Doctor Who: season 16

[altariel]

The Ribos Operation
mraltariel: What a cracking start to a season!
altariel: Do you mean the pan up Mary Tamm's legs?
mraltariel: That too.
altariel: Yes, this is lovely.
mraltariel: I don't think we've had such a good season opener since 'Day of the Daleks'.
altariel: Everything about it is wonderful.
mraltariel: All the performances have conviction, even Tom's.
altariel: Prentice Hancock isn't crap. We're just listing things now. Binro the Heretic.
mraltariel: Scringestone.
altariel: *collapses with laughter* I never remember the scringestone. Are they the best Holmesian double act?
mraltariel: Probably.
altariel: Of course, we haven't seen William Gaunt yet.
mraltariel: Is he the one from 'The Champions'? What's he got to do with anything?
altariel: Just one of my funny turns.

The Pirate Planet
mraltariel: I'm afraid I don't like this one very much, and its ranking in our ranking chart is higher than I would put it, left to my own devices. But then I would be sad and lonely. So I agree to compromise.
altariel: Well done, darling.
mraltariel: The script is so repetitious, they even comment on how repetitious it is in the script!
altariel: I think the parrot is funny.
mraltariel: Me too.

The Stones of Blood
mraltariel: This one is better than it seems in memory.
altariel: I think there's a lot to like about it, Amelia Rum-thingy not least.
mraltariel: I also like the Megara, but then who doesn't like a sparkly special effect.
altariel: I like the stones. And the blood.

The Androids of Tara
mraltariel: This is a secret favourite of mine.
altariel: Why secret? Joy!
mraltariel: Because the reason for liking it is largely down to the appearance of Anglia TV's 'Through the Night' anchor Mr Paul Laver as the assistant swordsman chappie.
altariel: Yes, that is a reason to keep quiet. This is like Barrayar. They should do whole TV adventure series with dress uniforms and lasers. And he's the best villain. That parting line is a triumph.

The Power of Kroll
mraltariel: This is a lot better than people say.
altariel: I say not. No, to be fair, I think it's just not as good as the stories earlier in the season; there's a loss of energy.
mraltariel: Yes, it sags a little, but the script is good, the locations are interesting, and Kroll is cool. Plus there's John Abineri in a hat.
altariel: And paint. Good constituent parts; whole does not add up.

The Armageddon Factor
mraltariel: Oh god no!
altariel: It does go on.
mraltariel: Even John Woodvine can't get us out of this one.
altariel: It does go on.
mraltariel: And on.
altariel: Still going.
mraltariel: Just when you think it's over, they stop time.
altariel: Still going.
mraltariel: Or stopping. More stopping than going.
altariel: I wish someone would drop a bomb on us.

Ranking
The Ribos Operation
The Androids of Tara
The Stones of Blood
The Pirate Planet/The Power of Kroll
The Armageddon Factor

mraltariel: That was rather a good season. Again.
altariel: Don't sound so surprised!
mraltariel: Tom seemed a bit more under control than he was in season 15. Possibly that's Mary Tamm.
altariel: Yes, I bet he was scared of Mary Tamm. She could eat him for breakfast. She's rather great throughout, I think. I wish they'd kept on with her attempts to psychoanalyse people. It's very funny in 'The Ribos Operation' and then it disappears. Of course, that story is something special.
mraltariel: I suppose we should say something about the over-arching storyline.
altariel: Hey, that was my line!
mraltariel: OK, go on then.
altariel: I suppose we should say something about the over-arching storyline.
mraltariel: Like what?
altariel: It happened.
mraltariel: There was a giant Christmas cracker puzzle. And then it was over. We seem to have settled into a pattern that started back in season 13 where we've got a bunch of stories, the good ones are really quite good, and the less good ones are fine. But there's nothing as exciting and ambitious as we used to get. And I'm thoroughly bored with Tom now.
altariel: I hear that talented young whippersnapper Mr Douglas Adams is taking over. That will surely hold Tom in check.
mraltariel: Or give him a fillip.
altariel: Has 'The Armageddon Factor' finished yet?
mraltariel: Still going.

Comments

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I loved Mary Tamm... Romana 1 was one of the best companions :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

She's very good!

