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21 April 2014 at 18:31 #27091
“Once Upon a Time in the West”. Ahh, what guilty pleasure that movie (no…experience) is! The music of Ennio Morricone and the visuals of Sergio Leone…does it get any better?
I totally agree with credits at the end of this clip.
20 April 2014 at 21:12 #27053Easter. I have always felt that Easter was like the Hancock radio episode, “Sunday Afternoon at Home”, only it lasted for four days! My relocation to dour Presbyterian Ontario where the Liquor Control Board has deemed that alcohol shall not be sold on Easter Sunday has, alas, only confirmed it. Like Hancock, I feel it is an awfully long time before the pubs open. So, I thought it only appropriate to share this. Enjoy.
20 April 2014 at 02:18 #27022OK, there is choral music and…there is choral music. This is probably known to everyone, but it is still brilliant:
19 April 2014 at 11:25 #26960Excellent point. Of course, if Sherwood forest only looks like it is on earth but is actually a construct brought to life from the pages of a children’s book, perhaps?
17 April 2014 at 16:28 #26938@bluesqueakpip Oh dear. I did not intend my opening sentence to imply a confusion between person and character. Clearly, I expressed myself poorly, for what I was trying to say when I said I was not being harsh on Rose, was that I felt I my assessment of Rose was entirely reasonable and accurate, and that my harshness was directed towards the way RTD wrote the character. My fault entirely for not expressing myself more clearly. I would not want you to feel that I was trying to be “clever” at your expense. That was certainly not my intention.
And I certainly respect your interpretation, but I will let what I said in the post above (apart from the poorly expressed opening!) stand.
Cheers.
17 April 2014 at 13:21 #26931@purofilion (and all other Who Enthusiasts)
I came across this quote by Burgon about his time writing music on Doctor Who:
Being asked to write music for Doctor Who (1963) came out of the blue and as a complete surprise. I had previously written only two scores for television, but it was the second of these that attracted director Douglas Camfield. It was a ghost story, the music of which was scored for a small and unusual group of instruments, plus two countertenors. The supernatural quality of the score appealed to Douglas, and I imagine it was the small number of musicians that appealed to the producer, because the Doctor Who (1963) budget ran to just four players, plus myself on whatever I could play, and access to the Radiophonic Workshop. I used the latter quite sparingly, mostly putting selected instruments through a ring modulator to make them sound quite unlike the original, thereby creating a bigger sounding group than I actually had. It was a great experience for an emerging composer, and I am terribly gratified to have been part of such a legendary television phenomenon.
For anyone who is not familiar with Burgon’s work as a composer of sublime and beautiful choral music, you can listen to it here:
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67567
17 April 2014 at 13:09 #26929No, my friend, I am not being harsh on Rose, but I am being harsh on the character as RTD writes it. At the end of the day Rose is childish, selfish and petulant. You ask:
If it were a selfish aim, why on earth do both Mickey and Jackie end up helping her?
Because they love her–unconditionally. They display a selfless nobility of spirit that her character lacks.
@arbutus says it with far more eloquence than I do:
her attitude after being returned home shows that she essentially views all her experiences and travels with the Doctor as being all about her, rather than showing her that she is one person in a very large universe
But at the end of the day, of course, she is simply a character. And a character written by RTD. Compare her character with the character of Lorna, who dies at the battle of Demon’s Run. Those two sequences, and those two characters capture, for me, the difference between RTD and SM as writers, just as they capture the difference between the RTD years and the SM years.
But as I said, without RTD, we would not be looking forward to seeing Peter Capaldi in a few months, and we would not have experienced the 50th anniversary the way we did. So I am tremendously grateful to RTD for that.
16 April 2014 at 15:42 #26913The closing credit music on “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” by Geoffrey Burgon has to be one of the most perfect pieces of music for television ever.
And Burgon did the music for “The Terror of the Zygons” as well!
