The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast
- Description:
- Join us as we explore the written worlds of Doctor Who...
Homepage: http://dwbcp.libsyn.com
RSS Feed: http://dwbcp.libsyn.com/rss
- Episodes:
- 28
- Average Episode Duration:
- 1:20:28
- Longest Episode Duration:
- 1:47:47
- Total Duration of all Episodes:
- 1 day, 13 hours, 33 minutes and 8 seconds
- Earliest Episode:
- 25 April 2013 (9:20am GMT)
- Latest Episode:
- 30 March 2013 (9:36pm GMT)
- Average Time Between Episodes:
- 28 days, 21 hours, 16 minutes and 4 seconds
The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast Episodes
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Episode 27: The Scarlet Empress
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 19 minutes and 23 secondsThis March it’s all about Paul Magrs (pronounced “mars”, by the way). That means we’re serving up a whopping dose of gin and tonics with The Scarlet Empress, the novel that introduced the world to Iris Wildthyme. From the back cover:
Arriving on the almost impossibly ancient planet of Hyspero, a world where magic and danger walk hand in hand, the Doctor and Sam are caught up in a bizarre struggle for survival.
Hyspero has been ruled for thousands of years by the Scarlet Empresses, creatures of dangerous powers – powers that a member of the Doctor’s own race is keen to possess herself: the eccentric time traveller and philanderer known only as Iris Wildthyme.
As the real reason for Iris’s obsession becomes clear, the Doctor and Sam must embark on a perilous journey across deserts, mountains, forests and oceans. Both friends and foes are found among spirts, djinns, alligator men and golden bears – but in a land where the magical is possible, is anything really as it seems?
Feel free to email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com and follow us Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 26: White Darkness
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes and 15 secondsFebruary means Valentine’s Day, Gallifrey One, and, of course, zombies. Without further ado, we’re proud as peaches to present our release for this month, White Darkness by David A. McIntee. From the back cover:
‘We believe that death should always be a part of life.’
The Doctor’s last three visits to the scattered human colonies of the third millennium have not been entirely successful. And now that Ace has rejoined him and Bernice, life on board the TARDIS is getting pretty stressful. The Doctor yearns for a simpler time and place: Earth, the tropics, the early twentieth century.
The TARDIS lands in Haiti in the early years of the First World War. And the Doctor, Bernice and Ace land in a murderous plot involving voodoo, violent death, Zombies and German spies. And perhaps something else – something far, far worse.
In what has now become an annual tradition, this episode was recorded “live” at Gallifrey in Los Angeles with a special guest: longtime listener and co-host of The Doctor Who Podcast, Michele.
White Darkness is the first Doctor Who novel by David A. McIntee, who went on to write ten other novels, all in the different ranges of the series, including The Dark Path, which we reviewed back in Episode 8. He also authored some Big Finish stories as well a few stories in the range of Star Trek novels.
And finally, thank you to Siobhan Gallichan of The DWO Whocast and The Flashing Blade podcast for providing this month’s reading.
You can email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 25: The Ghosts of N-Space
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 22 minutes and 30 secondsIt is, or it was (sorry, people, we’re two days late) January, and that means it’s time for another Virgin Missing Adventure. This time around we discuss The Ghosts of N-Space by Barry Letts. Yes, that’s the same Barry Letts who was the television program’s show runner during much of the Pertwee era.
True to form, Letts penned this little tale featuring his favorite cast of characters: the Third Doctor, Sarah Jane, and the Brigadier. The novel is based on a radio play broadcast in 1995, a sequel to another play called The Paradise of Death. The story is nestled between the television stories “Death to the Daleks” and “The Monster of Peladon”, a time during the series when the Doctor was permitted to travel freely in his TARDIS, although he remains earthbound in The Ghosts of N-Space. From the back cover:
‘When the barrier gives way the planet will be flooded by all the evil in N-Space. And, at the moment, I have no idea how to stop it.’
Sarah Jane Smith, on holiday with her chum Jeremy and a bad case of writer’s block, is amazed to find the Brigadier in the same part of Italy. He is there to help a distant relative whose tiny island home has been threatened by American mobster Max Vilmio.
When the ghosts that haunt the island’s crumbling castle are joined by less benign spectres, the Brigadier summons the Doctor – who discovers that the whole of mankind is threatened by the plans of the ruthless Vilmio and his mysterious, hooded henchman.
This book was Letts’ first foray into writing a novel for Virgin, but it was not his last contribution to the wide range of Doctor Who original novels; in 2005 he published Island of Death, a BBC Past Doctors Adventure featuring, of course, the Third Doctor and Company.
Grab a nice Italian glass of red vino and sit back and relax as we review The Ghosts of N-Space!
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Episode 24: The Time Travellers
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 17 minutes and 36 secondsFor those of you that we’re sitting on the edges of your seat at the end of last month, waiting for December’s episode, we apologize that we’re a little behind. Occasionally real life does get in the way, and busy holiday plans on both our parts forced us to release the December episode a few days into January.
This month we present a discussion of The Time Travellers by Simon Guerrier, a BBC Past Doctors adventure featuring the First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian. From the back cover:
‘Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension, to be exiles?’
