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Stories You've Watched Recently

Not counting the modern Who, in the last week, I've watched Stones of Blood, Androids of Tara, The Chase, The Time Monster, Twin Dilemma, and Vengeance on Varos.

Time to get that day by day thread back and running, it looks like.
 
I recently finished up a couple of average Tom Bakers: "The Brain of Morbius" & "The Seeds of Doom."

After that, I went back for a couple of William Hartnells: "The Aztecs" & "The Web Planet." Both stories are really slow, as was typical of the day I suppose. But I kinda find that comforting. Rather than pack the stories with lots of action, the stories unfold at a deliberate pace, both to ensure that the young viewers can keep up and to make sure they don't tax their limited production budget. Plus, I really enjoy the character dynamics in these early years with Ian, Barbara, Susan, & Vicki. In later seasons, it often seemed like the companions were a bunch of cabbage heads that just slowed the Doctor down. In these early years, they seem like a team, with all of them making competant contributions to the adventure (except for perhaps Vicki, who kinda seems in over her head as a spoiled teenager from the future).

"The Aztecs" is a fine example of an old school pure historical. Even though there are no aliens, there's plenty of danger all around when Barbara is mistaken for a reincarnated god, earning the ire of the bloodthirsty high priest Tlotoxl. Our heroes spend most of the story separated from the TARDIS when they find themselves on the wrong end of a one-way door into an Aztec tomb. Ian has a couple of fight scenes with a jealous Aztec warrior named Ixta. Barbara tries to change history by outlawing human sacrifices. The Doctor has a charming little romance with an elderly woman. Susan doesn't get a whole lot to do here, but she's always charming. She's got kind of an Audrey Hepburn thing going on.

"The Web Planet" is just weird. It drags quite a bit. It probably should have been a 4-parter instead of a 6-parter. The giant insect costumes all look rediculous, and yet they're treated with such straight-faced seriousness by all of the actors that you start to believe them after a while. Barbara makes some major contributions encouraging the insect warriors and planning diversionary attacks. Vicki isn't particularly useful except as someone for the Doctor to talk to since he spends most of the story surrounded by giant, mute ants. And sadly, Vicki doesn't have nearly as much spunk as Susan. The thing I really don't like about it is all of the vaseline that they rubbed on the lens for the exterior scenes. It's supposed to make the planet look alien but instead it just looks uncomfortably blurry.
 
I recently watched The Moonbase again.

Previously I'd not regarded this story very highly, but for some reason on this viewing it really worked for me. Sure, it's just a rehash of Kit Pedler's previous cyberman outing, The Tenth Planet, however, I now regard it as quite a bit superior to that story. In TTP, Hartnel spends most of the story just sitting around waiting to regenerate, whereas here we get Troughton really stealing the show with his investigation into the mysterious plague. The story also has a very forboding tone, which previously I had been unsympathetic to. This is helped in large part by superb writing and direction (monsters that can come and go as they please) but also by the eerie background sound effects throughout. Finally, I found the story oddly prophetic, in both positive and negative ways. Depicted here is a base on the moon manned by a truely international team - forshadowing our own international space station. However, the reason why the moonbase is there? Out of control weather on the Earth, or to put it another way, runaway climate-change.

The only downside is Jamie is put out of action for almost the entire story. This being only his second story this is understandable - perhaps this story was written with only Ben & Polly in mind.

The Moonbase is a superb example of early Troughton imo and I highly recommend it.
 
Chiming in on the debate over the Colin Baker years, here's where I stand:

I haven't yet gotten around to seeing his 1st 2 stories, "The Twin Dilema" & "Attack of the Cybermen." However, he comes off as a total asshole in the closing scenes of "The Caves of Androzani." Bad 1st impression.

"The Mark of the Rani" is decent but that's mostly because of the geek factor of having the Rani & the Master in the same story. Already, I can tell that this 6th Doctor/Peri combination isn't working. Her whining & his rudeness form an unpleasant, vicious cycle.

"Vengeance on Varos" has some interesting political & social ideas. On the whole, I'm not sure I like the execution but the core ideas are good. Sil is a lot of fun.

"The Two Doctors" is brilliant! But then, I'm automatically sold when it's the 2nd Doctor & Jamie. The Androgum cannibal is a fun source of dark humor. The horrible "futuristic" design of everything is so wonderfully '80s. The Sontarans make a relatively weak appearance, but that's because they're just being used by the other villains. The only thing I don't like is when the guy in the restaurant dies. That was too grim & unnecessary, particularly for a comic relief character. Plus, his death scene is played for laughs. It's just very out of place.

"Timelash" is awful. It's a bad story any way you slice it but made far worse because it ran way short, so they had to pad it with more unpleasant Doctor/Peri bickering. But H.G. Wells was a funny little addition.

