Christmas 2013 DVDs

Better late than never: DVDs that were given to me for Christmas 2013.

Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2 DVD set

Enjoyed the first Kick-Ass enormously. Haven't yet seen the sequel, but with no Nicolas Cage, I'm already thinking it's not going to be as good. However, I won't really know until I watch it. must try to keep an open mind. On the plus side, Hit Girl is there!

 

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor DVD

Yes, it's a bit silly, but I still loved it. Even more so on second viewing. Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt and Billie Piper are all excellent. Clearly, you're never going to please everyone with an anniversary story: there's always going to be something that'll irk you. For me, I've never much liked the Zygons and I wasn't looking forward to their reappearance in the show. However, this is an entertaining romp and is a story that I'll more than happily return to.

Trouble with the Curve DVD

I've always liked baseball movies and this was no exception. Clint Eastwood plays a baseball scout who is slowly losing his sight. Despite this, he is not convinced that the next big hitter that his club are itching to sign is all he's cracked up to be. His daughter, played by Amy Adams, reluctantly joins him on the road. Good performances all round. However, the rushed resolution to the romantic sub-plot was a little grating.






An Adventure in Space and Time DVD

Back to Doctor Who with Mark Gatiss' superb drama about the beginning of our favourite show and, specifically, about the first actor to play the Doctor, William Hartnell. A real treat for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

Man of Steel DVD

Although I like super-hero films, I'm not a huge Superman fan. He just has too many super powers for my liking. I'm still looking forward to seeing this reboot, though as it seems to have been well received.


Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Magazines

50 Years of Doctor Who (front cover)

 





50 Years of Doctor Who (back cover)

Perhaps a little pricey at £9.99 but 50 Years of Doctor Who is a beautifully laid out publication packed with informative articles about each actor playing the Doctor in the television series (including Peter Capaldi) along with articles about scripting for each incarnation. The magazine is edited by Marcus Hearn and contributors include Andrew Cartmel, Jonathan Rigby and Chris Bentley. There's also an interview with Mark Gatiss, writer of the excellent An Adventure in Space and Time.





Doctor Who Magazine issue 467 (envelope front cover)

 

 

Doctor Who Magazine issue 467 (front cover)

 

Doctor Who Magazine comes in a neat package for its souvenir issue. Priced at £7.99, its contents are contained in an illustrated sturdy envelope. It almost feels wrong to break the seal, but it has to be done. Inside we have our regular DWM goodness with reviews, letters, comic strip and time team. And then there are the features with quite a bit focusing on the show's early days. There's the first part of an in-depth article about Anthony Coburn, writer of the very first story and a look at that story's early drafts. 

As for the present era, there's a preview of 'The Day of the Doctor' as well as interviews with Matt Smith and David Tennant together and Jenna Coleman. Tons of stuff to read, really. Great stuff!

 

 

 

 

Tucked away inside our envelope is this treat. The first anniversary of 'Doctor Who' was celebrated in this 1964 issue of DWM. Not a spoof. No, sir. And the back cover:

 

 

 

It's all in the cards with this artwork and info with a card for each Doctor also in the DWM envelope.

 

 

 

50 Amazing Years of the Doctor





At £3.99 and not towing the party line is 50 Amazing Years of the Doctor from horror magazine, 'The Dark Side'. This is an unashamedly nostalgic look back at the show and features a great interview with Tom Baker. Also among the goodies here is Marcus Hearn who talks about his new book 'The Vault' and a look at the two films featuring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.









Doctor Who: The Light at the End (Limited Collector's Edition - CD)

The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who brings a treat from Big Finish with a multi-Doctor adventure available in three editions: a limited collector's edition CD (which is the one I have); the standard CD edition; and a vinyl edition. The CD editions are also available to download.

So, what do we have in this delicious collector's CD edition? Well, there are a total of five discs featuring the adventure itself on discs one and two. Disc three has a 'making of' documentary; disc four brings us another documentary: Doctor Who at Big Finish; disc five is an entry in the Companion Chronicles series called 'The Revenants' which features William Russell.

This limited collector's edition CD set is presented in a book-size hard shell slip case. This is individually numbered with total copies pressed being 10,000.

Inside the shell is a hardcover book which houses the discs and some excellent photographs and artwork featuring various Doctors, companions and others. A taste of these follows:

The Three Doctors

Grand Companions

Doctors United

DVDs I Got For Christmas 2010

Just finished unwrapping my Christmas presents which included some DVDs. Love getting DVDs!

Doctor Who - Kamelion Tales I love my Doctor Who and the two stories contained in this set (Planet of Fire and The King's Demons) are two that I've not seen since they were originally transmitted. Planet of Fire marked Nicola Bryant's debut in the show and this set also includes a special edition of this story. I liked Peter Davison as the Doctor and I hope he takes part in the audio commentaries: he's usually good value in them.

Being Human (Series One) and Being Human (Series Two) 
I had mentioned these show in my review for the SFX Vampire Special magazine earlier this year. However, I'd not previously seen the programme. To put that right, I rented both series, but my series two experience was ruined because the second episode would not play properly (the disc was very badly scuffed). I knew enough by that time, though, that this would be a show that I could happily watch again. And now, thanks to my generous brother, I can!

Audiobook Review: Doctor Who - The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole

Doctor Who - The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole (Rating: 3/5)

The Doctor and Amy arrive on Orkney in the near future. The locals are involved in a protest against a power generating company over the erection of unsightly electricity pylons. As it turns out, these are no ordinary pylons and this is no ordinary power company. At the protest site, the road ruptures for no apparent reason, swallowing several demonstrators into the resulting chasm. Amy and the Doctor are separated by this incident. To make things worse, the pylons are coming to life . . .

