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Post by bonehead on Apr 29, 2024 13:45:35 GMT
The Invasion of Time
Four great episodes with Tom Baker at his most intense and electrifying, a brilliant performance matched by the age-old restraint of John Arnatt's superb Lord Borusa. Knowing the Doctor as we do, it's all most puzzling and fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat each week as a young fan in the 70s. And of course Leela is right - he does have a plan!
And after those four episodes, a humungous, stonkingly colossal cliff-hanger that was one of the great 'reveals' of classic 'Doctor Who' - and sadly the rest of the story never quite manages to live up to it. It's still good, but the padding in episode 6 is obvious and not what you want from the season finale. It's often said this story ran out of money, but my criticism is that it runs out of script. And Storr should never have looked like a potato-panda (did they not have at least pictures of the original, excellent Sontaran designs?)
But the story picks itself up convincingly at the end and the ideas around the separation of powers and the interplay between the Doctor and Borusa is done very well. Also, Rodan is excellent and surely is the prototype Romana, not that we knew in 1978 who would follow in Leela's steathly huntress footsteps. She was a splendid Companion and a very hard act to follow.
I have to confess this: I really like Derek Deadman as Storr. For a member of a clone race, he looks very different from his fellow potatoes. But he's such a brutal, thuggish little fellow - he even walks like an ooligan. That whispered, gangster voice - everything sounds like a promised, yet hesitant threat. I just wish that helmet fitted, and that he had more to do,!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2024 14:10:18 GMT
The Invasion of Time
Four great episodes with Tom Baker at his most intense and electrifying, a brilliant performance matched by the age-old restraint of John Arnatt's superb Lord Borusa. Knowing the Doctor as we do, it's all most puzzling and fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat each week as a young fan in the 70s. And of course Leela is right - he does have a plan!
And after those four episodes, a humungous, stonkingly colossal cliff-hanger that was one of the great 'reveals' of classic 'Doctor Who' - and sadly the rest of the story never quite manages to live up to it. It's still good, but the padding in episode 6 is obvious and not what you want from the season finale. It's often said this story ran out of money, but my criticism is that it runs out of script. And Storr should never have looked like a potato-panda (did they not have at least pictures of the original, excellent Sontaran designs?)
But the story picks itself up convincingly at the end and the ideas around the separation of powers and the interplay between the Doctor and Borusa is done very well. Also, Rodan is excellent and surely is the prototype Romana, not that we knew in 1978 who would follow in Leela's steathly huntress footsteps. She was a splendid Companion and a very hard act to follow.
I have to confess this: I really like Derek Deadman as Storr. For a member of a clone race, he looks very different from his fellow potatoes. But he's such a brutal, thuggish little fellow - he even walks like an ooligan. That whispered, gangster voice - everything sounds like a promised, yet hesitant threat. I just wish that helmet fitted, and that he had more to do,! Sad that there's two posts about it singling out performances and no mention of Milton Johns as the Castellan. He is the only redeeming part of the sequences that are padding 101 with his snivelling and back and forth loyalties. He gets exactly what he's in. I watched Empire Strikes Back with my kid a few weeks ago and there was Milton as an officer on Cloud City with Vader. Never noticed him before!
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Post by number13 on Apr 29, 2024 21:18:02 GMT
The Invasion of Time
Four great episodes with Tom Baker at his most intense and electrifying, a brilliant performance matched by the age-old restraint of John Arnatt's superb Lord Borusa. Knowing the Doctor as we do, it's all most puzzling and fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat each week as a young fan in the 70s. And of course Leela is right - he does have a plan!
And after those four episodes, a humungous, stonkingly colossal cliff-hanger that was one of the great 'reveals' of classic 'Doctor Who' - and sadly the rest of the story never quite manages to live up to it. It's still good, but the padding in episode 6 is obvious and not what you want from the season finale. It's often said this story ran out of money, but my criticism is that it runs out of script. And Storr should never have looked like a potato-panda (did they not have at least pictures of the original, excellent Sontaran designs?)
