JohannesVIII's Doctor Who liveblogs archive: Escape Velocity

[Original blog post on Tumblr: January 10th, 2017]

Some highlights of the last EDA I’ve read (Escape Velocity).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

“You think Father Time was bad? The next one is a lot worse.”

I beg to differ.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good. The plot is as basic as it can possibly get, the writing isn’t subtle at all, the Earth Arc ends in a whisper instead of a bang, and most of the secondary characters barely register. But I only read it in three sittings (admittedly several days appart from each other), the Doctor can travel again, Fitz is back, there's a new companion, and most importantly I didn’t wish I could strangle the author. 4/10

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Okay so I already know Anji is a new companion, and I’ve got rather high expectations because everybody seems to love her.

Also, a story set in Belgium! That’s pretty rare.

You two are kinda cute together, and since this is an EDA, something terrible will happen to you. It’s so obvious. It’s just a question of time, okay.

Hahaha we have the exact same age

Also “somewhere really alien” wow that’s not very subtle writing, is it

FITZ! FITZ IS BACK!

Fitz yes hello long time no see glad to see you’re finally back in these books - also are you seriously complaining about waiting a few hours for the Doctor to show up while he had to wait for, what, 120 years or so

Well you’ve been technically homeless for quite a while now

We already know that’s a different alien but I still like his reaction

Good job Fitz you actually took the right decision for once

“I find it difficult to keep relationships” is ALSO an understatement considering 90% of your girlfriends DIED

WHICH MEANS SHE’S GOING TO SURVIVE

BREAKING NEWS: Local man cannot stop thinking about the Doctor even while he’s being shot at by a guy with a gun

That was cliché but still pretty brutal

FITZ. COULD YOU PLEASE STOP THINKING ABOUT THE DOCTOR FOR LIKE. ONE MINUTE

“there’s this guy I... er... work with”

Anji’s a trader, that’s pretty cool.

“He was a gentle character although he could be a bit of a prat”

The last time we checked, he was in a much better place than he was in the middle of his exile, so you shouldn’t worry too much.

MEANWHILE THE DOCTOR IS READY TO DROP LITERALLY EVERYTHING AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THIS “FITZ” CHARACTER HE’S BEEN WAITING TO MEET FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS oh my god

Anji would rather get drunk than talk to the in-universe equivalent of Doctor Who fans holy shit

Understatement of the literal CENTURY

Fitz rates every shower he uses across space and time and I’m sorry but this is great - also he reminds me of a friend who used to do that for toilets

Oh I like this.

It would have been so easy to make Eight’s memory come back all at once. This is less spectacular, but much more interesting.

“A DOCTOR WITH A DODGY MEMORY IS BETTER THAN NO DOCTOR AT ALL” oh my god

Again, I really like that approach. I don’t know if it was a decision the writer took, but as long as the cliché of the memories flooding back is avoided, and as long as it leads to a slow recovery (or even none at all), I’m fine with that.

Also that line of thought made me think of a great post-rock album called All the Memories All at Once, by Sunlight Ascending, so I recommend it.

OOOOH NO HELP CUTE

Priorities, Eight.

I laughed

I hope so too.

I just remembered the Kulans were mentionned briefly in the previous book.

“He seemed genuinely interested in everything and everyone he met”

That’s a good plan I like that plan

“Something vague about cats”

And that DVD which contains a virus isn’t a Chekhov Gun at all of course

You used to lie a lot better.

Okay good at least they found Anji’s boyfriend.

To be honest though, so far I don’t give a damn about the story. A space race helped by aliens who want to leave Earth. It’s not like that theme hasn’t been used in this arc already.

Are you guys making a contest for the understatement of the week

Did he just

No, this book can’t be that clumsily written

He did

He just let slip he knew that happened in Brussels and I can’t believe that trope of the villain letting slip crucial information hasn’t died yet.

On the other hand I still love this kind of Description Cut.

Uh. Fitz’s memory is being rewritten by the new timeline. Better have that talk about the Doctor’s lost memories very soon, then.

I like this explanation he thinks he has found for his previous incarnations.

ROLL CREDITS

This is an amazingly terrible, terrible plan and I’m giggling

Also I’m hungry now

I TOLD YOU IT WAS A TERRIBLE PLAN

But I’m still hungry

That f█cking description of fizzy mineral water though

Also that villain is both a misogynist and an ungrateful jerkass

Technically........... it did

ROLL CREDITS

Okay.

Dave is so going to die now that you said this and you know it.

Understatement number 68553

Understatement number 7746152390

Truely this is a day for History books

CALLED IT

Also, that was a terrible idea, much like most of the ideas displayed in that story so far. But I can’t bring myself to hate that book. Somehow. Mostly I’m just glad Fitz is back and stuff.

I have a bad feeling about this

This is both a bad idea and very cute

We now have an official number for the years Eight spent stuck on Earth!

Very easily it seems

BREAKING NEWS: Local man still cannot stop thinking about the Doctor

Does it mean... Dave... is

CALLED IT

I F█CKING CALLED IT

But apparently the sadness refuses to end today.

You should have seen him in the Fifties, Anji.

The reference to An Unearthly Child is a bit too blatant but I love that episode too much to get mad at this book.

Also I’m way too happy about what’s happening to get angry right now.

I’m torn between mourning the old TARDIS interior and wanting to draw that new TARDIS interior as soon as I can

HE’S ALREADY GETTING DEFENSIVE ABOUT HIS SKILLS HAHA

I’m so happy for him tbh

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Somewhere, Griffin the Unnaturalist is cringing and he has no idea why

Doctor, no. I know you’re happy. But. Could you please concentrate

Honestly I have to side with the villain on that one.

Actually, the Eighth Doctor’s real speciality is “getting hurt constantly” with a side of “getting thrown into every single cell in the entire universe”