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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Aug 21, 2013 16:57:24 GMT -5
Summer Falls: Summer Falls is the book that was seen in The Bells of St John and any eagled viewer would have noticed that it was written by a Amelia Williams. Of course she is better known to Doctor Who fans as Amy Pond. Summer Falls was eventually published for public consumption and here is what I think of it: A very fun little adventure with a very good protagonist in Kate. Very intriguing on what went on here including how Mr Mitchell and the Lord of Winter played their part in the story. After the resolution was provided for in the penultimate chapter it sure brought a calming effect in the final chapter and what a way to end this very enjoyable book.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Aug 21, 2013 17:15:32 GMT -5
The Doctors Revisited
The Sixth Doctor: Pretty good how it looks at the Sixth Doctor’s relationship with Peri and then Mel. With Peri it is noted how they always bicker but they can’t be without each other and that is an example of what bickering is about. When talking about Mel it showed a clip from her first story Terror of the Vervoids in which she gives the Doctor carrot juice. I know that Bonnie Langford (Mel) is a fitness freak herself but I don’t know whether I should be surprised that she herself does not like carrot juice. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that Dan Starkey (who played Sontarans in the “new” series including of course Strax) turned up here when talking about the Sontarans who had appeared with the Sixth Doctor as well as the Second in The Two Doctors. It was certainly quite noticeable how tall the Sontarans were in The Two Doctors. It was also very good when the episode talked about Sil and how effective he was at being a foe even though as Colin Baker pointed out that Sil wasn’t really a villain as such. The episode played out well when it showed Peri had supposedly died in Mindwarp (depending on one’s point of view) including Marcus Wilson saying how it made the Sixth Doctor having the resolve to stand up to the Time Lords in The Trial of a Time Lord.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Aug 22, 2013 2:44:04 GMT -5
The Doctors Revisited
The Seventh Doctor: Overall an enjoyable overview on the Seventh Doctor. Not surprising to hear once again how much Sophie Aldred as Ace enjoyed beating up a Dalek in Remembrance of the Daleks. Nicholas Briggs mentioned the Seventh Doctor as being like a wizard like Merlin. Curiously enough among the stories that did not get represented in this episode is Battlefield in which the Doctor was believed to be Merlin. Surely the episode could have easily cut into a clip of Battlefield just after Briggs made his Merlin/wizard remark. Marcus Wilson says that the Seventh Doctor was more than just a Time Lord. A reference to a line that was said by the Seventh Doctor to Davros in a deleted scene of Remembrance of the Daleks and since it is a deleted scene it did not get shown in this episode of The Doctors Revisited. Thanks to Wilson pointing it out this episode presents well how Mel being with the Doctor when he regenerated from Sixth to Seventh handled the change of Doctor to the audience. As the Doctor is someone who abhors violence this episode points out that the Seventh Doctor delegated the violence to Ace something that is emphasised by showing the scenes of him asking Ace to give him the Nitro-9 that she doesn’t have. Pretty good in the presentation of the Rani, Davros and the Daleks in the Famous Foes segment. As Steven Moffat pointed out the darkness of the Seventh Doctor has maintained the mysteriousness of the Doctor in general with Wilson stating that it is the Seventh who has provided the template of the development of the “new” series Doctors.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Aug 25, 2013 18:56:59 GMT -5
The Doctors Revisited
The Eighth Doctor: Narrator Gareth Pierce says that 1990s television was ruled by Mulder and Scully. Well how times have changed since we hardly hear about Mulder and Scully these days while the Doctor has definitely made his presence known since his TV comeback in 2005. Lovely to see Daphne Ashbrook. She was cast as Grace in the TV movie she was unfamiliar with Doctor Who. Remarkably it seems she acquired knowledge of Doctor Who outside of her experience with the TV movie. In introducing her, Pierce says that Grace lost her heart to the Doctor who has two hearts. Does this mean that the Doctor now has three hearts (little joke here). Not surprising that kiss is brought up here. Daphne Ashbrook says that she did not know the reactions to the kiss until several years later. Although it did not occur to me reactions to the kiss was something she would have known about immediately but it was staggering to hear from her that because of her finding out the reactions to the kiss it her felt wary of