Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never seen it

[G2309]

I've just finished watching The 2 Doctors and was wondering what people think of the episodes. I enjoyed it finding it entertaining and liked the acting. The man who wanted to eat humans has to be one the freakiest things I've seen on Dr Who. I can't believe how much he spent talking about it.
The pity was we didn't see enough of the two Drs working together. I doubt it was a problem with Troughton's schedule as he was in the episode a lot.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I just saw it for the first time myself and I absolutely hated it. The Doctors only share like five minutes of screen time? #2 becomes a red freckled red haired cannibal? The whole cannibal guy was just so stupid. The entire thing was highly embarrassing. Not one tenth as good as Three Doctors or Five Doctors.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I was pretty excited many years ago when I first heard of the existence and of the title of the episode and was really looking forward to one day seeing it. I finally did watch it once completely through, and then bits of it again years later. I felt it was awful and thought it was a lost opportunity to have presented a very cool teaming-up. I agree with Mr Light completely. The Doctors hardly spent any time together (why bring them together for a story and not have them really interact?) and the cannibal stuff was just odd and un-funny (in my opinion). I doubt I will ever watch it again.

 

[23skidoo]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I thought the episodes were fine. And what I really liked was that it was formatted in such a way that what we had was a bonus Second Doctor-era story for the most part so I didn't mind the fact 2 and 6 didn't interact much. And when they did, it was great (plus there was a bit of spark between Jamie and Peri which probably would have worked better if Frazer Hines was 15 years younger).

I also have to admire the creativity of the fans and writers. Simple because someone forgot to budget for hair dye, the appearance of a grey haired Second Doctor gave rise to the entire "Season 6B" shadow continuity (google it or check out tardis.wikia.com) which resulted in entire novels, a retcon of the TV Comic comic strip years after it ended - all dedicated to rationalizing a very minor cosmetic aspect of the story. I thought that was great!

Alex

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

^ Hmmm.... You're right about some of this. I did enjoy the bits that followed Jamie and the Second Doctor's part in the story. Maybe I do need to watch again, as it has been a while since I last saw it. I still do feel that that the cannibal subplot went on (like some Python routines) well beyond the point where it was amusing.....

Part of it may be that while I like Patrick Troughton's Doctor, Colin Baker's portrayal of the Doctor was not my favorite. Maybe because at the point I was watching shows of that era I was dealing in real life with an impatient know-it-all who rubbed me the wrong way, and Baker's Doctor seemed a bit unkind in too many situations.

 

[Sindatur]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

Shock-Eye did get pushed too far, but, I loved Jacqueline Peirce as Chesini. I enjoyed the Jamie and Troughton scenes, I was good with Chesisni being experimented on and evolved storyline and even the Sontaran Plot. Less Shockeye would've improved the story, but, overall, I enjoyed it

 

[Whofan]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

Funny thing is, the script is by Robert Holmes, who did many classic Pertwee and Tom Bakers, as well as Caves of Androzani.


It's also loosely based on Holmes's unused script for the Five Doctors, which would have had the Cybermen try to capture the Doctors to learn the secret of Time Travel.


I think season 6b didn't come out of the Doctor's hair, but because he appeared to be working reluctantly for the Time Lords, which was more a staple of post-Troughton Doctors. Also the moment in the Five Doctors where he knows that Jaime and Zoe had their memory erased, when he shouldn't have because he regenerated almost immeadiatly afterwards (or so it seems).


Part of the problem with Colin's era was it's violence and distasteful subjects, as mentioned above. Vengeance on Varos and Revelation of the Daleks also deal with some unpleasent subjects. Granted, this kind of started with Davison's final season, especially Ressurection of the Daleks....

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

The pity was we didn't see enough of the two Drs working together. I doubt it was a problem with Troughton's schedule as he was in the episode a lot.

That's kind of the pattern these multi-Doctor stories take. In The Five Doctors, Peter Davison barely spends that much time with the other Doctors. Aside from the scene at the end when they're all together, he only has a scene with the First Doctor, and talks with the Second over a comms device.

 

[arch101]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I thought the Ep was OK but more importantly set a precedent for more stories featuring previous Docs without being an Anniversary show. Would have been a great way to re-introduce older Docs to newer audiences. I wonder how many younger fans rented Troughton tapes after seeing this ep?

