Guess what, the original outline was for a six parter (you know that already, I'm sure). It's only really parts of episodes six and seven that really drag (6 is called The Ordeal. Was Terry dropping a hint?)
Last Classic Who Story you watched
- Thread starter Pindar
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Yeah - of what Keys Of Marinus would be like...
Meanwhile, The Edge Of Destruction- Bit of a mix, some silliness ("we saw that in the fourth universe"), the first big line-stutters from Hartnell, yet also very mysterious and with the final burst of character creation, getting everybody properly into their moulds (except Susan, who isn't allowed to be this develeped again). In particular, the Doctor completes his transition from abductor and potential caveman-murderer to the "never cruel or cowardly" (Well, until the late 80s) bloke we all know...
With the reveal of the problem, it would actually (if compressed) make a really good Twilight Zone style anthology one-off.
Delta and the Bannerman and The War Games
I had really high hopes going into Delta as McCoy was the Dr I started with though only in his Ace years. But I found the story hard to get into and not that engaging. Interesting idea behind it but not well executed.
War Games started off really well and I was hooked but at 10 episodes was too long and did start to drag. Would have been better in the original planned length.
I had really high hopes going into Delta as McCoy was the Dr I started with though only in his Ace years. But I found the story hard to get into and not that engaging. Interesting idea behind it but not well executed.
War Games started off really well and I was hooked but at 10 episodes was too long and did start to drag. Would have been better in the original planned length.
I like most of McCoy's Serials, and I appreciate him as the Doctor more than most do, but, yea, Delta and The Bannermen is about the worst Serial in all of Classic Who, IMHO
War Games, yes, it's long, but, I enjoy it, because it goes lots of places. Definitely not something most could do in one sitting, but, I think it's quite enjoyable if you do it in 5 episode chunks (This makes it seem more like 2 Serials, I believe, because of how much the story changes from Ep 1 to the ending) or, do as some folks like to do and just do an episode a day.
Marco Polo... sort of. The story doesn't exist and I haven't got the CD, so had to settle for the half-hour version on the Edge Of Destruction DVD.
It was a pleasant enough half hour, and the story pretty much made sense even when so condensed, but it's impossible to really judge the story on what is really only about 15% of it, in stills...
It was a pleasant enough half hour, and the story pretty much made sense even when so condensed, but it's impossible to really judge the story on what is really only about 15% of it, in stills...
Logopolis (Fourth Doctor).
The final adventure of the Fourth Doctor and probably the best story of season 18. This opinion may change once I get hold of copies of Meglos and The Keeper of Traken but I have a feeling it will probably stand.
The Fourth Doctor is given a hell of a swan-song. Save the Universe from a wave of entropy that the people of Logopolis were trying to prevent by creating small pocket universes such as E-Space. Although the Doctor and Master ultimately succeed in creating another CVE, I was glad that the writer didn't take the easy way out and have the whole universe be saved. Making the Master responsible for the death of billions, including Nyssa's people, give the character a menace that he never had before. We've heard of all the terrible things the Master has done, and now we've seen one in action even though it was incidental.
The concept of the Watcher was interesting. I know it's something that we've seen before in the Third Doctor serial, Planet of the Spiders. Cho-Je was a projection of the future form of K'anpo, the Doctor's mentor. It's a concept I wouldn't mind seeing again in a future regeneration.
Castrovalva (Fifth Doctor).
There is a good story here but it feels like it has been stretched to fill four parts. If the Master programed Adric to enter the time/space coordinates for Castrovalva into the Tardis console and forged the databank entry, then why did the Master first try to have the Doctor and his companions destroyed in the Big Bang? He obviously worked out a complicated plan. He wanted to see the Doctor's face before he killed him, why the sudden change of heart?
