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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 4, 2021 1:26:48 GMT
It's the 70s? [sarcasm]How else is your little woman supposed to know her place if you don't routinely belittle and dismiss her?![/sarcasm] Definitely has not aged well. A pity as otherwise I liked Sutton. Makes sense about the Primords being crowbarred in, the story probably would have been better without them. Agreed. Petra is played by the first director’s wife. Douglas Camfield directed the location footage and the first 2 episodes before having a heart attack. Producer Barry Letts had to step in a direct the last 5 studio sessions.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 5:21:43 GMT
As of July 3rd, 2021, the highest asking prices on eBay (and boy are they getting into silly numbers)...
eBay Australia
*Selected collection of titles (25 books) including the 10th Anniversary Yearbook (A$1,500) *Books #41-50 (A$1,000) *Books #1-10 (A$500) *Warlock Magazine #1-4 & 8 (A$450) *The Shamutanti Hills (A$300)
eBay UK
*Books #1-59 + Clash of the Princes & others (£1,980) *Books #1-59 (£1,499) *Books #1-59 + assorted other titles (£1,299.99) *A Fistful of Fighting Fantasy Box set (Books #32-34) (£1,199) *Sky Lord prelim cover art (£1,050) *Warlock Magazine #1 prelim cover art (£800) *Fighting Fantasy Adventure Gamebox Box set (Gold) (£799.99) *Warlock Magazine #4 prelim cover art (£730) *Books #1-50 (£499) *Revenge of the Vampire (£399.99) *Magehunter (£399.99) *Curse of the Mummy (Puffin) (£325) *Curse of the Mummy (Puffin) (£274.99)
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:55:19 GMT
Just a moderators note to let everyone know I've merge the Scholastic thread with this one.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:48:59 GMT
Well done! Ive often wondered why the authors themselves dont go back and do this for the more broken books. Do they even care? It has nothing to do with caring. They would probably want some sort of fee for doing the revision work as it would be taking them away from earning money by writing something else.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:45:30 GMT
Apologies for the long wait for a reply. I've recently swapped to Affinity Desginer for drawing etc. since my Abode CS6 is now out of date and I'm not going to use Adobe's subscription service. It seems to be doing a good job. I also picked up a second-hand (but never used) Wacom tablet that seems to do the trick.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:42:00 GMT
We have an update/refresh of the website planned for when the next issue is released. I'm looking at the links page - any gamebook-releated links that should be on there?
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:37:08 GMT
Discuss the 6th book in the range here.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:36:32 GMT
Discuss the third book in the range here.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:19:24 GMT
Right now we're aiming for a late July release date - fingers crossed we achieve that. In the meantime, get in touch about submitting stuff for issues #18 & 19!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:18:20 GMT
Inferno One dubious aspect was the relationship between Sutton and Petra which in both universes seems to consist of him alternating between belittling her and creeping on her - definitely didn't come across as the positive romance I assume they were going for. It's the 70s? [sarcasm]How else is your little woman supposed to know her place if you don't routinely belittle and dismiss her?![/sarcasm]
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:16:42 GMT
Inferno Wow, this story was all over the place. It feels like it combines three different abandoned stories (blue werewolves, hard-headed professor drilling too far into the Earth's crust, and alternate universe hijinks) and they just don't work all that well together and they all feel a bit underexplored. The Primords (the "blue werewolves") were added to the original story pitch at the behest of the production team either to pad the story out to 7 episodes or because "it's not Doctor Who without monsters".
