Past Seasons: Classic Who

[benteen]

Ah, Ghost Light. I had no idea what was going on, until I read something explaining it. It's actually a good story, just told in an incomprehensible way.

 

I have to admit it didn't make sense to me either.  It was interesting, with a good cast and set pieces but confusing.  I hear it takes two to three viewings to understand what's going on.

 

Up next is The Curse of Fenric and finally Survival.

[proserpina65]

I have to admit it didn't make sense to me either.  It was interesting, with a good cast and set pieces but confusing.  I hear it takes two to three viewings to understand what's going on.

 

Up next is The Curse of Fenric and finally Survival.

Idk, I've seen Ghostlight a half-dozen times and still don't really understand it.  But that doesn't mean it isn't an interesting episode.

 

Ah, Curse of Fenric - I have a love/hate relationship with that one.  I absolutely love it and think it's a terrific story, but because it features undead/zombie-like creatures, it scares the beejeebus out of me.  The first time my PBS aired it (and Survival, on the same night), I couldn't sleep afterwards and sat up all night watching some crappy Nia Peeples underwater monster movie.  So I hate that it scares me so much (and that it made me watch a Nia Peeples movie).

[Sandman87]

Retro ran the first couple of episodes from Planet of the Spiders tonight. All sorts of things being recycled from past episodes:

A return appearance by the former Captain Yates.

That damn blue crystal from Metebelis Three.

The gigantic metal headphones prop from The Green Death, now being used as a mind monitor thingy.

[SnideAsides]

That's Pertwee's last story, right? I kind of wonder if - especially since he had most of his run set on Earth with UNIT - it was a deliberate attempt to make callbacks as a kind of 'full circle' plot.

 

I'm putting my own rewatch on hold for a bit - I've just got too much other stuff on at the moment - but I'll definitely get back to it sooner rather than later. I want to try and be up to Troughton by my birthday in March. By my count I'm only two stories away from the exact halfway mark of Hartnell's tenure, so it's not going to be too hard. :)

[Llywela]

Yes, Planet of Spiders was very much written as a 'greatest hits' kind of story, deliberately drawing on various staple themes of the Third Doctor's era as a farewell bonanza for Jon Pertwee. It reaches its height with the extended chase scene in (I think) episode three, which is sheer indulgence of Pertwee's love of vehicles and gadgets. It's a good story, though, and I do enjoy that it also rounds of Yates's journey, allowing him to redeem himself.

[benteen]

Idk, I've seen Ghostlight a half-dozen times and still don't really understand it.  But that doesn't mean it isn't an interesting episode.

 

Ah, Curse of Fenric - I have a love/hate relationship with that one.  I absolutely love it and think it's a terrific story, but because it features undead/zombie-like creatures, it scares the beejeebus out of me.  The first time my PBS aired it (and Survival, on the same night), I couldn't sleep afterwards and sat up all night watching some crappy Nia Peeples underwater monster movie.  So I hate that it scares me so much (and that it made me watch a Nia Peeples movie).

 

The Curse of Fenric was great.  Starts off slow but really picks up as it goes along and it was like one of those old "base in peril" episodes they did during Troughton's run.  Great episode for Ace too.

 

EDIT: Enjoyed Survival a lot too.

Edited December 15, 2014 by benteen

[benteen]

I watched The Deadly Assassin yesterday and I loved it.  One of my favorites of the Classic era.  It also has the distinction of being the only story of the Classic era where the Doctor doesn't travel with a companion.  I think it works for the kind of story it told here.

[Sandman87]

Retro finally got around to the first few episodes with Tom Baker. It's the first time they've shown an episode where the Doctor regenerates (darned missing episodes), so it's something of a milestone for them.

Back to back Sontarans, Daleks, and Cybermen during Number Four's first season. Love it.

[benteen]

Just watched The Face of Evil.  A little confusing but good story, featuring the debut of Louise Jameson's Leela.

 

Yeah, Baker had almost all the big villains thrown at him during the first season.  The interesting thing is he did 41 stories and faced his most famous villains in only a handful of them.

