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26 July 2014 at 09:34 #29350
Oh and I forgot to mention, re’ Tegan’s accent. I read at the time that she was recruited the producers didn’t think that her accent was “Australian” enough so she was taught to speak with what the English considered to be a proper Australian accent, hence her speaking with an accent that would raise blisters on galvanised iron.
Cheers
Janette
26 July 2014 at 09:31 #29348Actually @whisht I would love to hear why you didn’t like Black Orchid. Difference of opinion is the making of good conversation 🙂 as was happing with the off topic discussion about GoT on The Sofa thread. I had the same hesitation about posting on what I dislike about GoT but decided to post anyway and I am glad I did because friends don’t always share the same opinions.
I found BO watchable, even vaguely enjoyable. The Awakening was surprising. I have never seen it before and honestly did not know that any of the PD stories were so good. Thankfully both (I’ll repeat that, both) Nyssa and Adric were gone. Turlough I find inoffensive which is an improvement. (Personally I don’t like any of the assistants from the departure of Romana to Ace though I have not seen any Mel episodes) Turlough is, at least, a redhead. I have a soft spot for redheads and having got no closer than ginger in my own children am holding out for redheaded grandchildren.
Another quaint English village and something is seriously wrong, as it always is in quaint English villages. (I lived for over a year in a quaint English village and there was certainly something wrong there so I wouldn’t disagree.) I certainly hope @rob doesn’t take his war games so seriously. That crack looks ominiously familiar only this is past in a time line that isn’t wibbly wobbley.
Cheers
Janette
26 July 2014 at 04:24 #29341Do you mean that have finally worked out what a Jammy Dodger is I am now going to have to start researching “Tussocks TeaCakes”? IT really is getting too much. 🙂
Sorry about the GoT hijack. I don’t know that it “deserves it” but it probably should have a thread of its own.
@blenkinsopthebrave, You double CB suggestion deserves a pelting with rotton tomatoes. I have agreed to watch one CB story. Enough is enough!!! (Poor Colin. I really hope he doesn’t follow Dr Who fandom on the web.)
Cheers
Janette
25 July 2014 at 04:06 #29295I would have to disagree with you @miapatrick for having read a lot of early medieval history and living with a “social modeller”, societies just don’t function they way they are depicted in GoT. One of the problems I suspect is that there are no “normal” people. Certainly the ruling families would have been as violent and corrupt as depicted for it is inevitably the pscyopaths who rise to the top whether it is in politics or the workplace. Nothing has changed there. The lack of “average joes” creates the impression that the entire society operates that way, the Hobbsian view of human life as “nasty, brutish and short”. The other problem I have with GoT is that after the death of Sean Bean the only likable character left is that of Peter Dinklage.
There are bits of GoT I like and I wish I could like it more than I do as everybody else I know loves it including my two elder sons, but usually after watching a couple of episodes I feel the need for a Dr Who tonic. I do love the opening credits and the music though. Great music.
cheers
Janette
24 July 2014 at 05:07 #2927824 July 2014 at 04:53 #29277I spoke to the President of the local fan club last night and he has not heard anything about a film screening of the first episode so it clearly isn’t going to be on here. The sofa, fish fingers and custard it is then. 🙂
@fatmaninabox That is indeed a heartwarming image.
Cheers
Janette
23 July 2014 at 03:31 #29251Thanks for the link to the Colgan interview @wolfweed. Very entertaining and almost makes me want to read the book.
Cheers
Janette
22 July 2014 at 12:18 #2924621 July 2014 at 03:46 #29215@craig. You should have rung with the words, “Hi. I’m Craig from Doctor Who forum. There seems to have been a problem with the post. I have not yet received the tickets which, as head honcho of the most polite and informative Dr Who forum on the interwebs, I understood I would be allocated.” There pushy and polite all at once…
@purofilian. Will send virtual waves from Adelaide… (oh and your celebration sounds lovely. Nothing wrong with hot chocolate and Baker scarves.) Many of our friends are fans but they all live the other side of the city. None of our more local friends or extended family are interested sadly.
Cheers
Janette
20 July 2014 at 04:38 #29188..and it just goes to show that “lots of money” does not equal quality. I not sure what I can add to what has been said above. I think between them @craig, @wolfweed and @phaseshift have covered everything I intended to say. Like “Wolfie” I could watch this episode “til the end of time”. It is right up hovering about the top of my list of favourites.
