Weekly Update
General News
Well, back at school again, which means progress through things here is going to slow down as per usual. We were hoping Blue Box Boy would arrive before I came back, but since this is an overseas shipping thing, it really doesn't surprise me that it's "late." Still, I somehow had more room in my backpack and suitcase coming back than I did going home, so I was able to slip in my new Who DVD collection (consisting currently of 4 serials and Lost in Time). It wasn't until I put them on the shelf that I realized that Black Orchid is the only color Classic DVD I own at the moment (not counting the serials I've bought off iTunes, all of which are in color).
Sometime yesterday I made a breakthrough in The Mazes of Time (that new iPod game) and have been playing it for most of today, battery power permitting. If I beat it before March, I might be reviewing it for the next Terrible Zodin. It seems to come in three main stages: Cybermen, Silurians, and Daleks. I beat the Cybermen stage today, which actually featured a segment that took place in the tombs on Telos from Tomb of the Cybermen which seems to have become overrun by Cybusmen in recent millennia. The Silurians stage is proving a bit frustrating because there's a LOT of moving panels and falling into lava pits seems to happen to me every two minutes. Still, I like how the learning curve gradually increases as the game goes on. Keeps things from getting too repetitive and presents new challenges every few levels (let me tell you, learning that you can zap Cybermen by standing on floor panels is surprisingly satisfying).
Overall, if you like puzzle adventures and have a few bucks to spare on iTunes, it's really not too shabby.
Audio Dramas
Still in Six/Evelyn-land, mostly, although I also listened to Forty-Five and finally had my first proper story with Hex (I'd run into him once before in a cameo in one of the only stories I've made it through in Short Trips: Dalek Empire). He sort of reminds me of Jamie a little, but maybe it's just the accent. Or maybe it's that he also has a way of being adorably bewildered, and I'm interested to see where (if anywhere) his infatuation with Ace goes. On another note, Nobody No-one. Ho-ly. Frigging. Crap. This is the kind of villain that would make the Moffman himself blush. He's one sneaky devious pandimensional bastard, but sweet holy hell is he inventive.
But yes, I was talking about Six and Evelyn. It's official: this is the Six they were going to work up to in their original "peel back the layers" device for the TV series. I'd heard many a time that Six's audios were some of the best, and now I'm really experiencing it. I got through Jubilee which, I'll admit, was pretty disturbing, but Rob Shearman seems to be really good at morbidity. I'd read that this was his source material for the New Who episode Dalek, so it was fun to spot the similarities and differences, of which there were a LOT. In the audio, the main plot was figuring out what was up with this crazy dystopian 2003 they'd landed in, but the episode just took the thread about the imprisoned Dalek who bonds (as much as you can with Daleks) with the Doctor's companion and gains a sense of semi-individuality that it ultimately acts on. I kept wondering if there was going to be an original variation on the "ARE. YOU. FRIGH-TENED. ROSE. TY-LER?" "Yes." "SO. AM. I." line, and there was, except it was more like "ARE. YOU. FRIGH-TENED. EVE-LYN. SMYTHE?" "Yes." "DO. NOT. BE. A-FRAID."
And now there's Arrangements For War. I'm not sure how much more I can gush over Six and Evelyn's relationship without sounding like a broken record, but I love them. So much. Here, I particularly loved how the opening scene was an examination of the Doctor's alien nature when it came to death and grieving and how his companions dealt with it. It bugs me how those kinds of themes were hinted at every once in a blue moon in Classic Who but were never properly discussed (that scene from the beginning of Time-Flight I loathe so much could've been excellent if they'd gone in this direction instead of trying to sweep everything under the rug). I'm only about halfway through Arrangements at the moment, but I'm loving it so far.
Upcoming Commentaries
I'm smack in the middle of The Faceless Ones at the moment, which will progress into Evil of the Daleks and so forth. Evil is 7 episodes long, so I won't be surprised if it doesn't turn up here until next week.
