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UPDATE!! "Marco Polo" And "The Sun Makers" Visit This Weekend's Docback!! DOCTOR WHO # 4, 95, And More!!
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Merrick here…
...with a few thoughts on "Marco Polo," the fourth-ever DOCTOR WHO story, thus featuring William Hartnell.
This seven part saga finds The Doctor (Hartnell) arriving in 14th Century China with companions Ian (William Russell), Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), and "granddaughter" Susan (Carole Ann Ford). Our travelers are quickly embroiled in dodgy political maneuverings when Marco Polo (Mark Eden) decides to use the temporarily incapacitated TARDIS to tribute his way out of his long-standing working relationship with Kublai Khan (Martin Miller). Marco's plans are complicated by the scheming of Tegana (Derren Nesbitt) - a supposed "emissary of peace" who has his own ideas for The Doctor's fine ship, and for the unwitting Khan.
If it sounds like our heroes are caught in the middle of something complex here...they are...to such an extent that they're rarely pro-active throughout much of this story. They're often prisoners in "Marco Polo," and even when they aren't, they're usually hamstrung in some other way. An interesting spin to be sure, but seeing one's protagonists essentially do nothing for multiple installments tends to wear thin quickly. The Doctor himself is extremely marginalized for many of the opening episodes, his role remaining not-particularly-consequential until the final two or three parts of the tale (when he enters into a humorous and interesting relationship with Kublai Khan - the two relate to each other's age and decrepitness).
The notion of The Doctor and his cohorts being forced to follow Marco Polo on a perilous journey across Asia, with their confiscated TARDIS in tow (called a "flying caravan" by Marco & Co.), is certainly a fascinating conceit...and this image is rather fantastic.
http://david-who.blogspot.com/2009/06/marco-polo.html
The idea that only one person they encounter is selfless (Ping-Cho, a young bride accompanying them on their journey - she's on the way to marry a much older man whom she has never met) is also filled with great potential, and serves to both frustrate our characters and create some agreeably tense moments. Alas, there's a great deal of dead weight at the top of this episode - "Marco Polo" feels like a story that goes on for three parts too long (I've leveled this criticism at several Hartnell episodes - guess they hadn't quite found the show's pulse yet?), and it's hard not to feel a little fatigued by the time it finally kicks into gear.
But when it finally does get going (somewhere in Episode 5 I believe)? "Marco Polo" becomes rather interesting. Ian attempting to convince an incredulous Marco that he and his companions are actually time travelers is a genuinely fine moment from both the Science Fiction and dramatic perspective, and the burgeoning "friendship" between the weary and embittered Doctor and Khan is lovely and unexpected. There's a nifty sword fight for good measure, and it's hard not to be swayed by the soft-spoken beauty and charm of Zenia Merton, who plays Peng-Cho (mentioned above). Merton would play Data Analyst Sandra Benes on Gerry Anderson's SPACE: 1999 many years later.
(l-r) Zenia Merton in DOCTOR WHO (1964) and SPACE: 1999 (1975)
"Marco Polo" is the earliest DOCTOR WHO episode to be 'lost in time' - to the best of anyone's knowledge, it does not exist in moving form anywhere. This, along with a large number of early stories, were nuked by BBC before someone pulled their heads out of their asses and realized that archival programming might actually possess value.
Fortunately, a number of reconstructions (herein "recons") exist, built from a surviving audio track and "telesnap" photographs. An abbreviated form of "Marco Polo" is featured on THIS DVD box set [U.K. HERE], and other non-official (and full-length) recons are also making the rounds. These recon images of "Marco Polo" suggest surprisingly opulent production design and elaborate costume work - both more complex than anything seen previously in the Hartnell era. 'Tis heartbreaking that we can't see it the way it was meant to be seen, but we should count our blessings that any visual record of the story remains at all. I'd like to extend a huge thanks to Docbacker Bytor for setting me up with "Marco Polo," as well as a number of other hard-to-find and recon episode that we'll be discussing in coming days.
Missing episodes are also represented in audio form on CD collections from BBC, via boxed sets. "Marco Polo" also includes "audio interviews, PDF files of the original camera scripts, and a map showing the original journey taken alongside Marco Polo." The set featuring "Marco Polo" can be found HERE in the U.S. and HERE in the U.K. and looks something like this...
The collection is quite well done, and with linking narration by William Russell (Ian), "Marco Polo" works nicely as an old-style radio serial You know, the ones where audiences weren't spoon-fed every little detail and actually had to use their...imagination? That's a pretty cool notion for a show like DOCTOR WHO, and at some point we'll delve deeper into other DW audio adventures chronicling both "lost" episodes and original stories.
More on both recons and audios in the not-too-distant future.
BBC AMERICA ISSUES A MID-SEASON RECAP TRAILER
Material from the first half of S6, but recappier. The embed below originates HERE.
BBC AMERICA ISSUES MIDSEASON PROMO ART
This was posted earlier in the week, but in case you missed it…
…per THIS piece at Entertainment Weekly
I'm not a fan of all the photoshopped artwork swirling around for this series. For a show that's so visually rich and beautifully stylized…seems there'd be far more effective ways to convey the DW "vibe."
U.S. VIEWERS - DON'T FORGET THAT BBCA's "BEST OF…" SPECIALS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND (SATURDAY)!
Saturday August 13 = "DOCTOR WHO: Best of the Doctors"
Saturday August 20 = "DOCTOR WHO: Best of the Monsters"
Saturday August 27 = "DOCTOR WHO: Best of the Companions." And, of yeah, "Let's kill Hitler!"
FINDING OLD DOCTOR WHO-RELATED TALKBACKS
Several people have asked about whether any of the older DOCTOR WHO related Talkbacks - i.e. DOCTOR WHO Talkbacks that accompanied articles from years and years back - are accessible visa AICN's still-being-upgraded infrastructure. Folks have had difficulty finding these older articles, which is understandable as I myself struggle with AICN's defiant and not altogether intuitive search engine.
I called our our tech folks, who admitted that is feasible some articles may have been lost in time, or somehow dropped off the grid when AICN migrated servers and whatnot. But, they firmly believe that an overwhelming majority of old AICN articles are still in place and accessible.
So why is it so hard to find older articles?
Seems the search engine, for the moment at least, requires VERY specify terminology in order to find what you're looking for - which is not terribly helpful if you aren't sure what you're looking for. I.e. simply inputting "DOCTOR WHO" will return not only articles whose titles contain the phrase "DOCTOR WHO," but Talkback entries referencing DW - regardless of whether those Talkbacs are associate with a DW article or not. Hence, when you type in "DOCTOR WHO" - you don't just get "DOCTOR WHO" articles in return - you may get articles about home videos, Talkbacks entries from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, STAR TREK, or BABYLON 5 posts that happen to reference DW, etc. In short, that's a mess - and one apparently needs to be very specific when searching for older material right now ("DOCTOR WHO ECCLESTON LEFT" for example). Irritating.
As a test, I did successfully locate two older, non-DW articles - which I authored back in 1999. I remembered specific details about wording in these articles, looked 'em up, and sure enough...they were there. HERE is my ode to the men and women of Moonbase Alpha, with whom we lost contact when the moon was blasted from Earth orbit on September 13, 1999. And HERE is my write-up regarding a rumored Jar-Jar Binks Pod Racer television show - written entirely in Gungan. I do not know shame. PLEASE NOTE: the contact info sited on the linked pages was long ago replaced with the contact info you'll find HERE.
So, I suppose those past DOCTOR WHO/AICN pieces are still out there - somewhere. I'm currently working with our tech folks to see if we can't bring about some other means of sifting through past articles with greater precision and accuracy, without requiring such absurdly specific parameters. Until that glorious day? If you wanna find 'em, you're gonna have to be very, very precise.
In the meantime, here are links to all the "Friday Docbacks/Reader Reactions" that've occurred since the debut of "The Impossible Astronaut" (S601) - which one could argue was the birth of the "Docbacks" that we know and love today. For clarity, please note that these are links to my regular weekend articles/Talkbacks - and do not reflect not every single DW article (stuff like poster reveals or the occasional promo footage) posted on AICN in recent months.
