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davidlz1's review against another edition
4.0
Novel adaptation based on Douglas Adams’s script and David Fisher’s original story. Fun read and true to the television episode.
kmesi's review against another edition
3.0
Exactly like a Doctor Who episode with all its turns and quirks, though I prefer watching it, since the visuals are part of what makes this show a favourite for me. Though it does have some really smart elements, like the Mona Lisa mystery with the da Vinci code and Scaroth's role in the history of humanity, it is just nothing particularly special for me, though I have been raised on the "new Who" so both Fourth and Romana are somewhat alien to me (pun intended).
chutten's review against another edition
4.0
Not having watched the episode, I still found the book very funny and engaging.
rachelleahdorn's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first Dr. Who book I've ever tried. I've seen about a half of an episode with this Doctor. I had no idea who Romana was, but I do like Douglas Adams. The book was ok, but the pace and my unfamiliarity with the character/iteration of the character made it a little harder to follow than I expected.
With just a tiny bit of comparison, though, I think I prefer to read the scarf-doctor than watch those old episodes. The special effects in my head are less distracting than those they had in the 70s/80s.
One thing I found amusing was the anachronisms in some of the descriptions, technological references that are more 2010 than 1980. And I must say the up to date references or jokes make it easier to suspend disbelief in a superior silent technology or two.
As an art teacher, I did enjoy the art references. And the ending was more satisfying than I anticipated.
I also thought it was interesting to read about the transition from script with multiple authors to book. And I didn't know Douglas Adams was involved in the earlier Dr Who series.
With just a tiny bit of comparison, though, I think I prefer to read the scarf-doctor than watch those old episodes. The special effects in my head are less distracting than those they had in the 70s/80s.
One thing I found amusing was the anachronisms in some of the descriptions, technological references that are more 2010 than 1980. And I must say the up to date references or jokes make it easier to suspend disbelief in a superior silent technology or two.
As an art teacher, I did enjoy the art references. And the ending was more satisfying than I anticipated.
I also thought it was interesting to read about the transition from script with multiple authors to book. And I didn't know Douglas Adams was involved in the earlier Dr Who series.
mick_travel's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
dbrooklyn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a story from the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who, and that character shines through. It differs from the final story produced for development, but Douglass Adam's humour and large ideas shine through. Great read from the classic era of Who
heregrim's review against another edition
4.0
I was super excited to read another Douglas Adams Doctor Who script. Interested to learn that he was more the finishing touches for the script, based on another's idea. The book still follows Tom Baker's 4th Doctor. This version doesn't have all of Adams's humor seen throughout, but it stays mostly true to the practice script (according to the postscript) and is slightly different than the actual episode (which I now need to watch).
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2474240.html
Back in the days before video recorders, let alone DVDs, Doctor Who stories lived on after first broadcast only in the novelisations published by Target Books (and later by Virgin). In the fullness of time, almost every story ever shown appeared in print - many of them in novelisations by the indefatigable Terrance Dicks, whose lucid if workmanlike style informed the tastes of a generation of fans.
One of the few stories not to get that treatment was the 1979 Fourth Doctor story City of Death, which has a strong claim to being one of the best Who stories ever, written over a wet weekend by the then script editor Douglas Adams, certainly the most prominent SF writer to have held that position, from a story concept by David Fisher, one of the best Who writers of the late 1970s. It is now brought to the page by James Goss, who I personally rate as the best writer of Who prose and audios active at present. (He has, alas, no screenplay experience, so I don't expect him to be writing any TV episodes soon.)
Goss is not the first Who writer to try and channel Douglas Adams (unsuccessful: Eric Saward; successful: Gareth Roberts). But he takes it in a new direction, starting off by lulling the reader into a false sense of security with an Adams-esque first chapter, and then settling into adapting from both the script and the final broadcast version for the printed page. As he explains in an afterword, he picks and chooses between the alternatives. Shakespeare here sprained his hand playing croquet (Adams) rather than writing sonnets (Tom Baker's improvisation). The John Cleese and Eleanor Bron characters have been pursuing a desultory love affair around Paris for days. Most importantly, the Count doesn't actually realise his own identity until the end of the first episode, and this actually makes a lot of sense. (But he keeps the broadcast version of the story's funniest line, while explaining how it originated from the script.)
The target audience for this book will be people who already know the story, and I think that they will be satisfied. It's a different situation from Shada, the unfinished 1980 story by Adams whose novelisation by Gareth Roberts was published in 2012, in that there's no what-might-have-been mystery about City of Death - we've seen it and we know what happens. Goss preserves the spirit of Adams' script, and probably does a better job of putting it on the page than Adams would have done (he had a habit of revising his own past work without necessarily improving it).
Anyway, for those of us who treasure memories of a former monk from Liverpool courting an Ulster aristocrat by the Seine, this is simply indispensable. And for those who are fans of Douglas Adams, this is, in a way, his last book, reflecting back to the height of his powers. I won't claim that it's great literature; but I loved it.
Back in the days before video recorders, let alone DVDs, Doctor Who stories lived on after first broadcast only in the novelisations published by Target Books (and later by Virgin). In the fullness of time, almost every story ever shown appeared in print - many of them in novelisations by the indefatigable Terrance Dicks, whose lucid if workmanlike style informed the tastes of a generation of fans.
One of the few stories not to get that treatment was the 1979 Fourth Doctor story City of Death, which has a strong claim to being one of the best Who stories ever, written over a wet weekend by the then script editor Douglas Adams, certainly the most prominent SF writer to have held that position, from a story concept by David Fisher, one of the best Who writers of the late 1970s. It is now brought to the page by James Goss, who I personally rate as the best writer of Who prose and audios active at present. (He has, alas, no screenplay experience, so I don't expect him to be writing any TV episodes soon.)
Goss is not the first Who writer to try and channel Douglas Adams (unsuccessful: Eric Saward; successful: Gareth Roberts). But he takes it in a new direction, starting off by lulling the reader into a false sense of security with an Adams-esque first chapter, and then settling into adapting from both the script and the final broadcast version for the printed page. As he explains in an afterword, he picks and chooses between the alternatives. Shakespeare here sprained his hand playing croquet (Adams) rather than writing sonnets (Tom Baker's improvisation). The John Cleese and Eleanor Bron characters have been pursuing a desultory love affair around Paris for days. Most importantly, the Count doesn't actually realise his own identity until the end of the first episode, and this actually makes a lot of sense. (But he keeps the broadcast version of the story's funniest line, while explaining how it originated from the script.)
The target audience for this book will be people who already know the story, and I think that they will be satisfied. It's a different situation from Shada, the unfinished 1980 story by Adams whose novelisation by Gareth Roberts was published in 2012, in that there's no what-might-have-been mystery about City of Death - we've seen it and we know what happens. Goss preserves the spirit of Adams' script, and probably does a better job of putting it on the page than Adams would have done (he had a habit of revising his own past work without necessarily improving it).
Anyway, for those of us who treasure memories of a former monk from Liverpool courting an Ulster aristocrat by the Seine, this is simply indispensable. And for those who are fans of Douglas Adams, this is, in a way, his last book, reflecting back to the height of his powers. I won't claim that it's great literature; but I loved it.
schildpad's review against another edition
4.0
I prefer breakfast over lunch but I did enjoy reading this book.