Last Classic Who Story you watched

[Tomalak]

Incredibly Nicola says she had to maintain the illusion that she was actually American, as JNT was apparently completely fooled and didn't realise until she'd left. Colin knew, but she had to do the whole American thing in rehearsals etc.

Contemporary interviews are quite funny to watch - she does a kind of mid-Atlantic accent that veers between her natural English and the full Peri.

There's an excruciating interview with her on the Season 22 set on BBC Breakfast where the interviewer is probing her on her nationality and she's desperately deflecting without totally lying.

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[Qonundrum]

Planet of Fire was pretty good. Peri in a bikini, getting info about Turlough's past, the Master -- all good.

Turlough rockin' the swimsuit also helps, but audiences would get bored quickly if the only things the story had to offer were brief swimming scenes.

Magic gas the heals? It's cheesy,

Yup, but I like how they play it sincerely. The modern show would probably yuk it up with winks and nods and making it self-parody. Plus, various substances have healing properties here on Earth - just not in accelerated form, since eating 10 pounds of antioxidants won't restore you to the equivalent of a 25-year-old in as many seconds.

but Davison's acting gives it just enough oomph to not make it too cheesy.

Season 21's scripts were stronger and Davison definitely has this verve and assertiveness - I wish he had stayed another year.

I did think it was funny how Peri was going to hit the tiny Master with her shoe like squashing a bug.

It was a funny moment and yet it also shows Peri having her own assertiveness that's generally been lacking in companions. A shame it didn't last.

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?

ROTFL. There's much in the way of testosterone, and even by 1984 standards this story feels a little much. And yet the characterizations and the acting of easily rise above any skimpiness.

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.

It's a reminder that even the Doctor will do what has to be done, Davison sells the sadness and humility of the scene extremely well. A shame they couldn't have found alternatives to Kameleon sooner as the shapeshifting aspect didn't always require the robot prop and this story proves it. A good idea cratered because there was little documentation on how to program it and tragedy struck its creator. How much it could be practicably used to teach kids what real electronics could do for every single week is also questionable.

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.

A step ahead, you're right: Shapeshifting would be the very story of "get out of peril free" that JNT had hated when the sonic screwdriver was waved.

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.

She fumbled, but as a kid I never really noticed. In rewatches, some of it does stand out, but not as much as using UK terminology instead of US terminology what with her ostensibly being American and all. (Also to compare, the US pilot for Red Dwarf did the inverse: It never bothered to change UK terminology to US so, for it, "walkway" was not changed to "sidewalk". I don't recall instances of Peri using UK terms instead of US ones, apart from remembering she had a couple of times.)

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

Turlough finally gets his background explained, and it's good, even if it's sometimes at odds with dialogue accorded him in his first. Why, in his first adventure, is he eager to get home when, in his swansong, he's proverbially peeing his pants in fear because he's an exile from there and doesn't want to return (making a couple of decisions he makes in this story a lot more dramatic as a result)?

Also, Timanov is a more sympathetic character than what you'd think, and even Amyand for all his stinging cynicism is willing to forgive Timanov.

 

[26138]

Turlough finally gets his background explained, and it's good, even if it's sometimes at odds with dialogue accorded him in his first. Why, in his first adventure, is he eager to get home when, in his swansong, he's proverbially peeing his pants in fear because he's an exile from there and doesn't want to return (making a couple of decisions he makes in this story a lot more dramatic as a result)?

Oh yeah, he was all "I want to get off Earth and go back home" with the Black Guardian. Well, not the worst retcon in Who history lol.

 

[Christopher]

Planet of Fire was pretty good. Peri in a bikini

Truly a high point of the franchise as far as I was concerned back in the day... and I guess still.

I was kind of conflicted about Peri for a while, actually, because she was really sexy, but also shrill and annoying. I felt she got better in the "Trial" season, though, finally settling into the character shortly before she left.

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.

Yeah, it's almost as bad as, say, having a piece of psychic paper that will make people think you're whatever authority figure they'll defer to.

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.

That happens a lot when British writers give dialogue to American characters. One bit that always got me was in Eccleston's "Dalek," where the American bad guy made a pun about an intruder coming "in t'ru der window," which is a pun that only works with a British accent where "der" rhymes with "the."

