I even just watched the Invasion DVD Crap animation schools do better cheap skate BBC for you ,BUT damn fine story so here is my list and yes it changes but this is pretty much it of my fave stories of classic who baddies
Cybermen I'm starting here no real reason just so fresh in the bonce
1 Revenge of the Cybermen
,why ?,its classic its a A typical story for them in there style no not as epic as 60s stories, sure not a good portion of the budget set aside for it ,but a great design period a nice set deep in space not enough of the Ark set reused here ,but what a feeling of deep space in the windows and corridors a little added CGI new laser FX etc movie length unedited this could be the best of all, but BBC chose not to do this with DVD release ,why? i have seen great amateur FX for this on you tube ,Tom the main man Baker is the Doctor with harry and there double act, Sarah gets to have a mini adventure great use of wookie hole caves and the aliens look alien what more can you ask ?
sadly only time to be seen in Toms tenure as this story was commissioned by Barry Letts and Holmes didn't like the more traditional Who villains preferring to use new monsters and creations instead
2 Invasion
this is one heck of a good story, now i think only one of Pat's still around. others long binned oh did see tomb, bit over rated me thinks
this is where it is at awesome stuff epic quality, score is brilliant and nerve stretching, FX good,the sound fx are great a Cyber in its deth throws the wailing mad one the clunk as they fall why did they ever stop doing this? ,nice design liking the helmet and a damn good TARDIS crew and Doctor with the introduction of the Brig and UNIT ,nuff said
A good invasion story think 50's SC FI movie, that works because it is the Cybermen you cant imagine Daleks doing this ,all very creepy and dark stuff shot very low and effectively dark sewers and big business corporation gone mad and megalomaniac sinister sadist in Vaughn who thinks he can control and use the Cybermen ,and monochrome adds a edge to it all
3 Earthshock
Best Cyber suit design so far a good outing for them skulking about a freighter little 80s cheese going on but a good story good fx and a good dr and yes Adric is killed so bonus
I like beryl reid she is funny, but the whole intro people being killed in mines nice, and sinister androids NOT Cybermen doing the killing if a little pastel shaded and high 80s drama but a good story a god return and nice Cybers
4 Spareparts
Its a Audio i know, but what a audio what a brilliant story and the creepy as hell Mondasian Cybers Davison is good in this, and well theatre of the mind and all , good stuff great origin story now someone get this on screen !
5 Attack of the Cybermen
Sadly no more of Pat's around to state but seen plenty of decent clips alas not enough but Attack borrows from his best cyber story's and doe it very very badly and the whole sewer thing and cyber control there the conversion process the excellent design blacked out cybers haunting the sewers just lacks any real quality unlike invasion the story dosent add anything to the cybers in invasion one mad with fear in the tunnels something akin to that would of been great some depth to the story sadly as shallow as a puddle
As a story, it makes little to no sense, but as a spectacle it's truly has some good visuals
Master story's
My favourite character in Doctor Who, hands down, is the Master,he is perfect enemy, i wish to see him return to the mastermind,the kingpin of crime he was behind several schemes and plots amassing wealth power and snickering in the back of large luxury car smoking a big Havana cigar,the puppet Mater his name was well chosen.
theres something wrong in government he will be behind it proving it that's another story a alien invading or some scientists got a crazy idea ,he will be behind it
you do not need to have him in the story,maybe a fleeting glimpse in said car, just hints suggestions of his involvement part of his large tangled web so the character is built upon and up to a legendary status he belongs making a confrontation all the more epic,he should always be slippery and just get out his scheme over planet cosmos safe but hes long gone and untouchable
1 the Deadly assassin
Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly, and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...
Does this really need introducing or synopsis ?, no not really,question is this a redundant title ?, how many none deadly assassin's are there?,is there a i really really like you Assassin?