S6 (1) DOCBACKS
"The Impossible Astronaut"
"Day of the Moon"
"The Curse of the Black Spot"
"The Doctor's Wife"
"The Rebel Flesh"
"The Almost People"
2011 VOID (RETRO-FOCUSED) DOCBACKS
"Time and the Rani"
"Merrick's Personal Journey With The Doctor / "Frontios"
"An Unearthly Child"
"The Gunfighters" / "The Edge Of Destruction"
"The Daleks," "The Awakening," "The Crash of the Elysium"
DOCTOR WHO Title Sequences & DW At Comic-Con 2011
Why Eccleston Left, Here Comes Caroline Skinner, And Season/Series Six Part 1 on Blu-Ray And DVD -
"Paradise Towers" / New WHOvian Documentary / Newsbits
New Trailer For Season/Series Six Part 2
I believe this is all of the WEEKEND Docbacks - although I can't help but feel that I've missed a few. If you find a Docback that isn't here, please drop me the link and I'll add it in. I suppose we should probably be keeping a chronicle of our experience as we move forward.
QUESTION ABOUT THE DOCTOR WHO EXPERIENCE AND CRASH OF THE ELYSIUM
I'm considering getting to London before they shut down The EXPERIENCE in November, but can't help wondering: does anyone know what changes will be made to THE EXPERIENCE when it moves to Cardiff? Will it be niftier? Streamlined? Exactly the same?
Also, if CRASH OF THE ELYSIUM is coming to London 'round Olympic time…how long will it remain in place? For the duration of the Olympics only? For longer?
Any insight would be deeply appreciated, and THANK YOU in advance.
NEW ON DVD IN THE U.S.
"The Sun Makers" - Story #95 - by Robert Holmes
Available HERE in the U.S. and U.K. readers can find it HERE.
LEELA: These taxes...they are like sacrifices to tribal gods?
THE DOCTOR: Well, roughly speaking. But paying taxes is more painful.
This story finds The Doctor (Tom Baker) and companions Leela (Louise Jameson) and robodog K-9 arriving on Pluto. Instead of landing on a "lifeless rock," they materialize atop an industrialized factory "Megropolis" - it's still Pluto, but reshaped in the far-future of our solar system. On this re-engineered planet (yes, I'm still calling Pluto a planet damnit), things are not going particularly well. "Citizens" toil for a vast and intimidating "Company" and are oppressed by crushing taxes. "Outlaw" tax criminals evade detection in a hidden "under city" and make trouble for the callous business-mongers above. Endless daylight reigns due to "in-station fusion satellites" which function as never-setting suns.
Our heroes quickly become embroiled in Plutonian unrest as players on both sides work to exploit the TARDIS gang, propelling both The Doctor and Leela towards disparate, but equally horrifying, perils. Will The Doctor escape brainwashing? Will Leela avoid being turned into a oh-so-hot dumpling? Above all, is the greed plaguing Pluto's power elite driven by predictable and disappointing human nature, or something altogether…different?
"The Sun Makers," on the whole, is a remarkably strong entry. It's hampered only by a notable inconsistency in its production design (some very impressive location work - exteriors, industrialized corridors, etc. - feels like it comes from an entirely different episode than the story's Spartan and budetarily challenged interior set work), and one of the most ineptly blocked "action" scenes ever put before a camera. The sequence in question…its problem isn't budget, or even its core concept. Its shortcoming is that no one thought this movement through when they were actually shooting it, thus bringing about a decided lack of ingenuity on the parts of both our protagonists and baddies. I mean…look at this… (3:08 - 3:21)
There's so very much wrong within that sequence. Everyone behaves stupidly in this sequence, Leela certainly doesn't act like a particularly savvy warrior woman throughout the exchange, and hinging storytelling on such lame-brained ineptitude simply can't possibly pay off satisfactorily. This feels more like a Mel Brooks or David/Jerry Zucker gag than any kind of well considered or genuine effort. Jeers.
HOWEVER, such superficial and snarky gripes are easily overpowered by gloriously earnest performances from the story's four primary guest stars here - Richard Leech as the smarmy and oily Gatherer Hade, Henry Woolf as his intense and unwavering Collector (a cross between AUSTIN POWERS' Dr. Evil and Urkel from FAMILY MATTERS), William Simons as the well-intentioned but douchey Undercity resistance leader Mandrel, and Roy Macready as the hapless Cordo (whose initial misfortune sets this entire story into motion). All nail the tone of Holmes's often biting and darkly satirical script, evolving "The Sun Makers" well beyond its occasionally cliched structure, transforming the story into an altogether memorable and meaningful DOCTOR WHO adventure.
Which brings us to a storytelling paradox I should probably explore a bit more, if for no other reason than to avoid confusion in the Docbacks below: how can I both exalt the writing while also calling it cliched? It's pretty simple, actually. In my very humble opinion, a cliche is only dangerous when a writer fails to freshen it in some way. In this instance, we've seen the essence of this story realized in other tales across various genres (rising against the monopolistic corporate oppressors is nothing new), but scripter Holmes doesn't rest on that conceit. He sprinkles it with fresh elements, adding dashes of unpredictability which bring about an interpretation of conceits that does indeed feel familiar, but also manages not to seem mundane. There's much…MUCH…to be said for adopting tried and true notions and tweaking them smartly (which is what the original STAR WARS film, for example), and Holmes does that very well here. - See the EXTRAS enumeration below for more on his inspiration and motivation. -
In the end, "The Sun Makers" is something of a brilliant self-contradiction. It serves as both an exaltation of corporate capability and achievement (these…people…make…SUNS!?!?), but also works as a scathing condemnation of the economically-driven culture that gave rise to the very same achievements. It's smart, fun, fast, and…despite being fueled by decidedly 70s British politics (so say the Extras)…it remains strangely relevant today.
Extras include...
"RUNNING FROM THE TAX MAN"
--- Insight from Louise Jameson (companion Leela), who says this is her favorite DOCTOR WHO story...
--- Insight from director Pennant Roberts...
--- Insight from writer/historian Dominic Sandbrook, who discuss how scripter Robert Holmes had recently been shaken down (about his taxes) by Inland Revenue and essentially sought his revenge against 'the system' (a vengeance which Louise Jameson says also targets the BBC, who had evidently stiffed Holmes in some way as well - hence characters repeatedly intoning "Praise The Company" throughout the episode)...
--- Insight from Michael Keating (Goudry). His casting in BLAKE'S 7 is also discussed.
--- Insight from astronomer Marek Kukula re: Pluto...
--- Discussion of locations shoots for the story...
--- Discussion of budgetary limitations and the scaling down of initial plans...
--- Discussion to time constraints sometimes being more challenging than limitations...
--- Discussion of the casting of Henry Wolf as The Collector...
--- Discussion of The Collector and Gatherer Hade's appearances resembling Chancellor Dennis Healey…
(l - r ) Gatherer Hade (Richard Leech), The Collector (Henry Woolf), U.K. Chancellor Dennis Healey ('74-79).
TRAILER
1:41
THE DOCTOR'S COMPOSER
Insight from Dudley Simpson, discusses the scoring of GENESIS OF THE DALEKS, PYRAMIDS OF MARS, TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG, and CITY OF DEATH. He discusses his dismissal by John Nathan Turner, and shares an awesome story about Jon Pertwee. Pertwee had a similar car to Simpson's - and laid in wait for Simpson to drive by on the way to work, only to race out in front of him to beat him to the car park.
OUTTAKES
Bloopers from one brief moment that defied filming…
PHOTO GALLERY
PDFs
Radio Times Listings
--- follow Merrick on Twitter ! ---
2) matters of SPOILAGE should be handled with thoughtful consideration and sensitivity. Posts containing SPOILERS should clearly state that a SPOILER exists in its topic/headline and should never state the spoiler itself . "** SPOILER ** Regarding Rory" is OK, for example. "** SPOILER ** Battle of Zarathustra" is fine as well. "**SPOILER** Why did everyone die?" Is NOT good.
And, above all...
3) converse, agree, disagree, and question as much as you want - but the freedom to do so is NOT a license to be rude, crass, disrespectful, or uncivilized in any way. Not remaining courteous and civil, as well as TROLLING or undertaking sensational efforts to ignite controversy, will result in banning. Lack of courtesy may receive one (1) warning before a ban is instigated. Obvious Trolling or Spamming will result in summary banning with no warning.
Readers Talkback
comments powered by Disqus-
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so close, and yet so far. cant come soon enough.
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...but not today, it seems.
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Always loved that delivery. Enjoyed The Sun Makers. Good combination of elements - strong guest performances, probably my favorite companion ever, and some story ideas with some real meat on their bones (a hallmark of most Holmes stories).
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I'm trying to get all the Leela episodes I don't have.
