Things I've Been Watching

[thisbluespirit]

belantana asking me about Classic Who reminded me that I'd given up reporting on my rewatching in order (that I started about four years ago now - so long that I'm just pining for One, Ian and Barbara by now.)

This was because I kept watching bits of serials and only finishing them months later in a very unorganised way, so here goes, nevertheless:

(Naturally, there will be 1978 spoilers).


Firstly, despite my sorrow at saying farewell to Leela, how can I not appreciate Romana I? (Though I missed Leela so much I did contemplate imagining an AU when she was in S16. It's as well I had so long a break that I forgot).

The Ribos Operation
This is one of those stories that nobody ever mentions much, and yet it's really good. I love the fantasy-but-not-fantasy setting, and the background world-building that goes on, both with the empire, Garron and Unstaffe's schemes as well as Ribos itself. There's a very bad monster, but this is par for the course. And Mary Tamm is about the only person who could follow Leela, her entrance being very entertaining, making an immediate impact in stunning white. (I think it has to be said that Romana I is the high point in DW glamour). Her way (through this and the other serials) of remaining both smug, very knowledgeable, capable of dealing with the Doctor, and yet also with a certain innocence and vulnerability that makes her still very likeable is great. And it doesn't take her long to join forces with K9 in making fun of the Doctor - an essential quality.

The Pirate Planet
How can I say this? There's so much good in this; it's a fantastic ep for Romana pwning the world, great concept, one-liners and the "What's it for?" scene is rightly one of the greatest. And I enjoy it. (You can sense the but coming, can't you?) For some reason, despite all this, I'm watching with a slight sigh and counting down of episodes... How soon till The Stones of Blood, people? I've tried to put my finger on why, because it is very good, huge fun and clever and I do like it, don't get me wrong. I think a big part of the reason I have a 'but' to my love for it is:

a) I have a feeling that other perfectly competent episodes I've found nevertheless dull also turned out to be directed by Pennant Roberts (although I'd have to check that - I may be maligning him unfairly). The initial scene with the new prosperity being declared has a 'crowd' of about five being entirely unenthusiastic. I'm not sure whether this is intentional, but it doesn't come across well. I'm often v. amused by similar things, but this one is irritating.

b) Dare I criticise the almighty Tom? He seems under-involved until things start getting serious towards the end. This may be plot-related, with Romana going from strength to strength, but... I don't know. I remain undecided. He's stunning once everything does come together though. The last ep speeds by, suddenly. (As I said, don't get me wrong - I like this story!)

c) The actor playing Mr Fibuli is not taking any of this seriously, either, and it's annoying. Everyone else is, and it's noticeable. I may be alone here, because people praise the Captain/Mr Fibuli double-act, but sorry. He is playing along and, while he could be part of this double game of the Captain's, that's not how it comes across to me.

d) Generic rebels. Although David Warwick really does do his best to make Kimus interesting and likeable. (Leela would so have run off with him, never mind the girlfriend. Sorry, did I think that aloud? :lol:)

The Stones of Blood
And then, where this one has obvious, gaping flaws, I just love it. Obviously, I have no taste whatsoever. I even love the hyperspace trial. I saw an objection somewhere to this because it's silly for the Doctor to have a wig in his pocket. (Er, really? :lol:)

As for why:
a) Professor Emilia Rumford
Isn't she wonderful? If I hated everything else in this, I'd still love it for her. Her interactions with the regulars are great - and given how small the guest cast is this time round, that's just as well. She should have been a companion, if that hadn't been impossible. She should definitely turn up in fanfic all the time.

b) The bizarreness of suddenly having Classic Who go fem-slash on you. Even if like me, that's not your sort of thing, this one is... well... I always get very entertained when old-fashioned Who does things you think would never have happened in Classic DW. Although, maybe if you read it that way, you'd have to throw 'sexist' accusations at David Fisher, but please don't let's spoil anything.

c) Random nasty camping death! Completely random and throwaway and scary.

d) There are big scary rocks! It gets away with polystyrene rocks that kill you. That is an achievement.

e) K9 is a hero! He goes through several battery recharges in this, and a complete dodgy rewiring, bless him.

f) All right, so Romana nearly falls off a cliff, but she makes up for it with everything else, even with her unsuitable shoes that become a recurring joke.

g) So shoot me, I like the hyperspace prison with old baddies languishing about; the by-now-typical gothic DW being turned on its head and the Doctor getting put on trial by sparkly lights. I shouldn't, but maybe I always wanted to get lost in a theoretical absurdity, too.

