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FishyFish

By FishyFish
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The Boatman

The Boatman

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I'm pretty sure from what I've heard it's NOT a hoax. The previously missing stories Marco Polo, Enemy of the World, and Web of Fear have already been returned to the BBC, and negotiations are underway for the financial recompense of the guy whose company has found the other episodes, as well as a HUGE load of other non-Who stuff.

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CarloOos

CarloOos

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This would genuinely be the biggest fucking megaton to hit this show since the original regeneration - if it turned out to be true.

It would also mean Sprite has to restart his marathon. That's right, Sprite: MOAR HARTNELL.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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It seems awfully unlikely to me. I'm not well versed in the BBC's policies, but haven't they been looking for missing films for decades? Somebody with a big stash like this would surely be aware that someone out there was looking for it! And only now being revealed, in the show's 50th anniversary year...? Nah, I don't buy it. Too convenient.

It would also mean Sprite has to restart his marathon. That's right, Sprite: MOAR HARTNELL.

OH GOD NO!

Nah, I would be chuffed to watch some of them properly (ie. not just images and audio), as I'm sure loads of people would, but as far as my curiosity of the show is concerned, it has been well satisfied by the existing restorations.

MOAR TROUGHTON, though? Yeah, I'd go for that. Even if it's just Power of the Daleks part 1 on its own. It'd have to wait 'til I've finished the rest of them, though; I ain't starting over. :lol:

Edited by Sprite Machine
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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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The Invasion of Time

(Blog has pictures)

The Invasion of Time picks up where 'The Deadly Assassin' left off, with the Doctor exploiting Gallifrey's ridiculous legal system again, this time to become President of the Time Lords. Why would he want to do that? Well, that's where the mystery lies.

[Picture: I'm still not entirely sure what the Doctor's plan entailed. Keep the invaders out by letting them in?]

It's clear from the start that the Doctor is not behaving his usual self. This is the most crazed, absent-minded and bizarre he has ever been portrayed. Tom Baker's ability to perform a masterful display of confusion, anger and misdirection is used by the writers here as an important plot point, since he must shield his true intentions from the invading Vardans. He does it brilliantly.

[Picture: The Doctor offers the Vardans a jellybaby.]

Sadly, the Vardans are not well developed villains. Aside from learning they can transmit themselves across energy waves and read minds (while appearing as shimmery tinfoil apparitions), it is later revealed that they are in fact human (what?). Once defeated, it's as if the story ends and a new one begins, as they were actually being used by the Sontarans. It's a tacked on ending, culminating in a chase through the corridors of the Tardis, which look like an old school or a warehouse and not in the least bit alien.

[Picture: Sontarans are all supposed to be identical clones. That doesn't work out so well.]

The writing is witty, with plenty of funny lines from the Doctor and others, but it can be a bit too light-hearted for the situation. While the mystery lasts, the early parts of the story are quite good. I always enjoy some universe-building in sci-fi, and seeing the capital city of the Time Lords is a pleasure. We even see the wastelands arounds the city this time (albeit this is just some plains filmed through a red filter), and meet the Doctor's old mentor, Borusa. For a season finale, it's a suitably "big" storyline. What could be bigger than the Time Lords' own planet threatened? But sadly it's not very well thought out and doesn't end well. Stor, the Sontaran captain, threatens to destroy the entire galaxy with a grenade he's holding. Just think about that for a second: the entire GALAXY? Did someone tell the writer "quick, make up the biggest threat you can think of for the ending, don't worry if it doesn't make sense!".

[Picture: Completely out of the blue, Leela remains behind with Andred. I will miss her.]

Finally, another sad note is the departure of Leela. I actually saw this coming, but I had expected her to remain in the wastelands and help the savages outside. Instead, these are quickly forgotten about and instead she falls in love with Andred the guard and stays behind with him. So stupid, and what a waste of a meaningful exit. She also keeps K-9 with her, which might actually mean something, except the Doctor leaves with a box with the words "K-9 Mk.II" written on it. Oh dear.

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Davros sock drawer

Davros sock drawer

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The Invasion of Time is a total stinker IMO, but there were mitigating circumstances. The Discontinuity Guide calls it "A Work of Desperation" because it was a last minute replacement script, written in two weeks. It shows I think.