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The coat (color and length) and scarf all changed multiple times in his 7 years. Everyone else seemed fairly constant to me... But then no one else lasted 7 years, either.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 10:25 a.m. CST
Loved 'the Doctor's wife'... Strongest episode of the season.
by mistergreen
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Aug. 12, 2011, 10:32 a.m. CST
Still waiting for my copy of The Sunmakers, Paradise Towers, and Revisitations 2 to arrive...
by Stegman84
Mind you, I have at least been able to play catch up with some of the discs I hadn't had a chance to watch yet, which made this week a Pertwee week in my house - Spearhead from Space SE, Terror of the Autons, The Mutants, and Planet of the Spiders all got a spin. And very enjoyable they all were to watch again too. Now for a Tom Baker weekend. Unfortunately the Baker discs I haven't watched yet aren't nearly as esteemed a collection of stories, what with Underworld, The Horns of Nimon, and Meglos on the viewing roster.
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I often have cause to look up old articles on AICN, and I never use the sites search engine. Instead, I use google. It works pretty well for me. Go to www.google.com and in the search bar enter the following : site:www.aintitcool.com and then a space and then the parameter allintitle:Doctor Who But Doctor Who needs to be surrounded by double quotes. I can't write that here, because of the existing Talkback bug which shits itself when it comes across a double quote. You should get about 90 articles, going back years and years.
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Forget the Simon Jones cameo, I have a better idea. I want Dennis Healey's eyebrows to appear on the show as Cybermats. I'll get to work on that right away...
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...though they were all pretty much 'of a theme'.
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I know I've been talking about H2G2 a bit lately, but somebody just sent me a link regarding The Guide. They're actually making The Guide for iPads and iPhones! The *actual* Guide itself! How amazing is that? Living in the future is cool. I may have to buy a protective cover for my phone with the words 'Don't Panic' on the front.
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http://www.digitalspy.com /gaming/news/a334650/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-coming-to-ios.html
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...and on the same day that I doscover that 'they' are also making Soylent Green crackers: http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/e9aa/ and Stay Puft Marshmallows: http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/candy/e59b/
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Wait, that can't be right...
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Taking place at the BFI this coming Monday (15th August). Exciting stuff! There'll be special guests for the Q&A, and although the screening is officially sold-out, there may be return tickets available at the box-office for anyone willing to take a chance.
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There'll be a web exclusive prequel available on Monday via the BBC website to whet your appetite for the next block of episodes. It was written by 'The Moff' to bridge the gap between episodes 7 and 8. Expect laughs... and tears. Hopefully that should tide you all over until the official tx date in a couple of weeks time. Can you believe it's almost time to kill Hitler?! It's like Christmas has come early. Speaking of which...
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Aug. 12, 2011, 10:54 a.m. CST
More prequels, eh? Cool, they're always a nice little bonus.
by Stegman84
The Doctor is almost back on our screens, can't wait.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 10:59 a.m. CST
Sunmakers is one'a my all-time favorite episodes
by Damned if I can login
"The Company be praised, praise the Company!
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Economically instead of militarily. Hey - isn't that pretty much happening NOW?
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Because it was made in the 70s... but yes, a good DocBack like usual! The Sun Makers is not one of my favorite Doctor Who stories, but it is also not on my list of the worst. There is good and bad in it, but, just something about it has always made it _not_ entirely hit its stride to me. I don't know what, because I like the general concept of the story.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 11:07 a.m. CST
Damnit... I'd travel to London if I could get a seat at the BFI.
by V'Shael
These countdowns are always painful...
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I have watched several rotations (including this week) of the daily "Doctor Who" showings on BBC America. Strangely, the episodes go from "The Waters of Mars" to Matt Smith's Doctor hanging off the Tardis in "The Eleventh Hour". Is there some reason that BBCA is not showing the two-episode conclusion of David Tennant's tenure as The Doctor?
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"lol . . . joke" serioulsy though, guna chime in before the fan fiction starts, i dont think any classic who baddies are going to used by moffat. or at least thats what i hope. it just wouldnt work.
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Now how did that happen? Anyways, because until recently I had been approximately 17 Docbacks behind, it has only just come to my notice that no-one appered to address Merrick's query on the last docback about why the trailers, inserts etc on the last DVD release were referred to as 'continuity'. I think it was the last docback, at least -- I know it was after the one where MOV declared his dislike of Nickelback, and definitely after the one where someone (I think perhaps SJW) first proposed it was Amy in the astronaut suit, but, cripes, it would be so much easier if I read these damned things in chronological order... Anyway, if you still need the lowdown, Merrick, here is the solution to all your woes. Well, it's a link to a Wikipedia entry, anyway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_(broadcasting) At some point I might have something interesting and/or meaningful to say about the Sun Makers (or, indeed, Marco Polo), but until I do, here's a link to a picture of a penguin riding a bicycle: http://image.made-in-china.com/2f1j00kMZtlSQRZHbm/Plush-Penguin-Rides-Bicycle-TPKT0061-.jpg
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Thank you! Freudian slip - was staring at a list of 80s eps and brainfarted. Will repair shortly - nice catch!
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You are welcome; I understand (I thought it was a typo, actually, something I find myself doing more and more as I get older).
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Aug. 12, 2011, 11:36 a.m. CST
Would love to pick up some of those late returnsBFI tickets
by Ithrat Cordwallis
But I'm one of those poor sods that doesn't get off work until stupid o'clock on a Monday. Is there no justice? Wait, if these are off-chance return type tickets, is it going to be like the Proms, where you can roll up on the day and get a standing spot? And from where you can throw stuff at the performers if you don't like the show? Wait--it's not just me who does that at the Proms, is it? Hmm--maybe it's a GOOD thing I'll be working late on Monday.
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For screenings at BFI Southbank, we issue a limited number of standby tickets half an hour before each performance. Tickets may be limited to two per visitor.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 11:44 a.m. CST
Cliches are the words friom which scifi is constructed
by Dreamfasting
There's no need to be afraid of a cliche. They are like words - nuggets of an idea rich in meaning beyond what you see. What matters is how you string them together, what you explore with them. One of the interesting things about watching an old show, especially one from a different country, is trying to decipher the cliches that you see being used. What were the writers expecting you to think when you heard certain lines or saw different archetypes?
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But I don't know if I'd be able to handle it, I had enough trouble not getting my mind blown at the old Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. I must have taken a thousand pictures, a preview screening might make me explode. The Sunmakers is a stone-cold Tom Baker classic and I still love Leela, come on. I wouldn't mind another companion not from present-day Earth, maybe for the next one, though. I'm not eager for Amy to leave yet. What a great line from The Collector: Grinding oppression of the masses is the only policy that pays dividends.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 11:54 a.m. CST
And if y'all are not already familiar with the following website about the art of the cliche
by Ithrat Cordwallis
Then knock yourself out: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage Our favourite TV Doctor (except, perhaps, he of the casebook) even has a goodly amount of coverage here. Warning: it is far too easy to lose months on this website. Now, I imagine that TV Tropes would argue that a cliche is where an idea has moved beyond the nugget of suggestion and has become the provenance of the hack, but what they wouldn't do is express it with the amount of pretention that I just did!
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it's been a while but I've always enjoyed the story. <br> I'll want to work through the rest of the Season 6 part 1 DVD set first, though, in order to refresh myself before Let's Kill Hitler. <br> Some questions I still have that we might or might not get answers to: <br> Where did the US Government get the zero balanced dwarf star alloy from that they used to enclose the Doctor in during Day of the Moon? Was it the Silents or the Doctor himself? Or did it come from the 51st century? <br> Why did the Silents take out gangerAmy's communications device from her hand without destroying it? Was it to deliberately lead the Doctor to where she was? <br> When does Amy spend time with Melody for the pictures shown in Day of the Moon? Will it be in the future, or did it already happen when the Silents grabbed her? (With the time machine they might have moved her a little bit into the past) <br> Following up from this, was it Amy who scrawled all the 'Get Out' 'Leave Me Alone' messages in the creepy Children's home? <br> Will Season 6 have any nods to The Sun Makers by showing Usurians in charge of the World Banking Industry? <br> (well, it's probably a firm 'no' for the last question, but still there should be a story in there somewhere. Or a story about a trade war between the Usurians and whatever Sil's race was called - War of the Greedy Short Sentients) <br> These are in addition to the big questions like where is Melody, how does the Doctor get out of dying (if he does), etc. that we've all been hypothesizing about.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 12:25 p.m. CST
I want to see more location shooting in America, and perhaps New Zealand.
by Michael_Jacksons_Ghost
It takes the show to level 11 when filmed on real locations. At least I think so.