The Androids of Tara
I'm only halfway through this, but I have seen it far more times than any of the above (and how mad is stopping a rewatch halfway through this? I must sort myself out at once) so I can still comment.

My love for the previous ep is a bit inexplicable, but this one is marvellous. DW does the Prisoner of Zenda & the plagiarism homage is completely shameless. (With a random, really bad monster: see above). The Doctor goes fishing, Romana meets her double, and there's sword-fighting and... Count Grendel. (All together now: "Next time I shall not be so lenient!") There's a joy to it; most of it is shot on location in the sunshine. I don't think I've anything new to say about it. It's not serious in the least, but it's great fun. And I may have watched it too many times because of this.

(The only thing that could make this better was if someone wrote a short story sequel in iambic pentameter featuring Seven, Benny, and the Kandyman - oh, wait, someone did.)

The below are as spoiler-free as I can manage, though:

The Company of Friends
I also listened to this Big Finish audio. I'd love to see them do more like this - I really enjoyed the short stories; very easy for listening to. It's good to see Benny with the Doctor; I really hope they let Fitz out to play again, now they've found a voice for him - that was an amusing short story; Izzy - now, I liked this story, and I followed Izzy in the comic strip, but at times she sounded so young in this, I thought there was supposed to be some strange alien effect going on. But I wouldn't mind seeing more of her. Mary Shelley - yes, definitely more please! It was a strange story, but the pairing really worked.


The Shadow of the Scourge
And I finally finished this one, too. Having read my way through an awful lot of the NAs, I was keen to hear the team in action. When I started, it took me a while to get used to, because Lisa Bowerman was so not the Benny voice in my head. However, by the time I came back to it, I'd heard her in Company of Friends and come around, and just enjoyed it. It was both the NA team in action and also a loving send-up of the era. I still haven't quite got my head around what was going on with the cross-stitchers (although I can see Seven claiming to be one), but I enjoyed the rest. And the relationship between Benny and Seven was spot on at the end. I was aww-ing under my breath for her not leaving him and her dealing with him in such a characteristic way. It was an odd one in many ways, but getting at the cliches of the NAs and letting Benny shine without taking away from Seven and Ace's scary closeness. Sometimes, I have to wonder if Benny wasn't the best friend he (n)ever had.

(Did I say my reviews are boring as I mostly like things? It's true.

Comments

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Oh, I adored all of Key to Time. Including Kroll. :)

And Mary Tam was wonderful as Romana! It's not that I don't like Lala Ward, but Mary Tam's Romana was so much more the Doctor's equal. And fun!

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I am looking forward to watching Kroll and The Armageddon Factor in context at last. (I watched them when I got the box set, and just the commentaries for the others, as I had them on video).

And I agree! Although my rewatch hasn't got as far as Romana II this time round, so maybe I will change my mind. But, Romana I always seems able to take the Doctor. It's very engaging.

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Kroll! Kroll! Kroll! Kroll!

Erm. :)

Yeah, Romana I had a proper attitude towards the Doctor. Quite the same thing I loved in the Sarah=Jane/ Three and Donna/ Ten relationship. The man alien hasn't travelled with enough people that can put him in his place! :)

[thisbluespirit]

True, although I think you could safely add Zoe, Barbara and Tegan to that list!

I know, I must watch the rest soon. :-)

[pitry.livejournal.com]

*looks ashamed at the floor*

Erm... er.... err.... erm....

I've seen all of Unearthly Child with Barbara, The Krotons and a couple of the War Games with Zoe. I tried watching more Hartnell but it's just too slow for me, and - I don't really have an excuse for Troughton. I loved his Doctor in all the episodes I've seen. I just discovered the amazing colours of Pertwee and never quite got back to them....

