Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Count Zero]

I wish we had more of that serial. I'm sure it would have been lots of fun watching Troughton in the two roles.

[diankra]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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I've only seen "The Mind of Evil" once and I don't really remember that part. What happened?

There;'s a scene while the prison is under the control of the prisoners/the Msster, and the Doctor's comatose after being attacked by the Keller Machine, where Dr Summers (the ubiquitous Michael Sheard) gets to examine the Doctor very briefly, and gives Jo something to help the Doctor recover when he's awake enough to take it.
When the Doctor does come round, he looks at it and rejects it, saying "It would have killed me." It's a nice throwaway to the Doctor looking human, but that he isn't.
At some point, someone saw that scene, assumed the drug was aspirin, mentioned it in a fanzine, so it became a given that aspirin killed Time Lords for years...

[arch101]

Watched "The Ark in Space" on Netflix yesterday. This was one of the first stories I ever saw on PBS back in early '77. (when it was only 2 years old!) Still holds up pretty well, I thought. A bit sad that 2 of the 3 main stars are gone now.

[Lowdarzz]

The Sontaran Experiment (Fourth Doctor).

Although somewhat short, this story serves as a good sequel to the events of The Time Warrior, right down to having the same actor, Kevin Lindsay, playing both Sontarans featured in the story. Lynx, in The Time Warrior, was scouting the area when he was attacked by the Rutans, and now Styre is making a detailed examination of the Earth for the purpose of invasion. Waiting 10,000 some-odd years seems odd but then again so does fighting the Rutans for 50,000. As far as I know this is the only classic Doctor Who serial filmed entirely on location and it works to the story's advantage. That said, more information about the creation of the Human's stellar Empire would have been interesting.

Genesis of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor).

This is definitely one of the best Dalek serials I've ever seen. Most of the characters are well written, though some such as Sevrin didn't have much to do beyond running around. The Nazi images are rampant and well used. The serial also introduces the character Davros, creator of the Daleks, and he is used to great effect. I'm fine with the fact that Terry Nation changed how the Daleks were created because he came up with a much more interesting story this time around. Instead of evolving naturally from the Dals due to the radiation on Skaro, as shown in The Daleks, they are genetically engineered creations who rebelled against their masters.

It's also interesting that Davros is referred to as a Kaled despite his radically different appearance. The fact that he is confined to a chair and has the use of only one arm suggests that he was involved in some king of accident. Hopefully more information will be given about him in future serials since I know he did not actually die at the end of Genesis.

[OmahaStar]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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Hopefully more information will be given about him in future serials since I know he did not actually die at the end of Genesis.

Think of Davros as the Doctor Who version of South Park's Kenny. He dies in every story he's in, but always comes back somehow. It's rarely explained how. We just accept it.

As you're working your way through the classic era, you may notice the same thing happen with the Master (mostly Anthony Ainley's version).

Rory and Clara only continue that proud tradition.

[Nagisa Furukawa]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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It's also interesting that Davros is referred to as a Kaled despite his radically different appearance. The fact that he is confined to a chair and has the use of only one arm suggests that he was involved in some king of accident.

The implication is supposed to be that Davros was once a human-looking Kaled like the rest, but whatever accident put him in the chair and took away his arm also left his face scarred and charred with sunken, unusable eyes (hence the electronic eye).

[diankra]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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It's also interesting that Davros is referred to as a Kaled despite his radically different appearance. The fact that he is confined to a chair and has the use of only one arm suggests that he was involved in some king of accident. Hopefully more information will be given about him in future serials since I know he did not actually die at the end of Genesis.

His later TV appearances don't really fill in on his earlier history (the closest is that there was reportedly a flashback scene to his early life scripted, but not shot, for the most recent one), but there are plenty semi-canonical takes on it.
In particular, there's a four part CD series, I Davros, covering his childhood and early life, with Peter Miles reprising his Genesis role as Nyder. But personally I prefer the version that was printed (in wildly inconsistent versions) in Annuals and other tie-in books during the late '70s, before the character had even reappeared on TV, because there's a tragic simplicity to it. It runs something like this...