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I'm not either as I've said before. I get the impression they're trying to give a movie vibe, al-la Drew Struzan, but unfortunately they rarely look all that good. Some of them have been excellent, but most to the show a disservice (IMO). If you want to do something that looks like a painting, then perhaps you should consider having it painted... I might do one actually, just for the lulz (thought I may do it for series 5 instead).
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Merrick, thanks for writing that. I think it's important for people to understand that ''cliche'' isn't automatically bad. Sunmakers is a damned fine episode. You rarely go wrong with Robert Holmes (though ''Mysterious Planet'' and ''Power of Kroll'' are iffy), and here he delivers a corker. Sure, the commentary isn't exactly subtle, and Tom occasionally goes a bit over the top with his Tom-ness (as he was wont to do during Graham Williams' tenure), but even so it's one of my faves. i_am_notreal: actually, the outfits often varied before John Nathan-Turner became producer in Tom's last season. Pertwee often changed shirts, pants and coat; Troughton and Hartnell also made minor changes from time to time. JNT moved to more of a ''costume'' approach; he believed this was necessary for merchandising purposes. (Of course, it wasn't, but that's neither here nor there.)
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Aug. 12, 2011, 1:10 p.m. CST
Shit: THIS:Our Dr. Who bar in Brooklyn. Weekly showing of the series
by ToughGuyRizzo
http://waystationbk.blogspot.com/ And, a life size TARDIS restroom. Come out for the half season premier!
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I like, very cool.
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Won't that summon a certain 'person' to this Docback? I say we don't say 'Turdis' again. Oh, bollocks...
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Just so you know, those tickets mainly depend upon booked tickets being returned or cancelled ahead of the screening, and there usually isn't very many. However, anyone willing to queue for tickets beforehand, and is extremely lucky, will be in for quite the treat. I would say, if you live in the area, go for it! If you're travelling a long distance in the off-chance that you'll get in, I'd advise against it, unless you were planning on being in the area anyway. Have the guests for the Q&A been announced yet? I'll go and check that right now actually and then I'll pop back again.
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So is it bad if I say that we can definitely expect to see a man with greying pubes for hair on his head, as well as a man with a big nose, hanging around Waterloo on Monday night? I doubt either of them will be sober, at least not by the end of the screening. Should make for an interesting Q&A though, that's for sure. Am I in trouble for saying that? Of course not, I can't get into trouble, except with 'Er Indoors. She's a vicious taskmaster indeed.
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TURDIS, TURDIS...oh crap, a 1980's Michael Keaton just showed up, and he has bad teeth! Now he wont stop bouncing off the walls, somebody needs his prozac!
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as long as you don't also say Stargate Univer....oh crap
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Which first?
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Aug. 12, 2011, 2:44 p.m. CST
So, are we going to get Tricky Dick back in the season finale?
by DoctorTom
and do we hear the Silents talking to Nixon during the famous 18 missing minutes of tape? <br> Having just watched The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon again, I'd like to see a spinoff series with Canton Everett Delaware III. It doesn't even have to involve aliens or monsters (though it could be more fun if it did). Given a new deal between Starz and BBC, maybe that could be a series that Starz could show. You wouldn't have to worry about people complaining about the show being 'Americanized'.
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The story completely changes every episode. You can also watch the aliens that Grant Morrison claimed eventually became Cybermen (it must have been a good prescription he was taking the day he came up with that).
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I loved his Animal Man storys, they were great.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 2:54 p.m. CST
On that subject, since we had Neil Gaiman write an episode,
by Michael_Jacksons_Ghost
I wouldn't mind seeing a Morrison do an episode. Just never let Alan Moore write one.
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I say Day of the Daleks. I find Marinus to be a complete bore. Just me, of course...but Day of the Daleks is a cracking good episode, and introduces the Blinovitch Limitation Effect.
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Holy moly - Arnold Rimmer and Jimmy Durante! One of whom is fictional and the other of whom is dead! To hell with work, I'm there!
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He's Arnold, Arnold , Arnold Rimmer, without him life would be much grimmer. He handsome, brave and no ones trimmer, he will never need a Zimmer!
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I'd be hesitant about Morrison based on his comics, but those were early in his career. I think he'd do well now with Doctor Who. <br> Alan Moore comes off as a bitter old man now. I don't think he'd even be interested in writing one, so it shouldn't be an issue.
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it's interesting you bring up everyone's favourite piece of Pertwee era temporal hand-wavy physics, because I think we're going to hear it again really soon. In fact, when it turns out to be the Doctor himself in the spacesuit, the moment we hear the shot, we'll also hear him say 'You lousy blin-of-a-vitch' Sorry.
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Robert Llewellyn as a Cyber Controller lol :P
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnslb/6031295186/in/set-72157627405953630 Side-Note: The UK industry term for a one person Porta-Loo (Portoilet) unit is a TARDIS. Or so I've heard.
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It's Sol.
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I like it. It's not great, but it is an interesting attempt to do a serial. Just go with it.
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He would write an awesome ep - the doctor would die and stay dead; the monster of the week would be a giant blue cock... Okay, scrub that.
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So....what...'The Sensorites' was once available on VHS and DVD but now isn't? Is that one of the stories BBCHV will be re-issuing at some point - a la 'Talons of Weng-Chiang? This is thrown' off my groove, man...
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Toilet Unit Restroom Dumping In Space
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Day of the Daleks is better than The Keys of Marinus, but I suppose we all like different episodes! DOTD has Venusian karate. Marinus doesn't. That's all I'm saying.
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It was on VHS (I think it was in the End of the Universe collection), but I haven't seen it out on DVD. They don't have any DVDs for it on Amazon or on Ebay.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 3:57 p.m. CST
Yes, Daleks is better as a story, but Keys of Marinus features alien brains in jars
by DoctorTom
Plus, it's a chance to see a rare Terry Nation Doctor Who script that doesn't use the Daleks.
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Well, hell. Brains in jars? One really can't go wrong there. But Venusian karate? I hear its call and the sound is so very sweet.
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If we could dream:- Michael Moorcock --he's written a Who book so why not---odd wouldn't be the word Iain M Banks -- the git has said he wouldn't ever but come on, a Doctor/Culture story ---orgasmic !!! Terry Pratchett---a Doctor/Discworld story--guest starring Philip Glennister as Sam Vimes But of course the ultimate cross-over would surely have to be a Doctor/Holmes story---hmmm---I wonder if the show runners know each other ?
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Had been a while since I'd seen it, so based on this talkback I decided to rewatch it. Damn, Tom was so funny it hurt. Also, Merrick, I agree about the sets...pretty rough, even by 70's Who standards.
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We had a Holmes crossover: Talons of Weng-Chiang!
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What are some of the things you do on Fridays? I being the geek that I am watch the new Thundercats cartoon, I watch Haven, Flashpoint, and of course TORCHWOOD. I also spend hours reading articles on the web, and a little bit of time on a text based multi user dungeon.
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I believe you are correct - a listing I saw pimping the DVD was inaccurate. TardisWikia says 2012 for a DVD. Sensortites are creepy looking.
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I think it's because, if memory serves, those episodes were 90 minutes each & there's just no way to cut them down to 44(or less) minutes apiece. If you've noticed, sometimes entire scenes are missing, sometime just part of a scene, but even the hour long episodes get chopped before being re run On BBCA in the afternoons.
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Why not release the different series of Doctor Who as a whole, instead of just story arc releases? Is it because some series are missing pieces, and they don't want to release a series that is incomplete? I have a few of the arcs with Baker on Dvd, but then decided to stop because of the prices of arcs. It might be fine with most people, it just irks me I guess.
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Older seasons/series were very large. Either they'd have to sell for less (than the current individual prices), or people would squawk about the cost. Bottom line: they make more money this way. Could you imagine the number of discs in a Season 1 set? 42 episodes (and not that many missing).
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It's Turdriffic!! And Turtacular!!! *flush*
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I've only seen it once, and I remember, I fell asleep a part of the way in. Of course, this was also when Doctor Who started around 10 on a Saturday Night, and so I was tired. It seems an interesting idea, but a bit.. slow.. in execution. I look forward to revisiting it on DVD.
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One of my favorites of a favorite Doctor. Those giant ape-men working for the Daleks were scary, the time travel paradox compelling, and Pertwee was in full-on Intergalactic man of mystery mode. A winner.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 5:16 p.m. CST
'Big nose' can't make it to Waterloo on Monday apparently
by Mister Vertue
But somebody with long legs will definitely be there. You'll still be able to see various people drunk later in the evening though, that fact hasn't changed. Which is nice.
