The Doctor Who Thread

[iank]

Likes for the last post and the Earthshock review.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Gothmogxx

I liked Black Orchid but I don't want to rave about Black Orchid, like the rest of the Season so far its good. Brief summary, I liked the Giallo/slasher feel it had and the killer looks like Cropsy from The Burning. Peter Davidson is better than ever... But I want to rave about Earthshock.

I believe that Earthshock has just usurped Inferno as my favourite Story so far, or at least equalled it.

I hadn't seen it for years, not since the early days of high school (in my mid high school days I had just discovered the Hinchcliffe era and was steadily building up my Troughtons and Pertwees and stuck to them for a while) and I'd completely forgotten how much of a masterpiece it was.

Episode 1 is Aliens before it was made. The direction, the genuine suspense when the androids were hiding just out of sight... And that cliffhanger. I knew it was coming but jesus Christ its the best the series has had so far.

Episodes 2 and 3 keep things going at a fantastic pace: the battle with the androids, the old Doctor cameos, the awakening of the cybermen, their new theme, their new look, Tegan being useful as opposed to complaining all the time, thatnicely directed shot where the cyberman gets stuck in the door, the cliff hanger to episode 3 with rampaging cybermen... Not to mention the fact that Adric and the Doctor make up and get to parter together one last time, speaking of which...

Episode 4. I knew what was coming, but still, seeing it happen again... The pace is excellent throughout and Peter Davison is now, quite firmly, the Doctor. He had me as soon as he sparred with the Cyberleader in the control room.

But the ending (and its making me break up again as I type) A very emotive, well put together ending. I started crying the second Adric shouted "just leave" to the Doctor, knowing it was the last time they'd speak. Everything hits you where its supposed to. The twist when they go back in time 65 million years ago, to the quite frankly amazing battle in the TARDIS with the Cyberleader and finally the ending I completely lost it, even more than when Jo left (at least she lived). It was haunting how Adric's leitmotif played just after the spaceship exploded. Some of the best writing, acting, characterization, and composing for the character was put together for his death. I've never disliked Adric: he could be annoying sometimes but he always meant well. And he died trying, but never got to know if he was right... Silent credits were well deserved.

I've never seen Time Flight. But how exactly do you match what came before it? Its got a huge mountain to climb.

Cough. Just remember they had no money left

[trebor8273]

Enjoyed ghost light as mentioned was very atmospheric , mind it was hard to take the light seriously who looked like Liberace!


Now watching the masque of mandragora

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Enjoyed ghost light as mentioned was very atmospheric , mind it was hard to take the light seriously who looked like Liberace!


Now watching the masque of mandragora

[Gothmogxx]

Time Flight was okay. Neither great nor terrible. Just okay (if they ran out of money, then they did a better job of disguising it than they did on Underground, because I wouldn't have known otherwise).

Season 19 then. I think this has been the first Season that got almost didn't have a Story that was below average: Season 13 was the last where every Story was good. Here I think Kinda kinda let the side down (FAR from the worst but below average) but the others were all at least decent. And of course you have the masterpiece that is Earthshock.

Five Doctors aside I've never seen a single Story from Season 20 (same with 23 and 24). The return of the Brig and the Black Guardian!

[Susan Foreman]

November 21st: Today in WHO-story

Births
1924 - Malcolm Hulke (writer of The Faceless Ones [with David Ellis], The War Games [with Terrance Dicks], Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death [uncredited], Colony in Space, The Sea Devils, Frontier in Space and Invasion of the Dinosaurs)

1937 - Ingrid Pitt (Queen Galleia in The Time Monster, Doctor Solow in Warriors of the Deep and writer of the unmade TV story-turned-Big Finish audio The Macro Men [retitled The Macros])

1941 - Juliet Mills (Joanna Carew in BBC Radio 4's Torchwood story The Devil and Miss Carew)

1947 - Nickolas Grace (Big Finish Productions actor - Straxus in Human Resources and Sisters of the Flame/The Vengeance of Morbius, Loozly in Bang-Bang-a-Boom!, Balancer Skaarsgard & Viktor Skaarsgard in Equilibrium, Goole in Gallery of Ghouls, Professor Grove in Shadow Planet and Chevalier D'Eon in The Sword of Chevalier; Albert Einstein in the Doctor Who Confidential special Death is the Only Answer)

1953 - Jon Older (first assistant director of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Chr Invasion, New Earth and School Reunion)
1964 - Liza Tarbuck (Captain Kaliko in the Totally Doctor Who special The Infinite Quest and Lysette Barclay in the Big Finish audio Plague of the Daleks)

