A great gift for any Dr Who fan!

My son aged 10 is heavily into Dr Who and was dying to get this annual. He was impressed by this new one and found it both interesting and entertaining. Although a cheap gift he rated it above some of the PS2 games he was given!!! Would recommend this annual for any Dr Who fan.

"Hooray!"

A fascinating insight into the mind of a TV writer. I hadn't realised that RTD worked so hard - heavily rewriting almost everyone's scripts (apart from Steven Moffat's) including the much lauded Human Nature/Family of Blood.

What I also found interesting about this collection of emails between RTD and Benjamin Cook is that it could almost be said that RTD was using the exchange as therapy - who could have thought that the talking head crying"Marvelous!" and"Hooray!" during Doctor Who Confidential was so wracked with self doubt and self criticism during the creative process? Whatever you may personally think about the episodes he wrote, reading this will give you massive respect for the man.

Despite Russell's disclaimers in the text, in my opinion this book would be useful for *all* budding writers, even if they have no interest in Doctor Who...

An enjoyable collection of Doctor Who stories

The Doctor Who Storybook from Panini Books is good value for money. There are seven text stories and one comic strip, all illustrated in full colour by different artists. With stories written from some of the television series writers, the Doctor and Donna have been captured perfectly and it is easy to imagine the characters enacting the parts described in the text. This book comes highly recommended and is a suitable companion to the Doctor Who AnnualThe Official"Doctor Who" Annual ("Doctor Who").

lost in escher

following on from the talking book doctor who: pest control, which had david tennant reading an original doctor who story and doing lots of different character voices, it's now catherine tate's turn to do one.

like pest control, this is spread over two discs, each running for roughly one hour and ten minutes. there are no episode breaks in the middle of these discs, although there are chapters for ease of access, so essentially this is in two long episodes. the first does end on a cliffhanger.

the story involves the doctor and donna getting stuck in the edifice, a huge apartment block come space station. the place has dissolved into chaos as all the other residents, including some highly unusual aliens, are fighting amongst each other. can the doctor and donna find who runs the place and save the day?

catherine tate has an excellent reading voice and is good to listen to. she does a very good impression of david tennant as the doctor, and there was one point early on when I forgot it wasn't him speaking. she also does voices for many other characters. some of the male ones are a bit obvious but some of the alien ones are very imaginatives and work very well.

the story scores over pest control in that it's a bit more imaginative, both in the unique setting and the highly unusual aliens the doctor and donna meet on their way.

this possibly would be even stronger a piece of work if it was shorter, but that's a minor complaint as it's both an entertaining doctor who story and an enjoyable listen, thanks to the writer and the reader

Creepy crawlies, centaurs, killer robot and war...how can you go wrong?

Audiobooks are a great thing. Only recently, have I started getting into them, when the Radio Times gave away free copies of Dr. Who: The Resurrection Casket (without any background music/sound effects). Interested, I put it on my iPod and really enjoyed listening to it.

Wanting to listen to more audiobooks as a result, I learned of Dr. Who: Pest Control (written by Peter Anghelides) and decided to give it a hear. And yet again, I really enjoyed listening to an audiobook and putting it on my iPod.

Set sometime during Series 4 of the TV series, the Doctor and Donna Noble arrive on a distant planet, caught in-between the warring forces of humans and centaur-creatures known as the Acquarby. Unfortunately, things get even more complicated with the arrival of monstrous beetles, that were once human and Acquarby soldiers. If that's not bad enough, the Doctor then loses the TARDIS and gets separated from Donna, who (with nowhere else to go) is forced to fight with the human forces. Then a remorseless, robotic exterminator arrives to destroy the planet infestation, not at all caring who or what gets in its way.

What makes this particular audiobook unique is that it isn't a direct reading from any Doctor Who novel. Pest Control is a story done exclusively for audio, and that makes it all the more special.

Starting with the story, Peter Anghelides has crafted an excellent Who tale, with everything we come to expect featuring the Doctor; excitement, danger, clash of ideals, dark secrets and history, the test of the Doctor's companion`s courage, likeable guest characters and suspicious, insidious adversaries.