Dr gos back to Gallifrey actually this is a lure from the Master ( after a gap of three years.), who by the way is a corpse,having exhausted his maximum twelve incarnations and being found half dead after some incident probably some scheme of his gone wrong . (This rule also had its first mention here, though The Master would later be given a get-out clause (see The Keeper of Traken)
and he looks disgustingly slimy creepy, a rotting skull ,teeth exposed eyes bulging from there sockets like boiled eggs ,flesh hanging off the bone which is yellow and showing ,wrapped in a black shroud enough to make you visit uncle Ralph and Hughie,his full appearance kept to a minimum so effect doubly shocking
he may escape unable to conclude his business after killing hundreds of Timelords leaving the capital in ruins but he does get to finish off where He started (see The Keeper of Traken) oh and take the doctor down (see Logopolis) so defeated at story's end or just delayed?
The Matrix sequences are brilliant (Fighting Chancellor Goth who original was one of the two prosecuting Timelords that exiled the second Dr to Earth and regenerated him into the third Doctor so there duel in the matrix has a double significance ) ,this had a big impact on me hiring it from the video shop in the 80s
His scheme steal power from Gallifrey main arton energy, the eye of harmony without burning himself up, like 9th Dr said "no ones meant to do that" to think if he had the sash on him he'd still be here now, to reverse the effects and body snatch a Timelord voila new set of lives,oh and see the Dr go down for the presidents murder revenge at last (Killing him wouldent be fun and be to good a end for his main rival and he would be left very bored )bonus points take Gallifrey down and watch it crumble ,what could possibly go wrong?.
our knowledge of the Doctor’s home race, the Time Lords, and their planet Gallifrey. is expanded and first time shown in full the look the costumes the collar the seal that became definitive starts here partly the work of James Acheson, who went on to be an Oscar-winning cinema designer
The Master for the first time gets a iconic look for his TARDIS in the Grandfarther clock ,now making a TARDIS available to all homes and a majority allready had them, go round to grannys and theres the Masters TARDIS this is now infused as a iconic look for his ship
And less fortunately but just as momentously, complaints about the programme’s content and suitability for children came to a head and the show would never be the same again, it had complaints starting from day one in 63 with cavemen and daleks and aztec sacrafices to 2nd dr and Cybermen complaints, getting louder during Terror of the Autons and in Pertwees time, with the family friendly team of Letts and Dicks so when the Gothic horror loving, lets scare the kids make a more mature program, team of Hintchcliffe and Holmes got together it was really only a question of time ,really, no one know it has a on and off switch on the telly?
Miss whitehouse it has a knob on it you turn it it turns it over ,tho shes robably not comfy with somethig with a knob on it
.yup god bothering coffin dodging miss whitehouse started to rattle her walking stick she saw this the infamous Dr drowning freeze frame and blew a fuse. She had complained about torture in The Sontaran Experiment, about the grim tone and Nazi overtones of Genesis of the Daleks and about the Frankenstein themes and grisly imagery of The Brain of Morbius. This time she drew blood. The Director General of the BBC wrote her a letter of apology. Philip Hinchcliffe was replaced as producer
what a story season to exit on, thank you Phillip your fantastic
2 Deamons
Come on whats not to like with this a classic who story classic British story (Wicker man eat your heart out) the Master is a local parish priest, the mind boggles on what his Sunday and even song masses were like, but soon turns into a hard rocking devil worshipping sadist at night forked fingers and all
Classic Master and classic story once again playing chess but the pawn this time turned out to be a bit bigger than he could handle
UNIT get a good show here and Jon is in fine form, being exterior shots in a little stereotypical English village all chocolate box cottages and pagan beliefs in the subtext and white witches and science this is one worth watching
3 Terror of the autons
His intro his story and using the Autons the Moriarty to the Third Doctor’s Sherlock, a BRILLIANT enemy alien in plastic any plastic coming to life to kill you the Autons cranking up the inventiveness of their deathtraps to surreal and comic-book levels. shop window dummies dolls killer plastic daffodils that suffocate you, watch out for clingfilm kids and fake policemen is ,circus of horrors and dolls and chairs coming to life is nothing safe?
scripted by Holmes by far the greatest writer of classic who imagine him as a producer ,, Terror was the opening story of Pertwee’s second season, and was the first real opportunity for new producer Barry Letts (who’d inherited the basic set up of the new show, its leading man and script editor Dicks from the previous regime) to make his mark on the show.much like Hinchcliffe in toms second season ,Terror begins the process of not only warming up the Third Doctor, but also creating a more inviting, family-friendly tone that would drive the programme to heights of popularity unseen since the peaks of Dalekmania in the mid-60s.
