@JimTheFish …I think a comparison of Sontarans everywhere wouldn’t mind a comparison to pickles, considering that the age-old likening to potatoes might be slightly overused.
(Or, perhaps I haven’t had dinner yet…)

SONTAR-HA!

@JimTheFish

Cheers! Have you settled fully back into the rhythm of being back in Scotland? I think things were a bit chaotic last time I was around.

Yes, I’d like to apologise to Sontarans everywhere for that comparison. It’s really below the belt.

Great call to cover this. I’ve written before that I grew up with tales of Quatermass and its impact from my Father. It was officially a “big thing” in the village he lived in. Miners who had TVs swapped shifts to watch it. One of the village pubs got sick of the empty night and bought a TV for the saloon bar (can you imagine a group of drink…[Read more]

@Craig and @JimTheFish -so, you managed to salvage victory out of defeat? What went wrong? 😉

Well done, all.

Oops @Craig and @JimTheFish, I see I missed a post and Scotland did win.  Excellent, well done.  🙂

@FatManInABox

Being half Scottish (Dad from Edinburgh)

I think that’s a bit harsh; we’ll allow you to be full Scottish even if your Dad’s from the ‘burgh

😉

@Craig @JimtheFish Completely with you on Scottish sporting (and other) “prowess” – we are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (to coin a cliche). I was at Hamden for the…[Read more]

@JimTheFish I’ll take the last minute victory this time. But, boy, did they make it painful. I was convinced we were for another wooden spoon at half time. Well done to them for finally keeping their heads up.

@Bluesqueakpip Did you forget where I’m from? 🙂

And my fellow mod @JimTheFish ?

But because I’m a Scot I know we’re going to lose already. Sporting pessimism is in our blood. Look at Elise Christie in three speed skating events. And the men’s curling – choaked! I’m still amazed Chris Hoy didn’t fall off his bike two years ago and Andy Murray…[Read more]

@Nick @JimTheFish We’re straying away from the topic but I think I would have to agree with the fact that in the UK “we do seem to be moving (back) to a more Victorian like have/have not’s society”.

I started to experience it myself in the 90s when working in the film industry. If you didn’t have a posh accent and couldn’t afford to work for free…[Read more]

@JimTheFish

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I meant that I didn’t think the UNIT example was necessarily that valid to illustrate your point in the 1970’s. I would imagine that military planning meetings are a relatively open exchange of ideas regardless of rank present, but when the decision has been made delivery is rather hierarchical, which is what…[Read more]

@JimTheFish

Hi there. Great analysis. One thing which struck me reading this though was this comment:

And we can see just how it changes things slightly by watching UNIT Who….We can also see this in the Web of Fear too. Look at the outright bolshiness of Evans or how the power in the Bunker seems to reside much more with Sgt Arnold.

My…[Read more]

Absolute belter – even viewing it from a 21st century perspective where the ideas of sentient/organic spacecraft and human genetic manipulation by aliens are well established.

Thanks @Bluesqueakpip for the technical background. It’s interesting that the current DW team say they also prefer to use real-time effects to CGI whenever possible.

The…[Read more]

Yikes! Apologies for double post – no idea how that happened. I trust a mod can sort that out please (and then delete this one too) –

@FatManInABox @Craig @JimtheFish @Phaseshift (where the devil are you? Hope you’ve not succumbed to the lergy that was going about post-Xmas; the Quatermas thread in particular is in full flow, and needs you!)

@jimthefish Thanks, I´m a big Peter cushing fan.

Social commentary aspects – I’m not really picking up @JimtheFish‘s “condescension” towards the working class characters.  The Chilcots are portrayed as quite rounded, and contrasted nicely with the closed minds of the military brass typified by Breen.  I liked Mrs C’s lines about “Got my picture in all the papers – but they didn’t believe us, n…[Read more]

Thanks everyone for all the background info – fascinating, especially @Bluesqueakpip‘s post on how they actually filmed.  Must have made use of background music tricky, as it would presumably have to be sound-balanced live.  It’s also worth remembering that TV back then was still a very new medium.  Much of the time they must have been ex…[Read more]

So, Episode Two and things are hotting up nicely. Hobbs Lane has a history of strange happenings: figures that walk through walls, things that move by themselves.

The hominids are still being found – but why is the best preserved skull found inside the UXB? Is it a UXB? Evidence keeps coming along; this object is old. The radioactive decay…[Read more]

ha ha @jimthefish – yeah, that film screams “quality”!

I guess…..

;¬)

Hi @jimthefish – not to disinter a now dead conversation from the crypt…. but I wonder if your memory is of Ian Ogilvy rather than David McCallum…?

Came across Matthew Sweet talking about Amicus films on the radio and they mention this – “… and now the screaming starts!”

AAAAAaaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8¬0

@JimTheFish

It does hint that we might be going the ‘regeneration brings out whatever the Doctor needs, rather than what he wants’ route.

The Smith Doctor’s problem with repressed anger becomes the Capaldi Doctor’s ‘sod the repressed …’ 😀