Cool News
The Friday Docback Tours 'The City of Death'!! DOCTOR WHO Story #105, Win DVDs, Season/ Series 7 Tidbits, And More!!
DOCTOR : You’re tinkering with time. That’s always a bad idea unless you know what you’re doing.
KERENSKY: I know what I’m doing. I am the foremost authority of temporal theory in the whole world.
DOCTOR: The whole world?
KERENSKY: Yes.
DOCTOR: Well, that’s a very small place when you consider the size of the universe.
KERENSKY: Ah, but who can?
DOCTOR: Oh, some can. And if you can’t, you shouldn’t tinker with time.
Over the past few months, BBC Home Entertainment, Aint it Cool News, and the Alamo Drafthouse have been bringing you some very, very cool theatrical screenings of recently restored classic DOCTOR WHO episodes like The Three Doctors, The Daemons, and Dragonfire.
We're now tremendously excited to announce the next few screenings in our series, all featuring newly restored versions of classic episodes, all occurring on the last Saturday of each month, and all happening at the lovely new Alamo Drafthouse on Slaughter Lane in Southwest Austin.
SATURDAY JUNE 30 - Resurrection of the Daleks
The TARDIS is dragged down a time corridor, forcing the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) to materialize in a disused part of London in 1984. The corridor links Earth with a battle cruiser in the future that contains the Doctor’s oldest enemy – the Daleks. Having lost the war with the Movellans, only one person can now help the evil race. With shocking consequences for the Doctor, it is time for the Daleks to resurrect their creator Davros (Terry Malloy)
The screening itself is FREE and General Admission, which means first come, first seated. HOWEVER, RSVP Meal Vouchers are available which either 1) guarantee you admittance to the screening, or 2) guarantee you a reserved seat in the theater depending on which option you purchase. The price of these RSVP vouchers is applied towards the cost of whatever meal or concessions you enjoy at the screening.
Resurrection of the Daleks vouchers are now available HERE.
SATURDAY JULY 28 - Death to the Daleks
This Pertwee-era DOCTOR WHO adventure is described thusly by BBC Home Entertainment...
A power failure in the TARDIS draws it off course, and the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) end up stranded on the bleak planet of Exxilon. They soon meet members of an Earth expedition in a similar situation. The humans are searching for a rare mineral, but first they must find out what is draining their power and avoid what’s inside another grounded spaceship – one of the Doctor’s oldest enemies, the Daleks
Like our previous screenings, admittance to Death of the Daleks is FREE and General Admission, which means first come, first seated. HOWEVER, RSVP Meal Vouchers are available which either 1) guarantee you admittance to the screening, or 2) guarantee your a reserved seat in the theater depending on which option you purchase. The price of these RSVP vouchers is applied towards the cost of whatever meal or concessions you enjoy at the screening.
Death to the Daleks vouchers are now available HERE.
SATURDAY AUGUST 25 - Spearhead from Space
In Jon Pertwee's initial adventure as the third Doctor...
The Time Lords have banished the newly regenerated Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to Earth. But he isn’t the only alien to have arrived, as a swarm of meteorites have crashed into the sleepy English countryside, bringing with them a terrible new threat to mankind: the Nestene consciousness, a disembodied alien intelligence with an affinity for plastic. The Doctor and his newly appointed scientific advisor, Liz Shaw (Caroline John), join UNIT in a race against time to stop humanity from being replaced by a terrifying plastic facsimile race.
Like our previous screenings, admittance to Spearhead From Space is FREE and General Admission, which means first come, first seated. HOWEVER, RSVP Meal Vouchers are available which either 1) guarantee you admittance to the screening, or 2) guarantee your a reserved seat in the theater depending on which option you purchase. The price of these RSVP vouchers is applied towards the cost of whatever meal or concessions you enjoy at the screening.
We'll re-announce this screening and provide appropriate linkage as soon as vouchers become available.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29 - information forthcoming
[[[ NOTE: as previous screenings have SOLD OUT, purchasing meal vouchers (thus guaranteeing your admittance to the screening) via the links above - and far in advance - is strongly recommended. ]]]
INDIANAPOLIS AND NEW YORK CITY - THE DOCTOR IS IN!!
I am thrilled beyond measure that classic DOCTOR WHO screenings will now be happening in other regions of the U.S. as well! These screenings are NOT directly connected to Aint It Cool News, per se, but our highly successful pilot efforts here in Austin have evidently paved the way and opened doors for others to partake of classic WHOvian greatness on the big screen in their fine cities - which truly makes me very happy.
The WHO North America group has partnered with BBC Home Entertainment to bring these same episodes to fans in Indianapolis. Per their message boards (located HERE)...
We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with BBC Home Entertainment and Tilt Studio to bring a classic Doctor Who monthly screening series and get together for all Doctor Who fans in Indianapolis and surrounding areas. Each month we will screen a digitally remastered classic Doctor Who story that is available on DVD from BBC Home Entertainment. The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 30 from 2 - 5 pm in Indianapolis at the Tilt Arcade & Theatre located on the 4th Floor of the Circle Centre Mall.
The awesome Paley Center for Media in New York City is also joining in the fun, their schedule can be found HERE.
Indianapolis, New York City, and Austin will all be screening the same episodes on the same day, at roughly the same time of day! A rather amazing development as far as I'm concerned, and a trend which I hope both continues and evolves for a very long time to come.
