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Post by drj on Mar 14, 2021 23:34:13 GMT
Revenge of the Cybermen... well, you know how it has this reputation of being not brilliant, but sort of just about “serviceable”?.....
Spot on!
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Mar 15, 2021 3:04:35 GMT
I'm another one who's been watching 'The Claws Of Axos' for its 50th (well, part 1 anyway). I first got the DVD in 2009 after seeing 'The Boat That Rocked' at the cinema with my parents the day before my 16th birthday. Whilst I did start it that evening, I think I only had time for half (half sounds about right), so ended up watching parts 3 and 4 the morning of my 16th... Come on everybody, say it with me, Neeeerd! Whilst I don't know if I'd quite count it as one of my 'favourite' stories in the world, it's one that I certainly have a soft-spot for (I have since, I think around that Christmas at a Rob Shearman book event, got it signed by Katie Manning). Aside from that, over the past week or so I've watched 'Logopolis' (slightly sacrilegious to say, but whilst I enjoy it ok enough, I do find it rather slow off the ground) and 'Castovalva' (which I absolutely adore!).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2021 4:01:08 GMT
I'm another one who's been watching 'The Claws Of Axos' for its 50th (well, part 1 anyway). I first got the DVD in 2009 after seeing 'The Boat That Rocked' at the cinema with my parents the day before my 16th birthday. Whilst I did start it that evening, I think I only had time for half (half sounds about right), so ended up watching parts 3 and 4 the morning of my 16th... Come on everybody, say it with me, Neeeerd! Whilst I don't know if I'd quite count it as one of my 'favourite' stories in the world, it's one that I certainly have a soft-spot for (I have since, I think around that Christmas at a Rob Shearman book event, got it signed by Katie Manning).
Aside from that, over the past week or so I've watched 'Logopolis' (slightly sacrilegious to say, but whilst I enjoy it ok enough, I do find it rather slow off the ground) and 'Castovalva' (which I absolutely adore!). It's a bit like The Three Doctors. One of those quintessential stories you can point to when someone asks: "Well, what is Doctor Who?" For a comparatively FX-heavy story, it's nice that Axos itself still holds up extremely well. I'd be surprised if it wasn't a main influence for a lot of sci-fi television that came after it. The living ship (well, we say "ship", it's almost like an organ). I still get chills of the Doctor and Jo navigating their way through the body as its undergoing electroconvulsive shock. The pair are barely coping. The walls are screaming. The tendons in the floor cramping. The psionic centres burning into their minds. Stumbling through the inside of a massive seizure. Jon Pertwee flinging himself to the gravel when they finally leave the entryway is just icing on the cake.
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Post by constonks on Mar 16, 2021 20:00:09 GMT
I'm another one who's been watching 'The Claws Of Axos' for its 50th (well, part 1 anyway). I first got the DVD in 2009 after seeing 'The Boat That Rocked' at the cinema with my parents the day before my 16th birthday. Whilst I did start it that evening, I think I only had time for half (half sounds about right), so ended up watching parts 3 and 4 the morning of my 16th... Come on everybody, say it with me, Neeeerd! Whilst I don't know if I'd quite count it as one of my 'favourite' stories in the world, it's one that I certainly have a soft-spot for (I have since, I think around that Christmas at a Rob Shearman book event, got it signed by Katie Manning).
