The Doctor Who Thread

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The £3 cd's from the Big Finish sale arrived yesterday.

Should be a hoot hearing Leslie Phillips playing Dr. Knox in the Gothic horror Medicinal Purposes. Also surprised to see Maryam d'Abo is in the Ice Warrior tale Frozen Time and the excellent James Purefoy plays Dracula in Son of the Dragon. Not to mention Claudia Christian in the Cyberman story The Reaping.

[Susan Foreman]

August 12th: Today in WHO-story:

Births
1911 - Gordon Richardson (Squire in Doctor Who and the Silurians)
1912 - Sonnie Willis (Cyberman in The Moonbase and an extra in The Underwater Menace, Spearhead from Space, The Dæmons, The Green Death and The Deadly Assassin)

1921 - Dermot Tuohy (Brownrose in Terror of the Autons)
1922 - Fulton Mackay (Doctor Quinn in Doctor Who and the Silurians)
1936 - Michael Coles (Ganatus in the movie Dr. Who and the Daleks)
1947 - John Nathan-Turner (Producer [1980-1989]; Production Unit Manager [1977-1980]; floor assistant on The Space Pirates, The Ambassadors of Death and Colony in Space)

1948 - Penny Casdagli (Jall in Destiny of the Daleks)
1965 - Staz Johnson (comic strip artist for Doctor Who Magazine)

Deaths
2003 - Anne Tirard (Locusta in The Romans and the Seeker in The Ribos Operation) aged 86

2004 - Alec Wallis (Bowman in The Sea Devils and Warner in Revenge of the Cybermen) aged 83; Peter Woodthorpe (Joey Oxford in the BBC Radio spoof documentary Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman?) aged 82

Episodes
2011 - Torchwood: Miracle Day, Episode Six ('The Middle Men'): 4.6 million viewers

Releases
1982 - Issue 68 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

2010 - Issue 179 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)
2014 - The Fifth Doctor Box Set (Big Finish Productions)

2015 - Four Doctors, Part One ((Titan Comics); The Warehouse (Big Finish Productions)
2016 - Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 160 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
1963 - Waris Hussein met with Brian Hodgson from the Radiophonic Workshop to discuss possible sound designs for the TARDIS; Donald Wilson sent a memo to Sydney Newman, recommending that Doctor Who shouldn't be recorded in Lime Grove Studios

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Cyberleader from Revenge of the Cybermen (1975)

[Gothmogxx]

Season 15 was a total let down compared to what came before it, especially the last 3 Seasons. The only Story I really liked was, to my complete surprise, The Invasion of Time. Does it have issues, like the budget? Sure but it was at least enjoyable. Tom was at his very best, pretending to be arrogant and like a bad guy. And I enjoyed the scenes inside the TARDIS, yes they needed to stop reusing certain sets again and again but the thing is, at least it was fun to watch. The only really annoying thing was the Sontarans, who long after the amazing Linx in Time Warrior, look terrible without the helmets (though its only brief times when you see their face).

The rest of the Season? Well The Horror of Fang Rock was average, nowhere near the classic its held up as. The Invisible enemy was likewise average, but I think I preferred it slightly more.

Image of the Fendahl should, by all accounts, be a masterpiece. It does have that gothic horror feel and its first episode, even bits of the second one, come off as good. The direction was nice and the whole thing had the potential to be very atmospheric. It definitely looks good. But it’s boring. Really, really boring.

Sun Makers was a funny concept. A complete contrast to the gothic horror stories. Neither great nor bad, again its just average, which is more than what I can say for the single worst Story I have ever watched.

That story, if you want to know, is Underworld. Holy sweet Jesus. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? I mean look... The Web Planet is bad but you know what, they tried. They really tried their hardest and I genuinely respect their ambition to try what they did (hey in all fairness it has a solid first episode as well). It fails for the most part but they tried. Even something I hate, like Deadly Assassin, has at least, some redeeming factors. The Master looks good (albeit used badly), Tom is good in it...

But nothing, NOTHING in those stories comes close to this. For the first time in the marathon, I almost feel asleep. Even the worst stories before this, which includes Space Pirates, never made me feel this way.

It starts out promising. Episode one is the most bearable of the lot, as it introduces interesting concepts like the reason for the Time Lords' policy of non-intervention.

Then they crash into the Planet of CSO, and everything goes off the rails in a way I thought not possible. I know I keep hyping it up as so bad but it really is!

The heavy use of CSO means the director is hobbled into using static shot after static shot, and the CSO is so unconvincing (K-9 traveling through rocks, parts of Trogs disappearing) that it completely destroys any willing suspension of disbelief. Even the worse of the CSO in Pertwee's time was better than this. Even the Planet of the Spiders which I thought was the absolute worst in terms of CSO until this travesty.

The Trogs are drab, one-dimensional, unengaging characters dressed in drab smocks. Their slave masters aren't much better. The Seers, once unveiled, are laughable (I had to google the names, usually I can remember them, but this time I gave up).

Mad computer? If you can it right fine but its just an inferior Face of Evil in that regard.

It’s not just the CSO. It’s not just the characterization. It’s not just that this is a story that takes the hackneyed mad computer and does precisely nothing new with it (unlike the wonderful Face of Evil.) It’s not just the woeful direction, the feeble enemy, the way in which even Tom and Louise are dragged down from their lofty pinnacle. It’s not just that it’s so bloomin’ dull from the first second to the last.

