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Post by number13 on Mar 29, 2024 21:49:16 GMT
Spearhead From Space
Robert Holmes' first 5* story imo, classic alien invasion story full of iconic moments including the one we don't see. No shop windows were harmed in the making of this production! It's a one-off thanks to its unique all-film all-location production style and even though I've seen it goodness knows how many times in different formats, it's still a strange and amazing experience. It's just so... brilliantly different!
Imagine... if the studio workers had stayed on strike and they'd made the whole of Season 7 like this!
(The blu-ray rescan is exceptionally good but I last watched it on iPlayer and am convinced it looked even better. Is this a pre-Collection S7 new version we're seeing?? That's just pure speculation so don't take it as more than that! But maybe check it out for yourself - time spent watching my Doctor's first adventure is always time well spent. )
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Post by number13 on Apr 2, 2024 21:11:09 GMT
(Doctor Who and ) The Silurians
A seven-parter which never runs out of steam and holds the attention right to the (bitter) end. With possibly the most unusual music ever in 'Doctor Who'! That's a crumhorn, not Bessie's horn. Parp! Parp!
More seriously, great cast, thoughtful script and well made throughout. Episode 6 was always one of the most realistically chilling in all of classic Who, but post-Covid, the depiction of the frantic and futile attempts to contain a new pandemic are more frightening than ever. This is one "alien" super-weapon which might credibly have worked, if we didn't have the Doctor's genius to help us out.
I love this great story right up to the very end, when Malcolm Hulke's original ending gets a last-minute scene replacement which for me simply doesn't work. The Doctor sees explosions on the moorland and accuses the Brigadier of having 'blown up the Silurians' and thus, of commiitting murder. (We'll leave to one side the question of morality - by this point in the story, the Silurians are led by reptile fascists who have already tried to kill every last Ape on Earth, twice. What should humanity do?)
The final scene doesn't work (and the rewriting is made obvious) because we've already heard the Brig's unambiguous order in the previous scene - 'I want that Silurian base sealed permanently.' Sealed, not destroyed. It would be ineffective of course; sooner or later the Silurians would wake from hibernation again and just cut their way out as we know they can do. But he does not order their 'murder', only their imprisonment.
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Post by mark687 on Apr 2, 2024 22:16:04 GMT
(Doctor Who and ) The Silurians
A seven-parter which never runs out of steam and holds the attention right to the (bitter) end. With possibly the most unusual music ever in 'Doctor Who'! That's a crumhorn, not Bessie's horn. Parp! Parp!
More seriously, great cast, thoughtful script and well made throughout. Episode 6 was always one of the most realistically chilling in all of classic Who, but post-Covid, the depiction of the frantic and futile attempts to contain a new pandemic are more frightening than ever. This is one "alien" super-weapon which might credibly have worked, if we didn't have the Doctor's genius to help us out.
I love this great story right up to the very end, when Malcolm Hulke's original ending gets a last-minute scene replacement which for me simply doesn't work. The Doctor sees explosions on the moorland and accuses the Brigadier of having 'blown up the Silurians' and thus, of commiitting murder. (We'll leave to one side the question of morality - by this point in the story, the Silurians are led by reptile fascists who have already tried to kill every last Ape on Earth, twice. What should humanity do?)
The final scene doesn't work (and the rewriting is made obvious) because we've already heard the Brig's unambiguous order in the previous scene - 'I want that Silurian base sealed permanently.' Sealed, not destroyed. It would be ineffective of course; sooner or later the Silurians would wake from hibernation again and just cut their way out as we know they can do. But he does not order their 'murder', only their imprisonment.
How many times do we have to have a full trip down the Caves though! Regards mark687
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Post by number13 on Apr 3, 2024 7:32:04 GMT
(Doctor Who and ) The Silurians
A seven-parter which never runs out of steam and holds the attention right to the (bitter) end. With possibly the most unusual music ever in 'Doctor Who'! That's a crumhorn, not Bessie's horn. Parp! Parp!