Though full credit goes to every actor in this episode it is Catherine Tate/Donna’s moment in the spotlight. Bernard Cribbons was marvellous as always. to quote @phaseshift “Hats off to the mighty Bernard Cribbins, his face as the Colasonta family are driven off to “labour camps” says it all.”{ (I was going to say something similiar) I love that scene and the description “Daily Mail disease” is apt. (I fear that Australia is now affected with that same “Murdoch lurgy”. There is a close up of Donna’s mother’s face, lips pursed, no make-up, a woman on the edge of despair that really captures the mood of the episode.
The concept of this episode takes a question that I am certain we all have in the back of our minds, “what would happen if the Doctor wasn’t there”, and explores it. And the bad news is that we really need the Doctor and that reminds us, the viewer, that the Doctor is only fiction and we are living in the alternative universe where there is no Doctor and like Donna and her family must confront our own demons or crumple as they do. I think one of the hardest things in this episode is the sense of helplessness the family experience. They cannot even act to protect their friends. Donna runs after the truck carrying off the Colasonta family, arms waving in a futile gesture. It is only the fairytale appearance of Rose that enables Donna to fight back. Once again RTD has reminded us of the limitations of our own daily existance, it is just submission and eating chips.
Cheers
Janette
20 July 2014 at 03:59 #29187Sounds like fun. We will have our own “launch party” involving of course fish fingers and custard, souffle, the Aussie version of Jammy Dodgers and if I can get hold of them, English jelly babies.
I suspect the “big announcement” is pertinent to that cinema alone.
Cheers
Janette
20 July 2014 at 03:55 #2918619 July 2014 at 06:17 #29121@phaseshift. Very interesting post. There are a few alternative Doctors mentioned that I did not know of. I am not familair with the audio stories. Part of the fun of Curse of Fatal Death is seeing different actors’ takes on the role. It is rather like one of those children’s flip books where one changes the face of the character. When one doesn’t work, ie Jim Broadbent, then just try another. On the basis of his performance in that I am very glad that Hugh Grant turned down the role. I don’t think he could have captured the angst of the post-time-war Doctor and I agree with @jimthefish that REG is a much better suited to portraying a villian. He could not have done the light and breezy any more than H.G, in some ways his acting opposite, could have done the dark and heavy.
@adt1957 Another lovely, “might have been”. I suspect however that bringing back Billie Piper was a commercial decision given her popularity wtih the younger fans. I also suspect that it was not Moffat’s choice to do so as he had said that Rose would not return again, hence we don’t get Rose, (thankfully) but Bad-Wolf-Girl, and one of Billie’s best performances.
cheers
Janette
19 July 2014 at 05:16 #29120@blenkinsopthebrave. I think you have convinced me. I also love the historical stories and I am currently doing some research into the Industrial Revolution so it seems rather topical. I might even try to watch an entire episode, something I have not yet achieved with C.B though I have warmed a little to the actor after his performance in the Fivish Doctors.
@Bluepipsqueak. I hope you are rescued soon. Being locked in and forced to watch a C.B. story. (shudders at the prospect.)
Cheers
Janette
16 July 2014 at 04:11 #29034Funnily enough Midnight has never been an episode that I have particularly warmed to. I can see its merits. It is very well written, directed and acted. It was certainly nice to see David Troughton again. I like the unseen, unknown monster. Some things are best left unexplained. I also like the Doctor’s conclusion at the end, that humans should move their leisure palace elsewhere. The planet is inhabited and they have no place there. It is nice for the alien to sometimes be shown respect even if it is a very creepy alien, one that defys our definition of life.
I think this story also proves that if RTD had not felt compelled to write “bigger and bangier” stories he would have been the better for it. His light touch as in evidence here is excellent.
Having said that, I still would not include Midnight in my list of personal favourites. (as opposed to next week’s episode which I have cheated and watched already.)
Cheers
Janette
15 July 2014 at 11:16 #29027@arbutus. Six summery weeks in Canada. Six wintry weeks here. We get spring and Dr Who. I think it is time to start planning the Dr Who party though sadly the local lolly shop which sold English jelly babies has closed down. I am going to have to hunt further afield before the 23rd.
@wolfweed. I don’t know whether to be excited or not.
I sympathise with the Canadians over missing out on the world tour for though it is touching down in Oz there are a few thousand kilometres between us and “it”. (very deep sigh)
Cheers
Janette
15 July 2014 at 05:04 #29021@craig. Thanks for the link to the Kermode Uncut. As @scaryb so aptly said “Nails and Heads”.
