Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Redfern]

It's hard not to love Sarah Jane, Lis Sladen is very good in this one.

The whole scene with the rifle is interesting. Liz Sladen exuded such confidence as she pulls back the bolt, saying, "I know what I'm doing," and then kneeling to line up the shot. Nothing was stated in an earlier serial about a proficiency with firearms, yet, the set up did not feel contrived. The way she said that line, you just accepted it.

 

[Turbo]

Watched the colour animation (and then existing episode 4) of The Celestial Toymaker last night and I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The animation style works extremely well for this story, I think. It's somewhat otherworldly. I appreciate that they took the opportunity to bring so many stylized characters into it rather than just trying to recreate what it would have looked like. (Especially the playing cards.) The likenesses could be improved, but it works in that Clone Wars-y near enough style for me. I also liked how they played with the Toymaker's size and presence to make up for losing Michael Gough's performance. The only major thing that didn't really work for me was the dancing floor; they had too many ballerinas and it was very unclear that the ballerinas switched partners, allowing Steven and Dodo to eventually partner up. On the whole, I think the animation did a fine job and elevated the story, especially compared to the existing episode 4.

As to the story itself, episode 1 dragged on and on and on. The remainder was better paced. Michael Gough was an excellent villain; he portrayed the Toymaker with just the right amount of menace. Like Patrick Troughton, he brings a range of expression to his character that animation doesn't quite capture. Having the Doctor be invisible and mute for much of the story was certainly a choice, but it mostly worked once the pacing picked up. Steven comes across as rather ruthless, but that's possibly because Dodo comes across as incredibly naive at several points (particularly when dealing with Cyril).

I honestly think I enjoyed this story much more as an animation than I would have in live action. I know that the serial was made on less than a shoestring budget, but it shows badly in the existing episode 4. With the exception of the final TARDIS scene, the animated episode 4 outdoes the live action episode in pretty much every way.

That being said, I'm not sure I buy this animation style for a more straight story such as Marco Polo or The Daleks' Master Plan. It worked for me because it was so otherworldly while those stories don't have the same level of imagination involved. I think it does need some improvements in terms of the likenesses to work. But it's much better than it was in The Web of Fear and so if they do make more stories in this style I'll try to remain cautiously optimistic. The Space Pirates might be a good candidate for it since it could be made much more sci-fi and fantastical than the historicals or even DMP.

 

[Pindar]

Watched the colour animation (and then existing episode 4) of The Celestial Toymaker last night and I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The animation style works extremely well for this story, I think. It's somewhat otherworldly. I appreciate that they took the opportunity to bring so many stylized characters into it rather than just trying to recreate what it would have looked like. (Especially the playing cards.) The likenesses could be improved, but it works in that Clone Wars-y near enough style for me. I also liked how they played with the Toymaker's size and presence to make up for losing Michael Gough's performance. The only major thing that didn't really work for me was the dancing floor; they had too many ballerinas and it was very unclear that the ballerinas switched partners, allowing Steven and Dodo to eventually partner up. On the whole, I think the animation did a fine job and elevated the story, especially compared to the existing episode 4.

I have it now and am looking forward to watching it.

 

[Redfern]

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"Dalek 63*88" presents an intriguing deep dive into the writing process of "The Celestial Toymaker" debunking some distorted history that has evolved around the production. (Be aware the video runs nearly an hour.) It nay not be everybody's cup of tea, but I quite enjoy this kind of investigative reporting about a favorite topic.

 

[kirk55555]

The thing about the animations to me is that they should be a replacement for what was lost, so they should be as accurate to what aired at the time as is reasonably possible. They shouldn't have wild animation styles, they should try to match what the show looked like as well as they can for their budget. I'm ok with them making slight changes or simplifications for the animation based on the time/budget they have, but it feels disrespectful to just make a lost story into a total cartoon, at that point they're not doing the actual story justice. Watching the new Celestial Toymaker animation will not be anywhere near the same experience as watching the original story, so for me its an automatic failure as a product. I'll probably give it a watch eventually, but I hope they don't start doing this kind of thing with other lost stories.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I meant to do it sooner but I finally sat down and rewatched Scream of the Shalka...for the first time since its original release more than two decades ago!

Looking past the limited flash animation style (which I still mostly like, but I still prefer Shada's variation) and the constraints of shorter episodes over six parts, I think the serial is largely a good one. I loved the darker, more twisted nature of the story paired with a Doctor who has grown cold and almost sinister due to a past tragedy. I particularly loved the reveal that the Shalka has a vast but hidden cosmic empire, preying on ecologically vulnerable planets (via wormhole-carrying meteorites!), finishing them off, and then quietly occupying them underneath the surface. While The Doctor ultimately saved the day, the Shalka's empire is still out there...and I can only hope some day they make a proper appearance on the main show.

