Old Doctor Who

[lankinpark]

Was it the Horns of Nimon ?
I'm starting to think it was the Masque of madraga because If I remember correctly it was Sarah that stepped out of the Tardis with the Doctor in space. They were'nt floating... it was if they were standing on a level platform.

Masque of Mandragora? Wooden console room? Portmeirion?

I do vaguley remember a scene along those lines either right at the beginning or right at the end.

[The Boston Crab]

I remember buying The Macra Terror (Troughton) on audio cassette, I don't think they have the video for it, or at least hadn't found them at the time. Listening to that in the dark was a tremendous experience, I can still conjure up the atmosphere now. Doctor Who would have made an absolutely fantastic radio show, because your imagination fills in the blanks and you don't have to be too aware/forgiving about the unrealistic effects. They never spolit it for me anyway, but I can't say I ever found them scary. In the dark though, with PT's terse tones and those sound effects, it's a gripping experience.

Anybody care to tell me that Dr. Who did in fact have radio play? A mate of mine used to make many audio cassettes by just putting his mike next to the TV, and we'd listen to them in bed at low volume, when I'd stay over at his. Awesome stuff, before computer games numbed my imagination.

[Paul Dee]

What exactly is the deal in the way in which old Doctor Who episodes are released on dvd? I presume that they are trying to release all the available stories at some point but are they just doing it in a random order? And how often do they release the dvds? I know that they seem to put a lot of effort into the extras so I presume it's a while.

[difbrook]

What exactly is the deal in the way in which old Doctor Who episodes are released on dvd? I presume that they are trying to release all the available stories at some point but are they just doing it in a random order? And how often do they release the dvds? I know that they seem to put a lot of effort into the extras so I presume it's a while.

they're  bi-monthly at the moment. They try to release one story from each Doctor  in turn, although which one comes where in the schedule tends to be dictated by how much work needs to be done on each story, how much restoration is needed, and so on. In theory, in every seven releases  you'll get one that features your favourite Doctor, basically. Sometimes they get swapped over so you get one sooner than that, though.

DW is lucky in that it has a dedicated team - the "Restoration Team"  - who work on each story in addition to their regular jobs to bring everything up to the highest standard possible. Pretty much everything from the second dvd release on has been worked on by them, so a bi-monthly schedule isn't bad at all, given what's on there as a rule!

of course, the new series needs to be catered for as well, so where we usually get one "special" release every november, this year it's the complete new series box set. The rumoured "special" for the old series may or may not come out in January now, and it may or may not be a dvd box set of the very first three Hartnell stories, plus the untransmitted pilot. Owing to contracts and such, the BBC tend not to announce these things until they're set in stone and all contracts signed....

[TJ]

Anybody care to tell me that Dr. Who did in fact have radio play? A mate of mine used to make many audio cassettes by just putting his mike next to the TV, and we'd listen to them in bed at low volume, when I'd stay over at his. Awesome stuff, before computer games numbed my imagination.

There were several - a Schools' Radio thing with Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen in the mid-1970s, Slipback with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant in 1986, and those two weird Pertwee/UNIT things from the early 1990s.

[difbrook]

Anybody care to tell me that Dr. Who did in fact have radio play? A mate of mine used to make many audio cassettes by just putting his mike next to the TV, and we'd listen to them in bed at low volume, when I'd stay over at his. Awesome stuff, before computer games numbed my imagination.

There were several - a Schools' Radio thing with Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen in the mid-1970s, Slipback with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant in 1986, and those two weird Pertwee/UNIT things from the early 1990s.

the two Pertwee plays are "The Paradise of Death" and "The Ghosts of N-Space". Written by original series producer Barry Letts, they tend to be a bit frowned on by fans, although I think they stand up quite well, despite some exceedingly dodgy science and some even dodgier accents. Harry Towb (the swearing minister from The Day Today) stands out particulary in that respect, as the Brigadier's eccentric Uncle Mario...

[Paul Dee]

they're  bi-monthly at the moment. They try to release one story from each Doctor  in turn, although which one comes where in the schedule tends to be dictated by how much work needs to be done on each story, how much restoration is needed, and so on. In theory, in every seven releases  you'll get one that features your favourite Doctor, basically. Sometimes they get swapped over so you get one sooner than that, though.

