Spoilers Power of the Daleks

[Mr Awe]

Quite the contrary, I find it easier to watch classic era stories an episode a day. Classic Who really isn't meant to be binge-watched.

I grew up on classic Who. I'd generally prefer to watch 2-3 episodes per sitting. That's an hour plus or minus, hardly binge watching.

Still great to be watching Power!

Mr Awe

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The B&W version is up.

Thanks. Do we know if they'll keep all of the episodes as they add each one? I would prefer to watch the whole serial in one go.

Quite the contrary, I find it easier to watch classic era stories an episode a day. Classic Who really isn't meant to be binge-watched.

I can certainly understand that, but I prefer watching them in one go. Not necessarily because of binge-watching, but I personally get more out of the serial that way. Just a personal taste.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

So, it'll be on next week? Same time? I ask for a friend.

 

[Christopher]

So, it'll be on next week? Same time? I ask for a friend.

Yes, it's a 6-episode serial and they're showing one episode per week.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Yes, it's a 6-episode serial and they're showing one episode per week.

Great, thanks!

 

[Turtletrekker]

For whatever reason, I can't get either episode, BW or color, to play today.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not sure whether the animation was slightly less bad in part 2 or if I've just started to get used to it. At least the Daleks are decent-looking, though the 2D Flash characters look worse by contrast with the 3D Daleks.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I watched the first episode, myself. And while I'll always, always lament that the BBC was so insane as to burn out so much of the wonderful Pat Troughton's performance as the Doctor, I appreciated the animation in this one, though you're right that The Invasion will still be the best. For once, I liked that I could concentrate on the story and enjoy the writing, among other things. Lovely, lovely watch.

 

[Turtletrekker]

There weren't as many continuity errors in part two, but the character movements were just as awkward. The backgrounds and Daleks look great.

As for the story, I'm appreciating the slow burn. I'm not usually a fan of the longer arcs in Classic Who, but the Troughton arcs are generally the exception. I enjoyed "The Web of Fear", "The Enemy of the World", and even the massive 10-part "The War Games" without losing interest.

 

[Christopher]

There weren't as many continuity errors in part two, but the character movements were just as awkward. The backgrounds and Daleks look great.

The main continuity error I noticed was with the Dalek -- after the shot where its eyestalk irised open, the view cut to a new angle where its iris was still narrow.

Also, I think the animators misunderstood the stage direction about the Doctor taking hold of a lamp or something, because in one shot he was out in the lab pawing at a desk-mounted lamp for no apparent reason, and in the next shot he was back in the ship holding a large lantern.

As for the story, I'm appreciating the slow burn. I'm not usually a fan of the longer arcs in Classic Who, but the Troughton arcs are generally the exception. I enjoyed "The Web of Fear", "The Enemy of the World", and even the massive 10-part "The War Games" without losing interest.

Here are my thoughts from an earlier thread about why "The War Games" works so well:

It doesn't get tiresome, because the story keeps evolving and expanding and making new revelations. First we're in the War Zones and it's the sinister generals as the villains. Then we get the time-travel surprise and we start to learn about the control center and the gaming of various wars. Then the War Chief and the Security Chief come in and their rivalry develops. Then we start to get hints about the Time Lords and the mysterious link between the War Chief and the Doctor, and then the secrets of the Doctor's origins begin to come out. Then Philip Madoc shows up as the War Lord and totally steals the show with his mellow, understated menace, while the heroes return to the War Zones to build the resistance army. And then it all comes to a climax and then suddenly steps up to a whole new level as the Time Lords are brought in at last.

Considering how hastily it was written and how much it had to be stretched out to fill ten episodes, "The War Games" is a strikingly effective and well-structured narrative. The lack of monsters and the focus on man's inhumanity to man gives it a more serious, intense feel than most DW serials, though it doesn't lack for humor. It's also got what may be my favorite Dudley Simpson score, certainly where the Hartnell/Troughton era was concerned.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Agreed about War Games. I remember I popped that one in and thought that I'd see half of it that day, the other half the next. But as it turned out, I simply plowed through the whole thing uninterrupted nearly. I just wanted to watch the whole serial in one go.

 

[Christopher]

Agreed about War Games. I remember I popped that one in and thought that I'd see half of it that day, the other half the next. But as it turned out, I simply plowed through the whole thing uninterrupted nearly. I just wanted to watch the whole serial in one go.

I rented it from Netflix, so I had to watch the two halves several days apart. But it worked pretty well that way, because of the way the story evolved through different phases.

 

[The Wormhole]

Just got back from seeing this in the theatre, pretty good. I know I made a comment earlier about classic Who working best for me at an episode a day, but this is one story that really does work in one sitting. Really entertaining and interesting story.

