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| The 11 Doctors |
Doctor Who is a British science fiction program produced by the BBC. The program depicts the adventures of a time traveling humanoid alien known as The Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS whose exterior appears to be a blue police box. Along with a succession of companions, he faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help people, and right wrongs.
As a Time Lord, The Doctor has the ability to regenerate his body when near death. Introduced into the storyline as a way of continuing the series when the writers were faced with the departure of lead actor William Hartnell in 1966, it has continued to be a major element of the series, allowing for the recasting of the lead actor when the need arises. To date, the Doctor has fully gone through this process and its resulting after-effects on twelve occasions, with each of his incarnations having their own quirks and abilities, but otherwise sharing the consciousness, memories, experience and basic personality of the previous incarnations. We find out recently that there was a "War Doctor" which wasn't counted until now.
You get a good sense of the show with the Doctor. He has many companions (K-9, Leela, Sarah Jane, Romana, Amy, Martha, Clara, Graham, & Karl) and many enemies (The Daleks, Davros, Cybermen, The Master, Autons, Omega, The Silurians).
I started out on Baker, then went back to Pertwee! I liked the fact they had finally decided to go young with Davison! He couldn't take the role too seriously since he was doing double duty with DW and "All Things Big & Small!" My least favorite was definitely McCoy! It may not have been his fault, but the effects and sets were terribly cheap looking and the companions and story lines were just as lame! Ace and her "power" bat! Gawd! The Bannermen? "Remembrance Of The Daleks" saved that season anyway! lol! Can never have too much Davros and his renegade Daleks!
ReplyDelete***The Bannermen were bad beyond belief. I'm no fan of the McCoy era but at least he seemed to put some effort into it. Davison just looks really laid back and unconcerned. - - 'Terror From The Deep' - The Myrka, what more is there to say?***
They've been using the Doctor as an excuse for every mythology and happening in the history of man! The latest has the Doctor having Nixon record everything in his office! The Myrka was just one more fanciful explanation for it's myth in The Loch of Ness!
***I just watched the episode Hostage, which ends with Blake's giving his cousin Inga a kiss goodbye on the lips. Not that I really blame the man, as Inga was a cutie with her idealism and long, shiny, hippy hair. Still, I'll admit I was a little taken aback. Were they kissing cousins, or did I misunderstand?***
ReplyDeleteI never really understood that as well! That was his father's, brother's daughter if I heard correctly! lol! I never look back at season 2! They were just getting their "space legs!"
***What season did you prefer?***
Hard to believe, but I liked it better when it was winding down! Garth had jumped ship and Avon took over; more like survivalist or mercenaries than freedom fighters! Nothing Blake did ever made a difference when it came to the Terrain Federation! He was ultimately fooled thinking Control was on Earth and lost a man; Gan! I liked the "hit" on Space Command, but I much rather preferred the leadership of Avon; well at first anyway! By the time they got to Stardrive, Sand, Gold, and Gambit, it was getting even cheesier! How many times can they come across Servalan in space? I sorta knew it was coming to an end; a friend told me about the finale! I stuck it out and really appreciated it's finish and taped them all around '87!
I still get a little verklempt seeing them all getting gunned down one by one in Blake! Even Slave had a nice sign-off calling Tarrant by name! Hoping for a return while Avon is still alive! Orac is still out there! If I had to narrow it down, I'd have to say SEASON 3 was my all time favorite! Avon was in charge, they were still on the Liberator w/ Orac, and they did things more than self interest and for survival! The Tarrant dual roles was good, losing his brother and outwitting Servalan; again! Loved Harvest of Kairos, City At The Edge of the World, Moloch, & Rumours Of Death! It was tight, the story lines were good, and they always got out of a jam even when they lost control of the ship!
***"Pyramids Of Mars" is very well done, but I find myself falling asleep in it as well. "Deadly Assassin" is excellent, though the stuff in the Matrix drags a bit for me. I love the designs for the Time-Lord robes, with their high collars and skull-caps. When Robert Holmes was on form he was the best.***
ReplyDeleteThat had to be my fave era of Doctor Who! There was little carryover, so you got in and got out of a storyline! "The Keys To Time" was my 1st experience in a "story arc!" The Master wasn't responsible for pushing the action along as with Pertwee there for a while! If I had started with "Sea Devils" I might have left for good! lol! I'm glad I started out around "Day" & "Genesis of the Daleks" with Davros! That got me hooked since I remember the 2 movies made back in to 60's with Peter Cushing!
***...A lot of people didn't care much for RTD, but I liked him and his episodes. And David Tennant will always be *my* Doctor :) No matter how long the show continues for.***
I'm easy to please! The only period I was embarrassed for "Whovians" was during those Sylvester McCoy episodes! Delta And The Bannermen? That was painful! The sets and acting was so "back yard!" Looked like poster boards made up the sets! - I'd probably keep the Dalek episode, but you can have the rest of my VHS collection of the Doctor! Beta format already unloaded along with the machine! I just don't remember going back to that season so I can't tell you very much about it! I just remember the "over-acting" and bad sets! Arrrghhh!
***Rose: I quite liked the story. Did what it said on the tin acceptably enough, and sue me but some of its jokes came off as genuinely funny, and the death of Clive was out of hand and shocking in the right way. I felt I was in for a good, entertaining series based on this starter. The comic tone and comic stereotypes, courtesy of Mickey and Jackie seemed acceptable enough back when I didn't know we'd be putting up with half a season of them. Likewise the way the Doctor coaxes Rose to dump Mickey I could have put down to the fact that Mickey had reacted with fear to the Doctor for being an alien and therefore the Doctor was against the idea of having a more prejudiced companion. God how naive I was, the Doctor was just being a dick.
ReplyDeleteEnd of the World: Already a sinking feeling set in. The Doctor rushing Rose to all these various future locations and not once is she even curious about having a look outside to see what's there, before moving on? That was just unbelievable and killed my suspension of disbelief in the first scene. Then there's the fact that the Doctor seems far too gleeful and amused right in Rose's face about not only the Earth getting roasted, but about the Mox of Balhoon spitting in her face, which just left a nasty aftertaste. The alien characters are abandoned as soon as introduced, meaning there's barely scrappings of substance in the story to chew on, giving the impression that this writer is bored with the sci-fi elements and would rather be writing something else. Also Russell must think his entire cast of characters are idiots. The sunfilters start failing so what do they do? Stay in the room with the biggest sodding window. I was left indescribably hollow by this story.
The Unquiet Dead: Yes this one was brilliant, at the time. The kind of classy story and classy production we'd been waiting for. With hindsight though, the ending is too rushed, and the scene where Gwyneth is reading Rose's mind doesn't seem quite as innovative now that I've seen Enlightenment.
Aliens of London/World War III: Oh dear God. At this point even the worst of classic Who seemed comparatively praiseworthy because at least it sodding tried! Unlike this horrible exercise in laziness and 'this'll do'. The Doctor's childish, petty treatment of Mickey is some of the most witless and unpleasant writing to ever tarnish the show. UNIT is wasted, the Doctor's lamenting of the space pig comes off as false given that it was his shocking incompetence and negligence that got it killed in the first place, there's no gravity for a moment when the Doctor confronts the Slitheen, with the humour being so laboured and asinine that it's utterly tedious.
Dalek: At the time this was fantastic. A proper mini-movie. In retrospect though, it feels like little more than a trailer for the season finale. The supporting characters are far too stock and shallow, the story feels like it's building to a climax in Saltlake City that never happens, and whilst it's not the story's fault, it's take on the Time War has been undermined since by being discussed to death and then eventually shown in a way that removed all dramatic tension or reason to care from it. Also the Doctor's plan to defeat the Dalek is very questionable indeed- surely evacuating and sealing the base should be his *first* resort, not his last.
The Long Game: Dear God. At this point the Doctor-Rose flirtiness was becoming so obnoxious and adolescent that I was persuaded to betray every principle a fan should have and shout at the screen "oh just shag and be done with it." Nothing Adam does feels realistic he just seems to be completely puppeteered, the moral hectoring about the power of the media is so on
***Doctor Who Series 3
ReplyDeleteThe Doctor’s story continues on with the Christmas special, Runaway Bride with Catherine Tate playing the feisty red-head Donna Noble on her wedding day. The Doctor and Donna have to deal with the Racnoss Queen’s plot to destroy the Earth to free her children. The Doctor is able to defeat her before heading off after Donna turns down the chance to travel with him.
The main series begins with Smith and Jones with, The Doctor using his fake identity John Smith to investigate strange goings on whilst trainee Doctor Martha Jones learns he has two hearts. While we get an invading Judoon army trying to capture the Plasmavore after The Doctor tricks her and she’s captured, he whisks Martha off for one trip.
Like with Series 1 and 2 we once again get the formula of episode 2 in the past, but this time further back to Tudor England and episode 3 set in the distant future. Starting with episode 2 the Shakespeare code we have The Doctor and Martha meeting Shakespeare and dealing with the Carronites who force him to finish Love Labour’s Won, but with the use of Shakespeare’s words and of course Expelliarmus (Good old JK… yeah he really said that!) . Gridlock set on New Earth from series 2 is a rather strong episode with subtle hints on society’s over need for things to make their life better. The Doctor saves the people trapped on the freeway, but the Face of Boe dies telling him “You are not alone.” The episode concludes with The Doctor recounting the story of Gallifrey and how beautiful his home once was.
The two parter; Daleks in Manhatten and Evolution of the Daleks… goes along with the rest of Series 3 it could have been that something special, but falls flat and while it’s good to see Dalek’s again and Peter Parker (well it’s Andrew Garfield pre-spidey). The idea of a human Dalek is quite far-fetched and you’d think the Cult of Skaro could have come up with a more genuine way of saving the Daleks than having a human hybrid. It’s a shame Moffatt couldn’t pen the Dalek two parter, but his episode later in the series is definitely worth waiting for.
The Lazurus Experiment returns The Doctor and Martha to present day England, where he has a run in with Martha’s family and we hear more about this Mr. Saxon we’d previously heard and seen posters of “Vote Saxon”. The episode revolves around Lazurus restoring his youth before changing into a monster seems to be rather pointless… but in fact this episode is just a device to sub a plot idea in the series finale. 42 is the next episode where The Doctor has 42 minutes to save the day and of course he succeeds, it’s one of them episodes which just seems to be filler and only the ending where it’s revealed it's election day and Martha not answering questions about The Doctor to her mother Francine that further sets up the series finale.
Now we get to a run of episodes which are regarded by many as the strongest run of episodes in New Who. First up the two parter Human Nature and Family of Blood. The Doctor on the run from the family uses a fob watch to become human. He hides in 1913 as a school professor John Smith, the family arrives possessing several people in an attempt to find the time lord. During the episodes John falls in love and we get some great moments and the final decision to turn John back into The Doctor really pulls at the heart, it’s David Tennant at his absolute finest.
The Series Doctor lite episode is Blink featuring the Weeping Angels for the first time and of course penned by Steven Moffatt. The episode features the struggles of Sally Sparrow dealing with the loss of her best friend who was transported back to the 1920’s whilst then having to help save The Doctor and at the same time not blinking! It’s truly one of the greatest Doctor Who stories and I’m sure not many will argue against that.
to be continued........
***Doctor Who Series 3 cont,,,,,
ReplyDeleteThe three part series finale features Utopia, Sound of the Drums and Last of the Timelords. With two returning characters… we’ll start with Utopia. The TARDIS refuels in Cardiff and picks up Captain Jack Harkness which sends the TARDIS to the end of the universe. Jack and The Doctor unite and meet up the last humans and Professor YANA who’s attempting to send the rocket of humans to Utopia. However as the episode draws to a close YANA opens a fob watch and regains the consciousness of a Time Lord… The Master. Who is shot and fatally wounded by his assistant Chanfo, but he manages to get inside the TARDIS regenerates and escapes though The Doctor manages to lock to coordinates of the console.
We have Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. The Doctor, Martha and Jack arrive on present day Earth and learn that Harold Saxon won the election… who is in fact The Master. We get some great two and through dialogue between the two Time Lords. With The Doctor been hunted, however the Toclafane allies of The Master appear and wipe out a tenth of the population. The Doctor captured and aged, Jack killed (seemingly). Martha teleports and escapes. She spends a year telling the people of Earth about The Doctor and apparently putting together a weapon that would kill a Time Lord dead with no chance of regeneration (or you know just kill him mid regeneration two bullets would do). Martha is taken back before The Master before she reveals that the great plan of The Doctor is one seen in Peter Pan… Martha reveals that she told the people of Earth to chant for him in the same way as you clap your hands and say you believe in fairies resurrects them… and yes The Doctor does restore to normal (Thanks Tinkerbell) and defeats The Master before he’s shot and stops his regeneration and dies…. The episode ends with Jack returning to Torchwood and Martha leaving The Doctor for good.
Episode Scores:
- Runaway Bride 5/10
1) Smith and Jones 6/10
2) Shakespeare Code 6/10
3) Gridlock 7/10
4) Daleks in Manhatten 6/10
5) Evolution of the Daleks 4/10
6) The Lazurus Experiment 5/10
7) 42 4/10
8) Human Nature 8/10
9) Family of Blood 9/10
10) Blink 10/10
11) Utopia 8/10
12) Sound of the Drums 6/10
13) Last of the Time Lords 4/10
Average Score: 6.3
Doctor score: 7/10
Martha score: 7/10
Story Arc:
1) Missing Rose: A major part of Series 3 was The Doctor still upset at the loss of Rose. Now from one point of view I can see why as she was the first companion since the time war and they were very close, however it hurts the Rose character and The Doctor who never overly mourned any companion nearly as much as her which makes this arc quite terrible. Which is unfortunate.
2) Harold Saxon: the main story arc features Harold Saxon who is The Master and in my opinion is the strongest arc of the RTD era. It was well thought out and made sense, though it’s a shame the final execution in the series finale didn’t work too well. This Harold Saxon arc ties into the overall arc of the RTD era the last of the Time Lords/Lonely God. However I really don’t want to touch upon this until my final review of the RTD era.
NEXT TIME:
Kylie turns up on the Titanic… Allons-y Alonso and Donna Noble’s return… before we head to the library to meet River Song all on the way to Journey’s End.***
***Doctor Who Series 4
ReplyDeleteSo here we are the last full series of the RTD era and Tennant’s last full series. Now we can strap ourselves for one last long trip to the Journey’s End. First though we have the Christmas special Voyage of the damned which features a Titanic spaceship with Kylie Monuge as the guest appearance, it’s one of them episodes full of cameo’s yet the whole plot seems rather farfetched, though as it seems to be as silly as the two proceeding Christmas specials, so no change here.
Now we move onto Series four and with the first episode Partners in crime sees Donna Noble return during an investigation the two team up as people’s fat is turned into adipose children to be taken away for the adipose family. Donna is then whisked off into the TARDIS for new adventures. Sticking with the tried tested formula of into future and into the past episodes… firstly we go back in time to Pompeii for the fires of Pompeii and even an appearance by future companion Karen Gillan (though not yet as Amy) Pompeii is a decent episode it’s brought down by the fact Pompeii was started by the monster of the week the Pyroviles. We have a great moment when Donna pleads for someone anyone to be saved by The Doctor and in the end he saves a family from the fires.
The episode in the future is set on the Ood sphere in episode called Planet of the Ood. It’s a mixbag but though it has some great moments particularly from Donna again especially the Ood song and freeing the Ood from human’s using them as slaves. At the end of the episode The Ood reveal that the Doctor’s song will soon end the first indication of the Doctor’s next regeneration.
We have the first two parter The Sontoran Stratagem and Poision Sky. Martha calls The Doctor and Donna back to Earth. Martha is now working at UNIT and they have a problem with the ATMOS systems, a device used to poison the Earth to become the new clone world of the Sontorans. We also have The Doctor’s second meeting with Wilfred Mott (first met during the Voyage of the Damned) Wilf is Donna’s grandfather and The Doctor’s surprised to see him again… Poison Sky ends with the destruction of the Sontoran fleet and Martha joining Donna and The Doctor on another trip.
The episo
***Doctor Who Series 4 cont,,,,,
ReplyDeleteNow for the two part series finale Stolen Earth and Journey’s End. They feature a crossover with the SJA and Torchwood which means a return for Sarah-Jane and Captain Jack. Martha is too involved and of course we have Rose, Mickey and Jackie appearing in the episode at the end of Stolen Earth The Doctor is wounded by a Dalek and begins to regenerate… (leaving one of the biggest climaxes in the shows history) but in Journey’s End he stops the regeneration by transferring the regeneration into his hand (previously lost in Christmas Invasion) after using it to heal himself… it’s a concept that completely baffles me but I won’t ramble too much why let’s just say it makes little sense! The rest of Journey’s End has the Daleks plotting to destroy the universe with a reality bomb powered by 28 planets another concept which is absolutely ridiculous. Oh something I nearly forgot Donna touches the hand filled with regeneration energy and creates a second doctor who is half time lord half human while Donna gains some time lord knowledge… it’s the third silly idea in one episode it’s getting a bit frustrating now… the new clone Doctor destroys The Daleks and so the real Doctor exiles him into the parallel world with Rose and Jackie. Mickey opts to stay with Jack and Martha. While Donna has to have her memory of the doctor and all her adventures wiped from memory.
Episode Scores
- Voyage of the Damned 4/10
1) Partners in Crime 5/10
2) Fires of Pompeii 6/10
3) Planet of the Ood 6/10
4) The Sontoran Strategem 4/10
5) Poison Sky 3/10
6) The Doctors Daughter 5/10
7) The Unicorn and the Wasp 4/10
8) Silence in the Library 8/10
9) Forest of the Dead 9/10
10) Midnight 9/10
11) Turn left 7/10
12) Stolen Earth 5/10
13) Journey’s End 3/10
Average score: 5.6
Doctor’s score: 7/10
Donna’s score: 7/10
Story Arcs
1)The Missing Planets/The Darkness : Throughout series 4 we hear about planet’s disspearing or creatures having lost their homeworld… I’ve added the darkness theme here as they tie together, we hear from Rose that the darkness is coming as the stars go out. It’s basically the Daleks had activated their reality bomb and the stars where going out and to use the bomb they’d stolen the planets… though if the stars had started going out surely their plan had worked, how is it and the end of the series they were stopped? This is the weakest overall arc of the RTD era in my opinion.
2)The Doctor/Donna: We here a few hints about The Doctor/Donna throughout the series and we even get a prediction from Dalek Caan that Donna was going to die… but like with Rose in series 2 and The Doctor in the specials… those who make prophecies about people dying really should find another career because nobody ever does die… though I could put that down to RTD trying to create good drama but lying like this really isn’t a good way to go about things.
NEXT TIME:
The Tenth Doctor’s final days… and the return of Wilfred Mott.***
***Planet of the Spiders has to be the most padded story ever***
ReplyDeleteI keep having to bring people back to reality; remember the DW was being produced for kids! They can't all be "gems!" The shoe-string budget, bad sets, "over the top acting," and mediocre effects were great theatre for kids! It just so happens it has a "cult following" that appreciates it even though some of us are getting to be old and senile! Since college here in '78 w/ Baker, moving thru Pertwee & Baker again, then Davison! Kept taping them to VHS even though they got even cheesier w/ Colin B. & McCoy! I miss the stand-alone episodes of Nation! "The Doctor's Bride" took me back to that era!
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Back in the 80's I would have been all over "Once Upon a Time!" I remember buying a new tv just b/c the series "Beauty & The Beast" & "Max Headroom" was playing in the store! I was only giving a ride to a dept. store to a friend and ended up spending more than him! Back then I was big on collecting "V" & "Codename: Foxfire!" A staple in my collection is sci-fi stuff like "Doctor Who" & "Blake's 7!"
***7th Doctor is in "Hobbitt" movie, playing a wizard who rides a sled pulled by RABBITS***
ReplyDeleteThey must hate me! They haven't made a quarter off anyone in my family! Haven't seen more than 5 min. in totality w/ all the sagas played end to end! If I were a little younger, I might have even collected them all, blogged about them as I do with Dr Who and Blake's 7, and looked to answer questions of people who need info! I barely remember Orlando Bloom was King of the Fairies! Loved the blond hair, extensions, and ponytail!
***Why have you not seen LOTR, Fiero? It should be MANDATORY! After all, it's infinitely better than Star Wars ever could be.***
I've been a little more discriminating in watching anything outside of news and sports these days! After being diagnosed with sleep apnea, bordering on narcolepsy; I'm always tired and have a very short attention span! 10 years ago, it must have taken me a week to get thru the last Star Wars prequel and Spiderman epic! These new movies are too long and I can't stay awake long enough to keep the information straight! lol! I'm on total recall concerning old collection of "DW, Blake's 7, & Earth: Final Conflict!" I know very little about what's going on these days in entertainment! It's more like I'm on auto pilot taping and collecting this new generation of DW! It's been very difficult to keep up with the "Time War" arc! I'm from old school weened on "stand-alone" episodes of Baker, Pertwee, & Davison!
***Were the race of Timelords evil? - The Time Lords weren't a race; Galifreyan really.***
The Doctor breaks the rules all the time and we think he's great! Like everything with power, "absolute power, corrupts absolutely!" The Time Lords were no different! They had power of life and death and weren't consistent in their omniscience!
***The Doctor breaks rules to help others. The Timelords break rules to help themselves, there is a world of difference.***
There's a lot of "self-satisfaction" when he does what he does!
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Revamped-Theme-Tune-and-%20Opening-Title-Sequence -
ReplyDeleteRevamped Theme Tune and Opening Title Sequence - Not only will we be treated to a ‘new’ TARDIS during The Snowmen (Christmas Day at 5.15pm), but the episode will premiere a revamped theme tune and opening title sequence.
We can’t give too much away about the new-look titles except to say they are wonderfully dramatic and striking, with a couple of unexpected touches. In short, they’re a perfect way to welcome back the Doctor!
And fans of the famous Doctor Who theme tune needn’t worry… This new arrangement remains true to the original, written by Ron Grainer back in 1963, but on Christmas Day you’ll hear it as it’s never sounded before. This latest version is more thrilling and powerful but retains that slightly scary quality that remains stirring no matter how many times you catch it.
To enjoy the revamped theme tune and opening title sequence, make sure you’re watching The Snowmen on BBC One, Christmas Day at 5.15pm.
***Doctor 'attracted' to Clara - They do seemingly share a kiss during the trailer for the Snowmen***
ReplyDeleteIf you remember, who isn't locking lips with Matt; even the men?
***Yeah, it seems that it's common now for all the NuWho Companions to have to kiss the Doctor...***
If I were just a little younger! Quite satisfied with my vhs collection of the Doctor! I can't see wasting time, money, and energy collecting the disc! I don't have viewing parties anymore! I'm feeling nostalgic; might pull out "Robot" and "Ark in Space!"
***The First Doctor was about 450 when he regenerated. The Doctor has lived for around a 1000 odd years in the 50 years he has been on screen. The 4th Doctor was in his 700's, the 7th was in his 900's, the 8th made it over a 1000, the 9th went back to being 900, the 11th is 1200 Plus.***
With new producers, the regeneration limit will be re-visited and will offer some reason The Doctor has more than other Time Lords! I'm not sweating it! With River "they giveth and taketh away;" easy stuff!
***I believe the regeneration limit was set by the Time Lords (e.g. Stamp out crazies wanting immortality like President Burosa) w/o them he can keep going on and on...well maybe 507 times if the Doctor was serious with Clyde in SJA. - I don't care if it carries on after the 13th Doctor as long as it is explained at the time. - The Doctor didn't get into many violent conflicts with his major enemies until he was older.***
Well if The Doctor was hanging out on Gallifrey, there would be little jeapardy to his health! It wasn't until he absconded with an unauthorized Tardis and started traveling the universe, exposing himself to danger or he might still be on his 1st regeneration; #2!
***Various sites are saying he could regenerate during a new year's special that airs during early '14. Matt Smith is not signed on for anything past '13.***
Why would he want to be typecasted with this iconic character? I think that's where the visceral distaste to coming back still seeths in Tom Baker! I expect Matt to move on just like all the rest! He's done more than most if not all the other incarnations!
***As far as I'm aware, Matt Smith has signed up to do the special(s) and series 8. After that it's just rumors. - No Matt Smith is not signed for Series 8. He did an interview stating that he is only signed through '13 which means Series 7, Pt 2 and the 50th anniversary specials and Christmas special.***
***I havent seen "Seeds of Doom" in a very long time, but I recognize the name Scorby, so he must have been good as a memorable "henchman." - Lee-Sien Chang, magician extraordinaire! He stands out so much, yet he spent the entire story working for Magnus Greel ("Weng-Chiang"). Although basically a machine, Mr. Sin had enough personality to qualify as a memorable henchman. - Has to be Nyder for me. Wisher's Davros and Nyder were the ultimate evil partnership.***
ReplyDeleteScorby's name rings thru the centuries because the Doctor screamed out his name several times! Nyder and Lee-Sien Chang near the top as well for me! "T Of WC" had henchmen on top of henchmen with Lee-Sien and Mr. Sin! That's probably why I think it's one of the best stand-alone episodes ever!
***The vast majority of Doctor Who fans don't really care about a plot device from the 70's. There's a lot of things that used to be but are no more; regeneration limits are just one of them.***
So far it still hasn't been broached as being wrong or needing an update! We'll see how they deal with it a couple actors down the line in 2019 or so!
***The real depth of his downfall was his offer to save Davros from the fire. The Doctor would never do that, probably toss him a petrol can.***
How insane was that? "Let me save you Davros after almost cancelling out all of creation! Maybe give you another chance!" Moron! That's probably why I don't take the program as seriously as I once did; taping all episodes! Now it's just a habit and I'm on auto-pilot! I haven't been happy with all these story arcs! Too much to keep up with I guess in my old age!
***Maybe Oswin is really River Song, escaped from the virtual world 10 saved her in and into the mind of a Dalek and newly regenerated; virtually. lol!***
I'm sure that'll be revisited; River's consciousness caught up in that computer! The Doctor has to come up with a way to deal with that later! Technically she's dead I guess; sacrificing herself in the Library! They had to be thinking about this plot years ahead of time! Listening to her words about how much she knew about him and the Doctor having no memory of her yet is one long story arc!
***Explains why young Melody was wandering New York in the past. - Everything depends on the writer. Time is always changing. People want to write absolute rules into Doctor Who when there really isn't such a thing. ...***
A program that lasts this long obviously has to go thru some psychological and logical changes over the decades! It only makes sense! The Silence must have dropped her off in NY '69 for her initial training and implantation to kill the Doctor! A lot of us saw this coming! When the Doctor was blasted at Lake Silencio, I said to myself, that has to be River! "Hello Sweetie!"
***Most evil villian was Fenric***
ReplyDeleteDavros took it to the ultimate limit, about to abort all creation until Doctor Donna steps in! Come on; you can't beat that no matter how evil, what can top that? "Journey's End!" Even if you drop that plan, he sabotaged his own planet's survival giving away secrets to the Thals to eliminate his own people!
"Genesis Of The Daleks!"
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***Matt...Done more in what way? Like media outside Doctor Who?***
Yes, "that" and performing in so many more episodes in the series! I didn't think anyone would surpass Baker, but Smith passed them all; didn't he? Everytime I look up, I'm finding another movie Matt has performed in; the last being "Womb!" He's so young to have so many irons in the fire!
***But really, the minute Clara started interacting with The Doctor I was pretty much like, "wait, who was Amy?" I really like the feel of this new companionship and I think it's refreshing and the new direction the show needed.***
She's jerkin' the tears as well as Amy ever has! 2 appearances and she's already said "remember me" breaking down the 4th wall both times! I remember Baker doing it once after "Invasion Of Time!" It's almost a habit these days! The only one who hasn't done it is Rory!
***I did like the new opening sequence.***
It took me back to Tom Baker's last intro, but obviously updated and new!
***I was thinking the same thing myself. It did feel very much like Season 18's intro updated.
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I do feel bad that Diana Mulduar was not given a chance to stick around after season 2 since I particularly liked her scenes with Worf and acting like a mother figure to Wesley.***
I don't understand why they thought it would be "warm and fuzzy" with Diana installed as the doctor in S2 of STNG? Her persona going back to the original series has always been passionless, kind of cold, and very distant! The tone of her voice is almost showing "passive aggression" as if she has a beef with you! I love the woman, but I've watched her for years; including her stint on "LA LAW" as Rosalind Shays! Her characters have always been reserved, quietly calm at all times, and quite judgemental with just a look! Flashing anger when appropriate was also effortless! Even though she didn't do a lot of acting, Veronica Hamel reminds me of that era with "Hill Street Blues!" I'm surprised neither had a guest spot on "NYPD Blue!"
***So, is Oswin the new "Kenny"? Will she die at the end of every episode? - So will Clara be the Kenny of Doctor Who? He'll find her, she comes on and dies, then he'll go out and find another for the next episode. Oh My God, he killed Clara!! - Is she replacing River Song or what? I wonder maybe if the Doctor's new infatuation with Oswin signals that he's ready to shift to a new love interest.***
ReplyDeleteProbably; until the Doctor gets his act together! Playing the grouch after losing a companion or 2 doesn't suit Matt! The ice thaws much too fast when a crisis arises! Who is he trying to kid when he acts like this? The latest producers love to "jerk the tears!" She better be careful, Jenna might end up getting typecast as the dying girl! - Love interest? Nothing as close as Rose I'm sure; more like Amy! He can't totally give into something like that since their life-span is so short; a true blink of an eye! Is it worth it? I harken back to The Immortals in "Highlander" or Catherine Deneuve's vampire in "The Hunger!" What's the point of settling down with one person only to watch them grow old and wither away again and again? I think it's worked out well so far; travel thru time and space until the companion is ready to go! A couple years would do it for me; if that!
***Jack is one of RTDs characters. Also really, have you completely forgotten Rose and Donna?***
Heaven knows I've tried! I've had a problem with Rose from day one; selfish, petulant child! Donna's just a poor loser and needed a life; got one from her travels with the Doctor! She also humanized him like Rose; (someone mentioned Ian and Barbra in the same role w/ the original Doctor)!
***Rory was just a regular guy. - ...who died repeatedly, was reborn as an auton Roman, lived for 2000 yrs before being rebooted as human and fathering a part-Time Lord...sounds like a regular guy.***
No one outside of our little family would believe it! I have to keep it to myself in mixed company! Rory should be a true American hero!
***Doctor is married to River Song so he needs to divorce her first to get on with Clara - I hope so, I really don't need to see River anymore.***
That story arc has played out for me! Melanie looked ridiculous letting mommie go after Rory went back to 1938 in "ATM!" I was no fan of Amy's, but she was so much younger and prettier; sorry!