But the story picks itself up convincingly at the end and the ideas around the separation of powers and the interplay between the Doctor and Borusa is done very well. Also, Rodan is excellent and surely is the prototype Romana, not that we knew in 1978 who would follow in Leela's steathly huntress footsteps. She was a splendid Companion and a very hard act to follow.
I have to confess this: I really like Derek Deadman as Storr. For a member of a clone race, he looks very different from his fellow potatoes. But he's such a brutal, thuggish little fellow - he even walks like an ooligan. That whispered, gangster voice - everything sounds like a promised, yet hesitant threat. I just wish that helmet fitted, and that he had more to do,! It's the dark circles round the eyes and mouth that put me off, it looks like he's gone awol from the glorious Sontaran empire for a whole run of late nights out, woke up and then found he was on duty for the invasion of Gallifrey!
Apart from that, no problems with him at all. He's the lowest ranked Sontaran group leader we ever saw in the classic era I think? And he seems it. A bit of a thug and definitely out of his depth on such an important mission. ('Look Stor, just secure the bridgehead and then call me in - do you think you can do that without blowing yourself up?')
As Milton Johns was mentioned upthread, well I didn't want my comments to turn into a full review or I would certainly have praised his excellent performance as clever, sly and obsequious Castellan Kelner. Where Castellan Spandrel in 'The Deadly Assassin' was a tough-but-honest cop, Kelner is at hearts a Time Lord version of the KGB, eager to enforce any oppression to further his own power. And a dangerous opponent; he very nearly rumbles the Doctor's scheme and almost outwitted him.
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Post by bonehead on Apr 30, 2024 15:17:16 GMT
It's the dark circles round the eyes and mouth that put me off, it looks like he's gone awol from the glorious Sontaran empire for a whole run of late nights out, woke up and then found he was on duty for the invasion of Gallifrey!
Apart from that, no problems with him at all. He's the lowest ranked Sontaran group leader we ever saw in the classic era I think? And he seems it. A bit of a thug and definitely out of his depth on such an important mission. ('Look Stor, just secure the bridgehead and then call me in - do you think you can do that without blowing yourself up?')
Here's Storr, not the brightest of Sontarans (which is setting the bar pretty low), sporting 'a right couple of shiners' (slang for black eyes). He's clearly been scrapping again - and come second.
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Post by number13 on Apr 30, 2024 20:54:50 GMT
The Key To Time
Segment 1: The Ribos Operation: A clever, comic, vividly staged, wonderfully wordy and theatrical crime caper by Robert Holmes, full of super-sized guest performances on a pre-Renaissance planet. Low on action, high on plot and characters, drama and comedy. It's a brilliant start to an excellent season and I love it to the last flake of polystyrene snow.
Two special mentions (of very many I could have made): Dudley Simpson's music makes a big part of the atmosphere of the story. I found myself humming something vaguely ecclesiastical and then realised it was the relic room theme from Ribos. And Mary Tamm's Romana I combining Academy-trained intelligence, effortless glamour and equally effortless Gallifreyan superiority of the sort I suspect made the Doctor want to leave home in the first place! But as the story goes on, she adapts and changes from the annoying Time Lady the Doctor never wanted into the new Companion and the first ever who, with a bit more experience in 'the other worlds' (as she calls everywhere not Gallifrey!), can genuinely be his equal.
I think the White Guardian and President Borusa chose rather well, don't you?
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Post by number13 on May 3, 2024 16:04:49 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 2: The Pirate Planet
'Doctor Who' goes all 'Treasure Island' in space with a fantastical, technological tale of planetary piracy by Douglas Adams that sails almost but not quite over the edge. Ingenious, witty, packed with ideas, great dialogue, a monstrous villain who's much smarter than he pretends and a most surprising twist. And K-9 turns the Polyphase Avatron into a late parrot.