If you are a part of, or know of, a sizable contingent of DOCTOR WHO fans in your next of the woods...and think they might feasibly be interested in screenings of this nature...DROP ME A LINE and I'll be sure your message gets to the proper folks at BBC Home Entertainment.
Accordingly...
The TARDIS is dragged down a time corridor, forcing the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) to materialize in a disused part of London in 1984. The corridor links Earth with a battle cruiser in the future that contains the Doctor’s oldest enemy – the Daleks. Having lost the war with the Movellans, only one person can now help the evil race. With shocking consequences for the Doctor, it is time for the Daleks to resurrect their creator Davros (Terry Malloy)
By the late 21st century, mankind has become totally dependent on T-Mat to transport people, food and medicines around the world. When the system breaks down, Earth is soon crippled by global shortages. Traveling to the relay station on the moon, the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions discover the horrific truth: the Ice Warriors have hijacked T-Mat, and intend to claim the planet for themselves. Can the Doctor defeat the Martians before Earth is smothered in deadly fungus, and the human race is condemned to extinction?
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT EARLIER THIS WEEK...THE TITLE OF THE FIRST EPISODE OF DOCTOR WHO SEASON/SERIES 7 IS...
...Asylum of the Daleks, per THIS announcement over at BBC.
The title of the new story has already increased the excitement building around it. Could the ‘asylum’ be a place or is it some sort of protection? Or does the word take on a new and sinister meaning in this adventure?
...asks the BBC piece.
Personally, I'm kinda hoping Asylum refers to a place where crazy Daleks go to chill-out. I've always been fascinated by the notion of Daleks as neurotic and angry lifeforms stuck inside of these tank-like hardshells...that's gotta be one of the elements which makes 'em so damn belligerent, no? So, imagine that conceit...applied on top of a Dalek mental care facility...
To be very clear, I have no knowledge this is the case in any way, shape, or form. I'm just thinking out loud and for fun. Knowing Moffat's work, I rather doubt that the Asylum allusion would be as simple as I'm making it. Of course, my conjecture would, to an extent, be in keeping with The Moff's stated desire for "slutty titles and movie-poster plots" for the upcoming season/series, so we'll see.
A recent issue of DOCTOR WHO Magazine revealed that the episode we know now as Asylum would feature a Dalek from every era. Here's a video refresher of what that means...
Thanks to Sminkypinky for the heads-up re: the title announcement!
SEASON/SERIES 7 GUEST STAR ANNOUNCED AND HE IS AWESOME!!
PREVIOUS DOCBACKS
[SEASON / SERIES SIX DOCBACKS]
"The Impossible Astronaut"
"Day of the Moon"
"The Curse of the Black Spot"
"The Doctor's Wife"
"The Rebel Flesh"
"The Almost People"
"The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe" (2011 Christmas Special)
[RETRO-WHO DOCBACKS - MOST RECENT DOCBACK IS HIGHLIGHTED]
"An Unearthly Child" (Story #1)
"The Daleks" (Story #2)
"The Edge of Destruction" (Story #3)
"Marco Polo" (Story #4)
"The Keys of Marinus" (Story #5)
"The Aztecs" (Story #6)
"The Sensorites" (Story #7)
"The Sensorites" (Story #7 - full DVD release)
"The Reign of Terror" (Story #8)
"Planet of Giants" (Story #9)
"The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (Story #10)
"The Rescue" (Story #11)
"The Romans" (Story #12)
"The Web Planet" (Story #13) / SHERLOCK - "A Scandal in Belgravia" (Story #4)
"The Crusade" (Story #14)
"The Space Museum" (Story #15)
"The Chase" (Story #16)
"The Time Meddler" (Story #17)
"Galaxy 4" (Story #18)
Mission to the Unkonwn (Story #19)
"The Myth Makers" (Story #20)
"The Gunfighters" (Story #25)
"The Tomb of the Cybermen" (Story #37)
"The Seeds of Death" (Story #48)
"The Colony in Space" (Story #58)
"The Daemons" (Story #59)
"Day of the Daleks" (Story #60) + Preview of the DotD Special Edition
"The Three Doctors" (Story #65)
"Carnival of Monsters" (Story #66)
"Invasion of the Dinosaurs" (Story #71) and SHERLOCK: "The Reichenbach Fall" (Story #6)
"The Android Invasion" (Story #83) and SHERLOCK: "The Hounds of Baskerville" (Story #5)
"The Face of Evil" (Story #89)
"The Robots of Death" (Story #90)
"The Talons of Weng-Chiang" (Story #91)
"The Sun Makers" (Story #95)
"Nightmare of Eden" (Story #107)
"Kinda" (Story #118)
"Snakedance" (Story #125)
"The Awakening" (Story #131)
"Frontios" (Story #132)
"Resurrection of the Daleks" (Story #134)
"The Caves of Androzani" (Story #136)
"Time and the Rani" (Story #144)
"Paradise Towers" (Story #145) + New WHOvian Documentary / Newsbits
"Dragonfire" (Story #147)
"The Happiness Patrol" (Story #149)
"Doctor Who: The Movie" (aka TVM) - McGann)
DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SERIES
Merrick's Personal Journey With The Doctor (How Merrick Got Hooked On DOCTOR WHO)
DOCTOR WHO Title Sequences & DW At Comic-Con 2011
"The Crash of the Elysium" (Manchester version - interactive DOCTOR WHO adventure)
Why Eccleston Left, Here Comes Caroline Skinner, And Season/Series Six Part 1 on Blu-Ray And DVD
New Trailer For Season/Series Six Part 2
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.
