This is, all in all, a fun episode that I would gladly watch again and enjoy. It's paced better than many episodes in this era, has interesting side characters and quite a bit of heart, as well as fantastic atmosphere.

I think my main complaint would be the villain. Mr. Ring-a-Ding just wasn't very good. Some of his scenes felt powerful, but for the most part he was a little annoying. The "don't make me laugh" thing was an obvious set-up and felt very strange and kind of stupid in the introductory song. I didn't feel the flashbacks were necessary, especially after the even shorter-term flashbacks in the very previous episodes, and the harbinger reveal was groan-worthy.

On top of that, the animation was clearly done by computer rather than using cell animation, leaving it in a sort of uncanny valley that made it hard for me to focus on the actual story. When the Doctor and Belinda got animated it looked really stiff, and made the already forced-feeling moment of honesty between them feel even more wooden and out of place, which led to me being completely unable to believe that Belinda learned to trust him more during this episode. I do like how the "real" body Lux was building was clearly referencing those youtube videos where a sculpter makes "X but realistic".

The thing is, there's a difference Whoniverse story with a near-identical premise: Torchwood's From Out of the Rain. I can easily compare Lux to the Ghostmaker and say that I by far prefer the latter.

Let's move on to happier things. I really liked the scene with the fans; while I was hoping for a deep cut with the favourite episode, I must admit them all being so adamant about Blink was quite funny. It was an exciting moment, and I enjoyed it. It was nice to have a bit of downtime before the third act with a bit of meta humour.

I think the episode handled segregation very well for the runtime available and considering the episode wasn't about that (much better than Dot and Bubble handled racism, in my personal opinion), but I'm a bit miffed with how surprised Belinda was to learn about it.

The set design and costuming were great, though I'm again left begging for them to show us the wardrobe room.

This review might be leaning a little negative, but I really did have a good time.

I think I might have been a little distracted while listening to the first half of this story, but I found it pretty middling. Usually, folklore-inspired contemporary Doctor Who stories are my bread and butter, so it's odd that this didn't really capture me like they usually do.

The story itself is nothing special. All the twists were incredibly predictable, which isn't always a bad thing but also doesn't really do this story any favours.

The side characters were likeable enough, if quite flat; I liked Phillip and the professor, and it's a shame they met such grizzly ends.

Sixie's first meeting with the Brig was a highlight; I appreciate the Brig recognising him instantly. Evelyn is even more enjoyable than in her first outing.

There's nothing particularly bad about this story, but no standouts either. As middle-of-the-road as they come.

This is a pretty enjoyable story. Belinda is instantly likeable; she's a nurse who actually gets to use her skills in the story, she's not star-struck by the Doctor, she has a strong personality and agency. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her.

The story is a little more lackluster. Despite the fast pace, it feels very empty, like very little happened. Some of it is due to not really getting to know the side cast and a lot of the quieter moments being rushed through. It's a very simple and straightforward plot.

I must praise Sasha's actress for her acting. The big smile with the tension in the eyes was extremely poignant. Despite that, I really didn't feel that we had gotten to know her enough for her death to have much impact as a viewer. Lingering on her moment of death and focusing on the Doctor crying (again) felt more like the writer was trying to get me to feel something than giving a beloved character a proper send-off. Despite that, I do realise that it's realistic, considering how much time the Doctor spent with her, and I appreciate that she wasn't immediately forgotten about and her presence was felt throughout the episode.

I like the "twist" at the end. The message is solid, and the execution was pretty good. I will say, however, that I don't love the amount of flashbacks used, and the proposal scene was a little heavy-handed. All I needed was his line in the beginning saying "girls aren't good at maths" for me to know he's a condescending prick.

I especially liked the ending, with Belinda telling the Doctor off for scanning her DNA and believing she's just jump on the opportunity to travel with him after seeing what happened to Sasha. I enjoy this darker side of the Doctor, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

Other highlights include the polish robot and the Mrs. Flood cameo.

In general, while this isn't likely to ever be a favourite episode of mine, it does have me excited for the rest of the series, which is all a series opener really needs to do.

I literally just finished listening and already I forgot what this audio was about. It's just completely unmemorable.

I don't like Five much at the best of times, and while I like his characterisation best in the last few episodes, which do have Peri in them, none of that has translated to this story. Peri has never been one of my favourite companions, and the Ice Warriors are a reoccurring antagonist I find fairly dull. All this led to me having very low expectations, which were only slightly superseded by this story actually being mostly serviceable. While it's not very interesting and doesn't do anything new, it wasn't a complete snoozefest. Still, it's not a story I'm likely to revisit, just because there's nothing there.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it: Option Lock is mid. There are definitely worse entries in this series, but this book struggles with many of the same issues.

The most notable one for me is the lack of focus on the Doctor and Sam. There are many moments in this book where I felt like the author wanted to be writing literally anything but a Doctor Who novel, which is a shame, because their stronger moments are what save this book from a lower rating and weeks of frustrated reading for me. While Pickering was an interesting and well-rounded character, and Sargent had his moments, I felt that most of the side characters were fairly one-note - not to mention that there are far too many of them.

