RE -
I was giving you "that look"
I was giving you "that look"
Classic Who day by day
- Thread starter OmahaStar
- Start date
Yes, but granted it's been ages since I've seen Tomb of the Cybermen and I remember not like it that much. I'll have to dig it out again when I'm on leave.
The Moonbase, episode 3
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
The Cyb reveals the patients who have been taken are not dead; they are simply prisoners.
The Cybs plan on changing the weather on Earth, killing everyone there. It's their revenge. (I guess for Mondas going boom)
Ben and Polly come up with something that might kill the Cybs.
As with the earlier Crusade part 2 episode, the end is almost all music, and just kind of ends. I suppose something interesting happened. *shrug*
* * *
So much about this episode is annoying. First up is the annoying "boom boom boom" crap whenever the Cybs are around. It wouldn't be so bad, I think, if we could see something but since it's just audio, it really takes over everything and is crazy annoying.
Second is Ben, who is a complete sexist pig. He really is an asshole both to Polly and to Jamie, and there's no reason for it.
This is the last of the audio-only episodes from Lost in Time. Everything else is in bits and pieces as far as stories are concerned, but they have at the very least full video.
I don't know why I have such a hard time with these audio episodes. I love the Big Finish audios. Maybe because those are written to be descriptive with their dialog and this just isn't. Who knows? Get it, Who knows?
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
The Cyb reveals the patients who have been taken are not dead; they are simply prisoners.
The Cybs plan on changing the weather on Earth, killing everyone there. It's their revenge. (I guess for Mondas going boom)
Ben and Polly come up with something that might kill the Cybs.
As with the earlier Crusade part 2 episode, the end is almost all music, and just kind of ends. I suppose something interesting happened. *shrug*
* * *
So much about this episode is annoying. First up is the annoying "boom boom boom" crap whenever the Cybs are around. It wouldn't be so bad, I think, if we could see something but since it's just audio, it really takes over everything and is crazy annoying.
Second is Ben, who is a complete sexist pig. He really is an asshole both to Polly and to Jamie, and there's no reason for it.
This is the last of the audio-only episodes from Lost in Time. Everything else is in bits and pieces as far as stories are concerned, but they have at the very least full video.
I don't know why I have such a hard time with these audio episodes. I love the Big Finish audios. Maybe because those are written to be descriptive with their dialog and this just isn't. Who knows? Get it, Who knows?
The Moonbase, episode 4
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
Lots of Cybermen are walking around on the moon's surface. Like not just 2 or 3, but a BUNCH of them all together in the same shot.
Evans wakes up in sickbay and grabs some piece of technology. His body has implants all over, looking very much like an early Borg prototype.
Another one with the name "Becket" on his shirt walks around avoiding people. Then a third and fourth join him.
The Doctor uses some convoluted mumbojumbo to make the Cybs float off into space, thereby ending the current threat. He and his companions depart - flying the Tardis right into the claws of a Macra. (giant crabs)
* * *
Honestly, who cares what it's about? It's classic Cybermen vs the Doctor in a hopeless situation. No matter what happens, there's certain doom. While we mostly think the Doctor and his companions will escape, as seen earlier with Sara Kingdom, the show *can* and *will* kill off its characters, so the Cybs could win.
It's a pretty decent story.
It's getting to the point with these lost stories, I am thinking that once I finish with the Seventh Doctor's released stories, I might start hunting down some of the reconstructions. Translation - more Cybermen, please.
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
Lots of Cybermen are walking around on the moon's surface. Like not just 2 or 3, but a BUNCH of them all together in the same shot.
Evans wakes up in sickbay and grabs some piece of technology. His body has implants all over, looking very much like an early Borg prototype.
Another one with the name "Becket" on his shirt walks around avoiding people. Then a third and fourth join him.
The Doctor uses some convoluted mumbojumbo to make the Cybs float off into space, thereby ending the current threat. He and his companions depart - flying the Tardis right into the claws of a Macra. (giant crabs)
* * *
Honestly, who cares what it's about? It's classic Cybermen vs the Doctor in a hopeless situation. No matter what happens, there's certain doom. While we mostly think the Doctor and his companions will escape, as seen earlier with Sara Kingdom, the show *can* and *will* kill off its characters, so the Cybs could win.
It's a pretty decent story.
It's getting to the point with these lost stories, I am thinking that once I finish with the Seventh Doctor's released stories, I might start hunting down some of the reconstructions. Translation - more Cybermen, please.
