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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2021 11:04:11 GMT
The War Machines
Was there ever a more First Doctor moment than him dressed in his Astrakhan and cloak staring down a computerised tank?
An ultimately one-off story that, historically speaking, placed the Doctor squarest in the moddish swing of the mid-sixties. David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin is the fifth Beatle, International Rescue on station for the silver screen, Gene Roddenberry has moved from Have Gun--Will Travel to science fiction, Luna 9 is on the Moon and Earth's millions are mobilised in anti-war protests. "It's Good News Week" in the discothesque as an artificial intelligence uses London's phone lines to assemble an attack force to cordon the city. Executing any living being that stands in the way of its War Machines.
It's interesting to see the Doctor play at spymaster, here. In a similar role to Steed in the Cathy Gale years, as Ben's "handler", so to speak. He's very good at it. His uncomplicated association with Sir Charles, a rather classical figure of the establishment, is a bit unusual for this incarnation, but it plays rather well for the purposes of the story. If there were to be regularly continuing adventures of the First Doctor, Ben and Polly... I wonder if it'd work to revisit this idea -- the Doctor seeks out and interferes with a "contemporary" threat to 60s Earth -- and drop in a proto-UNIT story every now and again?
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Post by eric009 on Apr 1, 2021 23:19:16 GMT
just finish mind of evil and claws of axos
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Post by number13 on Apr 3, 2021 12:26:21 GMT
Death to the Daleks!
That way leads to... {Spoiler} 'The Dalek Protocol'!
Jon Pertwee shows immense charm and style despite famously not liking Daleks! My Doctor, forever! And Elisabeth Sladen has a superb ‘alien world’ debut and Sarah’s discovery of the City of the Exxilons by night is stunning; acting, music, model work and effects combine to create a genuine sense of wonder. And the unsettling music of those night scenes, the ‘City’ theme and the sacrificial chant of the Exxilon priests are memorable. I think it's terrifically atmospheric and a very good story for showing humans and Daleks as rivals encountering a world alien to both of them. Arnold Yarrow's ‘Bellal’ is a great guest character, I love that scene where Sarah adjusts to meeting her first friendly alien and overcomes her fear of the unknown and Bellal is also meeting his first friendly alien of course. He later takes on the ‘companion’ role as he and the Doctor work their way through the City’s defences and I wish he could have joined the team for a while. If only for the look on the Brig's face as he wandered out of the TARDIS into the UNIT lab... Finally, I've always liked the idea of the City as a living entity and the 'roots' taking on Daleks are classic scenes! And the Doctor's 'scorecard' ('Root:1, Dalek:nil.' ) is a fun moment which everyone would have recognised back then, given in the same tone as the football scores which were always the last item of Saturday afternoon sports coverage, read out on BBC1 just before 'Doctor Who' began!
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Post by shallacatop on Apr 3, 2021 12:49:24 GMT
I listened to Soul Music earlier, which inspired me to watch The End of Time. It’s one of those stories that’s got so many fantastic moments, most of which are the quieter, emotional beats, but everything around them feels quite superfluous and lesser; fluff that’s written to bridge those pre-planned moments.
I’ve warmed up to the Doctor’s farewell tour over the years and it actually has more impact this time round. That might be because recent years have decided to use that Specials year as an opportunity to throw the kitchen sink in, so no wonder the Doctor decides to visit all his friends!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2021 9:42:54 GMT
Death to the Daleks!
That way leads to... {Spoiler} 'The Dalek Protocol'!
