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11 February 2015 at 02:26 #37929
Actually came in here to share with everyone that world may be about to end in about a month’s time. Alcohol – the Ford Prefect recomendation for end of the world times!
http://yournewswire.com/cern-to-attempt-big-bang-in-march-stephen-hawking-issues-warning/
And I definitely need a drink after this next one – the universe may not have started with a bang after all (maybe not even a whimper). In fact it may not have started at all! Has anyone told Smithy this…?! Does this negate the first post…? If there’s never been a big bang, then presumably the god particle, if they’ve found it, won’t create another one…
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-universe.html
Head sploded! (Sorry about the mess 😈 )
Cheers!
11 February 2015 at 02:18 #37928Bit quiet in here, but good to see the pub’s still open.
Like @janetteb I’ve been lurking a lot but no time to comment. But not so stressful as you seem to be experiencing. So sorry to hear you’re having a tough time – I hope you get it resolved soon and exterminate whatever daleks are disrupting your bit of the universe. Just let us know if you need a posse – a group of ARSEy (on your behalf) virtual Whovians will soon sort it out!!
And I completely agree with you – @nick1235‘s line is just great –
<span style=”color: #222222;”>so, hurray to another 2 weeks of turtling in the house like hibernating Silurian</span>
I’m going to start practising that now 🙂
3 February 2015 at 01:30 #37768Welcome @doctorfoo
You even have to ask that question…?! In a Doctor Who forum…?? 😉
@timeywhimeytardis Welcome also. Re previous Doctors, we do communal watches of old episodes from time to time, currently watching Troughton’s Enemy of the World, if you want to join in. Last year we went for Tomb of the Cybermen (classic Troughton) and Talons of Weng Chiang (Baker). These are probably good places to start. There are links to the YouTube versions (although DVDs are obv better quality if you can find them) + comments and discussion.
(You can find them listed in the index here)
And yes some call post 2005 Nuwho; we tend to go for AG (After Gap) and BG (Before Gap) in here, to recognise that it’s all one show. (The Gap being 1989-2005 when it was off air)
3 February 2015 at 01:19 #37767Okay: Writing, check. Football, check. Politics, check. Journalism, check. That’s me done
🙂
And for you and anyone else looking for a bit of armchair excitement, this needs a stiff drink just to watch (well I did anyway). Very cool tho. I wouldn’t even walk some of these bits! The music’s from Martyn Bennet’s Grit album (MB did the musical equivalent of this bike ride!)
Possibly beats even @craig‘s recent posting of the Snowdon climb, and that gave me the willies as well 😉
3 February 2015 at 01:14 #377661 February 2015 at 23:21 #37755@craig Thanks for posting about “The Man in the High Castle”. Looks good. And a helluva pedigree 😉
@phaseshift Don’t know if you kept on with RTD’s Cucumber, but various friends, whose opinions I usually agree with, and who agreed with you re #1 have come round massively to say it’s really come into its own on the next 2.
*sigh*
Too many good things to watch!
Anyone else still watching Broadchurch? Definitely suffering from series 2 problems but it”s still compelling, thanks hugely to Tennant and Coleman. Shame the support characters don’t get the space they got in series 1, but it’s interesting to have a drama where the 2 main leads aren’t actually that likeable, and, I think, deliberately so. You expect to like them because they’re the leads, and because it’s Tennant and Coleman, but they’re flawed, and they make human mistakes, which have far reaching consequences. And depending how it plays out, maybe their characters shoudn’t be let off the hook for those errors of judgement.
1 February 2015 at 19:22 #37745Can I put in a request for @jimthefish to continue his early DW series reboots please 🙂 I like punky Susan especially. (Once he’s done with Buffy and Angel of course!)
1 February 2015 at 00:43 #37722Great stuff!
One of the interesting things about this story is the lack of monster of the week. They’d pretty much dispensed with the alternating sci fi/historical sequencing by this time, but monsters were pretty much expected. This was preceded by the Ice Warriors and followed by Web of Fear. Loved Troughton’s wee pun about “a disused yeti” in this 😉
So this was an unusual story where the monster is a human. At least at this stage, I’m assuming Salamander is human. He seems very much in the Bond/Avengers/Man from Uncle/Dangerman etc villain mould. He’s written as a bit of a stereotype “swarthy latin type” baddie, but I think Troughton’s performance lifts it beyond that. He really is a joy to watch as he manipulates and blackmails his way to power. There is no hint of the Doctor at all in Salamander, except at the beginning when it’s the Doctor pretending to be him.