Methinks it is time to hop over to Amazon for a bit of shopping…
13 April 2014 at 20:25 #26866OK, I will start with a confession. I never really engaged with the RTD years. I could understand why he was doing it the way he was so that he might engage a new audience with the idea of Doctor Who. I could understand the focus on action for those reasons. I could understand the emphasis on bright special effects (like invading Daleks) for those reasons. And I could understand his reasons for making companions like Rose and Donna who they were, as it reached out to a TV audience that represented a 21st century demographic. But…I simply could not emotionally engage with any of that. I found the tone of most of the RTD years to be shrill and immature.
Indeed the stories I remember fondly from those years were written by Moffat.
With Moffat, I felt everything changed. The shrillness was gone, and there was a maturity to stories, to the characters and to the writing, and yet it could engage the 7 year-old in the audience and well as the 47 year-old. And it could capture a sense of magic and wonder.
So, having said all that, I have to confess that I still don’t think all that much of The Parting of the Ways. With one exception: I found the explanation of the return of the Daleks (the fact that they were made from the de-humanised remains of the dead, and as such, hated even themselves…that, I found pure genius. And the interplay between the Doctor and the Dalek Emperor was excellent.
But so much of it (for me) was representative of the things about the RTD years that I could not emotionally engage with. Rose, screaming out: “There’s nothing for me here” as her mother and Mickey continue to do everything for her. Selfish, childish and petulant. Sorry, but that was how I responded.
I am more than grateful to RTD for being responsible for bringing Doctor Who back to our screens. A wonderful, wonderful achievement. For me, at least, that is his achievement, so it is less important that I have never been able to emotionally engage with the RTD years.
10 April 2014 at 03:35 #26794@ScoutTheAiredale
You and Mum hang in there.
4 April 2014 at 02:26 #26725Doctor Who is timey-wimey, so there is no need to show your mum the introduction of River Song in order.
If she refuses to watch the Library episode, so be it.
I would suggest showing her The Time of Angels, and telling her it has the best opening of any Doctor Who ever (which it does) and after the two-parter is over, you can then explain that River Song appeared earlier (but it is all timey-wimey) and, who knows, she might agree to watch the Library episode.
Mums can be obstinate, but I am sure you will find a way!
2 April 2014 at 21:59 #26716and who can’t love Vorg and Shirna
Well…
But I will happily second ‘The Daemons’. A story to watch from behind the sofa!
2 April 2014 at 14:52 #26712‘Carnival of Monsters’? You don’t think it is a bit too, well, Colin Baker-ish, but before Colin? I see the point about running time, but in that case wouldn’t ‘Day of the Daleks’ or ‘The Three Doctors’ better capture the Pertwee tenure?
Just a suggestion. Will go with whatever the Time Lords decree.
1 April 2014 at 18:06 #26693I would plug for Inferno. For anyone who has never seen it, it is a corker, and a fine example of the show trying something quite different.
But happy with whatever is chosen, of course.
1 April 2014 at 11:33 #26681This is an April Fool’s Day story, surely? (the misspelling of Eccleston in the link is a bit of a giveaway)
30 March 2014 at 17:20 #26663Blimey. More dangers in tampering with the timeline:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/29/daylight-saving-heart-attack-time-sleep
30 March 2014 at 13:06 #26661That is really sad to hear about Kate O’Mara. I know that it is convential wisdom to dismiss both the Rani and Colin Baker’s Doctor, but it is only when the actors who play characters are gone that you realise how much you miss those characters after all. (So hang in there, Colin.) And speaking for myself, Kate O’Mara had a definite sort of (ahem) appeal. And her Rani was just so…deliciously and amorally evil.
I mentioned upstream on the Speculations/Whishlist thread that I hoped S8 might give us a renegade Time Lord as a point of comparison with the Doctor. Well, why not the Rani? I am sure that someone like Lara Pulver would make a great Rani.
28 March 2014 at 12:36 #26617Happy Birthday, O Wise and All-Knowing Emperor.
May your birthday celebrations be suited to your station.
27 March 2014 at 00:50 #26608@phaseshift, @thephantomtollbooth
These reflections are one of the reasons that this site is the only site that I subscribe to.