Leela's exit is terribly disappointing. Apparently Louise Jameson wanted her character to be killed off, but instead she marries some bloke she's barely spoken to. Crap.

The chase through the Tardis is execrable, as is the Cockney Sontaran, Stor. Quite how they managed to make them so shit when a mere 3 seasons ago Styre was so good is beyond me.

The light-hearted tone continues from hereon in I'm afraid. That said, the next season is interesting, and does have a couple of really good stories. Also the writing debut for the show of one Douglas Adams...

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WibbleWorldGiddy

WibbleWorldGiddy

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The http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-06-19/are-there-90-newly-found-doctor-who-episodes-from-the-1960s---or-not'>Radio Times talks to the BBC about the missing episodes.

Edit: Just noticed that TIE Archives Ltd have also issued a https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=458004937627209&id=195920240502348'>statement:

T.I.E.A DOES NOT HOLD ANY MISSING EPISODES OF THE LONG RUNNING DR WHO SERIES. THE ORIGINAL VIDEO TAPES WERE WIPED SUBSEQUENT FILM COPIES WERE EITHER RETURNED TO THE BBC AND SENT TO LANDFILL ODD FRAGMENTS HAVE SURFACED TWO EPISODES ON 16MM FILM BUT THATS IT. THE PROGRAMMES IN QUESTION LIKE MANY OTHERS WERE DESTROYED AS THEY HAD NO FURTHER COMMERCIAL VALUE .THEY ARE NOT MISSING BUT DESTROYED THE END.I am sorry if this upsets some people but these are the facts.I have also become aware of the tracking of some of our clients shipments these are local cultural materials sent to us for migration to a modern format as the playback equipment in the country of origin no longer exists and as such is the best road to preserve international cultural heritage .I will be making no more statements on this subject.Philip MORRIS Executive director T.i.e.a

We should start our own rumour: the 106 episodes are held by the BBC and have been released on DVD, but everyone forgets they exist when they stop watching*.

* Yeah. It's a rubbish rumour, I know.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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The Ribos Operation

(Blog has pictures)

By now, Tom Baker's version of the Doctor is so well settled in, I can't really imagine anyone else playing the role. Even the relatively poor stories have moments of humour and wit, or some banter that makes me chuckle. Even so, to stop things becoming stale, season 16 shakes things up a bit. Firstly, there appears to be a season-long arc running through it, as the Doctor is tasked by the White Guardian (who?) with collecting the six pieces of the Key to Time (one per serial over six serials, presumably). While this doesn't really limit the Doctor's adventures, it does focus his motives, which I suppose could be helpful.

[Picture: The White Guardian has lost his keys and wants the Doctor to find them for him. Has he checked behind the sofa?]

Secondly, since Leela left (boo!), the Doctor is assigned new assistant Romana. Unlike previous companions, she is a Time Lord herself (or Time Lady?), so we don't have the grounded frame of reference that we would get from a human character. So far, this hasn't had a negative impact, but I fear Romana's attitude could grow tiresome over time. As with any new character, however, I will give her the benefit of the doubt.

[Picture: The Doctor and Romana infiltrate the treasury on Ribos.]

The story is a bit flabby and threatens to becoming boring, but it's filled with lively characters and amusing accents, so it remains watchable enough. There are some undercooked elements, like the dragon creature or the witch, that add very little. K-9 returns in Mk.II form (identical) and saves the day with his magic laser beam. But it's fine, not bad, not great.

[Picture: Farewell to Garron and Unstoffe. I rather liked this pair of would-be thieves. Most of the extended cast performed well, actually.]

It remains to be seen if the rest of the season can find interesting ways to present the hidden keys of time, and indeed whether anything exciting happens with it at the end. Right now, it does kind of feel like an irrelevant linking device. Previous "cross-serial" stories (see: 'Frontier in Space' / 'Planet of the Daleks') have been disappointing in resolving answers, so I'm hoping for something better. On the other hand, 'The Keys of Marinus' was pretty good, and this is giving similar vibes. Time will tell.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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The Pirate Planet

(Blog has pictures)

Douglas Adams writes this one, and he is a really good fit for the good-humoured sci-fi the show has developed into lately. I definitely see more than a hint of Hitchhiker's "big ideas" in The Pirate Planet. There's the ridiculously advanced technology that allows a hollowed out planet to teleport around the universe, swallow up smaller planets and leech them of minerals, which recalls memories of a certain factory floor. The unmalicious threat to Earth itself is not unlike Vogons blowing it up because it's in the way, and of course the charismatic self-congratulatory Doctor is not far removed from one Betelgeusian president. There's also a chase sequence through an inertia-cancelling corridor that ends in one of the funniest moments I've seen in this show so far.