I don’t really understand why anyone would even want to read scripts before the episode airs. With a Series or film based upon a novel it is entirely different. The written work was first though reading the novel before viewing usually results in disappointment. DR Who episodes are written to be performed to an audience that does not have foreknowlege of what is happening. The leaking of the scripts has made speculation over what will happen almost impossible even for those of us who don’t know which is why the spam posts that were deleted made me so angry.
Anyways we have our own little Who oasis here. Long may it last..
Cheers
Janette
14 July 2014 at 15:06 #29000Will do though I won’t be expecting an immediate response given the time difference.
The typos in the reply suggest it was not automated unless they are designer typos. (I don’t know which is sadder, the spam-bot or the person)
Cheers
Janette
14 July 2014 at 13:01 #2899614 July 2014 at 12:55 #28995Glad the spams have been removed. I was grrring this morning when I saw them. Thank’s again for all your hard work @craig.
Cheers
Janette
14 July 2014 at 09:01 #28982I hesitated to post earlier as I was very tempted to make a less than polite comment upon posts now removed. Thanks to our wonderful mods for keeping this site troll free.
Thanks for putting up the pics @wolfweed. Nice to see the library migrating into the console room. I throughly approve of Dr Who encouraging a love of books.
Our new Doctor certainly has a dark moody expression there however in the pic of he and Clara he looks much more like “our Doctor’.
Cheers
Janette
13 July 2014 at 10:25 #28951I have yet to re watch this. Still watching the previous episode however a few comments. Before I escaped Oz in ’82 I heard part of the last episode of the radio play and remembered “telephone sanitisers” and the twist on evolution. I re-discovered the series when I returned to Oz four years later to find people quoting Marvin and Pan-galatic-gargle-blasters on sale in cocktial bars. It will still a few years before I watched the series and then read the books and I have yet (I blush to admit it) to listen to the radio play though I have it now and intend to inflict it upon the family the next time we take a car holiday. It should be just the thing to keep three teenage males from killing each other enroute.
Are or were there ever telephone sanitisers? I had never heard of them and the very absurdity of the concept added to the hilarity of the story. I have encountered market researchers sad to say and watching after working some years in the hotel which served Pan-galatic-gargle-blasters I find all too much of social critique spot on. When I am really cynical I think of it as social commetary not humour.
A note on Aubrey Morris, he was in B.5 as Duncan in “Exogenisis”, Series 3 (not a recommended episode unfortunately.)
Cheers
Janette
12 July 2014 at 13:49 #2892611 July 2014 at 12:28 #28888Having been set on a series 4 rewatch course after watching Partners in Crime I think that Silence in the Library is looming on my viewing horizon. It is one of my favourites too. The Vashta Nerada would top my “most scary Dr Who monster list. (Well maybe second top if I knew for certain that the “white man” who terrorised my childhood was a Dr Who baddie.)
Cheers
Janette
9 July 2014 at 15:22 #28840Having a top ten seems a little ill mannered to me given that there have only been twelve doctors to date and after Night of the Doctor Paul McGann definitely deserves a mention. (Before Colin Baker at least.)Â I agree with @TheKryniodMan. This list certainly deserves “a good kicking”.
Cheers
Janette
9 July 2014 at 07:48 #288337 July 2014 at 12:59 #28797I forgot to mention for those interested in costume history that Barbara Murray’s 18th Century costume was made for this story which is surprising given the usual Dr Who budget. It was reused in AG Who, in Girl in the Fireplace, worn by Sophie Myles. You can read more about it here. http://recycledmoviecostumes.com/stuartgeorgian007.html
Cheers
Janette
7 July 2014 at 07:12 #28794We rescued the hard drive from the old machine just in time to catch up the Fourth series for as @craig says “Yay Donna” and Yay to Wilf too. This series is by far and away my favourite of the Tennant years. As with so many RTD stories the joy is in the details. The humour of the opening sequences is underpinned by the pathos of Donna’s desperate search for something meaningful in her life, so perfectly captured in that first precious scene on the hill with Wilf. Right from the start Donna is a heartwinner. (I was perhaps fortunate not to have been exposed to the Catherine Tate show so did not have the prejudice of many U.K viewers against the actor.)
The story itself is simplistic and so similiar to the first Sarah Jane Adventures story that I often confuse the two. I do enjoy RTD’s use of modern paranoias to drive his plots though the adipose, I suspect, are designed purely for the merchandisers. The concept only just holds up but it hardly matters. This story is really about Donna and the Doctor. I loved the scene in the beginning when he is in the Tardis, talking about what he is doing then looks up and realises there is no audience. The Doctor needs an audience and he is about to find just what he needs. Donna is his perfect foil. She prunes his ego, reminds him of his “humanity”, and is jolly good company.
cheers
Janette
7 July 2014 at 05:17 #28792A very enjoyable story. I have watched this before but so long ago I recall very little about it. Nice to see Barbara Murray again too.
