"Who's this bloke, Professor? And why's he sound like he's from the south?"
Five instalments in and, well, let's just take for granted that all the praise I lavished on the previous four apply equally here, shall we? Charm, glorious art (I particularly love the yellow splash of deep colour on the Cyber tombs or whatever they are), incredibly complex storyline which somehow works, fanwank in the best possible way, characterisation... you know the drill.
There's a twist here- the Sontarans want to take over everything, including the Federation, both Dalek factions and the Time Lords, working with the Master whom, of course, they in no way blatantly intend to double cross, much as the Master in no way so blatantly wishes to betray the War Chief that it's literally a given. Glad that's settled.
I love the older Leela's firmness with the Eighth Doctor: this is her family and her life, and she won't be fobbed off by (ahem) the "old one". But not as much as I love the fact that the Sixth Doctor and Maxil actually meet, to considerable Renegade Dalek confusion. It would have been a terrible missed opportunity were this not to happen.
Lots of other delights here, of course, such as the Sixth Doctor getting to say "spack off", but Nyssa getting her bloodthirsty revenge on the Master for what he did to Tremas and Traken is deliciously cathartic... and, of course, she handwaves it away to her Doctor with an"I'll explain later"! We even get a cheeky appearance from the Devious Doctor.
Ha;f way through, and I'm very much loving this.
With each chapter, the plot seems to exponentially thicken. Plots within plots within plots. Easily my favorite part was Nyssa killing the Master; The best thing about it was that it actually acknowledged Nyssa’s trauma that the series never did and gave her a little bit of vengeance. Either that or the plot point where commander Maxil gets confused for the 6th Doctor. By the way, props for knowing about the Devious fan film notable for having the last acting appearance of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor and featured as a special feature on The War Games DVD. Quite a lot of artistic license taken with the Devious/2.5. Doctor appearing but you know what; I am willing to roll with it because it is an incredible set up and will likely pay off with something.
ReplyDeleteNyssa's trauma being acknowledged was a truly great moment, the sort of moment we're getting a fair amount of here- 6 and Maxil meeting being another!
ReplyDeleteI've seen Devious, but I fear it was a long time ago, when this blog was unthought of. I thought the use of it here was well judged, with plausible deniability!
I have no objection to the use of the Devious Doctor. In fact, I think it is a nice tribute to another fan production. It is fan fiction after all and I respect Morris’ vision
DeleteSo when you reach the end of Chapter 10, will you be doing a full ranking of the story as a whole or will you just leave it on a small note?
ReplyDeleteI can certainly do a ranking at the end of the last episode, for old times' sake:)
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