[Picture: The Captain's base of operations. A godly "palace" atop the mountain, and a good looking model.]

The fact that it does all of this on a 1978 BBC budget is commendable. Douglas Adams paints a picture of a vast universe full of wonder without having to actually show it, which is perfect for Doctor Who. The dialogue offers up a lot of technobabble, and under any other circumstances, it might seem too much, but it really works here, and is frequently funny. The plot revelations are nicely spaced out and the whole thing is a rather enjoyable watch. My main complaint would be the apparent villain of the piece, the cybernetic Captain, who is just insufferable. I get that's the point, but his blustering and threats are a pain.

[Picture: The half-robotic Captain, with a robot bird on his shoulder that looks like Boba Fett. That's right, you can't unsee it now. Mwahaha!]

Big ideas, snappy humour and some nice twists - this has all the ingredients of a classic. The Key to Time is worked into the story, thankfully without impeding on it, with no further mention of the guardians for now.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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The Stones of Blood

(Blog has pictures)

Crazy cultists worshipping aliens as gods, meeting in secret and making sacrifices - these are all well-worn ideas by now, and not an inspiring way to usher in the 100th serial. However, the druid theme and the stone circles do provide a creepy flavour to the proceedings, and the ending takes an unexpected turn as the Doctor finds himself aboard a prison-ship in hyperspace, at which point it turns into a sci-fi court drama.

[Picture: The Doctor and Romana meet Professor Rumford and Vivien Fay.]

There continues to be a thread of light-hearted humour running through these serials, even amidst the dark themes, but it is this humour that I find confident and charming. The Stones of Blood is funny in places, a little scary in others, but always watchable. It is, to coin an annoying phrase, a "fun romp", like watching a Scooby-Doo episode. I'm even growing to like K-9, the Scrappy-Doo character, and when he gets temporarily squashed by the big stone thing and all his circuits are hanging out, I felt a bit sad for him. Of course, he always bounces back, recharges, gets fixed or whatever.

I can't decide whether the stones are scary or ridiculous. I think there is potential for them to be threatening that sometimes works. They're sentient blood-drinking stones that emerge from the darkness with that pulsating noise (it sounds familiar, I want to say it's from 'Fury from the Deep', but I'm not sure) and strip the flesh from your bones with a touch, a "hidden in plain sight" concept much like a proto version of the Weeping Angels. But at other times, the way they just slide around the sets in full view, barging around the place knocking into things, looks daft.

[Picture: The Ogri are less scary once you find out they're silicon-based lifeforms from another planet.]

Vivien, who turns out to be the villainous Cessair of Diplos, puts on a solid performance but the part is underwritten, and the final moments of the court proceedings fall flat, as the Doctor convinces the Megara of her guilt while Romana and Professor Rumford pointlessly rush to gather evidence to do the same thing. And then there's the warning at the start, "beware of the black guardian", which is never mentioned again. Is the implication that Cessair is the black guardian? Why did she have the key to time around her neck? It doesn't tie up satisfyingly. Maybe the next story will provide some answers.

[Picture: Aboard the prison ship, the Megara are released after thousands of years of confinement... and sentence the Doctor to death. Huh?]

I can't help but feel this one didn't turn out quite as planned. It's got some good ideas, likeable characters and witty dialogue, but it fails to be anything more than okay. Not bad but unremarkable.

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Davros sock drawer

Davros sock drawer

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The Stones of Blood

(Blog has pictures)

Yeah, not one of my favourites. It's sort of a return to the earlier gothic themes of the Hinchcliffe era, but in a really half-hearted way. The bit with the Megara is dreadful.

How are you finding Mary Tamm as Romana after a few stories? You haven't mentioned her much, so I'm guessing you think she's just ok.

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