Aside from that, over the past week or so I've watched 'Logopolis' (slightly sacrilegious to say, but whilst I enjoy it ok enough, I do find it rather slow off the ground) and 'Castovalva' (which I absolutely adore!). It's a bit like The Three Doctors. One of those quintessential stories you can point to when someone asks: "Well, what is Doctor Who?" For a comparatively FX-heavy story, it's nice that Axos itself still holds up extremely well. I'd be surprised if it wasn't a main influence for a lot of sci-fi television that came after it. The living ship (well, we say "ship", it's almost like an organ). I still get chills of the Doctor and Jo navigating their way through the body as its undergoing electroconvulsive shock. The pair are barely coping. The walls are screaming. The tendons in the floor cramping. The psionic centres burning into their minds. Stumbling through the inside of a massive seizure. Jon Pertwee flinging himself to the gravel when they finally leave the entryway is just icing on the cake. The Axos "ship" reminds me of Jabu-Jabu's Belly from the Legend of Zelda. Although Pertwee never had to toss an indignant fish princess around (unless those scenes were deleted, I guess).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2021 1:45:12 GMT
It's a bit like The Three Doctors. One of those quintessential stories you can point to when someone asks: "Well, what is Doctor Who?" For a comparatively FX-heavy story, it's nice that Axos itself still holds up extremely well. I'd be surprised if it wasn't a main influence for a lot of sci-fi television that came after it. The living ship (well, we say "ship", it's almost like an organ). I still get chills of the Doctor and Jo navigating their way through the body as its undergoing electroconvulsive shock. The pair are barely coping. The walls are screaming. The tendons in the floor cramping. The psionic centres burning into their minds. Stumbling through the inside of a massive seizure. Jon Pertwee flinging himself to the gravel when they finally leave the entryway is just icing on the cake. The Axos "ship" reminds me of Jabu-Jabu's Belly from the Legend of Zelda. Although Pertwee never had to toss an indignant fish princess around (unless those scenes were deleted, I guess). I mean...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2021 6:27:18 GMT
The Ribos Operation.
It's strange. You can watch a story no end of times, and suddenly it's like you're viewing it with a new pair of eyes.
I've always felt this studio bound, very talky story has little to offer younger viewers except for the wibbly-clawed Shrivenzale monster (with bloody mouth too - blood is rare for Doctor Who, especially in 1978)!
This time round, I absolutely relished every minute of this. The casting is near perfect, with Paul Seed's impassioned and theatrical performance providing a perfect villain, and Timothy Bateson terrific as Binro. The 'new assistant', haughty and mildly amused by the grumpy, scatter-brained Doctor is great fun, and the setting and costumes are wonderful - very sumptuous for a production entirely mounted in the studio.
What a brilliant tale.
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Post by timegirl on Mar 19, 2021 2:22:35 GMT
Yesterday I finished Torchwood Children from Earth! It was so well done! While still very dark, it wasn’t quite as dark as I thought it would be. In fact I was very glad for the moments of cheesiness! I felt so bad for poor Peter’s character John Frobisher, I wish his character got a happy ending with his family! He had such sadness in his eyes. I don’t know what to make of Captain Jack after this, especially his actions in the finale. The 456 was a very oddly disturbing monster, especially the way it used the children! Ianto was probably the most likable of the Torchwood team. I like Gwen too although her comic relief boyfriend gets on my nerves a bit. The children speaking in unison was extremely creepy! I will say the finale (second half of episode 5) felt a little disappointing after all that lead up to it, but I still loved it!
Sidenote: As a random tangent Peter’s flat nerdy short hair in this bothered me. I know it’s a weird thing to fixate on but it’s always a little disappointing whenever he has that short flat hair whenever he plays politicians. I guess it makes sense for his character in this but I wish they let him just have his fabulous curls on display instead.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2021 8:58:50 GMT
In light of the recent zeitgeist and conversations that are happening globally with regard to women, I thought I'd have a rewatch of The Aztecs.
May, 1964 (or Mexico in the 1430s, if you prefer). A serial developed under Verity Lambert and practically led by Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright. It's a hell of a thing. John Lucarotti penned it. He was both a UK and Canadian citizen, but spent a lot of time writing his scripts for Who in a houseboat off the coast of Spain. The author's one of my favourite writers for a particular texture he brings to his stories. There's an intelligence and a deftness to the way he portrays his characters. Wit and drama. With a very light reliance on the fantasy aspect of the science fiction he wrote. Often, there's no magic wand, no sorcery, his characters get out of their predicaments by guile alone.
Barbara learns a very painful lesson of history here. A lesson that's still, evidently, left its scars on the Doctor. Nevertheless, she does quite well compared to her contemporaries in, say, The Man Who Would Be King. Through her efforts, everyone aboard the TARDIS gets out alive and sane (rather than pulverised, crucified and mad). It weighs on her, the fear and the pressure -- we get to see that -- but she never wavers when its important. Her actions redeem the life of one man and save the lives of her fellow travellers. Even Ian, set to be practically decapitated on the altar to the Sun God. And, very nicely, not once is her womanhood a factor (Yetaxa was a man before they were reincarnated in Barbara) or, worse, a crutch. The story never considers using her sexuality as a weapon. At any point. Every defence she has comes from her mind.
