"Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don’t need to bother them. Trust me." Price: £6.99 - Fiction Written By: Justin Richards An original novel featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Synopsis: Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra. Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran. The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers. How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? As the Doctor and Clara joint the hunt for the truth they find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem. Starting with the cover above, we have the hugely overused publicity shot of Peter Capaldi as well as the rest of the Paternoster Gang: Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Despite not being on the cover, Clara is very much involved in the story. Next to the Doctor is the sentence 'Anyone can be a weapon' which is a key plot point in the story. Below the logo is Silhouette, an actual character in the story. Surrounding her are Origami birds and finally acting as a background is the Carnival of Curiosities on the Themes.
The setting of this story is the frost fair in London. The Frost fair was held on the Themes river when it froze over in the 1800's. The setting is expertly used by Richards, we delve into Victorian London, from the great Frost Fair to London's back streets. There are lots of themes throughout from Jack the Ripper to an Agatha Christie locked room mystery. A big downfall of the story though is how nearly all the characters are written, Clara and The Doctor are incredibly generic and almost nothing like they are on screen, same goes for Strax who is much smarter than on screen Strax could ever be, Jenny is somewhat like her on screen character whereas Vastra is almost boring. The villains though are perfect. The first part reminds me of my favourite Torchwood story 'From Out Of The Rain' with the carnival theme. Richards has a brilliant talent for describing and it certainly shows here, the Frost fair is a perfect example. He also has good ways in which the plans are discovered in new, smarter ways such as a particularly smart scene I like in which The Doctor tricks the villain into saying what Origami is which wasn't a word in the 1800's and that's how they found he wasn't from that time. I like how all characters are doing something separate too which allow the novel to have a good pace and all the things they investigate mean something in the long run. The ending is good, the book keeps you guessing who the villain is. The villain has a solid reason for killing people (that sounded better in my head) and I enjoy his conversations with the Doctor. Overall a good Novel that certainly keeps you guessing with lots of threads throughout that join up nicely and lots of tension (watch for a scene where Clara visits an abandoned factory in which she is attacked by Origami) but its still far from perfect. Other titles available are 'The Crawling Terror' and 'The Blood Cell'.
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'Recently, on TV, we saw how the Paul McGann Doctor died - now it's time to find out how he lived.' - Steven Moffat Starting with the packaging, we have a simple slipcase which can be pulled off to reveal four CD cases, each has a 60 minute story on it plus a 60 minute Dark Eyes documentary at the end meaning we have 5 CD's in total. The four stories in this set are 'The Great War', 'Fugitives', 'Tangled Web' and 'X' and the Daleks'. The cover (above) shows the eighth Doctor In his new costume with new sonic. The pictures were taken especially for Dark Eyes. On the left is Molly O' Sullivan played by Ruth Bradley and on the right is Kotris played by Toby Jones. We also have shot of the 'dark eyes' and two Daleks at the back. I really like this cover (especially the purple motif) though its not my favourite of the four Dark Eyes box sets. Dark Eyes follows on from an Audio adventure called 'To the Death' in which his companion , Lucie dies. So Dark Eyes is a good starting point if your like me trying to get into Big Finish Audio's as its like a new era in 8th Doctor audios. (1.1) Part One: The Great War - Voluntary Aid Detachment nursing assistant Molly O’Sullivan spends her days facing the horrors of the Great War. Little does she know that a man from another world has arrived, looking for her. But what are the strange sounds coming from the battlefield at night? Where is the glowing gas coming from? And is everyone who they claim to be? As I've mentioned above, in the previous story 8's companion was killed so, like the eleventh Doctor when Amy and Rory 'died' 8 is slightly upset which is clear from Paul McGann's sort of discouraged voice. Paul McGann himself is on top form, I imagine its harder than you would expect displaying emotion just through voice and Paul does this well. Molly O' Sullivan who is Irish takes on the role of the companion. She is very feisty and sometimes aggressive but still determined and strong. She has lots of arguments with the Doctor which are amusing but really she's not much different from other companions. At the beginning Straxus, a Time Lord is told to send the TARDIS to France in World War One (much to the confusion of The Doctor). Here we have Molly talking about her job, basically a VAD (not a nurse) in World War One which was a good way to introduce her. The atmosphere of World War One is done perfectly just through sounds and is very effective and sometimes quite eerie and the sounds of the train they ride moving is also a nice touch. The end is tense and involves problem solving which I like (though I won't spoil it for you). Overall this was probably the most impactful story in the box. (1.2) Part Two: Fugitives - With the first objective of his mission reached, almost nothing is going to plan for the Doctor. He finds he cannot contact or return to the Time Lord’s home planet, Gallifrey. And just when Molly O’Sullivan thinks she’s escaped one conflict, she finds herself in the thick of another one. What is it that connects the Doctor, the Daleks and the mysterious Ides Scientific Institute? This one, like the first Doctor story 'The Chase' has The Doctor and Molly on the run from the Daleks, taking them to World War 2, the 1970's and beyond. Tensions between The Doctor and Molly begin to settle and they start to look like a promising duo. There is also some interesting development with Straxus. My favourite part though is probably a scene where they go under the water, break the surface and go back down which is executed well and sounds fantastic. Overall this story is fast paced but doesn't live up to the standard of the first story, nothing really makes an impression.