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jul 3, 2021 2:11:27 GMT
Doctor Who and the Silurians What's with that title? Surely pretty much every story could be called 'Doctor Who and the...'? At the time (1963-70) on all the internal BBC paperwork each story was referred to as "Doctor Who and..." but the staff in charge to making the credits knew to drop that bit. But on this occasion whoever was in charge of the credits either didn't know or forgot, hence the "Doctor Who - Doctor Who and the Silurians". I'm not sure why they weren't corrected at the time as in the following season one story is recorded with the credits reflecting a name that was then changed. My guess would be the cost. The same reason why they were doing 7-part stories. It stretched the costs of props/costumes/sets over more episodes. Anyway, the upshot of this goof is that all the paperwork for the rest of the season had the "Doctor Who and..." bit scrubbed out and it was never a part of the paperwork again.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jun 19, 2021 0:32:54 GMT
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jun 12, 2021 1:00:20 GMT
The Dominators - All this really helped me appreciate what was ultimately quite a slight story stretched over perhaps one episode too many. It was originally meant to be 6 episodes in length but the script editor trimmed it to five (the writers got pissed off at this and left the series, killing the planned 3rd Yeti adventure). Fans play a game of trying to pick at which moment in the story you can see Troughton decide to give up the role. Those niggles aside, a strong start to Series 6. That's why I'm liking your reviews, Kieran, they're sometimes the polar opposite of mainstream fan opinion! The Mind Robber - no idea why but the episodes of this story seem to all be much shorter than usual - under 20 minutes. This and "The Dominators" before it were the final two stories of the fifth production block and were held over to launch the sixth season (see also "The Tomb of the Cybermen" (filmed 4th block, aired 5th season), "The Smugglers" (filmed 3rd block, aired 4th season) etc. - The last time this happens is Tom Baker's debut story which was filmed as part of the 11th block but opened the 12th season). Anyway, the result is Troughton was pretty much running on fumes at this point and demanded that the regulars have less work to do, especially in light of the first episode being essentially just the 3 of them. So the other four episodes were trimmed back as you noticed - it is actually the length of a 4 part story in the end. Oh, and the first episode was a late addition when "The Dominators" was cut to 5 episodes, the script writer putting it together at the last minute (hence no writer credit as script editors weren't allowed to commission scripts from themselves). Fraser Hines also came down with Chicken Pox during the filming, hence why he is replaced for a couple of episodes by a different actor! The Invasion - But overall, one of the best stories so far. This story was a test run and template for the Pertwee era. The Krotons - But overall, this was pretty forgettable and despite the short length, I was glad to be done with it. Ha! I love "The Krotons". So there!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jun 5, 2021 8:06:08 GMT
Comments that don't relate to the solutions belong in the dedicated threads on the books, NOT the solution threads. Regarding "Port Kanthos" - I haven't missed anything, have I? Read the Fact of Fiction article in the next issue for my thoughts!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jun 5, 2021 8:04:38 GMT
Review is coming in the next issue!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on May 27, 2021 4:20:54 GMT
Right. Update as of May 2021.
We're not dead. The fanzine isn't dead either! Get word out that we're still on the hunt for material etc.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on May 8, 2021 21:27:27 GMT
In which case what has been stopping him? You make it sound like it is only his inaction that is stopping him. Scholastic have to *want* a new book from him first. I've no evidence, but I imagine that Scholastic are more interested in seeking out more well known names (Higson, Pratchett). This is probably for two reasons: (1) a well known author brings their own fanbase with them, some of whom *might* stick around and read other FF titles; and (2) it helps differentiate their FF range from Puffin/Wizard if they only use SJ&IL's stuff plus new titles.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Apr 20, 2021 8:56:17 GMT
With one exception, Series 5 was a bit by-the-numbers. Troughton seems to have lost most of his quirks and offbeat sense of humour from Series 4, leaving him a bit of a bland scientist, albeit a very capable one (except when it comes to working the Tardis of course!) Tomb of the Cybermen - So, Ben's gone which is a pity because despite my initial misgivings he was easily the best companion since Ian and Barbara. Polly has also gone, replaced by this Victoria character who seems to alternate between capable and useless. And speaking of useless, Jamie is still here! Anyway this story starts off pretty fun. Exploring the tomb and its traps was quite exciting as was the friction between the characters (though did they have to be such stereotypes? Stuffy Brits, Plucky Americans, Sneaky Eastern Europeans, Subservient Black Guy). Unfortunately when the Cybermen come into it, it falls apart a bit, relying on characters being easily distracted time and time again to move the plot along. The ending was quite touching though. The Ice Warriors - This was like a better version of Series 4's Moonbase. I liked the rivalry between Penley (a youngish Peter Sallis!) and Clent even though the idea scientists would be anti-computer felt pretty dated and one trope I hate in sci-fi is the "computer blows up due to a logical dilemma". There was a good build up of tension throughout though I wasn't overly fond of the Ice Warriors themselves with their lego hands and perpetual whispering. The Scottish guy was very annoying and for once I don't mean Jamie. The Enemy of the World - This was absolutely nuts - and I loved it! Troughton has a field day playing the villainous Salamander and I genuinely didn't see the twists coming - the idea that Salamander was fibbing to a whole underground community for the sake of his political career was so