IC Forum Archive

aderack · Posts: 5018

Who previously worked for the BBC on set design, and just barely didn't design the TARDIS interior.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Steven Moffat wrote:

Just before anyone sticks any words in my mouth - it happens, you know, it does, it does - I WAS asked [to contribute to Torchwood], I would have loved to, am extremely busy, couldn't.

Absolutely LOVED the three episodes so far - brilliant, brilliant stuff. Really spooky one last night. And Russell's opener was another satanically clever masterclass in episode 1 writing. Or it would be if I had the faintest idea how to learn from it. Generally I just settle for nicking the jokes.

Steven Moffat

aderack · Posts: 5018

George wrote:

I find it interesting that he says one of the problems was that his crew members wouldn't go and see a movie like The Terminator which had fantastic effects despite being low budget, because that problem happened to James Cameron himself.

Curiously, one of the few "good guys" he mentions, Mike Tucker, still worked at the BBC effects department as of 2005 (after which that department was disbanded and he went off to form his own effects shop). His final job at the BBC? All of the model work for the 2005 series of Doctor Who.

Iammadmak · Posts: 210

I just finished Ghost Machine. No complaints really, I didn't think it was bad but it wasn't that good either. Next week looks like it will be Pet Semetary with the you know who from Army Of Ghosts.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Yeah, it's climbed the ladder from "mildly disappointing" to "so-so". I'm quickly losing my enthusiasm for this series, though next week seems to have the potential to somewhat redeem it.

Iammadmak · Posts: 210

If anything, it is a nice light filler between season 2 and season 3 of new Doctor Who. It would be nice if it could stand on its own better.

Edit: possible spoilers follow: aside from the whole how did Jack get back to now mystery, nothing really seems that interesting about him so far. All we have learned is that he doesn't sleep and he can't die. So basically at this point, he is the equivalent of superman, except he can't fly and he is even more of a dick. At least the other characters at least seem more interesting or have potential to get more interesting, especially Ianto Jones.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I understand that next week focuses on Ianto -- meaning even more potential!

Yes, Jack is a plank here. Gwen is a wittering plank. No friction or heat between the two boards. Toshiko Sato is completely unexplored. Owen is interesting, if one-note. Ianto is tantalizing, and thus far underused!

I was really expecting this to be novel and energetic. Like Homicide, with alien technology. It's fluff, though. As you say, I guess it's nice filler. Just... hum. More identiity would be nice.

Even as a Who side story, it's kind of a non-starter. Jack in 2007: Surf board. Rift. Now that they've revealed right up front that he can't die (that's a bit of a waste; they could have waited until the revelation would have explained a bunch of dumb things you'd seen him doing over the course of the series), it's mostly an exercise in tedium, waiting for the series end so you can see how it transitions back into Doctor Who. Feels like it's stalling.

Again, though, the last few episodes sound great. Maybe it'll all come together in the end.

aderack · Posts: 5018

A pretty good article about the restoration of The Invasion. Curiously, it barely mentions the animation; it's left to a passing reference in the final paragraph.

The Invasion is coming out in a matter of days, in the UK. I think three or four days, now. Somewhere around there. Some shops are already selling it, before the street date.

It'll be one of the March releases here. That's not too bad, I guess. However in the meantime I think I'll look forward to a... uh, sneak preview of the animated episodes.

James · Posts: 1735

Iammadmak · Posts: 210

My episode 5 of war games torrent is finally finished after a month. Now I can enjoy it without other scenes randomly showing up.

I also downloaded The Mark of the Rani and the 6th doctor is above my expectations for him. Its kind of interesting to see the Doctor interpreted as a total dick.

