Waterstones Doctor Who: Players
91 ratings
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Price: £12.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: Arriving on the sun-baked veldt in the middle of the Boer War, the Sixth Doctor is soon involved in the adventures of struggling politician and war correspondent Winston Churchill. Of course, he knows Churchill is destined for great things, but unseen forces seem to be interfering with Winston's historic career. The Doctor suspects the hidden hand of the Players, mysterious beings who regard human history as little more than a game. With time running out, can the Doctor find the right moves to defeat them? An adventure featuring the Sixth Doctor as played by Colin Baker and his companion Peri. Waterstones Doctor Who: Players - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781849905213
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781849905213
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Author: Christopher Long
Rating: 5
Review: I know I watched the sixth Doctor on TV. I vaguely remember his trial and I remember people gasping when they found out the truth about the Valeyard. I remember my dad saying he was the best Doctor in years. And I remember the coat. Boy, do I remember that coat. Anyway, when the DW 50th anniversary short stories started to annoy me I figured it was time to take a dip into the real literature. Especially after Shada made me a very happy reader the other year. So when I looked for 6th Doctor stories I knew this was the one to go with. It looked intriguing and, from what I could see, it pleased a lot of people. So I decided I wanted to join their club and, boy, am I happy to be a member. This is a great read. DW fan or not. It's fast, it's clever, it's funny and it shows that Doctor no 6 was one of the greats. Or he can be, when he's in the right hands. Terrance Dicks is very clever man with a mildly funny surname.
Author: Alaran
Rating: 3
Review: This is not, perhaps, one of Terrance Dicks better contributions to the world of Doctor Who. There isn't much of a semblance to a developing plot, rather a romp through the pre-Second World War life of Winston Churchill that culminates in a conspiracy involving aliens, Nazis and British Nazi sympathisers. Essentially the story involves a group of time meddling aliens, the Players, attempting to assassinate Churchill. It is never really made clear why they should want to do this. It appears that they may just upset timelines and history merely for fun than any ulterior objective. As such the story is set in three historical periods; The Boer War, The First World War and the years of Edward VIII's abdication in the run-up to the Second World War. In each of these periods the Players attempt to kill Churchill only to b thwarted by the Doctor (sometimes the Sixth and sometimes the Second). Why they should only try once in each time period must be part of the odd rules the Players play by that are never really given any meaningful explanation. In fact, the eponymous Players who appear to cause or influence the events of this book don't actually feature much at all and their characters are left very basic and undeveloped. They are to feature more in other novels by Dicks, such as the Second Doctor story `World Game' and `God Game' with the Eighth Doctor. And, indeed, the Countess becomes a re-occuring character. In this novel there is very little to be learnt about them and they are easily forgettable as characters. Many of the historical personalities such as Wallis Simpson, Ribbontrop and Churchill are portrayed as larger than life. This is fair enough in some ways considering who they are but somehow it fees as if Dicks' Churchill is a bit too jolly and lacks seriousness and conviction. What is good about the characterisation of Churchill though is that it seems to fit in nicely with the relationship he later has with the Eleventh Doctor on the television. It can be seen how this book helps to establish that relationship between the two. Characters such as Carstairs and Lady Jennifer from the `War Games' and Dekker from Dicks book `Blood Harvest' also make re-appearances, but their characters aren't really given any development and there is nothing new to learn about them. Dicks, who is usually spot on with his portrayals of the Doctor, misses the mark somewhat with this characterisation of the Sixth Doctor. I can understand the need voiced by Dicks in his introduction to get the Sixth Doctor out of his usual outfit (who wouldn't understand that?). But it seems as if the Sixth Doctor loses some of his brashness and loudness once he loses his outlandish costume. A lot of the time Dicks is writing for him as if he were the Third Doctor. Even the portrayal of the Second Doctor is somewhat lacking and usually Dicks is so good at this. The prose is well written and cracks along at a decent pace, but most of Dicks other Doctor Who books would have been a better example of his work to represent him in this fiftieth anniversary series of re-releases.
