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Post by number13 on Feb 27, 2024 21:41:16 GMT
The Robots of Death
Watched last weekend, by pure chance it happened to be next in my run through splendid Season 14. And felt like a perfect tribute to Pamela Salem - Toos' role has plenty of scope and she really sells that Episode 2 cliff-hanger. Nail-biting tension and it's all done with a model shot, some music - and crucially, the acting. 'She's going!' ('She', of course, being the Sandminer!)
Monsieur le Docteur exercises the little grey cells and solves the crime most brutal. But what if ‘the butler did it’ and your whole society depends on robot ‘butlers’?
Of course it's an Agatha Christie country house murder-mystery and it's an absolute cracker thanks to the script, the great cast and most impressive design. I love the 'art deco future' style of the Sandminer's luxurious interior and the way that clearly draws on the style of the ocean liners that had their hey-day at the same time as 'Golden Age' detective fiction. And the crew's costumes which look completely impractical until we remember that this crew don't really do the work on board.
In this ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ world, the small human crew lives in opulent, even decadent luxury while the work is carried out by a horde of service robots – non-speaking ‘Dums’ down below, more capable ‘Vocs’ on the bridge and in the crew quarters and one ‘SuperVoc’ to manage them all. This is a perfect translation of the below-stairs and above-stairs staff of a Victorian country house, with the butler in charge. But one of the ‘rules’ of classic murder mysteries is that the criminal must always be one of the family or guests, never one of the workers. When the bodies start to mount up, the crew are so busy pointing accusing fingers at each other that nobody suspects the robots … which all have the perfect alibi - according to the ‘First Law of Robotics’, a robot can never harm a human, it is their Prime Directive...
... but even a Captain Hastings like me could guess whodunnit, with a title like that!
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Post by timleschild on Feb 28, 2024 21:25:01 GMT
Flux
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Post by bonehead on Feb 29, 2024 11:02:08 GMT
Androids of Tara.
Or Prisoner of Zenda, if course, but Doctor Who has based some of its best-loved stories on other works of fiction. Alongside The Pirate Planet, this is my favourite story from this series; this segment of the Key to Time is found in the first five minutes, after which Romana is terrorised by the Taran Wood Beast, which is a scene I've not quickly forgotten.
But amidst the (otherwise) genuinely big-budgeted feel of this one, the sets, the costumes and the extra time it must have taken wonderful Mary Tamm to play two different roles, it's the villainous Count Grendel who makes this story for me. Peter Jeffrey was one of those dependable, solid actors whose distinctive features popped up on television and film regularly. He plays Grendel with charm and relish, pitch perfect and a great rival for Tom Baker. In the end, when he finally realises he's beaten, he gets a memorable, refreshingly dignified send-off ... which is more than can be said for K9.
A great story.
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Post by number13 on Feb 29, 2024 22:28:17 GMT
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
My favourite 'Doctor Who' of all Time, across all media, and has been for 47 years! I could write pages as to why, but here are a handful of reasons pulled as if by magic, from thin air...
It's a perfect paragon of period pastiche (despite being penned in record time as a last-minute season finale by Robert Holmes) performed with polished perfection by peerless pros. (And I promise that's the last bit of alliteration. ) Even minor roles such as Buller the cabbie, Theresa the 'lady', "Patsy" the mudlark and our friend-to-be P.C. Quick are expertly cast and played. And then, the villains.
Li H'sen Chang remains one of the great villains. In my view, he's Robert Holmes' finest invention, a multi-layered character and ultimately a tragic figure despite his villainous actions, and in the different world of 1977 John Bennett deserves full credit with Robert Holmes for making him so. On the surface is the stage performer who speaks "pidgin" English to play with the prejudices of his audience; off-stage he's the urbane gentleman artiste, intelligent and speaking perfect English. The third layer is the ruthless servant of his 'god' - and finally, with that delusion destroyed, the true man is briefly seen: the awed 'son of a peasant' who would no doubt have lived in quiet obscurity, if Greel had not fallen through Time. And Holmes leaves us to speculate on exactly how Greel gave Li H'sen the mental powers he possessed. Perhaps it's just as well we don't know; Greel is not an alien who can perform mind-transfers or the like. He was a human war criminal who performed 'vile experiments' on his victims and has (in Mr. Sin) at least one servant with a re-constructed brain...
