Rich Morris' Comics - YAFGC and The ComixBlog

I recently acquired both a region-free DVD player and a copy of Doctor Who: The Movie on Region 2 disc, so I have finally seen the Eighth Doctor in action - w00t! Now I know what all you fans of Eight have been talking about - I like him a lot, too!

My next problem is this: I know nothing about any non-television Who media. I'm interested in following more of Eight's adventures (as I understand it, his stories are the most prolific, if you count all media), but don't know where to start - audio dramas? novels? something else?

So if you love Eight, and have some favorite stories that I just must hear/read/see, let me know what they are! Thanks!

I'd be interested in what 'other media' eighth doctor stories are any good too. I heard there's a book called 'the 8 doctors', has anyone here read it?

The only thing I have watched though, is shada, which is a bit like the infinite quest in the sense that its a flash animation. I dunno how canon it is, but it does have the 8th doc, romana and k9, all voiced by the actors who played them. And apparantly it's written by the late douglas adams. Check it out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/

Regarding Shada: I enjoyed it, nicely tied in to the bit from the live action "Shada" that they used in "The Five Doctors." But frankly, I wouldn't dignify it by calling it "animation." It worked better as an audio adventure.
Now, as for non-television productions: The BBC published a series of Eighth Doctor adventures from 1997 to 2005. I'm not sure how easy these books are going to be to find now. I've only read a couple of these -- "Legacy of the Daleks" and "Halflife."
I've heard none of Eight's audio adventures. (Apart from the "animated" version of "Shada.") All I know is that they follow a different continuity than the novels.
Here's a link to Wikipedia's page on the novels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Doctor_Adventures

Weird...wasn't Shada also the name of a 4th Doctor episode...?

Hmm. Anyway, I haven't been able to listen to all of this, but I like it so far (especially since one of the people was driving a Ford Prefect! Yay Hitchhiker's GttG reference...)

I guess I did have a vague recollection that Shada had been redone as an Eighth Doctor adventure, but I didn't know it was available at the BBC site. Thanks, Snaresman!

Still looking for a convenient place to get lots of Eighth Doctor Adventures books from BBC Books (yikes! Wikipedia says there were 73! thanx for that link, JustAWanderer), but I haven't looked for specific titles yet. Haven't checked the BBC store yet - do they have those?

Amazon seems to have lots of the audiobooks, and several books of "comic strips," too. Does anyone have any opinions on The New Eighth Doctor Adventures (audiobooks)? Worth a listen? Where to start?

Yes, it was to be the final story of Season 17. A strike cut short filming and they were never able to remount and finish it. Bits were used for "The Five Doctors" in 1983 and BBC Video eventually released as much of the footage as had been recorded with narrative links by Tom Baker. VHS copies are still floating around on Ebayand such but it's not available on DVD yet. I speculate that they'll eventually rerelease the VHS version and the sort-of-animated version together in a two disc set, but there have as yet been no announcements that the BBC plans to release this material at all. I'd prefer if they did a proper animation job on the 8th Doctor version but don't see them spending that kind of money. Pity.

Shada was 4th Doctor adventure, I enjoyed it. The 8th Doctor adventure is just redoing the same adventure with a new introduction (very endearing 8 begging the President to go on an adventure with him for old times sake)

I've read an 8th adventure or two, but it's the audios that I've been enjoying the most, and catching up with them has been fun. Paul had a new companion that joined him, Charlie -18yr old girl, in an adventure called Storm Front. They refer back to Storm Front often, but all the same I'd suggest skipping it and listening to later adventures - Storm Front wasnt well done and Charlie, a great companion, comes across simply as annoying. Later adventures, the Invaders From Mars, Chimes At Midnight, show off the Edwardian adventuress much better. She and the Doctor have mind bending adventures and when push comes to shove, Charlie shows there's more to her than just the plucky young girl. There's a 3 part sequence Neverland, than Zagreus, and Sherzo which is interesting.

If you like having mind twisting adventures, Sherzo is the one for you - it challenges perceptions and forces the characters to adapt and change or die, in every way.

Neverland is typical Doctor vs the Latest Crisis of the Timelords, with a revisit from some old companions - the next one Zagreus has Peter, Collin and Sylvester guest starring in it, and it all leads to the next adventure, Sherzo.

Big Finish audio has those and you can get them in any country. There is an upcoming adventure in December that they are giving to subscribers, An Earthly Child, where Paul visits his granddaughter Susan.

