Difference between revisions of "Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen"
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In expert adapting hands good written fiction can make satisfactory television material. The converse is seldom true. By the time it has undergone translation into book form the excellent ham of Doctor Who is more than a little off. Why is this so ? The qualities of the television series are essentially visual and audial ; the dialogue is unmemorable. The essence of television is that it is instant, of the novel that it is permanent. | In expert adapting hands good written fiction can make satisfactory television material. The converse is seldom true. By the time it has undergone translation into book form the excellent ham of Doctor Who is more than a little off. Why is this so ? The qualities of the television series are essentially visual and audial ; the dialogue is unmemorable. The essence of television is that it is instant, of the novel that it is permanent. | ||
| − | The reprint in paperback of two Doctor Who stories, accompanied by a paperback original: ''[[broadwcast:The Abominable Snowmen|Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen]]'' confirm these generalizations. The learned and ingenious doctor, for once in roughly his own times, arrives at a Tibetan monastery in order to fulfil a 300-year-old errand and finds himself resisting a conspiracy to dominate the world. He succeeds. The narrative creaks as jerkily as do the Yeti robots who have been built to serve the Intelligence's will. It is not less exciting than many other formula stories, but it is far better seen than read. In ''[[broadwcast:The Web Planet|Doctor Who and the Zarbi]]'' the scene is an alien world in which ant and butterfly-like creatures strive. ''[[broadwcast:The | + | The reprint in paperback of two Doctor Who stories, accompanied by a paperback original: ''[[broadwcast:The Abominable Snowmen|Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen]]'' confirm these generalizations. The learned and ingenious doctor, for once in roughly his own times, arrives at a Tibetan monastery in order to fulfil a 300-year-old errand and finds himself resisting a conspiracy to dominate the world. He succeeds. The narrative creaks as jerkily as do the Yeti robots who have been built to serve the Intelligence's will. It is not less exciting than many other formula stories, but it is far better seen than read. In ''[[broadwcast:The Web Planet|Doctor Who and the Zarbi]]'' the scene is an alien world in which ant and butterfly-like creatures strive. ''[[broadwcast:The Crusade|Doctor Who and the Crusaders]]'' is rather more sophisticated; the history is soundly researched, the sadism distinctly kinky. Children who come to these books to renew past pleasures may find that the thrills have lost their urgency. |
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