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. One word posts intended to bump-up any Docback's figures on AICN's "Top Talkbacks" sidebar will be considered actionable Spam - they not only complicate efforts to access Docback from mobile devices, but impede readers' abilities to follow or engage in flowing conversation.
Readers Talkback
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...and good read...
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Where Scarlioni has his confrontation with Catherine Schell. Scared the jeebus out of a 6 year old me and it's always stayed with me. Simply one of the best Dr Who stories of all time.
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I think The Deadly Assassin, Pyramids Of Mars and Genesis of The Daleks will give it a good run for its money for your top spot !
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June 29, 2012, 10:38 a.m. CST
Fun factoid: David Graham, who plays Prof. Kerensky in 'City of Death' provided Dalek voices in the William Hartnell era...
by obijuanmartinez
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It all comes together. The story has some minor imperfections, but that is worked over by everything else. It has humor, it has an interesting plot-line, and it has fantastic characters with different motivations. You see and understand them more each time you see this one : it draws you in further like a good wine
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June 29, 2012, 10:38 a.m. CST
...as well as the Dalek voices in the 2 @ Peter Cushing "Dr. Who" films...
by obijuanmartinez
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Does a lot of work with Big Finish as well. And is the new second lead for Scarifyers. Great man. Great audios.
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Best cameo in DW ever? I'll buy it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mmal0PMkmI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL86CAB90ADB6246D6
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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9jk9n_city-of-death-part-1_shortfilms?search_algo=1
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He----looooo lobey! That is some great news. David Warner is a great performer. Great actor.
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...that Baker is quite often WAY over the top, as he was through much of this season. Other than this issue, City of Death is a masterpiece.
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June 29, 2012, 11:25 a.m. CST
You can see why RTD used City of Death as the blueprint for the Who series he wanted to do
by DoctorTom
It captured humor and menace perfectly while making it look easy to accomplish. It's amazing to think that this was Douglas Adams totally rewriting a script at the last minute that was set in the 1920's, and was able to inject his wit into the story. It definitely deserves the accolades it gets. This would be a good story to have an Alamo screening for if the BBC doesn't just stick with recent DVD releases. What would be even better would be to have a Douglas Adams themed day, and include a screening of the Hitchhiker's Guide television series with it. Actually, come to think of it, if there were going to be a Douglas Adams special day, the time to do it will be when the BBC release Shada on DVD. Have an extra special day screening this with Shada, or maybe one a day on a Douglas Adams weekend.
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He----looooo lobey! That is some great news. David Warner is a great performer. Great actor. Also... I always hoped if I ever met the man I would get the chance to tell him... THERE....ARE....FOUR....LIGHTS!!!
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I wrote that first post of mine, did not post it. My computer crashed.... I reboot, come back and continue my post only to find that the incomplete version has posted for me already... without me pressing the button. Very odd.
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It's good news. What's interesting to me is that he's going to be in an episode Mark Gatiss wrote, and Gatiss acted with Warner in one of the Doctor Who Unbound stories. I'm wondering if the Gatiss connection helped get Warner for the upcoming episode. We'll probably know if we see David Warner show up in a future Sherlock story as well.
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I really look forward to seeing how it turned out.
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the last word I heard was late October last year. Their statement at the time was: Plans are to release the SHADA fragments together with MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS in a box filled with other content goodies! Likely 2012. I haven't heard of whether there's any delays or not, but there hasn't been a confirmed release date yet that I know of.
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So hopefully we get it some time this year. Many months to go.
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I hope I don't end up posting that just out of habit. It was such a good show, I hope it hasn't been forgotten or you've given up on making it happen. It is beloved. Look at those iTunes reviews.
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June 29, 2012, 12:46 p.m. CST
City of Death also provides a more palatable catalyst for life on Earth than a Right Said Fred reject drinking spiked tea and tumbling down a waterfall...*giggle*
by obijuanmartinez
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There is life, and then there are those tinkering with it..
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I knew you'd love it. It's everything NuWho aspires to, and often achieves, when at it's top form. And so quotable! "You're a beautiful woman, probably." "...a BOUQUET." "and because there is no call for it to BE HERE, the art lies in the fact that it IS HERE."
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June 29, 2012, 1:01 p.m. CST
Obijuanmartinez - don't forget Azal (the Daemons), the Silence and the Time Lords
by DoctorTom
So many meddling races, so little time... The Doctor by himself should count as influencing the development of life, given how much he's been involved in human history. Even when the Time Lords put the Doctor on trial for meddling, though, what do they do? Plop him on Earth at a time when the Earth is going to be plagued by alien invasions, knowing full well the Doctor will get involved. Definitely a sign of wanting to meddle with Earth.
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Now that you've gone and seen City of Death...do yourself a favor and do NOT watch the two that are most assuredly BETTER than City. Avoid Pyramids of Mars and ESPECIALLY Genesis of the Daleks until you are done with 'classic' Who-lest it all be downhill from there quality-wise.
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The last episode is what loses it...
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for some reason your comment made me think of someone trying to claim that Time and the Rani is almost as good as City of Death. There are only 4 things keeping it from being as good: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 and Episode 4. :) I do support the claim of Pyramids not being better than City of Death, though. It's really good, but not quite City of Death good. For that matter, the last episode keeps it from being Talons of Weng Chiang good.