'By the flaring left nostril of the Sky-Demon, Mr. Fibuli, it’s fun!' And I certainly 'appreciate it!'
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2024 16:17:41 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 2: The Pirate Planet
'Doctor Who' goes all 'Treasure Island' in space with a fantastical, technological tale of planetary piracy by Douglas Adams that sails almost but not quite over the edge. Ingenious, witty, packed with ideas, great dialogue, a monstrous villain who's much smarter than he pretends and a most surprising twist. And K-9 turns the Polyphase Avatron into a late parrot.
'By the flaring left nostril of the Sky-Demon, Mr. Fibuli, it’s fun!' And I certainly 'appreciate it!' A story which more than most would fall apart if the main guest star didn't quite "get" it. Luckily Bruce Purchase knew exactly what he was in. James Goss' novel of it is one of the best examples of "You can write like a genius..but you can't copy genius". The wit of an Adams prose is lost.
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Post by bonehead on May 3, 2024 16:40:14 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 2: The Pirate Planet
'Doctor Who' goes all 'Treasure Island' in space with a fantastical, technological tale of planetary piracy by Douglas Adams that sails almost but not quite over the edge. Ingenious, witty, packed with ideas, great dialogue, a monstrous villain who's much smarter than he pretends and a most surprising twist. And K-9 turns the Polyphase Avatron into a late parrot.
'By the flaring left nostril of the Sky-Demon, Mr. Fibuli, it’s fun!' And I certainly 'appreciate it!'
This and Androids of Tara were/are my favourites from this Series. This story, I think, got lost a bit in the middle with all the planets-inside-planet business, but Bruce Purchase is magnificent as The Captain. A proper pseudo-cartoon villain (not a criticism), brilliantly realised as half man, half machine. He is so loud and bombastic that he could only be a one-note monster ... couldn't he? A genuine surprise then, when the truth was realised and I can't have been alone in feeling quite upset when he {Spoiler} stroked the dead face of Fibuli, before dying himself toward the end . Incredible stuff, and the kind of thing that separates Doctor Who from it's contempories. A great performance from Tom as well - his head-to-head with The Captain is acting at its 'highest' - but always just the right side of being too much. With a story as big as this one, a bit of overacting is, well, almost compulsory, but this crazy, monumental tale always managed to stay within its boundaries. Just.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2024 16:55:41 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 2: The Pirate Planet
'Doctor Who' goes all 'Treasure Island' in space with a fantastical, technological tale of planetary piracy by Douglas Adams that sails almost but not quite over the edge. Ingenious, witty, packed with ideas, great dialogue, a monstrous villain who's much smarter than he pretends and a most surprising twist. And K-9 turns the Polyphase Avatron into a late parrot.
'By the flaring left nostril of the Sky-Demon, Mr. Fibuli, it’s fun!' And I certainly 'appreciate it!'
This and Androids of Tara were/are my favourites from this Series.
Funny, I bought my nephew a box of James Bond trading cards in the 2000s when he was massively getting into Bond and trading cards. There were 2 autographed cards a box along with the base cards and inserts. He got Cary Lowell from Licence To Kill which he was happy with and then "some stupid chaffeur who was in it for 30 seconds?" - it was Neville Jason in From Russia With Love. Sadly he was, and is, not a Whovian so "That's Prince Reynart from The Androids Of Tara! Loads of Who fans would love that" would have fallen on deaf ears!
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Post by bonehead on May 3, 2024 17:31:48 GMT
This and Androids of Tara were/are my favourites from this Series.