25 March 2014 at 18:10 #26597@fatmaninabox. It seems that I am the 1st Doctor too. (And I was trying so hard to be Colin Baker…apparently ‘wise and a bit grumpy’ will out. At least I got the grumpy bit.)
24 March 2014 at 15:20 #26583Ian: Yes indeed. I, too, do so hope they will bring back Ian for one final appearance. I can even visualize the Doctor (with his still faulty memory) mispronouncing his name (“Hello Chatterton”) as a call-out to Hartnell’s problems with getting the name right. The whole scene could be lovely and unbearably poignant.
24 March 2014 at 13:06 #26581First, whishlist:
I am keen that they return to the premise of not being able to change time. This was a cardinal rule at the beginning, and something I have always believed constituted a core element of the show. It was first explored “The Aztecs” and dealt with in many other early stories. More recently, it was done to perfection in “Vincent and the Doctor” ( and a side wish to my wishlist is to get back Richard Curtis to write another story, although who knows if he could recapture the lightning in the bottle of that story). But, please, no more spaceships crashing into Big Ben, or giant Cyber Kings trampling over Victorian London. Moffat was clever enough to find a way around that when he took over, with the play on memory. But I would really like the whole notion of non-intervention in time to come back front and centre.
UNIT: while there is definitely an appeal to featuring them, I am a bit concerned that it could “domesticate”the Doctor, somewhat. The Doctor was originally a rebel, and the problem with UNIT during the years of The 3rd Doctor in particular was that he was too much a figure of the Establishment. Moffatt captured the Doctor’s antagonism to authority well in the Angels two-parter in S5, (even though it did not feature UNIT) And, for, me, that antagonism to authority is part of who the Doctor is, and so I think UNIT should be treated sparingly.
Timelords and Gallifrey: I think Gallifrey should stay “out there” (for the reason Gattis explained in a link upstream somewhere), but I do hope we get to see at least one other Timelord to compare the Doctor to. It might be the Master, or it might be a character like the Meddling Monk (not the Meddling Monk as such, but a flawed TimeLord).
The Doctor: now that we have an older actor, we have the possibility to change the whole dynamic of the Doctor. I really hope that Moffat takes full advantage of this. The whole colour of my kidneys line sounded too much like something Tennant or Smith might say. I am hoping for a Doctor with more gravitas, a Doctor who makes you feel uneasy, and not simply cuddly.
Speculation: still brewing up the double yoker on that one…
22 March 2014 at 19:17 #26550What a great episode, and what a fabulous cliff-hanger ending! This episode and this whole story is a perfect example of why I sat glued to the TV, open mouthed and wide eyed almost 50 years ago.
I will not try a synopsis or analysis, but leave that to those like @phaseshift and @bluesqueakpip, who can do it better justice, but I will call on @fatmaninabox. This was what I was talking about when I said that I can still clearly recall crying out (almost 50 years ago) at the TV with the exclamation: “Oh, Wow!” at the end of this episode.
And, of course, this is the story that opened up the whole Who universe. Watch it. It is truly a classic.
21 March 2014 at 12:47 #26517The Tadis box set of music looks fabulous. And the Blenkinsop birthday is approaching. But…£135?? Yikes!
17 March 2014 at 17:14 #26480I confess to disloyalty as well. I voted for Patrick McGoohan. Something to do with age (and the fact that I have always harboured a secret desire to be John Drake from Danger Man).
17 March 2014 at 11:51 #26474Hope your inaugural theory is cooking up nicely
In the words of Rocky the Rhode Island Red (the Lone Free Ranger):
“I’m brewing up a double yoker”
14 March 2014 at 15:18 #26399No worries. I was just erring on the side of caution.
Like the idea of a S8 speculation thread. Would even try to come up with a suitably insane theory to kick it off!
14 March 2014 at 14:42 #26397Even though all this information is on the official site, the more I think about it the more I wonder if this entire discussion might be more appropriately placed on the Spoilers page, for those who are hiding out on Trenzalore?
If so, please feel free to move my posts.
14 March 2014 at 13:49 #26393For what it is worth, delphox is also a pokemon character, with the ability to see into the future.
