Which Who Stories Have you seen lately?

iank wrote:I love it, and it is my fave Colin.

Is it really? You sure has hell have never mentioned it in the past(!)

I know, I'm such a closed book.

Last night I attempted to watch The Masque of Mandragora but seeing as I was a little worse for drink, I can't really remember much about it, except realizing how much I love the Secondary Console Room.

Kaijuko wrote:Last night I attempted to watch The Masque of Mandragora but seeing as I was a little worse for drink, I can't really remember much about it, except realizing how much I love the Secondary Console Room.

It's the only Hinchliffe era story that I really can't get into. It bores me rigid. I think I'd appreciate the drink more.

Ronnie wrote:

Kaijuko wrote:Last night I attempted to watch The Masque of Mandragora but seeing as I was a little worse for drink, I can't really remember much about it, except realizing how much I love the Secondary Console Room.

It's the only Hinchliffe era story that I really can't get into. It bores me rigid. I think I'd appreciate the drink more.

I understand that TMOM is not everyone's cup of tea and is often considered the weakest story of Season 14 but I actually really like it.  Not as much as The Hand of Fear or The Deadly Assasin, etc, and in truth, it is the least interesting adventure in S14, but seeing as that particular season was of such an astonishingly high standard, it means that Mandragora is still very entertaining (it's Tom and Liz - never dull or unwatchable). Plus, it reminds me of one of my favourite Vincent Price/Roger Corman pics; The Masque of The Red Death, not to mention gaining cool points by association for being set in The Prisoner's backyard, so to speak.




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Fair comment.
I agree Tom and Liz are always great, but I’ve always struggled with this one. Partly because of the historical setting. I appreciate that it obviously has sci-fi content, but it’s no Time Warrior.

Ronnie wrote:Fair comment.
I agree Tom and Liz are always great, but I’ve always struggled with this one. Partly because of the historical setting. I appreciate that it obviously has sci-fi content, but it’s no Time Warrior.

Yes, I also prefer The Time Warrior, and despite the boring, cod-Shakespearean tights and swordfights scenes, I still find Mandragora's script to be both intelligent and imaginative. I also like the science vs superstition ideas seen in TMOM -  this seems to be something of a recurring theme in Season 14 (see the pretty obvious science Vs religion riff in The Face of Evil).


“I love a knees-up!”

I find Masque far superior to Hand myself...

Hand is great for the first couple of episodes, then it gets a bit dull...

It's the very last one that sinks it.

Agreed.
My least favourite Hinchliffe era are stories are Masque, Hand of Fear, Planet of Evil, and Android Invasion. Planet of Evil is probably the best of the bunch for me, but it's not great.

Ronnie wrote:Agreed.
My least favourite Hinchliffe era are stories are Masque, Hand of Fear, Planet of Evil, and Android Invasion. Planet of Evil is probably the best of the bunch for me, but it's not great.

My least favourites of the era would be Revenge of the Cybermen and The Android Invasion. I like Planet of Evil, but it’s not brilliant and certainly not in the top tier of the Hinchcliffe era, and rather like Masque myself. I’m in complete agreement with you and Iank on Hand of Fear- starts brilliantly, but ends in a rather pedestrian manner.

