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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jul 22, 2022 23:48:30 GMT
Probably the least talked about entry of the Key to Time saga, and very different to other David Fisher outings. However, I can't deny that I have a soft spot for its fairytale-Errol Flynn quality, being a Zenda pastiche, and think it boasts a fun villain and some nice escapades for 4. But where do you stand on it - hidden gem, or as unworthy as the Count's claim to the throne?
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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 Jul 23, 2022 0:59:25 GMT
In recent years, I’ve become quite bemused about the idea of Doctor Who stories being ‘under-‘ or ‘over-‘ rated/appreciate or not talked about very much because I think that only Star Trek and Star Wars have been subject to equal/more analysis or discussion in the last 50 or so years. You can find, with very little effort, several books worth of discourse on any episode/story of Who and it has been interrogated from pretty much every aspect you can imagine.
That said, Tara is a perfect midpoint story that bucks a few trends. I enjoy it because it’s a fun romp that plays with literature in a way that the Williams era often does: by blatantly acknowledging the source material and then putting some sf-nal trappings on top of it. I dislike it because it takes a genuine idea - androids filling in gaps of a post-disaster society and how we might treat them - and then ignores it simply because it gets in the way of the story. Mind you, there are precious few stories about the Spanish Flu because it, like Covid nowadays, was a universal and shared experience that nobody could really offer anything new to talk about with it. It’s possible that Taran history is filled with stories like this and this one is interesting simply because it features royalty and alien visitors.
However, it is a perfectly engaging story that turns the Key To Time format on its head by having the segment be completely incidental to the plot and discovered quite early on in the piece. I think the cast understand that it’s a piece of fluff that isn’t to be taken seriously and consequently have a lot of fun with it. Which means that the viewer gets a bit of a treat as well.
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Post by mark687 on Jul 23, 2022 9:20:47 GMT
Its got the Doc Sword fighting, a just the right kind of OTT Performance from Peter Jeffery as Grendal and some great looking film work.
Regards
mark687
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Post by iainmclaughlin on Jul 23, 2022 11:15:44 GMT
It's always been a favourite of mione but then, I have always enjoyed the swashing of buckles. I have many happy childhood memories of watching old pirate movies like Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and The Buccaneer with my old man. He saw those at the cinemas when he was younger, so he got a nostalgia kick from them and I got the memories of watching them with Dad. So, yeah, I always enjoyed this one. Peter Jeffrey was great, I remember Mary Tamm being very good in this one too and Lois Baxter was excellent as Lamia. Yeah. Like this one.
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Post by constonks on Jul 27, 2022 4:15:07 GMT
Basically, what shutupbanks said (though I'd never thought of that very interesting bit about the robots!). It's light and fluffy, a bit of good fun One of my favourite bits is that, as mentioned, the segment is found almost immediately. It's so delightfully flippant - "ah forget the format, we're taking a story off!" |
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