Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Orac Zen]

I'm partway through Warriors of the Deep; so far it's at least as good as I remember it.

...which is a polite way of saying...not very good. The nuanced, multi-dimensional beings of Hulke's episodes are gone, and it's one of the very, very few classic Who episodes where the production values are so poor I actually notice them. The one very much leads to the other.

Definitely not a patch on either of the serials that led to it.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I'm partway through Warriors of the Deep; so far it's at least as good as I remember it.

...which is a polite way of saying...not very good. The nuanced, multi-dimensional beings of Hulke's episodes are gone, and it's one of the very, very few classic Who episodes where the production values are so poor I actually notice them. The one very much leads to the other.

Definitely not a patch on either of the serials that led to it.

Yeah, it's a pretty terrible story. But then, it was in the midst of a pretty dismal era of the series generally. This is certainly one of Turlough's most grating stories. Especially at the end of Part 1 when he immediately writes off the Doctor as having drowned to death when he's barely been in the water long enough to get his hair wet.

Robot (Fourth Doctor).

An interesting start for the Fourth Doctor but I think it borrows too heavily from Asimov. A robot with emotions story tends to grate on me quickly. I did however enjoy the twist of Professor Kettlewell being the founder of SRS.

The Ark in Space (Fourth Doctor).

Another well written story and the first real outerspace adventure since Frontier in Space. The Wirms were somewhat hokey but I liked the idea of people being used as incubators, a precursor to Alien.

I found Professor Kettlewell's heel-turn even more surprising after he had already played the kindly Professor Watkins in "The Invasion." You just can't imagine that actor ever wanting to hurt a fly.

And I definately think "The Ark in Space" is an archetypal example of classic Doctor Who at its best. And I think the Doctor/Sarah Jane/Harry triad is a very underrated TARDIS team. Once Harry left, I found the interactions between the Doctor & Sarah Jane far less interesting.

I've seen every available Second Doctor serial now except The Invasion and The Krotons.

Ooh! "The Invasion" is my all-time favorite story of any era. Between the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, the Brigadier, the introduction of UNIT, and the excellent Tobias Vaughn as the villain, it simply hits on all cylinders. Plus, the animated reconstructions of Parts 1 & 4 are very well done, with a stylish noir feel that almost eclipses the episodes the still exist.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I just finished "The Mind of Evil," "The Claws of Axos," & "The Daemons." I think they're both really fun UNIT stories. I love the way they were developing the characters of Captain Yates & Sgt. Benton and their relationship with each other. Plus, lots of fun motorcycle chases.

I was a bit annoyed with Stephen Thorne's portrayal of the head Daemon. While I love his rendition of Omega in "The Three Doctors," I think he needed to tone down the screaming a bit in "The Daemons."

 

[DWF]

When did The Mind Of Evil come out on DVD?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

And I definately think "The Ark in Space" is an archetypal example of classic Doctor Who at its best. And I think the Doctor/Sarah Jane/Harry triad is a very underrated TARDIS team. Once Harry left, I found the interactions between the Doctor & Sarah Jane far less interesting.

I couldn't agree more. Baker and Marter had very good rapport.

 

[Pindar]

I loved Harry. It's too bad Iain Marter died so young. I am older now than he was when he died.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Invisible Enemy for the first time in many years, having found the DVD (i.e. a working one without the mastering error) in a charity shop last week...

 

[JoeZhang]

The Third Doctors this afternoon on Netflixs - I forget how Posh, Old and White Doctor Who used to be - everyone enunciate like they are performing on stage in front of some half-deaf simpletons. The Timelord scenes are particularly bad, I kept wondering if the Timelords would go up in smokes if they got too near a naked flame.

Still Omega was a lot of fun and if I can paraphrase an old review - "Omega does not chew scenery. Omega starts neatly at each corner of the set in every scene and swallows it whole, costars and all."

 

[Orac Zen]

Watched The Dominators over the weekend. More Troughton-era goodness, although the less said about those utterly hideous costumes the better, methinks. Reasonably coherent and thought-provoking, and of course, Troughton.

 

[Pindar]

I started rewatching Ark in Space today. The Doctors scene about the indomitability of humans was joyful.

 

[Lowdarzz]

Revenge of the Cybermen (Fourth Doctor).

I was forced to skip over The Sontaran Experiment and Genesis of the Daleks since the library doesn't have copies of either. An excellent story featuring the cyberman design I remember from the Doctor Who on PBS days. The Doctor had quite a few good one-liners in this one.

"Careful, careful! I might explode."

"Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!"

I've seen every available Second Doctor serial now except The Invasion and The Krotons.