More seriously, great cast, thoughtful script and well made throughout. Episode 6 was always one of the most realistically chilling in all of classic Who, but post-Covid, the depiction of the frantic and futile attempts to contain a new pandemic are more frightening than ever. This is one "alien" super-weapon which might credibly have worked, if we didn't have the Doctor's genius to help us out.
I love this great story right up to the very end, when Malcolm Hulke's original ending gets a last-minute scene replacement which for me simply doesn't work. The Doctor sees explosions on the moorland and accuses the Brigadier of having 'blown up the Silurians' and thus, of commiitting murder. (We'll leave to one side the question of morality - by this point in the story, the Silurians are led by reptile fascists who have already tried to kill every last Ape on Earth, twice. What should humanity do?)
The final scene doesn't work (and the rewriting is made obvious) because we've already heard the Brig's unambiguous order in the previous scene - 'I want that Silurian base sealed permanently.' Sealed, not destroyed. It would be ineffective of course; sooner or later the Silurians would wake from hibernation again and just cut their way out as we know they can do. But he does not order their 'murder', only their imprisonment.
How many times do we have to have a full trip down the Caves though! Regards mark687 At least once per week/episode by my count! (Good set though.) That's the thing with a lot of classic Who, watch as a movie and they can go obviously over the same ground, but watched over 4/6/7 Saturdays they worked just fine. I usually watch two episodes a day, which helps get nearer to the classic viewing vibe. I keep saying that one year I will watch a season Saturday by Saturday just as it was broadcast, but I never have yet!
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Post by number13 on Apr 4, 2024 20:17:52 GMT
The Brain of Morbius (I thought I'd get a head start on the new Morbius season. ('Condo not get joke.' 'Never mind.'))
Right at the mid-point of 'the Gothic Era' is the most Gothic story of the lot. Made out of parts by Terrance Dicks and parts by Robert Holmes, shot through with Season 13 energy and stalking our screens gloriously for four episodes!
Virtuoso performances all round, great sets and lighting, a splendid mix of horror, emotion (Elisabeth Sladen is excellent - as always) and comedy moments, and the swirling, twirling Sisters of the Flame are the best cult in classic Who! Really they make the followers of Demnos and the Devil's End lot look like the part-time coven-ists they were. Sa-cred fiiiire… sa-cred flaaame...
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Post by sherlock on Apr 8, 2024 19:21:21 GMT
Warriors’ Gate
This one felt too big for the small screen. It’s got big ideas being thrown around but doesn’t have the time to fully realise them. The direction is interesting and characterisation well done, but it just feels incomplete. I might track down the novelisation to see if that completes this story.
Romana’s departure does suffer from the suddenness that undermines a lot of classic Who departures, but at least her characterisation does present her as a proto-Doctor in her own right so her going solo feels somewhat natural.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 8, 2024 23:02:22 GMT
Warriors’ GateThis one felt too big for the small screen. It’s got big ideas being thrown around but doesn’t have the time to fully realise them. The direction is interesting and characterisation well done, but it just feels incomplete. I might track down the novelisation to see if that completes this story. Romana’s departure does suffer from the suddenness that undermines a lot of classic Who departures, but at least her characterisation does present her as a proto-Doctor in her own right so her going solo feels somewhat natural. Romana’s departure was signposted in Meglos when she received a summons back to Gallifrey. Going to e-space delayed that but she had been against it for a long time. if you can, seek out Toby Harold’s Who’s Round podcast episodes where he talks to Stephen Gallagher and Paul Joyce (the director who “left” the production mid-story) about the story and their involvement in it. It’s spread across five or six episodes and it’s fascinating.