He manipulates all including the nestene and he also gos toe to toe with the UNIT and the Doctor and beats them always one step ahead pure evil and sadistic its a definitive start for the Napoleon of the cosmos,
Terror Of The Autons still stands up as a fantastically entertaining and incredibly confident slice of macabre fun
4 Frontier in Space
Frontier In Space is commonly classed as a “Space Opera”. The Doctor and Jo come up against a great big wall of hostility. All The Doctor did was to get in a freighters way and emergency land in said ships hold (best 70s design), and all of a sudden, he’s being used as a Gallifreyan football between two factions - the Earthlings and the Draconians, who are both in conflict with each other and the pressure is up high and ready to blow
The novel adaptation of this states this more explicitly - Doctor Who And The Space War. Earth and Draconia are in conflict, the two sides rivalling each other for control of the galaxy. Sure enough though, The Doctor’s landed at the worst possible time. Someone is provoking the conflict even further, to the point where full-blown war could erupt, and The Doctor, getting caught in the crossfire, realises that he’s up against a series of deadly enemies.
Brilliant designs in sadly underused Draconians and Ogrons,something of a feature of the Letts/Dicks era of Doctor Who; great monsters like the Drashigs, Ogrons, Axons and Draconians were created on an almost weekly basis and then tossed aside with almost cavalier abandon, because there’d be another one along in a minute.,
the what must of seemed so futuristic in the early 70s council estates used as back lots of future buildings that brings a chuckle but it is pertwees performance that's on form the story puts him through hell to being on a prison colony on the moon to attacked and threatened and questioned on all sides
The Master makes his appearance. and this shock half way through from a delightfully glee fun loving Delgado in a oily slick performance his Tate a Tate with the Governor is great to see hes no fool and smooth and the battle of wits delightful to watch
But sure enough, we find that The Master’s just as much a stooge as the Ogrons.The Master reveals his paymasters in one of the best scenes of the story. Yes - it was the Daleks all along. Malcolm Hulke very cleverly structures the story so as to mis-direct the viewer as to who’s provoking war between Draconia and Earth. The Daleks barely figure in the story, but it’s a hell of a shock moment when they trundle into view on the Ogron planet.
but what was the Master getting from this ?, just his chance to get revenge on the Doctor and boy is he loving watching him being put through hell thats not cruel sadistic and downright evil nothing is,who says the doctor always wins?
the Master doesn't have to kill you he gets kicks watching his enemies suffer death is to quick and to disappoint a finish for him
5 Logopilis
Maths - I hate it. Ever since I was a small kid, I've never got it. All that talk of hypotenuses, acute angles and fractions frequently left me with a revolving head at school. Even as a grown-up, anything to do with maths leaves me in a cold sweat. Me and maths do not go together - much like the fourth Doctor. This may account for his long face which never really breaks into a smile during the story called Logopolis.and so i find a affinity with this
its not bad visually its over serious bull from bidmead that's frankly boring lecturing stuff but 2 TARDISES a console room scene jodrell bank and the Master is back more bonkers than ever and really having fun
Yes, after a record-breaking near-on seven years, Tom Baker is about to hang up his scarf. It's an important moment in Doctor Who, especially when you consider how Doctor Who had changed between 1974 and 1981. In 1974, it was a well-respected and much loved family TV show, watched by millions. However, Tom Baker helped to turn the show into a global phenomenon, with popularity and viewers escalating considerably. The vast majority of his stories are fondly remembered to this day and frequently crop up in Top 10 polls, while Baker himself is still widely regarded as the definitive Doctor.
So Logopolis is an important story with that in mind. In theory anyway. in practise, however, the final results are a bit mixed. It's telling that the story's written by Christopher Bidmead. Logopolis encompasses every influence of Bidmead throughout: The hard science. The over-reliance on maths and bafflegab. The lack of humour. It's sophisticated and frequently well-written, but the main problem is that it doesn't feel like a 'fourth Doctor' swansong. There should be a grand, epic battle, full of wit and heroics. And what actually happens?
