Doctor Who Reviews: 'The History of the Doctor'

2007’s Blink may be the most highly regarded of all Ste-ven Moffat’s Doctor Who scripts – no small feat given that he could only use as much of the Doctor and the season’s budget as were absolutely essential. Yet that episode’s Weeping Angels were an instant hit with viewers; so much so that fans have been clamouring for their return ever since. Well now they’re back, and this time Moffat’s the one calling the shots, which means that he doesn’t have to be sparing with either the budget or his lead man...

Wowza! That was intense. The only thing that could possibly get me more excited than Churchill and the Daleks was River Song and the Weeping Angels, and whilst last week’s episode was a lot of fun, it is this sort of story that people remember. One criticism that I would make of the opening episodes of this series would be that Steven Moffat is such a masterful storyteller that he cannot cram an entire...

This weekend I will be tackling the Yorkshire “Three Peaks Challenge” (a 26-mile fell walk encompassing the peaks of three mountains: Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough). I’m hoping to complete the challenge in under ten hours (subject, of course, to the speed of my fellow walkers!)

The money that I raise through JustGiving will go straight to a small cats’ shelter in Sheffield. Cats are brilliant, as the Doctor would attest. At least, he would before New Earth...

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure that Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Paul Leonard’s Revolution Man stands out as one of the most controversial of the eighth Doctor’s adventures in print, not to mention one of the most alluring. The blurb is intriguing - the late 1960s settings are a really big draw, particularly as they examine the era in a way that the series never had done before - and, more principally, Black Sheep’s stylish and succinct...

Home Truths has proved to be one of the most popular Companion Chronicles released to date. It comes as no great surprise then that producer David Richardson was quick to commission Simon Guerrier to pen this follow-up tale, as well as the third and final instalment that’s presently in the works: the tantalisingly-titled Guardian of the Solar System. In many ways, The Drowned World is a natural extension of its predecessor, adhering to much the same structure, yet broadening the canvas considerably. The author’s...

I should start by saying that any story capable of tra- cing its origins to a dream about a microcosmic universe existing inside a tin of beans could do no wrong in my eyes. Even so though, I didn’t expect to be as blown away by this innovative and inspiring effort as I have been. Right from its opening moments, Ringpullworld has a suitably mischievous twinkle to it that sets it apart...

So what do I think of The Eleventh Hour? In a word, repeated thrice: Fun, fun, fun! Without wishing to sound syco-phantic, I never had any doubts about Matt Smith or Karen Gillan as the newest Doctor and companion team – yes, they are both practically kids, but since when is Doctor Who not a show for kids or kids at heart? And goodness did Steven Moffat’s first episode, The Eleventh Hour, speak to the kid in me...

19TH APRIL 2010

Somebody has given Nick Briggs control of The 7th Dimension, BBC7’s science fiction hour. It can be no surprise that Doctor Who is featuring prominently. Surprisingly though, we’re not getting broadcasts of Big Finish’s output, but instead the first ever radio-casts of the BBC’s readings of classic Target novelisations. Kicking off the run is Tom Baker’s...

When I first heard about Big Finish’s plan to bring the season that never was to the masses I was incredibly excited, but also a little uneasy. Superficially enthralling pitches such as Yellow and Fever and How to Cure It were nowhere to be seen in the planned list of stories, whereas many of the titles (or variations thereof) had long-since been ground into my brain through incessant re-readings of an old...

I could almost have cut and pasted my review for The Taint into this document, and you probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Whilst Michael Collier and Justin Richards’ consecutive novels are very different stories set in very different times, my observations on both the merits and the pitfalls of each are strikingly similar. To begin with...

I do love Mark Gatiss’s work. He has to be one of my favourite authors, both within Doctor Who and without. So it was something of a disappointment when his World War II-era script was dropped from the fourth series line-up. Thankfully though, he’s had the chance to visit the era again...

Victoria and a werewolf! Shakespeare and witches! Agatha Christie and a giant wasp! Let’s be honest, which other show can boast episodes with pitches as truly insane and delightful as those? My appetite was whetted for all of these, and I didn’t find myself disappointed and when I heard that Mark Gatiss - a man with novels the calibre of Nightshade and The Roundheads and audio dramas such as Phantasmagoria to his name - was going to be bringing us Churchill and Daleks....

It’s a British thing, Doctor Who; one of our proudest institutions. And Mark Gatiss’ latest script may be one of the series’ most adorably British yet. Here we have two cultural icons, equal and opposite – the very tough and very real erstwhile leader of the nation, and the machiavellian, fictional monsters that were inspired by the horrors of the war that he had to wage. Not too shabby a start, it has to be said...

