Old Doctor Who - Part 3

[Norton Canes]

Not much to add about that clip except to repeat what's in the first YT comment: "if only the other guy was played by Patrick Troughton".

[daf]

1 minute sample from the new Macra animation -
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a26852966/doctor-who-macra-terror-watch/

Looks pretty good!

[Deanjam]

Yeah, I'm happy with that. Never really had a problem with the Who animations. They do a good job on what I assume is a small budget.

[daf]

Behind the scenes peek at making some of the new Logopolis effects  -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BRbe8CWE5o

[Replies From View]

Why on earth have they felt the need to replace such an iconic sequence with a modern version?  And yes I know it's optional.  But it's just bizarre.  It's not like the new CSO is particularly convincing anyway!

[Replies From View]

I mentioned this to Delete today in (spam) chat, and have managed to track it down in my DWM pdfs.  I figure it'll be of interest to a few people who didn't know about it already, so here it is:

 

 

 

[daf]

Why on earth have they felt the need to replace such an iconic sequence with a modern version?  And yes I know it's optional.  But it's just bizarre.  It's not like the new CSO is particularly convincing anyway!

Probably down to the little action man dangling on a string and the freeze frame 'cutout' Master in the door - I think it's done quite well.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Great scans Replies, cheers. Interesting stuff.

Personally I'll always choose to watch the original effects, even when they are awful. Doctor Who is always of its time and that's why I like it.

[JamesTC]

Probably down to the little action man dangling on a string and the freeze frame 'cutout' Master in the door - I think it's done quite well.

That and the fact that they now have access to Jodrell Bank so they can film what was originally intended in 1981.


I've finished the set now.

K9 and Company is still rubbish and for some reason, the picture quality seems a drop off from the rest of the set. In terms of the picture quality for the main season, it is really great.

The Writers Room, Logopolis doc and Weekend with Waterhouse are all top notch Who docs. Just a shame they couldn't get Uncle Terrance in for The Writers Room. The Ian Sears interview has tremendous opening titles...

Wendy Padbury is good fun on Behind the Sofa. She gives as good as she gets with Janet Fielding and seems to have found her match. Tom Baker, John Leeson and costume designer June Hudson are great on the other sofa providing a more positive but also insightful side. Tom Baker is clearly quite fond of June Hudson. It is just great to see three old friends on the sofa enjoying a run down memory lane with no element of cynicism about it.

They've managed to squeeze in some interesting archive features. An hour-long convention appearance by Tom Baker from the mid-nineties with him answering questions from the fans. A documentary made for BBC America (I think) is included which has Steven Moffat, David Tennant and a few others talking about the Fourth Doctor. The abridged State of Decay audiobook read by Tom Baker is also included.

[daf]

I mentioned this to Delete today in (spam) chat, and have managed to track it down in my DWM pdfs. 

Good read that -

Can they come back and do Doctor Who now please!

[purlieu]

Wendy Padbury is good fun on Behind the Sofa. She gives as good as she gets with Janet Fielding and seems to have found her match.

They're so good together, aren't they? Been really loving this.

Tom's incredible as ever too. "Ooh great, a shark's got Adric! Oh, no it hasn't. Stupid shark"

edit: not even John Leeson's enthusiasm could make me sit through the K9 & Company one. 36 minutes. It's such an appalling piece of television.

edit 2: onto 19 and it opens with this corker:

Peter Davison: It is us, season 19, isn't it?
Sarah Sutton: Yes
Peter Davison: Oh good, I didn't want to end up watching three hours of Colin Baker

[pigamus]

I'm in the middle of reading Charles Moore's biography of Mrs Thatcher, and not only does he discuss Andrew Cartmel and The Happiness Patrol, he also mentions - get this - Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma! Bloody hell, can't beat that for research!

[mjwilson]

Ah yes, the cleverly disguised villain name Rehctaht.

[pigamus]

Yes, the subtlety didn't escape his attention.

And while I'm on a political tip I was disappointed to see Neil Perryman of Wife in Space fame ranting about 'Magic Grandad' on Twitter the other day, with Louis Barfe backing him up. Depressing.