Ah, “Battlestar Galactica”. Loved that show. Well, the first two seasons, anyway.
14 March 2014 at 12:53 #26385Funny, but when I read Delphox, it made me think of “telephone box”.
But then again, my mind does work that way.
By the way, your post does not appear above, but it does appear in the Activity page…?
14 March 2014 at 02:02 #26377OK, this is someone who I could believe as a genuine Moffat villain.
12 March 2014 at 17:09 #26363Sitting Ducks. Not seen it myself, but it took about 10 seconds to Google it.
12 March 2014 at 13:47 #26358Thanks for this and all the other posts, drawn from your scouring of the web to keep us informed. I see you as the Edward Snowden of Doctor Who (I suppose that makes the BBC suits the NSA).
As for the rumour above, I suppose it makes sense in a Moriarty sort of way, but would Moffat really repeat that trick? I suspect not.
9 March 2014 at 16:29 #26294After reading your springtime theory, the pain mysteriously vanished from my…pinkies! There is clearly something in the air.
But hold on…could Danny ‘Pink’ be…a ‘Rose’ by any other name?
OK, this is officially getting silly.
8 March 2014 at 21:56 #26275You do realise that your timelines are simply crying out for one of your colourful and complicated diagrams…
(just kidding!)
8 March 2014 at 20:09 #26272I’m sure you are right, and it was the cabin fever getting the better of me.
But I am also sure that there is a larger game being played with the likely emphasis on Coal Hill. I will give more thought to that one.
Were there not three Doctors who did not make it to three years (C.Baker, McCoy and Eccles)? Or have I counted wrong?
I suppose with McCoy the show ended before he did.
8 March 2014 at 18:23 #26268More thoughts on Coal hill high school. OK, perhaps it is because I am somewhat house-bound at the moment, with a gammy foot and a house surrounded by snow, but I have been thinking more about the new attention Moffat is directing to Coal Hill high school. Aside from the aesthetics of nostalgia, is there a narrative logic to returning to Coal Hill?
What if…the internet rumours about Capaldi being a one-season Doctor are true? I know that in the Time of the Doctor the Doctor said he was given a new regeneration cycle (I think), but what if the Time Lords (who are not know for their selflessness) only gave him one regeneration for the very specific purpose of encouraging him to find Gallifrey before he (the Capaldi Doctor) dies? What I am implying is that it leaves open the possibility that when Moffat departs (which may well be this year) the show could be totally re-thought by a new show-runner, or by the BBC, depending on their priorities (which in the case of the BBC are likely to be financial).
This way, by focussing on Coal Hill, Moffat could end his tenure in a way that tied the ending to the beginning of the show (ie, Coal Hill) while leaving the future direction of the show totally open. If this were true, then it would be logical for Capaldi to depart with Moffat. And the thing to be said about Capaldi is that he is an awfully high profile actor with, presumably, countless offers for work that he would have to turn down if he remained for a number of years.
On the other hand, perhaps these are just cabin fever thoughts.
8 March 2014 at 17:57 #26267I did not realise that you were so Hartnell-deprived! Yes, this story captures the impish (but still determined) side of his Doctor. And there are many more Hartnell stories (such as The Aztecs) that will give you a whole new appreciation of Hartnell’s portrayal.
It is very hard to talk about this episode in a totally spoiler free way. But suffice to say that there are exciting things coming! I grew up on Hartnell, and as a young teenager I remember the point in this story when I explained out loud to the TV set, “Oh, wow!”
Enjoy.
7 March 2014 at 23:11 #26225Yes, it would be brilliant to see Ian Chesterton once more. In fact, I have decided that the following is my first bonkers theory for 2014:
That it was not just a nostalgic sop that meant that Ian’s name was on the sign outside Coal Hill high school in the 50th. Nor a bit of nostalgia that Clara is teaching there. Rather, it was done by Moffat in order to set the scene for the (re)appearance of Ian. Think about it. It would be a fabulous way of tying the show back to its origins, like a Mobius strip.
