Doctor Who

[Sprite Machine]

I didn't make the connection to Mavic Chen, but now that you've said it, they really are very similar characters too! They both delight in their own evilness, and both underestimate their allies.

Troughton continues to entertain; he's very consistent.

[Davros sock drawer]

Yeah, he's up there with my favourites.

BTW you've got lots of stories based on Earth coming soon. Some really good ones mind.

[Flub]

You're history's greatest monster.

I also don't think Bonnie Langford got the scripts she deserved

Exhibit 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Jests_at_Scars...

[SeanR]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/David-Bradley-to-play-William-Hartnell-in-Celebration-of-Doctor-Who

As part of the BBC’s blockbuster celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, David Bradley (Harry Potter) is set to play the first ever Doctor, the iconic William Hartnell in the BBC Two drama ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’.

‘An Adventure in Space and Time' will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who - first aired on 23 November 1963 - and the many personalities involved. The BBC’s Head of Drama Sydney Newman, credited with the creation of the show, will be portrayed by Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity) and the producer, Verity Lambert, by ‘Call the Midwife’ star Jessica Raine. The director of the first ever episode, ‘An Unearthly Child’, Waris Hussein, will be played by Sacha Dhawan (History Boys, Last Tango In Halifax).

[Davros sock drawer]

Pretty good casting I'd say.

[Sprite Machine]

The Krotons

This era of Doctor Who seems determined to create as many new little waddling robots with silly voices as possible. The croutons... sorry, I mean the Krotons, are supposedly crystalline metal 'creatures' rather than robots as such, although the science is fuzzy, and they basically are robots, complete with claw-ended tube arms and deadly acid gas guns. Also one of them sounds South-African for some reason.

A thousand years earlier, they conquered the planet's inhabitants, the Gonds, and now they rule over them, forever unseen, hiding in the machinery underneath the Gond city. Now ruled as 'gods', they control the Gonds through lies and brainwashing, telling them that the wasteland outside is uninhabitable, and regularly selecting the most gifted candidates to join them as companions. What they're actually doing once inside the machine is absorbing their brain waves to power their ship and then killing the unfortunate person afterwards with their deadly gas, which dissolves them into nothing.

Such a delicate balance of lies obviously doesn't take much to upset, and the Doctor's arrival immediately raises questions and shatters the Gonds' faith. This causes an uprising, forcing the Krotons to come out of hiding and accelerate their plans. The Doctor and Zoe have sufficient mental energy to fully charge their spaceship (poor Jamie doesn't), but using some hastily made sulphuric acid, the Doctor manages to dissolve the Krotons and destroy their ship, freeing the Gonds, and teaching them a bit of chemistry in the process.

This was another 'unseen enemy' type story, with rather bleak ramifications. Nonetheless, the Doctor has some comedic moments, exclaiming "great jumping gobstoppers!" and "oh my giddy aunt!" at one point. Gotta love him.

[Flub]

This was the very first Troughton story I saw back when I was a nipper and it got a very rare repeat on the BBC. I think I'm going to be calling them The Croutons from now on though

[Davros sock drawer]

I seem to remember quite enjoying that one not long ago. I went through a phase of watching old Dr Who stories on iTunes.

Incidentally Sprite, I can't remember what you thought of Zoe as a companion. I think I found her a bit annoying.

[Flub]

Incidentally Sprite, I can't remember what you thought of Zoe as a companion. I think I found her a bit annoying.

Draped over the console at the start of the Mind Robber. Would.

[Flub]

Oh man. Imagine how awesome colourised version of classic Doctor Who would be

http://www.kittensdirect.com/colourise/season6.html

[Davros sock drawer]

It must be possible in theory, as they did it for some early Pertwee stuff.

I've never seen The War Games, I might watch it soon to coincide with Sprite's first viewing.

[Sprite Machine]

Incidentally Sprite, I can't remember what you thought of Zoe as a companion. I think I found her a bit annoying.

I'll reserve judgement until her final episode. Most of the female companions are largely interchangeable characters, although the last couple of episodes have tried to make some use of Zoe's genius intellect.

I can see how she would get annoying as she's a bit smug, but I hope she challenges the Doctor a few times.

Oh man. Imagine how awesome colourised version of classic Doctor Who would be

http://www.kittensdirect.com/colourise/season6.html

Huh, I hadn't pictured the Dominators with blue shoulder pads. I imagined yellow or gold.

It must be possible in theory, as they did it for some early Pertwee stuff.

I think that was a unique process where the original colour information was still detectable in the master tape. Colourising from a black-and-white source would be prohibitively expensive.

Loose Cannon colourised the reconstruction for Marco Polo, as far as I know, the only one done in colour.

[Plissken]

Toby Hadoke has started a series of podcasts called "Whos Round" where he interviews someone involved in making of each of the stories. I haven't heard them myself but Toby is a lovely chap, and knows his Who inside and out.

http://www.tobyhadoke.com/podcasts/

[SeanR]

I'll reserve judgement until her final episode. Most of the female companions are largely interchangeable characters, although the last couple of episodes have tried to make some use of Zoe's genius intellect.

