Doctor Who [7]

Sarah Jane leaves the fourth Doctor-



And meets the 10th-



and leaves the 10th-



And Sarah and Jo Grant (Pertwee companion and the companion preceding Sarah) met the 11th in the Sarah Jane Adventures-



Liz Sladen, sadly missed in this 50th year  

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Nice scene this from another much maligned story- the Ganger two parter- which I thought was very much a classic Who style story- (and the corridor with all the watching eyes on the walls- 'to accuse' gives me the creeps as an adult, Im sure it worked a treat on the kids in putting them behind the couch!  )

it was bone-achingly boring though. Its much maligned for a reason. I dont understand the criticism of The Beast Below, if the next seasons had all been in that vein I would have liked them immensely. I would also have warmed to Amy as she actually saved the day and showed she was a worthy assistant.

I never found it boring, it does have some pacing issues, and two full episodes to tell it is probably a bit of a stretch and it wouldn't be the first story I would recommend- but overall its got a solid morality based plot, Rory is good in it and gets some nice character building moments, it has the ganger Doctor which is fun and it has the story arc revelation in the final scenes that slot it into the wider goings on.
In terms of plotting its very much a classic serial style- they arrive, strange goings on ensue, lot of time spent getting to know the people there, shit hits the fan, Doctor save the day.
It also bears a rewatch, especially to observe the Doctor, and the fact he clearly knew what was going on before he even arrived.

Not the greatest episode ever but Id take it over a huge pile of others- fear her-Rise of the cybermen/age of steel-love and monsters-army of ghosts-daleks in manhattan, to name a few- all much, much worse.

It got stale pretty quick, add that to a dreary atmosphere and whinging characters and I would much rather spend that time doing something useful like passing a number 2.

Id still rather watch in than the daleks in manhattan (shot in wales) two parter with its human/dalek crap and appalling cast of characters. Or the cyberman ghosts nonsense  
Tennant NuWho is the only time in Nuwho I stopped watching-I just gave up- I only came back to Who when Tennant was about to leave, and then I went back and rewatched the series or so Id missed after I had given up all hope of it ever being like Doctor Who again.
And at least when Moffat sets a story in New York they actually go film there.

Touch of the sixties- Susan's favourtie band from the first episode- John Smith and the Common Men (I like to think John Smith is the 11th Doctor playing in a sixties band- seems the sort of thing he would do)-

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Id still rather watch in than the daleks in manhattan (shot in wales) two parter with its human/dalek crap and appalling cast of characters. Or the cyberman ghosts nonsense  
Tennant NuWho is the only time in Nuwho I stopped watching-I just gave up- I only came back to Who when Tennant was about to leave, and then I went back and rewatched the series or so Id missed after I had given up all hope of it ever being like Doctor Who again.
And at least when Moffat sets a story in New York they actually go film there.

I stopped watching at the end of series 5 probably all of series 6. It wasnt the Who I loved any more, it had turned into a confusing mess of hogwash posing as intellectually stimulating writing. River was the main reason I coudnt face it, that fake archness made me cringe. I only started watching again and enjoying it with the arrival of Clara.

I have to admit to being somewhat confused over the period of NUwho discussion as to what you have and have not seen Figg- now you say you stopped watching at the end of series 5- but you hadnt even seen the beast below which is only the 2nd episode of series 5.

Yet I have heard you complain about series 6 episodes which you now say you never watched, and that you only started watching again for Clara- second half of series 7- yet you complained loudly about Dinsoaurs on a spaceship which is in the first half of series 7.

So forgive me if I dont  treat your views on Moffat era Who entirely seriously as you dont seem to have seen much of it, and those you have seen have been seen out of sequence in an arc heavy period of Who.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:yet you complained loudly about Dinsoaurs on a spaceship

Actually if you go back and look, I think you'll find that Mrs Figg said she enjoyed the Dinosaur episode except for one line of dialog. So I'm sure you'll forgive me if I don't take your accusations of Mrs Figg entirely seriously...