[Llywela]

Retro finally got around to the first few episodes with Tom Baker. It's the first time they've shown an episode where the Doctor regenerates (darned missing episodes), so it's something of a milestone for them.

The 2nd Doctor's regeneration story exists in full, so that isn't an excuse for not showing it - it's just that it's 10 episodes long, which may be why they don't show it! I love it, personally.

 

I also love Tom Baker's first season - I love the trio of the 4th Doctor, Sarah and Harry, the three actors have such lovely chemistry and the characters bounce off one another so well, you can split the team any way and it works. I regret that there isn't more focus on them as people, it's a very plot-centric era and characters often get short shrift, but so atmospheric with it. The Ark in Space is one of my all-time favourite stories - it's my perfect feel-good Doctor Who, the one I can re-watch again and again when I'm feeling down.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Llywela

[ketose]

I may have to curse loudly the fact that I'm about 10 miles out of range for Retro TV. For the time being, I have the first Tom Baker series recorded on VHS so I don't have to be too angry yet.

[SnideAsides]

Finally got around to watching The Web Planet last night. I say "watching", but it was more like the episodes were playing in the corner of the screen while I was doing other work. Which seems to be a good way to actually watch that episode? I got the good plotting - and it was a good story - without having to look at the Zarbi and Menoptera costumes for extended periods. Kudos to the producers for finding a way to recycle the ant costume from Planet of Giants though.

[Llywela]

The ants in Planet of Giants weren't costumes, they were props - no actor inside as we only ever saw the ants dead. The Zarbi costumes were made new. I'm fonder of The Web Planet than it probably deserves. The production was way over-ambitious, but that's kinda what I like about it, that the team tried to tell that story anyway and didn't allow themselves to be held back by the limitations of the budget and technology available to them. It's a rich, immersive story, albeit slow-paced and dialogue-heavy. And it makes full use of its ensemble cast, Barbara is amazing - good stuff.

[Joe]

I'd love to see a modern take on the Web Planet. All the WTF reactions afterwards would make it worthwhile. They just need to pick up the pace of the original for that perfect mindfuck.

[Ringthane]

My fondest memory of The Web Planet is when the Zarbi walks straight into the camera. 

I'd love to see a modern take on the Web Planet. All the WTF reactions afterwards would make it worthwhile. They just need to pick up the pace of the original for that perfect mindfuck.

 

I have to wonder, though - they'd probably do the Zarbi in CG now, so that part of it might take away from the feel of it. 

[Llywela]

My fondest memory of The Web Planet is when the Zarbi walks straight into the camera. 

 

I have to wonder, though - they'd probably do the Zarbi in CG now, so that part of it might take away from the feel of it. 

It's true, and it would be a shame. I have a sneaking fondness for the use of actors in rubber suits to portray creatures - it may not be as polished as CGI, but there's a rawness and immediacy to the performances inherent in having the creatures right there, which simply can't be replicated when acting to green screen.

[benteen]

After going through my initial tour of Classic Doctor Who (222 episodes!) I've started watching episodes I missed the first time around.  Namely the 4 and Leela run.  The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng Chiang, Horror of Fang Rock, and Image of a Fendahl.  It is a very enjoyable run with some classics.  I loved The Talons of Weng-Chiang.  Despite how cheap the BBC was, they could always do a great period piece and the Doctor and Leela in Victorian London (with Jago and Litefoot) is a lot of fun.  Though I think I liked Horror of Fang Rock even more.  Considering how cramp the set was for that one, it's quite an accomplishment.

 

Fendahl features Wanda Ventham, the mother of Benedict Cumberbatch, as the main female guest star.  She even mentioned in the commentary that it was her first role after the birth of her son.

[ketose]

I loved Talons of Weng Chiang. The rubber creature stayed in the shadows. The Doctor solved a mystery and the villain's henchman abducted women from the streets of London. The technobabble was down to a minimum and Leela was more alien than the Doctor.

 

Fendahl features Wanda Ventham, the mother of Benedict Cumberbatch, as the main female guest star.  She even mentioned in the commentary that it was her first role after the birth of her son.

I didn't know that. I remember Ventham from Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter.