Whether Ian would have a scene with Clara and Danny (recognising himself and Barbara in them both) or whether he might actually meet the Doctor (and Capaldi is old enough for the meeting to work with the elderly Ian) I don’t know, but the potential to use William Russell while he is happily still with us and still acting (as witnessed by his lovely cameo in AAISAT) is just too good to pass up.
So, bonkers theory or wish fulfillment? Perhaps both.
7 March 2014 at 14:41 #26207Having been off-line for quite a while, I have not had the chance to catch up on all the discussion over the past few weeks, so what I am about to say may have already been discussed upstream.
However, given the BBC announcement about Danny Pink, it raises the prospect that Coal Hill high school may prove to be a site of recurring importance in the coming season. And given that the 50th explicitly indicated that Ian Chesterton was still around and on the board of governors of the school, it does raise the tantalising prospect that William Russell might make an appearance at some point.
If so, I would jump for joy, gimpy foot notwithstanding.
2 March 2014 at 16:59 #26032Greetings all. Have been out of touch, as the result of being laid up with a broken foot, courtesy of the snowy Canadian wilderness that is rural Ontario. Well, not actually broken, but I won’t be performing the can-can anytime soon. (Good grief, what an appalling image. I should reassure you that I would never attempt to perform said dance routine, and clearly the pain is making me delirious.)
Anyway, now that the utterly, utterly brilliant Quatermass and the Pit is over, I wanted to add a feeble contribution to the excellent reflections of @bluesqueakpip, @phaseshift and @scaryb. This show must rank as one of the most important, and fabulous TV shows of all time. And what is its theme? Tolerance. I cannot think of another show intended for a popular audience that has made the point so effectively that we should always be sceptical, particularly of our own pretentions to certainty; of our own hubris.
It is a show that dealt with themes that were both universal, and very specific to a time and place. I refer to the Notting Hill race riots of 1958. Back on the board during discussion of the first episode the ever-excellent James of the piscine persuasion took offence at the representation of the Teddy Boy who was presented as a clueless twit when interviewed by the reporter. At the time, @craig rightly encouraged us to refrain from any talk that might reveal spoilers, so I bit my tongue. But in light of the themes that have become so clear by the end of the show, we should remember that the Notting Hill race riots were vivid and immediate to both the makers and the viewers of the show. And it was, in large measure, racist Teddy Boys who were responsible for the violence directed to the black inhabitants during those race riots. With knowledge of that context, the representation of the Teddy Boy was remarkably restrained, in my view. Historical context is really rather important when appreciating an historical document like Quatermass and the Pit. But no offence intended to the wonderful James of the piscine variety.
The only other TV show that I can think of that comes close to this 1958 gem in dealing with these themes in a sci-fi dystopian context was the 1981 adaptation of The Day of the Triffids. I could talk about that endlessly (but won’t, I hasten to reassure you!)
OK, starting to flag, so perhaps it is time to go off-line again, and succumb to the ministrations of Mrs Blenkinsop.
31 January 2014 at 23:22 #24912Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Fellow Enthusiasts. I need your advice. I have been devouring the works of Joss Whedon, who I first discovered–not via “Buffy”, but via “Firefly”. And now I have seen everything up to, and including, both “Cabin in the Woods” (loved it!) and his absolutely brilliant “As You Like It”.
However, I have to confess that I have never seen any “Buffy”. Hard to believe, I know. (You have to understand also that I have never signed up for Facebook or Twitter–the enquiry comes from that background)
Where do I start? At the beginning, and work my way through? Or is there an iconic episode that will capture the uninitiated, like me? Or is there one season in particular that I should go to?
30 January 2014 at 15:42 #24881Apologies for the egregious spelling and typos above. It is mid-morning here in Canada and I have not had my second espresso.
30 January 2014 at 15:32 #24880Have been thinking about how the Capaldi Doctor might (in a bonkers predictive sense) be different from his previous iterations.
1. He could be altogether more Machiavellian than previous Doctors. A Time Lord that was prepared to play one antagonist off against another with dire, fatal consequences in order to achieve his ends. Other Doctors have done this to be sure, but what if this was his modus operandi? And he enjoyed it?
