[via John Hinojosa]
Welcome to the last occasional Docback before DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9 premieres on September 19!
The next Docback will be opened on Friday, September 18 and dedicated to The Magician’s Apprentice - the opening story of S9 (transmitting on September 19). Episodic Docbacks will then unfold during the regular run of the show, and presumably for the theoretical Christmas episode as well.
There may be mini-Docbacks peppered throughout our journey as well, should circumstances/available content dictate.
Participants in this current Docback please note that this particular DB may reach its 45 day expiration a few days before the next Docback opens, so pace conversations accordingly as this one nears the end of its spectacular run.
With this out of the way, here we go. Some round-up stuff here. Some new stuff here. Some fun stuff here...
LINDALEE’S ‘TWHO MINUTE NEWS’ ROUND-UPS CONTINUE
Beyond The Marquee’s Lindalee
is keeping the faith as we slog our way through this long, dark, annoyingly WHOless void. Here are a few of the updates she’s posted since our previous Docback.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
This spot was so minimalist it didn’t seem to warrant its own individual post on the site when it first appeared. But, since this is a round-up, here’s the first official teaser for Season/Series 9. It goes by rather quickly.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT #2…
Here’s the first, official, full-on trailer for for DOCTOR WHO Season/Series 9. ’Twas released the week of San Diego Comic Con.
Love the imagery here, but not the music. I hope this doesn’t reflect a re-approach of the show’s score. More than likely, this is just an awkward and lacking source cue pulled from somewhere else - or BBC had someone other than established WHO composers score thios trailer. But it kinda sticks out in a not necessarily good way…
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT #3…
Here’s another first, official, full-on trailer. This one for LEGO DIMENSIONS’ DOCTOR WHO expansion.
For those unfamiliar with LEGO DIMENSIONS, it’s a forthcoming game which allows players to construct LEGO figures and vehicles, and insert them into on-screen gameplay.
What’s super-nifty about this prospect is that LEGO has designed the game so that various franchises can be incorporated into the same gameplay. So, in theory, one could have LEGO DOCTOR WHO interacting with LEGO iterations of BATMAN, GHOSTBUSTERS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, etc. Pretty damn cool.
I note that there are LEGO SCOOBY DOO expansions coming around as well. This holds particular promise, and is particularly amusing, to me as I’ve commented on several occasions throughout the years that a few ‘classic’ WHO plots remind me of SCOOBY-DOO episodes. Particularly shenanigans involving The Master. I wonder if LEGO DIMENSIONS will help to bear out my assertion…
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT #4...
Via Radio Times, here’s an amusing video featuring Greg James (from Radio 1 in the UK) attempting to wrangle Minions in and around BBC. His efforts spill across locations/sets from a number of BBC shows - DOCTOR WHO is very much included here (2:14).
ANGRY, SHITTING DWARF DALEK TASED AND BAGGED
The man, who has dwarfism, announced that he was a Dalek, stuck a suction dart to his forehead, put dominoes in his mouth and yelled, Exterminate! Exterminate!" at staff, his attorney said in court. He also yelled, "I'm going to kill you, Joe.”
[EDIT]
“…Ian Salter-Bromley's threats to kill a worker at an assisted living community were apparently serious enough to get him Tasered and sentenced to jail time.”
DOCTOR WHO EXECUTIVE PRODUCER BRIAN MINCHIN AND SOME OTHER GUY DISCUSS THE MONSTERS OF SEASON/SERIES 9
MOFF & MINCH DISCUSS CLARA MOMENTS
No word yet on whether she’ll have a porkanion in S9, though...
M & M TALK MAISIE WILLIAMS' APPEARANCE IN S9
DOCTOR WHO SEASON/SERIES 10 CONFIRMED
THIS piece over at Radio Times notes that DOCTOR WHO’s 10th Season is assured, per Page 32 of the BBC Worldwide Annual Review.
The same Radio Times piece also promised an article on the pooing habit of bears, which I have been unable to locate as of the posting of this Docback. I’m very, very disappointed by RT’s lack of follow-though in this matter. If Radio Times won't do justice to this topic, perhaps an essay on the subject could be fodder for a special Docback in itself?