***My guess is rather she might die every once in a while, forcing the Doctor to pick her up at a new era when it happens. Every episode might turn too formulaic.***
Will it come to pass that maybe "She's the smile of Mona Lisa?" Lets go all "City of Death" and be done with it!
***William Hartnell was the 1st Doctor Who, inhabiting the role from '63 to '66
ReplyDeletePatrick Troughton took over as the 2nd Doctor, leaving in '69
Jon Pertwee was the 1st Doctor to be seen in colour when he made his debut in Jan.'70
Tom Baker travelled in the Tardis for 8 years, and is frequently voted the most-popular Doctor
Peter Davison replaced Baker in '82. Aged 29, he was the youngest actor to take the lead role until Matt Smith
Colin Baker played the 6th Doctor between '84 and '86
Sylvester McCoy was the last of the Doctors in the series' first run, which ended in '89
The shortest-lived Doctor was played by Paul McGann, who starred in a one-off special in '96
The series was reborn under the guidance of Russell T Davies in 2005. Christopher Ecclestone won the lead role, but left after one series
David Tennant is another fave with fans of the show. He ran through 3 assistants in his 5 year tenure
Matt Smith is the current caretaker of the role, and will guide the show through its 50th anniversary. Joining him for the 50th anniversary year is new co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman, who played Clara in the Christmas Day episode, and will be the Doctor's new companion in the 2013 series. - ...all true Who fans are on THIS board***
I beg your pardon! lol! I'm a true Who fan and I think I'm capable of going back and forth between the 2 forums! "Timelash" was one of the all time worst episodes made to embarrass Colin; it had to be the case! It was a colossal bad outing for him with cheesier acting by his supporting actors and actresses! Loved seeing Paul Darrow (AVON) from "Blake's 7" fame, but the rest was tripe! The Borad? Herbert? Vena? We had another breach of security allowing Vena to pass thru the Tardis down the "Timelash!" It was so "Wizard Of Oz" at the end with the Borad screaming in pain seeing his reflection in a mirror! How convenient that it had been hidden behind a wall with a picture of the old Doctor, Pertwee! "I'm melting, I'm melting!" Bad, bad, just bad! The Two Doctors brought back Troughton who I had just missed in the early 70's! It was nice to see Jamie and got another blast from the past with Jacqueline Pearce's portrayal of Chessene! She played a leading role in my other fave "Blake's 7" as well!
***Yes, but The Twin Dilemma makes Timelash look like Genesis of the Daleks by comparison. I would sooner watch that admittedly awful Timelash ten times in a row than ever have to sit through The Twin Dilemma again. I guess I'm in the minority here. Timelash was one of Colin Baker's stories I actually liked. It was really grim and sent shivers up my spine in a horror type of way. Plus, Yrcarnos was funny as hell. - I'm also tired of the shtick of every woman who crosses the Doctor's path falling for him, crushing on him, or throwing themselves at him.***
You're kidding right? lol! This is so typical; just in a higher plane! Instead of the Tardis, put a motorcycle in there with the ultimate bad boy "Doctor" riding into town! It's an old plot in the script going back to silent films!
***Matt has been more than great in the role. Give the man a lot of credit and a big applause for stepping into the role under a very big scrutiny when he replaced one of the most popular actors in the role.***
Too true! Matt was in the exact same position as Peter Davison; following an iconic Doctor and being so young at the time!
***There were 5 or 6 stories in each Pertwee season (except for Season 7 which had 4), so these 2 stories most certainly did not last all season. They were just 2 stories amongst half a dozen.
ReplyDelete- Forgive the pedanticism, but none of the Pertwee seasons had more than five stories. - Silence must fall so that seems to suggest that The Doctor's death will mean The Silence will die with him.***
After starting out with Baker, it was almost painful watching Pertwee; stuck on Earth, using corny karate, with that old car Betsy! What hurt were that the stories were so long; 8-12 parts! They took forever to tape back in the 80's on VHS! Another thing that was too strange was The Master seemed to be behind just about every plot! He could travel the universe, but has constantly undermined The Doctor's affection for the planet thinking it insignificant! He couldn't go abut his business and conquer somewhere else! His obsession was too much! He was a constant fixture and I couldn't wait until they got back to Baker, continuing onto Davison! Then they brought him back! "Thanks Nation!"
***Pertwee was my favorite probably b/c it's who I saw first and I loved the chemistry between Pertwee and Delgado (the master). Some of the stories were long, but one of my faves was the "Ambassadors of Death" - I like it b/c the story is quite interesting, and keeps you wondering how far the corruption goes. ...Sick of these idiots whining about the gay characters too.***
Whenever I watch programs and they go off on these tangents about gay subplots, I say to myself, "am I that naive or what?" I think it silly esp. with Batman!
***Obscure gay references that are easily missed is your idea of a gay subplot? Those tiny mentions of gay characters BOTHERS you so much, that you consider them tangents? Why don't you just see them as characters? ...?***
Seek help my friend! I have no problem with gay subplots if it's there and this topic isn't really serious I thought concerning DW! I'm just surprised when I hear there is even a reference when I had no idea! Something as blatant as Rod Steiger in "The Sergeant," I got it! There was a gay subplot even though never spoken! That hit me over the head even at 12!
***Well I have no idea what your arguement is then sorry. Not sure whether you're agreeing with my post or not. But thanks for answering!***
I thought I was clear, I wasn't sure there was any reason to throw "gay" in there concerning the Doctor! This thread reminds me of people who watch 50's movies like "American Graffiti" and never seem to question the lack of Black people; like they didn't exist! We did then and we do now; voting impowered!
***The Doctor goes to Victorian England after he loses The Ponds? Why there? Also why is the Silurian woman living there and why is the Sontaran there when he was a nurse on some warring planet?***
Why does he go to any of these places and times; esp. when alone? The other characters? No clue! We saw these characters were alive and well during "AGMGTW!" They should have been dead, but supposedly The Doctor needed an army and he saved them sometime during his travels alone!
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***Could Star Trek technology cure the "28 Days Later" Rage Virus?***
Beverly is Gawd who can raise the dead! lol! She would have handled it in 5 min.! How many times has she dropped in and explained it all to the room? "He'll be fine, but upon further analysis it appears...!"
***Not only that, whatever treatment she comes up with will work perfectly the first time around, with no testing.***
***Commander Shelby on STNG: She's ambitious, and seems to exercise good judgment. When she finds out that Riker isn't going anywhere, I think she's understandably put out b/c there's no Earthly excuse for Riker to be anywhere, let alone as the 1st Officer of the Enterprise. He won't leave, and the Admiralty won't kick his childish ass out of there like they would've done a year prior when he turned down the Aries.***
ReplyDeleteThey were a family and Riker had stalled; self-imposed! He's well aware that sooner or later, Star Fleet would probably even stop asking him if he wanted his own command figuring, "why bother?" I understand his animus towards Shelby, but his own ego was willing to overlook her suggestions! He may have gotten around to passing on the info to the Captain inventually, but they were about to go into battle for the most part and he's playing "seniority games!" I'm the same way, I would have gone directly to the Captain; regulations & protocols be damned! This was a dire situation!
***STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS trailers. How do u think it looks? - I think the first film suffered from having to introduce all of the characters while the second will be able to focus on story. ...***
Being a "Doctor Who" and "Blake's 7" fan, I guess my standards must be rather low, but I loved that ST movie from a couple years ago! I finally saw it this past year on cable and the intro of the characters was seamless as far as I was concerned with great choices! The only thing that made no sense was Spock being Uhura's "Mack Daddy!" Please? I hope they executed the persons that came up with that; "phasers on annihilate!"
***If Riker knew that Starfleet would probably stop offering a command of his own, and let him stay there, that means they're very dysfunctional as an organization.***
One of the reasons I said it is because Shelby pointed out the very same points to Riker in that turbo-lift, "...you're in my way; SIR!"
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***No Pertwee story was longer than 7 episodes, and those stories were only during Season 7. Perhaps you are referring to 'Frontier in Space' & 'Planet of the Daleks' which were 6 episodes each but were interlinked for a total of 12?***
With the Master showing up every week, Pertwee ep. seemed to run all together for seasons at a time! It's just my memory of those shows! I haven't pulled the tapes out of the box in almost 30 years!
***The Doctor clone was fucking stupid and existed only to give Rose her perfect little ending which she didn't earn.***
Remember in the end she still wasn't satisfied! Didn't she work with alternate universe scientist to jump her back to Earth? As always, it was "all about her" and her wants! Spoiled brat!
***Actors who have played the title role, including Smith and and an artificial William Hartnell will chat with devotees at monthly question-and-answer sessions***
ReplyDeleteI think Richard Hurndall did a great job in "The Five Doctor" cast to replace Hartnell! Sean Pertwee can stand in for his father!
***Unfortunately, "The 5 Doctors" was one of Richard Hurndall's last roles. He died a year after making that. So who would they get to play the part of Richard Hurndall as William Hartnell as the First Doctor?
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Death to the Daleks - I'm fond of this one too, puts the Daleks in the position of being disarmed (for awhile!) and having to be allies for once, plus I loved the scenes in the Exxilon city,and agree that Bellal was a well-acted,interesting character.***
I guess with this episode, we awkwardly see Daleks' paranoia for the 1st time when found to be weaponless! I haven't seen the episode in years, but I can imagine the them almost nervous and shakey when their blasters don't work! In "Asylum" they emphasized how much they feared the Doctor and makes Oswin ask "why do they hate you so much?"
***You might also consider that Doctor Ten seemed to have no compunction about allowing literally millions of Daleks and Cybermen to be sucked into the Void during the Doomsday episode - The Doctor is someone who will use lethal force if he considers it justified.***
What would you have him do? We all know 4 Daleks is plenty to wipe out the planet! It would have been all over for the galaxy! Besides they were trying to conquer! They didn't just happen upon Earth! Both Daleks and Cybermen chose Earth as their new stomping grounds! Bravo to the Doctor! They don't deserve any consideration! Wiping us out precludes any logical sympathy for cold machines like them! Come on!
***How did Strax come back to life?***
Not sure if it was ever explained how a number of creatures were still alive, but the Doctor needed an army in "AGMGTW!" He zipped around the continuum picking up defeated opponents, some that should have died! He saved them all, but still waiting for an explanation! The Silurian supposedly died when the rest of her brethren went back into hybernation! She was trying to stop the Doctor to the last!
***Why not just blow up the drill in ST? - It makes no sense. I'm talking about on Earth. The drill isn't that far above the Earth, the amount of planes gov'ts would still have, RPG, missle's, etc.***
ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I've seen the latest Star Trek incarnation, but not sure the planet was aware they were under attack and about to be destroyed! The drill that was sent into the Earth wasn't taken out by anyone until Spock did his thing! Where were those clowns at SF?
***Nero had acquired Earth's defense codes from Pike and presumably used them to take those defenses offline. We're not given details.***
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Sometimes I just don't understand this need to see everything! I've driven by fires, huge car accidents, barely taking a glance and moving on with ambulances and fire trucks around! There's obviously nothing I can do but get in the way! Here in Chicago, fools will pull over on the side of the road when some kind of carnage has happened and block traffic! It's so juvenile and stupid, but that's
society for you! You can tell I don't have a very high opinion of us! Nope, we're dumb as a box of hair! Just watch this "fiscal cliff" nonsense going on as we speak on New Years! Idiots! And they're supposed to be the smartest and brightest of us all! Yeah, right!
***I wonder if Liam Nesson would be the Doctor if they asked him?***
I can't see it! That's a big step down in exposure as much as we love to think of it differently, the drop from "Taken 2" to "Doctor Who" is precipitous! lol!
***Exactly, I was thinking the same thing. Firstly, he would probably cost to much, and secondly, he would most likely only commit to one series (like Chris did).
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Let's not forget 11th Doctor wiped out an entire Cyberman fleet just to make a point and find out where Amy was. Those Cybermen were not attacking anyone at the time and were not involved with kidnapping her.***
The Doctor does sometimes feel he's "GAWD Almighty" and is justified in behaving as such! The "Waters Of Mars" was a little scary with him losing it, "...time....and they will obey me!" He actually went out of his way to change a prominent historical event! When he saved one family in Pompeii, you could live with that, but "WOM" brought about temporary insanity in him IMO!
***I can picture Simms having a darker Master because if he was timelocked with the other Timelords, I can imagine the Master probably didn't have a happy and peaceful time with them.***
ReplyDeleteDarker? How Dark do you want him to go? Changing all humans into clones of himself wasn't exactly benevolent! No one was darker than Ainley during the Baker and Davison eras, who just about destroyed everything like Davros! The power he wanted wasn't attainable so he'd rather annihilate everything in his quest to get there anyway! Too many times he should have been allowed to expire, but for the selfish act of the Doctor in saving him? How many people have been murdered? How many planets destroyed? All that blood is on the Doctor's hands including the ones he's punished for their evil acts just because of kinship he had to the Master!
***Which Story Old or New Looks the Cheapest?***
Going back to Tom Baker and "The 6 Keys To Time," Kronos was so 60's horror movie! Bad, bad, bad! "Timelash was pretty bad, Sylvester McCoy outings some of the lamest episodes made w/ Delta & The Bannermen; "wolf!"
***...as far I am concered Tom Baker was the worst Doctor. Poor Lalla had gone a bit bananas and fallen for Tom, and it was a blessed relief "Shada" didn't get finished."***
Wow, I've never read or heard anything like this before! I won't even bother asking why! That's hardcore hate! The most iconic of the Doctors w/ that scarf! From what few clips I've seen of Shada, I don't think we've missed much, but a nice trivia question for DW fans when asked about clips utilized when Baker and Ward not available for reunion shows!
***I've seen every 'Shada' reconstruction going (...could do with a bit of touching up and Tom dubbing his dialogue, but beyond that, it's not bad - certainly better than the VHS version that's on the Legacy box), and I think it's a cracking story to be honest.
That's the generation I belong to; the VHS era! The tapes? ALL yours!
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***However, Picard was looking for someone to let him off the hook here. YEs, he's a twit! I mean, here he is, about to do something that could jeopardize the lives of millions, perhaps billions of people, and if it fails he could be responsible for a mass migration. If the stakes are high enough, I don't blame him for consulting Rassmussen for it.***
I know it wouldn't be a show without drama, but Picard has endangered his ship more than saved it from harm with his own lame curiosities lol! He always has to get up close to a phenomenom or planet he shouldn't get too close to! How many times has the ship almost been trapped for good or destroyed because he's either nosey or just plain curious about something?
***After how awful David Tennant was I am not ready to see Smith go either.***
ReplyDeleteReally? We have a lot of absolutist! On another thread someone said Tom Baker was the worst ever! Sheeshhh!
***...Dreamland between Planet of the Dead and The Waters of Mars. I guess it doesn't matter at all ...I don't mind about slightly changing the order in which it aired.***
Funny I feature "Dreamland" on my DW homage page; Children of Rassilon!
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***1) Series 5 is easily the best series since the revival.
2) Matt Smith is by some distance the best Doctor since the revival.
3) Moffat is a great writer when he puts the time and effort into redrafts.
4) The show is now more globally popular than it has ever been in it's history, and I think Moffat's direction of the show is responsible for that. ...but...
5) River Song needs to go. The character's one-dimensional, her story's finished (and wasn't very well done) and she should be promptly forgotten about. Moffat is, unfortunately, as infatuated with her as RTD was with Rose, and it can only work to the show's detriment.
6) Series 6's disappointing, confusing and badly-executed story arc was a severe misstep - it left the arc itself underwhelming, the characters involved look flatter and less well-developed (since they were forced to veer between high states of emotion and back again to deal with more standalone stories) and in fact rendered the better episodes of that series feeling oddly out of place. I think this is what has damaged Moffat's reputation the most - simply having that sour taste in our mouths for such a long period of time, followed up with the just plain dull The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe.
7) Moffat needs to repeat his success with series 5 - so hiring respected writers to pen stories that they want to write. A more hands-off approach, with more talented and flexible writers, rather than the RTD method of farming out his own ideas to a core group of writers. Primarily, we need to ditch Chris Chibnall, and Mark Gatiss needs to severely up his game if he wants to stick around.
8) Moffat needs to concentrate on his own stuff, not focussing on everyone else's work. Davies redrafted everyone else's writing, while seemingly knocking his own episodes out in an afternoon - which is why vast amounts of it were nonsensical, childish rubbish, and utter wastes of a good idea. Unfortunately, it's looking increasingly like Moffat's going the same way; focussing so much on what everyone else is doing, at the expense of his own episodes.
9) There isn't an obvious choice for next showrunner. In a straight choice between Chibnall and Gatiss, I'll be hoising Gatiss' banner any day of the week, but Toby Whithouse is the better option. Unless, of course someone else appears in the next few years.
***I honestly don't get all the hate for the Runaway Bride. It was harmless fun. As was The Next Doctor and Christmas invasion, but Voyage of the Damned and the End of Time can bite it.***
ReplyDeleteEven though they occurred around Christmas, I didn't consider these Christmas releases, just part of the normal story arc; esp. "The Runaway Bride" & "The End Of Time!" I guess I don't over-analyze things since I lived through and know the origions of the show; updated 60's "kiddie fare!"
***I don't like the Doctor's new companion - so far she's just the typical Moffat female character; snarky, perky, feisty, hyper-sexualized, and flirty. I like her, but I don't understand how or why she's such a fan favorite already.***
"Pretty" & "hot" are enough for most fans! lol! I agree about her description! Please bring back another Nyssa, Martha, or Romana!
***I do find her a bit annoying, myself. As many have mentioned, I don't like the fact that every woman who comes into contact with the Doctor falls head over heels for him. Yeah, I know, he's amazing, but really, it's getting old. That's part of why I liked Donna so much.***
I'll take Martha over Donna and Rose anytime! She was a professional and actually could help in an emergecy unlike those others that probably caused the drama in the 1st place! Unlike other companions, Martha didn't disintegrate when the Doctor dropped her off for good! She went on with her life and was quite self-sufficient! She was a great character! I watch her now in your local UK production of our "Law & Order!"
***I didn't know there was a UK Law & Order. Looked it up a second ago and discovered that Jamie Balmer is in it. I'm not a big L&A fan, but I might watch a few episodes just for the familiar faces.***
Yeah, it was so similar I recognized the episodes in the 1st segment! Even the names were the same most times! BTW Jamie was knocked off a couple years ago! He's going to be in a new American hospital series I've seen advertized on cable with Ving Rhames! I guess he was also in another re-make I totally didn't watch; "Battlestar Gallactica!" Also missed out on another 80's fave "V!" Taped the originals and was spoiled by better acting and less emphasis on special affects and explosions! Yeah, right! lol!
***Well this is a fantastic coincidence is it not? 11 months until the 50th anniversary and just as many Doctors. So to celebrate I thought we should dedicate each month to each Doctor. Now seeing as there are many here who haven't seen much or any of the original run of the show I though it best to come up with multiple threads per Doctor per month so as not to overwhelm the uninitiated. But Rob-Slide made me realize that was a bit much so we're now down to a much more manageable two threads.
This thread is for people who don't know much about the First Doctor but want to learn more. Here you can ask just about any question you want. The main limitation is to keep things related to the First Doctor's televised stories (so no looms) and general discussions about him and his companions.
***For reference - Doctor Who 101:
ReplyDelete- William Hartnell (1963-1966, 1973, 1983 as archival footage)
- Richard Hurndal (1983)
Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford (1963-1964, 1983)
Ian Chesterton - William Russell (1963-1965)
Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill (1963-1965)
Vicki - Maureen O'Brien (1965)
Steven Taylor - Peter Purves (1965-1966)
Katarina - Adrienne Hill (1965)
Dorothea "Dodo: Chaplet - Jackie Lane (1966)
Polly - Anneke Wills (1966-1967)
Ben Jackson - Michael Craze (1966-1967)
Season One
An Unearthly Child 4 eps
The Daleks 7 eps
The Edge of Destruction 2 eps
Marco Polo - 7 eps
The Keys of Marinus 6 eps
The Aztecs 4 eps
The Sensorites 6 eps
The Reign of Terror 6 eps
Season Two
Planet of Giants 3 eps
The Dalek Invasion of Earth 6 eps
The Rescue 2 eps
The Romans 4 eps
The Web Planet 6 eps
The Crusade 4 eps
The Space Museum 4 eps
The Chase 6 eps
The Time Meddler 4 eps
Season Three
Galaxy 4 4 eps
Mission to the Unknown 1 ep
The Myth Makers 4 eps
The Daleks' Master Plan 12 eps
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 4 eps
The Ark 4 eps
The Celestial Toymaker 4 eps
The Gunfighters 4 eps
The Savages 4 eps
The War Machines 4 eps
Season Four
The Smugglers 4 eps
The Tenth Planet 4 eps
Season Ten
The Three Doctors 4 eps
20th Anniversary Special
The Five Doctors 1 ep (90 minutes)
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Episodes I've loved from RTD:
Boom Town
The Parting of the Ways
Bad Wolf
New Earth
Tooth and Claw
Army of Ghosts
Doomsday
The Runaway Bride
Smith and Jones
Utopia
The Sound of Drums
Partners in Crime
Midnight
Turn Left
The Stolen Earth
Journey's End
The Waters of Mars
The End of Time
Episodes I've loved from Moffat:
A Christmas Carol
The Eleventh Hour
The Girl in the Fireplace
Forest of the Dead
Silence in the Library
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'The Time Warrior' was the best story of season 11, though there are better Jon Pertwee stories like:
'Spearhead From Space'- His debut.
'The Silurians'
'Inferno' - His best story.
'The Daemons'
'The Mutants'
'Frontier In Space' & 'Planet Of The Daleks'
'The Green Death'
I thought Jon Pertwee was a fantastic Doctor. ***
Even though they occurred around Christmas, I didn't consider these Christmas releases, just part of the normal story arc; esp. "The Runaway Bride" & "The End Of Time!" I guess I don't over-analyze things since I lived through and know the origions of the show; updated 60's "kiddie fare!"
***I only accept change when it is good. "NuWho" is NOT good change. I question highly if the show should even be called "Doctor Who" at this point b/c it is so far removed from the great show it was in the 1970's.
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous, substantial reasons as to why many of us "Classic Who" fans are not fans of the modern incarnation of the show. Much of it has to do with it becoming a soap opera which has been drastically dumbed down for the mainstream teen market. "NuWho" is not a bad show compared to what is on television these days. It's vastly better than most. But compared to "Classic Who"(Especially the Tom Baker era)it is vastly inferior. And no, better special effects and a higher budget does not equate to a quality Sci-Fi/Fantasy show in my view. Completely irrelevant without story, atmosphere, characterization, well composed music, direction, and Human inventiveness. In the 70's the show was the complete package and then some. Even the Graham Williams years are hilarious, campy, entertaining fun. You can watch these stories over and over and continually enjoy them. After watching several "NuWho" stories, like most modern films and tv shows, they just don't have high replay value. At least for me.
ImaTardis, be very careful because the "Tom Baker era" might spoil you(it's that great!) where you may not care to ever watch any more "NuWho". This has happened to several people I know. They got into the show from watching "NuWho" and then started watching the classic, golden era and that was it. Didn't care to go back to "NuWho".
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The show may not be the more serious, gothic era with strong writing that it was during the Hinchcliffe years but the Williams years makes up for it in other ways that make it still a highly entertaining show. Primarily the comedy and camp. For example..Tom's interaction with the blob in "Creature From the Pit" or his scenes with Graham Crowden in "Horns Of Nimon". Highly entertaining in my view. And some of the stories are quite inventive and unique, not to mention having a social message. For example..."Nightmare Of Eden". Despite the silly "Mandrels", this story deals with serious subject manner(drugs) and is quite intellectual in its approach. The "Sun Makers" is about over taxation and Government oppressing its people. And lets not forget about one of the greatest stories in Who History "City Of Death" and how original William's idea of having a continuous story arch throughout an entire season was(Key To Time). So, there is indeed plenty to enjoy about this era. The good outweighs the bad. Plus, I watch these stories moreso than much 80's Who or "NuWho". More entertainment value.
Oh, I also like the trial in "Stones Of Blood" too. Quite amusing. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Personally, I think the show really jumped the shark when John Nathan-Turner took over as producer(should have been Anthony Read!) and made too many absurd changes that did not work. Especially after Tom's last season(18). The loud electronic music that drowned out the dialogue, too many companions, lack of consistency, and weak writing really hurt the show. Now, THAT was the bad outweighing the good compared to the Wms years, my friend.***
***I'm up to season 4 of new Who now and I'm quite enjoying the show. I think I can boil my gripes with the show down to 3 specific annoying things:
ReplyDelete1.The sexualisation of the Doctor/companion relationship. The show ran for 27 yrs w/o the Doctor feeling the need to get his rocks off. Indeed Baker deliberately played the Doctor as being rather naive to male-female relationships. I hate they retrospectively gave SJM a crush on the Doctor. I mean even if they had done the Rose romance story with Martha, she seemed much better suited to the Doctor personality-wise, and intelligence-wise. I mean in the 'New Earth' story where Cassandra (in Rose's body) snogs the Doctor, RTD was going on about "oh the old fans get up in arms everytime the Doctor snogs somebody, but it works with the storyline b/c blah blah blah," but then... he has it written into the storyline of every other episode anyway.
2.The determination to make the show relatable to 21st century Brits nearly every show is set on Earth, usually in contemporary times. In "The Fires Of Pompeii," they do that whole thing where the Tardis' translator unit has given some of the people cockney accents and no matter where they go (except for when they were in other parts of English speaking Earth) everyone sounds like they're from Larndon. The Doctor takes on these companions and says "where do you want to go? Anywhere at all in the universe;" next episode back on Earth! ...All I'm seeing is Earth, new Earth, and the odd space ship or space station! I mean it really seems to insult the intelligence and imagination of the viewer, like "oh we can't show anything that isn't instantly recognisable."
3.This isn't a problem anymore, but Rose Tyler was just such an annoying character and the fact that she came with an annoying family package who she pretty much dissed on a regular basis, and yet they keep going back for her to visit and text and call b/c of course it's all got to be recognisable.
The regeneration show, which is usually about the companion's stepping up and being strong while the Doctor is weak instead has her crying her eyes out and whinging about how he's changed; boohoohoo. I think Martha was such a refreshing change, apart from anything she uses her real accent whereas Billie was putting on this exagerrated cockney which really makes her sound suspiciously like she's taking the piss out of the same council estate she's supposed to be representing.
A friend of mine who was only a semi-fan of the original season disliked her too, so many good episodes were ruined by her. "School Reunion" was a brilliant story, but the whole "companions = lovers" thing ruined it a bit. ...It was a really great episode, and then Rose turns up, "you upset my mum." ...um the guy just had the love of his life absorbed by an alien, but y'know what... yeah you're right he upset your mum, how dare he!
Anyhoo, I do like the new Who; not as much as the classic version of course, but it is an enjoyable show and as others have said, it's at least better than a lot of other stuff that's on tv. S 3 esp. worked really well. It was a really well paced, well plotted season, and after 2 misfires w/ the previous seasons, the season-wide arc thing finally worked out. The Doctor had a great companion, strong stories (I thought the comedy in 'The Shakespeare Code' worked really well) and Tennant really settling into the role with some memorable villains. I'm definitely looking forward to watching the rest of S 4 and investigating Matt Smith (and yes I do know that Rose reappears. I'll live with it I'm sure).***
***I think the show really jumped the shark when John Nathan-Turner took over as producer.
ReplyDelete---
The evidence appears to indicate the opposite, actually. The show had been on the decline in the latter part of the Tom Baker era, with the ratings being lower than that of the first few seasons of the Hinchcliffe era. Apart from a story like 'City of Death' which got record ratings b/c ITV was wiped out at the time, most stories of the last few seasons lacked the numbers of Seasons 12-14. It was time for a change. Tom Baker's ratings were very low for most of S 18.
Starting in S 19, the ratings took a healthy improvement when Peter Davison took over, and remained solid through his era and into the Colin Baker era. John Nathan-Turner was correct to update the show for the 1980's with new titles, better special effects, and improved production values. His casting of Peter Davison was bang-on correct. The casting of Colin Baker was more mixed, but the ratings for Colin remained solid until Michael Grade intervened with his hate-filled campaign against him for having once been involved with the same woman as him.
It was after the S 22 hiatus that the ratings trailed off and never recovered, but John Nathan-Turner was once again able to cast a solid Doctor in Sylvester McCoy and maintain the show for 3 more seasons in difficult circumstances.***
Was this local banter? I didn't hear anything about this stuff at the time in the States! Without the internet, not sure I could have found out this info 25+ years ago! Ratings never crossed my mind b/c I knew so many people that was aware of the show even if they didn't watch loyally! Even my parents watched it before I did back in the 70's! I guess that's how we all got hooked on British tv; "The Two Ronnies, Dick Allen, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Are you being served?, Agony, & other comedies! All this stuff would come on sunday night and we rarely changed the channel! Add on the classics like "Brideshead Revisited & Upstairs, Downstairs," we kept PBS afloat with our contributions! lol!
***I have to just say it but there's NO WAY River could be the Pond's child. Not only does she look nothing like them but, she looks like a different ethnicity. Couldn't they have chosen an actress that'd resemble her parents?
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Um, did you miss the part where she regenerated; twice? I mean, we already know that Time Lords can change gender upon regenerating, there's no reason to assume that their skin tone must stay consistent throughout every incarnation. Besides, I'd be willing to bet that by the time Alex Kingston was cast for "Silence In The Library," the Ponds (and River's backstory concerning them) hadn't even been conceived of, rendering her ethnicity a negligible matter at the time.
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I hate the fact that they gave the Pond's a Time Lord daughter that could regenerate. I liked Rory and Amy but, that story annoys the hell out of me. What's worst is some people even think that Clara is another child of the Pond's from the 1930's.
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As was mentioned on the show, the Time Lords originally became what they were through prolonged exposure to the Time Vortex. ...considering that the Tardis already changes it's inhabitants psychically and in other ways and progressively turns them into complex space-time events, that a child actually conceived and gestating there for even the short time before Amy was abducted could get a version of what it took to make the Time Lords what they were in the first place. And River's parents aren't just any humans. They're two impossible humans, one of whom was completely erased from time and has memories of a plastic version of himself, and the other a girl with an impossible life who didn't have parents and then did have parents and remembered a world with stars. I think that's why Rory and Amy mentioned that in the "Night and the Doctor" episodes, to perhaps lampshade the unique circumstances surrounding them and their family. That could have further compounded things: conceived in the time vortex, exposed to it, the child of impossible parents = semi-Lord of Time. They didn't have Tardis's when the Time Lords became what they were; perhaps the Tardis has elements of the evolution that took place with them and can impart it in ways. ...
