Last Classic Who Story you watched

[26138]

I had a vague "I think I remember this?" on ep 1 of Enlightenment (the dark TARDIS and the white guardian ghosting in), but nothing after that. Maybe I skipped the week they aired eps 3 and 4? But then I also remembered Turlough did finally break free of the Black Guardian, so I might have watched those eps anyways and just forgotten. This serial was surprisingly better than I was expecting going into it.

I did watch The King's Demons -- I don't think I've seen it since the PBS rerun days. A short little thing, and I did vividly remember Kamelion's head/neck moving about. Oh boy does Kamelion look worse than I remembered. I kind of forgot the Master was in it until the reveal, then I went "Oh, of course, that makes sense!" It ends rather abruptly.

I skipped The Five Doctors and Warriors of the Deep. I remember watching both on PBS reruns, and I have both on DVD. I also watched Warriors of the Deep recently on the official youtube channel. The Myrka was so bad!

The Awakening - another one I don't remember. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be based on the description. On to Frontios. We'll see if anything trips my memory there.

I do definitely remember seeing Planet of Fire and Caves of Androzani on PBS as a kid. I may have seen Resurrection of the Daleks, too? I know I've seen all 3 since (on DVD). I may have mentioned this before, but Caves was so good I was going to make a decision to be more diligent in watching or recording Doctor Who, then they ended up killing Davison off... And next week's The Twin Dilemma was so bad that I quit watching lol. I'd been a faithful watcher since Spearhead in Space all through Pertwee's era dnd Baker's era up to the first part of Davison's era, and hit and miss through the rest of Davison's era.

 

[26138]

I vividly remember Nyssa shedding her clothes and running around in a flimsy slip for much of the serial. It made a strong impression on me as a teenager. A few years later, I got to meet Sarah Sutton at a convention, and when my turn in the autograph line came, I told her that I'd belatedly developed a crush on Nyssa in her last story just before she left, and as soon as I said it, I abashedly realized I should avoid telling her why I developed a crush on her while watching "Terminus" and not before. (Though she could probably guess. Apparently she later described her striptease in "Terminus" as a "gift" to her male fans.)

I liked her outfit well enough prior to her stripping lol. They finally gave her something nice to wear - that original Traken maroon velour thing with the upper arm puffs was not flattering.

Tegan's dress in Enlightenment was nice. According to the wiki:

Janet Fielding struggled with the low cut ball-gown she wore during filming, as it threatened to expose her breasts on a number of occasions. At one point, Peter Davison concluded a line with the ad-lib, “Oh, and Tegan, put your boobs back in!” whereupon Fielding realised that she had accidentally exposed herself.

 

[Christopher]

I did watch The King's Demons -- I don't think I've seen it since the PBS rerun days. A short little thing, and I did vividly remember Kamelion's head/neck moving about. Oh boy does Kamelion look worse than I remembered.

It's a shame the Kamelion animatronic didn't work out, since I liked the idea of it. They could've done interesting things with a shapeshifting robot as part of the TARDIS team.

What's always bugged me about "The King's Demons" was the bit where the Doctor claimed that, contrary to popular belief, King John was actually in favor of the Magna Carta. Nothing I've read about the history of John or the Magna Carta ever since has supported that assertion, so I really wonder where it came from.

 

[26138]

It's a shame the Kamelion animatronic didn't work out, since I liked the idea of it. They could've done interesting things with a shapeshifting robot as part of the TARDIS team.

If the internet is correct, the guy who built the thing and knew how to run it died in a boating accident and didn't leave detailed instructions for its operation behind, so the crew had trouble running it, and it often broke down and ruined filming schedules.

 

[Christopher]

If the internet is correct, the guy who built the thing and knew how to run it died in a boating accident and didn't leave detailed instructions for its operation behind, so the crew had trouble running it, and it often broke down and ruined filming schedules.

They could've just built a robot suit for an actor to wear and had Kamelion say he shapeshifted into it. Heck, Red Dwarf changed Kryten's body-armor design every season (along with the set design) and never acknowledged the change in-story.

At least, they could've managed to tape a few stock shots of the Kamelion robot in the console room and just used them for a few moments before Kamelion shapeshifted into a guest actor, just long enough to establish Kamelion for the audience.

 

[diankra]

They could've just built a robot suit for an actor to wear and had Kamelion say he shapeshifted into it. Heck, Red Dwarf changed Kryten's body-armor design every season (along with the set design) and never acknowledged the change in-story.

At least, they could've managed to tape a few stock shots of the Kamelion robot in the console room and just used them for a few moments before Kamelion shapeshifted into a guest actor, just long enough to establish Kamelion for the audience.

There was a scene of Kamelion in The Awakening, but it was cut.

 

[26138]

There was a scene of Kamelion in The Awakening, but it was cut.