HORNORSILK REVIEWS THE DEFECTORS, LAST OF THE CYBERMEN, AND THE SECRET HISTORY BIG FINISH AUDIOS
Big Finish 198: The Defectors
Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs
Cast
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Richard Franklin (Captain Yates), Neil Roberts (Captain Cornelius), Barnaby Edwards (Commander Wingford), David Graham (Shedgerton), Rachel Bavidge (Europan Leader), Jez Fielder (Europan)
This is the first of three stories which has a particular Doctor find himself replacing an earlier version of himself, which I call the “wrong Doctors” trilogy. In this story, the Seventh Doctor finds himself mysteriously taking the place of the Third Doctor, and Jo Grant, upon encountering him, is not entirely sure if she should believe him. It takes place, for Jo, after The Three Doctors, giving her an understanding regeneration. But she shows caution with the Seventh Doctor, not entirely sure what to make of him, and even when she treats him as the Doctor, there is a side of her which remains suspicious of him and all that he is doing.
Outside of the complexity involved with the Doctor switch, which the Doctor never entirely understands, the story is rather straightforward. The Doctor and Jo find themselves kidnapped by soldiers, taken to an island (under the declaration of safety), where they find the populace and the soldier under the control of some external force.
While I approve of Jo’s initial questioning of the Seventh Doctor, I feel there is something missing in their relationship here – they do not entirely jive together, not because they cannot, but because of how they meet. Part of the entertainment of stories like this is to see how the Seventh Doctor would act with Jo, but because they never settle down to the proper Doctor-companion relationship, we don’t really get this from the story. Jo never entirely works with the Doctor, and eventually, finds herself separated from him while still not sure of what to make of him.
But this is only a minor concern. The first half of the story, including the early interactions of the Doctor with Jo, and with the way the Doctor and Jo find themselves taken away, is quite entertaining. This allows the story to start off quite strong. I would even dare say the first half of the story keeps this strength throughout, with constant mystery and humor. The Doctor and Jo first find themselves in the local inn, where it becomes obvious nothing is on the up and up: the food is rotten, and the townsmen within the inn, including the inn keeper and his wife, are acting as if they were under alien control.
When we find out what the aliens are up to, it almost feels as if we are led to believe they might be Daleks. I do not know if this was intended, but certainly, after our initial exposure to them and why they are doing what they are doing, it is what I would expect for trapped Daleks who find a way to take charge of the situation. Because of this, I somewhat expected the story to go in a direction it did not, with various Daleks wanting to “defect” from the rest of the Daleks. I am glad to say, I was wrong with that – not because it would not work, but because it was too obvious and it’s nice to have a non-Dalek story.
Who and what the aliens want is not for me to reveal. What is, however, is the story does seem to enter into lag and lose some of its pacing and quality the second half of the story. Once the aliens are revealed for what they are, they lose some (not all) of their interest. They are not entirely good nor entirely evil, though they seem to be doing everything wrong. This is shown how they try to force the Doctor to help them. But, with what happened to them when they first landed upon earthy, it is understandable why they act this way. The ending of the story comes from this, and it is one which, in a way, reminds me of the Silurians and their first encounter with the Doctor. Everything which can go wrong, does, and the Doctor is not entirely able to achieve his goal – but, as we find out, that might be the point of the story and why the Seventh Doctor was sent to replace his earlier self.
Or is it?
We truly do not know why the Doctor has changed places with his earlier self by the end of the story. But we are promised to be given answers in the last of this trilogy.
Katy Manning is, as expected, good as Jo, though it takes a bit getting used to, as her voice clearly has changed since she played Jo. Richard Franklin plays Mike Yates, though his role is very small. There are mentions of the Brigadier, and how they deal with Nicholas Courtney’s inability to be in the story I think is handled quite well.
This is no stinker, and it is for the most part, quite well paced. I did enjoy this story, though it isn’t a classic. The first half is the best part, but as a whole, I would rate it a 7.5/10, leaning on, but not getting, an 8.0. The problems with the second half, though minor, are what make it a 7.5 instead of an 8.
Big Finish 199: The Last of the Cybermen
Written By: Alan Barnes
Directed By: Ken Bentley
Cast
Colin Baker (The Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Lucy Liemann (Zennox), Kieran Hodgson (Findel), Nicholas Farrell (Captain Frank), Nicholas Briggs (Cybermen)
The last time the Sixth Doctor was with Jamie and Zoe was in the land of fiction, where the Doctor also faced the Cybermen. While the acting, as usual, was done well, that story was a disappointment. To have the Sixth Doctor once again encounter the Cybermen side by side with Jamie and Zoe took me back to that story, and I think, created a filter which makes it hard for me to accept this story on its own.
In comparison to Legend of the Cybermen, this is a much better story. But it still has many elements which leaves me wanting. I would rather the Sixth Doctor and Jamie and Zoe faced a different foe (say, the Daleks), had this story take place with a different Doctor (the eighth comes to mind), or the Doctor had other companions (Ben and Polly) to work with.
