Scan barcode
dmcke013's review against another edition
2.0
As I've said before, generally, I don't normally read (well, listen to) Dr Who books.
However, I had a spare credit from Audible going, and this was part of a BOGOF offer going on (and in a compilation of such stories), so I thought 'why not'?
Read/performed by Catherine Tate during the Donna-as-companion-era of the TV show, I could easily see this as being produced for such (with the occasional incidental music and sound effects aiding the immersion). This particular entry is WW2 set (just before the Dunkirk evacuation), and really falls into the classic 'base under siege' storyline of several Dr Who episodes - enjoyable enough, yes, but not what I would consider as top tier.
However, I had a spare credit from Audible going, and this was part of a BOGOF offer going on (and in a compilation of such stories), so I thought 'why not'?
Read/performed by Catherine Tate during the Donna-as-companion-era of the TV show, I could easily see this as being produced for such (with the occasional incidental music and sound effects aiding the immersion). This particular entry is WW2 set (just before the Dunkirk evacuation), and really falls into the classic 'base under siege' storyline of several Dr Who episodes - enjoyable enough, yes, but not what I would consider as top tier.
trin's review against another edition
1.0
The Doctor and Donna crash land in the sea by Dover the night before the evacuation of Dunkirk and it's a really interesting historic-- oh no wait it's another story about soldiers turning into alien bug creatures.
But that's not why this gets one star.
Toward the beginning, the Doctor and co. pursue some sort of creature onto a damaged U-Boat; the creature has attacked and killed everyone on board save one man, who seems ill. It's discovered that the U-Boat is carrying Zyklon B and the Doctor notes it must be "heading to a concentration camp." (Why would a U-Boat be transporting this? Why near Dover?) At this point I paused and was like, "yikes, not something I want evoked by my escapist sci-fi media, why would they even...oh no."
Because I had guessed, correctly, that they were going to use the Zyklon B to kill the aliens.
Yup.
The aliens who, it's later revealed, are the last of their kind, because they are victims of previous genocides, but they need to consume the blood of host species to survive and breed, so...
This story provides a direct connection between Jewish victims of the Holocaust and these blood-drinking aliens (through the specific evocation of Zyklon B, the substance used in Nazi gas chambers) and then proceeds to wipe them out. The Doctor is sad, but still helps.
(Side note: the Doctor is also the one who insists on bringing the injured Nazi back to the English base; this directly leads to him infecting 30 or so more people there and their deaths. If he'd just let the Nazi die it seems the alien problem might have resolved itself, so all the English casualties are also sort of his fault? Great work!)
I want to believe that this was just an unfortunate accident on the part of the writer, editing team, etc. But why would you do this. Why would you do any of this.
Negative a thousand stars.
But that's not why this gets one star.
Toward the beginning, the Doctor and co. pursue some sort of creature onto a damaged U-Boat; the creature has attacked and killed everyone on board save one man, who seems ill. It's discovered that the U-Boat is carrying Zyklon B and the Doctor notes it must be "heading to a concentration camp." (Why would a U-Boat be transporting this? Why near Dover?) At this point I paused and was like, "yikes, not something I want evoked by my escapist sci-fi media, why would they even...oh no."
Because I had guessed, correctly, that they were going to use the Zyklon B to kill the aliens.
Yup.
The aliens who, it's later revealed, are the last of their kind, because they are victims of previous genocides, but they need to consume the blood of host species to survive and breed, so...
This story provides a direct connection between Jewish victims of the Holocaust and these blood-drinking aliens (through the specific evocation of Zyklon B, the substance used in Nazi gas chambers) and then proceeds to wipe them out. The Doctor is sad, but still helps.
(Side note: the Doctor is also the one who insists on bringing the injured Nazi back to the English base; this directly leads to him infecting 30 or so more people there and their deaths. If he'd just let the Nazi die it seems the alien problem might have resolved itself, so all the English casualties are also sort of his fault? Great work!)
I want to believe that this was just an unfortunate accident on the part of the writer, editing team, etc. But why would you do this. Why would you do any of this.
Negative a thousand stars.
aziraphales_left_shoe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.25
teachinsci's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed hearing another story of the Doctor and Donna, this one read by Catherine Tate (Donna)! The story itself was standard Dr. Who fare, which is a good thing. The enemy was interesting, and the background story was compelling. However, I found myself having to skip back several times because of having trouble connecting people with no face.
The other problem I had was in the extremes of the story. Several times, events in the story were described as "The Worst or Most (or insert superlative here) of the Doctor or Donna's life. While a light love story was a nice change with Donna's character, the rest of the events were too Tardis commonplace to be a new high or low in a character's life.
Certainly worth a listen if you get a chance.
The other problem I had was in the extremes of the story. Several times, events in the story were described as "The Worst or Most (or insert superlative here) of the Doctor or Donna's life. While a light love story was a nice change with Donna's character, the rest of the events were too Tardis commonplace to be a new high or low in a character's life.
Certainly worth a listen if you get a chance.
emilywrayburn's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this while baking DW-themed biscuits for the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, which wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon. I really enjoyed this one! Third one in the series and the first that didn't get weirdly fatphobic with its villain. And a bittersweet romantic subplot for Donna! (I'm a sucker for a doomed romance)
electroclan17's review against another edition
4.0
I prefer The Forever Trap but Catherine was better at narrating this story.
deve2k's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Trying not to nitpick because I loved every second of this (!) but what was the βwe are not who we say we areβ thing even about? It feels like they forgot a plot twist somewhere, maybe.
And I swear the Doctor has been in this general area at this exact date and time at least two or three times now! There are about 25 of them all running around during WW2, and they either need to declare those years off limit for good or start writing the most chaotic multi-Doctor story ever π
Anyway, this was my favourite audio story so far. They always get me with the historical fiction π
And I swear the Doctor has been in this general area at this exact date and time at least two or three times now! There are about 25 of them all running around during WW2, and they either need to declare those years off limit for good or start writing the most chaotic multi-Doctor story ever π
Anyway, this was my favourite audio story so far. They always get me with the historical fiction π
taaya's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Not my type of story, but not badly written.
quigonchuy's review against another edition
4.0
It's like an episode of Doctor Who, just in audiobook format. I really liked it. Read by Catherine Tate(Donna), which is a huge plus. I'll definitely be checking out more audiobook DW stories. This one ran about two and a half hours.