"Revelation of the Daleks" is way overrated, as I mentioned earlier in this thread. Certain characters show promise, but in the end, it just doesn't really work for me on any level.

"The Trial of a Time Lord" was an interesting idea for an arc. However, the behind the scenes drama going on at this time was far more interesting than what ended up on screen.
Parts 1-4, "The Mysterious Planet," had some mildly interesting bits with the retarded robot and the introduction of interstellar con man Sabalom Glitz.
Parts 5-8, "Mindwarp," had the welcome return of Sil and the campy fun of Brian Blessed shouting at everything. But half this story confuses me & the other half I don't care about. Peri's death was a juicy piece of storytelling diminished by the fact that it happened to a character that I don't care about.
Parts 9-12, "Terror of the Vervoids," has an excellent title, a middling whodunnit mystery, and a crappy new companion with Mel. I won't say she's worse than Peri but she's certainly not any better, and Peri set the bar really REALLY low!
Parts 13-14, "The Ultimate Foe," is a ho-hum/confusing conclusion. It's kinda fun that they brought in the Master and brought back Sabalom Glitz. The Valeyard pulls off some decent scenery chewing. But overall, Colin Baker's final story ends with an incoherent whimper.
 
I just watched the Doctor who cartoon, the infinite quest.. very nice, the animation was more or less filmation in standard, with some cool cell shading updates.. I liked it! :techman: reminded me of classic he-man, and or the classic star trek toons..

anyhow, I would recommend it, only problem was it went by too fast, I wanted more!

I rate this one on a scale of 1 to 5 thumbs..(1 being poor watch at your own peril!, to 5 being totally Awesome- highly recommended!)

:techman::techman::techman::techman: 4 thumbs up, a good show, would watch again..


Now on the classic side of the spectrum, I just watched the Day of the Daleks episodes, what a brilliant show that was, Pertwee, the production values, story content, and the Daleks were at their best! I loved that one, a definite and highly recommended classic who show!

I rate this one on a scale of 1 to 5 thumbs..(1 being poor watch at your own peril!, to 5 being totally Awesome- highly recommended!)

:techman::techman::techman::techman::techman:

a great one!
 
Just watched The Masque of Mandragora. It was an enjoyable serial. I especially liked the humor Tom Baker used in the beginning when confronted by the guards - they're pointing a sword at him, and they tell him to get his papers out. He takes an orange, jabs it on the end of the sword, then reaches for his papers. Liz Sladen was wonderful as always.
 
Chiming in on the debate over the Colin Baker years, here's where I stand:

I haven't yet gotten around to seeing his 1st 2 stories, "The Twin Dilema" & "Attack of the Cybermen." However, he comes off as a total asshole in the closing scenes of "The Caves of Androzani." Bad 1st impression.

"The Mark of the Rani" is decent but that's mostly because of the geek factor of having the Rani & the Master in the same story. Already, I can tell that this 6th Doctor/Peri combination isn't working. Her whining & his rudeness form an unpleasant, vicious cycle.

"Vengeance on Varos" has some interesting political & social ideas. On the whole, I'm not sure I like the execution but the core ideas are good. Sil is a lot of fun.

"The Two Doctors" is brilliant! But then, I'm automatically sold when it's the 2nd Doctor & Jamie. The Androgum cannibal is a fun source of dark humor. The horrible "futuristic" design of everything is so wonderfully '80s. The Sontarans make a relatively weak appearance, but that's because they're just being used by the other villains. The only thing I don't like is when the guy in the restaurant dies. That was too grim & unnecessary, particularly for a comic relief character. Plus, his death scene is played for laughs. It's just very out of place.

"Timelash" is awful. It's a bad story any way you slice it but made far worse because it ran way short, so they had to pad it with more unpleasant Doctor/Peri bickering. But H.G. Wells was a funny little addition.

"Revelation of the Daleks" is way overrated, as I mentioned earlier in this thread. Certain characters show promise, but in the end, it just doesn't really work for me on any level.

"The Trial of a Time Lord" was an interesting idea for an arc. However, the behind the scenes drama going on at this time was far more interesting than what ended up on screen.
Parts 1-4, "The Mysterious Planet," had some mildly interesting bits with the retarded robot and the introduction of interstellar con man Sabalom Glitz.
Parts 5-8, "Mindwarp," had the welcome return of Sil and the campy fun of Brian Blessed shouting at everything. But half this story confuses me & the other half I don't care about. Peri's death was a juicy piece of storytelling diminished by the fact that it happened to a character that I don't care about.
Parts 9-12, "Terror of the Vervoids," has an excellent title, a middling whodunnit mystery, and a crappy new companion with Mel. I won't say she's worse than Peri but she's certainly not any better, and Peri set the bar really REALLY low!
Parts 13-14, "The Ultimate Foe," is a ho-hum/confusing conclusion. It's kinda fun that they brought in the Master and brought back Sabalom Glitz. The Valeyard pulls off some decent scenery chewing. But overall, Colin Baker's final story ends with an incoherent whimper.