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...he needs...no other. No...but perhaps your right hornorsilk...Pyramids was my event one. The first kiss. The cherry breaker. From that hot Florida afternoon when I was 8 years old onward...a lifer. Has a mystical glow for me, Pyramids does.
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There is a lot of great things which happen in Pyramids of Mars.. just the last episode is a big failure (to me). But I love the first three episodes, and the interaction between the Doctor and Sarah early on..
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and I'm hooked. I have no idea why the guy playing Gan didn't have a long career in voice acting. He has one of THOSE voices, hard to come by, rare. He reminds me of Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, the dubbed voice for the main character. Almost identical voice. Such a great series so far, and I'm only 4 episodes in.
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in later seasons, Robert Holmes writes some episodes for the show in season 2 and season 4. From my recall he writes a wonderful Vila a good (quality, not outlook) Avon.
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June 29, 2012, 2:53 p.m. CST
@doctom: AND, don't forget Eldrad's hand, Crashboy Adric, the Xeraphin...
by obijuanmartinez
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it depends on whether the freighter actually smacked into our Earth and killed the dinosaurs, or if that was actually Mondas it smacked into and knocked it out of orbit. (Remember, it was in the same orbit as Earth. when the ship Adric was in went back in time, it had the same spacial vector - heading toward Earth's orbit. Depending on when it popped out, given a 6 month leeway it could have been either planet in that spot. That's my HAT on it, anyway. ;) )
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June 29, 2012, 2:57 p.m. CST
@gotlik: Hells to the yeah! You have taken your first step into a larger world, my good fellow...
by obijuanmartinez
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June 29, 2012, 3:02 p.m. CST
Blake's 7 Season 2 like a mofo! @doctortom raised a good point last week when he said...
by obijuanmartinez
...how deeply layered the character of Roj Blake is compared to Kerr Avon. Nowhere does this show more readily than Season 2 - He becomes more morally ambiguous, and ready to sacrifice people & populations to further his vendetta vs. the Federation / Servalan. Seems the over-arching storylines that became popular facets of Babylon 5, DS9 & the new BSG have roots here in B7...
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This is one of those episodes that I saw years before I got into watching Doctor Who, and was surprised by how many memories came flooding back when I rewatched it. Julian Glover pulling off his face certainly stuck with me, as did the Doctor finding an ancient Egyptian scroll with a picture of Scaroth on it. Definitely a highlight of the series, though I still prefer GENESIS OF THE DALEKS. I think I also like PYRAMIDS OF MARS more, and don't really get the problem that people have with the last part of that story. I always thought it was rather clever of them to consider that destroying the transmitter on Mars still gave them time to get to Earth (even if there doesn't seem to be any reason he couldn't just pop back in time to do it anyways). Still, I doubt that is all that controversial a view. It's not like I said DELTA AND THE BANNERMEN was a better story.
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but I agree with it. I think it might have been v'shael who said it (sorry if I got that wrong).
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Been many years since I last watched it, but it used to be part of my Saturday routine of watching DR WHO, RED DWARF, STAR TREK: TNG and BLAKE'S 7 (great times in the late 80s-early 90s). The dynamic changes up somewhat in later seasons, but what a finale! Don't let anyone ruin it for you. BTW, are they ever going to release BLAKE'S 7 on DVD/Blu Ray for North America? I've lost hope for that. Guess I'll have to fork over the dough for a region-free player if I want to see it again.
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There are several classic characters like him in the Tom Baker era which deserved a revisit. In fact, I think he would have fit quite well in the RTD era....
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But it doesn't keep its high all the time...
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Or maybe it didn't.
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Back in Inferno, when he was trying to get his console working and poked a hole through spacetime to end up in Eyepatch universe - that might have left a mark that resulted in some of the time cracks.
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There are so many things that just click together in this episode - location shooting, mystery, chemistry. I notice that this review was far less detailed on spoilers than the usual review, so I'll stop myself before I start gushing about my favourite moments. But I just wanted to mention one tiny spoiler - using the Tardis mid-story to pop back for a chat with an artist. In the modern Who, the Doctor routinely pops around out whimsy or when the need arises, but back in the era of CoD, it somehow felt like a big deal. To a child who had grown used to the Tardis only being an excuse to enter and leave a location, seeing it using it to hop-out-and-back felt like a dramatic break in the unspoken structural rules of the show. Whether it was intentional or not, I remember it giving me a little adrenaline rush and feeling of escalation.
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I can actually sense B7's roots in those series' already. I noticed as well that they actually built some pretty amazing sets considering the budget they were probably dealing with. I noticed a few wobbly consoles , but at first assumed they were meant to move around easily and it wasn't a mistake. We'll see as I get deeper into the series. Quickly though.... is this one of those shows that ends with a cliffhanger or without any satisfactory ending? I'm very impressed and I will finish watching no matter what, but I'd like to know. I figured it had a very short run, but it has to be over 50 eps.
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I always assumed that people in alternate universes both a. Are generally at least a little more evil than we are. and b. Are not very good at protecting their eyes from injury. Also common: Facial scars, which would make sense, considering.
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must ... not ... speculate about Romana. Must ... not ... note similiarity of alien ship to the anti-Tardis.
