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Post by tuigirl on Aug 12, 2020 19:19:29 GMT
The Horror of Fang Rock.
Considering Graham Williams was brought in to produce Doctor Who to 'lighten it up' after the perceived horror and violence of Philip Hinchcliffe's era, he waited until his second story to deliver the goods. Here we have the hastily written lighthouse story debut, the recording of which was so disliked by Tom Baker, his Doctor had a notable 'nark-on' throughout this. So much for lightening up, with {Spoiler} everyone dead by the story's close! I wouldn't wish to sound like I'm knocking this story, because I love it! The lighthouse and surrounding grounds are beautifully recreated in the studio, and the Rutan creature is suitably icky.
This is a story I believe has actually improved with age. An ensemble piece, a drawing room drama, played out as if a theatre play - only set in an isolated outpost and featuring a slime-ball that can reanimate corpses!. Possibly the spookiest story of Williams' tenure, Tom's bad mood actually lends it an even greater sense of melancholy and doom. Lovely!
I love that one. It is very atmospheric and claustrophobic....
This was one of the first Classic Episodes I saw and helped bring me over to the dark side....
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2020 21:16:55 GMT
With Robert Holmes, like The Ark in Space and The Deadly Assassin before it, once again beating the pop culture curve by a number of years. On the flip aside, I decided to sit down and rewatch The Face of Evil. Is this the first time that the Fourth Doctor breaks the, erm, fourth wall? I had a bit of a ponder about why his incarnation more than others feels more at home chatting directly to the camera. For me... I think it's because it feels like at any moment we could cut to another shot and he's talking to a piece of the scenery. A relaxed-looking willow tree, the bust of a former Lord President or a freshly-packed snowman, that sort of thing. I think the Fourth Doctor definitely imagines an audience for his adventures, like the way the Twelfth Doctor does. Of course, That Other Tom Baker Doctor is even more aware of the fourth wall - especially in the Day of the Doctor novelisation! (and of course his appearance on the Shada VHS )Ah, well, by the Curator's age, you'd never know who's listening. I just had a thought. If the idea of the Doctor's incarnations existing inside their psyche holds true for the millennia, then his largest audience would end up being themselves. Every life remembered across their collective stroll of eternity. In however many number that may end up being by that point. "All the universe's a stage! And all the beings merely Doctors. Well, I say merely, my dears..." It's nice how deceptively self-effacing the Doctor can be in most of their incarnations. I'm reminded of the Eighth Doctor in Storm Warning gently chiding himself for the habit of talking to himself ("First signs of madness, they say..."). I think the Doctor implicitly enjoys company. However lonesome, however isolated, they ultimately can't turn down the promise of a good conversation. It's just not in their nature. They have to seek it out.
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Post by polly on Aug 13, 2020 0:10:47 GMT
The Twin Dilemma - I don't think there's ever been such an abrupt drop from greatness to garbage. This is Mr Polly's first viewing and he fell asleep during Episode 2. I postponed the second half until today, for he must suffer as we all have.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Aug 13, 2020 2:33:09 GMT
I've just finished 'Terror Of The Vervoids' part 2. You know, I don't think I will ever not adore this story...
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Post by constonks on Aug 13, 2020 5:36:47 GMT
The Sun Makers Part 1 before bed - I'll watch the rest tomorrow, probably, but I've decided I've just got to watch Kerblam! again after I finish it, instead of continuing straight on to Underworld.
Anyway, my second-time-around thoughts on Sun Makers 1:
- Darkly funny right from the start, with our poor sap guest protagonist waiting for news of his dad's death like an expectant parent, right down to getting the weight.
- The anti-capitalism satire is so on-the-nose my sinuses hurt, but it succeeds on every point. I always like "taken to ridiculous extremes" satire, especially in sci-fi - there was this fellow named Douglas something who dabbled in such things.
- I love that K9 waits about ten minutes before disobeying the Doctor and leaving the TARDIS. Bad dog. Stay!
- Our two villains (because we've not met Mr. Potter the Fungus yet) - the Gatherer and his assistant - are played perfectly, pompous, bureaucratic and above all, completely assured of their rightness.
- "Perhaps everyone runs from the taxman" is sheer poetry.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 14:14:03 GMT
Revelation of the Daleks.
Good grief, how dark was Doctor Who at this time? So many things I love about this story.