Naturally, the main appeal of the serial is Richard E. Grant's performance as an alternate version of The Ninth Doctor (made clear by Andy Warhol's desire to paint "all nine of me"). This Doctor is haunted by a terrible tragedy involving a past companion and forced himself to make a companion out of his greatest rival, The Master (inexplicably an android now!). The serial deliberately planted a lot of seeds for further exploration if Davies hadn't managed to revive the show and it's a pity we'll never see them developed. While, of course, I'm very grateful the show returned properly, I am sorry we didn't get to see Paul Cornell's original plans for The Shalka Doctor play out, unravelling all of the mysteries set up here.

Of course, now that Davies has teased The Shalka Doctor in "Rogue," there is the slimmest of hopes that perhaps we'll get to see him in action once again. I would love to see some kind of one-off episode, not unlike The Night of the Doctor, with him traveling the cosmos, perhaps with Alison and The Master, too.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I will take any form of animation at this point if it means i get to see another lost classic Who story in all its glory.

 

[Mr Awe]

I will take any form of animation at this point if it means i get to see another lost classic Who story in all its glory.

Same! Love those animations! Keep them coming too. They've almost completed some of Troughton's seasons.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Same! Love those animations! Keep them coming too. They've almost completed some of Troughton's seasons.

Yeah, i already have all the restoration DVD's, and all nu Who up to the end of Capaldi, and all present animated lost episodes, so all i have let to get the those lost episodes still to get the animated treatment, and my physical Who colection will be complete.

 

[diankra]

Same! Love those animations! Keep them coming too. They've almost completed some of Troughton's seasons.

There's one more story for each Troughton season. Ditto for the first two Hartnell.

 

[Steve Roby]

I meant to do it sooner but I finally sat down and rewatched Scream of the Shalka...for the first time since its original release more than two decades ago!

I've watched it a couple of times over the years. I just wish there'd been some support to produce a few more episodes after the Eccleston announcement. At least we have that one BBC online short prose story, the novelization, the Black Archives nonfiction book, and the Nine Lives fanthology. But I wouldn't mind more.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I've watched it a couple of times over the years. I just wish there'd been some support to produce a few more episodes after the Eccleston announcement. At least we have that one BBC online short prose story, the novelization, the Black Archives nonfiction book, and the Nine Lives fanthology. But I wouldn't mind more.

I did notice on TARDIS Wiki that there were a few additional print stories that featured him (or hinted at him), so I'm glad we got that much at least.

But I want a reunion with Richard E. Grant, Sophie Okonedo, and Derek Jacobi, damnit!

 

[kirk55555]

There's one more story for each Troughton season. Ditto for the first two Hartnell.

They've already said they won't be animating the two lost episodes of The Crusade, thats why they released the Hartnell Season 2 blu ray already and just had two episodes be image reconstructions (I have the set, and its great, but I can see why they didn't want to bother with animating the lost Crusade episodes). As for season 1, there is absolutely no way they're animating Marco Polo, unless they can find a method thats even cheaper then the animation they've used in the past.

Then you have season 3, which has so many missing episodes it would be like animating a whole season of TV to finish it (even accounting for the completed Galaxy 4 animations).

 

[diankra]

Yep, season three is the big one. Up to 25 episodes to do. 22 if they don't do the surviving Masterplan episodes.

 

[Redfern]

Like several others here, I, too decided to rewatch "Pyramids of Mars". My media was the 2004 DVD edition. I played the story with the audio commentary by director Paddy Russell, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and actors Liz Sladen and Michael Sheard. I know the story itself almost by heart, but I had forgotten a lot of "behind the scenes" details from the cast and crew.

I noted upthread how Sarah revealed considerable skills with firearms, well, at least rifles. Apparently, that was fully director Russell's doing. We heard both her POV and Ms. Sladen's. Liz wanted to play it as being a tad wary of the firearm, being as much surprised that she hit the gel-ignite (dynamite to us bloody Yanks) as she was that the explosion was being contained. Russell disagreed and insisted Sladen play the scene with unwavering confidence. Thing was, Liz was not familiar with guns and didn't expect the "crack" of the gun powder to be as loud as it was. She stated she went deaf for a few minutes after firing the blank.

Sladen also stated that she caught the flu adter recording this story. While bright and clear, it was winter and she didn't consider wearing thick enough underwear to compensate for the frilly, almost sheer dress. She also explained the dress originally had a high collar, but she found blouses, shirts and sweaters with such to be almost clausterphobic, so they modified the gown for her comfort.