Also...Oh, I don't really have an excuse for Tegan. With the exception that, erm, err.....
well.....
weeeeeeelllllllllll....
How to put it nicely. I like McCoy's Doctor less than I do Davison's! Yes. That's a diplomatic way of putting it. I think.

*goes to sit shameful in the corner*

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I assumed you had watched everyone - you did such a good job with Matryoshka. (And you did Tegan nicely in that, too. You've just been fooling me all this time - how shocking.) ;-D

I love all eras; I am completely shameless about it. And Barbara is Awesome. Wherever she goes, people want to marry her, kill her, or worship her and Ian can defeat Daleks by the power of her cardigans. :-D (I find the historicals and the comedy eps stand up the best, but I also love The War Machines, the sole surviving Ben & Polly story. Stuff like The Sensorites, The Edge of Destruction - although for a companion standing up to the Doctor, Barbara really goes for it in that - and The Web Planet, for instance is very creaky. I tend to have knitting on hand to get me through the dodgy aliens until we get back to Ian/Barbara and fun with the Doctor and Vicki, or whatever.)

And when you come to think of it, even Mel had him pedalling away on that exercise bike... :lol:

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Mwahaha! perhaps. :)
Well, I did watch some Tegan episodes... Logopolis, Castrovalva, Earthshock, The Five Doctors, no that's it, I think. Hmm. Five is probably the most straight forward Doctor - at least from those episodes, maybe he changes later on and I just didn't give him enough of a chance? That and the stories continued lacking that thing that made me abandon the later Tom years - I still watched season 17, but I sort of gave up at some point either during that or during season 18.
Anyway, maybe I did manage to catch enough of Tegan's voice to protray her properly in the very few bits she had... but I suspect I got away with it because she doesn't have too much of a presence.

I think I'm very ambivalent about some of the Doctors. I actually really liked the dynamic of the Doctor with Ian and Barbara in Unearthly Child.. The problem was I didn't like much everything else. The first episode was really entertaining, but then I kinda lost patience after 20 minutes of cavemen arguing who invented fire.... *small*

Then there's Six and Seven. I love Six! I do. He could have been a magnificent Doctor. But, well, the episodes themselves. Sigh. Well, and Mel. I was actually enjoying Trial of a Time Lord til that point :) And McCoy... his stories were actually getting better, I watched with him Battlefield and Survival which were really fun! But I sort of failed to connect with him - I dunno, maybe it was my on and off watching strategies. I'm a youngling, I have to catch up fill in the blanks when I get the opportunity! :D

I guess my watching strategy did have a bit of "comfort watching" in it, i.e I immediately clicked with Pertwee and early Tom so I just watched everything I could find of them and sort of neglected the others... :(

...and that was rather long and pointless, wasn't it? *angelic smile* ;)

[pedanther]

The first episode was really entertaining, but then I kinda lost patience after 20 minutes of cavemen arguing who invented fire.... *small*

There's no need to be ashamed of that reaction - that's what pretty much *everyone* says about the first serial.


I tried watching more Hartnell but it's just too slow for me

One thing about the Hartnells is that the pacing is based on the assumption that people will be watching one episode at a time, a week apart; if you watch one that way, you might find it works better. (Okay, one episode a week may be asking too much, but maybe one episode per day or something.)


[edited: aargh! typo!]

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Oooh, cheers! I always feel like an uneducated youngling... now I can feel so much better with myself! :D

[thisbluespirit]

Talking about DW is never pointless! Or at least, I'm certainly happy to go along with it on my lj. ;-)

And, I agree with pedanther, your reactions seem perfectly normal. We all fast forward the cave men. :lol: (And your verdict on Six - nice Doctor, shame about the stories - is pretty general, too). Everybody has their favourite and least favourite Doctors. Also if you don't want to waste any hours of your life watching b&w things made in 1963, why should you? If on the other hand you'd like to if they were all as dull as the cavemen, then I like the othre suggestion, too - the first lot of stories are distinct but they also run into each other as one ongoing adventure, which I find oddly addictive. I would recommend The Aztec (the first few minutes are slow, but after that it's just brilliant and never lets up to the end), The Romans and The Daleks (although that is long).