delightfully evil. And then it turned out Kent was just as villainous. I also liked Bruce as a character, though I imagine he should have seen through Salamander much sooner. Benik was a great henchman too. Sure, there's issues: there's no explanation as to why Salamnder and the Doctor look so alike; the subplot with Jamie and Victoria infiltrating Salamander's operation doesn't really go anywhere (though I'll forgive that for the hilarious scenes with the chef) and Fariah's character is a bit too serious amongst all the craziness. But this was easily my pick of the series. The Web of Fear - a solid follow-up to a story I haven't seen. Not too sure I liked the design of the yetis, but the firefight between them and the soldiers was pretty good and the story had some nice tension throughout - I was genuinely surprised that the Colonel didn't turn out to be the Intelligence agent. I quite liked that actor's performance as a whole. Jamie does something useful for once - and it turns out to be exactly the wrong thing! The Wheel in Space - Another story of the Moonbase/Ice Warriors type, but probably the best of the bunch with all the characters managing to make an impact despite the sheer number of them. Bennett rather than being the standard "stubborn controller" ends up having a nervous breakdown which was a nice twist on a stock character. I also thought Dr Corwyn was a likeable character, her death was quite sad. The Cybermen are a bit bland though and I absolutely could not stand Zoe - I had a horrible feeling that she would be the new companion and sadly it proved right. And speaking of annoying companions, with all the futuristic worlds Jamie has visited, why is he still blown away by every piece of technology he comes across? Hard to do a ranking as apart from Enemy of the World, none of the stories really stand out for good or ill. I'll go with: 1. The Enemy of the World 2. The Web of Fear 3. Tomb of the Cybermen 4. The Wheel in Space 5. The Ice Warriors Let's hope Series 6 sees the Doctor regain some personality, get some decent companions and encounter fewer base stories. Glad you’re still at it. I’m up to Season 23 (from 1986).
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 26, 2021 20:51:19 GMT
Ah, well you’re almost out of the missing episode briar patch!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 25, 2021 22:19:37 GMT
Well, Series 4 was a lot better than Series 3 thankfully. The Tenth Planet - The Cybermen were great villains. I love their sing-song voice, the way they play emphasis in quite the wrong places really gives them an inhuman feeling. Their origin, cold dispassionate logic and their 'resistance is useless' makes me think a lot of Star Trek's Borg - I wonder if they were an influence? The General is also an entertaining villain, even if he's a bit of a "military guy who wants to nuke everything" type. How was he even able to launch Z Bombs on his own if they're so devastating? Ben actually proves to be quite a likeable and resourceful character. Unfortunately Polly and the Doctor don't have much to do. In fact, the Doctor goes for a nap for the entirety of the third episode! Bit of a poor swan-song for Hartnell. I did like how his death was done to the sound effect of the Tardis moving on - nice touch. Power of the Daleks - By far my favourite Dalek story yet. Troughton is entertaining with his quirky riddles, funny hat, recorder playing and conversations with himself. I like that he largely ignores Polly and Ben's confusion about who he is. Even the viewer doesn't really get things explained. The Daleks are used very effectively here too, I finally get why people used to consider them scary - the "I AM YOUR SERVANT" is particularly chilling. But the best bit about this story is how it keeps you guessing, the factions are not black and white. I genuinely wasn't sure where Janley's loyalties lay for instance and her death was quite affecting. And the ending where the Dalek's thirst to generate power was used to overload them was very clever. Not too sure about the damp squib of everyone being very ungrateful though! And Polly is once again fairly pointless. The Underwater Menace - So somewhere along the way, a new companion has been picked up: Jamie. He's kinda just there to be confused and do some heavy lifting when Ben is doing something else. Polly is also yet again fairly pointless and reduced to a damsel in distress. The Doctor is a bit more bland here, but that's maybe because he can't compete with the scenery chewing of Zaroff, an awful mad scientist cliche who likes announcing his plans at the top of his voice. There is some good set design here and the music is for some reason much better than normal - I really liked the sequence of the fish people going on strike. But overall wasn't fussed on this one - admittedly the fact that 2 episodes were just stills with an audio track didn't do it any favours. The Moonbase - The Cybermen are back but now they talk with generic robot monotones - boooo! But this is a fine story, nothing really stands out about it bad or good. The first episode was quite creepy and it's a pity the villains were revealed quite early on. I felt the Doctor was again a bit bland here and the Cybermen were quite easily beaten in the end. Polly does something useful here in coming up with the acetone idea, even if she needs Ben to fill in the details and handle the action. Once again I'm not sure of the point of Jamie. The Macra Terror - My favourite story yet. Troughton is back on good form and Ben gets a slightly different role than usual. Polly and Jamie are still largely pointless but at least Jamie gets to dance in one of the funniest scenes thus far. The totalitarian society has so many details - the worldbuilding in just 4 episodes is very impressive and there's great use of sound again - between the announcement noise of the Controller and the Propaganda songs. The Macras are also great villains - as South Park has taught us, it's always the Crab People behind everything! The Pilot was also an interesting character - I like that he wasn't convinced too easily, but he was reasonable. Oddly, the totalitarian apparatus seems to be intact at the end of it all, just without the Macra being in control. Series 4 ranking: 1. The Macra Terror 2. Power of the Daleks 3. The Tenth Planet 4. The Moonbase 5. The Underwater Menace Did you watch the rest of Season 4 (Faceless Ones & Evil of the Daleks)?