[HauntedBathroom]

Wanda took the 10 year old Benedict to the filming of her last appearance on Doctor Who, Time And The Rani. You've got to wonder why he ever wanted to be an actor, after seeing that chaos in person.

Edited January 11, 2015 by HauntedBathroom

[ketose]

Actually, Benedict would make a good Doctor, but I think that case has already been made.

[SnideAsides]

The Crusade... wow. Amazing visuals, great acting, pretty decent plot. The only downside is the crew are pretty much relegated to comic relief rather than doing too much, but it's worth it if we get a hilarious in-joke like Vicki having to dress up as a boy in a world that's Shakespearean in all but name. It's so sad that I only have one "new" story with Barbara (and I suppose Ian, though I believe I've stated my apathy towards him before) though, since I remember watching The Space Museum a while ago.

[benteen]

And the sad thing is neither Ian or Barbara appeared again.  There had been plans for them to cameo at the end of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve but that never happened.  William Russell was originally supposed to be the guest star for Mardwyn Returns but that didn't work out (we got the return of The Brigadier instead so no complaints).  He's done plenty of Big Finish work though and Jemma Powell was recently chosen to play Barbara in some upcoming Big Finish productions (she played Jacqueline Hill in An Adventure in Space and Time).

 

Jacqueline Hill sadly passed away in 1993.  She did return as a guest star as another character in 1980 for the serial Meglos during Tom Baker's final year.  Interesting fact, she was the lead in the BBC production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight in 1957.  He co-star was Sean Connery in his first starring role.  Supposedly, Hill was the one who suggested him because "the ladies would like him."  That BBC production was lost long ago but the audio of the performance was found recently.  Michael Caine had a very small role in that as a boxer.

Edited January 13, 2015 by benteen

[benteen]

I watched The Ribos Operation today, the first serial in the season-long Key of Time storyline (Season 16).  It introduced the first Romana, Mary Tamm.  Beautiful woman and I liked the character a lot.  Now that I've seen an adventure with the first Romana, I can say that I've seen at least one episode/serial for every companion of The Doctor.

 

This serial was really good and managed to tell a smaller story within the larger one.  A few similarities to Game of Thrones can be found.  Excellent guest cast and a side character named Binro gets a surprisingly emotional storyline.  Fun fact, the actor who played him, Timothy Bateson, was the voice of Kreacher in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in what turned out to be his final role.

Edited January 18, 2015 by benteen

[Llywela]

Romana I really is gorgeous, absolutely stunning. I really enjoy her learning curve through the Key to Time season - she's this bright young thing, recently qualified, who in many ways can put the Doctor to shame, on an intellectual level, but she's completely inexperienced, whereas he knows the ways of the universe only too well, so they balance one another quite effectively. Having another Time Lord in the TARDIS makes for an interesting dynamic.

 

I've been ploughing my way through The Celestial Toymaker lately, in my ongoing First Doctor marathon and...well, I've enjoyed a lot of unpopular First Doctor stories, it's probably my favourite era, taken as a whole, but I couldn't find anything to enjoy about this one. Well actually, that's not quite true. I enjoyed Steven's sarcasm, I always do. But the rest of it...yeah, no. It's just bad. Maybe it would be different if the visuals still existed, but they don't (final episode aside). It's just dull and repetitive. The characters just go round and round in circles, they don't get to do anything proactive at all, they have the same conversations over and over without learning anything, the writing for Dodo is excruciating and damages her character immensely, the side characters are quite literally just there to waste time rather than actually being people worth getting to know, the Doctor is absent for most of the story (and although Steven can usually carry a story without the Doctor,  he can't save this mess), and in the end they don't really even save themselves - they just get lucky and escape. Nothing is ever truly explained or resolved. The serial was dogged by behind-the-scenes problems and it shows, I'm afraid. One to skip, for anyone just watching casually rather than attempting a full marathon like me.

 

Next up on my marathon hit-list is The Gunfighters, which I have seen before - it's also one of the weakest stories in the season, but at least it's funny!

