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TheDHolford

TheDHolford has submitted 42 reviews and received 61 likes

Showing 1 - 25 of 42 member's reviews

Review of Catastrophea by TheDHolford

21 June 2025

Perfectly fine Dicks novel, he really captures the Third Doctor and Jo perfectly. The story is a bit messy with too many fractions and characters with none of them feeling that explored really. It’s a shame as the focus on one of these fractions would be great, but without that focus it can feel a little rushed.


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Review of Spectral Scream by TheDHolford

15 June 2025

Pretty solid, albeit fairly generic. Belinda is really well written and explored better than most of the show bothers with her. There’s plenty of fun moments, and it’s certainly quickly paced, I just feel the side characters and villains were fairly generically drawn out.


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Review of Fear Death by Water by TheDHolford

8 June 2025

Really really good! Strong characterisation for the doctor, and grace is a really strong character. I didn’t know much about her before this but seeing this slice of history is really interesting, and her relationship with the Doctor really works well. Emily cook needs to be writing more please!


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Review of The Witch Hunters by TheDHolford

5 June 2025

A really strong book. Really compelling narrative focussing on the witch trials and how Susan can’t change things. It’s dark, grim, but ultimately a really interesting read that delves deep into this time.


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Review of Fear of the Daleks by TheDHolford

4 June 2025

Found it pretty dull overall. It's nice to have Wendy Padbury, and she is decent, though the Daleks are dull, and the story isn't really explained all that well. I'm not really sure why the Daleks are doing what they are doing here.


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Review of Frostfire by TheDHolford

3 June 2025

A solid enough start to this range. Muareen O'Brian is excellent, and the way her past and present connect is a lot of fun. It's a shame that the story in the past isn't quite as exciting as I wanted, and does waste the potential of some great side characters, still it's fun!


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Review of The Reality War by TheDHolford

31 May 2025

Sigh.

Even more underwhelming than I was expecting. An absolute mess, and certainly didn’t hit me emotionally in the slightest like it’s probably meant too.

One great scene with a nice cameo, well written and genuinely nice, the rest was like watching a child throw their action figures around. Nonsense.


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Review of Wish World by TheDHolford

28 May 2025

Not really sure how the first part to a big finale can be filler? Nothing really happens, we set up a world only to do nothing really with it? Why bring back one villain only to sideline them for another next week (I presume anyway), also RTD please stop just having cliffhangers be “name that character”, it doesn’t work. Maybe it’ll all come together next week? But RTD’s track record of finales suggests otherwise.


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Review of Untitled Free Comic Book Day 2024 Story by TheDHolford

19 May 2025

Fun! Some great artwork and a quickly paced, intrguing mystery with a fun new villain. captures 15 and Ruby fairly well in its short runtime.


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Review of Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival by TheDHolford

17 May 2025

Think it’s a well written book, and Darwin is a great character but there’s not really any sort of jeopardy or story? It’s just sort of the Doctor, Darwin and the most generic version of the Silurian story you can do. A shame as there’s some good character stuff.


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Review of The Interstellar Song Contest by TheDHolford

17 May 2025

Eh. Was expecting more from Juno Dawson, since she's written some great expanded media stuff. But this just didn't really work for me.

It feels far too rushed, with too much going on. Exposition is through the roof, and every character just happens to be absolutely perfect to help save the day, it's just so contrived.

A boring villain, and while there's a message there, it's again on the nose.

Rylan was fun!

Also the cameo from a certain character felt like pure fan service and unneeded. Then the reveal of another character just felt so flat and drab? Who cares? Was anyone asking to bring back that villain really?

Roll on the finale I guess?


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Review of The Story & the Engine by TheDHolford

11 May 2025

Wish I liked this more than I did, but it felt rather flat for me in some areas but then beaming with fun and inventive ideas in other areas. I love the idea of this doctor finding his people and enjoying time with them, but Omo doesn't really have a character.

The villain is fun, and a strong performance.

You can absolutely tell this is written by a playwright, the focus on one location, and rather dialogue heavy, which works for and against its favour honestly. Though ending is pretty obvious from the outset.

Sure the cameo is fun though, if pointless.


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Review of Frankenstein and the Patchwork Man by TheDHolford

5 May 2025

Really enjoyed this one. Captures 9 and Rose really well, with a strong story surrounding “Frankenstein’s Monster”. There’s a lot of heart to it, and it really captures Rose very well, keeping her humane, understanding and ultimately the Doctor’s emotional support.


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Review of Lucky Day by TheDHolford

3 May 2025

"At least your special effects are improving."

Certainly solid. Feels like it needed maybe 10-15 minutes longer to really nail down its characters and story without being too rushed, but it's a fun concept.

Some of the writing is a little surface level, things like Ruby coping after leaving the Doctor needs a little more exploration I think. It's nice to have Kate and UNIT involved again, especially Kate as a stronger, even motherly figure without the Doctor here. Adored UNIT being in a little sleepy village, just like the 70s.