Some of the reconstructions are really worth it, especially the colorized version of Marco Polo.
The Faceless Ones, episode 1
Written by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
At an airport, as planes fly around, the Tardis materializes on one of the landing strips. Jamie, Polly, Ben, and the Doctor depart.
Spotting a policeman, they scatter, some being chased by police, others by some other persons. After witnessing a murder, Polly freaks out and finds the Doctor. She tells him about what happened. They go off to see the body and Polly gets herself kidnapped. Unable to find the body or Polly, they go into the airport and try to find someone in charge to report the murder to.
And it's just comedy gold. If Doctor Who ever did their own version of Who's on First?, this would be it. Eventually, they find someone to go outside with them, and of course they can't find a body. They come back in, and there's Polly. Only, she's had her memory tampered with and she doesn't remember them, and claims her name is not Polly.
Then we go back outside and uh-oh, there's somebody who might be a bad guy. And he's an alien. Cue credits and stuff!
* * *
It isn't bad. It's just funny. I have to imaging the whole "someone in charge" scene was intended to bring out laughter, because it just does. And not "ha ha, this sucks" but "ha ha, the Doctor's going to hurt you."
Written by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
At an airport, as planes fly around, the Tardis materializes on one of the landing strips. Jamie, Polly, Ben, and the Doctor depart.
Spotting a policeman, they scatter, some being chased by police, others by some other persons. After witnessing a murder, Polly freaks out and finds the Doctor. She tells him about what happened. They go off to see the body and Polly gets herself kidnapped. Unable to find the body or Polly, they go into the airport and try to find someone in charge to report the murder to.
And it's just comedy gold. If Doctor Who ever did their own version of Who's on First?, this would be it. Eventually, they find someone to go outside with them, and of course they can't find a body. They come back in, and there's Polly. Only, she's had her memory tampered with and she doesn't remember them, and claims her name is not Polly.
Then we go back outside and uh-oh, there's somebody who might be a bad guy. And he's an alien. Cue credits and stuff!
* * *
It isn't bad. It's just funny. I have to imaging the whole "someone in charge" scene was intended to bring out laughter, because it just does. And not "ha ha, this sucks" but "ha ha, the Doctor's going to hurt you."
Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine & Queen Victoria from Tooth & Claw) very nearly joined the TARDIS crew in this one.
I must get my hands on the audio CD one of these days. From what I've seen of this serial I am intrigued by it.
I must get my hands on the audio CD one of these days. From what I've seen of this serial I am intrigued by it.
Captain Pike - Now I know what you're talking about. In a way, she was kind of like an early Donna in that originally, she was somewhat annoying, but would probably have made a fine companion. And now, three new episodes ...
The Faceless Ones, episode 3
Written by David Ellis & Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
The Doctor is trapped in a room. Smoke comes out of a vent and he tries to block it with a handkerchief. He then blocks a camera with his coat. He pretends to pass out.
Elsewhere, a man (one of the aliens) watches him on video, then comes to check on him. The Doctor knocks him out, grabs his coat off the camera, and escapes.
The Doctor meets up with Jamie, an inspector, and some annoying woman. The Doctor and the inspector go off, leaving Jamie and the Woman (named Samantha) to argue. A lot.
The Doctor believes aliens are kidnapping young people. He tries to explain this to the inspector and other policemen, but they basically laugh at him and say he's a fool. That is, until Samantha and Jamie come in with a stack of postcards. They're all filled out, each addressed to a mom or dad, and supposedly from a young person - each of them, missing.
The Doctor is given 24 hours to find ... something. The missing people, the aliens, something. So he busies himself by standing around.
There are lots of scenes of wondering around and then standing around just talking.
* * *
Not a whole lot to say about this particular story/episode, since most of it is the cast standing around talking, and no Cybermen to menace our heroes.
Ben and Polly are mentioned as missing. I *think* this is the story where they depart. (goes to wiki and yep) ok yeah, this is where they depart. Not this episode, I mean, but this story. And that means episode 1 was the very last appearance of theirs still in existence. In the next story, Evil of the Daleks, they are already gone.
That could have left a nice gap during which the two had adventures without other companions, but this story leads directly into the next without time in between, and Victoria is introduced there.
Evil of the Daleks, episode 2
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Derek Martinus
A Dalek materializes in a room, shoots a man, then fades out.
The Doctor and Jamie break into a store that is full of clocks. They are all old, and seem to be from various points in time, not reproductions.
