Scan barcode
A review by hidekisohma
Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories by Eoin Colfer, Charlie Higson, Richelle Mead, Alex Scarrow, Derek Landy, Holly Black, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Marcus Sedgwick, Neil Gaiman, Michael Scott, Malorie Blackman
4.0
So having little to no knowledge of most of the doctors, i feel like i was in a pretty good position to be unbiased and see exactly how i feel about the different doctors and their mannerisms. the only doctors i had seen any episodes at the time of reading were the 1st, 11th, and 12th. and from reading these, i have to say, i definitely have more of a feeling of how they behave. some more than others.
As they're mini stories, it's much easier to read as you don't have invest 300+ pages on a doctor who you have no idea if you'd like. But long story short, here's what i thought of each doctor's story
1st: I enjoyed it. I didn't expect to see hartnell's doctor doing some peter pan cane fighting, but it was very entertaining. also i like eoin's writing style as i like artemis fowl. the 1st is also my favorite doctor so it was fun overall
2nd: i know hardly anything about doctor #2, but his story was interesting. the necronomicon and glass bad guys along with his kilt wearing companion was pretty fun.
3rd: it was an average story with an average payoff. i didn't dislike it by any means, but it just felt very average. although the 3rd doctor personality wise is still fun.
4th: the story of the tree planet was interesting, and the doctor was okay. the only thing i didn't like about it was how i felt like there were references i was missing. except it turned out there wasn't. that was just strange.
5th: the 5th doctor was barely in this one. he cameoed. that's about it. the actual story wasn't very good. masks that make people tell the truth. he takes the masks away from people. the end. wow. exciting. i wish it had more of him as he seems like he'd be a fun doctor to learn about.
6th: this plot has been done to DEATH. evil person wants to marry someone for an evil purpose and good person has to stop the wedding. the 6th doctor was fine and i didn't have an issue with the characterization, but when the premise for your story was even done in GUMMI BEARS, then maybe you need to come up with a different plot.
7th: this was by far the worst of the stories. They end up in an alternate universe where dalaks are good and ALL the doctor does is complain and whine about how dalaks can't ever be good and this is wrong and blah blah blah. I was actually kind of annoyed and disgusted with the doc in this one. Unlike the 5th, it actually had a plot, but the doctor was so whiny it ruined the mildly interesting story.
8th: I enjoyed the mannerisms of the doctor in this one. i want to get to know him more, but the story itself wasn't very good. it's like every "unknown slime thing killing everyone in a town" premise. didn't really care for the story, but i liked this doctor.
9th: Honestly, the only reason this one got me mad was because the companion in this one was actually way better than the actual companion he travels around with in the show (since reading this story i saw an episode of leather jacket man) in this story he had a badass lobster warrior girl. Why couldn't SHE have been the 9th doctor's companion? That would have been awesome! instead we get whiny flirt girl. The story itself was all right, not great, but i'm more mad at this one for showing me the wasted potential of the 9th doctor.
10th: The story started out really good and i was having a LOT of fun with the different book references they make. I also LOVE landy's writing style with his quick back and forths (you can totally tell this is the same guy who wrote skullduggery pleasant and he writes this exactly the same) the only thing that disappointed me was the ending. the ending did not impress me at all and i was actually quite disappointed with it. very lackluster ending.
11th: This one was kind of stupid. ex-prisoner wearing masks and buying everyone's house? i mean...that's kind of lame the doctor was a tad annoying in this one and the villain's motivations and subsequent defeat were kind of ...meh. not great overall. Also, i have to say this. out of all the stories, this was the only one where i went "wow. i do NOT like this style of writing. at all." turns out it was written by Neil Gaiman. so you know...that made sense.
12th: not a fan that for some reason this story was in first person and was from the point of view of a dude who hung around with the doctor for JUST this story. the story itself felt way too short and rushed. the doctor was all right though it was just not a story you should have told in 30 pages.
in order of best to worst for me it goes
First, Second, Fourth, Third, Tenth, Ninth, Eighth, Twelfth, Sixth, Fifth, Eleventh, Seventh
Overall, hovering somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4. but since i can't do half stars, i'm going to give it a 4. Most of the stories ranged from good to all right. Sad there were some stinkers in there, but with 12 stories and 12 separate authors, that's bound to happen.