In terms of torchwood, I'm hoping that it won't be a case of gwen episode, owen episode, Ianto episode, Sato episode, Jack episode, gwen episode etc. I hope the characters become more interesting beyond myself just waiting on every episode to arbitrarily learning about Jack. I'm hoping they mix it up a bit.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I really like Colin Baker's Doctor. You can see where the fans couldn't stand him, though. I think his biggest problem, really, is that he didn't have any good scripts. Even so, his performance is hugely entertaining -- enough to carry most stories he's in, despite the other problems.

In a way, he's sort of the inverse of the Troughton/McCoy Doctor. Those two make themselves out to be awkward, harmless little fellows such as to make people underestimate them. The Sixth Doctor makes people dismiss him by acting like a pompous jackhole.

Man, that seeder guy needs to get his ass in gear and just torrent the last couple of episodes. Those are, from what I understand, practically the whole point to the serial. It certainly does seem to be leading that way. He's also got an extremly high-quality version of Dimensions in Time sitting around, which I'd like to see; the only version I've encountered looks like a sixteenth generation copy recorded on Scotch tape.

Ashura · Posts: 735

I'm behind on this topic. I finally watched Torchwood episode 3, which I think is the best so far. Not extremely strong, but the best out of the three.

aderack · Posts: 5018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPIX4BRUJOQ

It's a thing!

aderack · Posts: 5018

So there's this new interview in the British magazine "SFX" -- someone stuck RTD on a couch next to Verity Lambert, the original producer of the series, and they knocked things around. Some tidbits that people have let loose:

Ms. Lambert really likes Tennant, though she wishes he'd calm down and be allowed to get "darker". Davies replies that, actually, he and Tennant had already talked about just that, and that Tennant will be getting much "meatier" material in the future.

Also, he essentially confirmed that both he and Tennant are around at least until the end of series four, in that the two have been working together to chart out the Doctor's character growth in the long term. From the sound of it the character is still evolving at the end of series four -- suggesting that he's going to be around for a whlie yet.

Apparently Lambert has a bunch of other precise criticisms of the new series, though in general she really likes what Davies has done with it. I'd like to get ahold of this, though it's... kind of unlikely, unless someone transcribes the piece.

aderack · Posts: 5018

About Eccleston: apparently when he was filming series one, his father was seriously ill. According to Billie Piper, a big reason why he chose to leave is that filming required he spend too much time away, and it was making him anxious.

I can see how after deciding this, then working out with Davies where the series will go (though Davies basically knew anyway), and feeling sort of proud about that, the BBC's handling of the situation would be... rather annoying. "Oh hey, everyone -- spoiler time -- he's leaving with a surprise regeneration at the end of the series! Here's a fake quote where he says he's afraid of getting typecast. Get on the Internet and discuss at will!" Apparently he was sufficiently pissed off that he declared he wanted nothing to do with the BBC ever again.

The father thing would also (at least partially, maybe) explain why he's been laying low since 2005, only doing the occasional charity appearance and low-impact role. The only picture I've since seen of him, actually, is of him sitting on his parents' couch, looking chagrined, holding someone's cross-stitch of the Ninth Doctor that he received in the mail.

Further, this would perhaps explain why nobody's spoken up about his reasons, even to counter the bad vibrations. I'd imagine family problems would be sort of a private issue.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Hey, this episode was a hell of a lot better! It's even good! It's even very good! This is more what I was expecting out of the series.

Of course I was expecting that stories of this caliber would be the "average" episodes, rather than the standouts. Still, hey. One! We've got one!

aderack · Posts: 5018

Update: the fans FUCKING HATE this episode, whereas they adored the boring first three.

Hmm...

As I wrote elsewhere, it's probably the best Cyberman story ever produced -- though that leads to odd thing: despite this episode being the biggest, most obvious crossover yet with the parent series, it's also the first one that seems to project its own personality apart from Who. Perhaps it was being set almost entirely in the Hub, mostly using elements introduced in the previous episodes -- and the Who crossover, though involving a traditional monster, was directly tied to established Torchwood lore. From the pizza to the Canary Wharf incident to Ianto's background, to Jack's intense hardness, for once this series feels like it's got its own mythology.

