No, all you'd need to know to come in at season two is who the team are, and that Jack's been AWOL (on a trip with Tennant and Martha).
With Torchwood, I watched the first two episodes. The first one was kind of standard, with an outsider discovering a secret organization and then joining it in the end. Episode 2 was just stupid (and fairly uncomfortable to watch at times). Still, I'll probably watch one or two more episodes of series 1. I also watched Delta and the Bannermen, and I liked it. The story was enjoyable, the guest characters were pretty good, and even Mel wasn't as annoying as usual. The 50s setting was interesting, and the background music (and I don't mean the few actual songs in the episode) fit the story well. The american agents, while kind of pointless, were decent. The villain was maybe a bit too simple and I wonder how a guy who was so willing to randomly kill people could get a loyal following. Still, it wasn't a big deal, and overall I thought this was an enjoyable serial, much better than the previous two 7th Doctor stories before it. Next up is Dragonfire, where Mel finally leaves and Ace joins the Doctor.
Richard Briers was in the britcom Good Neighbors, and that's where I first saw him. He's also done some Shakespeare, and is one of the supporting cast in the Kenneth Branagh version of Much Ado About Nothing. Ghah, I hated Delta and the Bannermen. Dragonfire is better, though, a bit. One of the villains is played by the actress who was Livilla in I, Claudius - she seems quite good at playing villains!
I just rewatched The Claws of Axos. It was about as somewhat crappy as I remembered. However, it's relatively short and has some great bits of dialogue, especially for the Master and the Doctor. I also like the idea of UNIT getting arrested by "regular" and the design of the humanoid Axons.
Dragonfire wasn't great. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't really like it. The villain wasn't very good, and I didn't like the story itself, it didn't really hold my attention. Ace was ok, though. I'm definately glad Mel is gone. She was loud, and kind of obnoxious. Ace seems interesting. Overall, the first season with the 7th Doctor was a mixed bad. Time and The Rani was probably the only outright bad story, but Paradise Towers and Dragonfire weren't very impressive. Delta and the Bannermen was the best story in this season, and I'd say it would be a good story even in better seasons. Next up is Remembrance of the Daleks, and hopefullya better season with the 7th Doctor and his new companion.
Not really. It's mostly stand alones. And there are a few developments that seem to have been pointedly forgotten anyway.
Started my watch of recommendations and heavy mythos (and companion comings and goings) awhile back. Yesterday was The Aztecs, possibly the best paced First Doctor serial I've seen so far.
We finished watching "The Reign of Terror" last night. Lots of juicy historical nods (Robespierre, Barras and the Directorate, First Consul Bonaparte) and charm from Ian and flirtation from Barbara. The Doctor's mischievous side was clearly evident, which is not something one always expects from Hartnell. So all that was good. I had a more mixed reaction to the two animated episodes. It seemed like the animation started off really well done with good likenesses of the actors and interesting choices in the art but got less accurate and more sloppy over the two episodes. And the pace was often dreadfully slow. Turns out from the recollections of the actors and staff in the documentary that was a problem caused by the director's limited English and lack of experience. Not a good hire by Verity Lambert.
Remembrance of the Daleks was a fairly good story. Its definitely better than the last Dalek story I watched (Revelation of the Daleks). It had a lot of nods to previous Who, which was cool. The two Dalek faction thing was interesting. When it comes to Dalek stories this doesn't touch my favorites (which are Dalek and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) but I still liked it well enough. I don't think the 7th Doctor has quite clicked with me yet. I don't dislike him by any stretch, but I haven't warmed up to him completely. I feel the same way about the 5th Doctor. Its not really a comment on the writing quality. The 6th Doctor clicked for me right away in The Twin Dilemma. Maybe it was the 7th's Lackluster 1st season. At least the 6th Doctor had an ok 1st season before having a bad second. The 7th had a bad 1st season, so its taking a little more time for me to get used to him. I don't think it will be an issue, its just something I was thinking about while watching the latest episode. Next up will be The Happiness Patrol.