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Dual Layer flip disc would condense the number of disc per box. Also, they could still break it down to Part 1,2, and so on. As much as people pay for the newer seasons of Who, and seasons of Star Trek, I could see it done.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 5:22 p.m. CST
Also Bytor, I did the math with the compression quality per disc
by Michael_Jacksons_Ghost
and you could do 8 episodes per side, at excellent quality. So, the first series could fit on 3 disc. It can be done, but will it.......? One can only wish.
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Well, even if there is no big nose, as long as a man with greying pubes for hair on his head and someone with long legs is there it's probably worth going along... I'll be the one getting thrown out for saying "they really should remake press gang" over and over and over to anyone who'll listen.
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Because alcohol plus AK -well, I'd positively fall off my bicycle. Actually, all this talk of getting drunk at the BFI is reminiscent of private views at galleries, which are all very jolly until the sponsor has a bit too much of the special stuff and gets the guy with haematuria to improvise a Jackson Pollock on the carpet. Monday, though, with it being a kid's show and everything... No-one knows anyone with haematuria, do they?
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or do we talk about this weeks Torchwood in our docback?
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Aug. 12, 2011, 5:50 p.m. CST
When Red Dwarf returns, we must have Dwarfbacks!
by Michael_Jacksons_Ghost
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As much as they would be lovely, they would need to be precipitated on non-shitty episodes of dwarf, and, well, it's coming up for 20 years... Don't get me Wrong, I love me some Dwarf, but both seem as likely as getting a nice tasting gum out of that machine in the gents. But what do I know?
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It truely is bigger on the inside. (No, seriously, they blackened the walls around it to make it look like the TARDIS is the only thing on the corner. Pretty slick.
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I would think Smeg Backs would be more apt...lol
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I used to bump into him around the city before I realized who he was. I recognized him from somewhere. Then I saw him on tv practically everywhere. Suddenly I understood why he hosted showings of Rocky Horror over at the Broadway. He was our most famous head of drama dept over at the University. Sadly I don't think he lives here anymore but he does drop by from time to time, especially during the Shakespeare On The Saskatchewan festival. He was Shylock last season.
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I think it's supposed to be next year?
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Aug. 12, 2011, 8:54 p.m. CST
Grant Morrison might have a good episode in him.
by The Transformed Man
He used to write DW comics.
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thought you might like these, in case you've not seen them yet. look halfway down the page... http://www.fogonazos.es/2006/12/la-ertica-del-robot_26.html
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Jo Grant was a bad, bad girl. Ever seen "Abducted by the Daleks" (also released as "Abducted by the Daloids")? Not that it's recommendable.
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did you used to hang in the farscape chatroom?
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of torchwood?
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I hope to watch last week's this weekend. And maybe I'll get to catch up with this weekend's. Busy, busy, busy.
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Aug. 12, 2011, 11:30 p.m. CST
1980s Australian Who Parody "Doctor Poo" explains the TURDIS
by veteran_of_mu
It Officially stands for "Transcendental Urination Defecation Regurgitation Integration System". A pompous and selfish "time and toilet lord", Doctor Poo, from the planet Galah-Free, travelled through time and space in the blue portaloo with his 'beautiful, but stupid' assistant, Dana Sock and Dennis the Denim Cat, a homicidal moggie. The show had parodies of the Daleks (the Drecks and their creator Lavdros), the Master (Doctor Wee) and introduced us to Doctor Poo's terrifying wife, Constance. Proceedings were narrated by Kevin the Announcer, who would continually talk to the characters and make disparaging comments about the show. And since it is plain that you are all completely ignorant of the glory that is, was, and always will be Doctor Poo - speaking as an official member of the original fan club, of course I possess a torn sheet of loo paper bearing the imprint "Use By September 8, 1945" - I direct your attention to the online shrine for the show, http://www.drpoo.co.uk/ . Dr Poo played for exactly 2 minutes every day - sometimes several different episodes if the lads were feeling up to it - and contained the very worst strings of puns ever committed on radio. There were over 400 episodes and a couple of LPs, and it seemed likely to become as much a fixture in the Australian cultural landscape as Edna Everage until, regrettably, Lance Curtis, who played the Doctor, fell backwards out of a balcony at a Sydney party and died instantly. It is impossible to give you a real understanding of what the show was, but here's an excerpt where the Doctor explained why the French Revolution was happening in the small Australian town of Dubbo: ---- Dr Poo: What I think may have happened, Dana, is this. Now as we all know, Earth's history is a tall office block downtown in the Cosmic Central Business District. Now just before 9am all of Earth's historical events pour into the lobby and mill around ... Dana: Chatting and reading the paper. Dr Poo: Yes, that sort of thing. And then dead on nine the elevator door springs open, in they all rush ... Dana: Umbrellas flailing! Dr Poo: Yes, quite so. Now when the elevator reaches the first floor all the events for that floor get out and happen. And so on up the long length of the height of the tall building of history. Dana: You mean like, first floor: Stone Age, invention of agriculture, ancient Egypt. Second floor: Hittites, the Code of Hammurabi, sheilas from Crete jumping over bulls, the great city states ... Dr Poo: All right Dana, I think you've got the hang of it. Now what probably happened on this particular morning is that when the elevator reached the floor of the 18th century, the French Revolution was stuck at the back behind something really big like, ooh, the Industrial Revolution or Orson Welles, and it couldn't get out. So it got out at the 20th century. It wandered around looking for its office, got a bit pissed off, bumped into Dubbo and said "what the hell". Dana: And happened! Dr Poo: And happened! Kevin: Well I'm glad something happened and I guess it was exciting but it must have got out of the lift before it reached us here on Doctor Pooooooooooooooo!
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I've only seen the first episode... been too damn busy to actually watch TV lately :P How is it? I wasn't too impressed with the first episode... in fact, I borderline hated it.
