Continuing to Discover Doctor Who
- Thread starter S. Gomez
- Start date
Well, the order's been placed. Although, because "Silurians" is officially preordered, Amazon.ca gives the estimated shipping date as June 3. I might be waiting a while more than I would have liked. 
In the meantime, however, I'm already planning on what I'm going to get next. I figure Pertwee's "The Time Warrior", followed by Tom Baker. I wouldn't mind some advice with his stories as well. These are the ones that are available in Canada:
-Robot (being the first, it seems sort of a given)
-The Ark In Space
-The Sontaran Experiment
-Genesis of The Daleks
-Planet of Evil
-Pyramids of Mars
-The Hand of Fear
-The Robots of Death
-The Talons of Weng-Chiang
-Horror of Fang Rock
-Destiny of The Daleks
-City of Death
-The Leisure Hive
Also the local library has "The Seeds of Doom", "The Deadly Assassin", and the E-Space 'trilogy'.
"The Key To Time" isn't listed because I'm going to wait for the special edition box to make its slow but sure way to Region 1; Baker's last two stories are in the "New Beginnings" boxed set and I'll get them that way and obviously only after seeing the highlights. (Yeah, I do a bit of homework on these things; these are blind buys after all!)
In the meantime, however, I'm already planning on what I'm going to get next. I figure Pertwee's "The Time Warrior", followed by Tom Baker. I wouldn't mind some advice with his stories as well. These are the ones that are available in Canada:
-Robot (being the first, it seems sort of a given)
-The Ark In Space
-The Sontaran Experiment
-Genesis of The Daleks
-Planet of Evil
-Pyramids of Mars
-The Hand of Fear
-The Robots of Death
-The Talons of Weng-Chiang
-Horror of Fang Rock
-Destiny of The Daleks
-City of Death
-The Leisure Hive
Also the local library has "The Seeds of Doom", "The Deadly Assassin", and the E-Space 'trilogy'.
"The Key To Time" isn't listed because I'm going to wait for the special edition box to make its slow but sure way to Region 1; Baker's last two stories are in the "New Beginnings" boxed set and I'll get them that way and obviously only after seeing the highlights. (Yeah, I do a bit of homework on these things; these are blind buys after all!)
Of what's available on DVD, the best Tom baker stories are Genesis of the Daleks, The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The City of Death, Pyramids of Mars, and Horror of Fang Rock. The ones listed at your library are on VHS and I would recommend The Deadly Assassin and Warrior's Gate (final part of the E-Space trilogy but you don't need to see the first two understand this one) out of that selection.
Once again, you can't go too far wrong there. Destiny of the Daleks is one of the weaker stories, certainly, and I personally loathe The Leisure Hive, but plenty of people love it.
The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Robots of Death, The Deadly Assasin, The Horror of Fang Rock and City of Death are all excellent, highly regarded stories, and Genesis of the Daleks, The Seeds of Doom and The Talons of Weng Chiang are utterly brilliant - literally the zenith of classic Doctor Who.
The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Robots of Death, The Deadly Assasin, The Horror of Fang Rock and City of Death are all excellent, highly regarded stories, and Genesis of the Daleks, The Seeds of Doom and The Talons of Weng Chiang are utterly brilliant - literally the zenith of classic Doctor Who.
Tom Baker's first season is slightly arc-based. (And also ark-based. Yeah, yeah. Groan all you want.) Try to watch them in order, and then find copies of "Revenge of the Cybermen" and "Terror of the Zygons" to finish it off.
Genesis, Pyramids, Fang Rock, and City are all among the Top 10 episodes of classic Who.
Genesis, Pyramids, Fang Rock, and City are all among the Top 10 episodes of classic Who.
Looks like the best Bakers have been covered. Tho theres somethign to be said for "The Hand of Fear". It's Sarah Janese farewell episode and IMO has one of the shows coolest monster costumes.
Brace yourself for 'Robot' however. Episode 4 has some of the worst special effects shots in the series history.
Brace yourself for 'Robot' however. Episode 4 has some of the worst special effects shots in the series history.
Cool. As someone else who's fairly new to Who, I'll look forward to your comments. My Beneath The Surface set came in yesterday, and I watched the first two parts of Doctor Who and the Silurians last night (my first Pertwee) and early impressions put him neck-and-neck with Hartnell for my second favorite (behind Tennant) so far. If I enjoy the rest of this one and The Sea Devils this much, I may have to put Spearhead on my short list for my next purchases.
This is a bit of a bump, I know, but... the four Pertwees I ordered came today. I'll be giving my thoughts on "Spearhead From Space" before too long.
Hope you enjoyed it, one of my favourites!
Spearhead From Space
Hmm. It's tough to know what to say, really. It was Doctor Who. Which means it was a fairly good deal of fun. Seeing the Brigadier again was awesome, and knowing we'll see much more of him only makes it better. The story was rather well-handled without being too cheesy (and of course it's hard to make Mannequins of Death without a lot of cheese). A couple of things did throw me while I was watching it, however, no matter how well I was prepared for them. The shift to colour was strange at first, but I soon got used to it. And the fact that it was shot entirely on film was also awkward for me; Doctor Who is very weird without some studio-on-video scenes.*
Getting to know a new Doctor is not an entirely new experience for me, but it's still a relatively fresh one. I think I'll save a more detailed 'review' of Jon Pertwee until I see more of him, but my initial impression is that I'll like him quite a bit. Watching him play with his "new face" was really endearing. I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.
