Ye Olde Doctor Who Thread.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:31 am

Re McCOy, yeah I liked that he did that, he really works hard to sell what the sets clearly aren't giving us.

Also , why isn't TUM getting a DVD release...is it going straight onto Blu Ray or some other whizzy 'future proof' technology?

Picked up DWM mag yesterday, egads thats an awful cover. Its airbrushing gone mad - all the creatures look like their reflections in a fun fair mirror , all melty and yuck.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:13 pm

I flicked through it at work, Donna is the second best companion? If I were Lis Sladen's ghost I'd feel that completely invalidates my victory. What sort of idiots think Donna is that good?

My mother mainly.

My rewatch reached The Hand of Fear today, when you've watched all her stories in order Sarah going really packs a punch despite being so under played (the fact it's such an arbitrary departure makes it even sadder somehow, I like the unstated reason as to why the Doctor wouldn't want to take a companion to Gallifrey after what happened last time...).

What I also found strangely affecting from watching it in order is that's the last mention of The Brigadier until Logopolis. I think he's been at least name checked in every "Present Day" story since The Web of Fear 8 years earlier so that's even more of an end of an era than Lis leaving.

Also, I'm currently listening to David Troughton read the novelisation of Fury From the Deep, it's a well written book but it is mildly disconcerting how much David manages to sound like his dad without ever actually sounding like his dad, their voices aren't really very similar but the inflections and way of speaking are often identical without him even trying.

On The Underwater Menace, everyone seems very confused and baffled that the range is going to end with one episode unreleased. Best guess I've seen so far is that The Moonbase and Tenth Planet with animation sold really badly whilst The Web of Fear with a recon sold really well has forced a rethink on whether it's worth the effort of reanimating its two missing episodes.

I think the beeb have been fairly honest they've mucked up the release of this and Airlock (the special edition of The Aztecs sold poorly), the original intent had been to release both those episodes straight on ITunes, the fact the two recoveries from last year did so well in that format seems to have had them kicking themselves that they ever even bothered with DVD releases.

It's actually really odd to think we're getting every surviving episode of Out of the Unknown (which I'm hugely looking forward to, does anyone know if the episode the White Robots re-purposed for The Mind Robber came from still exists?) on DVD later this year after the best part of a decade of being told the rights issues were too complex for it to ever be commercially viable but it's looking confused as to whether all of Who will make it out.

Or in conspiracy corner: They've delayed the release because the other two episodes have turned up with all the others the beeb are secretly remastering.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 4:18 pm

*WINKS* I say, it's my video on the Peter Cushing Dalek films!

*Walks off bow legged*

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:37 am

For the longest time, the only version of The Dalek Invasion of the Earth that I'd ever seen was the Cushing version. And even then, I almost missed it.

Back home, the local ABC affiliate had a program called "Dialing for Dollars", where the host(usually one of the local news anchors or one of the local PBS staffers) would host a movie, usually broken up into 2 parts, while doing the 'Answer our trivia question about today's movie and you win the cash prize' bit. Saw all kinds of Hammer Horror films this way.

One day, as the show was coming on, my dad let me know that they were going to show a Doctor Who movie. As much as I loved Doctor Who(no mean feat when all you have to work with are the local PBS station playing only the Fourth Doctor, and the only reason you know there were other Doctors was the fact that the Target novels pointed it out, and the regeneration scenes from Robot and Logopolis), I had no clue they'd made any movies.

The movie they showed was "Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.", and I loved it. So did my dad, and he wasn't as big a Doctor Who fan as I was. The one guy you really had to feel sorry for was the host. He had no clue what he was watching, or why the movie even got picked.

Flash forward years later, and I finally find Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. On VHS. I also found Dr. Who and the Daleks. I was really looking forward to that one, figuring it would be as good as the first one I'd seen.

Sadly, I was wrong. That didn't stop me from getting the Peter Cushing Dr. Who set on DVD when I found it. For the longest time, this was the only way I could watch these two stories.

Thank you for doing these reviews, though I do have to say I enjoyed Cushing's performance.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:57 am

I've noticed that a lot of Doctor Who fans dis on the Cushing films, but I personally think the criticisms are mostly undeserved; it's pretty obvious who the real stars of the movies are, and I don't think Cushing's Doctor is a bad one, but my personal gripe with them isn't the fact that most of the Doctor's backstory is wildly altered, but what they did to Ian's character.

Ian was turned from something of an action hero to a bumbling idiot, and his rousing speech in the first Dalek story is instead given to Cushing's Doctor. The second movie at least had the courtesy of replacing him with an entirely different character.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:20 pm

That's one of the odd things with the Cushing Who films, isn't it. The first one was obviously made more as a comedy. And it's obvious right from the beginning, as we have Susan and Barbara reading scientific texts and the Doctor reading a pulp sci-fi magazine.

