Last Classic Who Story you watched

[mythme]

^ Some are out of print and it's been indicated they won't be reissued. Those that are out of print and are in low supply now command a high price.

If true that sucks. Why would they issue "Enemy of the World" and "Web of Fear" on DVD, or re-release other titles as Special Editions if others aren't made available? (and series like "Earthshock" are rather popular).

I guess I'll have to save my pennies and bite the bullet.

If they would package Classic Who in series sets (which is a little late in the game, for both collectors and the format), I don't foresee them including ALL those extras included for practically every serial.

Anyway....back to watching..."Survival". Not bad considering it was "the end". A little rough around the edges though. I would have liked the relationship between the Master and Cheetah people to have been a little more fleshed out. You can really sense that Ace's run was about to end had the series continued.

 

[Ithekro]

If I remember correctly, Ace was suppose to last another half season before she's get left on Gallifrey for training, while the Doctor picked up a high class thief. The Doctor would end up going mad or something and then regenerate at the end of the season. The next Doctor would need to do something with the thief.

I could be off by a season, as I don't remember if McCoy was going to stay on for one more seson or two more (or one and a half more). In some respects it be like what happened with Series 7 and 8 with the leaving of the Ponds, the introduction of Clara, and then the Doctor regenerating and Clara having to deal with it.

 

[Mr Awe]

^ There was no set ending time for McCoy by the time the series ended. So, he never had to make the choice.

And, the idea of a high class thief sounds great. One one of the DVDs, they described the scene that would've introduced her and it sounded fun!

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Those stories became Big Finish audios, under the Lost Stories series.

Of course, McCoy has insisted his fourth series was gonna be his last. Who knows?

 

[Timewalker]

Those ARE the Amazon prices!

I know those are the current Amazon Marketplace prices for DVD. I own Earthshock, and I assure you that I paid less than $30 for it (could look it up, I guess).

There are VHS copies available for far less, but of course you take a chance that they could be bad quality.

I recommend you try eBay or Bonanza. I've purchased DVDs from both sites without difficulty.

 

[Pindar]

I guess I'll have to save my pennies and bite the bullet.

Buy the UK release for £10 and rip it.

I get US disks shipped to me all the time.

I see the R2 disk is for sale on amazon.com for $6

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The highest amount I paid for out-of-print dvd was $200 for "The Time Meddler". I plan to get all the new Doctor Who seasons next year. (I think I will enjoy the episodes more, without the commercial breaks.) I don't know yet if I should get "Shada", "The Scream of Shalka", the Sarah Jane Adventures, and the Torchwood Series.

 

[Timewalker]

I recommend Shada, but then Romana II is my favorite Companion.

Amazon occasionally has some incredible sales on Doctor Who DVDs. I can't imagine paying hundreds of dollars for any video.

 

[mythme]

The Leisure Hive

So this was the start of the John Nathan-Turner era. For me this was a mess. Too many ideas crammed into one story: Poltical insurrection, alien spies, a double murder, a dying planet (for sale), a faulty regeneration gizmo, an elderly Doctor. I still don't know what all that tachyonics stuff was about or the spliting the people apart. Romana II did look cute in her little sailor suit though.

 

[mythme]

The War Machines

I could easily picture this one being a Pertwee and UNIT serial, with the "modern day" setting on Earth, the AI and all the military. The Doctor also takes a pretty active role in this one. Sometimes Hartnell just seemed to be "along for the ride". The story is a little one-dimensional but not bad. Four episodes, just right - a lot of Hartnell's serials were over-padded.
And Dodo, alas we hardly knew thee. She gets brainwashed and then they send her away to "rest" halfway through the story and we never see her again. Dodo was a strange companion to begin with. She looks a lot like Susan but didn't over-react to everything (which is good) but also didn't possess Susan's mental potential which was alluded to but not exploited (which was bad). On the other hand, Dodo probably was kicked aside because she wasn't quite "hip" enough, so they brought in Polly who hangs out at Swinging London clubs and has the Georgie Girl eyelashes! Ben...nothing special...but he does get a little lippy with the Doctor from time to time. I half expect Hartnell to backhand him sometimes.

