Continuing to Discover Doctor Who

[Tomalak]

I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.

We rather take them for granted now, but the first to have a proper 'making of' was probably Earthshock, and even that was going to be a very rare thing for the 40th anniversary. Other stories released that year - like The Three Doctors and Curse of Fenric - had the more usual mix of archive materials. I think Dalek Invasion of Earth did get one though. They only really became regular features by a couple of years later.

It is a bit of a shame that such an important story doesn't get a thorough documentary, but most of the issues have been covered in other features on Silurians and Inferno. Still, it's possible it might get a re-release in the vein of Remembrance of the Daleks and the Five Doctors, along with other early releases like Robots of Death and Caves of Androzani (another very important story). Hopefully anyway!

 

[Tomalak]

Doctor Who And The Silurians

One word: exciting. It had me hooked from practically the beginning. An underground research lab; mysterious goings-on; caves and tunnels that lead off into darkness. Very atmospheric and cool. And it never disappointed those early expectations, not even with the well-designed Silurians (sometimes the aliens can look very silly even allowing for the era). I think maybe they carried Dr. Lawrence's skepticism a bit farther than they should have, but other than that I have no real complaints. And the ending? Wow.

I completely agree, one of my favourite stories easily. I think season seven is probably the best, so it's a shame we will have to wait for the brilliant Ambassadors of Death to come out on DVD.

Incidentally, some good news on that front. Ambassadors only exists as a black and white film recording, along with some colour low quality home video recordings (as described in the featurette on the Silurians disc). Clever BBC boffin types have found out a way to retrieve the colour from the film recording, so hopefully we can look forward to a fully restored Ambassadors of Death.

 

[S. Gomez]

I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.

We rather take them for granted now, but the first to have a proper 'making of' was probably Earthshock, and even that was going to be a very rare thing for the 40th anniversary. Other stories released that year - like The Three Doctors and Curse of Fenric - had the more usual mix of archive materials. I think Dalek Invasion of Earth did get one though. They only really became regular features by a couple of years later.

Yeah, I have The Dalek Invasion of Earth and it does have some documentaries on it; I wish they had a bit more than just talking heads, but at least they're interesting talking heads.

It is a bit of a shame that such an important story doesn't get a thorough documentary, but most of the issues have been covered in other features on Silurians and Inferno. Still, it's possible it might get a re-release in the vein of Remembrance of the Daleks and the Five Doctors, along with other early releases like Robots of Death and Caves of Androzani (another very important story). Hopefully anyway!

As someone getting into Doctor Who not only as a show but is also curious about how it developed as a phenomenon (not to mention the production history), I hope that happens too.

 

[Peacemaker]

I really liked Pertwee's first season. You'll find that it is very different in style and tone from the rest of his run. This isn't to say I dislike the rest, rather, Season 7 is much more, how can I put this, adult and,compared to earlier years, less traditional stories, than the majority of what followed. Season 7 seems to intentionally stay away from outer space and inner time in favor of serious science-fiction. Seasons 8 to 11 moved Doctor Who back toward the more traditional sort of stories that the earlier Doctors enjoyed, bringing in monsters with space vehicles, Time Lords, Daleks, and even sending the Doctor on the occasional mission away from Earth before Season 10. Now, there are exceptions to that -The Mind of Evil, The Green Death, The Sea Devils, The Daemons, The Time Monster (well sort of), and Invasion of the Dinosaurs, for these seem to move along a bit more like Season 7's sort of stories, but, for the most part, Doctor Who returned to its roots after Season 7. I like to think of Season 7 as a radical experiment/revolution in Doctor Who storytelling, while Seasons 8 and 9 served to moderate what Season 7 set up.

Season 8 begins the story of the Master, and he's in every episode. There's a lot of running about in those episodes,and the six parters really should have been trimmed down into 4 parters to avoid the obvious padding. The seven parters in Season 7 seemed a bit long, but, IMO, the story was going somewhere in those episodes. In subsequent seasons, that wasn't always the case.

 

[Tomalak]

As someone getting into Doctor Who not only as a show but is also curious about how it developed as a phenomenon (not to mention the production history), I hope that happens too.

I don't think it has to be honest. The new version of The Five Doctors deals with the popularity of the programme at the time, but most of the other documentaries are more about production and behind-the-scenes goings on. There hasn't really been anything about the early 60s heights and the massive popularity of the Tom Baker era, but I seem to recall some context discussed on Robot's feature, and probably Logopolis.

 

[Cutter John]

I should probably pick up 'Silurians' at some point, just to give it a second chance. But personally I was never a big fan of Pertwee's first season. I like a bit of silliness in my DW, and this series to me always came off as a bit dry and dull. I'm guessing they were going for a more hard sci-fi tone to compete with stuff like The Avengers. Or maybe its just because I've only seen them as bad, off the air recordings.
I'll give them a second try one of these days. But I'm really in no hurry.

