Theories even more insane than what's actually happening
Theories even more insane than what's actually happening
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That is a wonderful story – sorry about the circumstances it took for it to be shared with us.
Your unnecessary trepidation approaching the book-binder was very funny!
Please keep us informed of the book’s progress. I for one would love to know how it turns out.
If you ever need me to Google anything to help out (my ‘special’ ‘talent’!) just let me know.
Seems like you’re in very good hands with ‘Dalek Desktop Lady’, though!
@wolfweed – thank you. I fear it may take a bit of time to pass before H’s family are ready to plunge back into the book project.
You are our Resident Google King, though, so if Gallifreyan symbols are needed, I know where to turn. H and I discussed having chapter separators in Gallifreyan script; and even possibly page headers (or around the page numbers at the top of each page) with swirly bits of Gallifreyan. Anything you think is appropriate, please PM me.
Didn’t the Universe have a wonderful laugh by providing us with that artist / book-binder, though?! 😀 I was expecting ‘You’re blinkin’ nuts!’ and instead we got ‘Oh please let me do this!’
This is the same Universe that ensured Philip Bloody Morris got those two Troughton episodes available in time for H to watch them. As cynical as I am, those were a couple of pretty extraordinary turn-ups for H. His Karma levels were definitely on the credit side, and well-deservedly.
This is lovely gesture and and excellent plan in general, @shazzbot.
With regards to the Gallifreyan, there is a little translator computer program out there on the interwebs that lets you translate words and phrases into the Gallifreyan cuniform and save them…
@JimTheFish – Is that the sherman’s planet one?
I believe there’s no official Gallifreyan language ‘text’ (I wish there was – but if you think about it, that would mean we’d be able to read & understand the Dr’s name!) but it’s nice to use a translator.
There seem to be lots out there & phone apps too (Unless they’re all basically the same).
@Shazzbot – Yes – The Universe does care!
I’m sure others will wish to offer whatever talents might be useful for the book – even if it’s postponed for however long. I could do some free art if that’s any help (If Dalek Desktop Lady & everyone would like).
Again, let me know (even if it’s months from now)…
My Google throne could easily be usurped at any time – All people need to figure out is typing & pressing return!
@wolfweed — yeah, it was Sherman’s Planet I was thinking of. Not official by any stretch but I think interesting because of the amount of work and thought that’s clearly gone into it….
Thanks, @JimTheFish – @Shazzbot – http://www.shermansplanet.com/gallifreyan
I drew this quickly using another Gallifreyan alphabet – it says HTPBDET
@Wolfweed You just broke my heart.
Honestly.
@wolfweed – Wolfster, that’s going in the book. Circling each page number at the top? Don’t know, but it’s IN. Thank you so much.
@Shazzbot, first of all thank you very much for this blog and your lovely post. And how often have I thought @HTPBDET‘s posts were the most beautiful, moving, saddening, exhilirating story I’ve ever read, and if only he’d publish a book I’d give it to everybody I know!
It might seem a bit strange that I as a nearly-only lurker should contribute something now. Well, one of the reasons why I don’t post more often is that I’m really awful at putting my thoughts into words, and I’m already afraid of making a mess of this now.
I just wanted to say, and I might speak for a few other lurkers, that it was not least because of HTPBDET’s posts that I got stuck to this forum, visited every day, and finally even signed up and posted something, for the first time in my life!
Like possibly some of you, I was always keen on reading his posts more than anything else, I felt honoured to be part of the same forum as him, I felt blessed (even as an atheist, but I cannot think of a better word) to be able to read his magic story, and I literally jumped up and down on my chair when he mentioned me to welcome me on this forum. What an honour that was! Now, that’s normally totally unlike me, and I was surprised myself, but maybe that shows the impact he had on all of us.
My thoughts are with his family and friends, above all his nephews and son and son-in-law, for whom, as so often in HTPBDET’s life, joy and sadness lie so close together.