 

I'm indulging in a bit of Tom Baker first, though - The Sunmakers, which I'd not seen before. Currently halfway through. Weak execution of the premise, so far, but Leela is, as always, fantastic.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Llywela

[benteen]

I saw the last episode with the Celestial Toymaker.  I enjoyed that one but yeah, Dodo falling for one of his henchman's lame tricks (she apparently did this throughout the serial) is infuriating and Steven should have chucked her out of the TARDIS.  Hartnell was on holiday during the serial so that hurt things too.

 

They were planning to bring Michael Gough back for face The Sixth Doctor before the show was put on hiatus.  It's a shame he never came back.

[tv-talk]

Romana is wonderful, you will like this series a lot. Key to Time is one of the classic runs of classic Who. The dynamic between Romana and the Doctor is fabulous, really puts to shame the forced stuff we see with Clara i.e. telling the Doctor to do as he's told, shut up, etc just so we can establish how amazing Clara truly is. Really it's the same with Leela (also wonderful) who stands up to the Doctor all the time without it seeming to be a plot point or what we're supposed to take away from the epsidode as opposed to this "wow Clara is really the one in charge" dynamic the current series forces on us.

 

The beastie in Ribos Operation is hilarious and basically an afterthought to the plot, as if they were like 'well this is Doctor Who so we have to have a rubber monster right?" Also notable how the Doctor tricks the Graf Vynnda K into killing himself, not quite sure if that's in line with NewWho

[Llywela]

I saw the last episode with the Celestial Toymaker.  I enjoyed that one but yeah, Dodo falling for one of his henchman's lame tricks (she apparently did this throughout the serial) is infuriating and Steven should have chucked her out of the TARDIS.  Hartnell was on holiday during the serial so that hurt things too.

Even in the episodes he was in, Hartnell seems to be barely there - his relationship with the producers had become quite acrimonious at this point, apparently, which made for a strained production, while the original script for the serial couldn't be used and had to be re-written extensively at very short notice, which is why it's such a mess, really. The writing for Dodo is especially poor throughout; Jackie Lane does her best, but she's just got nothing to work with. Dodo is written as a gullible idiot, end of. She falls for the same tricks over and over and over and never learns - the first time can be forgiven, and it says good things about her that she feels sorry for her opponents and wants to help them when they are in trouble, even at her own expense, but even that first time it is an obvious ploy and everyone already knows long before then that the Toymaker's creations will not play fair, and her failure to learn that lesson is ridiculous. The sad thing is that under Verity Lambert, just a few months earlier, a slow, simple plot like this would have been used as an opportunity to showcase and build up the characters - Steven and Dodo have only just met, after all, and they spend the entire serial together, away from the Doctor...yet they have almost no meaningful interaction at all, they just discuss the games and their differing opinions of the Toymaker's play-people, over and over and over. The only thing approaching a genuine character moment comes when Dodo has got herself into trouble and Steven saves her and is enormously relieved, saying that the Doctor would never have forgiven him if he let anything happen to her - he doesn't add that he's lost too many people already, but that sentiment is there in Peter Purves' delivery. It's just a real shame there's no more depth to the writing than that, because the actors could have done so much more. The potential is there - the story does at least make clear how much potential there is for Steven and Dodo as a pairing, they are such a study in contrasts, his cynicism versus her naivety, her sunny nature tempering his impatience and irritability, his resourcefulness offsetting her gullibility, her compassion leavening his sometimes ruthless pragmatism, and so on. But that potential is constantly undermined by Dodo being written as an idiot.

 

Romana is wonderful, you will like this series a lot. Key to Time is one of the classic runs of classic Who. The dynamic between Romana and the Doctor is fabulous, really puts to shame the forced stuff we see with Clara i.e. telling the Doctor to do as he's told, shut up, etc just so we can establish how amazing Clara truly is. Really it's the same with Leela (also wonderful) who stands up to the Doctor all the time without it seeming to be a plot point or what we're supposed to take away from the epsidode as opposed to this "wow Clara is really the one in charge" dynamic the current series forces on us