And maybe that's why the fans hate it so much. It's not Doctor Who in a thin disguise anymore!

Wilkes · Posts: 1603

maybe you could, like, start a dr. who blog.

and a whole bunch of people could read it.

maybe you could do that.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Maybe I could! In theory.

...

I mean. If I ever get my site running properly, I could hide a subsite offa there. I already have my own reference guide, since every other one is inadequate.

Anyway, this is both new and kind of interesting. A lot of the stodginess of the Wiki militia is starting to cave in.

Iammadmak · Posts: 210

I really really enjoyed this episode. It had actual tension and gave me something I wanted to see from the first episode, what the hell Ianto has been doing this entire time. Made him seem more of a character instead of that guy who occasionally shows up. Every time we see the rest of the staff, they are off to do their usual stuff. I kept thinking of Love and Monsters as I was watching it.

Greeks Bearing Gifts looks like it will be a requisite Tosh episode, providing some background or at least a decent character study.

Ashura · Posts: 735

God this episode was awesome. It really shows this show's potential. And I really don't even mean the crossovers or whatever. The back and forth and who's on who's side and whatnot. Lots of little nice character moments for every character other than Ianto, too. Jack, Owen and Gwen, Tosh a little. I guess she was the least serviced.

Also, where Jack disarmed Ianto was awesome.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I, on OG just now, wrote:

OH MY GOD, SHE WEARS HIGH HEELS. -8690384 out of 5!!!

Ashura · Posts: 735

But that shot where she drags her heel was awesome, too.

Actually, I think this episode was directed well, too. And the CG for the dinosaur wasn't bad either.

aderack · Posts: 5018

It was directed well. And paced well, for the first time. And as you say, everyone had something to do -- and most of the characters were explored in more detail than they have been to date. Even Tosh didn't do this much in all three previous episodes added together. And the series seems to be building its own mythology now. And the horror of the Cybermen is explored in detail for the first time. And the Hub is such a great set, if you're going to place an entire episode indoors.

Someone else on OG wrote:

You know, I strongly suspect that a whole lot of the hatred that some people are showing towards this story are very specifically because of all the time focusing on Ianto crying. I was wondering how long it would take before someone actually articulated it, since it would clearly be an umpopular opinion in some circles.

It's just like those who compare new Who to "soaps" because they actually show emotion.

What I find hysterical is that people can complain that this episode has no "meat", but when it's pointed out that there is a whole lot of characterization in the episode, it gets dismissed as irrelevant.

I mean, the man has just watched the woman he loves (who he's risked his career and life for) kill two people -- and try to kill HIM -- and now he's trying to keep his freinds from killing her, AND he's even being asked to kill her himself. He watches what he thinks is her death, with a wild animal attacking her.

But, damn, what's with all the blubbing, anyways? He should have kept a stiff upper lip!

WHAT?!?

From what I can see, those are the two major complaints: "Shut up, Ianto -- you're embarassing me", and "Oh GOD, why is she wearing high heels?! I'm so embarassed!"

Ashura · Posts: 735

The last 5 minutes of the episode alone are tense, since there's so many possibilities.

There was a lot of moments where I was like, are they going to kill her? Are they going to kill the pizza girl? Are they going to kill Lisa in the pizza girl's body? Is IANTO going to do it? Will the other hubbians show up? Will they just kill her or her AND Ianto? Is she really okay, or does she still want to be Cyberized? Can they even SAVE the pizza girl? There's the morality of the fact that she's pretty much a human in the end, too.

It was great.

What is it with RTD shows and episode 4? Girl in the Fireplace, Cyberwoman..

And man, if you're doing a Cyberwoman, why the hell not high heels? I mean, c'mon. It's a great conceit.

The thing about Ianto blubbering, I thought about it at first, and I mean, yeah, there's no way a guy could go all the way through that and not be a mess. I liked that they ended it with him cleaning up, sullen.