The Silence heavily conditioned River to develop any Time Lord powers she had. We already saw that as a child they made her super strong, which isn't even something we've seen a Time Lord really capable of. If they could do that, it's possible that maybe all they needed was a minuscule bit of whatever the Tardis gave River and they just developed that through extensive conditioning, so it's possible that she was only marginally Time Lord-y in the first place.
And I don't see how it's a bit too much even for Doctor Who. It's the Doctor Who mythology. It's not like any of this could ever happen in real life anyway, and considering all the crazy stuff and all the chance encounters on the show, I don't see how it's much of a stretch at all.
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The Time Lords themselves wouldn't have become what they are if there hadn't been a giant gap in the fabric of reality on their home planet. Being exposed, point-blank, to the Time Vortex for so long eventually caused them to develop time-sense and the ability to regenerate. River Song was conceived while her parents were inside the Vortex, which exposed her freshly-formed embryo to the same Vortex energies that altered the Time Lords, except in this case it was on a much smaller scale, which is why the Silence still had to perform a lot of genetic engineering on her in order to give her proper Time Lord abilities like regeneration.***
***"The Time Traveler's Wife" - Having just seen this film I am rather taken aback by how much of it SM seems to have lifted for both 'The Girl Who Waited' and 'The River Song as Mrs Who' story arcs. Asolutely blatant in fact.
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As has been pointed out more than once, This is what Doctor Who is known for. Lets see now, just the things with large parts totally ripped off from other work, from the top of my head.
Spearhead From Space: The invasion
Planet of the Daleks: remake of The daleks & Dalek invasion Earth
State of Decay: Kiss of the vampire & the Brides Of Dracula (Hammer horror)
Anything written by Pip and Jane Baker : lifted from Space 1999
Fathers day: The Langoliers
The Talons of wEng chiang: The Dummy & The Sign of the Four
The Horror of Fang Rock (and the many others like it): And Then There Were None
The Power of Three: The Man Who Came to Dinner
You can pick pretty much any later Tom Baker story and match it up to a B movie, Some Jon Pertwee stuff mirrored what was going on in The Avengers at the time, and Terry Nation only had one Dalek plot.***
Watching this stuff since the 60's, everyone has been "inspired" in their writing of their sci-fi genre by other people's work! Doctor Who borrowed elements of "The Thing" for production's "Seeds Of Doom" way back when; "SCORBY!" lol! No one has a monopoly even DW on time travel! They've obviously done the most extensive work on the subject, setting up some rules and marks that all programming follow to this day! The latest Star Trek movie bothered me a little allowing the two Spocks to actually meet! They didn't touch, but they didn't exactly keep their distance either!
***The Borg are one of the more notorious lifts from Dr Who. But I think the ST people changed it enough to be ok. Certainly that whole Borg thing had ample unique elements. I think that is a good example of where the line between homage and plagiarism might lie. ST fell just on the right side of it imo. Bear in mind that when ST brought in the Borg, DW had done very little with the cybermen for years. They were too good an idea to sit there not being used (which is one of the exceptions to allow for such borrowing btw).
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This thread isn't about 'copying time travel'. It is about quite specific examples of 'borrowing' from one creative one work into another. If you watch TTTW the 'what' of it all will be immediately evident.***
***Rank each Doctor's 1st story and explain why. The movie counts.
ReplyDeleteFor me:
1. The Eleventh Hour: 10/10 on account of being amazingly written and acted, and a great introduction for newcomers of the series.
2. The Spearhead from Space: 9/10 The only things really wrong with it for is that it got a bit complicated near the end, but I'm perfectly willing to admit that may just my short attention span.
3. Robot: 7/10. This was fun, and a nice introduction to Tom.
4. Rose: 6.75. All of the moments focusing on Nine were great!
5. The '96 Movie: 6.5/10 same as with Robot, with the flaws being more large and noticeable this time around. Honestly though, had they removed the half-human nonsense, I'd want more onscreen adventures with Eight.
6. Christmas Invasion: 5.5/10 Take the same problem I had with Rose and double it. The Doctor spends 3/4's of the episode incapacitated, and while that does mean the moment he finally jumps back into action is all the more awesome, it ALSO means I have to listen to Rose whine for the whole story.
7.An Unearthly Child: 5/10 I know it's kind of blasphemy to put this this low but only the first half of this story did I really enjoy.
8.Castrovalva: 5/10 Again, like the above there just wasn't a whole lot I enjoyed in this one outside of Fives regeneration shenanigans.
9. The Twin Dilemna: 4.5/10 A great first performance by Colin, and I actually enjoy the moments when he freaks out (Colin managed to make even the worst dialogue seem well written where the Doctor was concerned, I think).
9. Time and the Rani: 4/10. Take the same negatives (and positives) from the Twin Dilemna, and add a bit of extra goofiness.
10: The Power of the Daleks goes here by default since I haven't actually seen it yet.
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Wow, it's been a long time since I've watched some of these.
1. Rose: (10/10) I love this episode, all of it, even the naff bits. I can't judge this one dispassionately as I was so delighted to see Dr Who back for real, and Eccleston won me over as the Doctor in record time.
2. An Unearthly Child: (9/10) 10/10 for the first episode, -1 for too many cavemen in the rest. But it's the first episode that counts, and it holds up really well, even 50 years later.
3. The Eleventh Hour: (7/10) I'm not sure why I don't rate this one higher - it's not bad as such, perfectly watchable, but just feels rather self consciously quirky, like Moffat's trying too hard to deliver a 'proper' eccentric Doctor.
4. Castrovalva: (6/10) A typical Christopher Bidmead story in that it's all terribly abstract and cerebral, but I enjoy the ideas and the atmosphere.
5. Robot: (5/10) It's alright, but quite ordinary for Tom.
6. Spearhead from Space: (5/10) Not bad, but it takes a long time to get going. Wow, a Pertwee story with pacing problems.
7. The Christmas Invasion: (5/10) Entirely agree with Keekos - Tennant is great once he wakes up (and the TARDIS translation reveal is very good) but he takes a loooong time to wake up.
8. The TV Movie - (4/10) It gives the 7th an onscreen exit, and McGann is terrific, but other than that nothing great - if not quite as awful as an 'Americanised' Who could have been.
9. The Twin Dilemma: (?/10) I don't recall enough of it to score it, but I do remember it wasn't very good.
10. Time and the Rani: (1/10) Sadly I do recall this one, and it was rubbish.
11. Power of the Daleks: (?/10) Haven't seen it. I think I've got a recon of it somewhere - have to dig it out.
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1. The Eleventh Hour 10/10
2.An Unearthly Child: 9/10
3: Power of the Daleks 8/10 (The 10th planet is not the 1st story for Troughton)
4. The '96 Movie: 7/10
5. Christmas Invasion: 6/10
6. The Spearhead from Space: 5/10
7. Robot: 5/10.
8. Time and the Rani: 3/10
9. Rose: 2/10
10.Castrovalva: 2/10
11.The Twin Dilemna: 1/10
Overall introduction episodes haven't usually blown me away.***
***I'm more of a Star Warrior than a Trekkie but I got excited nonetheless.***
ReplyDeleteStar Wars had literally turned into a cartoon by that 3rd prequel! I started out w/ ST in '66 and have stuck with them; not so much the spinoffs, but movies are well done! I loved their last offering from '09; very nice casting! I got emotional seeing them except with Spock being Uhura's "mack daddy!" That made no sense from an old Trekkie's perspective! Kirk with his "Bones" and crossing his legs in the captain's chair! Well done and I can't wait for "ST 2!"
***I must have seen Star Trek '09 about 200 times by now, mostly on my laptop that I've placed on a shelf next to my bed. I find almost all characters exquisitly interesting and some of them funny***
I've never seen the entire movie; short attention span here! Everytime it comes on I've watched the same scenes; esp the finale! I supposed over the past year I've seen the whole thing, just not at the same time! It's just too long; like all these sci-fi epics! The last couple Star Wars prequels took me over a week to get thru!
***Why pray tell does the engine room look like a sewage treatment plant? - Yes, lol. Actually, it was a brewery. Nevertheless it's an insult to make the Enterprise's engineering look like that. They didn't do that even in the 1960s! And now, with such big budget(s), it's inconceivable how someone could do that. What did they spend all those millions on!? What a crap. What an insult. That idiot Abrams. :P***
I think maybe they were over-compensating for re-boot looking too advanced! I felt the same way about "ST: Enterprise!" I never really watched that particular series with Bakula, but they promised since it was the 1st star ship, there should be limitations! Not sure they kept that promise! This Enterprise seems much, much too advanced so they brought it back in perspective with a brewery backdrop! lol!
***Do transporters kill you? - It seems to me if every molecule in your body is disassembled and then reassembled in a different place, you are dead, and the person that is reassembled is just a replica of you. This seemed to be pretty much confirmed in the episode where Riker meets his transporter replica - they are both just replicas.***
Was Scotty From Enterprise NCC 1701 mentioned in this discussion since his molecules were held in a buffer for 70+ years? I have a faint memory of him doing that to save him and a crew member trapped in an STNG episode!
***Don't think anyone's brought up Scotty, but offhand I don't really see the significance. What's shown in 'Relics' seems to me to be more or less the same as a regular transport, from the point of view of whether or not the person who enters is metaphysically 'the same' as the person who emerges. It's just that there's 75 years longer in between.
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I think the fact that they call it a 'pattern' would imply that you are essentially being copied and then destroyed. As for Scotty isn't he only like 98% of the original Scotty as his pattern was slightly degraded? Even a 2% difference means you are not the same person. Maybe he lost 2 eyebrows. lol ***
***Well just look how great the 10th anniversary was with 'The Three doctors'... well it wasn't too bad. Look at the 25th anniversary with 'The five doctors'.... ok, that was pretty bad. Anyway, as competition goes, it can't do much worse then the previous anniversary specials. We'll have to wait and see what happens for the 50th anniversary! So far it doesn't seem like a "multi-Doctor" storyline going for it.***
ReplyDeleteSome people are never satisfied! I appreciate 'anything' they're able to put out there for us! Went years with nothing but my collection going back to '81 taping Baker episodes to Beta tape format; L750's! THe '96 movies kept it alive until re-boot 10 years later! I don't watch the new series like my old classic Who, but I still don't miss an episode! BTW, I loved the "The 3 Doctors," "The Five Doctors," & "The Two Doctors!" Cheesy, but all good to me!
***Personally I couldn't care less as I think Dr Who is unwatchable these days anyway. But it wouldn't matter anyhow as it could be resolved with a random little scene - a couple of lines of dialogue would do. Problem solved. It really is a non-issue. My interest in Dr Who goes back 40yrs. Am I supposed to forget Dr Who exists just b/c its current form is rubbish?***
Well I wouldn't call it "rubbish," but I know how you feel! A lot of it has to do with the new way they produce and write the show, but you have to admit we're getting older, more intransigent, and like anyone else in the universe "we don't like to see change!" We give lip service to it, but any deviation gets "an alert and a call to arms!" lol! I'm 55 and started watching DW in college; '79! I'm just grateful the show hasn't been forgotten and is still in production in any capacity! I feel your pain concerning today's production values, but time moves on (no pun intended)! I miss "Blake's 7" more right now! They've only been talking about a re-boot! Been over 20 years now! I don't have a lot of hope for it so feel appreciative that DW is still a blip on the sci-fi landscape with so many other possible diversions! Other shows have come back like "Battlestar Gallactica," but I haven't indulged yet!
***Saturday nights they show British comedies on one of the PBS-ish channels here (Maryland, WMPB). I watched that in the late 90s when it included 'Are You Being Served?', 'Bean', 'Black Adder', 'Red Dwarf', and then 'Doctor Who' around midnight. (I always loved the last 3) Now it seems they're still starting with 'Are You Being Served?', then 'Yes, Prime Minister', 'Fawlty Towers', and 'The Vicar of Dibley', and no Doctor Who at midnight. Such a travesty.***
When I lived in the Bay area I was able to watch "Are You Being Served?!" I miss all the British comedies, even though I've taped many to VHS, I don't pull out those old tapes from the 80's! Oh to see a reincarnation of those times with "Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen (missin' half a finger), Agony, Keeping Up Appearances, AbFab, and Faulty Towers! Those are just off the top of my head! Love British Comedy here; esp. before Doctor Who in the old days! AbFab went over the edge and I haven't caught much of it in the last 10 years! As Time Goes By is only interesting to see since "M" is performing! lol! Are they married? They always seem to be in the same stuff! Love poor old Lionel! So put upon! So abused! So taken for granted!
***I have never seen any Star Trek movie or series before? I saw some clips and I'm really interested in seeing this movie, but I'm not sure if I would enjoy it or even understand it without the previous knowledge of the franchise. So, is this movie good on its own, or does it require some "pre-knowledge"?***
ReplyDeleteNow that is hardly fair; esp if he's not a devotee of the franchise! I thought it was cast well, had great affects, and was a plausible reboot vehicle for ST! The only thing that made no sense was Spock being Uhura's "Mack Daddy!"
***Fiero425 - "Now that is hardly fair; esp if he's not a devotee of the franchise!"
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- Being a fan of the franchise is irrelevant. A bad movie that insults your intelligence is a bad movie that insults your intelligence regardless if you liked films/shows that came before it.
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"I thought it was cast well"
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- Funny, I know you're not alone, but that doesn't amount to much. The acting was hideous in this. Between absolutely wooden, zero character growth and mugging for the camera it was closer to a farce than a real film.
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"had great affects"
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- Non stop lenses flare and shaky cam are certainly groundbreaking.
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"and was a plausible reboot vehicle"
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- A joke of a story, zero character growth, horrible science, plot holes you can drive star-ships through, horribly written "villain", etc...,etc...
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"The only thing that made no sense was Spock being Uhura's 'Mack Daddy!'"
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- One of many, many flaws.
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The show had degenerated into late sixties sub-Avengers camp comedy and that is why this on story from the Williams era works - its the most Avengers-style serial from this period. Tom and his Romana's tried to emulate the witty banter of Steed and Mrs Peel.
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Being a Time Lord clone wouldn't explain how Clara is able to exist simultaneously as multiple iterations of herself across various points in time any more than being a genetically-engineered half-Time Lord psychopath (River) or a full Time Lord (Romana) would.***
Didn't we ressurect possibility of "City Of Death" scenerio with Clara's essence scattered over all of time and space? lol! "Remember!" Is she the face of the Mona Lisa?
***If Clara pulls her face off to reveal her head is a mass of tentacles with one giant eyeball I will definitely applaud Moffat for doing something new and unexpected with his female characters.***
***Is your first Doctor your favourite Doctor? - So, I've only seen the reboot. My first was 9, and I think if he had more screen time he'd be my favorite, but since he didn't, I've fallen in love with 11. Matt is such a wonderful quirky actor you can't help but love him.***
ReplyDeleteWas in college and my room mate was going on and on about this show! I was heavily into sci-fi, but read more than I watched preferring to play tennis when I could! TV time was at a minimum, but I began it late night sundays on PBS like most people and haven't missed anything since '81! Tom Baker was The Doctor and he's still "The Doctor!" I'm continuing to tape to VHS tape, but if anyone nearby in Chicago; "all yours!" Gotten too old to be carrying these things around! My "Blake's 7" collection put to disc already!
***Seeds of Doom is awful, its a misplaced Avengers script and not even slightly Doctor Who, Tom's screaming and shouting is even worse than the I don't want to go line from Ten.***
"Scorby!" Very Avengers like in the story! Ripped off "The Thing" and added a little bit of John Steed and Mrs Peel!
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***I watched it when it was first broadcast in the states, on our local PBS station. I enjoyed it and found it to be one of the more entertaining Peter Davison episodes, and I enjoyed his run. I didn't have a lot of history with the series, at this point (I started watching regularly with Baker's hand-over to Davison), so I didn't know the pasts of the companions, other than I knew of Sarah Jane and K-9, and had read a bit about the rest, in the anniversary magazine.
I didn't have a problem with Hurndall's performance, but he is basically forced to try to do an impression of Hartnall rather than his own interpretation, which would hamstring most actors. Hartnell couldn't do much in The 3 Doctors, so he never really got to interact with the rest. Troughton and Pertwee are a great double-act. I've seen more of Hartnell since, and have come to appreciate his Doctor.
It's a shame something like this didn't occur in the Baker years, as I think the writing and producing staff were better and we would have had a more interesting story, and I would love to see Baker play off the rest. I understand his not wanting to do it, coming so close after he left the role and his relationship with some of the execs, at the time.
...My dream anniversary story would have had the 5 tv Doctors (with Hartnell alive and active) and Peter Cushing involved as his version of the Doctor. A good writer could have had fun with the tv Doctors and their confusion with the alternate reality Doctor. Of course, I also always wanted to see all of John Steed's associates together in one story (which John Peel pulled off in the novel Too Many Targets).
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I like The Five Doctors - it's fun seeing Pertwee and Troughton do their thing again, and Davison and Ainley both get some good scenes. Indeed, I think it's one of Davison's better stories from the point of view of giving him something to do.
Richard Hurndall I think is unfairly and overly harshly judged. Back when this story was broadcast the earlier eras hadn't been broadcast for a long time. They weren't even available on video until much later and no Hartnell story got a vhs release until 1989. So for newer fans this was the first experience they had of the First Doctor, and whilst with the benefit of hindsight - and DVDs - he's clearly no match for William Hartnell, I feel he did a good job of at least conveying something of the 1st Doctor to an audience who knew very little of the original.***
***So, aside from Tom Baker, is Matt Smith the second longest-running Doctor? I could have sworn he has been in more episodes than Tennant - but I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteHartnell 63-66
Troughton 66-69
Pertwee 70-74
Baker 74-81
Davison 82-84
Baker 84-86
McCoy 87-89 plus 96
McGann 96
Eccleston 05
Tennant 05-09
so Tennant is equal with Pertwee on 4 years and depends how you count McCoy where he ranks...
The role is measured from the time an actor starts to when another canon actor takes the part so officially Sylvester Mccoy is the longest running Doctor, then McGann, then Tom, and if we going by episode count then Smith still isn't by a very long way.
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...except Tennant's whole activity in 2005 was the one christmas special and a couple of extra minutes for the CIN clip/the regeneration sequence. If you're including that you may as well say that he was the Doctor right the way through 2010 as well since he regenerated on Jan 1st of that year. Hardly comparable to Pertwee's five full seasons as the Doctor.
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War Games - very long but very good - So this is how the Second Doctor met his end, eh?
It was a great story with all the period soldier uniforms, etc, the warlike aliens who kidnapped the humans were complete dicks including the Security Chief (a Nazi in everything but name), the time zone commanders who love putting their spectacles on to hypnotise others (just wanted to smack them off their faces when they did that!!) and the War Lord himself was an evil sod.
I can also see why there's a continuity flaw with Five Doctors in which the Second Doctor claimed that Jamie and Zoe had totally forgotten him, when they actually hadn't. Whoops!
And to think this (loooong) story segued straight into Jon Pertwee falling out of the TARDIS in an English country field and into a coma, and another great story. Watching all these old classic stories is making me appreciate the show more than I ever did - and seeing that some contemporary stories aren't as good as I thought.***
I don't think we got that one in Chicago with Troughton! It was a little long; memory serves it was 10 parts! Wow! The metamorphosis was shown of his changing by the Time Lords; their great heads looking down on him!
***Q's best lines in STNG: "It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent." & "Microbrain! Growl for me! Show me you still care!"***
ReplyDeleteI felt his pain! When I first started working in my 20's I was more than a littel overbearing! For a BD gift I was given a plaque stating, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am!" I didn't get much better always checking behind people! Co-workers aren't very reliable at times! Poor Q was surrounded by so many inferiors in his mind!
***I liked the '09 movie. It isn't anything special, the plot isnt great, but it's ok. I only think Kirk was miscast. There must be other 25 y.o. actors that don't look like a college pretty boy douchebag; but maybe that was the point. I will never watch the old stuff but this is a good reboot. I'm looking forward to the sequels.***
Funny, I love the casting thinking Pine was perfect! He's got so many of Shatner's mannerisms "down" including the crossing of his legs in the captain's chair! No one else does that with such panache, esp. Picard and Janeway, who have very stiff military postures!
***The Dark Knight and Empire strikes Back - people seem to have the same response to both, that the 3rd films don't wrap things up well and that the 2nd parts are the best.***
The 2nd "Blade" and "Underworld" movies were produced better IMO as well!
***This being a superhero movie, I think a little suspension of disbelief is in order. Anyone watching any Batman movie can tell who the actor is in the batsuit, but in the movie's internal logic the mask disguises him. Anyway, if we can accept Clark Kent's brilliant disguise, I don't think Bruce Wayne's is that big a deal.***
Yeah, the glasses made all the difference! Funny the comic book even broached the subject in the early 70's; Clark wondering "why he didn't come up with a mask or hood" to help disguise himself?!
***If you support the idea of Christian Bale coming back as Batman for Justice League then I'd love to have your support.***
Not that I've paid much attention, but aren't they going young and new for these superhero movies? I would think they'd find another young actor to do the Batman part, if included of course! Living thru non-release after non-release, I'll wait until it actual premieres! I still have faint recollection of a Fantastic Four movie produced 20 years ago that never saw the light of day! It happens all too often!
I seem to remember an episode from Classic ST where Spock supposedly beat the ship's computer several times! That gave evidence something was wrong, Spock telling Kirk the best he should have been able to achieve was a draw!
ReplyDelete***Well remembered, that's from 'Court Martial', I'm pretty sure. Spock figures out the computer logs have been tampered with to frame Kirk for Ben Finney's death.
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I'm not your usual Trekie. I started watching star trek with voyager back in 1995. It really set my Star Trek Voyage in motion. After falling in love with Voyager. I stopped watching it until I became old... ;-) had a moment of nostalgia and picked it back up. I watched season 1 - 7 in 2 months, a really awesome experience. When it was over, I was sad, and I missed it. So I remedied that by watching Star Trek Enterprise seasons 1 - 4 in less than a month. At that point, I was tickled with delight. I decided to start watching The Next Generation followed by Deep Space 9.
So far I'm on episode 5 of season one, The Next Generation and I must say, this episode with the Traveler and Wesley is like the inciting incident to a spectacular screen play. It has really set this season in motion and I am enjoying a deeply profound experience. Where was I going with this? Uh, I don't know, but I'm really enjoying The Next Generation. Cool beans.
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Well to be honest, I rejected a lot of the Star Trek craze growing up. I was finicky. If I couldnt catch the season when it first started and watch it through, then I didnt watch it. Plus I was in high school. I wasn't into watching tv. I was outside playing football in the street. Touch on the pavement, tackle in the grass. Voyager is and forever will be my favorite Star Trek. Tuvok was the best vulcan I think and his irritable love-hate relationship with Nelix was always fun to watch. Voyager is my home. Enterprise was okay, but I only adored season 3. 1,2, and 4 were just okay. TNG seems quite alright. I don't dislike anything about it. I wish they had shuttle crafts, they always seem to beem everywhere. DS9 I will watch after I finish with all the seasons of TNG. It's only been a few days, and I'm already on ep. 14, halfway through season 1.***
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***Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I just do not understand how everyone loved "Rise of the Lycans" and raved about it while I thought it was total and utter crap and utterly pointless since we actually know the entire plot of that movie without seeing it through the events U1 and U2.***
Well we've had a prequel already, while the present and future are pre-ordained! They can go further with different POV's! We had no idea Craven had witnessed Selena knocking off the Head of the family, Viktor! There are so many other characters we can do that with just to fill the void! Let's look back on more of the clean up done before and after William's carnage! Since he was locked up for over 500 years, it wouldn't do to check out his POV! That must have "sucked!" I still want to know what could have been on Marcus' mind to think he could control the situation? Was he lying about the end of his line if he was killed or died? We never got to see what went on while Marcus was running things? Was Amelia subordinate?
ReplyDelete***Most annoying female companion(s) - Peri Brown has to be the most annoying. All that constant whining. Melanie Bush makes the short list. It seems all she did was scream. = I found Tegan really annoying and she treated the Doctor with contempt, BUT she was the one who always wanted to go back for him when he was in trouble (Warriors of the Deep)and insisted that it was her job to "take care of him" (Castrovalva). So I guess we have to give her points for that.***
I'm going to surprisingly have to add Sarah Jane Smith to the list. I found her early series character to be really annoying. It's surprising how she turned it around in the new series.
It was funny, but in the death of the doctor episodes in the SJS adventures, Jo Grant was portrayed as being really ditzy and annoying while in the original series, she was far more competent and serious.
Not to be a male chauvinist pig, but what female companion wasn't annoying? That list would be shorter and a lot easier to come up with! Starting drama, getting into trouble, & causing apocalyptic catatrophes; the reason for them I guess!
***Ace, Liz Shaw, Barbara and surprisngly Teegan and Peri are the only female companions who don't annoy me.- I didn't mind Peri and I think every female Doctor Who companion can be guilty of whining to some extent. Yes I've always found Sarah Jane Smith slightly annoying. I always found Rose and Donna to be particulary irritating and represent the worst aspect of British culture.
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The Doctor Who Curse - Out of the seventeen female companions on the old and new series, five, have died of cancer.
Elizabeth Sladen, Sarah Jane Smith, Mary Tamm, Romana I, Jacqueline Hill, Barbara Wright, Katrina, Adrienne Hill, Caroline John, Liz Shaw. That's over 29 percent. A fairly large statistical chunk. Is this show cursed?
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No, not really. About 1 in 4 people die from cancer in the Western world, so it's about par for the course on such a small sample.
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***Can't agree with that. Baker is one of my favourites along with 7, 1 and 2 :). ***
Hatin' on #4 is a total waste! He's the most iconic of all the Doctors! Baker is the one most associated with the show in all realms of the media! Even cartoons like The Simpsons invoke his picture with that long scarf! I'm not saying that just because he was the 1st I dealt with, but he did a great job with flimsy budgets and realistically a kids program!
***He's close to my bottom least favourite Doctors, but he's not the worst. That spot is reserved for Davison.***
Funny, he was very pompous and arrogant, but Davison was the youngest Doctor I had dealt with at the time so I defintely gave him a chance! He owned the part when they came out with "The Five Doctors" so he's right up there on my list! I featured it on my little homage to the series up until recently!
***He's good in The Five Doctors, but I'd put that down to him having a better, older writer with a surer idea of who the Doctor is in Terrance Dicks, much like with Robert Holmes writing him in Caves of Androzani. In other scripts he tended to suffer to either unsure writing, or Eric Saward deciding to make him completely superfluous whilst adding more pointless deaths that made the Doctor come across as a liability and an appeaser.
The Doctor's always been pompous, but in the past you could reassure yourself that he knew what he was talking about and was a safe pair of hands to be in. Not so with Davison. In fact the bad writing seemed to go out of its way to convey the opposite.***
***Alex Kingston joins cast of "Arrow" and may play Black Canary.***
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves, she'd only need to go blond! She fits the character/costume perfectly thinking of the comic back in the 70's and a little animation in the 80's! The hair even had that same amount of body and she had "curves!"
***Your least favorite comic book character***
Hmmm, least favorite? Been a long time! Thinking in relation to movies' esposure these days, I'd put THOR at the top of the list of star heroes! He's noble, arrogant, delusional by allowing LOKI to confound him again and again, and battles with his father! He's so ordinary besides being "A demi-GOD; immortal!" lol! What could be rational about falling for a mortal woman. Jane Foster? I watch every animation and comic book way back when, but it was frutrating to have Loki show up time and time again when he should have been imprisoned for all time for his evil! Thor keeps forgiving him! DUMB!
***OT: JJ Abrams to direct Star Wars VII - ABRAMS RUINED STAR TREK, HE'S GOING TO RUIN STAR WARS AS WELL, MUCH MORE THAN LUCAS EVER COULD!***
You ain't wrong! OMG, the last prequel was almost unwatchable! I loved that Lucas fulfilled his dream of telling this complete story, but from the beginning critics have said this last film was more animation/cartoon than a real movie release! TOO MUCH CGI; well done, but it took over the film! It's still in my collection though!
***Sith is my favourite of the Prequels. Clones is just a bit too dull with only the odd cool battle or scene. Menace is the real clunker, I dunno why people like that.***
I hate to use the term which has become cliche, but "they were trying too hard!" It just was never as big as the other films for some reason! I fault the lack of real acting and story with the concentration on how it looked! Did they think if they made it as realistic as possible we might be able to step into it? I felt that way about "Clones" which I thought was the best! That was "some" car chase in a future life!
***Voyager was a major disappointment and flooded a market that was already over-saturated with Trek. - Not with me, I loved its technical aspects above all else, even if the stories were rushed and some of the characterisations shallow. Many others like Voyager too, you're just writing them off.
Enterprise was proof that Paramount was creatively bankrupt when it came to Trek
...The ratings in general had been in a steady decline since Deep Space Nine hit the air.
The TNG movies had become a financial black hole. Insurrection and Nemesis were only enjoyed by the true die-hard fans who ate up anything as long as it had the Star Trek label.
As I said, TNG was overrated, it was inevitable their movies would mostly suck. Some people say even First Contact sucks. But I personally DESPISE Nemesis, I want the writer executed.
Star Trek was so dead and had become such a rotten, festering embarrassment, not just with general audiences but with the fans themselves, that the biggest reason Abrams' Trek was a success was b/c it bore almost no resemblance to Star Trek.
Abrams didn't kill Trek; he's just playing with its resurrected corpse.***
That's me, always late to the party! I never started watching any of the spin-offs for a couple years and never messed with 'Enterprise!' There was so much piracy from the original, it ran me off including Riker in a dual role! Where had I seen that at the time? - DS9 had a dramatic conclusion with Kai Winn, The Emassary (Sisko), Dukat, and the Pah-Wraiths! I really loved how 'Voyager' finished; 'Endgame' a great ending! You had a possible resolution, but an alternate reality was to come with Janeway going back in time! Loved the "deploy armour" commands; esp. on Janeway's ship!
***I'm kind of sort of looking forward to Man of Steel just b/c it is Superman and the first time in 35 yrs they haven't recycled Richard Donner films for it. Then again, Zack Snyder is directing it.
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Oh, I almost forgot, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 are coming out. - Indeed. But we get to see The Mandarin!***
Are they really going to go there with his power rings? I guess after they go Avengers with Thor, The Hulk, & Ant man, mystical, ancient ring power won't be that much of a stretch!