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 25, 2021 22:18:58 GMT
I just found out about 5 minutes ago that Christopher Ecclestone did not flounce out of Dr Who after one series fearing he'd be 'typecast' but because his relationship with the showrunner, producer and co-producer broke down. And that the 'typecast' reason was a lie put out by the BBC. Sadly I'd believed this lie until just now. Wikipedia says he felt he'd been overworked and that he didn't like the environment that the cast and crew worked in. Does anyone here know the full details? edit: apologies, this ought to have been in the Dr. 2005 onwards thread. Potential repliers, answer there if you like. I’ve heard it was he didn’t like how the director - of the first 3 episodes that were shot (Keith Boak - eps 1, 4 & 5) - treated the people working under him and how the senior staff above the director (Producers etc.) didn’t do enough to fix this. Boak never worked on the series again and Producer Phil Collinson is on record as saying that the modern BBC hadn’t shot an ambitious sci-fi series like DW before that they grossly over-estimated how quickly they could get the shooting done. They were like two weeks behind schedule by the end of the first week of shooting. I imagine things were pretty tense those first few weeks.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 13, 2021 6:05:01 GMT
Somebody popped this up on Twitter yesterday in celebration of Douglas Adams, who apparently created it: (For anyone who can't see the embedded tweet, here's the direct link to it. It's the TARDIS in an art gallery bit.) He co-wrote the entire story with the Producer, Graham Williams, over a weekend when the originally planned script by David Fisher wasn’t working out (hence the story, “City of Death”, is credited to an in-house BBC pseudonym ‘David Agnew’).
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 7, 2021 0:19:05 GMT
Personally, I found The Celestial Toymaker to be dull (and to feature Dodo at her very worst), but I have no problem with anyone who enjoys it. It was hailed by fans as a ‘classic’ till 1984 when one episode turned up and the soundtrack became more widespread in availability. Then everyone realised it was a bit crap and boring as well to add insult to injury.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 5, 2021 20:18:28 GMT
I genuinely like some of the wackiness of Sly Lord. The segment with Zud's cylinder I found particularly amusing. As a kid SL was just another sci-fi adventure in the range, no more different or wacky than any of the previous SF offerings. Plus it has an awesome cover!
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 3, 2021 19:47:09 GMT
The 60s stories are replete with attempts to create the new Daleks (Mechanoids, Quarks, etc.)
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Mar 1, 2021 2:44:01 GMT
As a kid, “Daggers of Darkness” was one of my go-to titles.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Feb 27, 2021 1:21:09 GMT
Additionally, different people at the BBC had different ideas of what constituted 'good' direction. Some considered the attitude 'Oh, that'll do: it doesnt matter that the actor stumbled over his lines and the set wobbled. Let's get on with the next scene' to be more professional than 'That take was usable, but it could have been better - let's give it another go' because it got the recording finished more quickly and cheaply. Of course, there was the additional pressure of them literally turning the lights off at 10pm even if you were in the middle of shooting a scene.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Feb 26, 2021 5:36:42 GMT
The show has distinct phases (based primarily on the Producer/Script Editor dynamic) where you can expect a similar ‘house style’ from each story, but once you get to 1980 the style, tone, and quality varies widely from story to story to the point where classics can be immediately followed by cratering failures (a result of the Producer of the time not being interested in the storytelling but the spectacle). To what extent do you think are some of the directors to blame? Did some of think they were just churning out a bit of ephemera no-one was going to watch in the future, and so couldn't be bothered to even try to do a good job? I'm thinking of the Myrka scene as a particularly spectacular example. Who could film that scene and think it was any good? Why not darken the set a bit rather than have the pantomime horse plodding about under bright lights? The contrast with Caves of Androzani is enormous. The story goes that DW was unable to attract the good directors so was limited to those who were new (& if they turned out to be good they quickly were moved off DW) or were serving out their contracts at the end of their careers and didn’t give a toss about their efforts.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Feb 24, 2021 19:47:48 GMT
I’ve a feeling a lot of those who voted probably only read the books as kids and then only books 1 through 18 (the first four years of the range). Those who started reading in 1982 would have considered themselves ‘too old/cool’ in 1986 to still be reading them. That’s why post-18 titles rarely get the votes.
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