The Doctor measures the TARDIS. Whoopie-doo basil
so this just gets in as frankly not seen all of Ainleys 80s stuff and most sucked as it got camper and he started skipping about and minceing around (which, to be fair, is not totally down to him).here the Master actually gets to kill the Doctor the fourth one
Sadly as much as i personally like John Simm it only got worse
Daleks
1 Remembrance of the Daleks
Nostalgia fest for me watched it on Broadcast stole a blank VHS from school to record and watch it over and over and over oh and put it on for some of my mates and me on the huge telly in school at lunch time (any one else remember them on a stand with wheels metal tub one stood about five feet up ) it was akin to watching who at the cinema
this is surely the best Dalek story since Genesis
As the opener of Doctor Who's silver anniversary season, "Remembrance of the Daleks" can be forgiven for self-referencing.; we have a story set in the 1960's, Coal Hill School, a junkyard owned by I.M. Forman and Pamela Salem dressed up to look like Barbara Wright. We have the Doctor talking about "the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster" and "Yetis in the underground," we have Ace finding a book on the French Revolution, in what could be Ian Chesterton's science lab, we have the welcome return of the Daleks, and of course, we have a BBC announcer making a none-too-subtle postmodern reference to the fact that Doctor Who is a television programme. None of these elements impede on the plot and for most fans were probably quite welcome.
See JNT can get the nostalkgia right and not lay it on with a shovel
This is the one that's always missed by smug tabloid journalists, who fell over themselves pointing out that Daleks could finally climb up stairs in 2005. One of them does here in their final ‘classic series' story, ascending the steps in a cellar to kill the doctor effectively blowing a door literally of its hinges .
nice new casings first time since early 70s and original 60s , a break from original design all moulded so look chunky and more one piece tho effective
There's a complicated plot going on involving the recovery of the ‘Hand of Omega', which the 1st Doctor confusingly buried on Earth in the 1960s for safekeeping. The device itself tampers with stars. The Daleks want to use it as a weapon.
The Doctor schemes ,Ace gos all Hardcore with bazookas and souped up baseball bats , allows Davros' Imperial Daleks (still at war with the Supreme Dalek not seen for 5 years (Livery now still black but gloss and shiny silver ) Renegade faction following the events of Resurrection Of The Daleks ideologically motivated) to capture the device and detonate it, at which point it blows up Skaro's sun (tho how they survive enough to time war with Timelords is any ones guess), as the Doctor had rigged it to do so.
theres brilliant battles with Daleks going boom big time a savage looking abomination special weapons Dalek mental and more insane than any other
This being done, he then goes out onto the streets and literally talks the Supreme Dalek to death being the hero (oh and blows a drone Dalek up early on with nitro nine, action man) , pointing out that it's the last of its kind and its existence is therefore futile. It self destructs,.(but as we all now know this is the last so far classic tv Daleks appearance and story) Dr Commits genocide(so much for Genesis speach) long before Dr 9 make of that what you will
Skaro its solar system boom gone,
Erm hope Thals have moved out.
the "more then just a Time Lord" this erked me then and now, no he is Just a Timelord what makes him special, he left his race and became bigger better and superior he is the best of them due to his knowledge expierience etc he may have wierd and fatastic powers being a Timelord due to his physiognomy and the fact he is a Alien but just a Timelord
The Doctor now acting not pantomime but gritty for first time and he hits the ground full throttle, his actions manipulative ,dubious and questionable, is he acting for a greater good ? is the Doctor turning heel here ? are his actions justifiable ?, so lots to see
Factor in a creepy little girl (I HATE creepy kids) being used by the Renegade Daleks for her imagination to assist them planning, doing her best Palpatine lightening from fingers routine ,chasing Ace round a settee , a subplot about racism in Britain in the 1960s and Daleks being the fourth Riche which blob is pure and Aryan , and a wonderfully written cafe scene in which the Doctor debates the ‘ripple effects' of his interfering in time with a world weary shop assistant (Joe Geofry fresh prince Butler Marcell) , and you've got a diamond of an episode. get the target book
2 Day of the Daleks
read the book few times as a kid story let me down on VHS late 80s came out on DVD 2012 bloody wow !!!!!