Highlights of Anghelides' story include the Acquarby, who are an interesting species. Their leader, Commander Perdova is a stern, but good-hearted character and there are funny moments between him and the Doctor, who makes some bad horse-gags at the Acquarby's expense. Perdova's annoyance with the Time Lord's humour makes for good laughs and I really liked how eventually, he warms to the Doctor's chirpy, joking nature.

For the human side of things, General Brudge remains a fierce, bullish, tyrannical character and ergo, not THAT interesting. On the other hand, the journalist Nash and surgeon Lenova remain deeply enigmatic characters with their own agendas, and are thus excellent. Lieutenant Yovich is also a good character with likeable humour and a sense of honour.

The background of the giant insects and their robotic terminator is also a fascinating one and made believable by the circumstances, and the Doctor remains as excellent as ever, but the highlight of the whole story I would say...is Donna. Her situation here provides a true test for her ability to cope and to help those around her. And as such, she handles herself brilliantly here, once again showing how effective and brilliant a companion she truly was, noticing things even the Doctor can't and being brave and supportive throughout. Her befriending of one of the soldiers in the platoon makes for a real, heart-warming and ultimately tragic moment. It all makes Pest Control a superb tale.

David Tennant once again shows his remarkable gift for narration. He performs the Doctor just as he does on television and also does a rather good impersonation of Catherine Tate when voicing Donna. As well as giving all the other characters greatly distinctive voices, Tennant will have you hooked on every word when narrating the story. Be it action or interaction, he makes it all so captivating and exciting.

The music and sound effects are also something to praise this CD for. They really do add to the drama of the story, particularly during the moments when the robot exterminator attacks, the insect transformations occur and the conflict between the humans and the Acquarby. The music themes sent chills down my spine, and that coupled with David Tennant's narration, compliments Peter Anghelides' story, resulting in a thrilling audiobook.

I would really recommend Doctor Who: Pest Control. Fans of these audiobooks won't be disappointed, and in my opinion, neither will those who haven't exposed themselves (much) to audiobooks before. Brilliant stuff.

So good I bought it twice!

I bought this for my son for Xmas, but with a last minute birthday party invitation I had to give it away to his friend. When my son saw it he was absolutely rapt and said"I wish I'd put that on my list for Santa". Little does he know that Santa already knew he'd like it and is about to order a replacement for him. ;o) The book itself is nice and big and full of in depth detail which will keep Doctor Who fans engaged for hours. There's lots of full colour illustrations and, as the title suggests, it is laid out like an encyclopedia, so it's easy to look up those facts that may have slipped your mind. Well worth the money (and absolutely essential at £3.99!!).

the ginger goddess

an original novel based on the tv show doctor who, telling an all new story in prose form. featuring the tenth doctor as played by david tennant on tv, with his companion donna noble, who was played by catherine tate.

as usual with this range of books, the novel runs for roughly 248 pages of relatively large print, and can be read by readers of all ages, and the two lead characters are perfectly captured, with dialogue that you can well imagine the tv version saying.

does this one stand out from the range?

set in a distant galaxy it's determinedly alien in setting and succeeds in creating such a world, but it's more than accessible and never too alien. the doctor and donna are caught up in a struggle between an anti robot group and those out to stop them, and both are after control of a powerful artefact. a chase around the galaxy to reassemble it follows, and the book moves at a nicely fast pace as a result.

some comedic scenes and moments are well played and never silly, and there is a strong moral message at the heart of the story that will give you pause for thought.

the pace does let up slightly mid way through, but it manages to recover in time for a decent finale.

as with all of this range, they are not great literature, but this is an above average entry in the series and a decent enough read if you want a new doctor who story

the ginger goddess

an original novel based on the tv show doctor who, telling an all new story in prose form. featuring the tenth doctor as played by david tennant on tv, with his companion donna noble, who was played by catherine tate.

as usual with this range of books, the novel runs for roughly 248 pages of relatively large print, and can be read by readers of all ages, and the two lead characters are perfectly captured, with dialogue that you can well imagine the tv version saying.

does this one stand out from the range?

set in a distant galaxy it's determinedly alien in setting and succeeds in creating such a world, but it's more than accessible and never too alien. the doctor and donna are caught up in a struggle between an anti robot group and those out to stop them, and both are after control of a powerful artefact. a chase around the galaxy to reassemble it follows, and the book moves at a nicely fast pace as a result.

some comedic scenes and moments are well played and never silly, and there is a strong moral message at the heart of the story that will give you pause for thought.

the pace does let up slightly mid way through, but it manages to recover in time for a decent finale.

as with all of this range, they are not great literature, but this is an above average entry in the series and a decent enough read if you want a new doctor who story

Doctor Who Goodness!