Also, Jack kissed Ianto and gave him life back it looks like. Hrm.

Direction wise, there were a lot of great shots, a lot of good lighting- Owen and Gwen in the morgue tray.. the flickering lights when Ianto was dragging the body. The heel turn. The lighting in the "War Room" when they were making the plan, lots of the shots with Ianto's dead body in the water, and the wrecked look of things.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Ashura wrote:

Also, Jack kissed Ianto and gave him life back it looks like. Hrm.

I dwelled on that for a while. If Jack can do that at will... well, huh. I guess he's the God of Love, then?

Another thing is, after the premiere I wasn't sure whether Ianto would even survive the episode. And as you say, I like the uncomfortable note it ends on. With her gone, Ianto doesn't have anything left to do except go back to cleaning their shit (as he put it).

Yet... he does it willingly, in the end. It's so fragile, what holds the characters together. You can see how Suzie went wacko. This whole strange mix of tension and mistrust and acceptance and superficial cordiality and deeper threat... For all the apparent silliness of the main cast, Gwen was perhaps right to be concerned in the first episode.

It's interesting how hard Jack has become. Yet when pressed to the last, he does remain Jack. He wants to trust Ianto. He sees the good in him and understands what he's going through -- even if he doesn't really care, and isn't prepared to deal with any bullshit. He gives Ianto as much rope as he can, every single chance he can find -- then when Ianto keeps scrwing up, well, someone has to take care of the situation.

Ashura · Posts: 735

Yeah, and there was a nice ref to Suzie in the episode, too.

You can see that even Jack is fragile. He wanted to die. He hoped he would die. I think this is the first episode where Jack really seems like the Jack we knew from Doctor Who. Not that Jack had a death wish, but he seemed far more in character this episode.

Also, did it seem like Ianto knew a little more about Jack than the rest? He was like, YOU'RE the monster. I don't think that's just from him coming back to life. I think he's seem more about Jack than Jack thinks. He's all about surveillance and such, I figure he must've seen Suzie shooting Jack in the head at the very least. If not a lot more.

aderack · Posts: 5018

This episode has so many contrasts: he was both more the Jack we know, and more unlike Jack than we've ever seen -- yet now we get an idea how "our" Jack is buried. This has more direct connection to Doctor Who than ever, yet it's more its own thing than ever.

You're right; the reference to Suzie -- beyond reinforcing the internal continuity and mythology -- is pretty important to what's going on in this episode.

Ashura · Posts: 735

The 'how can you ever go back?' angle.

Which I think, while standalone the first episode wasn't anything /special/, I do think it set up things well. I really wish the second was stronger- The third wasn't bad, but I think the problem with 2 and 3 were 'certain people have nothing to do' angle. They felt more like names than characters in those two episodes, aside from the people who were featured. Last week was very much Owen's episode. Ianto had like nothing to do, nor did Tosh. Jack and Gwen had stuff to do, but it was more servicing the story than anything /great/.

Oh, also, the boyfriend calling in Cyberwoman was a NICE NICE touch.

That said, I'm liking the look of next week. Jack dealing with reprocussions.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Yeah. Old woman who knew Jack. That sounds excellent, in principle.

What they really needed in the second episode at least was a strong character piece -- something that helped to introduce everyone, and establish their relationships. Instead they went right into plot. Then the third episode, plot again. Owen did lots of reacting, though not really in a way we didn't see him reacting before.

Episode one would have been a lot stronger if it were supported by a strong episode two. You know, like that one track on an album that's great in context though wouldn't be anything noteworthy on its own. The only thing that made episode two episode two was the business about it being Gwen's first day -- which was way, way overplayed. The way to introduce her to this new crew is to introduce the new crew, and what they do. She's our window to them; they're not supposed to be a background for her.