Ok 1972 Barry is in charge properly first time and got a good relationship going with all especially Terrance first time in five years the Daleks are back (as Mr Nation got delusions of grandeur and tried to sell the Dalek idea to USA ) it would be fair to say that, at the time, Louis Marks’ 1972 story Day Of The Daleks was highly anticipated even been requests on Blue Peter (the props there were from this story which had already been filmed despite perves drumming up support for them and asking kids to write in)
The opening serial of the shows ninth season, and the third to feature Jon Pertwee’s incarnation of the Time Lord, Day Of The Daleks has long had a somewhat clouded reputation among Doctor Who fans.,this is understandable great idea get the target book what a story ,but boy was it badly put together like all 70s television production, most of the show’s problems are the usual Who complaint of too little time, too little money. however, that doesn’t tell the whole story, and in among the usual rushed scenes and occasional dropped line, there were some pretty horrific faux-pas.lets start with the Elephant in the room the bizarre and distinctly un-Dalek-like voices that squawk out for much of the story are clearly an on-set mistakes why wouldn't you use the ring modulator as had always been done ?, And as for the jaw dropping, climactic assault on Auderley House by a combined attack force of Daleks and Ogrons… yah 3 Daleks 3 Ogrons ,look i know one Dalek is enough but this is supposed to be a Dalek assault couldn't they used split screen or something clever editing ?
However, thanks to DVD producer Steve Broster, and the brilliant work he’s overseen on this ‘special edition’ release of the story, Day Of The Daleks has graduated into an outright joy. and now living up the spectacle we all read and imagined with its enhanced effects, specially shot new footage and superbly re-recorded Dalek voices by modern series voice artiste, Nick Briggs (Big Finish maestro, interviewer from the reel time series and new series voice Artist hes living the dream obviously ) is that it allows the fog of prejudice to lift and the show to be judged on its own merits.
A clever and recursive tale revolving around a present day peace conference, time-travelling freedom fighters, grotesque Ogrons and the return of the Doctor’s titular arch-enemies, Day is packed to the brim with incident and ambition.
there are many moments to savour in this story; whether that be the Doctor’s assessment of the quality of Audeley House’s wine cellar, the Brigadier’s usual stiff-upper lip charm or the Daleks’ gleeful subjugation of the future Earth. and being down right nasty bully's and cold killers
I HATE the console being out of the TARDIS its stupid and doesnt make sense but alas no console room so best can be done ,erm use the police box prop ok bit worse for wear but still better idea
in this enhanced form – Day Of The Daleks is the best of the Third Doctor’s Dalek stores
A much tighter affair than 1973’s excessively padded Planet Of The Daleks, a more engaging story than 1974’s Death To The Daleks, and (Not including guest appearances here like Frontier in Space) Day is a solid story in its own right, which is enhanced by the Daleks’ involvement, but not defined by it.
With its use of a time-paradox at the centre of the story, and its reinstatement of the Daleks as world conquering uber-bastards, it’s clear that Day was a profoundly influential story on future new Who and its legacy is a good one
its a one off with the effects, new footage etc, money is tight obviously for these DVDs and i just wish this treatment could of been given to a few others Jons Invasion of the Dinosaurs being a prime candidate Letts said in many interviews how unhappy he was with the end result
Its nice to see the TLC Letts and Dicks gave who being respected here in this DVD realise ,realising there dream of what they wanted but were not able to achieve
The first disc contains the original, unaltered version of Day, the one we all watched on VHS or if old enough on original release
enjoy
3 Genesis of the Daleks
probably saw this coming Cliche Alert over hype sensation right , this episode tackles their back story and where they came from. we meet Davros for the first time, and learn how the Kaleds, the Daleks genetic ancestors, mutated by a prolonged nuclear war with the Thals, were mutating. this surely renders the Hartnell story and origin mute and didn't happen ?
