Comments | who_at_50: 41 Weeks to 50: Poll-of-Polls Countdown: The Witch Hunters

hammard in who_at_50

41 Weeks to 50: Poll-of-Polls Countdown: The Witch Hunters

Feb 09, 2013 21:02

Continuing my 50th Anniversary countdown of aggregated poll results for Doctor Who Books, TV Serials & Audio Dramas, with number 41:

( #41 Behind Cut )

50 years of who, first doctor, books, poll-of-polls countdown

Leave a comment

Back to all threads

swordznsorcery February 9 2013, 23:59:31 UTC

A very good book. Did surprise me at the time how dark it was, though! I'm used to knockabout adventure from that era of Who. Ian in a dungeon is nothing new, but Ian in a grimy, dark and depressing dungeon required a little mental adjustment!

I grew to love the BBC Books, but that slightly more adult tone always seemed a bit out of place with the earlier Doctors. It was pretty much the default setting for Eight from the start (TVM aside), but it was a surprise for his predecessors.

Mind you, having since seen "The Crusade", I realise that the darker stuff was there in the TV series as well. I just hadn't met it yet!

hammard February 10 2013, 09:13:20 UTC

Listen to The Dalek's Master Plan and The Massacre, they're pretty much on par with the level of grimness.

swordznsorcery February 12 2013, 23:20:50 UTC

Yes, I must do that. Both were good in their Target novelisation form, certainly; and "Master Plan" is fairly notorious for the Bret Vyon and Sara Kingdom storyline in particular. And, of course, poor Katarina.

[obligatory grumbling about deletion]

jjpor February 12 2013, 23:04:46 UTC

Agreed - things like The Massacre are pretty strong meat indeed for something like Doctor Who. I'm not sure the new series would dare do something so bleak without providing some sort of cop-out. Having said that, I know exactly what you mean about the BBC books (and indeed some of the Virgin ones that came before); I guess it was partly a response to the then-ageing fandom, and also to the trend in the 90s towards "dark'n'gritty" pop culture in general, but sometimes it is very jarring, even with later Doctors, but especially with One and Two where some books just seem to get the whole tone and ethos badly askew ( ... )

swordznsorcery February 12 2013, 23:31:58 UTC

Nothing wrong with epic replies! But yes, there's a lot that can be said about the BBC Books, and how well they did or didn't fit into the canon as a whole (inasmuch as there can ever be any "canon" for Who). I remember becoming quite frustrated with the Virgin books, as the swearing and violence seemed to be more for effect than necessity, and it just didn't seem like Who to me. There was less of that with the BBC range, but some authors still seemed to go too far at times. There's one book, "The Face of the Enemy" by David A. McIntee, where Ian believes Barbara to be dead, and tries to throw himself out of a window, feeling that life isn't worth living anymore. It might have made for a dramatic interlude, but it just didn't feel like either Who, or Ian Chesterton ( ... )

Back to all threads