The only thing wrong with episode three (well, the only important thing) is that at that point we still hadn't gotten our proper introductions -- and it was yet another episodic plot-based episode. Had episode two done its job, then it also would have been stronger for not yet again failing to do what needed to be done.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Neil Gaiman wrote:

Is there any reasonable chance I would do a Doctor Who in the future? For years, people would say to me, "Will you do a Doctor Who novel?", including a bunch of publishers with the Doctor Who license, and I would always say, "No, but I'd write a Doctor Who".

I don't know. I love Doctor Who. I think, right now, Doctor Who is far and away my favorite TV show -- partly because, I think, of the genius involved in them creating a show that is my favorite show and my 12 year old daughter's favorite show, and that we can watch together. It's quite wonderful.

I don't have an awful lot of time. If they asked, I would probably try and make it. [...]

Many years ago I did a TV version of Neverwhere; my novel was first done as a TV series. It wasn't enormously successful, mostly because, at that time, with the kind of ideas they had of what fantasy and science fiction had to be, they really did try and turn it into Doctor Who -- shooting it on video, 28 minute episodes and things -- and it went rather wonky.

Right now, the BBC and a number of people there have started approaching me and saying, "You know, that really was really good. And it wasn't really your fault, it was ours that it didn't turn out like it should have done. And would you like to come back and do another TV series for us? And of course this time you would be God." So that's very very tempting too.

So we'll see.

winkerwanker · Posts: 2414

In all sincerity i enjoy this thread.

Torchwood is ok as well. An easy watch in any case.

Legal Step · Posts: 1030

winkerwanker wrote:

In all sincerity i enjoy this thread.

Torchwood is ok as well. An easy watch in any case.

If i didn't think it would mess up the flow of Series 2 I would find a way to watch it. It probably won't make it to the states...

aderack · Posts: 5018

In general it does its own thing, though there are constant references to events in the last two episodes of series two. Actually, last week's episode -- the best so far -- even has a couple of flashbacks to it! So. Uh. It's kind of a strange situation. If you're still working on series two, then there's the spoiler element -- yet you don't have to have watched Doctor Who at all, really. There's no direct story connection, so there's no inherrent conflict. It's just that spoiler factor getting in the way.

Legal Step · Posts: 1030

If they show clips and stuff then I'm going to have to wait. Still that should make acquiring all the Torchwood after the Doctor finishes...easier.

When does Sarah Jane start?

aderack · Posts: 5018

Ho hey.

Remember to buy it when it really comes out, if you wanna see any more like this.

aderack · Posts: 5018

The first new series soundtrack album has finally been announced.

- Release date: December 4th
- catalogue number: SILCD1224

This is just a random selection of cues. There are hopes for a full soundtrack later. The version of "Song for Ten" isn't the same as in TCI, though the album version of Love Don't Roam will be used in Runaway Bride.

Tracklisting:

1. Doctor Who Theme – TV version
2. Westminster Bridge
3. The Doctor's Theme ("Flavia's theme"?)
4. Cassandra's Waltz
5. Slitheen
6. Father's Day
7. Rose In Peril
8. Boom Town Suite
9. I'm Coming To Get You!
10. Hologram
11. Rose Defeats The Daleks
12. Clockwork TARDIS
13. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister
14. Rose's Theme
15. Song For Ten (performed by Neil Hannon)
16. The Face of Boe
17. UNIT
18. Seeking The Doctor
19. Madame de Pompadour
20. Tooth and Claw
21. The Lone Dalek
22. New Adventures
23. Finding Jackie
24. Monster Bossa
25. The Daleks
26. The Cybermen
27. Doomsday
28. The Impossible Planet
29. Sycorax Encounter
30. Love Don't Roam (performed by Neil Hannon)
31. Doctor Who Theme – Album Version

aderack · Posts: 5018

Another fan idiocy anecdote. So Neil Gaiman, right? The fans picked up on his comment and immediately began to dismiss it -- not because they wouldn't like Neil Gaiman to write for the series; because they think that he's not high-profile enough.

