Plum Pudding Reviews

Boxset 2 in The Master series! 2.1 Dictatorship The Master and The Monk are besties and they've conquered Earth. With their newfound "friendship," the world is their oyster. Literally. They've conquered it. Master/Monk 1, Earth 0. They've even beaten the Doctor (well, he was a ripoff!) So surely Queen Victoria can't be a threat to their power at all. Right?  2.2 Civil Unrest  The Master soon discovers that Queen Victoria is in fact, a "bad bitch", as one of the Monk's provinces falls to the Queens forces. The Monk and The Master have to rally their kingdoms together under one rule in order to defeat Victoria. But well, they still can't agree on anything. If their squabbling doesn't come to a cease, well, it's curtains.  2.3 Governmental Collapse Queen Victoria has a shotgun and a guillotine, and she's not afraid to use either. As a matter of fact, she intends to. And, well, the people are calling. The Master is hiding, and The Mon...

  All But One Of You Will Die...  Save Our Souls by Scott Handcock One of my favorite novels of all time is the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None, which is a masterclass in literature because of the atmosphere it evokes- it is exactly how you write tension, it is exactly how you write a murder mystery, and it is absolutely horrifying to boot. No adaptation, I feel, has come close to the original material in any way- there's the fairly good recent adaptation with Charles Dance and Burn Gorman, do go watch it, but even that made some choice additions and padded out certain sections that had no need to be there. There's a 1940s film and a play which both made the choice for the characters to live at the end- which is stupid, they all die, it's in the title. But my point is, even with a three hour runtime and a chance to develop all of the characters to their maximum potential, even the best adaptation fell short.  Save Our Souls does And Then There Were None in...

Another Piece in my series of cover art, this one proposing a spinoff for Michelle Yeoh's incarnation of the Master!  1.1 Skeptic The Master is free of her chains... no longer irritated by former incarnations, she travels out to cause trouble- only to find it! In Ancient Rome, here is a new Nun in the Vatican- and she vies for the seat of the Pope! Only The Master knows who this woman is- but to point out the Monk's false past, she could be excommunicated by ancient Rome - and that would be problematic indeed. 1.2 Falsehood The Monk has revealed herself, and is now on the run from the Vatican Soldiers on the side of the Master. Two Time Ladies against the entirety of ancient Rome. No TARDISes, No Time Travel, No Screwdrivers, No Nothing! ...Rome doesn't stand a chance.  1.3 Deposed Part One The Master and Monk are the Queens of Rome. They're soon to be Queens of the world too, and they're getting along concerningly well. Their only worry is the Doctor will step in.....

 Red Base by James Goss Red Base is a frankly gorgeous piece, as it’s essentially 2001, but less predictable and without 30 minutes of Monkey at the beginning of it. Similarly to Robots of Death, the claustrophobic atmosphere is used to enormous effect throughout, and it’s very well chosen as an Andy tale- other Torchwood characters wouldn’t have the correct mix of not being competent enough to break out but being smart enough to figure it out. Andy is a people person, which the episode uses to excellent advantage. On the whole, my only problems with this nearly perfect script is it almost feels too predictable- especially when over half of the cast is dead or too insane to be able to accomplish the murders. As time goes on, where you should feel more trapped- you feel less, as the situation only becomes more apparent. Still, it’s excellent Andy content, proving the guy can stand on his own two feet without Norton or Owen to back him up- Which is obviously excellent:  8/10

(MAIN RANGE): The Roman Discrepancy Gallifrey VFX: Subject begins to speak. He grumbles in a low tone. It is difficult to tell what he is saying. Further instances of sound effects will be inscribed for the reader, as the original tapes have been lost to the archives.  "For the benefit of the tape, could you please speak up?" "Yes? Mm, Yes? Ah. Hello, there. I was wondering where exactly I was." "Gallifrey has used a time-scoop. You are in the private offices of the CIA. I am the Coordinator." "Hm? Ah, well, yes, that's very good for you. They call me Roman, pleased to meet you." "You are the Time Lord  Romanadvoratrelundar,  with the Aliases, Romana, Roman, and Fred?"  "Yes. That's me. I must, say, what is with this whole thing going on here? Why have I been brought here? Time Scoops are very dangerous devices, and ones the time lords rarely if ever stoop to."  VFX: The ruffling of something like paper shuffles gently...