Jon Pertwee shows immense charm and style despite famously not liking Daleks! My Doctor, forever! And Elisabeth Sladen has a superb ‘alien world’ debut and Sarah’s discovery of the City of the Exxilons by night is stunning; acting, music, model work and effects combine to create a genuine sense of wonder. And the unsettling music of those night scenes, the ‘City’ theme and the sacrificial chant of the Exxilon priests are memorable. I think it's terrifically atmospheric and a very good story for showing humans and Daleks as rivals encountering a world alien to both of them. Arnold Yarrow's ‘Bellal’ is a great guest character, I love that scene where Sarah adjusts to meeting her first friendly alien and overcomes her fear of the unknown and Bellal is also meeting his first friendly alien of course. He later takes on the ‘companion’ role as he and the Doctor work their way through the City’s defences and I wish he could have joined the team for a while. If only for the look on the Brig's face as he wandered out of the TARDIS into the UNIT lab... Finally, I've always liked the idea of the City as a living entity and the 'roots' taking on Daleks are classic scenes! And the Doctor's 'scorecard' ('Root:1, Dalek:nil.' ) is a fun moment which everyone would have recognised back then, given in the same tone as the football scores which were always the last item of Saturday afternoon sports coverage, read out on BBC1 just before 'Doctor Who' began! There's a particular art to those pseudo-companions. The thing that stuck with me about Bellal was Yarrow, after seeing the costume design, heading off to the local zoo to have a look at bush babies. Noting down how they moved and interacted with one another. Incorporating that into the character. When he put on the mask properly for shooting, he realised he was almost totally blind. It was just two pinholes in the massive eyes. Couldn't see a thing. Jon must've twigged from the way he was moving because, according to Yarrow, he worked extra closely with him during filming. Helping out here and there. Hence, the rapport between the Third Doctor and Bellal.
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Apr 7, 2021 13:15:01 GMT
The Time Monster, first time watch. No comment...
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Apr 8, 2021 11:20:10 GMT
The Time Monster, first time watch. No comment... Finished, another overlong unremarkable story from this era, they should have got to Atlantis (& Ingrid Pitt) a lot quicker. & the Master has an old chocolate fountain as his uppy downy thing.
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Post by elkawho on Apr 11, 2021 15:36:12 GMT
I started watching the 1st and 2nd Doctor Lost Story DVD. The Dalek Master Plan stuff was terrific, I wish we had the whole thing. I heard a lot about this story but I had absolutely no idea that The Monk showed up in it. Good stuff!
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Post by eric009 on Apr 12, 2021 22:31:53 GMT
the colony in space slowed down abit as doing Epic Main Range Commemorative Relisten
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Post by constonks on Apr 13, 2021 2:07:40 GMT
Today, a revisit of my second-ever Doctor Who story...
The End of the World
The undercurrent of Rose thinking "oh no what have I done" is great. And the Doctor being hurt when she's not exclusively awestruck by him is good - it's been a long time since he's picked up a companion - he broke his own personal rule to do this... and she's not happy with him?
That little call to Jackie Tyler has a lot of feeling in it, too. Firstly, its significance in the episode: the connection to home for Rose. I've just listened to Small Semblance of Home and all I can think is, gosh, wouldn't Ian and Barbara have loved a call home? And secondly, in retrospect, that's the last time Jackie hears from Rose for a year!
Also, just... Christopher Eccleston as the post-Time War Doctor in general. Those misty eyes as Jabe says she's sorry for his loss, that Last of the Time Lords speech at the end, him walking away from Cassandra after essentially murdering her (to be echoed later than that year by another Doctor: "no second chances, I'm that sort of man...").
Can't wait to hear Chris again next month!!
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 14, 2021 7:38:42 GMT
Watched the 1st 3 episodes of "The Talons Of Weng-Chieng" before junior got restless.. So we went outside and played for a couple hours- we played "Doctor Who Tardissing".. We watched all 4 episodes of "Robos Of Death", he was glued to the screen.. Went to the park across the road for a good hour , now we are up to episode 3 of "The Face Of Evil".. Proud pappa Timelord007 !
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2021 10:31:10 GMT
"It wouldn't work, Tom."
"Yes, yes it would. I don't need a travelling companion."
"You do. You need someone to talk to."
"Well, I could talk to myself."
