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March 28, 2024, 11:42:47 PM

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Old Doctor Who - Part 4

Started by Ambient Sheep, June 04, 2020, 11:02:35 PM

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Norton Canes

Just showed up on my FB feed





Heh, he really is 'Old Doctor Who - Part 4'

Replies From View


Replies From View

Tom Baker has visibly shed a lot of weight in recent years.  I hope he is okay.

McDead

He just looks like a fella who's nearly ninety. Gene Hackman has a similar look these days.

Replies From View

True enough.  Must just be a fashionable look for men that age.

JamesTC

I've seen it mentioned by people who work on the Blu-ray  range that Tom seems healthier since the weight loss.

Hopefully he is doing well.

Replies From View

He should film more inserts for the animated Shada to bring more variety to his appearances.

McDead

Quote from: JamesTC on May 20, 2022, 05:45:27 PMI've seen it mentioned by people who work on the Blu-ray  range that Tom seems healthier since the weight loss.

Hopefully he is doing well.

Long may he loom

purlieu


Beltempest by Jim Mortimore.

I'm glad I don't know Jim Mortimore. Every single one of his books is a horrible, horrible slog through a mire of tedious philosophical rambling, angsty, sixth form poetic prose, and body counts in their thousands or higher. Beltempest might be his worst example. I can't imagine he's a nice person to be around. Thankfully it's his last book for the range.

Planet-sized aliens, a sun going supernova about to wipe out an entire system of 22 planets, tidal waves wiping out millions, a suicide cult that turns into an immortality cult, and the death of billions of people. I mean, there's potential for an exciting book there. Sadly there's no narrative consistency - characters move from one planet to another without explanation, perspectives change randomly, two alien races are included but aren't even given proper physical descriptions - none of the guest characters are given even a paragraph of depth to them, and pages are taken up with daft metaphors about sentient gas giants. Mortimore waxes lyrical about the nature of choice - how one's own freedom to choice often removes that of another - through the mouths of various cultists, as well as Sam, and the Doctor even considers the issue himself, having an existential crisis as a result, and concluding that the Time Lords are right to not get involved with other races (?!). Sam becomes immortal, goes on a religious rampage around planets trying to convert everyone else to her immortality cause, leading to the effective slavery of millions of people (The immortality is eventually explained as some kind of... microorganism technology... thing that possesses bodies and sees them as gods). The Doctor himself is portrayed closer to the inept clown of McCoy's first series than any other incarnation of the character I've ever seen. An immortal cultist flies into a sun to aid in the birth of a planet-sized alien, with the Doctor suggesting something about gravity somethingorother which will stop the entire solar system being wiped out (only the first 12 or so planets, with their populations of millions, are destroyed). And then it's all over and the Doctor and Sam leave. With no explanation of what actually happened.

Abysmal book. I can't fault Mortimore on his scope - he aims big, and thus his books are never as forgettably pointless as many of the previous EDAs - but his writing style and general outlook are utterly horrible, and have remained so throughout his time writing for Doctor Who. I'm very happy to see the back of him.

Next time on the New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield... I don't care, it's Benny, it's bound to be better than this crap.

Mister Six

There's a quite good article on The Guardian about the writer of the TV movie, tied to a new documentary about him called "Doctor Who Am I".

Quote from: purlieu on May 21, 2022, 05:35:48 PM
Beltempest by Jim Mortimore.

I'm glad I don't know Jim Mortimore. Every single one of his books is a horrible, horrible slog through a mire of tedious philosophical rambling, angsty, sixth form poetic prose, and body counts in their thousands or higher. Beltempest might be his worst example. I can't imagine he's a nice person to be around. Thankfully it's his last book for the range.


Well you might not be far wrong, he appears to've turned into a proper edgelord wanker instead of just writing like one, and now seems to be known for barely comprehensible facebook rants about women and people of colour in the current era of Dr Who. I mean, of all the things you could criticise it for...


purlieu

That doesn't remotely surprise me.

crankshaft

His best book is "Blood Heat" and even that has DO YOU SEE element with a character called Hobson in a book about Hobson's Choice. I gave up after "The Sword Of Forever" which is nigh-on unreadable, and not because I'm not as clever as the author.

