|
|
Post by IndieMacUser on Apr 14, 2020 15:58:53 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by nucleusofswarm on Apr 16, 2020 11:42:50 GMT
I know I've made fun of the Bakers on various occassions, but it is always sad when we lose people who contributed to the show we love, and there are a lot of things to appreciate about what he and his wife gave to us. RIP.
|
|
|
|
Post by doctorkernow on Apr 16, 2020 13:54:46 GMT
Hello again.
I thoroughly enjoyed both Mark of the Rani and Terror of the Vervoids. The Rani is an interesting creation. An amoral Timelord scientist, wittily disparaging of both the Doctor and the Master. She feels unappreciated by her people, so she enslaves species who are not technologically advanced. She uses them to help her with her dubious research.
Their work on Trial of a Timelord as emergency supply writers on episode fourteen was rather verbose at times but they did the best they could to make sense of the previous thirteen weeks.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2020 16:53:17 GMT
Hello again. I thoroughly enjoyed both Mark of the Rani and Terror of the Vervoids. The Rani is an interesting creation. An amoral Timelord scientist, wittily disparaging of both the Doctor and the Master. She feels unappreciated by her people, so she enslaves species who are not technologically advanced. She uses them to help her with her dubious research. Their work on Trial of a Timelord as emergency supply writers on episode fourteen was rather verbose at times but they did the best they could to make sense of the previous thirteen weeks. As Colin Baker said online, it's the end of an era. I always rated Pip & Jane as being responsible for some of the best 6th Doctor scripts. The Ultimate Foe was the best part of Trial of a Timelord for me at the time and I thought they did very well to finish off the season on a high point. Whatever went on behind the scenes with Robert Holmes passing away and Eric Saward walking out, it did not show, thanks to their deft work. I would say that they took the rap for the reception of Time and the Rani, which was somewhat unfair. Even DWM questioned in review at the time, whether they were suited to Doctor Who, with their story ideas, but surely that was always the responsibility of Producer and Script Editor, to screen and coach writers towards what 'fits' the series. They did their best and did very well in the circumstances of the time, and I dare say are remembered more positively over the passage of time, once the politics of the period are forgotten. |
|
|
|
Post by tuigirl on Apr 16, 2020 18:26:14 GMT
I actually really enjoyed their stories, too- but I went in there with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if a lot of the criticism came out of frustration by the fans? I think it is quite sad, they made a very nice impression on the DVD audio commentaries. Sad for the families, sad for their friends, and sad for us fans. I am very much over this virus. Too many bad news every day.  |
|
|
|
Post by doctorkernow on Apr 16, 2020 22:02:29 GMT
Hello again.
Oh yes Daver, Time and yer Auntie was a classic case of noone really knowing exactly what they wanted. the whole tone of season 24 is like the ifrst story. The production team can't seem to decide whether they are doing a drama or a comedy like season 17. It lurches wildly in tone and yet... for all its faults I love the idea of the Tetraps and Kate O'Mara's take on Melanie is hilarious, the bubble traps, yes it's still in a quarry but it zips along and it's such a relief to get out of that courtroom.
The whole story from that classic opening line,"Leave the girl. It's the man, I want." It's almost like Carry On Rani. I thoroughly enjoyed episodes 1 and 2, though at the end why does Ikona tip away the cure so condemning his fellow Lakertyans to death if the accidently release the killer bees?
The Bakers got the measure of the Sixth Doctor well and it is a shame that the short seasons meant that writing slots were limited. It would have interesting to see how they would have written for the much more defined later Seventh Doctor and Ace.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2020 4:31:57 GMT
Hello again. I thoroughly enjoyed both Mark of the Rani and Terror of the Vervoids. The Rani is an interesting creation. An amoral Timelord scientist, wittily disparaging of both the Doctor and the Master. She feels unappreciated by her people, so she enslaves species who are not technologically advanced. She uses them to help her with her dubious research. Their work on Trial of a Timelord as emergency supply writers on episode fourteen was rather verbose at times but they did the best they could to make sense of the previous thirteen weeks. As Colin Baker said online, it's the end of an era. I always rated Pip & Jane as being responsible for some of the best 6th Doctor scripts. The Ultimate Foe was the best part of Trial of a Timelord for me at the time and I thought they did very well to finish off the season on a high point. Whatever went on behind the scenes with Robert Holmes passing away and Eric Saward walking out, it did not show, thanks to their deft work. I would say that they took the rap for the reception of Time and the Rani, which was somewhat unfair. Even DWM questioned in review at the time, whether they were suited to Doctor Who, with their story ideas, but surely that was always the responsibility of Producer and Script Editor, to screen and coach writers towards what 'fits' the series. They did their best and did very well in the circumstances of the time, and I dare say are remembered more positively over the passage of time, once the politics of the period are forgotten. The irony in hindsight is that among the controversial changes in Season 22, The Mark of the Rani often gets chosen as the story that feels most recognisably Who-ish out of all of them. Looking over their scripts, I'd say they were very accommodating writers caught in the midst of some tumultuous buffeting. Their debut script captures the fun of something like The Time Meddler, its only real fault being that it ends too soon. Terror of the Vervoids had to fit into the Trial (working quite well as a standalone tale despite it). Time and the Rani had to be all things to all people and tried very hard to do so. Despite all that, though, they've left a particularly strong legacy. Their interpretation of the Sixth Doctor is something of a baseline for what would later return for Big Finish. Put him side-by-side with The Marian Conspiracy and there's more than a few similarities. A more readily friendly traveller who wears his compassion on his sleeve. Pip and Jane also did one small, but very important thing in their 1988 novelisation of The Ultimate Foe. After departing on his own to other horizons, Mel reunites with her Doctor on Oxyveguramosa:The Sixth Doctor may have been down, but out? Not quite. |
|
