All Things Will Soon Be Mine!*

That Was The Who That Was!

A round up of the Doctor Who that I have been watching, reading, listening to etc etc!

The Rescue

Omitted this one from the the last TW3. Leslie expressed the opinion that Vicki was one of her favourite companions. I have to say this is a view not shared by me or by fandom at large but I am always in favour of watching stories with a fresh eye and it's been years and years since I saw Vicki's debut. As Leslie had never seen it before it was something of a no brainer.

William Hartnell is at his eccentric best in this one and comes across as a much more cuddly Doctor than his earlier performances. That opening scene where Barbara tells him "the trembling's stopped" and he beams "I'm so glad you're feeling better my dear" is a gem.

Design wise Koquillion is a triumph but his backstory is a little unexplained. There was a great review of this in DWM upon the DVD release of The Rescue which ruminated that for Who fans we've become jaded and spoilt by decades of programme guides etc and we KNOW that Koquillion is Bennett so we feel bored because there is no mystery or intruige for us. It was a very telling review and a very salient point. The first time I saw this story (mid 90s when my Aunty used to tape them off UK Gold for me), it's true that thanks to Jean-Marc Lofficier I already knew the twist. Thus I concur that it's hard for me to try and view this story impartially but when we eventually get round to doing this story on Back2theWhoture I will be interested to see what Big Al or Sebby make of it.

Vicki still didn't win me over and I don't think Maureen O'Brien did a terribly great job... BUT I liked her a lot better than I thought I would and I'm open to a reappraisal. I am actually quite keen to hear the Companion Chronicle Frost Fire and meanwhile The Romans is coming up on the next B2TW which we're probably gonna watch on my birthday. Huzzah!

Head Games

Conundrum has always been one of my favourite NAs but it seems odd that I've never read the sequal. Spurred on by recently rereading it and by Lori's review in TTZ8 I was ready to give Head Games a chance.

I liked the concept (It's an evil doppelganger set up only the twist is our Doctor is the evil one!) but I wasn't overly keen on the execution. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it exactly. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Steve Lyons prose but I found the alien planet Detrios really quite dull and it's only once the plot moves on a bit and we get involved with Dr Who trying to polish off past companions like Mel and Ace that it gets moving.

In many ways this novel is both a critique and a defense of the Seventh Doctor; the master chess player who will sacrifice pawns and play for big stakes and it makes it interesting by having both Mel and Chris turn against him but it never quite satisfactorily addresses the central point - Is the Doctor an anti-hero making cold hard choices for the greater good or actually have we also been duped into thinking the Doctor is great when actually he's pretty crap. The short story Continuity Errors (by Steve Moffatt and set in a planet sized library...) does it better but then it plays it for laughs.

This was obviously written in the mid 90s when Mel's character was still quite loathed amongst fandom and before her Big Finish rehibilitation. Head Games along with the Missing Adventure Millennial Rites were the first to make steps towards this. Unfortunately although it was written years later I read The Quantum Archangel first and that also features Mel horrified with the Sixth Doctor for destroying a whole planet due to miscalculation so it sits oddly that if she could forgive him them (as she obviously must have done because she carried on travelling with him in to his next persona) she ends up hating him here.

Not a bad book and maybe better if read in context but I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone and would point new comers to the next release The Also People instead.

Fish Fingers and Custard #2

I wonder if there's Cyberman fever about? TTZ, DWM and Rassilon's Rod all seemed to have Cybermen on the cover in close proximity whilst FF&C2 has a Cyberman on the back cover! Fantastic Cyberman it is too!

The cover for #2 is brilliant, clearly one of a kind (How on Earth did you bag such a photo?) but also highlights the whole ethos of the zine; it's cheeky, it's quirky, it's naughty and all a little bit sexy. People buying second hand copies of #2 in 2026 won't get the topical humour of Ace putting a cat in the bin but it made me howl with laughter!

The season 5 reviews were great as eskewing a story by story look it allowed the band of writers to focus on the themes and imagery of the season as a whole and there were many fresh takes. My favourite was Martin Marshall's take on the Daleks second guessing the Doctor and devising the perfect trap and boy did it work. That's the kind of fan thinking that makes fanzines worth reading.

