Last Classic Who Story you watched

[26138]

Resurrection of the Daleks - decent, but it tried to have too many plots going at the same time. The poor dalek models were in terrible shape. Also, that poor guy by river was just minding his own business and the duplicates shot him! Had a few flashbacks to watching it on PBS back in the day. Bye Tegan.

 

[Qonundrum]

Resurrection of the Daleks - decent, but it tried to have too many plots going at the same time. The poor dalek models were in terrible shape. Also, that poor guy by river was just minding his own business and the duplicates shot him! Had a few flashbacks to watching it on PBS back in the day. Bye Tegan.

Definitely too busy with clunky and incompatible ideas that don't go anywhere beyond a veneer of "we're going to invade, isn't that exciting?" by the Daleks. Too busy and inconsequential, and for no reason than crowd-pleasing bits. Like "The Chase" but without the canned comedy. Oooh, bring back Davros again, using the same plot points as in his previous story? Oooh, callback to the Movellans and their battles! Why? Who cares, the Movellan canisters are on Earth, we don't care or explore that since why would the Movellans come here or why would the Daleks, when they can bog off to any old planet and tinker with the canisters there and with no pesky interlopers. Oooh, Daleks want to take over Gallifrey all of a sudden! Why, apart from the most epic clip show sequence from the last three years*? Oooh, there's a Dalek time corridor - it's probably related, but the galaxy's a big place so aren't we lucky the TARDIS stumbled into it? "It was but one trap!" exclaims a Dalek, but we don't get explanations of the others, of which some might tie in the story's busy-ness better?

At least the story easily had the highest death count in Doctor Who. Take that, T-800! But in seriousness, the direction and grim atmosphere/tone of the story does elevate it, if you can get into it. The stories surrounding this one are so much better, though, with less busy storylines that feel like they have more meaning and something to say.

The US transmission had incomplete effects as well, e.g. no Dalek gun zap visuals.

I'm pretty sure the casings weren't able to get properly refurbished due to budget constraints, though I recall they looked better than they had in "Destiny", where they were completely knackered. I also recall that this story was originally to have been at the end of season 20, before 'The Five Doctors'. Called 'Warhead', industrial action cobbled it entirely (and almost took down Terminus too) - add in other hassles JNT had to deal with regarding previous years and that's another reason he wanted Colin Baker's first story to be made, so that Davison wouldn't lose out on his swansong... I sometimes do wonder if this story would have fared worse if industrial action hadn't clobbered the end of the season.

In its defense, Maurice Colbourne and Rodney Bewes both steal the show.

* Except for Leela but, in fairness, with a 21 year-old show, and with no database of every companion the Doctor had, plus the luck of enough existing episodes to get snippets of everyone else from, the one character omission is impressive that there weren't any other accidental omissions.​

​

 

[diankra]

Definitely too busy with clunky and incompatible ideas that don't go anywhere beyond a veneer of "we're going to invade, isn't that exciting?" by the Daleks. Too busy and inconsequential, and for no reason than crowd-pleasing bits. Like "The Chase" but without the canned comedy. Oooh, bring back Davros again, using the same plot points as in his previous story? Oooh, callback to the Movellans and their battles! Why? Who cares, the Movellan canisters are on Earth, we don't care or explore that since why would the Movellans come here or why would the Daleks, when they can bog off to any old planet and tinker with the canisters there and with no pesky interlopers. Oooh, Daleks want to take over Gallifrey all of a sudden! Why, apart from the most epic clip show sequence from the last three years*? Oooh, there's a Dalek time corridor - it's probably related, but the galaxy's a big place so aren't we lucky the TARDIS stumbled into it? "It was but one trap!" exclaims a Dalek, but we don't get explanations of the others, of which some might tie in the story's busy-ness better?

At least the story easily had the highest death count in Doctor Who. Take that, T-800! But in seriousness, the direction and grim atmosphere/tone of the story does elevate it, if you can get into it. The stories surrounding this one are so much better, though, with less busy storylines that feel like they have more meaning and something to say.

The US transmission had incomplete effects as well, e.g. no Dalek gun zap visuals.

I'm pretty sure the casings weren't able to get properly refurbished due to budget constraints, though I recall they looked better than they had in "Destiny", where they were completely knackered. I also recall that this story was originally to have been at the end of season 20, before 'The Five Doctors'. Called 'Warhead', industrial action cobbled it entirely (and almost took down Terminus too) - add in other hassles JNT had to deal with regarding previous years and that's another reason he wanted Colin Baker's first story to be made, so that Davison wouldn't lose out on his swansong... I sometimes do wonder if this story would have fared worse if industrial action hadn't clobbered the end of the season.