***Aren't his rings alien tech?***
I really wasn't an Iron Man fan as a kid! I picked up a few comics, but all I can remember about the rings is that they're old! I guess it would make sense if it were alien tech, but like the Mayans seeming to be ahead of other civilizations, aliens have been utilized as a reason for other mysterious things that have gone on in the past! Why not those rings?
***The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be awful - Jimmy Smits as Shocker, Lucy Liu as Vulture, and Wiz Khalifa as Kraven the Hunter!? No way!***
Wow, Hollywood has just gone "fantasy" nuts! "Hansel & Gretel? Woof! Strange, a female vulture and a "weenie" Kraven! They could have worked him out to be Panther maybe! Who am I to say? I'll probably never see it! Still haven't seen X-Men & Underworld's latest!
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***...earlier on, episodes like DW's, "School Reunion" had really cool premises and moments, but just didn't quite work as well as I thought they should.***
'School Reunion' was for us "Classic Whovians!" We all smiled I'm sure when SJS and K-9 showed up, even though the Doctor had been through so many regenerations!
***I enjoyed 'School Reunion' to an extent b/c it was nice to see Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 again, but as a "Classic Whovian" I still cringe over RTD retconning her into a love-struck woman who was so enamored of the Doctor that she spent years pining for him.***
HUH? What female companion didn't; Susan, Barbra, Lela? Most "mooned" over The Doctor including one the smartest at the time, Martha! She had too much going for her to act like Rose!
***I feel like "School Reunion" was one of those episodes where the subplots surpassed the main plot of the show. I'm not a classic Whovian by any means, but I found those parts of the episode to be the most enjoyable.***
***"Deady Assassin:" so Time Lords can't regenerate.....WTF - Gallifreyan staser guns are shown to kill Time Lords (when not set to stun) in The Five Doctors, too – the Castellan. ...– has come to mean a Time Lord's bodily/mental resource essential for regeneration in later stories.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it would be a little pointless the Master holding others at gunpoint in this story (and others) if he were not able to kill, rather than inconvenience them. (Presumably his gun here is another version of his compressor from Terror of the Autons and later stories.)
There is a bit of a weakness to one's own weapons through a lot of Who – the petard effect, if you like. Cyberweapons, if taken from Cybermen, kill them where most others don't. Likewise, Dalek casings repel most firepower, but they are pretty much always destroyed when hit by their own guns.
In War Games, when the War Chief is shot at the end with alien weaponry, his body is swiftly removed. We can only assume that he regenerated in the morgue... into the Master, perhaps.
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What about all those killed by Vardans and Sontarans in INVASION OF TIME? - Remember the distinction between Time Lords and ordinary Gallifreyans such as the guards and even perhaps sometimes the person holding the position of Castellan (the first one we meet seems to refer to Time Lords as other than himself; the next seems clearly to be a Time Lord).
Regeneration, limited to 12 times, is one of the gifts bestowed upon a Gallifreyan who is elevated to the status of Time Lord when they graduate from the Academy, which they are selected to attend in infancy. It is not natural (biological) and it represents a rare position of privilege, one that the various renegades we have encountered rebel against. The roots of the Doctor's anti-establishment stance.
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Basically the regeneration ability the Time Lords have in the classic series is NOT a get-out-of-death-free card, and never was; Time Lords can regenerate if their body is badly damaged but they are still alive - mortally wounded, as it were, but not yet dead. However, if they are killed instantly, then the body doesn't get a chance to do its thing. Goth had a chance to regenerate (though the mental drain of his battle in the Matrix might have interferred with the process I guess), but everyone else was killed instantly, giving the body no time to regenerate.
NuWho has turned the regeneration ability into something magical (and, frankly, stupid, imo), so in NuWho you need some special kind of weapon to kill a Time Lord stone-dead I guess.
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Timebomb at Elm Guest House: Pop stars, a bishop and a top politician appear on a list seized by police investigating child abuse at the London hotel in the 1980s - •Police have reopened investigation after new information emerged that suggests the hotel was a venue for a paedophile ring of VIPs
•Former co-owner Carole Kasir said to have list of high-profile visitors
•Could this be the biggest Establishment cover-up yet?
Peter Hatton-Bornshin killed himself six days after his 28th birthday. He had taken an overdose of codeine and choked to death. ‘The tragic end to a tragic life,’ is how the coroner summed up the stark facts presented to the inquest. ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272253/Timebomb-Elm-Guest-House-Pop-stars-bishop-politician-appear-list-seized-police-investigating-child-abuse-London-hotel-1980s.html#comments
The woman, who did not wish to be named, witnessed a '82 police raid which saw Mr and Mrs Kasir and two others arrested. One of those detained was a 17-yo rent boy who acted as ‘in-house masseur’. We understand he was a teenage actor who had appeared on television in DW, as well as on stage at a Royal Command performance. The youth — paid more than £100 a night when working at Elm Guest House — was initially charged with assisting in running the brothel. The charge was later dropped. This week, he declined to comment when approached by the Mail.***
***Tim Burton directed or produced Batman movies from '89-'97; Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Very quickly the films focused on the villains, acted by various big name stars. The title character seemed more like a stuntman in a cape and cowl than the star of the show. This has happened to DW.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed that way from when I 1st started watching the show; Christopher Eccleston was an inspired choice to play the Doctor. I thought he echoed back to Jon Pertwee as a formidable Doctor, but chemistry with Billie Piper as Rose just wasn't there. So they did the obvious thing; recast The Doctor?!
Piper is hardly someone you should recast the title role to mesh better with. She's no Michelle Pfeiffer in a black vinyl catsuit w/ a whip. Karen Gillan in a black vinyl catsuit w/ a whip, maybe, but not Billie Piper. So David Tennant was brought in; cute, cuddly and non-threatening. He meshed dare I say brilliantly with Rose. And you have the first romantic relationship between The Doctor and a companion. I'll say it worked well and their eventual separation was heartbreaking.
I've seen other people complain in threads about the episode, School Reunion w/ Sarah Jane Smith. There's probably no doubt many of the other companions had romantic feelings towards the Doctor, but they were obviously one way and unrequited. I think that episode would have been better a season later with Martha Jones and Sarah Jane commiserating than with her duking it out with Rose.
IMO, Tennant's really the universal Doctor. He worked well with all the companions that he traveled with. They probably could have kept him for 7 years like Tom Baker. He wouldn't have worked regularly for at least a decade like Baker b/c he would have been typecast too severely in the role, but it would have been great for continuity.
But being the universal Doctor made him the supporting actor with Rose, Jack, Martha and Donna as the star. You can probably add Mickey and Jackie, The Master, Sarah Jane and Wilfred to the list as well. Okay, maybe not Mickey. ;-)
As for the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith. Do I even have to write this? Karen Gillian is so thoroughly the lead in the show with everyone else supporting except when Alex Kingston comes on. Then they take turns, like tag team pro wrestlers.
Even with Smith's quirky, eclectic, off kilter performances, he still is unable to capture the lead of the show in which he's playing the title character no matter what he tries. Gillian and Kingston just look at his antics sadly out of the corner of their eye, give a bemused laugh and deliver an occasional pat on the head like rewarding one's favorite dog for trying to please you.
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The Doctor is still the central character, at least in the Moffat era. But Moffat has stated that the companions are, in an emotional sense, more important than the Doctor b/c they are the characters people really attach to and relate to. This may seem bogus at first, but if you watch the last part of the story Earthshock, you will see what I mean; the emotionless Cybermen are the villains, but The Doctor feels like the alien of the good guys. When Adric dies, he's pathetic. He can't react with true emotional resonance like his companions do. We don't relate to him as much; it's really the emotionful human characters (not least of all the companions) that are the foil to the Cybermen.***
I can imagine Chris didn't want to be typecast with this role! I truly believe as much work as Tom Baker did outside of the show, he'll always be thought of as "The Doctor" and he HATES THAT; hense his unwillingness to perform in any reunion! I've seen him play Sherlock Holmes and an English noble, but I can't get past him being DW; "sorry Tom! Some of us just can't help it!" That was the 1st time I significantly remember seeing him perform! It's an iconic role and etched indelibly on my mind as such!
***...Then que the time travel device to kill the last 40 years of "Star Trek" and to ignore it. But lets get down to weakest parts of the film....
ReplyDeleteThe rise to rank of captain as to be the ultimate example of poor film writing going. They wanted to have Kirk being shown joining the academy that's fine, but they did it the wrong way; it was terrible. His conflict with Spock was not needed and never was it mentioned that Spock designed the Kobayashi Maru in the previous films. It was a way for them to meet and have a dislike to each other, Which led Kirk to being suspended. ...In wrath of Khan he was given a commendation for doing the exact same thing. Anyway so he was suspended and then he was stowed away on the Enterprise and so given that he was not really an officer of any kind he was then given a field commission and then by the end of the film he was Captain of the Enterprise with only 4 years of academy training by the same people who suspended him earlier. It was just to convenient for the plot to have Kirk rise thru the ranks that quick and it was done in a very poor way.
What they should have done is not have the Spock conflict, have Kirk pass out and fully fledged officer having seen life as a cadet. And when Nero attacks, have Kirk as a Lieutenant serving on his first star ship or something. It would of been a bit more believable having him jump two ranks instead of an entire career.
The way Scotty and old Spock were introduced was very very convenient....
After the attack on Vulcan Kirk and Spock fight on bridge, So even thought Kirk is now first officer, Spock decides a brig isn't good enough, so he kicks him off the ship and the escape pod happens to land on a planet that contains two major characters within walking distance of each other. Now they're stuck; how do they continue the plot with Kirk??
So they beam Kirk and Scotty to the Enterprise, but they have no idea where the ship would be at any one time. It's a very poor way and convenient way of progressing the film. I know its science fiction, but how on Earth do they think people would go "yeah, that's believable. They can beam onto a ship they would have no idea where it is.***
Regardless, as an original Trekkie from the 60's, it is a credible reboot! I really liked it; "lens flares and all!" I saw it as an intro to a new crop of fans and a credible successor to the original! It mainly gave backstory with an alternative future, but in the end we're still left with Kirk at the helm with Spock by his side! Being a "Doctor Who" fan, I definitely didn't mind the "time intervention" plotline! lol!
***So now that the original Spock is back in time he can warn the Federation of future events such as the probe looking to talk to whales, V-Ger, the Borg, the Dominion and many other dangers that lie ahead.***
The Re-Boot probably won't even take that into consideration even though I've heard "Wrath Of Khan" is going thru!
***Like I noted elsewhere, Mary Tamm's "sendoff" was poor, though her intro was memorable; Lalla Ward's debut was the exact opposite!***
ReplyDeleteI do believe that 1st ep after the story arc of "Keys To Time," s/b "Destiny Of The Daleks!" ...Some may have thought The Time Lords chose this time and place for him to deal with Dalek situations; sometimes w/o asking like in "Genesis Of The Daleks!" "Warriors Gate" was Lalla's sendoff, taking K-9 with her! She was supposed to build her own TARDIS w/ his help of specs and design!
***Best 80s guest stars? - I love 'City Of Death,'last great story of the 70's. Duggan, a hilarious comedic foil for the Doctor and Romana.***
My faves:
"Meglos" - Jacqueline Hill came back to play some sort of high priestess; was Barbra Wright in the 60's
"The Five Doctors" - You had the old Doctors and a stand in; Pertwee, Troughton, & Hurndall
"Mark" & "Time & The Rani" - w/ Kate O'Mara
"The Two Doctors" - Troughton again with my favorite Space Commander in "Blake's 7," Jacqueline Pearce
"Timelash" - Another fave of mines from Blake's 7 performed, Paul Darrow
***I have to admit I'm really beginning to dislike River Song! ...you always get the feeling that when Song shows up he could quite easily spend the entire adventure trapped in the TARDIS toilet and the whole thing would resolve itself without him.***
River Song is definitely a character that knows all, hears all; solves all problems!
***Of the Star Trek franchise:
Best to worst (series)
The Original Series: I still enjoy TOS more than the rest - in among all the 60s kitsch, there's still some terrific eps, with a cast of characters that has become truly iconic.
Fave Eps: The Doomsday Machine, Mirror Mirror
Deep Space 9: Trek's only attempt at a tight ongoing story arc, and it works very well. A little directionless until the soft reboot of season 4, but overall DS9 has by far the most well rounded and interesting characters of the franchise.
Fave Eps: Duet, Trials and Tribble-ations, In The Pale Moonlight
The Next Generation: S1 is appalling, so bad I doubt it would have even get a 2nd ar w/o the Trek name behind it, but there's a few really good episodes in S2, and after that it finds its footing. I do find the TNG crew a stiff lot compared to DS9 or TOS, but it does deliver a lot of good thoughtful sci-fi over the years.
Fave Eps: The Measure of a Man, Q Who, Yesterday's Enterprise
Enterprise: I really wanted to like this series, I tried so hard, but although it was quite watchable, sometimes, it felt like a huge opportunity wasted.
Fave Eps: Um...
But for me Enterprise isn't quite the bottom of the barrel. No, there's still.
Voyager: Another opportunity to do something interesting wasted. With a crew of bland non-entities, plus the Doctor and (to some extent) later Seven, Voyager trudged through 7 years of mostly mundane stories before in the end Janeway grossly violates the Temporal Prime Directive just to make the trip home a bit shorter.
Fave Eps: Scorpion, The Thaw***
The Original Series: I go back to the original which was so innovative at the time. You had so many "1st's" including an inter-racial kiss on tv in primetime! {Kirk & Uhura)
Deep Space 9: I only surfed by periodically thru it's entire run! I know the characters at least!
The Next Generation: ...I couldn't have said it better! Every time I surfed by, it seemed to be just a regurgitation of the old series; esp when Riker is split!
Fave Eps: "Survivor" and "Tin Man"
Enterprise: I didn't even try to like this series! ...If they were doing "time travel," it was worse than I thought!
Voyager: I would surf by periodically and was entertained enough! "Endgame" was great and I finally saw it in '05! Deploying armour was so cool!
***Question on STNG "Survivors" - What bugs me about this episode is the end. Picard basically tells Uxbridge: "We have no laws to judge what you have done." Really? The Federation has no laws against genocide? What he really means, or should really mean, is "We have no prison cells that can hold you, being that you're (yet another) one of those god-like-being type deities, so... please don't kill us and we'll just be on our way now, 'kay?"
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I don't think Federation law would cover one unrecorded species destroying an entire unrecorded species with a thought. It probably doesn't come up too often so they could be forgiven for the oversight.
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Given that the guy is consumed with guilt and imposed his own exile to live in isolation with only a shade of his one true love, I don't think there is too much else Starfleet could do to him. Much like Siegfried in "Soul Calibur 3," there is no atonement for what he has done and his punishment if to live a very long life with all the memories and guilt for what he has done. Finding someway to execute him or sticking him in some prison colony and finding a way of keeping him there would probably be a lighter sentence.***
I agree with all of you! There's no place to hold him, there are no real laws to judge him since the people were at war, and Picard's implicitly saying, "please don't wipe us all out too!" lol - Love seeing Riker and Picard thrown off a bit when that ship ran them off with their tails btw their legs! They went from "we've been unusually patient #1" to "we can't help them!" What an ego break!
***Even though Wesley returned for 2 eps in the final season, I wonder if his character should have returned in the final episode of "All Good Things" considering that he knows his abilities as a Traveler and could have helped out Picard and crew with the ananomly. I guess his final appearance in "Journey's End" was a fitting farewell and I guess it made more sense to bring back Tasha instead.***
Who thought Wesley was chubbier in "Nemisis?" lol! He was just a little boy, way back when, and didn't have any fat on him! He matured a little, but didn't exactly put on weight; more a thing he has around the 'jowls!' He has some ego on him too and probably only has to do some facial exercises! Saw him and Marina on a game show several years ago, "The Weakest Link!" For some reason they were talking about looks and he thought only Marina and he measured up! lol! I thought he was so cute, but his egomania bothered me a lot!
***To clarify - I was referring to "Nemesis." He wasn't a 'little boy' in "Nemesis." He was 30 when it was released.***
***Looks like Shatner is still a little bitter towards Abrams over the casting debacle involving him and Nimoy over the film reboot a few years back. Shatner has always struck me is an ego driven dick, but this seems a bit over the line. The links below pretty much say it all. One of them has a video of Shatner's quote that is pretty hilarious/uncomfortable.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/william-shatner-calls-j-j-abrams-a-pig-for-taking-on-both-star-trek-star-wars-franchises-20130213
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/william-shatner-jj-abrams_n_2676936.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment ***
I don't have to watch or read anything concerning Shatner! He's been an embarrassment for years now! I survived him on one of my fave shows, but barely; "Boston Legal!" More a Spader fan! Their friendship was touching though!
***If Shatner wanted to do more Trek, he shouldn't have signed on to have Kirk killed. It gives everyone who doesn't want to deal with him anymore an easy out. Besides, I don't need to see some 80+ year old Kirk on screen. Let it go Bill.
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Why didn't Guinan appear in season 7? - I wonder why is that season 7 had no appearances? I'm guessing that Whoopi Goldberg wasn't available. I wonder if "Parallels" and "All Good Things" would have been 2 episodes to bring back the character considering how she is able to sense the disruption in the timeline as the case was in Yesterday's Enterprise because of her El-Aurian nature?
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I will admit that Whoopi Goldberg was perfectly cast in the role. I do wish that she would have also appeared in "First Contact," but I guess considering the time travel story, I don't see how Guinan would have stayed on the ship during an act of war. I do wonder if Whoopi was asked to come back for the final season but wasn't available and then suddenly returning for 'Generations' after a 1 year absence from playing the character.***
From what I heard, it was all on Whoopi! She's the one that said she liked the program and had a "thing" for bald men; (Picard)! Making movies, performing in concert, hosting telethons, and the like, it was a wonder she had any time back then in the 80's to make occasional appearances!
***I too have heard Goldberg talk about her thing for bald dudes. I specifically remember her talking about it a few years back when she was in a relationship with actor Frank Langella. And it wasn't just her comments about Langella. I've heard her talk about liking bald guys a few times over the years.
As for the OP's question, I have no idea why she didn't appear in any season 7 episodes or 'All Good Things'... for that matter. What was her final episode? I wanna say 'Suspicions,' but I'm not sure. Anyway, I suspect it has to do with her workload. If you look at her IMDb page, she was VERY busy professionally in the early/mid 90's when TNG was wrapping up. It was arguably the apex of her career. I suspect it was just a matter of her not being available.
I dunno if an argument could be made about budget cuts. I've heard Goldberg specifically state that when she appeared on TNG, she didn't ask, nor did she want a ton of money for her appearances. She loved Trek as a child, and was inspired to become an actor by her hero Nichelle Nichols. It's common knowledge she appeared on the show for personal reasons more then anything. So it's not like they couldn't afford her in the final season. Like I said, if I had to go out on a limb I would cite her unavailability.***
***IF the TV series was to end. - The Doctor realises by the end of the episode that he's in fact a fictitious character. I think Matt Smith could pull this off brilliantly. And he realises that he's in fact part of some kind of entertainment / software / whatever... That would just to me be unique. Seriously though, I need Gallifrey to come back at least with some Timelords!***
ReplyDeleteWell if you remember in "The Doctor's Bride," he was at least hopeful another Time Lord was out there when he got that "message in a bottle!"
***I Watched The Idiot's Lantern! 60 years ago, please don't make it 2009 again, I don't want to live through those specials again.***
The only reason I thought this episode even remotely entertaining was because it took me "WAAAAAAYY" back to the era before, during, & after Terry Nation w/ maybe the 2nd or 3rd Doctor in B/W drama! Very tacky for the most part!
***The 10th doctor and Rose - I think they should make a show about the part human Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose's (Billie Piper) life together since we never get to see what happened.***
With Rose returning again and again, did she ever explain what happened to "her" Doctor in the other Universe? We know Jackie had another kid!
***'All former Doctors to be reunited' - 7 Doctors in one episode? Would that even make sense? - Of course not. That's why they're also going to bring back the first 3 through CGI! Of course there's no way to do a meaningful plot that involves everyone in an hour, so I expect a big Benny Hill-style chase with all the Doctors, a Dalek, a Cyberman, and a gorilla.
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The Doctor is a time traveller. He's bound to bump into his former selves now and again (although, it only seems to happen on anniversaries) - It's pretty much a tradition with anniversary episodes; the 10th anniversary was celebrated with 'The Three Doctors,' the twentieth with 'The Five Doctors' (which impressively featured 4 Doctors. Only 3 of which were played by the original actors), and even the 13th with Dimensions in Time (which was a massive steaming pile of poo-poo).***
I treasure these huge anniversary shows! Those episodes like the "3, 5, & 2 Doctors" are all great, bringing back old Doctors as well as beloved companions! I can't wait!
***Who here loves ALL of the past companions of The Doctor? - I love all the companions! They all have something to offer, the good and the bad. This includes the ones that I saw in Classic Who; except for Adric...
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I'm probably sick, but I like all the companions and doctors, even the ones from the classic era. Of course I like some more than others, but I appreciate each one's difference. And I don't take the show too seriously. So I just enjoy it instead of over analyzing it.***
That's quite rational and thought provoking! Been a Whovian since '79 in college! I have my faves and some that are less so! Adric was a whiner, but "Earthshock" broke me down when he was written out like that! Rose was a pain and instigated drama more than falling into it! These last couple seasons have tried to make us "weeping willows" everytime a companion leaves! It's not necessary with most leaving under favorable circumstances!
***I finally watched my way through the much maligned, much spat upon, much violently hated Colin Baker era of Doctor Who. You know, the era fans widely regard as the weakest of the classic era? The era considered to have the weakest scripts and the worst Doctor?
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is...WHAT!!!???
Now, The Twin Dilemma is oft regarded as the bottom of the barrel. I for one, don't think it's all that good myself, but worst ever!? Hardly. It's garish in a bad way and the supporting actors are pretty bad, but the story itself is entertaining and Colin Baker gives a great first performance.
Which brings me to the NOTORIOUS scene with the newly regenerated Doctor attacking Peri. THIS is what fans cry about? This is what fans bemoan and hiss at with vitriol? Why? It's not like he did it for no reason or out of the blackness of his heart. He had a traumatic regeneration and it was explained as such. Not only does it make sense he would be off, it's daring that he became violent for a moment. I applaud the guts it took. Talk about making an Everest out of a moll hill.
Attack of the Cybermen is a bit too reliant on past continuity, but it's a fast paced, well acted and exciting Cybermen story. The Cybermen are always hard for me to get into, but I found this to be one of the best C-men stories ever told. Baker himself is on the ball.
Vengeance On Varos is GREAT! The satire and message has been seen before and may not hold as much power as it may have back in the day, but it's still a daring bit of Who imo. It's a bleak, darkly comical story and Baker's Doctor shines esp. bright here. I love the more vibrant take in the Doctor after Davison (who I like). C. Baker's Doctor is energetic, unpredictable and a bit devious. He's like a mix of 3 and 4 in that he's unpredictable and manic, yet a man of action and can be sulky. He's suave and arrogant. Kinda like 10...but most people LOVE 10.... Varos is the best display of the character yet.
Mark of the Rani is another hated entry. Why? The Rani is a fun and interesting character, Ainley's Master plays well off of her and the period setting is well produced. Not a classic story, but a well produced and charming one with two awesome villains playing off each other.
The Two Doctors is also awesome. As much as I love both Three Doctors and Five Doctors, there is a sense of contrivance to the set for each. The Two Doctors feels more natural in set-up. These two just sorta bump into each other. Troughton (my favorite classic Doc by the way) and C. Baker are awesome together and I love the companion swapping. What I love about this story (and C. Baker's era as a whole) is the more adult feel to the stories. The era has a darker, more adult oriented edge that adds genuine drama to the proceedings. The violence of the era is lambasted as much as everything else, but really? Come on, people! It's hardly graphic in the least.
Timelash is another hated story and I kinda agree. It's just rather cheap for Who. The story is un-engaging and just kind of...there.
The Trial season is EPIC! People hate the trial segments calling them boring and bland. I found them fascinating. I loved seeing this glimpse into Gallifrey that was hinted at mostly in Deadly Assassin. The only story I don't really care for is Terror of the Vervoids. Just like Timelash...bland and uninteresting. The Ultimate Foe ends rather weakly, but the rest of the story is great stuff. Mindwarp is probably my favorite Sixie story. Well written, well produced, well acted, great effects....it's all there.
I'm not saying Colin Baker's era is perfect, but I simply don't see the bomb others do. The stories are widely more mature in tone and nature and Baker plays a truly magnificent Doctor. I wish like hell he had another season or two. Same with McCoy.***
***I rather like Colin's era, though undoubtedly it suffers from poor decisions with respect to just about everything - costume, script, lighting, direction, budget...despite that Two Doctors and Revelation are classics IMO, and Varos and Vervoids are both very good. Timelash is perfectly fine if you can just enjoy it for the combination of cheese and ham it is. Attack has its moments.***
ReplyDeleteYou come the closest to the way I felt about that era back then! Any show that survives this many years will have ups and downs! I didn't hold it against the production overall! (I almost lost hope with #7; McCoy - "Resurrection great") I agree "The Two Doctors & Revelation.." were classic and will live on in my memory! One of the things I noted a while ago about "Timelash" is that they reunited me with a prominent "Blake's 7" actor; just like in "2 Docs; Paul Darrow (Avon) & Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan) respectively! Colin could have helped, but he just wasn't likeable for many reasons!
***I already commented on all his stories on the "Colin Baker & Sylvester McCoy" thread on this board,so won't rehash that, but I am amazed that there could be fans who think Colin a good Doctor! Just something I shake my head at, but realise I have to live with.
Couldn't disagree with the OP more. Baker era was where the series jumped the shark and became unwatchable. This era was destroyed by bad writing, bad continuity, bad costumes, bad ideas, and worst of all, a bad Doctor; all brought to the screen badly. I didn't like the McCoy era either, but didn't mind him as the Doctor, whereas Colin should of been Maxil['Arc Of Infinity'] only. I stopped watching my favorite series because of his era, and this I do not forgive!***
I guess I was lucky! I was already a super loyal fan and stayed with the show even though they had slipped! I've rarely if ever dropped a program before it was cancelled! I'm always hopeful, especially when I'm collecting the entire series! If I start, I keep at it until it's "no more!" I held on thru the movie in '95 and was reward with a re-boot in '05! I don't watch the new series over and over again as I did the classic WHO, but I still record every episode on VHS tape and blog a lot of the comments here to personal sites! If you really contributed to the discussion, your post will be collected! Thx!
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***How could Vulcan be possibly destroyed in Star Trek '09? - And was able to have a conversation with ... himself.***
Not to mention the paradoxes concerning the ship used to transport the "red matter" was commissioned by the Vulcan Science Academy far into the future! Being a Doctor Who fan I ask these questions! lol! The remake of "The Time Machine" had the same kind if paradox! Scientist builds machine to go back in time to save his intended wife from a mugging! If he does save her, why would he build the time machine in the future? Too bizarre; I got a headache!
***Which are generally considered the best Tom Baker stories? - Genesis is padded and get's very talky. ... It still has some great moments, but I don't get the love for this story at all. "Best ever?"
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I watched Genesis again recently and thought it quite fast moving, even more so considering it's a 6 part story. That impression might be influenced by the fact I've also recently watched The Daleks, which really is classic Terry Nation padding, and could have lost 2 of the last 3 episodes w/o being any the worse for it. My other top picks for Tom, along with Genesis:
Talons of Weng Chiang
The Deadly Assassin
City of Death
Warrior's Gate ...and The Horns of Nimon, which isn't really one of Tom's best, but it's the best Romana story ever, having her do all the heroic stuff while Tom larks about in the background.***
Seeing these old titles listed really makes me emotional! They're all good and can be watched over and over again; esp. "Genesis, Ark, & Sunmakers!" Remember they intend on showing a memorable episode from each Doctor in the coming weeks on BBC America! #1 had "The Aztecs" and #2 I believe telecast "The Second Doctor!" For #3, I'll take the anniversary episode of "The Three Doctors!" That would be nice! That one I will re-tape!
***Thanx for the help pinning down The Hand of Fear. Yeah, I'm so happy my PBS is doing the T. Bakers now. I don't know exactly how far back they started, but it was before Sladen joined Pertwee -- I picked up with her first episode. For some reason they skipped the Pertwee/Sladen Daleks story. I've seen PBS stations suddenly stop a run and jump either back to an earlier one or a much later run, skipping large chunks of Doctors, sometimes *entire* Doctors, so I just hope they don't do that here. I really would love to see all the T. Bakers and Davisons again.
Right now I can't afford to even get a DVD player b/c I know myself far too well, and I know I'll go absolutely crazy buying DVDs themselves. I'll get a million movies and I'll get a million tv shows. And then I'll get evicted. So I just don't go there, much as I'd love to do so. I wish I had all the T. Bakers on DVD, or at the very least all the T. Baker/Sladens. They seem to release them (here in America, at least) in a completely scattershod manner. Are all the stories of any single Doctor available?
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Which companion had the WORST luck hanging out with the Doctor? Adric. Poor Adric... - Why would you say Adric? Was it because he had to endure Tegan's incessant whining?***
He's one of the few who actually was killed; "Earthshock!" It's still shocking after 30 years! Others have sacrificed themselves, but it was never one of the regulars! Speaking of whining, Adric had just started full force talking about going back into E-space and finding his brother and people! Who was more delusional at that time? "I'll work out the calculations Doctor!" Yeah right! Boom, dead!
***How could you forget Katarina and Sara Kingdom? - Yeah, I had to google those names. I admit it.***
Sorry, that went back too far for even me! The only reason I even know those names is because of the blog I've created listing all the companions!
***Who is the FIRST COMPANION you watched on DW? - Technically, It was Ace. But, I only watched a couple. I'd say Rose was my first proper companion and therefore, "My" companion.***
ReplyDeleteWell if I had come along watching DW with Ace and her "atomic bat," I probably would have left the program alone! Thank GAWD I was already a disciple with Tom Baker, Romana, & K9!
***Kingdom isn't considered a companion. She never was intended to last past TDMP. Katarina on the other hand was supposed to stick around, however Wiles & Tosh decided that having a companion from that far back was a mistake as well. - Katarina and Sara Kingdom are not really regular companions. Katarina joins at the end of the one serial and died at the beginning of the next. Sara Kingdom didn't even make it through one serial.***
If you've noticed of late, even if they speak to the Doctor for a few moments, you're considered a companion! In "Midnight," the Stewardess who sacrificed herself was listed in the Doctor's memory of companions! Kylie Minogue also sacrificed herself in that Titanic episode and the Tree woman in "New Earth" gave of herself for all concerned!