Arthur Darvill’s steady yet compelling delivery of Stephen Cole’s prose is one of the highlights of this release. He certainly has some fun with the Scottish accents that, given the story’s location, are to the fore. He is also spot-on with the eleventh Doctor’s manner of speech. The descriptive prose is nicely evoked with plenty of alliterative phrases adding to the pleasing narration. The sound effects that accompany the narration give the story some additional oomph without becoming overbearing to the listener.

Book Review: Doctor Who - Nuclear Time by Oli Smith

Doctor Who - Nuclear Time by Oli Smith (Rating 2/5)

I read this novel twice. This was not because I enjoyed it so much that I had to go back for a second helping, though. No, the reason for the repeat was that I found the narrative too complicated to cope with first time around. Unfortunately, the second attempt proved to be just as confusing. The source of my bewilderment is the Doctor’s yo-yo time line in this story.

Now, I know that this novel has received a good number of favourable reviews, and I’m perfectly happy to accept that the fault for my bemusement is my own: plenty of other readers have not had a problem with the story’s non-linear structure.

Magazine Review: SFX Special Edition - Vampires the Ultimate Undead Celebration

SFX Vampires - Front

“Any money left after buying this magazine?” Well, considering that this tasty offering will set you back almost £8, it’s a fair question. It’s asked on a page of this magazine which gives examples of the sort of vampire merchandise you may be interested in. A vampire Willow figure, perhaps? Or what about a Bela Lugosi Dracula figure? I believe the price of the usual monthly SFX magazine is £3.99.  Perhaps the doubled price for this special is because of the plethora of free gifts that accompany this publication.

SFX Vampires - Back

SFX Vampires Magazine

Being Human Coasters

Classic Vampire Tales

Vampire Lovers Poster

In all fairness, this is an attractive package. The sturdy card envelope contains the magazine, a book and some poster art - all good. The stuff that I could have done without are four rather cheap-looking coasters featuring portrait art of the characters from Being Human, and a coffin which you can assemble from pop-out cardboard, “If one of your Star Wars figures is looking a bit worse for wear why not put him or her in their very own little coffin?” the magazine asks. But, really, why would you? The free book is a collection of short stories about vampires and is a little over 100 pages in length. Amongst the writers in this collection are HP Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. As I mentioned earlier, there is also some poster art. It’s double-sided, too. One side features artwork from Hammer’s Vampire Lovers which I like very much. The other side has artwork for True Blood.

Book Review: Doctor Who - The King's Dragon by Una McCormack

Doctor Who - The King's Dragon by Una McCormack (Rating: 4/5)


The pre-industrial city of Geath comes as something of a surprise to Amy. Her preconception about alien planets is that they come complete with flying cars and rockets. The Doctor is surprised for another reason. Geath is famed for its hospitality towards strangers, but when they arrive at the city’s gated entrance, the Doctor, Amy and Rory find it locked. However, our heroic trio gain access thanks to the always handy psychic paper.

Inside the city, the Doctor receives another bolt from the blue. Geath’s fiercely democratic traditions have been usurped by the arrival of a king. And with the king comes a golden statue of a dragon. It soon becomes apparent that this dragon is the cause of Geath’s new introspection. The dragon emits an illicit substance called Enamour: a spangly material that induces feelings of wealth and well-being in its owners.

Recent Book and Magazine Buys

I admit it: I’m addicted to buying books and DVDs. One of this blog’s uses will be as a kind of shopping diary. This entry is for some of my recent book and magazine buys. Buying these books and magazines doesn’t necessarily mean they will get read anytime soon. Like most book buying addicts, I have a mountain of a “to be read” pile.

DOCTOR WHO - THE KING’S DRAGON by Una McCormack

I have read this novel and I thought it was pretty good. A review is imminent. The Doctor, Amy and Rory visit Geath, a town and pre-industrial society on an alien planet. Geath is known for its hospitality, so the Doctor is surprised to find the town locked. Furthermore, the inhabitants' fabled hospitality seem to have been replaced by materialism.

DOCTOR WHO - NUCLEAR TIME by Oli Smith

A tale of androids, nuclear attack and weird timelines. The reviews I’ve read have been favourable, but I have to confess that on first reading I didn’t enjoy this novel very much. However, this maybe my fault because I read it in very small chunks over several evenings. I think this is a story that needs more concentration than I have given it, so I am currently re-reading this book.

DOCTOR WHO - THE GLAMOUR CHASE by Gary Russell

I haven’t read this yet, but Gary Russell usually delivers the goods with his Doctor Who novels. The plot involves an archaeological dig in 1936 that unearths relics from another planet. But why has Rory never heard of this momentous event? And why does Amy suddenly think the Doctor comes from Mars? Sounds intriguing and I’m looking forward to reading this.

STEPHEN ROMANO’S SHOCK FESTIVAL

“One hundred and one of the strangest, sleaziest, most outrageous movies you’ve never seen.” The reason you’ve never seen them is that they don’t exist! Full of fabulous poster art and text for a ton of non-existant exploitation films, this is a big (too big to fit properly in my bookcase), heavy tome. A DVD set featuring mock trailers for these gems is also available. Some examples of the titles found within this book’s pages are: They Made Me - “Sweet Cindy was an innocent teenage runaway. She was about to learn the facts of life the hard way from the Sisterhood of the Scar!” Then there’s Inferno of the Nazi Witch Hunters - “The hell of the Third Reich is about to get a lot hotter.” And who wouldn’t want to see a film called Berserk Joe and Unfriendly Flo?