I can see how she would get annoying as she's a bit smug, but I hope she challenges the Doctor a few times.

Huh, I hadn't pictured the Dominators with blue shoulder pads. I imagined yellow or gold.

I think that was a unique process where the original colour information was still detectable in the master tape. Colourising from a black-and-white source would be prohibitively expensive.

Loose Cannon colourised the reconstruction for Marco Polo, as far as I know, the only one done in colour.

Iirc it was on tomorrows world. They used poor quality VHS copy to recolour the b&w film, something like that...

[Sprite Machine]

The Seeds of Death

Facilities on the moon are also becoming a 'thing' in this series. This makes sense, given the era it was made. The idea that all of Earth's transport, communications or weather is controlled from an isolated point orbiting the planet is a compelling one, full of hope for the future.

In this case, it turns into a weakness. It's the 21st century (wow!) and Earth has not only developed teleportation technology (called T-Mat), but relies on it for all forms of transportation. So when the central control junction on the moon is attacked by martians, mankind is thrown into disarray.

Yes, the Ice Warriors (from 'The Ice Warriors') are back, and they have their eyes set on conquering the Earth, using the moon as a jumping in point for their invasion. These heavily armoured reptilian creatures may be slow, but they are powerful and deadly, and easily take control of the moon base control centre. Using T-Mat, they teleport deadly fungus spores (seeds) down to Earth, which spread across the world and threaten to transform the atmosphere of Earth into a Mars-like one, killing all human life!

I quite liked this story. It has its contrivances, though. I find it highly unlikely that the entire planet would rely so heavily on this one miraculous teleportation technology. When the world's food starts running short, I just had to wonder "where are your aeroplanes? Where are your boats and trucks?" They have to bring an old rocket out of retirement just to get a team onto the moon to fix the T-Mat system. Additionally, the entire weather control system for the country appears to be located in an unsecure area, with an unlocked door, manned by a single person, with the controls freely accessible to anybody who enters. Madness!

My only other problem with this serial is the villains. Just like their last appearance, they're one-dimensional single-minded creatures, lacking any complex motives. However, this suits the plot perfectly well, and on the whole, I found this very watchable and didn't feel like it dragged on unnecessarily. It was also visually interesting, with good use of special effects for its time.

[Davros sock drawer]

I've not see the Seeds of Death, which is silly really when there are so few Troughton stories remaining.

I did however finally watch the Dr Who Xmas special, alas. I don't know, I really feel the current series has totally lost its way. Comedy Sontarans do not sit well with me.

[Sprite Machine]

The Space Pirates

At first, this story is only tangentially related to the Doctor and his companions. The writer seems more interested in setting up this new sci-fi universe, filled with history, politics, corporations and... pirates.

Attacks on government satellites have finally caught the attention of the Space Corps, who track down a band of pirates who have set up an argonite smuggling operation with a seemingly legit mining company. The Tardis lands in the middle of a raid on one of the satellites, and the Doc and co find themselves shuttled back and forth, caught up in a sting operation, facing death at the end of each episode (although miraculously surviving, the big teases!), and eventually averting atomic disaster and stopping the pirates.

A colourful cast of characters helps flesh out the story, with a bizarre mix of accents. The captain of the Space Corps cruiser sounds either ridiculously posh British or German. Or both, I'm not sure. The old timer space trucker Milo Clancy has one of the worst American accents I've heard since... well, since the wild west Doctor Who episode! Then there's the woman in charge of the mining company, whose father is secretly still alive, and the evil pirate boss uses him as leverage to ensure her cooperation, because, y'know, he's so evil. This sort of self-involved storytelling reminds me of some of the older William Hartnell episodes, except this has the advantage of being futuristic instead of some boring historical setting.

The ships and sets and practical special effects are impressive for their time. The show seems to be using more miniatures recently, daring to be a bit more ambitious with its scenarios, which is good. I think Clancy's old rocket ship might be the same one from 'The Seeds of Death', but I can't be sure.

Only one of the six episodes remains complete - the rest are reconstructions and therefore a little harder to follow. If they were all complete, I think the story would be more bearable, but as it stands, it's difficult to fully recommend it.

This is, thankfully, the last reconstruction I will have to watch. Every episode from here on is complete. This is quite a relief! Next is the final serial of Patrick Troughton's adventures as the Doctor...

[Davros sock drawer]

The Space Pirates is the first story by the future script editor for the show, Robert Holmes. He is widely regarded as the series' finest writer, being responsible for a lot of classics that you'll be seeing fairly soon in the Pertwee/Baker era. I'm guessing The Space Pirates doesn't fully showcase his writing, as I've never seen it, but trust me, he got better!

A 10 parter to end on Sprite. And then it's glorious colour for you!

[Sprite Machine]

According to Wikipedia, Robert Holmes first wrote The Krotons. Huh, okay, they're not meaningfully similar either.

[Fireproofradiator]

Really looking forward to your Pertwees Sprite. He's never been my favourite Doctor but I've fancied checking out some of the Delgado stories for a bit.

