A different, but no less fascinating anthology from the author of Cursed Bunny. The majority of the stories here are science fiction and look at the hA different, but no less fascinating anthology from the author of Cursed Bunny. The majority of the stories here are science fiction and look at the human condition through different lenses.
My personal favourite was the zombie apocalypse tale � The End of the Voyage, I really liked the twist ending.
The titular Your Utopia was a bitter sweet look at what happens to robots when humans are gone. I also liked the ecological tale ‘seed� � looking at human greed and stupidity from the POV of advanced plants. A very Ordinary marriage tells of what happens when a man finds out his wife is an alien, and a song for sleep was another look at the frailty of humanity from the POV of an AI elevator. Maria Gratia plena � based on a news story about an abusive cop who killed his wife and family when they tried to leave him � tries to look at the justification for a criminal. The opening story looks at immortality and how its not as wonderful as you might think.
My least favourite of the anthology was the autobiographical ‘to Meet Her� which follows an old woman and her dream to meet her trans heroine. In terms of narrative, and in comparison to the other far more fantastic stories presented here, while this has a slightly futuristic setting it feels like a slice of life piece and did very little for me as a short story. A very disappointing note to end on I felt.
Overall though I enjoyed this � It has a strong female voice and I really liked the varied points of view, machine, plant, old, young, man, woman. I wasn’t blown away as I was with Cursed Bunny, but there was more than enough to hold my interest. ...more
Possibly one of the most ambitious Sci-fi novels to date - This fuses The Canterbury Tales and Keats poetry in an ultra futuristic setting trying to ePossibly one of the most ambitious Sci-fi novels to date - This fuses The Canterbury Tales and Keats poetry in an ultra futuristic setting trying to explain the problem of evil. Wow springs to mind, because this totally pulls off its lofty ideals and is a damn page turner to boot.
We follow 7 pilgrims who have been selected by the Shrike Church to visit the Time Tombs on the planet Hyperion: we have a priest, a soldier, a poet, a scholar, a private detective, a Consul (polititian) and the captain of a giant tree ship called Yggdrasill, who all decide to tell their tales on the epic journey to These mysterious tombs and their terrifying guardian the Shrike, referred to by its religious followers as The Lord of Pain. None of the pilgrims worship the Shrike or have any notion of why they've been selected.
The six stories are fascinating and varied. I think my favourite is still the opening priest's tale which is truly SF horror at its finest involving a missionary priest who encounters a bizarre cult. The soldier's tale tells the rise of a middle eastern butcher and his love affair which a woman who is more than she seems. The poet's tale changes style and looks at the creative process and the greed of publishers as our poet tries to creat his own epic Hyperion (Keats' unfinished epic) The scholar's tale is a bit The curious case of Benjamin Button looking at someone who reverse ages. We go very bladerunner in the Private Detective story where our female detective is hired to investigate the murder of an AI/Android recreation of the poet Keats. And the Consul's tale looks at the fall of Earth and the ecological devastation of the new Hegemony. The Captain does not get to share his tale because he disappears - possibly murdered, and this flirts with a SF whodunit, but then veers in another direction entirely.
Critics of Hyperion hate the open ending and all the loose threads: The novel closes as the pilgrims reach their destination - we never find out the secret of the Time Tombs or the Shrike. We don't find out what happened to the Captain. We don't find out why they were selected, who is behind their journey or what their purpose is. There are three powers at play - the Hegemony (Humanity) The AI's (reminding me of Banks' Culture) and the Ousters - Who seem to have originated from the humans that opposed the Hegemony and evolved as a seaparate race. We never really find out the secret manipulations and plots of any of these and yet there's enough meat here to be utterly fascinating.
Personally I didn't care that we don't find out all the answers. The characters are so rich and the stories so absorbing that I was perfectly happy just exploring the world of Hyperion without being spoonfed a detailed plot. I loved this from the literary and mythological references to the glut of sci-fi tropes that feel virtually reinvented here. A sci-fi epic classic. Believe the hype....more
Big Robots (bit Mortal Engines, where some of the City Blockks turn out to be giant robots) Wiierd (a bColour Psi Judge Anderson anthology containing:
Big Robots (bit Mortal Engines, where some of the City Blockks turn out to be giant robots) Wiierd (a bit strange days - with a murderer killing people in VR) Biophyle (An eco terrorist unleashes killer plants) The House of Vyle (A haunted house whodunit) The Trip (Anderson gets exposed to a mind enhancing drug and has to stop an evil cult)
All really strong stories which deepen Anderson's character - The fall out from Big Robots is quite devastating. While Boo Cook's depictions of Anderson vary quite a bit I thought the artwork was pretty good and enhanced the stories.
