Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Marc]

I hate The Mutants. My pick for worst Third Doctor adventure.

Can't recall if I ever saw that story complete- can just remember watching the odd episode many years ago and hard the Dicks novelisation. at once point.

Do think that some of the Pertwee storeis get overlooked if not outright forgotten about. First I knew of the TIme Monster was the a clip in "More Than Thirty Years in The TARDIS": was familiar with the stories that came around it.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

The funny thing is, for me, the Seventh Doctor's overtalked darkness looks tame, to me, in comparison to Doctors 9-12. Those Doctor actually had the ball to destroy his own planet, and his people, to save the galaxy. So, the threats coming of off them are far more intimidating and serious because you know they are capable of doing this.

But besides that, this Doctor started off Troughton-ish before he realized that some things can't be done conventinally. The audios touch upon this, but it is still clear in this case. He's already far more serious in Dragonfire than in the three stories previous, so this Doctor was only going to continue being the anti-Five Doctor.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Can't recall if I ever saw that story complete- can just remember watching the odd episode many years ago and hard the Dicks novelisation. at once point.

Do think that some of the Pertwee storeis get overlooked if not outright forgotten about. First I knew of the TIme Monster was the a clip in "More Than Thirty Years in The TARDIS": was familiar with the stories that came around it.

To be honest, I always thought The Time Monster's underrated. Its not great, but its nowhere near the drivel its been made out to be. Even now, I can't get my head around convincing myself its terrible. I mean, it even has one of the best scenes in all of Doctor Who, so it can't be that bad.

I also don't get the love for Daemons. Its just like any other Master story in that season, and Terror of the Autons is much better. Also, The Gunfighters is pretty nice, even if they overdo that bloody song, and I always liked Arc of Infinity, which is seemingly despised by most fans.

 

[Marc]

I also don't get the love for Daemons. Its just like any other Master story in that season, and Terror of the Autons is much better.

Can't recall getting into the Daemons but I think of some of the praise it gets come more the "atmosphere" that was created than the actual story.

 

[Christopher]

I like "The Daemons" okay, but what really frustrates me about it is how Jo is treated. I mean, it's Jo's selflessness and goodness that destroys Azal while the Doctor and UNIT are futilely mucking about with gargoyles and heat barriers. Meaning this is the one time in the classic series where the companion single-handedly saves the world. And she doesn't get a single thank you for it.

 

[diankra]

I rather like Time Monster, but I suspect it's significant that, aside from childhood memories, it's one of the four Pertwee stories I saw before the book came out (the other three also being favourites: Ambassadors, Inferno and Mind of Evil). Others disappointed in comparison with the added material of much reread books.

 

[Mr Pointy Ears]

Watched the tenth planet the other night.

 

[kirk55555]

Once again, kirk55555, you and I will disagree violently.

Curse of Fenric is the most adult storyline Doctor Who had attempted in that decade. It basically set the template for the Virgin Adventures, certainly in tone. And McCoy's characterization in his last two seasons was very much in line with the NuWho Doctors, merculiar but still very serious often spouting immense threats when angry or despaired. He's not villainous, he's just a lot conscious of the effect his decisions have on those he protects, and is aware of his own importance as a gentleman of the universe. He is a lot more than just another Time Lord, if 25 years of a show could prove anything.

Meanwhile, season 24 lacked any focus, and that extended to the Doctor. Poor McCoy was trying his darnest to allow the character to be Doctor-ish, but he still had to act in the awful story that was Time & The Rani. No Doctor could've come unscathed from that one.

And Greatest Show... is that great, but its notwhere near as bad as you make it out to be. Besides, its still a million times better than Timelash.

I loathe the Virgin New Adventures, which probably isn't a surprise. Also, no NuWho Doctor, not even the 12th at his angriest, ever treated a companion like some lab animal. Even when Clara legitimately tried to murder The Doctor he still treated her like a friend. Heck, even the 9th treated Rose's boyfriends with a minimum of humanity if not much respect, and he didn't much like either of them.

The 7th Doctor is a villain, plain and simple. He's what would happen if The Master had a companion (and wasn't going to just kill them for some reason). Actually, he's more like if The Rani was a man and had a companion. He doesn't want to conquer like The Master, he just wants to do cold, emotionless experiments of questionably value and with no sense of morality getting in the way. Ace is not a person to him, she's something to play with and experiment on. He never cared about her, and if she had died he would have just found someone else. He's the incarnation thatdidn't deserve to be called The Doctor, not the War Doctor.

As for Season 24, its generally crap. Three of the four serials are atrocious. Delta & The Bannermen just happens to be the diamond in the pile of garbage, and the only really good portrayel of the 7th Doctor in my opinion.

Also, Timelash is The Caves of Androzani compared to The Greatest show in the Galaxy. I legitimately hate that story more then any one in Doctor Who.

Agreed, it almost makes me wonder if Kirk5555 has actually watched the episodes or just gotten his thoughts about them by reading a summary. Its happened before. Now to be honest I think he has seen them but had a bias before starting to watch them?