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[Christopher]

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Oh, that's quite interesting. I can see how problematical the puppet was, with the awkward pose and near-immobility. But the character interaction was effective. (Except, what the hell is "the eclectic quality of Turlough's voice" supposed to mean? How is Turlough's voice composed of elements drawn from a variety of different sources?)

 

[Tomalak]

The whole point of Kamelion was the robot prop itself. There was barely a character there, it was a gimmick that didn't work out.

It's also a but of an odd one for JNT, who dispensed with K9 and the sonic screwdriver partly because they made things too easy for the Doctor, to think introducing a shapeshifting robot would be a good idea.

 

[Christopher]

It's also a but of an odd one for JNT, who dispensed with K9 and the sonic screwdriver partly because they made things too easy for the Doctor, to think introducing a shapeshifting robot would be a good idea.

Judging from the deleted scene, the idea all along may have been that Kamelion was a spy for the Master whose job was to undermine the Doctor, or at least that it would've been ambiguous where Kamelion's true motives lay. JNT in the Davison era was all about making the Doctor vulnerable, particularly through his companions -- Adric who created trouble with his youthful enthusiasm and arrogance, Tegan who didn't want to be there, Turlough who was literally a mole sent to kill the Doctor, and even after that was devious and had his own agendas. So it seems likely that Kamelion was meant to be a source of tension since we weren't sure what side he was on. Unfortunately, Kamelion turned out to be unreliable in a more physical sense.

 

[diankra]

If K9 and Company had gone to series the idea was that K9 3 was actually built by The Master and working for him. But that would only emerge in the season finale (later echoed in the SJA with Mr Smith).

 

[Christopher]

If K9 and Company had gone to series the idea was that K9 3 was actually built by The Master and working for him. But that would only emerge in the season finale (later echoed in the SJA with Mr Smith).

K9 Mk 3 was meant to be evil? That would explain the theme music he inflicted on us...

 

[Tomalak]

If K9 and Company had gone to series the idea was that K9 3 was actually built by The Master and working for him. But that would only emerge in the season finale (later echoed in the SJA with Mr Smith).

Not sure if that was really the plan - it was an idea present in the first draft story outline but dropped after that.

Maybe the idea would have come back, but they never worked on other scripts as the series wasn't picked up.

BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - K9 and Company - Details

All about Classic Doctor Who story - K9 and Company - Sarah Jane has been sent a robot dog, while Brendan is being prepared for sacrifice. - Index

web.archive.org

 

[Qonundrum]

I had a vague "I think I remember this?" on ep 1 of Enlightenment (the dark TARDIS and the white guardian ghosting in), but nothing after that. Maybe I skipped the week they aired eps 3 and 4? But then I also remembered Turlough did finally break free of the Black Guardian, so I might have watched those eps anyways and just forgotten. This serial was surprisingly better than I was expecting going into it.

I wish "Terminus" was a good as "Enlightenment" and "Mawdryn Undead", It's fairly generic and even when I first saw the story, I was "didn't they do the beginning of the universe last season?" (They had indeed, in "Castrovalva", followed by "Four to Doomsday" where Monarch wanted to go back in time, and in both stories the use of the big bang was more dramatically rewarding). For whatever ideas "Terminus" had, it's still largely boring though if it's of any consolation, rewatch that middling middle story while pretending we missed the scene where Tegan and Turlough ate beans before Turlough did his sabotage and now it's catching up with them in the ducts.

I did watch The King's Demons -- I don't think I've seen it since the PBS rerun days. A short little thing, and I did vividly remember Kamelion's head/neck moving about. Oh boy does Kamelion look worse than I remembered. I kind of forgot the Master was in it until the reveal, then I went "Oh, of course, that makes sense!" It ends rather abruptly.

I forgot where the robot prop came from, but JNT took the robot prop in hopes of using more real science/engineering in the show, along with the fantastical element of shapeshifting. When the prop was realized to be too hard to program, among other unfortunate hurdles, the prop was sidelined and nobody thought of having it shapeshift into a person until its finale story. Even then, none of the potential real-life opportunities were used. And as guesswork is cool, having Kamelion spit out 4KB worth of hexadecimal code would become boring fairly quickly, never mind swapping defective motors but where on Xeriphas would they be gotten from?! Oh well...

I skipped The Five Doctors and Warriors of the Deep. I remember watching both on PBS reruns, and I have both on DVD. I also watched Warriors of the Deep recently on the official youtube channel. The Myrka was so bad!

Such a rushed job that even the paint was literallty fresh on the day of filming!

"The Five Doctors" isn't always coherent in its plot, but worthy. Many plot holes/issues can be explained with headcanon anyhow.

The Awakening - another one I don't remember. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be based on the description.

It has atmopshere, Will as a person who would have made a fun companion, some BBC Micro ASCII text used as vfx, and for a plot that otherwise should feel bigger if it's this evil entity, the Malus, trying to break free to destroy the universe or something. The fact it has any atmosphere is surprising in of itself.

On to Frontios. We'll see if anything trips my memory there.

Good luck!