  Zone 10 by David Llewellyn  TOSH RIDING A SNOWMOBILE TOSH RIDING A SNOWMOBILE Okay yes in all rationality Zone 10 is pretty good though solidly hits into a average, and although there is MUCH here for snowmobile enthusiasts, Zone 10 doesn’t really have great characters or concepts- the coolest bit is the “pulse” that brought Tosh there in the first place, and it’s a minor thing- I had a heart attack thinking I had put cascade.cd.rip.tor in the player for a second, but no, they just open in the exact same way. That's the issue in doing these stories out of order. One more way cascade fricks with me from beyond the grave. The story focuses on Tosh going to Russia - which is already a cool concept, because these stories don't really tend to leave Cardiff - and we watch as she begins a joint investigation into a strange energy pulse with the Russian Torchwood equivalent. It's a pretty okay hook, but the immersion of it leaves something to be desired. The immersion, by which I...

  Uncanny Valley by David Llewellyn Incredible. Not incredible as in it's a good story, Incredible that David Llewellyn could make such a royal stinker in terms of how to write Jack Harkness after nailing it more than any other author before in the Conspiracy. Woo-boy. Yep, Uncanny Valley is one of those Torchwood stories, and when the other "successes" of it's kind have been the "universally praised" Day One and Love Rat, one begins to question why. Then again, if you swing a certain way, Uncanny Valley may provide a great deal of superficial enjoyment, but in terms of plot and story writing, I really don't think the tale amounts to much. There are a few good moments, but the story just decides to have Jack fuck the main villain in order to make another character jealous enough to shut him down? No offense, that's not Jack. I like to think he's a little more heroic than that, despite, yes, being a huge horndog. There are certain things I like, t...

  The Conspiracy by David Llewellyn  The Conspiracy is really quite a unique story, and one that I immensely enjoyed over the runtime. It's a phenomenal example on how to keep the audience guessing, even if they probably already know the solution. Yes, from the start it's clear the Committee is real, but The Conspiracy like any good story of this kind, throws you for a loop, and tries and at certain points succeeds at making you think that maybe it isn't. That is, unless like me, you've listened to the other thirty something audios with the committee in them. Anyway, The Conspiracy is still incredibly solid: A good example on how to write a Jack Harkness story- It's incredibly easy to get caught up in his inneundos and flirtations that you kind of forget the point of him. A really, honestly great start to the Torchwood range in general, to be honest. Why I didn't start here and instead went by the anachronistic stupid order you see in the Directory, I'll nev...

  Everything’s Frozen!  Moving Target by Guy Adams Another sure-fire hit for this superb range, Moving Target is rather excellent, even if it leans on the average side of excellent. Closer to an 8.5 than an 8, I enjoyed Moving Target more than most 8s in the Torchwood range by far. Certain things it doesn’t do well, but certain things it does magnificently. Moving Target is a chilling piece with a fascinating morality play at the heart of it. It has a predictable, but bloodchilling ending, and does a superb amount with a small cast, even if our chief side character, Alex, isn’t very likable. I feel the story would have been much better if it could endear me further to Alex and Suzie’s relationship, instead of having Alex’s chief character moment being guzzling a vodka. What I like about the story, is like the best stories, it’s a story that could only be told with Suzie as our main character. It’s fascinating the place Suzie is in here. She’s supposed to save the world, that’s...