***I agree with the OP. I think Colin Baker is judged unfairly by a lot of fans and the criticisms seem to be personal rather than constructive. The better stories from the Baker era would compare favourably with the best stories from any other era in the show in my opinion.
I think that the fifth to seventh Doctor get quite a raw deal by much of the fandom which is entirely undeserved and although the sixth Doctor's all too brief stint isn't quite as good as the fifth or seventh Doctor, I still maintain it is very underrated. I agree entirely with the OP about "Trial of a Time Lord" which is a unrecognised albeit sprawling masterpiece.***
I guess I need to go pull those Colin Baker tapes out! I just never watched "The Trial" or the 4 misc. episodes incorporated in that season! It was so long and drawn out even with 4 parts playing for over an hour each sunday! I couldn't tell you what happened in "Mawdryn Undead" after all these years, but I remember the title! I'll probably recognize and remember everything right away, but from a "cold start," my brain is locked!
***Who is the FIRST COMPANION you watched on DW? - Technically, It was Ace. But, I only watched a couple. I'd say Rose was my first proper companion and therefore, "My" companion.***
ReplyDeleteWell if I had come along watching DW with Ace and her "atomic bat," I probably would have left the program alone! Thank GAWD I was already a disciple with Tom Baker, Romana, & K9!
***Kingdom isn't considered a companion. She never was intended to last past TDMP. Katarina on the other hand was supposed to stick around, however Wiles & Tosh decided that having a companion from that far back was a mistake as well. - Katarina and Sara Kingdom are not really regular companions. Katarina joins at the end of the one serial and died at the beginning of the next. Sara Kingdom didn't even make it through one serial.***
If you've noticed of late, even if they speak to the Doctor for a few moments, you're considered a companion! In "Midnight," the Stewardess who sacrificed herself was listed in the Doctor's memory of companions! Kylie Minogue also sacrificed herself in that Titanic episode and the Tree woman in "New Earth" gave of herself for all concerned!
***I agree with the OP. I think Colin Baker is judged unfairly by a lot of fans and the criticisms seem to be personal rather than constructive. The better stories from the Baker era would compare favourably with the best stories from any other era in the show in my opinion.
I think that the fifth to seventh Doctor get quite a raw deal by much of the fandom which is entirely undeserved and although the sixth Doctor's all too brief stint isn't quite as good as the fifth or seventh Doctor, I still maintain it is very underrated. I agree entirely with the OP about "Trial of a Time Lord" which is a unrecognised albeit sprawling masterpiece.***
I guess I need to go pull those Colin Baker tapes out! I just never watched "The Trial" or the 4 misc. episodes incorporated in that season! It was so long and drawn out even with 4 parts playing for over an hour each sunday! I couldn't tell you what happened in "Mawdryn Undead" after all these years, but I remember the title! I'll probably recognize and remember everything right away, but from a "cold start," my brain is locked!
***Lee Harvey Oswald-Clara Oswin Oswald-Nov 22 1963 - The Kennedy Assassination will no doubt figure somehow into the anniversary. It's inextricably tied into the first airing of 'An Unearthly Child,' which was of course delayed by extended news coverage.
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Lee Harvey Oswald-Nov 24 1963 - Woulda been a bit "Timey-Wimey" for Oswald to have died the day *before* he shot JFK. No? - Eccleston's Doctor was seen in a picture of the Kennedy assassination in the first episode, S5, "Rose." This could come into play for the 50th.***
Production loves doing stuff like that; "good catch!"
***I think that the fact the show started in the shadow of one of the most significant days in American history and arguably world history, and knowing how Moffat likes to tie up loose ends, it would be remarkable to see how he would intertwine everything. I mean knowing Kennedy dying as a fixed point in time but recognizing the tragedy of it. Maybe Doctor 9 still engulfed in his post time war misery goes out of his way to stop the assassination but the other Doctors stop him?
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Morbius in his new form challenges the 4th Doctor to a brain-wrestling contest, and some kind of monitor screen shows him regressing to Pertwee, then Troughton, then Hartnell... and then some other faces we've never seen before. The thing is, if Morbius was making the Doctor regress through past lives, and we KNOW that Hartnell was his first life, then what are those other faces?
...In any case, any theories as to whom they might be? They looked almost like Renaissance figures to me, for some reason. - At the time Morbius was made, the idea was that they were previous incarnations of the Doctor. It was only later stories that actually stated Hartnell was indeed the 1st Doctor. It's now usually explained as them being previous incarnations of Morbius or that they are from the Doctors previous life as "The Other." In reality they were members of the Crew, some wearing hats.***
This has been argued about over the years many times! They've had production license to change their minds over the idea those were previous incarnations of the Doctor! It's changed over the years and I just accept whatever is "their truth" at the time!
***As stated, at the time, they were playing with the idea that the first Doctor may not have been the first Doctor - so yes, they were intended to be pre-Hartnell incarnations of the Doctor. Although The Three Doctors had previously referred to Hartnell's Doctor as "the earliest" incarnation, it wasn't until The Five Doctors that they actually started banging on about what incarnation he was in every other serial.
Since then, one of the most major attempts to fit the "Morbius Doctors" into what we know is part of the Cartmel Masterplan, which posits that the Doctor as we know him is the genetic reincarnation of an earlier and more mysterious being called the Other, and the Morbius Doctors were incarnations of that character instead. - As Doctor Who has no canon. I go with the Novelisation idea that Morbius is losing at that point, which is why his fishbowl goes bang, and that they are his faces.***
***What would happen if Q sent The Enterprise to Dominion space instead? - You know how Q decides to mess with Picard and The Federation by sending them to the Delta Quadrant and getting them to meet The Borg way before The Federation and The Borg were supposed to meet.
ReplyDeleteWell how would things have gone if Q had sent The Enterprise-D to The Dominion's space in the Gamma Quadrant instead? Like say to the Founder's Homeworld and allowed The Enterprise crew to make first contact with The Dominion and the Jem'Hadar? Basically causing them to meet before the Bajoran Wormhole was discovered and the Gamma Quadrant was opened to exploration by the Alpha Quadrant.
Which would create problems when it did because they would just invade right after they found out and go to war earlier (Q would know about the Bajoran Wormhole but would leave it being discovered in the near future out) and then suddenly The Dominion decides that the Alpha Quadrant is trying to expand into the Gamma Quadrant and invade them, then they start preparing for war many years earlier, all thanks to Q.
The USS Oddessy, basically got destroyed easily when it had first contact with The Dominion and they were out to send a message as to how far they were willing to go, obviously Q would probably intervene if Picard begged for help when the Jem'Hadar overwhelmed them and started beating them badly, but then The Dominion would follow, probably at high warp and try to just cross the galaxy to get to them.
They were not as deadly as The Borg were but they were ruthless and brutal, wanted to impose violent order on all other species and cared only about themselves, so Picard's diplomacy and negotiation tactics would be useless against The Dominion, the Jem'Hadar are not talkers and the Vorta are all liars and good at it, and The Founder's will tell you how they plan to kill you too. Picard might have been in over his head with them.
Then the episode ends with The Enterprise-D now wary of a new threat that rules the Gamma Quadrant, a species that is larger and stronger than the Klingon's, Romulan's, Cardassian's and Ferengi, more violent than anyone else too, and that can create a huge army of soldiers in months and crush them easily. Even the entire Alpha Quadrant military forces combined, that would make a great episode. Then later on Q introduces them to The Borg like he did anyway and they find them to be even worse.
Picard might say something like "Well I don't see why Q doesn't just introduce The Borg to The Dominion and let them meet each other. Why wouldn't he let The Borg make first contact with The Dominion and let them go to war too?" That would be a great first contact to see.
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A species that is larger and stronger than the Klingon's, Romulan's, Cardassian's and Ferengi;
Well they were not larger as for stronger thats a individual charecteristic...
more violent than anyone else too
Well you are wrong again. they were not that violent...
Well just look at the history tortures on our planet and just think with the medical knowledge of 24th century, you can in theory torture someone forever...
Humans would have beaten them, the problem is that this shows (Star Trek) presents every human as eunuchs...***
In "Doctor Who" terms, it's sorta meeting up with The Daleks or Cybermen earlier which like The Federation, gets planets and their people to work together to ward off a greater threat than the usual paranoia and misgivings!
***Idea for plot for the 50th: I think that a parallel universe story would be the best bet for a multi-Doctor story. If he goes to a parallel universe and finds the Doctor there, it would account for the aging of whichever actor it is - because we can simply say that in this universe, that incarnation was not killed and did not regenerate. We saw in the series 3 finale that he does age, just slower than humans.
ReplyDeleteThis story could be justified. If for some reason the Doctor needs help from another Time Lord, he cannot find another in his universe because he's the last one. And in series 1 it was established that touching an earlier version of yourself is disastrous, so maybe that can explain why he wouldn't just find a younger version of himself. No such rule applies to parallel versions - as evidenced by Mickey.
Three more benefits with going to a parallel universe: one, we can focus on just one past doctor (or 2 or 3 or 4 if so many Time Lords are needed). 11 main characters is too many.
More interestingly, in a parallel universe, the 'Time War' might have ended differently. Perhaps then the Time Lords can return or at least be featured in this episode.
Finally, a past Doctor is not so interesting - we have seen their stories and their journeys from beginning to end. But a parallel Doctor, who did not regenerate and remained as one of the earlier incarnations - that provides loads of exploration opportunities - did they choose the same companions? Did they lose/fail their companions in the same way? Did they accomplish the same things?
The 11 Doctors could cameo in some voiceover montage scene in which the Doctor dwells on the possibility of recruiting a version of himself, depicting each Doctor continuing their struggles in various universes.***
Is this Doctor crossover something "perchance" or necessary to the plot? Are they from the same planet and parallel universe or did they evolve differently?
***I believe one of the incarnations of the Doctor (I don't recall which one, maybe 3 as I've been watching him lately) said he was a doctor of many things.
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It tends to shift around. I know on one occasion at least the First Doctor said that he wasn't a medical Doctor. I'm thinking some of the others might have said the same thing as well. Of them all, the Eleventh is the most "medical" out of all of them, since he's been seen doing medical stuff more often.***
More than one has made that comment of "being a doctor of many things" including my 1st Doctor, Tom Baker! I have a faint memory of even Matt saying it in passing!
***Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/Last Of The Time Lords are some of my favorite episodes as well; it's a shame that the latter two get so much hate.***
I had the same gripe when I was watching Pertwee, "why is the Master showing up in every plot! He's behind every devious endevour going on the universe! Time and space keeps dragging him into the Doctor's life and it just makes no sense to me! You just can't keep running into each other by accident like this! Both had put their conciousness into their watches and Martha just happens to see it and comes to the conclusion, "it has to be the Master!" I taped them, but resent his re-incarnations again and again when he's well past his 12th!
***The Doctor was 'about 450' years old in the Second Doctor story, "Tomb Of The Cybermen." The Eleventh Doctor says he's 1103 by the end of Series 6, so from the Doctor's point of view, around 700 years have passed since "Tomb Of The Cybermen." For the viewers, it has been just under 50 years. We don't see even close to all of his adventures.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the First Doctor managed to live to the ripe old age of 400 or so, was that he spent the vast majority of his life in relative comfort and safety on Gallifrey before stealing a TARDIS and running away to see the universe. There are a few Big Finish audio adventures and novels based in the short period of the Doctor and Susan's first adventures before An Unearthly Child, but no TV episodes.
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The Doctor said that he was 1200 in A Town Called Mercy, so there's another extra century for you. - Regardless though, seems to be age is just a number for Timelords. If the Doctor can be 1200 and look young and lively as Matt Smith, there is no real danger of old age. The only number that matters is what regeneration you're on, and even if you're on your last does it come with a sell-by date or do you just keep living for another 1200 years?
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Even with everything you said, he'd need a watch. Whether its 24 hours in a day or 50 hours, whether its 980 days in a year or 365, you can count that with a watch. Doesn't have to be Earth time and it probably isn't, so how the hell is that "silly stuff" when you go on to talk about passages of time for his body and different orbits? - Because physically, age is mainly caused by our body being under pressure from gravity. The gravity in the TARDIS may be different, the gravity on Earth may be different.
My main reason for saying silly stuff was because you're judging how the Doctor ages by HUMAN standards and human standards alone. 24 hours, 365 days. Also, I've rarely if ever seen the Doctor with a watch.
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The 11th Doctor has worn a watch on his wrist since the 11th hour. A few other Doctor's have pocket watches. And just b/c you don't see him use one doesn't mean he doesn't have one. And I only mentioned Earth time (24 hours, 365 days) as an example. I'm sure he does indeed use Gallifrey standards, but no one seems to understand that the TARDIS travels through time as well, but still ages normally as if it wasn't, just like the Doctor & companion(s).
It's not at all silly to assume he would just go by his watch in terms of how he ages - if anything it's silly to assume he decides to change how much he ages based on where he is at the time considering he goes to however many planets in a day (double that amount if we're talking about a 50 hour Gallifreyan day).
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The TARDIS keeps track of time even if the Doctor does not. She says in the Doctors wife that she had been in Police Box form for 700 years and given the Doctor was around 450 when that happened it fits in with him being between 1100 and 1200 at the time of that episode.***
Will it matter all in the long run? Look at how many times the Master has re-incarnated and he's well past his limit of 13!
***Doctor Who product of the day: Weeping Angel doll. - Why are they making dolls out of something that's never even been on the show? They should at least pick an alien or monster the Doctor's faced.***
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the 40's and 50's, it's always been about the franchising; lunchboxes, posters, dolls, books, and more! Advertizing wasn't as rampant as it is today so I was totally unaware for the most part! I didn't see or hear about this sort of thing until people of my generation started selling their toys and comics for profit to nitwit GenX'rs and Millenials thinking the stuff "so cool!"
***David Tennant is 'beginning to give up hope'Of Doctor Who return for the 50th anniversary. I guess no one contacted him then and this confirms the rumors.***
After 50 years, they better not disappoint us Classic Whovians!
***The Mr. Freeze costume looked okay if a bit like a RoboCop rip-off, but the rest of the production design IMO was awful.***
As usual, few if any real cops out there! B & R have free reign to meet out justice with impunity with the authorities totally abrogating their responsibilities! Oh I forgot, Gordon was at the Charity Ball with some lame Keystone Cops in attendance! lol! Taking that rocket ship ride into the stratosphere, pretty much surfing down without a parachute, and surviving it all and didn't lose the diamond! Cheesy!
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Hopefully the anniversary episode of "The Three Doctors" will be telecast during Pertwee month on BBC! I'll be all over that! I'll pass on some of those incessant Master dramas again and again; "ie) Daemons, Sea Devils!" The universe is so big, but the Master just kept coming back for more disappointment! Brilliant, but insane at that same time!
***I really doubt BBCA will be playing The Three Doctors, if only b/c it kinda pulls the focus away from Pertwee's Doctor if the others are there too. I think more likely is "Spearhead from Space" (since it's on film and therefore can be broadcast in much higher quality than the others), else something like "Terror of the Autons."
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In Star Trek, The Federation is not military. The Federation, no, But Starfleet absolutely is. There are ranks, court-martials, dishonorable discharges, weapons, warships, etc. It's military.***
Agreed! The Federation is equivalent to our United Nations! It isn't necessarily millitary, but in cooperation modes, they can take on a military stance and defend something; Earth = United States taking the lead! Like the US, the Federation only works as well as the person sent to deal with a situation! I still have a problem with how Picard was behaving in "Sole Survivor!" He may have thought it was concern for 2 people left on a planet alone with "whatever" lurking to attack at anytime! They made it perfectly clear how they felt, but Picard thought he knew better! That's one of many things that bothers me about this captain! He always seems to feel things should be left in "his order of things!" Am I wrong? He gives lip service as to the prime directive, but we know how many times he's stepped over the line!
***'The Two Doctors' - The 2 Doctors hardly have any screen time together which is rather odd. But the biggest problems with the serial is the fact that the Sontarans are underused; and the VIOLENCE! I was put off by the story, but I mean there were times when there just didn't seem any need for the excessive violence present in this story.
ReplyDelete---
Again the reason I like this so much is because of the macabre sense of black humour that runs throughout the piece especially the scenes with Dastari. I also like the fact that despite it featuring 2 Doctors, it wasn't anything grand like the Five Doctors, but rather a black comedy which suited both Doctor's very well.***
Hello; if the 2nd Doctor needs rescuing, why would they be in scenes together that much? You know the plot I hope? It wasn't a "work together" and "overcome ridiculous odds episode;" more a "rescue and stop an interstellar plot" scenerio!
***If you had to choose 1 serial to represent each Doctor...- Interesting... some definite minority opinions in there!
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1) William Hartnell - Reign of Terror
2) Patrick Troughton - Tomb of the Cybermen
3) Jon Pertwee - Inferno
4) Tom Baker - State of Decay
5) Peter Davidson - Awakening
6) Colin Baker - Vengeance on Varos
7) Sylvester McCoy - Remembrance of the Daleks
9) Eccleston - Empty Child/Doctor Dances
10) Tennant - Shakespeare Code
11) Smith - Vincent and the Doctor
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Awesome- I like that your Tom Baker pick is State of Decay! Such a good serial, and very underrated. I hardly ever see it mentioned on here, which is bizarre, b/c I think it's one of the very best from the 4th Doctor / 2nd Romana era.***
"State Of Decay" is a great episode! It had a bit of nastalgia w/ 'Planet of the Ape" scenerio where astronauts travel to another planet but instead of changing into apes, they become blood sucking servants of an evil we dare not mention! Loved it! - ok, let's see; off the top of my head:
1) William Hartnell - The Ark
2) Patrick Troughton - Tomb of the Cybermen
3) Jon Pertwee - Day Of The Daleks or 'The 3 Doctors'
4) Tom Baker - Masque Of Mandragora or 'Brain of Morbius'
5) Peter Davidson - EarthShock & 'Arc Of Infinity'
6) Colin Baker - Vengeance on Varos & 'The 2 Doctors'
7) Sylvester McCoy - Remembrance of the Daleks
9) Eccleston - Empty Child/Doctor Dances
10) Tennant - Lady In The Fireplace
11) Smith - The Girl Who Waited & 'Vincent & The Doctor'
***I'm surprised by a couple of your picks:
ReplyDelete1) William Hartnell - The Ark
I don't think I've watched this one, at least not til the end. I thought it wasn't very popular, at least compared to "classic" Hartnell's such as Dalek Invasion of Earth or The Aztecs. What do you like about it?
5) Peter Davidson - EarthShock & 'Arc Of Infinity'
Earthshock I can see (and in fact agree with), but Ark of Infinity? I enjoyed it when it was first broadcast, but I don't think it has held up all that well, and certainly it's not held in the same high regard as Caves of Androzani (which was my pick for the 5th Doctor). But then my alternative suggestion for Davison would have been Kinda (the DVD version with the CGI snake), and that's not a universally popular serial either I guess.***
"Arc Of Infinity" probably isn't that representative of Davison, but it was one of a few episodes a club I belonged to got from Pertwee before the rest of the country here in the States! The picture was terrible, mostly b/w because it was a recording from across the pond, but what could you expect 30 years ago on VHS tape; Area 1?
I can't be more specific! Really haven't watched those episodes in years! Sometimes I have to take a quick look at Wiki page to see picture just to refresh my memory what happened! I still can't keep most of the Dalek episodes straight, mixing up Ressurection with Revelation all the time! I strayed a bit with "Blake's 7," actually enjoying those brief 4 seasons more! They got in and got out in 50 min.! I loved how stories didn't have unnecessary filler! I'll take an immobile ORAC over a mobile K-9! I would be perfectly satisfied having the most power ship in the galaxy; in the Liberator over that broken down ol' TARDIS! Even the space hopper was interesting with Slave! "Slave" had a death scene at the end if you can believe it! I still weep thinking about that finale; "BLAKE!"
***Annoying Companions - Sometimes I wish Lalla Ward had stayed on longer since I think she would have worked well with Nyssa as a teacher and mentor, encouraging her to assert herself and use her skills more often, rather than being overshadowed by the abravise Tegan. I saw a diamond in the rough with Nyssa that sadly JNT was blind to.
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Pretty much all the JNT companions were terrible:
Rewatching State of Decay recently I saw just how good the JNT era was when it was done in a spirit of co-operation with the old guard. How good the 4th Doctor and Romana and Terrance Dicks could work in the new regime. But JNT himself was not interested in the collaborative. He wanted the old guard gone.
Adric is the worst thing about that story. He rubbishes the Doctor and Romana after they try to rescue him and someone actually died in the attempt. It's as if the conceit was "I don't care how rubbish this new character is, he's going to replace these old 'hangers on' and say how better he is than them." That alone makes me wish the show had ended on S 18, just so the golden 70's years of the show couldn't be spited any further.
Typical of Saward's approach, his death was supposed to matter more than his character, but in the fullness of time, his death was rendered worthless. If you're going to have the show acknowledge that companions can die, then they should do so emphasising that they were putting their life on the line for something worth fighting for. If only to explain why Tegan and Nyssa don't jump ship and say 'this is too dangerous, I'd rather live.' But come S 21 and the show pretty much destroys all sense of the Doctor standing for anything worthy, ...if there'd been a production team changeover right after S 19, and someone else could build on those raised stakes. (to be cont.,)
Tegan was awful, and the stories never seemed to find a place for her. Then they tried to crowbar her introduction story into Tom Baker's departure. The pinnacle of her run was Enlightenment, but the nadir was probably Time-Flight's cliffhanger which seems to depend on the audience actually wanting to see her back.
ReplyDeleteTurlough kind of should have been interesting. Certainly there was a potential to have Turlough be the dark side of the Doctor's conscience; the Devil on his shoulder to Tegan's Angel. The idea of a companion secretly tasked with killing the Doctor though isn't going to work long term. River Song is a much better take on this idea, done with a better approach, and it was still a disaster. ...You'd already done the Master Returns Trilogy where he was trying to kill the Doctor, and that worked b/c 2/3 of the way through the Master succeeded, and thus the 3rd part could be about the Doctor's rebirth and vanquishing his old foe. With the Black Guardian Trilogy, there are no such shifting stakes or approaching climaxes. Turlough will always try to kill him, a lucky fluke, or change of heart will result in a cop-out.
I say the approach with River was better for a few reasons. Firstly b/c alongside River we have the 'Girl Who Waited,' and 'The Last Centaurian.' Basically River's future betrayal has a contrast and counterpoint from the most loyal companions. No-one in the Davison era Tardis crew seemed to respect or value the Doctor at all, or like being with him. So there was no counterpoint. Nyssa kind of was, but she was too marginalised to matter. Secondly, River's redemption makes sense b/c of how she's come to value the Doctor. Frankly after 'Warriors of the Deep,' nothing about Tegan or Turlough's growing respect for the Doctor makes any sense given what a liability turncoat he can be, and how he nearly got them along with the whole seabase killed b/c of his fond feelings for the genocidal humanity-hating lizards. ...So in the end, Turlough's treachery and willingness to sell someone down the river isn't even contrasted with the Doctor who's now written as no better.
Peri is a strange one. I did feel that the Doctor-Peri dynamic worked far better than the Davison era crowded Tardis. And never more so than in 'Caves of Androzani.' It should have been effortless to have her fit into the action, in a way that took a lot of work to make the Davison crew work (arguably only Earthshock, Snakedance and Enlightenment work without sidelining anyone). But that's diminished expectations talking. There was potential I feel, for the 6th Doctor to be the lone dark shaman visitor to Earth. I almost feel like he shouldn't have had a companion, and Peri as a companion did him very few favours.
Mel actually was fairly tolerable in 'Terror of the Vervoids,' but after that, dear God. At least she was consistent, unlike Ace who was just a mess of a character from the beginning, despite the retroactive surgery they did on her later.***
In Logopolis I decided I had a serious problem with the Doctor! You expect him to be cold, move on after tragedy, but saving the Master after causing so much devastation just made him responsible for any deaths thereafter perpetrated by him!
As for the companions, there were so many that caused more trouble than they were worth; esp. Rose! My favorites had to be Ramona 1 & 2, Nyssa, Captain Jack, and Martha and a few others! They have to be able to pay their keep other than causing disasters! lol! Leela was a barbarian, but at least she didn't cower in fear and could do more than scream for help!
***Overrated Episodes: "Blink" - Don't get me wrong, it's a good episode and a well-thought out story, but I do feel like it gets more attention than it truly deserves. It makes for a nice introduction to the Weeping Angels, but to the fans who say that this is one of the scariest stories, I say look to "Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone." It is a far more atmospheric episode, and features outstanding performances from everyone.
ReplyDeleteAgain, "Blink" is a good episode, but certainly not the brilliant one which everyone says it is.
I'm not trying to be a troll, I'm just opening a thread for those of us with very different opinions.
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"The End of Time:" intended to be (and often regarded as) a large-scale epic masterpiece to send off the RTD era. Actually ended up being an insipid, plot hole ridden, meandering, inconsequential, pandering mess that seemed to do more stroking the writers ego than telling a worthwhile story. This episode more than any other spent far too much time trying to make Ten look cool and make his death seem like the most tragic thing in the history of the show. I've ranted about this piece of balls enough times on this board that anyone should know how I feel about it, so I ain't even goin' into it in detail right now.
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Yeah, it's not overrated when this board is full of people trying to shoehorn into any thread their disdain for Ten's regeneration scene, etc. Case in point - you being unable to resist ranting about the episode even though you must know it's not overrated.
To choose an overrated story you have to choose a highly rated story - like Blink, Family of Blood, The Eleventh Hour, The Doctor's Wife, The Empty Child, etc. Then decide if any of those are not as good as people seem to think they are.
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"Genesis of the Daleks and City of Death." - I'm inclined to agree. Both episodes were good, but there were plenty of other Fourth Doctor stories which I felt were better.***
Over-rated by whom? There can be no such thing really; over-rated Doctors, over-rated episodes, or over-rated productions/re-boot! It's all a matter of personal appreciation and taste that can't be legitimated underestimated with the program going on after 50 years! No Dalek episode s/b be on this list; sorry! It's the villains that have made Doctor Who what it is today; Daleks, Cybermen, The Master, & Rassilon himself!
***How much is the TARDIS worth in real life? - Wait, the inside is the size of the Empire state building? I thought the inside of the TARDIS was an entire universe.***
Reminiscent of an old animated episode/saga from X-Men; "Phoenix Saga!" The M'Kraan Crystal supposedly could engulf the entire universe even though it could be held in your hand before that power was invoked!
In Logopolis I decided I had a serious problem with the Doctor! You expect him to be cold, move on after tragedy, but saving the Master after causing so much devastation just made him responsible for any deaths thereafter perpetrated by him!
ReplyDelete***The characterisation of the Doctor is very messy in Logopolis. It bears the marks of being a rush-written replacement story that has to do too much at once, and often in ill-considered ways. I think the idea (flimsily set-up though it was) was that the Doctor needs the Master's help, and that this is going to require putting two Time Lord brains together to solve the predicament, and that only the Master can undo what he's done.
But it's pretty transparent that the writers are using any excuse to keep the Master alive so he can be a recurring villain again, as JNT wants. I think there was also a plan to have the Doctor barred from Gallifrey again because of his collaboration with the Master.
The shame is nearly all these moral implications could have been resolved if the Master had died proper at the end of Castrovalva, and had never come back. I think had the show not survived Tom Baker's departure or Season 18's poor ratings, and Logopolis had been effectively the end of the classic series, it just might be possible to see the Master's escape as the necessary double edged sword of the Doctor's regeneration and the show's closing. The Doctor has survived, and with the Master still on the loose, the universe still needs him. The fight goes on, and the legend goes on.
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The "Marco Polo" episode is quite popular. I was actually fascinated with just watching the shortened version with still photographs and surviving audio.***
I don't think it ever was telecast here in Chicago, but looking at a few minutes here and there on Youtube, it's just too long! I'd go nuts with all the clips it would take to give a complete episode and the storyline wasn't that interesting! I rarely watched pre-Baker episodes more than once! I was already spoiled and jaded with Romana, K-9, & interesting plots that gave alternate endings to historical events! The Lock Ness Monster has 3 or 4 incarnations in the series over the years including coming down the "Timelash!"
***I thought the condensed version on the DVD was reasonably good, because I remember that the Target novelisation was similarly condensed! A fully-animated DVD version would have to be priced quite high if it had any hope of turning a profit, just like 'The Dalek Masterplan.'**
***The Pirate Planet was great fun! - Great story in general, with a nutty, sadistic, bombastic but calculating, shouty Captain and an even greater foe to come later on; telepaths, K9 doing his stuff, Romana, and even a flying robot parrot to boot! Not to mention the implications of the technology and the crime featured. Yes, very great fun had by all, especially by the fat guy who played the Captain!***
ReplyDeleteThe plot was no different even going back to Ceasar; the woman behind the KING! Even if she didn't have power over him thru science, usually feminine wiles are used; Cleopatra for example! Nothing new here, but I was thrown by her being the true brains of the operation!
***Will you be UNHAPPY if there isn't some sort of MULTI-DOCTOR SPECIAL? - I think it should at least have Tom Baker in it somehow.***
Dream on! Wishful thinking! Forget about it! Baker seemed so against any kind of reprise since he left the role! I thought I read something about him "breaking down" last year, but I doubt it'll happen!
***Is Matt Smith as good as Tom Baker? - No one's as good as Tom Baker. He's on another planet compared to all actors before and after him!***
Started out with Baker in college with "Genesis Of The Daleks;" '79! He is "THE DOCTOR!"
***Matt Smith is like the annoying little twerp you had the misfortune to know at school whose head you never tired of flushing down a toilet. There's something needy and desperate in his desire to look "cool."***
Agreed! I'll say he's more a younger Troughton than Baker! Baker was a little more humble than Troughton and heaven knows Smith is far from humble! lol! The way he's "haunting" time; esp in that last episode shows his arrogance and lack of humility!
***I've only seen his first series of which I thought he was the sole redeeming feature. On that series alone I'd say Matt was the best of the new Doctors, but that's not saying much.***
***Wesley wasn't THAT bad... until Journey's End, that is - The issue with Wesley, as I've said before, is that he had no business being on that ship, and everyone knows that. He's only there out of a contrivance, borne out by Gene's strange vision that, for some fascist reason, they'd allow non-essential civilians to live and work on a warship. That flies in the face of reason and morality.
