Doctor Who

[Lag]

How about why did time gradually change? Dr. Who seems to do this quite a lot, to be honest - but it's still grating. If time was really starting to change, then why was everyone pretty much exactly where they were beforehand?

Embarassing things you don't know:

At what rate do changes in history propagate through time?

[Meh]

It still made bugger-all sense, no matter which way you spin in - but then the show rarely does. It's never made no sense so boringly as this season, though.

[NEG]

You'd enjoy it a lot more if you just watch for the ride.

[scottcr]

The Crimson Tide is worse than the Wasps and the Unicorn? Or Fear her? Or the Doctors Daughter? Or any other middling to bad RTD ep? Nah, you've all got massive rose tinted specs on. It was an average episode illuminated by a great performance by Diane Rigg, no more, no less.

It's not worse than either of those... the problem is that this whole series has been pretty rubbish so far.

[sweetdaddyg]

It still made bugger-all sense, no matter which way you spin in - but then the show rarely does. It's never made no sense so boringly as this season, though.

I miss the days when I could actually follow what was happening, instead of it trying to be clever for the americans

[kensei]

It's not worse than either of those... the problem is that this whole series has been pretty rubbish so far.

Nah. It's not really been bad, bar the singing one. It's been average to decent, and never really hit the heights. The Ice Warrior was good, but nowhere near as good as say, Dalek, which was thematically similar. Gaiman's was enjoyable but made the Cybermen overpowered and was nowhere near as good as The Doctor's Wife. I liked the finale, especially the references, but its easy to pick holes if you're timey whimeyed out.

Plus people are taking it for granted. SFX suggested more present day stories were needed! After the endless moaning of the RTD era! But the next series will be a different bag. It's who's greatest strength and weakness.

[sweetdaddyg]

One thing I have liked is that they have spent a lot less time on modern day housing estates etc than they did in RTD era

the doctor is actually a wanderer in time and space again....

though they do seem to enjoy sending him back in time rather than out in space...

[Davros sock drawer]

I want to know what Sprite thinks of The Deadly Assassin! I watched it again at the weekend and I'm intrigued as to what he'll make of it.

[Sprite Machine]

I want to know what Sprite thinks of The Deadly Assassin! I watched it again at the weekend and I'm intrigued as to what he'll make of it.

It's ace!

The Deadly Assassin

(Blog has pictures)

I've been waiting for a story to explore the homeworld of the Time Lords, and finally here it is. Having received a call to return to Gallifrey, the Doctor has a premonition of the Time Lord president being assassinated, and tries to stop it, only to get caught up in the very plot itself.

[Picture: Part 1 ends with the impression that the Doctor is the killer. Quite effective!]

This is a really well-written and well-envisioned story, and very different in style from the usual. It's quite dark, dealing with themes of murder, survival, conspiracy and politics, and none of the four episodes feels wasted on anything frivolous. In fact, in a stark change of pace, episode 3 is a lone fight for survival as the Doctor tries to uncover the identity of the real killer inside a harsh virtual computer environment. It manages to show that Doctor Who can work without a companion narrating on events - it's twenty minutes of an almost wordless cat and mouse game, in which the Doctor uses his many talents to survive and gain the upper hand.

[Picture: A fight for survival inside the computer matrix, which conveniently takes the form of a forest and a quarry.]

It's also the surprising return of the Master, in a more horrific form. We learn that he has used up his twelve regenerations (first mention!) and is hanging onto dear life long enough to set up this assassination plot, with the intent of opening up the Eye of Harmony and saving himself, at the cost of destroying the Time Lords' entire world. He's not a charismatic character anymore, that's for sure; he's a grotesque monster, but as cunning and sharp as ever.

[Picture: The monstrous Master attempts to draw power from the Eye of Harmony.]

I do enjoy a bit of universe-building, and this serial is replete with information on the Time Lords' history and culture. We also see just how different the Doctor is from his fellow brethren, rejecting formalities and continuing his juvenile tone. There are a couple of things I can take from this story: firstly, the Time Lords' legal system is embarrassingly open to abuse; and secondly, the Doctor is not averse to killing when necessary. He does, after all, attempt to shoot the actual assassin at the ceremony (instead of getting the president away), and he fights Chancellor Goth to the death inside the computer matrix.

[Picture: The Doctor blends in and mingles with the crowd.]

This is a real high point for Doctor Who, building up its lore while telling a compelling story, full of horror, intrigue and action. While I do wish the budget could have accommodated a larger scope (even just a matte painting of the capital city would have sufficed!), that's something I can live without in this case. As for the Master, I was not surprised to see that he survives and escapes in his Tardis (shaped like a grandfather clock) at the end of the story, so no doubt he'll return again soon.

[sweetdaddyg]

deadly assassin is probably my fave doctor who story ever

[Davros sock drawer]

That's very interesting, in that it seems to retain its impact on new viewers.

My earliest memory of the story is of course the Target book, and more specifically that the cover used to give me nightmares. I had to leave it face down!

I mean, if it wasn't scary enough they've added dripping blood! It's like one of those 70's horror compendiums or something!