 

[mythme]

The Happiness Patrol

What a wacky serial, almost as if Tim Burton had a hand in it. I almost dismissed this one from the beginning, but the more I watched the more engrossing it became. Then when you learn that the character of Helen A is a commentary on Thatcher and the whole UK/USA Conservative "just smile and everything is just dandy"/"just say no" at the sake for personal liberty ethos, it makes "Happiness Patrol" even more provocative. The Kandy Man was a bit, um...strange. But I'm sure that's the lack of budget's fault for him not being fully realized. But one thing that I thought was very good were the sets. The candy kitchen was really neat. McCoy is also really good in this one. The standout scene is with the snipers, daring them to shoot him. You really see how they really toned down his silliness in the second half of his tenure and gave him an edge.

They painted the TARDIS pink!

 

[Mr Awe]

^ I rewatched all of McCoy's stories recently. While many were better than I remembered, the Happiness Patrol sucked just as much as I remembered it sucking.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Yeah out of all the stories in season 25 IMO it felt the most like a season 24 story. McCoy does have some good bits in it though as noted above.

 

[mythme]

The Evil Planet

Don't have much to say about this one. Its was okay. Nothing truly remarkable, a Jeckyll and Hyde plot. The Doc goes without his scarf through much of this one. I suppose when that's the most memorable thing, this one is run of the mill. Glad they focused more on action aboard the ship, rather than remaining on the planet and dealing with the monster (yet again). They supporting cast could have been stronger, especially the guy playing Sorenson.

 

[DarthPipes]

The Happiness Patrol

What a wacky serial, almost as if Tim Burton had a hand in it. I almost dismissed this one from the beginning, but the more I watched the more engrossing it became. Then when you learn that the character of Helen A is a commentary on Thatcher and the whole UK/USA Conservative "just smile and everything is just dandy"/"just say no" at the sake for personal liberty ethos, it makes "Happiness Patrol" even more provocative. The Kandy Man was a bit, um...strange. But I'm sure that's the lack of budget's fault for him not being fully realized. But one thing that I thought was very good were the sets. The candy kitchen was really neat. McCoy is also really good in this one. The standout scene is with the snipers, daring them to shoot him. You really see how they really toned down his silliness in the second half of his tenure and gave him an edge.

They painted the TARDIS pink!

It's the most recent Classic serial I saw and it is indeed an odd one. I hear they originally thought about airing the serial in black and white, given it's noir feeling. I think this would have helped, as the sets are lacking in this one.

Planet of Evil I did like a lot though.

 

[DWF]

Terror Of The Vervoids as colorful ofa story that it is, it's rather boring one for the first three parts then gets over complicated in the fourth part. Between a killer onboard, Rudge's takeover using the Mogarians, the Vervoids and the black hole things got rather complicated very quickly.

And what's worse is that the Valeyard then changed the charge to one of genocide. It's odd that the Doctor didn't bring up how the Time Lords wanted him to commit genocide by killing the Daleks in Genesis Of The Daleks. I also have to wonder how the Doctor choice this adventure to use in his defense, I wonder what kind of search engine the Matrix has. And for that matter how'd the Valeyard get to see it first and alter parts of it. But then without the lie of the Doctor destroying the communications room we'd know who the killer was.

We also met Mel and we still know that much about her despite their first meeting being in a book, it's now known onscreen. And the Doctor had a past adveture with Travers. I did find it funny that alot of people were betting on Janet being the killer.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Planet Of Evil also borrows a bit from Forbidden Planet-the invisible monster.

I think the previous adventure with the Vervoids captain was also covered in a book.

 

[Timofnine]

Remembrance of the Daleks!

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The Face of Evil.

 

[Tom]

I have been randomly bouncing around with them on Hulu the past week or 2 with:

Logopolis
Castrovalva
Genesis of the Daleks
Destiny of The Daleks
Resurrection of the Daleks
Death to the Daleks
Planet of Spiders
Robot
Mark or the Rani