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Transcendental Urination Regurgitation Defecation Integration System. What an embarrassment! If Lance Curtis were alive today he'd say something like this: ---- Dr Poo - All cisterns go! (The Turdis takes off and lands) Dana: Is this Dubbo, Doctor? Dr Poo: No this is the Turdis you fool! Dana: I mean have we landed in Dubbo? Dr Poo: I'll have a look. (Sheep noises) Sorry, excuse me. There's nothing here! Dana: This is Dubbo all right! But what's happened to the sun? The place is as black as night! Dr Poo: It IS 11pm Dana. Hand me my torch, I'll have a look around. No sign of the French Revolution here, Dana. This is most odd. According to that phone call the French Revolution should be raging through these streets. Dana: Perhaps it got bored in Dubbo and went back to the 18th century. I would. Dr Poo: This froggy revolution doesn't have a mind of its own. It's a historical movement, caused by the social conditions of 18th century France, and as such the damn thing shouldn't even be in Dubbo. Pass me my Time and Space Handbook, Dana, I'll see what it says about finding French Revolutions in the dark. Dana: There ya are. Dr Poo: Ta. Mmm, French salad, French dressing, French undressing, French letter, French postcards (ah, hmmm), French Revolution. "Should be in 18th century France, if not look under Dubbo." Aha! D, D, Dublin, Duck, Dudley Moore, Dudley a bit more, Dudley even more than that, Dudley a lot, Dudley too much! No, ah, here it is, DUBBO. " (1) Capital of the Irish Republic. (2) A water fowl. (3) Star of the movie 10. (4) Place where the French Revolution shouldn't be. Note, to find French revolution in the dark, go to sleep until the sun comes up in the next episode of Dr You." What? Oh yes, Doctor Me. Kevin: Yes, Doctor Poooooooo! (cue outro and rude noise) ############ Kevin: Poo geographers! If you took a map of the world and drew a thick line from Calcutta to Budapest, you'd crush 57 million people. But the D, D and D the DC would be safe because they're camped in a paddock outside of Dubbo, stamp capital of the world! Dana: Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay your life must be. Dr Poo: I'm not surprised his life is gay, Dana, that kookaburra is wearing lipstick and eyeshadow. Dana: That's part of the make-up of the Australian bush. Dr Poo: That may well be, Dana, but he's also wearing crotchless panties! Dana: That's his business. He's just doing his thing! (Splash) Dennis: Miaow! Dr Poo: He's just done it on Dennis. Hose the cat down Dana, I'll put the billy on the fire. Dana: OK. Dr Poo: Come on, Billy ... Billy: No, no, not the fire, I'll talk, I'll talk! Dr Poo: But you can't talk, you're just a little tin bucket! On you go! Billy: Aaaaagh! Dr Poo: Tea's up Dana! Dana: Oh bewdy Doctor cobber. You know there's nothing like sitting under the old coolibah tree, mate, watching the sun come up over that funny lump on the top of your shoulder, getting stuck into a cup of good old Australian bush tea, blood oath! Eeeew, what's this?! It's full of twigs and bark! Dr Poo: It's bush tea, Dana, made from genuine Australian bush! Dana: Oh, Doctor I've had enough of this camp scene. Let's go into Dubbo and get some real food! Dr Poo: All right. There's something coming now - I'll see if we can get a lift. (La Marseillaise is playing) Dr Poo: Holy Harpic! It's the French Revolution. That's what we've been looking for! Kevin: Just what the Doctor ordered. One French Revolution on toast. Washed down with a glass of freshly squeezed Doctor Poooooooooooooooooooo (cue outro) Kevin: Take out your school atlas, Poo geographers and find the map of Africa. Set fire to it because you don't need it. Now find the map of Australia! Oh dear, it was on the other side of that map of Africa, wasn't it, oh dear. Now buy yourself a new atlas and find Dubbo. If you scrunch your eyes everything will go dark, so unscrunch them just enough to see the Doctor and Dana marching into Dubbo as part of the French Revolution! (La Marseillaise is playing) Robespierre: Citizens halt! Fellow citizen cobbers. We who have suffered under the opossum of the ruling classes of Dubbo have had a gutful, but no more! Too right? Mob: Too right! Robespierre: We demand a fair suck of the sav for all. Our motto is liberty, equality and frangipanis! Dr Poo: Excuse me! Robespierre: What is it citizen stranger mate on whom I've never clapped eyes before, how ya going anyway ya old bastard, up the mighty Blues eh, pwwwtt! Dr Poo: The motto of your French Revolution - shouldn't it be liberty, equality and fraternity? Robespierre: What's fraternity? Dana: Don't you mean what's for dinner? Robespierre: Yeah that's what I mean - well reminded, citizenette stranger bewdy cobber mate sheila! Our new motto is now liberty, equality and what's for dinner? Mob: What's for dinner, what's for dinner! Dr Poo: Hold on! You there, whatever your name is! Robespierre: Frank. Frank Robespierre's the name, the French Revolution is the game. Dr Poo: Well it shouldn't be. Don't you realise this revolution belongs back in France - in the 18th century! Sans-culottes : What? Give it to the Froggies? Get off the grass! Kevin: What selfish behaviour. Don't they realise there are 50 million French people who are totally confused by the last 200 years of their history? All because of what's happening on Dr Poooooo (cue outro). Kevin: The Doctor and Dana find themselves, which is all right by me because I've got better things to do than go looking for them, at the head of a revolutionary mob, led by Frank Robespierre, head of the Dubbo and Western Plains French revolution Co-op. Sans-culotte : Speak oh citizen Frank mate pal! Robespierre: All right citizens, I'll be Frank! But seriously citizens, the time has come for us to seize our rights as human beings. Give us liberty - or give us Darth Vader masks! Sans-culotte : I want a Wookie suit! Robespierre: All right - and Wookie suits! Dr Poo: This mob is turning ugly, Dana. Dana: Wait'll they put their Wookie suits on. Yuck! Dr Poo: C'mon Dana, let's clear off! Robespierre: Oi citizens, where do you think you're going, bewdy bottler bonzer? Dr Poo: Just taking the cat for a jog. Robespierre: I've heard that one before. Dr Poo: No, no - look, he's wearing his Le Cat Sportif tracksuit and his ladidadas running shoes. Dennis: Miaow! (pant pant) Robespierre: All right, but hurry back. Or you'll miss out on the storming of the bus terminal. Citizens - to the bus terminal! (La Marseillaise is playing) Dana: Wow, if this French Revolution takes off, it could really put Dubbo on the map! Dennis: Miaow! Dana: Yeah, Dennis, ads in all the railway carriages: "Visit the Dubbo and Western Plains French Revolution. Bring the whole family! Children under five beheaded free." Dr Poo: Look, Dana, the social and economic benefits aside, Dubbo's got no right to the French Revolution. It's not theirs. We're going to the highest authority in this town and demand they give it back this this instant coffee! Dana: Tea! Dr Poo: Bonox! Dana: Same to you! Dr Poo: Ah this must be the place, the Palace of Versailles Hotel, right! I say, has anybody here seen King Louis the Sixteenth? Kevin: No, but I saw King Philip of Spain in the Ladies Lounge, reading the form guide and putting a bit each way on Doctor Poo!!!!! (cue outro) Kevin: Poo peasants! Feeling a breast, a priest - oppressed? Crushed under the fish, fart - fist - of the ruling classes? Come to beautiful revolutionary Dubbo. For liberty, equality - and a chance to throw peanuts to the sheep, come to - Dr Poo: Kevin, stop this wild irresponsible advertising! The Health Commission and I are trying to close this damn revolution down. That's why Dana and I are here in Dubbo, at the Palace of Versailles Hotel, looking for Louis King. Barman: Ah no mate, nobody here of that name. Dana: I'll have a shandy, thanks. Dr Poo: Shut up Dana. Well, who's in charge of this town? Barman: You want that bloke over there. He's the mayor and the head of the chamber of commerce. His name's Louis King. Dr Poo, Dana: What? Dennis: Miaow! Barman: Is that a cat you've got there? Dr Poo: Oh, him! Dana: Oh, him! Dennis: Miaow, miaow! Barman: Well he can't stay in here, he'll have to go to the Cat's Bar. Dana: Come on Dennis, come wiz me to ze Cat's Bar. Boom boom! Dr Poo: (Boom boom) Dennis: Miaow miaow! Dr Poo: While I go and talk to this Louis King chap. Umm, excuse me, umm sorry ... ah Mr King? King: No I'm Mr King, you're a complete stranger. Dr Poo: Ah, good. Mr King, are you a werewolf, I'm sorry aware, that the French Revolution is raging through your town? King: Ah, city! Dr Poo: Pardon? King: City! Dr Poo: All right-ee, don't mind if I do-ee. Ah, yes-ee, much more comfy wumfy. Now are you aware that the French Revolution is raging through your town? King: CITY! Dr Poo:What? But me already sit-ee. Me can't sit-ee twice, me have to stand-ee up between sit-ees! King: Well you should've booked a seat then! Dr Poo: Oh shut up you ignorant burke! King: No, not Bourke, Dubbo! Dr Poo: All right, you ignorant Dubbo! Kevin: Me not ignorant Dubbo, me know lots about Dubbo. But me know nothing about next episode of Dr Doo, eh, Foo, eh Poo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (cue outro)
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So far I've watched every episode of the current series/season, hoping it would get better.... So far, in my opinion, it's been a complete snore...... :(
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http://soundcloud.com/dr-poo/triple-js-30-years-featurette - the episode starts about 1:34 after various Australian radio persons being pointlessly nostalgic.
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is everyone?
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just watched that twice in a row.. what comedy! this is the Whoniverse analogue to the Star Wars Christmas Special... wow... just wow.
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Terrible terrible stuff... Still only 2 weeks til Who returns... I think I can just about manage that !
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I think I'm going to stop watching. I haven't watched yesterdays episode yet, and I don't feel any rush to do so. I thought it was only a 5 episode story like Children of Earth, so it wasn't much of a time investment, but now that I know it's 10 and we're only halfway done, I just can't be bothered. The problem I've always had with TW is the show just takes itself far too seriously, but the actual plots are so silly that it doesn't really justify it. And acting/writing are never good enough to make me ignore this. I mean 24, which seems to be the show TW most likes to emulate, also took itself seriously, and had ridiculous plots, but the actual quality of the show was (most of the time) so high, the dialogue, the acting, the directing, the level of suspense, I could suspend my disbelief and enjoy it. But Torchwood always seems to be afraid to have fun with its concept. It's like a doctor who episode with all of the fun sucked out of it, and replaced with depression. For me, I generally like darker stuff, but I see no reason to watch anything that is going to make me feel depressed unless its: a) Incredibly well made on all levels, where I can appreciate the artistry at work or b) based on historical events, or a true story or explores some real issue in the world that needs addressing. But just making up weird alien dilemmas that make the viewer need a prozac afterwards just doesn't seem worthwhile to me. I really like Jack as a character, and I hope he returns to Dr. Who. They let him be fun and playful there instead, yaknow murdering his own grandson.
