Doctor Who

[Cosmic_Guru]

Cheers, that didn't show up when I searched the site yesterday.

[Sprite Machine]

The Sea Devils

(Blog has pictures)

The Silurians were not the only race of subterranean reptiles hibernating underground – a similar species, living in a fault line under the ocean, have now awoken, and are once again a bit annoyed that apes are running the planet, and want it back.

[Picture: A chilling image, creatures emerging from the sea.]

The "sea devils" are not very interesting creatures, really just a similar take on the Silurians, except they can swim and they have (admittedly pretty cool) heat guns. The plot takes too long to get anywhere interesting, and even the reappearance of the Master does little to help. If anything, the prison escape parts of the story slow everything down; and, if I'm being picky, the Master's motives for his involvement are paper-thin at best.

That said, I liked the fact that the Doctor and the Master have a sword fight and chase each other in jet skis, and that he pulls his rubber mask trick at the end and escapes again. He's such a devious cad! There's also lots of footage of boats and explosions, and apparently the Royal Navy was involved in its production in some way, which shows.

[Picture: The obligatory "annoying authority figure" forces the naval base to launch an attack.]

But, alas, this was all very slow and boring. It was too long and the drama regularly fell flat. In addition, I must mention the music. I can accept "synthy" as a style, but this has some of the worst music I have ever heard in a television show – often so bad that it blurs the line between music and sound effects, regularly distracting me from what's actually happening, stylistically ill-fitting with the modern day setting and tone. Did somebody give the BBC sound engineer a keyboard and say "go nuts"? Because that's what it sounds like. Zzzzappp!! Brrrpp!!! CHNGGG!!!! The whole way through. Maddening.

[Picture: A peculiar moment in which the Master watches an episode of The Clangers in his prison cell.]

I've noticed some sexist attitudes lately, particularly apparent towards Jo. Although she rescues people in this story (including the Doctor), she's treated like a child (literally called one at one point) and the Doctor continues to do that patronising thing where he holds her chin and tells her to run along or whatever.

Nothing else about this was memorable, except for an historic moment, as the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver for something other than removing screws! It's apparently able to detect mines, and explode them, and later able to burn open a locked door. How handy!

[linkster]

Heh, we were talking about the music earlier but it was spoilered. Yeah it really grates but I guess the tech was in its infancy

[Davros sock drawer]

Yes, sadly The Sea Devils is another "classic" that doesn't live up to its reputation.

I've just finished watching the story you've got up next, The Mutants. Starts well but then...

[HarMGM]

Has anyone else seen this fantastic little comic? Just saw it up on Gaf.

[Gregory Wolfe]

Heh, we were talking about the music earlier but it was spoilered. Yeah it really grates but I guess the tech was in its infancy

I do agree that the line between music and sound effects becomes blurred and that the music in that story isn't necessarily an easy fit but I was happy when I found that youtube music video of the ep, which I spoilered, and I do feel it perhaps works better as ambient background music. I do think it is a thing of wonder though.

http://youtu.be/x3c7GT63SxU

[Hexx]

New Trailer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016dy23

[cassidy]

Looking great. Come on March 30th

[JohnC]

Movie style posters for the next 4 episodes

The Doctor and Clara investigate a threat lurking in the Wi-Fi networks of contemporary London.

The Doctor takes Clara to the rings of far-away planet Akhaten for its Festival of Offerings. However, something evil is stirring in the pyramids.

The Doctor and Clara travel to 1983 in order to tackle an alien on the loose inside a damaged Russian submarine.

'Hide' features the duo at the desolate Caliburn House - a haunted mansion on the moors - as they join forces with a professor and a psychic searching for the Witch of the Well.

[Davros sock drawer]

The last one sounds ok.

I dunno though, my interest in New Who is at an all-time low. Don't like the new assistant so far.

[AK Bell]

Movie style posters for the next 4 episodes

I thought that was Amy when I first glanced at it

[Cthulhu Steev]

Those posters are awful. The Rings of Akhaten one looks like a sub-par Drew Struzan knock-off. It even has a really badly drawn Chewbacca on the right hand side.