Like the previous story in this “wrong Doctors” trilogy, the Doctor finds himself crossing his time-stream, and taking the place of a previous Doctor in the process. He quickly encounters Jamie and Zoe – and after telling them who he is, Jamie does not trust him, but Zoe takes it into consideration and for the most part believes him. Soon after their initial confrontation, they find themselves face to face with what appears to be a Cyberman – and they go after him, because he seemed a bit strange. Eventually, they find out that they are on a planet with what appears to be a giant Cyberhead-monunment. They have apparently landed there after the last of the Cyber-Wars. Zoe becomes separated from the Doctor, as the Doctor and Jamie try to find their way back to her. As they do so, he Doctor and Jamie find out that they are on a planet where an archeological expedition is taking place, where a soldier from the last Cyber-War (nicknamed Lanky) had been Cybernized but not fully converted (and so is still human underneath his Cyber-exterior), and, like on Telos, the Doctor has to deal with their leader who has unwholesome desires surrounding the Cybermen.
The story takes a lot from Tomb of the Cybermen, though there are differences; the Doctor ultimately finds himself involved with an adventure that takes place at multiple places in time. This, to be sure, is the most interesting part of the tale. The other aspect of the story which I found amusing was Zoe’s relationship with one of the team, Findel, who had also studied at the same place she did – they are like two peas in a pod, but we learn what happened to her fellow students during and after the Cyberwar. That is, we find out that her university was connected to the Logicians who tried to unite with the Cybermen in Tomb, and because of it, those associated with the university, and with the Logicians, who did not agree with such behavior, eventually hid their university studies because it was seen to foster traitors to humanity.
The Sixth Doctor’s relationship with Jamie is volatile. They are constantly getting in fights. Jamie is not sure if he can trust the Doctor. He knew, from Ben and Polly, that the Doctor can change his form – but he just doesn’t see how the Sixth Doctor could be the Doctor. Even when he comes somewhat to terms with the possibility, he still shows an uneasiness with his relationship to the Doctor. This, I think, went too far, too long; the idea was sound, but the execution just didn’t feel right (for Jamie and for the Doctor). I would have preferred Jamie acted more like he did in Evil of the Daleks – that’s how one gets him to fight the Doctor– and then it would have been believable; but not this. The Doctor and Zoe have less interaction, but it is much more benign. Nothing exciting or innovative there.
This was generally a meh story – not great, and indeed, even a bit dull at times. I would give it a 6/10, though with no fault to the actors themselves.
Big Finish 200: The Secret History
Written By: Eddie Robson
Directed By: Barnaby Edwards
Cast
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Maureen O'Brien (Vicki), Peter Purves (Steven), Lysette Anthony (Sophia), Sarah Woodward (Theodora), Tony Millan (Procopius, Yazid), Giles Watling (Belisarius), Tim Wallers (Justinian)
Here we are at the end of the “wrong Doctor” trilogy and we have what I believe to be the best of them. The questions which come from the previous stories, as to what is happening and why, is answered here (though I think it would have been smart to put Shada into the mix—allowing it to be a story of both Doctors and with an explanation for this). Not only do we get the answers, they are, more or less, satisfying – in a way New Who has failed to do for quite some time.
The story itself is interesting, as a mix between a First Doctor historical and a later-Doctor Sci-Fi historical story (which some might think later historical stories are like, but here, the difference can be felt, as the story behind the sci-fi elements is much more like a First Doctor historical than any later sci-fi historicals have been – that is, it is a story which could easily take place without the sci-fi elements; the sci-fi elements are a way to show how the story has been changed due to interference in the Doctor’s own timeline).
The Doctor, Vicki and Steven land in Ravena, find themselves involved with imperial politics which takes them to Constantinople, in a story that has Procopius (and named after his writings), Belisarius and Justinian. In the story we have Roman chariot races, Justinian’s Plague, and an alien species which is willing to aid Justinian cure the plague for their own reasons.
And we have those involved with the Doctor’s timeline switches also involved, involved here, trying to have the Doctor change his own timestream - for their own devious ends.
In this story, the Fifth Doctor replaces the First Doctor, having to relive an adventure he once did as the First Doctor. We get a glimpse of what is going on early on – the later Doctor takes the place of the previous Doctor, in an adventure he already had; once he goes on it, things change and so he doesn’t remember what happened, but before he starts, he remembers the adventure and so it is something he has once gone through. This probably happened with previous Doctors, though they were more quickly thrown into the adventure.
Here, the story is one with the First Doctor dealing with Rome and Byzantium, Procopius and Justinian and the plague. The Doctor finds himself replacing the First Doctor, and unlike other stories in this trilogy, he convinces Steven and Vicki that he is indeed, the Doctor, early on and rather easily. Steven is less convinced than Vicki, but accepts Vicki’s belief and so readily follows the Doctor, allowing this story to feature more of the interactions I wanted from the first two stories in this trilogy (less a fight to prove he is the Doctor and more an example of how he would interact with his previous companions).