Ah thanks for that. I only asked because I've been getting into the older stories after having been introduced to the show with the recent series and was just wondering if there was any specific way of watching the old dvds to make best use of the continuity (mainly with regards to the companions coming-and-going). I'd might as well just carry on diving in at random points and making the most of it really.

I see the next release is a Hartnell story called The Web Planet in September

[difbrook]

they're  bi-monthly at the moment. They try to release one story from each Doctor  in turn, although which one comes where in the schedule tends to be dictated by how much work needs to be done on each story, how much restoration is needed, and so on. In theory, in every seven releases  you'll get one that features your favourite Doctor, basically. Sometimes they get swapped over so you get one sooner than that, though.

Ah thanks for that. I only asked because I've been getting into the older stories after having been introduced to the show with the recent series and was just wondering if there was any specific way of watching the old dvds to make best use of the continuity (mainly with regards to the companions coming-and-going). I'd might as well just carry on diving in at random points and making the most of it really.

I see the next release is a Hartnell story called The Web Planet

you're welcome. If you do want to give the whole thing a try chronologically, every single existing episode was released on video (apart from one, returned to the BBC after the dawn of the DVD age and released as part of the "Lost In Time" collection last year). Tons of them turn up on ebay on a regular basis, and you can get some pretty good cheap job lots (as I believe at least one person on these boards did a while back).

as for "The Web Planet" - I mentioned a while back Doctor Who's magnificent tendency to put ambition over common sense - here's exhibit A. An entire alien world. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five different races of alien, all on a BBC budget.

it's dated spectacularly badly - worse than anything else I can think of - and it looks hilarious now (men in giant ant costumes are the least of its crimes).

but I love it to bits. So much conviction, so much sincerity.

[difbrook]

I'm a busy boy on this thread today but I've just remembered that this month's dvd release is my all time favourite DW story - "Revelation of the Daleks", from 1985.

It's set in "Tranquil Repose", an establishment where the incurably ill and incurably rich are laid temporarily to rest until someone finds a cure for their illness. Or at least, they are until the Daleks turn up.

Gruesome, stuffed full of black humour, with the single best scene in Doctor Who history (you'll know it when you see it).

Clive Swift's in it, so's William Gaunt, Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are at their absolute peak as a Doctor/Companion team, the whole thing has a genuinely unnerving atmosphere, and Alexei Sayle appears recurringly through the whole thing as a DJ (commenting on the events as they unfold).

it's utterly unique in DW history. I can't recommend it enough. So there.

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

Yeah Revelation is a wonderful little story, with writer/script editor Eric Saward trying his best to mimic Robert Holmes and Graeme Harper once again proving that he's one of the very best directors the show ever had. It's not totally flawless though- the Doctor is given very little screen time and doesn't really do much, although that might be down to the fact that Saward apparently didn't much like Colin Baker in the role.

[difbrook]

Yeah Revelation is a wonderful little story, with writer/script editor Eric Saward trying his best to mimic Robert Holmes and Graeme Harper once again proving that he's one of the very best directors the show ever had. It's not totally flawless though- the Doctor is given very little screen time and doesn't really do much, although that might be down to the fact that Saward apparently didn't much like Colin Baker in the role.

agreed about the absence of the Doctor - although over the years i've rationalised that by telling myself that it gives the other characters a little more time than usual to breathe a bit. Helps a lot when it comes to characters like Orcini, Bostock, Vogel and Kara - they only have a couple of little extra snippets, but it fleshes them out considerably.

and I'd trade any amount of Doctor/Peri scenes for the moment when Orcini and Kara meet for the first time - it's the way Bostock's in the background, eyeing her up in the most lascivious way you could possibly get away with at 5:30 on BBC1 in 1985...

[Purple Tentacle]

Last night I watched "Earthshock" for the first time, and after a very shaky first couple of episodes really started to enjoy it. Kind of got a creepy feeling about the Cybermen, but I wish I could "let go" and become blind to the dated effects.  I hate people who sneer their way through limited budget productions, but at the same time it DOES require quite a herculean effort to suspend your disbelief.
I find the black and white Whos a lot more atmospheric, but that's pretty obvious really.  I also found the ski-mask Cybermen from the last Hartnell story a hell of a lot more sinister.