 

[S. Gomez]

Inferno

I was excited to pop this one in, mostly because I love "The Invasion" from the Patrick Troughton era and was looking forward to more of Douglas Camfield's direction... and so then it turns out that he wasn't able to direct Episodes 3-7 due to a heart attack. I certainly couldn't spot a shift, and I was far from being disappointed in my expectations for this story. From beginning to end it was well-paced, well-acted, and tense. I think my only problem with it is those Primoids; the green slime comes out of nowhere, does weird stuff, and never gets properly explained. I wasn't surprised when they said on the featurette that they had been put in for the sake of having monsters. I was kind of thinking/hoping that it was some sort of alien intelligence trying to stop the drilling, but it turned out to not be that at all--I think.

Regardless, it was still a gripping adventure. Having seen three-quarters of it, I can understand why Jon Pertwee's first season as the Doctor is so well-loved.

 

[diankra]

I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.

We rather take them for granted now, but the first to have a proper 'making of' was probably Earthshock, and even that was going to be a very rare thing for the 40th anniversary. Other stories released that year - like The Three Doctors and Curse of Fenric - had the more usual mix of archive materials. I think Dalek Invasion of Earth did get one though. They only really became regular features by a couple of years later.

It is a bit of a shame that such an important story doesn't get a thorough documentary, but most of the issues have been covered in other features on Silurians and Inferno. Still, it's possible it might get a re-release in the vein of Remembrance of the Daleks and the Five Doctors, along with other early releases like Robots of Death and Caves of Androzani (another very important story). Hopefully anyway!

There is, it seems, a chance of some new editions of the early releases, based on the rather impressive sales of the re-released and improved Five Doctors. Watch this space...

 

[diankra]

Spearhead From Space

Hmm. It's tough to know what to say, really. It was Doctor Who. Which means it was a fairly good deal of fun. Seeing the Brigadier again was awesome, and knowing we'll see much more of him only makes it better. The story was rather well-handled without being too cheesy (and of course it's hard to make Mannequins of Death without a lot of cheese). A couple of things did throw me while I was watching it, however, no matter how well I was prepared for them. The shift to colour was strange at first, but I soon got used to it. And the fact that it was shot entirely on film was also awkward for me; Doctor Who is very weird without some studio-on-video scenes.*

Getting to know a new Doctor is not an entirely new experience for me, but it's still a relatively fresh one. I think I'll save a more detailed 'review' of Jon Pertwee until I see more of him, but my initial impression is that I'll like him quite a bit. Watching him play with his "new face" was really endearing. I wish I could say more positive things about the DVD itself, though. No featurettes at all? I know this was one of the earlier ones produced but still... Oh well, here's hoping the audio commentary and production notes will shed some light on how this story came to be.

*By the by, I'd love to know more about the methods used to produce the show. From the DVDs of the black-and-white era I know that they had an extremely hectic and demanding schedule and work ethic; did they continue using the same production format for the whole run of the classic show? One episode a week, a single studio recording session on Fridays after a week of rehearsals?

After the 'shoot an episode each week, and try to fit location filming in somehow' approach of the first six seasons, season seven cut the number of episodes so there was a gap between stories where location work could be done (Spearhead from Space is a one-off exception, shot entirely on film, but that's another story).
Barry Letts took over as producer in season seven, and decided to make a further change the following year (having been partly responsible for the earlier change, suggesting it after his experience of directing the show in season five). Instead of shooting one episode over a day each week, they'd do two episodes each fortnight over two days. One major advantage of this was that on day one you could have one big set, and on day two it could be six little ones, whereas shooting one episode a week would mean only one medium sizzed set and three little ones each time.
Increasingly, that then progressed on to to shooting two episodes' worth of material from across the whole story, which would then be edited into order with material from the second and third sessions, film style.
That pattern had pretty much taken hold by the end of the Pertwee era, and was consistent through to the end of the original run.

 

[denmaroca]

I should probably pick up 'Silurians' at some point ...

In my completely shallow opinion, it's worth it just for Liz Shaw (Caroline John) in a mini-skirt - a factor that livens up Inferno a bit as well!

 

[S. Gomez]

The Three Doctors

I don't think it's fair to say I was disappointed with this story, because I don't think I was expecting this to be the pinnacle of Doctor Who. Still, it did have it's share of problems, mostly to do with execution rather than the basic concept (in my opinion). For example, the Time Lords reversing the Doctor's exile was rather lazily rushed through, almost as an afterthought. I really only got it for the virtue of seeing Patrick Troughton again; it was pretty worth it, too!

"I am he and he is me..."
"And we are all together, goo goo g'joob?...It's a song by The Beatles."
"Oh really? How does it go?"