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Post by number13 on Apr 9, 2024 7:50:20 GMT
The AmbassadorsOF DEATH A long and convoluted plot to hold interest over the seven episodes, tons of excellent winter location filiming and action scenes, and in Regan, a sort of proto-Master character; the ruthless and skilled villain who somehow manages to be likeable too. The Doctor, Liz and the Brig all get plenty to do and so do the HAVOC stunt team who did so much to make this era unique and special. It's a Bond movie on a 'Doctor Who' budget and I think it's a cracker. And they gave us part of the solution in plain sight, right there in the first part of the (separated) title. These aliens are trying to be friendly. 'From Mars, With Love'.
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Post by sherlock on Apr 9, 2024 8:18:14 GMT
Warriors’ GateThis one felt too big for the small screen. It’s got big ideas being thrown around but doesn’t have the time to fully realise them. The direction is interesting and characterisation well done, but it just feels incomplete. I might track down the novelisation to see if that completes this story. Romana’s departure does suffer from the suddenness that undermines a lot of classic Who departures, but at least her characterisation does present her as a proto-Doctor in her own right so her going solo feels somewhat natural. Romana’s departure was signposted in Meglos when she received a summons back to Gallifrey. Going to e-space delayed that but she had been against it for a long time. if you can, seek out Toby Harold’s Who’s Round podcast episodes where he talks to Stephen Gallagher and Paul Joyce (the director who “left” the production mid-story) about the story and their involvement in it. It’s spread across five or six episodes and it’s fascinating. Her leaving feels naturally but her going off with Biroc who suddenly needs a Time Lord that feels sudden (he’s never mentioned the Tharils’ need for a Time Lord before nor spoken to Romana all that much). It’s another thing I feel more time could help with. May just check that podcast out. Season 18 certainly had some of the more eventful behind the scenes of classic Who.
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Post by mark687 on Apr 9, 2024 11:17:52 GMT
The AmbassadorsOF DEATH A long and convoluted plot to hold interest over the seven episodes, tons of excellent winter location filiming and action scenes, and in Regan, a sort of proto-Master character; the ruthless and skilled villain who somehow manages to be likeable too. The Doctor, Liz and the Brig all get plenty to do and so do the HAVOC stunt team who did so much to make this era unique and special. It's a Bond movie on a 'Doctor Who' budget and I think it's a cracker. And they gave us part of the solution in plain sight, right there in the first part of the (separated) title. These aliens are trying to be friendly. 'From Mars, With Love'. Still think its the best example of what they intended for that season. Regards mark687
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 9, 2024 13:45:41 GMT
Romana’s departure was signposted in Meglos when she received a summons back to Gallifrey. Going to e-space delayed that but she had been against it for a long time. if you can, seek out Toby Harold’s Who’s Round podcast episodes where he talks to Stephen Gallagher and Paul Joyce (the director who “left” the production mid-story) about the story and their involvement in it. It’s spread across five or six episodes and it’s fascinating. Her leaving feels naturally but her going off with Biroc who suddenly needs a Time Lord that feels sudden (he’s never mentioned the Tharils’ need for a Time Lord before nor spoken to Romana all that much). It’s another thing I feel more time could help with. May just check that podcast out. Season 18 certainly had some of the more eventful behind the scenes of classic Who. Toby Hadoke, not Harold. Flocking autocorrect
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Post by timleschild on Apr 10, 2024 8:58:58 GMT
The Keeper of Traken on BBC iPlayer.
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Post by number13 on Apr 13, 2024 20:39:02 GMT
Inferno
All the elements that make Season 7 so special with a terrific script plus epic direction from Douglas Camfield that gives the studio sections as much drama and pace as the plentiful action sequences. The first time I saw this I'm sure my hair was standing on end for the Episode 4 cliff-hanger. It's just a sound effect and a line from the Doctor, but wow!, how they delivered.
'Listen to it! That's the sound of this planet screaming out its rage!'
What a scorcher!