That about sums up my feelings towards Six and Peri. It's a shame as Colin seems a likable bloke, just wish he'd been able to tone down the rude/arrogant persona a tad (not to mention the outfit), and Nicola Bryant is a very attractive girl, and clearly when given the right material can act (sad that the few seconds where she has someone else's brain in her head is the best bit of acting she got to do in the role--this is then of course ruined because it never happened...sheesh and people have a go at RTD and SM!). The whiny American act doesn't work either, again she's way sexier when she's being herself.

I think Colin would have worked better with a different kind of companion to Peri, he didn't need a screaming young girl he needed someone who wouldn't take his shit, a Sarah Jane or, possibly a better match, a Barbara.

This really was the begining of the end for Who, a Doctor it's hard to like with two annoying companions, and increasingly pantomime storylines. Of course you could argue this had started earlier, with Davison's era and even the tail end of Tom's, but both those periods had a lot of positives, with the Sixth Doctor it just seems like nothing came off, about the only good thing from that time was Sil...
 
Can I just say, that although I find his era incredibly lackluster as far as broadcast serials on the TV (and I do quite like The Two Doctors & The Mark of the Rani in addition to what I've said above (although I would hardly call them 'good')), audio Colin is another kettle of fish entirely - a literal 'tour de force'.

His Big Finish stories are among the best out there (along with quite a few Paul McGann's and a few Davison's), and he is nearly always great. From Doctor Who & the Pirates to The Maltese Penquin through to The Marion Conspiracy, The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, Davros etc etc - he has been really good.

Part of this, I think is due to his being paired with a better companion in Evelyn (grannie bashers can go to hell), but also I think he has mellowed on audio and comes across as a much more sympathetic and altogether more likeable character. There is also the fact that on audio you don't have to look at him in that godawful technicolour coat.

I'm currently listening to City of Spires where he once again teams up with former companion Jamie McCrimmon (and out here in Aus, it's almost criminal that I have to pay more for Big Finish audios than I do for new release Doctor Who DVDs, but that's another conversation) - and so far it's Colin in typical fine form. It's the first part in a trilogy (or quadrilogy if you include the Frazer Hines 'Companion Chronicles' CD set between parts 1 & 2). Am really enjoying it thus far..
 
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Agreed that Colin Baker is much better in the Big Finish audios than he was on the TV series. Some of that is because the stories are better. Some of it is because he doesn't have to deal with Peri anymore. (Frankly, I don't think Peri paired very well with Peter Davison either. Both he & Colin Baker often looked like they were constantly trying to figure out how to dump her at their earliest convenience.) Some of it is because Colin Baker himself has mellowed with age.

IIRC, Colin Baker's favorite Doctor was William Hartnell and I've heard that he tried to incorporate some of Hartnell into his performance. The problem is that Hartnell was so much older than Colin Baker. What merely seemed crotchety coming from Hartnell often seemed unnecessarily rude when Colin Baker said it.

And while I've been doing a little bit of Peri bashing here, I do want to give a shout out to one of her audios. She & Colin Baker did a story called "Her Final Flight," a rather interesting story that reunites the 6th Doctor with a much older Peri many years after the events of "Mindwarp." Finally, at this stage, at this level of maturity, with a couple decades of hindsight, Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant have done a wonderful job shaving off the rough edges of their characters. They easily slip into a poignant story about reunion & loss. There aren't a whole lot of other audios that have touched me at such an emotional episode. (The only others I can think of are "Davros" & "Circular Time.")

Back to stories I've been watching recently, I'm currently halfway through "The Chase" with William Hartnell. So far, it's a real turd, packed with lots of padding, even by Doctor Who standards. Part 1 spends the entire 1st half showing us the Doctor's new history viewing TV, including portions of the Gettysburg address, a poorly acted depiction of Queen Elizabeth I asking William Shakespeare to write The Merry Wives of Windsor, and a song by the Beatles. The 2nd half of Part 1 mostly consists of everyone wandering aimlessly around the desert. Part 2 has really bad fish-spandex aliens. (The giant insects in "The Web Planet" looked rediculous, but at least their costumes had excellent craftsmanship. The fish-spandex people can't even get their bald caps on straight.) Part 3 is mostly a "comic relief" episode, with the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki, & the Daleks meeting a hick from Alabama on top of the Empire State Building, then causing a panic aboard a sailing ship. This is the only William Hartnell story my friends have ever seen. No wonder they hate him!
 