In part 2 of this review I will review Part Three and Part Four as well as the documentary of Dark Eyes 1... To make the 'reviews on merchandise' section more diverse, I will begin reviewing Big finish CD's and the like starting this week with 'Dark Eyes 1' Hope you enjoy!
Please click on the individual pictures for further details...Doctor Who Series 8 Box Set: Release date: 17th November 2014 Price: £34.99 (BBC shop) Asylum of the Daleks figure set (5"): Release date: In Toys R' Us shops now Price: £29.99 12th Doctors touch control Sonic Screwdriver: Release date: Available online and some shops Price: £14.99 (BBC shop) Visit the Doctor Who site to see the many other new releases including books, jewellery, toys ect... (link)
A good product for the whole family, this is the first time we've seen this monster in new who but it appeared in the classic series, most notably in 'Tomb of the Cybermen'. First of all the dreaded packaging. As usual it's like they don't want you to get to the merchandise the way they do it. It wasn't as hard as some other merchandise but it still involved you using scissors. The packaging does look good, showing the usual blue time vortex theme that went through a lot of merchandise the year this came out. Next the actual figure. As you can see from the picture opposite, it does have a lot of detail such as the rusting around the joints and eyes, I personally think they could have released another version with no rusting as the rusty version was for the episode 'Closing Time' so it would have been good to have one for what it would normally be like. It is very screen accurate and even the same sizes as the one seen in 'Closing Time' The only negative thing really about the way it looks is the front wheels which allow it to move about really stick out which makes it look less good. Finally as you can see from the picture it can move around providing it's in a flat open space which means you can't really play with it outside as it won't move over grass or any bumpy ground. I've found it works best on laminate flooring and it does move rather fast, really fun to watch any pets try and chase after it. It does make a lot of noise whilst moving but doesn't really take away any enjoyment. It may not be obvious that it doesn't come with a remote control, instead it finds it's way around using sense technology or something (could be witchcraft for all I know) hence the name 'Bump N' go'. It also has, as it says in the picture, motorised Tail action which means the tail moves around from side to side, again very screen accurate. Overall an enjoyable product and definitely worth it's price. I haven't reviewed that many books so far so to give this site more diversity I bought this fantastic book for you. And I am so happy I did buy it. This book is both funny and entertaining as well as surprisingly emotional. It's basically Neil Perryman, the writer, documenting how his life has been influenced by doctor who as well as his personal life during this time, and not just his life, we are also given information on his wife and family which is nice as it makes the book more realistic and relatable and also allows for some funny anecdotes. The second half of the book is then devoted to documenting him and his wife watching every doctor who episode and what she makes of it. She picks up on things us whovians maybe wouldn't have noticed as well as having surprising consequences from both of them. The thing that I love most about this book is probably how relatable and kind of welcoming it is for other whovians. The cover is very nice, it features things mentioned from the book as well as comedy already present on the cover which runs through the entire book. The only negative thing with the book really is it isn't too welcoming for someone who hasn't seen the classic series but that's not a negative for me. And at 276 pages as well as some nice statistics at the back of his wife's favourite doctors, producers, etc... it isn't too long a read depending on your abilities. Overall, they first need a round of applause for watching every doctor who episode including recons, something us whovians have nightmares about. Secondly they need a round of applause for making this entertaining take on doctor who. Lastly they do have a site called wifeinspace.com where you can see the full reviews of each episode of doctor who. Better than the last wave yet still not perfection. Most of them are re-releases of the last wave; Clara, Weeping angel, both Daleks and the eleventh doctor (except with tweed jacket) so technically we only have 2 completely new figures, which is disappointing. But the re-releases have all been updated and improved in some way so lets have a look at each one in detail. The twelfth doctor. Probably the one I was most excited about, showing Peter Capaldi as he appeared after regenerating in 'The Time Of The Doctor' It's a good figure but basically it's still just the eleventh doctor's costume from the last wave, but it at least doesn't have the bow tie on it therefore it is screen accurate. So the body (below the head) all looks fine, the jacket sticks out a little reminding me of McDonalds toys but it's still good with correct colours. The head is the special feature, it could do with a little more greying in the hair but it's still undeniably Peter Capaldi. So overall a good figure with the head being it's biggest asset. 