It makes sense to find which Doctors you prefer and watch them all first. Why wouldn't you? :-)

I think Five is less straight-forward than he seems - there is a lot going on in Peter Davison's performance. (An dif you can get your hands on the DVDs, at least if you don't like the eps, you can turn the commentary on and find him and Janet bashing them to pieces! :lol:) Those aren't bad Five stories, but they're not the best - if you have the patience, Frontios, Enlightenment, Kinda, Snakedance and the best story of all time (it's official!) The Caves of Androzani. (With the bonus in that being, if you still don't like Five, you get to see him being treated badly from start to finish, and then he turns into Colin Baker. As Peter says on the commentary "There are fates worse than death...") Plus, Black Orchid is a very odd, sweet bit of nothing that I love. (I quite like Earthshock too, even though it has Saward-ish plot holes you could drive a bus through.)

As for Sevem the two you mention you like were S26 stories - most people find those much better than S24. S25 is in-between. He was the Doctor I first saw, so I am forever biased in his favour, but it did take till Remembrance of the Daleks to blast out of the left-over scripts from the previous era.

(Tegan has presence! How dare you!? ;-p I love her bursts of being unreasonable: "Call yourself a Time Lord? A broken clock keeps better time than you!")

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I know, some of my opinions are pretty generic.... :| I could try to pull off a "but Adric was like, the best companion evah!" but I don't think I could ever make it convincing enough. (actually, he's really not that bad. I don't quite understand why people seem to hate him!)

teeehee! @ silly commentaries! Now I definitely need to hunt these down. Oh, sigh, the on-growing list of DVDs I need to buy! (albeit, they're quite cheap, aren't they? I'll definitely try Black Orchid and Androzani then. I assumed I probably mis-judged Davison, seeing as all of the episodes I've seen with him are from the beginning, and well, the Five Doctors had other Doctors for me to concentrate on!


(I quite like Earthshock too, even though it has Saward-ish plot holes you could drive a bus through.)

*raises hand* I adore RTD's plots. Do you really think I care about plotholes?! :D (I'm honest enough to admit his episodes are full of them, I just don't particularly give a damn if I enjoy the episode enough). Earthshock wasn't that bad, I just.. I don't know. It wasn't the plotholes that bothered me with it, I think I felt it was a bit... off. Not quite sure how to explain.

As for McCoy, I think I am psychologically unable to watch season 24. Not because of him - because of Mel. She managed to get on my nerves in record time.... but ah, well, companions come and go! And Ace seemed lovely in these episode.

(Tegan has presence! How dare you!? ;-p I love her bursts of being unreasonable: "Call yourself a Time Lord? A broken clock keeps better time than you!")

Oh! no no no. She definitely had presence in the episodes I've seen her in - I just meant in Matryoshka I didn't write her with too much of a presence!

[thisbluespirit]

Well, I don't think I know many people who like all the Doctors equally, so Five may still end up as your No 11, but hey, it's still DW. ;-)

Out of Eric Saward's stories, I think I prefer Earthshock the best. But then I think Resurrection of the Daleks is just awful (except the ending, which is five minutes of excellence after mind-numbing macho high-death-toll sawardness. Cf. also Attack of the Cybermen. Revelation of the Daleks was saved by Graeme Harper, however and is probably Six's best effort. But very dark still. Not my fave of Who writers, all told! :-D)

Plotholes only lead to fanfic - can't be bad, can it? :lol:

Aw, poor Bonnie. Mel is just... Oh, dear. Yes. But I do like her in Delta; and her farewell scene in Dragonfire is unexpectedly lovely and bittersweet. (Despite the complete and utter randomness of why she's going... *shakes head*)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

d) Generic rebels. Although David Warwick really does do his best to make Kimus interesting and likeable. (Leela would so have run off with him, never mind the girlfriend. Sorry, did I think that aloud? :lol:)

You not only thought it out loud, you typed it out too! :P

I LOVE the Company of Friends - except for Fitz. I'm sorry, but Fitz just drives me bonkers...

I have an urge to relisten to Shadow now. I shall blame you!