I had absolutely no bias going into the 7th Doctor's run. Actually, I was very interested because he had a good reputation. The 6th Doctor had a bad reputation but I ended up loving his run, and I went right into the 7ths from there. I didn't start disliking the 7th Doctor Rememberance, which I like well enough as a story but I didn't really like his attitude. Then, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy made me actively dislike him, and Ghost Light cemented him as really the only Doctor I don't think was good (which wasn't McCoy's fault, I think he was a good actor and started out as a good Doctor).

My opinion on the 7th Doctor and his era is all from painful experience.

 

[kirk55555]

On topic, I finished glancing through the rest of Frontier in Space. I really, really hate this story, and its sucks that it was Delgado's last appearance. Next up I think I'll be returning to the 5th Doctor's era with The Visitation.

 

[Mr Pointy Ears]

The power of the daleks

 

[The Four Doctor]

As i said on GB, when was the first time the media picked up on female companions as sexual "for the Dads" objects? The Mind Robber where Zoe is reduced to tits and ass, must be a milestone.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

But it was for one story only, really. Peri was specifically "designed" to be an eye candy, from the start.

 

[DS9Continuing]

As i said on GB, when was the first time the media picked up on female companions as sexual "for the Dads" objects? The Mind Robber where Zoe is reduced to tits and ass, must be a milestone.

But it was for one story only, really. Peri was specifically "designed" to be an eye candy, from the start.

True. There was also that ep of "Terminus" where Nyssa stood in a corridor and stripped down to her knackers basically because it was her last story so somebody somewhere thought, "Hey, I know, let's get her norks out before she goes."

.

 

[Christopher]

As i said on GB, when was the first time the media picked up on female companions as sexual "for the Dads" objects? The Mind Robber where Zoe is reduced to tits and ass, must be a milestone.

"Reduced?" Hardly. Yes, she gets a few cheesecake shots, but she's no less smart, canny, and capable in the story. Indeed, "The Mind Robber" gives her that great sequence where she uses judo to outfight a comic-strip superhero twice her size, more than 8 years before Leela came along. Zoe was in no way "reduced" or diminished by that story. She just happened to rock a sparkly catsuit in addition to being a kickass genius.

I think the notion of the female lead being there for sex appeal goes back to the beginning. Barbara was often put in the position of being an object of romantic or sexual interest by male characters in the stories, as well as being an implicit love interest for Ian. Susan and Vicki probably weren't meant to be lusted after, since they were played as teenagers, but Dodo came off a bit more mature, and Polly was clearly presented as sexy from the start.

 

[The Four Doctor]

Dodo's meant to be a teenager, too. That's one of the reasons Innes Lloyd gave Jackie Lane for sacking her - that the camera picked up that she was in her mid-twenties.

 

[Christopher]

Dodo's meant to be a teenager, too.

Yeah, but an older teen, old enough to get into the nightclub in "The War Machines." One of the novels established her birth year as 1949, which would make her 16-17 during her time as a companion. We know that Vicki was probably 15 at the end of her tenure, since Troilus in "The Myth Makers" said he would be 17 on his next birthday and she said he was hardly any older than her. (He didn't specify how far away his next birthday was, so if she'd been 16, she would've probably said they were the same age.) So there's a trend upward in age from Susan/Vicki to Dodo to Polly (who's employed as a secretary so is definitely an adult).

 

[Marc]

Dodo's meant to be a teenager, too. That's one of the reasons Innes Lloyd gave Jackie Lane for sacking her - that the camera picked up that she was in her mid-twenties.

sacked or simply didn't renew her contract? I've read that her contract expired part way through the production of the final story she appeared in hence why she feel asleep on a bench and was never seen again.

Though iif she was actually sacked for looking older that was a pretty spurious reason given that Carol-Anne Ford was 20 when the first appeared and yet Susan was supposed to be 15 and I can't say she really looked it (Ford has told of how William Hartnell tended to forget she was only playing 15).

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

The controversy really comes in with the Williams era, which basically allowed Tom Baker to do whatever he wanted

Considering Tom Baker really is a space alien, I'm OK with that. His instincts for the Doctor were always bang on.

To be honest, I always thought The Time Monster's underrated. Its not great, but its nowhere near the drivel its been made out to be. Even now, I can't get my head around convincing myself its terrible. I mean, it even has one of the best scenes in all of Doctor Who, so it can't be that bad.

Most Doctors have at least 1 story that I don't think is very good. Not so with Pertwee. Even some of his weaker stuff like "The Mutants" & "The Time Monster" is still thoroughly watchable.

I also don't get the love for Daemons. It's just like any other Master story in that season, and Terror of the Autons is much better.

"The chap with the wings there. Five rounds rapid." 'Nuff said!

Also, The Gunfighters is pretty nice, even if they overdo that bloody song

I was at an antique store yesterday and I bought a small wooden facade that says "Last Chance Saloon" on it. It's just about the perfect size to be the backdrop for my Titans 3-inch vinyl figurines.

 

[Marc]

"The chap with the wings there. Five rounds rapid." 'Nuff said!

A line that was riff'ed in the novel "No Future" in reference to a former Beatle and his mid 70s band

 

[The Four Doctor]

I always thought that the Time Monster would have been funnier if Benton had been turned into a baby girl and the final scene had John Levene emerging from the tattered remains of a baby dress.