And Bob Servant (sitcom about a git played by Brian Cox who is trying to be elected an an independent MP, and realises he can improve his chances if he marries Shirley. It doesn't go well).
Last Classic Who Story you watched
- Thread starter Pindar
- Start date
death, doom. same thing - the Doctor has to save the day
Never saw that one. Of course, I recently heard Henderson's unmistakeable voice as Babu Frik when I rewatched Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
I would say he's the second best after Robert Holmes, if only because we got more stories from Holmes.
Fair.
Weirdly I wouldn't count him as one of the best Who writers. He did three serials and yes, Robots of Death is an all time classic, and The Face of Evil is good, but for some reason I've never been a big fan of Image of the Fendahl (which is odd because I really should be given it's horror/Quatermass vibes and the fact it's written by Boucher.)
On the other hand I can say with absolute certainty that Chris Boucher is hands down the best Blakes 7 writer!
Early 2010s. Just been repeated on BBC4 with intros by Cox. Six episodes of Bob Servant Independent and 3 of follow-up Bob Servant.
I'm American. I don't get the BBC.
I'd say Bob Banks Stewart had a slightly better hit-rate - Terror of the Zygons, Seeds of Doom and the story that Bob Holmes developed into Talons of Weng-Chiang.
That's three absolute classics, whereas I agree that Fendahl doesn't quite hang together for me as it should. Face of Evil is good though, and Robots of Death is another classic.
I know. But it may be available on streaming somewhere. The BBC4 repeat shows thar's no current rights issues which might block that.
I was commenting on where I personally have seen Shirley Henderson before. I'm sure she's been in plenty of other things that are available, but I haven't seen them.
The Foe from the Future, which was adapted into audio story, and its also stone-cold classic.
Fendahl is a great concept, but like Terminus, it feels defanged and bizarely structured, and so absently directed, that its always a slog of an experience. I genuinely have a hard time enjoying Fendahl, and I like his previous two stories very much.
Why, I'm not sure, I think Fendahl was the last story that Robert Holmes story edited, but I wonder whether he gave a shit at this point, or the fact that Hinchcliffe's hands-on approach on story during his tenure was so impressively implemented, that a story like Fendahl would indeed had been "rescued" by a proper Hinchcliffe/Holmes doctoring (no pun intended) and prompted Boucher with the necessary revisions to elevate the material. As is, its dreadfully dull (which frankly describes most of Williams' first year anyway).
I know I'm in the minority but I've always been a big fan of both The Face of Evil (and not just for the introduction of the second best companion ever) and Image of the Fendahl. Both serials explore fascinating ideas while being wildly different stories, and yet both fit perfectly within The Fourth Doctor era.
I love Face of Evil. I always get annoyed when fans say Robots to Horror of Fang Rock is the best run of consecutive best episodes but I always chime in and say "what about Face of Evil?"
(Heck, I even like Planet of Evil, haha)
I just think Fendahl is missing something, and maybe its because Williams wouldn't commit to it the way PH would have, given GW was brought in specifically to lighten the show up. Otherwise, the concept is straight up Hammer horror, and right up the Fourth Doctor's alley.
The blu-ray is interesting: the Behind the Sofa bit has Colin Baker grumbling at all the criticism he got over the acid bath scene when Tom used a shotgun and handed someone a revolver so they could kill themself.
The DVD is slightly fixed, to lose the wobble in the long-shot (film wobbles, VT doesn't) of the opening scene.
I didn't like The Face of Evil when I watched it on PBS back in the day because I was still sad about Sarah Jane leaving
I didn't like The Face of Evil when I watched it on PBS back in the day because I was still sad about Sarah Jane leaving
Losing Sarah Jane was bad, yeah, but Leela was a heck of a consolation prize.
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