I’ve been devastated all afternoon after reading the news, and HTPBDET’s passing is a big loss for the world, but I think if there’s something we can learn from him and his posts, then to always be aware of the things you can be grateful for. And that Doctor Who will always be there to help us through life. 🙂
HTPBDET, it’s been an honour to ‘meet’ you, you’ve made my life so much richer. Thank You!
Here’s another one using my understanding of Gallifreyan (which I’m sure is more misunderstanding).
Can anyone correct me?
@Shazzbot, now I can’t stop the tears after reading your post. What you are doing is wonderful. I am so glad because his writing was so expressive and perfectly crafted and he put so much of himself into it that having read his blogs, it would be possible not to grieve today. I had the impression that he was a rather extroadinary man, not because of anything he did but simply because of the king of person he was.
Please keep us informed as to the progress you make with the book.
Regards
Janette
@Wolfweed That’s BRILLIANT! (you could start a business doing people’s names in Gallifreyan – I’d sign up 🙂 (In fact I want one NOW!)
Hugs to you and @Shazzbot @Craig @JanetteB @X4D4 @jimtheFish and everyone from our strange little online community who’s currently grieving for @HTPBDET We don’t know each other, and yet I think we know what’s best about each other. Unlike other online sites this one seems to mostly bring out the best in people, and I’m so glad it was here the HTPBDET felt able to compose and share his Doctors thoughts and memories in those extraordinary blogs.
Feeling HTPBDET’s loss as keenly as we do is the price we pay.
Sorry @XAD4 – I mistagged you in the above. Loved your post btw, eloquently expressed. I started crying again!
@ScaryB — Agree. That’s what’s so special about this place — the sense of community and respect we have for each. It does seem to bring out the best in us and for that @Craig should be especially proud.
And if you really do want to see your name in Gallifreyan then I’d recommend you follow @wolfweed‘s link above. There’s a bit of translator software on there that will do the job for you…
@shazzbot
Is the book a one-off or do you plan a small run? Either way it is an excellent idea and kudos for you for making it happen. I’m sure you probably don’t feel that way right now.
At the risk of being presumptious could I suggest perhaps a few quotes from the posters here would also be a nice inclusion, maybe in an appendix. You could take what we have spontaneously written or ask for something specific from those who are happy to contribute.
There are some heartfelt and well written tributes here already and it may help his family to have that put down in print.
If you need any help with the book please PM me and I will gladly help.
@all
Also kudos to the forum for being a place where we can all openly express our thoughts, opinions and feelings. A rare place indeed.
@wolfweed @WhoHar –
Hey guys – the offers for help with the book are much appreciated. My main problem is that HTPBDET got really ill just before he was to embark on a final overhaul of his ‘The Doctors’ series. The book will have to be created as-is, which if you’ve read his ‘The Doctors’ posts, you’ll know they’re not too shabby as they are. In my job as H’s ‘Editor’ though, I had ideas which my typically anal-retentive self thought would tighten things up, make them a bit more uniform, as if they’d all been written at the same time and to the same purpose.
But who needs uniformity? The universe is gloriously messy.
But @wolfweed there is surely room for your artistic flair (and how you made me cry, although a tiny bit happily, with your Ood quote last night), and @WhoHar, that’s a wonderful suggestion to include tributes from Forum people.
@Shazzbot
I hope this comes to fruition. I’ve spent most of the day re-reading his blog posts here as well as some of his posts on the Guardian. Although I’m sure his family and friends will remember him in their own way, I can’t think of a finer epithet for his love of Doctor Who than that he has left for us in his own words.
Nick
Hello.
My Uncle died last Thursday in hospital. He had a very good day.
My brothers and I watched some Second Doctor episodes with him in the morning: Tomb of the Cybermen 3, Seeds of Death 5, Web of Fear 5, Enemy of the World 6, Moonbase 2.