24 June, 2006. The TARDIS has landed in London. Ian and Barbara are almost back home. But this isn’t the city they knew. This London is a ruin, torn apart by war. A war that the British are losing.
With his friends mistaken for vagrants and sentenced to death, the Doctor is press-ganged into helping perfect a weapon that might just turn the tables in the war. The British Army has discovered time travel. And the consequences are already devastating.
What has happened to the world that Ian and Barbara once knew? Hoe much of the experiment do the Doctor and Susan really understand?
And, despite all the Doctor has said to the contrary, is it actually possible to change history?
The Time Travellers was Simon Guerrier’s first novel, and most recently he has written the New Series Adventures The Slitheen Excursion and the acclaimed The Pirate Loop, both featuring the Tenth Doctor. Aside from his work with the Doctor Who series, who also wrote novels for the shows Primevil and Being Human.
Questions? Email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com. Also catch us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 23: City of the Dead
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes and 48 secondsThe penultimate month of 2012 (because we love any chance to use the word “penultimate”) brings us City of the Dead by Lloyd Rose, an Eighth Doctor BBC Books novel. This was Rose’s first novel, before which she wrote for Homicide: Life on the Street. After the success of City of the Dead, she was asked to return for the Eighth Doctor series with Camera Obscura and for the Algebra of Ice, featuring the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and the Brigadier.
From the back cover:
‘Nothing can get into the TARDIS,’ the Doctor whispered. Then he realized that Nothing had.
New Orleans, the early 21st century. A dealer in morbid artefacts has been murdered. A charm carved from human bone is missing. An old plantation, miles from any water, has been destroyed by a tidal wave.
Anji goes dancing. Fitz goes grave-robbing. The Doctor attracts the interest of a homicide detective and the enmity of a would-be magician. He wants to find out the secret of the redneck thief and his blind wife. He’d like to help the crippled curator of a museum of magic. He’s trying to refuse politely the request of a crazy young artist that he pose naked with the man’s wife.
Most of all, he needs to figure out what all of them have to do with the Void that is hunting him down.
Before it catches him.
Voodoo, hoodoo, and mystery abound in this month’s selection, which is bound to go down a lot easier than last month’s. Be sure to grab a (cheap) copy and sit back and relax as we discuss The City of the Dead.
Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook, email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also, feel free to follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 22: The Pit
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes and 46 secondsTo celebrate Halloween, 2012, we discuss the mind-blowing and arguably frightening Virgin New Adventure, The Pit by Neil Penswick. From the back cover:
For two weeks now it has been the same message again and again, and it’s getting stranger; death and destruction, the end of all things, ARMAGEDDON.
In an attempt to lift the Doctor out of his irritable and erratic mood, Bernice suggests he investigates the mystery of the Seven Planets – an entire planetary system that disappeared without trace several decades before Bernice was born.
One of the Seven Planets is a nameless giant, quarantined against all intruders. But when the TARDIS materializes, it becomes clear that the planet has other visitors: a hit-squad of killer androids; a trespassing scientist and his wife; and two shape-changing criminals with their team of slaves.
As riot and anarchy spread on the system’s colonized worlds, the Doctor is flung into another universe while Bernice closes in on the horror that is about to be unleashed – a horror that comes from a terrible secret in the Time Lords’ past.
If you’re wondering who Neil Penswick is, then you’re not alone; this novel was his single contribution to Doctor Who canon. It was only after a little hunting that we were able to track down an interview with him (see the link on our blog page). To the best of our knowledge, he’s currently working in an office, so when it all comes down to it he has one up on me, as I’ve never even tried to publish a novel.
Email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, join us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 21: The Well-Mannered War
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 27 minutes and 15 secondsThis month we bring you our discussion of the Virgin Missing Adventure The Well-Mannered War by Gareth Roberts, author of two other Missing Adventures, The Romance of Crime and The English Way of Death, as well as the screenwriter for the television episodes “The Shakespeare Code”, “The Unicorn and the Wasp”, “The Lodger”, and “Closing Time”. From the back cover:
‘Destroy them! Destroy them all – now!”
Barclow – an Earth-type planet on the fringes of space at an inestimably distant point in the future. Two factions have laid claim to it: humans from the nearby colony world of Metralubit, and a small group of Chelonian troopers. But in nearly two hundred years of conflict not one shot has been fired in anger, there are regular socials in the trenches, and the military commanders are the best of friends.
The Doctor, Romana, and K-9, arriving in the midst of these bizarre hostilities, find there’s real trouble to come. A crucial election on Metralubit is looming, and K-9 is forced to begin a new career as a politician. Meanwhile, Romana meets an old friend and the Doctor discovers that a sinister hidden force may be attempting to alter the war’s friendly nature.
What are the plans of Galatea, leader of the beautiful but robotic Femdroids? Who is killing soldiers on both sides of the battle lines? And will K-9’s oratory save the day?
Just what is going on?
The “old friend” mentioned above happens to be Menlove Stokes, who previously appeared in Roberts’ The Romance of Crime. The Well-Mannered War is notable because it is the last of the Virgin Missing Adventures, published in 1997 as the BBC was preparing to publish its own series of novels featuring past Doctors and an entirely new series with the Eighth Doctor to replace Virgin’s New Adventures.
Pour yourself a tankard of Chelonian grog and sit back and relax as we discuss The Well-Mannered War!