And so The Deadly Assassin was born, a story featuring a solo Doctor, and producer Philip Hinchcliffe's way of proving to star Tom Baker that the Doctor did in fact require a traveling companion, following the departure of Elizabeth Sladen. Problem is, Robert Holmes wrote such a beautiful story - voted bottom in the DWAS Yearly Poll for that year, let's not forget (never listen to the fans) - that Hinchcliffe's point rather backfired on him! This works better because the Doctor is alone, and pitted against his own race, at least for a time. The added bonus of the returning Master (not the suave exotic looking charmer we've grown to know, but a rotting cadaver who is so decrepit, even his clothes are decayed), and an entire episode set on location in the Matrix where the Doctor is fighting for his life in a graphic way we'd never seen before seals this story's fate - it is a true classic. Attempting a new way of telling a story, with an opening narrated by the main character, and succeeding of every level - it even gave Mary Whitehouse nightmares - this is a tale that never dates, never grows stale and is always worth a rewatch.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2021 11:33:18 GMT
"It wouldn't work, Tom."
"Yes, yes it would. I don't need a travelling companion."
"You do. You need someone to talk to."
"Well, I could talk to myself."
And so The Deadly Assassin was born, a story featuring a solo Doctor, and producer Philip Hinchcliffe's way of proving to star Tom Baker that the Doctor did in fact require a traveling companion, following the departure of Elizabeth Sladen. Problem is, Robert Holmes wrote such a beautiful story - voted bottom in the DWAS Yearly Poll for that year, let's not forget (never listen to the fans) - that Hinchcliffe's point rather backfired on him! This works better because the Doctor is alone, and pitted against his own race, at least for a time. The added bonus of the returning Master (not the suave exotic looking charmer we've grown to know, but a rotting cadaver who is so decrepit, even his clothes are decayed), and an entire episode set on location in the Matrix where the Doctor is fighting for his life in a graphic way we'd never seen before seals this story's fate - it is a true classic. Attempting a new way of telling a story, with an opening narrated by the main character, and succeeding of every level - it even gave Mary Whitehouse nightmares - this is a tale that never dates, never grows stale and is always worth a rewatch.
I have a strong suspicion that Bob Holmes's own experiences fighting in the tropics of Myanmar contributed to that whole cat-and-tafelshrew sequence in the Matrix. The tableau is just so... brutal. The sweltering heat lashing down at the Doctor's back. The claymores hidden with hairline wire among the trees. The bandages made from ragged strips of his own shirt. A watering hole that could mean salvation or death, in equal measure. It doesn't hold back. I also wonder -- and this is only a theory -- but The Deadly Assassin also feels like another one of his era's classic crossover pastiches. In the same way that The Brain of Morbius can be seen as a mix of Frankenstein meets She. Here, it's almost like Philip K. Dick's The Manchurian Candidate. That focus on political intrigue mixed in with a social outsider forced to deal with a questionable unreality influenced by external powers. Nowadays, we'd call that cyberpunk. So, not only doesn't it age, it's different enough that it's actually predicted the archetypes of trends that in 1976 haven't quite happened yet.
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Post by number13 on Apr 14, 2021 12:36:39 GMT
"It wouldn't work, Tom."
"Yes, yes it would. I don't need a travelling companion."
"You do. You need someone to talk to."
"Well, I could talk to myself."
And so The Deadly Assassin was born, a story featuring a solo Doctor, and producer Philip Hinchcliffe's way of proving to star Tom Baker that the Doctor did in fact require a traveling companion, following the departure of Elizabeth Sladen. Problem is, Robert Holmes wrote such a beautiful story - voted bottom in the DWAS Yearly Poll for that year, let's not forget (never listen to the fans) - that Hinchcliffe's point rather backfired on him! This works better because the Doctor is alone, and pitted against his own race, at least for a time. The added bonus of the returning Master (not the suave exotic looking charmer we've grown to know, but a rotting cadaver who is so decrepit, even his clothes are decayed), and an entire episode set on location in the Matrix where the Doctor is fighting for his life in a graphic way we'd never seen before seals this story's fate - it is a true classic. Attempting a new way of telling a story, with an opening narrated by the main character, and succeeding of every level - it even gave Mary Whitehouse nightmares - this is a tale that never dates, never grows stale and is always worth a rewatch.