Then my cousin and his boyfriend got married, which was a surprise for us and my cousin. But Uncle was very very happy – and sang a song for them with our very good friend Helen. The song was Make Our Garden Grow from Candide by Mr Bernstein. It made us all cry, especially my cousin and his new husband.
We had some cake, although Uncle was not allowed to have any. But he did have a Gin martini.
Then we watched some more Doctor Who with him: Wheel in Space 6, Invasion 8 and War Games 10.
While we were watching War Games 10, Uncle left us to join Aunty and his lost children. I felt bad that I did not notice because I was watching the television, but my cousin says that is exactly how Uncle would have wanted it.
He looked very happy and relaxed, like he was asleep in a sweet place. We did not know what to do at first, but after my cousin closed his eyes, we missed Uncle a lot. My cousin took us onto the roof balcony and we looked at the stars together, all of us. And that made us all feel better.
He had told us that he would be leaving soon, but it was still a shock. And I still feel shocked.
But he had three special cards made up – one for me and each of my brothers. And they said different things inside, but on the outside they said this:
Yesterday, we had Uncle’s funeral. It was a very happy day in many ways, although it was also sad. But Unlce was almost always a happy person and he had left special instructions for the day. He had specific songs he wanted played and they made us laugh and cry – but mostly they made us feel like he was right there with us.
In case you want to know, the special songs were: The theme from Jurassic Park by Mr Williams; Old Friends and Not A Day Goes By from Merrily We Roll Along by Mr Sondheim, Hallelujah by Mr Mozart, Children Will Listen by Mr Sondheim (I think that was for my brothers and me) and, for when the coffin went away, the theme from the very first Doctor Who.
Uncle had organsied a party which went on very late last night. I had to go to bed about 10 pm but my cousin was still up with a few friends this morning when I got up for breakfast. Everyone is happy.
I printed out as many of your messages as I could and read them out during the party last night – everyone was so happy that Uncle’s friends here were so kind.
My Uncle’s name was Christopher. I think he would like the idea of his friends here toasting him when you meet up in November.
Thank you all for everything you did to make my Uncle happy. We all appreciate it very much.
His ashes will be laid to rest in a special TARDIS Urn, so we will always know where he is, whenever we need him.
I am sure my Uncle Chris would want each of you to have the same message from him that he gave to each of us – he would want you happy and theorising. He asked me to post a “bonkers theory” idea and I will do that in a minute.
He just wants us all to be happy, doing what we like.
Thank you all.
(Miss @Shazzbot – please correct any errors I have made. Thank you.)
Hello, Sweetie @Mini-HTPBDETs
Thank you so much for sharing those details with us. As hard as it was for you to lose your beloved Uncle, and as hard as it was for all of here to lose our beloved contributor, knowing those details about his last moments is something to be cherished. He was happy to the end and enjoying his family around him, and no-one could wish for a better passing.
If you or anyone in your family is in London on Friday night 22nd November, please do let me know if you can attend our Doctor Who Forum get-together. We would very much like to raise a toast in your Uncle’s honour, and all the better for having some of his family with us that night.
Wow @Mini-HTPBDETs (And @Shazzbot), this is all so special. Thanks very much for sharing.
@mini-HTPBDETs
It’s lovely to have you on here in own your own right, and your post was so moving. Dammit, my specs have completely misted up again! Thank you so much for sharing the details, which made me smile. And a Hartnell/Troughton mash-up farewell message from HTPBDET – what else. I think your very special uncle also has a very special family (and his way with words seems to be shared by them too).
Just to repeat @Shazzbot‘s invitation – you and any of your family would be more than welcome to join us for drinks on 22nd. We will most certainly be toasting your Uncle Chris. And we promise to get the bonkers theorising going again – especially since he was so thoughtful as to actually start us off (Was there anything he didn’t think of?)
Just adding my condolences to @mini-HTPBDETs .
Your uncle had a gift for expressing himself in print, as well as a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Dr Who.
The grief that many of us feel at his passing indicates how well he was able to communicate his thoughts and feelings.
