Having given up on the from-the-start run, Lesley and I breezed through Robots Of Death, Curse Of Peladon, Warriors Gate, and Terror Of The Zygons as relaxing background over the last couple of nights...
When he hears about the local vicar being called the Reverend Magister, I really imagine the Doctor saying "Oh, for fuck's sake, he's just taking the fucking piss now..."
And who was it expanded that into Victor Magister? Oh, sorry, you just carried that on from David Bishop, didn't you?
Yeah, he had that name in Who Killed Kennedy. If he hadn't, I'd have still given him a first name, mind you, since they'd have to had one to charge him under...
And when he was signing the parish records in the leadup to the Daemons... Wonder if there were any weddings or christenings? And if they were void... bet there's something on fake vicars somewhere in Agatha Christie...
Who Killed Kennedy was one freaky-weird book. Mind you, I'm Canadian so I'm somewhat vague on a lot of the history behind it.
watched The Myth Makers, The Massacre and The Faceless Ones. didn't care for The Myth Makers at all. The Massacre i thought was pretty good. The Faceless Ones i really enjoyed. i do wish that Ben and Polly could have been in more than a couple episodes of that story though.
Remembrance of the Daleks on Netflix. They had a series of Daleks/Davros stories for the 4th - 7th Doctors on (starting with Genesis of...). I didn't like Remembrance at all, I'm afraid, or Revelation of (6th Doctor) but I liked Genesis and Resurrection of ...(Fifth).
Just as City on the Edge of Forever is widely considered TOS' best episode, many Classic Doctor Who fans consider Genesis of the Daleks to be the best story of the Tom Baker era. For me, it's the scene where the Doctor holds the wires as Sarah and Harry look on, and he asks, "Do I have that right?" (the right to commit genocide, even if it was the Time Lords who told him to).
While I do love Remembrance of the Daleks, I do have to say that I detest Revelation of the Daleks. Aside from Davros and that Count figure (who was rather stock, honestly, but at least he was cool), there really isn't anything worthwile in this serial. I just don't think I can stand to watch it a second time, even. The whole sub-plot about that detestable woman and Dr. Jobal made cringe and laugh rather loudly, especially given that woman was both hideously written and portrayed. Absolutely astonished that this rates so high on many people's lists, including the DWM - must be the Harper effect, for sure.
The 2nd Doctor said goodbye to Jamie & Zoe at the end of "The War Games" and it broke my heart. Again. Then I found myself napping with "Spearhead from Space" in the background. I do think Liz is delightful. And I wholeheartedly agree that "Revelation of the Daleks" is dreadful. I like one description I heard of it, that it's like Eric Saward decided he would just do a pastiche of every single story that Robert Holmes ever wrote.
The ice warriors. I didn't much care for the animation, but an enjoyable story with a great cast. Very odd end music,almost Trek like with the singing. Bernard Bresslaw did a decent performance in a limiting costume.
Is the animation at least a step above the recon (Which has ep 2 and 3 together truncated to only a single 17 minute segment)
Bresslaw is superb. He could have said 'I've earned my money by just staying alive in that', but he insisted on playing the charcter as well.
The animation is much the same as the other reconstructed episodes. Some of it looks flash animation on top of pretty average CGI. On the whole though it's well worth a watch. I got a Terror of the Zygons the other day so I hope to get that started this weekend.
Just watched Terror of the Zygons. Holy cow! It's one of the only serials that I've managed to remain near-wholly unspoiled on (the only other may be The Talons of Weng-Chiang). It's clearly the finale for Season 12, and really should have been kept there. Nessie was a letdown, but it was good that they didn't use the model too much - it helped disguise the...inadequacy. The whole first episode was perfect, especially the Doctor's annoyance at the Brigadier calling him back. It really helped establish why the Fourth Doctor worked much less with UNIT than the Third Doctor. Sarah, Harry, Benton, and the Brigadier all had great moments, and it's a great shame that this was Harry's last regular appearance. Really wish they'd kept him on. The Zygons themselves were a bit disappointing, as their plan was blatantly obvious in the middle of the second episode. But they're definitely distinctive, and I'm surprised that they were never brought back in another Classic serial. One wonders if the costumes degraded in storage; they were quite well-done. And, of course, it feels like Douglas Camfield's swan song. A much better story than The Seeds of Doom. Great script, great acting, and fantastic direction. I knew that a scene had been added as a Director's Cut, and chose to watch the first episode with it added. Fantastic restoration work by Babelcolour. Like The Mind of Evil's first episode, if I hadn't known beforehand that it was recolorized, I never would have guessed. All in all, it's clearly one of the best Fourth Doctor stories, and I'm kinda glad they kept it for the very end of the DVD range. Obviously, this and The Tenth Planet were supposed to be the grand finale, and it would have brought the range to a much more satisfying end than the VHS range had. Of course, the recovery of missing episodes torpedoes that plan, but it's still a good decision in hindsight.