The villain is pretty fun, but again fairly surface level aims and motivations. With some fun monster costumes too.

Still with 8 episode a series now, we shouldn't be getting Doctor-Lite episodes.


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Review of The Face of the Enemy by TheDHolford

28 April 2025

I like the idea better than the execution. No Doctor and Jo, leaving UNIT and the Master is fun, giving plenty of characterisation to these side characters. Ian and Barbara too, though it’s their inclusion that makes the whole thing a little too ‘fan fictiony’.

The reveal of the story is fine, but makes it so convoluted and messy, with boring villains and far too many characters introduced to then be quickly dispatched. It happens over and over, making it hard to care about a lot of the side characters.

just all a little too messy.


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Review of The Well by TheDHolford

27 April 2025

"Please don't turn your back on me." 

A really strong episode. Perhaps the strongest of Gatwa's era thus far. A tense, atmospheric, well paced adventure, that feels pretty tightly packed in its scope. It's a science fiction horror, and that's what it does. The sets are brilliant at creating a sense of claustrophobia and unease, and the main villain is brilliant. A well thought out premise and powers, with interesting uses.

Rose Ayling-Ellis is the total stand out.


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Review of Lux by TheDHolford

23 April 2025

“I’m a two dimensional character you can’t expect backstory!”

 

Really enjoyable episode, the meta commentary worked far better than I expected with a really lovely but mad scene in the middle that worked. The villain is a great idea, and there’s some great moments for the Doctor and Belinda. It still feels quite rushed however, with some awkward dialogue choices and exposition, but certainly a lot better than last week.


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Review of The Robot Revolution by TheDHolford

13 April 2025

"Timey wimey? What, am I six?"

Eh, super rushed opening, and tonally all over the place. I like Varada Sethu a lot but I don't think this is an ideal opener for a new companion, I don't feel like I know too much about Belinda other than she wants to get home?

The robot story was on the nose, a bit cringe at times, but entertaining enough. The robots have a fun design, and while the plotting is a little convoluted, it just about works.

At least we have a companion who seemingly isn't going to be worshipping the Doctor instantly. That final scene in the tardis was well written nicely.


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Review of The Roundheads by TheDHolford

9 April 2025

A really strong and enjoyable historical romp. Gatiss manages to capture the atmosphere and horror of the era, but also make it fun and enjoyable to read. Every character is well developed and fleshed out, with plenty of mystery and intrigue for the plot. It really does feel like a story dropped right out of the early Troughton era.


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Review of The Murder Game by TheDHolford

14 March 2025

Not terrible but pretty generic overall. Its strength lies in the characterisation of Ben and Polly, actually exploring them beyond their tv counterparts quite nicely. It’s a shame that the story itself is fairly generic, with dull villains and too many side characters to keep track of. The murder mystery is fun, but once it leads into the base under siege I found myself losing interest.


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Review of The Yearn by TheDHolford

10 March 2025

I wasn't huge on this one. The base under seige is pretty generic, and not all that memorable. Though, it does do a good job at giving Valerie some more development and insight, her story is probably the strongest aspect of this.


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Review of The Devil Goblins from Neptune by TheDHolford

25 February 2025

Didn’t love this one really. I will say that it captures the era well, with the Third Doctor, Liz and the UNIT characters well written, and adds something to their characters quite nicely. It’s just a shame the story around it is a bit of a bloated mess.

sadly the villains are dull, the aliens and the human villains, and the spy/political intrigue side of the plot is confusing and doesn’t really lead anywhere all that satisfying. There’s so many characters that sadly a lot don’t get much to do, and the finale of the book feels rushed after all the build up.


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Review of The Mutants by TheDHolford

19 February 2025

“They are monsters, they don’t deserve to live!”

Sadly, it’s possibly one of the worst, if not the worst of the Pertwee era. A story with some great ideas, and some really great direction and visuals but it’s just so boring and drab. Six repetitive episodes that don’t particularly say it do much, with rather boring characters other than the Marshall, who is a fun, albeit scenery chewing villain.

The visuals are decent however. Some great direction, and really great use of lighting, especially in the caves and some fun use of the space ship. The costumes for the mutants themselves is decent too, even if they feel underutilised overall.

It’s sadly just boring, far too long, with a lack of material to really manage to capture any level of intrigue over six episodes.


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Review of All of Time and Space by TheDHolford

18 February 2025

An enjoyably meta tale about stories and development of characters. It's unique and fun, but perhaps the pacing is a little off at times, veering from super quick and snappy to sudden stopping dead in its tracks. It still works pretty damn well though, with a compelling central character.


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Review of The End by TheDHolford

18 February 2025

A really strong ending to the first set. A great concept, well explored, with great character moments, and villains that work so well, even on audio. This feels like a Moffat era episode dropped onto the boxset, perfectly fitting with Smith's Doctor. Just brilliant.


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