I am pretty sure she also complained about the male character too- but my point is she does not seem, by her own words, to have actually watched much of series 5-7 at all. And what has been watched has been watched out of sequence in an arc heavy plot.
It would be like me saying I dislike the RTD era (which I do) but based on watching a small proportion of the episodes out of sequence- which I would consider unfair to RTD to do so.

I have subsequently watched all episodes. So your dismissal of my opinions doesnt hold much water. sorry.

Well the legal question mark over showing the remastered Unearthly Child as part of the 50th seems to remain somewhat, but the BBC are going ahead anyway-

"Recent newspaper reports indicated that writer Anthony Coburn's son Stef had challenged the Corporation's ownership of the copyright of the TARDIS, leading to a question over whether or not his father's story could be broadcast. Coburn himself stated this morning via his Twitter account that he had been informed that the BBC were not going to show the episodes.

However, the BBC Press Office have told us:
These first episodes form an important part of the BBC’s celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and we don’t want to deny BBC viewers in the UK the opportunity to see them. We don’t believe that Mr Coburn’s claims should affect any planned programming."- Gallifrey Base


Was only going on your own words Mrs Figg- buckie has many wonderous effects, sadly mind reading is not one of them.

you see the things you want to see.

New stills from Gatiss docudrama to bring a smile to any classic fans face-

He is identical to the original.  

Apparently at the BFI premiere screening of it his daughter was in tears by the end (but the good sort) and it got a standing ovation, which apparently is rare at these sort of premiers.

Not one for Mrs Figg I fear, but the BBC have released An Evening with Steven Moffat- looking back a 50 years of Who.
A treat for those of us who think the show is in a second golden age and has never had such a broad selection of quality writers working on it.
Its not on youtube yet but heres a link to the BBC site-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01lg91q

 

Well he does praise Eccy a lot, and RTD so you should be happy.  

In light of 50th Anniversary Rose appearing to be glowy eye Bad Wolf version, here's the whole Bad Wolf/Rose bit as a reminder-




And the follow up from the end of the excellent turn left-

Donna Noble- probably my favourite NuWho companion, a testimony to the character and actress as I dislike a lot of the actual episode stories in her run- (big spoilers for her character arc)



The full ending for Donna's time in the TARDIS- still gets me, the best Nuwho companion exit so far (shame the story its in is piss) as the Doctor

Spoiler:

- obviously hugely spoilery-



Was also watching an interview with Moffat- he was asked what his favourite Who episode that he ad written was (this was before series 6 had begun) and he sighted the Big Bang- partly because "The title was a filthy joke only I knew about, if you work out the time of Rivers conception"- putting to bed at least the notion he did not know who River was in series 5

Spoiler:

OK, I'm back to Who-watching. Just saw Power of Three and Angels take Manhattan, plus the storyboaded PS.
 
The story of Three is weak. Basically just  a countdown, the cheapest suspense trick in the book, with no surprises, no new characters, and nothing to think about. It seemed to be little more than a vehicle for Amy Rory and Brian to talk about feelings (in little soap opera soundbites). In hindsight I see it was just the setup for Angels, but they could have given it a little more depth anyway I'd think.

Angels.....I think I need to sleep on that one. There's a lot I liked and a lot I didn't, but it sucked me in by the end.  Having watched Rory die a couple dozen times before weakened the punch quite a bit. Not sure if that was intended, or if so if it's good or bad.  One question: the tombstone gives ages of Rory: 82 and Amy: 87. Is that their original chronology, or did they get skewed somehow?

I just took it to mean Amy lived a few years longer after Rory died  

Spoiler:

I like the mood of Power of Three but its got a rushed, barely there explanation and should have been either a two parter with a lot more of the Time Lord bogey men, or had less time on build up and more on the ending- got good character moments though in terms of the overall series arc- I particularly like the scene with Doctor and Amy sitting on the banks of the Thames at night just talking.
I also liked the introduction of Kate Stewart as the new head of UNIT and daughter of classic series head of Unit the Brigadier. I thought that was both  nice nod to the character of the Brig as well as a way to honour the actor who played him for all those years and who sadly died whilst series 6 was being made.

also. apparently lots of spoilers floating around, be careful (daily mirror i think and daily star)