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Post by sherlock on Apr 15, 2024 9:26:44 GMT
The Keeper of Traken
I really like the ideas at play here. A utopia predicated on outsourcing all power and tough decisions to a man who is chained to a chair for thousand years, it’s denizens paranoid about the potential for a snake in the grass (and that in turn leading one of them to become a puppet of said snake) and how quickly the utopia becomes dystopia when the wrong man gets on the chair. The story oddly never really directly criticises this system, but then perhaps the Doctor’s rapid departure speaks for itself in that regard.
Beevers’ Master is the breakout star here, but Ainley’s performance as Tremas is quite sweet too.
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Post by number13 on Apr 15, 2024 13:24:28 GMT
The Keeper of TrakenI really like the ideas at play here. A utopia predicated on outsourcing all power and tough decisions to a man who is chained to a chair for thousand years, it’s denizens paranoid about the potential for a snake in the grass (and that in turn leading one of them to become a puppet of said snake) and how quickly the utopia becomes dystopia when the wrong man gets on the chair. The story oddly never really directly criticises this system, but then perhaps the Doctor’s rapid departure speaks for itself in that regard. Beevers’ Master is the breakout star here, but Ainley’s performance as Tremas is quite sweet too. The Keeper is a fascinating concept, because it's not really him in charge. (At least so the old Keeper says at the start of the story.) He's just 'the organising principle' who has 'all the minds of the union to draw on'. Sort of a constitutional monarch who does the will of the people, literally by the direct will of the people. And can be dethroned at any time if the Consuls so determine.
The Doctor does comment on it but not to criticise: 'It's a pity about that poor chap having to sit for thousands of years in a chair, but it is magnificent.' So presumably, he approves. A world as peaceful and stable as Gallifrey might have been, if Time Lords weren't so keen on scheming and back-stabbing. (In practice, I bet the Doctor would have been bored rigid living on Traken and gone off into the universe looking for adventure, just like he did from Gallifrey!)
Presumably the Master thinks that with his hypnotic power boosted by the Source, he can control everyone else - as he does control Tremas. But the Source was never meant to work with his Time Lord biology; he is the snake right enough.
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Post by sherlock on Apr 15, 2024 13:45:13 GMT
The Keeper of TrakenI really like the ideas at play here. A utopia predicated on outsourcing all power and tough decisions to a man who is chained to a chair for thousand years, it’s denizens paranoid about the potential for a snake in the grass (and that in turn leading one of them to become a puppet of said snake) and how quickly the utopia becomes dystopia when the wrong man gets on the chair. The story oddly never really directly criticises this system, but then perhaps the Doctor’s rapid departure speaks for itself in that regard. Beevers’ Master is the breakout star here, but Ainley’s performance as Tremas is quite sweet too. The Keeper is a fascinating concept, because it's not really him in charge. (At least so the old Keeper says at the start of the story.) He's just 'the organising principle' who has 'all the minds of the union to draw on'. Sort of a constitutional monarch who does the will of the people, literally by the direct will of the people. And can be dethroned at any time if the Consuls so determine.
The Doctor does comment on it but not to criticise: 'It's a pity about that poor chap having to sit for thousands of years in a chair, but it is magnificent.' So presumably, he approves. A world as peaceful and stable as Gallifrey might have been, if Time Lords weren't so keen on scheming and back-stabbing. (In practice, I bet the Doctor would have been bored rigid living on Traken and gone off into the universe looking for adventure, just like he did from Gallifrey!)
Presumably the Master thinks that with his hypnotic power boosted by the Source, he can control everyone else - as he does control Tremas. But the Source was never meant to work with his Time Lord biology; he is the snake right enough.
I took the Doctor’s comments as more appreciation of the engineering of controlling the Source, which does make a nice contrast to Gallifrey as it was this same incarnation who made a point of deriding how outdated the APC Net actually is.
