Unfeathered Notes

So I finally got round to making a database of classic Doctor Who serials, because family have started asking what I want for Christmas and that normally includes additions to my Doctor Who DVD shelves, but I'd got to the point where I didn't know what I'd got and therefore what I still needed. So I made a list (from the DW Wiki) and discovered that of 159 classic Who stories (serials/1996 movie) I already own 90 of them. Wow. I've also seen another 25 of them, mostly from when Watch (I think) were showing them on TV a few years ago. So I've seen 115 out of 159, which is apparently around 72%. I have seen 72% of all classic Doctor Who. Plus, well, I saw a lot of it the first time around, from about 1978 (Four/Romana I) onwards, though when it was shown on Tuesdays I missed most of the Tuesday episodes because I had dancing and we didn't have videos in those days. But hey, 72%. Wow.

I also, in checking what was already on my shelf, discovered an unopened DVD of The Seeds of Doom (the Four/Sarah Jane Antarctica one, not to be confused with The Seeds of Death, which is Two/Jamie/Zoe, Ice Warriors on the moon one, which I also already own and have watched) which was really cool to discover, especially as we're watching SJA at the moment and I'd got a hankering for some classic Sarah Jane. I'm an episode and a half in now and thoroughly enjoy it!

But, yeah. A few more birthdays/Christmasses and I guess I'll have the lot. That'll be weird. I already own (and have therefore watched) every single story with the Master in, which is a bit sad. No more Master popping up unexpectedly, except in new Who - which, you know, does till happen, but new Who itself is so scarce these days it'll probably be a few years before the next time. :-(

I have to admit, I was rather ridiculously excited to be getting 'new' (i.e. new to me!) classic Who on telly again and tried not to get my hopes up too far as the last couple of First Doctor stories I've watched, I've found pretty boring. But this was one was great! Really good pacing – barely a dull moment! – a witty script, beautiful costumes, a fantastic storyline for Barbara that really allowed her to shine, Ian looking gorgeously handsome strutting around being heroic, a softer side to the Doctor (how cute was he flirting???) and not too much of Susan. Jack and I watched the whole thing in one sitting and both thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thank you Watch! :-)

One good thing that came out of me being so tired and out of it last week was that I actually sat down and watched quite a bit of telly. I watched several episodes of Torchwood, one of Buffy, two of Angel, one of Dollhouse, and finally The Five Doctors. So have a review!

( Review of The Five Doctors )

I watched this ahead of schedule because I am role-playing Jack/Rani and I thought it sensible to learn more about the character. And a fantastic character she is too - cool and sexy and utterly fascinating as a villain who's not intrinsically villainous like the Master but merely absorbed by her science and not at all concerned about the effects of it on anyone else. And the interplay between her and the Master is hugely entertaining, even if they do both give in to the Doctor a little too easily.

Unfortunately, the Rani and the Master are by far the best things in this serial. (Oh, and the scenery of Blists Hill museum, which I visited on a family holiday not that long after this serial was made in 1984.) I'd been interested to see how I liked watching the Sixth Doctor again, because when I first watched his stories (as a pre/early-teen) I thought Colin Baker rather hot. Not as hot as Peter Davison, of course, but still rather hot. But in the snippets I've seen since then, however, I didn't like him. And, yeah, I didn't like him in this either. He has the same arrogance and rudeness that all incarnations of the Doctor display, but in him, rather than being cool or funny, they're just annoying. I couldn't like him.

And as for Peri... What is the point of her character? I don't think it's Nicola Bryant's fault - I've seen her in other things since and she was all right - as much as the writers/directors. All she seems to do is state the obvious, look frightened (which she admittedly does very well *g*) and get in the way/fail to save the Doctor. I don't think she actually did anything useful, apart from collect the plant for the sleeping draught, and even that involved getting caught in a minefield and getting a rather handsome young man turned into a tree!

It's a shame, because it's a relatively good story and it was beautifully shot. Mind you, don't get me started on those atrocious 'northern' accents! *g*

ETA: Nearly forgot to mention, this was my first good look at the Master's TCE and wow. Could that thing be any more phallic????

Also: Has anyone ever slashed Ainley!Master/Avon? Because they should.

(Or perhaps I should be referring to it as the 51st DW serial. I'm not sure which convention is used!)

Wow. I don't think I've watched any of the Third Doctor serials (oh, except a short bit of The Mind of Evil on YouTube, in black and white) since I've been an adult. As a consequence, I had no idea that Jon Pertwee was so damn sexy!

( The rest is under the cut )

Overall, very enjoyable and I'm glad I bought it. I've still got the commentaries (I think there's one for each of the four episodes!) and a few extras to watch, too!

And now it's late, I'm tired, and so I'm going to bed. :-)

A very unusual (and short - only two episodes) serial - especially because it takes place entirely on the TARDIS with no extra actors other than the regulars. I'm not sure I entirely understood what was going on, but they certainly had a lot of fun, with acting amnesia and OOC (making us think they'd been taken over by something, though that was a red herring) and accusing each other of messing with the TARDIS' systems etc. etc.

(Wiki entry here if anyone wants a synopsis - they explain the story better than I could!)

( Interesting/fun things under the cut )

I watched the commentaries last night and one of the most interesting things was when they talked about the TARDIS internal set. Apparently the guy who created it didn't want to do it and did it all at the last minute - which is pretty impressive when you consider just how much of that original design has lasted right up until now! He came up with the idea for basing it all on hexagons - the hexagonal console and the round/hexagon-shapes on the walls.

( Cut for length )