kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 5, 2023 15:15:58 GMT
Many of the problems with The Ultimate Foe are due to behind-the-scenes issues, including the death of one scriptwriter and a major falling-out between producer and script editor (one consequence of which was that the people rushed in to provide a replacement episode 14 were not allowed to know anything about how it had originally been intended to go). Doesn't excuse the inconsistencies, but goes some way towards explaining them. Ah, ok. In that case, perhaps it's amazing that it wasn't much worse! Well, I guess that's something. Ah, no. I was aware that McCoy comes in in Series 24 and expected this to be Baker's Doctor's last story but then when he didn't die, I assumed he must bow out mid-Series 24. That's a dreadful shame (even if most of the exits have been a bit underwhelming thus far, Davison being the exception). I guess I'd better update my Doctor ranking then. I enjoyed Colin Baker's performance though it felt a times a little bit shallow. He was quite similar to that more famous Baker, being energetic, quirky and often petulant but I feel Tom Baker just had more screen presence. I still preferred Colin to Davison's more dry approach to the character though. So Colin Baker finally bucks the downward trend: 1. William Hartnell 2. Patrick Troughton 3. Jon Pertwee 4. Tom Baker 5. Colin Baker 6. Peter Davison
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 5, 2023 12:52:24 GMT
Thank you very Kieran. I'd agree Trial Of A Time Lord episodes were middling to sub-middling and had some glaring inconsistencies. The whole thing feels a bit to me like a metaphor for Doctor Who series defending itself from cancellation Ha, yes it does make more sense viewed that way. I wonder if it would have been better just to do the first three stories as normal without the courtroom stuff, shorten the baggy Mindwarp to three episodes then expand The Ultimate Foe to include the court scenes, lengthening it to 3 episodes. Eek, that sounds awful! Maybe Brian was joking. No way! I thought that was a genuine accent. Although that maybe explains the weird way she says 'DJ'. Her costumes were a bit ridiculous at times. There was a scene with the Doctor fishing and the camera was focused on Peri readjusting her bra in the background! Maybe that was part of the ploy to avoid cancellation?
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 5, 2023 11:11:21 GMT
Series 23 wasn't great. 3 of the 4 stories were decent enough but let down by the over-arching 'Trial of a Time Lord' framing which was tedious and non-sensical. As an aside, it really bothered me who the heck was playing the Inquisitor as I just couldn't place her but knew I'd seen her before - turns out it's the woman from the Bisto ads.
The Mysterious Planet Hey, they've rejigged the theme tune! I hate it. Anyway, I really didn't like the framing of this story as part of a trial. For one thing, the Gallifreyans are still completely insufferable and foolish. For another thing, I just don't buy this non-interference policy when generally the Doctor stumbles into situations rather than seeking them out and when he does seek them out, it's generally because he's made to do so by the Time Lords. And then if they're going to accuse him of being interfering, why not choose a better example of this than where he stumbles into a threat to the universe? I don't buy that fewer people would have died if he'd left well alone. Then why would the recording presented to the court contain so many irrelevant details like banter between supporting characters? I could just ignore this if the script didn't keep highlighting it without providing a good explanation. Finally, there's a few points where it appears the Valeyard has manipulated scenes to remove what people are saying - but I mean the whole thing is clearly edited anyway - it's not like we're seeing everything. I pictured the Valeyard going through his footage and adding musical cues and whatnot. The only element I liked to these court scenes was the Doctor mocking the whole process for being stupid because it is. It's a pity because otherwise this story is decent. The setting is pretty cool - a post apocalyptic Earth moved to a whole new area of space with different societies at various level of technology and different understandings of the world - all of them wrong on some level. It reminded me of Face of Evil in that regard. I really liked the mercenaries Glitz and Dibber although Glitz seems far less of a sociopath than his opening dialogue suggests. The robot villain was also interesting - I liked his ethical debate with the Doctor as to whether he should value human life above robots/his own. Other elements were less successful - Peri hasn't much to do but cry, there's a few too many characters, some initially decent jokes are stretched a bit thin (eg the Canadian goose), and the robot and his sentry were too easily fooled. But wouldn't have been a bad opening at all if not for the horrible courtroom framing.
