And that is why some of us liked him. But the 4th Doctor was my first introduction to Doctor Who.. So I saw them all in a jumbled manner.
Last Classic Who Story you watched
- Thread starter Pindar
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And that is why some of us liked him. But the 4th Doctor was my first introduction to Doctor Who.. So I saw them all in a jumbled manner.
BBC America has started showing some classic Who so I caught the start of Terror of the Zygons today which must be the most Scottish episode of anything ever.
Both 1 and 3 mellowed as they went on. The Curse of Peladon seems to be a turning point with 3, as his friendship with Jo becomes much more warm.
He gets less short-tempered once the TARDIS is semi-working, and he's not entirely trapped.
He complains alot about the Brig. and his seemingly simplemindness, but he rather fond of his UNIT friends, Still though compared to the whimsy of the second Doctor the third remained pretty serious thougout his run.
How did 3 remove the console from the TARDIS? I remember a few episodes where it was inside a room in UNIT as he tried to work on it.
The TARDIS control room set was in even worse shape than the console, so the props people set it up on a different set.
As for how they explained it in story, they didn't, really. He was just doing an experiment on getting the console going without having the rest of the TARDIS attached to it, drawing power from a scientific nuclear reactor.
As for how they explained it in story, they didn't, really. He was just doing an experiment on getting the console going without having the rest of the TARDIS attached to it, drawing power from a scientific nuclear reactor.
LOL as you do. Handy things those scientific reactors.
Working on "Colony in Space." It is a pretty solid settlers-Indians-big ranchers/railroad story and Hulke, while a card carrying socialist, makes the bad ol' corporate meanies into credible, fleshed out characters instead of just cardboard cliche's. The mining company captain is an amoral dick, but he's a smart man and good at what he does. While the sympathetic colonists aren't perfect or completely lovable. They make stupid human mistakes but do the best they can. The Master, Jo, and the Doc are all in good form and while, as usual, the natives (technically the humans are the "aliens") are hokey and the alien city is cringeworthy, they play it straight and I'm able to suspend disbelief.
I do have a soft spot in my heart for this because my career had a bit of a setback and I'd been working part time, nights for a few years so I was only able to catch the occasional weeknight episode and I finally got promoted to full time, days in the middle of this serial, so it is happy memories for me to see it.
That said, it does go on and on and on and on. The colonist capture the miners. Then the miners get away and capture the colonists. Then the colonists get away and capture the miners. Then the Master shows up while the miners get away and capture the colonists. Then the colonists get away and capture the miners. Then the miners leave, come back, and capture the colonists. Then the Master captures the Doctor and Jo. Then Jo gets away... They could cut out about an hour and actually strengthen the story.
I do have a soft spot in my heart for this because my career had a bit of a setback and I'd been working part time, nights for a few years so I was only able to catch the occasional weeknight episode and I finally got promoted to full time, days in the middle of this serial, so it is happy memories for me to see it.
That said, it does go on and on and on and on. The colonist capture the miners. Then the miners get away and capture the colonists. Then the colonists get away and capture the miners. Then the Master shows up while the miners get away and capture the colonists. Then the colonists get away and capture the miners. Then the miners leave, come back, and capture the colonists. Then the Master captures the Doctor and Jo. Then Jo gets away... They could cut out about an hour and actually strengthen the story.
Partway through "The Daemons," which does remind me to point out another annoyance of the early Pertwee stories (that "The Daemons" isn't quite as guilty of): The mole. There's always an inside man. And you usually know who he is within 2 minutes. The Doctor knows who he is even earlier--the General in "Ambassadors of Death" (and/or "The Dinosaur Invasion"), the "colonist survivor" in "Colony in Space." Heck, even the other characters are suspicious of the guy--but the Brigadier keeps the General right in the loop still; The colonists have the mining company spy take a gun and stand up on the catwalk behind them. At least in "The Daemons" it seems like the Master's lackeys are a bit more subtle.