Its that this might just be the one Story, where NOTHING at all works. All of it is a problem

So... I think this is a first in the marathon, but I'm giving this a 0 out of 10. I haven't even seen Time and the Rani, Timelash or The Twin Dilemma, which according to a top 200 Stories poll, are the only three worse than this one.

Worse than this? I dread to think... Until early July, I have done nothing but watch Doctor Who and little else as part of this marathon. As much as I enjoy it, I have planned a break several times and failed to take it. When Troughton finished I wanted to stop for a month except "No, Spearhead From Space is next, UNIT, the Brig, Silurians, the masterpiece that is Inferno". Then by Pertwee's ending, I was gonna try again but i'm like "Its really good for a while yet, you've got Genesis of the Daleks and gothic horror coming up". So I watched those three Seasons and planned to stop for a bit but I hadn't seen a lot of Season 15, or in the case of the ones I had seen, it had been about 10 years since I watched them. Intrigued, I continued and found myself let down, though not out. Unfortunately, Underworld sealed the deal. Underworld made me resolve to take a break from this after I finished the rest of the Season for over a month, it was that bad.

Before that though, I had to watch Invasion of Time. What a masterpiece compared to what just come before Perfection? No, But between great characters, a wonderful performance by Tom Baker, a good Story, a wonderful twist with the Sontarans and the chase in the TARDIS... I'll certainly take it over Underworld. The only bad things are the Sontaran faces and Leela's lame departure but a good Season final and the best of the Season.

I love this show but I didn't regret that break. I ordered loads of 80's slasher films + Cannibal Ferox and enjoyed watching something different. I've also started re-watching the Friday the 13th's, which I'm still doing. Its felt great.

So, over a month later, today I watched The Ribos Operation and loved it. As I see it, its unquestionably better than most of the last Season except perhaps Invasion of Time. The script is one of the best, it has great actors, great sets and a good start for Romana.

Its good to be watching Doctor Who again

[iank]

Inflation was so bad, and the show's budget so low, that they quite literally ran out of money for cave sets in Underworld.

Ribos is marvellous, but I couldn't disagree more about Fang Rock and Fendahl.

[Susan Foreman]

August 13th: Today on WHO-story:

Births
1904 - Bartlett Mullins (Second Elder in The Sensorites)

1941 - Susan Jameson (Fenella Wibsey [Fourth Doctor companion, BBC Audio adventures])
1950 - Jane Carr (Computer in the BBC Radio 4 story Slipback)
1979 - Helen Dickson (post-production editor on Doctor Who and Class)

Deaths
2017 - Victor Pemberton (writer of Fury from the Deep; script editor on The Tomb of the Cybermen; Scientist in The Moonbase; creator of the Sonic Screwdriver; partner to The Abominable Snowmen guest actor David Spenser) aged 85

Documentaries
2011 - Best of the Doctor (BBC America)

Releases
1981 - Issue 56 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

1987 - Issue 128 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

2001 - The TV Movie (DVD - region 2)
2003 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth (DVD - region 4)

2009 - Issue 128 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)

Behind-the-Scenes
1963 - Sydney Newman respond to Donald Wilson's memo regarding Doctor Who being recorded at Lime Grove Studios, agreeing with the studio's limitations and doing what he can to change the studios
1969 - A meeting was held regarding regarding the writing process of the first three episodes of The Ambassadors of Death
2007 - Recording of the Big Finish audio Max Warp took place
2011 - Recording of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield story Road Trip took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Frances Barber as Madame Kovarian in A Good Man Goes to War (2011)

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Big Finish are adapting two classic comic strips to audio, both starring Tom Baker.

The Iron Legion and The Star Beast. Both originally produced by legends Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons.

The Iron Legion is excellent.

[Susan Foreman]

August 14th: Today in WHO-story:

Births
1918 - Patsy Smart (Ghoul in The Talons of Weng-Chiang)

1934 - Vernon Dobtcheff (Scientist in The War Games; Big Finish Productions actor - Dadda Desaka in The Cradle of the Snake, Shamur in The Children of Seth, Jorenzo Zorn in The Genesis Chamber, Sibelius Crow in the Jago & Litefoot story The Necropolis Express and Professor Heinrich Schumann in the Counter-Measures story Threshold); Trevor Bannister (Korbin Thessinger in the Big Finish audio Nocturne)

1938 - Hilary Tindall (Marion Clements in the stage show The Curse of the Daleks)
1955 - Gillian Taylforth (BBC EastEnders' Kathy Beale in the BBC Children in Need special Dimensions in Time)
1969 - Paul Driscoll (writer of The God Complex research as part of Obverse Books' The Black Archive series)
1970 - Alexander Armstrong (Mr. Smith in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures and Reg Arwell in The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe)

Episodes
2011 - Let's Kill Hitler prequel (webcast mini-episode)

Releases
1980 - Issue 44 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

1986 - Issue 116 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
2008 - Issue 77 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)

2013 - Issue 327 of Doctor Who Adventures (Immediate Media Co.)
2014 - Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition: Year of the Doctor (Panini Comics UK)
2015 - Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 133 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
2007 - Recording of the Big Finish audio Brave New Town took place

2011 - Recording of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield story Legion took place
2017 - Recording of the Big Finish audio anthology The Tenth Doctor Chronicles took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Ace (Sophie Aldred) in the clutches of the creepy Josiah Samuel Smith (Ian Hogg) and Mrs Pritchard (Sylvia Syms) in Ghost Light (1989)