Mindwarp The courtroom scenes are still tedious though at least the Valeyard actually seems to have something of a case this time with the Doctor seemingly throwing innocents to the wolves left and right. Of course, there are still loads of scenes that have nothing to do with the case and the script keeps bringing this to our attention for some reason. As regards the actual story, the pacing is very odd. As an example, Peri escapes the Doctor and Sil, blunders into a woman who gives her a job, then is taken back to the Doctor who exposes her - why bother with all that instead of just having her get captured straight away? The story is riddled with sequences like this where a lot happens at once but then has little bearing on the overall plot. This is probably Peri's biggest role in a story what with the Doctor chumming with the baddies for most of it, but I didn't think it was a great turn from her overall - she overdoes the whiney exasperation thing a bit. Although I can't really blame her for being exasperated what with her friend betraying her and a very shouty man alternating between proposing to her and nearly getting them both killed. Her story is very tedious consisting mostly of scurrying round dark tunnels (a pity because the outside of the planet actually looked pretty cool - kinda like David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes music video) with Brian Blessed doing his Brian Blessed thing and making me reach for the volume down button (as an aside, I find it strange that Brian has never appeared in the show up to now). The Doctor story is better and I still find Sil very entertaining especially with his sucking up to his boss. I also enjoyed the scenes with the other Mentor who can't stand the noisiness of Brian Blessed. I was looking forward to a big reveal as to why the Doctor had turned bad but it never came - I guess it was just a ploy after all but the footage we saw didn't seem to fit with that unless it's building up to a big revelation that the Valeyard was tinkering with the footage. The pacing is better in the final episode, building up to a nice climax - which doesn't happen because the Time Lords whisk the Doctor out of time then let everyone get killed rather than at least giving the Doctor a chance to fix everything by non-lethal means. If poor Peri really is dead, this was a pretty abrupt and crap end to her story: lacking the emotional impact of Adric's death, seeming a plain nasty fate for one of the Doctor's kindest companions, and just further hammering home that the Time Lords are dicks.
Terror of the Vervoids Odd premise this - if the Doctor was able to look in the Matrix to see a future adventure of his, doesn't that mean that the Valeyard must fail to get the death sentence he's seeking? And couldn't the Time Lords watch the outcome of the trial and see that (presumably) the Valeyard has indeed been tinkering with the evidence? I also don't see how the Doctor providing evidence of his not interfering in this case (and to be honest, he interferes loads off his own bat before he's formally asked to get involved) clears him from interfering in other cases. If someone is accused of murder, it wouldn't be much of a defence for them to say: 'But think of all the people I didn't murder!' It's also feels a bit odd to have a new companion in place with only vague hints as to who the heck she is. All I can really say about Mel is she's plucky but somewhat annoying. Otherwise, I quite liked this story - it was a fun little murder mystery with some clever little clues and red herrings. I also liked the way the Commodore isn't some annoying hard-headed bureaucrat, but someone who implicitly trusts the Doctor even if he doesn't like him very much. The Vervoids were also pretty cool looking and I liked the Mogarians - though they seem like poor choices for co-conspirators given they can be killed by a glass of water. The main problem with it is there's no real sense of urgency to it all - it feels like all the characters seem to be taking it all in their stride bar Bruchner who alone seems to react according to the gravity of the situation. The atmosphere just felt a bit 'cosy murder mystery in space' which didn't really fit with what was at stake. As for the ending, I liked the idea of the Doctor in seeking to clear his name ends up confessing to an even greater crime, but shouldn't he have known that was a risk? And weren't the Time Lords wanting him to genocide the Daleks previously? It doesn't really make a lot of sense though I must admit I am interested to see how he's going to get out of this one.