The lighting. Gothic gloom blankets this story; there are only two short daylight sequences on film, all else is night filming or wonderfully low-lit sets indoors at night or deep beneath the streets and buildings of London. It looks superb and the blu-ray shows the nuances of sets and low lighting better than ever before. And the new effects are nice to have, although I think the original looks great too, 'cuddly' rat and all.
The Doctor and Leela - could any other Doctor/Companion team have played this story so well? Mr. Holmes from Gallifrey and Eliza Doolittle of the Sevateem; yes, the story was crafted for them but so expertly that it seems perfectly natural they are the perfect pair for this adventure.
And of course, last but most of all, this magnificent masterpiece gave us Jago & Litefoot. Gentlemen, take a bow - you were together on screen for only two episodes, but it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and in the fullness of Time, years and volumes of audio magic from Big Finish.
(In the unlikely event that anyone wants to read even more from me about this story, seven years ago at the 40th anniversary I inflicted an episode-by-episode review on the forum. And people were kind enough not to object.
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Post by andrew on Feb 29, 2024 23:54:50 GMT
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
My favourite 'Doctor Who' of all Time, across all media, and has been for 47 years! I could write pages as to why, but here are a handful of reasons pulled as if by magic, from thin air... A special story for me too. I was born days after its final episode aired. When I was in hospital in 1989 having my appendix removed, I was bored so went for a wander and found the novelisation in a bookcase in the day room. Took it back to bed and read it in one go. They let me keep it. Or maybe I stole it? I received and watched the video of it on my birthday in 1990. In the early days when I had just a few of the videos, it was one of my most watched. Half a dozen times at least. And it’s now…checks watch… probably 30 years since I last watched it. I intend to remedy that soon. My wife is showing occasional willingness to try some classic Who. So far we’ve watched a couple of the stories from the Tales of the TARDIS. Started with Fenric, and watched Earthshock last weekend. Both superb. Going to show her a Tom next and have narrowed it down to Talons or City of Death. Or maybe Horns of Nimon…
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Post by number13 on Mar 1, 2024 13:40:03 GMT
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
My favourite 'Doctor Who' of all Time, across all media, and has been for 47 years! I could write pages as to why, but here are a handful of reasons pulled as if by magic, from thin air... A special story for me too. I was born days after its final episode aired. When I was in hospital in 1989 having my appendix removed, I was bored so went for a wander and found the novelisation in a bookcase in the day room. Took it back to bed and read it in one go. They let me keep it. Or maybe I stole it? I received and watched the video of it on my birthday in 1990. In the early days when I had just a few of the videos, it was one of my most watched. Half a dozen times at least. And it’s now…checks watch… probably 30 years since I last watched it. I intend to remedy that soon. My wife is showing occasional willingness to try some classic Who. So far we’ve watched a couple of the stories from the Tales of the TARDIS. Started with Fenric, and watched Earthshock last weekend. Both superb. Going to show her a Tom next and have narrowed it down to Talons or City of Death. Or maybe Horns of Nimon… I've still got the video - somewhere. It was one of the very early VHS releases with all the episodes run together without titles or credits, but I much prefer the proper episode structure. Talons has some excellent cliff-hangers!
A few years ago it was ranked #3 in the all-time list of 'Doctor Who' after 'Caves of Androzani' and 'Genesis of the Daleks', both of them worthy rivals for the top spot. 'City of Death' was very high on the list too as I recall. Tastes change with time of course and what people say they like changes with the prevailing mood, but imo once a classic, always a classic.
