obscuredbyclouds's review
3.0
Cute story about the doctor and his companion traveling to the Vikings to get Odins alien spear. Some cringe worthy stuff (mainly the vikings description and also ... Hitler had the spear, too? Meh) but overall a nice adventure.
wayfaring_witch's review
4.0
This story had a great Classic Who feel with UNIT as the start of Jo and the doctors adventure to find a spear that causes some sort of time anomaly (vague plot device) . This brings us to a museum and viking times, and an encounter with the Master. Had a great pace, wish we could have stayed longer!
hjswinford's review
4.0
This story had a lot going on in it. I was surprised to be thrust into a situation surrounded by Norse Mythology characters, but it was fun! I've never been big on the Third Doctor, but his craftiness and his love for Jo in this story was endearing.
ferrisscottr's review
3.0
A decent tale of the 3rd doctor and his travels back to Viking era times, Odin, Norse mythology and the spear of destiny.
thoroughlymodernreviewer's review against another edition
4.5
Of the three I’ve read so far, this one’s easily the best. It’s the first of the bunch that’s made good use of the relatively short page count, getting to the point quickly enough that it actually has a bit of time to play around with its ideas. This story meshes the Third Doctor and Jo Grant with Norse mythology. And, put simply, if “The Girl Who Died” was half as fun as this story was, we’d all remember that episode far more fondly than we do.
Pacing continues to be a bit of a challenge for these short stories. Once again, the premise is good enough to support an entire 45-minute episode - if not more. But Sedgwick has to rush through some of the most fun stuff to leave enough time for to properly explore the bigger ideas. And to be fair, I think he finds the best balance so far. But it’s easy to see how a longer story could’ve been even more fun. That being said, the plot’s great, Sedgwick captures the Third Doctor and Jo’s voices and dynamic perfectly, and the inclusion of a Villain I Won’t Spoil proves as delightful as you’d hope it would be.
All in all, a really solid outing and my favorite so far.
Pacing continues to be a bit of a challenge for these short stories. Once again, the premise is good enough to support an entire 45-minute episode - if not more. But Sedgwick has to rush through some of the most fun stuff to leave enough time for to properly explore the bigger ideas. And to be fair, I think he finds the best balance so far. But it’s easy to see how a longer story could’ve been even more fun. That being said, the plot’s great, Sedgwick captures the Third Doctor and Jo’s voices and dynamic perfectly, and the inclusion of a Villain I Won’t Spoil proves as delightful as you’d hope it would be.
All in all, a really solid outing and my favorite so far.
eking48's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
sapphosgirlfriend's review
3.0
3,5*
I've never seen an episode with this Doctor, so I think I missed quite a few references. However, I still enjoyed this and it's about Norwegian gods so that's awesome.
I've never seen an episode with this Doctor, so I think I missed quite a few references. However, I still enjoyed this and it's about Norwegian gods so that's awesome.
howattp's review
3.0
Great exploration of the tropes that defined Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor, though it also falls into some of those same pitfalls which often make it a pastiche.
bookish_brooklyn's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. It featured the Third Doctor and Jo on a quest to track down the magical spear of Odin. Written really well and I enjoyed the Vikings being woven through the tale.