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And there are no ducks in the duck pond! Somehow this ties together.
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June 29, 2012, 5:57 p.m. CST
gotilk -- don't, just don't read or ask about the last episode of B7
by HornOrSilk
I will say every season before the last ended with a big cliffhanger type ending. And the last episode is infamous for how it ends things. When you see it, then more can be said. But the ending is -- one of the best endings of any series imo -- even if there is more to it than that.
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in the Dirk Gently series. Anyone who has read the books, will doubtless recognise much of this Doctor Who story.
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It has a resolution. I doubt very much you'll be able to watch all 52 episodes without someone spoiling it for you. In Sci Fi terms, the ending of B7 is as famous as the twist in Psycho. If you genuinely have no idea, and if some how you get through all 52 without it being spoiled.. fucking hell, you're in for a treat.
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Well, technically it was a cliffhanger and wasn't supposed to be the end, and things are not entirely resolved. We don't know what happened: who survived, who didn't. Many were just knocked unconscious.... and clearly Avon went Rambo...
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...but somehow it just doesn't excite me. I like it, but I don't feel enarly the affection for it that I do a number of other stories, mostly of the Troughton and earlier Tom Baker years. I think by this point I just no longer felt engaged by Tom Baker as The Doctor. His last couple of seasons, I stop feeling like I'm watching Tom Baker playing The Doctor, and start feeling like I'm watching The Doctor playing Tom Baker, if you take my meaning.
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I was 7 when I watched the finale of Blake's 7... and to the day there's only a few things that stick in the mind televisually as that... You do have to endure to get there... but if you get there unspoiled, brace yourself !
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I see mention of Pyramids and Genesis, but Assassin ? Was too young to watch it at the time (might not actually have been born...) but when you watch that, nothing ever seems quite the same again...
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I'm the same way with Pyramids of Mars. I see it quoted a lot as a favourite episode, but for me it just feels ... ordinary. Of course for me, I first started watching at the beginning of the Key to Time (and didn't see Pyramids until years later), so the Tom Baker of the CoD era was "my Doctor" and I didn't see Pyramids until years later when my eyes were not as youthful.
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It's a pun, but not in English. Translate CITY OF DEATH into French, and it becomes VILLE DE LA MORT, which sounds very similar to VILLE DE L'AMOUR (CITY OF LOVE), a common nickname for Paris.
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That's a fascinating episode - defines a lot of the canon of time lord culture, is structured so unusually and had a really melencholy feel to it because of the reason why they made it. My only problem with it is that none of the Matrix scenes Doctor Who did really seemed to live up to the concept (especially after "The Matrix" took the idea and did it so spectacularly). In every story it was used, I feel the pacing just seems to stall.
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June 29, 2012, 7:17 p.m. CST
Good article at den of Geek on Doctor Who producers - Not surprisingly, Philip Hinchcliffe ranks #1. His tenure is regarded as the 'Golden Age' of DW...
by obijuanmartinez
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/thor/20398/top-10-doctor-who-producers-part-two
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June 29, 2012, 7:20 p.m. CST
@gotlik: On the end of Blake's 7 - We could tell you, but then, well...but seriously, STEER CLEAR of spoilage. Like. Seriously.
by obijuanmartinez
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June 29, 2012, 7:32 p.m. CST
The thing that always fried my brain about "Pyramids of Mars" was the great prologue Terrance Dicks wrote for the Target novelisation - Set my brain a-boggling... (TEXT)
by obijuanmartinez
Prologue The Legend of the Osirians In a galaxy unimaginably distant from ours, on a planet called Phaester Osiris, there arose a race so powerful that they became like gods. As well as mastering technology and science, the Osirians developed powers of pure thought, bending the physical world to their will by the strength of their minds alone. As they grew in power, so they grew in wisdom—all but one. His name was Sutekh and he was great among the Osirians. But greater still was his brother Horus, whom all Osirians called leader. All but Sutekh, who hated Horus and was jealous of him. The Osirians spread throughout the galaxies of the cosmos. They ruled many worlds, and were often worshipped as gods. But Sutekh stayed on Phaester Osiris, their home planet, working to develop his powers so that he might one day overthrow his brother Horus. The Osirians were a long-lived race. Sutekh worked and studied for thousands of years, until his powers were truly awe-inspiring. But his mind was full of jealousy and hatred, and in time this turned to madness. Over-mastered by his own fears, Sutekh became convinced that not only the other Osirians, but all sentient life was his mortal enemy. Not just the more intelligent life-forms, but animals. reptiles, insects, plants... Sutekh hated them all. He feared that someday, somewhere there might evolve a life-form powerful enough to destroy him. An insane ambition formed in Sutekh’s twisted mind. He would range through the galaxies and destroy all life, until only he remained as unchallenged ruler. He became Sutekh the Destroyer—and he began by destroying his own planet. Leaving the shattered desolation of Phaester Osiris behind him, Sutekh blazed a trail of havoc across the cosmos, wrecking and smashing world after world with his titanic powers. Soon news of his madness reached fellow Osirians. Led by Horus, they began the search for Sutekh, determined to destroy him. Tracking him by his trail of destruction, they hunted him across the cosmos. At last Sutekh took refuge on an obscure planet called Earth, and here, finally, his fellow Osirians found him. The battle was long and fierce, for Sutekh was a formidable opponent. Seven hundred and forty Osirians came to Earth to combine against him, before he was finally defeated and made captive, in a land called Egypt. They brought him before his brother Horus for judgement. Many urged that all the Osirians should link their minds and blast Sutekh from existence. But Horus would not agree. To kill Sutekh would mean that they too were destroyers. Horus decreed that Sutekh should not die but should be made eternally captive. A pyramid was built to become his prison. And since more than walls of stone were needed to imprison such a being as Sutekh, he was locked in the grip of a mighty forcefield, paralysed and utterly helpless. For even greater safety, the control-point of this forcefield was placed not on Earth, but on one of the other planets circling its sun. On Earth, a secret cult of Egyptian priests was set up, to guard the Pyramid. Satisfied that Sutekh was for ever bound, Horus and the other Osirians went on their way. What became of the Osirians no one can say. They vanished from our cosmos and were seen no more. On Earth they left behind them legends of the all-powerful gods who fought wars among themselves. Deep inside the Pyramid, Sutekh lived on. For thousands upon thousands of years he endured his long captivity. Bound by the forcefield of Horus, scarcely able to move a muscle, only his twisted brain was active. It background image planned and plotted without cease, waiting for the day of his escape. For Horus would not leave even Sutekh quite without hope. He had told him that escape was possible, though the difficulties and obstacles were so great as to be almost insurmountable. The mighty civilisation of Egypt rose and fell. Other civilisations and Empires took its place. Sutekh and Horus and the Osirians were remembered only as a legend. Still Sutekh waited in his hidden Pyramid. Until one day...
