SophieScarlet Build High for Happiness! United States · she Followers 2 Following 0 Following Follow Follows you Overview Diary Badges Statistics Reviews My Stories My Completed Stories My Favourite Stories ♥ My Rated Stories 1 ★ 2 ★ 3 ★ 4 ★ 5 ★ Stories I have reviewed Stories I own My Saved Stories My Completed, Unrated Stories My Skipped Stories My Next Story My Uncompleted Stories My Unreviewed Stories Stories I do not own My Collectables My Owned Collectables My Unowned Collectables My Saved Collectables (Wishlist) My Quotes My Favourite Quotes My Submitted Quotes Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Spoilers First Spoilers Last 36 reviews SophieScarlet has submitted 36 reviews and received 56 likes Showing 1 - 25 of 36 member's reviews 12Next → 28 June 2025 · 173 words Peter Cushing MoviesDaleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. SophieScarlet Spoilers Review of Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. by SophieScarlet 28 June 2025 This review contains spoilers! Saying that this one literally pales in comparison to its predecessor is too easy a joke for me to pass up. Aside from the drab color palette, it lacks the humor of the first one (due in part to Ian's absence). Bernard Cribbins and especially Jill Curzon are good - and arguably much closer in spirit to the original Ian and Barbara than the first movie's characters of those names - but Louise and Tom simply aren't as enjoyable to watch. Moreover, there are several instances where Daleks seem to just stand still and let themselves be defeated, and generally too much seems not to have been thought through. For instance, as Dr. Who himself notes, how are these Daleks able to move on any turf if they're older than those in the first movie? Louise's "female Sherlock Holmes" outfit looks great, but what's the reason for it? On the other hand, it (like the original serial) is ahead of its time in its inclusion and depiction of Dortmun as a wheelchair user. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 26 June 2025 · 34 words The Sarah Jane Adventures S1 • Episode 7-8Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? SophieScarlet Spoilers Review of Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? by SophieScarlet 26 June 2025 This review contains spoilers! I'm dying to know why nobody made the obvious argument that Andrea was going to die either way - by drowning or by the meteor - so she may as well save everybody else. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 2 June 2025 · 10 words Doctor Who Specials Legend of the Sea Devils SophieScarlet 1 Review of Legend of the Sea Devils by SophieScarlet 2 June 2025 this is so much fun you guys are just curmudgeons SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 1 20 May 2025 · 15 words Sullivan and Cross – AWOL • Episode 2Scream of the Daleks SophieScarlet Review of Scream of the Daleks by SophieScarlet 20 May 2025 I really enjoyed this one. A fun, genuinely creepy Halloween romp. Lisa McMullin doesn't miss. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 18 May 2025 · 63 words Doctor Who S12 • Episode 8The Haunting of Villa Diodati SophieScarlet Review of The Haunting of Villa Diodati by SophieScarlet 18 May 2025 I really wanted to like this one, because I like haunted houses and I like the Romantics, and it just felt like a letdown. It doesn't help that it revolves around my least favorite Who monsters, but the whole thing just doesn't make a whole lot of sense and feels stapled together. And its appearance isn't nearly as stylish as it should be. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 17 May 2025 · 75 words Sullivan and Cross – AWOL • Episode 1London Orbital SophieScarlet Review of London Orbital by SophieScarlet 17 May 2025 The supposed twist (and consequently, the last third or so of the story) is unutterably clichéd, but this is still a really fun story. It's not as Underground-heavy as, say, The Web of Fear, but it does manage to get in some jibes at Crossrail. I always like DW incorporating mythology and folklore, so I liked the use of elves, and the details like the king feeding birds from his 51st-floor penthouse. Great dialogue too. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 16 May 2025 · 47 words Doctor Who S12 • Episode 5Fugitive of the Judoon SophieScarlet Spoilers Review of Fugitive of the Judoon by SophieScarlet 16 May 2025 This review contains spoilers! I have mixed feelings about the Fugitive Doctor's characterization, but mostly I have to say: Man, it was hypocritical of Thirteen to criticize her for letting Gat use the sabotaged gun when she herself killed the Reconaissance Dalek four episodes ago, after similarly giving it a warning. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 13 May 2025 · 19 words Doctor Who S11 • Episode 9It Takes You Away SophieScarlet 1 Review of It Takes You Away by SophieScarlet 13 May 2025 A really unsatisfying, muddled plot, but several earnest emotional moments in the last few minutes. I teared up twice! SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 1 13 May 2025 · 13 words Doctor Who S11 • Episode 8The Witchfinders SophieScarlet 2 Review of The Witchfinders by SophieScarlet 13 May 2025 Alan Cumming: (sees a bit of unchewed scenery) I'll take care of that. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 12 May 2025 · 29 words Doctor Who S11 • Episode 4Arachnids in the UK SophieScarlet 2 Review of Arachnids in the UK by SophieScarlet 12 May 2025 It's a fun, stupid romp, and sometimes that's all you need. The spiders going after a Trump wannabe played by actual sex pest Chris Noth... the spiders are woke... SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 12 May 2025 · 197 words Doctor Who S11 • Episode 3Rosa SophieScarlet Review of Rosa by SophieScarlet 12 May 2025 I was leery going in to this episode as I'd heard bad things about it, and I've just recently read Rosa Parks' memoir, as well as Our Auntie Rosa, a joint memoir by several of her nieces and nephews. Happily, Chibnall and Blackman did their homework. While some elements of the episode aren't quite accurate (e.g., Mrs. Parks being locked out of the bus in the 40s, rather than choosing to wait for another), they were clearly done to simplify events while remaining basically true to history. And, as in reality, she reacts to the threat of arrest with a calm "You may do that," which literally made me want to stand up and cheer. The ending tries a bit too hard to wrap things up nicely, and the episode does have a bit of a "gosh golly can't we all get along" attitude, but I can forgive it that. Hey, at least it's not the Touched by an Angel episode guest-starring the real Mrs. Parks, which does an amazing job of illustrating how racism works with a nuance and level of understanding well ahead of its time, then puts Monica in blackface for ten minutes. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 1 May 2025 · 234 words In ColourThe War Games in Colour SophieScarlet 2 Review of The War Games in Colour by SophieScarlet 1 May 2025 A significant improvement on The Daleks in Colour. The story is mostly intelligible, albeit with the occasional bit left hanging (e.g., how did Lt. Carstairs come into it?). The colourization itself is also much improved; whereas The Daleks had the look of '60s colour TV like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie, with the colours rather pastel, The War Games is still somewhat muted but looks more realistic, similar to the 3rd Doctor era. On the downside, the continued attempts to modernize the look of the story with CGI inserts and fast edits, particularly cutting away from dialogue to make a voiceover, end up detracting from the experience by making it obvious that it's a re-edit. The flashbacks to The Highlanders and The Wheel in Space are particularly gratuitous. (But at least they didn't do any dizzyingly fast, flashy edits like in The Daleks.) As for the story itself, I enjoyed it and look forward to watching the original. Nitpick: Using exclusively Nu Doctors as the Doctor's possible regenerations undermined the attempt to connect Classic and Nu. Should have been the War Doctor (too old), Ten (too thin), Five (too young), and Four (won't do at all). EDIT: I've now watched the original, and the unexplained things I assumed were cut in the colourization... aren't there either. In fact, I preferred the colour version. So I'm bumping my rating up a half-star. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 30 April 2025 · 58 words Animated ReconstructionsThe Celestial Toymaker (Animated Reconstruction) SophieScarlet 1 Review of The Celestial Toymaker (Animated Reconstruction) by SophieScarlet 30 April 2025 I'm generally only reviewing/rating the original story or the animation, whichever I saw more of, but I have to make an exception here. The story is a 3.5 (apparently I'm in the minority here!), but my god, the animation is demonic. I appreciate that they were trying to do "something different"... but did it have to be this? SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 1 30 April 2025 · 50 words Animated ReconstructionsThe Savages (Animated Reconstruction) SophieScarlet 2 Review of The Savages (Animated Reconstruction) by SophieScarlet 30 April 2025 The same general idea as Galaxy 4 and even The Daleks, along with later stories I can't call to mind right now, which meant it felt a bit like a retread. I still enjoyed it though, and the background animation was really nice, though some of the character animation was subpar. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 23 December 2024 · 43 words Short Trips - RaritiesThe Little Drummer Boy SophieScarlet Review of The Little Drummer Boy by SophieScarlet 23 December 2024 The premise of this sounded dopey, but it actually works well. The ending is incredibly bittersweet and actually made me cry, which I was by no means expecting. It shows, however briefly, a real soft side to the First Doctor that I appreciated. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 20 October 2024 · 53 words Time Lord VictoriousEchoes of Extinction SophieScarlet 4 Review of Echoes of Extinction by SophieScarlet 20 October 2024 The Eighth Doctor story is a cool little "you're trapped in here with me/I'm trapped in here with you" type story, with a really enjoyable robot character and Dame Kathryn Drysdale to boot. The Tenth Doctor story is a bland space opera that might have made half of a good TV episode. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 4 20 October 2024 · 20 words Time Lord VictoriousGenetics of the Daleks SophieScarlet 4 Review of Genetics of the Daleks by SophieScarlet 20 October 2024 It's literally just The Power of the Daleks (Remix), with an interpolation of The Ark in Space. Tom's fantastic though. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 4 20 October 2024 · 35 words BBC Audio OriginalsThe Minds of Magnox SophieScarlet 3 Review of The Minds of Magnox by SophieScarlet 20 October 2024 This did not need to be as long as it is. Cut ten minutes and make the coda part of the story proper and we'd have been in business. Instead, the exposition is painfully slow. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 3 20 October 2024 · 50 words Time Lord Victorious • Episode 1He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not SophieScarlet 3 Review of He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not by SophieScarlet 20 October 2024 What an absolute, unadulterated delight! It has an evil Ood, a lesbian couple fighting for their love (but not against homophobia!), a nicely foreshadowed B-plot, absolutely sparkling dialogue, and of course over-the-top pseudo-Western accents and settings. It's the campest Western I've ever met, and I love that journey for me. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 3 18 October 2024 · 37 words Time Lord Victorious: Short Trips: Master Thief / Lesser Evils • Episode 2Lesser Evils SophieScarlet Review of Lesser Evils by SophieScarlet 18 October 2024 This is a really, really interesting look at the Master being a good guy, if only temporarily. It's worth it for that, and for one line that absolutely stunned me, but my god does it drag on. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 18 October 2024 · 154 words BBC Audio Single ReleasesThe Ghosts of N-Space SophieScarlet 1 Review of The Ghosts of N-Space by SophieScarlet 18 October 2024 This has a really interesting structure, both in that it constantly shifts between the Doctor's and the Brig's (and later Sarah's) perspectives and in its combination of multiple genres and elements: post-medieval and Regency historical, Gothic, hard sci-fi, Christian/European mythology, probably more I'm forgetting already. I didn't enjoy it as much as its predecessor, The Paradise of Death, as its dialogue isn't as snappy and it's denser (hard sci-fi is always hard for me to follow, though). But Christian mythology specifically is something I've always felt is underused in Doctor Who – probably to avoid offense – so it's very cool to see it get some use here. The Brig's uncle is a good comic relief character, and Jeremy is still a solid quasi-companion. On the other hand, by this time Jon wasn't always audibly recognizable as the Doctor, and Sarah is a bit weak and imo even out of character in this. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 1 16 October 2024 · 124 words Classic Who S24 • Serial 1 · (4 episodes)Time and the Rani SophieScarlet 2 Review of Time and the Rani by SophieScarlet 16 October 2024 If I'd been a Whovian as a kid, I would have been obsessed with this story. The Rani's back! And she dresses up as Mel! And she helps the Doctor choose his new outfit! And the Tetraps are the most adorable monsters since the Daleks! (Sorry, The Meep.) And Wanda Ventham's back in yet another fabulous role! But then... there are three more episodes. The story simply can't sustain that long a script. They should have cut this to 3 episodes and given Delta a fourth. The Rani also isn't as entertaining when she's not fighting with the Master for dominance nor pulling the wool over the Doctor's eyes, and she ends up being a waste of a great actor on a pretty pedestrian villain. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 15 October 2024 · 70 words Genesis of the Daleks and Exploration EarthExploration Earth SophieScarlet 3 Review of Exploration Earth by SophieScarlet 15 October 2024 I get that this was an educational piece, but it's handled so badly. The plot, such as it is, is useless, and Sarah comes off as a whiny, screaming idiot. The enemy is even more inexplicable and unbelievable than the Pescatons. This would have been better if it had abandoned the Doctor vs. monster format of the show and just been the Doctor taking Sarah on a tour through time. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 3 15 October 2024 · 115 words BBC Audio Single ReleasesDoctor Who and the Pescatons SophieScarlet Review of Doctor Who and the Pescatons by SophieScarlet 15 October 2024 If I'm being generous, I can say that this was probably hampered by its format and the practicalities of fitting a story onto two sides of a record. I can imagine that the novel is better. Right, I've been generous enough. This is a supremely unsatisfying story that moves in leaps and bounds, a bit like getting the first and last five minutes of every episode in a serial and nothing in between. I can't take the Pescatons seriously, and the Doctor and Sarah both seem unusually hapless. Worse still, it has some truly ear-splitting sound effects. The only good thing I can say about it is it has a few funny lines of dialogue. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 0 13 October 2024 · 14 words Classic Who S26 • Serial 3 · (4 episodes)The Curse of Fenric SophieScarlet 2 Review of The Curse of Fenric by SophieScarlet 13 October 2024 At literally no point in this story did I understand what was going on. SophieScarlet View profile Like Liked 2 12Next → Sorting and filtering coming soon!