Waterfield (Victoria's father) is working with the Daleks.
Kennedy is the man the Dalek killed. He had an appointment to meet the Doctor, and he carried part of a picture of the Doctor.
The Doctor and Jamie discover a hidden room. Inside,they find a box, with the rest of the picture near it. Jamie opens the box and gas is released. Waterfield walks over, presses something and they all dematerialize just as police enter the shop and find the body.
The Doctor and Jamie wake up in a Victorian-style mansion's living room. The mansion is owned by Theodore. He dismisses the maid, Molly, and tells the Doctor the date - June 2, 1866, a century earlier than they had been. Jamie is still passed out.
Next, we meet Victoria. She is in a cell, a prisoner of the Daleks. She is refusing to eat, instead using the food to feed birds outside her cell's barred window. She has lost 17 ounces so far.
Theodore is rich. He is financing Wakefield's research into time travel. Their work involves using mirrors.
As they're explaining this, a Dalek enters and threatens to destroy the Tardis unless the Doctor helps them in their time travel experiments. It threatens to use Jamie as a test subject, and the Doctor freaks out.
Jamie wakes up. Molly brings him some tea. She leaves and another woman, Ruth, enters.
She leaves and Jamie starts snooping. A scary-looking man enters through the outside door and knocks Jamie out with a club. Then he hides. Molly comes back. He quickly comes up behind her, puts his hand over her mouth, and knocks her out.
The Doctor and Wakefield enter. They think Jamie's still asleep. The Doctor pulls a blanket off and finds it's Molly underneath. Jamie is missing.
The Dalek orders Theodore to tell The Doctor to begin the tests.
* * *
Few things here ...
1 - There seem to be connections to later stories here. The character Ruth looks almost exactly like Chessene in The Two Doctors. There's no real connection between the two characters beyond the look, but when I first saw her, I wondered if it was the same actress. It's not, but still, remarkable how much they look alike, twins almost.
2 - The mirrors thing. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but in the Tenth Doctor story "Turn Left" almost the same thing is done. Instead of time travel, it's travel between different universes, but the same sort of concept. Did Rose look through the Tardis's database sometime during her two years as a companion? It might explain that connection.
3 - The writing in this episode is miles better than Terry Nation's writing. I know he was their creator, but Whitaker is just so much better. I wish more of his stories still existed, but we can see how great he was in stories like Edge of Destruction and The Rescue, both of which are still available.
The Abominable Snowmen, episode 2
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (writing as "Norman Ashby")
Directed by Gerald Blake
Jamie yells at Victoria to run. They are in a cave and it quickly collapses. There is just enough room for them to squeeze by, followed by a Yeti.
The Doctor is in a cell, playing his recorder (flute). Tomney, a guard, comes in to talk with him.
Three others come in and take the Doctor away. Tomney stays behind, at the Doctor's request. He finds something that was apparently lost by the monastery (ah, so that's where they are!) two centuries earlier. He brings it to the Abbott. It's something called a Ghanta, some sort of holy bell, but really it looks like the bottle from I Dream of Jeannie.
The Doctor is chained up at the front gate, food for the Yeti. Jamie and Victoria run down the mountain, trying to escape those darned hairy beasties, only to find themselves at the same monastery, just in time to rescue the Doctor.
On the Abbott's orders, the Doctor is freed. They go inside, then watch as three Yeti approach. At the Doctor's request, Jamie and some of the men go out and attack one of them, killing it. The Doctor starts an autopsy (what? yeah, it happens) and discovers it is a robot wearing a dead Yeti's skin.
* * *
The coat the Doctor is wearing is the same one he later wears in the Five Doctors. There are two things that are cool, that's one of them. The other is seeing him playing his recorder (the flute). The multi-Doctor stories reference the flute. It's even seen playing a crucial plot point in the Three Doctors story. But so far, it hadn't been seen.
That's five full stories, plus a few surviving episodes, and none of them had shown either the coat or the flute.
Each of the Doctors has some sort of "thing" about him, which is magnified and that's the most important thing we see in the multi-Doctor stories. The First Doctor is a crotchity old grouch. The Second Doctor is a bumbling fool obsessed with playing his flute and saying things like "Oh, my giddy aunt" which, so far, he hasn't said once.
As with the Macras, it's nice to be able to see some of these classic series baddies/monsters. I mean, we've heard them referenced over the years, but with the exception of that cameo from the Five Doctors, their existence has been wiped.