ReplyDeleteHad Wesley been a cadet, or a fresh ensign newly graduated out of the Academy, that would've been different. Then we'd tolerate him all the more. In fact, we'd probably like him.
Genius, though, isn't everything. Actually, it's something of a myth. Not that there aren't talented people who are really smart and capable, but what we do is we tend to believe they can do almost anything well. That doesn't happen. Usually what we often do mistake for genius is the result of a lot of practice and hard work that most of us never get to see. In truth, given enough practice, anyone can be great at something.
What they should've done with Wesley was humble him by putting him in a situation where all his talent is for naught, that he's going to have to face some harsh truths about himself. That, for instance, he's not a leader. An episode where, similar to The Galileo Seven, Wesley is put in charge of people in a bad situation, and due to his decisions and indecision, he's getting people killed, and he's on the verge of a mutiny, as Spock was. By acknowledging his limitations (and not making him a "Traveller" or something), Wesley would've been a good character, instead of this ideal reflection of what Gene thought of himself as.***
Well he did have a bad case of puppy love with some girl that was being transported to another planet! Why he even bothered knowing she wasn't going to stay on board was beyond me; almost causing more drama! He just couldn't help himself! I guess that was as close to normal teenage angst that he got to express during all those episodes he floundered!
***His smarter than the seasoned crew attitude or w/e was pretty annoying.
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Troi's worst episode was 'The Loss' - It's so pathetic she actually needed to feel superior to humans to even function on a normal level. "Oh no! I can't be a counselor anymore because I can't mind-read people!" She should've been fired on the spot and sent crying to her corner in her stupid space pajama suit she wore the majority of the series.***
Oh, she was hysterical! To Beverly, "where were you when this was happening to me?" I wonder would Troi have acted like that with her mother on board?
***Reasons why the '09 movie is poor...and stupid - -
ReplyDelete1. Kelvin should've been destroyed.
The Narada appears from the singularity. It immediately opens fire on the Kelvin. Who knows how many photons were fired, but definitely a lot. The Narada is from the future, thus futurist high-tech weapons. How advanced? A century's worth at least. Hmm...since WWII to the 80's, the superpower countries were able to develop smart weapons and ICBM's. That's less than a half a century. Now add another 50 years to that tech and what would you have? So, the future tech photons are unable to destroy an old research vessel. Now let’s add a quote from the movie, "I have a reading, they've locked weapons on us.” What does that mean? It means coming out of the singularity didn’t disable their targeting systems. If let’s say twenty tomahawk missiles were fired at a WWII battleship and scored no direct hits, but a few near misses, the battleship would be under the sea. Now put that into this movie. 50+ more years in tech. Targeting systems intact. What was the result? But of course this HAS TO HAPPEN because if it didn’t, we’d have an end of story moment within the first 10 minutes. Poor & Stupid.
2. The lifepods should’ve been destroyed.
So the Kelvin survives long enough for the lifepods to jettison and have daddy Kirk sacrifice himself heroically. Yay! He rams the ship into the Narada, which is like 10 times the size of the Kelvin, maybe more. So, if this causes main power to go offline, then where’s the auxiliary power? Based off of Trek II, aux power is enough to get off a few phaser blasts, right, right? Every spaceship should have auxillary power for emergency life support. That’s basic common sense and based on previous Trek, proven. So where is it? If Nero fires on the Kelvin at first sight, it would only make sense that he’d finish the job. Then again, this would be an end of story moment within the first 10 mins and daddy Kirk wouldn’t have been a hero. Poor.
3. Kirk’s a douche.
Of all the people I have ever met, rich or poor, famous or not, nobody has ever stated their middle name when introducing themselves to me. How pretentious of an introduction is this of Kirk? This is the guy we, the audience, are supposed to feel sympathetic towards? This is our protagonist? The Shit as Kirk never said his middle name. Never. And this is the first words out of the new Kirk?
Oh, but this is an alternate Kirk. He had no daddy growing up.
Being rebellious is one thing. Being a douche is another. One has nothing to do with the other. Fast forward to the Kobayashi Maru test. Even though this is an alternate Kirk and he enlists in Starfleet a completely different way and probably a different time in his life, he manages to re-count the steps of his previous version’s timeline Kirk. How convenient. Now we know how many times he took it and what he did. The failure is they really could’ve used this to develop Kirk’s character. What would’ve this accomplish? Three things. Tie into the history of Trek, develop his character, and advance the story. If they would’ve shown Kirk in command of the simulation and complete the rescue mission, it would’ve been much more dramatic and exciting. Why did he receive a commendation for original thinking? Instead, we just get douchey Kirk eating an apple. We don’t get flashes of brilliance of his command prowess. We get nothing except the already established douche bag.
Oh, but I like the homage from Trek II when Kirk was eating an apple when telling the story and him doing it on the simulation.
Whoop dee do! Stupid & Poor.
Sulu gets called up as a last minute replacement and apparently fails to correctly activate the warp drives, thus the Enterprise fails to warp with the fleet to Vulcan. Now, this delay allows stowaway Kirk to warn Pike of the ambush. Talk about luck! Not luck. Dumb luck. Dumb racist luck. Poor & Stupid.
5. Pike makes stowaway Kirk 1st Officer.
ReplyDeleteYes Pike knows who he is. Yes, he’s like a “father” to him. But acting 1st Officer? Puh-leeze! He wasn’t assigned to the ship. He has no knowledge of the ship to be assigned acting 1st Officer. There is no rationale for this to happen and it’s totally against Starfleet regs. But there is one reason. IT HAS TO HAPPEN! To be continued. Poor & Stupid.
6. The 25 year wait.
“We wait.” Really? Wait and do nothing? Okay. Nero’s pissed off at Spock so he’s going to wait. And the crew is going to wait with him? And do what, play tiddly winks for 25 Earth years?
Oh, but the Romulans have longer lifespans. They can wait.
As if living longer gives one the patience to wait. Anyway, crunching the numbers, if we took the life expectancy of a Romulan in regards to the 25 years, that would be equivalent of waiting 8 year for a human. Still, you’d want to waste 8 years of your life doing nothing and every single soul aboard the Narada is willing? Wow! How convenient! Mind you, this is not a military crew, thus less disciplined. They’re in a different time now where they could go back to Romulus and still have a normal Romulan relationship. So no mutiny? Really?
Oh, but if you read the comic book, it’ll tell you that they were captured by Klingons right after the battle with the Kelvin, so they were in prison for all of those years.
They were in prison? Damn! Those Romulans still look healthy to me. What kind of prison was it? Rura Penthe? The same one in Trek VI? The one that Scotty said, “Might as well killed them now and get it done with.” Rura Penthe? Wow! Apparently Rura Penthe was a Club Med for convicts back in the day. So what about the Narada? Didn’t the Klingons cannibalize the ship? They didn’t?! They left it in orbit of Rura Penthe for all of those years so Nero and his well fed crew can capture it back? How convenient, not to mention, stupid. So with all of this crap happening, Nero was still able to get back to meet Spock Prime at the rendezvous point just in time to capture him.
So if this is true, let’s go back to the original question his crew asked him. Why wait? They could’ve been doing much more productive things within that time frame then wait 25 years. They could’ve contacted the Romulan empire and gave them knowledge of their future tech. If Nero is so hellbent on destroying the Federation because they are enemies of the Empire, why would he keep his knowledge a secret from the people he’s trying to help? Mind numblingly Stupid and Poor.
7. Pike captured for Earth’s defense codes.
Nero captures Pike in order to “turn off” Earth’s defense systems. Hmm…if memory serves, Vulcan discovered warp drive before Earth, thus, Vulcan should be more advanced then Earth. He doesn’t need the defense codes for Vulcan, but he does for Earth?
That’s because Vulcans are peaceful and Earthlings are violent, even in a socialistic utopian world.
How naïve is it to assume that, because a race is “peaceful” it won’t do anything to defend itself. The US is peaceful, right? Yet, they have the largest military in the world that gives them the right to say how “peaceful” they are.
Still, Nero does have Pike. And he tortures him to reveal the defense codes. Now this should be a moot point, since Acting captain Spock has reported to Starfleet that Pike has been captured, thus Starfleet nullifying his defense codes immediately. What was that? They didn’t?! So you mean in perspective, if the President was captured by terrorists, and the white house knew about it, his nuclear launch codes would still be valid? They would?
But then again, IT HAS TO HAPPEN. Pike has to be off the Enterprise and the Narada needs to get to Earth unhindered, because Starfleet are obviously made up of a bunch of idiots, except for one douche bag cadet. How convenient. Poor & Stupid.
8. Spock jettisons Kirk.
ReplyDeleteThat’s right. Spock jettisons Kirk off the Enterprise because of a contagion risk? No. A possible contagion risk? No. Because IT HAS TO HAPPEN? Bingo! The two have a spat to which is the correct course of action. They’re conversation grows heated which results in a Kirk being rendered unconscious with a neck pinch. Toss him in the brig for insubordination? No. “Get him off my ship.” Spock said. Really? Spock? The one that follows Starfleet regs to a T? That Spock?
Yeah, but his judgment was compromised from seeing his mother die and his world destroyed.
I see. So Spock is pissed off within which is affecting is abilities to act rationally, yet he still blindly follows regs to rendezvous at the Laurentian system. Bones witnessed the entire scene, yet he never interjected. As CMO, he would’ve had the authority to relieve Spock of duties right then and there, yet it wasn’t done. Why? You guessed it, IT HAS TO HAPPEN! Poor & Stupid. To be continued.
9. Kirk on Hoth.
Kirk awakes in a lifepod. It explicitly tells him to wait for help, yet if he did, it would be an end of story moment as nobody was looking for him.
Anyway, the bold Kirk exits and begins marching assumingly towards the Federation outpost. As he trudges along, he sees a beast clomping its way toward him. The bold Kirk does nothing and watches. We finally see the beast is some kind of big alien dog looking to eat Kirk, but all of a sudden. Boom! Crackle! Bang! Out comes this bigger monster from under the ice to snatch the dog creature into its fangs. It looks at Kirk, who is smaller than the dog and flings it miles away to begin chasing Kirk. Huh?
It’s like a bear. Territoriality. You know, like a drug dealer and his turf. It doesn’t like others treading on its turf and wants him out of there.
As if the beast perceives little Kirk as another predator, rather than prey. So it chases him off his “turf”. He chases and chases until he falls down a rocky hill and the beast tumbles down with him only to continue his pursuit. Remember, the beast had already made a kill, how far is it going to chase Kirk. All the way into a cave? That is the beast’s “turf” as well? And what or who is in that cave? Spock? Spock is in that cave too? What are the chances? And he saves Kirk too? Now what are the chances of that as well? It’s old Spock. This is obviously a stroke of luck for Kirk. Saved from the beast, by none other than Spock from the future. But is this really a chance encounter? That’s right. IT HAS TO HAPPEN! Poor & Stupid.
10. Spock on Hoth.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s he doing there? Let me digress for a moment and reflect upon the notion of “destiny”. This wasn’t by chance, but rather they were destined to meet. How does that change the fact of the chance encounter? Because they were “destined” to meet, it makes it reasonable? What a cop out. That’s like saying, against all scientific proof of evolution, we are the product of an alien and the only proof offered is, “I choose to believe.” Why is this theme so familiar? Anyway…
Apparently, Nero’s waiting finally pays off and he captures Spock when he emerges from the singularity. Now remember, he was really pissed off at Spock. He failed to save his planet, thus letting his wife perish along with his unborn child no less, because they failed to evacuate Romulus in time that he knew was an imminent possiblility. So what does he do? Nothing! He does nothing to Spock. No torture. No maiming. No slow death or quick death. He does absolutely nothing. That’s his revenge? With enemies like this, who needs friends!
He did something! He beamed him on Hoth to see Vulcan get destroyed with his very own eyes.
Oh, the agony! The agony to see his alternate homeworld destroyed with everybody he knows still living back in his own timeline. How crushing!
And Nero could’ve done that in the bridge of his ship and once he saw it, pop a cap in his skull. Done and done. Or he could’ve tortured him ala Pike for years and years. Nope. This is far worse. No to mention, Nero’s ship has sensors, right? He didn’t see the life signs at the outpost, or the outpost itself?
He did! He wants Spock to go there and live so he can live a life of suffering.
If that was true, then keep him on the ship under lock and key.
Spock’s smart. He might escape and sabotage the ship.
Then cut off his arms and legs. That’ll incapacitate him for sure even if Nero is as paranoid as this suggests. Even more, blindfold and gag him too, just in case.
But we do know the real reasons. Yep. IT HAS TO HAPPEN. Poor & Stupid.
11. The Formula.
Kirk and Spock get to the outpost. Spock informs Kirk that an outpost is nearby. How Spock knew and how Kirk seemingly didn’t know, is unknown. Anyway, there’s Scotty! How convenient. Well, Spock tells Kirk that he must go back and correct the problem, thus, gain command of the Enterprise and stop Nero. Of course, the best person to accomplish this goal is Spock himself. He is proof himself of what is happening and the best person to fix it, but he can’t go. Why? No reason. There are two transporters so two can go, even though only Kirk needs to go, per Spock. But, because Scotty wants to go, he goes, even though it is supposedly “extremely” dangerous. Is that logical for him to be sent then?
Anyway, we get to “The Formula” for transwarp beaming, thus allowing transport to a ship moving at warp speed. Does Spock know the last known location of the Enterprise before jumping to warp? Does he know the speed they are travelling at? Does he know the schematics of the new Enterprise? So if Spock doesn’t know the rate and he doesn’t know the time, how is he going to find the distance? Hence, how can find a slope of a curve if you don’t know any of the variables of the formula y=mx+b?
So, even if they could beam light years away, without any known variables, Spock would just be beaming them to some random coordinates. It wouldn’t even be an educated guess, but more like a shot in the dark. There’s your deus ex machina. Poor and Stupid.
12. Kirk redux.
ReplyDeleteKirk is back on the Enterprise. He confronts Spock once again and as Old Spock has counciled him, he’s got to do something to assume command. So he goads Spock. He goads him and goads him until Spock cracks and is about to kill him with his bare hands. What does everybody else do? Nothing. They just watch like a fight in a playground. Do they try to pull Spock off? Does Bones even try that? Nope. Nobody does anything. But wait! Spock suddenly, miraculously regains a semblance of composure and stops. On his own! He regains enough composure to even relieve himself of command! I am serious, my brothers! He relieves himself of command due to a realization of emotional instability. Talk about a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde moment at a drop of a hat. Usually, these things take time, but not here. It is instantaneous.
Remember the moments that HAD TO HAPPEN? Here is the culmination of those events. If Sulu doesn’t fail to jump to warp, Kirk wouldn’t have had the time to warn Pike and The Enterprise would be destroyed along with the other ships. If Pike doesn’t make Kirk 1st Officer, his goading of Spock would’ve been all for naught as he wouldn’t assume command. If Pike isn't captured, Spock isn't Captain and Kirk isn't 1st Officer. If Spock doesn’t jettison Kirk, he doesn’t meet Old Spock and the Enterprise returns to the Laurentian system and Nero destroys Earth. If Kirk remains in the lifepod, he’s stay there and Nero destroys Earth. If Nero doesn’t send Spock down to Hoth, Kirk doesn’t meet him and he gets eaten by some big monster and Nero destroys Earth. If Spock isn’t on Hoth, nobody would be able to beam them back to the Enterprise.
So, there is the string of implausible events all tied to each other and the movie still isn’t over! Yes. More stupidity and poor writing to come! Rejoice!
13. Spock joins the away mission.
Hurray! Spock is okay! He has regained his composure within an hour or two to see fit to join the away mission. Well, if he deemed himself unfit for command, he’d need medical clearance. Let’s assume Bones clears him. He’s still acting Captain is he not? Why all of a sudden he’s relegated to 1st Officer when he returns? Does this mean when you are relieved, you come back demoted? But if you’re still reading, you already know the answer. Yes, IT HAS TO HAPPEN. Kirk is the only one that believes in attacking the Narada. If Spock re-assumes captaincy, they rendezvous at the Laurentian system and end of story. Not to mention, Spock HAS to be on the away mission, thus making this even more convenient. Poor & Stupid.
14. Old Spock does nothing.
That’s right. In order for this story to work and continue, they need old Spock to do nothing, i.e. not to fix the timeline. Why wouldn’t he? It’s in his character. It would put right what was never to happen.
Give the old timer a break. He’s tired and wants to just kick back now. Let him enjoy the rest of his days.
Sure as hell didn’t seem to affect his will to try to prevent the supernova. And if he feels so much guilt in failing, why wouldn’t he go back to try and fix it? Basically, Spock is acting out of character in order to serve the story. Poor & Stupid.
15. Cadet to Captain.
This is a no brainer, right? It’s stupid and should be publically acknowledged for its stupidity and poor writing to serve the purpose of the sequel. But it’s not. Even this idiocy receives justification. Never has this happened in real life and never has it happened in Trek. This is the first time. Does it make any sense? None. Now add on the fact that he’s made Captain of the Federation flagship and most advanced vessel they have, makes even less senses. Ludicrous & Idiotic.***
***I Watched Utopia, and The Sound of Drums! Quick recap:
ReplyDeleteSeries 1 finale: LOVED IT! One could not wish for a better series finale. I still like The Daleks of course, but no other ep. has ever matched this one in terms of scariness and quality.
Series 2 finale: Not as good as the first one. I kinda liked the premise of 'ghosts' appearing all over the world and I was kinda dissapointed when they happened to be.. you guessed it.. the Daleks.. still, Rose's departure was well handled, the Daleks vs Cybermen battles were immensely fun to watch and the highlights of the ep.
So now we've reached the Series finale of series 3.
The Master is BACK! Seriously, I did not expect that at all. My friend confessed that the only reason he showed me the TV movie was b/c he knew I was heading into Series 3 and he knew the Master was in it. It made the reveal all the more powerful so thank God for that!
I liked Eric Roberts' portrayal very much (partly b/c I think he's a good and very underrated actor). He was kinda like a Terminator. Very cold and emotionless; very deadly.
Dereck Jacobi (God bless that brilliant actor) had a more evil grandfather vibe to him. Old and utterly ruthless, very sinister, and I do wish we had seen more of him.
John Simm's (OMG! From LIFE OF MARS 0_0) was very different from the previous 2. He's probably the closest what an evil Doctor would be like. I like either 3 portrayals. Simm's had overall the best chemistry with The Doctor.
I thought Chan-Too's (the blue insect alien) death was SO sad. She was the last of her race and all she did was try to help mankind only to be murdered by the one who she considered her best-friend. And she only died because SHE refused to shoot HIM. 'Master u bastard!'
Jack is back too! God, I really missed his presense in Series 2 and a lot has happened since his departure. He's 100 yrs older and immortal! Nice! "Welcome back, Jack!"
Utopia wasn't very entertaining to be honest, but it was very intruiging. Credit where credit is due: I thought the Master's reveal was absolutly gobsmacking. Well done Russel! It had too many dialogue scenes and plot points that didn't seem to go anywhere (future kind, Utopia ) and not enough action for my part. But it certainly had a very interesting premise and I do wish they stayed with it.***
***The Sound of Drums.
ReplyDeleteThe stakes have never been so high as seen in this ep. The enemy sits at the throne, the hero is conflicted between saving or killing him. Oh, and 1/3 of the world population is about to be slaughtered.
Previously, I thought the Master was just a one-off villian invented for the TV movie. I liked him, but thought he wasn't anything special. I didn't realise however that he was suppose to be the Doctor's ultimate nemesis.
So now we know who was the mysterious Mr. Saxon. This is definitly my favorite Season arc yet, with the fob-watch and The Master laying traps for the Doctor all this time. We've seen how (from the Doctor's POV) much good a Time-Lord with a Tardis can do. He's saved countless civilizations, defeated so many bad-guys and inspired many people to do good. Yet we can also see (from the Master's POV) how much damage a Time-Lord can do when he's got too out of hand.
The ep. had some REALLY great moments, and I mean really great onces. Simply too much to name them all but for example:
The Master gassing the entire cabinet. I know it shouldn't be laughed about some poor politicians dying, but it was so greatly done.
The Doctor and the Master talking on the phone. It reminded me of the series 'Sherlock' where the Doctor is Sherlock, and the Master Moriarty.
The Doctor, Martha, and Jack walking like "ghost".
I was pleasantly surprised by John Simm who I had only seen in 'Life on Mars' before. I always said he was a very mediocre actor who never convinced me of anything he played. So when I saw him I was like: " NOoo.. coudln't they hire a better actor for this?" But he actually was very good in this. He outshown Tennant in this, which almost never happens in a 'Who Episode' and truly was the Doctor's equal. A comedic and harmless fool on the outside, but a dangerous psycopath beneath that.
I'm also glad the 'severed hand' plot got resolved in this one. I always felt it was kinda odd and a gruesome thing in "The Christmas Invasion," and just a random thing thrown in to make the audience go "Wooooo..." But I like the idea that Jack salvaging it (although I do wonder how he found it, did it fall on his head or something?) and then keeping as Doctor-compass. It served as a nice reminder of the regeneration concept.
I'm a little conflicted about this ep. It was better then the previous one, but I felt less interested in it. It barely had any story other then: 'Master is on Earth, he's in control, and they need to stop him'. But like I said, some scenes were the best of the 3 seasons I've watched and I'm really curious about how it's all gonna end.
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It's just a shame you're on 'Last of the Time Lords' which is considered by many (including me) to be one of the worst episodes of DW and probably the worst series finale (although opinion is divided on that, 'Journey's End and 'The End of Time Part 2' are thought to be crap too).***
I don't know if I want to call one of my all time favorite programs capable of "crap," but they definitely aren't as compelling as Classic Who! I did love the climactic music! Rassilon seems to aways appear a bit manevolent each time he's ressurected!
***Whose the best Doctor in Doctor Who?***
ReplyDeleteClassic Whovian here, so my choices can't be helped! Just off the top of my head:
#1 - Tom Baker (He is "The Doctor;" the most iconic of them all)
#2 - Peter Davison (Was so young at the time, but accepted)
#3 - Jon Pertwee (Emulated the Bond era with tech & karate)
#4 - Patrick Troughton (Classic)
#5 - Christopher Eccleston (Everybody lives when he's around)
#6 - Matt Smith (Too arrogant for his britches! The Silence quieted him down)
#7 - David Tennant (Went against just about every rule of time)
#8 - Colin Baker (He was in bad stories, but I thought humorous at times)
#9 - Paul McGann (What a waste of a regeneration; bad movie)
#10 - Sylvester McCoy (Had one Rani and Dalek episode I liked)
#11 - William Hartnel (Only enjoyed him in The Three Doctors)
***Is Matt Smith as good as Tom Baker? - "No one is as good as Tom Baker he is in another planet compared to all actors before and after him!" And to the person who said that the 11th Doctor has better stories than the 4th Doctor: Nothing in Moffat's entire run comes close to masterpieces like "Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom, Deadly Assassin, Robots of Death, Talons of Weng-Chiang, Horror of Fang Rock, Image of the Fendahl, Ribos Operation, City of Death, State of Decay, Warriors Gate, and Logopolis."***
Those old Who episodes can be watched today and I can be totally entertained! I can't say that about the new one; almost never take out those tapes! Baker's the MAN!
***Series 7 pt. 2 episode titles:
1. The Bells of Saint John
2. The Rings of Akhaten
3. Cold War
4. Hide
5. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
6. The Crimson Horror
7. The Last Cyberman
8. ???
Further info:
1. Written by Steven Moffat, featuring the 'Spoonheads'.
2. Written by Neil Cross (creator of Luther).
3. Written by Mark Gatiss, featuring the Ice Warriors.
4. Written by Neil Cross, a 'ghost story'.
5. Written by Steve Thompson (Curse of the Black Spot).
6. Written by Mark Gatiss, featuring Vastra, Jenny and Strax.
7. Written by Neil Gaiman, featuring the Cybermen & guest starring Warwick Davis.
8. Written by Steven Moffat.
We barely know anything about the final episode apart from the fact that it is obviously written by Steven Moffat. Apparently it will lead into the 50th anniversary special.***
***Will you be UNHAPPY if there isn't some sort of MULTI-DOCTOR SPECIAL for the 50th anniv.? - I often thought about the age problem with the older actors of the Doctor and thought that having the past Doctors being puled out of time into their "future" could have an adverse effect on their appearance. Making them look like they would if they had survived their respective "deaths" and so the further back the doctor is, the older he is so the oldest doctors are essentially "dead" like the Bill, Patrick and Jon are in reality.***
ReplyDeleteSome of us thought Sean Pertwee would fit nicely in the role of #3! Looks and sounds like his "old man!" lol!
***I would like to see Sean Pertwee as 3 and even David Troughton as 2.- Sean would have to wear a big white wig too, that would be fun. lol - William Hartnell or Tom Baker? Whose the best Doctor? I like both William Hartnell-smart, intelligent, crafty, awesome when he damaged the "Meddling Monk's" Tardis. Tom Baker-funny, very alien, not intelligent, but cool, great clothes, most iconic Doctor as well; great stories***
Call me crass, but Hartnell was just too infirmed; from the beginning! The Doctor has got to be able to run and deal with physical stress at times! I got tired of hearing, "let's rest now Grandfather!"
***I love both of them. Sometimes I get in the mood for a Tom Baker serial and i'll put one on. Sometimes it's a 1st Doctor serial and I enjoy him too. It just depends on my mood really.
---
It's kind of funny; Roddenberry's vision was of a utopian future, while most of the ST franchise after the original shows Starfleet, and humans in general, are still jerks.***
I think there's something in our DNA that makes us proselytize and try to get others to see things our way! We just can't help ourselves! lol!
***I'm cautiously hopeful about Blake's 7 coming back. While I'd love to see a modern version of it, with updated special effects (the hopeful), I'm concerned they'll screw up what made the original so great (the cautious).***
I won't hold my breath on a "Blake's 7" reboot! It would be cool, but I've been listening, reading, and dreaming about it since 2001 or so! It's not that I'm even looking, I'll just come across a thread like this or article/blog online! That show was the best; got in and got out in 50 min.! I have them all on VHS tape from '86 thru '87 when I collected them and dvd discs a friend produced for me several years ago! I won't go cold turkey any time soon!
***Which Doctor Who story features Troughton and Pertwee and it shows Hartnell in his authority pose standing a garden looking much older; which serial is this? I know it's strange, but William Hartnell is my joint favourite Doctor alongside Tom Baker.***
ReplyDeleteOutside of "The Three Doctors," I don't think they ever appeared together! In the "Five Doctors," John Hurndall played the role of the crotchitty old coot with Troughton and Pertwee! In that same episode Baker was caught in a vortex of some sort while Peter Davison was the featured Doctor being manipulated by President Borusa wearing the crown of Rassilon!
***It may have been the 3 Doctors. Hartnell refers to Troughton and Pertwee as a dandy and a clown.
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Matt Smith To Leave Dr. Who At Christmas - DOCTOR Who bosses are lining up Matt Smith’s exit for Christmas, when he will regenerate into the 12th Time Lord. Insiders say the festive special will be Matt’s last outing as The Doctor, after a triumphant 4 years in the role. The actor has made no bones about his ambition to crack Hollywood and has filmed new movie, 'How To Catch A Monster' w/ Ryan Gosling being released next year.
Sources say bosses already have an idea of who they want to replace him, with work on the special due to get under way later in the year. Matt’s contract is understood to expire in Nov., but we understand he doesn’t want it renewed. Filming on the 50th anniv. ep, airing in Nov, will begin next month.
Matt refused to commit to a DW future beyond Christmas when interviewed on Jonathan Ross’s show last week. He said: “I am very happy doing it. I do the anniversary special, then the Christmas special. At the moment it’s 2013 and we will see what 2014 holds.” An insider said: “Matt has told bosses he wants to bow out at Christmas.”
Matt was little known when he signed up for the role in 2009, bagging a £200,000-a-year deal. It’s thought he now earns £1million a year — the same as previous Time Lord David Tennant when he left.
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I think Doctors are being changed too often now. There was a time when Doctors would stay for longer than just 3 or 4 years. Tom Baker did 7 years and Jon Pertwee did 5. I think we need more continuity and less changing around. - Tom did 7 years, but that was 2 years too long for his career and the series; 4 to 5 years ideal.***
Tom may not have left in such a bad mood and mind over the character if he had left earlier! lol! I had no idea he did do some work for DW in the last decade or so, just not in the tv series; radio and annimation! The late Raymond Burr thought 9 years for a series was the best, but his shows weren't continuing stories with "Perry Mason" and "Ironside!" I'll miss him, but we;ll endure; done it half a dozen times already!
***I think a Pertwee Marathon is due! - Only Jon Pertwee? I'll soon be able to a have a marathon of the first five Doctors after 'The Tenth Planet' is released to DVD!***
Hasn't happened yet, but for tonight, they're skipping all the way to Tennant's, "End Of Time" being telecast on BBC America!
***The Androids of Tara - Yes, yet another Key to Time story! This one is a bit odd, as the extras say, a 'Prisoner of Zenda'-type story with medievalism and droids, and a villainess whose name (Lamia)constantly reminds me of the evil spirit in the Sam Raimi movie "Drag me to Hell."
ReplyDeleteNot an awful story, but the anachronisms are totally jarring, even if the villain (Grendel) has the name of Beowulf's chief monster. Romana and K9 are great as always, as is the immortal line when the Doctor is caught fishing: "Do you mind not standing on my chest? My hat's on fire!" Classic.***
It was one of the first series of DW episodes I ever got to see, but it's been at least 25 years; "Keys To Time!" The 6 parts were all bordering on "cheese," but I found them entertaining anyway! It was a lot better than that ending of "The Power of Kroll;" the monster was just "too much!" Took me back to50's & 60's horror; "Creature From THe Black Lagoon" or "Lost Continent!"
***Like the new ep...Hate the redesigned Tardis...(I did not pick up on the redesign when I first watched the X-Mas special...either that I just blocked it out of my mind) It looks like a Carnival. Will this be significant...Bullseyes, Marygrounds.***
Love the new TARDIS; so "carnival ride-like!" The story line was very "Idiot Lantern!" The whole country is practically under "its" spell; WiFI! Strange, but interesting!
***Major continuity error with The Bells Of Saint John? - If some dude comes out of no where in a bigblue box and leaves the doors open, im going in. The other things is not only did it appear out of no where he drove a motorcycle out of it. Hell nor high water would stop me from putting my head in. IDK, it just seemed like sloppy writing. He always locks it, you see him but this time doors wide open and on the bike. I fear it is a big continuity thing, so if they let that slip what else is Moffit going to bugger up?***
I thought it was just me! Those doors "magically close" in the next clip!