2. He could not simply want to return home–to find Galifrey–but to do it on his own terms. Whichmight mean he would have his own (hidden) agenda for Galifrey. To be, as Capaldi has said: a rebel Time Lord.
3. He could eschew the whole idea of carrying a sonic screwdriver. Not only because it has (in my view, anyway) been a bit over-used of late, but because he is the type of Doctor who take extricate himself from trouble by the sheer power of his personality, and his Machiavellian attitude. In other words, he does not need one.
4. He could be frightening enough to be prepared to sacrifice anyone. Imagine a scenario where he is prepared–really prepared–to sacrifice Strax. Of course, he wouldn’t because he would have a cunning plan in the wings. And because, at the end of the day, he IS the Doctor, after all! But imagine if it could appear to both the audience (and to poor Strax) that he was really prepared to do it.
Now, you may say this is pushing the Doctor a bit too far from his moral compass. But not really. Not is his moral compass is intact at the end of the day.
It is just that it seems to me that the new Doctor provides a real opportunity to do something daring and different.
29 January 2014 at 20:49 #24865I’m going out on a limb to predict he’ll also have a new, but familiar looking sonic screwdriver.
That’s a rather short limb, my friend!
You know, I would like them to do something daring, like have the new Doctor reject the whole idea of a sonic screwdriver. Actually, I felt it was becoming a bit over-used, and it would be great if Capaldi’s Doctor could get out of tight spots by the sheer force of his personality, without the aid of a sonic. I am sure they won’t jettison the sonic, but it would certainly give a new dynamic to the Doctor and his methods if they did.
29 January 2014 at 19:30 #24862Wedding ring, new haircut, new suit….hmmm. Why does the word “River” come to mind?
29 January 2014 at 14:08 #24855@ScoutTheAiredale and Mum,
Both Mrs Blenkinsop and I are so sorry to hear about Triton. A couple of years back we lost a little bundle of white fluff called Pip, who had been with us for 18 years. But she is still there, part of who we are.
So, @ScoutTheAiredale and Mum, stay close, in the knowledge that Triton will always be still there, where it counts.
26 January 2014 at 15:50 #24697Actually, I don’t disagree with anything you say. And I can understand your perspective. A lot does depend on comparisions and context, and I too, felt that Cec Linder did not quite strike the right note in his portralyal of Roney.
But watching episode one again over on the other thread, I actually felt I may have been a little unfair to him on my first viewing. So, let me encourage you to re-engage with the show again, watching it week by week over on the new thread.
26 January 2014 at 15:28 #24696Agree entirely that it was a fascinating glimpse into a world that no longer exist. But, respectfully, have to disagree with your comment on the representation of the working class characters. For a start, there were a number of working class characters represented–the Army sergeant, the police, the old couple that live in the house in Hobbs Lane, and none of them were represented in a condescending fashion. Moreoever, the teddy boy and girl were not the only ones represented as clueless gawkers; there were other, middle class gawkers also represented as clueless, and in an equally funny way. Being clueless cuts across class lines, just as being an arrogant bully is not confined to the higher eschelons of politics and the military. No, I think this show is very astute in its representation of British society in the late 50s.
Signing off, from one old git (confirmed–me) to another old git–self-proclaimed, but not one, really.
25 January 2014 at 18:01 #24664Thanks for that background. I had no idea about the technical factors involved with “live” TV during those years. That explains a lot. Actually, I am surprised at how relatively seamlessly it flows in light of those technical factors.
I was struck, once again, by just how eerie the music is.
I loved the conference meeting where Quatermass is defeated by military and political bullies. How many times have I sat in meetings like that! Ignorant bullies are easy to spot in real life, but are surprisingly effective in looking after their own interests. At least I don’t have to sit on committees like that any more. Ah, the joys of retirement…
Also loved the clueless teddy boy and his girlfriend!
I am acutely aware of @craig‘s reminder about spoilers, but even in this episode surely I cannot be the only one to be struck by how much the ramp leading down to pit reminded me of another rather well-known science fiction movie…
<@Craig, if you feel my sentence above does drift into spoiler territory, please feel free to delete it.>
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