I have a strong suspicion that Bob Holmes's own experiences fighting in the tropics of Myanmar contributed to that whole cat-and-tafelshrew sequence in the Matrix. The tableau is just so... brutal. The sweltering heat lashing down at the Doctor's back. The claymores hidden with hairline wire among the trees. The bandages made from ragged strips of his own shirt. A watering hole that could mean salvation or death, in equal measure. It doesn't hold back. I also wonder -- and this is only a theory -- but The Deadly Assassin also feels like another one of his era's classic crossover pastiches. In the same way that The Brain of Morbius can be seen as a mix of Frankenstein meets She. Here, it's almost like Philip K. Dick's The Manchurian Candidate. That focus on political intrigue mixed in with a social outsider forced to deal with a questionable unreality influenced by external powers. Nowadays, we'd call that cyberpunk. So, not only doesn't it age, it's different enough that it's actually predicted the archetypes of trends that in 1976 haven't quite happened yet. It's oustanding. I was in my early teens when it went out (just about the target audience for the Hinchcliffe&Holmes years, from an interview refuting the criticisms that this story in particular garnered) and I thought it was terrific then and I still do now. I didn't get the political references back then of course, but that's the genius of Robert Holmes writing for multiple audiences at once.
And THAT CLIFFHANGER, the one which got Mrs Whitehouse so upset. I remember watching open-mouthed as the Doctor was drowned right in front of me and Dad saying 'so how's he going to get out of this one?'
Which was the point the critics missed. I knew the Doctor would get out of it somehow, in exactly the same way that Dad had known the Saturday matinee stars of his cinema childhood had always 'got out of it'. The hero doesn't die (or in the Doctor's case, yes he can but not permanently!) so he will always get out of it. Which made it OK but - I've got to wait a week to find out how he does it! Robert Holmes, the best ever.
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Post by Timelord007 on Apr 14, 2021 15:11:08 GMT
Watched the 1st 3 episodes of "The Talons Of Weng-Chieng" before junior got restless.. So we went outside and played for a couple hours- we played "Doctor Who Tardissing".. We watched all 4 episodes of "Robos Of Death", he was glued to the screen.. Went to the park across the road for a good hour , now we are up to episode 3 of "The Face Of Evil".. Proud pappa Timelord007 ! I'm very proud uncle bro tell Jr from me made my day watching the classics
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2021 15:53:30 GMT
I have a strong suspicion that Bob Holmes's own experiences fighting in the tropics of Myanmar contributed to that whole cat-and-tafelshrew sequence in the Matrix. The tableau is just so... brutal. The sweltering heat lashing down at the Doctor's back. The claymores hidden with hairline wire among the trees. The bandages made from ragged strips of his own shirt. A watering hole that could mean salvation or death, in equal measure. It doesn't hold back. I also wonder -- and this is only a theory -- but The Deadly Assassin also feels like another one of his era's classic crossover pastiches. In the same way that The Brain of Morbius can be seen as a mix of Frankenstein meets She. Here, it's almost like Philip K. Dick's The Manchurian Candidate. That focus on political intrigue mixed in with a social outsider forced to deal with a questionable unreality influenced by external powers. Nowadays, we'd call that cyberpunk. So, not only doesn't it age, it's different enough that it's actually predicted the archetypes of trends that in 1976 haven't quite happened yet. It's oustanding. I was in my early teens when it went out (just about the target audience for the Hinchcliffe&Holmes years, from an interview refuting the criticisms that this story in particular garnered) and I thought it was terrific then and I still do now. I didn't get the political references back then of course, but that's the genius of Robert Holmes writing for multiple audiences at once.
And THAT CLIFFHANGER, the one which got Mrs Whitehouse so upset. I remember watching open-mouthed as the Doctor was drowned right in front of me and Dad saying 'so how's he going to get out of this one?'