***Not just you, it really bugged me. Then saying how he doesn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, so by all means leave the damn doors open.***
***Why is only David Tennant coming back for 50th Anniv.? - You'd think that just for grins that Tennant would get Peter Davidson to come along.***
ReplyDeleteJust trying to think of the implications of taking characters from previous productions has something to do with it! Did they have to pay dearly for bringing in Sarah Jane Smith from Classic Who for "Journey's End?"
***Why would they have to pay? I mean, Doctor Who and the spin-offs are all BBC products from start to finish, right? - A lot of stuff is owned by the creators, not the BBC, in fact in the 90's a bunch of Direct to Video movies (and audio's) were made with the Autons, Sontarans, Sarah Jane, UNIT, Liz Shaw, Sulurians, & the Brigadier by totally bypassing the BBC and getting permission from the creators themselves. Even K9 and ACE aren't owned by the BBC.***
Thank you! I thought I knew what I was talking about; even without complete explanation! I thought we were better at deductive reasoning! It only made sense with didn't eras, overlap would cost someone! Nothing's free these days!
***The Shard - It was inevitable that the new phallic pride of London would take on special significance in Doctor Who. I wonder if the former lover, New York's Empire State Building, the rising star of so many episodes, is feeling a tad jealous?***
What a canard; building a skyscraper to get to a space / time anomoly for Torchwood! Never heard of such tripe! The Doctor was incredulous!
***Stories that involve a new companion always tend to be on the slower side. Mostly because there is usually a whole intro and outro. Don't worry folks it will get better.***
We can only hope it gets better! I think anticipation may have hurt, but I can be happy it's back; if only for a while before another haitus!
***The Biggest Problem with a Multi-Doctor Story - you're going to have the Doctors battling for screen time. Granted, with only two it's okay, but once you get beyond that I feel like it could be problem. Of course I'd love to see Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and Christopher Eccleston, but I don't want too many Doctors b/c you don't get to see enough of them.***
Please don't hold your breath waiting for Eccleston to come around! He may wait until near death to even acknowledge participation on the show! I really had this idea he was running from this role, not wanting to be typecast like no other actor in the past; even Troughton and Davison!
***The Brain of Morbius compliation ran for sixty minutes and was released on VHS back in the 1980's.***
Ahhh, "Morbius" was a good one! Recently we've had debates about pictures of past Doctors or Morbius being shown during their "mind bending" competition! It was cheesy, but good! The Doctor hinted the possibility that The Time Lords sent him rather than happenstance! They've sent him on assignment before as a cost for his independance!
***I have started watching from the beginning. I know its old and classic. I dont hate it, but at what point does the show start being a normal good tv show? Don't hate me. Just want to know how much I gotta push through til it gets awesome-er.***
For classic Who, I suggest sticking to the evolution of the Cybermen, Daleks, and Master! There are other good stories, but if you have some history with a character, it might help if not too entertained by a story! I also collected the 2 Peter Cushing films with Daleks in Technicolor!
***What's the reasoning behind the aging? - I seem to recall during DT's era he said he was 907, and when I watched a Smith episode yesterday (I think it was 'A Town Called Mercy') he said he was around 1200. What was he doing for 300 years, have I missed something?
ReplyDelete---
He was 907 throughout Series 5, was 909 at the beginning of Series 6, traveled around on his own for 194 years in "The Wedding Of River Song" (he was avoiding Lake Silencio out of fear), and traveled around some more (for 97 years) in between Series 6 and 7 (Amy and Rory mention that his visits have become increasingly more infrequent; he was on his own and doing other things in that time).***
Back in the day of Classic Who, we didn't really think anything of it! He would be fairly immortal and so it didn't cross my mind how old he was; 'ever!' Thanks for the info though!
***Okay, okay; you've all convinced me that it was totally possible for Clara to be that clueless concerning WiFi and her laptop. However I still don't understand why she got a number for a helpline from a woman in a shop before she even asked anyone in her house.***
Like all other mysteries, "all will be made clear" or revealed later more than likely! They've surprised me many times over the last few years; esp. with the "Library" story and River knowing the Doctor! Classic Who didn't have things like that going on; like explanation of why Susan called the Doctor "grandfather?" The story arcs didn't stretch the imagination too much; maybe with The Black Guaradian and Turlough! The Master's involvement was always something different in his plots each time!
***Would it be possible to make an Independent movie based on a Superhero? - Since he's a comic book hero, the Dredd movie from last year was pretty close to that. I still want to see Superpatriot!!***
Black Cannery is do-able! I thougth maybe I heard that character was being developed! Even an actress chosen! Probably just rumours from here! Green Arrow probably simple enough to produce! Maybe give him a sidekick! Probably more apt to be on tv as a series!
***Favourite Episode of Reboot Series? 2005 -- "The Girl in the Fireplace" I've probably watched that episode more than any other. It has a teaser that's worthy of any of the original series' cliffhangers, drawing the viewer in and making good use of the current series' one-hour episodic format. I also love the score in that episode. Plus, it doesn't involve one of the Doctor's old classic monsters.***
ReplyDeleteI like "TGITF," but I tend to lean toward "Blink" being more of a favorite; less schmaltsy and tearjerking! Even though I love Dalek episodes, "Dalek" is too hard to watch; Rose such a pest! She caused so many deaths; feeling for a machine! As I've always said, she caused more heartburn than she was worth!
***Dalek - Thinking about it, it's a strange episode in that it absolutely revels in the violence - but I suppose that's inevitable when the episode is setting out to make the Daleks credible threats for modern audiences.***
Oh you're going to be one of those people who see the Daleks as more than machine? Fine! Moving on!
***A Dalek isn't a machine. It's an organic mutant in a giant life support tank.***
Fine, so you'd rather have sympathy for one "pepper pot" to survive and go on after he annihilates all the people of Earth? There's always one or 2! Sorry, but after all the years I've watched, I'll think of them as cold, bloodless machine! The only emotion they seem to have is "true fear" of the Doctor believe it or not! That's the only thing that may elevate them slightly above a tea pot!
***Not saying I'm joining the "Friends of the Daleks" alliance. They're funded by T.A.I. for one thing. But the fact of the matter is it's an organic creature, and thus not a machine or robot. Using your standard, all Tories are robots.***
The Doctor doesn't think of them as sentient beings when he's ordering Dalek and Cybermen destruction! I understand where you're coming from and you see where I'm coming from! I guess this is one of those "we have to agree to disagree" situations! I hate that!
***I think The Seeds of Doom might be my favorite DW story ever - Thats my favorite 4th Doctor Story. Almost everyone will tell you either Pyramids of Mars, Genesis of the Daleks, or City of Death is Tom Baker's #1 best story. And though all 3 are fantastic Seeds of Doom has always been my favorite.***
If I remember correctly, I can still hear Baker making fun of and screaming at "Scorby!" It was great! Add on "State of Decay" and you have a nice little marathon evening!
***Yes, angry Tom Baker at his best! Also, later on he yells at Scorby, "There is no chance!" & "If I die, you die."***
He was "raging" in that episode!
***Classic Who stories sometimes take more than one viewing to get the most out of them - some of my favourite stories I didn't like when I first saw them, or at least I didn't realise how good they were. Caves of Androzani for example, I saw when it was first broadcast, but it wasn't until months later when I watched all the episodes together on videotape that I began to realise it was a great story; now it's my favourite. The Talons of Weng-Chiang was one of my favourite Target novels, but when I finally saw the TV original I found it tedious and overlong... upon rewatching months later, it again became one of my favourites. For some of the other serials my opinion changes each viewing.***
ReplyDeleteThat's how I am with the re-boot; I watch them when I tape them and surf by periodically upon repeats! In the old days, I'd have parties and drag out the Classic Who and watch them again and again! I always seemed to get a little more out of it; even if there was some kind of incontinuity!
***I think The Seeds of Doom might be my favorite DW story ever - I seem to remember Harrison Chase making reference to "mindless things" to which Baker replied "kind of like Scorby here!"***
Yeah, I remember that! Takes a lot of "cahones," a massive ego, or a disturbed individual to antagonize your captor! The Doctor was being restrained at the time during some of those insults! Which is he? I say all 3; at least 2 of them! lol!
***Not saying I'm joining the "Friends of the Daleks" alliance. ...it's an organic creature, and thus not a machine or robot. ...***
The Doctor doesn't think of them as sentient beings when he's ordering Dalek and Cybermen destruction! I understand where you're coming from and you see where I'm coming from!...
***So being pure evil requires the absence of sentience?***
Evil? In X-Men animation, Caleb from the future talked about Apocalypse as being "the embodiment of pure evil!" In the mind of Apocolypse he "just is" while Doctor McCoy thought if eliminated, something worse might take his place! Ya wanna get philosophical now? In DW's "Pyramid Of Mars," Sutekh said "...your evil is my good!" What ya got?
***Whens River Song back...Because I want that story to end already***
I feel your pain! We can't have more than one ego-maniac in this series; unless she's an antagonist like The Rani!
***Please, don't even joke about The Rani. Two eps in and no sight of her, please bring her back***
So far there's no evidence any other Time Lord outside The Doctor and Master survived the Time War! I doubt she would have been a victim of that entity in "The Doctor's Bride!" I can't see her being sentimental if she "got mail!" lol!
***...Baker thinks his looks have changed so much that it would be difficult to write him in, and I can kind of see that. Pity. McGann doesn't look a day older though, and McCoys always looked the same.***
ReplyDeleteWell for Baker, it's been over 25 years since his tenure! I saw a picture of him, so gray, I almost didn't recognize him! Funny, like Toughton, he couldn't just do "the Moe" cut and take years off! He could come back from the dead and still play the 2nd Doctor!
***I reckon they could have made him the Dream Lord, after all he WAS part of the Doctor. I do like the original though. I was surprised how good Peter Davidson looked in Time Crash too (he looked a little older, but like Troughton in 'The Two Doctors' it wasn't that big of a change). Some Time Lords just age more slowly then others.***
I've been watching Davison on Britain's version of The State's, Law & Order; "Law & Order: UK!" He's put on a few pounds, the hair is grey with an elevated hairline, but he still looks the same overall! He was the youngest Doctor at the time remember? Smith outdid him by quite a few years!
As for the Dream Lord, that episode was on BBC America last night at 3 am! I still don't know what's what after Rory pounds an old lady because Amy told him! lol! Fell asleep! So you say The Dream Lord was really part of The Doctor himself? It's called "Amy's Choice" and it's just one of many episodes I haven't watched multiple times to get the gist of what the hell is going on! Just not like the Classic; sorry!
***In The Wedding of River Song - So basically the Silence dragged her from the 52nd Century where she was born back to the 1960's to wait for humanity to develop a space suit, so that they could put her into it so she could break out and go to New York to regenerate only to be picked up by the Silence and dragged to 1990's Leadworth to grow up with mum and dad? Then the Doctor takes her to the 52nd Century cat house, leaving her at the mercy of Madame Kevorian where she is further trained before being dropped off by the Silence in 2012 to be put back into a 30 year old space suit to kill the Doctor?
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They didn't intend for her to break out of her suit and regenerate in New York.
Basically, it went like this:
-The Silence abducts Melody at Demons Run and trains her to hate the Doctor.
-The Silence put Melody in the care of an orphanage in Florida so that they can focus on hypnotizing humanity into making a spacesuit.
-The Silence puts Melody in the spacesuit with the intention of having her kill the Doctor.
-Attempt #1 fails and Melody breaks out of the suit, regenerates into Mels, and meets Amy and Rory as children.
-'Let's Kill Hitler' takes place.
-The Silence locate [now River] and put her back in the spacesuit before submerging her in Lake
Silencio so that when the Doctor arrives, she can kill him.
-River "kills" the Doctor and is taken back to the 52nd Century to be imprisoned in Stormcage.
(I'm not sure where the exploding TARDIS gambit fits in from the Silence's perspective.)
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I think, the exploding TARDIS will probably be their final attempt.***
My question is how did time start moving just because the Teselecta suit of the Doctor grabbed River in the tomb before they got married?
***And the Teselecta was what was meant to be shot. That's the fixed point; River shoots the Teselecta suit. She refused to do that, and time collapsed around them. So yes, basically, it's as good as contact, since we were never told that it had to be River and the Doctor's bodies making physical contact. Just the two opposite ends of the distortion.***
***Basically the Dream Lord was a manifestation of the Doctors self loathing in a subconscious world (I think). Basically most of the ep is a shared dream brought about by what I'm just gonna call "magic space pollen". It's very 'Inception' like, exploring layers of dreams, but ends up taking the Star Trek route of trying to explain it all (hence 'magic space pollen')
ReplyDelete---
Who gave Clara the Tardis phone #? - Was it River Song? Was it the girl from Blink? Was it Rose from the other dimension? Who do you think?
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Everyone keeps saying it's the girl from Blink, but I don't remember her having the TARDIS number. My guess is it's River. Not a very original guess, but Occam's Razor points to her. - I don't see it being River. I feel like if it was Clara, she would reference her as a woman not a girl.***
Well Clara is going to "tick" me off just like all the others! Wandering off to get into trouble is just so juvenile! Little children do that so they can have a bit of a scare! I feel like they must do it on purpose! "Clara, grow up girl!"
***Rank The Doctors; Favorite to the least - I won't rank all 11 b/c I have not really watched Nu-Who in great details so I will stick to the 7 in the original series:
1. Jon Pertwee
2. Tom Baker
3. Peter Davison
4. Patrick Troughton
5. William Hartnell
6. Sylvester McCoy
7. Colin Baker ***
Agreed! Great compromise:
1. Tom Baker (started w/ him)
2. Peter Davison (loved the youth movement)
3. Jon Pertwee (he's classic)
4. Patrick Troughton (humored people more than anything)
5. William Hartnell (too old and arrogant)
6. Sylvester McCoy (bad era, bad scripts, over the top acting)
7. Colin Baker (just not the most likeable)
***Anyone know the old episode where the Doctor could've killed all Daleks? - Genesis Of The Daleks.***
For the time, "Genesis Of The Daleks" was great; still is really! Baker and most of the Doctors after him always wrestled with destoying the Daleks because there would be alliances and treaties due to fear of them! They were destroyed more than a couple times, but they always seem to come back in another form; aligned with the prime directive of "surviving!" I don't think they've ever explained how they developed "time shift" abilities! They just say it and go!
***Anyone Else Want a Normal Companion Again? I really miss the normal companions. The ones that just tagged along with The Doctor for a good adventure, and didn't have mysterious realities. It would be nice to have someone like Sarah-Jane, Jo, Liz Shaw, Martha back again. I feel like its becoming a prerequisite that the companion has to have this mysterious past or present, and it just gets really repetitive.***
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing since you mentioned it; all these new companions mean more than just hanger-ons! Rose and Bad Wolf, River, Amy and the cracks, and others seem to mean more to the Doctor future than past companions! It's strange really!
***Anybody else want to see a badguy as a companion? - Jack was kinda a grey character, but I'd love to see a villain get on the Tardis with the Doctor (maybe the Tardis 'binds' the character on it or something) and the character redeems himself throughout the season...I like that idea. They need to stop the sexual attraction card though; it has become quite repetetive.***
That's what happened to Turlough in the Classic DW era! He was in league with the Black Guardian, but never really betrayed the Doctor, but was tempted a couple times! I can't remember why he was under duress by the BG after all this time! Been a while, maybe 15+ years since I've seen that arc of the show!
***Fans of Classic Who: Which episodes do you recommend?***
3rd Doctor:
- "The 3 Doctors" - just to see the 1st 2 Doctors along w/ Pertwee
4th Doctor:
- "State Of Decay" - love the vampire aspect of the story w/ Astronauts in E-Space & "Planet of the Apes!"
- "Destiny of the Daleks" - followup to "Genesis Of The Daleks" w/ the same Doctor
- "Invasion Of Time" - Baker becomes Lord President of Gallifrey
- "Pyramids of Mars" - Sutekh The Destroyer tries to escape The Eye of Horus
- "Seeds Of Doom" - So much like "The Thing" - Baker's banter with Scorbie will amuse you
5th Doctor:
- "Arc Of Infinity" - The time Omega tried to come back from anti-matter existance
***Hollywood versions of Doctor Who***
I'll go with Guillermo del Toro's DW ala (Blade Trilogy)
- Doctor Who - The Doctor regenerates into Wesley Snipes (Vampire Killer)
- Doctor Who 2 - A few vampires managed to hang on in E-space and Wes has to go back to deal with them - Doctor Who Trinity - While in E-space, The Doctor receives a telepathic message from Romana (Halle Berry) looking for help! She's gotten herself into trouble trying to free the last of the leonine Tharil race!
***Great stories let down by 1 aspect - What story do you think is very good on the whole, but frustrating, (as a case of why did they do that; maybe a daft looking monster, a bad special effect, poor performance by an actor etc.?***
ReplyDeleteWell you have to realize "Doctor Who" could be a prisoner of the time, paying homage to other genres in recent eras if not con-currently! "Seeds Of Doom" was so reminiscent of "The Thing!" No one was bothered by it! The rat in "Talons Of Weng Chiang" was classic due to "Willard, Ben," and a host of other bad movies with that theme of giant rats! It never really bothered me too much if Nation borrowed whole storylines into the show! The only thing that haunts me on this topic was "Kroll"(part of "Keys To Time" arc); more homage to bad horror movies! It was ugly and lame! I could go on, but you get the idea!
***Castrovalva has always annoyed me with its lackluster alien planet. I know gravel quarries and old manors and castles are the basic building blocks of most of the classic episodes, but I always wanted a series opener with a new Doctor to step up a bit. Instead, the exotic alien world looks like the production team waited for some period drama to finish filming and then borrowed the costumes and sets.***
That was one of the worst launches of a Doctor in the history of this show! It was lame, tame, and did what I hated the most during the Pertwee years, using the Master as a crunch for the most Gawd-awful storylines! Same for the eigth Doctor; poor guy! So many should have been embarrassed to release that episode for my second fave Doctor after Tom B., Peter Davison ("All Creatures Great and Small")! I'm still upset about it over 30 years later! lol!
***Which COMPANION did you have the HOTS for as a KID? - And, since I've only delved into classic Doctor's 1-3 because of the Doctors Revisited thingy on BBCA, I was really diggin' on Jamie.***
Hands off my namesake; "mine oh mine!" If he's busy or caught up in another plot like "The Two Doctors," I'll be perfectly satisfied with Turlough! I have this thing for redheads and those hot pant/shorts he wore in "Planet Of Fire" upon his exit still haunt me after 30 years! "Whoa!"
***I think I know why DW fans hate Colin Baker - The hideous costume and awful stories were the problem. He was a good Doctor, but was up against the impossible. He shines in "Mark Of The Rani" and "Vengeane on Varos," otherwise with "Twin Dilemma, Timelash, Trial.. etc," he had no chance.
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What about The "Two Doctors" with Patrick Troughton? That, along with the villains Chessene and Shockeye (less so the Sontarans), is among my all-time favourite.***
It was the best; as far as I'm concerned! Had that bit of Blake's 7 crossover with Jaqueline Pearce playing Chessene! Metaphorically she was supposed to "Dr. Moreau's" masterpiece, but winds up giving the orders and changing the plan as needed!
***There are a few contributing factors into fans' dislike of Colin Baker but it most certainly is not b/c he appeared in the show previously and mistreated the 5th Doctor. He was playing a part, it's what actors do, and it's what he continued to do after he received the role of the Doctor.***
***Any classic Fans not like the NuWho? - The FX of the NuWho for the most part are really good, as well as the sets. It just seems the writing of the Doctor is off. Plus the Over Reaching arcs of each season seem to distract from the individual stories to pave the way for what seems like a forced season finale. Less is more, but with the finale, they try to give us everything and the kitchen sink. Also, the writers seem to make the companions downright annoying.***
ReplyDeleteYou covered it! I couldn't have said it better myself! It can be hard to just enjoy an episode because of all the overlapping story arcs making it difficult to stay in the now; always figuring you're missing something!
***I watch NuWho, but overall it doesn't have the rewatchability factor that the Classic series has. I feel the same way. There are NuWho episodes that I think are excellent and very re-watchable (The Empty Child, Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, etc), but mainly I watch the new episodes hoping that there will be some substance under all the flash, and usually I'm disappointed. Outside of the show, Colin is a lovely man while Tom is terribly distant and unlikeable!
It's not that I don't like the actors, or even the characters, but they tend to try too hard to be clever and to tug at your heartstrings EVERY FREAKING EPISODE, and things like subtlety and solid plotting drift by the wayside. And the sonic screwdriver has become such a lazy plot-device, it needs to go already. I really miss the way serials like "Talons Of Weng Chiang" and "Caves of Androzani" had the room to give us great characters, great bad-guys, and worlds to explore.***
That's a great word, "rewatchability!" That has been my main complaint since the reboot! When they have those stand-alone episodes like "GITFP" or "Blink," they do so much better IMO! That's the way I've always watched the series and coming here always makes me feel like I've missed something since these story arcs are so convoluted at times! Last night's classic, "The Pyramids Of Mars" was almost fresh in comparison to NuWho! A lot was going on, the Doctor was in complete control, we had a nice climactic resolution, with the bad guy losing in the end! We moved on; no fuss, no muss! As for Colin Baker, Tom Baker is still "T.h.e. Doctor" regardless of his obnoxious persona outside of the series! There's a real juxtaposition where most people find Colin surly and immensely ego driven, while Tom is thought of as amiable of Doctors! I guess you can say there's no real justice here!
***I've been a fan since the 70s and was obviously delighted when it returned in 2005, but I found it a great disappointment and eventually stopped watching after Moffat's first series. Still love the majority of the old stuff though.***
I've continued to tape each episode to VHS tape as I've done since '86; Beta format before that in '81, but I never pull the tapes out to rewatch like I would with Classic Who! I feel your pain!
***Difference between paradox and time loop? - In a Time Loop, time is disrupted so that events simply repeat. That is get to Point B, go back to Point A, doing everything again exactly the same, get to Point B, go back to Point A, etc, etc. (Refer to, 4th Doctor story "Meglos"). In a paradox, events are caused by the act of deliberately going back in order to stop it from occurring. That is a person travels back in time to prevent Event A. However once there that person's actions causes Event A to occur. Travelling back causes Event which causes Travelling back which cause Event, and so on. (Refer to 3rd Doctor story "Day Of The Daleks").***
ReplyDeleteThere was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Wolf's son Alexander (old man) went back in time to knock himself off as a child! I suppose you can get away with that one!
***A stronger relationship needs to form between The Doctor and River Song? So when we see River Song "die" in Forest Of The Dead, it's quite an emotive scene and there is that suggestion that she and The Doctor have a close relationship. ...There's usually a nice chemistry established within a few episodes. I think by now, The River and The Doctor need to share a similar sort of relationship, at least, in terms of how close they are. I mean, she's been in almost a seasons worth of episodes and so far I haven't seen their relationship develop to the extent that's insinuated in Forest Of The Dead. ...That sense of mis-trust and enigma and mystique needs to give way to an actual relationship of sorts.***
Well after all the revelations over the years about them, how could their relationship get better? They're actually seeing each other in reverse time; she knows more about him while he didn't even know her name at the beginning in "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead!" I'm one of those people who's no big fan of her character; even more confident and ego driven than any Doctor! I'm surprised they rationalized as much of a romance as they have considering these facts! When she attempted to kill him, that should have "been it" besides maybe a possible contact thru a previous regeneration like the little girl in "The Impossible Astronaut!" My head hurts trying to come up with rational possibilities! lol!
***Oooh, how dare someone be more confident than The Doctor, especially a woman. How dare River be glad to see her huasband. How dare she, coming from The Doctor's future know things he doesn't. Admit it you just don't like her (fair enough), and grasping at straws to explain why. Re-consider the facts.***
Exactly!! What's your point? I spelled it out! She's superior since she knows things he'll need to catch up with! lol!
***Since River is a child of the Tardis and half Timelord the trust is definitely there. He only trusts her after she whispers him something, if it wasn't his name it could have been something else only the TARDIS would know. There were Timelords who the Doctor didn't trust so "I'm a Timelord" wouldn't have worked.***
***Top 25 NuWho episodes (IMDb):
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone's interested, here's the top 25 NuWho episodes according to their rating on IMDb-
1) Blink
2) The Girl in the Fireplace
3) The Empty Child
4) Vincent and the Doctor
5) The Stolen Earth
6) Human Nature
7) The Doctor Dances
8) A Good Man Goes to War
9) The Doctor's Wife
10) Journey's End
11) Forest of the Dead
12) The Pandorica Opens
13) The Parting of the Ways
14) Doomsday
15) Silence in the Library
16) The Family of Blood
17) The Time of Angels
18) Asylum of the Daleks
19) Day of the Moon
20) The Impossible Astronaut
21) Utopia
22) The Big Bang
23) The Satan Pit
24) The Angels Take Manhattan
25) The Eleventh Hour
Interesting list, esp. considering the criticisms some of these episodes get. Curious to me that a couple of episodes (like "The Girl Who Waited" and "Midnight," for instance) didn't make it into the top 25 whereas, say, "Utopia" and "A Good Man Goes To War" did. Also all of them had around 1500 votes each apart from "The Girl in the Fireplace" which had over 2000 and "Blink" which has over 4000, so for the most part it seems like a fair system to me.
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Another interesting part of the list, the bottom 10 (excluding prequels):
(Starting with the worst)
1. Fear Her
2. Love & Monsters
3. The Lazarus Experiment
4. Curse of the Black Spot
5. Victory of the Daleks
6. The Idiot's Lantern
7. Evolution of the Daleks
8. Daleks in Manhattan
9. Night Terrors
10. Boom Town***
Well none of those episodes had anything to do with a story arc! They are what I catagorize in Classic Who as "stand-alones!" You can insert these anytime within the reign of that regenerated Doctor and lose nothing in the break of an arc! I suppose the Time War arc persisted throughout, but back "in the day" we didn't think about it! In my mind, the only story arc that obvious was the "Keys To Time" season! "Trial Of A Time Lord" hasn't reached me after almost 30 years! I still haven't pulled the tapes out to watch them again and try to understand WTF was going on! To this day I see people questioning the Valyard; a future regeneration of the Doctor or something The Time Lords created to prosecute him?
***What is your Opinion of 'Trial of a Time Lord?' - I just finished watching "Trial of a Timelord" in its entirety, and I must say that I was a little disappointed by it on a whole. "The Mysterious Planet" was a pretty mediocre story. It had some interesting concepts such The group of rebels on the surface and an entire city underground. It was not bad, but felt just a little bland.
ReplyDelete"Mindwarp" was probably my least favourite of the extended serial. I just felt like it was far too drawn out and very underwhelming. While this story really played up the false evidence aspect of the serial, we never really learn what was true and what wasn't (much like "The Mysterious Planet"). Furthermore, Sil (from "Vengeance on Varos") seems as though he has changed character completely.
"Terror of the Vervoids" was the best story of the serial. Perhaps I am somewhat biased since I love Agatha Christie and the Christie-like whodunit format was a lot of fun. The story had a lot of twists and turns and seeing the detective play detective was a great deal of fun. The Vervoids themselves were a little strange and didn't do that much, but it was a good story nonetheless.
"The Ultimate Foe" was just weird. I don't even know what to really say about it, but it was just strange. Granted, the first episode's cliffhanger was great but it had no real conclusion. Perhaps the worst part of it was that the Master (played by Anthony Ainley) seemed as though he was shoehorned in at the last moment. The story did have some nice atmospheric moments and we did get to hear the Doctor talk about "carrot juice."
So, what did you think? I have seen a lot of different opinions concerning "Trail of a Time Lord" and I am curious to see if my opinions of this serial is different - much like my opinions of so many other serials.
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One world: Peri - Okay, here comes some more words: I actually liked TOATL quite a lot. Mostly because of Colin Baker... Who is one of my favorite Doctors, and personally I think this is one of his finer moments. But the way Peri went... It bothers me... So much.
The season had some plot holes (with the Doctor watching his own future and all), but that's just Classic Who in a nutshell. Anywho... This season gave us Mel, and I really don't get why people dislike her. She's adorable. A season who brings us Mel will always be awesome.
I haven't seen TOATL for a very long time, so I won't go through the series one by one, but I have to mention "The Ultimate Foe". Well, they must have been at least a little drunk when they wrote that, but it was very interesting. Real conclusion or not. - OH! And let's talk about Peri's outfit in "Mindwarp". That's just plain awesome. I want it. (And I have NO idea why that's one of the things I remember the best from that series..)***
I remember taping it on VHS format almost 30 years ago, but I haven't watched it since; none of Colin's besides "The Two Doctors" with Troughton really! I keep telling myself before I give them away, I should give it a go just one more time, but I've yet to even try! The tapes are within 20 yards, out of storage; we'll see!
***I really wanna see Omega done. I hear he's a badass Villain. - You may be disappointed as he's more a semi-tragic figure than an out-an-out villain.***
ReplyDeleteIt's a viable storyline, but he was about as delusional/insane as Sutekh The Destoyer in "Pyramids Of Mars!" He didn't seem to care if he wiped out "everything" so he could return!
***I did think Rassilon acted a bit more like Omega in "End of Time." Maybe Omega tricked the Time Lords into believing he was Rassilon, so he could delude them into believing in his plot to destroy everything and abandon their physical forms?
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Will the 12th Doctor be a ginger?***
I wouldn't mind at all! I have a "not so secret" crush on that type!
***Everything tastes better on a ginger. - BTW, Somone PLEASE Tell me why "Pyramids of Mars" is good?***
It just "is!" We've talked about this before; many times really! 'Doctor Who' incorporated the genre and storylines of that era! I guess you could say it started with Pertwee being very "James Bond-like!" Around the time of "Pyramids Of Mars," The Mummy might have been in vogue and Doctor Who brought it into the sci-fi realm! The show throughtout its history has explained anomolies, old wives' tales, and superstitions with logical and scientific explanations; nothing new here! Sometimes they forget giving 2 or 3 different histories for the Loch Ness Monster; "Zygons and Timelash!"
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***...And you can watch all four series of "Blake's 7" as they have been released on DVD in very nicely presented box sets which I highly recommend. - As for 'Shada,' the story wasn't completed, but has apparently been reconstructed recently by Ian Levine.***
I still have the original 52 episodes on 7 VHS tapes from the mid 80's! A friend created the disc for me several years ago so I have all 4 seasons saved for all time; maybe have it buried/incinerated with me! That show actually surpassed DW in entertainment value! They got in and got out in less than 50 min., with few arcs! They only had a couple total duds; "Sarcophagus" was awful!
