The Doctor Who Thread

[Gothmogxx]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Another excellent post, Gothmogxx.

Look forward to your thoughts when you rewatch The Mind of Evil which is a personal fave of mine from the Pertwee era.

I noticed you mentioned Marco Polo again as the standout of the early Hartnell episodes. It really is, i consider it a 9/10. I've listened to the BBC soundtrack cds dozens of times and have my own idea of what would be happening on the screen.So much as i'd love to watch the actual story i do worry that it might not live up to my imagination due to it's television budget. Superb performances by Mark Eden as Marco and Derren Nesbitt as the warlord Tegana. It always comes across as a very realistic and believable story.

First watched The Mind of Evil in 2014. Thought it was good. Then watched it again I think either last year or in 2016 and thought it was much better. I know its definitely good so I look forward to it.

Its tedious that Marco Polo doesn't exist when you consider how widely sold it was... Between that and Power of the Daleks i'd rather have Marco back (wouldn't complain about Power returning either but Marco Polo was a surprise, really great story. Its somewhere between a 9 or a 10)

[Susan Foreman]

May 12th: Today in WHO-story

Births
1942 - Pam St. Clements (BBC EastEnders character Pat Butcher in the BBC Children in Need special Dimensions in Time); Royce Mills (Dalek voices [1984-1988])

1945 - Nicky Henson (Big Finish Productions - Pieter Stubbe in Loups-Garoux, Dick Turpin in The Doomwood Curse and Gregson Grenville in Deimos)
1956 - Christopher Good (Morgan in The Beast Below)
1957 - Sneh Gupta (Osborn in Resurrection of the Daleks)
1968 - Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)

Deaths
1982 - Humphrey Searle (music composer on The Myth Makers) aged 66

2001 - Norman Kay (music composer on An Unearthly Child, The Keys of Marinus and The Sensorites) aged 72

2008 - Robert Russell (Guard in The Power of the Daleks and the Caber in Resurrection of the Daleks) aged 71
2010 - David Kincaid (Lane in Warriors Gate) aged 70

Episodes
1973 - Planet of the Daleks, Episode Six: 8.5 million viewers
1996 - The TV Movie (CityTV, Canada)

Releases
1983 - Issue 77 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

1988 - Issue 137 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
1994 - Issue 213 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
2011 - Issue 217 of Doctor Who Adventures BBC Magazines); The Dalek Handbook (BBC Books)

2016 - In the Blood (BBC Books)

Behind-the-Scenes
2002 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Raptures took place
2003 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Natural History of Fear took place
2013 - The region 1 DVD of Series 7: Part 2 was accidentally released ahead of the series finale, The Name of the Doctor. Doctor Who's official social media pages and many fan sites and pages requested fans to not give away spoilers of the episode
2017 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Behemoth took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The human like Golden Axons from 1971's The Claws of Axos.

[Gothmogxx]

Season 7 I can now say is the only Season in the shows history where every story is a 10/10.

The Ambassadors of Death for years was regarded as the weakest of the bunch for years. In fairness it is up against three solid opponents, one of which may be the best story ever made (next review). But rather it is a continuation of a run of fantastic stories.

I have to admit I was a bit worried before re-watching it: The other three I all saw years ago and re-watched endlessly. I only saw this in 2015 and only found the chance to re-watch it once last year. So whilst I knew it was good, I was worried it would be the weak one of the season and score less than a 10. Its also 7 parts so it may have dragged...

Thankfully it never... Just. If it had been an episode longer then yes it would have. Its like how The Invasion is a 10 right until halfway through Episode 8: if it'd been trimmed ever so slightly it'd have got full marks. I do admit it is probably the weakest of the four but when all four of them are straight 10's is that a bad thing?

It has some similarity to The Silurians, with how we communicate with alien lifeforms, how we interact with them etc, although unlike in that one we actually have a clear enemy here with the rogue military forces led by the General.

UNIT get their greatest time to shine here since The Invasion in terms of action scenes. I would have included Web of Fear but that wasn't UNIT. We start with the raid on the warehouse which starts off kind of slow but then gradually builds up into a very vicious fight which looks very realistic. No campiness here, but that's Season 7 for you. As well as that we get the space capsule theft sequence which I just find hilarious with Bessie capturing the men, the car and foot chase for Liz Shaw, Reegan's skilled and efficient assault on the space centre where he kills everyone who gets in his way, the isotope factory raid, UNIT taking control of the Ambassadors and using them as basically a walking battering ram and so on.

The Ambassadors themselves are very creepy. Not showing them for 99% of the story was a good move. Brief glimpses are enough to gauge your interest. I also like how they are in fact actually the good guys. The general is the bad guy and pretty much half of the supporting cast (Its like Invasion of the Dinosaurs: everyone is essentially in on it.