Check us out on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, and email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com. Plus, be sure to follow Erik on Twitter via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 20: World Game
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 5 minutes and 29 secondsIf you’re looking for the tasty-goodness of a BBC Past Adventure, then you needn't wait much longer, as our next selection is World Game, a Second Doctor adventure by Terrance Dicks. From the back cover:
The Doctor has been captured and put on trial by his own people -- accused of their greatest crime: interfering with the affairs of other peoples and planets. He is sentenced to exile on Earth. That much is history. But now the truth can be told -- the Doctor did not go straight into exile. First the Time Lords have a task for him.
From the trenches of the Great War to the terrors of the French Revolution, the Doctor finds himself on a mission he does not want with a companion he does not like, his life threatened at every turn. Will the Doctor survive to serve his sentence? Or will this adventure prove to be his Waterloo?
Regardless of what you think of Terrance Dicks' talent as a writer, you have to admit that this one sounds pretty compelling. World Game is slotted nicely between "The War Games" and "Spearhead from Space", a moment in Doctor Who history some fans refer to as "Season 6B", a period created from the fallout over debates about exactly when "The Two Doctors" took place. (Jamie never travels alone with the Doctor, yet they do in "The Two Doctors"...so when in the name of canon did that story take place?)
Catch us on Facebook, email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite, and follow Sean via @tardistavern. Happy reading!
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Episode 19: War of the Daleks
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 18 minutes and 2 secondsThis month we bring you another John Peel selection, War of the Daleks, one of the earlier BBC Eighth Doctor selections. From the back cover:
[Warning: The back cover pretty much reveals the first half of the plot. We're including it here just because we don't want to break precedent. However, we recommend that if you wish to remain spoiler-free, jump past the italicized text below.]
The Doctor is repairing the TARDIS systems once again when it is swept up by a garbage ship roving through space, the Quetzel.
When another ship approaches and takes the Quetzel by force, the Doctor discovers that he and Sam are not the only unwitting travellers on board -- there is a strangely familiar survival pod in the hold. Delani, the captain of the second ship, orders the pod to be opened. The Doctor is powerless to intervene as Davros is awakened once again.
But this is no out-and-out rescue of Davros. Delani and his crew are Thals, the sworn enemies of the Daleks. They intend to use Davros as a means to wipe out the Daleks, finally ridding the universe of the most aggressive, deadly race ever to exist. But the Doctor is still worried. For there is a signal beacon inside the pod, and even now a Dalek ship is closing in...
You may remember when we reviewed John Peel's second Dalek novel, Legacy of the Daleks, back in Episode 7. If your memory doesn't cheat, you probably know that we don't have very high expectations of this month's entry, but it's important in that it's (1) the first original Dalek novel to be published since the television series was canceled in 1989 and (2) assuming you believe the novels are canon, it's a gigantic game-changer for the history of the Daleks (listen to our upcoming podcast for more details). Legacy of the Daleks followed it, and the BBC never again published a Dalek story for either the Eighth Doctor or Past Adventures ranges. (Some Dalek stories have been published in the New Series Adventures, such as Prisoner of the Daleks and I am a Dalek.)
Please don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern. Also, feel free to drop us a line at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com!
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Episode 18: The Dying Days
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 35 minutes and 13 secondsThis month we bring you yet another selection from Lance Parkin, this time a Virgin New Adventure: The Dying Days. From the back cover:
6 May 1997
The Dying Days of the Twentieth Century
On the Mare Sirenum, British astronauts are walking on the surface of Mars for the first time in over twenty years. The National Space Museum in London is the venue for a spectacular event where the great and the good celebrate a unique British achievement.
In Ardisham, Kent, the most dangerous man in Britain has escaped from custody while being transported by helicopter. In Whitehall, the new Home Secretary is convinced that there is a plot brewing to overthrow the government. In west London, MI5 agents shut down a publishing company that got too close to the top secret organisation known as UNIT. And, on a state visit to Washington, the Prime Minister prepares to make a crucial speech, totally unaware that dark forces are working against him.
As the eighth Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield discover, all these events are connected. However, soon all will be overshadowed.
This time, the Doctor is already too late.
The novel is unique in that it is the final Virgin New Adventure before they lost their license to publish Doctor Who books. It's doubly unique in that it is the only New Adventure featuring the Eighth Doctor, so it's a respite from the machinations and manipulations of Doctor Seven.
This is the third novel we've read by Lance Parkin (The Infinity Doctors and, of course more recently, Cold Fusion), and we both agree that he's an ambitious writer. We're looking forward to see what he can do with a story that is, on its face, not dissimilar to a Torchwood episode.
Don’t forget to catch us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 17: Cold Fusion
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 44 minutes and 51 secondsMay brings us snowstorms, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, the Fifth Doctor, and the Seventh Doctor in Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion, one of the later installments in Virgin's Missing Adventures series. From the back cover:
'The entire universe is at stake and I'm locked in here with another incarnation of myself, and not even one of the good ones.'
More than one TARDIS lands on a barren ice world. The fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find a once ordered society on the verge of collapse, as rebels wage a dirty war with Scientifica, the ruling elite. All that stands between order and anarchy is the massed presence of an Adjudicator peacekeeping force.
