Kinda and Snakedance, both are pretty complex stories but clearly Christopher Bailey wasn't a TV writer and the stories worked better in the novels than their televised verisons. Kinda also suffered from production problems especially the snake at the end. But the stories did give Tegan something to do and the Mara and the Great Mind's Eyes were in a way analog versions of the Krell machine. Two Halloween stories, The Brain Of Morbius which still is an execellent gothic horror story base of course on Frankenstein. And The Curse OF Fenric which is a pretty complex story too, I saw the episodic version this time but the movie version is pretty good too although the music cues are different in the movie version, the story ends up being better in the long run.
Terror of the Zygons. I got the DVD for my birthday. [Homer drool]The Brig in a kilt......[/Homer drool]
There have been a bunch of audios about them, as I recall. I'm currently about four parts into "The Ice Warriors." There's too much Victoria screaming and whining. The animated replacement episodes are better than those in "Reign of Terror" but nowhere near as good as "The Invasion."
I watched "The Space Museum" last night, and I think that I have found my favorite First Doctor moment. The reveal that he was hiding in the Dalek shell had me in stitches.
^ I just watched that the other day. First time in decades. The Dalek scene was funny. First episode was brilliant. In a few scenes, he had a quirky alien sense that sort of remind me of Tom Baker or Matt Smith. Just a bit but I think that's the first time in the classic series. Mr Awe
Horror started showing The Key to Time recently from The Ribos Operation. Just got to The Pirate Planet today. Romana 1 is certainly very agreeable to watch. And the combination of Douglas Adams and Doctor Who is perfection for me.
I just got about 4 episodes into "The Enemy of the World." Patrick Troughton is really great in this story. The chef in Part 3 has lots of very over the top asides where he complains about just about everything to everyone! And the big plot twist in Part 4 is one of the best WTF plot twists in the entire history of Doctor Who. It's rare that the show can surprise me quite so thoroughly. I like the bit at the beginning when they all suddenly switch from their medieval costumes back into their regular clothes: IAN: "We're wearing our clothes!" DOCTOR: "Well, dear me, I should hope so." I think my favorite 1st Doctor moment is in "The Romans" when he fights off the would-be assassin and then starts bragging to Vicki about how he learned his moves from the Mountain Mauler of Montana. And I really like his entire performance in "The Gunfighters." "People keep giving me guns and I do wish they wouldn't."
There are some stories which have/had a bad reputation on the strength of the single surviving episode (Enemy of the World). Space Museum would be regarded as a lost classic if episode one was the only one to survive (though that couldn't have happened; episode three is one of the ones that the film library always had, so if there'd only been one, it would have been that one... as with Time Meddler 2, a Hartnell week-off episode would have been the survivor if the rest hadn't been found!).
Just finished "The Enemy of the World." Then spend the next several hours doing my Salamander impression for everyone in view!
"The Chase" part one. The Doctor and his companions rocking out to The Beatles. Totally surreal. According to the TARDIS Datacore wiki, the footage shown in this episode of Dr. Who contains the last known copy of that performance from The Beatles. Kind of ironic given the amount of lost Dr. Who episodes.
That would definitely be ironic: it was originally scripted to be the 50th Anniversary Beatles Reunion concert in the 2010s - the Fab Four were up for that (Lennon was a bit of a Who fan, apparently, and there's some photos of him asking a Dalek for an autograph), but Epstein apparently didn't like the idea of them performing in old-age make-up. Then, once it'd become a 1960s Beatles spot, they were too busy making Hard Day's Night to record anything specially for Who, so The Chase used a bit from Top of the Pops instead.
I'm watching the Chase now. Is that scene in R1 DVD? I don't remember seeing the Beatles but I may have just missed it. But, I kind of remember something about a rights issue. Just finished part 3 and it's an alright story. Some good humor. The opening scenes in the TARDIS were fun. Not a super gripping story so far but they do a good job building up the fact that the Daleks are getting closer and closer. Mr Awe
^Yes. We need more of Troughton's Salamander voice. I'm currently 5 episodes into "The Web of Fear." The beeping of the robot Yeti is very annoying and the cowardly Welshman is way over the top. But it's quite a solid Patrick Troughton outing and a decent introduction to Col. Lethbridge-Stewart. Oddly, we never get to see his first meeting with the Doctor since it occurs off-screen during the events of Part 2. BTW, I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but I think it's very interesting that, when the Doctor tells Col. Lethbridge-Stewart about the TARDIS in Part 4, Lethbridge-Stewart barely even bats an eye. Now, he's a character that was typically defined by his narrow, incredulous, military mind. And yet, when it comes to the TARDIS, he is the believer while Captain Knight is the skeptic. Makes me wonder if this isn't actually his first full-blown encounter with the TARDIS? (Or perhaps he's just familiar with it because he's been privy to some files from Torchwood or Group-Captain Gilmore or some other military group that the Doctor encountered prior to the late 1960s.) Have the books or audios ever elaborated on this? It's not in the R1 DVD. The R1 DVD just skips right from the end of the Shakespeare scene to the TARDIS materializing on the planet. Although, I've seen the Beatles scene because I also have the VHS copy. I'm still stunned that it took me at least 3 viewings before I realized that the hillbilly tourist at the Empire State Building in Part 3 is the same actor as Steven Taylor in Part 6. It's a testament to Purves' acting that the 2 characters are totally unrecognizable. And Part 4 in the haunted house is required Halloween viewing for me.
I gave myself Dr. Who and the Silurians for my birthday. Since I got it on iTunes, I can carry the Doctor and the Brig along in my purse.
Yes, but only in passing: one of the 1990s books has Lethbridge-Stewart meeting with the much-promoted Gilmore, who's one of the Colonel's more prominent supporters in arguing for the creation of what becomes UNIT, and tells the future Brig a thing or two about his own experience of the Doctor and Daleks. But that would be between Web of Fear and Invasion, so it doesn't explain the open mind in Web... But a not-very-good book by Barry Letts does show us that the young Lethbridge-Stewart had an encounter with aliens/the supernatural as a young officer at the end of World War II, which left him wondering about such things.
I haven't seen "Web of Fear" yet, but I've seen "The Three Doctors" twice, and recall that that adventure was the first time that Lethbridge-Stewart had ever been inside the TARDIS.