To think that these stories were designed to be aired once, maybe twice, and then practically forgotten. This story always brings me a smile. "You can't rewrite history! Not one line!" With the ability to do this, why on Earth would you want to? Always a pleasure to revisit this story. It has a precedent worth maintaining, don't you think?
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Post by newt5996 on Mar 20, 2021 3:06:56 GMT
I'm watching Robot after diving through the special features on the Blu Ray (which I've had since it came out in the US but never actually went all the way through). I love how these releases are just labors of love and the care here is brilliant. Also Sadie Miller on Behind the Sofa is just a premonition for Big Finish casting her.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2021 10:18:40 GMT
'Curse of Peladon.'
An obvious thing to do, perhaps, but I always return to stories I really like - revisit a few old favourites, eh? Perhaps I should rewatch stories I didn't care for so much, to see if I like them better.
No such worries with this, easily a favourite Third Doctor story. Some effective direction, superb model shots on display here (everything they got right for this, they got wrong for the sequel, I seem to remember. Maybe I'll watch that next). A wonderful, theatrical cast deliver magnificent Shakespearean performances, straight down the line, no question of sending it up ... while surrounded by the most splendid array of bizarre aliens we ever had. A clever pseudo-political story too. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning on top form. This is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders.
I'd love for Tim Treloar to pay a visit to Peladon at some point.
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Mar 21, 2021 15:15:57 GMT
Logopolis of course!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2021 22:48:00 GMT
Terror of the Autons. Episodes 3&4. Now that is how you do pure Doctor Who. Action packed and with lots of moments of charm from Pertwee, the instant gel of the key Unit team. The Master, dangerous, deadly, but just too cool to believe that he would not be a fixture this season. You just feel that there is mileage between himself and the Doctor.
Some thoughts:
Some criticised online the CGI of the 'Troll Doll'. I thought it was brilliantly done and was carefully done so as to be as intended only. No more. , and far more effective and horrible. CSO 'repairs' were done so as to not distract and were so well done that if you were unfamiliar with the original 'experimental' works, you would not notice. As intended. The final appearance of the Nestene Consciousness was well done and gave an appearance of the foe totally absent in the original.
Amusingly: Havoc and Derek Ware acting as if the Unit soldiers had never held a rifle in their lives. Approaching death wielding their weapon like an axe to bang against a door.
Mr Brownrose! Never picked up before how this was intended as close as they could manage to Mr Brownnose, without being too on the nose. It had me thinking of the Guns n Roses 'Mr Brownstone' tune.
Some good media baiting. 'Questions were raised in the House of Lords', etc. Turning kids against the neighbourhood copper, fear of plastic promotions, etc. Barry Letts was pretty savvy here, for a tabloid presser.
The HD upscale and colouring was far better than I anticipated. Cannot be churlish - I simply could not compare how much it has been conjured up from the 16mm B/W prints and Betamax NTSC video recordings. Those with memories of the clips from 'Resistance is Useless' or indeed 'The Pertwee Years' VHS (Daemons ep 5) will appreciate how these reels looked prior to the various cycles of restoration. Plus the sound restoration courtesy of Mark Ayres, which was so much more crisp and stereophonic.
Looking forward to the rest of this set. One of the best 'value added' for episode content. Extras? I never seem to get onto them!
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Post by mark687 on Mar 27, 2021 23:11:38 GMT
Last night it was
Rose
(Solid opener its funny the everyday real world environment seems shot more realistically then it does now Ecclestone is good/very good from the start so is Piper. Coral console room was such a great version too.)
Terror of the Autons
(Great story as always the Blu-Ray Effects enhancement is just (Chef Kiss) perfect as well.)
Regards
mark687
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2021 9:30:10 GMT
Last night it was Rose (Solid opener its funny the everyday real world environment seems shot more realistically then it does now Ecclestone is good/very good from the start so is Piper. Coral console room was such a great version too.) Terror of the Autons (Great story as always the Blu-Ray Effects enhancement is just (Chef Kiss) perfect as well.)
