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Article 105 of 137

Subject:      Decalog 2 - review by the happy guy (SPOILERS)
From:         gaffney@pcnet.com (Sean Gaffney)
Date:         1995/09/10
Message-Id:   <42vhsh$3pb@pcnet2.pcnet.net>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho
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OK< what with the controversy over people posting spoilers recently,  I was rather
surprised to find myself being yelled at (I forget by whom) for posting a spoiler warning
without giving away any actual spoilers.  Sorry, force of habit.  In order that I may
continue to do nothing except provide you with swell reviews (ENFORCED RECREATION
LIVE ON STAGE IN LONDON!), I will attempt to put a spoiler or two in here, so as to
keep everyone happy.  OK?

SPOILERS for Decalog 2...

Now then, to the book.  Much better than the first one, but then my least favorite
stories from that were the Howe/Stammers/Walker stories, and they're not writing in
this one.  Instead, we get...well, the overarching plot is really unnecessary, so I'll
just move on to the stories themselves...

Vortex of Fear - I read this at 2:30 in the morning, and it freaked me out.  In retrospect,
it's not as scary as I thought, but still pretty chilling.  Gareth has never been one of my
favorite authors (See my Zamper review in a while), and so I was really impressed.
The temporal trap was very well done, and I realized about the same time as Zoe
that the three of them were trapped there.  Good opener.   8/10

The Crimson Dawn - Now, I'm probably alone in this, but I _liked_ Prisoners of the
Sun in the first book.  So therefore, this story disappointed me more than it did others.
The main problem is that, despite a few clever word tricks, the plot is so scarce that
the story fell out of my head the moment I finished it.  I have trouble remembering it
now.  Oh, well.   4/10

Where the Heart Is - I didn't know whether this is a parody or not.  As with all good
parody, it should be practically indistinguishable from the real thing.  This took all of
Pertwee's well-known annoying habits, twisted them on their ear, and yet (and this
convinced me that it wasn't a parody) he was still very likeable.  Jo gets a lot to do
(I suspect that almost all the MA and short story authors will be upgrading her character.
And the alien being a doctor is one of the cleverer things I've seen for a while.   8/10

The Trials of Tara - Brilliant.  With enough phallic references to have Shakespeare
turning in his grave (or have something turning, anyway), with the Doctor and Bernice
beautifully written, the plot well done, Grendel perfect - ah, why question it?   10/10

Housewarming - *Sigh*.  David McIntee strikes more continuity into our minds, gets the
Master to be utterly unmalevolent in any way (what was the point of the couple having
it off in the car if they weren't killed?  So that the Master could sneer?  Sarah and Mike
are much clevere than their counterparts, and the swordfight was pointless.  Not one of
my favorites.   4/10

The Nine-Day Queen - The Hartnell story was one of my favorites in the first Decalog, and
this is also excellent.  The plot is neither here nor there, the fact is that this story had
the best characterised Doctor and companions in the book (I know, but Tara was different.)
The Doctor is very Hartnellish, and you can see what leads him to attempt to rescue Jane,
violating his own rules.  It's harder to talk about good stores, so...   9/10

Lonely Days - Average.  Eh.   5/10

People of the Trees - Odd duck, this.  Everyone is characterised well, but...it feels like
this was something written for another medium.  The Doctor and Leela seem forced into
the story.  It's good, but it doesn't feel like Doctor Who.   7/10

Timeshare - Beautiful characterization, excellent plot, comprehendible science, and very
funny (The time lord ranting about how he _knew_ he would meet the sixth doctor is worthy
of a quotefile someplace.  Very well done.   8/10

Question Mark Pyjamas - Wow.  What Dimensions in Time should have been, this is Doctor
Who pantomime.  The brilliant moments are too many to list here, but...well, Bernice and the
Doctor as husband and wife, the villain, Ace smashing the clock, the bike, the entire concept..
This is a true example of using the short story to suit the format of Decalog.  Did I mention
that Bernice and the Doctor..."Be gentle with me."   10/10

So to sum up (and I hope there are enough SPOILERS for everyone), better than the first,
looking forward to the third.

8/10

--Sean Gaffney
--"You git!  I thought you were dead!  Git git git!" - Benny, No Future

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