‘THE GUIDE TO THE DARK TIMES’ (TLV)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
River’s Guide to ‘Time Lord Victorious’
I’m not usually one for reviewing ‘Doctor Who Annuals’.
Unless there are stories contained in the annual that are of interest to me, then of course I will find time to check out the annual and review it. It occurred when I reviewed the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 1983 with the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan and when reviewing ‘The Doctor Who Audio Annual’. 🙂
I’m not in a rush to review ‘Doctor Who Annuals’ in general. I received the official ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021 from my best mate from school Stephen as a late Christmas present from 2020. It was very good of him to give me this ‘Doctor Who Annual’ as well as ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ on DVD. 🙂
My renewed interest in the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021 came about as there are items in the book connected to the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ series. Most specifically, the specific items form a short story that is entitled ‘The Guide to the Dark Times’, which has River Song’s character appearing in it.
Because the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021 contains a certain story that’s related to the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ series, I might as well share some thoughts on what I make of ‘The Guide to the Dark Times’. I’ll also share what I think of the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021 in general. Let’s get started! 🙂
‘The Guide to the Dark Times’ is styled as a newspaper article written and narrated by River Song writing as Melody Malone. This must have been during her time when writing books such as ‘Private Detective in Old New York Town’ and ‘The Angel’s Kiss’ according to ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’. 🙂
There’s also an introduction by the Thirteenth Doctor herself, which ties the story into the rest of the annual. Apparently River seems to know the Thirteenth Doctor is a woman by this point as she refers to her as an ‘occasional wife’. We’re yet to have the tale where Thirteen and River meet each other.
In my opinion, ‘The Guide to the Dark Times’ in the 2021 ‘Doctor Who Annual’ is a good way to get started into the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ series. Yeah, I know I started off with ‘Defender of the Daleks’, but at least ‘The Guide to the Dark Times’ introduces you to the characters featured in the series. 😀
There’s an introduction by River Song/Melody Malone before she goes into talking about the Kotturuh who seem to have a significant place in the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ series, especially as they’re regarded as ‘the Bringers of Death’. We’re then introduced to ‘who’s who in the Dark Times’.
This includes beings like the Eternals, the Racnoss, the Osirans, the Great Vampires, the Dæmons and the Gallifreyans. We’re also introduced to certain members of the Dalek Empire which include the Time Commander; the Strategist; the Scientist; the Executioner; and of course the Dalek drones.
It’s interesting that the gold spherical Dalek Emperor doesn’t get a profile in ‘The Dalek Empire’ segment of River/Melody’s newspaper article. 😐 We’re also introduced to Brian the Ood who happens to be another important character in ‘Time Lord Victorious’. Brian has this split personality.
As we’re here, let’s talk about the rest of the 2021 ‘Doctor Who Annual’. It begins with an introduction by the Thirteenth Doctor who talks about her ‘fam’ including Graham, Ryan and Yaz. We then have certain sections of the annual that look into each of the stories featured in Series 12. 🙂
First up, we have a summary of ‘Spyfall’, which includes a diary account by the Doctor herself. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into the Kasaavin as well as a ‘Crack Noor’s Code’ activity. There’s also ‘The Doctor vs. the Master’ conversation which I enjoyed reading in the book. 🙂
There’s then a summary of ‘Orphan 55’, which includes a diary account by Ryan. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into the Dregs as well as a colouring activity set by the Doctor. There’s a ‘TARDIS Trip Reviewer’ section that looks into Tranquility Spa, Villa Diodati, Gloucester and Sheffield.
Next is a summary of ‘Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror’, which includes a diary account by Yaz. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking to the Skithra as well as Nikola Tesla’s ‘word search of wonder’. 😀 There’s a Dalek survival guide by Yaz and a ‘know your enemy’ page on the Reconnaissance Dalek.
After that is a summary of ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’, which includes a diary account by the Doctor. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into the Judoon as well as ‘Catalogue the Criminals’ activity. There’s also ‘Top Five Creatures Who Just Won’t Quit’, presented by Captain Jack Harkness.
Up next is a summary of ‘Praxeus’, which includes a diary account by Graham. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into the Praxeus creatures as well as a ‘Praxeus Source’ activity. There’s then a TARDIS tour given by the Doctor. There’s a little section of the Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS included. 🙂
There’s then a summary of ‘Can You Hear Me?’, which includes a diary account by Yaz. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into the Chagaska as well as ‘Zellin’s Nightmare World’ spot-the-difference activity. I was able to spot the 7 difference between two photos featured for that activity.
Next up is a summary of ‘The Haunting of Villa Diodati’, which includes a diary account by Ryan. There’s a ‘know your enemy’ section looking into Ashad the Lone Cybermen as well as ‘Mary Shelley’s Monstrous Mash-Ups’ activity. There’s a ‘History’s Finest’ section, looking into four historical figures including Ada Lovelace, Nikola Tesla, Noor Inayat Khan and Mary Shelley.
And finally we have a summary of ‘Ascension of the Cybermen’/’The Timeless Children’, which includes a diary account by the Doctor. There’s ‘The Secrets of the Timeless Children’ section and there’s a ‘know your enemy’ section on the CyberMasters (or Cyber Time Lords as I’d like to call them).
At the end of the annual, there’s an advert page for two ‘Doctor Who’ books by David Solomons including ‘The Secret in Vault 13’ and ‘The Maze of Doom’. There’s also an ‘answers’ page to the quiz questions and activities featured in the annual. I’d like to think I got most of the activities correct. 😀
I’m glad I’ve been able to check out ‘The Guide to the Dark Times’ newspaper styled story featured in the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021, featuring River Song/Melody Malone. I’m also pleased I’ve been able to check out the ‘Doctor Who Annual’ of 2021 overall as my best mate Stephen gave it to me. 🙂
Knowing a little more about what to expect with the Dark Times, the Dalek Empire, the Kotturuh and Brian the Ood, I’m keen to find out more about what’s in store for the rest of the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ series. I hope it’ll be exciting in the remaining tales in their book, comic and audio forms.
‘The Guide to the Dark Times’ (TLV) rating – 8/10
‘Doctor Who – The Official Annual 2021’ rating – 8/10
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