Planet of the Spiders

This is one those personal favourites, where from an objective point of view, I can see all its flaws and faults, but can't help but love it in spite of them.
The chase sequence is laborious, and I will admit to usually fast-forwarding through it, because it's pure padding and doesn't really advance the story. Bond on a BBC budget doesn't really work. The bizarre post Ep 5 cliffhanger editing of Episode 6 is confusing, and together with the drawn out chase scene of Ep, it makes the omnibus edition a more attractive proposal.
Apart from these two things, the other flaws are minor, so easier to overlook. Such as the bad CSO in places, and the overlighting in the spiders citadel. Although you could argue, such things are part and parcel of Dr Who. Then there's Jenny Laird's atrocious, albeit mercifully brief performance as Neska, which always makes me either laugh or cringe.  
The plus sides include the fruition of the relationship between the Doctor and Sarah, which took only one season to achieve the same, if not more, than it took Jo Grant 3 years to achieve. The regeneration scene is genuinely tender, and succeeds just as well as the departure of Jo in The Green Death, but with an added spiritual quality thanks to Barry Letts' influence. I've often lamented the fact that there wasn't just one more season with Jon and Liz, as I always felt that the Third Doctor and Sarah had an understated, and under-acknowledged chemistry of their own, which in Dr Who history has been somewhat eclipsed somewhat eclipsed by the admittedly brilliant pairing of Baker and Sladen. It's one of the reasons I love season 11. Despite my fondness of the Pertwee era as a whole, I've never been a massive fan of Katy Manning/Jo Grant. She was just kind of there. Although, I acknowledge that she'd improved somewhat by S10, and it was nice that she went out on such a high note of quality, but the fact is I always preferred Sarah Jane Smith.
The UNIT years are coming to an end, and it was great that Mike Yates got to redeem himself in this story, although the whole feel of Dr Who at this point is ripe for change, and Planet of the Spiders achieves it in a unique and endearing way, which includes great performances from John Kane as Tommy, and a testament to Kevin Lyndsay that he managed to conjure up such an utterly different performance from outing as Lynx in The Time Warrior.
I will also admit to never having been particularly enthralled by John Dearth. I find him rather flat as an actor, and his performance as drab as Lupton's clothes. But he's adequate if nothing else. I think the spiders are pretty effective and the female voices work really well.
All in all, I find so much to enjoy in Planet of the Spiders. I admit that there's a lot of personal nostalgia at work, but I loved it in 1974, and I still love it now. Even if I do fast-forward through the chase.
I could easily give this 10/10, but in trying (perhaps in vain!) to be objective, I'd have to knock off a couple of points for its flaws. But I feel it deserves no less than 8/10.

Even as a confirmed arachnophobe, I would still give Planet of The Spiders 10/10.  

Kaijuko wrote:Even as a confirmed arachnophobe, I would still give Planet of The Spiders 10/10.  

Excellent.

Ronnie wrote:Agreed.
My least favourite Hinchliffe era are stories are Masque, Hand of Fear, Planet of Evil, and Android Invasion. Planet of Evil is probably the best of the bunch for me, but it's not great.

My least favourite Hinchcliffe stories are The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen, Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Android Invasion, The Brain of Morbius, The Seeds of Doom, The Masque of Mandragora, The Hand of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

So basically maxil,my friend you did not like the Philip hinchcliffe era of doctor who which is ok you are entitled to that opinion what did you think of Barry letts a as producer?

I'm not the biggest fan of Letts. I know some people on here are and I have no problem with that. I haven't really been interested in the show for at least a month. I'm sure I'll get into it again in a few months when the Season 26 Blu-ray comes out.

I'm not that big on the Pertwee/Letts era after S7 to be honest. The move away from the dark grittiness of Season 7 into the lighthearted cosy neutered feel of Season 8 to 11 perturbed me as well as the S7-esque episodes after failing to capture the feel of the former. My second least favorite era of the original series after the Davison era.

I kind of agree, though they're better when not watched in order and when you're in the right mood. I mean, I really enjoyed The Daemons a few weeks back despite sharing much of the same sentiments.

Time to move on to S12. I wasn't going to maybe do a couple of NuWho stories in between classic seasons, but the lure of my unwatched S12 BluRay proved too much.

Robot.

I can't help but think back to my 11 year old self watching this upon first broadcast sometime after Christmas 1974. The Planet of the Spiders omnibus had been shown the day before, refreshing my regret over the demise of Pertwee's Doctor.
It took me a couple of episodes of Robot to start accepting Tom in the role. It was a gradual process which probably didn't come to fruition until some point during the Ark In Space. But I enjoyed Robot as a story, all the same.
Looking back on it now, my nostalgic affection doesn't blind me from its faults, but again those faults are pretty minor.  The stumbling robot, bad CSO, the toy tank and the Sarah Jane floppy doll. And the scene wear the Robot kills Kettlewell and has a mini-breakdown actually made me laugh out loud.
The post-regeneration whackiness is hammered home too much, in comparison with Spearhead From Space, and then there's the introduction of Harry, who I always had a bit of a problem with. Harry was well acted and not actually an unlikeable character, but he always feels surplus to requirements, and I think the production team realised this when they decided to drop him.
I do still enjoy this story for the most part though. Miss Winters makes a rather fun fascist and that whole part of the plot is entertaining if just ever so slightly tongue in cheek. The chemistry between Tom and Liz doesn't take very long to mature, and you can see already that Harry is going to be a weak link in this Tardis team. He has a nice moment in Genesis of the Daleks, which obviously I'll come to at a later stage, but otherwise he's a bit of a dull buffoon really....
Anyway, Robot is by no means a classic, but at 4 episodes it rattles along nicely and doesn't outstay its welcome.
7/10

