May 15

DW: Shadows of Avalon

Hey Guys,

welcome to ‘The Shadows of Avalon’ Volume 31 of the book series ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. Quite obviously it has the eighth Doctor in it and his to Companions Compassion and Fitz. The reason I bought this book is that they meet in the adventure the Brigadier. You all know I love the Brig. I doesn’t know much about Compassion which would maybe helped with understanding this book. For people how doesn’t know what is going on I don’t want to spoil it but the story also a story about Compassion. So it is helpful to actually know her.

Compassion – short look at her

Compassion was first seen in the book ‘Interference – Book One’, which is the 25 volume of the ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. All the information given know are just what I read about her. So it could be that there are mistakes in here. She was at some point Laura Tobin. She was one of the survivors of her home planet that was destroyed. Faction Paradox transported her to earth. But the ship need a few years more than human lifespan has. So the passengers were remembered by using biomass in remembrance tanks. It seems that Compassion is the result. Earth signals changed her so much that she started traveling with the Doctor.
When we met Compassion in this book, she waits for the Doctor to arrive. The Doctor send her to live on earth to become more human. So this is where the story starts.

Gateway

Avalon is a dream world dreamt from King Constantine. But something bad is going on in this world. A gateway opens between this world and earth. The military stumbled upon it and the Brig is investigating. The Brig is in a very bad place in this adventure. He lost his life Doris and is searching for death. As much as I hate seen the Brig in such a state, the travel he goes through in this book is kinda amazing. I am just not happy with the end of the book about this problem.
So back to the problem at hand. The humans and Fair Folk are at war and two mysterious people are meddling with the two folks.

A construct of Magic, War and Politics

This whole book is just a big conspiracy. You try to find out what these two ‘people’ are up too. The Doctor is trying to find out what is going on and leaves the Brig. The Brig totally lost in his grief is bringing the military to help the Humans and send all of them into war – into death. I don’t like the whole parts of the war. I am not a fan of war stories. Compassion and Fitz are away from the Doctor and also think that he is dead. So they got involved with the Fair Folk and send on a mission to close the gateway. A big part of the story are politics and religion stuff. And around that construct of War, Politics, Religion they spun a magical world with Dragons and other magic.

Live in the Dark

The book is rather dark. It is war and the Brig is grieving. Compassion and Fitz are grieving the Doctor and feel not secure. So there is really nothing positive going on in this story. There is little hope in the people. The whole story is set in dark palace. There is no laughter or happy moments. When we get a really small moment of happiness than the grief of the Brig is making this moment painful again. So it is light lecture.

The longest I read on a book

I think I read this whole book over a whole year… a year! For my liking it was too much war and politics and the whole atmosphere to depressing. Since I didn’t know much about Compassion and Fitz is also kinda difficult to relate to, when you know so little about him. In the epilogue I actually really gets him. Maybe a little late. The only thing I really found interesting was the journey of my Brig.
So if you like politics and war and Avalon. If you like to read books with a depressing atmosphere than you are here right. Maybe when you know the characters better the story would be better. I don’t know.

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May 10

DW: The Marian Conspiracy

Hey Guys,

welcome to the first adventure with Evelyn Smythe in the 6th big finish main range adventure The Marian Conspiracy. Evelyn is the first companion on audio created by Big Finish. She is quite lovely. She travels with the sixth Doctor and I listened to a few adventure of her already. I read that her history or better time line is quite complicated. I haven’t notice such thing yet, but didn’t listen to many stories with her yet. The story takes place in London 1555 a month after the Wyatt Uprising and is one of the stories with a history setting. I love this stories.

Evelyn Smythe

The year she is living is not been given. But she is out of the ‘present’ time so my sources has put her first meeting with the Doctor at the 2000. When they met she is giving a lecture of Tudor History. She is like my sources put ‘nearer to the end of her career than the beginning’. Evelyn is a strong woman who has very strong opinions. What I love about her is that she is very similar to the Doctor. She likes to tell what knows about stuff and she doesn’t take any shit. She challenged the Doctor from the first moment. They not always have the same opinion what makes they travels so exciting.