Some of the stories are downright awful, but as bad as they may be, these few surviving clips allow us to see what has been lost to the hands of time, to travel back and for a few brief moments, see what was seen by past generations.
The Faceless Ones, episode 3
Written by David Ellis & Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
The Doctor is trapped in a room. Smoke comes out of a vent and he tries to block it with a handkerchief. He then blocks a camera with his coat. He pretends to pass out.
Elsewhere, a man (one of the aliens) watches him on video, then comes to check on him. The Doctor knocks him out, grabs his coat off the camera, and escapes.
The Doctor meets up with Jamie, an inspector, and some annoying woman. The Doctor and the inspector go off, leaving Jamie and the Woman (named Samantha) to argue. A lot.
The Doctor believes aliens are kidnapping young people. He tries to explain this to the inspector and other policemen, but they basically laugh at him and say he's a fool. That is, until Samantha and Jamie come in with a stack of postcards. They're all filled out, each addressed to a mom or dad, and supposedly from a young person - each of them, missing.
The Doctor is given 24 hours to find ... something. The missing people, the aliens, something. So he busies himself by standing around.
There are lots of scenes of wondering around and then standing around just talking.
* * *
Not a whole lot to say about this particular story/episode, since most of it is the cast standing around talking, and no Cybermen to menace our heroes.
Ben and Polly are mentioned as missing. I *think* this is the story where they depart. (goes to wiki and yep) ok yeah, this is where they depart. Not this episode, I mean, but this story. And that means episode 1 was the very last appearance of theirs still in existence. In the next story, Evil of the Daleks, they are already gone.
That could have left a nice gap during which the two had adventures without other companions, but this story leads directly into the next without time in between, and Victoria is introduced there.
Evil of the Daleks, episode 2
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Derek Martinus
A Dalek materializes in a room, shoots a man, then fades out.
The Doctor and Jamie break into a store that is full of clocks. They are all old, and seem to be from various points in time, not reproductions.
Waterfield (Victoria's father) is working with the Daleks.
Kennedy is the man the Dalek killed. He had an appointment to meet the Doctor, and he carried part of a picture of the Doctor.
The Doctor and Jamie discover a hidden room. Inside,they find a box, with the rest of the picture near it. Jamie opens the box and gas is released. Waterfield walks over, presses something and they all dematerialize just as police enter the shop and find the body.
The Doctor and Jamie wake up in a Victorian-style mansion's living room. The mansion is owned by Theodore. He dismisses the maid, Molly, and tells the Doctor the date - June 2, 1866, a century earlier than they had been. Jamie is still passed out.
Next, we meet Victoria. She is in a cell, a prisoner of the Daleks. She is refusing to eat, instead using the food to feed birds outside her cell's barred window. She has lost 17 ounces so far.
Theodore is rich. He is financing Wakefield's research into time travel. Their work involves using mirrors.
As they're explaining this, a Dalek enters and threatens to destroy the Tardis unless the Doctor helps them in their time travel experiments. It threatens to use Jamie as a test subject, and the Doctor freaks out.
Jamie wakes up. Molly brings him some tea. She leaves and another woman, Ruth, enters.
She leaves and Jamie starts snooping. A scary-looking man enters through the outside door and knocks Jamie out with a club. Then he hides. Molly comes back. He quickly comes up behind her, puts his hand over her mouth, and knocks her out.
The Doctor and Wakefield enter. They think Jamie's still asleep. The Doctor pulls a blanket off and finds it's Molly underneath. Jamie is missing.
The Dalek orders Theodore to tell The Doctor to begin the tests.
* * *
Few things here ...
1 - There seem to be connections to later stories here. The character Ruth looks almost exactly like Chessene in The Two Doctors. There's no real connection between the two characters beyond the look, but when I first saw her, I wondered if it was the same actress. It's not, but still, remarkable how much they look alike, twins almost.
2 - The mirrors thing. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but in the Tenth Doctor story "Turn Left" almost the same thing is done. Instead of time travel, it's travel between different universes, but the same sort of concept. Did Rose look through the Tardis's database sometime during her two years as a companion? It might explain that connection.
3 - The writing in this episode is miles better than Terry Nation's writing. I know he was their creator, but Whitaker is just so much better. I wish more of his stories still existed, but we can see how great he was in stories like Edge of Destruction and The Rescue, both of which are still available.
The Abominable Snowmen, episode 2
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (writing as "Norman Ashby")
Directed by Gerald Blake
Jamie yells at Victoria to run. They are in a cave and it quickly collapses. There is just enough room for them to squeeze by, followed by a Yeti.