Funny, I bought my nephew a box of James Bond trading cards in the 2000s when he was massively getting into Bond and trading cards. There were 2 autographed cards a box along with the base cards and inserts. He got Cary Lowell from Licence To Kill which he was happy with and then "some stupid chaffeur who was in it for 30 seconds?" - it was Neville Jason in From Russia With Love. Sadly he was, and is, not a Whovian so "That's Prince Reynart from The Androids Of Tara! Loads of Who fans would love that" would have fallen on deaf ears! I wonder if he earned more from his 30 Bond stint than he did for his two roles in Doctor Who 🙂
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Post by number13 on May 4, 2024 20:44:38 GMT
The Key to Time
Segment 3: The Stones of Blood Not-so-standing stones, blood sacrifice, fake Druids and alien power combine in this late entry in the 'Who Gothic' canon, set partly on modern-day Earth and partly - a bit to one side of it. Great ideas and very well done; the courtroom drama goes a bit Season 17 with the Doctor in that convenient wig but all the Earth-set scenes (which is most of the story) are excellent and even scary at times.
And the Ogri actually work on screen, which is surprising - and Prof. Rumford is one of the best guest characters ever in a season simply stuffed with great guest characters! My only real criticism is that my suspended disbelief gets jolted because I know where it was all filmed so why not set it in the Cotswolds, which it looks like (because it is), instead of Cornwall, which it doesn't (because it isn't)?
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Post by number13 on May 5, 2024 20:12:15 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 4: The Androids of Tara A dazzling display of duplicity (in every sense!) in this glossy 'homage' to 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. Classic costume drama with a splendid script by David Fisher, brilliantly acted and superbly made. With Peter Jeffrey winning the 'villain of the season' award imo, and that's against some very strong (and very loud!) competition.
And the Doctor’s most epic sword-fight, lavish location filming, Dudley Simpson's 'Tara-Imperial' score and K-9 in a boat! It's a royal treat and the crown of the season.
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Post by bonehead on May 5, 2024 20:37:35 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 4: The Androids of Tara A dazzling display of duplicity (in every sense!) in this glossy 'homage' to 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. Classic costume drama with a splendid script by David Fisher, brilliantly acted and superbly made. With Peter Jeffrey winning the 'villain of the season' award imo, and that's against some very strong (and very loud!) competition.
And the Doctor’s most epic sword-fight, lavish location filming, Dudley Simpson's 'Tara-Imperial' score and K-9 in a boat! It's a royal treat and the crown of the season.
Heck, yes! Peter Jeffrey is so good in this. Villainous through and through, but invested with a real nobility. May I mention my friend The Taran Wood Beast? Can't understand why she didn't get a BF spin-off!
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2024 21:07:56 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 4: The Androids of Tara A dazzling display of duplicity (in every sense!) in this glossy 'homage' to 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. Classic costume drama with a splendid script by David Fisher, brilliantly acted and superbly made. With Peter Jeffrey winning the 'villain of the season' award imo, and that's against some very strong (and very loud!) competition.
And the Doctor’s most epic sword-fight, lavish location filming, Dudley Simpson's 'Tara-Imperial' score and K-9 in a boat! It's a royal treat and the crown of the season.
Heck, yes! Peter Jeffrey is so good in this. Villainous through and through, but invested with a real nobility. May I mention my friend The Taran Wood Beast? Can't understand why she didn't get a BF spin-off! Getting deja vu from a story about my nephew Jack, James Bond trading cards, Neville Jason/Prince Reynart in From Russia With Love.....
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Post by number13 on May 5, 2024 21:30:17 GMT
The Key to Time Segment 4: The Androids of Tara A dazzling display of duplicity (in every sense!) in this glossy 'homage' to 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. Classic costume drama with a splendid script by David Fisher, brilliantly acted and superbly made. With Peter Jeffrey winning the 'villain of the season' award imo, and that's against some very strong (and very loud!) competition.
And the Doctor’s most epic sword-fight, lavish location filming, Dudley Simpson's 'Tara-Imperial' score and K-9 in a boat! It's a royal treat and the crown of the season.
Heck, yes! Peter Jeffrey is so good in this. Villainous through and through, but invested with a real nobility. May I mention my friend The Taran Wood Beast? Can't understand why she didn't get a BF spin-off! Yet. Her special boxset will reveal that...