The second one is far darker, and stands up to repeat viewings a lot better. Yes, there's some humor(the bit with the Robomen, for example), but it's a much more serious film.

What I can't figure out is why. The DVD set I've got is 3 discs- Dr. Who and the Daleks, Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and the Dalekmania documentary - and while I have yet to watch the documentary in all the years I've had this set, I get the impression it centers more on the effect Daleks as a product had on the world than the making of two films.

From everything I've heard, Peter Cushing had a great time playing the Doctor, and was glad for an opportunity to be in something parents could take their children to see. Although I gather from some other things I've read that many parents saw his name in the credits and went, 'Oh, great, another horror movie', according to some interviews he gave later in life.

This, I will admit, is from maybe 15 minutes research, so take from it what you will.

Given the fact that the first one was a huge success(done as a more kid friendly comedy) while being able to stick to the plot, why mess with success? Did the Beeb want script approval? Did Terry Nation see the first movie and chase the director around the theater on opening night with a sink plunger screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!"

Gouki · Post by **Gouki** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:19 am

Reading through this thread, if I'm looked down upon for being a fan of Doctor Who only since the 2005 version, and loving Donna from start to finish I'll embrace it. I saw a post of someone complaining about pomposity. In this thread, that's almost too funny.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 3:09 pm

The BBC have just rebranded everything from Rose through The Name of the Doctor as "Old Doctor Who" (the DVD reissues are going to be with the McGann logo and "[Name of Actor/Years"] banner) so it retroactively turns out that's what we've been talking about all along in this thread.

So in that spirit, who wants to see Amy Pond get ice bucketed by Mr. Sulu (and a midget?) whilst dressed as Power Rangers for no readily apparent reason?

The uploader is so impressed they've put it on a loop.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:57 pm

Bloody Ice Bucket challenge. Stupid internet memes. Don't people realise how precious water is and to piss it away on nonsense (yes, its for 'charity' allegedly, don't see so many of the fools around my way donating) is a big load of boo. No matter whom is involved.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:22 pm

If there's a better use for a bucket of water than getting a flame haired long legged woman dressed as the Pink Ranger all wet, then I have yet to see it.

In terms of the charity, apparently they've had an insane increase in the amount of donations they get in a month (and it's not just them that have benefited, many of my friends have given to different causes for various reasons), so it's not all bad.

It's almost a shame I didn't get nominated as I have an entire spiel about JLS (do you see what I did there, it's almost the same letters!) ready where I would have gone on, and on, and on, and on about how much the band needed the money since they split up. It would have been a test of endurance between me and the viewer over whether they could last the course as it would have gone way past the point of being funny into quite unfunny before I'd have let myself be soaked.

Anyone who did deserved to see a bucket of water thrown in my face whilst sitting in a bath.

Naked.

[Patrick Stewart's get out was very nicely done as well.]

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sat Aug 30, 2014 7:50 pm

I thought that was John Cho in the red ranger outfit. The version I saw was a bit blurry.

That being said, my attention was mainly on Karen.

And Bless Benedict Cumberbatch's cotton socks for his. They drenched him like 4 times.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:49 pm

Do you like Sylverster McCoy? And do you like Germans? Then you'll love the fact Germany is getting the first of three boxsets releasing the entire seventh Doctor era! Apparently afterwards they're going to swing back and do Colin (they were broadcast that way round originally) and The Five Doctors (a full dub of which never actually existed as they cut half an hour out) and The TV Movie.

Or basically the Entire German Broadcast Of Classic Doctor Who.

A lot of fans having been taking the piss out of starting with season 24, those crazy Germans wanting to release the episodes that were actually shown in Germany. Interestingly the company doing this did a call out for fans with VHS copies of various episodes for which the dub no longer existed, they must have succeeded.

They also have the English soundtrack and (for season 24 at least) all the special features of the British version. So for anyone looking to get all of McCoy in three easy hits, this is actually a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.de/Doctor-Who-Siebter ... ster+mccoy

The boxart isn't on Amazon but is very lovely.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:16 am

inflatable dalek wrote:The boxart isn't on Amazon but is very lovely.

Should've posted that here. I hit google image search and all I get is nu-who.

I hope beeb is gonna dupe this move and release similar box sets in the UK as well. I've been wondering when the heck are they gonna start cranking out complete season sets of classic Who, especially since they've basically already released several complete seasons as individual stories - or are they worried about stepping on the toes of those who bought them in the future by releasing special editions of stories that were already in said box sets?

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:53 pm

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2014/09/ge ... 24008.html

Small image in that news story, how awesomely sinister does that Tetrap look?

If this does well I could see subtitled versions of the seasons Germany didn't get being a possibility.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:27 am

Having done The Keeper of Traken, and only have Logopolis to go for the Fourth Doctor.