I enjoyed the homages to past Doctors in this serial. Peter Davison did well in mimicing the dialog and manerisms of the First, Second and Third Doctors. While I understand the symbolism of of unraveling the Fourth Doctor's scarft and tearing apart the waistcoat, I'm not sure if it was neccessary. Honestly, it ticked me off a little.
I know Tegan and Nyssa stay with the Doctor for sometime and I hope they will work out. Tegan, at least for the time being, is coming across as a whiner and that type of character grates on me fast. Hopefully the writers will give her more to do later.
In some ways I can see Anthony Ainley mimicing Roger Delgado in his performance as the Master. He is at times menancing and quiet in his calculation. Then he laughs manically aand I know he's putting his own spin on the character. It looks like over the top may be the way of it in this incarnation.
The final adventure of the Fourth Doctor and probably the best story of season 18. This opinion may change once I get hold of copies of Meglos and The Keeper of Traken but I have a feeling it will probably stand.
The Fourth Doctor is given a hell of a swan-song. Save the Universe from a wave of entropy that the people of Logopolis were trying to prevent by creating small pocket universes such as E-Space. Although the Doctor and Master ultimately succeed in creating another CVE, I was glad that the writer didn't take the easy way out and have the whole universe be saved. Making the Master responsible for the death of billions, including Nyssa's people, give the character a menace that he never had before. We've heard of all the terrible things the Master has done, and now we've seen one in action even though it was incidental.
The concept of the Watcher was interesting. I know it's something that we've seen before in the Third Doctor serial, Planet of the Spiders. Cho-Je was a projection of the future form of K'anpo, the Doctor's mentor. It's a concept I wouldn't mind seeing again in a future regeneration.
Castrovalva (Fifth Doctor).
There is a good story here but it feels like it has been stretched to fill four parts. If the Master programed Adric to enter the time/space coordinates for Castrovalva into the Tardis console and forged the databank entry, then why did the Master first try to have the Doctor and his companions destroyed in the Big Bang? He obviously worked out a complicated plan. He wanted to see the Doctor's face before he killed him, why the sudden change of heart?
I enjoyed the homages to past Doctors in this serial. Peter Davison did well in mimicing the dialog and manerisms of the First, Second and Third Doctors. While I understand the symbolism of of unraveling the Fourth Doctor's scarft and tearing apart the waistcoat, I'm not sure if it was neccessary. Honestly, it ticked me off a little.
I know Tegan and Nyssa stay with the Doctor for sometime and I hope they will work out. Tegan, at least for the time being, is coming across as a whiner and that type of character grates on me fast. Hopefully the writers will give her more to do later.
In some ways I can see Anthony Ainley mimicing Roger Delgado in his performance as the Master. He is at times menancing and quiet in his calculation. Then he laughs manically aand I know he's putting his own spin on the character. It looks like over the top may be the way of it in this incarnation.
Yes Nyssa randomly decides to take her clothes off...in her LAST STORY!!
Indeed!
The Reign of Terror, it was okay. Nothing particularly spectular, but decent enough. The animated reconstrction is nice, but I thought they did a better job with The Invasion.
The Claws of Axos (Third Doctor).
A good alien invasion story that actually feels like it is too short. It seems like there probably should have been more. In a funny twist instead of invading and taking over the planet, all the aliens want to do is eat everybody and move on.
The production design for this serial was excellent. The ship felt like an organic being, especially in the space scenes where it pulsates as thought it's breathing. The true form of the Axons is also intersting. They're grotesque enough that it makes sense that they would camouflage themselves when they deal with the humans.
My only problem with the story is the Master. Delgado's performance was excellent as usual but the character had almost nothing to do. The only purpose he serves is to help the Doctor repair the dematerialization circuit in his Tardis and then dissapear.
Four to Doomsday (Fifth Doctor).
The idea of an alien, who hopes to recreate his civilization as robots, thinking himself god is an interesting one. Unfortunately the character wasn't well written. He spends most of his time in the throne room wondering why he can't see the Doctor on his monitors and ordering around his flunkies. When he finally exits the throne room, he is immediately killed by his own poison.
