The Doctor Who Thread

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Mojo

I've just recently started buying some of the Big Finish Doctor Who range, and have already bought a few of the Tom Baker / Lalla Ward stories, which I've really enjoyed.
I'm also loving the recent Third Doctor collections. Great to hear Katy Manning again and Tim Treloar as the third Doctor is uncannily like listening to Pertwee himself. I really hope there are more of these in the pipeline.

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As you mentioned Katy Manning. I watched Death of the Doctor last night for the first time since transmission.

This performance by Matt Smith opposite Katy just sums up why i think he's the best Doctor.

[Susan Foreman]

June 2nd: Today in WHO-story

Births
1922 - Carmen Silvera (Clara the Clown, the Queen of Hearts & Mrs. Wiggs in The Celestial Toymaker and Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
1924 - Peter Halliday (Packer & Cyber voices in The Invasion, Silurian voices in Doctor Who and the Silurians, Alien voices in The Ambassadors of Death, Pletrac in Carnival of Monsters, Soldier & uncredited voice-overs in City of Death, Vicar in Remembrance of the Daleks and Derhaven in Magic Bullet Productions' Kaldor City story Checkmate)

1931 - June Bland (Berger in Earthshock and Elizabeth Rowlinson in Battlefield)
1935 - Roger Brierley (Trevor in The Daleks' Master Plan and Drathro in The Trial of a Time Lord)

1943 - Kevork Malikyan (Kemel Rudkin in The Wheel in Space)
1952 - Roderick Smith (Cruikshank) in The Invisible Enemy)
1958 - Tim Raynham (Varl in The Two Doctors)
1961 - Liam Cunningham (Captain Zhuvok in Cold War)
1972 - James Albrecht (Todd in Victory of the Daleks and Major Heyward in the Big Finish audio City of Spires)

Deaths
2017 - Peter Sallis (Elric Penley in The Ice Warriors) aged 96

Episodes
1973 - The Green Death, Episode Three: 7.8 million viewers
2007 - The Family of Blood: 7.2 million viewers

Documentaries
2007 - Doctor Who Confidential: Bad Blood

Releases
1997 - The Eight Doctors and The Devil's Goblins from Neptune (BBC Books); Dragons' Wrath (Virgin Books)

1998 - The Sword of Forever (Virgin Books)
1999 - Tears of the Oracle
2003 - The Gallifrey Chronotis (BBC Books); The Horns of Nimon (VHS)
2005 - The Claws of Axos (DVD - region 4)
2011 - Issue 220 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines); issue 435 of Doctor Who Magazine (Panini Comics UK)

Behind-the-Scenes
1982 - Peter Grimwade delivered a scene breakdown for Mawdryn Undead
2009 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Prisoner of Peladon took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Voc Robot from the 1977 story The Robots of Death.

[Susan Foreman]

June 3rd: Today in WHO-story

Births
1902 - Kenneth Benda (Defence Minister in Day of the Daleks)
1930 - Maurice Bush (Ogron in Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space)
1945 - Bill Patterson (Edwin Bracewell in Victory of the Daleks and The Pandorica Opens)
1946 - Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones)

1949 - Ian Gelder (Dekker in the Torchwood story Children of Earth and Dracula & Long John Silver in the Big Finish audio Legend of the Cybermen)
1958 - Denise Black (Big Finish Productions actress - Eva Jericho in Damaged Goods and Mrs. Mountford in The Haunting of Malkin Place)
1962 - Susannah Constantine (Zu-Zana voice in Bad Wolf)
1964 - James Purefoy (Dracula in the Big Finish audio Son of the Dragon)
1965 - John Ainsworth (producer, script editor, director and actor for Big Finish)

1982 - Jodie Whittaker (Thirteenth Doctor); Sebastian Armesto (Broff in Bad Wolf and Anders in the Big Finish audio Grand Theft Cosmos)

Deaths
2007 - Gordon Gostelow (Milo Clancey in The Space Pirates) aged 82
2014 - Derek Smee (John Ransome in Spearhead from Space) aged 83

Episodes
1967 - The Evil of the Daleks, Episode Three: 6.1 million viewers
1972 - The Time Monster, Episode Three: 8.1 million viewers
2006 - The Impossible Planet: 6.78 million viewers
2017 - The Lie of the Land: 4.82 million viewers

Documentaries
2006 - Doctor Who Confidential: You've Got the Look

Introductions
2006 - First appearance of the Ood

Releases
1991 - The Hartnell Years and The Troughton Years (VHS documentaries)

1999 - Issue 279 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel); Talking About My Regeneration (Big Finish and Doctor Who Magazine)
2002 - The Crooked World and Ten Little Aliens (BBC Books)
2010 - Issue 269 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines); Battle Badges Activity Book, Intergalactic Survival Guide and The Weeping Angels (Penguin Character Books)
2013 - The Mind of Evil (DVD - region 2)

2015 - The First Doctor: Volume One (Big Finish)
2016 - Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 171 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
1969 - Robert Holmes was commissioned to write Facsimile (later renamed Spearhead from Space)
2001 - Recording of Big Finish's Dalek Empire story The Human Factor took place
2007 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Catalyst took place
2008 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Mists of Time took place

[Gothmogxx]

The Time Warrior is a nice combination of the old and the new. Past and future. Thankfully it combines the best elements of both.

