Doctor Who: season 15

[altariel]

Horror of Fang Rock
altariel: Creepy and atmospheric. I don't think it's a classic, but I think it does everything it sets out to do, and does it more than competently.
mraltariel: I'd say it does it with more panache than most of the Hinchcliffe Gothic episodes, with the exception of 'Talons'. The Doctor and Leela are better together in this one, and the supporting cast are all smashing.
altariel: Good start. This season has begun well.

The Invisible Enemy
altariel: Ah. Now. Episode 1. Rather splendid. Then K9. Like the tin dog. But I think this one doesn't fulfil the promise of the start.
mraltariel: One thing I like about Bob Baker and Dave Martin is that they treat Doctor Who episodes as little standalone stories. You don't have to have seen the previous weeks to enjoy each part, and they all have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think the only real problem with this is that the BBC visual effects team do a good job of realising the giant prawn they were asked to make. It does look exactly like a giant space prawn.
altariel: For good or ill, mostly ill, that is what it looks like. Don't Bob Baker and Dave Martin sound like the drummer and the bassist from some 60s moptop band?

Image of the Fendahl
altariel: It's Quatermass-lite, but I like it.
mraltariel: Stone Tape-lite, really. And I prefer it to The Stone Tape. But, still, there's something that never comes together with this story.
altariel: Ma Wotsit the Witch is a proper brilliant old biddy character though.
mraltariel: She's Mrs Poo from To The Manor Born.
altariel: You are literally talking shit.
mraltariel: That might not be how you spell it.

The Sun Makers
altariel: Ah, this is what we want! A comedy about tax.
mraltariel: With Vila.
altariel: You can't ask for more, really, can you?
mraltariel: And great hats.
altariel: And great minion. Or is he a lackey?
mraltariel: He's a lackey.
altariel: Were there any minions?
mraltariel: The only minions had non-speaking parts.

Underworld
altariel: This was a lot better than I was expecting. The CSO gave it an oddly alien feel.
mraltariel: Yes, and a decent sense of being underground. Funnily enough, it turns out that I remember this one from the first time round.
altariel: Have you watched this show before?
mraltariel: *looks shifty*

The Invasion of Time
altariel and mraltariel: OHARRRRRRAHARRGGNNGNNGGGGNNNG
altariel: Jesus fucking Christ that was desperate! Poor Milton Johns! Poor everyone!
mraltariel: Except - BAD TOM BAKER. He was excruciatingly awful in that.
altariel: I want my licence fee money back.
mraltariel: That was quite the worst story we've ever had, by a long way.
altariel: I thought it couldn't get worse than episode 5. And then we had episode 6.
mraltariel: And we didn't even get Boba Fett's Beat Revolutionaries to liven things up, like in 'The Space Museum'.
altariel: All that walking around. And making the Sontaran speak slowly.
mraltariel: It made episode 1 look good in comparison.


Ranking
Horror of Fang Rock
The Sun Makers
Underworld
Image of the Fendahl
The Invisible Enemy
The Invasion of Time


altariel: It's hard to look back past that dreadful last story.
mraltariel: But it's a decent season with a terrible end.
altariel: What a bad send-off for Louise Jameson, who I think has been a great companion.
mraltariel: Not one of the greats - Ian, Barbara, Zoe, Jamie, Sarah Jane - but not bad for a Tier Two (Jo, Steven, Vicki). The one thing that's quite apparent is that I've had enough of Tom, and he really needs to go. One day I predict they'll cast someone else and I'll think the same about him.
altariel: *cough*Tennant*cough*
mraltariel: Are you getting another one of your headaches?

Comments

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Was The Invasion of Time the one where he collapses on the floor in giggles at the plot?

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

*airhighfive*

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's about what the script deserves.

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

LOL for real. Is it sad I tend these days to killfile anything titled "Doctor Who"--;-p

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hee! Me Too.

[uitlander]

I have to admit that Horror of Fang Rock is one of my all time favourites. At one point I could declaim Flannan Isle from memory. The Sun Makers is a work of pure comic genius, or failing that the work of someone very pissed off about their unexpected tax bill. I have occasionally referred to escapes from particularly bad employers as running down Corridor P45.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Specifically, Robert Holmes very pissed off about his tax bills, as I recall...

[uitlander]

Yes, I believe that was the origin of the story :-)

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Isn't Douglas Adams supposed to have had a hand in it?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

At one point I could declaim Flannan Isle from memory.

Oh nifty!

[temeres.livejournal.com]

I recently acquired Hooror of Fang Rock on DVD (prezzie from The Bruvva). Haven't got around to watching it yet so may be I ought to. I barely remember it from first transmission.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Good choice by the Bruvva.

[temeres.livejournal.com]

He also gave me Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Five Doctors and Remembrance of the Daleks. Would rather have had Resurrection but Remembrance had its moments.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Don't Bob Baker and Dave Martin sound like the drummer and the bassist from some 60s moptop band?

Many military aircraft have Martin-Baker ejector seats. It would be nice to believe that it's the same people.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I really hope all these things appear on their CVs.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yay, 'The Sun Makers'!

I am rather annoyed that I spent some book tokens on 'The Invasion of Time' though. Look, I had the tokens and there aren't many DW serials out on DVD, and I assumed they'd picked the better ones for that.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Darn, bad luck! They're getting close to having released everything now, so the crap is starting to get loosed onto the world.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

There aren't many around here. My copy of 'The Sun Makers' is burned from a tape I bought. Perhaps I should start buying online.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

My earliest memory is of the Sontaran leader removing his helmet in The Invasion of Time. Which means, if I had the inclination and a copy of the appropriate issue of the Radio Times to hand, that I could date my earliest memory to within a couple of minutes.

[cmattg.livejournal.com]

Huh, I just realized - I can remember "I claim the Presidency of Gallifrey" from the first episode. Let me know if you dig up that Radio Times, willyou?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Some time in the early evening of 11 March 1978.

[manna]

I remember 'The Horror of Fang Rock'. It scared the hell out of me when I was six.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Still pretty creepy now.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

The Horror of Fang Rock is just perfect. I still love it now. I'm fond of Image of the Fendahl too.

I remember Underworld as being appallingly boring. I think it says a lot about The Invasion of Time that I can't remember anything about the plot, only the interminable wandering about in the final episode.

I think Leela is fabulous, and she deserved better than being abruptly married off.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of walking around in 'Underworld', but it looks weird and interesting. The bad guys have great bad guy costumes, and Artix from 'Space Fall' pops up.