The Ultimate Foe This story, quite frankly, cheats. The Doctor admitting to a crime to which there can be no defence under Gallifrey law is ignored, then seemingly acknowledged, then ignored again. Remember how no-one was able to tamper with the Matrix? Well, turns out nearly everyone has a secret key to get in though don't worry too much about how they got them. A cliffhanger where the Doctor gets swallowed by quicksand? Don't worry, it's all an illusion. That scene where Mel rushes out of the court to save the Doctor? That's an illusion too even though the Doctor wasn't even there to witness it so I guess it was an illusion for the audience. A major conspiracy about the Council of Time Lords uncovered and the launch of an insurrection in Gallifrey masterminded by the Master? Don't bother your head about them, the writers certainly aren't going to once the charges against the Doctor are dropped. As for the Valeyard, turns out he is a later incarnation of the Doctor or perhaps he's a combination of the Doctor's darker impulses mixed with a couple of his later incarnations - the script seems a bit inconsistent on that point. He wants to kill the Doctor to break his connection to him and also inherit his later incarnations - which doesn't really make much sense. The Master? Oh, he exposes the Valeyard in the hopes he and the Doctor will take each other out and he can gain control of the Matrix even though he seems to have a fair bit of control already, the Doctor would have died anyway had he kept quiet and then he could have finished off the Valeyard at his leisure. And Peri? Yeah, her death never actually happened although a lifetime married to Brian Blessed will probably lead to some shattered ear drums (and her poor stepdad probably assumes she's dead). Apart from all that, it's not very interesting. The Valeyard is at least a decent concept for a villain and the actor gives a good performance. The Master being the Doctor's saviour is also not a bad idea. Much like in The Deadly Assassin, the illusory world of the Matrix isn't very well utilised - some disembodied arms, spooky children singing, quicksand and endless bureaucratic Onslows is as exciting as it gets. I don't even know what the point of the Valeyard posing as the latter is, he doesn't really take any advantage from it bar tricking the Master and Sabalom Glitz. The latter is by far the best thing about this story, I find him endlessly entertaining and hope this isn't the last we see of him. Mel on the other hand is even more annoying here. Bonnie Langford's line delivery is just weird, I never found her the least bit convincing. It's a bit odd that she goes off with the Doctor at the end, considering she's already lived through the events of Terror of the Vervoids while he hasn't and I have zero confidence in the writers addressing this issue in future.
Series 23 ranking: 1. Terror of the Vervoids 2. The Mysterious Planet 3. Mindwarp 4. The Ultimate Foe
So, time to add Peri to the ranking. I didn't like her at first and I feel Series 23 did her no favours but I liked her a lot in Series 22. She reminded me of Teri Hatcher's Lois Lane both in looks and performance - a bit of a brat but warm-hearted and gritty deep down. I also liked that her interest in botany was kept throughout her tenure. It's a pity she didn't really get a proper send off. I don't think she's Top 10 material but she only just misses out.
1. Jo 2. Leela 3. Ian 4. Sarah-Jane 5. Barbara 6. Romana 7. Ben 8. K-9 9. Liz 10. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart 11. Peri 12. Vikki 13. Steven 14. Tegan 15. Victoria 16. Nyssa 17. Harry 18. Zoe 19. Turlough 20. Adric 21. Jamie 22. Polly 23. Susan 24. Dodo
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 5, 2023 10:30:45 GMT
There are several references to the train's next stop being in Phoenix, which makes absolutely no sense (unless that's some fictional stop between Cheyenne and Denver, although then it's unexplained why you'd spend a week there): Phoenix, Arizona didn't get a rail connection until 1887 and was not on the Southern Pacific main line, and in any case a train leaving Cheyenne wouldn't ever have ended up anywhere near there, engineer held at gunpoint or not. Southern Pacific did not operate in Colorado (after 1880 it would have been Union Pacific), and I assume the headline in paragraph 190 should have mentioned Union Pacific instead, as Abel does in 103. Stuff like this is why I largely stick to fantasy! Bar some dodgy railway historicity (which I must admit I was oblivious to!) I think this was a great little adventure and with the player character and his back story so well established, I would really like to see a sequel.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 5, 2023 9:56:50 GMT
I generally prefer less complexity rather than more. Fighting Fantasy is fine as are Lone Wolf, Way of the Tiger, Fabled Lands etc. But the likes of Bloodsword is just a bit too cumbersome for me which is why I only play it with my own simplified rules. Of course, you can have a simple system which is still very effective - Golden Dragon had a very simple system but it made it very easy (in theory though not in practice) for the author to balance battles. It's a while since I played Bloodsword but I remember not finding the rules at all a problem. Eh, it just seems such a faff to me - drawing out a grid and moving tokens about for every fight. I don't much care for the magic system either. I agree that it probably would be more fun multiplayer but doing it all solo is a pain in the proverbial imo.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 4, 2023 17:02:52 GMT
I generally prefer less complexity rather than more. Fighting Fantasy is fine as are Lone Wolf, Way of the Tiger, Fabled Lands etc. But the likes of Bloodsword is just a bit too cumbersome for me which is why I only play it with my own simplified rules.
