The Doctor Who Thread

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Flame thrower Daleks from The Daleks Master Plan (1965)

[trebor8273]

For those interested in the Tom baker blu ray set it's 33.29 with the code signup10 at zoom.

https://www.zoom.co.uk/product/docto...kaging_blu_ray

[Susan Foreman]

March 11th: Today in WHO-story

Births
1923 - Terence Alexander (Lord Ravensworth in The Mark of the Rani)
1926 - Derek Benfield (Doctor John Hallam in the Big Finish audio Catch-1782)
1940 - Derek Deadman (Stor in The Invasion of Time)
1945 - Graeme Harper (assistant floor manager on Colony in Space, Planet of the Daleks and Planet of the Spiders; production assistant on The Seeds of Doom and Warriors' Gate; director of Warriors' Gate [uncredited]. The Caves of Androzani, Revelation of the Daleks, Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, 42, Utopia, Last of the Time Lords [uncredited], Partners in Crime [uncredited], Planet of the Ood, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, The Waters of Mars, the BBC Children in Need special Time Crash and the Sarah Jane Adventures stories Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and Enemy of the Bane)

1952 - Douglas Adams (script editor [1979-1980]; writer of The Pirate Planet, City of Death [under the pseudonym David Agnew) and all versions of Shada)
1960 - Robert Glenister (Salateen in The Caves of Androzani and Aboresh in the Big Finish audio Absolution)
1963 - Alex Kingston (River Song)
1967 - John Barrowman MBE (Captain Jack Harkness)

Deaths
2008 - David Nettheim (Fedorin in The Enemy of the World; uncle of The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion, Extremis, The Pyramid at the End of the World and K9 OFFICIAL PAGE director Daniel Nettheim) aged 82
2016 - Reg Whitehead (Cybermen in The Tenth Planet [Krail & Jarl], The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen and a Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen) aged 83

Episodes
1967 - The Macra Terror, Episode One: 8.0 million viewers
1972 - The Sea Devils, Episode Three: 8.3 million viewers
1978 - The Invasion of Time, Part Six: 9.8 million viewers

Departures
1978 - Conclusion to the fifteenth series of the 'classic era' of Doctor Who; Louise Jameson Official's final regular appearance as Leela; final appearance of K9 Mark I

Releases
1982 - Issue 62 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
1999 - Issue 276 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

2010 - Issue 157 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)
2013 - The Aztecs (DVD - region 2 [release included the recently-recovered third episode of Galaxy 4]); War Against the Laan and The Justice of Jalxar (Big Finish Productions)
2016 - Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 161 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
2000 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Fires of Vulcan took place
2016 - Recording of the Big Finish releases The Second Doctor: Volume One and The British Invasion took place

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Foamasi from 1980's The Leisure Hive.

[Gothmogxx]

SEASON 4.

Continuing with my marathon I've now concluded Season 4.

I first watched (or listened to rather) a lot of these back in 2012, 6 years ago now. Times change though and so have my views on a lot of these stories.

Power of the Daleks is a good story and the animation helps. Its not by any means a favourite of mine and I liked it more in 2012 but a good start to the Season. I especially like the use of the Daleks here. They are very sneaky and crafty. They aren't powerful enough to take everybody on yet so they must pretend to work for the humans. What I like about it though is that as time goes on, the mask begins to slip, eventually they can just barely conceal their true intentions, which prove fatal to the colonists. Troughton is still finding his feet. He's intriguing, but not quite the Doctor his incarnation is known for. You could have put Hartnell in this story (and the next couple following it), tweaked it just slightly and you wouldn't have known the difference.

The Highlanders was the low of the Season for me. I like some of the historical Stories (Marco Polo and The Reign of Terror being the best of the bunch) but I found this boring. Only good thing was that we got the best male companion since Ian by the end of it in Jamie. First time I watched it.

The Underwater Menace is bad, but it knows its bad. As a result I enjoy it a lot in a so bad its good kind of way. Zaroff steals the show completely, upstaging everybody around him. He's just amazing "NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP ME NOW!". I am a bit concerned about how he, as a genius, has somehow not invented a fridge... The people of Atlantis get by on fresh food provided by the Fish People... But the world renowned Professor Zaroff, who has the intellectual capacity to destroy the Earth... Has NOT invented a simple fridge?!? Yep, its by no means a perfect story but its a fun roller coaster ride if you embrace it for what it is. The discovery of episode 2 has helped its reputation somewhat as well (I prefer the 3rd one personally).

