Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

Yeah, Fury might be better seeing it. The Oak and Quill scene is very menacing, and I enjoyed the one extended clip from Episode 6 where they defeat the Weed creature.

There's just something about Talons I've never quite got into. I've only watched it the once, but it just bored me to tears. Maybe when I reach it on my current watch-through it will entertain me more.

 

I'll never forget my first experience of watch Talons - by friend had just bought the newly released video and brought it over so my sister and I could watch it with him; being big fans of the novel, we were delighted... at first. The damn thing seemed to go on and on and had no atmosphere. When my friend left my sister said that she though it was actually incredibly boring and I agreed. A year later I watched it again, thought it was great, got her to watch it again, she also suddenly found it one of the best Whos. These days we still quote from it. I can't explain it, but I'll at many Doctor Who stories are like that for me, especially from the Baker era (Face of Evil was pretty much the same - loved the novelisation, disappointed by the serial, years later I rewatched it expecting very little and was pleasantly surprised).

Perhaps my favourite story is Caves of Androzani, and while I enjoyed it on first broadcast it wasn't until watching my video copy a few months later that I really came to appreciate it. I think the lack of slickness to Classic Who means you really have see a story more than once to get over the cheapness and see the strengths of the production.

 

Yes, it's "Doctor Who" meets "Manos". I was trying to be vague in case anyone wanted to read it. It seems, though, that you have to be on Facebook and signed up with the MST3K Revival League to see it.

Spoiler

Anyway, as noted, the Doctor & Jo end up at Valley Lodge. The Master turns out to be...the Master (Delgado version). He plans to destroy the Doctor by trapping his first five selves in, basically, MST-related realities. But, Torgo fetches the sonic screwdriver for the Doctor, the polarity of the neutron flow is reversed, and all is well.

Oh, and a few pre-show title cards from RT's take on "The Five Doctors":

WHO KNEW: Every time the Doctor reverses the polarity of the neutron flow, he's forced to re-set his AOL password.

ANAGRAMS: TROCHOWDO (translation: "ONLY WATCH SEASON THREE")

ANAGRAMS: XERETMNAEIT (translation: "ENTREAT ME, XI", a coming-of-age romance with a Dalek studying abroad in China)

QUOTES: "One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. But only if the money's right. You want the William Hartnell magic, ya gots ta make it rain!" -The First Doctor

And it's being repeated next Thursday, Aug. 24th. No word yet on any home video release.

 

For any Doctor Who and Mulan fans:

 

I actually want Donny Osmond to sing that now, I could hear it pitch perfect in my head.

 

I've been reading Richard Molesworth's book Wiped: Doctor Who's Missing Episodes, and it's highly recommended.

It's fascinating how slapdash the BBC really were with wiping Who, such as when eps 2-6 of Invasion of the Dinosaurs was marked for junking, but was instead simply moved to a different part of the storage facility and forgotten about.

There's also the mysterious case of The Traitors, the 4th part of The Dakeks' Master Plan, which was sent to Blue Peter to use a clip of Katarina's death and was never seen again, despite the BBC's requests to have it returned. What happened to it? Was it junked by Blue Peter? Tossed out and lost somewhere? Stolen? We'll never know.

 

On August 23rd, 2014, this was broadcast over BBC 1:

 

Belated Happy Birthday to...

 

Oh sure, make me cry all over again. *sniff*

 

Just a rumor at this point but worth a look anyway: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/rumour-bradley-walsh-cast-as-13th-doctor-companion-86144.htm

 

Nope! It's official, the new Doctor Who is.... the mom from Broadchurch!

 

Their source is from the Daily Mirror, so take it with a grain of salt until BBC confirms it.

 

I always do until it's official. Although, I'm not against it....

 

Today's visit!

 

Both The Girl Who Waited and Missy's scenes in Deep Breath.

 

And a beautiful location in both. We have a rich choice of Roman architecture in the UK, and I really hope that the Doctor Who crew find a way to utilise the wonderful stonework in the city of Bath one day.

 

They've filmed in Wells. Bath would be amazing!

 

All mysterious practices at Television Centre in its heyday can be explained with two words - Subsidised bar.

 

BBC has cancelled Class.

 

I tried to like Class, just couldn't get into it. Not surprised they cancelled it at all.

 

I managed to watch all 8 episodes. The series felt like it had some major tone problems. It was shooting for the premise of Sarah Jane Adventure, with the kid stars, investigating mysteries with one older lead, and the grim violence of Torchwood, which ended up not working together well very much,

 

RTD retcons somebody's fate. But maybe not the one you think.

 

It's not surprising really. IIRC the writers on the show stated that they had moved on months ago, which wasn't a good sign.

I haven't watched much of Class. I saw the first episode and I know how the series ends, that's about it. From what I saw it somehow managed to be more tonally awkward than Torchwood, which takes some doing. I can only assume that Class had some major production issues behind it.

For example, The Doctor wasn't allowed to appear in Torchwood because the BBC refused to allow the character to become connected to extreme violence and sexual themes. So either the BBC have become far more relaxed in how the Doctor is portrayed (Lol) or the show was originally intended to be something more akin to The Sarah Jane Adventures before it saw some major reworking.

No matter what, I'm actually kind of sad to see it go. The BBC has fallen out of love with genre television lately, and I was really hoping that Class could eventually overcome its issues and evolve into a spiritual successor to Being Human, The Fades or In the Flesh.

 

Todays trip.