Doctor Who: Grave Matter

Rating:
Summary: A Fun and Delightful Read
Review: First off, let me say that I'm not in the habit of reading books based on television series. Actually, I've always found the idea a little silly. But I've enjoyed Dr. Who for years and having run out of the BBC-released video tapes, I decided to try out a book just for a laugh. Surprisingly, each one I've read has been very well written and very entertaining. Grave Matter is no different.

While this particular incarnation of the Doctor is not my favorite, I must admit I found him appealing in this story. The plot was a mixture of horror, suspense and science-fiction written with a decidedly British and Dr. Who-esque twist. This is not serious literature but it is well written and, like most Dr. Who books, defies the stereotypes that normally plague books based on TV shows. The only problem with reading these books is that its easy to regret that the show is no longer being produced - so many of these stories would make excellent shows.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun and Delightful Read
Review: First off, let me say that I'm not in the habit of reading books based on television series. Actually, I've always found the idea a little silly. But I've enjoyed Dr. Who for years and having run out of the BBC-released video tapes, I decided to try out a book just for a laugh. Surprisingly, each one I've read has been very well written and very entertaining. Grave Matter is no different.

While this particular incarnation of the Doctor is not my favorite, I must admit I found him appealing in this story. The plot was a mixture of horror, suspense and science-fiction written with a decidedly British and Dr. Who-esque twist. This is not serious literature but it is well written and, like most Dr. Who books, defies the stereotypes that normally plague books based on TV shows. The only problem with reading these books is that its easy to regret that the show is no longer being produced - so many of these stories would make excellent shows.

Rating:
Summary: How fast can you turn the pages?
Review: I honestly wasn't expecting to like this book so much. I thought it'd be a diverting little read--something to kill a subway ride with. Was I wrong. Richards has delivered a solid, compelling tale that's simultaneously creepy and thrilling. Not only does the atmosphere grab you from page one, but the story has enough twists and turns to keep the reader from ever being one step ahead of the game. Richards has the Sixth Doctor and Peri's relationship down pat--the banter, the jibes, the good-naturing bickering, and the hidden affection. Of the New Dr. Who novels I've read, this is easily the best.

Rating:
Summary: Fun romp with the Doctor that's not too heavy on the sci-fi
Review: Ok, I admit it.... these novels are a guilty pleasure of mine. Some people eat food that's not good for them. Others wear clothes that are not color coordinated. I sometimes read a Doctor Who novel.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart(s) for the sixth incarnation of the Doctor. Just as I was getting to like him, the BBC did away with Colin.

The Doctor is at his "multi-colored-pompous-best" in this story. But it's the fun pompous incarnation of the Doctor and not the more acerbic one that has appeared in some of the other novels in this series. You can just hear Colin Baker saying the lines throughout the novel. Author Justin Richards really got the character down!

There's also all the wonderful wordplay between the Doctor and companion Peri. These novels tend to flesh out the ongoing relationship between the two that never really got a chance to flourish on the television show. A nice touch, I thought.

People are dying on the remote island of Dorsill. Whether it be by flu or by accidents.... there is strangeness about. And what's with the sheep and chickens? And why is a recently deceased fisherman emerging from his grave? You'll have to read this novel to find out.

I had a fun time with this adventure. I think this story would have made a fine midseason episode. One of those that is low on the sci-fi and high on setting and characterization.

One of the best lines in the book.... " A walking corpse knocks at the door in the small hours and you call it a teething problem?"

Fans of the sixth incarnation will get a kick out of this.

Rating:
Summary: Fun romp with the Doctor that's not too heavy on the sci-fi
Review: Ok, I admit it.... these novels are a guilty pleasure of mine. Some people eat food that's not good for them. Others wear clothes that are not color coordinated. I sometimes read a Doctor Who novel.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart(s) for the sixth incarnation of the Doctor. Just as I was getting to like him, the BBC did away with Colin.

The Doctor is at his "multi-colored-pompous-best" in this story. But it's the fun pompous incarnation of the Doctor and not the more acerbic one that has appeared in some of the other novels in this series. You can just hear Colin Baker saying the lines throughout the novel. Author Justin Richards really got the character down!

There's also all the wonderful wordplay between the Doctor and companion Peri. These novels tend to flesh out the ongoing relationship between the two that never really got a chance to flourish on the television show. A nice touch, I thought.

People are dying on the remote island of Dorsill. Whether it be by flu or by accidents.... there is strangeness about. And what's with the sheep and chickens? And why is a recently deceased fisherman emerging from his grave? You'll have to read this novel to find out.