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like the new Torchwood is a touch po-faced, which is probably better than when i last watched it, when it was like hollyoaks with an added dash of cybermen, but i have no tv anymore so my opinion on it is of distinctly less use than is my arsehole on the average Tuesday.
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yes, farscape & lost. i was there. :-) and i agree completely that Torchwood is pretty dull this time around. after children of earth they have a lot to match up to, but this is worse than I could have imagined. the ideas are there, i think, but the presentation is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
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is that I can't shake the overwhelming sensation that the writers don't know what the fuck is going on themselves. Take last nights episode. No Bill Pullman, no Claire-from-Six-Feet-Under. And Phycorps being revealed as opportunists instead of masterminds. We're 6 episodes in, and we have no hint, no clue, no tiny indication who the bad guys even are? I got the same impression with Children of Earth, to be honest. That they had the barest outline of a plot, and just let it meander in each episode according to the individual writers whims.
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I am still enjoying it, I still like Jack, Gwen and Rhys, this series is a bit odd tonally- the scenes Shot in LA seem like they are part of a different, weaker -show to the ones shot in wales. There's great ideas being bandied around, yet I am finding it hard to care about them. The CIA dude is gruff and injured, i don't feel he's really been that well developed beyond "gruff and injured" he's more of a cypher than a person- the one new character i really liked, - Vera Juarez - is dead. Since the issue is one of caring- I think it should have started with a double length episode and set all the characters up thoroughly before dropping the miracle on them. Perhaps a flashback to what these characters were doing when the 456 came would have bedded them into this universe more thoroughly. And maybe matching the grade of the LA scenes to the dour colouring of wales would have made it feel like one show rather than how it feels right now. Every episode has had moments though when I've thought, "yeah, this is worth the watch," but whereas Children of Earth was utterly compelling, I'm honestly feeling a bit detached between scenes involving the original Torchwood cast. I'll see it through to the end though.
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Aug. 13, 2011, 10:09 a.m. CST
It seems like the blonde cia chick must have gotten pregnant shortly after they started shooting
by Rebel Scumb
Because as soon as they got to the LA location stuff all of a sudden she's wearing baggy clothes, and always holding something infront of her torso or sitting down well hidden behind a computer. The few body shots they've had of her recently she does seem to have a bump. But the first few episodes she did not and they showed her a lot, I can only presume this was a surprise midway through production.
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are they actually going to single out specific doctors as 'the best of' or will they just go through all 11? I'm fine with it either way, I'm just wondering.
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Welp, after Sunmakers I decided to rewatch Seeds of Doom. Man, what a classic. Even though it's 6 episodes, it almost never drags. Tom is on fine form, and even socks a few people. Harrison Chase is wonderfully restrained as a rich maniac. Then a friend of my son's came over and mentioned offhand that she was interested in trying the show, so we started with Rose and got through Dalek before she had to leave. So...what to watch next? (Good grief, when the wife goes out of town I go full nerd, don't I?) P.S. Hey, Merrick. Did you get my email?
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I'll suggest the old favourite of 'silence in the library | forest of the dead' and this over, say, 'blink ' simply because it is a more typical story. Actually, if the friend has a more well developed love of irony,go for 'love and monsters'... Or go for the one where
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the doctor does up as gollum
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I'm not looking for suggestions for my friend; we're going in order at this point. I was just wondering what to watch solo. :) I'm in a T. Baker mood, so right now I'm watching Image of the Fendahl.
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This is one of those stories it is hard to know how good it is with the audio and recons we have of it. Every report indicates it is a classic, but listening to it on audio, it's difficult to appreciate this. I do know that it was one of those stories most interested in using Doctor Who as a vehicle to explore history and to teach the young ones something about it. This, I think, is one of the reasons why the Doctor and companions seem "out of it" for a stretch. However, when they are used, they are used effectively. As Merrick reports, the ending is filled with all kinds of moments of Doctor Who fun. This, I think, is one of the reasons it is remembered as a classic. However, I do think, if we saw it, and saw it from the standpoint of the time it was written and shown, we would also be able to appreciate the story as a whole. Listening to the "action" and sequences is not as good as watching it, and this is one story which seems as if it had to be seen. They put a lot of effort into it, as can be seen from the photos we have of it. I do think we will never appreciate the story in full unless a miracle happens and it is rediscovered. I find that unlikely.
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I started this whole TURDIS deal.
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Hey, just wanted to add my two cents to the missing episode audio collection from the BBC. They've already released 2 volumes, with volume 3 set for release in the near future. For anyone interested, the collections consist of: Collection 1: Marco Polo Reign of Terror The Crusade Galaxy 4 The Myth Makers Collection 2: The Daleks' Master Plan The Massacre The Celestial Toymaker The Savages plus The Lost Episodes (a BBC radio 4 documentary program) Collection 3 should be available now in the UK and in October in North America, and includes the following: The Smugglers The Tenth Planet The Power of the Daleks The Highlanders The Underwater Menace The Moonbase Some prize titles in that collection (though Underwater Menace is considered one of the worst DW eps ever...) Just thought I'd share the info. I've got the first two collections, and they look great. The discs can be difficult to get out of the box, though...
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I had my DW marathon last weekend, where I caught up on the last 4 releases, and I have to say that I was actually surprised by some of my reactions to some of them: Time and the Rani - Yes, I know this is supposed to be a horrible episode, but I liked it. A lot. There were a lot of goofy parts, but I still had fun watching it. The SFX for DW at the time were fantastic (especially the bouncing bomb platforms), and they actually tried to play the Lakershyns as alien (with an alien way of running). The Gunfighters - As bad as I remembered from watching it on TV. Doc Holliday was a hoot, and I enjoyed the Doctor too, but that ballad just sucked all the life out of it. Paradise Towers - An enjoyable outing, and the first chance Andrew Cartmel had to put his stamp on DW. Richard Briers was great, if just a tad OTT. The Sun Makers - One of the best Robert Holmes stories (and, if you believe the stories, one of the most personal stories ever written for DW). A good, if not great, ep of TB, with Leela, who is one of my favs. Side note: talking of Leela, I met Louise Jameson once in LA, at the Gallifrey One convention. I actually shared an elevator with her, when it was just me and her. It was the best moment of my life as a DW fan. It was also the worst, as I was as shy and tongue-tied as a teenager (I was late 30s at the time). Damn you, social awkwardness!
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I actually fell in love with this story when I read the novelization decades ago. I don't know why exactly; it's true that there are large swathes of story where the main characters do nothing. Maybe it's more like artwork: it creates a beautiful tapestry. I dunno. Never met Louise Jameson, though I've met plenty of others (and, true story: many years ago I was inches away from joining Deborah Watling in her hotel room before I chickened out...).
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felt like they were actually about to get to the real plot any episode now - looking at the 'next episode' trailer we might actually start to find out what's going on (which, since it will be episode 7 of 10, we should be getting a better idea by that point). <br> At least we got to see Ernie Hudson acting in a show again with last night's episode.
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Yes, it is McCoy's first story as the Doctor. It was left over from the previous script editor's reign. Paradise Towers was the first story that Andrew Cartmel took full charge of.
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Are we talking Deborah Watling at DW age, or at Downtime age? Either way, an interesting story must lay behind that... As for Louise Jameson, we just happened to be going down to the convention floor at the same time. I think I unnerved her a bit with my nervousness. Still, having Leela to myself in an elevator is something I'll treasure. It was actually an interesting mix of guests that year at the convention. Aside from Louise, we had Mary Tamm and one of the actresses from Robots of Death. We also had a number of people from the new series (Noel Clarke, Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Nick Briggs, amongst others). And if you've never read it, I strongly suggest you read Tom Baker's autobiography. He mentions a moment when he satisfies a fan dressed as the Doctor...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP50ERhNz3I
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I was going to wait for the season to be over before watching it; so far, I don't think I will even do that.
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Downtime age. I can tell you she still looked smokin' in person. It started off with her, Colin Baker, me and some dude from DWM drinking in a hotel bar at a con. We were in a booth, and by pure chance I was seated next to Ms Watling. We probably chatted for two hours or so, and it just went...very well. If I weren't married, I'd have a much better story to tell.
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I've seen promo pics from Downtime era, and I believe it. Louise was great looking, as was Mary. A lot of them look even better with age. Glad to hear you resisted temptation...