As they're mini stories, it's much easier to read as you don't have invest 300+ pages on a doctor who you have no idea if you'd like. But long story short, here's what i thought of each doctor's story
1st: I enjoyed it. I didn't expect to see hartnell's doctor doing some peter pan cane fighting, but it was very entertaining. also i like eoin's writing style as i like artemis fowl. the 1st is also my favorite doctor so it was fun overall
2nd: i know hardly anything about doctor #2, but his story was interesting. the necronomicon and glass bad guys along with his kilt wearing companion was pretty fun.
3rd: it was an average story with an average payoff. i didn't dislike it by any means, but it just felt very average. although the 3rd doctor personality wise is still fun.
4th: the story of the tree planet was interesting, and the doctor was okay. the only thing i didn't like about it was how i felt like there were references i was missing. except it turned out there wasn't. that was just strange.
5th: the 5th doctor was barely in this one. he cameoed. that's about it. the actual story wasn't very good. masks that make people tell the truth. he takes the masks away from people. the end. wow. exciting. i wish it had more of him as he seems like he'd be a fun doctor to learn about.
6th: this plot has been done to DEATH. evil person wants to marry someone for an evil purpose and good person has to stop the wedding. the 6th doctor was fine and i didn't have an issue with the characterization, but when the premise for your story was even done in GUMMI BEARS, then maybe you need to come up with a different plot.
7th: this was by far the worst of the stories. They end up in an alternate universe where dalaks are good and ALL the doctor does is complain and whine about how dalaks can't ever be good and this is wrong and blah blah blah. I was actually kind of annoyed and disgusted with the doc in this one. Unlike the 5th, it actually had a plot, but the doctor was so whiny it ruined the mildly interesting story.
8th: I enjoyed the mannerisms of the doctor in this one. i want to get to know him more, but the story itself wasn't very good. it's like every "unknown slime thing killing everyone in a town" premise. didn't really care for the story, but i liked this doctor.
9th: Honestly, the only reason this one got me mad was because the companion in this one was actually way better than the actual companion he travels around with in the show (since reading this story i saw an episode of leather jacket man) in this story he had a badass lobster warrior girl. Why couldn't SHE have been the 9th doctor's companion? That would have been awesome! instead we get whiny flirt girl. The story itself was all right, not great, but i'm more mad at this one for showing me the wasted potential of the 9th doctor.
10th: The story started out really good and i was having a LOT of fun with the different book references they make. I also LOVE landy's writing style with his quick back and forths (you can totally tell this is the same guy who wrote skullduggery pleasant and he writes this exactly the same) the only thing that disappointed me was the ending. the ending did not impress me at all and i was actually quite disappointed with it. very lackluster ending.
11th: This one was kind of stupid. ex-prisoner wearing masks and buying everyone's house? i mean...that's kind of lame the doctor was a tad annoying in this one and the villain's motivations and subsequent defeat were kind of ...meh. not great overall. Also, i have to say this. out of all the stories, this was the only one where i went "wow. i do NOT like this style of writing. at all." turns out it was written by Neil Gaiman. so you know...that made sense.
12th: not a fan that for some reason this story was in first person and was from the point of view of a dude who hung around with the doctor for JUST this story. the story itself felt way too short and rushed. the doctor was all right though it was just not a story you should have told in 30 pages.
in order of best to worst for me it goes
First, Second, Fourth, Third, Tenth, Ninth, Eighth, Twelfth, Sixth, Fifth, Eleventh, Seventh
Overall, hovering somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4. but since i can't do half stars, i'm going to give it a 4. Most of the stories ranged from good to all right. Sad there were some stinkers in there, but with 12 stories and 12 separate authors, that's bound to happen.