The Doctor is in a cell, playing his recorder (flute). Tomney, a guard, comes in to talk with him.
Three others come in and take the Doctor away. Tomney stays behind, at the Doctor's request. He finds something that was apparently lost by the monastery (ah, so that's where they are!) two centuries earlier. He brings it to the Abbott. It's something called a Ghanta, some sort of holy bell, but really it looks like the bottle from I Dream of Jeannie.
The Doctor is chained up at the front gate, food for the Yeti. Jamie and Victoria run down the mountain, trying to escape those darned hairy beasties, only to find themselves at the same monastery, just in time to rescue the Doctor.
On the Abbott's orders, the Doctor is freed. They go inside, then watch as three Yeti approach. At the Doctor's request, Jamie and some of the men go out and attack one of them, killing it. The Doctor starts an autopsy (what? yeah, it happens) and discovers it is a robot wearing a dead Yeti's skin.
* * *
The coat the Doctor is wearing is the same one he later wears in the Five Doctors. There are two things that are cool, that's one of them. The other is seeing him playing his recorder (the flute). The multi-Doctor stories reference the flute. It's even seen playing a crucial plot point in the Three Doctors story. But so far, it hadn't been seen.
That's five full stories, plus a few surviving episodes, and none of them had shown either the coat or the flute.
Each of the Doctors has some sort of "thing" about him, which is magnified and that's the most important thing we see in the multi-Doctor stories. The First Doctor is a crotchity old grouch. The Second Doctor is a bumbling fool obsessed with playing his flute and saying things like "Oh, my giddy aunt" which, so far, he hasn't said once.
As with the Macras, it's nice to be able to see some of these classic series baddies/monsters. I mean, we've heard them referenced over the years, but with the exception of that cameo from the Five Doctors, their existence has been wiped.
Some of the stories are downright awful, but as bad as they may be, these few surviving clips allow us to see what has been lost to the hands of time, to travel back and for a few brief moments, see what was seen by past generations.
The Enemy of the World, episode 3
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Barry Letts
The Doctor and Jamie pretend to be bad guys, both using hilariously bad accents.
Victoria pretends to be a cook, working for a chef with a bad attitude.
Jamie joins Victoria in the kitchen while the other employees leave her alone.
It's making a bit more sense when the Doctor talks to a man in his home about a bad guy named Salamander. Salamander is trying to take over the world by controlling the weather. Each of them is gathering evidence against him by playing their parts.
Victoria brings a cart of food for a prisoner. A man stops her and grabs the salt. He tells her she forgot it. As she goes back to the kitchen for more, he puts something in the food ... poison, perhaps.
Then, lots of fighting, and Salamander interrogates Jamie and Victoria.
* * *
Holy wheat of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, what the hell was going on in this one? I mean, ok, so The Doctor has an exact duplicate, and this duplicate is trying to take over the world. So he and his companions are pretending to be bad guys working for him, all with hilariously bad accents. It's nice to see the regulars in new costumes (they do tend to wear the same costumes over and over again, like uniforms), and the idea behind the episode seems to be pretty good (and I've always loved this writer's stories before), but the execution is just plain laughable.
I don't know if it's supposed to be a comedy, but that's what it is.
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Barry Letts
The Doctor and Jamie pretend to be bad guys, both using hilariously bad accents.
Victoria pretends to be a cook, working for a chef with a bad attitude.
Jamie joins Victoria in the kitchen while the other employees leave her alone.
It's making a bit more sense when the Doctor talks to a man in his home about a bad guy named Salamander. Salamander is trying to take over the world by controlling the weather. Each of them is gathering evidence against him by playing their parts.
Victoria brings a cart of food for a prisoner. A man stops her and grabs the salt. He tells her she forgot it. As she goes back to the kitchen for more, he puts something in the food ... poison, perhaps.
Then, lots of fighting, and Salamander interrogates Jamie and Victoria.
* * *
Holy wheat of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, what the hell was going on in this one? I mean, ok, so The Doctor has an exact duplicate, and this duplicate is trying to take over the world. So he and his companions are pretending to be bad guys working for him, all with hilariously bad accents. It's nice to see the regulars in new costumes (they do tend to wear the same costumes over and over again, like uniforms), and the idea behind the episode seems to be pretty good (and I've always loved this writer's stories before), but the execution is just plain laughable.
I don't know if it's supposed to be a comedy, but that's what it is.