You see, Davies has gone to the effort to round up famous people like Steven Moffat and Matthew Graham and Stephen Fry to write for the series -- and though Gaiman is nice, who's ever heard of him outside of a certain highly limited niche? We need proven writers, with name value!

...

I posted a long response that talked about the Sinclair Spectrum.

George · Posts: 1656

They're just bitter because Gaiman lives in Minnesota. This is shown by the fact that they're using "high profile" to mean "people no American has heard of."

aderack · Posts: 5018

So, The Invasion. Really good direction and design to the animation. However: whoa, Flash!

aderack · Posts: 5018

This is a pretty darned good fan video. It gets better the second and third time through, once you realize what the editor is doing. Makes Torchwood seem a lot more interesting than it is so far!

aderack · Posts: 5018

Legal Step wrote:

If they show clips and stuff then I'm going to have to wait. Still that should make acquiring all the Torchwood after the Doctor finishes...easier.

When does Sarah Jane start?

Missed this. Sorry!

The Sarah Jane series starts in the UK with a New Years special, then goes to full series sometime next year.

Torchwood doesn't show any direct clips of Doctor Who, and I doubt it will! However, here have been flashbacks to stuff that went on unseen during events shown later in series two. One of the main characters, it is revealed, was present at some of the events, and we see the effect those events had on his life. Likewise, there are lots of little throwaway (and not-so-throwaway) references to the parent series -- usually stated or shown a little obliquely, so you don't necessarily have to know what they're references to. They're a little annoying in the first couple of episodes, as it feels like they're just being shoved in to be "cute".

Dark Age Iron Savior · Posts: 3148

Not sure if this is the best place to file this post, but - has anyone played any of the non-flash Dr. Who games? I'm kind of surprised by how few of them there are.

An "episodic content" point-and-click adventure seems like it might be a good idea......at least to someone like me, who knows absolutely nothing about the series or it's legacy.

I guess maybe their intended audience isn't quite that technology-enabled? I wouldn't know.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I've not. There's Dalek Attack!, across several platforms (and available on Underdogs). There's Destiny of the Doctors, which is supposed to be a slightly not-terrible game on the Quake engine. It's mostly notable for having a bunch of FMV recorded by Anthony Ainly, the guy who played The Master during the 1980s. He's dead now; that was his final performance in the role.

I think there might be one or two other minor things.

aderack · Posts: 5018

This was a sweet episode, and the least problematic script to date -- if not quite as bombastic as last week's. I like the subtle touch of character continuity with Ianto. They didn't need to even say anything; it was all in the looks and the pauses and the body language.

What's encouraging me is how, as with last week's episode, this story was used to flesh out one of the main characters; tell us some things we didn't know about Jack, that brought us to where he is now. And as usual, the answers just open up new questions we wouldn't have thought to ask before. When returning from the Game Station, did he just aim roughly for the twentieth century and arrive in 1900? Has he been lingering this whole time? Or was that a flashback to an episode in his space con career? Since we're not expected to know any of Jack's background not already revealed, I'm guessing a lot of time has passed for him. This would explain tons.

No really solid explanation for why the fairies chose to torment people who weren't threatening their chosen one -- Jack's old Flame and Gwen. That doesn't matter, though. Their motives should probably remain enigmatic. I don't get the impression they're altogether rational or systematic in their actions.

The series is settling into a decent groove. Next week's also seems to have more potential than the two-line synopsis suggested.

Iammadmak · Posts: 210

Possible spoilers: I enjoyed how nothing worked out for pretty much anyone is this episode. I just wonder what significance the pursuit of Gwen has on her character. Is this all just because of her pursuit of the fairies or does it mean something more. Next weeks episode looks pretty decent. I'm glad that the show seems to be improving instead of just all being filler. Maybe those bad first few episodes were to get Doctor Who fans to settle in before RTD et all gave them the finger.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Oh hey. It continues!

