Doctor Who

[Sprite Machine]

Yeah, she's fine.

[Davros sock drawer]

Damning with faint praise? She's certainly no Leela, but the character does become more interesting...

[Sprite Machine]

She has the potential to be quite interesting, because she's not human and she has knowledge comparable to the Doctor's. But I expect she'll mostly be used a device to argue with him about how to do stuff (like River Song, but less annoying) while acting detached and emotionless. At the moment, she's practically a non-entity; I know almost nothing about her.

But, as I say, she's fine. I don't dislike her. Between the Doctor, Romana and K-9, we have a Tardis full of know-it-alls.

[Davros sock drawer]

That's true, although later on you get even more know-it-alls in the Tardis, and none of them as attractive as Mary Tamm. Sadly no longer with us of course.

It must have been a lot of fun sometimes on the set:

Dirty Doctor!

[davidcotton]

Oh I still like the Tom Baker outtake with K-9 "No you never know the ****ing answer when it's important do you"

[Sprite Machine]

The Androids of Tara

(Blog has pictures)

It seems to me like the BBC props department said "hey, we've still got a load of these android parts from 'The Android Invasion' - can you make use of these again?" and the costume department said "medieval gear, anyone?", and thus 'The Androids of Tara' was born, perhaps the weakest entry in Tom Baker's tenure so far.

[Picture: The android copy of the prince is crowned king. He can't talk, he's very ill. Shhh.]

I do dislike it when alien societies are portrayed as Earth history. It's the easy way out, it's lazy, it's incredibly unlikely too. It's also hard to believe that a society in which perfect copy androids are a known quantity would not have provisions for dealing with imposters. An android is crowned king, for pity's sake! It's also incredibly unlikely that Romana would just happen to look exactly like Princess Strella, who just happens to be the subject for an identical android anyway. I struggle to see the point of that whole setup. The three roles hardly stretch Mary Tamm's acting skills and the princess spends most of her time in the dungeon anyway.

[Picture: Is it an android? Is it a princess? No, it's Romana!]

So, there's a society that mixes the ancient with the futuristic, in which androids exist, and the concept is wasted on a little game of deception and tricks between the King and the Count. The Count is a terrible villain anyway because he tells everybody all of his plans. When he casually informs Archimandrite that he will wed the King's widow shortly after his death, I had to wonder why nobody suspected foul play. The sword fight was a weak way to end the story, but it hardly mattered by that point.

[Picture: The Doctor's sword fight with Count Grendel would have been over far more quickly if he didn't have to keep picking his scarf up.]

And the Key to Time? Yes, it was disguised as a statue for no apparent reason and they collect it before they leave.

[Davros sock drawer]

Whaaaat? That's the best one of the whole season!

Well perhaps not, and it's been a while since I saw it, but I remember it as a bit of a summery delight. The stakes are small for a change, the sword fight at the end is great fun, and Count Grendel is a funny villain - "Next time I shall not be so lenient!"

Also it has the line "Would you mind not standing on my chest, my hat's on fire".

Personally I think dross like Revenge of the Cybermen is far, far worse than this. Then again, there is the Taran Wood Beast to consider. Can't believe that didn't get a mention Sprite!

[Sprite Machine]

It's a bloke in a rubbish furry suit, there isn't much to say.

[Davros sock drawer]

It's the ne plus ultra of blokes in rubbish furry suits!

[HarMGM]

In other news, here are the first few pics of David Bradley as William Hartnell as the First Doctor in de docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time:

And for those wondering if the artist who did the Target-like artwork has done any more, then here it is:

The guy who makes these is called Steve Andrew. Here is his DeviantArt: http://steveandrew.deviantart.com/

[Made of Ghosts]

All the Doctors' first and last lines. Spoilered for Sprite!

I don't want to deify the old series too much here, but I have to express regret that we've gone from "It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for" to "Legs, I've still got legs. Good. Arms, hands. Ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair, I'm a girl! No, no, I'm not a girl. And still not ginger! And there's something else...something important...I'm, I'm, I'm -- ha! Crashing! Ha, ha! Whoo-hoo-hoo! Geronimo!"

[rumblecat]

Although you're comparing a dying last line to a first line, so it's not really the same thing.

[Mogster]

Indeed. Tom Baker was hardly the epitome of elegance when he'd just regenerated.

Both Ecclestone and Tennant's last lines had me welling up.

[kensei]

Ecclestone's is probably the best of the lot. It's brilliantly delivered.

[Davros sock drawer]

Tennant's last lines had me wanting to punch his stupid face in.

