EDAs - what were the best?

[Anthony Williams]

Well, I've just started reading my way through the BBC's Eighth Doctor Adventures (having given up on the Virgin New Adventures during the Cat's Cradle Trilogy. Ugh.), and they're quite different to how I remember them. Admittedly, I last read through them about ten years ago!

So, I pose the question, what do you think were the best of the EDA range?

From my memories of last time round, I really loved:

Vampire Science
Alien Bodies
The Taint
Unnatural History
Interference (both parts)
The Taking of Planet 5
The Fall of Yquatine
The Burning
Father Time
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Anachrophobia

[Andrew Curnow]

For some reason, I don't think there's quite the same 'nostalgic fondness' for the EDAs as for the NAs (at least not yet) which is a shame, because when they were good, they were very good.

Off the top of my head, a couple I really enjoyed were "Demontage" which was a hugely pleasant surprise after a pretty uninspiring 'casino in space' blurb; and the penultimate one, "To The Slaughter" which is just such an enjoyable read (even if the cover is pretty dire). I also enjoyed "Hope" (I have a feeling I bought that one off you Ant!) for, amongst other things, giving the wonderful Anji some good material.

I'll doubtless be back tomorrow with more!

[Andrew Curnow]

"The Space Age" is another absolute classic, with its absurd scenario given an absolutely logical rationale. I also really like "Escape Velocity" even though it gets terrible reviews - maybe it wasn't what everyone expected from the 'meet me in St Louis' end to the 'amnesia Doctor' thread, but it feels to me like a breath of fresh air (akin to an RTD season opener, you might say).

[brandynigma]

I've only read a few- The Eight Doctors, Vampire Science, The Taint, and Demontage. The Taint is probably my favourite, with lots of great little moments, such as Fitz showing up the Doctor on the recorder, and Fitz and Sam's date, which ends something like this.

'He's grown up in a world with no Channel 4, no multiplexes, no Super Nintendo-' Sam shook her head. 'Samantha Jones,' she chastised herself. 'This is the 60s, a great age of culture, and with everything he knows about music and film, Fitz is living that culture in his own way, and he doesn't need you patronising him with your 90210 and your Donkey Kong Country.'
Fitz put an arm around Sam and looked down. Sam smiled.
'Nice arse,' Fitz thought happily.

[SiHart]

I read almost all of them back in the day. I don't know if it's when i read them or what, but somehow they've never really stuck in my head in the way that the NAs did.

Of the early books, Alien Bodies stood out for being daringly original, far above the generic stuff they were churning out.

The whole sequence following the Burning was brilliant and challenging- even Terrance Dicks came up with the goods.

And a few of the last run i remember really enjoying, though I'm having difficulty pulling out the titles from my addled brain today.

[Rob McCow]

I read The Inifinty Doctors. It was a bit odd.

None of the others though. Not even Spiral Scratch! Not even The Gallifrey Chronicles!

[Alex Me]

Not read any of them since they first came out, and there was a long gap between War of The Daleks and Interference for which I only read a few.

Highlights for me were (from my vague memories of enjoying them the most):
Alien Bodies
The Adventuress of Henerita Street.
The Year of Intelligent Tigers
Father Time
The Tomorrow Windows
Hope
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The Galifreyan Chronicles

Probably some I've missed but its been a good 7 years since the last ones came out I think.

I remember enjoying the Infinity Doctors, but it was an very odd book. Certainly did not fit into established 'cannon' but I've never been a fan of that concept so rather enjoyed that book.

[Anthony Williams]

IIRC, The Infinity Doctors was released as part of the PDA range, rather than the EDAs, due to it's rather ambiguous Doctor!

[brandynigma]

Here's the extract I was talking about...

Fitz's face fell very slightly, he looked a little more vulnerable. Sam looked
at him and smiled to herself as they walked along. He was older than she -
about twenty-six, twenty-seven - which would make him forty-four when
she was born. Which meant he was in his sixties when she met the
Doctor...
What becomes of you, anyway? she wondered. You're just dossing around
here, passing time, taking things as they come.You don't know anything
about holes in the ozone layer, global warming, recycling. There's no AIDS
in your world, no HIV tests, no Femidoms or twelve-packs of Durex. It's
all easy, isn't it? None of the guilt and the crap I've had foisted on me since
I could talk.
God, I'm being patronising. This is how my mum would act. But look at you,
Fitz Kreiner... Imagine if I showed you what music sounds like on CD. Or if
we rented a film on video and watched it on a widescreen colour TV.
You've got no PC, no Super-Nintendo, no idea of all the rat-race stuff
you're missing. Multiplexes, satellite TV, all the naffness of the nineties...
No cashpoints, for God's sake. There are no heart transplants in your
world, no gene splicing or moon landings, but you've got Cold War and
Germany in two halves and You've Never Had It So Good... Christ, this is
weird. My past, your present. What am I even doing here?
Sam couldn't lose the sensation of standing out, of being watched. She
looked down at the pavement
as she walked.
***
Fitz looked at Sam again, walking along beside him. His gaze flicked down.
Great arse, he thought, happily.