@purofilion Alright, I’m going purely by memory here, so I might squanch a few details but here goes. Yes, the Doctor actually was the President of Gallifrey, or President of the High Council, for a few hundred years. He was a lousy President, in that he pretty much kited out on the whole of the job. The one time he actually paid attention to…[Read more]

@phaseshift I overlooked the Autons completely. But I think you’ve put your finger on their cachet exactly. They lived in Uncanny Valley. I agree with the rest of your comments.

@whisht Horror monsters/tropes work when they’re a metaphorical codification of real fears or social tensions that we cannot address directly. So yes, sexual…[Read more]

Okay, just me woolgathering some more, on the subject of what makes Monsters work – the practical edition. I want to throw out a few notions from the classic series, before going new series.

Ice Warriors – they’re one of the wannabe Daleks – created during that Troughton era frenzy of effort, when Hartnell and the original cast was gone, when…[Read more]

@Rob Actually, the Sea Devils were a terrific costume/monster. Go back and watch the episode again, and you’ll see the following:

1) Nonhuman contour, courtesy of the extended headpiece. 2) The actors head was actually in the neck section, allowing them to sea and breath through fabric patches. 3)The Sea Devil’s faces although inexpressive…[Read more]

@scaryB Forgive me for being imprecise. I thought I had made it very clear that the Tivoli shuttlecraft was not Fisher King tech, but the tech of the Tivoli culture – it’s basically mechanical, titanium and fusion, cast structure, bricks and mortar. The Fisher Kings are much more esoteric.

As to the muppet itself, I thought the Fisher KIng…[Read more]

@purofilion Actually, the remark about the cowl was simply a corollary to your drawing a parallel between the Fisher Kings and the Time Lords. So I have to give you credit on that one.

@purofillion One more thing. It’s entirely possible that the Fisher King’s Cowl is a deliberate visual callback to the Time Lord’s ceremonial high collars.

Which might imply that the Fisher King itself is actually of the race of the Vampires or Fendahl (or possibly the two are the same race) as a prior Time Lord nemesis. I’ll leave it open as…[Read more]

@purofilion The question of the utility of the costume is an objective one. Often there are gaps between design and implementation. Something that looks or seems amazing as a sketch or design often poses problems in the translation to a 3D wearable costume.

Generally, the key questions that a costume has to meet are:

1) Does it allow for…[Read more]

In terms of the Fisher King in Before the Flood, that’s a pretty classic lousy monster, in terms of production design. We’re not talking something along the level of the Myrka, but bad enough. The Fisher King is inhabited by a 7’7″ inch Actor, and in simple terms, it’s impressive and awe inspiring on paper, with it’s cowl, insectoid features,…[Read more]

@phaseshift Thank you for your observations. If Holmes had been in the British army, he’d probably be well acquainted with the bull-necked old dogs and lifers that you’ll see in there. So yes, it fits. I’m glad that the Sontarans fit better when viewed as a whole.

@Arbutus Sometimes though a cigar is a cigar. And Bismark suggested that politics is like sausages, in that we shouldn’t examine the makings two closely. Same goes for film making. Quite often serendipity and circumstance are behind what we consider art.

@Ichabod You’re welcome.

Tivoli? Why do I keep thinking Livonian? Brain glitch!

Whatever. I think that the Tivoli dressing as a Victorian undertaker is a bad, weak choice.

Okay, who have we seen in Doctor Who – old and new, that is reminiscent of the Fisher King and what we can work out about his civilization. There are actually a few candidates.

Vampires – State of Decay Tom Baker’s Doctor finds a relic trio of Space Vampires while lost in E-Space. These Space Vampires drink blood and are human seeming, but…[Read more]

Hmmmm.

Okay, Doctor threatened by Angry Muppet? Okay, just what is the Fisher King.

1) He appears to be a member of a species with a homeworld, a power locus, and some form of technology.

2) He’s also an outlier/renegade. He conquers Livonia, the most invaded world in the universe (I thought that was earth?). I assume that’s where he…[Read more]

Hmmm. I’m not sure I’m making distinctions between monsters and villains. Monsters are theoretically singular beings. But I’m using it rather imprecisely here in terms of Doctor who robots or alien races requiring extensive costume/prop construction/wardrobe/make up/prosthetics, typically seen in numbers. Villains require less baggage, and…[Read more]

Budget isn’t associated with it, at least not in the sense that throwing more money at something gets you a better monster.

But production design, which can be boundaried by budgets, have a lot to do with what your creature looks like, the advantages and limits of its function, etc. Compare It Terror From Beyond Space with Alien to see the…[Read more]

On the Sontarans, a leftover point. It’s worth comparing the Sontarans with Joe Haldeman’s Forever War, about a millennia long war between humans and an alien race of clones called the Taureans. The war so completely shapes and redefines human society, that ultimately, humanity becomes a cloned race themselves. I’m not sure that the Forever War…[Read more]