[HarMGM]

What's keeping my interest is the fact Neil Cross, of Luther fame, has written two episodes. Rings and Hide are both his I believe.

[Sprite Machine]

The Mutants

(Blog has pictures)

Watching all of these Doctor Who stories, I start noticing recurring themes and ideas. 'The Mutants' takes sci-fi elements like the oppression of alien natives who turn out to be more than they seem ('The Savages'), a dystopian future where Earth is overrun and polluted ('Colony in Space') and good old-fashioned corrupted officials hankering for power (half of all Patrick Troughton's episodes ever). It's also full of ideas that I've seen in countless episodes of Star Trek, and yet it's no less compelling for being slightly overdone.

[Picture: The Solonians adapt to their five century long seasons by mutating into a new form. The lesson to take home is: monsters aren't necessarily monsters.]

While the drama does make the usual concessions for cliffhangers and reversals, there are enough mysteries to keep the plot interesting over six parts. Firstly, the contents of the box, then the identity of the spaceman, the secret of the 'magic cave' (what is this, Lost?), the arrival of the Investigator, and the reveal of the mutants' true form. It's a good story and it's quite well plotted. I was engaged throughout.

[Picture: The Time Lords give the Doctor a package to deliver to the natives. Apparently, they DO care what happens in the universe. Maybe they just don't want to be seen taking sides.]

I like the ones set in space, as it allows for more "out there" concepts like this, while also keeping the action locked into one location. Generally, I find space-based shows more appealing; I like all the miniatures they use, and the special effects seem to get more ambitious year on year. If the show was still struggling with budget cuts, this particular serial does not give that impression. It's relatively lavish and unique-looking in terms of effects, costumes, models and sets. It's aged more gracefully than most I've watched so far, anyway.

[Picture: Mad with power, the Marshal arranges to have Geoffrey Palmer assassinated.]

Additionally, the Doctor is more sympathetic than his usual grumpy self, Jo continues to add very little, but the two uncharacteristically intelligent security guards make a refreshing change from the usual drones and add some extra character. I suppose the only thing I miss in these outer space serials is the Brigadier and his witty banter with the Doctor. I guess that just reinforces that the show needs a better (or another) companion, as soon as possible. Otherwise, this was perfectly fine, one of the better stories of the Pertwee era so far.

[Davros sock drawer]

Ha! Just goes to show doesn't it? I thought this one would bore you senseless. It starts well, and I enjoyed some of the aspects you cite (the central concept of the mutation cycle/seasons is great), but I thought most of the execution was risible, and it dragged interminably. On top of that the guy playing Cotton the security guard simply cannot act. At all. It's embarrassing.

But if you liked this, you're going to love some of the space-based stories you've got coming up.

[Comrade]

Saturday's Pointless Celebrities is a Who special, though Sylvester McCoy is the only actual Who on it.

[Sidewaysbob]

Here's a quick one ... My son wants to read some sci fi and him being 8 means no swearing and no 1000 page epic. So I though Dr Who would be a good start. Where would you recommend he start ? easy, not too long and no zoombies or gruesume death scenes a must.

Cheers.

[linkster]

Classic Target novels would fit the bill nicely. Pick them up for peanuts on eBay or Amazon

[Sprite Machine]

The Time Monster

(Blog has pictures)

The Master returns again! Isn't he tired of Earth yet? Posing as a professor in the field of temporal science, he develops a machine that can peer through the gaps in time itself, and summon the ancient god Kronos to help him conquer the universe. Ambitious chap, isn't he?

[Picture: The Doctor and UNIT watch as one of the scientists is ravaged by accelerated time.]

This one definitely teeters on the edge of hokiness, but unlike 'The Dæmons', it manages to go full circle into insane brilliance. There's a lot to be said about a story that simultaneously deals with time travel, flying gods, Atlantis, a minotaur, and a man who turns into a baby. Frankly, I'm not sure how that could be anything other than brilliant.