You can't move for Sontarans these days (some of them are good guys) but Commander Linx is one of the best villains in the shows history, what an amazing costume and mask. Irongron is also a good villain, which works even better when he gets paired with Linx. Each has much that the other wants. If that hadn't been the case they'd have been at each others throats in seconds. How I long for the Sontarans to be used the same way today as Linx is... A pity this is the peak in terms of the design though, they all get worse from here until they re-appear with Tennant.

The biggest shake-up here though is Sarah Jane. Elizabeth Sladen is clearly still new to the role, trying to find her feet. But thankfully, as much as I loved Jo, I didn't end up missing her in huge amounts. That is in part due to Sarah. She is completely different from Jo. She gets taken back in time and begins trying to deduce what happened, showing how smart she is. I also appreciate how she doesn't just blindly follow the Doctor. She suspects he is in on it, given he's responsible for bringing her there. She may be wrong, but it stops her from looking stupid when she's considering things from all angles.


Sure the "fighting robot" is a bit of a joke but its a fun story. Also I note Pertwee has toned it down a bit. He's no longer patronising like he was to Jo. In fact he's using the loss of Jo to influence his performance. Its just another sign of the inevitable change that's yet to come, its only been postponed for a Season...

[Gothmogxx]

Okay lets just get it out the way. The Invasion of the Dinosaurs has one clear flaw, the dinosaurs. I appreciate this was the 70's and I respect their ambition but it just doesn't work. Some non-scary ones, like the Stegosaurus and the Triceratops, aren't as bad but the Pterodactyl, Brontosaurus and the T-Rex... Oh dear. They aren't scary and they use the T-Rex THREE times as a cliff-hanger! The scene with the Doctor getting chased in Episode 5 was pointless as well, should have been cut.

Ok now that I've got the bad stuff out the way, I can finally praise this masterpiece!

Episode 1 is one of the best ever. Just the execution of it is perfect. The build-up to whats coming (even if they look bad) is done well with deserted streets and just a good atmosphere.

UNIT. I'm savouring all moments they have on-screen by this point because part of that inevitable change means that their days are numbered. Planet of the Spiders only kind of has them in it, Android Invasion has no Brig (!!!!!!!) and, as good a Story as it is, they barely appear in Seeds of Doom with no Brig (again!!!). So really aside from this one the only "true" UNIT stories we have are Robot and Terror of the Zygons, both of which I love.

But I think it was bold the way UNIT are used here. Mike Yates has turned traitor. But it isn't out of place. Its surprising though, to see one of the UNIT family betray them. When he pulls a gun on the Brig it just feels so... Wrong but in a good way.

The villains (practically half the cast) have a good idea. Its not world domination, its something that you can sympathise with, which even the Doctor does. He just so happens to disagree with the means. You can tell it was written by the same guy who wrote The Silurians…

Pertwee continues to excel and by the end Sladen is very much a member of the crew. Just look at the way he tempts her into the Tardis. He's lonely and misses Jo, so first chance he gets he gets a new companion. Its a good contrast to Jo as well, he wanted shot of her immediately. But not Sarah, he can hardly wait to get her onboard...

[Gothmogxx]

Death to the Daleks used to be my favourite from this Season as a kid. I still like it, but, unless Planet of the Spiders lets me down, its probably now the weakest.

But again, this era is amazing if a Story like this is the weakest in a Season.

It has a good atmosphere In Episode 1. Right from the get go we get that this is a gloomy, dangerous world with death all around.

The Daleks are powerless! For a while anyway (I often wish the truce lasted until the very end and they work together until then). It was a nice attempt to do something different.

Galloway is a prat "I'm sorry Commander. I didn't quite hear what you said." He is a glory seeker. He doesn't care about genocide. Although he re-deems himself at the end.

The idea of a living city is done well too. I enjoyed watching the Doctor and Bellal (what a good character btw) navigate the challenges, aside from the coloured floor (who thought that was a good cliff hanger?).


Its a good story overall. A sharp contrast to what came before it in the last few Seasons. A gloomy planet filled with killer aliens, far away from the safety of UNIT. Its something the Doctor is going to have to get used to...

[Gothmogxx]

Why does everybody hate The Monster of Peladon? Not only is it better than Curse of Peladon, but its a good story overall.

Firstly, I note Pertwee regenerated for a few seconds into Terry Walsh before turning back into Pertwee! You can see it in the fight scene.

I like the concept of the Story. Badger haired Miners rebelling against the Queen and the Chancellor, whilst Eckersley and the Ice Warriors pull the strings in the background.


Eckersley comes off as a good villain. He works very well undercover before seizing his chance to convince Alpha Centauri to bring in the Ice Warriors.

I also loved the stuff at the refinery. The Doctor is using Aggedor to murder all the Ice Warriors whilst Eckersley uses the refinery alarm system to attack him. He could face death, but he still keeps going. It is a fairly well executed sequence where the Doctor looks like he is genuinely dead. Liz Sladen plays well her belief that he is dead and it is a sequence that also works very well.

Is it the best? No, but I enjoyed it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I always think Invasion of the Dinosaurs would have fit very well in Pertwee's first season. It definitely harks back to those stories in my opinion.

Death to the Daleks is far superior to Planet of the Spiders. A story that is definitely two episodes too long.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sharaz Jek from 1984's The Caves of Androzani.