You must be the Nexus point

The Doctor searches for a temporize Nexus point which seems to be Evelyn Smythe. It seems that Evelyns history is going to change. So the Doctor of course tries to find out what is going. Evelyn is talking about one of her ancestors that the Doctor don’t heart of. So he travels to London 1555 and see him for himself. Evelyn invites herself to accompany him. They land like I state above a moth after the Wyatt Uprising, which means that Mary was still Queen.
The goes to talk to the Queen and has a very interesting talk with the her. About what she plans on doing and why she is doing it. The Doctor even seem similar between them.
Evelyn is on her own and stables in a conspiracy against Mary to put Elizabeth on the throne.

Listen or not

I love this story. First of all I love the history adventures. They are amazing and with this Doctor and Evelyn it is even more fan. Evelyn is really a great character. The most I like the different points of view from the Doctor and Evelyn. The both have strong opinions but mostly not the same. It makes it interesting. Evelyn is not a fan of Queen Mary. She things that Elizabeth is one of the strongest female leader. Were the Doctor sees himself in Mary. That makes a really amazing adventure.

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April 19

DW: 1963: The Assassination Games

Hey Guys,

welcome to the third part ‘The Assassination Games’ of the 1963 adventure that are celebration of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who in the main range. The story is playing in 1963 in London. The seventh Doctor and Ace are going undercover. Also ‘The Assassination Games’ features the group Counter-Measures. The first appearance of the group was in the episode ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ from the 25th season of the Doctor Who TV Series.

Not much Doctor

The first two episodes have not much of the Doctor and Ace in it. We mostly hear the story from the sight of Captain Gilmore the chef of Counter-Measures, which still trying to find founders for the group. The Doctor is undercover as an independent MP on a platform of nuclear disarmament and Ace as a maid in a wealthy family. Where she met Rachel the other part of the Counter-Measures or better an Ex-Counter-Measures Member.

Conspiracy

Ace and Rachel sadly doesn’t have such a big part. The most story we follow Gilmore and the Doctor, which try to find out what is behind the assassination. There are a lot of things that don’t at up, this why the good into it. There is a little time circle in it but itisn’t mentioned any further. I always like to think about how this circles start or end. The Doctor and Ace find a book writen by Captain Gilmore about the events in 1963.
I doesn’t want to tell more about it. The group the Doctor encounters here as an enemy is featured in others stories. So we will see more about them.

Listen or not

Like I said at the start ‘The Assassination Game’ is third part of the ‘1963 audio serie’. It can be that the other two stories (Fanfare for the Common man with the fifth Doctor and Nyssa; The Space Race with the sixth Doctor and Peri) are in some way connected to this story. I questioned all my source but it seems that they are only connected by the year they play in. So it should okay to just listen to this story.

But back the question. It is a story where Ace is traveling alone with the Doctor and she is a character I never got a real grip on. When she starts traveling with the Doctor and Hex I got a better access to her character.
I also wasn’t a fan the group Counter-Measures in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’. The character I start liking is Rachel.

So yeah the story is good. But it is not mine. This isn’t a story I can get lost in. So I really didn’t need it but if you like Counter-Measures or Ace than this is good story for you.

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April 12

DW: Landbound

Hey Guys,

welcome to the Short Trip Landbound. It is a story in the 7th season of the Short Trips that Big Finish produced as special free release. The story has two parts. The first part plays directly after the episode ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ of the 7th season of Doctor Who. It doesn’t deal with what happened in the episode like on of my favorite stories does (CC: Old Soldier). The second part plays after the episode ‘Green Death’ of the 10th season. So the Doctor has no Companion with him in both parts.

Meeting related soul

Like I said before the story is not about what happened the Silurians. But it still happens directly after it. The Doctor is so angry with the Brig and just drives away. This is where the story starts the Doctor meets here a related soul. After he helped in an unsightly situation he get an invitation for a drink. That is what happens they just start talking about their stories. About losing their way to travel to see the world. They both are souls that need to move all the time and both lost what they loved.

Dealing with exil

We all know that the exile was really painful for the Doctor. The way he can’t move, bound the land. For me it is like this man is helping the Doctor do deal with this situation. When in the second the Doctor tries to help him. The story is about not giving up, to fight for what love.