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Post by number13 on Apr 17, 2024 13:02:19 GMT
The Keeper is a fascinating concept, because it's not really him in charge. (At least so the old Keeper says at the start of the story.) He's just 'the organising principle' who has 'all the minds of the union to draw on'. Sort of a constitutional monarch who does the will of the people, literally by the direct will of the people. And can be dethroned at any time if the Consuls so determine.
The Doctor does comment on it but not to criticise: 'It's a pity about that poor chap having to sit for thousands of years in a chair, but it is magnificent.' So presumably, he approves. A world as peaceful and stable as Gallifrey might have been, if Time Lords weren't so keen on scheming and back-stabbing. (In practice, I bet the Doctor would have been bored rigid living on Traken and gone off into the universe looking for adventure, just like he did from Gallifrey!)
Presumably the Master thinks that with his hypnotic power boosted by the Source, he can control everyone else - as he does control Tremas. But the Source was never meant to work with his Time Lord biology; he is the snake right enough.
I took the Doctor’s comments as more appreciation of the engineering of controlling the Source, which does make a nice contrast to Gallifrey as it was this same incarnation who made a point of deriding how outdated the APC Net actually is. Yes, I could see it that way. But in the next minute he tells Adric something about appreciating a thousand years of peace and prosperity, so he doesn't sound disapproving of the Traken system. And he does save it for them after all - the Source preserved, a new Keeper safely installed and the Master booted out (so he thinks) all thanks to the Doctor. Whereas when the Doctor finds a society he doesn't think has a good system of government, we know what generally happens...
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Post by number13 on Apr 17, 2024 13:08:34 GMT
The Invisible Enemy
I normally watch it with the original special effects because I think they worked wonders with all the space model shots. There are lots and lots of ideas (as usual for a 'Bristol Boys' script) and most of it works (I especially like the sequences inside the Doctor's brain), but still, somehow it does come across to me as a bit of a cocktail. A prawn cocktail!
Never mind, this story gave us K-9 and that makes it very special. 'Affirmative!'
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Post by bonehead on Apr 18, 2024 17:56:24 GMT
The Twin Dilemma is forty years old! So to celebrate, I've been watching ... Midnight. Still one of the best Doctor Who stories ever written, in my opinion.
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Just to say, sherlock , I've rerally been enjoying your trip through Series 18 (my favourite). Sad it's coming to an end, but I'm interested to see what you make of Logopolis. At the time, I wondered how anyone could possibly write a story 'big' enough to bring down the indestructable Fourth Doctor? Somehow, they did it!
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Post by sherlock on Apr 18, 2024 19:59:30 GMT
The Twin Dilemma is forty years old! So to celebrate, I've been watching ... Midnight. Still one of the best Doctor Who stories ever written, in my opinion.
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Just to say, sherlock , I've rerally been enjoying your trip through Series 18 (my favourite). Sad it's coming to an end, but I'm interested to see what you make of Logopolis. At the time, I wondered how anyone could possibly write a story 'big' enough to bring down the indestructable Fourth Doctor? Somehow, they did it! Glad you’ve enjoyed them. Season 18 is definitely one of the more thematically interesting seasons of classic Who. On that note I just watched… LogopolisI’ve seen this a few times now (unlike rest of the season which I hadn’t watched in years), and I just really like it. The atmosphere just really appeals; it’s not dramatics or epic in tone (though the scale of the threat definitely is!), but feels like a funeral. A quiet, long goodbye. It’s a million miles from most regeneration stories because of that but it just works. The reveal in Part 3 that the universe has actually been past its sell-by date for some time lands because of this and all the stories leading up to it. Ultimately the big final battle comes down to a small fight between a man who will grab any opportunity he can to feel powerful, and damn the consequences, and a man who will give anything to stand in his way. The Doctor knew that it was coming, and he could have run upon seeing the Watcher but yet he didn’t. He’s surrounded by people he barely knows, yet he’ll send them to safety leaving himself in heart of danger. Because ultimately that’s who the Fourth Doctor was; the one running towards danger and trying to do the right thing.
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