Last Classic Who Story you watched
- Thread starter Pindar
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Like most of us here, I too love "Robots of Death", but when I first saw in 1983 ('84 at the latest), I was too dim to get an important element of social satire. I was baffled by the absurdly elaborate wardrobes the miners wore. Why? Just to establish it was the far future on an alien planet? Years later (yes, years, plural) it finally dawned upon me in a majorly Homer Simpson-esque "D'OH!!!" moment. It was to drive home the point this society was so utterly dependent upon robots that even miners (yes, I'm aware some of them were from "noble" lines), an occupation normally associated with grime and filth, can afford to dress in their finest threads even while "on the clock".
More or less. I'd say it's more that the ubiquity of robot labor has made the humans an ultra-rich, decadent leisure class. It's not just the wardrobes and makeup; the robot and technology designs are also ornate and elaborate, form over function.
It's a story that gets better over decadesI 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 disagree, but then Sarah was my first companion. So loved her, Romana 1, Nyssa. Less keen on Leela, Romana II and Tegan. Alternate.
How about a ceasefire, and call Romana the best one instead?
Seriously though: Funny thing is, strictly DW, TV-wise, Sarah Jane has the edge, even if Leela has three great ones. But SJS has The Time Warrior, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, Brain of Morbius, Seeds of Doom and to a lesser extent Masque of the Mandragora and Planet of the Spiders, not to mention The Five Doctors. BUT, if we put the audios in the mix, Leela trumps her, cause shes in several classics, chiefly The Wrath of the Iceni and the couple of Lost Stories of her with Tom. Great stuff!
Tough call, I suppose. I stand by my Romana pick though - for City of Death and Shada alone.
Before my time. Not strictly, but I was two so don't remember seeing him.
"Hand of Fear" Starts off pretty good with the location shooting, Let the director get creative with shot like Sarah Jane in the mirror ar the entrance to the nuclear plant. But that toddler cover all Sarah Jane was wearing. Yeesh. On the slight and diminutive Sladen it looked like the Doctor was babysitting a child. The last chapter was a bit of a let down as we return to soundstages and sets. Always love seeing the TARDIS secondary control room.
Troughton and Hines have some of the best chemistry of any Doctor/Companion. I think the Season 6 team with Zoe is an all-time great TARDIS crew.
I'm totally serious about preferring Leela to Sarah Jane, at least as far as the classic series goes. That's no reflection on Lis Sladen, and Sarah is obviously a great companion, I just personally find Leela a more interesting character and Louise Jameson's performance is incredibly good.
To paraphrase Dr Bashir, I love Sarah Jane. I just like Leela a bit more.
I'm totally serious about preferring Leela to Sarah Jane, at least as far as the classic series goes. That's no reflection on Lis Sladen, and Sarah is obviously a great companion, I just personally find Leela a more interesting character and Louise Jameson's performance is incredibly good.
To paraphrase Dr Bashir, I love Sarah Jane. I just like Leela a bit more.
Agreed 100%.
Granted my feelings about them are colored by how much they did (or didn't do) with Big Finish, but Romana and Leela have always been my top two favorite companions. Mind you, nostalgia is doing some of the heavy lifting there as they (and K-9) were my first companions, so they'll always have special place in my heart. But I also agree that Leela is a fascinating character and not enough credit is given to the depth of writing her character got and unsurprisingly, people are often more focused on what she was wearing than what she was saying and doing (I'm not saying anyone here is doing that but that aspect still exists).
That said, I still love Sarah Jane but truthfully, I think I love modern day Sarah Jane far more than I loved classic Sarah Jane and a large part of that is because of her show. That does make me lament that her original show (pardon me, K-9's original show) didn't go beyond it's cheesy pilot but I'm still grateful that we got to see a woman in her sixties running around and saving the world.
Now if only they could do the same for Leela (mind you, it's probably a little for the running around bit but the feeling is still the same).
I can understand that, though I don't think I have a preference between them. Well, except on a strictly aesthetic level -- Sarah Jane was fairly pretty once she grew her hair long, but Leela was one of the most beautiful companions ever.
Recently finished The Dæmons, which I don't think I've seen before, at least not all the way through. To be honest Pertwee is a bit of a blind spot which I'm trying to fill.
Anyway it's decent enough. I liked the folk horror vibe, and there's definitely a nice Quatermass and the Pitt thing going on, shame it jettisons anything remotely supernatural for 'it's an alien' but I guess that's par for the course. Plenty of action. Bok and Azal work some of the time (but look terrible at others) and we get the Brig's famous "Chap with the wings..." line which is great.
Lord but the Third Doctor is a bit insufferable isn't he? So condescending to everyone but especially to Jo who he treats like a child. You can absolutely see what they were going for with Capaldi at the start.
Just started watching the Ambassadors of Death. Blimey that gun fight/punch up in the first episode feels like it came from the Sweeney or something
Anyway it's decent enough. I liked the folk horror vibe, and there's definitely a nice Quatermass and the Pitt thing going on, shame it jettisons anything remotely supernatural for 'it's an alien' but I guess that's par for the course. Plenty of action. Bok and Azal work some of the time (but look terrible at others) and we get the Brig's famous "Chap with the wings..." line which is great.
Lord but the Third Doctor is a bit insufferable isn't he? So condescending to everyone but especially to Jo who he treats like a child. You can absolutely see what they were going for with Capaldi at the start.
Just started watching the Ambassadors of Death. Blimey that gun fight/punch up in the first episode feels like it came from the Sweeney or something
I still can't get over the fact that Jo Grant singlehandedly saved the world from Azal with her compassion and self-sacrifice while the Doctor and UNIT were mucking about ineffectually with heat barriers and chaps with wings... and nobody so much as thanked her. Was that the only time in the classic series where the companion was directly and exclusively responsible for defeating the villain?
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