The Web Of Fear (1968)

To be honest, I didn't enjoy this one as much as when I first saw it but it is still a classic and a contender for being my favorite Troughton serial.

The first episode is great (Although I suspect I don't enjoy it as much as I would rewatch it to death on the Lost In Time DVD set) and sets up the grim almost melancholy atmosphere of the piece and has one of my all time favorite scenes with the Yeti reactivation scene and from there on, the story keeps getting better and better with a lot of tense action and horror scenes such as the shootout in episode 4 and Victoria walking down the tunnels alone which prove to be more masterful under the excellent direction of Douglas Camfield, the chilling music score and the performances from all involved (Yes, even Evans who isn't as bad as most people make him out to be) are wonderful. The only downside I do have with this is that Jamie and Victoria are sidelined for quite a bit and that there never was a third GI serial to wrap it up as a trilogy.

The Web Of Fear is an excellent horror tale and to be honest at times, it doesn't feel like an Doctor Who episode and more a classic horror film. But still, great stuff and a contender for being my favorite Troughton and in my top 10. 4.5/5

The Ark In Space

Great to see this one again after a long time. Watching the stories in order has been really good to see how they develop, and Tom is really starting to get into his stride now. He feels like The Doctor, more so than in Robot.
I forgot what an enduring story this is. It still stands up as a classic of its time. Good solid Sci-Fi plot. Good acting and a strong guest cast. It's funny how you still see some things through the eyes of the 11 year old that originally watched it. I had to be reminded that it was bubblewrap when I watched the extras. It still did't really register with me just watching the story. And I still love to watch them tramping around the ark with all the slightly oversized stars in the background.
It's great to watch the Tom/Liz chemistry develop. Although I still feel that Harry is largely superfluous. Not much else to add. A strong 4 parter with bags of atmosphere and charm.

8.5/10

The Sontaran Experiment

The best 2 parter of the entire classic series, (with only Edge of Destruction coming close)
I tend to find these really short ones very inconsequential, and often just feel like filler. But this one has a lot going for it. The big plus point being the return of Kevin Lindsay as the Sontaran.
Ok the mask doesn't look quite as good as The Time Warrior, but Kevin's performance makes sure that it doesn't really matter. The ending is a bit rushed, and you feel that the Marshal is rather too easily convinced and too hastily gives in, but aside from that there's not much to criticise this story for.
Snack sized Who, but good stuff.

7.5/10

Revenge of the Cybermen

Got to be said, it's the worst of S12, but probably for reasons of nostalgia, I still find it watchable.
The Cybermen are pretty disappointing considering how good they were when we last saw them in the '60s. They already seem to have lost their cold, emotionless malice, and sadly are 3/4 of the way on to being the generic villains they were in the '80s. I suppose this applies more to the Cyberleader than anything, but this is the overall impression of the Cybermen which begins with this story.
Only the earnest performances of the cast save this story from a below average score, and my memories of enjoying it on its original broadcast.

6/10

World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. Oh dear. This hasn't aged well already. The genderbending bollocks coupled with Moffat jokes/trolling and the descent into the usual New Who spectacular in part 2 are eyerolling, but even part 1 doesn't stand up. Yeah there's some atmospheric stuff with the Mondasian Cybermen but it's largely all ripped off from Spare Parts and the glee of the Master's reveal is more down to Ainley nostalgia than anything else, and is again all in service of the genderbending crap anyway.
Oh dear.