Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Lonemagpie]

Since it's the anniversary week, yesterday The Tenth Planet, and then today Tomb Of The Cybermen, Claws Of Axos and now Genesis Of The Daleks

[Orac Zen]

So it is. Must remember to watch some Who on Friday.


I watched the first three serials of The Key to Time arc the other day. While they vary a bit in quality I'm reminded of how marvellous Mary Tamm () was as Romana, and how bloody annoying Baker's Doctor was starting to become to me by that stage of his tenure. On the whole, very entertaining stuff, though.

[Pindar]

I have been cought up rewatching 10, I have the Rescue sitting next my PS3 waiting to go on though.

Has the news series really been back on air for about 7 1/2 years?

[Itisnotlogical]

Steadily trying to absorb all the classic stories that I can find on Netflix, as I take a break from chugging through the new series. I just finished up The Ark in Space, and why does it always have to be giant insects? I finish up that episode from the new series with the giant wasp, and then it's giant buggies in The Ark in Space too.

[Lonemagpie]

Earthshock for 5Doc, and Attack Of The Cybermen (first half, we'll watch part 2 tomorrow) for Sixie...

[Lowdarzz]

The Ambassadors of Death (Third Doctor).

An excellent story that probably could have been one or two episodes shorter. The case of mistaken identity regarding the alien ambassadors was well played and I liked that General Carrington's hostility towards them came from a mistaken impression during his Mars mission. However Reegan's plan to use the aliens in his theft schemes didn't seem well planned and the ending of the serial was completely anti-climactic. Carrington just gives up and the Doctor leaves.

Image of the Fendahl (Fourth Doctor).

A fun story but I had to think about this one a little as I was watching it as there seemed to be some large plot holes. There was no explanation about what the Fendahleen were, how the Doctor knew about them and why the skull was found on Earth. Then in the final episode the Doctor gave a good deal of exposition and the questions were answered. The one question that wasn't answered was why Stael thinks he can control the Fendahleen to give him ultimate power and how he found out about them in the first place.

The Invasion of Time (Fourth Doctor).

This one had a surprising start. The Doctor signs a contract with the Vardan to become absolute ruler of Gallifrey. It was fun seeing the Doctor act even stranger than usual. I'm not sure there was any real point to having the Vardan in the serial as the Sontarans would have worked just as well if they were used through the whole serial. I also liked how they showed more of the Tardis interior though the brick looked out of place. The relationship between the Doctor and Borusa is interesting and I hope it will be developed further. This was Leela's last serial and her decision to stay of Gallifrey didn't make any sense. Leela and Andred only had a few scenes together so the romance angle came out of left field entirely.

[The Wormhole]

Been meaning to post this for two days now, I finished The Key to Time season. Overall, I enjoyed it, although the ending was rather anti-climatic. However, The Power of Kroll was a chore to get through, despite featuring a giant squid. Also, product tie-in with Green Giant?

Still, everything else was pretty cool.

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Wormhole wrote:

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Been meaning to post this for two days now, I finished The Key to Time season. Overall, I enjoyed it, although the ending was rather anti-climatic. However, The Power of Kroll was a chore to get through, despite featuring a giant squid. Also, product tie-in with Green Giant?

Still, everything else was pretty cool.

I keep wanting to watch the whole thing again, because I hated every second of the Key to Time season, while other people seem to think that it's the bee's knees, so maybe there's something I've missed.

[Itisnotlogical]

Out of curiosity, I watched "The Daleks", the very first serial to feature the Daleks. It's weird how they're simultaneously goofier and yet more terrifying than those in the new series.

[Sindatur]

Itisnotlogical wrote:

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Out of curiosity, I watched "The Daleks", the very first serial to feature the Daleks. It's weird how they're simultaneously goofier and yet more terrifying than those in the new series.

Try the Cloth-Faced Cybermen (The 10th Planet?). At first glance, they make you roll your eyes, but, a minute or two into their first appearance and they're the creepiest ever.

[diankra]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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Image of the Fendahl (Fourth Doctor).