During The Two Doctors, BBC Controller Michael Grade announced Doctor Who would be cancelled, er, postponed for 18 months because ... er, because it's too horrific and violent and not attracting enough young viewers. Coincidence of course, but two stories later, this aired - one of the darkest, most sadistic, graphically horrific Who stories ever. It was as if the old show was raising two fingers to illustrious Mr G and saying "You want horror? We've got horror!"
Roger Limb's music, which a few years earlier had squealed and shrieked (electronically speaking) in the name of Time Flight and Arc of Infinity, here delivers a nightmare cacophony of sound perfectly suited to the mood of Revelation. Heartbeats, stings, and a build-up during the scene featuring the head in the glass Dalek (you know the one) which ensured that moment would linger in the bad dreams of viewers for many nights to come (I'm fairly sure no-one was harmed as a result of viewing this story).
Colin Baker had been playing the role for one full series by this point, and we still didn't really know his Doctor. Deliberately, he was never the most reassuring version - so we didn't even had a cuddly Jon Pertwee, a grinning Tom Baker or a soft-speaking Peter Davison to tell us everything would be alright. Instead we had this wonderfully bombastic, but entirely unpredictable incarnation tearing through Tranquil Repose, trying to dodge the various grotesques who exist there.
Davros. Not just the creator the Daleks anymore - more a desperate ex-despot trying to prove his worth by selling the poor for food, while keeping the clever ones for his own creations. He's always been a bad'un, but his elevation into the even-more-macabre suits this story perfectly. Like a spider at the centre of his web, indeed!
"Did you bother to tell anyone they might be eating their own relatives?" "Certainly not. That would result in what I believe is called 'consumer resistance.'"
This one's especially for you, Mr Grade!
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Post by simon73 on Aug 13, 2020 20:42:47 GMT
Watching City of Death in preparation for the review on The Big Blue Box Podcast, which I have gone back to from the beginning and am on episode 44. Julian Glover in particular is on fine form, always good to see this again. Great story with timeless humour in spades.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2020 22:10:23 GMT
The Timeless Children.
Reading about this in another thread made me realise I hadn't seen it since transmission, so tonight was the night for that second viewing.
Absolutely frikking wonderful.
That is all.
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Post by constonks on Aug 14, 2020 21:30:55 GMT
Continuing on through Season 15, I just rewatched episode one of Underworld - I know this story doesn't get a lot of love but "this ship is about to become a planet" is a pretty cool cliffhanger.
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Post by relativetime on Aug 14, 2020 23:57:28 GMT
Finally taking advantage of my lovely Season 14 set this evening, starting with The Deadly Assassin.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,694
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Post by shutupbanks on Aug 15, 2020 1:50:20 GMT
Continuing on through Season 15, I just rewatched episode one of Underworld - I know this story doesn't get a lot of love but "this ship is about to become a planet" is a pretty cool cliffhanger. I love Underworld. Despite its flaws (if it had been cut down to three episodes it would have been superb) it does a really great job of telling a story that encompasses thousands of years and several planets but conveying it through what happens to just a few people. The Minyans are varying but Jackson and Herrick are great characters (If Leela was leaving, she should have stayed with Herrick rather than Andred) and the Greek myth allusions were totally my jam at the time of broadcast.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2020 11:55:49 GMT
Continuing on through Season 15, I just rewatched episode one of Underworld - I know this story doesn't get a lot of love but "this ship is about to become a planet" is a pretty cool cliffhanger. I love Underworld. Despite its flaws (if it had been cut down to three episodes it would have been superb) it does a really great job of telling a story that encompasses thousands of years and several planets but conveying it through what happens to just a few people. The Minyans are varying but Jackson and Herrick are great characters (If Leela was leaving, she should have stayed with Herrick rather than Andred) and the Greek myth allusions were totally my jam at the time of broadcast. Could an argument be made that it's the middle of a thematic trilogy for the Tom Baker years? Every so often, every couple of years, the series would try a story that was, in essence, a Gallifrey tale (like The Deadly Assassin or The Invasion of Time), except that it didn't feature the planet itself. Its setting and characters were adjacent, rather than centric to the world. I can think of three from television off the top of my head, but there might be more: - The Brain of Morbius -- the Sisterhood of Karn and the first direct mention of a Gallifreyan dictator.
- Underworld -- the Minyans of Minyos and the Gallifreyan Empire.