Anyway, even though I was expecting that twat Adric's death, I still found myself  unsettled by the ending... total silence beats slushy music every time!
The only thing that spoiled it for me was being angry at what would happen if it was repeated on BBC1 these days... two seconds into the ending credits "And coming up next, The National Lottery! And don't miss the new series of Carrie and Barrie straight after!" as the screen gets squished to a pixel-width to accomodate Julian Clary's face.

[Ambient Sheep]

BUMP

From http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds22691.html

BBC search for missing 'Dr Who' eps
Sunday, July 17 2005, 12:10 BST -- by Daniel Kilkelly

The BBC has stepped up the search for 108 missing episodes of Doctor Who following the huge success of the latest series.

Fifty hours of footage from the programme were lost - including appearances by the Daleks - after the corporation reorganised their film library in the 1970s.

"Some shows are the Holy Grail of Doctor Who," fan Ian Levine, who has worked with the BBC to help to track down some episodes, told The People. "I have been on a quest to find all the missing 16mm films since the 1970s when the BBC burnt some of the originals. I'm sure they're out there."

A triumph of optimism over reality, I fear, but you never know, they might manage to turn up *something*.

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

Well years ago people, including Ian Levine, were adamant that no junked episodes would be recovered. Then they found the complete "Tomb of the Cybermen". Then they said there wasn't anything else out there, and then "The Lion" magically appeared. Again people said this was a one-off, and there couldn't possibly be any more shows left to find. Then they found "Day of Armageddon". I'm not overly optimistic but it does seem like bits and pieces are being uncovered all the time, even if they're only snippets and trims like the Australian censor clips. I still dream, somewhat naively I admit, about "The Power of the Daleks" being found in it's entirety. Oh yes.

[lankinpark]

Well years ago people, including Ian Levine, were adamant that no junked episodes would be recovered. Then they found the complete "Tomb of the Cybermen". Then they said there wasn't anything else out there, and then "The Lion" magically appeared. Again people said this was a one-off, and there couldn't possibly be any more shows left to find. Then they found "Day of Armageddon". I'm not overly optimistic but it does seem like bits and pieces are being uncovered all the time, even if they're only snippets and trims like the Australian censor clips. I still dream, somewhat naively I admit, about "The Power of the Daleks" being found in it's entirety. Oh yes.

I'd kill for a full Evil of the Daleks. Fuck it, anything would be great. I watched the new series with growing boredom, and there's precious little left in Who to excite me these days, but old black and white episodes rarely fail to instil a sense of wonder in me. I watched Reign of Terror last year and my mouth hardly stopped gaping.

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

I've said it before, I'll say it again- the best years of that show were the 60s. Really inventive and imaginative scripts, coupled with some very decent lead actors and a dead scary, spooky atmosphere that only monochrome could convey. My favourite overall season, in the whole history of the show, is Season One.

[VegaLA]

I saw 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory' earlier good film but as the credits started the name ' Deep Roy' appeared.. it rang a bell and when he came on screen I realised he is the actor that played the puppet in 'The Talons of Wang chiang' even though he was complety in costume during that story I made the connection. Checking him out on imdb turns out he was also in Star Wars 6.

[Ambient Sheep]

I saw 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory' earlier good film but as the credits started the name ' Deep Roy' appeared...

He was in LOADS of Dr Who and other things where someone of reduced stature was required.  At one point he almost seemed as ubiquitous as Ken Morse in the credits.

[the hum]

Does anyone know what's going on with Outpost Gallifrey?  When you go there there's a piece of text with a broken image link saying it will be back up in a few hours, but it's been down for a couple of days.  Has war broken out on the forum again?

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

Strange, it works fine for me. The site's only recently been redesigned- could be something to do with that maybe?

[Ambient Sheep]

Works fine for me too.  Sounds like you have an old version stuck in either your browser's cache or your ISP's cache.

Try a "hard refresh" by pressing Ctrl-F5 in your browser.

[the hum]

Much simpler than that.  I was jumping straight to the 'series news' page, which has been taken down.  Me silly.