In its defense, Maurice Colbourne and Rodney Bewes both steal the show.

* Except for Leela but, in fairness, with a 21 year-old show, and with no database of every companion the Doctor had, plus the luck of enough existing episodes to get snippets of everyone else from, the one character omission is impressive that there weren't any other accidental omissions.​

​

IIRC the US version was copied from a half-finished version, where the sound effects hadn't been added. The UK version has the gun sounds switch.

 

[Christopher]

Incidentally, I've been watching Agatha Christie's Marple on Britbox, and in season 3, which aired from 2007-9, they had Peter Davison in a minor role in the first episode (as a shifty lawyer) and Tom Baker in a more prominent role in the third (he's the first murder victim, though, so he's not in the whole thing). And the fourth and final episode of the season has Richard E. Grant, so that's arguably three Doctors in one season. Oh, and the second episode of the season had Burn Gorman, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Camille Coduri.

 

[VDCNI]

The main point of that series was to stuff it full of familiar faces in any role even small ones. It's but a patch on the BBC Hickson Marples though Peter Davison is in one of those stories as well.

 

[Christopher]

The main point of that series was to stuff it full of familiar faces in any role even small ones.

Well, I'm used to that from mystery series like Murder, She Wrote (which was a Marple pastiche from the start) and Diagnosis: Murder. The familiar guests are a main part of the appeal.

 

[VDCNI]

Well, I'm used to that from mystery series like Murder, She Wrote (which was a Marple pastiche from the start) and Diagnosis: Murder. The familiar guests are a main part of the appeal.

It's much less usual to do that in UK shows , a few stars yeah but not for 10 line roles.

MSW didn't do it to that extreme either.

 

[Christopher]

MSW didn't do it to that extreme either.

Are you kidding? Giving new work to aging, once-popular actors was practically Murder: She Wrote's raison d'etre, and Diagnosis: Murder's to an equal or greater extent. Probably Matlock too, but I didn't watch that one much. Really, anything whose target audience was older viewers who grew up watching those once-big stars. (When D:M did it, they often brought the actors back as their classic characters, creating a retroactive shared universe.) Of course, the same went for non-mystery shows like The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

And I'm not sure what you mean by "the UK Marple." The series I'm watching was a British production airing on ITV, although WGBH Boston was a production partner. I mean, I did already say that it's on Britbox.

 

[VDCNI]

It's much less usual in the UK it should have said. Don't know why I added the Marple though obviously it was a British production.

Yeah I know MSW really well but again plenty of roles in that were played by pretty unknown actors. As I've said Marple is unusual in pretty much every part no matter the size being played by a well known actor in the UK.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah I know MSW really well but again plenty of roles in that were played by pretty unknown actors. As I've said Marple is unusual in pretty much every part no matter the size being played by a well known actor in the UK.

I guess I don't know British actors well enough to recognize most of them.

 

[diankra]

The main point of that series was to stuff it full of familiar faces in any role even small ones. It's but a patch on the BBC Hickson Marples though Peter Davison is in one of those stories as well.

The ITV Marples all adapted Agatha Christie novels, but a lot weren't originally Marples. She had to be added into stories about Tommy and Tuppence, or no recurring characters.
The Hickson ones did all 12 Marple novels, but not the short stories (as the Suchet Poirot did, often with a lot added).

 

[Christopher]

The ITV Marples all adapted Agatha Christie novels, but a lot weren't originally Marples. She had to be added into stories about Tommy and Tuppence, or no recurring characters.

That's right, though there was only one with Tommy & Tuppence. Every season except the first and last adapts two Marple novels and two non-Marple novels with MM added in; the final season has two Marple and one non-Marple. The one with Tom Baker is Towards Zero, which Marple wasn't originally in, and which recently got a new miniseries adaptation that's also on Britbox.

The Poirot series only adapted Poirot novels and stories, but many of the short stories were greatly expanded or combined, and the anthology-ish fixup novels were heavily rewritten into more cohesive stories. They also did this bizarre thing where they kept the series frozen in 1936-7 even as the actors aged decades, and even after a story where Poirot had been retired for years.

 

[diankra]

That's right, though there was only one with Tommy & Tuppence. Every season except the first and last adapts two Marple novels and two non-Marple novels with MM added in; the final season has two Marple and one non-Marple. The one with Tom Baker is Towards Zero, which Marple wasn't originally in, and which recently got a new miniseries adaptation that's also on Britbox.

The Poirot series only adapted Poirot novels and stories, but many of the short stories were greatly expanded or combined, and the anthology-ish fixup novels were heavily rewritten into more cohesive stories. They also did this bizarre thing where they kept the series frozen in 1936-7 even as the actors aged decades, and even after a story where Poirot had been retired for years.