Jamie’s great in this, rising to the occasion as required. And he’s spot on, even if he means it ironically, Salmander’s security is crap. Rockets that can go from Australia to Hungary in less than a couple of hours, hi tech looking gizmos, and apparently the power to remotely set off volcanoes as required, and not a security camera or movement detector etc in sight. Astrid’s house last week was even worse, with just some fenceposts and a couple of lines of wire.
Fariah the food taster is interesting too. She seems to share Salamander’s ironic humour and has a rather non-servant attitude. Maybe you get extra leeway for being a food tester – it’s presumably not a job with long term prospects!
By the end Slamander would seem to have consolidated another bit of his power base – he’s demonstrated his ruthlessness and power with the volcano, has Fedorin in his power and is well on the way to eliminating Denes (who has been revealed earlier to be working with Astrid’s group).
Oh and I really liked Benik’s very camp dislike of his boss(?) Bruce. And how he immediately goes to get in touch with Salamander, despite having said he’s not even going to try, as soon as Bruce leaves. Very nicely played. And it lets us see what Salamander’s communication device looks like so we’ll know what Jamie’s up to later 😉
1 February 2015 at 00:16 #37720@bluesqueakpip I find it very difficult to separate any of the AG console room designs, I really like them all. Haha yes, re Smithy living underneath the console. Re the current one – shame they can’t have vertical movement on the time rotor as well as the wheels going round at the top. But apparently that was beyond the budget/practicalities.
I also liked the movie version when McCoy was in it, leather chair again, and a cosy Victorian study feel to it.
Btw thanks for the heads up about BBC3 Fri night repeats. I’m a happy yeti again 🙂
1 February 2015 at 00:05 #37719@craig Love Mark Kermode, thanks for posting. Love Den of Geek too, mostly they’re really enthusiastic. Have to wonder who edited that article tho, it’s a disaster of inconsistency, LOL. It’s really hard to work out who’s “speaking” – the bold and the line spacing is seemingly completely random! Not to mention what appears to be cut n paste side effects! But as ever he’s got lots of good things to say. I completely agree about star ratings – it’s such a blunt tool.
@Purofilion @ichabod That’s really interesting about the Australian polls. Especially following on from the Greek result and the Madrid demo. More often in austerity times people close ranks, resent perceived outsiders and move to the right. I was discussing this with a friend earlier and we were wondering if the internet has something to do with it. Not the shit-stirring simplistic 140 character tweet-culture, but having access to a much wider range of information from a variety of sources. Blatant government lies about “we’re all in this together” are much easier to see through, and it’s easier for people to connect with other like-minded groups (tho not for much longer if our UK government has its way). I’d love to think so anyway.
31 January 2015 at 23:18 #3771431 January 2015 at 23:14 #37713This is a nice wee article from the Radio Times – latest attempt to get Dr who views while the show’s off air 😉 – about what’s your favourite TARDIS design.
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-01-11/the-best-and-worst-doctor-who-tardis-designs-of-all-timeThough I disagree with them on their top 3 🙂
I’d have to put Hartnell’s as #1 – it was the original and all the others are pretty closely based on its essentials – hexagonal console with central time rotor, the roundels (the roundels!!!) feature in all of them to a greater or lesser degree, even when only as a hint in a design motif, as in AG’s more organic style. And it was my first. So there!
I’m really torn in making a decision about the latest design and 9/10’s. I’m edging towards Capaldi’s as #2 partly because it reminds me the most of Hartnell’s and partly for the sheer craftsmanship of it as a set; it’s an incredibly beautiful, and functional design, and the fact that it’s 360 deg, completley enclosed. (And also the fact I’ve been on/in it 🙂 (If you’re ever in Cardiff and get the chance to do a TARDIS tour, GO! (Through the Dr Who Experience which is also worth every penny and then some))) It is hugely detailed in its design, and 12’s addition of books and blackboards adds a warmth and more lived-in feel, compared to when it was 11’s
#3 is then 9/10’s but only edged out by a whisker. It was breathtaking in how radical a rethink it was, in making it have such an organic, warm feel. 11’s early one is close behind, love the orange and tangerine.