Instead of healing them helping his race the master scientist Davros (Best performance and look/mask and voice in Micheal Wisher and unlike new Davros he uses his correct chair and doesn't look like a child in his high chair ) accelerated the process and built a ‘travel machine' for them to move around in. Then stripped them of all pity, empathy and compassion fantastic weaponry (how he had resources knowledge of this powerful laser energy ultimate destructive weapon as everyone is on WW2 rifles and sten guns, isn't clear there is plot holes you can drive a bus through in this ) .problem there grey not silver ,but if 60s Daleks didn't happen maybe supposed to be grey ?, would of been nice to have them silver why did they have to repaint them ? personally i like the grey its military its tank like and its also Nazi like grey uniforms oh which we get LOTS of from dressed in black, goose stepping clicking heals to Nider to Allo Allo actors appearing and committing all manner of sin in the name of ‘experimentation', are a very clear allegory of the Nazis.
querying whether Davros would develop a virus capable of destroying all living matter if he had the ability to do so. confirms that he would, and that, through the Daleks, he shall have this power. After this, the Doctor concludes that he is entirely insane, and that reasoning with him isn't going to work. oh hell yes this guy is bat shit crazy and on the megalomaniac road little does he realise whats to come and the genocide that comes form it
one small squad of Daleks wipes the Thals off Skaro something the thousand year or whatever time it was war couldn't do
The story itself is a powerful statement about the perils of nuclear war and radiation, broadcast as it was, in the 1970s, against the backdrop of the Cold War This is Doctor Who at its very best, taking real life issues and reflecting them back at the audience without patronising, but also telling a powerful, enthralling and entertaining story at the same time. its dark its Hinchcliffe Holmes its got style just wish it had more money
4 Death to the Daleks
Jon Pertwee, in what was a bit of a blasphemous remark for an ex Doctor, once remarked that he never enjoyed working on the Dalek stories. Which is a shame, because he got four of them in total, second only to William Hartnell in his exposure to Skaro's natives not even Troughton got that many . Death To The Daleks is probably more interesting than great.but it still has some great moments
A beacon on the planet's surface which is draining power from passing spacecraft. A human spacecraft has been downed the TARDIS ( a eerie set piece shot well even with majority of the set missing and last time the console room would be seen until the planet of evil some 18 months later and last time you would see this console which was a shame ), and so, of course, has a Squad of Daleks in there scout ship. nice start all Dark foggy and brutal Aliens a sophisticated culture returned to a stone-age level, very Terry nation (also the "Plague Missile" the Daleks will use ) ,with a civil war between tribes,
the Doctor has a lot to do with precious minerals needed to cure a space plague rescue Sarah (turning more and more into a Who girl and less feminist poster girl ( tho beating a Exillon with a crank Handel is something to see while gasping terrified) defeat Daleks solve the puzzle of the Exillon city oh and get power back on
Dicks' successor, Robert Holmes, was allowed to script edit "Death to the Daleks", uncredited. As a result, the serial appears as a curious mix of the by then well-known Letts and Dicks production style, and the more adult approach that Holmes was to introduce later but is in evidence here with the sacrifices and the skeletons etc
Letts envisioned the programme as being enjoyed by ages eight to adult; therefore, from mid-Season eight onwards the violence level drops, and the plots are very plainly put, so as to be comprehensible to the younger age groups. Holmes, however, regarded fourteen as the minimum viewer age for Doctor Who; later, as script editor, he would famously raise both the intellectual standard and the gore level of the series. In "Death to the Daleks", we see a mix of a simply-explained plot, with a good deal of exposition and info-dumping, and scenes such as the crewman's death at the beginning of the story, and the use of drugs in the sacrifice sequence,so a real mixed bag story wise and visually
Holmes, however, was less than enamoured with both Nation and his creations; although the story that he came up with the name "Death to the Daleks" purely out of dislike for the characters is doubtfull and probably something Nation thought of , but Holmes said in interviews he didnt like the Daleks or many of the "Traditional who villains" the reason we don't see them again until 1979 ,with a new production team,2 stories in toms 7 year stint ,not a lot really and a further five years before appearing with Dr 5 so that in total is 12 years and 3 Dalek stories Dr who had defiantly moved on from the Daleks this being the last typical Dalek story next story onwards it would be centred around Davros who was played by Micheal Wisher who coincidentally is doing the modulation and Dalek voices here.