 

[G2309]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

It's difficulty to get a multi doctor story to work as he overcomes so many powerful adversaries alone. He doesn't need his former selves.
I liked how they did it here with a threat to a former self threatening to wipe him out.

 

[DWF]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I wonder how many younger fans rented Troughton tapes after seeing this ep?

It couldn't have been very many since there weren't any back in 1985.

 

[Broccoli]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I wonder how many younger fans rented Troughton tapes after seeing this ep?

It couldn't have been very many since there weren't any back in 1985.

Yeah. They probably looked it up on YouTube.

 

[arch101]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I wonder how many younger fans rented Troughton tapes after seeing this ep?

It couldn't have been very many since there weren't any back in 1985.

Maybe not 85, but not long after. The owner of my local Video Store (remember those?) had a pretty good SciFi section and got lots of Dr Who tapes as they were coming out. The first Pertwee and Troughton stories I saw were on rental tape before my local PBS station started carrying them.

 

[DWF]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I wonder how many younger fans rented Troughton tapes after seeing this ep?

It couldn't have been very many since there weren't any back in 1985.

Maybe not 85, but not long after. The owner of my local Video Store (remember those?) had a pretty good SciFi section and got lots of Dr Who tapes as they were coming out. The first Pertwee and Troughton stories I saw were on rental tape before my local PBS station started carrying them.

My fault The Seeds Of Death was released on VHS and Beta in 1985 but the others came out in 1990 or later.

 

[Dukhat]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

I think season 6b didn't come out of the Doctor's hair, but because he appeared to be working reluctantly for the Time Lords, which was more a staple of post-Troughton Doctors. Also the moment in the Five Doctors where he knows that Jaime and Zoe had their memory erased, when he shouldn't have because he regenerated almost immeadiatly afterwards (or so it seems).

There were multiple reasons why people think there's the 6b thing:

1. Both actors have visibly aged.
2. Jamie knows WAY more about the Time Lords than he ever should have prior to "The War Games."
3. The console room looks different.
4. The aforementioned scene in "The Five Doctors" with Jamie and Zoe.
5. The fact that we don't actually see Troughton change into Pertwee after "The War Games."

The main problem with this theory is that it is mentioned that the Doctor and Jamie have just dropped off Victoria Waterfield, a clear reference to the end of "Fury From the Deep," where right after that would have been the only time the Doctor and Jamie would have been alone before the next episode, where they pick up Zoe. So this episode as originally envisioned should have taken place between "Fury from the Deep" and "The Wheel in Space," and not some extra unseen season.

And furthermore, if there was a season 6B, why would Jamie be traveling with the Doctor? The Time Lords had already wiped his memory. They would have had to un-wipe it again, and then re-wipe it at the end of 6b.

 

[Stevil2001]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

You're misremembering what is said about Victoria in The Two Doctors:

DOCTOR: I got Victoria to where she wanted to go, though why she wants to learn graphology, I've no idea.
JAMIE: Ah. Will we ever get back to her, though?
DOCTOR: Of course we will.
JAMIE: I'll believe that when I see it.

That's not a reference to her departure in Fury from the Deep.

 

[Dukhat]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

Steve: While you are correct that the "graphology" thing isn't a direct reference to the end of "Fury from the Deep," it's possible that the writers of "The Two Doctors" didn't have the audio tracks to the former episode for reference (and they certainly didn't have the episode itself, since it's lost).

I just find it hard to believe that if there was a "season 6b," that the Doctor would be traveling with former companions that he'd already left behind. Honestly I don't get the fascination with the 6b thing just to explain away a few continuity errors, when the entire Doctor Who series is full of them.

 

[Stevil2001]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

All of those errors possessing their own, equally convoluted explanations.

 

[arch101]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

Add to this - where was Doc 2 going all by himself when he stopped off for the Brig's retirement party in The 5 Doctors?

 

[Dukhat]

Re: Just finished watching The 2 Doctors *spoilers if you've never see

Add to this - where was Doc 2 going all by himself when he stopped off for the Brig's retirement party in The 5 Doctors?

It's never stated, but because he knew that Jamie and Zoe had their memories erased, it's speculated that he's on a mission for the CIA ("season 6b"), when Borusa plucked him out of time.