Turlough finally gets his background explained, and it's good, even if it's sometimes at odds with dialogue accorded him in his first. Why, in his first adventure, is he eager to get home when, in his swansong, he's proverbially peeing his pants in fear because he's an exile from there and doesn't want to return (making a couple of decisions he makes in this story a lot more dramatic as a result)?

I can buy that, after years in dismal exile, his homesickness might have outweighed his rational concerns about what would happen upon his return. But once returning to Trion became a real possibility rather than an unattainable fantasy, his reason kicked in more strongly.

Also, when he was stuck in boarding school on Earth, Trion may have seemed like his only other option, so he would've seen it as the lesser of two evils. But by "Planet of Fire," he'd learned that there was a universe full of alternate places he could go, so Trion looked less desirable in comparison.

 

[26138]

OK, for some reason I watched Delta and the Bannermen. I haven't seen this since my first viewing of it back in the late aughts when I got it on DVD. It's cheesy to start out with, but ends up being less cheesy than I remembered. Still pretty cheesy, though.

I liked McCoy mixing up idioms, but I can see why they dropped it after this serial. I liked McCoy's back and forth with Gavrok at the end of episode 2. "Life? What do you know about life, Gavrok? You deal in death. Lies, treachery, and murder are your currency." Poor Mel screams several times in this one. All the vehicle action reminds me a little of the Pertwee era.

The [supposedly American] satellite looking like Sputnik makes sense when you realize the story was originally set in 1957, but they moved it forward to 1959 so the rock and roll music wouldn't be out of place.

 

[Qonundrum]

OK, for some reason I watched Delta and the Bannermen.

To quote someone, "I'm so sorry!"

I haven't seen this since my first viewing of it back in the late aughts when I got it on DVD.

I'd seen it only on initial airing and when the DVD came out, noting I'd also bought the VHS and blu-ray releases...

It's cheesy to start out with, but ends up being less cheesy than I remembered. Still pretty cheesy, though.

Cartmel's influence starts to show about halfway in. The script is cobblers at best, the Bannermen are as menacing as a group of dust mites and look like cosplay of the lamest sort, but... the acting - particularly by Sylvester McCoy and Don Henderson - save what is often too embarrassing, even if the script's flow and content is trying to pay homage to "1950s sci-fi"... then again, the analogy of what compels Billy to eat Chimeron food is still dumb, only because it works so perfectly (more 50s-esque shlock. The 50s-style music is pretty good, though!)

I liked McCoy mixing up idioms, but I can see why they dropped it after this serial.

To keep that up so regularly would become stale. Wish they had done one or two more on occasion.

I liked McCoy's back and forth with Gavrok at the end of episode 2. "Life? What do you know about life, Gavrok? You deal in death. Lies, treachery, and murder are your currency."

A surprisingly great line, well-acted. In a story that often has the sheer opposite regarding dialogue. Come to think of it, the assassin (a too-short role in this 3-parter) was also given decent dialogue and was well-acted.

Poor Mel screams several times in this one. All the vehicle action reminds me a little of the Pertwee era.

Mel is a throwback to the days of Victoria, only Mel isn't from the 1800s.

The action feels like rubberstamp homage at most. Amazing they tried it. Some of the bike work was good.

The [supposedly American] satellite looking like Sputnik makes sense when you realize the story was originally set in 1957, but they moved it forward to 1959 so the rock and roll music wouldn't be out of place.

A good change of date, then.

Still wish that legendary comic actor Stubby Kaye was given better material to work with. He was known for comedy and season 24 is trying really hard to be campy, and yet Kaye feels ill-served by the story. If nothing else, it gives me a reason to finally watch the story on blu-ray...

 

[26138]

A surprisingly great line, well-acted. In a story that often has the sheer opposite regarding dialogue. Come to think of it, the assassin (a too-short role in this 3-parter) was also given decent dialogue and was well-acted.

Yeah, Delta almost seems like a modern Who episode with how fast it zooms along.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Ghost Light. Music is a bit overpowering in some scenes. A bit like what one would find in old soaps. Ace gets two costume changes. Neanderthal make up was well done. Pace is a bit frenetic.