An interesting thing is that Christie wrote Sleeping Murder and Curtain in case she died in the Blttz, but with the condition that they should only be published after her death.
As a side note, Philip Jackson also played Japp on Radio 4.

 

[Mr Awe]

"The memory cheats", as someone once said!

Like I say I'm happy to be corrected, but all the documentary evidence seems to support my understanding.

Just think about it, why would JNT quit the show when he had nowhere else to go, and then sit around the empty Doctor Who production office for a year until he was made redundant? That doesn't make sense.

It's widely reported that he wanted to leave earlier but was convinced to stay on because he was told there was no replacement and the show would end. That's pretty solid.

Yeah, memory cheats! Oh well . . .

 

[Mr Awe]

IIRC the US version was copied from a half-finished version, where the sound effects hadn't been added. The UK version has the gun sounds switch.

I saw that version in the US when it first aired here. It was weird! At first you noticed something was weird but not exactly what but then it becomes very clear. And you're just thinking WTF?!

 

[VDCNI]

The ITV Marples all adapted Agatha Christie novels, but a lot weren't originally Marples. She had to be added into stories about Tommy and Tuppence, or no recurring characters.
The Hickson ones did all 12 Marple novels, but not the short stories (as the Suchet Poirot did, often with a lot added).

Yes I'm not a fan of the series as a whole compared to the Hicksons but some of the non Marples I don't mind as I find it easier to accept the liberties they take with the plots.

I have a real soft spot for the Tommy and Tuppence one, By the Pricking of Their Thumbs.

It's a good example of their tendency to stuff the cast when Claire Bloom, Miriam Karlin, Stephen Berkoff, Bonnie Langford and Brian Connelly are all in small roles.

 

[Christopher]

I have a real soft spot for the Tommy and Tuppence one, By the Pricking of Their Thumbs.

It's a good example of their tendency to stuff the cast when Claire Bloom, Miriam Karlin, Stephen Berkoff, Bonnie Langford and Brian Connelly are all in small roles.

Oh yeah. When I saw Langford's name in the credits, I found myself wondering if I'd recognize her at that age, since I'm not great with facial recognition. But I knew it was her right away, and certainly as soon as I heard her voice.

Oh, and that one had Michelle Ryan as well, another Who veteran.

 

[Tomalak]

It's widely reported that he wanted to leave earlier but was convinced to stay on because he was told there was no replacement and the show would end. That's pretty solid.

Yeah, memory cheats! Oh well . . .

Yeah but that was earlier when he thought he might have a chance to do something else - he was constantly pitching ideas, usually shiny floor variety shows that were out of vogue by that point.

There's a claim from Andrew Cartmel that he was offered Bergerac, but said he's only do it if he could move it off Jersey and sack John Nettles. Which sounds like an obvious joke taken out of context.

Given what we know, there's zero chance that Johnathan Powell would have given him a big hitter like that. By 1989 it was Doctor Who or nothing, and a year later it was nothing.

 

[Guy1993]

I rewatched the special edition of The Curse of Fenric it flows so much better than the tv version. In fact the cliffhangers never really worked in the broadcast version other the final one.

 

[26138]

Planet of Fire was pretty good. Peri in a bikini, getting info about Turlough's past, the Master -- all good. Magic gas the heals? It's cheesy, but Davison's acting gives it just enough oomph to not make it too cheesy. I did think it was funny how Peri was going to hit the tiny Master with her shoe like squashing a bug. I liked the alternative clothing options for the Doctor and Turlough (except Turlough needed longer shorts -- sorry 1984, that's one fashion choice I'm glad died off). Now that I think of it, some of the guys on Sarn had skimpy bottoms on, too! Doctor Who and the Short Shorts - coming to a Chippendale's near you?

Glad they found a way to remove Kamelion from the team, even if it did seem a bit harsh to have the Doctor kill him. The puppet was too problematic to keep being used, and they really couldn't do anything with it unless they had him morph into another actor. Also, having a shapeshifting robot would make getting out of prisons way too easy - just shapeshift him into the big baddie of the serial and call the guards to let him out.

I forgot how bad Peri's accent was. [Nicola Bryant has improved it a lot since 1984] She'll be OK, but then pronounce a word wrong or put the emphasis on the wrong syllable and shatter the American illusion. I do specifically remember one instance of her using the wrong word in the Colin Baker years where she calls something "a lift" instead of "an elevator" like any self-respecting American would lol.

No wonder I remembered watching this one from back in the day. Peri goes for a swim, and the Master gets flame-broiled.