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Feb. 22nd, 2012 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nentariDoctor Who: Earthshock - Ian Marter
As I said in my previous post, Eric Saward is my least favourite Doctor Who figure ever, whether it is as a writer, a script editor, or as an overall human being. (If you wish to learn the reason for my problems with the guy beyond what I mention in my review of The Visitation, listen to episode No. 231 of the DWO WhoCast, where the podcast's presenters discuss Saward and his tenure in Who.) That said, I quite like Earthshock. Sure, it's got lots of flaws and it still displays several of the problems from Saward's era, but it's still one of the least objectionable scripts he wrote. Thankfully, the novelization was written by Ian Marter, whom the fans might remember best as Harry Sullivan, companion to Four and Sarah during Teeth-and-Curls' first season. He was awesome as a Doctor Who actor, and he remained awesome as a Doctor Who writer, with a writing style that evoked some grittiness and violence (his novelizations were clearly not for kids) that enriched rather than repelled, he made his own mark in the Target range and was always bound to add something new for those already familiar with the televised version of the stories he narrated. So, as you can imagine, he was the perfect person to re-work a Saward script. The story is still far from perfect, but Ian made everything in his power to correct Saward's excesses without changing the events. Alas, the Cybermen are still too emotional, but poor Ian couldn't work miracles - said emotions triggered some events, after all. However, thankfully he managed to add some layers into the characterization of Fivey and Adric, and the two of them felt a little easier to sympathise with and a little less bitchy.
Doctor Who: Time-Flight - Peter Grimwade
I've never seen the televised version of this story, but I had heard a lot of negative criticism about it. Sadly, this novelization did nothing to contradict said criticism - the plot is full of holes and it's filled with gratuitous stuff (Kalid should have been just Kalid, the rest was completely unnecessary). Unfortunately, the novelization is also a very poor one; again, I've never watched the serial, but the book feels like it's just describing the script without adding anything new to the story. I doubt I'll wish to revisit this one anytime soon.
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture - Robert Shaughnessy (ed.)
A series of essays about Shakespeare's influence in popular culture, from his days to the current era, and ranging on a series of themes, from a study of a 1960 BBC series about the historicals, to the tourist routes associated with the places where (it's claimed) he has been, to the importance of the DVD functionalities as an educational tool. As any compilation of texts by different authors, some essays are more interesting that others - the DVD one, for instance, I found a bit dry and dull, but I can see others finding it fascinating. A must-read for passionate Shakespeare lovers.
An Autobiography - Agatha Christie
Like Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is part of the list of authors I love to pieces. Her memoirs, written in 1965 (when she was in her seventies), are therefore an interesting view on what influenced her writing, as well as a fascinating narration of some key events of the 20th century - namely the two great wars and what it was like living in London during both. Disappointingly, Christie omits completely the most mysterious and intriguing event in her life - i.e., when she went missing, being later found in a hotel with no memory of what she did during that time (theories of what happened were worked on both Doctor Who and a movie starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman andspitting!Rassilon Timothy Dalton, but they're both just too delirious). It's understandable she wouldn't want to talk about it (especially if she really did lose her memory) but it would have been nice to have even a little acknowledgment of the incident.
As I said in my previous post, Eric Saward is my least favourite Doctor Who figure ever, whether it is as a writer, a script editor, or as an overall human being. (If you wish to learn the reason for my problems with the guy beyond what I mention in my review of The Visitation, listen to episode No. 231 of the DWO WhoCast, where the podcast's presenters discuss Saward and his tenure in Who.) That said, I quite like Earthshock. Sure, it's got lots of flaws and it still displays several of the problems from Saward's era, but it's still one of the least objectionable scripts he wrote. Thankfully, the novelization was written by Ian Marter, whom the fans might remember best as Harry Sullivan, companion to Four and Sarah during Teeth-and-Curls' first season. He was awesome as a Doctor Who actor, and he remained awesome as a Doctor Who writer, with a writing style that evoked some grittiness and violence (his novelizations were clearly not for kids) that enriched rather than repelled, he made his own mark in the Target range and was always bound to add something new for those already familiar with the televised version of the stories he narrated. So, as you can imagine, he was the perfect person to re-work a Saward script. The story is still far from perfect, but Ian made everything in his power to correct Saward's excesses without changing the events. Alas, the Cybermen are still too emotional, but poor Ian couldn't work miracles - said emotions triggered some events, after all. However, thankfully he managed to add some layers into the characterization of Fivey and Adric, and the two of them felt a little easier to sympathise with and a little less bitchy.
Doctor Who: Time-Flight - Peter Grimwade
I've never seen the televised version of this story, but I had heard a lot of negative criticism about it. Sadly, this novelization did nothing to contradict said criticism - the plot is full of holes and it's filled with gratuitous stuff (Kalid should have been just Kalid, the rest was completely unnecessary). Unfortunately, the novelization is also a very poor one; again, I've never watched the serial, but the book feels like it's just describing the script without adding anything new to the story. I doubt I'll wish to revisit this one anytime soon.
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture - Robert Shaughnessy (ed.)
A series of essays about Shakespeare's influence in popular culture, from his days to the current era, and ranging on a series of themes, from a study of a 1960 BBC series about the historicals, to the tourist routes associated with the places where (it's claimed) he has been, to the importance of the DVD functionalities as an educational tool. As any compilation of texts by different authors, some essays are more interesting that others - the DVD one, for instance, I found a bit dry and dull, but I can see others finding it fascinating. A must-read for passionate Shakespeare lovers.
An Autobiography - Agatha Christie
Like Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is part of the list of authors I love to pieces. Her memoirs, written in 1965 (when she was in her seventies), are therefore an interesting view on what influenced her writing, as well as a fascinating narration of some key events of the 20th century - namely the two great wars and what it was like living in London during both. Disappointingly, Christie omits completely the most mysterious and intriguing event in her life - i.e., when she went missing, being later found in a hotel with no memory of what she did during that time (theories of what happened were worked on both Doctor Who and a movie starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and