That's the problem I have with Clara too, to be honest - the hyperbole, when she isn't doing anything new. There were times last season when the writing of her episodes was just falling over itself so make us believe she was doing something really new and unique, learning how to 'be the Doctor', while also trying to make it seem this was a bad thing, and I constantly wanted to shake both her and the writers and say, "yeah, you are doing something new here - plenty of other companions have had to step up and take charge when the Doctor wasn't available, but you're the first who's made such a big song and dance about it, everyone else just got on with it!" I'd enjoy her stories a lot more if they weren't so self-conscious, if it weren't for that constant air of 'wow, look! This is so ~different~ and ~new~, look how amazing we are', if they were a bit more matter-of-fact, because she really isn't breaking new ground. She's just the one that's around at the moment. My overall assessment of the entire Moffat era tends to be summed up as 'trying too hard'.

 

But, um, to get back on topic, yes, I really love Romana as a character and enjoy the Key to Time series. It has its ups and downs, but is generally a lot of fun.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Llywela

[tv-talk]

No one makes a fool of the Graff Vynda-K and lives!

 

 

Haha thank you, I'd forgotten just how much I always loved the Graff and his over-the-top opinion of himself. So melodramatic about everything, just terrific. 

 

One of the great scenes with Romana if I recall it correctly is where she points out to the Doctor he is materializing the TARDIS with the "brakes" on and that's where the iconic sound effect for the series comes from. Of course he doesnt stop doing it but the interplay with that is perfect as far as the dynamic between the Doctor and Companion as sometimes equals rather than how it's done in this latest series with Clara. 

[HauntedBathroom]

Isn't that the scene with River at the start of Time of Angels?

[Llywela]

One of the great scenes with Romana if I recall it correctly is where she points out to the Doctor he is materializing the TARDIS with the "brakes" on and that's where the iconic sound effect for the series comes from. Of course he doesnt stop doing it but the interplay with that is perfect as far as the dynamic between the Doctor and Companion as sometimes equals rather than how it's done in this latest series with Clara. 

 

Isn't that the scene with River at the start of Time of Angels?

Yeah, that was River, not Romana. Romana was a fully fledged Time Lord, highly qualified and fresh from the academy, knew the TARDIS manual inside out, and still the TARDIS always made that sound when she flew it because that's the noise TARDIS engines make, whatever River might say. We've met multiple Time Lords and seen numerous TARDISes over the years, and they always made that sound because that's the noise TARDIS engines make. That line of River's is actually a really good example of the modern show trampling all over an iconic part of the show's heritage for the sake of a throwaway line that sounds good in the moment and is designed purely to bolster one character at the expense of another - in this instance, making River look good by making the Doctor look stupid, without reference to any other considerations, such as his centuries of intimate experience of flying the TARDIS, or 50 years of show history in which every TARDIS we've ever encountered has made the same sound. Because that's the sound TARDIS engines make.

 

Ooh, apparently I'm still a little bitter about this!

 

I like to think River simply found a 'mute' button designed for times when extra stealth is required, and the Doctor and TARDIS just let her think she'd stumbled onto the 'right' way to fly a TARDIS because she was so pleased with herself about it.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Llywela

[benteen]

That line is atrocious.  I'll just ignore it like I do a lot of Moffat's stuff.

 

As pointed out, a true Time Lord should know what that sound is and not a false one like River.

Edited January 18, 2015 by benteen

[tv-talk]

whoops, not sure how I mixed that up. Getting old I guess haha

[HauntedBathroom]

That line of River's is actually a really good example of the modern show trampling all over an iconic part of the show's heritage for the sake of a throwaway line that sounds good in the moment and is designed purely to bolster one character at the expense of another - in this instance, making River look good by making the Doctor look stupid, without reference to any other considerations, such as his centuries of intimate experience of flying the TARDIS, or 50 years of show history in which every TARDIS we've ever encountered has made the same sound. Because that's the sound TARDIS engines make.

Or to put it another, less angry, way. River and the TARDIS played a joke on the Doctor.

[SnideAsides]

And, of course, Matt Smith was on the verge of shouting "What happened to the vworp vworp? I liked the vworp vworp! The vworp vworp was cool!"

[Llywela]

Or to put it another, less angry, way. River and the TARDIS played a joke on the Doctor.