I've always been a fan of Anderson - I find her far more empathetic than Dredd, and I love the fact that she's a strong, comptant woman who isn't overtly sexualised - Okay Okay we do get a tight fitting uniform and some obvious superheroine positioning - You're never going to escape to target audience of 2000AD being male, but there's a realistic quality to Anderson too - she ages, she kicks ass and she shows real emotion.
An excellent showcase for the character and very female friendly. Really enjoyed this one....more
WOW - This is certainly a contender for one of the freakiest and weirdest manga I've ever encountered.
It's a 22 page full colour one-shot, sting-in-thWOW - This is certainly a contender for one of the freakiest and weirdest manga I've ever encountered.
It's a 22 page full colour one-shot, sting-in-the-tail introduction to Kago's first multi-volume 'epic' which is being published in English in 4 volumes (2023-2025)
We follow a female amputee with parasitic prosethics on a sexual odyssey through a distopian, bio-tech future of ultra-violence and promiscuity.
Think a hentai cross of Duuna and Aeon Flux with the art style of Moebius. In terms of visual style it feels far less Japanese and more European - It would make a great addition to Heavy Metal, but would need some serious content warning - Not for the squeemish - This is totally all fiters off, no holds barred - Even the furniature and vehicles have sex in this. Its weird, freaky and provocative - If that's your thing, this delivers in spades, but its never going to be everyone's cup of tea. Personally it blew me away....more
Despite the title - It's only the first half of this that focuses on the redneck Angel Gang - Honestly that's no bad thing - I'm not their biggest fanDespite the title - It's only the first half of this that focuses on the redneck Angel Gang - Honestly that's no bad thing - I'm not their biggest fan, I find them very one dimensional. Quite enjoyed Pizen Impossible however, the solo Fink story where he has to kill a clone of Elvis but gets hampered by a spider hybrid woman.
The second half of this collection features the horror parodies of Harke and Burr - Whilest some of the humour is a bit obscure, I really liked the cinematic references and Dean Ormston's very stylish art - The hybrid Hel/Bride of Frankenstein android is glorious in Grief Encounter and the vampire Hamster Horror is a blast.
Didn't feel there was much cohesion to the volume as a whole - Angel gang and Harke and Burr being vastly different in tone, style and setting - Dredd and the Judges hardly feature at all and this doesn't merit being in a Judge Dredd Collection - It would have been better suited to the 2000AD collection rather than the Judge Dredd one.
Still its worth reading for the Harke & Burr stuff and some bits are quite fun. ...more
Another CM3 masterpiece of bizarro fiction. Polly and her brother Tick have lived their entire life in the nursary looked after by Robot Nanny WarboroAnother CM3 masterpiece of bizarro fiction. Polly and her brother Tick have lived their entire life in the nursary looked after by Robot Nanny Warborough - They long for the day when their parents will come and get them. However when Nanny breaks down, the food machines go on the blink and the children at school mysteriously glitch or disappear, Polly, Tick and new baby Leech must leave the nursary and explore the Quicksand house...
I adored this one. It's nicely gothic and freaky - The characters are quirky, I liked Polly with her green hair and anitlers - nicely rendered on the cover. I liked the transition from gothic horror to sci-fi and the changes in tone from squick dark horror to an oddly upbeat ending.
Big thumbs up - And a great example of why Carlton Mellick is my favourite Bizarro author. ...more
The production and voice cast on this, as with most Big Finish audios are top notch - Blue's Antony Costa guest stars here and he's really good. SheriThe production and voice cast on this, as with most Big Finish audios are top notch - Blue's Antony Costa guest stars here and he's really good. Sheridan Smith also gets to strut her stuff playing two different androids; Chloe & Daphne as well as returning as Lucie Miller.
My low score comes from the story itself - Its always hard to do a completely fresh alien Who story. Its very easy for a listener to picture a Dalek, cyberman, Sontaran or Zygon because we have a frame of reference - Here we have Mecurials, mercinaries made of mercury. Being audio there's very little description and I had a hard job 'picturing' this in my mid, despite the excellent voice talent - everyone sounded.... well human.
