@jimthefish

Yes, we probably nixed an official retrospective when we first started the BG reviews. Weird how so many Holmes scripts were chosen at the time. 😀 I thought a blog detailing my perspective on his stories might be an idea, tied in with some observations about fandoms reaction to him, and him to them. Anyone who wants to avoid…[Read more]

Just on Robert Holmes, can I agree with @Bluesqueakpip s post on ep 1. He’s pretty much my favourite Who writer of the BG years. I quite enjoyed the aspects of the RTD and Moff retrospectives where we looked at recurring tropes and underlying story themes and I’d quite like to do the same for a couple of earlier writers. I think I’ll put some…[Read more]

I really enjoyed watching this again! With more recent memories of later mishandling and overuse of Gallifrey storylines, it’s easy to forget that this was the first time we got a look at the Time Lords and their society. It was pretty cool at the time, and as others have remarked, a source of lots of what we now take for granted about the canon…[Read more]

@jimthefish At least we agree that the actually costume and make up design is excellent.

@JimTheFish I agree that Peter Pratt’s portrayal barely resembles the other incarnations, but that’s what I like about him. He fully brings out The Masters insanity and, unlike Simm and Gomez, manages to make it actually scary and not let it turn the character into a pantomime villain. But to each his own.

I agree with much of what you way @JimTheFish. The matrix scenes not only drag but are too “earthy”. One doesn’t get the sense that this is the mind world of an alien. The final episode in contrast to episode is almost breathless. I felt as though a little more time could have been given to events post Matrix and less time to within the Matrix.

I…[Read more]

@JimTheFish  I agree on Gallifrey; and I have to say that I find the Doctor’s persistence in trying to find the place puzzling.  This may sound odd, but — my maternal grandparents were immigrants to the US from Austria, around the turn of the 20th c.  They left for good reasons (mostly having to do with the military draft), rattled around th…[Read more]

hey @purofilion – that’s ‘noice’ (I’m struggling to find something appropriate to ping-pong back with, but will somehow find a ‘good’ Eugene Chadbourne track!)
(and I’m still struggling to find a way to thank you for mentioning me with kind words, when there are so many others to namecheck – rest assured it has gone to my head and am now walking…[Read more]

I followed the UK election story with a great deal of interest, and the ensuing conversation here as well. Wonderful that intelligent discussion can take place on politic matters as well as fictional ones! And I have enjoyed reading the family histories that people have shared.

@JimTheFish    I completely understand your fears. When our Co…[Read more]

@PhaseShift   My reaction was rather stronger than ‘Oh bugger’ and I am still alternating between steam-coming-out-of-the-ears angry and a mood of profound despondency at the prospect of (probably) at least five more grim years of this incompetent and economically illiterate shower doing their best to finish destroying all the good that was es…[Read more]

@JimTheFish I envy you and that peaty goodness. I hope you enjoy tonight, I’ll be staying up. Not having a vote in Scotland I have just had to hold my nose and vote for Labour (marginal seat so a vote for Greens could let in Lib Dems who I have fallen out of favour with). I did try to persuade everyone I know in Scotland to vote SNP though.

@Bluesqueakpip  Poor Clara, if that’s how it is, and I’ll certainly second the Master as the Doctor’s “stalker”, always with a thread of homoeroticism mixed in there someplace; that was certainly played in by Delgado, and played outright with Simm.  MixMaster, though?  Still only a thread in the weave or her craziness, or a big fat stripe ac…[Read more]

@JimTheFish

He’s a killer and yet this is not taken as seriously as with just about every other character.

Blame Tom Lenk. I think the original intention was to kill Andrew off, but everyone just plain liked Tom Lenk too much, and he’s so funny, and really good at impro, and why don’t we just keep Andrew. 🙂

It’s rather like the ‘Spike/James M…[Read more]

@JimTheFish and @Ichabod I think the Time Lords were based upon a certain breed of old school European politician. They are clearly a ruling elite who live too long. I think there is a lot of interesting potential backstory that has never been tapped and just because the 70s depiction of the T.Ls was absurd does not mean that any AG depiction…[Read more]

@JimTheFish  I found the Time Lords on Gallifrey utterly ridiculous, frankly, and forgot them as quickly as I could; I hope they stay gone for a loooooong time.  Bunch of pompous, puffed-up popinjays!  Of course the Doctor took off, makes perfect sense.  I’ve always had a problem wondering why the heck he wants so badly to go back, the rest of the…[Read more]

@ichabod @JimTheFish I also find Smith’s Doctor could be quite dark, and, I think, sad too. The Moment calls him ‘the one who forgets’, but I don’t think he forgets, I think he compartmentalizes. He hides behind the young face and almost slapstick-like behavior, which, I think, makes the times when mask falls stand out even more. I’m thinking here…[Read more]

@purofilion – it is definitely Pertwee riding the bike – he was apparently keen on any type of vehicle and would go for motorbike rides round the countryside when they were waiting for the crew to set up. Unbelievably, given that no-one now would dream of letting their leading man do such a dangerous stunt, he does take the tumble off the bike.…[Read more]

@JimTheFish @Bluesqueakpip Last time we had City of Death for Tom, so I thought it might be okay to go back to the Gothic Horror stories – there are quite a lot of them and I like a lot of them! 🙂

I’d be quite happy to avoid Genesis, just for fun. I’m actually quite keen on doing The Deadly Assassin, just because we haven’t done a Time Lords…[Read more]

@JimTheFish

Genesis is fine too but I can’t help but feel it’s been done to death.

I was quite surprised to discover that we haven’t done Genesis here – there is sometimes that feeling that every Doctor Who site in the universe (including alternate universes and n-space) has discussed Genesis.

So, do we just go with the flow? Or be brave and…[Read more]