Ooh! "The Invasion" is my all-time favorite story of any era. Between the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, the Brigadier, the introduction of UNIT, and the excellent Tobias Vaughn as the villain, it simply hits on all cylinders. Plus, the animated reconstructions of Parts 1 & 4 are very well done, with a stylish noir feel that almost eclipses the episodes the still exist.

I'm looking forward to The Invasion with the first appearance of UNIT but I'll probably have to buy it in order to see it. The Krotons is the only one of the two serials I mentioned that the library has a copy of.

 

[OmahaStar]

Last night, I watched The Sensorites again. Not a great story, but still pretty darn fun.

 

[The Wormhole]

Watched The Leisure Hive today. Less than impressed with that one.

 

[Lowdarzz]

Pyramids of Mars (Fourth Doctor).

An interesting look into Egyptian mythology Doctor Who style. The entire basis of Egyptian religion centers on a war between the various members of an alien race known as the Osirians. Sutekh worked very well in his scenes with the Doctor. It's too bad the writers decided to kill him off. A powerful alien with a desire to eliminate all other life would have been interesting to see again.

I know get the reference Sarah Jane made to mummies in the 10th Doctor episode School Reunion.

 

[Orac Zen]

The Ambassadors of Death. It's a Pertwee serial so obviously I'm going to enjoy it, but he's at his finest in this. Some nicely atmospheric / creepy bits, good action scenes, and plenty of thoughtful stuff as well. Brilliant.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

When did The Mind Of Evil come out on DVD?

It hasn't yet. I was borrowing my friend's old black & white VHS tape. The tape also includes some recolorized portions of part 6 using homemade off-air video recordings. Oddly, I find the scenes less compelling in color than in black & white. Everything seems to have an atmosphere & an extra depth in black & white that the color just kind of drains out of it.

Something I noticed while watching "The Claws of Axos;" when the 3rd Doctor is trying to explain to Jo & the Brigadier how he trapped the Axons in a time loop, he seems to really be channelling Patrick Troughton in that scene. His loopy hand gestures and complete inability to explain such a simple concept remind me very much of the 2nd Doctor at his most intellectually impotent.

I just finished the special edition of "Day of the Daleks" a few days ago. It's not a great story but the special edition does it a world of good; from replacing the Dalek voices to reediting the ATV chase so that it doesn't look completely retarded. (It still looks a little retarded. It is still a random ATV chase afterall.) My biggest complaint with the special edition would be the establishing shots of the Dalek base. They're so obviously digital and they don't really fit in at all.

UNIT doesn't fare very well in the story though. I find it pretty disappointing when Captain Yates & Sgt. Benton seem completely stumped as to where the Doctor & Jo have gone when the cellar seems like a pretty obvious place, at least once you've eliminated all of the other options. But then, I suppose Benton could be forgiven for the oversight since he was cripped with hunger. Yates was kind of a dick in that scene. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKtIGcWuunU[/yt]

 

[DWF]

When did The Mind Of Evil come out on DVD?

It hasn't yet. I was borrowing my friend's old black & white VHS tape. The tape also includes some recolorized portions of part 6 using homemade off-air video recordings. Oddly, I find the scenes less compelling in color than in black & white. Everything seems to have an atmosphere & an extra depth in black & white that the color just kind of drains out of it.

Which is ironic since it was filmed in color or colour. I'm really looking forward to seeing on DVD, I loved the ep. five cliffhanger. And I wouldn't be too hard on Yates in Day Of The Daleks, I doubt if Benton was "crippled with hunger", RHIP after all.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Since it's been foggy here all day, I figured it was a good day to stick on Curse Of Fenric...

 

[Lowdarzz]

The Brain of Morbius (Fourth Doctor).

An interesting take on Frankenstein but I think Terrence Dick's original concept of the lone robot trying to built a body for its master out of the spare parts it finds would have been more interesting. It's too bad the budget wasn't there. It also would have been interesting to expand upon Morbius' backstory. All we know is that he was a meglomaniac with millions of followers who destroyed civilizations.

The Seeds of Doom (Fourth Doctor).

I enjoyed this one but I kind of wish it had taken place exclusively in Antarctica. The claustrophobic feeling of being trapped with the Krynoid thousands of mile from any help. Then again I've just described John W. Campbell Jr.'s story 'Who Goes There?' and its various adaptations. It was also too bad that none of the familiar UNIT faces showed up this time around.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I enjoyed this one but I kind of wish it had taken place exclusively in Antarctica. The claustrophobic feeling of being trapped with the Krynoid thousands of mile from any help. Then again I've just described John W. Campbell Jr.'s story 'Who Goes There?' and its various adaptations.

Actually you've just described every Second Doctor story ever written.