 

[26138]

Ghost Light. Music is a bit overpowering in some scenes. A bit like what one would find in old soaps. Ace gets two costume changes. Neanderthal make up was well done. Pace is a bit frenetic.

It took me 2 watches of it plus reading the internet to figure out what it was about lol.

 

[Qonundrum]

Ghost Light. Music is a bit overpowering in some scenes. A bit like what one would find in old soaps. Ace gets two costume changes. Neanderthal make up was well done. Pace is a bit frenetic.

The one where the lit-up dude with nonmatching voice wants to catalogue everything in evolution and the Doctor quickly points out the impossibility of doing so. And other fluff involving arson and stuff. Definitely more style than substance, it takes a few viewings to get the gist of enough of it and if the style isn't your cup of tea then it's a slog to rewatch.

 

[Steve Roby]

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.

Even later, on Big Finish audios, she sometimes makes the same mistake some other British actors make when doing a North American accent. With an occasional regional exception, we don't use R at the end of a word or syllable as a vowel modifier, we use it as consonant and pronounce it -- but we don't pronounce an R where a word just ends in a vowel. if you're English and you ask the gaffer for a jaffa cake, you're basically saying gaffa and jaffa. If you're North American, you're saying gaffer (pronouncing the R) and jaffa (not pronouncing an invisible R). Nicola Bryant doing American would say gaffer and jaffer, pronouncing an R in both. Nope.

 

[Christopher]

Even later, on Big Finish audios, she sometimes makes the same mistake some other British actors make when doing a North American accent. With an occasional regional exception, we don't use R at the end of a word or syllable as a vowel modifier, we use it as consonant and pronounce it -- but we don't pronounce an R where a word just ends in a vowel. if you're English and you ask the gaffer for a jaffa cake, you're basically saying gaffa and jaffa. If you're North American, you're saying gaffer (pronouncing the R) and jaffa (not pronouncing an invisible R). Nicola Bryant doing American would say gaffer and jaffer, pronouncing an R in both. Nope.

Yes, a classic case of overcorrection, and probably the most common giveaway for a British or Commonwealth actor feigning an American accent.

By the way, what the heck is a jaffa cake? Did Teal'c retire and open a bakery? (Is the icing made of Jaffa kree-m?)

 

[Steve Roby]

I am not hep to Stargate references; I only ever watched the first episode or two before deciding it wasn't for me.

A jaffa cake is a wonderful thing I wish I could find more regularly in Canadian supermarkets. A disc of sponge cake, some jam, and a chocolate coating on top. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa_Cakes

 

[Procutus]

For a nostalgia trip, I borrowed the library's blu-ray copy of Season 15, so I just finished watching Horror of Fang Rock and The invisible Enemy. I first discovered DW during Tom Baker's era, so this brought back fond memories.

Not to mention I had forgotten just how hot Louise Jameson was back then.

 

[26138]

Horror of Fang Rock is really good.

 

[Procutus]

I liked the fact that it was based on the Flannan Isles Lighthouse incident. Cool historical connection.

 

[diankra]

Yes, a classic case of overcorrection, and probably the most common giveaway for a British or Commonwealth actor feigning an American accent.

By the way, what the heck is a jaffa cake? Did Teal'c retire and open a bakery? (Is the icing made of Jaffa kree-m?)

British thing: A small cake with orange jam on top covered in chocolate.
There was a legal case a while back over whether it was a cake or a biscuit (different VAT rules apply).

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Incredibly Nicola says she had to maintain the illusion that she was actually American, as JNT was apparently completely fooled and didn't realise until she'd left. Colin knew, but she had to do the whole American thing in rehearsals etc.

Contemporary interviews are quite funny to watch - she does a kind of mid-Atlantic accent that veers between her natural English and the full Peri.

There's an excruciating interview with her on the Season 22 set on BBC Breakfast where the interviewer is probing her on her nationality and she's desperately deflecting without totally lying.

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Well she had me fooled back in the day, as i thought she was American just up until recently.

 

[Christopher]

Well she had me fooled back in the day, as i thought she was American just up until recently.

I could tell Bryant's American accent was dodgy, but I believed her claim at the time that she was American by birth, and I just figured she'd lived in England long enough to affect her accent. I wondered if that might account for Peri's accent too, but I don't think that fits her backstory.