I do definitely remember seeing Planet of Fire and Caves of Androzani on PBS as a kid.

An underrated adventure, one that has a long list of checkbox items to deal with, and yet they're all handled remarkably well for the most part.

I may have seen Resurrection of the Daleks, too? I know I've seen all 3 since (on DVD).

Arguably the messiest story of the season, the atmopshere and threat of the Daleks makes up for it all and then some.

I may have mentioned this before, but Caves was so good I was going to make a decision to be more diligent in watching or recording Doctor Who, then they ended up killing Davison off...

A simple plot, a partial rehash of "The Power of Kroll" what with gunrunners and double double-crossing, just no stupidly big monster. Just a stupid tiny one. But it's a good rehash, done better. Even then, the Doctor is surprisingly generic in this swansong. Most of its strengths are due to the acting, direction, pacing, and music.

And next week's The Twin Dilemma was so bad that I quit watching lol.

Season 22 is an improvement, often good to great, but Colin's premiere is not a classic. As sci-fi it's mostly veneer and forgetting small things like the distance between planets, speed of light, and other basic things), and some controversial elements are (a) so poorly done that the actors are compensating on screen, and (b) requires remembering events from "Caves" as there's direct continuity, even with concepts under-10s aren't going to understand. The scripting was so uneven that Eric Saward scrambled in taking over writing of the final two parts. The main author either gave up on the script, or his electric typewriter really did blow up. The author had a fair amount of drama under his belt, but as sci-fi this one's a genuine misfire.

I'd been a faithful watcher since Spearhead in Space all through Pertwee's era dnd Baker's era up to the first part of Davison's era, and hit and miss through the rest of Davison's era.

Started with Tom Baker, got to see most of the others, then got to see the first two incarnations during the 1985 "hiatus". Little did we know back then why the show was put on hold, and the incarnations to come.

 

[Qonundrum]

K9 Mk 3 was meant to be evil? That would explain the theme music he inflicted on us...

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The music can be hit or miss, but poor Liz Sladen definitely gives a possible impression that she might not have wanted to have been in it! Looks great on 16mm film and not the telecine transfer, though!

 

[Christopher]

"The Five Doctors" isn't always coherent in its plot, but worthy. Many plot holes/issues can be explained with headcanon anyhow.

For me, the biggest plot hole is, if there was already a transmat terminal in Rassilon's tomb, why the heck was it necessary to involve the Doctors in the first place? Just to get there to turn on the transmat? But it's the same make as the transmats in the Citadel, and it's in working order, so presumably it's not ancient. Somebody must've been able to get in there recently enough to install it. So why was any of the story necessary at all?

Little did we know back then why the show was put on hold, and the incarnations to come.

As I recall, it was pretty well reported at the time that the show was cancelled due to Michael Grade not liking it. Has there been another reason revealed more recently?

 

[26138]

Season 22 is an improvement, often good to great, but Colin's premiere is not a classic. As sci-fi it's mostly veneer and forgetting small things like the distance between planets, speed of light, and other basic things), and some controversial elements are (a) so poorly done that the actors are compensating on screen, and (b) requires remembering events from "Caves" as there's direct continuity, even with concepts under-10s aren't going to understand. The scripting was so uneven that Eric Saward scrambled in taking over writing of the final two parts. The main author either gave up on the script, or his electric typewriter really did blow up. The author had a fair amount of drama under his belt, but as sci-fi this one's a genuine misfire.

Didn't help that the twins were like a pair of plywood boards - they were so wooden in their acting.

 

[26138]

Frontios. No memories of watching it on PBS were revealed. Big Finish needs a spinoff: Turlough and the Hat Stand of Doom!

Interesting setup with the society on Frontios. Could have cut out an episode of running back and forth and been fine, I think. Monsters were OK I guess. The guards had Blake's 7 Federation trooper helmets! Davison does a good job playing along with the Tractators at the start of ep 4, and a good job

Spoiler

tricking the Gravis into fixing the TARDIS

at the story's climax.

On to Resurrection of the Daleks.

 

[26138]

Season 22 is an improvement, often good to great, but Colin's premiere is not a classic.

Yep, I should have kept watching for several weeks after PBS aired The Twin Dilemma. Probably would have kept watching the reruns then. It's just funny how 1 terrible 'first serial' just killed my enthusiasm for DW.

 

[Mr Awe]

As I recall, it was pretty well reported at the time that the show was cancelled due to Michael Grade not liking it. Has there been another reason revealed more recently?

Grade had it cancelled initially but that was undone. Although, when it returned it was without Colin Baker because Grade was dating Colin's ex-wife at the time.

It was eventually put on hiatus after three seasons of McCoy because JNT left and there was no replacement producer to fill his shoes and various other things (like Worldwide trying to make a movie).

But the ultimate cancellation wasn't due to Grade. In fact, in a recent interview on a Blu-ray set, Grade seemed unaware that the show was saved at all after the initial cancellation!