Another recurring issue in this series that this novel struggled with is the pacing. This book spends so much time describing the minutea of the American political and defense system, the way every little thing about launching missiles works. It strikes me as a very odd choice to feature and name a president of the United States in a British sci-fi novel. It's possible that I just don't enjoy war stories (which I don't), but the way tense and initially fast-paced moments ground to a halt to explain things really grated on me.

Then there are other, more minor things. Aside from Vampire Science and maybe Genocide, this series has a bad track record with its treatment of women, and this book is no different. It also relies on the secret society controlling the world, a pretty well know anti-Semitic trope, made worse by the imagery of the Khameirians. It just left a veneer of bad taste over the entire book that I couldn't quite ignore.

That's not to say it's all bad; I already mentioned that I liked Pickering, and his and Sam's relationship is really wonderful. There's also more of Sam and the Doctor interacting the way I like, and the Doctor's terrible driving is a highlight. The concept of the Khameirians is interesting, if a little underdeveloped.

Then there's the stuff that's neither here nor there. The writing is pretty solid; some of the descriptions are vivid, but some are a little sparse and left me confused. Other than the military stuff and the first quarter of the book, the pacing actually wasn't too bad. The epilogue is good, though I know it's unlikely to matter.

At the end of the day, I think this book just isn't really for me. I understand why it's generally considered one of the better books in this series.

This isn't the worst Dalek story put there, but considering the general quality of Dalek stories that doesn't say much. I think there were some interesting concepts (such as the library and water-based lifeforms) and some fun moments (like the character who never got to speak and Ace getting to blow things up, as usual) but it's a pretty middling story for the most part.

What really dragged it down for me was the sound design. While the voice acting for the Daleks is quite good, their voices are extremely grating in this story. On top of that, there's this terrible high-pitched whine in every scene in their statis chamber that gave me quite a headache. The beeps and chirps used for almost every machine in this audio were also very annoying. It made it very difficult to get through.

I like this serial. It benefits from being on the shorter side. The story is concise but interesting. The twist reveal is  set up nicely and done very well.

I immediately like Vicki, and not just because she looks like my favourite cousin. This is a great introductory episode for a new companion. I love how she immediately trusts the Doctor, how much she cares for the local wildlife, and her willingness to forgive Barbara despite killing her pet.

Unlike most classic stories yet to come, this serial doesn't immediately forget about Susan. The Doctor is clearly still feeling her loss. I appreciate that.

I understand why this episode is so well-liked. There are a lot of little moments to love, realistic and interesting side characters, and, of course, the first companion send-off.

I do think, however, that it's a little over-long. There's a lot that could have been cut from the middle episodes without harming the plot at all. I probably would have liked this a lot more if it was an episode or two shorter. It made the first watch boring, and the second watch nearly impossible to get through.

Still, among the mundanity, there's a lot to like. The scene where Barbara runs over a bunch of daleks is seared in my mind as a highlight. The two women who turned in Barbara and Jenny to the Daleks in exchange for food is a poignant moment. Every scene with Susan and David that leads to her eventually staying with him is surprisingly well done and engaging. While I do think it wasn't a great way to remove her character from the show, I think it could have been handled a lot worse.

It's amazing how dull a three-parter can be. It's not bad, necessarily, but there's just so little going on. It doesn't help that out main characters have basically no effect on the real plot of the story, which is happening almost entirely out of their view with characters we don't know.

The concept of the characters being shrunk is interesting, the sets and props are impressive, and the lesson of the serial is a good one, so it's not all bad. Still, not one I see myself interested in revisiting anytime soon.

This is what I really wanted from this series: a solid 7/10 story. It has a plot and active characters, which is more than I can say for some of the other books so far. Also, werewolves! What more could you ask for?

Sure, it's not the be-all end-all of books, it's not the best thing every written, it's got issues and plot holes and characters that get cut out of the story unceremoniously, but it's fun. It's simple. After the boring drag of War of the Daleks and the frustrating slog that was Alien Bodies, I desperately needed something that was just light and fun, and this delivered in full.

All the characters in this book have agency, something that is conspicuously lacking in most other novels in this series so far. Sam, especially, finally gets to come into her own. It's amazing that we're seven books in and I still barely feel like I know her, but I feel like I know her a bit better now.

There are a lot of little details that I feel elevate the story if you're paying attention, such as the moon motifs and the Jax causing infected people's eyes to turn green (I really liked the line describing Gray's eyes to be "just as grey as the rest of him", which is probably the only reason I even noticed they had changed colour).

This book does something similar to The Bodysnatchers, where around halfway through the novel you feel like it's starting to wrap up. But unlike The Bodysnatchers, Kursaal actually has more of a story to tell, with things that were set up in the first part. It feels like it could have been a sequel rather than the same book, and I do think that isn't ideal, but it fills the necessary 280 page count without dragging, which is all I could ask for.

I really don't understand why this book is so widely hated. I enjoyed it.