1965 - Alexander Siddig (Big Finish actor - Rosto in Sisters of the Flame/The Vengeance of Morbius, Captain Nemo in The Wreck of the Titan and Legend of the Cybermen and Sultan in 1001 Nights)

1973 - William Meredith (Kevin in Arachnids in the UK)

Deaths
2015 - Anthony Read (Script editor [1977-1979]; writer of The Invasion of Time [with Graham Williams, under the pseudonym David Agnew] and The Horns of Nimon) aged 80

2017 - Rodney Bewes (Stein in Resurrection of the Daleks) aged 79

Episodes
1964 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Episode One ('World's End'): 11.4 million viewers
1990 - Search Out Space (BBC Schools)

2009 - Dreamland, Part One (BBC Red Button service)
2013 - An Adventure in Space and Time (BBC Two): 2.71 million viewers
2015 - Face the Raven (BBC One): 6.05 million viewers

Releases
1974 - The Abominable Snowmen (Target Books)

1991 - The Terrestrial Index (Virgin Books)

1996 - The Plotters and The Third Doctor Handbook (Virgin Books); issue 246 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

2005 - The Complete First Series (DVD box set - region 2)

2011 - The Complete Sixth Series (DVD and Blu-ray box set - region 2)

2013 - Nothing O'clock (Puffin Books); issue 7 of Doctor Who Figurine Collection (Eaglemoss Publications Limited)

Behind-the-Scenes
1963 - The first Doctor Who press conference took place at BBC Langham
1999 - Recording of the Big Finish audio Red Dawn took place
2001 - Recording of the Big Finish audio Excelis Dawns took place
2003 - Along with Jon Culshaw Impressionist as the Fourth Doctor and Jan Ravens as Anne Robinson, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy reprised the roles of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors in a Weakest Link parody for BBC Children in Need to commemorate Doctor Who's 40th anniversary and the show's 2005 TV comeback

2005 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Kingmaker took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Mr and Mrs Pacoon, alien ambassadors, in the 2005 episode The End of the World.

[Susan Foreman]

November 22nd: Today in WHO-story

Births
1920 - Paul Erickson (writer of The Ark)
1930 - Terence Denville (Cyberman in The Invasion and an extra & stuntman in The Faceless Ones, The War Games to Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Three Doctors to Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon)

1944 - Paul Brooke (Paolo in the BBC Radio 2 story The Ghosts of N-Space and Toby the Sapient Pig in the Big Finish audio Year of the Pig)

1966 - Nicholas Rowe (Rivesh Mantilax in the animated special Dreamland and the Kandy Man in the Big Finish audio Ravenous 1)

Deaths
1980 - Ronald Mayer (extra in Spearhead from Space, The Daemons, The Deadly Assassin and The Horns of Nimon) aged 64

2007 - Verity Lambert (Doctor Who's very-first producer [1963-1965]) aged 71

2014 - Derek Deadman (Stor in The Invasion of Time) aged 74

2015 - Hazel Adair (writer of the unmade TV story-turned-Big Finish audio Hexagora) aged 95

Episodes
1975 - The Android Invasion, Part One: 11.9 million viewers
1980 - State of Decay, Part One: 5.8 million viewers
1986 - The Trial of a Time Lord, Part Twelve [Terror Of The Vervoids, Part Four]: 5.3 millio viewers
1989 - Survival, Part One: 5.0 million viewers

Documentaries
2003 - Doctor Who @ 40 Weekend (UK Gold Channel - first day of a weekend of repeats and mini-documentaries commemorating Doctor Who's 40th anniversary)

Releases
1979 - Issue 7 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

2007 - Issue 22 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines); Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition: In Their Own Words 1982-1986 (Panini Comics UK)
2011 - The Complete Sixth Series (DVD box set - region 1)
2012 - Issue 296 of Doctor Who Adventures (Immediate Media Co.); Return of the Rocket Men (Big Finish Productions)
2013 - Whodle (Google)

2014 - Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 75 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
1987 - Horror of Fang Rock's transmission on PBS was interrupted for 90 seconds due to pranksters

2010 - Recording of Big Finish's audio adaptation of the unmade TV story The Elite took place
2012 - Recording of the Big Finish audio Moonflesh took place
2016 - Recording of the Big Finish audio A Heart on Both Sides took place

[Mojo]

So - do we have here a sneaky plot to destroy humans using plastic and delivered by killer Autons? No - this week’s evil mastermind is... a disgruntled employee.
Jesus wept, I’ve given up on this shitshow of a series and instead am happily working my way through the season 12 BluRay box set. In fact, I’ve just finished watching ‘Genesis Of The Daleks’. Now THAT’S Doctor Who.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Philip Madoc as Doctor Solon at work on the Brain of Morbius (1976)