Pip Baker (1928–2020)

An evil Time Lady needs the Doctor's brain in order to carry out an experiment.

The first episode is okay. The rest consists of a cycle of various protagonists alternately escaping and getting re-captured. And the mysterious master plan that you're supposed to be in suspense over turns out to be plot-holed gibberish.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: C
Music: D

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.3/4… (altro)

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2274954.html

I had not realised that this book has a historic place in the history of Who - long before Big Finish plays, New Adventures or DWM comic stories were adapted to become episodes of New Who, the plot (such as it is) of Race Against Time was recycled within a year of publication to supply many of the elements of Time and the Rani - most notably the Rani running her biological experiments on a remote base, aided by specially designed monsters, here called the Ratapes, mildly scrambled with one change of letter to become the Tetraps in the televised story. So Time and the Rani is actually the first Who from non-televised media to be adapted to TV. (Though there's a story in the 1972 Countdown Annual with some resemblance to The Seeds of Doom.) However, it's very nearly the only point of interest. The choices leading to life or death seem pretty arbitrary; the puzzles are actually quite difficult and generally have nothing to do with the plot; section 153 advises us to "look back at 125" though in fact you can't possibly get to section 125 for another 50 steps.… (altro)

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1077520.html#cutid1

The Sixth Doctor gets a bit more of a send-off at the start of this book than he did on TV, but that is not hard. However, the writing is still naff and there are way, way too many exclamation marks. After my third consecutive novel by the Bakers, my brain was in danger of exploding. It also fails the Bechdel test - on the rare occasions that female characters actually talk to each other, it is about the Doctor or another male character.… (altro)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-ultimate-foe-by-james-cooray-smith-and-rober...

Alas, it doesn't matter how many exclamation marks you add, this remains an incoherent story; and while the Bakers valiantly attempt to fill it out with extra detail, it is basically beyond salvation from the start.

What I did not know was that the “extra detail” was all in the original script that the Bakers had submitted to the BBC, and excised because at 38 minutes it was far too long for a 25-minute slot.

Rereading, I actually felt that the writing was OK at first, but by the end I still got annoyed by the incoherent plot. Completists will want it anyway… (altro)