[Replies From View]

My pre-order of The Macra Terror arrived today.

For those of you wondering, the DVD has a reversible cover so that it has the option to fit with the rest of the range.

[purlieu]

They wouldn't dare not at this stage, would they?

[Replies From View]

Especially now that the main logo has been changed so the difference is even more stark.

[Replies From View]

I can also confirm that the elusively named "Bonus Mini-Episode" is the animated 10 minutes of The Wheel in Space.

For some reason even the booklet inside the DVD case doesn't reveal this when it details all the extras.

[JamesTC]

The animation is excellent. It is a fun little story but nothing special. The two stories either side are much better IMO (even if The Moonbase doesn't do anything new). The animation hasn't improved my feelings on the story but it makes it easier to rewatch.

Marco Polo, The Massacre and I assume The Myth Makers aren't going to get done as they are too complicated so I'll take The Highlanders, The Savages, The Smugglers and Fury from the Deep next please. Then they can move onto partially complete stories.

My pre-order of The Macra Terror arrived today.

For those of you wondering, the DVD has a reversible cover so that it has the option to fit with the rest of the range.

The Blu-Ray also has a reversible cover to match Spearhead from Space (and I assume Shada and The TV Movie has a reversible cover too).

[Deanjam]

Does it give you the option of watching in B&W or will I need to turn the colour down on my TV?

[daf]

The animation is excellent.

It is a step up from the last one - but what the hell did they do to Polly's face?

I honestly thought it was meant to be a different character during the opening pre-titles sequence - a flash forward, or dream sequence . . . or maybe a 'Mind Robber' type recasting - but no . . . apparently, that face is meant to be Anneke Wills :

"yeah, that'll do - these Sixties dolly birds all look the same, don't they? Just use any generic 'young woman' face off the peg - nobody'll notice"

Particularly weird as they managed to get The Doctor, Jamie, Ben and the guest cast looking so spot on.

[daf]

Does it give you the option of watching in B&W

Yes - Colour and Black & White versions are on separate discs.

The telesnap version is split in twain over the two discs - so 1&2 are on disc 1 (colour) with 3&4 on disc 2 (B&W) -

You have the option to watch those with or without Anneke Wills narration (though the captions are burnt in on both versions - probably so they didn't need to make two versions - which is a bit of a shame, as you don't need them on the narrated version).

[Replies From View]

Marco Polo, The Massacre and I assume The Myth Makers aren't going to get done as they are too complicated so I'll take The Highlanders, The Savages, The Smugglers and Fury from the Deep next please. Then they can move onto partially complete stories.

I'm guessing what they do next will involve prioritising stories they think will sell most well, and also the planned schedule for the complete season blu-rays.


The Wheel in Space will mean all the Cyberman stories have been released, opening up options for a 'Complete Classic Era Cybermen' set.

The Evil of the Daleks will presumably use the same Dalek models as Power, so might be cheaper to do than some of the other stories?  And it continues the trend of tackling season 4, which they seem to be doing for some reason.

The Abominable Snowmen might have broader appeal than some of the other historicals, tying in as it does with The Web of Fear (especially if they can work on a special edition of the latter), then they can finish off season 5 with Fury From The Deep.

The Highlanders introduces Jamie and again gets them closer to completing season 4.


Then we have the season-completers:

Marco Polo will complete season 1.
The Crusades will complete season 2.
The Space Pirates will complete season 6.


Season 3 is more of a patchwork.  I'm guessing The Savages is where they'll start with that, but just looking at all the gaps in that season gives me a headache.  The Daleks' Master Plan looks like too ambitious a project, but I'd love to see it done.

[JamesTC]

It is a step up from the last one - but what the hell did they do to Polly's face?

I honestly thought it was meant to be a different character during the opening pre-titles sequence - a flash forward, or dream sequence . . . or maybe a 'Mind Robber' type recasting - but no . . . apparently, that face is meant to be Anneke Wills :
"yeah that'll do - these dolly birds all look the same don't they - just use any old generic 'woman' face off the peg - nobody'll notice"

Particularly weird as they managed to get The Doctor, Jamie, Ben and the guest cast looking so spot on.