Well, back at school again, which means progress through things here is going to slow down as per usual. We were hoping Blue Box Boy would arrive before I came back, but since this is an overseas shipping thing, it really doesn't surprise me that it's "late." Still, I somehow had more room in my backpack and suitcase coming back than I did going home, so I was able to slip in my new Who DVD collection (consisting currently of 4 serials and Lost in Time). It wasn't until I put them on the shelf that I realized that Black Orchid is the only color Classic DVD I own at the moment (not counting the serials I've bought off iTunes, all of which are in color).
Sometime yesterday I made a breakthrough in The Mazes of Time (that new iPod game) and have been playing it for most of today, battery power permitting. If I beat it before March, I might be reviewing it for the next Terrible Zodin. It seems to come in three main stages: Cybermen, Silurians, and Daleks. I beat the Cybermen stage today, which actually featured a segment that took place in the tombs on Telos from Tomb of the Cybermen which seems to have become overrun by Cybusmen in recent millennia. The Silurians stage is proving a bit frustrating because there's a LOT of moving panels and falling into lava pits seems to happen to me every two minutes. Still, I like how the learning curve gradually increases as the game goes on. Keeps things from getting too repetitive and presents new challenges every few levels (let me tell you, learning that you can zap Cybermen by standing on floor panels is surprisingly satisfying).
Overall, if you like puzzle adventures and have a few bucks to spare on iTunes, it's really not too shabby.
Audio Dramas
Still in Six/Evelyn-land, mostly, although I also listened to Forty-Five and finally had my first proper story with Hex (I'd run into him once before in a cameo in one of the only stories I've made it through in Short Trips: Dalek Empire). He sort of reminds me of Jamie a little, but maybe it's just the accent. Or maybe it's that he also has a way of being adorably bewildered, and I'm interested to see where (if anywhere) his infatuation with Ace goes. On another note, Nobody No-one. Ho-ly. Frigging. Crap. This is the kind of villain that would make the Moffman himself blush. He's one sneaky devious pandimensional bastard, but sweet holy hell is he inventive.
But yes, I was talking about Six and Evelyn. It's official: this is the Six they were going to work up to in their original "peel back the layers" device for the TV series. I'd heard many a time that Six's audios were some of the best, and now I'm really experiencing it. I got through Jubilee which, I'll admit, was pretty disturbing, but Rob Shearman seems to be really good at morbidity. I'd read that this was his source material for the New Who episode Dalek, so it was fun to spot the similarities and differences, of which there were a LOT. In the audio, the main plot was figuring out what was up with this crazy dystopian 2003 they'd landed in, but the episode just took the thread about the imprisoned Dalek who bonds (as much as you can with Daleks) with the Doctor's companion and gains a sense of semi-individuality that it ultimately acts on. I kept wondering if there was going to be an original variation on the "ARE. YOU. FRIGH-TENED. ROSE. TY-LER?" "Yes." "SO. AM. I." line, and there was, except it was more like "ARE. YOU. FRIGH-TENED. EVE-LYN. SMYTHE?" "Yes." "DO. NOT. BE. A-FRAID."
And now there's Arrangements For War. I'm not sure how much more I can gush over Six and Evelyn's relationship without sounding like a broken record, but I love them. So much. Here, I particularly loved how the opening scene was an examination of the Doctor's alien nature when it came to death and grieving and how his companions dealt with it. It bugs me how those kinds of themes were hinted at every once in a blue moon in Classic Who but were never properly discussed (that scene from the beginning of Time-Flight I loathe so much could've been excellent if they'd gone in this direction instead of trying to sweep everything under the rug). I'm only about halfway through Arrangements at the moment, but I'm loving it so far.
Upcoming Commentaries
I'm smack in the middle of The Faceless Ones at the moment, which will progress into Evil of the Daleks and so forth. Evil is 7 episodes long, so I won't be surprised if it doesn't turn up here until next week.