Post by Mark Senior on Sept 7, 2008 7:15:01 GMT -5
A very mixed bag here. The overall concept is curious; these are stories told by the Doctor to a reluctant king to inspire him. The actual lessons of each are difficult to fathom, however (and I'm not sure how The Spindle of Necessity even fits the overall scheme), and the message seems to be that it doesn't matter what kind of leader you are the Doctor will come and bail you out. That said, some of the stories have a pleasantly dated feel to them. The First Doctor story about Martin Luther is a good old-fashioned romp and the Seventh Doctor tale 'Clean-up on aisle two' is very good. The down side is stuff like 'Rock Star', inplausible and unfunny, and an interminable and improbable story about Henry VIII. Best of all, though, is the fact that none of the stories feature aliens on Earth, either being invasion-free historicals or trips to other planets.