This is a completely alien world - no time travel/historical point of reference either and honestly it's not very Who-y. The Doctor's been imprisoned in the heart of a sun condemed to maintaining its systems and while he could escape, he's curious as to why he's there and needs to stop the sun becoming a weapon. I applaud this for its originality and scope, however I just felt this would have been far better as a TV episode where we could appreciate the world building and aliens better with a visual context. Its not a bad story, but just doesn't feel very Who. ...more
Four people who met on a chatroom meet up to commit suicide. One girl is so anxious she thinks something terrible is coming and wants to avoid it, oneFour people who met on a chatroom meet up to commit suicide. One girl is so anxious she thinks something terrible is coming and wants to avoid it, one guy keeps seeing his own dopelganggar, one guy had an android made in his image and thinks he's no longer necessary and the last woman who has a severely disfigured face believes her reflection isn't her. Suicide is at first averted when they encounter their other selves. Then three of them bottle but the robotics scientist succeeds then comes back vomiting up a mysterious gemstone - We then find out that just he crossed into the spirit realm his body reflects this and his Pylorus (literally the gatekeeper of the body linking the stomach and the duodenum) has become a portal to the spirit realm....
It's typically Ito - Freaky weird body horror springing from a simple concept. It's like Ito stumbled upon the origin of the word Pylorus and thought what if that opened a real gateway.... I tend to prefer Ito's longer stories and thought this one was pretty good....more
**spoiler alert** Harping back to the Hinchcliffe era this fuses Who and gothic horror. I don't know what it is but while I think mixing Who and Briti**spoiler alert** Harping back to the Hinchcliffe era this fuses Who and gothic horror. I don't know what it is but while I think mixing Who and British gothic is amongst the best there is, mixing Who with American gothic just never seems to work quite as well (I'm thinking of things like the 6th Doctor: The Lovecraft Invasion, fusing two of my favourite things Lovecraft and Who and coming up wanting) The same is true of this one - how can a Who story centred around Poe with robot ravens and a mutant shapeshifting cat be anything other than awesome? And yet its pretty forgettable. I'm not warming to companion Tamsin, but then Lucie Miller is pretty much an impossible act to follow. Sheridan Smith set the bar and the later 8th Doctor Adventures are really suffering for her loss.
This one's not bad exactly, but it suffers from a new companion finding her feet, both the doctor and audience reeling from Lucie's departure and a rather dull story. Though I do like the cat that gets into the TARDIS and mucks up the navigation. ...more
In at nutshell Doctor Who does The Apprentice. Since Lucie left we find the Doctor (McGann) interviewing for the post of companion. The candidates get In at nutshell Doctor Who does The Apprentice. Since Lucie left we find the Doctor (McGann) interviewing for the post of companion. The candidates get more than they bargain for having to deal with giant robots.
This one's not bad. I really really miss Lucie, but I thought the core concept of the Doctor actually interviewing for companions was great fun. ...more
Here's a novel which I think works far better in audio or TV than on the page. It's a truly bizarre blend - Adams pitched it as 'a thunping good detecHere's a novel which I think works far better in audio or TV than on the page. It's a truly bizarre blend - Adams pitched it as 'a thunping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time-travel-romantic-comedy-epic' In anyone elses hands this would be utterly absurd, but Adams pulls it off, just about. I love the character of Dirk and it's his strength of character that holds this together. I think Stephen Mangan in the BBC series is probably the closest rendering in terms of the novel. Samuel Barnett in the more recent adaptation feels more like a mischievious fairy, I think the character needs more grounding in the real world and I quite like the cynical, penny pinching, but clearly brilliant anti-Holmes.
The story is frankly nuts - but I love the idea that a ghost would gravitate towards a time machine as a way to right past wrongs.
The Doctor and Lucie end up on a robot space station - where evolution has produced various types of robot - Servos (good droids that look like vacuumThe Doctor and Lucie end up on a robot space station - where evolution has produced various types of robot - Servos (good droids that look like vacuums and live for protocol), Cannibalists (evil droids) who kill and repurpose other robots for their own survival, Minerva, the space station operating system, and one unique robot who composes poetry in his spare time.