#5 is 4’s secondary console. I love steampunk 🙂
#6 is probably the movie version of 8’s. I like the steampunk/meccano look of console surround, but contrary wise the rest of the console room seems too big and spacious. I know, that doesn’t make sense,the TARDIS is capable of being any size she wants!
#7 for me is Hurt Doctor’s, a nice mid-stage between movie 8’s and Eccleston’s.
And the rest fall in a random order of OK cos it’s the TARDIS but not much of a muchness 🙂 Kudos to the AG design teams who weren’t afraid to do a radical rethink while keeping the core identity, and for all the detail that’s gone into all the console panels and buttons and knobs.
Or maybe I’ll just put Idris as #1 Now THAT was a radical redesign!!
So. What does everyone else think?
31 January 2015 at 10:30 #37701@lisa Thanks for your list of Dr Who doppelganger characters (actors who have appeared as different characters at various times). Knew about most of them (mainly thanks to very observant/knowledgable people on these boards 🙂 ) but I’d missed the lovely Chipo Chung as Chantho/Turn Left’s fortune teller and Adjoa Andly’s double turn as Sister Jatt/Martha’s mum. I’d also forgotten about Mark Gatiss’s heavily disguised turn as Gantok. Wonder if he and Matt did “chin” jokes on set – that’s some prosthetic! 🙂
Pauline Collins in the Faceless Ones was great – one of my long time faves.
@ichabod Ah yes, Geoffrey Palmer didn’t always have such a “lived in and put upon” face 😉
There are several they’ve missed – and probably a lot more – recently there was Janet Henfrey – the Mummy’s first victim (series 8) was also Miss Hardaker in Curse of Fenric (which was a recent communal view in here). Our current viewing is Enemy of the World, in which Security Chief Donald Bruce is played by Colin Douglas, who, 10 years later, would be first Rutan victim Reuben in the Horror of Fang Rock.
@botheyesshut Thanks for rooting out the Dreamboys, great to hear it… they sound far too nice to be a proper punk band!
31 January 2015 at 09:50 #37700Timetravelling (without a TARDIS) for a Saturday morning, and especially for Hartnell fans – historic Desert Island Discs from Aug 1965 (Pre Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 etc, when BBC Radio was “the Home Service”) with William Hartnell
30 January 2015 at 01:34 #37683Ocht! You’re a hero.
Sleep tight 🙂
But watch out for weeping snow angels! Don’t blink!! 😉
29 January 2015 at 22:51 #37679It’s awful isn’t it? Especially when you realise they’ve spent the best part of a year (I think) road testing it and taking feedback. Never mind, they don’t need us, they get 1m + impressions every month. Tho I suspect that’s just cos people get so confused with it they have to keep reloading 😈
I’m gonna have nightmares now thinking “how do I stop that grid doing this to us??”
Easy. Ask our emperor and webmaster @craig‘s advice!! (seriously 😉 )
29 January 2015 at 22:33 #37678Well at least I managed to view and post before the 2nd episode 🙂
I agree with the above comments, lots of fun, and love the 60s Avengers/Man From Uncle/James Bond vibe.
Also loving the cleaned-up look – Philip Morris may take some stick from certain quarters, not all of it undeserved, but his company have done a great restoration job on this (and on Web of Fear).
Patrick Troughton is great (have I said that before…?!) – so full of mischief and yet those little sideways looks that hint that he’s not half the buffoon he makes out to be, that his brain is functioning, very Doctor-like, on many levels. (And very different from when he’s being Salamander, but hinted at when he’s being the Doctor being Salamander 🙂 It really highlights how subtle and detailed his Doctor characterisation is).
He’s also delightfully physical, showing off in the opening beach scene. Re the similarities with Matt’s underwear – I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that was a deliberate reference, there are a lot of similarities between 11 and 2. @bluesqueakpip –
but not the Gallifreyan underwear off the boy…
And thank goodness (and the directors!!) for that 😳
And yes, doesn’t he seem to have a wee thing for Astrid, bad girl that she is, even if she hasn’t quite got the same flair for fashion as Mrs Peel. Not just the jacket, those boots are just a tad on the baggy side. Great hair tho. (@Lisa Patrick’s Beatle “hair-don’t” (haha) is very much part of his clown persona – don’t be taken in by it)
I like that there was so much location work in this. No wonder they didn’t have much budget left for costumes or a decent security system round Astrid’s house. A hovercraft (how did it climb the hill from the beach…? Never mind catch up with a helicopter quite so quickly. (Maybe it has secret jet propulsion!). A helicopter indeed! And an exploding one at that. 😈
Victoria’s very sweet so you can’t really get annoyed with her, although she’s very much a throwback to the Susan-style screamy, damsel in distress type companion for a lot of it. My favourite female BG companion was Zoe, but Jamie works pretty well with all of them. And he’s very much in the Ian role of “Mr Muscle”.