[Harsin]

If I was Doctor 5 I'd be pissed off that the Tardis wasn't so grief stricken that it spontaneously started exploding when I karked it.

[El Pibe]

On 08/07/2013 at 19:42, Davros sock drawer said:

Tennant's last lines had me wanting to punch his stupid face in.

Haha! Same here.

'I don't want to go...'

[Sarlaccfood]

I know! Talk about losing all your dignity in your final seconds.

Also reminded me of this guy:

[Sprite Machine]

The Power of Kroll

(Blog has pictures)

'The Power of Kroll' sounds like an Arnold Schwarzenegger film from the 1980s. Well, we're not quite in the right era yet, but this Doctor Who serial deals with a giant monster and the penultimate piece of the Key to Time, as the Doctor and Romana find themselves on a swampy moon orbiting Delta Magna.

[Picture: Kroll attacks! Yet Ranquin's faith does not waiver.]

This story is not so subtle with its allegories, with the green-skinned 'Swampies' representing the oppressed native tribe - one of them is even a slave - with the greedy mining corporation trying to oust them from their land. It's all painted with very broad strokes. The refinery controller, Thawn, is the typical character you love to hate, disregarding to the lives of the natives in the name of 'progress'. The Swampies don't come off too well either, mind you - they're a tragic bunch, having been forced onto the moon in the first place, and now guided by a religious leader who follows his faith in the giant squid Kroll literally to the death. Cue ritual sacrifices and common sense being thrown out of the window. Oh, and chanting. Holy moly, am I sick to the teeth of ritual chanting!

[Picture: Taking a cue out of a Bond villain's book, the Swampies leave these three to die slowly by contracting vines. Meanwhile, the Doctor admires the architecture.]

The creature itself is quite well realised and the sequences where it attacks are well done for their time. I like the idea of an ancient monster awoken from its sleep, but I didn't quite grasp how it had arrived on the moon if the swampies had been worshipping it for thousands of years. Did it migrate through space or have I got the timeline of events out of whack? Anyway, whatever.

[Picture: Narrow-minded, results-driven, power-mad leader of a dangerous facility - CHECK!]

The Doctor yet again delights with humour and wit, and more than once looks death in the eye with a smile. I like a funny Doctor, and Romana is developing a sarcastic edge which I think works quite well here, but I fear that the Doctor is losing some of his compassion. In this story, he not only doesn't seem to care about the fate of Kroll (turning it into the key fragment at the end) but has a disregard for life in general. When the smuggler, Rohm-Dutt, is dragged away by a giant tentacle, neither the Doctor nor Romana try to save him. They just watch him get dragged slowly to his death and say he shouldn't have moved.

[Picture: The story ends with not one but two aborted countdown sequences.]

On the other hand, slapstick potential is scuppered by the lack of Scrappy-9. What with it being a swamp planet, he can't leave the Tardis! This was probably for the best. One more key fragment remains!

[Davros sock drawer]

It's a funny one. Absolutely loved the novelisation as a kid, wasn't so impressed when I finally saw the TV version.

[Davros sock drawer]

Sprite, you might enjoy this now you're very familiar with Tom Baker:

[Sprite Machine]

Sprite, you might enjoy this now you're very familiar with Tom Baker:

I did, thank you! He does indeed have a most excellent voice.

---

The Armageddon Factor

(Blog has pictures)

Perhaps the modern trend of Doctor Who bookending its series with elements of an ongoing story arc can be traced back to The Key to Time. Although episodes in between have only small references to the Doctor's quest and the Guardians, the first and last serials feature these things prominently, and The Armageddon Factor wraps it up for good. It is not the most thorough of resolutions - I'm still none the wiser as to who the Guardian was or why a Key to Time even existed in the first place - but there are a few good twists and some nice drama to this one in itself.

[Picture: Princess Astra realises her destiny is to become a piece of transparent plastic. Disappointingly, she does not say "armageddon outta here" at any point.]

It's a very "plotty" serial, for want of better term. A lot happens and everything intertwines. There's a lot of really good science-fiction concepts too, such as a nuclear war between neighbouring planets, a computer controlling things behind the scenes, mind-control devices, a perpetual time loop and a mysterious figure pulling the strings.

[Picture: Mentalis, a computer system built to perpetuate a state of war between two worlds. Impervious, invulnerable. Is defeated by ducking.]