[Picture: All hail Lord Master of Atlantis!]

What also helps is the characters. The Brigadier is back, and is fantastic at playing the role of bemused outsider. The Master is back, and is he's completely fruit-loopy, charismatically evil and his exchanges with the Doctor are some of the best so far. There's a sequence where the Doctor tries to follow the Master's Tardis to Atlantis and not only manages to land his Tardis inside the Master's, but simultaneously lands the Master's Tardis inside his, leading to the one of the most bizarrely brilliant sequences I've seen in Doctor Who, new or old.

[Picture: The Tardis inside the Tardis inside the Tardis inside the Tardis inside the.... Also of note, the interior of both has been "redecorated". Did the Doctor and the Master share an IKEA catalogue?]

There's also a quiet moment where the Doctor talks to Jo about when he was a little boy and talked to an old mentor about seeing the vibrancy of life in everything around him, in which he actually SMILES! It's uncharacteristically touching and shows a side of the Doctor that isn't always complaining about things and being a grump. An earlier scene in the Tardis where the Doctor's subconscious thoughts are floating around like whispers is also well done. Actual character moments – how about that? Get this writer a job.

[Picture: The mighty Kronos, devourer of time and space, is sensibly obscured by blurriness most of the time.]

There is of course some dated cheesiness: the Kronos creature does not look like an all-powerful consumer of spacetime, and instead looks like a man in a paper suit hanging from some wires. It supposedly destroys Atlantis at the end of the story, but then turns out not to be a monster at all and rescues the Doctor and the Master from oblivion. No mention is made of the Doctor's previous visit to Atlantis in the future ('The Underwater Menace').

[Picture: The prop-maker MUST have been having a laugh with this "time scanner".]

Jo is a little more involved in the action this time, but I still find her acting to be awful. It's a shame, but the rest of the cast makes up for it, and the plot is just the right mix of loose science, history, and megalomaniacal villainy that Doctor Who should aim for more often. It wasn't perfect but it turned out much better than I expected it to.

[Fireproofradiator]

This one sounds really good Sprite Machine! I think I might have a go on it.

[Sprite Machine]

Yes, it's a bit weird at first but it really picks up.

[Davros sock drawer]

TOMTIT! Surely they must have known?

I watched The Time Monster last year, and whilst I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as you did, I seem to remember that it was better than its reputation suggests.

The nice moment with Pertwee ("The daisiest daisy" etc) is oft cited as a fan favourite.

As for Jo, I'm afraid you'll just have to grin and bear her, but she is followed by one of the most popular companions in the show's history (so popular she came back in New Who), so you'll be rewarded for your patience.

Edit: Oh, and it's on iTunes in case anyone wants to watch it conveniently on the iDevice of their choosing.

[linkster]

Bastard, that's me £4.99 poorer

[linkster]

Here's a quick one ... My son wants to read some sci fi and him being 8 means no swearing and no 1000 page epic. So I though Dr Who would be a good start. Where would you recommend he start ? easy, not too long and no zoombies or gruesume death scenes a must.

Cheers.

I just realised I have a couple of duplicates I can send you for free to get him started

[Sidewaysbob]

That s brilliant cheers i'll PM you my detail

[Davros sock drawer]

Those covers are just an instant nostalgia hit for me, I could look at them all day. Davros's Madelines.

[El Pibe]

So true. The covers are just fantastic. Really reminds me of working my way through all the hardback Whos in the local library when I was a nipper.

A bag of pineapple chunks and hardback Who

[linkster]

Didnt realise we had another one

(I favoured fudge...)

[Davros sock drawer]

I really want some hardback copies, but they don't come up very often.

[rumblecat]

The Horror of Fang Rock was a fantastic book, I got properly obsessed with it as a kid, I think half my English class creative writing stories at the time were terrible rip-offs of it. I suppose because episodes rarely got repeated, the books ended up being more important as you could go back time and time again.