The 2018 settng – that seemed such a long way away on the original viewing.
29 January 2015 at 22:07 #37676For @juniperfish on the occasion of the Feast of Juniper!
(only juniper-related clip I could find, but it’s 60s so hopefully you’ll like m’dear! 😉 )
29 January 2015 at 22:05 #37675Meanwhile… just found out that today is the Feast of Juniper! (For Brother Juniper, follower of St Francis and also known as “the renowned jester of the lord”)
So I propose roasting some pigs feet (veggie options are allowed) and passing round a few flagons of gin, while raising a toast to our own @juniperfish
🙂
29 January 2015 at 21:58 #37674Hi everyone
*shakes the snow off wellies and flops in the corner”
Ah, it’s so cosy in here. Glad someone brought some sofas in.
Have to say I’m in complete agreement with the comments about the new style Graun. I thought it was just me getting progressively more confused with it. The Last Christmas board I nearly gave up on – it was just too hard to find new comments, or follow discussions.
@Purofilion “Cockwomble” sounds very @pedant ish to me 😉
And agree, @jimthefish‘s periodic table is great, thanks for posting. I seem to have missed the links to various people’s writing, going to have to timetravel back a few pages I think. 🙂
27 January 2015 at 04:01 #37627@Purofilion Did I pick you up correctly that you are going to conduct the Dr Who score (with orchestra and choir)? That redefines awesomeness!!
@pedant – great link to the Aussie film remakes, much chuckling
@whisht – Agree re marketing “segments”. The problem with it is, as you say, that it tends to become self-limiting and encourages people to play safe in their choices. One of the things I love about Dr Who and this Forum is that it can lead you down all sorts of unexpected paths, some you like more than others, but it’s great to get the chance to explore new things.
Thinking about fanfic and sci fi reminded me of Michael Moorcock – he fanfics his own work!! (Some of his books were amongst my earliest and favourite sci fantasy reading and I loved some of the first ones I read, especially the Elric stories with Chaos Ships and semi-sentient bloodthirsty swords, and the early Jerry Cornelius ones. But talk about rebooting and reinventing. Or maybe I missed the point 🙂 )
24 January 2015 at 13:56 #37579And we’ve got as new serial to watch
🙂
Looking forward to Enemy of the World – thanks for posting 🙂
24 January 2015 at 13:53 #37578I think it’s just coincidence that you/we tried to log in at the same time as a botnet attack.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!!
24 January 2015 at 13:51 #37577This should maybe go on the music thread, or fan creativity… but it seems loosely relevant to the discussion here. I think it’s also been posted before but hopefully it will make you smile. I did.
http://www.kasterborous.com/2015/01/laurel-hardy-dance-doctor-theme-tune/
Cheers everyone, have a great weekend
24 January 2015 at 13:48 #37576Hi everyone.
Wow! Just popped in for a quick saturday lunchtime pint, and the pub’s buzzing! Great discussions everyone. Not got time to do a in depth response, and I’m not someone who’s ever been deeply immersed in fanfic, but my view would be that quality is everything. Is the writing itself any good, does the writer bring anything new to the sandpit for the characters or the plot to play with? Does it stand on its own or do you need to know about the source material before it makes sense?
Nice list @pedant, though you missed out a few including Ballard, Bradbury and Iain M Banks.
I started reading scifi with Asimov and Wyndham, (and loved a lot of their books and ideas, still do), but gradually edged more towards writers who were more character driven and the ones who were more sci-fantasy. There’s also the whole world of graphic novels/comics which is where I found Gaiman and Moore. (@Wolfweed could add loads more to this if he wasn’t currently incarcerated in a parallel dimension 🙁 )
@arbutus I think the most important thing schools can teach kids is about developing their critical faculties, including (especially) online. That means they should be encouraged to read as widely as possible and question everything. Wikipedia etc are wonderful resources, they just shouldn’t be taken uncritically and without checking other sources (including whether those other sources have in fact ripped off Wiki!) Sadly, in my experience, most education systems aren’t designed to do this.