We also meet an old friend of the Doctor's, Drax, and suddenly the rather dark tone of the story changes for silly comedy (including a sequence involving a shrink ray). Curiously, Drax calls the Doctor "Theta Sigma" (presumably another nickname?) and suggests that "The Doctor" might just be a title he acquired after earning his doctorate. Although what's perhaps more curious is that he recognises the Doctor by sight, even though his face has changed!

[Picture: "Ello, me old chum!"]

Drax is quite fun, but his persona is weirdly comedic in a story that is otherwise fairly grim. The Shadow is the main villain of the piece, the servant of the Black Guardian. With his wonky skull mask and sinister voice, I thought he was quite good. I also liked the twist reveal at the end, but it does leave things open for possible future stories. K-9 has a hard time in this one, almost getting melted for scrap and later being brainwashed by the Shadow, but he turns out alright.

[Picture: The Shadow is on a quest to collect the key fragments too. Like the Doctor's shadow. Ah, I see what they did there.]

In Romana, K-9 and the Doctor, we've had a Tardis full of smartypants for this series, but it's actually worked out quite well. I see the appeal of having a human presence to keep the audience grounded, but this shows that it's not always necessary, and Romana's intelligence takes some of the egotistical edge off of the Doctor's character. It's a change from the lonely wanderer that the Doctor is in the modern series, as is the presence of old Time Lord friends and entities of power handing out quests for him to do.

[Picture: K-9 has no trouble getting around in this story since it conveniently takes place on small sets with nice flat floors. Despite the grand scope and all the teleporting around, it does feel claustrophobic at times. Ah, BBC budgets!]

With the navigator circuits randomised so the Guardian cannot follow, the Tardis disappears into new adventures.

---

Please note, I am away next week, so further posts will be delayed (and probably brief).

[Davros sock drawer]

Things I like about The Armageddon Factor:

- John Woodvine as The Marshall, perhaps best recognised as the doctor in An American Werewolf in London

- The bit where Tom Baker sits down heavily in the Marshall's chair

- The bit where The Doctor pretends he's gone insane with the power of the Key to Time ("Nothing else exists, only my will because I POSSESS THE KEY TO TIME!)

Things I don't like about The Armageddon Factor:

- Drax

- Everything Else

What did you think of the season as a whole Sprite? Personally I think it's the worst Tom Baker season so far, and the only season in his run without a single classic story. That's not to say it's not generally enjoyable, and Tom Baker continues to be watchable. But compare it to Horror of Fang Rock or Image of the Fendahl from only the previous season and it's barely recognisable as the same show. And it gets worse before it gets better.

And on that note, have a trailer for season 17:

A more innocent time...

[cassidy]

Spearhead frm Space looks stunning on Bluray. Really impressed and it has a lovely doc on there about Jon Pertwee.

[Space Renegade Ulala]

If I was Doctor 5 I'd be pissed off that the Tardis wasn't so grief stricken that it spontaneously started exploding when I karked it.

I prefer to think of it not so much as grief stricken, more like it was throwing a BIG FUCKING PARTY and letting off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate the passing of the insufferable arse and arrival of his delightful replacement.

[Davros sock drawer]

Wait, what? Who is the delightful replacement? Not...Colin Baker?

[Mogster]

Wait, what? Who is the delightful replacement? Not...Colin Baker?

I think he's talking about 10 to 11.

Screw you all though. I thought Tennant was pretty great, especially around season 3. He was just thrown some slightly rubbish scripts towards the end.

[Garwoofoo]

I also thought that Tennant was slightly hard done by - he was a great Doctor ill-served by the fag-end of the RTD reign.

I'm reading The Writer's Tale at the moment, which is a collection of RTD's correspondence around the time he was writing Tennant's final seasons. It's a great book, the writing's really engaging and Davies himself is a charismatic and disarmingly honest narrator, but he's so inordinately pleased with his crappy scripts. He's completely unconcerned when they don't make sense, is really defensive of his practice of doing nothing for weeks and then writing them in a big rush at the end of the process, and generally just thinks he's the best thing ever. I'm not doubting the guy got some great character moments in there (and Moffat's recent efforts have really thrown RTD's strengths into sharp relief) but sometimes you're reading the book and you just want to shake him for being so goddamn pleased with himself.

[cassidy]

i'm mentioned in that book, I'm the short drunk welshman who accosts him outside Cardiff Mardi Gras, not one of my best moments.

Short compared to someone who is 6ft 5 + RTD.

[SeanR]

T. Baker talks Pertwee, Davison, and McGann

http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/video/there-was-a-sense-of-loss-tom-baker-talks-regeneration