I remember that "The Natural History Of Fear" was very good but, given his transformation of late, I'm unlikely to go back and check it out any time soon.

purlieu

Ah yes, the 'Benny is destined to die on prehistoric Earth with a message carved into her skull alongside a super-intelligent velociraptor but it all worked out because she was crucified like Jesus leading the creation of an alternate timeline that closed a time paradox' book.

Agreed that Blood Heat is better than his others, mostly because it has a lot of recognisable characters and a comparatively straight-forward plot. It's still fucking grimdark bollocks for a lot of it, though. Putting the '70s UNIT characters through utter hell just for shock value, really.

purlieu


Where Angels Fear by Rebecca Levene & Simon Winstone

Oof.

Range editors arrive to set the NA's final lap in motion, and up the ante radically in the process. The book brings back many characters and ideas from previous volumes in the series: Emile and Elspeth, the People of the Worldsphere (in particular God and Clarence), Irving Braxiatel, Tyler's Folly, the Grel and the mysterious stalker in Dellah's bar all play major roles in the book.

The People and the Time Lords have all evacuated our galaxy as a race of creatures powered by the belief and faith of religious people willing to follow them have awoken, having previously been imprisoned within Dellah. The result is almost everyone on the planet being whipped into a religious fervour. Anyone not actively following a faith is killed, and believers are formed into an army. Huge parts of the planet are destroyed, and while most of the protagonists eventually manage to escape, the world is put on quarantine. Seems Benny has lost her teaching position.

It's quite a shocking book in places: from the word go, there's no place of safety. The chapters flit between scenes at a hell of a pace, highlighting how quickly and desperately things tip out of control. A mild mannered priest is converted into a bloodthirsty, revenge-seeking psychopath, as an example of what is happening to the majority of the planet's population. It's frequently brutal, but never lacks the humour and pace of the best Benny books. And it ends on a cliffhanger, setting up what will no doubt be an exciting final run of stories. It's a story that requires a certain amount of knowledge of previous books, although by this point, I'd imagine that would be the case with most readers. From here on, the range moved to six books a year rather than 12, suggesting a small core of followers. Unsurprising, I suppose.

A few plot strands have yet to be woven in: how will Jason and Chris fit into it, and the Knights of Jeneve have been absent for a while now. Will be looking out for them in coming books.

Next time on Doctor Who... Simon Messingham, a man known for some fairly impenetrable books, and his charmingly titled The Face Eater.

pigamus

Available on Kindle for £1.99!

The Janus Conjunction - gristly read, some heavy science, Sam dies at the end and then does not.

Beltempest - A lot happens. everyone dies. well, nearly everyone. One good scene where the Dr surfs a spaceship.

Quote from: purlieu on May 21, 2022, 11:21:12 PMAh yes, the 'Benny is destined to die on prehistoric Earth with a message carved into her skull alongside a super-intelligent velociraptor but it all worked out because she was crucified like Jesus leading the creation of an alternate timeline that closed a time paradox' book.

Agreed that Blood Heat is better than his others, mostly because it has a lot of recognisable characters and a comparatively straight-forward plot. It's still fucking grimdark bollocks for a lot of it, though. Putting the '70s UNIT characters through utter hell just for shock value, really.

I don't think he's ever topped Lucifer Rising tbh, and that's probably only because he had a co-writer to reign him in.

The ending of Blood Heat really annoys me just thinking about it, because it basically comes out nowhere and the reasoning for killing off the whole alternate timeline seems like total nonsense. Just pointless nihilism on top of all of the other misery in the story.

purlieu

I struggled with Lucifer Rising, possibly because I couldn't get my head around the setting in the slightest. Also the angsty Ace plot. I know it's a reasonably well thought of book, but not one I got along with.

JamesTC

Some more content has been revealed for the Season 22 set. Apparently it includes the previously solo release Nicola Bryant in the Footsteps of the Two Doctors in addition to the previously announced The Colin Baker Years. Also loads of stuff has been moved over from other stories where it fits better here (Directing Who: Graeme Harper, All's Wells that Ends Wells, Those Deadly Divas and Rogue Time Lords).