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I'll sit down and watch Assignment 1 this weekend... Hugs for EVERYONE
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I just watched it again (it grew on me with subsequent viewings) and something just occurred to me that I hadn't thought of before. Remember how in the 1st episode of Torchwood they mentioned that there was a Torchwood Scotland that consisted of one person? What if that person was Bracewell, having moved back to Scotland (at least back according to his memories) sometime after WWII and Tennant-era modern day? As a robot he'd be able to keep going on a long time, and as Dalek technology Torchwood would have been interested in him if they had found out about him.
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And I am so glad that RTF is done with the Doctor. This shit is horrible.
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This is absolutely horrible.
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doctortom: that's a GREAT idea. I like it a lot! mullymt: you are, of course, entitled to your opinion, but overall I enjoyed RTD-Who, and IMO Children of Earth is some of the finest television ever produced.
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Frontier in Space. After Fendahl, I watched Hand of Fear and now FiS. I have a fondness for FiS, mostly because I think it's Delgado's finest performance. But good golly, it's nothing but a prison film!
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I'm not talking about the Doctor's "reward," I am talking about the Master/Doctor end. If you think about it, RTD was able to give the Master the send off originally planned for Roger.
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The one using the modern day aged actor, writing his memoirs?
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Here tomorrow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110812_01/Available_Monday_The_Prequel_to_Lets_Kill_Hitler
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I hadn't made that connection before on End of Time Part 2 to what they originally wanted to do with Pertwee/Delgado, but you're right. Of course they'd probably have had some other threat than the Time Lords themselves if Delgado had lived to film one more story, but the basic idea was there. And the Doctor had to regenerate after the story too! <br> I suspect, though, that if they could have gone ahead with Delgado we might have found that the Master was actually some part of the Doctor (pre-figuring the Valeyard/Dreamlord), and worked in the 'projection' idea like they did with Cho-je in Planet of the Spiders.
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I always enjoyed that one, despite the garbled 'what happened to the Master?' ending to it. It had some fine work by Delgado in it, and the makeup and costuming for the Draconians is very good - I would actually like to see the Draconians come back again as a race for the Doctor to interact with. <br> It's a shame that the story got spoiled by having Planet of the Daleks being linked to it as an effective 12 parter. The TARDIS running out of air because some plants are on the doors? Really, Terry Nation? Have you forgotten that the TARDIS is actually bigger than just the console room?
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My buddy (who is jewish) identifies the bad guy in Sunmakers as a "space jew" which I find hilarious. In fact, the whole episode, while not one of the better written ones, had some pretty good comedy moments.
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Agreed about Frontier in Space. It's Delgado's best IMO. Yes, the linkup with the terrible Planet of the Daleks is a shame -- especially as we never got Planet of the Daleks on PBS here because they were missing some episodes in color. BLEARGH. So we (my friends and I) thought we'd missed an epic continuation with the Master and whatnot. How disappointing when I finally saw it. I too would like to see the Draconians again; to me they were a cut above the typical alien race fond on Who and Trek.
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I really think all indication is that the Doctor/Master would have turned out to be brothers, something which we get hints at throughout the series. Yes, having the Time Lords bring out the end originally planned for Delgado's Master certainly is a twist to it, but I also think it works in its favor in that it also served as a way to explain why the Master had strayed. And the idea of the Master being a projection of the Doctor is, in some ways, if not literally followed, how the RTD Master became. He was the crazy/evil alternative Doctor, and in many ways based himself on the 10th Doctor's persona. Of course he did so over the top, but I think that is also the point. Nonetheless, it is for reasons such as these I really like the End of Time. Yes, there are parts of it I don't like, but when you get the good scenes between the Doctor and Wilf, and the Master/Doctor get off in the end like the Master was supposed to die out in the 3rd Doctor's era, I give it what I think is its proper due.
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I totally agree. Miracle Day has about as much subtlety and poise as a monster truck in a library. What's disturbing me about the series (which started to niggle me about Children of Earth actually) is the relentlessly pessimistic/apocalyptic view of humanity RTD bludgeons us with. He takes an intriguing central idea and then thinks he has to explore just how hideous it makes humanity look. (Similar to Second Coming in a way.) I wouldn't mind if it wasn't so relentless, obvious and over-the-top, but it's just getting boring and predictable now. A pity, because I enjoyed lots of RTD's lighter stuff, and he deserves a lot of credit for bringing DW back. Plus, Captain Jack could be a fantastic character if he was allowed to be. Still, that's a discussion for elsewhere perhaps. When's this Kill Hitler prequel up then?
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Bah, I didn't know about the screening tonight. It's my birthday too... may have to get out of work a bit early and nip over the river to see if there are any tickets!
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The IA prequel didn't feature any footage from the episode. So this probably doesn't either. The IA prequel set up a couple of small plot points for us, like the phone call and the Look Behind You meme for the Silents. But this seems to be mostly plot recap from Amy. The only really new or interesting thing is the Doctors reaction. So this maybe setting up that the Doctor has nothing to report. Or nothing good anyway. Thoughts?
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i don't have bbc america. anyone know where i could watch them online?
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Aug. 15, 2011, 11:17 a.m. CST
The prequels for TIA and The Doctor's wife really should have been thrown on the DVD set
by DoctorTom
They threw on a couple of monster files - how much effort would it have taken to include the little prequel stories? It's not like commentaries where you'd have to get people in and record them - they already had them lying around.
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Somehow I doubt the producers of ClassicWho of the Pertwee Era had in mind transforming The Master into a emo-whining Cesar Romero wanna-be who chose not to regenerate but then was resurrected by magic and then ate people and shot beams of light out of his hands as a weapon and also used as a means of transportation like Ice Man. I also doubt they had plans of The Master finding redemption in the form of blasting Rassilon simply because he was a bigger jerk than The Doctor from The Master's point of view. Those producers also made The Master "evil" without resorting to a retcon that the sound of drums drove him to his madness but chose to become the man he did. So no, I must disagree with your assertion about "The End of Time" being a good story. Wilf's story arc is worthy of being considered good but at the price of ruining the characterization of The Master as well as Rassilon. I'm beyond happy that Steven Moffat is the showrunner these days and that other guy is a thing of the past. I seriously propose that the BBC ban any potential future showrunners who commonly use 3 letter abbreviations for their names... RDM and JMS obviously excluded from such a proposed ban...
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Another thing that annoys me about the resurrection of The Master in The End of Time. The reliance upon magic. ClassicWho spat on magic and the supernatural but RTDWho seemed to embrace it full-tilt. This is yet another reason why I dislike that book "Lungbarrow" so much because I find it a ridiculous idea that the "witches" of ancient Gallifrey could curse all the Time Lords with sterility and that so many online fans embraced such a storyline pre NewWho. Magic and religion both meant squat to ClassicWho.
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Actually, The Master was originally going to be seen as another manifestation of The Doctor. That was in the works prior to Delgado's death. It was later alluded to that The Master was probably The Doctor's brother. There were hints of that during the Davison era. RTD brought it up but then had the 10th Doctor deny it - although it wasn't convincing - with the line about Martha having been influenced by "bad tv" for even making such a suggestion. Regardless, I noticed something in the dialog of the Simm Master. He brought up how him and The Doctor used to play on *his* father's estate. [The Master's father]. Although RTD hated the idea of The Doctor being half human, it would certainly give an extra reason for The Master's hatred if they actually were half brothers and that The Master views himself as his father's true heir even though under the scenario his father ran off, traveled to Earth, fell in love with a human female, got her preggers and presto chango and Bob's your uncle, The Doctor is born. You flash forward a few years, and The Doctor and The Master meet each other at the Academy and they become fast friends until The Master learns of their shared father [but of course, not about The Doctor's other secret]. Bam, it all makes sense. You also have to remember that per "The Deadly Assassin", there's no record of The Doctor's DNA in The Matrix because someone removed it from their records...for reasons unknown. Da da da!
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I felt "The Second Coming" was incredibly over-rated. I liked "Children of Earth" up until Jack became a child murderer. I felt that was just trying to be shocking for its own sake and it really hurt Jack's characterization. Gwen's gunplay was also incredibly ridiculous...
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http://www.bbcamerica.com/tvschedule.jsp
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Oct. 1, 2011, 10:45 a.m. CST
And so it came to pass that the human race fell, and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as Master of all; and I thought it good.
by Perigee
Last!
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he put the lie to your words. :p
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http://www.lvcanvasbags.com/louis-vuitton-outlet-louis-vuitton-belts-c-247_325.html
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