Yeah, but don't tell anyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shine
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Yeah, but don't tell anyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shine
I should watch this show. Every time the thread pops up, I think someone's trying to get a dig on me.
I totally agree and that's basically my main disappiontment with Amy overall. I'm fucking tired of that shit. My only problem with Donna is that I kept focussing on her damned mole. Someone really should have applied some make up to that thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Curtis
Anyway.
The wife keeps on wanting to watch more and more of this interminable show. Our plan of attack has been to watch at least something from each Doctor. She has scoured through reviews of shows to determine which is the supposed best episodes from each. So far the results have been thoroughly mixed.
She bought The Five Doctors, which is the only thing I've seen of 5. Davison seems OK but I'd like to see something else of his to really determine how well he plays the role. The episode itself was good enough but it felt a bit strained to try to have so many characters and concepts be integrated into a single show. A lone Dalek brought in because, well, who fucking knows really. It's a good thing there's this paved road which nobody else on Gallifrey uses so that 3 can drive Bessie. Bleah.
We rented The Two Doctors to get a sample of 6. As expected and reported, the writers and producers of the show at this point were just smoking rails of crack each day and the decisions as far as what 6 should look like and say are baffling. It really struck me as odd how some random guy which was given a few lines ultimately was there to be killed by a single knife-stab to the gut, spewing Shakespeare as he expired. What the hell was that about? Was that necessary? All that being said, I think Colin performed the part which was given to him well, as far as I can tell.
The next disc to come in was Remembrance of the Daleks to see 7. Most of the comments which I just stated regarding 6 mostly apply here, though at least Sylvester is easier on the eyes. Ace is one of the best companions ever, and I can at least appreciate how 7 is portrayed for his contemplative process. But the overall plot and writing of this particular episode was pretty much crap. At least, what seemed to be the most lacking part of this episode is how the show generally does a good job of giving an initial opening of showing how "things on this place we just landed aren't correct nor are what they seem to be" and I didn't get that sense at all with this episode. The only part where it shows Doctor going through the process of trying to determine what the hell is going on is within the first few minutes, and right from that he enters the Ordinary Van With Scanning Equipment that he was just previously standing on and gets answers to questions immediately before the person inside bothers to even ask who he is. The remaining 90% of the story is 7 versus the Dalek enemies, with barely any amount of feeling like the presence of Daleks is the catastrophic event which it usually is.
Next we rented City of Death to see 4. This is the first time I've seen Tom Baker's Doctor and after growing up unaware of this show other than being "that show with that scarf guy" and coming to hear how he's generally the most beloved actor to take the role I was holding my breath for something unextraordinary and for the hype to far exceed what the actual performance was. In the end I was surprised that I did find 4 to be quite well played and written. His actions and lines were given in a very snappy pace which I appreciated. I also liked that Romana was a useful companion who actually did things other than get in harm's way. Unforutnately the episode itself was somewhat stupid as far as I could tell. An explosion which a guy deliberately initiates in his ship causes him to co-exist in various places of time on Earth and his ultimate plan is to reverse time so that he change his decision to blow up the ship. OK. To do this, however, the guy's plan is to have Da Vinci make several copies of the Mona Lisa so that eventually he can steal the remaining Mona Lisa which is in the Lourve in the 1970s so that he can sell them all underground so that he can have enough money to buy enough power supply equipment to power the machine to propel him back in time. What? Hey, dumbass - how about you use your several selves to ensure that you either invent or co-develop the devices you can use to do the same thing and not worry about having to sell counterfeit art to purchase the devices?
So by this point, while I wasn't exactly disappointed by any particular actor's take on the Doctor I was growing weary of the show, and that's mostly because of the writing in general.
This brings us to our most recent rental of The Invasion to see 2. This was very refreshing and something which I think has not aged poorly at all. Story starts out with things seeming to be mysterious and draws the Doctor to investigate, which makes us wonder about what's going to be discovered? Check. Clever exchanges of incidental lines and timing to give some humor? Check. Meeting with a villian who isn't initially presented as being overtly sinister or grotesque? Check. Doctor takes time to deduce things and investigate circumstances? Check. A real sense of imminient danger permeates the show when the enemies start to make their moves? Check. A companion does something useful to fight against the enemies? Check. I think Terrance Dicks is right in saying that having an 8-part serial does make it get long in the tooth but overall I thought that this was really well done. Their solution to animate episodes 1 and 4 using the original audio because the original shows were lost was something I really liked too. I found that the stark black and white contrasts and art style helped lend to the air of mystery which the show was presenting. Meanwhile, Troughton's performance was great, giving the Doctor a good range of emotion, shrewdness, and occasional instances of silliness (his vaunting for the photographer lass towards the end was hilarious). If you're going to watch any of the old stuff this is one of the first stories which I would recommend.
