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

Comments 19

jjpor February 9 2013, 21:20:19 UTC

Thanks for posting. :) I've read this one, and I agree it's pretty good indeed, and a good use of the straight-historical format that really died out after the One era. Well, there was The Highlanders, I guess, but the historicals era was really done by then.

This, though:

This is the only story containing the First Doctor to break into the top 50

This frankly astonishes me. Oh, fandom... ;D

hammard February 9 2013, 21:41:39 UTC

I really like it as well, definately my favourite of the PDA range.

I almost feel it's a shame the pure historicals disappeared with Hartnell, so many were really good. The Highlanders isn't really a historical anyway, just an adaptation of Kidnapped.

I really like Hartnell myself, I recently did my own top 50 and he had the most with 10. I think a lot of newer fans find his stories too slow and drawn out.

There is another Doctor on the list who also only has 1 story (and it's not who you might think).

jjpor February 9 2013, 22:16:32 UTC

My favourite PDA is Festival of Death, but mainly because I'm a hardcore Four/Romana(s) fan, so I'm biased. But this one is definitely up there ( ... )

livii February 9 2013, 22:30:14 UTC

I consider any story with no aliens (other than the Doctor! ) a historical, and I truly mourn them. You are so right about Vincent and the Doctor ...what could have been!

I'm really sad to see this is the only First Doctor story ...also I should get my hands on this book, since I'm a PDA fan even without the historical bonus!

Thread 10

meatball42 February 9 2013, 21:22:39 UTC

Thank you so much for posting these :) I've never heard of most of them, but some are quite interesting. As a purely New Who fan, Classic has always seemed so inaccessible to me, but these books and episodes are a great place to start.

jjpor February 9 2013, 22:18:21 UTC

Well, I hope Hammard's excellent posts inspire you to take the plunge. I can understand how the original series might seem a daunting prospect from the point of view of a fan coming purely from the new era, but it's well worth the effort of making yourself acquainted with it, I think. It always keeps surprising you, at any rate. :)

a_phoenixdragon February 9 2013, 23:58:01 UTC

Ohhhhh...marvelous! Need to get ahold of this!

jjpor February 12 2013, 22:56:56 UTC

You should. :)

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 ( ... )

Thread 5