I recently got Remembrance of the Daleks on DVD. It's the first McCoy story I've seen. I found him an enjoyable Doctor and the story was pretty good but I wasn't completely in love with it. For the time being I think I'm going to concentrate my DVD efforts on the first three doctors, cherrypick from Four and Five, and put Six and Seven on the back burner.
A few thoughts about the story occurred to me as I was rewatching Part Two with the text commentary last night. The episode certainly implies that the Hand of Omega was taken from Gallifrey by the First Doctor and left in the casket shortly before the beginning of "An Unearthly Child." If that was the case, it seems to me that this wouldn't have been looked upon too favorably by the Time Lords given that One's departure was not on the best of terms. It also raises the question of whether the Doctor left the Hand of Omega with the intention of using it against the Daleks all along. If so, that would cause a problem since the First Doctor had not encountered the Daleks prior to "An Unearthly Child".
However, as I rewatched it I noticed that one does not necessarily have to conclude that the First Doctor left the Hand of Omega on Earth in 1963. We are meant to think it was him, given the setting, but the episode does not explicitly say.
The undertaker says the Doctor was described to him as an older man with white hair. That description is vague enough that it could also apply to the Third Doctor. It could possibly even apply to the Second Doctor in a Season 6b scenario. If it was one of these two, I could find it easier to believe that the Doctor did leave the Hand of Omega here intending to use it against the Daleks the whole time (which would explain why it was sent back to Gallifrey at the end). It could also possibly mean that he did so on a mission from the Time Lords in their ongoing conflict with the Daleks, much as Four was on a mission in Genesis of the Daleks.
What do you think? Am I overlooking something?
A few thoughts about the story occurred to me as I was rewatching Part Two with the text commentary last night. The episode certainly implies that the Hand of Omega was taken from Gallifrey by the First Doctor and left in the casket shortly before the beginning of "An Unearthly Child." If that was the case, it seems to me that this wouldn't have been looked upon too favorably by the Time Lords given that One's departure was not on the best of terms. It also raises the question of whether the Doctor left the Hand of Omega with the intention of using it against the Daleks all along. If so, that would cause a problem since the First Doctor had not encountered the Daleks prior to "An Unearthly Child".
However, as I rewatched it I noticed that one does not necessarily have to conclude that the First Doctor left the Hand of Omega on Earth in 1963. We are meant to think it was him, given the setting, but the episode does not explicitly say.
The undertaker says the Doctor was described to him as an older man with white hair. That description is vague enough that it could also apply to the Third Doctor. It could possibly even apply to the Second Doctor in a Season 6b scenario. If it was one of these two, I could find it easier to believe that the Doctor did leave the Hand of Omega here intending to use it against the Daleks the whole time (which would explain why it was sent back to Gallifrey at the end). It could also possibly mean that he did so on a mission from the Time Lords in their ongoing conflict with the Daleks, much as Four was on a mission in Genesis of the Daleks.
What do you think? Am I overlooking something?
Same with Hartnell/McCoy's actions for Remembrance and the Hand of Omega, and Baker in Genesis...