Heh. That too. I think part of the reason it bugs me so much is because of the way fandom tends to latch onto lines like that, as if they are so deep and significant - I can't count the number of posts I've seen of people very seriously complaining about how the Doctor always 'hurts' the TARDIS by flying her with the brakes on, or opening the door the wrong way (he doesn't, that line of Neil Gaiman's was flat out wrong). And I'm just...seriously, people, those lines may have sounded good in the moment, but that's all they were, they aren't actually invested with deeper truth and meaning than anything else, they were just throwaway lines that sounded good but at the expense of being correct. Look at the rest of the evidence.

 

Oh, we're way off-topic now. Classic commentary...um...Leela is fantastic, and I'm always so impressed by Louise Jameson's performance, she really inhabits her character in a way not every actor can achieve, investing every movement and every line spoken with Leela's background and beliefs.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Llywela

[elle]

I was wandering around the Dr. Who clips on You Tube, I watched the clip Three Doctors Unite!  Much to my shock and surprise, there was the Tardis in light blue!  I even think Jo's outfit matches it! (go to the end of the clip)

 

You mean the Tardis wasn't always Tardis Blue?

Edited January 21, 2015 by elle

[benteen]

About The Seeds of Doom:

 

The Krynoid is able to control local plant life telepathically to strangle gardeners, mercenaries, butlers, etc. Fair enough but this doesn't explain how inanimate plant life sudden becomes animate. It's also hugely inefficient. It would be easier to animate vegetable matter inside the humans' digestive tracts. Gruesome, yes, but this is a Hinchcliffe story!

 

The Krynoid recently popped up in the Doctor Who Tales from Trenzalore book.

 

I saw The Seeds of Doom last year.  Harrison Chase was a truly batshit crazy villain and I got a kick out of his henchman Scorby.  This era had some great henchman, like Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks.  Scorby was another...the Doctor ripped off a few great one-liners on him.

[Llywela]

I was wandering around the Dr. Who clips on You Tube, I watched the clip Three Doctors Unite!  Much to my shock and surprise, there was the Tardis in light blue!  I even think Jo's outfit matches it! (go to the end of the clip)

 

You mean the Tardis wasn't always Tardis Blue?

Oh, The Three Doctors is all kinds of fun. Bless him, that was Hartnell's last performance - he was already very ill and really shouldn't have done it, but he loved the show so much. He wasn't well enough for a proper appearance, though, that's why all his Doctor was set up the way he was, stuck talking into a screen - it's all Hartnell could manage.

 

As for the TARDIS, at this point in its lifecycle, a) the prop was very battered and worn, and b) the whole 'TARDIS blue' thing had yet to be invested with the significance it is given today, that's more of a new Who thing. The classic TARDIS was varying shades of blue depending on when the prop was last given a touch-up, and I doubt the props department were too concerned about the exact shade of blue they used, so long as it was blue. In the '60s, of course, we didn't see the colour at all - in fact, in The Ark a guest character refers to it as a black box!

[Llywela]

And, of course, there was that wonderful moment in The Happiness Patrol when the TARDIS was painted bright pink...:D

[benteen]

I was a little mixed on The Three Doctors but it was a lot of fun.  Patrick Troughton was fantastic in it.  He always brought his A-game to the anniversary episodes and showed why he was one of the best Doctors.  His interaction with Jon Pertwee is wonderful in that.  Sadly, Frazer Hines was unable to appear as Jaime but Sgt. Benton did a great job filling in the companion role for the Second Doctor.

[SnideAsides]

As it turns out, The Space Museum is better than I remembered! It's still not a top-tier story, but for some reason I thought they'd extended the basic plot from that first episode out until the end of about Part Three, so it was kind of surprising to see the bodies disappear from their cases so quickly. (Personal favourite moment: The camera pans past them all trying to look like statues, and Jacqueline Hill is wobbling and looking away to avoid bursting into laughter for some reason.) On the other hand? That was some really terrible makeup on both alien races, even by 1960s standards.