This forum allowed us to get to know him, and now, to grieve his passing.
I think it is the best of what the internet can be.
@mini-HTPBDETs
Thank you so much for writing this. I hope your uncle realised how much he added to the joy in the world.
One of the reasons I love Doctor Who is because I grew up a long way from these shores, but next door to an astonishingly gifted and ridiculously eccentric mad scientist from England who worked with ultrasound for a living (some say he invented it), but took whatever opportunity he had to stick it to The Man. His hair had long since turned bright white when we met, but he was, at heart, flaming ginger for life. And a bunch of his daughter’s friends felt like we had our very own iteration of the Doctor (albeit one with a swearing habit to make a Malcolm Tucker blush). Even though we lost him about five years back, he’s always with us as long as we can reminisce and re-tell the amazing stories and ideas he left for us to remember him by. Your uncle sounds like someone who had access to a similar vibe, so know that men like this are always treasured and never forgotten.
I’m one of those ‘read-a-lot-but-doesn’t-post-very-often’ types – in fact I read this site at least once a day and have a great time doing so, after following from the Guardian’s blog.
Not usually lurking ‘On The Sofa’ I missed the news yesterday, but I wish I hadn’t. ‘The Sofa’ seems a totally appropriate name for the community here and it seems as if there’s now a gap at the comfy corner end.
Thank you @Shazzbot for your thoughtfulness.
@HTPBDET will be missed, sorely so and @Mini-HTPBDETs post was incredibly moving, and uplifting.
Thanks for sharing, @Mini-HTPBDETs. What a special man.
Thank you for sharing with us a little of your Uncle’s last day @Mini-HTPBDETs I am glad that he was able to have his family around him and the Doctor as well.
I just re-read my previous post here and the one on The Sofa and I am embarassed by my typos. I was working through tears but that is no excuse. (I know that I am not much better without the tears.) I hope that my intention was clear despite the apalling execution.
I spent much of yesterday afternoon re-reading @HTPBDETs posts here and on the Guardian blog and was reminded of just what a remarkable man he was, keenly intelligent, patient but persistant. He did not back down or tolerate fools easily. It was not just his love of the show which was unrivalled, it was also his understanding.
After reading through the posts this morning I decided to honour @HTPBDET in a way I think he would appreciate. I have spent the morning re-watching The Mind Robber.
Regards
Janette
@mini-htpbdets
This:
is probably the most extraordinary first line of a post I have ever read. Anywhere. Your post goes on to brilliantly explain why. It seems you have the same gift as your Uncle for putting emotion on the page. Thank you for sharing.
Hello everyone
Mr @wolfweed – We all love your gold Gallifreyan symbol for Uncle’s name, my mother especially. Thank you.
Miss @ScaryB – Yes, Uncle Chris did think this a special place. He has never talked as much about the happy or sad things in his life to anyone outside our family – but he told me that he thought this Forum was part of his own healing process, his own “making sense” of his own life. He was so pleased when Mr @Craig contacted him about joining. I don’t think he was sad, really, these last few months – but I do think he was frustrated and disappointed about not being able to talk with all of you.
Miss @XAd4 – Thank you for your post. It made us all happy, especially my cousin when I read it to him. When Uncle Chris told us that he would be leaving us he started by quoting The Name of the Doctor: There is a time to live and a time to sleep. I think he would be very happy to know you think “Doctor Who will always be there to help us through life.” I am quite sure that is what he thought and because of him I think it too.
Mr @blenkinsopthebrave – Thank you. You are right. Uncle would want you all to be happy and to keep this Forum “Fubbling” – as he used to describe it. Bubbling fun. When my littlest brother got upset when Uncle Chris was telling us he was going to leave us, he tickled him, then us, until we were all crying with laughter. Then he told him to remember that it was just Uncle’s time to sleep, ours to live. My brother understood, I thought – and I knew he did when he told my Mother, when she came back on the ward, that Uncle Chris was “sleeping now” after he had left us.