The Doctors exit is pretty well handled as well. I like how, problem solved, he just decides to stroll out of there: he can't be bothered with the details.

Yeah if this had been in any other Pertwee Season it would have had a much easier time. If it had been in Season 22 it'd probably be considered the best of the bunch by most (that's them though, personally I actually like Colin Baker though and his stories, at least the ones I've seen. It'll be interesting if The Twin Dilemma is as bad as its reputation suggests when I get there).

Inferno I'll start tonight, hopefully finish it, although I may have to finish it after work tomorrow (I can't believe how easy this era is to get through compared to what I've already sat through. You can see why I've been looking forward to it since October/November last year when I started). I already know its a 10, I've seen it a lot. It has been since 2016 when I last watched it though so what will be interesting though is if it remains my view that it stays the jewel in the crown of the season. Taking Inferno out of the equation and today I would say Silurians, although tomorrow I could just as easily say Spearhead. I love them both and this one as well, but I hope Inferno tops them.

[Susan Foreman]

May 13th: Today in WHO-story

Births
1920 - Richard Beale (Refusian voice in The Ark, Bat Masterson in The Gunfighters, Broadcast voice in The Macra Terror and the Minister of Ecology in The Green Death)
1932 - Terry Scully (Fewsham in The Seeds of Death)
1938 - Milton Johns (Benik in The Enemy of the World, Guy Crayford in The Android Invasion and Castellan Kelner in The Invasion of Time)

1941 - Frank Jarvis (Corporal in The War Machines, Ankh in Underworld and Skart in The Power of Kroll)
1946 - Tim Piggott-Smith (Captain Harker in The Claws of Axos and Marco in The Masque of Mandragora)
1949 - Zoe Wanamaker (Cassandra in The End of the World and New Earth)

1954 - Greg Powell (Knight in The Time Monster; extra in Terror of the Autons)
1958 - Frances Barber (Madame Kovarian [2011])

Deaths
1984 - John Dawson (Time Lord in The Deadly Assassin) aged 64
2007 - Charles Pemberton (Cyberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen and the Alien Technician in The War Games; Big Finish Productions actor - Butler in Three's a Crowd and Gerber in the Gallifrey story Fractures) aged 67

Episodes
1967 - The Faceless Ones, Episode Six: 8.0 million viewers
1962 - The Mutants, Part Six: 6.5 million viewers
2006 - Rise of the Cybermen: 9.65 million viewers
2017 - Oxygen: 5.27 million viewers

Documentaries
2006 - Cybermen (Doctor Who Confidential - behind-the-scenes of Rise of the Cybermen)

Introductions
2006 - Andrew Hayden-Smith's debut as Jake Simmonds (Rise of the Cybermen)

Departures
1967 - Michael Craze and Anneke Wills final appearances as Ben Jackson and Polly Wright (The Faceless Ones, Episode Six)

2009 - Final issue of Battles in Time

Releases
1967 - The Exterminator, Part Two (TV Comic)
1972 - A Stitch in Time, Part Three (TV Action)
1978 - Guardian of the Tomb, Part Six (TV Comic)
1982 - Issue 65 Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

1993 - Issue 200 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
2002 - Remembrance of the Daleks (DVD - region 4)
2006 - Tardisode 6 (mini-episode prequel to The Age of Steel)

2007 - Issue 70 of Battles in Time (GE Fabbri Limited)
2010 - Issue 6 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)

Behind-the-Scenes
2003 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Creed of the Kromon
2013 - Following series 7 of Doctor Who being mistakenly released on region 1 DVD ahead of transmission of the series finale The Name of the Doctor, the BBC urged fans via social media to not give away the plot for the benefit of those who wanted to see the episode on transmission

[Demoncrat]

Since I am enjoying the Sladen book so much ... I am revisiting K9 & Company (the Who nadir IMO) ... she doesn't have happy memories of it . What she says about its creation just confirms all my Beeb prejudices tbh. Saw no worth in the programme til far too late etc etc.
Harumph!

Then I'm rewatching The Edge Of Destruction as I remember quite liking it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The servant of Sutekh from 1975's Pyramids of Mars.

[Demoncrat]

Finished the Sladen book. Read that Companions thing after. Both worth it (great colour photos from Hartnell era etc).

[Demoncrat]

Volte face time!!!

Having not seen K-9 & Company since it was broadcast ... I now really can say I liked it. With reservations . Now if I can just remember where Downtime is ...

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Volte face time!!!

Having not seen K-9 & Company since it was broadcast ... I now really can say I liked it. With reservations

How could anyone not like a show with such a memorable 1970's title sequence* and a catchy theme song like this?

* yes, I know!