Regards mark687 The Bluray effects have been a thing of beauty when they appear. I stumbled across a comparison video between the original and the updated effects while searching for other things. I like that I didn't initially notice the difference in the radio telescope backdrops until the camera moved. I thought it was just a bit of colour correction, but no, the whole thing had been refurbished. It's a great little detail. Autons wouldn't have been my first instinct for a CG upgrade, but I think it's one of the best. The most satisfying has to be the Master in the "Research Laboratory". Having that backdrop meet with the horizon line in a natural way. (It's a bit of a toss-up now come the Season 15 boxset. On the one hand, Gallifrey and the TARDIS. On the other... Oh, the things they could do with Underworld these days..)
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Post by constonks on Mar 28, 2021 15:12:54 GMT
The Bluray effects have been a thing of beauty when they appear. I stumbled across a comparison video between the original and the updated effects while searching for other things. I like that I didn't initially notice the difference in the radio telescope backdrops until the camera moved. I thought it was just a bit of colour correction, but no, the whole thing had been refurbished. It's a great little detail. Autons wouldn't have been my first instinct for a CG upgrade, but I think it's one of the best. The most satisfying has to be the Master in the "Research Laboratory". Having that backdrop meet with the horizon line in a natural way. (It's a bit of a toss-up now come the Season 15 boxset. On the one hand, Gallifrey and the TARDIS. On the other... Oh, the things they could do with Underworld these days..) It's gotta be Underworld. I cannot imagine them releasing that one on BluRay without tweaking it somehow. That is, if they continue to only do one per set!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2021 22:53:07 GMT
The Bluray effects have been a thing of beauty when they appear. I stumbled across a comparison video between the original and the updated effects while searching for other things. I like that I didn't initially notice the difference in the radio telescope backdrops until the camera moved. I thought it was just a bit of colour correction, but no, the whole thing had been refurbished. It's a great little detail. Autons wouldn't have been my first instinct for a CG upgrade, but I think it's one of the best. The most satisfying has to be the Master in the "Research Laboratory". Having that backdrop meet with the horizon line in a natural way. (It's a bit of a toss-up now come the Season 15 boxset. On the one hand, Gallifrey and the TARDIS. On the other... Oh, the things they could do with Underworld these days..) It's gotta be Underworld. I cannot imagine them releasing that one on BluRay without tweaking it somehow. That is, if they continue to only do one per set! Ooh, there's a thought! Maybe that's something that will come with practice? Learning how to do all the restoration to the same quality in 75-50% of the time. Underworld is one of the very few stories where they could recreate entire sets from scratch. A longtime idea I've had in the back of my mind is the potential of bringing in Mike Tucker and his team to do a bit of revised modelwork based on the original. Practical sets for the Doctor and Leela to explore for each "shot".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2021 15:16:19 GMT
I promised myself I'd watch some of the less loved stories, and so The Power of Kroll gets an airing.
Following the brilliance of The Androids of Tara, this is a definite step down. As you continue through that first episode, it dawns on you that this story isn't going to be quite so clever or rewarding. However, the location filming is excellent - Tom's leaping from solid ground to solid ground amidst the water is either brave or foolhardy. But he doesn't fall in, so it pays off! There are some great lines of dialogue, possibly 'business' worked out between Tom and Mary Tamm, who plays Fay Wray in the first episode - very well, of course. Still the same Haughty Miss, but placed in real jeopardy and reacting as we all would. Shame that Mary herself decided not to continue in the series because of scenes like these, because she's great.
The old Kroll is pretty magnificent. Before the highly charged days of The Creature from The Creature from the Pit, Kroll was (I think) Doctor Who's biggest monster and although we can have a bit of a snigger at the tentacles flapping into a studio set and troubling the characters, it's all done rather well. It's all about how you approach it, I suppose. The sound effects, alongside the close-up of the creature's 'jaws' are excellent.
Dullness might be the biggest weakness on display here. As a two-parter, this would have been magnificent, or even with three episodes. I think four is just a little too long though. But make no mistake, I love it. Just not quite as much as most of the other stories from this series.
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Post by iainmclaughlin on Mar 30, 2021 15:35:42 GMT
Revenge of the Cybermen - just after listening to Return of the Cybermen. Rather an interesting experience.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,967
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Post by melkur on Mar 31, 2021 16:16:16 GMT
Over the past week or two I've watched 'The Mutants', 'Ark In Space' and 'Revenge Of The Cybermen' before, last night, making a start on 'Terror Of The Zygons'
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Post by eric009 on Mar 31, 2021 21:44:01 GMT
Terror of the Autons
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