I’m poor. Yes, recession has hit full swing, and it’s been a while since I splashed out on anything Who-related, but this release really tickled my fancy. Day of the Daleks was something of a disappointment to me as a kid, and to many of the interviewees on the documentaries too, apparently. I remember having the VHS bought for me at a second-hand market, and watching it with some skepticism. I could only have been eight or nine-years-old at the time, yet I couldn’t fail to be underwhelmed by this story. There were some ropey effects, an odd and inconsistent visual style, and worst of all – the Daleks seemed to be parodying themselves. “Who Ev-er is op-er-at-ing the time ma-chine is an en-em-y of the Da-leks…” And so forth.

This story continues to have its fans, but the good news is that included with this release is a second disc, featuring a brand-new, updated and improved version of this somewhat shoddy serial. Boasting several notable changes in its visual and auditory content, this reworked edition of Day of the Daleks is the definitive one. And don’t think that I hate everything about the original – I certainly don’t. But the enhanced special effects elevate it to a level that it would otherwise never have attained. For the purpose of this review, I shall look at the story through the various alterations that have been made for the Special Edition. Continue reading →

Many of you will no doubt be dubious about these two classic Cyberman serials, Revenge of the Cybermen and Silver Nemesis, which have been bundled together for this release. While I know they are not the most fondly-remembered stories, I think there is much to love about both of them. Firstly, I quite like the packaging, partly because I wasn’t expecting purple, but Blue. Clay is thinking, quite literally, outside the box. I like that. The individual covers for both stories are decent, too, even if Tom Baker does look a little crazy. Well, it’s hard to find a picture in which he doesn’t.

Revenge of the Cybermen, then. We’re back on that drab Ark in Space set again, and while I agree it was a good decision in terms of budget, to re-use it, they could have brightened it up a bit. Those white fairy lights hanging in front of the black cloth of ‘space’ are rather off-putting, too. I was soon put at ease by some first-rate acting by the beacon crew, headed by Ronald Leigh-Hunt. Apparent antagonist, Jeremy Wilkin also performs well as Kellman. I soon got very excited at the appearance of a Cybermat! I love the concept of the Cybermats, and their appearance in ‘Revenge’ drew me in. Similarly, the ‘plague’ effect, last seen in The Wheel in Space, is a nice visual reference to that golden oldie.

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Hello all. I’ve been very tied up lately, and don’t find very much time to write in-depth reviews. However, in the interest of aiding the fan community, I thought I’d give my thoughts on the recent Big Finish trilogy, comprising City of Spires, Wreck of the Titan and Legend of the Cybermen. Written by Simon Bovey, Barnaby Edwards and Mike Maddox respectively, these three stories will both evoke memories of the Troughton and 1980s Baker eras, and remind us all once again how well Colin Baker’s Doctor comes across in the audio medium.

It’s fair to say that the first two stories are heavily contextualised by the third. And while this might seem like a cheat, ‘Spires’ and ‘Wreck’ really work as seperate stories, out of this ‘arc’. It’s great to hear the kilt-clad highlander Jamie Mcrimmon opposite the Doctor again, and it’s not long before they’re plunged into the middle of an epic adventure. ‘Spires’ provides us with the first few clues as to what the trilogy is building to, but I can guarantee that at this point, you won’t know at all what is coming later. Seemingly set in the Scottish highlands, much like Jamie’s original debut story, Bovey seems to delve into subject matter far removed from what you might expect from this story initially, livening up what could have been a hollow romp. There are some unexpected twists that will again make more sense towards the end of ‘Legend’.

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You remembered me! Thank goodness for that. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have been completely erased from time. For the past few weeks, I have been otherwise occupied, almost being swallowed up by a huge crack in time. Yes, of course, I’ve just watched ‘The Big Bang’ – “…Bazinga!” – No, not that one! I mean the season finale of this latest series of Doctor Who. Before I go on, I should apologise for the total lack of structure within this post. I’d put it down to the temporal anomalies caused by the crack. That, or my laziness.

Steven was right, it wasn’t a “I didn’t see that one coming” kind of episode. It was a “If I’d payed more attention to the foreshadowing of that bit, I would have seen that coming!” kind of episode. After the triumph that was ‘The Pandorica Opens’, the Doctor sets about creating a time paradox to free himself from the Pandorica, scheming and plotting, just like the little Scottish one (sorry, Sylv). The concepts of time manipulation, previous events and, indeed, selves all playing a part in the story’s resolution was both fascinating and entertaining.

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