Sheridan steals the show and gives a very human connection point to what is quite an alien story. Other voice cast includePhil Davis and Phil Jupitus. It's a lot of fun for a robot story that doesn't feature Daleks, Cybermen or Vocs. Very much a stand alone this doesn't offer much in the way of character development or expansion of the who verse but still, the evil cannibalists are ace. ...more
**spoiler alert** I'm clearly missing something. Pretty much across the board I've heard rave reviews for The Player of Games and I have to confess I **spoiler alert** I'm clearly missing something. Pretty much across the board I've heard rave reviews for The Player of Games and I have to confess I really struggled with it - it's rare for me to take over a month to read a single book that isn't a tome, but this one did.
It follows Culture agent and game player extraordinaire Jurnau Morat Gurgeh. Bored with his comfortable life in the culture he allows himself to become manipulated and gets sent out to play the most complex game ever created against the Empire of Azad - where the prize is Emperorship if you can stay alive long enough.
Nothing much happens at all - the action (the final game) all takes place in the last 1/4 of the book - but is so slow! Gurgeh introduced. Gurgeh gets sent to the Empire, Gurgeh plays the Game. Everything explodes. Gurgeh goes home. The end. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen.
To be fair there are some superb horrific scenes - which elevates this from a one to a two star rating. The hunt turned my stomach and the depiction of the Azad culture with its three sexes (Male, Female, Apex) and its face for the masses and then the secret cruelty for the ruling elite - reminded me of David Cronenberg's videodrome - Fascinating and sickening. The Culture clash and world building is definitely this novel's saving grace.
The other issue I really struggled with in this one was character. Horza in Consider Phlebas is sympathetic and 'human' - In fact I warmed to all the characters in that one - which was very much from a human POV. Even the aliens were likeable. I can't think of a single character in Player I liked or was rooting for, Gurgeh is thoroughly unlikable from the outset - And while he does change I never sympathised with him, except to see him as preferable to the Apices of Azad. This one's from the Culture POV which is alien in its own right and i failed to find any real point of emotional connection with the characters or the story. Other than perhaps the old house drone Chamlis I had no sympathy for the machine minds and actively hated the manipulative Mawhrin Skel.
I think perhaps a lot of the subtleties went over my head because I really couldn't see any point to this at all. The idea of games as real life worked far better in things like Ender's Game. The allegory was largely lost on me - I have no idea what lesson Gurgeh learned (other than perhaps to appreciate what he has, and that games are dangerous) and I was left with a feeling of 'is that it?'
Memorable for the horror sequences, but over all this one did very little for me....more
**spoiler alert** I've always been a bit put off reading the culture novels, even though I love Banks' non-genre novels and the sci-fi genre in genera**spoiler alert** I've always been a bit put off reading the culture novels, even though I love Banks' non-genre novels and the sci-fi genre in general because they are so often lumped in with William Gibson, whose novels I have never managed to finish. I've always been under the preconception that these are going to be tech-heavy 'serious' sci-fi - and my preference has always been space opera.
Still after yet another recommendation I decided to give Consider Phlebas a go and for the most part I was hugely impressed - It's really easy to read, and I didn't feel bogged down by the tech or concepts at all. It's full of really rich characters and reads like a good space opera. I also loved the literary references (the title coming from T.S Eliot's The Wasteland) and the philosophy and allegory there behind the scenes. There are some fabulous vignettes in this - I loved Horza's encounter with The Eaters - for some reason Marlon Brando in the 1996 The Island of Dr. Moreau popped into my head - Its just such a great visual and blackly comic sequence. I also really liked the Damage game sequence and this idea of these insane people playing their games in the most dangerous and extreme places possible.
What I think let this down for me was the ending - Published in 1987 this is early in Banks' career in what i call his nihilistic period - The Wasp Factory and Walking on Glass are dark and nihilistic indeed and some of that bleakness filters into this - But here I don't know, after following and struggling with these characters for some 450 pages, I really grew to like them and so their eventual fate is a real kick in the teeth, and it left me feeling that there really is no point - a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
I hear that it's a lot richer when read in the context of the other culture novels which I shall certainly check out, once I've recovered from the trauma of this one. Because other than the bleak ending this was great - amazing world building, pacy writing, rich characters and fascinating ideas....more
Teeth and Tongue Landscape is another surreal nightmare committed to prose.
Our nameless hero wanders through a fleshy landscape: It seems the Earth haTeeth and Tongue Landscape is another surreal nightmare committed to prose.
Our nameless hero wanders through a fleshy landscape: It seems the Earth has transformed into a (living?) being and we are just parasites upon it. He finds all the other humans have disappeared and he meets a metal woman he takes as his wife. But then he encounters a society of Themrocs and they eat his wife which he allows simply to fit in. They are ruled by a permanently depressed God. Meanwhile the last bastion of human civilization exists in the Themroc's basement.