I too like the inconsequential stories where entire universes are not at stake. This obviously inspired Unicorn and the Wasp. The English country house is a classic story setting and provides an excellent claustrophobic back drop to the “base under seige” action. Though the script is rather predictable it is a lot of fun but…
Watching this reminds me of why I have seen so few Davison stories. It isn’t Davison’s fault. I was never able to appreciate his portrayal of the Doctor because of the three annoying companions. I don’t know why he didn’t just space them. Also watching this after watching Partners in Crime I was struck by just how different companions are portrayed in AG Who. The BG actor’s struggled, I think, to give depth to their characters that was not provided by the scripts.
Cheers
Janette
4 July 2014 at 16:20 #28706Thanks for the warning @wolfweed. I like spoilers but not ruiners so I will avoid that link. I don’t want to know anything that spoils the fun of speculation.
Cheers
Janette
3 July 2014 at 03:46 #28667It was episode ten not eight and the list was posted by @phaseshift. (apologies for the errors and omission in the above post.)
3 July 2014 at 03:44 #28666There was the glaring omission of a director/writer for episode eight which I thought had Peter Jackson written all over it.
@purofilion Toby Stephens for master… That too would be very interesting,. I haven’t seen him play too many villians but I have no doubt of his ability to do so and I think the Master should always temper his villiany with charm.
Cheers
Janette
2 July 2014 at 04:18 #28639@fosterferris I think you make a good point there regarding the Master. I think the “madness” was overdone but could be explained within the story. The Master has spent so long at the end of universe, not to mention having died a few times, that he has become slightly unhinged. I hope all the same that if the character returns he will be somewhat less insane. RTD did have a tendency to ramp up the theatricals and I agree with John Simm re’ his performance. It was too OTT but that is what was demanded of him.
I commented on Rose last night in the post which I accidentally deleted before posting. Like @arbutus she is certainly not one of my favourite companions but there were moments when I really warmed to her character. I preferred her as “bad wolf girl” however and was extremely thankful that SM brought her back in the way he did.
cheers
Janette
1 July 2014 at 15:18 #28630Hear hear @Purofilion Tennant is in my humble opinion one of the greatest actors of his generation. I didn’t always like the scripts he was given but never had an issue with his acting.
Cheers
Janette
1 July 2014 at 03:37 #28625Excellent excelent and along with her assisant “scarf girl” who now wears a bow tie I note. Thats for that spoiliery spoiler @stickfiddler
Cheers
Janette
1 July 2014 at 03:34 #2862430 June 2014 at 06:17 #28603Wonderful stuff. If I had a make a list of favourite Dr Who stories City of Death would still be on top. We watched eps three and four together so I withheld comments last week in case of accidental spoilers. Watching this alongside Hitchikers made me realise just how much D.A. is stamped all over it. (Such a pity Shada was never completed.) The art critics reminded me of Arthur Dent and Ford critiquing the Vogon captain’s poetry. D.A. really disliked art critics. In fact I think he disliked pomposity and pretension wherever he encountered it and so does the Doctor, especially in this incarnation. Douglas Adams writing style is perfectly suited to Tom Baker’s performance. As has been said above, all the elements work to perfection here, the writing, the acting, the setting. Paris really deserves its own credit in this story.
I think Duggan would have worked as an occasional character, (like Strax) rather than as a regular Tardis traveller.
A few years ago when listening to Richard Dawkins talking about the origins of life I wanted to shout out, “but your wife saw it happen silly man”.
Cheers
Janette
29 June 2014 at 09:29 #28576I love the Christmas specials but when it comes to Voyage of the Damned I am in complete agreement with you @thekrynoidman
Cheers
Janette
29 June 2014 at 08:09 #28574@phaseshift‘s excellent breakdown helped me understand why this is the one Christmas special which I never rewatch. Appart from featuring Kylie, who is as much a national embarrassment as Nicole, Mel and Tony, (well no that isn’t fair. The last two are in a class all their own) it is inspired by a genre of film which I really dislike.
Oh and thanks for the video link. Nice to hear Verity talk about the resurrection of her “baby” even though she denies that term, especially after watching An Adventure in Space and Time. I did not know that RTD was also born in 1963, As I always say, what a good vintage. I hope he has time now to set back and simply enjoy watching the show, for if it was Verity’s baby it was RTD that rescued it.