Woodie was there in the background of the whole adventure secretly helping Romana and the Doctor rid Tara of the evil Count for reasons to be revealed later...
She followed the Doctor and the Android Prince along the old tunnel and leaped up in the darkness to help the Doctor pull that rusty lever which opened the secret passage into the Palace. (That scene was cut for running time, unfortunately, which is why the story makes a bit of a 'jump' at that point.) She was lurking in the bushes outside the Pavillion of the Summer Winds and secretly scampered around nudging the bowmen so they all missed the Doctor. (You didn't think the Count would employ such rotten shots, did you?) And finally, in another cut scene at the very end, Woodie bravely swam the moat to push K-9's boat safely to the bank.
But tragically... {Spoiler} She then suffered a catastrophic short-circuit because she was really an android wood-beast created by Madam Lamia just so that Grendle could go hunting - and then reprogrammed by Lamia to help defeat the Count who had rejected her. Romana was right as usual; all the real Taran fauna was friendly.
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Post by bonehead on May 5, 2024 21:43:07 GMT
Heck, yes! Peter Jeffrey is so good in this. Villainous through and through, but invested with a real nobility. May I mention my friend The Taran Wood Beast? Can't understand why she didn't get a BF spin-off! Yet. Her special boxset will reveal that...
Woodie was there in the background of the whole adventure secretly helping Romana and the Doctor rid Tara of the evil Count for reasons to be revealed later...
She followed the Doctor and the Android Prince along the old tunnel and leaped up in the darkness to help the Doctor pull that rusty lever which opened the secret passage into the Palace. (That scene was cut for running time, unfortunately, which is why the story makes a bit of a 'jump' at that point.) She was lurking in the bushes outside the Pavillion of the Summer Winds and secretly scampered around nudging the bowmen so they all missed the Doctor. (You didn't think the Count would employ such rotten shots, did you?) And finally, in another cut scene at the very end, Woodie bravely swam the moat to push K-9's boat safely to the bank.
But tragically... {Spoiler} She then suffered a catastrophic short-circuit because she was really an android wood-beast created by Madam Lamia just so that Grendle could go hunting - and then reprogrammed by Lamia to help defeat the Count who had rejected her. Romana was right as usual; all the real Taran fauna was friendly. This thought makes me very happy.
I had heard, on the Taran grapevine, that Woodie had a complete body-shave, ditched the fangs, and turned up about ten years later as the Delegate from Possicar in Mindwarp (remember her? You never see both of them in the same room). Nice bit of little-known trivia there.
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Post by timleschild on May 5, 2024 21:53:48 GMT
The Evil of the Daleks on BBC iPlayer (all animated)
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Post by number13 on May 7, 2024 21:43:41 GMT
The Key to Time
Segment 5: The Power of Kroll The Doctor and Romana uncover a 'Heart of Darkness' tale of oppressed indigenous people on a marshy moon, with the biggest monster ever. Very good location filming, an excellent lead cast of 'Doctor Who' veterans and K-9 in person and Kroll looks surprisingly good imo (though should have been saved for the end of episode cliffhanger.)
It’s definitely green, worthy and moral as well as a 'boy's own' adventure from pre-war cinema crossed with Conrad, and it's not bad at all. But after four segments, three absolute crackers and one very good, this seems a bit of a damp squid squib, very unusually, from Robert Holmes.
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Post by sherlock on May 10, 2024 17:32:55 GMT
Revisited The Church on Ruby Road ahead of new series. It’s style over substance really as the plot is very small, but it’s wonderfully entertaining and Ncuti Gatwa is the best thing in every scene he’s in.
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Post by timleschild on May 12, 2024 10:43:51 GMT
City of Death. After what RTD has given us its nice to go back to a really enjoyable story full of humour, mystery & excitement.
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