All that's left for us to see is 1 and 3, and the movie for 8 which she says is stored away somewhere.
Do you not have Netflix?
I do. Any reference in the prior post to rental was through NetFlix.
Well, if you want to knock off 1 and 3 in one sitting, "The Three Doctors" is 1-3. I agree with you on Troughton, he's fantastic. Unfortunately a lot of the real old stuff, his included, are simply lost or destroyed. The first Doctor is a bore, but "The Aztecs" is generally considered to be one of his best. The third Doctor's first adventure is "Spearhead from Space," he spends most of his tenure stuck on earth playing Inspector Gadget to aliens, and this sets up that run. The eighth Doctor's one story is the movie, it's arguably a terrible film but the American take is on the show is a welcome change of pace if you're tackling them marathon style as you are. Give the fifth doctor another chance by watching "Caves of Androzani," one of the best regeneration/death stories out of the series.
You're totally wrong about City of Death, by the way. That episode is completely hilarious.
http://tv.ign.com/articles/110/1105397p1.html
Quote:
With the sound of Doctor Who Season 5 finale "The Big Bang" still ringing in our ears, the BBC isn't resting on its laurels, revealing first details of the show's 2010 Christmas Special.
While the episode's title is still under wraps, the BBC is promising a clever twist on festive classic A Christmas Carol, with time-travelling newlyweds Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) joining Matt Smith's Doctor alongside special guests Michael Gambon and opera singer Katherine Jenkins, in her first acting role.
With filming for the Christmas special starting today, showrunner Steven Moffat enthused, "Oh, we're going for broke with this one. It's all your favourite Christmas movies at once, in an hour, with monsters and the Doctor and a honeymoon and – oh, you'll see. I've honestly never been so excited about writing anything. I was laughing madly as I typed along to Christmas songs in April. My neighbours loved it so much they all moved away and set up a website demanding my execution. But I'm fairly sure they did it ironically."
There's no confirmed air date for the Doctor Who Christmas Special as yet, but if recent years are any indication, expect to be settling down in front of the TV post-turkey and pud on Christmas Day, in the UK at least.
Oh man, the end of season 2 was such a downer. Heart wrenching shit.
A buddy of mine claims that as his favorite episode, because he likes the romance stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chux
LOL.
Anyway, keep watching. Rose is seen again here and there, and is ultimately given an epilogue.
I grew up with Tom Baker. I still like him, althrough he can be a little too goofy and retarded sometimes.
Tennant was maybe one of the best ever, for the most part, except here and there he'd get a little too bug-eyed and goofy ala Baker.
The dude before Tennant, the guy from 28 Days Later, was fine from what I remember. Didn't really watch that season.
Never saw Doctor #3, except in The Five Doctors. He seemed cool enough. Never saw a Doctor #1 episode, either.
Saw one episode of Doctor #7, "Silver Nemesis." Didn't like him.
Peter Davidson was very solid (Earthshock is the fucking shit).
Colin Baker as Doctor #6 was a suprise. Aside looking like a gay Ronald McDonald, he was really good and edgy (the episode I saw him in was Attack of the Cybermen).
And I agree with dog$ that Troughton was amazing as Doctor #2...I've gone off on this major Cyberman kick lately (my Cyberman action figure collection is growing pretty epic) and have been buying all the stories released on DVD cheap off of ebay. Anyway, I got Tomb of the Cybermen, and it is just plain ass-kickingly great. Slow to build, but it's all atmosphere and tension, and when the Cybermen (along with the infamous Cyber Controller) finally show up, it just sends that shit over the edge. But the even bigger suprise for me was how fucking good Troughton was as The Doctor. I had no idea.
The other Troughton Cyberman story on DVD, The Invasion, is also really good. Again, they don't blow their wad with the Cybermen right away...they story's more about a power-crazed dude wanting to take over the world. Good stuff, but Tomb is where it's really at.
The other two Troughton Cyberman stories, The Moonbase and The Wheel In Space, are incomplete. I hope they actually find the missing episodes soon instead of replacing them with rather stiff CG like in The Invasion. It's possible- after all, Tomb of the Cybermen was thought to be completely lost until the complete missing film reels turned up in fucking Hong Kong, of all places...