Dr Who

(20-10-2013 14:59 )M-L-L Wrote:  On Watch right now or starting again on Watch+1 at 15:30 if you've missed it :

Pyramid of Mars : classic 1975 sci-fi / Hammer House of Horror homage/mash up, with robot Egyptian mummies wandering around a country house in 1911 throttling everything that moves. Some of the best production values of that era, given the puny budgets, limited location filming and bias to studio-bound production of those days. Tom Baker at his peak ("Something's interfering with time, and time is my business"), Sarah Jane with a rifle, and "Mr Bronson" from Grange Hill as one of the expendable Edwardian supporting cast members. The Doctor effortlessly manages to switch from funny banter and deadpan jokes to Time Lord authority and even fear; and the villain conveys the absolute authority of the enormity of the cosmic threat to the world just through his voice despite the handicap of remaining sitting in a chair in a jackal costume head for almost the entire proceedings, and the absence of apocalyptic CGI to back him up.

I wonder if the writer of the original Stargate movie ever watched it as a kid.

This is probably my favourite ever Dr Who story. How I wish the stories were as good nowadays.

(25-10-2013 21:25 )Doddle Wrote:  

(24-10-2013 23:08 )M-L-L Wrote:  and of course the death of Adric

About 10 stories too late

Poor Adric. I guess we were supposed to identify with him, but he was just universally hated.

He was a naff concept - "The Artful Dodger in Space" who's also a mathematical genius ? I don't think they knew what to do with him, and the actor was, let's face it, and by his own admission these days, not an actor at all.

Since they all came out on DVD, I can never watch "The Visitation" (you know - lizard men and robots in Tudorbethan England cause the Black Death and the Doctor starts the Great Fire of London) without thinking of Peter Davison's anecdote about how the "actor" who played Adric "discovered" Campari the night before filming and therefore spent the entire location shoot in the forest holding back the urge to vomit and failing, finally ducking behind a tree to hurl over some sound equipment at the end of a take; and then all the other actors had to climb into the police box prop with him immediately afterwards for the next shot.

That was beginning of them trying to turn Dr Who into a soap in the early 80s - with the Doctor as the "Dad" and endless scenes of bickering in the TARDIS in an attempt to make the companions seem interesting or characters in their own right : wasn't there about 3 companions all in their late teens/early 20s at that point, and they all had bedrooms in the TARDIS ?

Seems completely creepy now : I think the Daily Mail would have the Doctor strung up if they tried that these days.

(25-10-2013 21:25 )Doddle Wrote:  Beryl Reid of course had plenty of serious acting chops - she turns up in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which would have been made around the same time as Earthshock.

You are dead right - she did do serious acting; and Tinker Tailor was good but I think a couple of years earlier, I've a suspicion it was made in the last gasp of the 70s.

But in Earthshock poor Beryl just looks like she hasn't a clue what's going on, and the butch leather outfit and gloves just looks hilarious. It's the BBC trying to do Ridley Scott's original "Alien" characterisation, with all the crew being like disgruntled world-weary space truckers pissed off at their employers.

By that stage in her career I think Beryl was more well known for appearing on stuff like "Blankety Blank" and "Celebrity Squares" ?

Speaking of which, in an age where TV is eating itself the latter is surely overdue an ironic post-modern remake by now ? It probably already has been and I've been too bored to even register or remember it.

Adric was a tragedy waiting to happen. However, it took too long to happen and nobody much cared.

(28-10-2013 22:05 )M-L-L Wrote:  Since they all came out on DVD, I can never watch "The Visitation" (you know - lizard men and robots in Tudorbethan England cause the Black Death and the Doctor starts the Great Fire of London) without thinking of Peter Davison's anecdote about how the "actor" who played Adric "discovered" Campari the night before filming and therefore spent the entire location shoot in the forest holding back the urge to vomit and failing, finally ducking behind a tree to hurl over some sound equipment at the end of a take; and then all the other actors had to climb into the police box prop with him immediately afterwards for the next shot.

As a sad completist, I am bound to correct you as this anecdote was about Davo's first story, 'Castrovalva'.

Thinking about Beryl Reid being all at sea reminds me of another Adric anecdote - when Richard Todd came on the show, Adric tried to give him some acting tips, unaware that he'd been acting since before Adric was born

(29-10-2013 09:25 )Doddle Wrote:  As a sad completist, I am bound to correct you as this anecdote was about Davo's first story, 'Castrovalva'.

Thinking about Beryl Reid being all at sea reminds me of another Adric anecdote - when Richard Todd came on the show, Adric tried to give him some acting tips, unaware that he'd been acting since before Adric was born

No need to feel sad - Sir, I stand corrected and bow to your superior knowledge !

Richard Todd - was that Kinda ?
The commander guy in that went bonkers and was so OTT - "YOU CAN'T MEND PEOPLE!"

We never got tired of laughing at that line in the playground.

It was still watchable in those days - it became barely watchable for me during Colin Baker (Peri helped) , and Slyvester McCoy...well the less said the better.

(29-10-2013 21:49 )M-L-L Wrote:  Richard Todd - was that Kinda ?
The commander guy in that went bonkers and was so OTT - "YOU CAN'T MEND PEOPLE!"

We never got tired of laughing at that line in the playground.

Yes, 'Kinda'. The other "You can't mend people" guy was Simon Rouse who went on to be a regular in The Bill for years.

I didn't become a regular viewer until 1985

Watch Sat 2nd Nov 14:00 : The Doctors Revisited : The Seventh Doctor ; 14:30 Battlefield
Watch Sun 3rd Nov 14:00 : The Doctors Revisited : The Eighth Doctor ; 14:30 Dr Who (The 1996 TV Movie w/ Paul McGann)

Neither of these really my cup of tea to be honest, but it takes all sorts.

Paul McGann was an interesting choice but never really given a fair chance, let down by a poor story and production choices presumably designed to try to appeal to America by mistakenly trying to ape the then-style of American TV; instead of recognising that what people liked about the original show and what made it unique was the British eccentricity; and all that needed was for that to be updated and have some quality production and faith put behind it. (Only took them to 2005 for the BBC to realise this and pick people to run it who understood the show and were serious about the job ...)

The Dr Who movie with McGann was indeed at the time, made to appeal to both British and American audiences. Without American money it would never have been made. Time may not have been kind but it was at the time, the first hint of salvation. Someone out there still cared about the series.
Sylvester McCoy was in himself quite a good choice. He was just let down by bad scripts, terrible sfx and half-hearted production. McCoy actually wanted the chance to be allowed to play him in a less comedic manner. However, the BBC at the time simply wanted to kill off Dr Who, which they managed to do but luckily they forgot about his powers of regeneration.
The BBC has long struggled with Dr Who. The executives planning things never knew properly what to do with the show post Tom Baker era. Torn between marketing it for children or adults. The constant fact that they never seem to fathom is that it appeals to people of all ages. Fans grow up watching Dr Who as a child and still watch it with as much enjoyment in their adult lives. Can't think of many programmes that can claim that fact

I hated the TV Movie for years & years, but I did recently get it on DVD, and didn't mind it all that much.

(02-11-2013 13:49 )Doddle Wrote:  I hated the TV Movie for years & years, but I did recently get it on DVD, and didn't mind it all that much.

I confess I felt "forced" to buy the DVD because it was bundled with reissues of other classic DVDs I did not have; and have so far only managed to bring myself to watch it with the commentary track on. The guy playing the Master was pretty OTT I seem to remember and I thought nobody could top that for outrageousness - until John Simm was "resurrected" in The End of Time of course, where he was just out-and-out bonkers.