(It's fair to say 'The Horns of Nimon' perhaps doesn't rank quite so highly, but I think it's fun. )
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Post by number13 on Mar 2, 2024 20:44:04 GMT
Horror of Fang Rock
It's a cracking story of course and full of great performances, but now I know the back-story (from the DVD notes etc.) what also strikes me is the sheer technical skill with which Paddy Russell and her team pulled off this all-studio story, in the one large film set and those necessarily tiny lighthouse room sets in the unfamiliar studios in Birmingham. And they made a classic, an outpost of Gothic just off the edge of the Hinchcliffe & Holmes years but very much in that spirit.
The sense of atmosphere - literal and metaphorical - is splendid; claustrophobic and dark as the 'haunted house' whodunnit plays out on lonely Fang Rock and one by one the characters meet their doom... '... and an over-toppled chair.'
(Watching for the last time before the effects and sound get the full blu-ray treatment! 'They always said the beast of Fang Rock would be back' - and it will, in about three weeks! )
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Post by bethhigdon on Mar 4, 2024 19:26:33 GMT
Watched the Curse of Peladon. It's a surprisingly smart script that ironically is still relatable today.
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Post by bethhigdon on Mar 5, 2024 23:04:46 GMT
Journey to the Center of the Tardis
I was able to understand the plot better this go around, but it's still pretty pointless with it's literal reset button ending.
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Post by timleschild on Mar 6, 2024 23:57:15 GMT
Full Circle on BBC iPlayer.
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Post by Kestrel on Mar 8, 2024 8:52:59 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting!
Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called?
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Post by mark687 on Mar 8, 2024 9:11:59 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting! Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called?Short Answer No LOL Regards mark687
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Post by number13 on Mar 8, 2024 10:06:58 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting! Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called?Short Answer No LOL Regards mark687 Mr. Speaker, may I remind my Right Honourable friend that we did in fact have a poll on DU and the result was 'New NuWho'. If the rest of the world chooses to ignore our collective wisdom, that's their problem.
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Post by mark687 on Mar 8, 2024 10:25:52 GMT
Short Answer No LOL Regards mark687 Mr. Speaker, may I remind my Right Honourable friend that we did in fact have a poll on DU and the result was 'New NuWho'. If the rest of the world chooses to ignore our collective wisdom, that's their problem.
Regards mark687
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Post by timleschild on Mar 8, 2024 10:27:36 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting! Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called? The 'Let's Try To Get The Fans Back' era?
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Post by bethhigdon on Mar 8, 2024 15:16:37 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting! Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called? Everyone on Tumblr keeps calling it either the Disney Era or the RTD2 Era.
Given that it's possible that someone other than RTD will come along eventually to keep the show running while maintaining the contract with Disney then Disney Era seems like a good fit for everything post NuWho.
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Post by timleschild on Mar 8, 2024 15:18:04 GMT
Finally ready to dive into the Tennant/14th specials this weekend! Exciting! Speaking of, is there any consensus yet on what this new era of the show is to be called? Everyone on Tumblr keeps calling it either the Disney Era or the RTD2 Era.
Given that it's possible that someone other than RTD will come along eventually to keep the show running while maintaining the contract with Disney then Disney Era seems like a good fit for everything post NuWho.
Or the Final Era?
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Post by bethhigdon on Mar 8, 2024 15:27:12 GMT
Everyone on Tumblr keeps calling it either the Disney Era or the RTD2 Era.
Given that it's possible that someone other than RTD will come along eventually to keep the show running while maintaining the contract with Disney then Disney Era seems like a good fit for everything post NuWho.
Or the Final Era? I doubt it.
Even if the contract isn't renewed and there's no immediate predecessor after RTD the show will still revive itself in some form at some point.
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Post by bethhigdon on Mar 8, 2024 15:29:36 GMT
And speaking of hiatuses and revivals I re-watched Dimensions in Time last night.
I don't care what anybody says, it's still a fun, short celebration of the show, and it's as cannon as anything else.
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Post by timleschild on Mar 8, 2024 17:19:07 GMT
And speaking of hiatuses and revivals I re-watched Dimensions in Time last night. I don't care what anybody says, it's still a fun, short celebration of the show, and it's as cannon as anything else. But then that makes EastEnders a real thing in the world of Doctor Who!
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