A fun story but I had to think about this one a little as I was watching it as there seemed to be some large plot holes. There was no explanation about what the Fendahleen were, how the Doctor knew about them and why the skull was found on Earth. Then in the final episode the Doctor gave a good deal of exposition and the questions were answered. The one question that wasn't answered was why Stael thinks he can control the Fendahleen to give him ultimate power and how he found out about them in the first place.

There's implied explanations for most of that: the Doctor talks about having been terrified by a legend from childhood, so presumably he knows a lot of stories about the Fendahl from Time Lord fairytales. As for Stahl, one of the three possible explanations the Doctor reels out to Colby is that the Fendahl 'bred the necessary urges to recreate it into various individuals'. He's referring to Fendelman's career, but could also mean that the Fendahl influenced Stahl into becoming a megalomaniac occultist (and presumably, influenced other people into writing the occult books that are presumably lining the shelves of Stahl's bedroom...)

[Lowdarzz]

The Talons of Weng-Chiang (Fourth Doctor).

An excellent story by Doctor Who veteran Robert Holmes. All of the story elements fit. A man from the future takes on the image of a god in order to get the locals to assist him in finding his lost time cabinet. Many six part Doctor Who serials tend to slow down by parts five and six because the writer is stretching the story. Not so in this case. Holmes avoids it by giving the ancillary characters, Litefoot, Jago and Chang, much more to do. They actively participate in moving the story forward even when the Doctor and Leela aren't around.

The Key to Time: The Ribos Operation (Fourth Doctor).

Another excellent story by Robert Holmes though comparatively quiet in relation to The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Tamm's Romana gets off to an interesting start but Holmes decided to used the old trope of smart in book knowledge, lacking in practical knowledge when writing her. Baker's Doctor seems wackier then ever in this serial giving the audience multiple double takes and random mumbling, however it doesn't detract from the story and adds to it in several places. The dialog between the two con-artists worked well, Cuthbertson gave his character Garron a great sense of comic timing. The serial started somewhat abruptly with the introduction of the White Guardian. I'm hoping more information about him and his counterpart will be given later.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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Image of the Fendahl (Fourth Doctor).

A fun story but I had to think about this one a little as I was watching it as there seemed to be some large plot holes. There was no explanation about what the Fendahleen were, how the Doctor knew about them and why the skull was found on Earth. Then in the final episode the Doctor gave a good deal of exposition and the questions were answered. The one question that wasn't answered was why Stael thinks he can control the Fendahleen to give him ultimate power and how he found out about them in the first place.

There's always an idiot megalomaniac human who thinks he can control the aliens to attain ultimate power.

Sindatur wrote:

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Try the Cloth-Faced Cybermen (The 10th Planet?). At first glance, they make you roll your eyes, but, a minute or two into their first appearance and they're the creepiest ever.

Agreed. I've never seen "The Tenth Planet." But whenever I see clips from it, I find them to be the creepiest things in the history of the series.

Lowdarzz wrote:

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The Key to Time: The Ribos Operation (Fourth Doctor).

Another excellent story by Robert Holmes though comparatively quiet in relation to The Talons of Weng-Chiang. [...] The dialog between the two con-artists worked well, Cuthbertson gave his character Garron a great sense of comic timing.

If there's one thing that Robert Holmes excels in, it's writing delightfully funny intersteallar con artists. This is the same guy who gave us Vorg in "Carnival of Monsters," Sabalom Glitz in "The Trial of a Time Lord," and the con artist in "The Power of Kroll."

I love this one exchange between the Doctor & Romana in "The Power of Kroll":
"I know a rogue when I see a rogue and I have no desire to die in the company of a rogue. Have you any desire to die in the company of a rogue?"
"I have no desire to die at all."
"Yes, I know that feeling."

Lonemagpie wrote:

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The War Machines

What a coincidence. I just finished part 2 of "The War Machines" last night. I preceeded it with spending most of my days off watching old Hartnell stories-- "The Space Museum," "The Chase," "The Ark," & "The Gunfighters." A few days before that, I was slogging through "The Sensorites." My breakdown:

"The Sensorites."
I'm always a sucker for stories with the original TARDIS team of the 1st Doctor, Susan, Ian, & Barbara. But even so, this one was tough to get through and I think I nodded off halfway through part 4. The problem is that, even with all of the political wrangling among the Sensorites, there simply isn't enough plot to sustain a 6 parter.