The actual resolution of what is going on with the Doctor, of how and why he is switching places, for the most part works. There is an element of bringing the ire of the Time Lords into it which I think was not needed, but it was a minor point. But the resolution only works if one has been following other Big Finish Who Doctor Who series, such as the Eighth Doctor Adventures, because it deals with the consequence of those adventures (from the perspective of one of the people the Doctor affected in them).
Because of the difficult of dealing with multiple companions and the Doctor, it is understandable that one of them, Steven, was taken away early on and had his side-adventure which ultimate connected to the Doctor’s story in the third of four “episodes.” Vicki very much feels like Vicki from the show, and her interaction with the Doctor is not too different from the First Doctor.
Lysette Anthony as Sophia presents one of the key figures in the story, because she has a special ability to detect and experience tears in the timestream. It’s important because it helps, in the last episode, to deal with the problems created by the Doctor’s main antagonist. I did wish, however, in the “making of” section they had mentioned Lysette’s experience with Peter Davison in Campion – from my favorite of the Campion stories produced, Sweet Danger. She played in it the girl who would eventually win Campion’s heart and marry him – Amanda Fitton; it is therefore interesting to hear Peter play against her here.
I have tried to keep the reveals in the story to a minimum, which requires keeping much of the story itself left underexposed. It is entertaining, and does a good job incorporating the whole trilogy together – better than I expected. I would give it a solid 8/10, if not an 8.5. I think it is the best use of (person X) that Big Finish has done to date. We get to see his own desires, and also, how his desires end up, in a way which the televised series has not been able to do. Following what we see here, it would be wonderful to see him in New Who, where he actually changes history, requiring the Doctor to help him put things back when he finds out the long term ramifications of his plans are worse than the history he tried to change. Moreover, there is a good mix of humor and seriousness in this tale, even if I felt Procopius was often done too much as a “Geek.”
With the “Wrong Doctors” series over, I would say it begun and ended with solid stories, and in doing so, tied itself together quite well, better than some other experimental runs in the BF collection.
— HornOrSilk
Glen Reviews DK’s DOCTOR WHO VISUAL DICTIONARY
If you’re unfamiliar with DK’s long-running ‘Visual Dictionary’ series, but are bothering to actually read anything in this article, you should totally consider checking out DK’s work across the board (previous DOCTOR WHO releases, for example, or their STAR TREK or STAR WARS offerings perhaps). They’re slickly presented, offer much unique (and fully sanctioned by The Powers That Be) insight, are tremendously detailed, and…they’re simply Geektastically cool. Here are two page samples from this title's Amazon listing.
‘Visual Dictionaries’ illuminate a particular subject matter by way of photographs of characters, props, vehicles, etc. - labeling their workings (when applicable), and explaining their context within storyline or mythology. I believe DK offers some 'historical' visual dictionaries as well. Pretty great.
This release encompasses many elements from the show’s most recent Series/Season (S8), but seems to cut off roughly half-way through its run (somewhere around Time Heist if I’m estimating correctly). Thus, this is a fairly current, if not entirely complete, offering. Assuredly, some future VD release will fill in even more blanks, and bring such data even more current still.
Nearly every WHOish element I could think of (off the top of my head) is represented here, as are a few which wouldn’t have necessarily sprung to mind. Young Amy pond’s paper mache Doctor dolls are explored, as is the ‘space panel’ used by the Steward on Platform One. A cross-section of a Dalek ship is featured, and the Sycroax get a two page spread!? The TARDIS control area gets its own detailed fold-out (note that unfolding the spread makes it appear as if you're separating the TARDIS' doors). All presented amidst 173 pages (not counting an extensive index) of high-quality images presented on a hard stock paper. The DOCTOR WHO VISUAL DICTIONARY feels agreeably, rewardingly substantive both in its content, and physicality. The cover you see above, by the way, it lenticular and features a disappearing Twelve.
Highly recommend as a primer, or as a quick reference when re-watching the show, or just for the fun of it, the latest version of the DOCTOR WHO VISUAL DICTIONARY is available at various bookstores, or can be found (perhaps a touch more affordably) HERE.
————
Glen Oliver
“Merrick”
DOCBACK CODE OF CONDUCT
1) a Docback should be about completely open and free discourse regarding all things WHO with, obviously, some variation on subject matter from time to time - the real world intervenes, discussions of other shows are inevitable, etc....
2) 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.