Miss @janetteB –I think Uncle would be very happy to know you watched Mind Robber. I know he wanted Miss @Shazzbot to watch episode one very much. It was the first episode of Doctor Who he ever sat down with me deliberately to watch.
Mr @WhoHar – Thank you. My Uncle was very important to me: he taught me to dream. He said that Patrick Troughton had taught him how to dream and it was only right to pass that on. He spent a long time with me, helping me with essays for school and for some creative writing courses which he gave me as a present for my birthday a few years ago. When I write, I hear his big happy voice in my head guiding me. I will never be able to do what he did, and he taught me enough to know that it is best for everyone to find their own way, but, at the moment anyway, he is all around me and is probably helping me more than I realise. I don’t know what cack-handed means, but if you ever want to send your screenplay to us, please do.
Mr @pedant – thank you. I think Uncle would be very very happy to know you thought of him as a Romantic. He thought being called a Romantic was the best thing anyone could ever say to him.
Ms @Shazzbot – thank you for everything you have done and are still doing for my Uncle.
Mr @Craig – thank you for letting my Uncle have such a safe, happy and friendly place to be himself.
Mr or Miss @Magnetite, Mr or Miss @Pufferfish, Mr or Miss @Enlighteneddespot, Mr @thommck, Mr @JimTheFish, Mr @Nick, Mr @PhaseShift, Miss @Bluesqueakpip, Mr @CraigNixon , Mr @DanMartinUK, Mr @Timeloop, Miss @Miapatrick and anyone else I have missed:
Your kind words have helped us all and your respect and admiration for Uncle has touched and supported us all these last days. As Uncle would have said , it has meant “more than the Moon”.
Hi @Mini-HTPBDETs – it’s really great hearing from you. You have a great way with words (far better than I!).
I once discussed the ‘track of tears’ with your uncle (he was right of course!) but I was proud when he said that he liked a small idea I had, saying that (possibly) the HurtDr would be marched into the track by the Doctor, to contemplate what he had done. It’s a measure of the respect we have for him that I was so pleased he liked such a small image.
It can be a bit daunting having someone extraordinary like that in your life, but he was right to say you’ll find your own way to be extraordinary too.
To be honest, by what you’ve said here in a couple of places, you’ve proven you are already.
so – lets have a bit of fun with some bonkers theories!
Oh Miss @TardisBlue please accept my apologies.
I mistakenly missed out a paragraph in my post.
Thank you for your lovely words. My Uncle had a vast set of recordings of music and we found the one you recommended, the 1998 one – and we all listened to it. It is very pretty music I thought – it made my mother cry, but in a happy way. So thank you very much.
Hi @Mini-HTPBDETs I totally agree with @Whisht you have a great and captivating way with words. May I ask how old you are? It is okay if you want to keep that fact to yourself.
You were very fortunate to have such a loving and very wise Uncle. I am glad he could pass some of that over to you. You description of his last day made me cry, actually. But his day must have been very happy, just as you said, surrounded by family and love and with a nice little Martini, a wedding and Doctor Who.
I am glad I could help even in the smallest way.
“There is one more thing”(River): I am more a Miss than a Mister. But no harm done ;D
Thanks for sharing a bit more of Chris’ story.
I’m not sure what I can add that others haven’t already said, but I’m very sad to hear the news of @HTPBDET‘s death, and I feel very lucky to have read the wonderful stories of his life that he posted here. I’ll miss him.
I’ve been away for a while, mostly due to server problems, and I was hoping to get back on line to see a new piece from an on-the-mend @HTPBDET, so I write this in a state of saddened shock. A superb writer, and a man who I saw as somehow the spirit of the forum. RIP.
This was a very moving article, by the way. I hope and trust that the book is everything his legacy deserves to be: good luck with it.
I will raise a glass to him tonight.