21 January 2015 at 02:41 #37451I’m beginning to pine for lack of Dr Who on TV! Seems to have disappeared completely from catch-up on my TV. Must have a look and see if I can find the World Tour thingy on iplayer on computer. Sounds great. I remember someone on here from Korea (sorry, forgotten who) talking about how they’d had to move to a bigger venue. And agree – it’s great that the team get to come face to face with the postive side of fandom.
Meanwhile… THE DOCTOR NEEDS OUR HELP. AND IT’S TIME SENSITIVE – VOTE BY NOON (GMT) ON WED 21 JAN –
http://www.nationaltvawards.com/vote
National TV Awards – decided by viewers’ votes. Doctor Who is in the Drama section – it’s a toughie – up against Sherlock, Downton and Cilla. So get voting peeps! There are a no of other categories – vote in as many or as few as you like, but note that you have to complete the very short section at the end with your name and email addy for the vote to count.
And just to add my agreement to @juniperfish‘s comments about Alice X Zhang’s beautiful artworks. I seem to remember someone (J’fish?) posted a link to it on the Fan Creativity thread many many moons ago when it was still only on the Deviant Art site. It’s great it’s now on the official BBC site. Between that and the fan who came up with the new “clockwork” credits – it’s great that the show notices, and acknowledges, these things.
21 January 2015 at 02:17 #37450Poor @lisa! Apologies if I helped start the “let’s convert Lisa to country music” thang! Good on ya for giving them a shot 🙂
20 January 2015 at 02:18 #37440Hartnell. Who else?
Hmmm… yes m’boy, quite right, quite right
😉
Must be that “post new year and on-one’s reading our site – oh hey! let’s put a Dr Who article up” time of year! OTOH you gotta love a Dalek in a trilby 😀
19 January 2015 at 04:13 #37414Sorry @lisa – I do love a miserable song! (Thanks for the Roy Orbison/K D Lang tho, it’s great). What’s your thing?
@phaseshift – Otis Lee Crenshaw – genius 🙂 You’re right about some of the later punk stuff. And Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash did some great collaborations.
19 January 2015 at 04:06 #37413A late night game for the insomniacs/anitpodean early birds: Which Doctor Are You?
http://www.playbuzz.com/ilanab10/doctor-who-are-you-which-incarnation-are-you
(I’m happy with 4 🙂 )
19 January 2015 at 04:04 #37412We’ve also had the Doctor working with exactly himself in Almost People (as flesh ganger Matt); and 10 had a bash at it in Series 4’s Journey’s End where his half-human clone/regeneration destroys the Daleks and is then berated by the original before being relegated to Rose’s universe.
19 January 2015 at 03:43 #37410@craig – I’ll happily go with @janetteb @bluesqueakpip @barbaralefty @Purofilion re Enemy. In honour of @htpbdet is a lovely thought. Shame Troughton’s intro story Power of the Daleks is missing, it was a belter! But better to go with the cleaned up refreshed EotW than a recon. When do we start…??
(@Pedant – You’re just a curmudgeon 😉 )
@amberpearl Welcome, and theorise away, it’s what the site’s for. Maybe put it on the Faces of the Doctor thread. (For info, only the mods can start threads/blogs). I will be very intrigued if there was anything as specific as a name clue in the original Hartnell series (they hadn’t even invented regeneration never mind Time Lords at that point!)
19 January 2015 at 03:24 #37408the Doctor was actually not the hero but in fact the “mysterious stranger” who is untrustworthy and with other agendas (would I be right in thinking like Prospero?)
I think that’s pretty spot on, especially for early Hartnell. They do play it as if they are possessed in the first part, but they’ve each had a knock on the head, and are concussed/confused when they come to.
Maybe time for a “we want Ian” petition.
Where do I sign?
@phaseshift (great post btw) – you’d be hard pushed to do ANYTHING (inc sleep) in those beds!
Interesting thought re sentient space ships on TV. I agree the Quatermas ship was highly likely to have been an influence, but the TARDIS would appear to be less malevolent, if misunderstood. But she’s trying to communicate that they are in danger.
@arbutus Nice connection to Midnight, I like it. The budgets and effects in early Who are much maligned, and not always justifiably IMO. They are of their time, and this one is obv a low budget episode, but the Daleks (immediately before) and Marco Polo (which followed) clearly had a fair bit thrown at them. The historicals were easier in some ways because of access to the extensive BBC wardrobe.