I think the New Eighth Doctor Adventures are probably the best and easiest place to start. They abandon any previous audio continuity and start afresh with the Eighth Doctor alone, and Lucie Miller suddenly appearing in his TARDIS (think The Runaway Bride and you're not far off). They are in 45-minute episodes, specifically for viewers of the new TV series to be able to get into. The first one of this series is the two-parter Blood of the Daleks. Additionally, selected audio dramas can be heard over on Listen Again on BBC7's website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/) so long as they've been on the radio the week before.

The older audio continuity starts with Shada, but continues in Storm Warning. This series is in groups of 25-minute episodes to keep with the classic tradition. But this one starts off a very long series, especially after the Doctor's companion turns up in the Sixth Doctor's adventures.

I'm also a big fan of the Eighth Doctor books, but they're certainly harder to get. If you want bright and breezy adventures in the same vein as the TV movie then go for anything before the book titled The Ancestor Cell. Or better still any book before Interference. (The former leaves the Doctor without any memory, having destroyed Gallifrey while the latter kills the Third Doctor and pretty much screws time up. Just a heads-up.)

The comics, on the other hand, are really not my forté. I've only managed to buy the graphic novel titled The Flood, which I found really enjoyable, but haven't managed to read the three collections that came before it. And with the comics, they sometimes seem to rely heavily on what has gone before - so if you want to, start on the collection Endgame.

Now for my personal opinions. The books are mainly very hit-and-miss. The Eight Doctors is really very silly, while Venderdeken's Children and Beltempest end up being really dull. My personal favourites in the line are Vampire Science, Alien Bodies and Seeing I.

The original audio series (Storm Warning onwards) is also hit-and-miss, so personally I prefer the new audio series. There are some duds in this line too (No More Lies relies heavily on background music to pad the episode out, while The Skull of Sobek is filled with characters who all sound the same) but not enough to ruin the plentiful gems (Blood of the Daleks, Human Resources, Max Warp and The Zygon Who Fell To Earth being particular favourites...)

Meanwhile, what with all the reading of books and listening to audios, I have not had chance to peruse the comics. Though what I've read of the collection The Flood, particularly one-parters like Where Nobody Knows Your Name, The Power of Thoueris! and the tear-jerking The Land of Happy Endings, all seems good. Though, now that I look back at the stories, you may need knowledge about the Sixth Doctor's era of comics, English football/soccer, Pyramids of Mars, the TV Comic's John and Gillian, and many of the Eighth Doctor's strips, probably those in the collection Oblivion. Oh! And a character turns up from the Fifth Doctor comics too.

Anyway, sorry for turning this into a dull ramble, and also for not being able to profess a preference over the three lines. Hopefully I've helped enough!

Oh, finally: here are some strips with the Eighth Doctor in. http://www.cuttingsarchive.org.uk/radio ... s/1996.htm You may recognise the artist as the one who did Shada. These are brief, free and enjoyable, so long as you read them in the right order (which I didn't...) Dreadnought -> Descendance -> Ascendance -> Perceptions -> Coda.

Thank you, good night!

Ooh! Lots of good stuff! Thank you, M'reen and Arraitchgee, for the detailed recommendations.

Now I just have to find a way to get access..... (stupid economy...)

In my wanderings, I noticed a title that I absolutely loved, but have no idea if the story is any good. Do you have an opinion on the book Anachrophobia?

Alas, despite its marvellous title, Anachrophobia is one of the books I've managed to miss. (In fact, looking on that 73-strong list, I've only read about 20 of them, but from all throughout the range. I guess I thought I'd read more because of all the Past Doctor Adventures I'd also managed to catch.) Reading some of the summary, it looks like you'll need a bit of knowledge of what's already happened in the line, so it doesn't look like a great place to start.

What does look like a great place to start is the second appearance of the Eighth Doctor in spin-off media. After the TV Movie, the Radio Times ran the comics I've already posted a link to, but following that was the Eighth Doctor's first novel, in the Virgin New Adventures line entitled The Dying Days. It's available on the BBC's website over here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ ... ndex.shtml), though I still haven't had the chance to read it.

ooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooh! Thank you!

Big Finish Audios.

Can I get those without paying through the nose?

The 8th Doctor Audios, the ones with Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith) are broadcast on BBC Radio 7 if you are here in the UK (I'm not sure of the broadcast dates). I like Lucie. She's like a toned-down Donna. She makes the same sarcastic-type comments, but doesn't SHOUT SO MUCH!
Otherwise, the only legal sources are libraries, car boot sales or eBay (if you are lucky).