Which was the point the critics missed. I knew the Doctor would get out of it somehow, in exactly the same way that Dad had known the Saturday matinee stars of his cinema childhood had always 'got out of it'. The hero doesn't die (or in the Doctor's case, yes he can but not permanently!) so he will always get out of it. Which made it OK but - I've got to wait a week to find out how he does it! Robert Holmes, the best ever. That cliffhanger remains an all-time favourite. I remember the BBC repeated The Deadly Assassin the following summer, so naturally I was looking forward to seeing the Doctor drowned once more - and they cut it! A win for The Whitehouse, but a depressing moment for bloodthirsty little sods like me throughout the UK!
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Post by number13 on Apr 14, 2021 21:22:32 GMT
It's oustanding. I was in my early teens when it went out (just about the target audience for the Hinchcliffe&Holmes years, from an interview refuting the criticisms that this story in particular garnered) and I thought it was terrific then and I still do now. I didn't get the political references back then of course, but that's the genius of Robert Holmes writing for multiple audiences at once.
And THAT CLIFFHANGER, the one which got Mrs Whitehouse so upset. I remember watching open-mouthed as the Doctor was drowned right in front of me and Dad saying 'so how's he going to get out of this one?'
Which was the point the critics missed. I knew the Doctor would get out of it somehow, in exactly the same way that Dad had known the Saturday matinee stars of his cinema childhood had always 'got out of it'. The hero doesn't die (or in the Doctor's case, yes he can but not permanently!) so he will always get out of it. Which made it OK but - I've got to wait a week to find out how he does it! Robert Holmes, the best ever. That cliffhanger remains an all-time favourite. I remember the BBC repeated The Deadly Assassin the following summer, so naturally I was looking forward to seeing the Doctor drowned once more - and they cut it! A win for The Whitehouse, but a depressing moment for bloodthirsty little sods like me throughout the UK! lol! We weren't so bad really, especially for the repeats because we knew the Doctor would escape again! Mind you, I doubt the critics were much happier about how he turned the tables on Goth.
One of the all-time great stories for both the action and the intrigue, casually rewrote the Time Lords along the way, created Borusa - and oh yes it brought back the Master! It's a masterpiece! (No pun. Probably. )
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2021 1:22:56 GMT
That cliffhanger remains an all-time favourite. I remember the BBC repeated The Deadly Assassin the following summer, so naturally I was looking forward to seeing the Doctor drowned once more - and they cut it! A win for The Whitehouse, but a depressing moment for bloodthirsty little sods like me throughout the UK! lol! We weren't so bad really, especially for the repeats because we knew the Doctor would escape again! Mind you, I doubt the critics were much happier about how he turned the tables on Goth. One of the all-time great stories for both the action and the intrigue, casually rewrote the Time Lords along the way, created Borusa - and oh yes it brought back the Master! It's a masterpiece! (No pun. Probably. ) Yeah, the showy, theatrical displays of violence were never "too much" for us either. That's the thing, wasn't it? It was often the adults telling the kids what they should be scared of, rather than asking them what they were actually afraid of. The thing which gave me the biggest jump in The Deadly Assassin was the clown in the sand. Not much else. The rest was compelling. Actually, the bit that stuck with me most from the story was Spandrell having to repeatedly shoot one of his guards in the chest to stop him killing the Doctor. He should've dropped after the first shot, but the Master's will drives him on. That's not in the televised serial, though. That's from the novelisation by Terrance Dicks ( *taps nose*). However far they went on television, they never went as far as the imagination of those reading the Target versions at that age. I remember that very distinctly. (Now, Borusa... There's an interesting character. He's practically a cameo here but, you know, he might be the first person we encounter who the Fourth Doctor actually defers to as any sort of authority figure. As much as the Doctor defers to any sort of, for want of a better phrase, higher power. His scenes with Borusa are some of the best parts of The Invasion of Time. There's a lot to unpack there.)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2021 8:06:42 GMT