But is peace the only reason for the Adjudicator garrison? What exactly has been discovered deep beneath the planet's surface? Who are the mysterious Ferutu? And why is telling a ghost story a criminal offense?
The fifth Doctor sides with the cause of justice and fairness as always. But, as a threat to the universe unfolds, he finds himself in conflict with his past...and his future.
For continuity buffs, this story takes place between the television stories "Castrovalva" and "Four to Doomsday" and between the New Adventures Return of the Living Dad and The Death of Art. The back cover text seems to skirt around the fact that the Seventh Doctor and his friends are present in this story, but anything that is blatantly obvious by glancing at the front cover shouldn't be considered a spoiler.
We previously reviewed a Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors back in Episode 8. It can't be argued that Parkin is an ambitious author, and hopefully Cold Fusion will not disappoint. So sit back and enjoy!
Please join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Special Episode: An Interview with "Who is the Doctor" Authors Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 1 minute and 51 secondsWe interrupt our regular reviews of Doctor Who novels with an interview with Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?, authors of the recently released Who is the Doctor, an in-depth (and, wow, we mean really in-depth) assessment of the new series, from “Rose” all the way through to “The Wedding of River Song.”
In eight months, Graeme and Robert studied each and every story, taking notes on practically every aspect of the program, from those great punch-in-the-air moments to the awkward bits that don’t make much sense or, quite frankly, are just plain bad. It all culminated in 421 pages of literary goodness that will inspire and delight.
Please enjoy our interview with these fine gentlemen as we discuss Who is the Doctor. Also, remember to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, Erik via @sjcaustenite, Sean via @tardistavern, and Graeme Burk via @graemeburk.
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Episode 16: Business Unusual
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 31 minutes and 20 secondsThis month it’s Business Unusual by Gary Russell. From the back cover:
A security force with no official identity... a managing director with no name... a sinister creature on guard patrol resembling some kind of hellhound... SeneNet is no ordinary multinational company...
The Doctor arrives in Brighton, 1989, traveling alone. He soon discovers his old friend, the Brigadier, has gone missing investigating SeneNet, whose new interactive games console is soon to be released at an absurdly reasonable price. He was last seen at their headquarters — based in the picturesque Ashdown Forest...
Investigating further, the Doctor becomes more and more entangled in a deadly web of intrigue. Together with Mel, a plucky computer programmer from Pease Pottage, the Doctor must overcome the conspiracy of silence, rescue the Brigadier and save the world once again — something that would be a lot easier if he just know where to start...
This novel is of note for a couple of reasons. First, as you can likely tell from the back cover, it is the first appearance of Mel Bush, whose first meeting with the Doctor was (cleverly) overlooked in the television series.
Second, this is a sequel to the Virgin Missing Adventure The Scales of Injustice, also by Gary Russell. We talked about Scales way back in Episode 5, so you might like to take a gander at that before you listen to our review of Business Unusual.
Third, this novel, like its prequel, features the return of one of Doctor Who's recurring monsters. We won't tell you which, but if you go back and read the back cover very, very carefully you'll likely figure it out.
So quick! Grab Business Unusual and watch this spot for its release within a week or so. My crystal ball tells me this might be another polarizing episode, but I've been proven wrong in the past.
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Episode 15: The Crooked World
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 29 minutes and 53 secondsAs March closes, we are pleased -- and perhaps a bit giddy -- to present our review of The Crooked World by Steve Lyons (author of Conundrum, which we talked about back in Episode 6). Before we begin to tell you exactly why we both want to have a common law marriage with Mr. Lyons, perhaps you should first read the back cover:
The people of the Crooked World lead an idyllic existence.
Take Streaky Bacon, for example. This jovial farmer wants nothing more from life than a huge blunderbuss, with which he can blast away at his crop-stealing nemesis. And then there's Angel Falls, a racing driver with a string of victories to her name. Sure, her trusted guardian might occasionally put on a mask and menace her for her prize money, but that's just life, right? And for Jasper the cat, nothing could be more pleasant than a nice, long nap in his kitchen — so long as that darn mouse doesn't jam his tail into the plug socket again.
But somebody is about to shatter all those lives. Somebody is about to change everything — and it's possible that no one on the Crooked World will ever be happy again.
The Doctor's TARDIS is about to arrive. And when it does... That's all folks!
Please follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite, Sean via @tardistavern. Also join us on Facebook!
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Episode 14: Love and War
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 8 minutes and 40 secondsFebruary's episode is a very special one: we recorded during Gallifrey 23 with our good friend and listener Erika (known as @HollyGoDarkly on Twitter and the reader for our review of Alien Bodies). The three of us crowded around a single microphone in a lonely hotel room whilst the party started gearing up in the lobby downstairs. The topic: Love and War, the Virgin New Adventure by Paul Cornell. And, yes...there is a bit of a dip in the audio quality in this episode, but it was well worth the result in quality. From the back cover:
On a planet called Heaven, all hell is breaking loose.
Heaven is a paradise for both humans and Draconians -- a place of rest in more ways than one. The Doctor comes here on a trivial mission -- to find a book, or so he says -- and Ace, wandering alone in the city, becomes involved with a charismatic Traveller called Jan.