Even now, while the eleventh Doctor enjoys his debut r-un of adventures on television, his tenth incarnation continues to explore time and space in IDW’s latest Doctor Who comic series. Called Doctor Who Ongoing by those in the know, and just Doctor Who on the cover, this continuing series of adventures is still going strong in the US. Over here in the UK, at least officially, readers have had to remain patient...

The Stealers from Saiph is a deceptively experimental release. To the casual observer, it’s a fairly typical Companion Chronicle – after all, it’s adventure featuring the fourth Doctor narrated by his then-companion, Romana - but upon closer inspection, it isn’t quite that straightforward. For the first time, we are presented with an adventure delivered exclusively by one narrator. An adventure without a frame. An adventure scripted by a figure who once sat at the heart...

Second episodes are tricky things, generally more diffi-cult than first ones. Thrilling audiences with brand new characters is one thing; proving that they can be engaging week after week is another. The Beast Below struggles to make the same impression as the breathless series opener The Eleventh Hour, but it is, nonetheless, a fine example of ‘bread and butter’ Doctor Who...

It’s interesting to see how Steven Moffat fares when compared to his predecessor, Russell T Davies, simply because no two other people have ever had such a role in the series before. We’ve had script editors who contribute regular scripts (Robert Holmes and Eric Saward, especially) but never before has the creative thrust of Doctor Who been channelled through one person quite so personally. From experience we know that Moffat is an excellent writer; he has served an unforgettable glut...

It would have been difficult for a season-opener to provoke a more favourable response than last week’s Eleventh Hour did. But as the first ‘regular’ episode to feature the new ensemble, The Beast Below had an altogether harder job. It had to maintain the pace without prolonging the peak. It had to prove that the new team can do just as exceptional a job with the ‘bread and butter’ episodes as they can do with those charged with hype...

Given the rapidly-mounting popularity of Big Finish’s Companion Chronicle range and the huge success of Helicon Prime specifically, the only thing that surprised me about the commissioning of this story was that it took so long. Not only is our Jamie McCrimmon one of the most popular companions amongst listeners, but Frazer Hines is able to deliver the most extraordinary interpretation of Patrick Troughton’s gravelly Doctor, making him the ideal candidate to spearhead a multitude of these exceptional audio books...

Scott Handcock’s Oracle of Delphi sees Benny and Jas-on visit Greece in 430 BC on a mission to save the Braxiatel Collection. However, the pair are soon separated as Jason goes skinny-dipping and Benny bumps into a little old codger…

Finally, after much anticipation, the era of the eleventh Doctor arrives. It’s been three months since we first met him, in the final moments of The End of Time, and a year longer since Matt Smith was first unveiled on Doctor Who Confidential. It’s strangely easy to empathise with young Amelia Pond, although at least it hasn’t been a whole twelve years between our first and second meetings with the new Doctor...

Working my way back through these early eighth Doctor adventures more than a decade after they were published, I’ve been really looking forward to getting up to Doctor Who and the Taint. Whilst it isn’t a great novel by any stretch of the imagin-ation, it was the story that introduced us to Fitz Kreiner – the eighth Doctor’s longest-serving and, I dare say, best-loved companion, who just last year was brought...

And we’re off! Forty-six and a half years since Doctor Who first graced British television screens, the show returns with a new thirteen-part season that nobody can agree what to call, but that everybody is excited about. There’ve now been more Doctors in the last fourteen years than there’ve been Nick Tilsleys, but never before has the arrival of an incoming Doctor given rise to such media fanfare. Even before Matt Smith was cast in the role...

Several things stood out when I was watching this episode and all of them put me in a far better mood than when I watched Rose way back in 2005. I am a huge fan of Tim Burton’s movies and I adore his whimsical and fairytale approach to storytelling, and Steven Moffat’s opening story for the eleventh Doctor positively glowed with the same youthful exuberance and dark fantasy. I spent the entire episode sitting there with a huge grin on my face and loved every second of it...

| | | | |

Typset in Arial, Assiduous, Baskerville, Cheltenham Bold, Dalek, Deviant Strain, Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed,

Gazz Regular, FuturaDisD, Morpheus, Secret Service Typewriter, Tahoma & Verdana.

This site is non-profit making and is not in any way affiliated with the BBC, BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS, FOX, PANINI, TARGET, TELOS or VIRGIN.

<a href="http://www.timelash.com/banners/click.php?to=1&from=42"><img width=468 height=60 border=0 src="http://www.timelash.com/banners/images/bannerexchange.gif" alt="The Doctor Who Banner Exchange"><br><small>The Doctor Who Banner Exchange @ Timelash.com</small></a>

Unless otherwise stated, all images on this site are copyrighted

to the BBC and are used solely for promotional purposes.