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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very English ending, January 30, 2001
This review is from: The Well-Mannered War (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)
The TARDIS approaches its maximum distance into the future, and the Doctor forces an emergency materialisation to prevent its destruction. The TARDIS crew find themselves arrive on Barclow, which is a planet claimed by both the humans and the Chelonians, who are waging a war in a very polite fashion (hence the title). But there are also other matters afoot, and a great enemy (whose identity I'm not at liberty to divulge here) is behind a complex plot to destroy the Doctor. Oh, and K9 runs for president as well... This book is the last of Virgin's Missing Adventures series, featuring past incarnations of the Doctor. The decision not to renew Virgin's license plays a subtle role throughout the book, up to an including the very tongue-in-cheek ending. The Doctor and Romana are yet again well characterised by Gareth Roberts, and the return of the Chelonian (originally created by Gareth Roberts for the seventh Doctor novel, 'The Highest Science') make a welcome return. The book also looks at a few other important aspects of Doctor Who history and plays a role in setting up the Bernice Summerfield adventure series that Virgin published following BBC re-claiming the Doctor Who license. It is both a great book and important for defining what was to come.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's an end, but the moment has been prepared for., September 24, 2000
This review is from: The Well-Mannered War (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)
This novel commemorates two endings - it's the last of Virgin's Missing Adventures, set at the end of the period during which Graham Williams produced the TV series. The book consequently has a slightly more melancholy tone than Gareth Roberts' other Missing Adventures, but the wit that made his other stories such a joy to read is still present. The Chelonians - the militaristic giant tortoises featured in Roberts' New Adventures The Highest Science and Zamper - are back, but they're not the villains this time round. The main enemy is initially revealed as a darkness, though there's more to it than that. Then again, there's more to almost everything in TWMW than meets the eye. The last episode (the story being structured as a classic four-parter) has an impressive selection of twists, and a thought-provoking conclusion. TWMW includes plenty of bizarre and witty concepts of the type so often found in Roberts' work and the DW era in which the story is set. The sequence with the possessed photocopier is arguably the best fusion of the comic and the chilling ever to be found in DW in any format. Definitely worth getting if the opportunity presents itself.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, Funny, and Very Entertaining, August 4, 2004
This review is from: The Well-Mannered War (Doctor Who the Missing Adventures) (Paperback)
This is a great 4th Doctor Story. It's absolutely hilarious. Roberts is at his best. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward and K9 are written superbly, as are all the other supporting cast. The plot is interesting, and keeps you guessing with a terrific twist at the end. One piece of irony: you'd think that being free of production budget constraints, Doctor Who writers would expand the sets and locations in their novels, but where does the TARDIS land? Right in a deserted rock quarry!! Where does a lot of action take place? In the quarry! However, even this funny irony makes the book even more charming and captivating somehow. Highly recommended--and easily available as an ebook on the BBC Doctor Who site.
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