I enjoyed it if for no other reason because of Patrick Troughton's performance as Salamander.
I have a soft spot for this story as it stars Australian actor Bill Kerr. I am a huge fan of Hancock's Half Hour and Bill Kerr (along with co-stars Syd James & Hattie Jacques) played one of Hancock's sidekicks on the radio show.
It's also one of the first Target novelisations I can remember owning and it is through this that I am familiar with the story. Novelisation by by Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan).
It's also one of the first Target novelisations I can remember owning and it is through this that I am familiar with the story. Novelisation by by Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan).
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Have you read the Abominable Snowmen, the sort of prequel story to this? And how do Marter's novelizations compare with other writers?
And now ...
Web of Fear, episode 1
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (as Normal Ashby)
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Tardis is tilted. The door is opened. The Doctor holds onto the console with one hand and Victoria with the other. Jamie stumbles to the console and sets it right. This immediately follows Enemy of the World - The Doctor says Salamander tried to take off without closing the doors.
Professor Travers is studying a Yeti, looking very nervous, as his daughter enters. They talk. I'm not sure whether she is being understanding or condescending. It plays both ways. Anyway, the robot Yetis are lifeless husks unless someone has a remote control. Thing is, Travers does have one. Only, it's been stolen.
The home's owner throws both Travers and his daughter out, and doesn't live to regret it - the Yeti comes to life and kills him.
The Tardis materializes in space. It is quickly and completely covered in a web, like a fly in a spiderweb.
Travers is brought to a military office where he meets Captain Knight, who has just been interviewed by a journalist.
The Tardis is transported to Earth, though the Doctor doesn't know it yet. They're in an underground platform. The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria go exploring.
They find a body, covered in the same webs that had covered the Tardis.
Later, they come upon three men wearing military uniforms. Jamie and Victoria are captured, while the Doctor continues exploring, not realizing his companions are missing.
On a platform above the Doctor, a Yeti uses some sort of gun. This gun shoots out webbing, not bullets, and it covers everything in the area.
Jamie and Victoria are taken to Captain Knight. They find out they're about to blow up the tunnel/platform. A soldier flicks the switch. Back to the Doctor, he is touching the webbing. At the same instant the soldier flicks the switch, electricity races through the webbing, and the Doctor gets such a powerful jolt that he passes out, possibly dead!
* * *
Ok, this one is another fun one. I know Travers doesn't die, because he is referenced in the later story The Invasion, but I am wondering about these soldier dudes. They aren't behaving like typical UNIT members. They may be another military organization, the Army for example. Whoever they are, they're going to be in trouble when the Doctor wakes up.
Only three episodes to go, then we're done with Lost in Time. Man, this has gone buy quick!
Marter's novelizations are very different. Some of the Target writers "back in the day" largely recapitulated the script itself. Terrance Dicks in particular did that. Marter, however, followed the story, but he felt free to add his own embellishments. His version of The Ark In Space sends chills down my spine to this very day.
I find him very good, but as Peacemaker points out he does put his own spin on things. I always got the feeling that at heart, he was a big fan of the show.
And no, I haven't read the novelisation for The Abominable Snowmen.
On a sidenote, have they started reprinting the Target novelisations or something? When I was at Minotaur recently I noticed they had 15 to 20 copies each of about 4 or 5 stories from the Target series, all seemingly brand spanking new.
And no, I haven't read the novelisation for The Abominable Snowmen.
On a sidenote, have they started reprinting the Target novelisations or something? When I was at Minotaur recently I noticed they had 15 to 20 copies each of about 4 or 5 stories from the Target series, all seemingly brand spanking new.
The Wheel in Space, episode 3
Written by David Whitaker based on a story by Kit Pedler (so you know it should be good)
Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole
There's a countdown timer that has reached zero. We see a round space station. Inside, orbs are neatly stacked, and inside each is a Cyberman. They're slowly breaking out of the orbs.
Jamie gets in trouble for spraying a machine with "quick set plastic." Elsewhere, Zoe stares at a piece of paper, a map perhaps.
Cybermats begin exploring the station.
Jamie is taken to the sickbay, where The Doctor is resting. He is having memory problems, but does remember that he and Jamie arrived on the station by rocket.
Zoe is introduced to "Doctor John Smith." Though it's not the first time we've heard the name John Smith, I think this may be the first time the Doctor has used it to refer to himself.
Later, two men are taking a space walk when they encounter Cybermen. Their minds are immediately taken over by the Cybs, and we fade out.