[Llywela]

I remember feeling a bit mixed about The Space Museum. It is a bit slow, to be sure, but it has some terrific ideas - it's the first time the show ever attempted to deal with 'timey-wimey' themes, at a point when the show itself and popular culture in general had yet to develop a standard vocabulary for such things - and it has some wonderful character moments in it. I'm less concerned about plot when the characters are engaging me, and they do here - there's Ian and Barbara being Ian and Barbara (with Babs sacrificing a cardigan to the cause, not for the first time) and Vicki leading a revolution and the Doctor bamboozling a mind-reading machine, and so on.

 

Of course, their unfortunate new friends the Xerons are unlikely to last very much longer even post-revolution, given that they are a) living on a dead planet, and b) appear to have no women (then again, maybe that doesn't matter to their biology...) but, what the heck. Slow story, but there's some great stuff in it anyway.

[benteen]

I just watched The Pirate Planet, which was Douglas Adams first script for Doctor Who.  I thought it was an excellent and clever story, filled with some high concept ideas.  One of only a handful of Classic Who stories not to be novelized.

[Ringthane]

It's true, and it would be a shame. I have a sneaking fondness for the use of actors in rubber suits to portray creatures - it may not be as polished as CGI, but there's a rawness and immediacy to the performances inherent in having the creatures right there, which simply can't be replicated when acting to green screen.

 

I guess it is better than what they did in the movie "Beginning of the End", which was just grasshoppers crawling up and down photos of Chicago...

[tv-talk]

Pirate Planet is great, I especially like how the Captain isnt what he appears to be and the Queen emerges as real impetus for events. Just as I always loved the way Graff Vynda-K blustered about also get a kick out of Capt in same vein...MR.FIBULEE!!! 

 

I know it's cliche but 4th Doctor really is the best, I enjoy watching basically all of the mid to late70s run, so good to have the Doctor actually out there is Space and Time rather messing about on Earth all of the time.

 

Had completely forgotten that Douglas Adams wrote Pirate Planet! Quick google search and now I'm going to have to find Shada and watch that. Thanks for pointing that out!

Edited January 25, 2015 by tv-talk

[benteen]

Shada was the unfinished serial but he also co-wrote City of Death, which was great and features Julian Glover.

 

I loved how 4 hilariously called out the Captain on all his shouting with this line "“You don’t want to take over the universe, do you? No. You wouldn’t know what to do with it, beyond shout at it.”

[Llywela]

Gareth Roberts novelised the incomplete Shada in the style of Douglas Adams, and it is brilliant. Of course, Douglas Adams himself also novelised Shada, in a sense, taking all the Doctor Who out of the concept and turning it into Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency! I've seen the version with the Tom Baker narrated links - I'm not sure it would be remembered as a classic if it had been completed, but it certainly is a lot of fun!

[Joe]

I watched the animated version with Eight. It was on the BBC DW site many years ago. Good fun. When I finally saw the Baker version, I didn't like the narration. He just seemed off somehow.

[benteen]

Gareth Roberts was also supposed to novelize City of Death but had to drop out.  I believe James Goss is writing it now.

 

You can definitely see the Hitchhiker vibe in The Pirate Planet.  When I saw MR.FIBULEE I immediately thought of the book.  I have to be honest though, I wasn't much of a fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when I read it.

Edited January 26, 2015 by benteen

[SnideAsides]

The Chase is over and I'm a little sad, both because Barbara is gone and because the story was kind of hilariously, brilliantly terrible. There's a lot to like in the story, especially if you love sight gags like I do - Frankenstein picking up a Dalek! Peter Purves yelling into a Dalek plunger! The woman with the baby jumping from the Marie Celeste! The Dalek falling overboard! The scrotum monster/testicles with tentacles (sorry, "mire beast")! - but it's like Terry Nation decided that "the Daleks are chasing the Doctor" was enough of a plot that he didn't need to think of anything else. One question though: Is the amusement park haunted house bit the only time part of a story has been set in Africa? How depressing. (Other randomness: Despite being held in an apparently China-controlled Ghana, it costs ten dollars to enter. But I refuse to believe that the Doctor, Barbara, Ian, Vicki, and the Daleks all apparently failed to not only not see said sign when it's so close to the stairs, but also the adjacent daylight it implies.)