Davros was born on the day the war began.
He never knew his father, who was killed leading an attack on a Thal base when Davros was still a baby. Davros's earliest memory is being presented with the award for valour that was posthumously awarded to his father.
Davros's mother was killed by a Thal air-raid when he was six. (which is not the way I Davros tells it, by the way).
By this time, Davros has one ambition: once he's old enough, he wants to be a soldier and fight the Thals (after all, they killed his parents).But his natural genius has already been spotted, and he's hothoused through the school system and college.
By the time he's 12, Davros is already a genius, a key member of an elite unit developing weapons to use against the Thals. But he still sees this only as his way of fighting until he's old enough to be a proper soldier: he intends to join up on his 16th birthday.
A few days before that, however, he's crippled by a massive explosion. Reports as to the cause vary... a lab accident. A random hit on his lab by a Thal shell. Thal sabotage designed to kill the Kaled boy genius. Kaled sabotage to ensure Davros remained in the lab, rather than getting himself sent to the front and killed with a week. Could be any of them... but the end result is the same: Davros is horrifically hurt, but saved by intensive life support. Eventually he builds a mobile life support chair for himself. This keeps him alive for so long that as the war drags on for centuries, generations of Kaleds grow up in awe of Davros, the man who will not allow himself to die until the war is won...

[captain crow]

diankra wrote:

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There;'s a scene while the prison is under the control of the prisoners/the Msster, and the Doctor's comatose after being attacked by the Keller Machine, where Dr Summers (the ubiquitous Michael Sheard) gets to examine the Doctor very briefly, and gives Jo something to help the Doctor recover when he's awake enough to take it.
When the Doctor does come round, he looks at it and rejects it, saying "It would have killed me." It's a nice throwaway to the Doctor looking human, but that he isn't.
At some point, someone saw that scene, assumed the drug was aspirin, mentioned it in a fanzine, so it became a given that aspirin killed Time Lords for years...

Which is funny since he mumbles the name of the medicine and then tells Jo it's raw metabolism just before the "It probably... probably kill me Jo" line. It's a metabolism booster, not an aspirin. The reason why it's deadly for him to take is because at that point in the story he's trying to slow down his metabolism and enter a hibernation state to heal himself, taking a booster would have the opposite effect.

[Lonemagpie]

Since it snowed yesterday, The Ice Warriors (2 & 3 on audio)

[Iamnotspock]

Had a DVD night with some friends on Saturday; The Caves of Androzani and Pyramids of Mars (with The Doctor's Wife in between).

[Sindatur]

Web of Fear - Much better reconstruction then I experienced with Abominable Snowmen. It was good to get some back story on the Great intelligence (Still need to circle back around to Abominable Snowmen when I find good audio for Ep 3 - 6, though might as well finish the Troughton era now and do it last)

Fury From the Deep - This was an excellent Reconstruction, telesnaps changed quite often, good clear pictures and good audio. I enjoyed the story too.

The Wheel in Space - Another Cybermen story I never knew about, so this was fun

All complete stories left now, except for The Space Pirates (I count The Invasion as complete, since it's animated)

[Pindar]

Sindatur wrote:

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Web of Fear - Much better reconstruction then I experienced with Abominable Snowmen. It was good to get some back story on the Great intelligence (Still need to circle back around to Abominable Snowmen when I find good audio for Ep 3 - 6, though might as well finish the Troughton era now and do it last)

Fury From the Deep - This was an excellent Reconstruction, telesnaps changed quite often, good clear pictures and good audio. I enjoyed the story too.

The Wheel in Space - Another Cybermen story I never knew about, so this was fun

All complete stories left now, except for The Space Pirates (I count The Invasion as complete, since it's animated)

Where are you watching the reconstructions.

I haven't had much luck finding them.

[Sindatur]

The Dominators - Stupid name for Invaders to be called, LOL. Interesting story that they are so so passive and peaceful, they can't even understand Aggression. I like what the Doctor did at the end to get rid of the bomb

The Mind Robber - This was an awesome little acid trip of a story. Having the main Antagonist called "The Master" made me think of his Time Lord Nemesis The Master, and the way he kept cackling really seemed like it could be Ainley's Master, kept expecting him to say "No, you never do Doctor, you never do..."

Pindar, check your IMs

[FalTorPan]

Last weekend I watched "The Romans." I love the era of the first Doctor.

[Iamnotspock]

Lowdarzz wrote:

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As far as I know this is the only classic Doctor Who serial filmed entirely on location and it works to the story's advantage.

The Curse of Fenric was as well.