The Moonbase starts out slow for its first half but rapidly picks up pace by Episode 3. Episode 3 is missing but its one individual episode i'd love to see. Ben, Jamie and Polly taking out the Cybermen in the control room, Jules getting chased by the Cyberman on the surface of the moon, the scenes inside the Cybership... Thank god we have Episode 4, the standoff between the Moonbase personal and the Cybermen is very engaging stuff. The Cybermen look great as well btw! I love the originals but for a re-design I think its perfect. Troughton I feel has almost completely found his feet by this point as well, his speech about the "evils of the universe" is delivered with passion.

The Macra Terror between 2011-2013 was the story I wanted back the second most (The Web of Fear was number 1 until October 2013 cheers Philip Morris, Underwater Menace on number 3). Now though? I'd rather something like Marco Polo. Its a good Story with a lot of memorable lines "THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS MACRA!". I'm not sure they could've pulled the Macra off credibly without it looking silly but sadly we may never know if it remains lost. Interesting idea for a story though, Troughton is getting better (The Doctor gives himself 11 out of 10 for solving a complicated equation, great script) and taking control.

The Faceless Ones, like The Highlanders, I had never seen. I was missing out! This is the second best story of the Season! You could have easily made this story today. Troughton is now completely in the role and far more engaging than Hartnell. He comes across as insane, yet he's obviously the smartest person in the room, pretending to act the way he does while playing the bad guys off against each other. Its a very good way to handle the story. And, as opposed to trying to kill them as the early Hartnell era Doctor may have done. He didn’t just blow them up, and he didn’t watch somebody else blow them up, either, or watch them burn alive (case in point being The Romans: The Doctor secretly taking pleasure from the notion he gave Nero the idea of burning Rome .There must have been mass deaths in that fire so... You’d think he’d be absolutely disgusted/ashamed at the thought of being implicated in it. Its weird how proud and HAPPY he seems about it there). He instead showed humanity and forgiveness. And that’s what the Doctor is all about. The only issue I have with the story is the shameful way they ditch Ben and Polly. Like Dodo before them it comes off as half-hearted and i'm not even going to try and defend it.

Here is where it all peaked though. 6 years ago I really liked The Power of the Daleks and thought The Evil of the Daleks was boring. Times change. I still like Power, albeit less so... And Evil is now the missing story I want back the most. Easily the jewel in the crown for this Season and the only legitimate masterpiece of the 60's Dalek stories, Power comes in at a close second place (The Daleks starts out great but runs out of steam quickly, Dalek Invasion of Earth was decent but over-rated, The Chase is fun but some parts of it are less exciting than others- same applies to The Daleks Master Plan). Its heart breaking that we probably will never see anything more from this one besides the existing episode 2. Great atmosphere. I love the way the story carries us from present-day Earth, into Earth's past and then to Skaro so effortlessly. The Daleks thanks to Whitakers writing really come off well in both this and Power. I like seeing them experimenting, trying to improve any weaknesses they may possess. It's great seeing it play out in 7 episodes, the padding is there but it's all so drenched in atmosphere and flows so well that it isn't an issue for me here.
Maxable is a nasty piece of work. Jamie really shines and the Troughton/Hines double act comes into play. Twice in this story we get two electrifying scenes where Jamie stands up to the Doctor and challenges his authority. Not since Ian and Barbara has any of them done that. I like the fact that Jamie isn't going anywhere for another two seasons...

Last but not least, the Dalek Emperor and the civil war on Skaro, WHY can't we watch this It must have looked amazing. It certainly sounds amazing, Daleks openly questioning their superiors before blasting each other into oblivion as the Doctor eggs them on, The Emperor going nuts as the situation escalates out of control.

I ache to see this story, this and Marco Polo both but this one more-so...

So, Season 5. To Telos and the Tombs of the Cybermen I go then...

[iank]

I'd love to see more of season 4.

But to cheer you up, the perfect Mothers Day gift...