Of course, you can have a simple system which is still very effective - Golden Dragon had a very simple system but it made it very easy (in theory though not in practice) for the author to balance battles.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Dec 4, 2023 16:55:05 GMT
J.H. Brennan's Sagas of the Demonspawn series had one of the most complex gamebook systems published (or, given that rules were added or changed as the series went on, maybe that should be 'some' of the most complex). While there are some readers who appreciate the storyline, I don't think anybody has anything good to say about the system. I think that was less an issue with the complexity of the system and more an issue with it being incredibly badly designed.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 29, 2023 10:37:09 GMT
I suppose Gates of Death went down the apocalyptic route with Blacksand and Salamonis falling foul of a zombie plague. Probably would have been the end of Titan if Ulrakaah wasn't destroyed.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 27, 2023 15:48:14 GMT
I ordered a Knightmare book from the school book club because Knightmare was my favourite show at the time. When it arrived, I was blown away by what turned out to be a gamebook at the back of the book. My dad mentioned he was aware of other books like that and eventually took me to the local book/toy shop (which is sadly now a fashion department store) which had a whole stack of FF books. I ended up choosing Forest of Doom after the illustration of Yaztromo's Tower tipped the balance in favour of it over Battleblade Warrior.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 27, 2023 11:27:57 GMT
Land of Changes Sk8 St21 Lu12
Well, that was short. I won a staring contest against some brownies then was torn apart by invisible Gwyllion
Kills:0
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 27, 2023 9:45:00 GMT
I first thought of The Seven Serpents for Q10, because it has a Deathwraith that is actually fake, so I thought it would be a clever answer. But then I found the spirits who convince you to renounce Libra, and I wondered if they count as undead. A "quick" look through the longest book of all told me it is filled with mountain creatures and Fortress inhabitants, and even the Netherworld Demon isn't undead, so I had to opt for that one. Sorry.
I considered The Seven Serpents too but then I wondered if the serpents themselves would count as undead since they were originally the heads of a hydra slain by the Archmage.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 26, 2023 13:00:52 GMT
Thanks Gabe and well done Peter!
I completely misread the creature in a container question and thought it had to be something you carried round with you and couldn't think of anything other than the spider-man. Luckily everyone else read the question properly!
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 25, 2023 21:25:54 GMT
On the one hand, I'm sure the author had a ton of fun writing it Pretty much! I wrote this as a side project while losing the will to live writing Gamebook Adventures 11 so I was determined just to have as much fun as I could with this one - which probably explains both the wackiness and the sloppiness.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 24, 2023 11:55:13 GMT
Creature of Havoc Sk10 St18 Lu12
Got hopelessly lost in the dungeon and ended up burning alive in the furnace trap.
Kills:8 Hobbit Armoured Knight Flesh-Feeder x3 Strongarm Thief Warrior
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 24, 2023 10:38:31 GMT
Haven't tried them. The other two books in the series (Deadpool and She-Hulk) are written by Tim Dedopolus who's written a few decent puzzle books so they might be worth a look even though I'm not particularly interested in either superhero (I'm even less so in Moon Knight though!)