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I was still so caught up with liking Leela I was watching them going "Now, who would Leela have gone off with in this one?" *coughs*

Hah, well I really liked the story and Fitz was one of the few things that I liked out of the EDAs. I don't know why. And it made a different vibe for Eight, too. But I really liked the short story format. I hope they do some more, because it's nice for listening to when you don't have so much time.

And, you can blame me - but it was you that convinced me to buy it in the first place. Your review about why you didn't like it all that much made me go out and find a copy! :lol: (Which I'm sure works out as being your fault, after all.)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

LOL Too funny!

I've only read a couple of the EDAs featuring Fitz but he annoyed me so much I didn't want to read any more...

And, you can blame me - but it was you that convinced me to buy it in the first place. Your review about why you didn't like it all that much made me go out and find a copy! :lol: (Which I'm sure works out as being your fault, after all.)

LOL Oh really? I'd forgotten that!

[thisbluespirit]

Fair enough. However, I did think the story itself was amusing and one thing that struck me about it was the different side of Eight we saw with the two-blokes-in-a-TARDIS thing. I'd quite like to see that again, and for me, I'd rather it was Fitz. :-)

Yes, you were reviewing BFAs, several of them and I went off to Amazon immediately after to find some 2nd hand bargains - it was that that reminded me I really wanted to catch up with some. And I'd never have gone for The Shadow of the Scourge first, otherwise. You see, you do evilly oppress me, too, sometimes. :lol:

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Okay...

Yes, you were reviewing BFAs, several of them and I went off to Amazon immediately after to find some 2nd hand bargains - it was that that reminded me I really wanted to catch up with some. And I'd never have gone for The Shadow of the Scourge first, otherwise. You see, you do evilly oppress me, too, sometimes. :lol:

I found a post that mentioned it - and saw that I told you it was 'interesting'. I've just been listening to it again...

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

I love Shadow of the Scourge. I only read the very early NAs with Benny but I think she's great. That BF production is one of my faves.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes. Benny is definitely on the top of my list of spin off companions I want to be made canon Right Now. (Along with Charley and Evelyn.) The NAs were so angsty, but she made the ride bearable.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I am completely with you on "Ribos Operation" -- it's such a gem of an episode, why doesn't it get more love? Great introduction to Romana and the Key to Time quest, great characters, wonderful humor, plus it has the incredibly touching "I was right" scene with Unstoffe and Binro the Heretic. I still don't think it's fair that the show brought back Sabalom Glitz, but didn't bring back Garron and Unstoffe, who were far more interesting in my opinion.

As for Pirate Planet, I agree with everything you said here, too. (If your reviews are boring for liking things, then my comments must be boring for agreeing with you?) I'll also add that I don't like the Captain, either -- he's played way too OTT for my taste, to the point of becoming cartoonish. But yes, some great ideas and dialogue in it, and Tom does shine in the end.

As for Stones of Blood -- damn. This is another episode that I seem to have completely forgotten. But not only do I absolutely know I have seen it, I am pretty sure I have the thing on videotape, because at one point I taped the entire Key to Time arc. Now I'm going to have to go see if I can hunt it up, and find out if the tape still plays. Oh well, I was in the mood for some Fourth Doctor anyway . . . : )

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, it's nice to be agreed with, too! :-)

Well, Stones of Blood is one of those I know isn't a great episode, but I just find it so engaging and likeable I don't care. Besides, Beatrix Lehman as Emilia Rumford is one of my very favourite guest characters. But most people have bad things to say about the hyperspace bit. I'll look forward to hearing your reaction!

And The Ribos Operation doesn't put a foot wrong and yet it never seems to attract attention, either. It's very odd. Heh, I think bringing back Garron and Unstoffe (and Unstoffe's appalling West Country accent) would have been fun, although, to be fair, by the time it got to Dragonfire, viewers might have been just a bit confused. :lol:

And, yes, I'm not sure about the Captain, but at least I don't feel the actor isn't taking it seriously, and that's he's playing that as being a front... which makes it odd to watch, yes. But it does make sense after a while.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on Ribos not getting enough love. In fact, it's probably up there with my most favourite Who stories ever. Also, I honestly think (meaning I don't think it's my shipper heart that blinds me) that Romana's introduction is one of the greatest introductions of any companion, if not the greatest. The whole way in which you see her from the Doctor's PoV; sweeping up from her feet to her face. Awesome.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes. It's a stunning intro - just lovely! I think some other companions get some nice beginnings, but I don't think there's many where the whole thing's done so quickly and well at the start - usually the companion has to audition throughout the story following the one where the previous one left!