I had a fun time with this adventure. I think this story would have made a fine midseason episode. One of those that is low on the sci-fi and high on setting and characterization.

One of the best lines in the book.... " A walking corpse knocks at the door in the small hours and you call it a teething problem?"

Fans of the sixth incarnation will get a kick out of this.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Lively for Grave Matter...
Review: The Sixth Doctor and Peri step out of the TARDIS, finding themselves on a foggy chain of islands in what appears to be Victorian times. There are anachronisms, clever sheep, strange behavior among the schoolchildren, mysterious deaths and suspicious flu shots. To top it all off, people are rising from the dead. Grave matter indeed, and a mystery to be solved.

For a man who is very busy as editor and author of the BBC Doctor Who series, I thought Justin Richards wrote Grave Matter really well. The plot was intriguing, the alien nasty original, the characters memorable and colourful, and Richards' way with words really put you in the thick of it. I felt Peri's anguish as she climbed up coal shafts and wandered round through the graveyards. That's something pretty rare in a TV tie in. The Sixth Doctor is everything that I saw in him in the TV series, (proud, witty, stubborn, excitable) but with none of the rough, contradicting elements that put so many off the show in the 1980s. His exchanges of dialogue with Peri are particularly noteworthy. There are a couple of niggles I have with the book regarding some of the explanations and revelations, but nothing too major.

The cover is tacky, like many of the BBC published novels. If this was a Virgin published adventure, we'd probably have a nice gory picture of a man rising from a grave (like the New Adventure "Damaged Goods" but without the worms and tentacles). As it is, it looks thrown together and cheap. A computer generated cover does not fire the imagination! I'd go for a hand-painted cover anyday.

If you are a fan of the Sixth Doctor, I strongly recommend you get this book. Even if you aren't so much, I'd still encourage you to read it. This is some quality written Who, and the Sixth Doctor is a lot easier to like here than in the TV series. A great read for a train ride or an plane journey!

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome tale of body horror
Review: The TARDIS deposits the Doctor and Peri on a windswept island where they encounter in rapid succession a strangely taciturn man and a funeral cortège. Both these are clues to the strange happenings that are starting to engulf the small fishing village on the island...

The Sixth Doctor's era is rightly remembered as the most gruesome of the TV series, and this book fits right in. Taking a lead from movies like 'Night of the Living Dead', the Doctor, Peri and newly acquired friends from the village progress slowly through a story that, at points, literally drips blood. Some of the occurrences are not for the squeamish. And you may find yourself shouting at characters who do things you know they shouldn't from what you've seeing various horror movies.

Justin Richards ties the whole thing together with a suitably Who-style explanation, showing yet again the highly flexible nature of the series which can fit a horror gore-fest within its milieu without any problems.

Rating:
Summary: How fast can you turn the pages?
Review: The TARDIS deposits the Doctor and Peri on a windswept island where they encounter in rapid succession a strangely taciturn man and a funeral cortège. Both these are clues to the strange happenings that are starting to engulf the small fishing village on the island...

The Sixth Doctor's era is rightly remembered as the most gruesome of the TV series, and this book fits right in. Taking a lead from movies like 'Night of the Living Dead', the Doctor, Peri and newly acquired friends from the village progress slowly through a story that, at points, literally drips blood. Some of the occurrences are not for the squeamish. And you may find yourself shouting at characters who do things you know they shouldn't from what you've seeing various horror movies.

Justin Richards ties the whole thing together with a suitably Who-style explanation, showing yet again the highly flexible nature of the series which can fit a horror gore-fest within its milieu without any problems.

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome tale of body horror
Review: The TARDIS deposits the Doctor and Peri on a windswept island where they encounter in rapid succession a strangely taciturn man and a funeral cortège. Both these are clues to the strange happenings that are starting to engulf the small fishing village on the island...

The Sixth Doctor's era is rightly remembered as the most gruesome of the TV series, and this book fits right in. Taking a lead from movies like 'Night of the Living Dead', the Doctor, Peri and newly acquired friends from the village progress slowly through a story that, at points, literally drips blood. Some of the occurrences are not for the squeamish. And you may find yourself shouting at characters who do things you know they shouldn't from what you've seeing various horror movies.

Justin Richards ties the whole thing together with a suitably Who-style explanation, showing yet again the highly flexible nature of the series which can fit a horror gore-fest within its milieu without any problems.