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 23, 2023 15:47:35 GMT
I don't know Kieran's source(s) Just my own (and, as it turns out, wholly unreliable!) memory.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 23, 2023 14:31:15 GMT
Matt Groening, an American entertainment(-for-morons) industry insider, not caring about historical accuracy? How shockingly unexpected! In fairness to Matt, I think the only Simpsons episode he wrote was that one where Homer tried to kill himself. For some reason that wasn't the vibe producers were looking for.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 23, 2023 11:39:51 GMT
Never fails to annoy me when some idiot movie or TV scriptwriter doesn't know the difference between a mace and a morningstar either. Or a flail
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 22, 2023 14:24:21 GMT
For Question 2, I do not consider different sub-types as the same creature type. So for example, disguising yourself as a Woof Elf while you can encounter a Dark Elf in the same book does qualify, even though they're both elves. Should that be 'doesn't qualify'?
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 20, 2023 13:10:48 GMT
Luke Sharp was actually pretty good at providing a multitude of paths with some being much easier than others.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 20, 2023 12:19:28 GMT
It's a tricky question because we will probably not start from an agreed position about the victory chance of a 7/14/7 character and a 12/24/12 character. Some might say there should be a route, perhaps very difficult to find, where the 7/14/7 character has a good chance of winning. Some might say that every character should have a reasonable chance of failure. If I had a choose an optimal difficulty I'd say that 7/14/7 should be 10-25% success chance, 9/19/10 should be around 50%, and 12/24/12 should be 95%-100%. That is extremely difficult to arrange and I don't think any book is even close the this (at some point I will run the numbers for "Talisman of Death, but interpreting a lot of skill boosts as AS boosts", which might have a chance of getting close). There is one option not explicitly on here and perhaps will be controversial, but you could get some mileage out of routes with non-stat-related rolls on otherwise easy routes, and a hard route that relies on high SKILL and LUCK only. This sort of thing hasn't not been done before with more nuanced gamebooks such as Night Of The Necromancer, Moonrunner and Deathmoor. I dunno about Deathmoor. There is a hard-to-find alternative route but it doesn't avoid one tricky battle and it doesn't necessarily get you past another. That said, whichever route you take through Deathmoor, it doesn't require particularly amazing stats - you're just very unlikely to beat it with 7/14/7 whatever route you take.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 18, 2023 18:37:03 GMT
a lot of performances of the supporting characters seem off/strange, especially in Revelation of the Daleks. Can't argue there though I felt they contributed to the odd atmosphere.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 16, 2023 22:52:38 GMT
Some of the flaws in The Two Doctors were a consequence of behind-the-scenes issues. Robert Holmes was presented with a 'shopping list' of elements that he had to include in the script, some of which he didn't want in his story. That definitely explains its inconsistent characters and pointless inclusions (eg The Sontarans).
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 16, 2023 10:28:25 GMT
The Rani was always one of my favourite villains Definitely looking forward to seeing more of her, hopefully without the Master trying to upstage her.
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kieran
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Post by kieran on Nov 15, 2023 17:08:31 GMT
Series 22 was an odd one that dipped very badly in the middle. But it also had two of my favourite stories thus far. I do quite like the 45 min run time - it avoids time being wasted on recaps and stupid cliffhangers. Though from what I can see, we'll be back to the standard episode length next series. Attack of the Cybermen
Good grief, Cybermen seem to have become very easy to kill. What happened to all that weakness to gold stuff? It seems now a couple of shots from a WW2 revolver or a good whack with a two-by-four and down they go. That aside, I thought this was an interesting Cybermen story with some nice call backs to The Tenth Planet and Tomb of the Cybermen though there are some continuity issues (the world seems nowhere near advanced enough for the space travel seen in The Tenth Planet to be only a year away; also was it not established in Invasion of the Dinosaurs that the past can indeed be altered?). I was also very pleased to see Lytton from Resurrection of the Daleks back, a great menacing villain with an added dimension of reasonability here. Seeing him bossing about the diamond thieves was good fun and it's a shame there wasn't more of this. Meanwhile, the Doctor isn't quite so unstable here though he's still a mixture of immature and condescending. Luckily, Peri gives as good as she gets and the banter between them is very funny, feeling almost sitcom-level. There are weak points - the motivations of both Lytton and particularly the Cryons seem a bit ill-defined (are the Cryons helping Earth out of selfishness, revenge or altruism? - it seems to change constantly; and was Lytton really helping the Cryons or did he have an ulterior motive?). Two pretty annoying reject Cybermen take up too much screentime without their plot really going anywhere and there's way too much contrivance in the climax. There are really a lot of issues with this story when you think about it too much, but it's definitely enjoyable. Vengeance on Varos