The animation is rather unimpressive, but I found it kind of grew on me. And truth of the matter is, any animation, even crappy animation is preferable over photo still recons any day.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I just finished the whole of it, and I have to say... Fantastic! Its obviously less of a regeneration story than "just another Doctor adventure", but its a fantastic one at that. Robot is more of a regeneration story than this is, but it doesn't work nearly as well as a story from almost any perspective. This one is, clearly, the best Dalek serial I've ever seen from OldWho - not better than Genesis, but the Daleks weren't the main drive of that serial, their creation was and, of course, Davros. Here, the Daleks are the villains, and they're as cunning as they've never been. I respect Terry Nation for his creations and his vast imagination, but IMO, he couldn't write convincing character interactions or nuanced behaviour into his scripts as well as Whittaker and Spooner do here. These Daleks have personality and distinct feel to them. The animation fortunately didn't ruin the feeling from their meeting with the Second Doctor that they DO know him, the DO fear him, and what he has to say about them, but they WILL carry on pretending they're servants. Clever writing for the Daleks - imagine that.

Of course, if I have a niggle, it'd be that, unlike Deep Breath (which seems to have borrowed the not-my-Doctor theme from this one the most), the companions don't turn to the screen and re-assure the audiences at the end. I thought I missed that.

Overall, if I had to rank it, it'd probably be one of my top favorites. Top 10? Sure! Top 5? Well... can it stand alongside latter giants like Genesis, City of Death and Caves of Androzani?

Probably. I'm so glad this was animated, and we can cross if off the list of unwatchable, lost stories.

 

[The Wormhole]

My problem with the whole "not my Doctor" thing in this story is that it pretty much dominates the first forty minutes or whatever and is then pretty much dropped with Ben the skeptical one seemingly forgetting he had doubts. Mind you, for the most part the story is engaging enough that at times I forgot this was in fact the first Troughton story ever I was watching, and maybe that was the point back in the 60s, engage the audience in the story so much that by the end they have accepted Troughton and the fact there's a new Doctor is no longer an issue.

 

[Christopher]

My problem with the whole "not my Doctor" thing in this story is that it pretty much dominates the first forty minutes or whatever and is then pretty much dropped with Ben the skeptical one seemingly forgetting he had doubts.

I don't see that as a problem. At the end of part 2, when the Dalek reacts to the Doctor, Ben is the one who says "It recognized the Doctor. It recognized him." His tone is one of realization. That was clearly the moment when he became convinced that it truly was the Doctor. So it wasn't dropped -- it was resolved.

(Although the problem there is that the Daleks were never actually mentioned in Ben's hearing in any of the three previous serials he was in. So having him know about the Daleks and say the Doctor talked about them all the time is a continuity error.)

 

[The Wormhole]

I don't see that as a problem. At the end of part 2, when the Dalek reacts to the Doctor, Ben is the one who says "It recognized the Doctor. It recognized him." His tone is one of realization. That was clearly the moment when he became convinced that it truly was the Doctor. So it wasn't dropped -- it was resolved.

Oh, crap, I forgot about that when I was writing my post.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I still would've liked Ben, at the end of the serial, just before they entered the TARDIS, to aknowledge that "you know what, what do we know about the Doctor? All we know is, that he is the Doctor." That's all I'd have wanted, personally.

Other than that, its one the most engaging six-parters there have ever been, and that accounts to the cast of characters involved, and indeed the writing of the characters (although how could the Governor stay in power after its been revealed he'd been behind the previous Governor's death is kind of a head-scratcher). A lot of OldWho is just running around in corridors, and the actors improvising some emotion. Here, the story helps, and its great one to behold.

 

[Ithekro]

Those days weren't spent on figuring out who the Doctor was. The show's title was the very question "Doctor Who"? Who is the Doctor? But at that point, it was still sometimes considered his name. "Doctor Who and the species of the week.", and that most people still called him Doctor Who off camera. But on camera, he was only "The Doctor", and eventually they made that stick in people's heads. Took two decades or more to get that in there, with Peter Davison and Colin Baker being fans of the show before being on the show, so they understood that he was The Doctor.

Ben's realization that the Daleks recognized the Doctor immediately was enough to convince him. If the enemy of the Doctor says this man is the Doctor, even though he has never been seen by anyone other then the companions and this planet's population before, than he must be the Doctor. It also means the Daleks have seen this face before (time travel referenced for one maybe). It is also an audience reassurance moment for a show with a lot of children watching. The Daleks are by far the most popular enemy of the Doctor, and if they say this new guy who's replaced the old man Doctor is the Doctor, will than he much be the Doctor, right?

 

[Christopher]

Ben's realization that the Daleks recognized the Doctor immediately was enough to convince him. If the enemy of the Doctor says this man is the Doctor, even though he has never been seen by anyone other then the companions and this planet's population before, than he must be the Doctor. It also means the Daleks have seen this face before (time travel referenced for one maybe).

Or it means they recognize him based on some sense other than vision. After all, we've seen that most Time Lords can recognize each other despite regenerations (though the Doctor himself hasn't been great at it). So they must be basing their recognition on something other than appearance. Scent? Telepathic aura? There's something that remains recognizable, Time Lords can perceive it, and evidently Daleks can too.