Michael Sheard (Lawrence Scarman) confessed he "nicked" the photo that supposedly depicted the Scarman brothers as children) and still had it at the time they recorded the commentary.

While not present for the commentary, there was a supplementary video interviewing others associated with the production including Bernard Archard (Marcus Scarman) and Peter Copley (Prof. Warlock). Despite both being the oldest among the cast, Sladen, Sheard and Hinchcliffe all hinted the elder thespians seemed to be the more impish among the actors with Archard confessing having to "stay after 'school'" with Russell wanting to "have a word" with him. Archard himself stated the same in the separate interview clip. He did seem to have a gleeful twinkle in his eyes, far, far different for the baleful glare of the possessed Scarman. (Of course, that's his skill, he's an actor.)

 

[diankra]

Like several others here, I, too decided to rewatch "Pyramids of Mars". My media was the 2004 DVD edition. I played the story with the audio commentary by director Paddy Russell, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and actors Liz Sladen and Michael Sheard. I know the story itself almost by heart, but I had forgotten a lot of "behind the scenes" details from the cast and crew.

I noted upthread how Sarah revealed considerable skills with firearms, well, at least rifles. Apparently, that was fully director Russell's doing. We heard both her POV and Ms. Sladen's. Liz wanted to play it as being a tad wary of the firearm, being as much surprised that she hit the gel-ignite (dynamite to us bloody Yanks) as she was that the explosion was being contained. Russell disagreed and insisted Sladen play the scene with unwavering confidence. Thing was, Liz was not familiar with guns and didn't expect the "crack" of the gun powder to be as loud as it was. She stated she went deaf for a few minutes after firing the blank.

Sladen also stated that she caught the flu adter recording this story. While bright and clear, it was winter and she didn't consider wearing thick enough underwear to compensate for the frilly, almost sheer dress. She also explained the dress originally had a high collar, but she found blouses, shirts and sweaters with such to be almost clausterphobic, so they modified the gown for her comfort.

Michael Sheard (Lawrence Scarman) confessed he "nicked" the photo that supposedly depicted the Scarman brothers as children) and still had it at the time they recorded the commentary.

While not present for the commentary, there was a supplementary video interviewing others associated with the production including Bernard Archard (Marcus Scarman) and Peter Copley (Prof. Warlock). Despite both being the oldest among the cast, Sladen, Sheard and Hinchcliffe all hinted the elder thespians seemed to be the more impish among the actors with Archard confessing having to "stay after 'school'" with Russell wanting to "have a word" with him. Archard himself stated the same in the separate interview clip. He did seem to have a gleeful twinkle in his eyes, far, far different for the baleful glare of the possessed Scarman. (Of course, that's his skill, he's an actor.)

When I was in the School Corps I fired a rifle. Big recoil.

 

[Qonundrum]

The Celestial Toymaker. The 3D animation and creative liberties do much wonder to this story. Perhaps more than "The Macra Terror"'s and that one is also a fantastic animation. My only nitpick might be the faces of the regulars and Toymaker, but it's very very small.

 

[Mr Awe]

The Celestial Toymaker. The 3D animation and creative liberties do much wonder to this story. Perhaps more than "The Macra Terror"'s and that one is also a fantastic animation. My only nitpick might be the faces of the regulars and Toymaker, but it's very very small.

I just watched that one myself last night. I agree with your comments.

It was kind of a light Squid Games. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

 

[JD]

I finished up Pyramids of Mars on Friday and I really enjoyed the end, they tied it all up pretty nicely. And I'm glad I did since having that fresh in my mind made Empire of Death even better.

 

[kirk55555]

Just finished watching The Crusades. That was mostly tedious, and I don't think having the missing two episodes would have helped it. We did get to see more of Barbara being "iconic", meaning she got captured and had a pointless side story that mostly existed as an excuse as to why the TARDIS crew didn't just immediately take off when they realized they were in danger. These are the same "iconic" actions she had in the last two serials as well, she is truly an "iconic" damsel in distress.

Besides that Ian got the standard "hunting for barbara" plot, and The Doctor and Vicki had fun interacting with historical figures, all of this just like in The Romans, but not played for comedy like that story was, which honestly made The Crusades much more dull. Richard 1 was mildly interesting as a character, watching the story made me look him up and he was about as useless a king IRL as he was in the story.

Overall this was just kind of mediocre, honestly its not hard to see why pure historicals eventually just disappear and I completely understand why they didn't bother to animate the two missing episodes.