  Glorious? Ludicrous? Torchwood? More Than This by Guy Adams How I love Gwen Cooper. Well, not when she's written badly. I can name at least two examples of abysmal Gwen Cooper writing per Torchwood series (Minus Children of Earth probably) But nonetheless, More Than This is just magnifient Gwen writing. I'd go as far to say that it rivals Adrift as her best story. Then again, it's also not her story. More Than This is a moving beautiful piece on the depression of Roger Pugh, leader of the Cardiff planning council, who has lost his wife. It's structured almost like a companion chronicle, there's only really Gwen and Roger for most of it, you could almost pair it down to a two hander if you axed the short and sweet Andy cameos and Russell T Davies's one line appearance, and it also has a framing device and a sort of narration. It's part character study, part pilot. It really is like a pilot in a way, it introduces all of the main Torchwood elements to Pugh a...

 Minus One, Every Single NCJDDAS, Main Range and NCBBDAS story has been this year. I wrote so much because of lockdown, it's almost horrific. Before now, I've never really gone over what I think are my most successful works. Now I will. This is A Year In Review for My Stories Of 2020. I love all the contributions from other writers (in fact, I'd put them above all of these) but I am an egocentric nutjob with unlimited power. (Still, go read Genesis of The Humans or I will gut you) And here we go!  Work In Progress/Starcorp Horror Part One and Two Read Here:  Work In Progress Starcorp Horror Part One Starcorp Horror Part Two If someone asked me what I'm trying to go for in this series, what I'm trying to work towards, I'd point towards these two connected stories, which despite being early on (Before the Pandemic! Holy Crap) are still probably one of my strongest works. The NCJDDAS was a lot rougher in terms of characterization, but the ideas and humor are still ...

(MAIN RANGE): Twelve Hours of Wasteland Starring Peter Davison as The Fifth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana II and Michelle Yeoh as The Master   Hour One Can you tell a story about nothing? One assumes so. But when it comes down to it, every story has something, a Gimmick. A nut of an idea that it wants to crack. It's funny to think about.  "Oh, shut up." The Master replied, sitting next to the Doctor and Romana in the bleak dusty dark of the planet. "Honestly, you two with your monologuing. You do it so much you'd think you'd hire a narrator at this point."  Romana huffed. "You know, strictly speaking, it's your fault we're here. The Doctor can monologue if he wants to."  "Well, it hasn't even been an hour yet and I'm already sick." The Master spat. "Just my luck. When I'm stuck on a planet, I get a Gallifreyan Bureaucrat and the most boring version of him !" "Oh, I say!" Replied The Doctor, mildl...

  A new series where I do cover art and story synopsis's and that's it. You've already seen one before with Missy Snowfall. Thanks to Gallifrey_Immigrant for the Jessica Henwick Division Doctor.  Gallifrey - Divisions Gallifrey exists in many universes. In some, a timeline was not erased. In some, a new world thrives... and it's coming to get us.  1.1 Divide President Romana has won the time war. As the people begin to relax, no longer fighting a conflict that could end the universe, little things begin to arise. Petty conflicts dominate the streets, and soon, minor uprisings could bring unbalance to Romana's presidency. Attempting to mediate the conflicts fairly, Romana assigns Ace to look into the Matrix for information... and Ace finds the motherlode. The Doctor was far more than 'just another time lord...'  The Division is back, and it's going to bite Gallifrey in the behind.  1.2 Conquer Overwhelmed with the new information Ace has brought her, Roma...

Something about this story had to be done sloppily to get it out before Christmas and it was the cover  (MAIN RANGE): Carol of The Bells Starring Dame Judi Dench as The Twenty Sixth Doctor and her entire supporting cast Happy Holidays You will probably get what I'm pastiche-ing in the first sentence Stave One Danny was dead to begin with. There was no doubt about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clerk, the undertaker, Professor Bernice Summerfield (who being an archeologist, knows damn well whether a person is dead or not. It's a very important distinction, because well, you have to be sure a body is a. dead and b. really damn old to try archeology on it, so suffice to say she knows her stuff) and so it was pretty final. The Doctor signed the register. And The Doctor was a mournful woman for a good time after that.  Danny was as dead as a doornail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I...