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A review by otherwyrld
Doctor Who: Voyager by Steve Parkhouse
3.0
2 1/5 stars
I picked this up on a whim from the library, mostly because it was by artist John Ridgway. I'm not a huge fan of his very distinctive black and white work, but he has done a lot of really good stuff for 2000AD in the past, so I was curious to see what he could do with some Doctor Who material. For the most part he does quite a good job. His portrayal of the Sixth Doctor and Peri is very well done, they are instantly recognisable. His work is very crisp and clean here, and benefits from the oversized pages in this book.
Pity the same can't be said of the stories by Steve Parkhouse that he has to illustrate. I found them to be silly and childish for the most part, certainly not helped by the addition of a shape-shifting alien that decides to become a talking penguin called Frobisher for no apparent reason. At times the Doctor acts in a most un-Time Lord like way that does the stories no favours. Given that the Sixth Doctor is often considered to be one of the weakest of the Classic Who Doctors, and the evident hatred that the BBC had for the series during this period, these stories do little to endear itself to any loyal readers out there.
Occasionally there are glimpses of a darker story to be seen, and the artist clearly relishes these parts more than the rubbish he otherwise has to illustrate at times here. It's a pity that the whole thing was played for laughs because a dark and gritty Doctor Who might have been much better received.
There are quite a few of these books around, which I should mention reproduce stories that were originally printed in the Official Doctor Who Magazines. These days they are little more than curiosities, a reflection of a low point in the long running history of a certain rogue Time Lord. The book does have some charms, I just wish it didn't poke such fun at loyal fans who should have had richer fare than this to feast on.
I picked this up on a whim from the library, mostly because it was by artist John Ridgway. I'm not a huge fan of his very distinctive black and white work, but he has done a lot of really good stuff for 2000AD in the past, so I was curious to see what he could do with some Doctor Who material. For the most part he does quite a good job. His portrayal of the Sixth Doctor and Peri is very well done, they are instantly recognisable. His work is very crisp and clean here, and benefits from the oversized pages in this book.
Pity the same can't be said of the stories by Steve Parkhouse that he has to illustrate. I found them to be silly and childish for the most part, certainly not helped by the addition of a shape-shifting alien that decides to become a talking penguin called Frobisher for no apparent reason. At times the Doctor acts in a most un-Time Lord like way that does the stories no favours. Given that the Sixth Doctor is often considered to be one of the weakest of the Classic Who Doctors, and the evident hatred that the BBC had for the series during this period, these stories do little to endear itself to any loyal readers out there.
Occasionally there are glimpses of a darker story to be seen, and the artist clearly relishes these parts more than the rubbish he otherwise has to illustrate at times here. It's a pity that the whole thing was played for laughs because a dark and gritty Doctor Who might have been much better received.
There are quite a few of these books around, which I should mention reproduce stories that were originally printed in the Official Doctor Who Magazines. These days they are little more than curiosities, a reflection of a low point in the long running history of a certain rogue Time Lord. The book does have some charms, I just wish it didn't poke such fun at loyal fans who should have had richer fare than this to feast on.