I absolutely loved this one. We've seen dystopias before but this one is so creative, revealing through two ordinary residents hooked on the TV how a system that is on paper extremely democratic (citizens can vote on just about every issue and can dismiss governors as they wish) has somehow become something extremely brutal and restrictive. The planet is revealed to have started as a prison colony for the criminally insane and it is also being kept in starvation conditions by a delightfully grotesque alien. I love the complexity displayed - the governor is probably a decent sort, but the system makes him brutal and ruthless because there quite simply isn't any other way to live. When the two TV addicts finally get the promise of freedom and prosperity, they're both happy and dismayed - they simply don't know any other existence. Great as the setting is, the story isn't quite at that level. The maze of illusions is a bit lacking in imagination, more could really have been done with the cannibals and I don't know how Jason Connery ended up becoming the lead of Robin of Sherwood based on his wooden performance here. Still, the setting is so strong that I found I didn't care. Even the filler opening with the Tardis getting stalled and the Doctor falling into despair is very amusing. The Mark of the Rani
Putting the Master in this story was a mistake as he completely overshadows the titular Rani who would have been a decent villain herself. If you're expecting an explanation of how the Master survived apparently burning to ashes, well, you're not getting one here. This made me muse as to why the Master (and indeed the Doctor's other time-travelling enemies) always visit time periods in the same order as the Doctor. Perhaps this story should have been set where the Master hadn't yet been burnt to death rather than having him just survive somehow. Anyway, the Rani is an interesting character - I liked how dismissive she is of both the Doctor and the Master, and her arch pragmatism. Her only moral seems to be she doesn't like matter going to waste - rather than use land mines that blow folk up, they turn them into trees! It's a pity she doesn't really get the focus she should. Otherwise, it's a pretty poor story. The Master's plan doesn't really make any sense since bringing the Doctor to this time makes it harder for him to capture Faraday and Co. The Luddites are plain annoying and don't come across at all like they just need a good sleep. The action scenes are goofy (the Doctor rolling down a hill on a gurney felt very Last of the Summer Wine) and a decent sub-plot about Luke being made an agent of the Master never really comes to much. The Doctor gets some good speeches about morality which makes clear his seeming amorality in The Twin Dilemma was a temporary thing, but sadly his banter with Peri slips into the bullying nature of the previous two Doctors. The Two Doctors
I think this story suffers from two major missed opportunities. Firstly, what's the point of doing a story like this when the titular Doctors barely interact at all? Second, it would have been far more compelling if we, the viewers, were led to believe the Time Lords had carried out the attack on the space station rather than us knowing it was the Sontarans and just waiting for the Doctor to find that out too. Even aside from these problems, I thought this was a poor story. While it's nice to see Troughton back (and yes, even Jamie!), the plot is very weak, relying on contrivances and character stupidity to move things along. The Sontarans serve no real purpose and Dastari's character is just all over the place (if he was in on it, why did he need to be drugged anyway - other than to trick the viewer?). The most memorable thing about it is Shockeye, but he's more gross than funny and his speeches about eating start to wear a bit thin. A good chunk of the final episode is devoted to him and an Androgum-ified Doctor going for a meal while the other characters stroll casually around Seville looking for them. Probably seemed funnier on paper. And speaking of funniness or lack thereof, not only was actor/moth collector/restauranteur Oscar not very funny, his violent death just seemed completely out of tone. Finally, I just didn't like the idea that time travel requires some genetic component which only Time Lords possess. While I think inconsistencies are mostly avoided with the idea, I just plain don't like the concept. Is it me or are all these reunion stories quite disappointing? Ah well, at least Jamie gets to save the day for once. Timelash