By the end of this story the beginnings of everything about the show today have been introduced, except for regeneration and time lords. That’s impressive.
19 January 2015 at 03:05 #37407Notice we got bot-netted last week. Either that or I broke the site! 😳
19 January 2015 at 02:49 #37405Oh dangit!
Who started this?! Am on a John Prine groove now!!
This includes the classic line “you come home straight and you come home curly” and then proceeds to break your heart! The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (duet with Iris Dement)
(He does some cheerier stuff too! Lots of story-songs)
19 January 2015 at 02:43 #37404Oh my… still recovering from @craig‘s country mashup!! 🙂
It’s a shame, country music gets such a bad name in some circles (not always unjustified for some of its 70s big hair incarnation) but it’s such a wide genre that there’s probably something you’ll like (that you didn’t even know was “country”!). A lot of it is cutting edge and has a lot to say for itself eg Cash, Willie Nelson, Earl Okin, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and loads more.
The hugely underrated (in the mainstream anyway) and prolific John Prine – if you don’t know him check him out, you won’t be disappointed. This is about a soldier post Vietnam… or any war:
More country, this from the fabulous Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball – no, not that one! (this was first 🙂 )
(I like this live version, but her original recorded version with the very moody producer Daniel Lanois is worth checking out – CD stuck on “repeat” when I first got the album)
She also did this with the legendary Gram Parsons (who probably helped to invent country rock with his bands the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Before dying far too young). If you don’t like this you have a heart of stone!
@whisht Ramblin Jack is great (saw him live a few years ago), and thanks for the Cash track. Laughed at the Kristofferson/Coolidge vid – body language can say SUCH a lot! A masterclass in how to maintain even a smidgeon of your own space when you have to share a mic! (Although they did have a “thing” for a while)
Personally I get pissed off with “genres” in general – a lot of the time it’s lazy critics who want to know “but what IS it?” in case they get caught liking something that’s “not cool”! Who careswhat category it fits into.
And this is for @Purofilion – no idea what genre it is, but I hope you like it!
13 January 2015 at 04:21 #37275@juniperfish @Purofilion
You. Stole. My. List.
Haha, me too, pretty much. Though there were some tough choices, esp in series 6, 7 and 8.
I liked RTD’s comment that you can’t have a 10 year anniversary straight after a 50th one. Who can’t?? 😉
13 January 2015 at 04:09 #37273Some random thoughts…
Barbara starts off wearing Thal trousers! And then mysteriously changes (unseen) into a skirt about 10 minutes in. Shame. Around the same time that Susan manages to find the dark robe, while lying resting in bed. The Doctor’s bandage does a fair bit of shifting about too. Continuity error you say? Ha! Obviously a dimensional slip or a timestream jump! 😉
I was surprised that the sentience of the TARDIS is pretty much established here. Yes the Doctor calls it a machine, but it’s clear that there is probably more going on under the console than the Doctor is aware of. But this is clearly still very early in his flight from Gallifrey. He and the TARDIS have a lot more evolving and travelling to do together. Nice idea from @bluesqueakpip that the TARDIS can only express herself in language once she has been Idris.
Around about the 4:50 time, the Doctor is coming to the first time, and it sounds to me like he says “I can’t take you back Susan…” Can anyone else make that out…? I have rampant overthinking theorising bubbling up here. 😀
Not impressed with the TARDIS bedrooms – maybe she was still getting the hang of the interior decor thing for humans.
Other things to like – the original theme tune. As @craig says in the intro, it is definitely the best. It’s just so unusual, distinctive and other worldy, even now. There was, and is, nothing like it. And I do love the original thick doors, and the hum. (I may have mentioned this on a few occasions in here 😳 but those 3 things are absolutley definitive for me, and a time travel device in themselves).
Hartnell is just the biz! Complex, enigmatic, untrustworthy. And yet we see him softening at the end, as each of the crew has gained new respect and trust for each other after this experience. Humans are starting to work their effect on him.
The end lead-in to Marco Polo! Noooooooooo! How can they tease us like this?