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June 29, 2012, 7:40 p.m. CST
BTW: That "Pyramids of Mars" novel is online in PDF format HERE...
by obijuanmartinez
http://marblebun.com/Books/Sarah%20Jane%20Smith/Pyramids%20of%20Mars.pdf
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I'm really loving it so far, as I did NOT expect it to be as good as it is. Amazing characters. Great writing.
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I will do everything in my power to avoid the spoilers. I have a long way to go though. Now I'm 5 episodes in. A LONG way to go.
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Walking by all the old foes and reminiscing. Lovely. I wonder what it was shot for? The upcoming DVD?
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http://youtu.be/GFqbAKTAbnY
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It was shot for the VHS release, in which the existing footage was interlarded with scenes of Tom filling in the gaps. Similarly, the BBC had Nick Courtney do much the same for the VHS release of "The Invasion": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx-ImxiPtcY
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Appreciated.
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http://youtu.be/B6HyVAviHXA Pretty funny. Could have used a vocalist that put a little effort into the timing at least, but it's a fun theme parody.
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June 30, 2012, 12:57 a.m. CST
Imminent, enumerable cracks @Merrick, dream and horn concerning Rory as Romana
by veteran_of_mu
Merrick, loved your review though it seemed a bit short. And you struck your particular spelling devil twice - you mistook imminent for eminent and enumerable for innumerable. I hope it won't offend you that I chide you on it - it's become a sport for me. Now dream and horn, absolutely let's talk about the crack, the pseudo-Tardis and most of all Romana. The analysis of the crack is here: http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq66/combomweek4/crackcityofdeathcrophighlight.jpg The chance that the matching shape is coincidence is so vanishingly small that it does not count as a HAT. It's undoubtedly the same crack. Likewise the Jageroth timeship is so obviously related to the Silent pseudo-Tardis it cannot possibly be an unintended reference. Since the Silents have existed on Earth since the Fire and the Wheel it may be that they acquired the timeship from the Jageroth. Or perhaps, since Silence is their religion and not their race, they are actually evolved from the Jageroth? As for Miss Dvoratrelundar ... after the disasterous end of her reign as Lady President of Gallifrey would it be too much to think that she may take a renewed interest in the Doctor's machinations? I don't think it's credible to think she's River. But since the idea of Rory as Master has been banished, perhaps ... ?
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Ducked.
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Always a breath of fresh air.
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I throw a lot of wild theories around here and the crack vs the "portrait of a time lady" (even down to throwaway mentions of the baby having a time head) has been one of my pet horses, but I have to admit that my first reaction to your graphic was to recoil and think "don't show me that. don't tell me I'm right. I can't be right." If I allow myself to move beyond the "those are similar, wouldn't it be cool" phase then I'm going to be trying to deconstruct Moffat's entire thought process and figure out how this could possibly be the focal point of his entire grand arc. Don't let me do that. Down that road lies madness.
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Taking a little bit of voodoo math from my back pocket, you do it like this: 1) Consider the maxima and minima of any 2d curve. It either looks like a V, a ^, an N on its side, an S on its side, or a flat line. Any 2 curves have a 1 in 5 chance of matching with this gross comparison. 2) Now split the curve at these inflexions. Transform each piece until its ends are on the X axis. Repeat the analysis for each. 3) Continue splitting and transforming until you run out of resolution. Count the number of splits. Call it N. 4) Given 2 random curves on which you perform this analysis, the probability that they are accidentally identical is 1/X where X = 5 raised to the power N. To my eyes that match is good all the way down to 6 matches in every particular. Sometimes we have 2 pieces, sometimes 3, so let's call it an average of 2.5. Given this N =~ 2.5 ^ 6 = 244. That makes the odds that this is an accidental match about 1 in 5 ^ 244, which is to say X is about 3.5 time 10 ^ 170 zeroes after it. Just to give a sense of scale, Yahoo suggests (http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070803014221AAfMjgV) there are about 10 ^ 80 atoms in the observable universe. If every one of those atoms was a universe in itself, and everyone of the atoms in every sub-universe was painted white, except for one black atom, the chance of pulling out that black atom at random is much less than the chance that those 2 cracks are accidentally the same. So this is an example of a Fully Arsed Theory (a FAT, to coin a term).