Oh dear, what is going on with this series? Things start off OK(ish). There's some passable banter between Peri and the Doctor, I like a good dystopia, I also like stories where the Doctor returns to a planet he already visited, it looked like Peri might have something of substance to do, and there was great comic potential with time-travellers being mistaken for conjured spirits. But, none of these elements end up working - the banter devolves into bullying and manhandling, the dystopia is a bit silly (why send people to the 12th Century rather than just, y'know, killing them?), the planet in question is one the Doctor visited off-screen which seems like a missed opportunity (it also seems an odd period for the Doctor to have been visiting planets at all, given it was during the time he was largely stranded on Earth, working for UNIT), Peri's time with the rebels lasts about 5 seconds and her story turns into a crap rehash of The Caves of Androzani, and the time-traveller/ spirits mix-up is resolved in about 8 seconds. The worst thing about the story though is how leaden it is. The acting is either wooden on pantomime (Tekker reminds me of David Mitchell's supervillain from That Mitchell and Webb Look), the jokes mostly fall flat, the revelation that Hubert is actually HG Wells was too obvious, the action scenes are dull, one of the actresses even starts laughing in the middle of a scene where people are getting killed left and right, and the inside of the Timelash is very 'BBC studio'. The plot is also terrible - the Borad saves himself with a never before mentioned clone, the Doctor doesn't seem to care about advanced people ending up in the 12th Century, the aliens go from genocidal to reasonable for no apparent reason and finally, the writers don't even bother coming up with a reason as to how the Doctor saves himself at the end. Terrible story. Revelation of the Daleks
Wow, talk about a return to form. I'm a big Lexx fan and this is the most Lexx-like story so far. The idea of people having their bodies frozen in good faith only for them to be made into Daleks or their proteins used as a cheap food source is so wonderfully macabre and the death count here makes it feel like a black comedy at times. The performances are all very off-beat and unsettling from the Richard Bucket embalmer/lothario to the omniscient DJ (aside: what is going on with how Peri says 'DJ'? Though her delight at an American accent was quite sweet). A bad-ass knight and his squire were particularly entertaining and I loved the silent interplay between the knight and the Doctor in the climax. As for the music and sound-effects, it feels like the BBC used 99% of their sound budget for this story and it adds greatly to the unsettling atmosphere. The Daleks were also well used with a subtlety to their plans that we haven't seen since Power of the Daleks. I particularly enjoyed Davros and Kara's meetings where they artfully dance around the clear fact they don't trust one another in the slightest. I don't really know why Davros isn't dead but I liked that the events of Resurrection of the Daleks weren't completely ignored and proved important to the climax. I only have some very minor gripes - I didn't really buy Takis and Lilt turning out to be good guys, the cliffhanger is a bit crap and I could have done without the Doctor repeatedly calling Peri fat. But this is quite possibly my favourite story so far. Series 22 ranking:1. Revelation of the Daleks 2. Vengeance on Varos 3. Attack of the Cybermen 4. The Mark of the Rani 5. The Two Doctors 6. Timelash
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 14, 2023 10:04:25 GMT
Did you plan to continue with your second run through these? Probably not at this stage. I've played most of them a few times since so already lost that continuity with my previous posts. Plus the usual lack of time/motivation excuses. But never say never I guess.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 13, 2023 15:25:40 GMT
Return to Firetop Mountain Sk10 St17 Lu11
I won about three times as many rounds, but ultimately the doppelganger was the one to roll the elusive double.
Kills: 1 Tracker
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 10, 2023 10:00:30 GMT
To be fair, I also remember the starter scenario of the basic box to be the most boring of them all. The first quest seems to have no goal. I think I used to play it that the heroes had to get to the tomb and back, but it doesn't actually say that anywhere - bit of an oversight there!
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 9, 2023 15:49:52 GMT
The game itself came across as slow and dated. If you want a more fast and fun game, I would recommend Dungeon Run. A bit like HeroQuest, it has players controlling various heroes and entering a dungeon, but there's no need for a GM, monsters and the dungeons are randomly generated. Each game requires you to kill a boss monster and steal his treasure and then get out of there. Players can work together to find and fight the boss, but once he's down, it becomes an every man-for-himself scramble to be the one who reaches the exit with the treasure.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 7, 2023 9:33:48 GMT
I've looked at it a few times but not sure I've ever cracked any of them! I'm not great at abstract puzzles.
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