13 January 2015 at 03:37 #37270Loved watching that again… it’s been a while (not seen it since first broadcast)!
Putting it in context – this was only the 3rd story. We hardly know the Doctor at all by this stage (or how long the series had to run) and so far he’s hardly been endearing – he kidnapped Ian and Barbara in the first episode, tried to brain a caveman in the second story and nearly got them all killed by the Daleks in the next one, due to his deviousness. All of which Barbara very succinctly calls him out on (as @bluesqueakpip eloquently pointed out) – “You stupid old man… you should go down on your hands and knees and thank us!”
And people have a problem with Clara at the end of Kill the Moon. She’s a pussycat compared to Barbara!
The other thing the BG show frequently gets criticised for is its supposedly sexist portrayal of female companions. It’s Barbara who’s doing most of the thinking here, in addition to the more traditional female role of being the nurse. As @barbaralefty so rightly says – Barbara’s great (oh… OK, Barbaras then!!).
It’s interesting because watching it as a child I definitely focused on Susan as my “entry point”, Barbara was the teacher (and adult) so I expected her to get stuff right. It confused me, but I really liked it.
But at this stage in the original run through we really don’t know enough about the Doctor to be able trust him at all. He’s been devious, sneaky, selfish and generally acting like someone with something to hide. So the paranoia that creeps into everyone was genuinely shocking. And the format was a surprise. This episode as the one, in combination with the show up to that point, that really confirmed it wasn’t going to run to an easily predictable formula. No budget? No problem! Even the length of the stories didn’t conform to a pattern – 4 parts, 7 parts then this little 2 parter.
I liked the Pinter meets Dick stylised direction in the first episode in particular; it adds to the very unsettling atmosphere (and covers up Susan’s slight (ahem!) overacting). But she does have her moments, and the other 3 are terrific (Hartnell fluffing his lines always seems in character anyway). And the idea of an invisible “intelligence” sneaking into the TARDIS and hiding in one of its occupants is as unsettling as anything the show has ever come up with, evenif it turns not to be the case. There are some interesting camera angles, with Hartnell foregrounded and shadowed, looking cunning.
13 January 2015 at 02:21 #3726811 January 2015 at 16:05 #37244I second @juniperfish‘s hope that you don’t have to remove the PM function. @fatmaninabox You’re not missing anything, believe me 😉
11 January 2015 at 16:01 #37243Ahh, I’m so behind on here, but enjoyed catching up with all the Buffy, and other, posts. Was just logging in to add my vote (again!) to the Edge of Destruction vote… then find it’s up already. Woohoo! Thank you @craig. It’s important to remember this was just the 3rd Dr Who story ever – and it consolidated the idea that the show could do anything with the format. It blew my little brains at the time… there again it’s been 50 years since I’ve seen it, so will be interesting to rewatch.
A PC retrospective is also a great idea. I also like the idea of a “villain’s retrospective” – just that there’s an awful lot of them to chose from.
Funnily enough I was channel surfing the other day and came across an episode of Minder, from 1979, which had a familiar looking face in it – took me a few minutes to click… (PC looks about 12 here!!). Not many people got the better of Arthur Daly 🙂
9 January 2015 at 01:13 #37115Just sneaking this in before midnight – tho it’s still 8 Jan for a few more hours in US – so I’ll switch to US time 🙂
Happy birthday to Elvis – 80 years old and still working at a chippie somewhere 😉
Oh, OK, the man himself. This is a timetravelling clip that goes all the way back to 1956 (hence the quality) when he was just a nipper of 21. Raw sex in the fifties, and a genuine piece of musical history 😉
And happy birthday to Bowie/Ziggy/Aladdin Sane/Thin White Duke…. This could be Dr Who’s theme song – ch ch Changes (“Time may change me, but I can’t trace time”)
9 January 2015 at 00:31 #37114@ichabod @Purofilion
Interesting discussion between the 2 of you.
I agree the “just .. see. me” scene is incredibly powerful, and beautifully played. (yes it’s just actors doing the thing they get paid for and there’s a lot of technique, but at the same time there’s a little bit of magic that happens sometimes that you can’t completely rehearse. Capaldi has it in spades – so many shades of meaning in a phrase, a look. And he and Coleman work really well together. It’s also to do with camera angles, lighting, direction… and something undefinable).
It’s a wonderful thing when a stupid old TV show makes such a thing about seeing the “real person”. Ties into some of the discussion on Last Christmas thread as well. And in Deep Breath the Doctor has no real idea who he actually is. Loved the scene when he’s working out where he stops and the rest of the world starts – “You, yes, the not me one, asking questions one”. It reminded me of a description of how babies and some people with autism are thought to see the world. They find it hard to pick out which shapes and patterns are significant.
