This Week In Doctor Who: New Books, Games, and Set Reports

Greetings and salutations, Fellow Fridge Nukers! Bradfield here, once again bringing you “All the Who That’s Fit to Print” from the fringes of Time And Relative Dimensions In Space for the week ending March 24, 2014.

Fine Literature

[Image property of Panini Magazines/BBC Worldwide] Issue #470 – in bookstores and specialty shops now!

Issue #470 of Doctor Who Magazine is on newsstands now. I’d like to say that it’s the “most current” issue, but in the States, we’re a month, give or take, behind the UK with regard to the mag’s release schedule. So even if the release information for merchandise is a little dated, DWM always has great interviews, features and comics.

[Image property of BBC Worldwide/Kindle] $3.99 on Kindle. Need I say more?

Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor’s Last Stand is available now, and so far, only in Kindle format. However, taking into account that it’s $3.99 — and that you don’t need a Kindle device to run Kindle software — it’s a nice way for Matt Smith fans to abate their separation anxiety. It features four stories of standoffs with some of The Doctors most formidable enemies.

Speaking of The Doctor’s enemies…

While trying to procure a hard copy of Tales of Trenzalore (I was unaware that it was only available as an eBook) at my local chain bookstore, I noticed several Doctor Who titles in the “New Science Fiction” section. It turns out the books were released on March 11th as BBC Paperbacks’ Doctor Who: The Monster Collection Editions. Most of the books have been previously released, but in different series, at different times, and in different sizes. Some of them haven’t been in print since their new releases, offering fans on a budget the opportunity to buy these stories at a reasonable, non-collectible price.

Third Doctor [John Pertwee]:

The Scales of Injustice (1996). Monster(s) – Silurians. Companion(s) – Liz and UNIT.

[Image property of BBC Paperpacks/BBC Worldwide] Zygons just reappeared on the TV program in “The Day of the Doctor” but it isn’t the first time the Tenth Doctor confronted them

Fourth Doctor [Tom Baker]:

The Corpse Marker (1999). Monster(s) – Robots. Companion(s) – Leela.

Fifth Doctor [Peter Davison]:

The Sands of Time (1996). Monster(s) – Mummies. Companion(s) – Nyssa and Teagen.

Seventh Doctor [Sylvester McCoy]:

Shakedown (1996). Monster(s) – Sontarans and Rutans. Companion(s) – I have no idea who actually appears in the book, aside from the Doctor himself. It is an extension of a straight-to-video release, Shakedown: The Return of the Sontarans, which featured the Doctor Seven’s companions Susan (his first) and Ace (his last), but not The Doctor himself. Yeah. Figure that one out.
Illegal Alien (1998). Featured villains – The Cybermen. Companion – Ace.

Tenth Doctor [David Tennant]:

Sting of the Zygons (2010). Featured villains – Zygons. Companion – Martha Jones [Freema Agyeman].
Prisoner of the Daleks (2009). Featured villains – Daleks.

Eleventh Doctor [Matt Smith]:

Touched by an Angel (2011). Featured villains – Weeping Angels. Companion(s) – Amy and Rory.

Something old and something new

It’s a long time until the premiere episode of Series Eight, and so far, no official announcements about when the wait will be over.

[Image property of BBC Worldwide/Legacy Interactive] The Daleks beat the Beatles to invading 1960s London in DOCTOR WHO: THE ADVENTURE GAMES

[Image property of BBC Worldwide/Tiny Little Rebel] A Who twist on a familiar game

If you’re caught up on all the (recent) seasons and jones’ing for some time travel, I have two suggestions: first, go back to episodes with Doctors One through Eight. However, whether you’re not interested in “Classic Who,” (and shame on you) or you are just a big fan of the travels and travails of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory, I also suggest Legacy Interactive‘s Doctor Who: The Adventure Games. And now that the game is being offered on the Steam platform, the graphics are bound to be smoother — there were some slight glitching issues in the fifth installment, The Gunpowder Plot — but perhaps even better, the game is now $19.99; $5 dollars cheaper than previous purchase options through Amazon or Legacy Interactive. [I still highly encourage you, though, to check out Legacy Games site. They have a plethora of not only original games, but games for licensed properties from Doctor Who to Paranormal State, and even Murder She Wrote. Free trials are available for most games.] If you’d like to know more about DWTAG itself, check out my review, posted here in the pages of NTF not so many moons ago.

Additionally, Tiny Rebel Games recently released Doctor Who: Legacy. Though not an RPG like DWTAG, Legacy is a puzzle game app in the tradition of Bejeweled. Though it is mainly a familiar game with a Who twist, Legacy is the first time current companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), and central character of Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), have appeared in a Doctor Who game. You also have a few different Doctors to chose from.

#DWSR

[Image property of Twitter/BBC Worldwide] Wait, a Companion in a suit and tie???

Hardcore Whovians are already familiar with this hashtag. However, if you aren’t in the know, and once again, are having a hard time reconciling your newfound love for the show with the idea that it’s easily going to be around six months before we see a new episode, definitely add this hashtag to your Twitter feed ASAP. Especially if you’re a fan in the US. In the same way that we here at NTF throw out the widest net possible to bring you inside information on the hottest shows, movies, and comics, UK fans, well, they are just as passionate and unstoppable when it comes to unearthing even the smallest details from behind the scenes of Doctor Who Series Eight. It might take a little time to separate the wheat from the chaff,” but speaking from the point of view of an individual spends a lot of time reporting on the adventures of the world’s most popular Time Lord, I’m constantly scanning it. The info is spotty at best, but as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” To that end, simply clicking through to the photos section of the hashtag is likely to give you a million or so words in information.

[Image property of BBC Worldwide] Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) thought hanging with the Tenth Doctor was too dangerous… So she joined UNIT

Hanging our heads in shame…

On behalf of Nuke the Fridge and myself, I would like to sincerely apologize for not mentioning, in the previous (first) installment of ‘This Week In Doctor Who’ the Tenth Doctor’s Companion, Martha Jones, actress Freema Agyeman‘s (then) upcoming birthday (March 20). NTF is still a little new when it comes to reporting on the vast and varied world of Doctor Who, and though BBCA has done a stellar job of keeping us in the mix, some things just slip through the cracks. We offer you a conciliatory pint next time you’re in the Los Angeles area.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back next week. Same Who time, same Who channel.