JamesTC

Here is the full breakdown of the Season 22 set:
Spoiler alert
Attack of the Cybermen

    Audio commentary on both episodes featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Russell) and Sarah Berger (Rost)
    New! Matthew Sweet In Conversation interview - Colin Baker
    New! Behind the Sofa featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Russell/Davros), Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), and Wendy Padbury (Zoe)
    Making of documentary - The Cold War
    Featurette - The Cyber Story
    Featurette - Human Cyborg
    Featurette - The Cyber-Generations
    Isolated Score
    New! 5.1 Audio Mix
    DVD Easter Egg - Cybernetic Autonomous Dalek
    New! Saturday Superstore clip from 5/1/85 inc. interview with Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Mary Tamm (Romana) and Jacqueline Pearce (Chessene)
    New! Breakfast Time clips from 4/1/85 and 13/7/85 inc. interview with Faith Brown (Flast)
    New! Continuity announcements & trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    Coming Soon preview - Vengeance on Varos
    PDF - Production paperwork, scripts, BBC Audience Research Report, BBC Enterprises sales sheets, 1986 Annual, Radio Times clippings

Vengeance on Varos - Disc 1


    Audio commentary on both episodes featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri) and Nabil Shaban (Sil)
    New! Behind the Sofa
    Making of Documentary - Nice or Nasty
    Featurette - The Idiot's Lantern
    Isolated Score
    5.1 Audio Mix
    Production Audio Mix
    Deleted and extended scenes
    New! Points of View clip from 01/02/85
    New! See Hear clip from 20/01/85 with Nabil Shaban (Sil)
    New! Interview with Ron Jones (audio only)
    New! Continuity announcements & trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    PDF - Production paperwork, scripts, Radio Times clippings

Vengeance on Varos - Disc 2

    New! Extended edition episodes
    Scene with alternative music score (The Acid Bath!)
    New! Matthew Sweet In Conversation interview - Michael Grade
    New! Slipback - 6-part radio story
    New! Colin Baker Years VHS
    New! Studio footage
    PDF - Slipback paperwork & Radio Times clippings, VHS cover for Colin Baker Years

The Mark of the Rani

    Audio commentary featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri) and Kate O'Mara (The Rani)
    New! Behind the Sofa
    Making of documentary - Lords & Luddites
    New! Documentary - Location, Location, Location
    Featurette - Now and Then
    Featurette - Playing with Time
    Featurette - Those Deadly Divas
    Featurette - Rogue Time Lords
    New! Breakfast Time clip from 1/2/85
    Blue Peter clip from 16/02/78 about Ironbridge
    Deleted scenes
    Isolated score
    New! Alternative music score on episodes
    5.1 Audio Mix
    New! Continuity announcements and trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    PDFs - Production paperwork, scripts, alternative score cue sheet, Radio Times clippings

The Two Doctors - Disc 1


    Audio commentary featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Jacqueline Pearce (Chessene) and director Peter Moffatt
    New! Behind the Sofa
    New! Making of documentary - La Fiesta del Mal
    Featurette - Adventures in Time and Spain
    Isolated score
    New! Re-edited version of A Fix with Sontarans
    New! Audio commentary on A Fix with Sontarans
    New! Points of View clip from 5/3/85
    New! News clips around the hiatus
    New! Doctor Who Appreciation Society message feat. Frazer Hines (Jamie) and Nicola Bryant (Peri)
    New! Continuity announcements and trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    PDFs - Production paperwork, scripts, studio floor plans, Radio Times clippings

The Two Doctors - Disc 2

    New! Extended edit of Part 1
    New! Documentary - Nicola Bryant in the Footsteps of the Two Doctors
    Documentary - Robert Holmes & Doctor Who
    Featurette - Beneath the Sun
    Radio documentary - Wavelength
    New! Studio Footage
    New! Panopticon convention footage with Colin Baker (The Doctor), Jacqueline Pearce (Chessene) and producer John-Nathan Turner
    New! Robert Holmes audio interview