***Actually I thought 'Sarcophagus' was really good and had a strange otherworldly quality about it which was an interesting change of mood for the otherwise gritty space opera 'Blake's 7' usually was. 'Blake's 7' was an incredible show with great characters, lots of tension and a sense of futility and hopelessness in the main characters actions which I always enjoyed and found so unique in televised sci-fi. Also probably the best and most unrelentingly unapologetically bleak ending in the history of science fiction shows!***
***Return of the Valeyard? What with the fall of the 11th possibly being close, or when it does, will we see the Valeyard come with more of a story? I would love to see the Doctor having some internal conflict fighting against becoming him and- well I'll just stop there but I got this whole awesome fan-fiction thing going on in my head, but what do you guys think?***
ReplyDeleteThe Valyard is so Classic Who! They've taken great pains to avoid much overlap! I'm surprised they used Sara Jane Smith twice in the reboot!
***That's true. They keep old series stuff to a minimum; except for the Nestene consciousness, the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Macras, Time Agents, Mentions of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, Time Crash, The Next Doctor, Silurians, Ice WArriors, Zygons, Sontarans, References to The Doctor's Name/identity being huger than it seems, The Master, The Brigadier, Two's bowtie, Exploring the TARDIS in a story, The Eye of Harmony, Asylum of the Daleks, etc. etc. etc. The thing for me, is that the Valeyard was a product of Time Lord intervention. With them trapped in the Time Lock, how can they cause the Valeyard to show up?***
Fine, be snippy! You have "your referencing," then there are the major characters not being utilized much! Ramona, The Brigadier, and many other companions were still alive and kickin' out there and they just didn't want to "go there" I guess!
***It's much harder to bring back past companions because the majority of viewers are unfamiliar with even the more famous ones like Leela. Sarah Jane was brought back because she was THE iconic companion.
Even still, Jo Grant was brought back and got a nice tribute. It's much easier to bring back a monster than a past companion. But plenty of elements from the classic series have been used in the new series.
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Remember how awful the re-boot of the 80's classic series "V" was done? The new series, despite all the superior make-up and special effects, totally failed as as a series. It was dull and listless. But despite that the original series has not been damaged. The fans of the original just do not even acknowledge the re-boot. I suspect if they manage to create an awful BLAKE'S 7 re-boot, the fans of the original will not even blink twice.***
That was how it was for me, never even acknowledged V reboot was ever being produced! When they said Diana (Jane Badler) would make a guest arc appearance, I still didn't watch even a moment! The only reboot I've jumped on board in any capacity is Doctor Who's in 2005! I was a loyal viewer and taped each episode from Tom Baker on...! I've continued to record them, but never rewatch like I would the classic tapes! I would definitely give "Blake's 7 (2013)" a once over after collecting all 4 seasons and 52 episodes; tapes and disc! So far I've skipped other sci-fi classics like "Battlestar Gallactica!"
***Scenes from DW that made you cry? - Rose's final scene in Doomsday
ReplyDeleteThe ending of Planet of the Ood - so sad when you know what comes later.
Donna having her memory wiped. I cried for so long
Ten returning to his old companions one last time to say goodbye.
Amy and Rory's plunge to their "deaths" in Angels Take Manhattan. Oh the tears. Followed by more tears when Amy willingly gives up the Doctor to be with Rory.***
You covered the obvious ones; add on The Doctors sorrow when he didn't get back in time to see "The Girl In The Fireplace!" That music with the plunge is too much for me sometimes! I always wonder would I make that kind of sacrifice when the time came if needed! We can never know really until the time comes! I've always thought they've gone a bit overboard in the "tear-jerking" since the reboot in '05! Only Adric being lost at the end of "Earthshock" ever affected me in Classic Who! It's almost a weekly occurance these days!
***Why Did They Stop Making 6 Part Stories? - The various production teams of the 70's felt that to do a 6 parter, you had to take a 4 part story and then send it in a different direction for 2 more parts, thus they felt very stretched. Four parters were adjudged to be the more natural format for the show. When there was a 28 episode order for Tom Baker's final season, two more than usual, they could fill that with seven 4 parters. For those that followed that went back to 26 episodes they do a 2 parter a year instead, because those would not be stretched.
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Yes, John Nathan-Turner, the incoming producer in the 1980s felt (rightly) that 6-parters had too much padding and tended to get boring (esp. around the episode 4/5 stage) so he abolished them (except for "The Two Doctors").***
Back then, that padding was necessary since it was shown over several days with half hour episodes including commercials! I've always known them to be 1:20:00, 6 part episodes shown all at once on sunday nights late on PBS!
***Huh? Why does it being shown over "several days" dictate a longer story? It was still shown over "several days" even when the 6-parters stopped!***
I didn't watch it at the time, but some markets in the US ran half hour episodes with commercials! - It was used to stretch the drama and the season! I was amazed to find out in the last few years how short some of the seasons were with limited episodes! The eptiome of that of course was Colin Bakers,' "Trial Of A Time Lord" arc! That took over the entire season with minor diversions in "Mawdryn Undead, etc.!" I was weened on Tom Baker's stand-alones! The only arc besides the beginning of the "Time War" was "The Keys To Time" w/ Romana I (RIP)!
***If Tom Baker were to have quit 'Doctor Who' sooner than he did...- Armageddon Factor would have been an amazing epic story with or without a regeneration, but no, I wouldn't have him regenerate in that one. I think Logopolis was the right story for him to leave.***
ReplyDeleteIt was a real shock! I had no idea that was about to happen! We didn't have the internet back in '79 and I didn't exactly look for spoilers! I figured Tom would stay the Doctor until he actually died and they needed to go to another actor! To this day, "he is THE DOCTOR!" Just ask him! lol!
***Did classic Who have multi-episode story arcs? - The Fourth, fifth, Sixth and 7th Doctors had stories linked by an arc (E-space and so on), but only “The Trial of the Time lord” is anything like we have today.
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The Keys To Time - - E-Space Trilogy - - Logopolis Trilogy - - Black Guardian Trilogy - - Trial of a Time Lord
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There were few story arcs in Classic Who. Even fewer that were any good.
I suppose The 'Key To Time' arc was fun for the first 4 episodes, and then with 'Power of Kroll,' it ran out of momentum fast.
The E-Space trilogy was consistently a very solid run. I often think it was the last hurrah for the classic series and they should have ended it there.
The Black Guardian trilogy was dull as dishwater, apart from its last episode 'Enlightenment' which was brilliant, and another candidate for classic Who's ne plus ultra.
'Trial of a Time Lord' was strange. It had some fascinating concepts but overall was a meandering mess, and ultimately felt in the end far too safe and toothless. A one-trick viewing at best, and sadly it was as consistently good as Colin's run got, so maybe it was fitting that he left there.
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I would call the 3rd Doctor vs the Master stories to be a proto-story arc.***
The Master being behind plot after plot on Earth almost ran me off! Heaven knows I don't pull those old tapes out to watch them! It was so frustrating with Delgado showing up time and time again; behind Sea-Devils and Silurians, etc.! There's the entire universe out there, but the Master relentlessly went after the Doctor on Earth as if he had no other choices!
***Is the Doctor going to prevent River's death? - I think the real question is if this is after the library, then how does she get from the computer to wherever this episode takes place. I doubt that the Doctor would mess with such a crucial part of their time stream outside of the whole "here's my screw driver scheme."***
The Doctor did it before in "AGMGTW!" His army was littered with characters we thought had long since died! They were all hated enemies, but he seemed to turn them all around as his soldiers!
***Is John Hurt the 8th Doctor? - He broke the promise. The Promise to be The Doctor. He changed from a healer to a destroyer. Eccleston onward refuses to call him The Doctor, but that doesn't mean he didn't call himself The Doctor. He was 'born' The Doctor.
ReplyDeleteIf they went to keep the Doctor numbering the same as it has been, there is no reason they can't make John Hurt the 8th Doctor. We didn't see him die on screen or in the books. He could have lived hundreds of years, grown old, joined the Time War and the regened into Eccelston. Doctor 9 then decides hey, I fucked up. We can't call my past life The Doctor. However, none of that works. And thats b/c McGanns likeness is featured a number of times.
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Yep, thats the impression I got, that he was a past Doctor, probably in-between McGann's Doctor and Eccleston's. I.e the one who destroyed Gallifrey/ Timelords and the Daleks during the Great Time War. Although that would make him the 9th Doctor, rather than the 8th.
It would explain a lot when you think about it. Tennant and Eccleston always seemed terrified of the Doctor they had been, as well as filled with remorse and guilt. Smith also looked terrified when he saw Hurt's Doctor. The one Doctor who broke the promise and betrayed the name of 'Doctor' i.e the man who helps people. You can't give that name to a Doctor who would have destroyed his own entire race; Whatever the reason.
Also it then makes sense why Smith will pair up with Tennant's Doctor and why Eccleston was asked to return. Assuming that Hurts version is going to be more of a threat than anything else, it would be symbolic for Tennant and Smith's Doctors to have to overcome their past. Also why Rose is the only confirmed returning companion.(at least as far as I am aware - if there's others returning I would rather not know :P )
Rose was always regarded by Eccleston and Tennant as the companion who helped to heal his wound, the rage and pain left over from the Time War. Thats why Tennant left clone Doctor with her, not just for the romantic reasons, but for the very purpose of helping to heal a Doctor born in a time of war and destruction and wracked with vengeance and guilt.
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The thing is, I can't see McGann's Doctor doing a thing that's so unspeakably evil that The Doctor would reject that incarnation. - Thats why I believe he is the Doctor after McGann's. We never had confirmation McGann regenerated into Eccleston. There could have been a Doctor in-between both incarnations... i.e. Hurt's Doctor.***
***Tom Baker One Season Too Many? - Yes, I love the brooding atmosphere of Season 18, the impending sense of doom groiwing ever closer. The first two stories are no great shakes, but the run from E-Space through to the end of the season is fantastic, some of my favourite 'Tom' stories.***
ReplyDeleteI had just started watching Doctor Who around "Keys To Time" arc! I noticed DW was getting a bit darker and Tom was beginning to age! It was a real shock when he regenerated at the end of "Logopolis!" Back in the early 80's, we didn't have the internet at our disposal and I had stopped attending meetings of my Doctor Who group! I did like Peter Davison's contribution to the show and kept right on watching and taping to VHS tape! If in Chicago, all yours! Tired of lugging them around!
***What I liked about watching Season 18 is how fresh it felt after the boring Season 17 where cast and crew seemed to be 'phoning it in.' Season 18 takes Doctor Who seriously by tying continuity of the show's history together while providing a building and continuing continuity between serials as though the writers knew they were leading up to something big, which ironically ended up being Tom's final story Logopolis.
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My guess is: John Hurt was the original Doctor - He says "What I did I did without choice. In the name of peace and sanity." - I said that "0 Doctor does SOMETHING bad". I didn't say what, or that it had anything to do with The Last Great Time War. ...I agree with you as far as "0 Doctor blows up the Time Lords and the Daleks." I just don't think it's impossible that the 1st Doctor ran off and disowned his old life on Gallifrey as a consequence of what 0 Doctor did.
He is the one who destroyed the Timelords and the Daleks (or thought he did). Then he regenerated in another form and called himself The Doctor, and dedicated his life to saving worlds instead of destroying them. Just MHO (but I bet I'm right). ...
If your idea of John being The Doctor before he became "The Doctor." were true, it'd require a humongous rewrite of at least the first two stories of the show, if not the entire first "season."
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Not really. All it requires is that you look at the 1st Doctor in a different light. 0 Doctor did something very bad, regenerated, realized what he had done, and then ran off and took his granddaughter with him. His whole sour attitude about getting involved could easily be looked at as a case of him trying to get away from it all and not foul things up like he did before. Then when he finally shapes up, it was simply him deciding to do things right this time.
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Wasn't it mentioned that The Doctor has an ability to purge his own memory when needed? I think this tid-bit was mentioned in relation to the cross-Doctor stories (so when 5 and 6, for example, were together, only 6 would remember it afterwards).
I could see him doing this to himself as a "young" Doctor #1. I think Hurt as Doctor #0 makes a lot of sense.***
I like it!
***In tribute of Donna Noble I'm going to make a Top 10 list of favorite Donna moments and I want you guys to do the same if you want.
ReplyDelete10) S2. Christmas special
Donna first words to the Doctor. "Who are you? Where am I, Where the hell is this place!!"
Doctor: Bhhwwwhatt? :0
9) S4. The Sontaran Stratagem
Donna tells the Doctor that she wants to go home... He reacts all emotional on the edge of tears until she's like: "Oh you dumb prawn, I'm just going on a visit."
8) S4. The Unicorn & The Wasp
"There is a GIANT WASP."
Doctor: "What do you mean giant wasp?"
"I mean a wasp.. that's GIANT, and when I say giant I don't mean big.. I mean flippin ENORMOUS!!"
7) S4. Silence Of The Library
Donna's awesome door kicking skills after the amazing discovery that the sonic scredriver.. doesn't (affect) wood.
6) S4. The Fires Of Pompei
Donna trying to warn everybody to go 'towards the hills' and simply doesn't want these people to die.
5) S4. The Sontaran Stratagem
Donna's first encounter with Martha. I was like: "oh no, here we go again.. another catfight between companions.. give me a break. And what do they do? They start to go and make fun of the Doctor. IN FRONT OF THE DOCTOR! Whahahahaaa!
4) S4. Planet Of The Ood
Donna listening to the Ood song and can't bear it b/c of how sad it is.
3) S4. The Stolen Planet
"Donna, I'm a human being. Maybe not the stuff of legends, but every bit as important as Time Lords; thank you!"
2) S4. Journey's End
The DoctorDonna; from beginning to end.
1) S4. Partners in Crime
Donna and the Doctor have a muted conversation behind 2 glasses. Oh God that was so embarrasing and so completly funny!! XD I can watch that part anywhere, anytime, and I'd still crack up.
So then that's it. I finally did it! I started the series on Jan. 12th with Series 1 and now after so many months I've finnaly made it to Series 4. All I can say is, it was worth every second of my short lived life and it was a huge discovery. I'm now at the unoffical end of the Russel T. Davies era which I enjoyed immensely and I can't wait to take a bite in Moffat's cake after finishing the '09 specials.
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I think you summed up well how ridiculous and over-the-top "Journey's End" was, but somehow it still managed to be fun. (Sort of in a guilty pleasure sort of way)
But Donna...*sobs in corner* Yeah, that was tragic. That makes me bawl every time I watch it.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the specials. I know my own, and I know I've agreed with several of your reviews, so I'll be interested to see if we're still in sync! ;) ***
***(John Hurt was the original Doctor) - You guys are missing the obvious flaw. Doctors 2-7 all went to Galilfrey and met living Time Lords. The Time War occurred between Doctors 8-9. Remember Galilfrey is timelocked so there is no way that Doctor 0 or 1 could have fought in the Time War; otherwise Doctors 2-7 wouldn't be able to go to Galilfrey b/c it was timelocked!***
ReplyDeleteI thought they had incorporated some of the Classic Dalek "run ins" involved in what we now call "The Time War!" Consider The Time Lords sending The Doctor to Skaro to deal with The Daleks before they were actually unleashed on the Universe! We only started referencing "The Time War" as such since the reboot!
***THANK YOU! God, it's remarkable how many people practically went along with the OP's post.
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Why did Time Lords adopt aliases? - From what I understand, most of them don't. It's usually the renegades who take on aliases (the Doctor, the Master, the Rani, the War Chief, etc.). I always liked to think of it as an initiation thing though.
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There's no way of knowing whether those that have name names (Romana, Drax, Bourossa, etc) are using birth names or assumed names. I like the idea that all TImelords chose what they are known by, most choose a name, but some choose a title.***
I thought only Time Lords that went thru an academy of some sort like Vulcans in Star Trek took titles or a new name! There are TL's that live outside, on the surface if you think back to the Classic; "Invasion Of Time!" They more than likely objected to the expected standards like humans sending their kids to college!
***I thought they were Gallifreyans... - Yes. So I would assume that Gallifreyans, ie. not Time Lord Academy grads, have names unlike Time Lords.
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The all powerful Sutekh in "Pyramid Of Mars" would be able to tell if anyone was lying to him, if I remember correctly in one scene Sutekh blasted the Doctor with severe pain when he lied. Also there is other evidence that the Tardis was isomorphic. In the first Jon Pertwee story when the Doctor is in hospital the Brigadier tells him that he tried the key in the Tardis door and it didn't work for him, and the Doctor says, 'Ah, but it only works for me.'
It seems to me that the isomorphism of the Tardis only applies when the scriptwriters want it to which is very frustrating for the viewer!!***
I don't think the Doctor lied about anything! He either didn't give a specific enough answer to Sutekh or withheld info by not answering at all! Rules governing the TARDIS have evolved over the years! When I first started watching, supposedly no weapon could be fired inside, but in "Earthshock," a Cyberman's blaster goes off damaging the console! The same writers and producers can't live forever, but they could at least research some of this stuff so there's some kind of consistency!
***It's possible the Doctor pulled the classic lie-detector trick of pretending he was talking about something that WAS isomorphic, therefore it appears he was telling the truth about the Tardis. It's also possible that, due to the Tardis and the Doctor's spiritual link, he could command it not to let Sutehk control it. And it's also possible that the Tardis would sense that Sutehk/his goons were evil and activate 'isomorphic-mode.' Either way, it seems the Doctor WAS telling the truth.***
***The Chameleon circuit has always (well almost always) been broken. That's why it doesn't change with it's surroundings. I think, however; that a TARDIS has been depicted without the circuit on at all before, but not in the show proper. I could be wrong.***
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I think it was fixed; maybe by Romana! The Doctor just likes the "English Police Box!"
***I hate Sarah Jane Smith? - I guess I don't hate her but I prefer Leela, Romana 2 and Jo***
Ditto! To be a companion, you have to be able to "pay for your keep!" SJ Smith could barely pass the sonic screwdriver! I'd rather have a companion that can do something besides scream and get into trouble! Romana, Adric, Captain Jack, Nyssa, and River Song could fix the TARDIS if needed! Leela, Martha, & JO had skills and could be helpful! You have these others who are just friends, who do nothing but muck it up and almost cause the "end of all time!" They tried to redeem Rose for being such an airhead, but for me it was too late! Selfish little brat is all I can see! Poor Donna was just dumb as a bag of hair! Amy was useless in so many ways! Do I need to go on? You get the idea why SJS isn't highly regarded in my book! If you want to say they gave the Doctor a soul, I'd rather have him as a "cold fish!" Move on and let history take it's course! I didn't appreciate the actions of the Doctor in "Waters Of Mars!" The Captain was a lot more nobel than the Doctor in the end! She stopped him in her own way! He needs to stay a bit alouf!
***What Century was Dalek Clara in? - Do we know? Was her crew on a space mission in the future? I can't remember the exact details of that. Why did they crash?***
"Asylum Of The Daleks" for Clara is like "The Library" for River Song! It was the actual beginning of an arc to explain something after teasing us with, "run you cleaver boy...and remember!"
***It's interesting that you mentioned "The Library" b/c we saw one of Clara's echoes at the Library with Ten, and she was dressed exactly like Oswin. Perhaps that scene was a clue? For reference (if you'll pardon the pun), "The Library had been established as early as the 50th century. In any event, all we know for sure is that "Asylum Of The Daleks" was set in the future at some point after humanity had developed inter-stellar space travel.
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I feel sorry for you people who bitch about the show because... - I love the show as well and even though it has it's faults I always find a lot more things I love about it then I dislike. I think the OP means the people that come on here and find something to complain about after every episode, which I can see their point, but then again I like when certain discussions are brought up. You can learn more about the characters and the stories by discussing it, even by discussing the negatives, so I enjoy that.***
That's why the board exists; to discuss, debate, analyze, and in some cases "kvetch!" If someone thinks this place should only be manned by sycophants, maybe that person should start a fan club page! He can profile, monitor, and punish illicit critique by "less than true believers!"
OMG, Adric was annoying at the end - Why should I cry when he's lost? He was whining, windging, and inquisitive to the last in "EarthShock!" What a pain!
ReplyDelete***You mean there is a time when Adric isn't annoying?***
I guess you're right! It was just a shock to see it up close again! Been a while since I've seen any of Peter Davison's episodes outside "The Five Doctors!" Adric really was too much at times! Even the women weren't as bad; and that's saying something with "nitwits" like Tegan around! I forgot she just took a swipe at the TARDIS controls in "EarthShock" when the Cybermen were trying to destroy the Earth! Talk about mindless and out of control! "Yeah, let me run the ship onto the rocks of space! That'll save the planet!" What a true moron!
***Anyway, thanks guys. I don't remember where I heard Adric wasn't well liked. But yeah, 3 companions at once. And I got to finally see Adric! I feel like he and Wesley Crusher would have been great friends....or mortal enemies.***
OMG, another punk in space; Wesley Crusher! He was just as annoying, but I guess that comes with genius youth; unable to relate to others! In real life he was just as bad, having a very high opinion of himself; mainly his looks! He participated on a celebrity edition of "The Weakest Link" years ago and preceeded to embarrass himself with his huge ego!
***Hey! He just knew geeks were hot and was ahead of his time. I actually follow Wil Wheaton on Twitter and he's really cool.***
Well that makes me feel better! It's just been the small exposure I've had of him have been bad news! He is a cutie still! Saw him on an episode or 2 of "Leverage" last year! Sportin' a beard I could do without, but I guess he's got to cover up those jowls with something! Even though he's quite slim, he has a jaw-line of someone who's 30 pounds overweight! Kinda hard to describe, but it's something I've seen since he was a kid!
***We did so see the Great Intelligence interfere with The Doctor's timeline - Who are the idiots who said we never saw the G.I. interfere with The Doctor's timeline? Such as we never saw him interfering with the 1st Doctor's timeline or any of the other Doctors' timeline, that we only saw Clara there? Well, maybe THEY didn't see it, but we did so see the Great Intelligence interfering with his timeline and the rest of the Doctors' timeline before Clara set it right again. We see The Great Intelligence interfering with The Doctor's timeline right after the part where it's stated "The Doctor is being rewwritten." In those scenes, it is the G.I. you see in all of The Doctors' timeline instead of Clara: including the First Doctor when he steals the Tardis.
Clara put it right again by telling the Doctor "Don't steal that one. Steal this one. The navigation system is a bit knackered, but you're gonna have a lot more fun."***
They need to go back and rehash that episode in the Doctor's life/timeline! I just can't imagine why he would run off as he did in the guise of an old man! Troughton wasn't exactly a kid, but he seemed more adventuresome! If they explain it related to Susan I can accept that readily!
***WHY ARE THE DALEKS IN SO MANY EPISODES OF DOCTOR WHO?? I'm up to season 4, episode 13, "The Stolen Earth" and the Daleks have once again shown up to "EXTERMINAAATE!!" humans. I am so effin' tired of this species. Every time they show up in an episode, I roll my eyes because I know it's gonna be a tough one to get through. I can't stand listening to their annoying voices. Is there anyone else who feels this way?
ReplyDelete---
They definitely did not need 2 parters for most of them. I think the one that really pushed me over the edge was "The Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks". I hate those episodes. The thing is, the Daleks can be interesting/menacing when used right, but they were definitely overused, which lessened their impact. Since series 5 started, they've only been the main villain in two episodes. They had a minor part in others. I don't mind them anymore.***
I didn't think about it, but in relation to the Classic, Daleks were saved for special events and times! It's almost become a crutch since the reboot! Two or more storylines in NY alone; makes no sense really! It's getting to be like The Master back in series 18 of the Classic! He would show up and be behind almost every plot; even if another species was involved like "The Sea Devils!"
***I think you're right about the Daleks being a crutch. They're a villain the show can fill up 1-2 episodes with every season.
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When will Matt leave? - Personally I think he will leave at the end of 2014, probably the '14 Christmas special will be his last story. I think we will get an announcement about his wishing to leave in late 2013 which will give them a fair bit of time to find a replacement.***
They better also get on the ball with how they'll explain more regenerations than the normal allotment! The number will have to be jacked up sooner or later! Hopefully they won't just blow it off and give him unlimited lives in the future due to his being the last Gallifreyan "Time Lord!" I'm not counting another makeshift storyline bringing back Rassilon, Omega, or The Master!
***There is no limit. They revoked it years ago.***
I wasn't sure! By revoke, I would associate that with 10 refusing to regenerate in "Journey's End," expelling the energy into his cloned hand! Then of course 11 was given the longest 5 min. in history before River gave him back that life using up all her regenerations!
***Prepare to get disappointed cause they'll just make up some timey-wimey stuff as needed. Frankly i couldn't care less if the Doctor gets 100 or 1000 regenerations as long as the show is enjoyable.***
Well that's why devotees hate re-boots! They tend to come back getting away from the rules, laws, promises, and commitments of the original when reproduced in a second incarnation! Having limited regenerations was a very basic Time Lord law/rule!
***How does the Doctor crossing his own timeline allow a previous incarnation return? Sure, it means that the 11th Doctor can go and hang out with the 10th, but that doesn't work when the 11th is gone. Then it's just us as the viewers who are going back into the Doctor's timeline, not the Doctor himself, and that's just not going to happen. It doesn't make sense to have a whole season, let alone multiple seasons, basically being a long flashback. Despite all the time travel in DW, the one thing that is constant is that we always move forward in the Doctor's life, not backwards. Even multi-Doctor stories obey this rule, as they are told from the perspective of the newest incarnation.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you're mistaken that the next Doctor would have to be the last, even if the rule of 12 regenerations is applied. Since we are now at number 11, the Doctor has regenerated only 10 times (the first incarnation being how he was born), and so there would be 2 more regenerations to go (but as others have noted, it would be silly of the BBC to let the show end just b/c of something that was said in an episode several decades ago - there are plenty of ways around it).***
So we're back to a consensus that regenerations are limited? Wow, I appreciate that! Last week I was beat about the "head and shoulders" for perpetuating "that device" from Classic Who; according to some! Supposedly it was the thinking that you can just simply overlook 50 years of scripts and dialogue saying the same thing! It was narrowed down to 43 when supposedly it was mentioned for the 1st time! Like a moron, I gave my theory on ways to get past this quandry when new actors are needed in the future, it was poo-poo'd; got more regenerations through River's gift in "Let's Kill Hitler" or the rules were abolished upon him being one of the last Time Lords!
***Fiero425, I have always agreed with you that it can't simply be overlooked. Too much of the canon of the old series depends on it. - Sweiland's pretty much the only one I saw whining about it not existing...***
I must be the coldest fish out here! It just never affected me like that! I accepted Davison as the first successor of the mantle that I watched back in the 80's! We didn't have the internet or other social media to let us know it was coming! I was saying to myself it was time for Baker to be replaced on my own! He was looking a bit haggard and uninterested IMO! Even though Tom is my all time fave with the best "stand alone" episodes ever, I welcomed Davison and embraced his portrayal! It was still the same show with the same companions! I didn't flinch and expected future changes so it was never a big deal!
***I'm sure whoever is picked as 12, fans will find some excuse to complain - Sadly, you're completely right. People will always complain.***
It's in our nature! We just can't help ourselves! AS for the Doctor being younger; what do you want, teenage angst and "mean girl" action? I'm sorta apalled by classic cartoons, serial tv, and movies going younger for that demographic! Pretty soon Batman will be jumping out of his crib upon seeing the Bat-Signal to fight crime!
***Smith was the youngest and he did alright.***
I had no problem with Smith! Just joked about how "entertainment" industry pandering to a younger demographic; esp. the "super heroes!" Last I surfed by, X-Men were X-Kids; stupid and Spiderman had to of been in grammar school! lol!
***The 1996 Movie - I just finished watching it and I loved it, with its flaws and all. I thought Grace was a good companion. Too bad we only had 8th and Grace for this one eppy (movie)...
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I thought McGann was very good, brimming with potential in the role, not something I can say about most other things I've seen him in, but as The Doctor he snapped immediately into place.***
This might have been a great movie but for the "camp" performance of Eric Roberts as "The Master!" I wasn't amused by those lines delivered at such a serious time; "dress for the occasion" among others!
***The master was crap...and I can never forgive the "cloaking device" line, but the movie is worth it as it enshrined in canon the Doctor's human ancestry.
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How many of you had even heard of Matt Smith before he as cast? - ...Neither of them. Although with Tennant I put that down to my own ignorance, as he'd been in a lot more than Smith had.***
I was surprised how long Smith's filmography was and started seeing him more after I had seen his name in print; played a gay character or 2, then in "Womb!" Tennent is still anonymous to me outside of DW!
***I knew of Eccleston due to clips of him here and there, though I think I finally saw "28 Days Later" shortly after. Even though I didn't watch it, I knew Tennant was in Cassanova, and then before I knew he was the new Doctor. I saw him in the brilliant and creepy "Secret smile." He also was in the 4th "Harry Potter" movie around the same time.***
I'm sure I've seen Eccleston a few times, but can only remember him in one of the 'Elizabeth' movies! I hear about upcoming projects, but haven't gone out of my way to see the Doctor in another role! It wasn't going on much back in the day even though I knew Baker was in many bad movies out there!
***Why are so many people overthinking it!? (Hurt Doc) - I think he is the original. The Timelord who took the name of the Doctor, but before Hartnell. And whatever the original has done, all of the Doctors have been trying to right the wrongs since then.
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I've entertained other theories on here about John Hurt's Doctor, but yeah I'll admit, thats the most logical one I'll go with as well. As that move wouldn't mess up the numbers of the other Doctors from 1 to 11 and thus eradicate the whole 8.5 business or replaced the 9th Doctor with Hurt's and say he did the dirty deed at the end of the convenient; 'exposition claptrap' when the show wasn't on for 9 years ('96-'05) i.e.; The Time War.
Hurt being the previous guy before even Hartnell's First Doctor puts him somewhere the show hasn't gone before, into The Doctor's past itself where we haven't really had the show feature a story about seeing as The Doctor is supposed to be an 'Enigma' as the show's protagonist.
If Hurt's Doctor comes prior to the other 11 incarnations, then this is extremely intriguing as it'll then properly address another chapter of The Doctor's psych that he himself avoids. And perhaps means the 50th will kind of address him directly, i.e. his entire character minus distractions/side stories, ...And some fans will be wondering Moffat stole some ideas or borrowed the whole Cartmel's Masterplan thing for John Hurt's Doctor. If he indeed comes before the 11 Doctors and might be revealed to actually be; "The Other," with a dark twist of Moffat's thrown in there as an added bonus of his own.***