* * *
There's some good stuff, and some hilarious stuff.
Zoe, for instance. She comes off as such a spoiled brat. You know how Hermione was really, um, a bitch in the first Harry Potter movie? Total know-it-all, and a girl who loved to prove everybody else wrong, no matter what it was about? Yeah, like that. In later stories, she was completely different, but here, she needed a big old bitch-slap.
The station commander (or whoever he was, the tall guy) sure couldn't decide on an accent. Depending on the scene, he was Australian, British, or had a Southern USA accent.
The medical guy who got all attached to the Cybermats was funny. He treated them like little pets, even petting one of them and hiding it from the other humans.
There sure where a lot of Cyberman stories in the Second Doctor era. The costumes are modified just a bit from the last time we saw them, suggesting they are beginning their upgrade to the next version of Cybermen. Subtle, and nice.
Written by David Whitaker based on a story by Kit Pedler (so you know it should be good)
Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole
There's a countdown timer that has reached zero. We see a round space station. Inside, orbs are neatly stacked, and inside each is a Cyberman. They're slowly breaking out of the orbs.
Jamie gets in trouble for spraying a machine with "quick set plastic." Elsewhere, Zoe stares at a piece of paper, a map perhaps.
Cybermats begin exploring the station.
Jamie is taken to the sickbay, where The Doctor is resting. He is having memory problems, but does remember that he and Jamie arrived on the station by rocket.
Zoe is introduced to "Doctor John Smith." Though it's not the first time we've heard the name John Smith, I think this may be the first time the Doctor has used it to refer to himself.
Later, two men are taking a space walk when they encounter Cybermen. Their minds are immediately taken over by the Cybs, and we fade out.
* * *
There's some good stuff, and some hilarious stuff.
Zoe, for instance. She comes off as such a spoiled brat. You know how Hermione was really, um, a bitch in the first Harry Potter movie? Total know-it-all, and a girl who loved to prove everybody else wrong, no matter what it was about? Yeah, like that. In later stories, she was completely different, but here, she needed a big old bitch-slap.
The station commander (or whoever he was, the tall guy) sure couldn't decide on an accent. Depending on the scene, he was Australian, British, or had a Southern USA accent.
The medical guy who got all attached to the Cybermats was funny. He treated them like little pets, even petting one of them and hiding it from the other humans.
There sure where a lot of Cyberman stories in the Second Doctor era. The costumes are modified just a bit from the last time we saw them, suggesting they are beginning their upgrade to the next version of Cybermen. Subtle, and nice.
I love the early Cybermen stories (especially The Tenth Planet and The Invasion), so it's a pity that the later ones mostly suck (except Earthshock and "The Next Doctor").
You're absolutely right about the Cybermen slowly changing appearance. Reminds me of one of my favorite avatars I made:
You're absolutely right about the Cybermen slowly changing appearance. Reminds me of one of my favorite avatars I made:
I love the early Cybermen stories (especially The Tenth Planet and The Invasion), so it's a pity that the later ones mostly suck (except Earthshock and "The Next Doctor").
You're absolutely right about the Cybermen slowly changing appearance. Reminds me of one of my favorite avatars I made:
Ok, I may just steal that. I LOVE it!
The Wheel in Space, episode 6
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole
Jamie and Zoe are in spacesuits, floating around in space as meteors fly by. In the station, the Doctor watches as the humans around him press buttons and talk.
Zoe and Jamie enter the rocket and hack into the Cybermen frequency. They can hear the Cyb's conversations now.
The Doctor goes back to the equipment room (where Jamie poured that plastic stuff in the earlier episode) and starts gathering ... stuff, starting with mercury.
The Doctor is captured by the Cybs. But then he interrogates them. Using the stuff he'd acquired earlier, he electrocutes one and the other runs away.
With the Doctor's help, the station's crew blows up the Cyb's ship.
The Doctor and Jamie prepare to leave in the Tardis. Zoe sneaks her way in, then begs to come along. The Doctor shows her a video with clips of previous adventures, saying that if he wants to come along, she must understand what her life will be like.
* * *
Well, Zoe has calmed down considerably here, and that's a welcome thing.
The second Cyberman is really funny, I think. When he and his partner have the Doctor captured, the second one goes all 'splody. Just before he runs away, he sticks his arm out and starts his threatening, "I'm gonna beat you up and steal your lunch money" type routine, then scurries out of there in a rather un-Cyberman like way. I got a furious case of the giggles when that happened. I had to pause the dvd, I was laughing so much.