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

She's my all-time favourite. I think what made her so special is that she was the only companion to be fully the Doctor's equal - or even his superior. Logically that should have applied to Romana 2 as well, of course, but in practice it didn't quite.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Romana 1 is much the same height as Tom, that must make a difference. Romana 2's costumes are often a variation on Tom's: there's the pink one in 'Destiny of the Daleks', and the riding gear in 'The Horns of Nimon'. But she's definitely petite to Romana 1's statuesque.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I am literally crying with laughter over your Armageddon Factor review. In fact, I think you have given me an asthma attack. The Power of Kroll gets points for Fourth Doctor-torture - although I suspect my reasons for liking that so much are different from yours.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

*pats your back anxiously* I hope you're OK!

Yes, I can see how tying up the lead actor can improve any programme. Hoped you'd use that icon!

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Fascinating, as always. I don't think I'd rate The Ribos Operation so highly - nor Day of the Daleks, for that matter - but it is thoughtful. The Unstoffe and Binro two-hander shines out, though, and my seven-year-old self would have been very pleased to know that he was watching the voice (and often the words) of Hartley Hare in Pipkins.

I am a great admirer of The Androids of Tara, however; and The Stones of Blood, which someone provocatively once wrote was impossible. From his own point of view, Grendel deserved the sequel which he never got, though part of his charm is that he never appreciates the wider canvas on which the Doctor operates, and why (and we are dancing on boundaries between realities here) his expectation of a rematch is so unreasonable.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I have positive memories of The Pirate Planet, largely for the sense of horror when the solution was revealed - never mind bloody princesses, that was a whole planet - and also I liked the character known as the Nurse, and would have liked more of her.

Is Androids of Tara the one based on Prisoner of Zenda?

Incidentally, jumping back 13 seasons - I read Donald Cotton's novelisation of The Myth Makers on the trains to and from Headingley last month. It was a hoot, with a first-class Odysseus. Though I correctly deduced that Homer didn't appear in the broadcast version, because the way he kept hurrying to and fro across the plain to witness scenes in Troy and the Greek camp never made any sense.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Could Homer have been a time agent with a vortex manipulator?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

She is now.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Hurrah!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

This seems the only possible explanation for some of his non-Bronze Age metaphors.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I always muddled up The Androids of Tara with Gone With the Wind. I think this is why I've never seen the latter, or read it, on the grounds that I'd be doomed to disappointment because there would be no androids in it.

Is John Abineri's the only hat worth mentioning in the entire season? Did it not give good hat?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Look at him in that icon! He's adorable!

Androids would definitely improve Gone With the Wind. Or setting it in space, of course.

We've taken particular interest in John Abineri's hats ever since he played Herne the Hunter in Robin of Sherwood (scroll down here).

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Isn't he just? And he's watching Amy and Rory dance together in that shot, which makes it even more adorable. I pinched the idea from your series of Doctor icons so you are more than welcome to this one if you wish.

In space with androids - it's the only way to go.

That is one mighty hat above all hats that Herne is sporting there.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Are we quite sure that Rhett Butler isn't a future incarnation of the Doctor? :)

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Although I did see these first time around, my memory of The Ribos Operation was mostly that of a rather dull Target novelisation; when Mrs Q acquired the Key to Time set, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. For me, the first three stories are really strong; after that, it goes a bit downhill. I never particularly liked The Prisoner of Zenda; Kroll is just silly; I think there's a good story somewhere inside The Armageddon Factor, but it's probably still waiting to get out ...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have my first sketchy memories of watching DW from this season, although it's only really with Tom's last season that I became hooked.

Kroll inches ahead of the Armageddon Factor for me by being two episodes shorter.

[steve-mollmann.livejournal.com]

I loved The Armageddon Factor the first time I saw it, because it's so deliciously bonkers-- every episode something new and bizarre happens to surprise you.

It holds up far less well on repeat viewing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That episode-by-episode storytelling seems to be something Bob Baker and Dave Martin did a lot for DW. Generally works pretty well - I wonder if end-of-season exhaustion had set in by the time Armageddon Factor was in production.

[wwhyte.livejournal.com]

The first four episodes of The Armageddon Factor are great, I think -- it's not just that there's something new in every episode, such as in The Invisible Enemy, it's that it builds and the threat gets closer and closer to the Doctor. First the TARDIS is gone, then Princess Astra's been possessed, and the ZOMG K9 NOES. It gets harder to defend when Drax shows up though. And then good again when The Black Guardian abandons the Shadow. I think it's the best thought out of their stories from a pure storytelling point of view, even if some of the minutes are a bit dull.