7/10 The eleventh doctor. The opposite way round this time, we've got the same head but a different body, this is a good idea as now we have both variants of the eleventh doctor. I personally think the last eleventh doctor figure in series 7B costume was better but this one still isn't bad, it just makes him look a little thin and the proportions just seem a little wrong. I'm pretty sure it's the same legs then the tweed jacket is patterned well but the bow tie isn't as good. So the body is kind of screen accurate. The head as I've said is basically just the same. Finally (and I'm gonna have to knock some points off for this), I opened it up to find the arm had been placed the wrong way, meaning the arm could only bend backwards. This is very poor quality control. 5/10 Clara. What episode is this figure from? I hear you ask. Well it isn't even from an episode. It's yet another re-release of her in her 'Hide' episode costume, this time in red. If they want us to like these figure's they're gonna have to make a new body sculpt sometime for her. But it's not all bad. The red dress kind of looks like the dress she wore in the 50th anniversary, but she had a jacket on then. So overall the body isn't screen accurate at all (not even been on screen) but the head has been noticeably changed, the hair is a little neater and the face a little thinner so for that... 7/10 Weeping angel. Not different really at all from the previous release except there is a few subtle cracks which gives it a nice texture therefore it's slightly better that the last one. Weeping angels are known to weep therefore you would have though a figure of the weeping angels would do this... well no. you can kind of pull the arms up but that just makes them look like Dracula, and the material is so weak you can bend the wings to touch the dress (so much for stone then) and the sculpting is another let down. Overall one of the worst figures in the wave but the texturing kind of saves it. 6/10 Zygon. This is easily the best figure in the wave, it's also the only figure in the wave to be completely new. The colours used are perfect with just the right amount of black and orange to also give it a kind of texture. It does of course have the classic suckers covering around the head and body and I just love the detail on it. For nearly the first time in the entire history of 3.75" figures they've made an almost perfect figure. The only fault it movement is a little restricted but this is only a small problem that should be expected. 9/10 Assault Dalek and Imperial Guard Dalek. I've put these two together because when it comes down to it, they are the exact same figure with a small difference. These are also different from all the other figures above because these are from the heritage line, which are figures pre-series 7. The Imperial guard Dalek is the one with the black dome and this one's probably the most different because of, well, the black dome. We've already had a figure with a black dome as well as Dalek Sec (both limited wave 1 figures) therefore the only new thing with the Imperial is the gun, which looks much too big for the Dalek but is still quite detailed. With the Assault Dalek, like the Imperial Dalek the only new thing is the gun arm. This one is better than the other as I think it just looks better and more detail and colours. It is also shaped like a claw which is a nice idea. Overall, there just is hardly anything new here so just seems pointless. 7/10 Packaging. We've had two types of packaging in this wave 2. We've had the normal packaging which is the same as the last wave but with 'wave 2' in yellow at the top (see pic one below, left) and the other says 'Heritage line' at the bottom with a classic logo (see pic two below right). Conclusion. Re-release, Re-release, Re-release, that's all we've had really. I hope that the next wave we get more figures like the Zygon and less like Clara (unless she get's a new costume). This wave overall gets a respectable 41/60. The latest in the almost dead 5" range of doctor who figures and what a beauty it is. It seems weird to hold a new 5" figure after the change to 3.75" (I don't actually have the wave 2 of the 3.75" figures yet but when I do I will review them) therefore it adds to how great this figure is. The wait for this figure was fairly long, I was exited when I first heard about it then to see pictures of it was excellent. From the pictures like opposite I had my worry's for example I thought the body was much too big (it later turned out to be a problem with the picture but when they showed the actual figure it didn't look any different for me). Then as so many people pointed out, McGann never wore this costume. Well my message to the people that moaned about this minor problem (and there really was a lot) is: Live with it. They designed and made this figure before understanding the full details behind the story (they hadn't even seen The Night of The Doctor). Also instead of taking it out of the set after seeing The Night of The Doctor, they left it in as a nice little extra, but still whovians were moaning about it. A brand new McGann head and people were moaning about it?!? I just couldn't understand it and honestly I wouldn't have been surprised if they had taken it out... Anyway after getting all these pre-buying thoughts out of the way, let's talk about the actual figure and packaging. The packaging is just magnificent. So much so that I was lucky enough to buy two of these sets, one to keep in packaging, and one to take out and play with. As you can see from the picture opposite, the packaging really is great with