With location footage recorded in Dorset Hansons Quarry it was all sand instead of rocks and mud mostly late evening/ night or early morning shoots so its dark this adds to the dry barren nature of the story and makes for a very eerie setting some surprisingly impressive CSO sequences, the Exxilon City model is realy well done the melting model well realised impressive sets (even with Daleks bumping into each other)
the Daleks were using negotiation rather than slaughter to achieve their objectives devious and clever, last time they would be
they look good last time the silver would be seen which is a shame considering there next story was there origin where there supposed to be silver ,and these are the original 60's casings to boot that machine gun and screams from the Exillons as there gunned down brilliant stuff the daleks kill in very real ways
and TARDIS gun target, get the feeling they REALLY don't like him
5. Resurrection Of The Daleks
Davison has a high opinion of this story and seems to regard it as one of the best of his tenure in the lead role.
Bleak. that would be one way to describe it ,.Depressing would be another and about as grey as the Daleks themselves from landing on a grey overcast London dockland (in the Shad Thames area next to Tower Bridge that is now fully renovated and the home of the Design Museum),to grim dark old warehouse to wet rainy afternoon mass slaughter by policemen (clones) of alien specimens and a couple of innocent by standers to boot
Eric Saward (who was also the show’s script editor at the time,also did something similar just less bodies for Earthshock and Cybermen ), piles up what must surely be the highest onscreen body count in Who history, apparently higher than the Terminator film from the same year, in an adventure where the Daleks are trying to do everything at once and, as a result, achieve nothing
The Daleks, are trying to rescue Davros from prison on a space station (one nice set, also a brilliant storming of the barricade ) which hes defiantly not being cooperative about and has his own plans (Davros has some sort of secret weapon that brainwashes humans and Daleks alike to his cause … How? Where did it come from? plot holes to drive a bus through,again ) nicely played here and during the 80s by Terry Malloy in a very good mask and updated desk , win the war with the Movellans (Remember them?, Destiny of the Daleks Disco robots with those silver dread lock wigs glam silver eye shadow platforms and a nifty gun that fitted over there hand?, if only Daleks new like the doctor take the pen off there belt, do a little dance round them there turned off then ,yeah BIG threat )
That's a lot of plates to spin, a task made all the more difficult when you don't have opposable thumbs.
Brilliant visuals the blown up Daleks are great (same FX as done in 5 Dr's) not to sure on melted ones with shaving foam, the melted flesh on the Space Station crew all great,the pyrotechnics that resulted in the biggest explosion ever staged within BBC TV Centre – and a severe reprimand to the production team as a result never, ever to do that again. looks great on screen, boom gos the airlock boom boom go Daleks
Biggest let down, what drunken fool bought the Dalek trooper outfits from obviously a Soho sex shop ? and Janet Fieldings east end hooker outfit leather mini skirt and high heels??
I remember this on broadcast,the Dalek going out of the warehouse doors the slimy Kaled mutant attacking the soldier his screams the Doctor with a gun !?? AGAIN??, (Earthshock famously doing a Han Solo) shooting the Kaled mutant and then on space station knocking out a Dalek trooper taking his gun and threatening him to pointing a gun and threatening to shoot Davros ,and this the wet Dr???
Rodney ‘Likely Lads' Bewes is the worse thing ever and without him this would be higher, he kills this story he is such a horrific actor and hammy and so wooden he has a woodpecker on his head
Stunt casting gone mad and stupid
Litton is redeeming one here (and he returns to great relish of a performance later on with Dr 6) ,with his creepy policemen
By the end, essentially everyone other than the TARDIS crew is dead ,by the end the survivors are struggling to find space on the studio floor to walk on without tripping over all the killed-off extras. It even adds the “duplicates” thread ( a wierd adjuct story thread of clones replacing key people to assist taking over the world not explained at all , Also cloneing a Dr and companions they havent met ??? to kill the Timelords (sense wear RTD got influenced here ) so that the same actors can get killed once, cloned, and then promptly shot again just to add to the numbers.