I've resolved to buy "The Time Warrior" and "Robot" at some point this week, so I'll be giving my thoughts on them before long.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The Three Doctors is worth it for the Patrick Troughton/Jon Pertwee interaction alone. It's a terrible shame William Hartnell was so ill at that point (The Three Doctors was the last thing he ever recorded). He would have made the interactions all the more amusing if he was with them directly.

 

[S. Gomez]

^That was the other thing I forgot to mention. It was sad watching him struggle with his performance, even though he did an admirable job under the circumstances. And he even got off the best line, as only he could: "So you're my replacements--a dandy and a clown!"

 

[The Nth Doctor]

^That was the other thing I forgot to mention. It was sad watching him struggle with his performance, even though he did an admirable job under the circumstances. And he even got off the best line, as only he could: "So you're my replacements--a dandy and a clown!"

Yes, he did.

 

[S. Gomez]

 

[S. Gomez]

The Time Warrior

Another excellent serial from Jon Pertwee's era. I seem to be mostly hitting the high notes with this Doctor; I couldn't be happier with that. I loved that it was a historical story and especially in one of my "favourite" time periods, the Middle Ages. Hey, wait a second... This is only the second historical I've ever seen in the show, not counting the mediocre "An Unearthly Child" (except for the first episode; I never liked the cavemen) and the reconstruction of "Marco Polo" on the DVD set. No wonder I enjoyed it so much, I hadn't really seen that type of story before in the series. Cool!

Anyways, to ape and paraphrase my much-repeated thoughts as I've watched these: well-written, well-acted, and a cracking good show. (I'd better watch some North American shows soon, though; I typed that completely unconciously!!) Now, who's this guy with the big nose and long scarf coming down the line... ?

 

[Captain Pike]

Time Warrior really is an excellent story, one of Pertwee's best, though strictly speaking it's not a true-historical as it has a sci-fi element..

The Sontaran makeup is superb - the Sontarans probably haven't looked any better than they do here.

The characters are great too - Irongrom and his not-very-bright henchman have me in stitches every time. Also, keep an eye out for the actor who played Boba-Fett as the archer..

 

[Cutter John]

Glad you made it to Time Warrior. It really is one of my favorites.

Two Doctors - Yes, the story really is pretty much rubbish. But watching the Doctors playing off each other makes it worth the purchase price.

As for Inferno, my personal theory is that the green slime appeared when the drill hit a rich vein of Racnoss eggs.

 

[S. Gomez]

Robot

I've found that, at least with the past two Doctors, their first story tends to be a bit underwhelming, at least the first time through. "Spearhead From Space" was a bit bland, if enjoyable, and I find myself thinking the same of this story. It's not bad (although the ending felt tacked on), but it's also really only memorable for introducing the Fourth Doctor--which is admittedly perhaps more than enough reason for watching it. More on him in a minute...

The Ark In Space

Very fortunately the library had a copy of this story in, so I grabbed the opportunity. I'm glad I did! If the first serials of both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker don't quite hit the mark, their second serials both manage to make up for it. This was a tense, exciting story despite the more-obviously-fake-than-usual-though-quite-disgusting monsters. I found the starkness of the white sets in the early part only added to the creepiness; usually you expect dim lighting, smoke, and undefined shapes when you're expecting more horrific stories. This surprise of design threw me for a little bit, and I was a little sorry to see the lights going down towards the end. The writing was great, and the acting more than up to it. Speaking of acting...

I can see why Tom Baker is such a popular Doctor. He's zany, darkly humourous, and clearly not quite balanced in the head. I love his line, "What's the point of being grown-up if you can't be childish now and again?" Pretty much sums up what I've seen of him so far; he does strongly remind me of a little boy, albeit a very mature one, if that paradox makes sense. He's also demonstrated quite clearly (to me, at least) one of the things I'm loving about this show: there's something to be fond of in every actor to play the role. William Hartnell is a wonderful grouch of a grandfather, Patrick Troughton is an avuncular fellow traveller, Jon Pertwee is a sophisticated charmer, and Tom Baker has that wild, not-quite-there look in his eye. And they all bring their own brand of humour to the part. Brilliant.

I should also add that it was quite fun seeing Tom Baker again. I learned of it before I ever saw him in Doctor Who, but as soon as I saw him play his first scene I thought "Yes! That's definitely the marsh-wiggle I know and love." (Props to whoever knows what I'm talking about...)

 

[DWF]

I liked him as Puddlegump too in The Silver Chair but he also did a great in The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad and that's really what got him the part. I love Robot it's my first ever Dr. Who story and I have to say that I think I liked Spearhead From Space more than the stories of Pertwee's first season the seven parters tended to drag a bit. And both Spearhead From Space and The Ark In Space were both written by Robert Holmes, his stories tend to focus more on charcater than plot or monsters.