Cheers
Janette
29 June 2014 at 07:29 #28573I note that in @phaseshift‘s episode list both writer and director for 10 are TBC. I wonder if it is Peter Jackson.
As for the ring, I am afraid that the “blue boringers” theory is the most likely but I trust Moffat to make it very “unboring” indeed. I suspect that the identity confusion, memory loss and darkness will wear off within the first episode but until it does there will be some very uncomfortable moments in the Tardis. As per the scripwriting guidelines the Doctor will remember who he is in the eleventh hour and save the day. Another problem with reducing creativity to a set of rules but that is a different rant for somewhere else…
cheers
Janette
28 June 2014 at 10:22 #28519I knew I was forgetting something. There has be at least one scene from “Galaxy Quest.” “he” suggested “all of it really”.
Cheers
Janette
28 June 2014 at 10:19 #28518From a very subjective perspective I would want to see in a top 100 best sci fi moments Aragorn arriving in the pirate ships at the battle of the Pelennor Fields as it is written. Neither BBC radio Play or film has done justice that that moment. I would have to include a B.5 clip, the one from Series 3 Severed Dreams when Delen appears on the screen and makes her, “Only one human has ever defeated the Minbari” speach. I loved that moment too because in at least 90 % of sci fi the humans are the “good guys” and the aliens the enemy. B.5 turned that on its head. Another classic moment from another personal favourite is Walter’s acid trip in Fringe, just for the sheer audacity of it. I would have to include something from Brazil but it has been so long since I last watched it that I cannot highlight a single scene. The sword fight from Princess Bride is a classic, and I would also include Dr Smith, (Lost in Space) as a carrot for the sheer absurdity of it as well as scenes from Metropolis, Nosferatu, the Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the classic Melies “A Voyage to the Moon” shot, though it has been so long since I watched any of those that I could not be specific.
As for my Dr Who top ten, well that requires careful consideration and a few more glasses of wine. (We started working on it over dinner at our “local” last night.)
Cheers
Janette
26 June 2014 at 04:41 #28458That scene wouldn’t even make it onto my top ten Dr Who moments. (Not that I have ever compiled such a list or even considered one.)
Cheers
Janette.
26 June 2014 at 04:29 #28457@purofilion “Going to the footy on a Saturday arvo with an esky fill of tinnies” used to be a favourite to confuse the Brits when I was in the Uk (I have never even been to a “footy match” let alone with an esky full of tinnies but it always raised a few eyebrows.) I was discussing a couple of Victorian slangs terms recently, to “snib” the door and spoutings around the house. No wonder I couldn’t get my South Australian partner to clean the “spoutings”.
A few years ago my son was given a set of books on Aussie slang and it’s origins which I read cover to cover. Language and how it develops is fascinating.
Enjoy your holidays. My sons finish up tomorrow too. The eldest is heading over to Yorke Peninsula on a fishing trip with friends so I am doing the full, “anxious Mum” thing at the moment.
Cheers
Janette
24 June 2014 at 08:07 #28433I don’t have a strong opinion about Davison stories either as I have not seen many of them. I do like the idea of discussing Black Orchid as it is rather an unconventional Who story.
@scaryb. I hope you are feeling better now.
Cheers
Janette
24 June 2014 at 08:07 #28432Thanks for the link @whisht. Several there I am not familiar with. Slang varies between the states too. Recently a Sydney friend used the word “tip” for the classic school yard game “chasey”, in a video for the boy’s school. I pointed out that in S.A. the term is, “gang up chasey” and none of the children would know what “tip” meant. In Victorian schools the game is simply referred to as “chasey”. What we refer to as “bathers” are called “swimming cossies” in N.S.W. I think the term “sparkie” for electrician, also is predominately east coast.
Cheers
Janette
24 June 2014 at 04:01 #28430I hope the BBC aren’t overworking him. He looks very tired in that clip.
Cheers
Janette
24 June 2014 at 03:58 #28429I suspect there is more rumour than fact in those stories. I have no doubt The Master will return at some stage and it is as likely to be in this series as any but I just hope that they do not cast a “big Hollywood name actor” and rather cast someone who can actually act, preferably a fine character actor. (I would settle for John Noble who is more than overdue for a cameo.)
Cheers
Janette
18 June 2014 at 05:00 #28329Tom’s Tom Baker cat is almost as scary as the merchandising. I have seen Tardis rubbish bins but I think the bird feeder is taking it rather too far.
cheers
Janette
17 June 2014 at 04:02 #28324Looks as though the Tardis is going to get very small indeed. I hope the Doctor isn’t still in it when it turns into a USB hub.
Cheers
Janette
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