lol! We weren't so bad really, especially for the repeats because we knew the Doctor would escape again! Mind you, I doubt the critics were much happier about how he turned the tables on Goth. One of the all-time great stories for both the action and the intrigue, casually rewrote the Time Lords along the way, created Borusa - and oh yes it brought back the Master! It's a masterpiece! (No pun. Probably. ) Yeah, the showy, theatrical displays of violence were never "too much" for us either. That's the thing, wasn't it? It was often the adults telling the kids what they should be scared of, rather than asking them what they were actually afraid of. The thing which gave me the biggest jump in The Deadly Assassin was the clown in the sand. Not much else. The rest was compelling. Actually, the bit that stuck with me most from the story was Spandrell having to repeatedly shoot one of his guards in the chest to stop him killing the Doctor. He should've dropped after the first shot, but the Master's will drives him on. That's not in the televised serial, though. That's from the novelisation by Terrance Dicks ( *taps nose*). However far they went on television, they never went as far as the imagination of those reading the Target versions at that age. I remember that very distinctly. (Now, Borusa... There's an interesting character. He's practically a cameo here but, you know, he might be the first person we encounter who the Fourth Doctor actually defers to as any sort of authority figure. As much as the Doctor defers to any sort of, for want of a better phrase, higher power. His scenes with Borusa are some of the best parts of The Invasion of Time. There's a lot to unpack there.) Your first paragraph highlights something that *really* used to grind my gears as a child. As far as I know, no-one has been psychologically damaged watching Doctor Who, and yet boring adults whose imaginations had been squashed by the rigours of 'respectability' - as I saw it - were determining what is unsuitable. No credit was given to us young viewers whatsoever for realising this was fantasy fiction, and what we'd see on the news and hear in the playground was far worse. Or maybe that was just my school! The fact that we will never see a story like 'The Deadly Assassin' in Doctor Who again would indicate that those censors who were falling over themselves to be offended, have won. How's that for a rant? 😁
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2021 11:23:06 GMT
Yeah, the showy, theatrical displays of violence were never "too much" for us either. That's the thing, wasn't it? It was often the adults telling the kids what they should be scared of, rather than asking them what they were actually afraid of. The thing which gave me the biggest jump in The Deadly Assassin was the clown in the sand. Not much else. The rest was compelling. Actually, the bit that stuck with me most from the story was Spandrell having to repeatedly shoot one of his guards in the chest to stop him killing the Doctor. He should've dropped after the first shot, but the Master's will drives him on. That's not in the televised serial, though. That's from the novelisation by Terrance Dicks ( *taps nose*). However far they went on television, they never went as far as the imagination of those reading the Target versions at that age. I remember that very distinctly. (Now, Borusa... There's an interesting character. He's practically a cameo here but, you know, he might be the first person we encounter who the Fourth Doctor actually defers to as any sort of authority figure. As much as the Doctor defers to any sort of, for want of a better phrase, higher power. His scenes with Borusa are some of the best parts of The Invasion of Time. There's a lot to unpack there.) Your first paragraph highlights something that *really* used to grind my gears as a child. As far as I know, no-one has been psychologically damaged watching Doctor Who, and yet boring adults whose imaginations had been squashed by the rigours of 'respectability' - as I saw it - were determining what is unsuitable. No credit was given to us young viewers whatsoever for realising this was fantasy fiction, and what we'd see on the news and hear in the playground was far worse. Or maybe that was just my school! The fact that we will never see a story like 'The Deadly Assassin' in Doctor Who again would indicate that those censors who were falling over themselves to be offended, have won. How's that for a rant? 😁 Very much on the mark. I think it's one of our blindspots as adults. Childhood gets relegated to this vague image of a single-digit nursery school attendee, which is expanded to fit everything between 6 and 16. The truth is that children are a lot more intelligent and aware of their environment than they're typically given credit for. In fact, I think they're getting more intelligent -- particularly emotionally intelligent -- all the time and, honestly, thank god. Could you imagine the alternative? That'd be terrifying. And their getting wiser is good for us, as it means all the interesting concepts never need be dumbed down. Only explained through a different language without the buzzwords and cliquish slang. I mean, you say the censors won, but then I remember The Sun Makers beginning with its attempted suicide, Leela's knife fight, and the Doctor getting menaced with a hot poker and think... Perhaps a few of the old ideas just went underground, instead. Old face, new cloak. Saved for special occasions.
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