of the English court. Even with the king on their side, they find they have made powerful enemies.

Looking for Barbara, Ian is ambushed — staked out in the sand and daubed with honey so that the ants will eat him. With Ian unable to help, Barbara is captured by the cruel warlord El Akir. Even if Ian escapes and rescues her, will they ever see the Doctor, Vicki and the TARDIS again?

I think I preferred this to Doctor Who and the Daleks. Here David Whittaker's adapting his own scripts and a fine job he does too expanding on events and characters from the serial. While the book was aimed at the children's market, Whittaker' style is quiet adult (the infamous scene where Barbara is whipped by El Akir being a case in point - no way that would ever have been in the TV series!). I can see why long time fans of the series (including people who write for the current series) have raved about this book.

The Aztecs

"But you can't rewrite history! Not one line! Barbara, one last appeal: what you are trying to do is utterly impossible. I know! Believe me, I know!"

The Aztecs is the first surviving historical story (with nothing existing of Marco Polo which was also written by John Lucarotti) and it's Doctor Who's attempt at Shakespearean drama. It's brilliant and I love it. It would have to be one of the best stories from the Hartnell era and only emphasises the tragedy that John Lucarotti's other two stories - Marco Polo and The Massacre - no longer exist in the BBC's archives.

Speaking of stories that don't exist in the archives, this realise contains the only surviving episode of Galaxy 4 along with a reconstruction of the other three episodes. It's hard to judge how good the story is just on this. While the reconstruction is effective in getting the story across it's not the same as seeing the actual episodes.

The other feature on these discs is documentary The Doctor Forever: The Celestial Toyroom covering the history of Doctor Who action figures. It's a very entertaining history of the good, the bad and the ugly of the merchandise range (and I loved Russel T. Davies' confession that he still collect Dalek figurine. It's nice to know I'm not the only one!). And there's also a clip from Michael Bentine's series It's a Square World featuring the late Clive Dunn as a familiar looking figure who managed to blow the BBC Television Centre into outer space

Ten Little Aliens

"Deep in the heart of a hollowed-out moon the First Doctor finds a chilling secret: ten alien corpses, frozen in time at the moment of their death. They are the empire’s most wanted terrorists, and their discovery could end a war devastating the galaxy. But is the same force that killed them still lurking in the dark? And what are its plans for the people of Earth?"

To celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, BBC Books is re-releasing one novel per Doctor. This is the First Doctor's contribution.

My thoughts. I first read this book when it was first realised over ten years ago. It obviously didn't make much of an impression on me because I couldn't remember anything about it (except for the title). In his introduction to this new edition Stephen Cole calls the story a cross between Agatha Christie meets Starship Troopers. Personally I found it really disappointing. I always thought the criteria for the past Doctor range was it should feel like the era it belongs too (but with a much bigger budget) and this to me didn't feel like the Hartnell era to me (though the First Doctor, Ben and Polly did feel spot on). I'm not sure what the criteria for selecting the novels for re-realise was either but looking back I thought that Steve Lyons' Salvation and The Witch Hunters were stronger stories.

Nice cover though.