@Mini-HTPBDETs -thank you for sharing this week. Your posts have been very moving, but I’m happy that your uncle had a good last day with you all. You appear to have inherited his talent for the written word. I hope the creative writing continues to go well, and if you have chance to pop back in here on occasion to share your thoughts and talent, it would be a pleasure to read them.
Best wishes
OH
After reading this I was literally holding back tears. I found reading his blog posts touching and in a strange way made me feel like I knew him personally. I just wish I had discovered this forum before he passed away so I could have told him how his writing made me feel.
At least his last day was a good one.
Thank you @thekrynoidman for your lovely tribute to @HTPBDET.
@ScaryB – your John Donne link in the Companions thread was so lovely. I’ve forwarded it on to the person who would most appreciate it, but thought it appropriate also (hope you don’t mind) re-posting it here.
A VALEDICTION FORBIDDING MOURNING.
by John Donne
AS virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
“Now his breath goes,” and some say, “No.”
So let us melt, and make no noise, 5
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ;
‘Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.
Moving of th’ earth brings harms and fears ;
Men reckon what it did, and meant ; 10
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.
Dull sublunary lovers’ love
—Whose soul is sense—cannot admit
Of absence, ’cause it doth remove 15
The thing which elemented it.
But we by a love so much refined,
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assurèd of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss. 20
Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.
If they be two, they are two so 25
As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th’ other do.
And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam, 30
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.
Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th’ other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just, 35
And makes me end where I begun.
Oh man, still catching up, after my absence in other universes and just read all of this. Now I’ve got wet eyes (I also love John Donne @ScaryB).
The book project sounds beautiful @Shazzbot – how lovely for you and @HTPBDET that you had those summer conversations, and the book binder sounds marvellous!
@Mini-HTPBDETs Thanks so much for sharing your Uncle Chris’ last day with us. He was so lucky to depart watching his favourite programme with people he loved. He sounds like a great fun uncle and it’s lovely to hear he enjoyed The Doctor Who Forum as much as we enjoyed having him here.
My own tribute was posted on the Sofa, before I found this thread – it’s linked here:
http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/forums/topic/on-the-sofa-3/page/12/#post-20467
We will, without a doubt, be raising our glasses to @HTPBDET at the 5oth. He was a true enthusiast.
@Juniperfish – did you notice how appropriate that last line is, especially, in context of our bonkers theorising for the 50th?
We won’t have @HTPBDET to theorise bonkersly with for the next 2 weeks, and we won’t get a (presumably massive 😀 ) post from him after the screening of TDotD. Which just means that all of us (me too, though I’m notoriously bad at it) have to step up to the plate and do enough for him.
mini-htpbdets HTPBDET
Thank you for your kind note telling me about your listening to Lux Aeterna. I hope that it brought you and your family some comfort. I was glad, too, to know that your uncle had the piece in his collection. Somehow it comforts me to know that he’d heard it, too.
I know those tears, the ones your mother shed. In my experience, they come and go and then come and go and occasionally pop up again when you least expect it — and sometimes when you actually do expect it, too. They are all part of the grieving process. You may not actually cry, but it’s normal to feel sad at times. The wonderful thing about your uncle is that there were so many happy times and happy memories, too. The love he had for you and your family is real and, I believe, will be with you always.
And for all of us who’ve been touched by your uncle, he’ll have a special place right beside us as we watch the 50th. We’ll be sharing the story of the 50th with your uncle, his brother, his wife, and his lost children. I can’t wait to tell them everything!
I hope you were able to take some time for yourselves while on holiday, and that you’ve been able to get back into school, work, etc., a bit more refreshed and relaxed.
Your cousin and his partner have been in my thoughts. Whenever I see the countdown clock for The Day of the Doctor, I think “The Day of the Fledgling and the McGann Boy.” I’m assuming that the plans they made for the 23rd are still on. I’m going to raise a glass in their honor.
I’ve had some time to think about what to write you because I’ve been away from the forum myself for a while.