Interesting, though. Zoe did ask to come along. The Doc gave his whole "here, look at this" speech, then we get a close-up of Zoe. And she doesn't say yes or no. Just roll with the credits.
Space Pirates, episode 2 - Originally aired 3/15/1969
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Michael Hart
Spaceship V41-L0. On the ship, a general is berating his crew. Then he goes for coffee and has an attitude adjustment. Together with his first officer, he engages in a discussion about a beacon he's just launched. The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe appear to be on that beacon.
They track a C-class freighter, captained by the love child of Yosemite Sam and Roscoe P. Coltrane, named Clancey.
The General boards his ship and keeps threatening him, then interrogates him thoroughly.
The Tardis crew stays trapped aboard the beacon, losing oxygen. They are about one mile from the Tardis, but since they are in space, they cannot get to the ship.
In trying to free his companions, the Doctor ends up making things worse - they fly off in the wrong direction. Somehow, Clancey finds them and burns his way in, then shoots Jamie.
* * *
Zoe's look is rather shocking here. She's always had long hair. Shoulder-length is the shortest we've seen her in. Here, he's in a severely-short bob.
What? Ok, The Doctor and his companions barely have three minutes of screen time here, and it's all on one set. I get it, they were busy with rehearsals and preparing themselves for The War Games, but still, three minutes?
The entire episode centers around the General, and he's just about bipolar or something. Schizoid, maybe? As soon as he finds out who is on the little ship, he goes into total fanboy mode, obsessing with Clancey's history as a pilot and one of the first men in space and blah blah blah. A few seconds later, he's all business, then back to fanboy. Get a grip, man!
At the very beginning of the episode, if you look quickly, there is a close-up of the ship's pilot. He only gets a few seconds of screen time before the camera pans around and we never see him again. I swear, he looks exactly like Wolowitz on Big Bang Theory. If not for the 40 year gap between when this was filmed and now, they could be twins.
Well, this has been an interesting experience, traveling with the Doctors and their companions through lost stories in time. But I wouldn't want to do it again. Without context, the stories are pretty much meaningless. This is the end of that group.
Beginning Monday, I'll be starting in on the Second Doctor's last story, the 10-part "War Games" epic, which will lead into the first Third Doctor story "Spearhead From Space." And, the first-ever episode filmed in color.
Go for it. I'm glad you love it.Ok, I may just steal that. I LOVE it!I love the early Cybermen stories (especially The Tenth Planet and The Invasion), so it's a pity that the later ones mostly suck (except Earthshock and "The Next Doctor").
You're absolutely right about the Cybermen slowly changing appearance. Reminds me of one of my favorite avatars I made:
War Games, episode 1
Something's rotten in the state of Denmark, or so it seems. The Second Doctor and his final companions, Jamie and Zoe, arrive in the middle of a battlefield. It appears to be during the World War, and they are quickly captured.
Seemingly without reason, they are all put on trial and found guilty ... Jamie is found guilty of desertion, while the others are guilty of espionage. There is a General there on the base, and he is just a little bit, um, off. When he wears glasses, those around him fall under his control, like they're being hypnotized. He wants the Doctor killed and the others guilty, so the two other members of the tribunal do exactly what he wants.
The night before the Doctor is to be executed, Zoe wanders around the General's quarters and behind a piece of artwork finds what I think is a communications device. She doesn't pay any attention to it, instead searching for the keys to the Doctor's prison cell, but I think that's setting something up for later.
She gets the keys and goes to free the Doctor. And, of course, the General finds her and sends the Doctor to be executed. As the episode fades out, we hear gunshots.
* * *
There is a much different feel to this episode than the ones which have come before. It feels more like it's a movie, not television. I don't know if there is a new DP, or what, but it feels bigger, more epic.
Mmh, I recently watched The Tenth Planet and wasn't impressed with the story. As if the origin story for the Cybermen wasn't shaky enough, the big solution to this was just to wait? And then not only would their planet be gone but also the Cybermen themselves because they live off their planet's energy? What? Doctor Who isn't that great with the science in science fiction but this is ridiculous.
The Cybermen looked great, though, and I so wish the Cyberman would have said "Resistance is futile!" and not just "Resistance is useless.".
I also liked their weird speech pattern. I'm binge watching Classic Who at the moment, I'm currently nearing the end of The Highlanders, so I might catch up with you, OmahaStar.
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