Listing or not

First of all of course go listen to it because it is for free. Second it is a good story. I am not a big fan of third Doctor. He things so highly of himself. But I love the exile stuff and the UNIT family. So the story with just the third doctor has it harder than other stories to excite me. But it is good story and I like the Doctor in it.
Yeah it never be favorite story because Rise and Fall is just so amazing.

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April 5

DW: Forever Fallen

Hey Guys,

welcome to the Short Trip Forever Fallen. It is a story in the 6th season of the Short Trips that Big Finish produced as special free release. The 7th Doctor and Ace are visiting Elysium 7 to help a man through his life. It seems that Elysium 7 is mentioned in this story for the first time. It is impossible to say in which year the events take place. I really like the Short Trips. Rise and Fall is one of my favorite story.

Good intentations

This short Trip is a slow story. It is about a man who wanted to remove free will on Elysium 7. The Doctor is convincing him to don’t do it. After the first encounter the Doctor and the man are meeting one time every year. It are just a few minutes we get every year. Just short glimpses of his life. This glimpses are painting a clear picture of what his life is in the moment.
It is really good. I don’t want to say too much.

Just go and download this great story on Big Finish (here) and listen to it, it just takes you a half hour.

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March 29

DW: Eight Doctor: The Time War Series 1 – One Life

Hey Guys,

welcome to the fourth and last past of the Time War Series 1 – One Life. I really love this part of this story. It is the end of the action from the other parts. This has a lot feelings in it and that is why I like it. I wished so hard for a happy ending for them.

Escape

They whole story is about escaping. The group and Ollistra escaping the Daleks. The renegade escaping the war. It is all about escaping about running and hiding. This is what war is doing to them. Escaping the Daleks is for him the side story. It is to make things dramatic, to stop the renegade from running. The really story. The Story I love so much is the story about two person in love running away from their problems, away from the war. Two people how just what to be so desperately happy with each other.

Listing or not

So my conclusion about the time war series is that I definitely will buy the other boxes too. There are planned 4 Volumes f this series. The story is great and full of hopelessness and hope. About sacrifice and the value of one life. This isn’t about the fight of the Time Lords against the Daleks. This about the people who comes into the crossfire. It is about a Doctor who doesn’t want to be part of this war. So yeah go and listen to the story.

Extras

After every adventure is the soundtrack of the story. It is by the way amazing music. In the last adventure is like most times another CD with Extras. You got Behind the scenes material in form of interviews for example Paul McGann. The material is ca one hour-long. So I am sure there is a lot interesting stuff on it.

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March 22

DW: Eight Doctor: The Time War Series 1 – The Conscript

Hey Guys,

welcome to the third part of The Time War Series 1 The Conscript. In this story the Doctor and his group get separated. Ollistra is of course involved again. The group get questioned and the Doctor is sent to be trained for war.

The war training

The Doctor is in this training camp. For him it must seem more like prison. So he can’t leave because of a barrier that makes sure that the soldier are save. The Doctor is in the room with two other. The one is really serious about that training. She wants to fight in this war and believes in the stuff that her Captian says. The other is there to fight too, but he is more like a goofball. He likes the Doctor from the first moment. Wants to be like him.
The Doctor is in that mix and questioned everything the others believes him. He cause trouble.

Listing or not

I really like this part. The Doctor is so wrong in this place. He don’t believe in war or in the way they do it. It is not that he don’t believe the Daleks needs to be stopped. It is just… and exactly for that it is good to listen to this part. In The Conscript we see again that the war don’t really have good and bad. We see how war changes people. We see why the Doctor destroyed the time lords.

What I love about this story and about the stories of the war doctor, is that you understand why the Doctor needed to do this one so cruel thing. All this story makes it clear that he hadn’t another choice. I was never a fan of taking this away from the Doctor as Moffats did. Because yes the Doctor can do this. The Doctor is capable of doing this.

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March 19

DW: The Who Shop

Welcome Guys,

as a Doctor Who Fan and you are visiting London you have to go to the Who Shop. Sadly it is not in the center of London. It is a little outside. When I got out of the train I thought that I am wrong, but I found the shop and the way was worth it.