My aunt, who was in her 80’s and who had been ill for some time, recently passed away. My sister and I traveled to be with our cousins for her memorial service in the small-ish mountain town where she’d lived for most of her adult life. The sky was clear and there were no city lights to dim my view of the stars. I’m sure I saw your uncle, his wife, the lost children, and his Nanna up there, along with my aunt and the family she had missed for so long.
I’m sure things are very busy for you right now. So I don’t expect a reply right away. Just know that whenever you feel like dropping by the forum, you’ll be welcome.
<>
There’s always room on the sofa. (Or behind it, if it’s an especially scary monster.)
TardisBlue
For some reason, the text in the second to last paragraph didn’t get printed.
In it, I was just stoking to fire and checking the stove to see how the hot chocolate was doing. Hot cider, too. And Jammy Dodgers and jelly babies. Whatever makes it nice and cozy.
TB
@mini-HTPBDETs and @HTPBDET
not sure why the Daleks have messed with my PC … please see the two posts above. I *tried* to @ them to your attention.
Thanks. TB
Finally watched all parts of The Mind Robber tonight. Took a while to get that cellophane off.
@HTPBDET, I wish I could’ve discussed it with you. Patrick Troughton is indeed the template for all succeeding Doctors.
But ‘Enemy of the World’ is still my absolute favourite Troughton story. Have a shedload of new DVDs arriving from the BBC shop, based on your Top 50 Stories blog, and would really enjoy discussing them with you. Alas, not to be.
@Shazzbot – Have you watched all the extras on the DVD? (Extra homework!)
Do you know about how episode 1 came about? It’s an amazing ep’ considering it’s origins.
Do you know the tale about the unicorn’s make-up? Or the one about Frazer Hines’ absence?
I bloody love The Mind Robber.
Which DVDs are winging their way to you & how will you cope with all that cellophane?
Got to say, I’m also missing HTPBDET’s input on all things Dr Who…
I am only now learning this heart breaking news, and am sorry for his family’s loss. It was a joy to read anything @HTPBDET wrote. He will be greatly missed!
@wolfweed – didn’t even look for extras on the DVD! No, I don’t know anything about how ep 1 came about, nor about the unicorn’s make-up, or Frazer’s absence.
Please do tell!
I’ve ordered everything on @HTPBDET‘s list which is BG Who – and I’ve already bought another shedload of DVDs which I thought was representative of all BG Who Doctors. Probably have a few clunkers in there, but got The Aztecs, Day of the Daleks, The Three Doctors, Shada, Keeper of Traken, Remembrance of the Daleks and so much more. Will perhaps not be around on the forum so much – except to fiddle with your z’s 😆 – as I steep myself in BG Who in this anniversary week.
@Shazzbot – The Dr Who DVDs are packed with extras. Most of them are very good.
Watch ‘The Fact of Fiction’ documentary on TMR DVD & all will be explained about unicorns & Frazer Hines (& Swift).
You will learn how episode one came about & how it had no budget (& all the better for it!)
Also fun is the Basil Brush sketch (colour Yeti!).
One of my favourite parts of TMR is when they get squashed in the book (great set design!). Others (men, generally) favour Zoe’s bum in a catsuit at the end of episode 1.
Your mentions from HTPBDET’s list seems to contain no clunkers to me.
All those stories & extras could keep you busy for weeks. Take your time – but we’d like to see you in the near future!
Here’s my greatest secret – I combat tricky cellophane with a craft knife.
Episode 1 of the Mind Robber is a golden example of how to make an entertaining and fascinating piece of drama with no money whatsoever. All you’ve got is the regular cast, the tatty TARDIS interior set and a studio with no special sets at all. Just the bare walls. Plus you’ve got some stock footage and you found some unwanted robot costumes in a store cupboard. To create from that what we got was genius. Far better than a sixth episode of The Dominators!
@Shazzbot: looks a good selection to me. There are no clunkers in there, although The Thrre Doctors isn’t as good as it ought to have been. Actually, I think I’ll watch it now!