[Susan Foreman]

In memory of Ken Dodd 1927 - 2018

[Susan Foreman]

March 12th: Today in WHO-story

Births
1907 - Arthur Hewlett (Kalmar in State of Decay and Kimber in The Trial of a Time Lord)
1934 - David Spenser (Thonmi in The Abominable Snowmen)

1947 - Rupert Frazer (Sa Yy Findecker in the Big Finish audio The Butcher of Brisbane)

Deaths
2006 - Terry Sartain (extra in The War Games, The Mutants, The Three Doctors, Frontier in Space, Death to the Daleks, Robot, The Android Invasion, The Masque of Mandragora, The Deadly Assassin, City of Death, Warriors' Gate and Snakedance)

Episodes
1966 - The Ark, Episode Two ('The Plague'): 6.9 million viewers
1977 - The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Part Three: 10.2 million viewers
1999 - The Curse of Fatal Death (Comic Relief: Red Nose Day special)

2008 - Torchwood: From Out of the Rain: 3.85 million viewers

Releases
1987 - Issue 123 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)

1998 - Issue 263 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
2008 - Issue 2 of Agent Provocateur (IDW Publishing)
2009 - Issue 106 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines); The Cybermen (BBC Audio)
2014 - Issue 341 of Doctor Who Adventures (Immediate Media Co.)
2015 - The Entropy Plague (Big Finish Productions)

Behind-the-Scenes
2000 - Recording of the Big Finish audio The Fires of Vulcan took place
2010 - The Sun recorded that BBC Worldwide signed a £10,000,000 with Nintendo to create Doctor Who video games for the Wii and DS systems
2012 - The BBC drama village Sa Yy Findecker (Welsh for Roath Lock) was opened by Wales' First Minister Carwyn Jones. Many dramas to have been filmed there included Doctor Who and its spin-off Class

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Time Zombies from the 2013 story Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

[Susan Foreman]

March 13th: Today in WHO-story

Births
1913 - Adam Dawson (film editor on Spearhead from Space)
1914 - Olaf Pooley (Stahlman in Inferno)

1923 - George Pastell (Eric Kleig in The Tomb of the Cybermen)
1938 - David McKail (Sergeant Kyle in The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
1940 - Christopher Gable (Sharaz Jek in The Caves of Androzani)

1941 - Michael Walker (Radar Operator in The Claws of Axos and Miseus in The Time Monster)
1956 - Dione Inman (Elena in The Twin Dilemma)
1978 - Joanna Page (Queen Elizabeth I in The Day of the Doctor)
1989 - Harry Melling (Hervey in the Big Finish audio The Whispering Forest; grandson of Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton and nephew of Doctor Who guest actors David Troughton and Michael Troughton)

Deaths
1997 - Ronald Fraser (Joseph C in The Happiness Patrol) aged 66
2015 - Vincent Wong (Ho in The Talons of Weng-Chiang and an extra in Day of the Daleks and Enlightenment) aged 87
2016 - Adrienne Corri (Mena in The Leisure Hive) aged 84

Episdoes
1965 - The Web Planet, Episode Five ('Invasion'): 12.0 million viewers
1971 - The Claws of Axos, Episode One: 7.3 million viewers
2009 - The Sarah Jane Adventures' Comic Relief: Red Nose Day Special

Documentaries
2008 - Torchwood Declassified: Something New

Releases
1975 - The Giant Robot (Target Books)

1980 - Issue 23 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
1986 - The Twin Dilemma (Target Books); issue 111 of Doctor Who Magazine (Marvel)
2008 - Issue 55 of Doctor Who Adventures (BBC Magazines)
2012 - Doctor Who: Worlds in Time (BBC Worldwide); The Face of Evil (DVD - region 1)
2014 - Starborn and Bernice Summerfield: Adorable Illusion (Big Finish Productions)
2015 - Requiem for the Rocket Men and Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 111 (Big Finish)

Behind-the-Scenes
1999 - Recording of Big Finish's audio adaptation of the Doctor Who novel Just War took place. As the adaptation was commissioned for the Bernice Summerfield range before Big Finish were granted a licence to produce Doctor Who audio adventures, the Doctor, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester was edited out of the adaptation
2007 - Catherine Tate met with executive produce Julie Gardner, expressing an interest of returning to the role of Donna Noble for a full series of Doctor Who following her appearance in The Runaway Bride. At the time, Russell T. Davies was coming up with ideas for a companion for the 2008 series
2013 - Caroline Skinner stepped down as Doctor Who's executive producer. Faith Penhale soon took over