Classic Who on Twitch (Again!)
- Thread starter Jinn
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She is my favorite companion for a reason.
Also helps that you just watched three among of the best serials in classic Who. I hope you're watching Horror of Fang Rock, too.
If you can, watch all of the Leela serials, although you won't be missing much if you miss Underworld. A lot of people don't like The Invisible Enemy and The Invasion of Time, but I have a nostalgic soft spot for both.
I'm glad you're able to properly utilize this marathon to fill in the gaps.So far I was able to watch all the serials I didn't see yet (with the exception of "The Time Meddlers" and I'm trying to continue that trend, so chances are I will
I've seen every episode already (fan reconstructions of the missing ones), but it's nice to revisit some I haven't seen in years. My opinion of The Masque of Mandragora has gone up considerably (from good to great) as a result, which raises my love for season 14 all the higher.
"Genesis of the Daleks" actually managed to live up to the hype which I find more than impressive. So far my favorite serial from season 14 is probably "The Deadly Assassin" with maybe my biggest criticism being that the Master's mask looked absolutely horrifying in still images but due to the lack of mouth-movement it lost a lot of that when he actually talks.I'm glad you're able to properly utilize this marathon to fill in the gaps.
I've seen every episode already (fan reconstructions of the missing ones), but it's nice to revisit some I haven't seen in years. My opinion of The Masque of Mandragora has gone up considerably (from good to great) as a result, which raises my love for season 14 all the higher.
Yeah, the lack of movement hurts the scare factor a bit, but he still looks wonderfully grotesque. That lack of movement didn't stop Mary Whitehouse from complaining about how his make-up would terrify children. She also hated how episode three ended with the image of The Doctor appearing to drown. She really hated that story. 
Wow, I'm reading up on her on wikipedia, and yikes! I think I'll count her opposition as a plus for the serialYeah, the lack of movement hurts the scare factor a bit, but he still looks wonderfully grotesque. That lack of movement didn't stop Mary Whitehouse from complaining about how his make-up would terrify children. She also hated how episode three ended with the image of The Doctor appearing to drown. She really hated that story.
That's how I take all of her oppositions to the show and there was plenty of them.Wow, I'm reading up on her on wikipedia, and yikes! I think I'll count her opposition as a plus for the serial
She is my favorite companion for a reason.
Also helps that you just watched three among of the best serials in classic Who. I hope you're watching Horror of Fang Rock, too.
I was never a fan of the Baker era, but Leela is very good....Romana Ii wasn’t bad. I never got the love for Sarah Jane in fandom tbh. Leela is probably the best we get until Ace...honourable mention for Turlough, and to an extent Peri. To be fair to all the eighties companions, every one was an attempt at something new, even if they don’t always work out.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I mostly agree except I love both Romanas and they rank right after Leela for me (and then Ace). Also, I'm surprised you don't like Sarah Jane. Anything in particular about her you don't like or just a general disconnect?
General disconnect...I do t dislike anything, I just don’t get the overall adulation (except that of course, she is part of the era whose fans held sway in fandom for so long...I find the Baker era itself overrated too.) and as someone who grew up through eighties who, she’s basically ‘girl in pink coat who twists ankle’ and half a memory of the k9 and company annual. By my era, strong female characters in and out of Who were basically normal in SF&F tv, particularly the home grown kind on kids Tv (Cuckoo in the nest, T-Bag) but also through filtered conversations about films I was too young for (Ripley, Sarah Connor). We had seen female companions who were smart, who yelled at the doctor, Peri did both...so SJS just did t carry the weight. Even going back, we have A run of intelligent characters who grow beyond their origins...Jamie, Zoe, Victoria...even Jo Grant wasn’t the ritzy tea girl by the end of her run....SJS was the same woman when she left the tardis as when she got in it. Then we get Leela, who is right back to the kind of comapnaion we saw with Jamie, and it shows how well that works.
So I just find her..overrated.
A well reasoned explanation, one I can't really debate. I think part of why Sarah is so well liked (by some) relates to the "your first Doctor" syndrome. For a large percentage of US based fans who first caught the series during its PBS heyday in the 1980s, she was the first companion we saw, along with Tom Baker being the first Doctor we saw. I also suspect the nature of her farewell clicked with a number of fans, rather bittersweet.
But as you observed Jo Grant's exit also worked very well, almost like a daughter growing up and leaving home.
Leela's, well, for such a "strong" character, her departure was an almost "you've got yo be kidding me!" It just didn't fit her personality. (Oh, a total aside here. If, mind you, IF we acknowledge the Doctor's claim in the 1996 movie as having a human mother, then I'd like to think that person was Leela. She and Andred somehow travel to Gllifrey's past where and when the Doctor is born.)
Romana's just seems rushed though the idea behind it was sound.
But as you observed Jo Grant's exit also worked very well, almost like a daughter growing up and leaving home.
Leela's, well, for such a "strong" character, her departure was an almost "you've got yo be kidding me!" It just didn't fit her personality. (Oh, a total aside here. If, mind you, IF we acknowledge the Doctor's claim in the 1996 movie as having a human mother, then I'd like to think that person was Leela. She and Andred somehow travel to Gllifrey's past where and when the Doctor is born.)
Romana's just seems rushed though the idea behind it was sound.
Having a squiz at Wiki, there was a re-write offered for the Invasion Of Time so Leela could stay but Jameson was committed to a theatre production. Not sure if her leaving point was she was only contracted for X amount of time or what. She did find Baker a bit of a jerk to work with until Fang Rock and things settled from there (she talks about it in the commentary iirc).
Interestingly, I just saw an old interview with Tom Baker and he didn't like that ending at all either and felt they went too far.Yeah, the lack of movement hurts the scare factor a bit, but he still looks wonderfully grotesque. That lack of movement didn't stop Mary Whitehouse from complaining about how his make-up would terrify children. She also hated how episode three ended with the image of The Doctor appearing to drown. She really hated that story.
The better the companion, the more badly handled the leaving...
Though as a theory this works well for your examples, especially well for Ace and Jamie and Zoe...
However....
Dodo.
XD