He says episode ten is sitting around waiting to be seeded, so that should also be up any time now.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Some guy on OG wrote:

Cosgrove Hall were at the Bradford Animation Festival today, and were showing there work from their past 30 years, including a snippet of the Invasion and a picture of the Richard E Grant Doctor. There was a Q&A session at the end, and I asked the first question - "Any more Doctor Who on the horizon and is there and is there any particular episodes you would like to see animated".

Well, before I give you the answer, I'm sure you'll be able to guess what he said. After a few seconds of a "oh bugger what do I say here" look face, he said:

"Obviously we can't discuss projects like that at the moment, but I think we'd all like to see a Dalek one animated". He also mentioned that the animation of the Invasion was completed and "in the can" 15 months ago, but it took the BBC a long time for the release to be "slotted in" into the release schedule.

Clearly he didn't confirm anything, but surely if they hadn't been contacted by the BBC, he would've been able to say so. Later on in the Q&A, he listed all the projects they have in the making just now, and advised there was 9 in total, some of which he can't tell us about.

So I think it's quite safe to say that we haven't seen the last animated reconstruction.

The implications here are clear enough, of course -- though it led to people assuming CH were just now thinking about starting a new project, and speculating how many years it would take to finish. So I responded thus:

Keep in mind also his statement about the animation being done a year and a half ago, and that all this time it had just been sitting there, waiting for its release to get sorted out. Basically in total secret for most of that time.

It was a weird thing to say in response to the question put forward:

Q: "Are any more releases coming?"
A: "Well... uh. We can't really talk about it. If you think about it, though, we've had over a year to work on any other projects of this nature we might or might not have going."

At least on the surface, the implication seems to be that they're already working on (or have even finished) another Who project, and at this point are mostly waiting for it to be scheduled and announced.

If that's the case, I would expect this project to be one of the other "mostly complete" stories like Ice Warriors. If you then factor in the earlier report suggesting that they were at least looking into animating Power, and the above suggestion that they're interested in doing a Dalek story, that says to me that they're making preparations for, or at least investigating the possibility of, Power as their third project. If nothing else, saying this would seem to throw the heat off the other work that they've got in the shop (or in the can). It would also allow them to answer honestly, if cautiously, while avoiding the real implication of the question.

aderack · Posts: 5018

The next classic release after "New Beginnings" (the release formerly titled "Return of the Master", containing the final two Tom Baker stories and the first Davison one) now is pretty much confirmed as "The Time Meddler" (1964). This is probably one of the most important stories in the original series, in that it's the first appearance of another member of the Doctor's race (aside from Susan). The term "Time Lord" wasn't used until The War Games, though the Monk does have his own TARDIS (again, the first time it's revealed that the neither the Doctor's TARDIS nor the name "TARDIS" are unique).

Beyond that, it's the first "false historical" in the sense that the trouble lies not in getting inextricably tangled in historical events; rather, in stopping historical events from getting altered by an outside force. This also changes the rules of time travel as portrayed in the series; originally time was supposed to be absolutely fixed, such that any attempt you made to change it will already have happened in the history you know. Starting with this serial, time is in constant flux.

Beyond that, it's the first episode with a completely new TARDIS crew. Susan left toward the start of the season, and as this story begins Ian and Barbara were just delivered home. The Doctor is rather put back that they chose to leave him at the first opportunity. It isn't until they discover Steven on board that he begins to cheer up again.

A lot of things change forever in this story. Also, though the story is a little slow, it's one of the most entertaining Hartnells I've seen. The energy between Vicki and Steven is really neat.

I understand the original is in really terrible shape. (Certainly the version I saw was, though it's hard to tell as everything from the '60s looks dreadful until it's restored.) It should prove interesting to see what they've done with it.

aderack · Posts: 5018