Also a large number (surprisingly for the BBC ) of Daleks dead and dieing, this is effective with the slurred speech ( Majority of the props were exhibition casings that were in less than satisfactory condition including the infamous Tussards Dalek and its misshapen Pyramid skirt, from broken domes to missing eye discs, badly painted eye stalks,badly painted cases, damaged slats and overall shoddy condition ,the lack of lighting doing them a big favour , )
and even the Doctor's companion, Tegan, has had enough, and leaves, by story end
It's powerful and compelling,and effects the Dr up to his regeneration. in fact he rants about this in the next story
Just so relentlessly grim that you cant call it enjoyable. ( “it isn’t fun any more” as Tegan says ,a portent of way things were going in the program, understandable Davisons wish to leave)
so why use this and not Collins? simple his is a Davros story with possibilities i might add and Molloy is brilliant when just the disembodied head ,and the FX ruin it pop gos the Dalek ???,please it looks pathetic, badly modulated to boot and that's as and when they do appear and Alexi sale another unfunny cringe worthy 80s comedian and everyone hamming it up minus the guards, Nicola Bryant seems to be unable to walk and consequently walks and runs weird, in this story she cant act at all and comes across as plain shrill, Collin is OK ish but has nothing to do ,its dull dark and extremely grim and more depressing (dealing solely about death) than Pete's , its just plain awful
So why on earth is it in my top five ? , 2 reasons, 1 Davidson is good Litton is brilliant character 2 and the FX save it , it's confirmation that, after too many stories where they appeared vulnerable, the Daleks really are bad, bad creatures who will kill you purely for the sake of doing so.and they don't need a ray gun and armour casing to do it ,that vulnerable mutant needing the support of its casing not so vulnerable after all
Children firmly back behind sofas
special mention
Victory of the Daleks
now this is wear the new who has fallen and fallen far,
RTD overused the Daleks to the point there appearance was something you could count on and they were impotent and frankly a easy cannon fodder kill and defeat even if the companion and not the doctor did the defeating ,which is against the shows title, premise and having the lead hero doing nothing could not be further from being wrong
Nice design all bronze eventually brown ish but the AARU Movie Style was good and given modern twist its armour so lets go for that look all bolts rivets and plating return to the eye being lit not done since the 60s (Massive influence on new who)
this story contains some nice design and fx and visuals and CGI even if that big spanner thing he was whacking the Dalek with looked very fake (in an episode with much better effects, to be fair)
Some nice ideas here tho very Patrick Troughton evil of the Daleks .with Daleks playing patsy , now living under the name of an ironside. A Bracewell ironside, a seemingly loyal creature determined to help win the war. even serving the tea at one point.a faithful servant ok nice start Doctor and Amy working well one Dr one companion (before yet again we get boyfriend husband etc and hello soap town) and she is good and both enjoying themselves so far
We get a decent into farce at light speed after the intro, spitfires working in space and in reverse to troughton episode Daleks being identified by the Doctor
and then we get the mighty power ranger Daleks primary colours ok one awfull design a A level student goint aint i clever
You can see the marketing asking you to collect the set in different colours a mile off, brisk business to be had in the toy shops and that is its fall down merchandise someone got clever and redesigned a icon of the show of Sci Fi a legend a icon this makes JNTs 6th Dr decisions inspired, it bares no resemblance to a Dalek any more a very specific design ,easily should of done a mix of RTD and movie Dalek it was a logical step,the toy sellers around Britain got to turn cartwheels of joy, as pure Dalek DNA is moulded to create a new collection of multi-coloured Daleks. Yep, now you can buy one to suit your mood, and match the colour scheme of your bedroom! eh ?????????
it makes no sense as a story the emotion of the robot scientist who thinks he has invented them stopped being a super bomb thanks to emotions, a theme that killed the Cybermen story into groan chease fest and a idea that still did not does not ,will not work ever , you know they say "Never say never "? well i am saying NEVER
this episode lacked any tension or depth and Smith is way to young and this is where it showed his arch enemy and he didn't have the gravitas for it ,or probably as so badly written this was the problem the script, to bothered about the season long story arc YAWN again
This hurt was deeply felt and as a step to far, way to far and we haven't seen the Daleks since massive back peddling
were promised there return in the Autumn/ fall of 2012 we shall see ,gay pride daleks, a 60 minute make over tardis do not a classic make. for me the worst moment has to be the raising of Old Glory can't remember the last occasion where a BBC programme has made such a crass appeal to commercialism and future sales of the programme to the US.chasing the Yankee dollar is something there obsessed with since Moffat took over at expense of the story the program its fan base
someone needs to get back to some basics some fresh thinking inspired ideas
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