![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Myth Makers
Jul. 12th, 2013 10:56 pmListened to The Myth Makers as part of the thing of revisiting as much Dr Who as possible for the anniversary year - pretty funny, and I wish this one still existed...
The Time Meddler
Jun. 1st, 2013 09:37 pmWatched The Time Meddler - reasonably amusing, and that third cliffhanger must have been a real mindfuck in 1965.
Sadly we now hit a run of stories that no longer exist, and I don't have the Galaxy Four audio, so that'll be skipped...
Sadly we now hit a run of stories that no longer exist, and I don't have the Galaxy Four audio, so that'll be skipped...
the last DW we watched was The Chase- fun, occasionally embarrassing (terrible direction, bloopers, Peter Purves as Morton Dill - he's fine as Steven Taylor though, who joins as the new companion), but entertaining overall. Contains, oddly, the first direct evidence that Daleks *can* climb stairs, and the first joke referring to the fact that they can't, in consecutive episodes!
The music still sucks, though, with that tinkly piano over melodramatic episode titles.
Still, was fun, and Ian and Barbara get a great leaving scene/montage.
The music still sucks, though, with that tinkly piano over melodramatic episode titles.
Still, was fun, and Ian and Barbara get a great leaving scene/montage.
Got The Web Planet on as background, which means every time there's a scene on the surface of the planet, I think my eyes are fucked or my glasses are fucked cos of them having smeared grease on the camera lens to give the look of a weird atmosphere...
DW - The Rescue and The Romans
Mar. 24th, 2013 05:32 pmThe Rescue - nice little piece to introduce the new companion. Not bad, not a classic, but just... a nice little piece.
The Romans - wonderfully underrated classic that gives us the first example of DW so perfectly balancing being comedy and drama, with great high-points of both. And more Barbara pwnage as well. Derek Francis is great as Nero, there's lovely comic acting, the Doctor gets to be physical, there's much about how the Doctor goes in and solves problems (even though this hasn't actually happened much yet) and the Doctor tries hard (but fails) to not look as if he thinks it's cool to fuck about with history...
The Romans - wonderfully underrated classic that gives us the first example of DW so perfectly balancing being comedy and drama, with great high-points of both. And more Barbara pwnage as well. Derek Francis is great as Nero, there's lovely comic acting, the Doctor gets to be physical, there's much about how the Doctor goes in and solves problems (even though this hasn't actually happened much yet) and the Doctor tries hard (but fails) to not look as if he thinks it's cool to fuck about with history...
The Dalek Invasion Of Earth
Mar. 12th, 2013 10:45 pmWe don't have The Sensorites, Reign Of Terror or Planet of Giants on DVD, and the VHS tapes are at my dad's house in Scotland... so we just skipped to this.
Dr Who's first quarry, Susan's departure, iconic Dalek stuff (albeit with rubbish voices for some reason)... So much fun. And this time we watched it as the original version, not with the new CG effects. Still cool.
Dr Who's first quarry, Susan's departure, iconic Dalek stuff (albeit with rubbish voices for some reason)... So much fun. And this time we watched it as the original version, not with the new CG effects. Still cool.
The Aztecs
Mar. 7th, 2013 01:32 pmThe Aztecs - great stuff. Tlotoxl's one of the best antagonists ever (*not* a villain!), and there i much pwnage by Barbara...
The Keys of Marinus
Feb. 20th, 2013 06:48 pmThe Keys Of Marinus- A bit of a slog. The first episode is largely superfluous, taking 25 minutes to do a 2-minute job. The second, with the brains of Morphoton, is a good idea, but very ineptly directed, as is the third episode (the Screaming Jungle). The fourth, with wannabe rapist Vasor is surprisingly gritty but still badly made. The last couple of episodes, with the murder/trial in the city of Millennius, is on much safer ground for Terry nation, as he wrote for every cop show in the 60s and 70s, but again the direction is utterly inept. The design and effects have some moments of inspiration, but mostly it's flat wall panels and wobblevision.
So, a weird mixture between the overambitious that therefore fails, and the merely filling the timeslot with the quickest rubbish possible until a decent story comes along in the form of The Aztecs...
So, a weird mixture between the overambitious that therefore fails, and the merely filling the timeslot with the quickest rubbish possible until a decent story comes along in the form of The Aztecs...
Marco Polo... sort of.
Feb. 7th, 2013 06:06 pmThe story doesn't exist and I haven't got the CD, so had to settle for the half-hour version on the Edge Of Destruction DVD.
It was a pleasant enough half hour, and the story pretty much made sense even when so condensed, but it's impossible to really judge the story on what is really only about 15% of it, in stills...
It was a pleasant enough half hour, and the story pretty much made sense even when so condensed, but it's impossible to really judge the story on what is really only about 15% of it, in stills...
The Edge Of Destruction-
Feb. 7th, 2013 08:39 amBit of a mix, some silliness ("we saw that in the fourth universe"), the first big line-stutters from Hartnell, yet also very mysterious and with the final burst of character creation, getting everybody properly into their moulds (except Susan, who isn't allowed to be this develeped again). In particular, the Doctor completes his transition from abductor and potential caveman-murderer to the "never cruel or cowardly" (Well, until the late 80s) bloke we all know...
With the reveal of the problem, it would actually (if compressed) make a really good Twilight Zone style anthology one-off.
With the reveal of the problem, it would actually (if compressed) make a really good Twilight Zone style anthology one-off.
the Daleks
Feb. 6th, 2013 10:26 pmThe Daleks... Long and stagey but never quite too dragging (even though the movie tells the story in 80 minutes or so - the length of three out of the seven episodes!). Gives us a good chance to see the crew developing...
Susan tells us the Thals' crops have failed and the may soon starve to death if not helped. I immediately said "For just three pounds a month, you can keep a Thal family in gruel..."
I'd never noticed before but in the big showdown, one of the Thals gets blasted in the guts at point blank range with the full extermination effect, then just grimaces, attacks the Dalek that did it... and doesn't die. WTF? Is it Superman paying a surprise visit? The other Thals should have wondered a bit about him... "That Temmosus was a bloody wimp. Obviously just died of natural causes at a coincidentally embarrassing moment. Stupid Daleks probably thought they did it."
Susan tells us the Thals' crops have failed and the may soon starve to death if not helped. I immediately said "For just three pounds a month, you can keep a Thal family in gruel..."
I'd never noticed before but in the big showdown, one of the Thals gets blasted in the guts at point blank range with the full extermination effect, then just grimaces, attacks the Dalek that did it... and doesn't die. WTF? Is it Superman paying a surprise visit? The other Thals should have wondered a bit about him... "That Temmosus was a bloody wimp. Obviously just died of natural causes at a coincidentally embarrassing moment. Stupid Daleks probably thought they did it."
Love that first episode of Dr Who
Feb. 1st, 2013 08:11 amSadly the caveman story doesn't match up (though nor is it as bad as most people think). It's interesting to rewatch to the point where you notice a lot of subtleties in the first episode- like how he's clearly building up to using Ian & Bab's intrusion as an excuse to make Susan want to leave Earth in return for letting them tell their story, and then when she threatens to stay he *panics and hits the "get the fuck out of Dodge" button with them still aboard... There's a great shot just after where he has a total "What the FUCK did I just do?" expression on his face. The other weird stuff now is the Doctor lighting up a pipe...
Dr Who rewatch
Jan. 31st, 2013 09:30 pmAt least it's not too late to start the first of a DW rewatch with the First Doctor in the first month, so, tonight - An Unearthly Child... (all four episodes, not just the first. not the pilot though)