But the Doctor is strenuously opposed to the romance. What is he trying to prevent? Is he planning some more deadly game connected with the mysterious objects causing the military forces of Heaven such concern?
Archaeologist Bernice Summerfield thinks so. Her destiny is inextricably linked with that of the Doctor, but even she may not be able to save Ace from the Time Lord's plans.
This time, has the Doctor gone too far?
Please follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite, Sean via @tardistavern, and Erika via @HollyGoDarkly. Also join us on Facebook!
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Episode 13: A Device of Death
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 26 minutes and 49 secondsJanuary's review is A Device of Death by Christopher Bulis. From the back cover:
'As a member of an inferior race, you either work to serve the cause of Averon, or die.'
Sarah is marooned on a slave world where the only escape is death. Harry is caught in the middle of an interplanetary invasion, and has to combine medicine with a desperate mission. And the Doctor lands on a world so secret it does not even have a name.
Why have the TARDIS crew been scattered across the stars? What terrible accident could have wiped the Doctor's memory? And what could interest the Time Lords in this war-torn sector of space?
At the heart of a star-spanning conspiracy lies an ancient quest: people have been making weapons since the dawn of time -- but perhaps someone has finally discovered the ultimate device of death. A Device of Death is slotted nicely in between the television stories "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Revenge of the Cybermen," so presumably something goes haywire with the time ring provided to the Doctor and his friends. (Fun fact: this is Erik's favorite period of the show, so he is particularly looking forward to this one.) This episode will be the first in which we have a "repeat author"; we previously read Christopher Bulis' The Sorcerer's Apprentice for our first episode back in January of 2011, so in a way we've come full circle (yes, we've been doing this for a year, and we can hardly believe it ourselves). Although The Sorcerer's Apprentice is perhaps Bulis' best-known work, he also penned four other Virgin Missing Adventures, one for BBC's Eighth Doctor range, and five for BBC's past Doctors range. Thank you to those of you that have dedicated a year to listening to us, and we are looking forward to providing you with many more reviews in the year(s) to come. In the meantime, grab a cup of tea, sit back in your easy chair, and immerse yourself in A Device of Death.
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Episode 12: Atom Bomb Blues
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 19 minutes and 23 secondsBefore Sean switched on his randomizer to pick this month's selection from the proverbial hat, he had to think back about whether or not the BBC provided any past Doctor novels involving Christmas. Answer: They didn't. So, for December we present Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel. From the back cover:
Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1945. The Second World War is coming to its bloody conclusion, and in the American desert the race is on to build an atomic bomb.
The fate of the world is at stake -- in more ways than one. Someone, or something, is trying to alter the course of history at this most delicate point. And destroy the human race. Posing as a nuclear scientist with Ace as his research assistant, the Doctor plays detective among the Manhattan Project scientists, while desperately trying to avoid falling under suspicion himself.
As the minutes tick away to the world's first atom bomb blast, the Doctor and Ace find themselves up to their necks in spies, aliens of the flying-saucer variety, and some very nasty saboteurs from another dimension...
Published in November, 2005, this novel is the final installment of the BBC's Past Doctor Adventures. They had already begun releasing the New Series Adventures featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose months earlier, something of a death toll for the Past Doctor and Eighth Doctor series.
Author Andrew Cartmel is best known as the shows script editor from seasons 24 through 26 and for spearheading the "Cartmel Master Plan," which would have come to fruition in season 27, had the show not been cancelled. This would have involved peeling away much of the Doctor's mysterious persona and revealing much of his back story. They had barely touched the tip of the iceberg in "Silver Nemesis" by dropping hints that the Doctor harbored some deep, dark secret. This was continued in the Virgin New Series Adventures, particularly in the final Seventh Doctor installment, Marc Platt's Lungbarrow.
The BBC Past Doctor Adventures which feature the Seventh Doctor and Ace differ quite a lot from the Virgin New Adventures not just in the way they exclude characters like Roz and Chris (if one were to be a continuity hound, all of the Past Doctor Adventures would take place before all of the Virgin New Adventures), but they feature a Doctor and Ace who are less riddled with angst than we saw in a novel like Conundrum.
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Episode 11: Alien Bodies
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 47 minutes and 47 secondsFor November, 2011, Erik has chosen the epic Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles. Few books have such a brilliant reputation than this one, so we're looking forward to next month's recording. From the back cover:
On an island in the East Indies, in a lost city buried deep in the heart of the rainforest, agents of the most formidable powers in the galaxy are gathering. They have been invited there to bid for what could turn out to be the deadliest weapon ever created.
When the Doctor and Sam arrive in the city, the Time Lord soon realises they've walked into the middle of the strangest auction in history — and what's on sale to the highest bidder is something more horrifying than even the Doctor could have imagined, something that could change his life forever.
And just when it seems things can't get any worse, the Doctor finds out who else is on the guest list.
Alien Bodies is a milestone in the Eighth Doctor series because it introduces us to Faction Paradox, who became important later in the series. And this is just our opinion, but ten will get you twenty that Steven Moffat has been inspired by this one.
Lawrence Miles also penned the Interference books for the BBC New Adventures and Christmas on a Rational Planet for the Virgin New Adventures, among others. He has an infamous reputation in the fan community for being critical of the current series, but we really hope he doesn't burn any of his bridges: Alien Bodies could easily be an Eleventh Doctor story, and it could easily become the next Human Nature and find a slot in the series.
