The Moonbase

           "There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things that act against everything we believe in. They must be fought."

With the exception of the above quote I regret I can find little to like about The Moonbase. There are some other good lines, the film sequences set on the moon are well directed, the redesign of the Cybermen, the first story where Troughton settles down the becomes the Doctor we love. But other than that it's a mess. The real low point has to be when a tea tray is used to plug a hole in the base's structure. And this was a story written by a qualified scientist?

The animation used to recreate the missing first and third episodes is a bit hit and miss too, but at least the story is now complete in some form, even is it isn't that great.

The Tenth Planet

"What did you say, my boy? It's all over? That's what you said... but it isn't at all. It's far from being all over..."

The interesting thing on this DVD release is not The Tenth Planet itself. It's the three minutes of footage from an interview with William Hartnell for a BBC regional news programme; the only filmed interview with Hartnell known to exist. It's a fascinating portrait.

But what of The Tenth Planet itself? It's one of the most historical stories from this era being the first appearance of the Cybermen and the first regeneration. It starts out strongly enough but then goes all wonky due to Hartnell coming down ill prior to the recording of episode 3. But I still wish episode 4 could be rediscovered just so this story can finally be complete. Until then we have the animated version of that episode to complete the story. And compared to what footage does exist it's a pretty good reconstruction.

It doesn't see the First Doctor bow out in a blaze of glory or is the strongest story of the era. But it's still worth a look for historical value.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

This one started promisingly. But by the end it was a muddled mess.

Into the Nowhere

Sorry but I didn't enjoy this. I think it's another example of someone who may be a good writer in other genres, but that doesn't make them a Doctor Who writer.

The 50th Anniversary Collection

Bugger! They didn't include the music from City of Death in this collection. That stuffed up my plans to recreate the classic series medley in iTunes.

Aside from that oversight, this is a good collection of the many composers and style that have featured in Doctor Who's long history with some surprises (Paddy Kingsland's score for Mawdryn Undead win the award for the most bonkers score in the shows history). Plus I now have every variation of the theme music in existence.

Adventures with the Wife in Space

Neil loves Sue and Sue loves Neil. But there's a problem; Neil loves Doctor Who too. I'm sure this is a common problem with a lot of marriages (it's certainly been one with mine!), but what happens when Neil attempts to bring his two loves together? First it was a blog, now it's a book.

Adventures with the Wife in Space was a delight to read, especially getting the observations of someone who is definitely not a fan (and along the way you get to find out how Neil offended Colin Baker and Sue John Levine!). I've been trying to get my better half to read it, but so far she's not taken the opportunity.

And now Neil and Sue are on their next quest. To watch in order all of Blakes 7!

Robert Holmes: A Life in Words

Robert Holmes is a writer who looms large in Doctor Who history. He's the writer who created the Autons and the Sontarans, named Gallifrey, created Time Lord culture as we know it and legislated the 12 regenerations rule. He wrote the first stories to feature Sarah Jane Smith, The Master and Jo Grant. He's the writer the likes of Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Gareth Roberts aspire to be. He was script editor for series 12 to 15, agreeably the shows Golden Era. In terms of stories written for the series he's the one with the biggest hit parade: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Deadly Assassin, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Sunmakers and The Caves of Androzani. He was the writer who was good enough for highbrow drama like The Wednesday Play, but instead chose to writer for genre TV like Doctor Who, a fact fan should, and are, thankful for.

If you're hoping that this is going to be another JN-T style biography,you're in for a disappointment. It mainly focus' on Holmes' TV career with very little information about his personal life (but for a guy who was an ex-policeman, he didn't write a lot of police shows). It also contains some of Holmes' original story lines for Spearhead from Space and The Time Warrior amongst other projects. It's also clear that a lot of his colleagues held him in high esteem.

I didn't come away from this thinking I knew Robert Holmes better as a person. But I came away with an even greater respect for him as a writer.