Hugs. Sincere hugs from friends are great. But we’re not very good at hugging in Scotland 🙂
9 January 2015 at 00:10 #37112@pedant Love the Dr Who tube map – that’s a work of beauty and genius!
@CedarBranchTardi haha It’s not just Time that’s a a “big ball of timey wimey wibbly wobbly… stuff” – unpicking Dr Who (esp SM’s plots) is likely to turn your brain into the same 😀
@juniperfish Thanks for the link. Nice to see RTD back and working again. I believe he gave everything up to care for his partner who was seriously ill. (Don’t know how that worked out). It’s almost unbelievable it’s 10 years since he brought our fav show back on the airwaves. Shame he gets so much stick, we owe him a huge amount, and he’s usually very generous speaking about other people. His comments about PC are funny. (Have you read A Writer’s Tale btw? (Diaries about putting together Dr Who. It’s very funny, and insightful. Recommended)).
7 January 2015 at 00:35 #37042@ichabod –
I really like thinking about the stuff I like thinking about, and thinking through fingers+keyboard in a congenial atmosphere is about as good as it gets.
Couldn’t agree more 🙂 Tho there seem to be a lot of butterflies fluttering by in here 😉
and
too much pudding, not enough brain
Definitely how I feel a lot of the time, ha ha.
@rob – Danny’s had more deaths and comebacks than Rory!
My prediction for season 9 is that Clara will scoot off for a period of full time adventure with in the TARDIS. Her link with her “real” life has gone, and she can come back in 5 minutes to pick up her teaching career if she wants. But her initial grief has been dealt with, Danny has given her “permission” (and not in a controlling way!!) to get on with her life. Still holding out for them bumping into Orson at some point.
It’s interesting to look how far the show has come since 2005 (10 years!!). Moffat’s done a complete reboot in the most sympathetic and organic way. No longer the (almost) omniscient, lonely PTSD-afflicted Doctor, but back to the wandering “idiot with a box” who will try to help if he can, but who doesn’t have all the answers. He is also (presumably) reconciled with his extra quota of regenerations (thanks to Santa) and the weight of his 2000 years lifespan.
He spent all of series 8 working out just who he was/is/wants to be (as you would if you’ve just effectively been made immortal), mirrored by Clara (almost) evolving into him, but hopefully now happier to just be herself. Now he just has to work out if really wants to find Gallifrey (and the TimeLords) sooner rather than later. After all, he’s got at least another 11 regenerations before it becomes an issue. For him at least. 😈
Still hoping to see River return, hopefully Missy too. And Vastra and Jenny would be the icing on the cake 🙂
6 January 2015 at 23:40 #370376 January 2015 at 23:35 #37034I’d be happy to watch Night of the Doctor again. It’s not quite BG as you say, but it’s a better representation of what 8 was about, although McGann is eminently watchable in whatever he’s in! And there’s probably as much to discuss in it as there is in the movie 😈
@barbaralefty suggested Edge of Destruction for #1 which is shorter than the Daleks (although time isn’t really an issue at the moment 🙁 ) and for my mind is particularly interesting as it happens so early in the run, and is definitely a turn for the unexpected.
We’ve done last episodes for each Doctor, have we done first ones? Tho that might be problematic for Troughton.
Re Craig’s suggestion of the Aztecs – how about a retrospectiveof historicals – how each Doctor period treated trips to the past?
(@Craig -Hope your year gets better soon btw)
6 January 2015 at 23:20 #37032@juniperfish – Thanks for the Graun link to the National TV awards. That’s outrageous Capaldi’s not been shortlisted! Any one of his episodes could qualify, but his overall development/slow unveiling of the character throughout all of series 8 is deserving.
Btw is anyone else having the same problem as I am unravelling the new Graun design? Trying to keep up with new posts is worse than trying to unravel dream crab effects!
6 January 2015 at 23:06 #37031Loving all the Buffy chat, boozy and otherwise! 😉
Haven’t watched it recently enough to join in, but I may be tempted. (@Barnable – agree with @JimtheFsh that Angel is well worth catching. I lost it after the first 2 series, mainly cos they kept messing around with its scheduling, but lots of good ideas developed in it)
And delighted that Broadchurch is back for UK ITV viewers. And it’s looking VERY promising. Anyone else watching?
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