Timelash

    Audio commentary featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri) and Paul Darrow (Tekker)
    New! Behind the Sofa
    Making of documentary - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    New! Matthew Sweet In Conversation interview with Nicola Bryant
    Featurette - All's Wells That Ends Wells
    Featurette - Was Doctor Who Rubbish?
    New! Updated special effects
    New! Remount studio footage
    New! Continuity announcements and trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    PDFs - Production paperwork, scripts, Radio Times clippings

Revelation of the Daleks

    New! Audio commentary featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Davros) and Alexei Sayle (The DJ)
    DVD Audio commentary featuring Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Davros), writer Eric Saward and director Graeme Harper
    New! Behind the Sofa
    Making of documentary - Revelation Exhumed
    New! Extended Part 1
    Studio footage with optional audio commentary
    New! Extended studio footage
    Deleted scenes
    New! Mute film rushes
    Interview with Graeme Harper (Directing Who)
    Isolated score
    5.1 Audio Mix
    Updated Enhanced special effects (update from previous DVD vfx option)
    Children in Need clip from 22/11/85
    Lenny Henry Show sketch
    Doctor in Distress music video
    New! Breakfast Time clips from 22/3/85, 5/4/85 (inc. exhibition footage), 1/5/85 (Eleanor Bron interview) and 29/5/85 (JNT interview)
    New! Take Two clip from 29/5/85
    New! Micro Live clip featuring Colin Baker from 2/11/85
    DVD Easter Egg - Cast members talking
    Coming Soon trailer for The Trial of a Time Lord
    New! The Eternal Mystery - S22 Collection Trailer
    New! Continuity announcements and trailers
    Updated - Production subtitles
    Updated - Photo gallery
    PDFs - Production paperwork, scripts, set designs, Radio Times clippings

[close]

Really happy this season is getting such a comprehensive set. I know it isn't all that popular, but it is my personal favourite season.

Malcy

Tempted by this one. I love The Two Doctors

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QuoteNew! Re-edited version of A Fix with Sontarans
    New! Audio commentary on A Fix with Sontarans

I'd be fascinated to know what the re-editing would have removed, and to hear the commentary as well.

Very pleased they've chosen to bring it back into the collection, after deleting it from later pressings of the DVDs.  No point pretending it never existed - better to add commentary so that it can be historically framed for what it is.

Maybe they've removed Savile from it, and kept the bits with just Colin Baker, the Sontarans and Garth Jennings or whatever that boy was called.  If you buy the set maybe you could let me know what the newly canonised version now contains.

JamesTC

They've removed Savile. The compromise when a clip was on an earlier release was to replace him with a monster (in line with what Tegan says at the end about something monstrous on the screen).

The audio commentary is with Colin Baker, Janet Fielding and Gareth Jenkins.

daf

I expect they'll just snip it before the Savile chat at the end, maybe creating opening and end titles so it's like a proper episode.

Deanjam

Quote from: JamesTC on May 26, 2022, 05:54:49 PMHere is the full breakdown of the Season 22 set:
Spoiler alert
New! Behind the Sofa featuring Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Terry Molloy (Russell/Davros), Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), and Wendy Padbury (Zoe)

[close]


Great line up. Davison and Fielding are always great fun together. Glad it's all classic era talent. The addition of modern era folk isn't always bad, but sometimes feels incogrous.

Replies From View

I reckon Michael Grade wanted Colin Baker sacked only because the latter couldn't be fucked to shave for the Fix with the Sontarans escapade.

pigamus

When did they start to be called 'seasons', and who started it? Presumably nobody was talking about Season Seven in 1970, for example?

Quote from: pigamus on May 27, 2022, 07:47:06 AMWhen did they start to be called 'seasons', and who started it? Presumably nobody was talking about Season Seven in 1970, for example?

No, they were always 'seasons' on production paperwork in the DW office. The reason likely being that they were generally shown over 6 - 9 months each year until the early 80s, I believe that's partly where the term originates from in this context, a series that would be shown over at least one season of the year, Autumn, Winter etc. Fans have also been calling them so since at least as far back as the 1981 Programme Guide books by Jean-Marc Lofficier. Possibly earlier, I don't know whether 70s fan newsletters also had the term.

purlieu

It also handily separates them from the new series which are called... well, series.