"The Space Museum."
Apparantly, this story has a terrible reputation. I don't think it's so bad. At the very least, it's short enough to move at a decent pace. And Jeremy Bulloch is the nicest man I've ever met, so I can't be too harsh with anything he's in.

"The Chase."
God, this story is all over the place. It's rediculous. But at least there's enough variety that I didn't get bored like I did with "The Sensorites." A few brief notes:
- Like many 6-part Hartnell stories, part 1 consists mostly of hanging around the TARDIS and then wandering around a deserted planet until the final cliffhanger when SOMETHING finally shows up.
- The acting in the historical reenactments on the Doctor's Time-Space Visualizer is really godawful.
- Peter Purves' southern accent while playing a hillbilly visiting the Empire State Building is equally atrocious. But he plays the part with such enthusiasm that I guess I can see what Verity Lambert liked about him.
- Ian gets accidentally bonked on the head by one of his friends again! First Barbara hit him with a vase in "The Romans," now Vicki nails him while trying to protect Barbara on the Mary Celeste.

"The Ark."
It's an interesting story. And I don't mind the visual design of the Monoids so much. But the bit where Monoid 2 clearly lets slip to Dodo that they plan on killing all the humans left on the Ark has got to be one of the dumbest villain moments in TV history.
Dodo seems to be having a lot of fun in this story and Hartnell seems to be a bit stronger on his lines than usual, especially in Part 1. But Steven seems to be delivering all of his lines through clenched teeth.

"The Gunfighters."
Steven still seems to be clenching his teeth all of the time. And how did everyone become such good piano players?
Overall, I like it. But then, I tend to be a fan of the historical comedies.

"The War Machines."
Well done, although the Doctor's initial appearance investigating WOTAN doesn't make much sense. It would have made sense in a later story, when we could assume that either UNIT assigned the Doctor to investigate or he used the psychic paper to bluff his way into the WOTAN offices. And I don't think they ever get around to explaining exactly how it is that WOTAN knows who the Doctor is or what TARDIS stands for.

[DWF]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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There's always an idiot megalomaniac human who thinks he can control the aliens to attain ultimate power.

Agreed. I've never seen "The Tenth Planet." But whenever I see clips from it, I find them to be the creepiest things in the history of the series.

If there's one thing that Robert Holmes excels in, it's writing delightfully funny intersteallar con artists. This is the same guy who gave us Vorg in "Carnival of Monsters," Sabalom Glitz in "The Trial of a Time Lord," and the con artist in "The Power of Kroll."

I love this one exchange between the Doctor & Romana in "The Power of Kroll":
"I know a rogue when I see a rogue and I have no desire to die in the company of a rogue. Have you any desire to die in the company of a rogue?"
"I have no desire to die at all."
"Yes, I know that feeling."

Well I'd consider Vorg and Shirma in Carnival Of Monsters to be showmen not con men and Rohm Dutt in The Power OF Kroll was a gun runner.

[Lowdarzz]

The Key to Time: The Pirate Planet (Fourth Doctor).

Douglas Adams' first contribution to Doctor Who and it is very well done. The plot is interesting, a traveling planet that destroys and mines other planets by enveloping them and so are the characters. The standout of course is the Captain. Purchase's bellicose performance was perfect. His exclamations were always funny:

"By the curled fangs of the sky demon!"

I figured the nurse's role would get bigger once we found out who she was but I didn't expect her to be the primary antagonist, the holo-projection of Queen Xanxia. My only qualm was that the serial ended rather abruptly.

The Key to Time: The Stones of Blood (Fourth Doctor).

I always enjoy the use of silicon based lifeforms in science fiction shows. The fact that the Megara weren't men in suits made it better. It was fun seeing Professor Rumford out-eccentric the Doctor in several scenes. The look of pain on Tom Baker's face was fantastic when he realized he'd been beaten. I also liked how the serial transitioned from horror in episodes 1 and 2 to science fiction in 3 and 4. However the trial sequence in episode four slowed the serial down and seemed out of place with the rest of the story.