Address

The Who Shop
39-41 Barking Road, Upton Park,
London E6 1PY
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8471 2356

What to expect

The Who Shop as everything that a fan heart needs. They have everything from cups to towels, books to audio books. They have all the stuff about the New Who. But the best part about the shop is that it also has the old stuff. Here you find the first Big Finish Main Range Adventures that are only available as a download a Big Finish. Even better are the few older Doctor Who Books. It was a dream come true. I spend a very long time in this tiny shop.
They also have a TV-Museum. The entrance cost 3 Pound. I looked around in the shop and asked myself were the Museum should be.

The TV-Museum

If you want to see it you just asked the Seller about it. They take your stuff and brings you to the TARDIS. Yes the TARDIS is the Entrance to the Museum. You can open the door yourself with the TARDIS key and the Seller is always so nice to take pictures of that.
When you bring a really camera you can use it in the Museum. Handy camera are not allowed. I don’t want to spoil it. But the Museum is fall with old Doctor Who stuff. It is filled from the ground to the top in stuff. Truth be told it is not a big Museum and I would pay the money again, but I think it was actually worth it.

Category: Allgemein, Travel | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 15

DW: The Eight Doctor: The Time War Series 1 – Echoes of War

Hey Guys,

welcome to the second part Echoes of War from The Time War Serie with the Eight Doctor. This story starts in the same point were The Spaceship Thesus ended. The Doctor and the little group survived the crash of their ship and are stranded on a planet.

Can you outrun the war?

The group of people wanted to run from the time war just like the Doctor. But it seems that you can’t outrun it. The Planet were they landed is already one of the victims of the war. There are Time distortions in the jungle and they need to get to the safe zone. I really get why the Time Lords decided to fight this war. But I think like Rupa. Why do they have to rip the universe apart by doing it. They destroying so much and most of it is destroyed because of the Time Lords.

Big surprise

The Daleks were form the beginning one of the biggest enemies the Doctor had. Again and again he stood before them and tried to fight them. The Eight Doctor is one of the most extreme Doctors with his opinion about Daleks. Daleks are bad and never ever can they be good. There is nothing left that could be good in a Dalek. A good Dalek is something he can’t exceped. But here they found a defective Dalek. This Dalek doesn’t rememeber that it is infact a Dalek. He just remembers that he needs to survive. That is the Doctor using and makes sure that Dal helps them get to the safe zone.
I really love this bit. Because the others have problems with it. Because this is a Dalek helping them. Is there really nothing left that can be good in a Dalek?

One Point

There is one thing that I actually dislike on Echoes of War. On this planet are creatures that seems to mean them harm. They took people from the group. But you don’t know what happend to them – not really. For me the part were the Doctor and the others are captured by them and how they communicate and all that is just missing and you get thrown at the end and you think what just happend…
but apart from this the story is good and solid.

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March 8

DW: Flip-Flop

Hey Guys,

welcome to the 46th adventure Flip-Flop from the Big Finish Main Range. It is a story about the seventh Doctor and his companion Mel. It takes place on christmas in the year 3060 and 3090 at the planet Puxatornee. The Adventure has two parts. The first is the Black one and than we have the White one.

Peace at all cost?

The story is about a planet and his two groups of population of Puxatornee. There are the Humans that where there before and the Slithergees that needed a new home. The president of Puxatornee is making a deal with them, which changed the life on this planet.
Some people thing that this was a mistake. That a war with this species would have been better and what to use the TARDIS to change the past.

Change the past

This story is like already said about changing the past. Can you change the past and what happend when you do. What are the consequneces of this? The Doctor and Mel find themself of course in that trouble. They found themself in a circle that is changing again and again. Can this circle end and how does it end. Does the changes really changes anything?

Changes

The stories are really simular to each other because it only changes small things about the Doctor and Mel. But it is really interessting that the circle is never ending. There are two person that fight against the Slithergees and want to kill the president to make sure that they go to war in the first place. But when they get what they want they find the world way worse than what they had. These two in the time were the president died. They work for the new president and what to go back in time to stop the murder of the president. When they get the new world they thing it is even worse than it was what they had.

Listing or not

Flip-Flop is an interessting story that doesn’t offer us any solution and no answer what the real reality is. So I really like it. It don’t know how it is on DVD because I just has the story as a Download. In the Black version are 4 episodes and in the White version are the same four episodes but the last two are the first ones. It functions perfectly well.

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