I have to say, I've found season 18 a bit of a slog in context, Tom's complete disinterest in most of it coupled with scripts that think they're profound but are actually quite trite has resulted in some very hard going episodes in places. The Williams era was very lazy in terms of production by the end, but at least never stopped being fun.

I was however surprised by how effective the return of the Master was after such a long absence. JNT got a lot of stick for bringing back any old monster but it works here because it was the first time he did it and because the Master wasn't something that was just in one or two stories, he was a proper major part of the show when he was a regular and that gives his resurrection some real weight.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:01 pm

Out of the 18th season - and beyond the last two stories (because, you know, the Master) - the only story I actually remember was State of Decay.

Seriously, I don't even remember so much as the premise for most of the stories from that season, but State of Decay has stuck to me just because of the remarkably effective(ly creepy) episode cliffhanger where the Doctor and Romana walk into the castle cellar and they hear a loud heartbeat coming from deep beneath the earth.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:23 pm

Tetsuro wrote:Should've posted that here. I hit google image search and all I get is nu-who.

I hope beeb is gonna dupe this move and release similar box sets in the UK as well. I've been wondering when the heck are they gonna start cranking out complete season sets of classic Who, especially since they've basically already released several complete seasons as individual stories - or are they worried about stepping on the toes of those who bought them in the future by releasing special editions of stories that were already in said box sets?

I'm sure we'll get these at some point. I keep reading that the DVD range is complete in Doctor Who Magazine (until something else turns up), I suspect the barrier for the Classic stuff is that it is incomplete which wouldn't make for a great numbering, unless they went for a 'Complete Third Doctor Vol 1' type thing.

TBH, The Beeb have recycled DW's back catalogue many times over and people keep snapping them up (I'm currently subscribed to Doctor Who DVD Files a part work that has proven a bigger hit than perhaps GE Fabri expected as it was only set up to cover the Ninth - Tenth Doctors and here we are four years later and still going strong), but I wonder if box sets of this nature will be held back for Blu Ray release only - or if they'll even bother the way a lot of telly is just gravitating to downloads away from physical formats.

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:24 am

While so many stories have been available for so long that I would imagine most people who want them already own them and wouldn't bother double-dipping just for a slightly different box, I wouldn't mind complete classic series seasons if they were released in an efficient packaging, especially if it took less than half the shelf space a complete season already would with each story in it's own amaray case.

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:05 am

Surprised the BBC hasn't invested more in back-catalogue streaming... although there may be "new technology" rights that would have to be negotiated, I suppose.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:15 am

Skyquake87 wrote:I'm sure we'll get these at some point. I keep reading that the DVD range is complete in Doctor Who Magazine (until something else turns up)

Try telling that to episode 2 of The Underwater Menace.

I'm into Peter Davison now (not literally), and it's amazing how much of a difference it makes that he's bothering to make eye contact with the other actors. For most of season 18 Tom just sort of stares off into the middle distance (you almost feel he'd much rather be looking right into the camera and talking to the audience) and that creates all sorts of slightly weird camera angles and performances as the other characters have to talk at him rather than to him and he just sort of bellows his lines in their general direction before turning his head back to look away from them.

The extent he does this had never really sunk in when watching no more than one or two stories from the year in a row (I'm not even sure what point exactly he started doing it, towards the end of season 17 maybe?) but when you do all 8 stories in less than a month it actually starts to become quite distracting.

I mean, he looks directly at K9 more than he does Lalla Ward and he was at it with her!

Strangely enough, Matthew Waterhouse isn't bothering me too much so far. There's plently of moments where his performance is fine (if only acceptable rather than anything more), and the bad moments mainly feel as if what he really needed is another take and maybe the rapid fire having to be right first time nature of a show like Who really worked against him.

Mind, as everyone says, he can't walk across a room convincingly.

As much as I wasn't sure about Tom himself in his last year, I am madly in love with that coat and seriously thinking about getting one, or rather one of the approximations on ebay. Oddly though every other Doctor's costume seems to be available to buy recreated in exact detail there are two different versions of the red, both in a lighter shade (the one linked too below is closer to the TV version and keeps the darker collar).

As it'd be for everyday winter wear rather than cosplay (though I suppose with Halloween coming up it'd be funny to go to all the effort of dressing up like the Fourth Doctor and then picking the costume no one remembers) the differences don't bother me hugely and it keeps the jist of what I liked, I'm just in two minds over whether I could pull of wearing a big red coat.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Who-will-get- ... 27ea40a890

Oh, and Tom Baker is genuinely terrifying in that Nationwide interview about his departure, shorn of the casual slouch he mostly has when playing the Doctor you realise what a tall, intimidating bugger he can be even in an interview where the Tardis prop is clearly only there because he's very obviously so pissed out of his head he'd fall over without something to lean on.