Well, that would be fab, but priorities please - first they should animate all the missing stories from Seasons 1 to 6. To have only The Invasion as a showcase of what is possible, and yet have no follow up at all is tantalizing and frustrating.
 
Just finished "Creature From the Pit", probably for the first time since the early 80s. As great big blobs of green-painted plastic go, this wasn't that bad. Simple plot, simple premise, lots of Tom Baker. :) Almost the entire fourth episode seemed tacked on, resolving the monster-in-the-pit thing and going straight to a different problem altogther, which box & blob fix at the last minute of course.

This one, like many of the era, would have made a half-decent new-Who story, or at least the plot for one. And like many stories of the era, the whole thing could easily be told in half the time in the current era, without even needing a sonic screwdriver to speed things along. :)

Mark
 
I finished "The Chase." Part 4 is even worse filler, as the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki, & the Daleks spend the entire episode chasing each other around a haunted house. It's like an episode of Scooby-Doo. Plus, in one of the early scenes, you can clearly see a Dalek in the basement where the Doctor & Ian find Frankenstein's monster. Yet the Doctor & Ian don't seem to notice it, even when the Doctor faces directly at it as he's running away from the Frankenstein. For the rest of the episode, up until the Daleks truly revealed themselves, I kept yelling at the TV, "Dude! There's a Dalek in the basement!" The plot finally starts revving up a bit more in episodes 5 & 6, but now we're hampered by the very bad body double used to play the Daleks' robot duplicate of the Doctor. It's easy enough to tell the difference between the two because the robot's lips never match what he's saying and, unlike the real William Hartnell, the robot seems to remember his lines.
 
Well, that would be fab, but priorities please - first they should animate all the missing stories from Seasons 1 to 6. To have only The Invasion as a showcase of what is possible, and yet have no follow up at all is tantalizing and frustrating.

Agreed, particularly for the missing Troughton stuff. He & Jamie & Zoe are awesome!
 
Sigh, I must be the only person who likes The Chase.

I recently watched The Ice Warriors, Troughton era serial with only two episodes missing (hooray!). I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the costumes of the future humans and the characterisation of the base commander. I had to laugh at the problem they were having, a new ice age due to lack of carbon dioxide, because it's the opposite of one of the problems of our time.
What I didn't like: Victoria becoming a damsel in distress when she started out differently and characters suffering from 'do what the plot demands even if it doesn't make any sense' syndrome. One example that comes to mind is when the eremite scientist bursts into the base and admonishes the base commander for wanting to deploy the ionisation thingie without regard to Victoria's and the Doctor's lives and then, when he learns that they don't plan to deploy it he yells at the commander to deploy it without delay.

But otherwise a very entertaining story.
 
I've recently watched The King's Demons. I thought it was terrible, most certainly one of the worst story I've ever seen. After that, I watched The Dominators which felt like a masterpiece.
 
Finished the City of Spires/Nights Black Agents/Wreck of the Titan/Legend of the Cybermen saga today.

Some great moments, though I thought it fell a little flat in some parts. The first part was a little weak, but it was set up for the pay off later and things worked up nicely near the end.

Great to hear Frazer Hines & Wendy Padbury again doing doctor who. They both have a good relationship with the sixth doctor and slipped back into their roles effortlessly. I found Nights Black Agents told by Frazer Hines to be particularly entertaining.

Some of the meta stuff near the end in Legend of the Cybermen gets a bit silly (at one point Jamie turns into Frazer Hines standing in a sound booth being directed by Nick Briggs). I know some ppl will call it genius, but its kind of offputting, even if it may elicit a snigger or two here and there. Most of the rest of the absurdities of the world of fiction are handled well though.

Some decent performances from the extras, although I'm not sure Georgia Moffat was completely thinking the lines through half the time - she came across as a little absent and seemed more concerned with delivery than substance. Alexander Siddig did a good Captain Nemo, and the chap who played Rob Roy was pretty good.

As a sequel to The Mind Robber it works fairly well, though that story was never a great favourite of mine. However, the ending seems to make it a little difficult to bring back Jamie yet again (though anything is possible) which seems a shame as I would like to hear more from this doctor/companion duo in the future.

Next up I'm listening to the New Eighth Doctor Adventures stories Sisters of the Flame / Vengeance of Morbius.
 
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However, the ending seems to make it a little difficult to bring back Jamie yet again (though anything is possible) which seems a shame as I would like to hear more from this doctor/companion duo in the future.

Oh, I don't know about that. Now Six knows exactly where Jamie is, and can visit him anytime. Without going into spoiler territory, of course.

They can have any number of adventures now. As can Zoe.
 
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