I particularly wanted to watch "...Morbius", which I did. Why? Well, when I watched it upon Georgia Public Broadcasting in the 1980s, compiled into an "omnibus/movie" edition (as done on BBCA), well, much of the music and some of the sound effects were missing! Like the sequence when Sarah spotted the spaceship "graveyard", when the area was illuminated by "lightning", there was no accompanying clap of thunder. Or when the optically inserted "rain" started, forcing the Doctor and Sarah to seek shelter at Solon's "castle", there was no hissing "patter" of droplets. Or, when the Sisterhood used their powers to blow open the castle's doors and caused the candle fixture to drop, all one heard was the rather weak "clack" of the prop lowered to the floor. Finally, when the Sisterhood teleported the TARDIS and later the Doctor to their shrine, all was silent! It made the presentation seem more like a rehearsal than a broadcast ready production.
Thankfully, the BBCA broadcast had all the audio in place, which definitely improved the "atmosphere". Probably the only reason Morbius retained the electronic "warble" to his voice was because his ring modulated dialogue was recorded onto the primary track. How GPB managed to receive an incomplete copy, I don't know. The same thing happened with "Resurrection of the Daleks". It makes you realize just how important the foley track is to a story. Someone aims a prop which glows feebly under the studio lights and another actor drops "dead" with no "zap"? You gotta' give credit to the performers for keeping straight faces. Sound effects can make ALL the difference at times!
Sincerely,
Bill
Thankfully, the BBCA broadcast had all the audio in place, which definitely improved the "atmosphere". Probably the only reason Morbius retained the electronic "warble" to his voice was because his ring modulated dialogue was recorded onto the primary track. How GPB managed to receive an incomplete copy, I don't know. The same thing happened with "Resurrection of the Daleks". It makes you realize just how important the foley track is to a story. Someone aims a prop which glows feebly under the studio lights and another actor drops "dead" with no "zap"? You gotta' give credit to the performers for keeping straight faces. Sound effects can make ALL the difference at times!
Sincerely,
Bill
I finished up 'Attack of the Cybermen.'
I really like the Sixth Doctor in this one much better. I don't mind his abrasive personality and find him to come off as extremely intelligent.
The story itself is really fun, with the first part feeling like mostly set up, which is how most Doctor Who two parters feel in new Who (it's also interesting that they briefly tried out the 45 minute episode format as it really feels like new Who in that regard). I find Peri to be a bit whiny though, which is interesting because I never found her like that with the Fifth Doctor. Also it's too bad the only other companion Six gets is Mel because I think he would have benefited from a better character to play off of.
I really like the Sixth Doctor in this one much better. I don't mind his abrasive personality and find him to come off as extremely intelligent.
The story itself is really fun, with the first part feeling like mostly set up, which is how most Doctor Who two parters feel in new Who (it's also interesting that they briefly tried out the 45 minute episode format as it really feels like new Who in that regard). I find Peri to be a bit whiny though, which is interesting because I never found her like that with the Fifth Doctor. Also it's too bad the only other companion Six gets is Mel because I think he would have benefited from a better character to play off of.
the soundtrack problems on both stories wer only in their American releases and fixed on the DVD releases. I do think the BBC is experimenting with omibus releases and this ithe reason why the BBCA's stories are in that format. Earthshock and Genesis Of The Daleks are that in that format on the Cybermen and Dalek DVDs, but with the opening and end credits unlike the Doctor Who Revisited DVDs where the credits have been removed.
I'm on Episode 3 of Castrovalva, and its a struggle. The Doctor and Nyssa are fine, and Tegan isn't bad, but the overall story is fairly slow and dull. When it comes to this loose trilogy, its still better than The Keeper of Traken, but its not as good as Logopolis. For post regeneration/first stories for a Doctor its definitely weak, although its brilliant compared to Time and the Rani. Even Anthony Ainley doesn't really help elevate this story.
That was my introduction to Classic Era Who. I had picked up the DVD trilogy pack, and I agree it was a bit of a struggle to get through. I can never tell if that was because it was my first serial or not.
I'm tempted to revisit it once again to see if this is the case.
I disagree that its better than Traken, but I do think its dull, too.
Personally, I hate "Attack of the Cybermen." It's too gruesome, especially when the Cybermen crush the guy's hands. Also, the native aliens of Telos are just creepy with their plastic mustaches and all.
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