Please come and join us on Facebook follow us on twitter via @dwbcpodcast. You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 10: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 31 minutes and 7 secondsOctober's release, as our rotation of the series' dictates, will be a Virgin New Adventure chosen by Sean: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt (ISBN: 0-426-20365-8). Here's the blurb from the back cover:
You're on your own, Ace.
The TARDIS is invaded by an alien presence, and is then destroyed. The Doctor disappears.
Ace, lost and alone, finds herself in a bizarre deserted city ruled by the tyrannical, leach-like monster known as the Process.
Lost voyagers drawn forward from Ancient Gallifrey perform obsessive rituals in the ruins.
The strands of time are tangled in a cat's cradle of dimensions.
Only the Doctor can challenge the rule of the Process and restore the stolen Future.
But the Doctor was destroyed long ago, before Time began.
Hmm, sounds mysterious.
If Marc Platt sounds familiar, you likely know him as the author of the Seventh Doctor's televised serial, "Ghost Light." He also penned the Seventh Doctor's final adventure of the Virgin line, Lungbarrow, and Big Finish's Spare Parts. All that being said, we have some rather high expectations for this book.
Don't forget to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, or follow Erik via @sjcaustenite or Sean via @tardistavern. Feel free to contact us at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com.
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Episode 9: The Dark Path
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 21 minutes and 29 secondsFor September, we're back to more traditional fare with The Dark Path by David A. McIntee (ISBN: 0-426-20503-0), featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria, and a certain returning villain who shall remain unnamed but will be apparent by glancing at the cover. From the back cover:
"He's one of my own people, Victoria, and he's hunting me."
Darkheart: a faded neutron star surrounded by dead planets. But there is life on one of these icy rocks -- the last enclave of the Earth Empire, frozen in the image of another time. As the rest of the galaxy enjoys the fruits of the fledgling Federation, these isolated Imperials, bound to obey a forgotten ideal, harbour a dark obsession.
The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive to find that the Federation has at last come to reintegrate this lost colony, whether they like it or not. But all is not well in the Federation camp: relations and allegiances are changing. The fierce Veltrochni -- angered by the murder of their kinsmen -- have an entirely different agenda. And someone else is manipulating the mission for his own mysterious reasons -- another time traveller, a suave and assured master of his work.
The Doctor must uncover the terrible secret which brought the Empire to this desolate sector, and find the source of the strange power maintaining their society. But can a Time Lord, facing the ultimate temptation, control his own desires?
Hmm, sounds sexy.
David A. McIntee is perhaps one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novels, with a total of 12 under his belt, including The Face of the Enemy, Bullet Time, and The Shadow of Weng-Chiang. He has also penned two Big Finish releases.
Don't forget to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwpcpodcast, or follow Erik via @sjcaustenite or Sean via @tardistavern. Feel free to contact us at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com.
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Episode 8: The Infinity Doctors
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 32 minutes and 39 secondsAugust brings us The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin (ISBN: 0563-40591-0), quite an epic story which picks up the history of Gallifrey from where we left off in "The Deadly Assassin" and "Arc of Inifinity." From the back cover:
"Sing about the past again, and sing that same old song. Tell me what you know, so I can tell you that you're wrong."
Gallifrey. The Doctor's home planet. For twenty thousand centuries the Gallifreyans have been the most powerful race in the cosmos. They have circumnavigated infinity and eternity, harnessed science and conquered death. They are the Lords of Time, and have used their powers carefully.
But now a new force has been unleashed, one that is literally capable of anything. It is enough to give even the Time Lords nightmares. More than that: it is enough to destroy them.
It is one of their own. Waiting for them at the end of the universe.
The Infinity Doctors, published in 1998, was BBC Book's release to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Doctor Who. Author Lance Parkin has written a number of ground-breaking novels in the series, including the Eighth Doctor's final adventure, The Gallifrey Chronicles.
Thanks again for your lovely comments. You can email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com (Erik takes the time to answer each and every email). follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, and follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 7: Legacy of the Daleks
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 4 minutes and 22 secondsWhat steamy summer read do we have set for July? We're due for an BBC Eighth Doctor novel, and it's going to be Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel (ISBN: 0-563-40574-0), entry #10 in the Eighth Doctor series. It features the return of Susan, the Daleks (duh!), and a certain other character from the television series who I shan't mention (spoilers!). From the back cover:
England in the late 22nd century is slowly recovering from the devastation that followed the Daleks' invasion. The Doctor's very first traveling companion -- his granddaughter, Susan -- is where he left her, helping to rebuild Earth for the survivors. But danger still remains all around...
While searching for his lost companion, Sam, the Doctor finds himself in Domain London. But it seems that Susan is now missing too, and his efforts to find her lead to confrontation with the ambitious Lord Haldoran, who is poised to take control of southern England through all-out war. With the help of a sinister adviser, Haldoran's plans are already well advanced. Power cables have been fed down a mineshaft, reactivating a mysterious old device of hideous power. But has the Dalek presence on Earth really been wiped out? Or are there still traps set for the unwary?
The Doctor learns to his cost once again that when dealing with the evil of the Daleks, nothing can be taken at face value...