As with all CM3 works, it's startlingly original, fabulously nightmare-ish using poetic language to evoke smell, touch and taste. The bio-setting is amazing. My problem with this is its lack of plot - it simply meanders and if it was making any sort of point it eluded me - It feels like a dream fragment. The main character isn't sympathetic. He's utterly reactionary, spineless and allows the only really likeable character (his metal wife) to be killed.
The ideas buzzing in this are great; it deals with the afterlife, a post apocalyptic? future and human alienation, but it frustratingly never really gets to grips with any of these. Still there's lots to enjoy for Bizarro and it does deliver in spades what the title promises: A Teeth and Tongue Landscape. Just not much else. ...more
David Bischoff is a very familiar name in genre fiction having penned all the Space Precinct novels as well as contributing to Alien, AVP, The Crow, FDavid Bischoff is a very familiar name in genre fiction having penned all the Space Precinct novels as well as contributing to Alien, AVP, The Crow, Farscape, Seaquest DSV and the novelizations of The Blob, Gremlins II, Hackers and Some Kind of Wonderful - While I've never found his writing particularly great, his stories are usually good, very much in keeping with their shows and he usually gets the characters spot on, so I thought I'd check out his entry in the Star Trek TNG universe.
Indeed, it's not bad and reads like it could easily be an episode of the show. The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a geology study team headed by an old ex-girlfriend of Picard's. The Away Team find the whole science team dead except for Dr. Adrienne Tillstrom who is unconscious in a coma and her son Mikal, also unconscious. They bring the two survivors back to the Enterprise, but also traipse in quite a bit of mud. This 'mud' is in fact a silicate life-form which attaches itself to the hull of the Enterprise and proceeds to grow. It likes its new home and is very very hostile to organic beings. The problem gets so bad that Star Fleet order the Enterprise destroyed and Picard and his crew are against the clock to either communicate with or destroy this new entity threatening their ship.
There's a secondary plot strand revolving around Troi & Data's attempts to help the daughter of two Enterprise crew members, Penelope an autistic teenager with a huge crush on Mikal.
I thought the characterization in this was great and it focuses on a wide range of the Enterprise crew: Picard, Geordi, Crusher, Troi, Data, even Riker & Worf get some nice moments. There's one point in the novel where Star Fleet demand the final destruction of the Enterprise and we get a chapter dedicated to the personal logs of each of the characters in turn, giving us their thoughts on the matter - their reactions are a perfect reflection of their characters.
The story is solid and a good vehicle for the characters. I really liked the sequence where Geordi and his team go out onto the hull and get attacked, seemingly by the hull itself! Nicely visual - would have looked excellent on screen.
Over all this one is just like watching a standard episode of TNG - It's not amazing - other than giving Picard a love interest, it doesn't really develop the characters beyond the limitations of the show and the story, while good isn't Trek at its most groundbreaking. However it is a fairly decent spin off novel and for those who are tired of watching TNG re-runs for the umpteenth time and want more this one is a perfectly adequate addition....more
Doctor Who does Top Gear in Space meets Agatha Christie.
The Doctor (McGann) takes Lucie (Sheridan Smith) to Max Warp - The Intergalactic version of ToDoctor Who does Top Gear in Space meets Agatha Christie.
The Doctor (McGann) takes Lucie (Sheridan Smith) to Max Warp - The Intergalactic version of Top Gear; test-driving space ships. Presenter Timbo "Ferret" (Blue's Duncan James) is killed in a crash and it appears to be murder. Max Warp is an important race-relations joint venture between two alien races - The Varlon and the Kith,as part of the peace process after bloody war. But when, after Timbo, the Kith ambassador gets assassinated it seems that someone wants to rekindle hostilities. It's up to the Doctor to play detective and find out who.
This one's very much for the 'boys' - Who and Top Gear together is, I'm sure many fans dream. I didn't feel that Lucie had much of a chance to shine and Vantage's misogyny - while very much part of his character annoyed me I'm sure as much as Lucie.
Still this one's a great deal of fun. I like the idea of the Doctor as detective (Robots of Death and Talons of Weng-Chiang, being two particular favourite episodes) and the intergalactic space rally does make a colourful backdrop. Voice cast are as ever fantastic, some great use of accents here and you can tell everyone's having a blast. Not my favourite, but pretty good. ...more
**spoiler alert** As a season finale this isn't bad at all; a story featuring cybermen, the Doctor being badass, Timelords being devious and the unfor**spoiler alert** As a season finale this isn't bad at all; a story featuring cybermen, the Doctor being badass, Timelords being devious and the unforgettable Lucie Miller being her exuberant sarky self.