stepping in the UK! It was not until seeing this episode that it did not occur for me to think why Chang Lee wanted the Doctor’s things after the Seventh Doctor’s death. With the circumstances that is given to Chang Lee he was someone who wanted to get what you can take and that is why he took the Doctor’s things as it became available as he thought the Doctor didn’t them anymore. This episode however did not point out the fact that among the Doctor’s things was the TARDIS key which Chang Lee then used to get into the TARDIS and meet the Master (how the Master got into the TARDIS has never been explained). This episode emphasise well how the Master was like a father figure to Chang Lee. This is why Chang Lee eventually felt so betrayed by the Master when he realised that he has deceived him in doing his (the Master’s) bidding and that is why Chang Lee becomes the Doctor’s companion despite technically starting out as the Master’s. While the TV movie has been considered a failure, Daphne Ashbrook said in effect here that it did become the precursor to the “new” series showing how Doctor Who can be made for contemporary audiences and not a show that has been perceived pre-2005 as one that is forever trapped in the time bubble of the 1960s and 1970s (with these perceptions completely ignoring 1980s Doctor Who).
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Aug 25, 2013 20:53:33 GMT -5
2013 Annual
The Tomb of Shemura: Third story. The Doctor is travelling with the kids that he met in The Zentrabot Invasion. Pretty enjoyable on what they discover at the titular tomb and what a pretty good villain this story presents.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Sept 17, 2013 21:59:52 GMT -5
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Nov 11, 2013 21:31:25 GMT -5
From the Doctor Who News Page: The ABC has confirmed the time for its joining of the simulcast of The Day of the Doctor and it will be on Sunday November 24 6:50am AEST.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Nov 11, 2013 22:08:15 GMT -5
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Nov 23, 2013 18:06:43 GMT -5
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Nov 23, 2013 19:18:46 GMT -5
5 x 12 - The Ice Warriors Episode 2: This episode is among the missing 97 episodes of Doctor Who and is represented on the DVD release by it being animated. Quite terrifying for Victoria accompanying, against her will, Varga especially her reaction when she thought Varga killed Clent. Amusing what Penley said on Clent being unconscious after he got attacked by Varga. Thrilling on more Ice Warriors seen at the cliffhanger.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Nov 24, 2013 15:20:57 GMT -5
The Ultimate Guide: The Ultimate Guide is a two hour documentary celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who presented by Russell Tovey in yet another contribution from him of the said anniversary as I watch this a day after I listened to him presenting the radio documentary Who Is The Doctor? The Ultimate Guide begins and ends with specially filmed scenes of Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman playing the Eleventh Doctor and Clara as the Doctor suddenly lost his memory and Clara helps him in getting it back. It looks like the purpose of these scenes is to segued with the body of the documentary in which it talks about just who the Doctor is and the familiar elements of Doctor Who. The interviewees here include Doctors Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and David Tennant plus some companions. Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman incidentally are not in these interviews as themselves perhaps to maintain the narrative of them as their characters in the aforementioned specially filmed scenes. The Ultimate Guide looks at the each of the first eleven Doctors plus other familiar aspects of the series like the companions and villains. The specially filmed scenes are well done and served the purpose of The Ultimate Guide and the format of the interviews and the presentation of the clips were well delivered.
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Post by Dana Delany's Chinese Husband on Jul 7, 2014 0:32:18 GMT -5
Read in DWM’s 50 Years of Doctor Who – The Doctors in a feature on First Doctor William Hartnell, the feature article writer Jonathan Rigby stated that according to Hartnell’s widow Heather, that when Bill was a young actor there had been plans to transport him to Hollywood but those plans fell through when World War II intervened. So if it weren’t for World War II, Hartnell would have had a career in Hollywood but unlikely he would have been in the UK when Doctor Who was conceived. If Doctor Who had a Hartnell-less beginning there is a reasonable probability that it would not have lasted as long as it did and perhaps it would have been a show that no one today knows and remembers.
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