And sweeping around in a feathery cloak - absolutely! (The Doctor and K9 are Quite Good, too. ;-D)

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

I think I like "Pirate Planet" more than you do, but it's been years since I watched it, so shouldn't risk saying that. :-)

I saw an objection somewhere to this because it's silly for the Doctor to have a wig in his pocket. (Er, really? :lol:)

Pshaw! The Fourth Doctor had decidedly dimensionally-transcendental pockets, and someone decides to complain because he had a wig in there? What about all the other things he pulled out of his pockets? LOL

Yes, Professor Rumford was wonderful, and yes, hello, sudden fem-slash.

(The only thing that could make this better was if someone wrote a short story sequel in iambic pentameter featuring Seven, Benny, and the Kandyman - oh, wait, someone did.)

*blink blink* Am I missing something? Or did I see this and forget about it?

I'm also very fond of "Shadow of the Scourge." While Lisa Bowerman may not have been the Benny I'd come up with in my head (aided by her tall, gawky self seen in DWM strips years ago, plus a few NA covers), I think she's probably a good choice for her, and she seems to be having fun in the role.

[pedanther]

It was in one of the short story collections Virgin Books published when they had the license. Let me check my bookshelf...

...here we are. Decalog 2. "The Trials of Tara", by Paul "fire and ice and rage" Cornell.

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

Oh! How embarrassing. I actually have Decalog 2, but probably never read it -- just collected it back in the day -- though I read all the NAs. It's somewhere in storage...

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, I do actually like The Pirate Planet - it's just I'm not sure about all the praise it gets heaped on it at times, when it seems to me that it does have the flaws, as above. (Plus, a couple really awkward lines of dialogue: David Warwick has to try and get away with something like "By every breath in my body, I'll avenge you!" when any normal person would say some variation on "I'll make sure they pay for that!") But, oh, my Romana being awesome, witty exchanges and a truly excellent sf ideas at the heart. I'm just wonder why this one gets singled out for the praise and the equally excellent (if not even better) Ribos Operation and Androids of Tara rarely do. But I do like it, don't get me wrong. I just felt it was time for an Emperor's New Clothes moment there.

I can see pedanther has beaten me to explaining, so yes, Virgin short story. Bit bizarre, really, but Benny manages to be still Benny, eg:
"Terrific. Lost in forest depths
With my poor bosoms shut up like sardines
Or rather, not, since those fish live in sauce
And in this garb I'll see none of that.
It's usual to be so mistreated
By shorthouse Gallifreyan gits...."

Yes, I like Lisa Bowerman as Benny now, but I obviously did have a Benny-voice in my mind, and it took a moment to adjust. Now she's taken over even in my head.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

And not only does it sound like Benny, but apart from "Terrific" and "gits", it sounds like Shakespeare as well!

(I think my favourite bit though, is when one half of the Holmesian double act actually refers to himself as one half of a Holmesian double act...)

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, it's one of those unexpected stories that make it worth hanging onto the collections. Bizarre, definitely, but amusing. :-)

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

I totally agree - Stones of Blood is the femslashiest story, and Professor Rumford is delightful.

The Key to Time is just so much fun.

[thisbluespirit]

It is. I am a bad person to have stopped in the middle! :-)

[pedanther]

David Warwick really does do his best to make Kimus interesting and likeable. (Leela would so have run off with him

In real life, you know, she did.

I was immensely amused some years back when Whovention was advertising that its Guests of Honour would be Louise Jameson, India Fisher and David Warwick, and trying very hard to pretend that his appearance in 'The Pirate Planet' made him a reasonable person to fly all the way out to Australia as a guest, and that it wasn't really because he came as part of a package deal with Louise.

[thisbluespirit]

:lol:

I had no idea! There, see, I can pick out a love interest for Leela at fifty paces, after careful study of S15.

I don't think I should say that aloud, either... ;-D