This item is LOADS of fun! You work through the 4 3D models through the colourful and helpful instruction booklet. The first model you make is K-9 and I was soooo excited when I finished him - he looks GREAT!! The TARDIS and Cybermen head are fantastic also, with the Dalek being equally as great.

I'd recommend this to older"kids" but once made, the models can be given to children. The instructions are clear and the finished projects are just GREAT!!!

remembrance of the thals

another audio story featuring colin baker as the sixth doctor who. this one follows on from the previous two sixth doctor audios in that his companion is charley pollard played by india fisher. charley previously travelled with the eighth doctor. and hasn't told the sixth that. yet.

the story runs for four episodes, of approx twenty five minutes duration each. there are two episodes on each of the two cd's in the box. the first begins with a trailer for the forthcoming release curse of the daleks, an adaptation of a 1960's stage play, and both discs end with interviews with the cast and crew involved in the story.

in a slight change to the norm there is no trailer for the next in the regular big finish range.

since this follows on from the previous two sixth doctor and charley stories there is a story arc here, although you should be able to get into this one without having heard the previous two. but I would recommend hearing them first as this is a rather involved little tale.

this story involves the doctor and charley arriving on a jungle planet. with invisible natives. deadly plants. blonde haired soldiers. and daleks.

all this may sound familiar to those who know their doctor who tv continuity. but there's actually far more going on here than meets the eye. the tardis crew have stumbled into the middle of some very deadly experiments.

and I can't say too much more than that. you'll thank me for it because this is quite a remarkable script, with a story that contains an amazing number of twists and turns, and a few very clever concepts. plus one absolutely brilliant character moment for charley. you'll lose count of the number of times it makes you say 'what!'.

and make sure you don't turn the second disc off before the end. let it play itself out.

a quite superb script, and one that will doubtless reward re listenings. a highly recommended audio

Practical Guide

This book is a practical guide which itemises detail, time, place etc, with precise storylines and opinion set out in an easy to read format for anyone wanting information. Surprise and interest for me was the number of well known actors"Dr Who" used.

You need hands

NB; THIS IS AN ACTUAL REVIEW OF THIS BOOK AND NOT A RELATED PRODUCT

Another novel adventure for the tenth doctor who and his companion martha. as usual with this range it runs for 244 pages of quite large print and is suitable for all ages to read. and the main characters are spot on in their characterisation.

Does anything make this one stand out?

yes.

A very well realised setting, edinburgh of the 18th century, that will teach you an awful lot of history about the place.

Some good supporting characters who are very believable.

Interesting monsters who could be absurd but are actually quite a clever idea.

And some excellent and exciting set pieces. Although a few chases mean it takes about sixty pages to really get going.

A throughly enjoyable read and an above average entry in the range

Dr Who Annual 2007

The book is a good quality build, it has crisp pages that are well attatched to its hard backed spine.There was a lot of information,about the Dr's freinds and enemies,and some good 'cartoon led' stories,also some reasonable jokes aswell!...i.e. Whats the best way to see a Cyberman?? = ... On the Television! , Well I did say they're reasonable!:) There is also an interesting 4 pages of factual information about our solar system.
I would recommend this book,as its a well built,well filled,interesting read!, the only negative,is that I think its a bit on the 'thin side'!

doctor who rocks!!!!!!_

This book can provide you with many facts and information, covering most of the past Doctors. It also takes you through the journeys of the Doctor and his TARDIS... but it fails to mension any information about the future... therefore this is why it failed to achieve the 5 star rating. Overall it's a great book to buy for kids... a must have for all Doctor Who fans!!!