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D'oh.
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June 30, 2012, 4:30 a.m. CST
I'm a fine one to be picking at peoples' english after that!
by veteran_of_mu
Caractacus: Geez Caractacus, leading with your chin. Caractacus: Hey, those who can't do teach. Caractacus: Shawly not. Caractacus: Don't call me Shirley.
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(and written by Douglas Adams of course) As Duggan smashes yet another window (this time to gain access to a locked office), Romana quips "Have you ever considered going into partnership with a glazier, you could have a perfect symbiotic relationship !"
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So Romana is a Bastiat fan?
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June 30, 2012, 5:05 a.m. CST
Tom Baker has always been seen as *the* favourite Doctor. What say the americans ?
by higgledyhiggles
Probably not a lot as you`re mouths are full of giant sandwiches. Sorry been watching that silly best sandwich show. Jeez i`m surprised any of you can walk and I`m not exactly small.
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I have never eaten a sandwich larger then 2 slices of standard white bread with a few items between. Those shows and their mythology. I assure you I'm the rule. And if you don't think so, the chances that everyone you know greets you as "guvnah" just increased exponentially. ;) Yeah, probably THE favorite Doctor here as well, considering that most PBS stations here in the US aired Baker's Doctor first, then quit when he did. My local station kept airing new episodes after Tom Baker left, but that wasn't the case everywhere.
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June 30, 2012, 6:30 a.m. CST
@caractacuspotts - There's nothing wrong with your maths, BUT
by V'Shael
it is all posited on the assumption that the two cracks are the same. And they are clearly NOT the same. http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq66/combomweek4/crackcityofdeathcrophighlight.jpg http://blog.geeksaresexytech.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/crack.jpg Just compare them. They are demonstrably not the same. Stick that theory back in the Crackpot Zone.
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June 30, 2012, 7:50 a.m. CST
@higgledy: I'm an eater of the stunt-variety, however, my adventures in eating tend to see me in Chinatown, dallying with the Scoville scale, not eating quadruple bacon bypass burgers, but,
by obijuanmartinez
...that said, I rarely meet the cheeseburger I don't instantly demolish, as we have numerous great pubs here as well. There's also a place called Reading Terminal Market, and the Amish folk from the country bring their delicious baked pies. MMMmmmmm...PIIIIIE. Ahhhhhhhhh. (Channeling my inner Homer)
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June 30, 2012, 8:06 a.m. CST
@higgledy: DEFINITELY Tom Baker...how anybody could watch the Hinchcliffe era (Ark in Space - Talons of WC) and not agree is beyond me!
by obijuanmartinez
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I googled a bunch of renditions of the crack. They're none of them anywhere near so perfect a match for the CoD crack as the image I used suggests. There are sufficient similarities to conjure with, but certainly not the FAT I thought it was. Thanks for setting me straight!
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June 30, 2012, 8:53 a.m. CST
Troughton in The Omen = A decidedly windy death...(video)
by obijuanmartinez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dw8JtFzAoo
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Ah, now you're talking my language. There are two weaknesses in your calculation: (1) you are assuming that an artist's up/down choices are random independant variables - which is like assuming that while reading this sentence, each letter is uncorrelated with the next. In fact, there is likely to be a common asthetic structure to any artistic attempt to draw a crack. (2) the second is the possibility of bias in the drawing of your red line. I'm not convinced it's an accurate representation of the series 6 crack. So I think there's enough doubt that I can spare myself from the urge to crawl even deeper down the rabbit hole :)
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It's the crack with a TimeHead.
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Either she is River Song OR.... the crack brings Romana out of the Time War.
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Can anyone point to a list of the places (metro stations and what not) that were used in the filming of City of Death?
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Something we've seen Doctor number 9 do in Rose, for example. I think we've seen 10 and 11 do it once or twice two, but in City of Death, the Doctor speed reads a novel (presumably in French) and says it's not bad, but gets a bit boring in the middle. Love it.
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at least the writers leave her with the Tharils. I imagine the Tharils holed up through the Time War someplace safe - possibly a spot that Romana could bring refugees and the like to. Or she got stuck in the postcard they used for the backdrop in that final scene of hers.
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He showed the fast typing in Robot. It would make sense that he should be able to read faster than he can type.
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You can read about it here : http://everything2.com/title/The+theft+of+the+Mona+Lisa It's quite interesting, even without the sci-fi elements.
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June 30, 2012, 3:37 p.m. CST
Merrick - some comments in a previous Talkback should make sense now that you've seen City of Death
by DoctorTom
I know one of the things a lot of us had been wondering when The Girl Who Waited aired was whether THIS IS A FAKE was scrawled on the canvas underneath the Mona Lisa that Rory wrecked in that story.
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June 30, 2012, 4 p.m. CST
@v'shael: Here are the locs in Paris acc. to doctorwholocations.net
by obijuanmartinez
http://www.doctorwholocations.net/stories/cityofdeath
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Following v'shael's excellent link I wound up reading the page on Welles' "F is for Fake". That led me to the Wikipedia page on Elmyr, the forger who was the subject of Welles' completely fake documentary. Not being able to resist, I added two reasonable sounding but completely fake sentences to the end of the article to the effect that Elmyr faked both his death and several posthumous forgeries in his own name. And damn me if they're not still there ...