Have you ever noticed that there are very few Dalek novels in the entire range of Doctor Who novels, from the Missing Adventures on? As they are trademarks of the BBC, authors writing about them were legally obligated to pay a large portion of the book's proceeds to the BBC, so practically no one chose to write them. John Peel, as a close friend to Terry Nation, elected to pick up the gauntlet and wrote both Legacy of the Daleks and War of the Daleks. He also penned a number of Target novelizations of Dalek stories. I also can't help but feel tickled that he wrote novels for the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? series. (Now good luck getting the theme song from the TV show out of your head.)
Thank you for all of your lovely comments on Twitter and iTunes, and feel free to email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. Also, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
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Episode 6: Conundrum
Episode Duration: 57 minutes and 4 secondsOur June selection is Conundrum (ISBN: 0-426-20408-5), entry #22 from January 1994. This is a Virgin New Adventure by Steve Lyons featuring Ace and Bernice "Benny" Summerfield and a second encounter with the Land of Fiction, last seen in "The Mind Robber."* If you go here, you can read a prelude to the novel written by Lyons originally published in Doctor Who Magazine. From the back cover:
‘Doctor, we’re talking about an old man who used to dress up in a skintight white jump suit and fly around New York catching super-villains. Don’t you think there’s something just a bit unusual about that?'
A killer is stalking the streets of the village of Arandale. The victims are found one each day, drained of blood. And if that seems strange, it’s nothing compared to the town’s inhabitants.
The Doctor, Ace and Bernice think they’re investigating a murder mystery. But it’s all much more bizarre than that. And much more dangerous.
Someone has interfered with the Doctor’s past again, and he’s landed in a place he knows he once destroyed. This time there can be no escape.
We love "The Mind Robber," so we are totally, totally psyched to see what can be done with the concept of the Land of Fiction in the expanded parameters of a full-length novel. So, find a copy and read along, won't you?
*It's also the fourth book in the "Alternate Universe cycle," a continuing series of the New Adventures, but we don't think that will interfere with our enjoyment of it.
Thanks to everyone who's listening, and let us know what you think! You can send all feedback to dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, leave us a comment here, or catch us on Twitter: @dwbcpodcast, @tardistavern (Sean), or @sjcaustenite (Erik).
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Episode 5: The Scales of Injustice
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 16 minutes and 54 secondsThis is a Virgin Missing Adventure set between "Inferno" and "Terror of the Autons"* featuring the Third Doctor and Liz Shaw's second encounter with the Silurians...or homo reptilia, if you will. Plus, it's written by Gary Russell, so it looks like we're in for a bit of a treat.
'And what exactly, Doctor Shaw, do you think C19 does with the dead bodies of plastic dummies, reptile men, primordial throwbacks and all their human victims?'
A little boy goes missing; a policewoman begins drawing cave paintings; and the employees at the mysterious Glasshouse are desperate to keep everyone away — the Doctor suspects it's all down to a group of homo reptilia. His assistant, Liz Shaw, has ideas of her own and has teamed up with a journalist to search for people who don't exist.
While the Brigadier has to cope with UNIT funding, the breakdown of his marriage and Geneva's threats to replace him, the Doctor must find the reptiles alone.
And behind it all lies a conspiracy to exploit UNIT's achievements — a conspiracy reaching deep into the heart of the British Government.
We're big fans of Liz Shaw and the Silurians, so we're looking forward to diving into this tale. Join us, won't you?
*It's also set immediately after the VMA The Eye of the Giant, though I have no idea how important it is to know that.
That to everyone who's listening, and let us know what you think! You can send all feedback to dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, leave us a comment here, or catch us on Twitter: @dwbcpodcast, @tardistavern (Sean), or @sjcaustenite (Erik).
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Episode 4: Empire of Death
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 27 minutes and 26 secondsFor our April selection, our exacting scientific model has chosen Empire of Death by David Bishop! This novel is part of the BBC Past Doctor Adventure range and features the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, and a very special appearance by the ghost of Adric! Empire of Death (ISBN: 0-563-48615-5) was published in 2004 and is set between the televised stories "Timeflight" and "Arc of Infinity." From the cover:
In 1856, a boy discovers he can speak with the voices of the dead. He grows up to become one of England's most celebrated spiritualists.
In 1863 the British Empire is effectively without a leader. Queen Victoria is inconsolable with grief following the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert. The monarch's last hope is a secret seance.
The Doctor and Nyssa are also coming to terms with loss following the death of Adric and Tegan's sudden departure. Trying to visit the Great Exhibition of 1851, the time travelers are shocked when a ghost appears in the TARDIS, beckoning them to the other side.
What is hidden in a drowned valley guarded by the British Army? Is there life after death and can it be reached by those still alive? And why is the Doctor so terrified of facing his own ghosts?
Well, if that doesn't make you want to read along with us, I don't know what can. So, find a copy, and get started!
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Episode 3: The Eight Doctors
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 13 minutes and 32 secondsOur third selection marks our first venture into the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and it is....*cue fanfare* The Eight Doctors!!! Aren't you just thrilled?