I was going to make a comment specifically on Polly but I felt it a bit harsh considering how great everything else is. I think they just made her face a little too long and found it hard to convey the heavy makeup around her eyes.

[JamesTC]

I'm guessing what they do next will involve prioritising stories they think will sell most well, and also the planned schedule for the complete season blu-rays.


The Wheel in Space will mean all the Cyberman stories have been released, opening up options for a 'complete classic era Cybermen' set.

The Evil of the Daleks will presumably use the same Dalek models as Power, so might be cheaper to do than some of the other stories?  And it continues the trend of tackling season 4, which they seem to be doing for some reason.

The Abominable Snowmen might have broader appeal than some of the other historicals, tying in as it does with The Web of Fear (especially if they can work on a special edition of the latter), then they can finish off season 5 with Fury From The Deep.

The Highlanders introduces Jamie and again gets them closer to completing season 4.


Then we have the season-completers:

Marco Polo will complete season 1.
The Crusades will complete season 2.
The Space Pirates will complete season 6.


Season 3 is more of a patchwork.  I'm guessing The Savages is where they'll start with that.

Marco Polo, The Crusades and The Massacre have all been referred to as being out of the budget for animation due to high amounts of guests, sets and costumes. I assume The Daleks' Master Plan and The Myth Makers are in the same boat.

Any work done before The Macra Terror won't really have any influence as they have moved to a new software (Toon Boom). I believe the new software did make it easier to do the cut down The Wheel in Space animation.

[Deanjam]

Yes - Colour and Black & White versions are on separate discs.

The telesnap version is split in twain over the two discs - so 1&2 are on disc 1 (colour) with 3&4 on disc2 2 (B&W) -

You have the option to watch those with or without Anneke Wills narration (though the captions are burnt in on both versions - probably so they didn't need to make two versions - which is a bit of a shame, as you don't need them on the narrated version).

Cheers!

[Replies From View]

I was going to make a comment specifically on Polly but I felt it a bit harsh considering how great everything else is. I think they just made her face a little too long and found it hard to convey the heavy makeup around her eyes.

In all honesty I just think that it's a lot harder to capture the likenesses of people who don't 'caricature' well.

[daf]

They managed to get her looking right in the Power animation - so it can be done :



Another thing - as can be seen in the telesnaps - she should have long hair (worn 'up') in the Tardis at the start - she only gets that short haircut AFTER her makeover in Macra Butlins.

[The Giggling Bean]

I was hoping to get my copy over the weekend, unfortunately HMV had trouble taking out my payment on the first go on Wednesday and didn't try again until Friday. I was initially really annoyed about the removal of the rough and tumble machine. I've settled down now and am just over the moon we've now got a watchable version of Macra, a story I always wanted to see. By all accounts it's really good so hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow.

It was revealed on Gallifrey Base that it was a close toss up between this and The Highlanders. Good to know as I thought the historicals would have been off the table. They seem to be concentrating on stories that have no surviving episodes. So The Highlanders and Fury From The Deep would sort Troughton out. Then they could continue completing stories with one or two eps left...unless Morris pulls more rabbits out of his hat.

[The Giggling Bean]

I would be so on board for that. In fact when the BBC send their questionnaire out, after the release of the latest Who animation, I always say they should look into animating some of the Big Finish audios. Imagine how fantastic Spare Parts would be.

They could animate some of Colin's Big Finish stories with Evelyn as his third series (all 4 parters):

The Marian Conspiracy (16th Century Historical, Evelyn Introduction)
The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (features Nick Courtney as the Brig plus James Bolam as the baddie)
Bloodtide (Silurians & Charles Darwin)
Jubilee (alternative UK timeline Daleks)
Doctor Who and the Pirates (part 3 is a complete musical episode - with Pirate Bill Oddie chewing the scenery)
Medicinal Purposes (Burke & Hare plus David Tennant)

ALL of those are ten times better than anything we got from him on TV!