*By the by, I'd love to know more about the methods used to produce the show. From the DVDs of the black-and-white era I know that they had an extremely hectic and demanding schedule and work ethic; did they continue using the same production format for the whole run of the classic show? One episode a week, a single studio recording session on Fridays after a week of rehearsals?
Hmm. It's tough to know what to say, really. It was Doctor Who. Which means it was a fairly good deal of fun. Seeing the Brigadier again was awesome, and knowing we'll see much more of him only makes it better. The story was rather well-handled without being too cheesy (and of course it's hard to make Mannequins of Death without a lot of cheese). A couple of things did throw me while I was watching it, however, no matter how well I was prepared for them. The shift to colour was strange at first, but I soon got used to it. And the fact that it was shot entirely on film was also awkward for me; Doctor Who is very weird without some studio-on-video scenes.*
Getting to know a new Doctor is not an entirely new experience for me, but it's still a relatively fresh one. I think I'll save a more detailed 'review' of Jon Pertwee until I see more of him, but my initial impression is that I'll like him quite a bit. Watching him play with his "new face" was really endearing. I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.
*By the by, I'd love to know more about the methods used to produce the show. From the DVDs of the black-and-white era I know that they had an extremely hectic and demanding schedule and work ethic; did they continue using the same production format for the whole run of the classic show? One episode a week, a single studio recording session on Fridays after a week of rehearsals?
Troughton's last season ended up very hectic for him (and lead to his leaving at the end of the season), and as a result a decision was made to shorten the season (compare 40-odd episodes in the 60's to the 26-ish which became the norm for the series afterwards). At the same time the season started in January 1970 (as opposed to the 60's beginning in September-time)meaning the hectic schedule was relaxed somewhat.
What helped matters a lot was advances in technology allowing more edits, so unlike the 60's stories where they literally had to act them out as if they were live, there was a bit more freedom. Although the first few stories (Spearhead aside) were recorded altogether on one day, shortly afterwards the decision was made to record the episodes in 2-week blocks; i.e. rehearsing and recording 2 episodes over 2 weeks.
^That helps, Phillip, thanks. I can't wait to read the text commentaries for these stories to get the "juicy" details.
Man, I'm going through these really fast...
Doctor Who And The Silurians
One word: exciting. It had me hooked from practically the beginning. An underground research lab; mysterious goings-on; caves and tunnels that lead off into darkness. Very atmospheric and cool. And it never disappointed those early expectations, not even with the well-designed Silurians (sometimes the aliens can look very silly even allowing for the era). I think maybe they carried Dr. Lawrence's skepticism a bit farther than they should have, but other than that I have no real complaints. And the ending? Wow.
So. Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. I think I can safely say right now that he's pretty awesome. He brings the right level of gravitas during those times when the story requires it, but he can also lighten the mood considerably without resorting to slapstick. Not quite as much comic brilliance as Patrick Troughton, but still charming. And I liked the comments he and the Brigadier shared about Sherlock Holmes: "Come on, Dr. Watson." That gave me a chuckle.
Man, I'm going through these really fast...
Doctor Who And The Silurians
One word: exciting. It had me hooked from practically the beginning. An underground research lab; mysterious goings-on; caves and tunnels that lead off into darkness. Very atmospheric and cool. And it never disappointed those early expectations, not even with the well-designed Silurians (sometimes the aliens can look very silly even allowing for the era). I think maybe they carried Dr. Lawrence's skepticism a bit farther than they should have, but other than that I have no real complaints. And the ending? Wow.
So. Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. I think I can safely say right now that he's pretty awesome. He brings the right level of gravitas during those times when the story requires it, but he can also lighten the mood considerably without resorting to slapstick. Not quite as much comic brilliance as Patrick Troughton, but still charming. And I liked the comments he and the Brigadier shared about Sherlock Holmes: "Come on, Dr. Watson." That gave me a chuckle.
It's intriguing to see your own perception of these stories which (from Pertwee's 1st story onwards) formed a part of my own early childhood recollection of Doctor Who.
I must say though, I hated the way they handled the Silurians and the Sea Devils later on in the show (by having these creatures refer to themselves by their "human-given" names, i.e. "Silurians" or "Sea Devils", particularly in Davison's era), but early on, these were great ideas and fairly well executed.
And my only real criticism of Pertwee was that he could not really portray terrified or incapacitated terribly well, and resorted instead to just crossing his eyes and gurning at the camera rather comically..
I must say though, I hated the way they handled the Silurians and the Sea Devils later on in the show (by having these creatures refer to themselves by their "human-given" names, i.e. "Silurians" or "Sea Devils", particularly in Davison's era), but early on, these were great ideas and fairly well executed.
And my only real criticism of Pertwee was that he could not really portray terrified or incapacitated terribly well, and resorted instead to just crossing his eyes and gurning at the camera rather comically..
Ah, but I love his buggy eye look!
It was. But not necessarily for the right reasons 
Shannon P. Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel) usually has a decent amount of information on the filming of each serial.
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