- Shada -- ancient Gallifreyan reactions to exceptional criminality and criminal justice.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,694
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Post by shutupbanks on Aug 16, 2020 0:45:52 GMT
I love Underworld. Despite its flaws (if it had been cut down to three episodes it would have been superb) it does a really great job of telling a story that encompasses thousands of years and several planets but conveying it through what happens to just a few people. The Minyans are varying but Jackson and Herrick are great characters (If Leela was leaving, she should have stayed with Herrick rather than Andred) and the Greek myth allusions were totally my jam at the time of broadcast. Could an argument be made that it's the middle of a thematic trilogy for the Tom Baker years? Every so often, every couple of years, the series would try a story that was, in essence, a Gallifrey tale (like The Deadly Assassin or The Invasion of Time), except that it didn't feature the planet itself. Its setting and characters were adjacent, rather than centric to the world. I can think of three from television off the top of my head, but there might be more: - The Brain of Morbius -- the Sisterhood of Karn and the first direct mention of a Gallifreyan dictator.
- Underworld -- the Minyans of Minyos and the Gallifreyan Empire.
- Shada -- ancient Gallifreyan reactions to exceptional criminality and criminal justice.
State of Decay could be added to that list as well: the Vampire War and the edict that followed charging every Time Lord with the duty of stamping out the Vampires wherever they were found.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,971
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Post by melkur on Aug 16, 2020 0:59:16 GMT
Last night I finished 'Terror Of The Vervoids', which I adore, and am currently making a start on 'The Ultimate Foe' part 1 before bed (so long, Robert Holmes)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 7:26:26 GMT
Could an argument be made that it's the middle of a thematic trilogy for the Tom Baker years? Every so often, every couple of years, the series would try a story that was, in essence, a Gallifrey tale (like The Deadly Assassin or The Invasion of Time), except that it didn't feature the planet itself. Its setting and characters were adjacent, rather than centric to the world. I can think of three from television off the top of my head, but there might be more: - The Brain of Morbius -- the Sisterhood of Karn and the first direct mention of a Gallifreyan dictator.
- Underworld -- the Minyans of Minyos and the Gallifreyan Empire.
- Shada -- ancient Gallifreyan reactions to exceptional criminality and criminal justice.
State of Decay could be added to that list as well: the Vampire War and the edict that followed charging every Time Lord with the duty of stamping out the Vampires wherever they were found. Oh, of course. Four for Four (" Our three weapons are--").
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Post by sherlock on Aug 17, 2020 10:15:43 GMT
Been working through Series 1 again, for obvious reasons. I think what stands out is just how well paced these stories are. There’s a constant sense of momentum, yet still time for quiet scenes. Eccleston’s Doctor is so good as well.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2020 11:42:26 GMT
Been working through Series 1 again, for obvious reasons. I think what stands out is just how well paced these stories are. There’s a constant sense of momentum, yet still time for quiet scenes. Eccleston’s Doctor is so good as well. It's remarkably self-contained too. If the series had only come back for a single season with a new Ninth Doctor, we would have gotten a very definitive beginning, middle and end for his run over those thirteen episodes. I always picture the Wilderness Years being split in two -- pre-TVM and post-TVM -- could you imagine what it might have been like for a third stint after 2005?
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Post by sherlock on Aug 17, 2020 12:07:56 GMT
Been working through Series 1 again, for obvious reasons. I think what stands out is just how well paced these stories are. There’s a constant sense of momentum, yet still time for quiet scenes. Eccleston’s Doctor is so good as well. It's remarkably self-contained too. If the series had only come back for a single season with a new Ninth Doctor, we would have gotten a very definitive beginning, middle and end for his run over those thirteen episodes. I always picture the Wilderness Years being split in two -- pre-TVM and post-TVM -- could you imagine what it might have been like for a third stint after 2005? Series 1 is pretty much it’s own era. It even has its own mythos in a way as the universe is still reeling from the War. I hope when Big Finish expands on it they continue that theme.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Aug 17, 2020 20:20:13 GMT
Yesterday I finished off Colin Baker's era with 'The Ultimate Foe' part 2. After finishing the 'The Last Adventure' boxset about an hour or so ago, I'm currently working my way through 'Time And The Rani' (I might just about finish it before jumping into the bath).
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Post by grinch on Aug 18, 2020 9:51:48 GMT
The End of the World (Russell T Davies)
A story which much like the later ‘The Long Game’ is very rarely talked about. Has some lovely character moments in it and the side characters are extremely memorable.
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