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faiazalam's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Now this is how a Doctor Who spin off is done. It looks at three major characters from The Doctor's life as they're dropped off in the present day, but their penchant for seeking out the strage and unexplainable and their desire to reconcile their time with The Doctor brings them together as they enter a showdown with a villain who looks to wreak revenge and ultimately they're forced to save the world when The Doctor is nowhere to be seen. A brilliant premise and a cracking story. A wonderful entry into the missing adventures range.
The Great Intelligence is back and is puppeteering Victoria Waterfield into doing its dirty bidding, namely a classic takeover of the world. Sarah Jane and The Brigadier get involved, as does Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, leading to a showdown where our main heroes must assume the mantle of The Doctor when they don't have his support to fall back on.
A thrilling story filled with revalations and intrigue, we're catapulted from one scene to the next with the principle characters being initially swept along for the journey but ultimately becoming the driving force for the saving of the world.
The characterisation of each of the principle characters is wonderfully done, especially Victoria and The Brigadier. Victoria, battling with the trauma she's faced during her travels with The Doctor, and struggling to reconcile the loss of her father seeks answers which only leads to more peril but eventually results in her attaining some level of peace. The Brigadier, on the other hand, has always felt overshadowed by The Doctor, and finds himself looking for a way to emulate the man that he has always respected. These two arcs and troubles stalking the two characters brings so much more depth than we ever got of them on screen (not to mention the introduction of Kate) and is in itself a wonderful reason to read this book.
I could read this one over and over again. The lives of the companions of The Doctor don't stop once they leave him, and so having the opportunity to see what they've been up to and what they've been doing is one that I absolutely relish.
This one is quite down to Earth, and not of the scope of some of the other stories that have formed The Missing Adventures range, but the scope of the personal troubles faced by the principle characters is where the story is at, and in that it excels.
The Great Intelligence is back and is puppeteering Victoria Waterfield into doing its dirty bidding, namely a classic takeover of the world. Sarah Jane and The Brigadier get involved, as does Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, leading to a showdown where our main heroes must assume the mantle of The Doctor when they don't have his support to fall back on.
A thrilling story filled with revalations and intrigue, we're catapulted from one scene to the next with the principle characters being initially swept along for the journey but ultimately becoming the driving force for the saving of the world.
The characterisation of each of the principle characters is wonderfully done, especially Victoria and The Brigadier. Victoria, battling with the trauma she's faced during her travels with The Doctor, and struggling to reconcile the loss of her father seeks answers which only leads to more peril but eventually results in her attaining some level of peace. The Brigadier, on the other hand, has always felt overshadowed by The Doctor, and finds himself looking for a way to emulate the man that he has always respected. These two arcs and troubles stalking the two characters brings so much more depth than we ever got of them on screen (not to mention the introduction of Kate) and is in itself a wonderful reason to read this book.
I could read this one over and over again. The lives of the companions of The Doctor don't stop once they leave him, and so having the opportunity to see what they've been up to and what they've been doing is one that I absolutely relish.
This one is quite down to Earth, and not of the scope of some of the other stories that have formed The Missing Adventures range, but the scope of the personal troubles faced by the principle characters is where the story is at, and in that it excels.
saoki's review
2.0
This is a very uneven book, possibly because it's a novelization. There is a distinct difference in tone between the classic UNIT-era story and the fragmented, too-intimate way it is told. Do I really need to know about a secondary character's childhood trauma in order to appreciate her actions in a fighting scene? I don't think so, but the author seemed to believe it was necessary.
There is nothing specially wrong with the story, but it also doesn't gets high marks for originality. It probably flowed better as a film.
There is nothing specially wrong with the story, but it also doesn't gets high marks for originality. It probably flowed better as a film.
nwhyte's review
"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1265647.html[return][return]Some time ago I watched the Doctor Who spinoff video Downtime, written by Marc Platt and directed by Christopher Barry, which unites the Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith, Victoria Waterfield and the Yeti. Platt's extended novelisation, published as one of the Virgin Missing Adventures, is much better, with lots more background of Victoria's life after leaving the Tardis and of the Brigadier's later experiences; it also includes K9 and a young Captain Bambera. It even has some photos taken from the video, so you can pretend it was better than it was. And of course, being on paper rather than on screen, the effects can be as good as Marc Platt's words make them, and Peter Silverleaf's dismally poor acting is no longer a problem.[return][return]It's still a somewhat confusing story, but it is well enough told, and apart from the many moments of continuity joy it also has interesting seeds of the later Sarah Jane audio and TV stories. So I think I can generally recommend it to Who fans. I was able to get it for
pers's review
4.0
Downtime was every bit as good as I remember - hooray for the old gang of The Brig and Sarah Jane, and for his daughter, and Captain Bamberra (who ended up a Brigadier herself in 'Battlefield').
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