@Phaseshift (et al) – in terms of Davison episodes, I’ll happily go with the general opinion of people here.

However, as I must’ve missed it as a kid, I will now definitely be watching Kinda etc at some point soon!
Even if that’s not the one chosen, the way you guys have spoken about the ‘classics’ has made me want to watch them (possibly for the…[Read more]

Apologies to @thekrynoidman You did indeed 😉

And thanks to @Bluesqueakpip and @Phaseshift for your get well wishes. Back to my annoyingly bouncey yeti self 😉 (these retrospectives have been just what the Doctor ordered!)

I agree with Phaseshift re Martha’s arc. I’ve enjoyed her story much more on this viewing, having initially found her a…[Read more]

Yes, this entire serial was definitely made with a lot of love. As others have said, the Fourth Doctor being quintessentially himself, with vocal timbre and body language. But in this episode, I especially enjoyed Romana’s interactions with Duggan. Those two really clicked together, with some very natural and charming exchanges as they tried to w…[Read more]

@PhaseShift Normally I would go for Earthshock but I think I’ll go for Kinda, because I’ve never seen it. I’ve not seen most of the stories on that list but I would like to see this one because I’ve heard it’s supposed to be a classic and also because I’m recording the sequel Snakedance on the Horror Channel next week.

BTW I’ve got a terrible…[Read more]

@ScaryB – sorry to hear that you haven’t been feeling too well.

I’d also say that Last of the Time Lords didn’t live up to The Sound of Drums – which only got beaten in the ‘downer ending’ stakes by The Pandorica Opens.

Yes, I will join you and @Phaseshift in condemning the shiny floaty forgivey Doctor. At the time, I did wonder if young Lucy…[Read more]

@PhaseShift – I think Lalla Ward has joked that the alternative costume was Zoe’s jumpsuit.

I agree that – while she’s not as experienced as the Doctor, and so makes silly mistakes – she’s essentially a female Doctor. Just a very, very young one. Her barely reined-in exasperation with Duggan is indeed pitch perfect, as is the moment of…[Read more]

Not been feeling too great this week – what a lovely way to recuperate – double dose of Who… and Tennant. I do miss him sometimes. (There again I also miss Troughton.. and Hartnell… and Matt (already!) 😉 )

I think these final 2 episodes have a bit of trouble living up to the promise of Utopia which I thought was really strong throughout. As…[Read more]

@Bluesqueakpip

But this reinforces my point, my friend! I would imagine that the legions of people starved of the opportunity of watching YouTube are hungry for more Doctor Who dvds, not less!

But seriously, Black Orchid and The Awakening would be a great Peter Davison treat.

But, as @PhaseShift has reminded us, it is Friday afternoon (in…[Read more]

@PhaseShift, @Bluesqueakpip, @JimTheFish

Should it really affect the decision if the two-parters are sold on different discs? I wouldn’t have thought that dvd sales was the primary rationale for these retrospectives, but rather it was to introduce or re-introduce to whoever is lurking on the site representative stories of past Doctors, and…[Read more]

@PhaseShift
I second the excellent suggestion by @JimTheFish that we pair up Black Orchid and The Awakening. It would do justice to the 5th, we could see that period with and without Adric, and it would be great to see how the show handled two-parters from that period. On a purely personal level, I haven’t seen either since they were first…[Read more]

@Phaseshift – Kinda is remarkable in that was one of the first stories to have undergone a serious academic analysis. Nowadays, that type of thing is ten a penny – what with Buffy Studies being an entire discipline – but back then the idea that anyone would study television seriously was a bit weird.

Well: unless you were learning to make the…[Read more]

@Phaseshift – my memory of Stephen Moore is him playing Peer Gynt. He has an amazing voice; does a lot of stage work.

I thought I recognised Adams in the animation. But does anyone else think that Wikipedia really ought to have ‘Don’t Panic!’ on their home page? The more I’m reminded of the content of the Guide, the more I think ‘this is…[Read more]

@janetteB Yes the sun shone and shone and shone, it’s nearly as bright as my nose and forehead now 🙂

@TrauMorgus Wlecome to the Rose and Crown where no topic is topical 😉

@Purofilion I think we both need more coffee…… as ever 🙂

@Whisht Genius, name adopted

@PhaseShift Yes the name has been adopted, if you manage to make Tewkesbury…[Read more]

Anyway, now that @Phaseshift and I have finished our verbal jousting (crawling accepted 😉 ), some comments on the actual episode.

@Wolfweed – It is quite funny that the sonic has a bit of a moment when trying to tackle the wooden door – before Duggan thumps it and it goes for the metal lock instead. And that randomiser seems to be switched on…[Read more]

@Craig and @Phaseshift Hello and well met again to you both, fellow time-travellers 🙂

The Forum is looking good! Sorry for fishy inactivity <hastily polishes barnacled scales> I got Absorbalof’d by work [yes, that bad :-)]. I have done some homework – a young lady called Foxes will be getting swept into the time vortex, apparently.  I had to…[Read more]

The first time around, many years ago, I tuned in part way through this episode and met the Doctor for the first time. He and his friends were in trouble with the Count in Paris. There were a lot of Mona Lisas inexplicably bricked up behind a five-hundred-year-old wall. The Doctor snuck into the Louvre, entered a phone booth, and then showed up in…[Read more]

@Phaseshift – Oy! Are you calling me cruel and venal? 😉

@Phaseshift

The Chicken or the egg question? Simple. If you are a creationist – you think the chicken came first (God created the animals, etc). If you are anyone else, and follow Darwin, the egg came first, being laid by a flightless bird that was similar, but not genetically exact to a Chicken.

Actually, no, because if you are a Hindu c…[Read more]

I really liked this episode, much more than the two that follow. The Doctor’s interactions with Captain Jack ring true and natural, particularly the scene in, as @PhaseShift calls it, the “plot device death room” (I like that!). Really well played. I don’t think I ever liked Jack Harkness again as much as I liked him here.

And I don’t reall…[Read more]