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I mean, really, an art forger found dead by a bodyguard named "Mark Forgy"?
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Those sons of Satan sure can be drama queens when it comes to the way they choose to kill priests. Jeeze. No, not a single lightning strike, Nooooo... it has to be a big dramatic scene drawn out over minutes. lol
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July 1, 2012, 7:42 a.m. CST
Someone needs to use the Omen to make a 2-3 Doctor regeneration video
by HornOrSilk
Now that would be LOL
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Oh my hope all is very well! Things are good in the SJW household at the moment besides trouble with my frigging car (which i paid through the frigging nose for I might add!) Thanks to the amazing Merrick for the honourable mention- you rock, dude!!! Back soon, but for now busy busy busy!!! HORN!!!!!!!! Love you, man!!!! SJW.
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Glad to hear things are fairly well on your end; and good to see you are still giving insight for DocBacks even if you don't have the chance to talk as much.
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July 1, 2012, 9:52 a.m. CST
BTW: There's a corker of a new BBC police drama on for 5 weeks called "In the Line of Duty", w/ Lennie James - Good salve for the summer TV doldrums!
by obijuanmartinez
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01k9pn6/Line_of_Duty_Episode_1/
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awefully handy.
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awfully
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July 1, 2012, 11:39 a.m. CST
It's funny - I've listened to 3 of Richard Dawkins' books on audio; it's hard not to giggle sometimes in the passages where Lalla Ward reads and say, "Dude - it's Romana reading!"
by obijuanmartinez
Romana: They taught me at school how to stop my hearts. Tyssan: Hearts? How many have you got? Romana: One for casual, one for best.
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July 1, 2012, 11:42 a.m. CST
Douglas Adams' dialogue in Doctor Who is really great stuff - Here's one of my faves from "The Pirate Planet"
by obijuanmartinez
Romana: Newton? Who's Newton? The Doctor: Old Issac? Friend of mine on Earth. Discovered gravity. Well, I say he discovered gravity; I had to give him a bit of a prod. Romana: What did you do? The Doctor: Climbed up a tree. Romana: ...And? The Doctor: Dropped an apple on his head. Romana: Ah. And so he discovered gravity. The Doctor: No no, he told me to clear off out of his tree. I explained it to him afterwards at dinner.
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Jon says to Lalla "Why the f**k can't Merrick spell our names right?"
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Oh that is brilliant dialogue. He will be missed for all time, and after. Then for a while after that. And back again.
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On the "to the front of the line" list it goes. Man, I sure love having real quotation marks back.
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Did you start watching B7 because I just started watching it and mentioned it in the last Docback? lol
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That's probably why I like the TV Movie so much...they're like bookends to one another. Shame NetFlix doesn't have it. I also enjoyed that "Smallville" episode that referenced it in its opening. "City of Death" is also a fantastic story. But my favorite Classic Who story is "Day of the Daleks".
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July 1, 2012, 10:19 p.m. CST
@gotlik: Have you seen the Key to Time season? If not, you'll def want to see The Ribos Operation first...
by obijuanmartinez
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July 1, 2012, 10:26 p.m. CST
@gotlik: The dialogue in Ribos Operation is hilarious - If you like Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, this story feels like it takes place in a snowy Ankh-Morpork...(video)
by obijuanmartinez
Go to the 4 and 11-min marks in this video and bask in some hilarious dialogue. The intergalactic conmen Unstoffe and Garron should have reappeared somewhere else in the Whoniverse: Check out this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ABsHp5wrM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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July 1, 2012, 10:31 p.m. CST
@lynxpro: Big love for Deadly Assassin. Was the first Master story I ever saw! And...
by obijuanmartinez
...was interesting work contextualizing the character never having seen Delgado's version. Love the story, the characters, the actors - this story is a homerun in every sense. Also enjoy the rare opening narration Baker did that gave some more context to the Time Lords and Gallifrey...
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Which episode of smallville do you mean? I haven't watched all of it, but I'm now curious as to this reference you mentioned!!
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Doctor Who Official @bbcdoctorwho Mother and daughter Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling will star in the new series of #DoctorWho! More news follows shortly! Sigh Emma Peel...
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Dame-Diana-Rigg-and-Rachael-Stirling-to-Star-in-New-Series
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Honor Blackman always beats her to the punch, it seems.
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I think the last time I saw her in anything was a cameo in Extras. Catching Danial Radcliffes unfurled condom in her hair. Does this count as stunt casting, do you think?
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July 2, 2012, 12:32 p.m. CST
yeah- a bit of Diana Rigg!!! One of my first crushes!!...
by sam jacksons wig
... funnily enough, seem to remember her well from the Worst Witch where she played Miss Hardbroom! (please don't ask how.....)
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I would not want to find out what having the scringes would feel like. MAN that actor was hilarious. (The Shreive?) Must see the whole episode now.
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July 6, 2012, 5:29 a.m. CST
@gotlik: Here's a link to Ribos Operation, first part of the Key to Time series, introducing the White Guardian...
by obijuanmartinez
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9fv15_the-ribos-operation-part-1_shortfilms?search_algo=2
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