I just found the story a bit of an anti-climax after the blindingly good part one. I love the Timelord politics but found the rest a little rushed, particularly the defeat of the cybermen. Also I found the cybermen's dialogue a little hard to decipher in places. The pace isn't as good on this half either - great chunks of exposition and then action. The whole series has been gearing up to the revelation of just why Lucie was in Timelord protective custody and to discover it was a case of mistaken identity is a bit of a damp squib.
Other than that though this is pretty good. Highlight is probably the Doctor's conversations with the cybermen: the scene where he claims to always champion the underdog, but will make an exception in the case of the cybermen, is pure Who gold. The writing on this one is really good. Voice cast and production values are top notch. Katarina Olsen really comes into her own as the Headhunter - Going off with Karen at the end leaves the perfect opportunity for a spin-off series or fodder for fanfiction - I for one would love to see what they get up to. Its also a nice resolution to the Doctor/Lucie relationship. They kind of hated each other at first, thrown together through the machinations of the Timelords. But by this episode there's a sort of mutual respect and they can choose to be companions, or not...
Over all I've been hugely impressed with the 8th Doctor Adventures, they're among the best Who audios out there and even the weaker ones have kept my attention. ...more
**spoiler alert** Now this is more like it! The mysterious headhunter caught up with Lucie in the last episode, and kidnapped her. Now Lucie finds her**spoiler alert** Now this is more like it! The mysterious headhunter caught up with Lucie in the last episode, and kidnapped her. Now Lucie finds herself working in an office in Telford with no memory of how she got there. The data she is inputting has far more significance than she realises. The Time Lords send the Doctor to get her back....
I loved this one from start to finish. The production values are top notch and as ever the voice cast do an amazing job - Roy Marsden voices the 'evil?' mastermind here and is really convincing. The story is tight and well plotted and the pace on this is excellent with mysteries being unfolded slowly to keep you guessing right to the last. The fusion of hard sci-fi (alien battles) and real world mundane (office satire) works especially well and reminded me a little of things like Ender's Game and Wargames. McGann is great as the Doctor in this one and there are lots of shades of grey - by the end your heart is in your mouth as you realise just what the Doctor has done...
Great story and integral to the series arc, good character development, excellent production values and it is very 'Who-y' bringing in Cybermen at the end. At the top end of Dr. Who spin-off fiction. Highly recommended....more
Phobos took me slightly longer to get into than the previous 8th Doctor adventures, because at least to start with it jumps about a bit between variouPhobos took me slightly longer to get into than the previous 8th Doctor adventures, because at least to start with it jumps about a bit between various sets of characters, and is a completely alien setting; but don't let that put you off because this is another cracking story. Its set on Mars' moon Phobos in a leisure resort for 'Drenies' adrenalin junkies - We have the Doctor and Lucie Miller, Old man Kai and his girlfriend Eris who seem to run the place, Amy and Fahl a pair of lovers in hiding because Fahl's species object to interspecies marriage, and a couple of 'Drenies' Drew and his crush Hayden. There's a mysterious monster attacking the tourists - but when the Doctor unmasks the monster and it's manipulator something far darker is revealed.
The voice cast are fantastic on this. Sheridan Smith goes without saying - I love her portrayal of Lucie and she's such a wonderful contrast to McGann's slightly serious take on the Doctor. Timothy West and Nerys Hughes play the old couple and are both brilliant - but the other two couples are equally as engaging. Really good characters in this one - The Doctor and Lucie are actually overshadowed by the guest cast for a fair bit of this. However the Doctor comes into his own in the end, I love stories that touch on the Doctor's darker side and I thought this did a very good job on that front.
So big thumbs up from me - This embraces the show's LTBT fanbase; the subtle relationship with Drew and Hayden is quite sweet. It shows off the Doctor's dark side. It has really interesting and well developed supporting characters. I liked the weaving in of the Classical myth of Phobos, and this has a cool and interesting setting.
On the down side it is a tiny bit choppy, and it isn't particularly 'who'-y until the end; it doesn't feature any classic Who monsters or mythos. Otherwise though, I thought this was great. ...more
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