a kind of blue vortex and a shiny logo (which is beautiful) and on the back is just some information on who the war doctor is. Unlike a lot of merchandise I buy, this was actually pretty easy to take out of the packaging, with just a few pieces of tape around the top then one piece of wire round the legs therefore unlike the 50th anniversary Dalek, I didn't want to throw it out of the window at the end. After getting it out, my worry when I first saw the pictures of the figure that the body was too big for the head completely went, it fitted perfectly and although the leather jacket is a little big, it doesn't take away how great it is. The war doctor figure is really detailed and I lover the battered worn effect on the jacket. The joints are good but on mine the arm is quite loose which is a shame. The sonic figure is again great (or at least as great as you get with something as small as that, if you want more detail, you can get a life size version for £19.99). And the McGann head is another brilliant and detailed extra. It's nice to have an updated head for him as if you wanted you could put it on the figure from the 11 doctors set. But the star of the set isn't the figure, it's the moment device. It is the most detailed accessory I have ever seen (and will probably see again). Every side has been carefully made and is so detailed, it's just magnificent! And the paint application on it is also perfect, I certainly haven't spotted any slip ups. Overall this set is just marvellous and a must buy for any doctor who fan (and to remember the 50th anniversary) although I think it was a limited run and a lot of online retailers have run out (was £50.00 on Amazon after RRP was £14.99 so I'd check every shop and try to get it ASAP. But anyway it's now displayed on my shelf and looks great next to all my other doctor who figures. Wow, this is amazing. Easily one of my favourite doctor who items. It currently stands tall on top of my shelf, looking brilliant. And I am very happy to have it and definitely get more. I am hoping to get the 4th doctor bust next if I can. Let's start with the bad points: First of all and this isn't really anything the makers can help but it doesn't really do anything apart from sitting on your shelf and gathering dust (and possibly value). So therefore it isn't very good for younger whovians as it could end up broken as it is kind of fragile which brings us onto my next point; it isn't very strong especially around the arms and sonic screwdriver as if you hold them by these areas it is more than likely to break. Finally the packaging like with quite a lot of things is just awful. It takes a good 10 minutes to get out of it and even then you still have to get it out of those evil plastic holder things that go around it's head which no doubt could have caused a few of these wonderful things to break, even I, being ever so careful had to hold it by it's arm when getting it out and as I have said the arm is very fragile and you wouldn't want it to break, but because of the way it's packaged it's literally asking to be broken. But luckily mine didn't suffer any loss of limbs. Now onto the good points: the detail is absolutely amazing and looks so brilliant standing on my shelf. It has a surprisingly good likeliness which can sometimes be a problem with some figures and things like it. It definitely looks like Matt Smith and his awesome costume! (although to be honest I would love one in Matt's 2013 costume) The sonic is well detailed with no paint splodges or anything like that. I especially love the textures and things because although it's quite smooth (especially the face) you can still kind of see the material even though it's made out of a rock or something (I think it's made out of the same stuff as the doctor who figurine collection figures.) Finally the stand is nice and simple and doesn't take anything away from the actual bust as you can see in the picture. Also how tall it is also adds to the good effect it has and isn't too tall so that it doesn't fit on your shelf. Rating: 9/10 Sadly I haven't read/listened/watched a few of the things so this review is a little incomplete but hopefully when I have read/listened/watched the things then I can do a 4th doctor time capsule review (part 3) if I don't forget... Anyway to make up for this partly unfinished review I will do another review very soon today or tomorrow... Interview with Tom Baker - Haven't yet watched 'Genesis of the Daleks' soundtrack - Haven't yet listened to. 'Tomb of Valdemar' book - Haven't yet read. 'Terror of the Zygons' DVD review - You can see that in the DVD reviews section here link 9 art cards featuring all the fourth doctor's companions - These are amazing and quite like the doctor art cards we got with the doctor who magazine 50th anniversary issue. They aren't in colour but they are made to look kind of old fashioned with the brown card. The are very sturdy and a great thing to add to your collection. Anyway as I have said hopefully I can do a part 3 of this review giving my thoughts on the DVD, book and the audio but that may not be for a while as I still have some classics I need to watch but anyway, watch out for another merchandise review. |
About this areaThis area will be where I post reviews on any kind of doctor who merchandise from figures to clothes. I will basically give my opinion on them and tell you if I recommend it and give it a score out of 10. Enjoy! Archives
January 2015
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