The Endgame of Rassilon was a fascinating what if article. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with all the points it was a joy to read and really engaged the brain and gave fresh insights to The Five Doctors. I admit that I used to love it as a kid, think its a bit crap as an adult but after reading this I'm quite inclined to give it another watch. At the very least I can watch it to cheer when The Terrible Zodin gets mentioned!

TV Pizz and the slash scenarios were funny. I thought the prom review was too long actually and I'm afraid I still hate the new theme tune!

All in all I highly recommend this zine. I'm glad I got the paper copies as although I already skim read it on PDF, having a copy on the tube after a hard days work was just perfect.

Can't wait for #3!

For more details on Fish Fingers and Custard visit their website here

Silver Nemesis

I promised I'd treat myself if I ever got TTZ8 done and whilst it came out late I think I can be proud of the 104 page beast! Because of all the Cyber artwork I decided therefore to get the Revenge of the Cybermen / Silver Nemesis box set.

Again it's been a long while since I've seen this one as despite being a big fan of the Seventh Doctor I do think some of his stories are less enjoyable; this one in particular. I remember it as being pretty much codswallop. So has my opinion changed?

Well no... BUT it was nonetheless enjoyable. Positive things the Cybermen have never looked better, The Doctor and Ace are great together, Lady Peinfort and Richard are an absolute hoot and surely contenders for their own spin-off series and the concept of dazzling Cyber transmissions with jazz is great. There's also some great SFX with the space ship landing and the Nemesis statue.

Unfortunately in to the mix we have to acknowledge that the Cybermen are pretty crap villains and are usually used terribly in Doctor Who stories with the exception of Tomb of the Cybermen. We've a bunch of cliched Nazis who add nothing to the plot, a non cameo by the Queen and the terrible skinheads who think Peinfort and Richard are social workers. WTF?!

Rewatching though did give me pause to wonder if Steve Moffat has a sneaky liking for this story? Not only does it have copious uses of time travel, with implied wibbly wobbliness (Future Ace in 1788, whoever is moving the chess pieces on the board, unless it's meant to be Fenric) but also with a curly haired woman who knows the Doctor's secrets and a scene where the Doctor dons a fez and carries a mop!

Cryptically Nemesis tells the Doctor he'll need her again in his future. Now I don't actually believe for a moment the following is true because I don't believe Moffat is bereft of ideas and I'm sure the identity of River Song is something so brilliantly bonkers that we've not thought of it before... but go with me here. What if she is a descendant of Peinfort who has been passed the secret of the Doctor (including that he is more than just a Time Lord?). Alternatively what if she is the Nemesis statue herself?

If it turns out to be true then you heard it here first! (I think I'll expand upon this for TTZ10!)

The Five Doctors (Special Edition)

I've seen The Five Doctors hundred and hundreds of times. My VHS copy is all but worn out. I've never though seen the special edition with rejigged scenes and SFX and never really saw the point. It's not that I think I'm a purist because I'm really not, it's just, whilst I freely admit the plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny and it's all a load of twaddle it is tremendous fun and I'm not sure what changes would do to it.

I'll start with the special effects then. Hated them. I know the black triangle is feeble looking but actually it was a darn sight better than swirly translucent cone. The thunder bolts are improved in the sense that they seem to actually hit the spot where a physical explosion happens but other than that I didn't like them. The Dalek's extermination effect was lame, trying to emulate Remembrance of the Dalrks but failing. Rassilon is made all but unintelligable. About the only decent tarted up effect was the chess board of death, again, mainly because the bolts of energy now matched the explosions.

Some of the rejigged scene work. There is more of an air of mystery by starting with omnious shot of the Tower of Rassilon before going on to the Eye of Harmony and even then letting that set the mood before going in to the way to bright TARDIS. Other bits dropped in to the piece don't necessarily detract but don't seem to overally add much either. I can't say my experience was greatly enriched by an extra three seconds of Patrick Troughton clambering over rocks, or of President Borusa striding through the Capitol.

I guess I'm probably too attached to the original but it's certainly the one I'm going to watch in the future. Give me black triangle, less Cybermen and the bonkers music any day.

It's getting late so I'm gonna cut this short (!). Tomorrow hopefully I'll finish off with a review of Issue 2 of dinky little fanzine Panic Moon, plus The Shakespeare Code, Gridlock and the season 4 premier of The Sarah Jane Adventures - The Nightmare Man

* They surely will honey, they surely will!