In other news, I've finally started reading Paul Cornell's Goth Opera. I'm a little unimpressed so far - it's an early work by a good Who writer but there's no doctor to be seen so far, just a lot of boring vampires flying about, quite a bit of exposition and some rubbish jokes. I will push on tho!

[Flub]

In other news, I've finally started reading Paul Cornell's Goth Opera. I'm a little unimpressed so far - it's an early work by a good Who writer but there's no doctor to be seen so far, just a lot of boring vampires flying about, quite a bit of exposition and some rubbish jokes. I will push on tho!

I'd read his 7th Doctor stuff personally. Much, much better

[Davros sock drawer]

According to Wikipedia, Robert Holmes first wrote The Krotons. Huh, okay, they're not meaningfully similar either.

Ah yes, it was called The Trap originally and Terrance Dicks worked it up into The Krotons with him.

It'll be interesting to hear what you think of Pertwee's Doctor. You're getting a condensed version of the regeneration angst we all went through when a favourite Doctor is replaced by a new one!

[CarloOos]

Man, I personally love Pertwee but that's a lot of childhood nostalgia talking. He's the one I had the most videos of, although I can totally empathise that if 'your' doctor was a jelly-bean scoffing eccentric then the switch to a judo-chopping action scarecrow might jar.

Seeds of Death was one of the two Troughtons I had (along with Tomb of the Cybermen, although I guess you could also count The Five Doctors) and I remember quite enjoying it, it's not in the same league as Tomb though. Vaguely remember the leader of the Ice Warriors being quite a good villain.

[Cthulhu Steev]

I was thinking, cataloguing a watchthrough of every Doctor Who episode ever might be something that requires a blog. Then I could add pictures and captions to each mini-review. I'm not sure if anyone would regularly read it, but does it sound like a good idea?

Yes please!

I love your write ups of the older episodes in this thread. I saw quite a few of the episodes you've watched when they were repeated on BBC2, but mostly I remember the stories from my Target novels ( ) and features in Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly. It's really nice to read reviews that don't go 'Lol! old shit!' and show a lot of love for the series but didn't grow up with it like I did.

And Tom Baker was my Doctor, the very first episode I watched was Planet of the Spiders (so I caught Pertwee just at the 'change') and you're in for a treat when you get to him.

[Fireproofradiator]

I'd read his 7th Doctor stuff personally. Much, much better

I will indeed. I'm only like 13 pages into Goth Opera so I'd be really unfair to judge it too much yet.

Man, I personally love Pertwee but that's a lot of childhood nostalgia talking. He's the one I had the most videos of, although I can totally empathise that if 'your' doctor was a jelly-bean scoffing eccentric then the switch to a judo-chopping action scarecrow might jar.

Cricket playing goodie two shoes with underlying existentialism, for me. I LOVE the sound of the scarecrow's adieu though from what I've heard of it.

Can I recommend The Discontinuity Guide, btw? It's co-written by Cornell and it's a fantastic overview of old Who with some very witty observations. There's an online version too.

[Davros sock drawer]

You're a bit behind Steve, the blog is up!

http://doctorwhofromthestart.wordpress.com/

I've got The Discontinuity Guide as well. So well read it's falling apart. A fun read, even when I don't agree with them (I love The Creature from the Pit, season 17 is my earliest memory of Who)

[Fireproofradiator]

I saw bits of Tom Baker Who, Mr Sock Drawer but I was pretty wee and it was v scary so I read the books and annuals instead (which, surprise! Happened to have some pretty terrifying shit in them anyway with extra psychedelia/giallo style garishness).

Creature from The Pit is from when Douglas Adams was script editing wasn't it? I think I watched a little bit of it a couple years back. A bit revue-ey and self indulgent with tons of mugging from Tom but still fun. The only show I disagree with Discontinuity Guide on really is The Stones of Blood, but that's small potatoes really. It's a great wee book.

[Davros sock drawer]

Yes, it's played very broadly for laughs but I was very young when I saw it and the bit where the Doctor gets crushed by Erato terrified me. Now I just enjoy it as a fun romp, but it's still a good little story with some good performances and a great atmosphere in the jungle scenes.

I'm genuinely excited to hear what Sprite thinks of the Philip Hinchcliffe era.

[Cthulhu Steev]

You're a bit behind Steve, the blog is up!

http://doctorwhofrom....wordpress.com/

I've got The Discontinuity Guide as well. So well read it's falling apart. A fun read, even when I don't agree with them (I love The Creature from the Pit, season 17 is my earliest memory of Who)

Ha! I meant to edit my post when I got to the end of the thread. It's bookmarked on my toolbar now

It's snowing outside, the perfect weather to watch Seeds of Doom, I think.

I fancy watching Genesis of the Daleks again as well, it's so good even the Pokemon Caves shortcut between domes can't spoil it.

[Davros sock drawer]

Seeds of Doom is absolutely brilliant, and it even manages not to outstay its welcome due to the change of location after the first two episodes.

The run of stories from Robot to (I'd say) Image of the Fendahl is far and away the most consistent in the series' history, the occasional clunker (Revenge of the Cybermen, The Invisible Enemy) aside. Other than those it's just classic story after classic story.