Unfortunately none of the companions came across to well in this serial. Adric supports Monarch for a reason that is not well explained, Tegan tries to take the Tardis and abandon the others, and Nyssa is given nothing to do except to stun a couple of the robots and stand around.
That said, Bigon was well written and the idea behind him, Villagra, Lin Futu and Kirkutji deserved more time. Why take all these people from Earth, turn them into robots, and have them take care of the ship. Why doesn't Monarch use his own people for that?
A good alien invasion story that actually feels like it is too short. It seems like there probably should have been more. In a funny twist instead of invading and taking over the planet, all the aliens want to do is eat everybody and move on.
The production design for this serial was excellent. The ship felt like an organic being, especially in the space scenes where it pulsates as thought it's breathing. The true form of the Axons is also intersting. They're grotesque enough that it makes sense that they would camouflage themselves when they deal with the humans.
My only problem with the story is the Master. Delgado's performance was excellent as usual but the character had almost nothing to do. The only purpose he serves is to help the Doctor repair the dematerialization circuit in his Tardis and then dissapear.
Four to Doomsday (Fifth Doctor).
The idea of an alien, who hopes to recreate his civilization as robots, thinking himself god is an interesting one. Unfortunately the character wasn't well written. He spends most of his time in the throne room wondering why he can't see the Doctor on his monitors and ordering around his flunkies. When he finally exits the throne room, he is immediately killed by his own poison.
Unfortunately none of the companions came across to well in this serial. Adric supports Monarch for a reason that is not well explained, Tegan tries to take the Tardis and abandon the others, and Nyssa is given nothing to do except to stun a couple of the robots and stand around.
That said, Bigon was well written and the idea behind him, Villagra, Lin Futu and Kirkutji deserved more time. Why take all these people from Earth, turn them into robots, and have them take care of the ship. Why doesn't Monarch use his own people for that?
I don’t think any of the companions acted that out of character in Four to Doomsday; Adric was always ready to side with the bad guy (see State of Decay, Snakedance…hell I’m surprised in Earthshock he didn’t say “Hmm, you know I think you Cybermen might be on to something…”) as for Tegan, this is still a very early adventure for her so the character isn’t fully formed, but hell in her place I might have made a run for the Tardis as well…and I could be mistaken (though it’s not that long since I saw it) but wasn’t part of her reasoning that she had to warn Earth?
Nyssa not having much to do…see most Fifth Doctor stories
Nyssa not having much to do…see most Fifth Doctor stories
I'm feeling so bad I've taken to watch Justice TNG S1, what were they smoking when they wrote the hippy orgy planet.
I don’t think any of the companions acted that out of character in Four to Doomsday; Adric was always ready to side with the bad guy (see State of Decay, Snakedance…hell I’m surprised in Earthshock he didn’t say “Hmm, you know I think you Cybermen might be on to something…”) as for Tegan, this is still a very early adventure for her so the character isn’t fully formed, but hell in her place I might have made a run for the Tardis as well…and I could be mistaken (though it’s not that long since I saw it) but wasn’t part of her reasoning that she had to warn Earth?
Nyssa not having much to do…see most Fifth Doctor stories
I didn't mean that any of them were acting out of character, I haven't seen enough of Tegan or Nyssa to be able to judge that, just that they were being poorly utilized. At this point Tegan and Adric are annoying me and I'm just nitpicking.
In Nyssa's case, that's partly because Four to Doomsday was written for two companions before they decided to keep Nyssa on halfway through rehearsals on The Keeper of Traken.
If you bear that in mind while watching it, you can spot the moments when Tegan suddenly decides to stand quietly in the background, as she was about to say something technical, so that means Nyssa can nick her lines... and the moment a few minutes later when Nyssa suddenly shuts up, so Tegan can take over again for the shouty bits.
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