Anyway, I didn't get to see the story itself until I got it on VHS in the mid 90's. Second one I bought actually, after the thoroughly disappointing Revenge of the Cybermen. Anyway, my feelings on first viewing were much the same as yours, I loved it. It must have been quite daring at the time, and of course this is the story that Mary Whitehouse famously went loco for, citing the drowning cliffhanger of episode 3 in particular. Watch from 1:04:00 onwards, although the whole thing is a good watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVdNLeImKg

"I can see it still, in my mind's eye..."

Poor old flower. It is pretty visceral though, but that's no bad thing. A bit more of that kind of jeopardy in the current series would be no bad thing either.

Now when I watch it I'm a bit less forgiving of some of the production elements. I understand why the Master is all emaciated and burnt looking, but why is his cloak like that too? Give 'im a new cloak Goth, first job! The Matrix sequence is great of course, but the imagery is inexplicably Earth-centric, which makes me think that the BBC had a cheap deal on some WW1 props and a plane on mate's rates (or the footage I guess). I don't like that silly TV presenter much either, but he gets stabbed, so that's ok.

But as a story, for the first time, it clearly still works really well. Three excellent cliffhangers, and a plot full of intrigue and twists.

More classics coming up Sprite, including two stories which are on rotation for my favourite of all time, depending on what mood I'm in.

[sweetdaddyg]

I still have that target book!

[davidcotton]

For those curious about the audios by Big Finish they have put up a free 30 minute story for download. Starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and called "Urgent Calls".

https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/doctor-who-urgent-calls

Cheers

[Davros sock drawer]

I forgot to say, I finally listened to the rest of Spare Parts. It was pretty good, far better than any Cyberman story in the new series (well, and anything since Tomb really), but not as good as they hype led me believe. Some proper cheesy acting from the down t'pit family.

[sweetdaddyg]

I have listened to nearly all the big finish stuff. They are all of a great quality (especially 8th's stuff) and are well worth a listen. The new 4th Doctor stuff they are doing with Tom is fantastic.

[Sprite Machine]

The Face of Evil

(Blog has pictures)

I do love a good mystery, and The Face of Evil has an intriguing premise which kept me hooked for at least three of its four parts. A savage warrior tribe possesses space equipment, the Doctor's face is etched into a mountain, and everyone seems to think he's "the evil one"... what could it possibly all mean?

[Picture: Who exactly carved that massive face up there, anyway?]

The Sevateem's familiar hand gestures, and the revelation that they are descendants of a survey team, were really clever, I thought. Less so the revelation that the Doctor had been involved before but forgotten about it. Seeing as they knew his current face, it couldn't have been that long ago. Some adventure he had "between episodes", then? It's a little contrived.

[Picture: The Doctor confronts Xoanon. "Who am I? Who am I? WHO AM I?"]

I did enjoy this but, by the final part, I was starting to lose interest a bit. The savages / holy guards dichotomy is nothing new and a bit overdone, and the idea that Xoanon could control people's minds came across too convenient to me, with not much of chance to reflect on some of the deeper ideas like using conflict to breed superior humans. There's a lot of cool sci-fi ideas in this, even if they're nothing new - a computer gaining sentience and questioning its own existence is always pretty fascinating, and I really enjoyed the mystery and build-up to it. I liked that the spaceship had become a kind of temple, with the themes of science and religion woven throughout. The invisible creatures in the forest are also well done, another part of the mystery.

[Picture: "You'll have to repeat that, Leela; I was too busy looking at your legs."]

This story also sees the introduction of Leela, a doubter of the teachings of Xoanon, who helps the Doctor to defeat him and leaves with him in the Tardis at the end. It would be easy to accuse Leela of being nothing but eye-candy in a skimpy tribal outfit, but in this story she is strong, self-sufficient and surprisingly intelligent for someone who has grown up in a primitive society. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to the wonders of the universe, or even the modern day, in upcoming adventures.

[Davros sock drawer]

Leela is a great companion, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I've only seen The Face of Evil once, and I really enjoyed it. This review covers some of the good elements I think:

http://www.shadowlocked.com/20101013728/reviews/doctor-who-complete-reviews-the-face-of-evil.html

Yet more great lines from The Doctor, especially the memorable scene in which he threatens to kill someone with a 'deadly jelly baby'. And I love the response - 'it's true then! They say the evil one eats babies!'

As for when this all got set up, the Target Novel postulates that the Doctor visited during one of the times he popped into the Tardis to change costumes at the beginning of Robot. The idea being that he was still confused, post-regeneration. A nice idea, but not one I buy. I think you just have to suspend your disbelief.

[Sprite Machine]

I forgot that line about the jellybaby. That was brilliant. I meant to make a note of it at the time, ah well. Memory fails me sometimes.

[Davros sock drawer]

Tom Baker's idea apparently. He used to have a lot of those, and they went down less well with the production team as time went on...

[Gregory Wolfe]

Leela is a great companion, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I've only seen The Face of Evil once, and I really enjoyed it. This review covers some of the good elements I think:

http://www.shadowlocked.com/20101013728/reviews/doctor-who-complete-reviews-the-face-of-evil.html

Yet more great lines from The Doctor, especially the memorable scene in which he threatens to kill someone with a 'deadly jelly baby'. And I love the response - 'it's true then! They say the evil one eats babies!'