Remembrance of the Daleks is, IMO, one of the best Dalek episodes ever - though, as you mentioned, Dalek and arguably the Stolen Earth two-parter are pretty definitive, at least for NuWho. And the Seventh Doctor worked for me right away with this story, too.
Remembrance is great, I've said before that I think it feels a lot like modern Who. The real locations and outdoor shooting lend it a nice realistic "you are there" feel. This allows for some little real world elements to sneak in like the Doctor pulling down Ace's bat so it won't catch as she's getting in the van. Little things like that help sell it for me. The "No Coloureds" sign another unfortunate touch. I also like the filming which utilizes unusual angles and close-ups. This can be seen used to good effect as the Dalek rises from the cellar. There's a great shot of Dalek beams hitting a man in mid air or shooting straight at the camera. Or little touches like the colored lights on the ground when the Dalek ship lands. Then you throw in anti-tank weapons, special weapons Daleks, more Daleks than you can shake a stick at actually, machine guns, tricked-out bats, nitro 9 and so on and this one's a blast. Some fun Doctor moments too like hanging his hat of a Dalek's eyestalk, switching places when Ace drives into a tunnel to her surprise, and so on. Ace calls someone a "scumbag"! Last time I watched it I noticed the little girl has a similar (or the same) theme play that was utilized for the little girl in the episodes with the Family of Blood in nuWho. I never put two-and-two together before with that one. Great fun and very rewatchable.
It was a decent story, but even for just classic Who I'd put it below Genesis of the Daleks. Remembrance of the Daleks was good, but like the Doctor didn't quite click enough to be a classic. It felt like it had a good amount of padding, and it probably could have been done more efficiently in 3 episodes. I also wasn't a fan of the military group, it just felt like UNIT with a different name. I wish it was set in the 80s and just had the real UNIT. Of course I think UNIT appears in Battlefield soon enough, but it felt like I was watching a knock off Brigadier and UNIT running around in this story. Still, even if they had to stick with the fake UNIT, the story would have been much better if they cut out the sergeant Ace liked and the human collaborating with the renegade Daleks. They felt really pointless, and weren't interesting. The renegades didn't need specific humans working for them, just put in some captured soldiers with those devices behind their ears like the school principal, and they would have saved a lot of time. I think that, of the good Dalek stories I've seen, this is my least favorite. Its not bad, and its much, much better than Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks. But it was honestly a bit too slow at times, and the fake UNIT/unneeded side characters didn't keep my attention. For the 7th Doctor so far, its the second good story, but its not as good as Delta and the Bannermen.
Web of Fear, finally got round to watching this. Pretty good, too long at 6 parts though. Apart from the endless trudging through the same 10 feet of underground tunnel there was a lot I liked. The introduction of Nicholas Courtney was nice to see, Jamie and the Doctor have a great chemistry and show that the main companion works just as well when it's a man. Pity episode 3 is still missing. Or is it
Yes. It's missing till the BBC get it back, even if someone else has already found it. Pedant mode off.
Been watching quiet a few Classic serials here and there since Christmas after starting last year in the build up to the 50th. Rather than repeat myself here's my blog on them: http://nightjim.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/back-to-who-jaunt-through-time-and-space.html
The Hapiness Patrol was not good. It had one or two interesting ideas, but it was mostly irritaiting. I actually didn't really hate the Candyman, but Helen A and her regime got old fast. Even at only 3 episodes it felt like it when on forever, and that's with me taking about a week break between watching episode 1 and the last two episodes. Apparently the episode was making fun of some British political stuff, but any of that went far over my head. To me, this may not be technically the worst 7th Doctor serial (that honor goes to Time and The Rani) but I think this was more annoying. Next up is Silver Nemesis, whenever I get around to it.
Intrigued to see your opinion of the one after Silver Nemesis I love Bette Davis and Joan Crawford over-dramatizing, so I enjoyed Helen A's "Over the Top-ness" in The Happiness Patrol (Also why I enjoy it when Sisko goes overly Dramatic)