The Eight Doctors (ISBN 0-563-40563-5) was written by one of Doctor Who's most important figures, Terrance Dicks, and was published in June, 1997. The first original Eighth Doctor novel, it tells of the Eighth Doctor's first adventure after the events seen in the TV Movie. From the cover:
'Trust the TARDIS...'
Recuperating after the trauma of his recent regeneration, the Doctor falls foul of a final booby-trap set by his arch-enemy, the Master.
When he recovers, the disorientated Doctor looks in a mirror and sees the face of a stranger. He knows only that he is called "the Doctor" — nothing more. But something deep inside tells him to trust the TARDIS, and his hands move over the controls of their own accord.
The TARDIS takes him to a strangely familiar junkyard in late-nineties London, where he is flung into a confrontation between local drug-dealers and Samantha Jones, a rebellious teenager from Coal Hill School.
But the Doctor soon finds the TARDIS transporting him to various other places in order in order to recover all his memories — and that involves seeing seven strangely-familiar faces...
After the heaviness of our previous selection, it seemed like a good idea to pick something lighter, and what could be lighter than the (we believe) last official multi-Doctor story to feature appearances by all of the Doctors?! So, find a copy and get reading. Episode three will be released sometime in mid-March.
You can send all feedback to dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, leave us a comment here, or catch us on Twitter: @dwbcpodcast, @tardistavern (Sean), or @sjcaustenite (Erik).
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Episode 2: Damaged Goods
Episode Duration: 1 hour, 6 minutes and 40 secondsAnd for our next selection...
Damaged Goods from 1996! (ISBN: 0-426-20483-2) Part of the Virgin New Adventures, this is part of the series of books written chronicling the Seventh Doctor's exploits after the end of the classic series. This novel takes place after Ace has stopped being the Doctor's companion and he is instead traveling with Chris and Roz--about whom I know very little, I admit.
So, why this one? Well, it was written by none other than...wait for it...Russell T Davies!!! Yes, this is your (only) chance to see how the man responsible for resurrecting Doctor Who wrote about a "classic" Doctor.
From the back cover:
Wherever this cocaine has travelled, it hasn't gone alone. Death has been its attendant. Death in a remarkably violent and inelegant form.
The Doctor, Chris and Roz arrive at the Quadrant, a troubled council Block in Thatcher's Britain. There's a new drug on the streets, a drug that's killing to a plan. Somehow, the very ordinary people of the Quadrant are involved. And so, amidst the growing chaos, a bizarre trio moves into number 43.
The year is 1987: a drug dealer has risen from the grave, and an ancient weapon is concealed beneath human tragedy. But the Doctor soon discovers that the things people do for their children can be every bit as deadly as any alien menace -- as he uncovers the link between a special child, an obsessive woman, and a desperate bargain made one dark Christmas Eve.
Doesn't that sound light-hearted and fun, children? Fair warning, I think this one may be a bit more on the "mature" end of things. We do hope you'll be able to procure a copy and read along with us.
You can send all feedback to dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, leave us a comment here, or catch us on Twitter: @dwbcpodcast, @tardistavern (Sean), or @sjcaustenite (Erik).
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Episode 1: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Episode Duration: 42 minutes and 4 secondsHello! We're Erik and Sean, and we've decided to start yet another Doctor Who podcast. Given that there are already more DW podcasts than there are companions, you may well wonder what the hell we're thinking.
Well, we're doing something a little different. We're not going to discuss the new episodes, or review classic stories, or do funny commentaries, or discuss Big Finish audios, and we're not even going to try to pretend to keep you informed on the news. Simply put, we want to look at the (non-canonical?) Doctor Who universe that's been created in books over the past 20 or so years by a vast array of talented writers and try to bring these books to a wider audience. A journey through space and time with no budgets to constrain and no unions to call a strike--sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it?
Never read a DW novel before? Neither has Erik. Long-time and devoted reader of the various series? So is Sean. Either way, you should read along with us for our first assignment and whenever you can thereafter. Speaking of which...
For our first selection, we've chosen The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Christopher Bulis (ISBN: 0426204476), a 1st Doctor story that was released in June 1995 as part of the Virgin Missing Adventures line, which featured stories about former Doctors that took place in the gaps between the continuity of the classic series. This story features the very first TARDIS crew (Ian, Barbara and Susan) and is set between the sadly lost "Marco Polo" and the very much still with us "Keys of Marinus."
Cover blurb:
‘There’s no such thing as magic,’ the Doctor said.
But the land of Elbyon might just prove him to be wrong. It is a place, populated by creatures of fantasy, where myth and legend rule. Elves and dwarves live in harmony with mankind, wizards wield arcane powers and armoured knights battle monstrous dragons.
Yet is seems that Elbyon has secrets to hide. The TARDIS crew find a relic from the thirtieth century hidden in the woods. Whose sinister manipulations are threatening the stability of a once peaceful lane? And what part does the planet play in a conflict that may save an Empire, yet doom a galaxy?
To solve these puzzles, and save his companions, the Doctor must learn to use the sorcery whose very existence he doubts.
Sounds fun, doesn't it? So, find a copy and read along.Please send feedback to dwbcpodcast@gmail.com and check out our blog page at http://dwbcpodcast.blogspot.com/. You can follow us collectively on Twitter (@dwbcpodcast) and you can follow Erik (@sjcaustenite) as well as Sean (@tardistavern).