[Paul Dee]

Sorry to bump this again with another question but I'm just wondering if the 2 Peter Cushing movies are any good? They  have them both on dvd in Virgin Megastore for £6 and I was wondering if they're worth that price?

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

I really, really like them, which I gather is something of a novelty amongst fans. They're just really good fun- big, brash, colourful Brit B-movie romps. The Daleks have never looked better. The movies also rewrite the series mythology- in the films, Doctor Who is a doddery old inventor (expertly played by Peter Cushing) who's built the TARDIS in his garden, as opposed to a Time Lord on the run from his own people. The first film, "Dr. Who and the Daleks" isn't as good as the 1963 BBC original but the follow-up, "Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD" is a full-on Dalek action spectacular, with surprisingly good effects and loads of...well, Daleks. Well worth the £6 I'd say- the DVDs do have some extras, including a commentary and a "Making Of" documentary.

[AllDeafGuysHaveHearingAid]

too geeky for my liking

[difbrook]

I really, really like them, which I gather is something of a novelty amongst fans. They're just really good fun- big, brash, colourful Brit B-movie romps. The Daleks have never looked better. The movies also rewrite the series mythology- in the films, Doctor Who is a doddery old inventor (expertly played by Peter Cushing) who's built the TARDIS in his garden, as opposed to a Time Lord on the run from his own people. The first film, "Dr. Who and the Daleks" isn't as good as the 1963 BBC original but the follow-up, "Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD" is a full-on Dalek action spectacular, with surprisingly good effects and loads of...well, Daleks. Well worth the £6 I'd say- the DVDs do have some extras, including a commentary and a "Making Of" documentary.

I'm quietly fond of them too. The second one has a tremendous pre-credit sequence that's almost worth 6 quid on its own. Quite unlike the rest of the film.

Definitely worth a flutter, as both movies are great fun.

[Gazeuse]

Yes, I like them too.

Added points for Bernard Cribbins being in one and Roy Castle in the other.

[Purple Tentacle]

I watched "Robot" yesterday, the first Tom Baker one, and it was the first old Doctor Who that I can honestly say that I enjoyed immensely, rather than found "interesting".

Ace B-movie sci-fi bollocks, and I got surprisingly upset when the Robot killed his creator then wailed in distress.
I was also pleased to notice the similarity to Eccleston's "Dalek" episode, lone killing machine ordered to destroy humans, DOc's assistant takes a shine to it and is the only one to show it compassion, Doctor wants to destroy it, assistant tries to protect it.....

Had a quick peek on Outpost Gallifrey and they tore it to pieces for being too silly, so either they're a bunch of snooty bastards or I've got juvenile tastes.


It's also the first Tom Baker I've ever seen all the way through apart from Genesis of the Daleks (and some Douglas Adams bollocks I gave up on), and he's bloody great, innee?

It's saved me from ploughing through the variable Peter Davison mediocrity anyway.



I just wish my suspension-of-disbelief gland would come back, I still find myself metaphorically looking at the ground and shuffling my feet whenever a nasty special effect comes on screen, despite concessions for the budget and time etc.  But the bit where the Robot grows huge, and walks around with a ragdoll Sarah-Jane, complete with dangly legs, is really quite bad.

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

yeah, I like those Dalek films.  They were actually the first things I bought on video (with gift tokens).  They're quirky.  Probably not the greatest sci-fi films ever, but they've got a lot of character about them, especially with Brit favourites like Roy Castle & Cribbins in there.

[Ambient Sheep]

I'm also a fan of the two movies, especially the second one.  £6 you say?  Time to buy.

I watched "Robot" yesterday, the first Tom Baker one, and it was the first old Doctor Who that I can honestly say that I enjoyed immensely, rather than found "interesting"...It's also the first Tom Baker I've ever seen all the way through apart from Genesis of the Daleks...

In that case may I thoroughly recommend "Pyramids of Mars" to you?  If you fancy splashing out on the DVD it's got plenty of nice extras too.

I haven't seen Robot since it was first broadcast, apart from the "ragdoll" clip you mention which they always show as an example of terrible blue-screen.  Nice comparison with Eccleston's "Dalek" though, well spotted!