As for when this all got set up, the Target Novel postulates that the Doctor visited during one of the times he popped into the Tardis to change costumes at the beginning of Robot. The idea being that he was still confused, post-regeneration. A nice idea, but not one I buy. I think you just have to suspend your disbelief.

I'm not very good at this but couldn't it have been a future fourth Doctor that visited the planet at a slightly earlier point in its history?

[Davros sock drawer]

Erm, then wouldn't the future 4th Doctor remember the events of The Face of Evil and not do what he did?

[sweetdaddyg]

I loved how the target novels always added a little bit of extra story to correct the plotholes...

[Made of Ghosts]

Shit like this keeps coming up on my news feed.

Cue loads of comments about "feels". God, I really hate the Who fandom sometimes.

[Lorfarius]

Its like they stare at a shit sandwich for several hours and decide its turkey.

[Davros sock drawer]

BOAK!

[Gorf King]

[Harsin]

"Tom's putting it in now."

[Sprite Machine]

The Robots of Death

(Blog has pictures)

Fear, Assassin, Evil, Death - there's certainly a dark thread running through the titles in this season!

A writer of crime drama and science fiction, Chris Boucher returns to write another Doctor Who story, successfully merging the two genres into one. This is a Whodunit (hehe, "Who", geddit?) with robots, a crew of rich miners, set aboard a massive land vehicle drilling machine. In short, I loved it.

[Picture: The enormous 'sandminer' is a great concept, and suits a murder story nicely.]

The robots in question are scarcely more than men in foil suits, but their blank masked faces and calm, soothing voices make them frightening killers, particularly in a society that deems the very notion of violent robots to be impossible. There's a great explanation of "robophobia", which is where a lack of body language is at odds with the humanoid appearance, leading to paranoia and anxiety in some people, including one of the poor characters here.

[Picture: A surprisingly likeable cast of characters.]

You've got to have likeable, or at least identifiable, characters when you make a murder mystery story, and The Robots of Death manages to achieve this where embarrassingly modern blockbusters like Prometheus fall flat on their face. Despite being a bunch of slightly snobby wealthy people, they have unique traits, natural dialogue and come across likeable and sympathetic. Meanwhile, new companion Leela is headstrong and feisty - I like her.

[Picture: Accused of murder, the Doctor and Leela are restrained.]

As well as a riveting mystery, this also has rather excellent production values. The use of miniatures is sadly unconvincing but is at least ambitious, and the sets are better than most so far. One minor complaint is the use of shiny metal materials - they do not react well on video. There's regular splotches of colour as they reflect the studio lights. Another minor complaint is that the Doctor yet again arrives somewhere just as danger is happening, and gets accused of causing it, but they actually make a joke about it, which is self-referential enough to get a free pass.

[Picture: A robot attacks another, thinking it's the Doctor.]

Speaking of humour, there's an amusing scene in the Tardis at the start in which the Doctor explains how it can be bigger inside, using a big cube and small cube, which is basically the opposite of that scene from Father Ted with the cows. The Doctor is pretty great in this one, calmly smiling at death with a wit and charm that I can't see any of the other Doctors managing to pull off. All of this despite a rather violent tone, plenty of stranglings and robots with creepy red eyes calmly announcing they're about to kill, kill, kill. Amusingly, the mastermind is defeated by helium - brilliant!

Lovely stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Davros sock drawer]

Depending on my mood, Robots of Death is my favourite Who story. It's just so satisfying to watch, the design, characters, and plot all come together perfectly. It's paced really well, and although you can tell who the villain of the piece is, it's no less satisfying a reveal when you see Dask in his full Robot make up.

Great lines again as well:

"You know - you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain"

"Please do no throw hands at me"

And the weird exchange:

"I heard a cry"

"That was me"

"I heard a cry"

"That was ME!"

Leela is great isn't she. The Eliza Doolittle savage routine could have been handled very badly, and indeed she isn't always served well, but generally she brings a lot to the show, and provides a reason for some good moral messages without actually moralizing.

And yes, a crew that is much more memorable than the nobodies in Prometheus. I especially love Commander Uvanov, but they're all good except possibly Zilda, who apparently didn't do crying at drama school.

So glad you're enjoying my favourite era of Who. How do you feel about the show in general at the moment, watching these episodes when it was at the height of its fame, popularity, and quality? It must feel worlds apart from trudging through interminable Pertwee 7 parters and endless B&W historicals!

[Sprite Machine]

So glad you're enjoying my favourite era of Who. How do you feel about the show in general at the moment, watching these episodes when it was at the height of its fame, popularity, and quality? It must feel worlds apart from trudging through interminable Pertwee 7 parters and endless B&W historicals!

Oh god yes, it's like a different show entirely.

I love the mix of darkness and humour that it mixes up lately. It's also a lot more consistent than earlier seasons, which would vary greatly from one to the next.

It's still very dated in places, and often looks a bit cheap (the 'video' look), but when it plays to its strengths, with humour, charm and big ideas, it's an enjoyable show.