Old Doctor Who - Part 4

[Norton Canes]

It's relevant because you can't trust a word he says. He took his name of a BF script he wrote because he threw a strop about rewrites. He's admitted to wanting credit as Christopher Hamilton Bidmead as his name would take up as much of the screen as possible. He claimed to have to rewrite everyone he worked with, and made Terrance Dicks cry, and Dicks responded - in an open letter to DWM - that this was 100% lies

Don't forget Dicks also got pretty het up at that cad Robert Holmes' rewrite of The Brain of Morbius

He spent a large part of one DWM interview rubbishing RTD as a "first-draft writer"

Oh man, that interview is like my favourite thing in DWM ever (thumps arms of chair). A few years ago I was given a friend's almost-complete collection of the Monthly from 2005 right through to about 2016. They were a fantastic read but after I'd ploughed through them I admitted to myself they were taking up far too much room in Mrs Canes' side of the wardrobe and gave them all to charity, with the exception of one issue: #407, containing that interview. Which I've just dug out of the cupboard, and will re-read again this evening with much relish.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them. He's an arrogant egotist who bullshits to make himself look better, the irony being that his own scripts are actually pretty good

Stop saying he's good!

[Norton Canes]

(Do we think he really dated Helen Mirren?)

[Midas]

Why didmead Bidmead feel the bidneed to tell one of the writers that he had always hated his script on the Season 18 writers' room documentary

[Bad Ambassador]

Don't forget Dicks also got pretty het up at that cad Robert Holmes' rewrite of The Brain of Morbius

Which Holmes didn't then lie about in a national magazine and accuse Dicks of bursting into tears during a script meeting.

Stop saying he's good!

You know there's a difference between being a script writer and a script editor, right?

[Norton Canes]

Why didmead Bidmead feel the bidneed to tell one of the writers that he had always hated his script on the Season 18 writers' room documentary

Which one?

Was it Christopher Bidmead, in the feature 'Christopher Bidmead interviews Christopher Bidmead'?

[daf]

Why didmead Bidmead feel the bidneed

Haha! That gave me a proper belly-laugh - Chef's Kiss!

[McDead]

I love how intended criticisms of Bidmead's tenure invariably end up listing the good aspects. Turns out there were quite a few, eh.

"Alright, but apart from Logopolis, Castrovalva, the funereal atmosphere of the later episodes, an established Doctor reconfigured under a new showrunner, the watchable misfires and a story that feels scary and oppressive in a way that the show hasn't since the 1960s - what did Christopher Bidmead ever do for Doctor Who?" &tc.

I wasn't criticising his tenure, I've said a couple of times that I like it, even when it doesn't quite work. And I love Logopolis/Castrovalva.

[Replies From View]

Well, three people posted to pick good and bad points from Bidmead's tenure. I quoted them, and noted the commonality. Don't see what's wrong with that. 

What rankles is the tone you took in the process.  You framed it like we/I were trying to criticise Bidmead and what we somehow ended up doing was inadvertently revealing that he and his tenure were actually good.

When actually what I personally was doing was speaking in a honest and balanced way about Christopher Bidmead's work.

[Replies From View]

Why didmead Bidmead feel the bidneed to tell one of the writers that he had always hated his script on the Season 18 writers' room documentary

Because he thinks he is the bid-knees

[Norton Canes]

I must say I've had a great time this afternoon, alternating between the snooker and discussing the merits of Christopher Bidmead on what was a very light work day.

[daf]

Christopher Bidmead's Potting
Chalking a Cue-Tip
Chalking a Cu-u-u-u-e-Tip

[Deanjam]

I like Warrior's Gate and State of Decay, but the season is a little dry for my tastes. Something that would continue into the Davison era. Undeniably a ratings disaster of a season.

[Bad Ambassador]

The Dæmons: Episode Five. The Master has Jo taken to be prepared for sacrifice while Yates is tied up, but he escapes outside and tells the group about Azal. The villagers start to approach the church, so the Master sends out the gargoyle, who vapourises Bert when he breaks free and tries to get in. Osgood activates the machine, which creates an arch of very hot but traversable air in the barrier, and the UNIT group make it through before the machine overloads and blows up. With Azal weakened as a result, the Doctor evades the gargoyle and makes it inside as UNIT pulls up outside and engages it in battle. The Doctor gets Azal to free Jo and bluffs there is another machine, to no avail. The Master demands that he receive the Dæmon's power, but the Doctor asks him to leave humanity alone to shape their own future, having already made many mistakes despite its influence. The Master replies that the Earth needs a strong leader, and Azal agrees - he chooses the Doctor.

He refuses, so Azal offers it to the Master instead and will kill the Doctor for his irrationality. Jo leaps in the way to sacrifice herself, but Azal cannot cope with her actions and orders everyone to leave. They all flee the church onto the green as a final tremor strikes and the building explodes. The gargoyle turns back into stone as Benton levels his gun at the Master's head. The Doctor explains that Jo's illogical act turned Azal's power against him, as the barrow blows up in the distance. The Master is taken away under heavy guard as Miss Hawthorne drags Benton to the maypole, along with the Doctor and Jo. As the music restarts, the villagers dance and Yates and Lethbridge-Stewart look for a drink, the Doctor concedes there may be magic in the world after all.

It's obvious why this is so warmly thought of - the atmosphere is engaging, everyone looks like they're having a good time, and the concept of ancient aliens crossed with a perfect country village is none more Who. It's a shame that there are so many illogicalities in the script, with the Master's Azal-derived powers never being clarified and changing depending on what the scene wants, not to mention the abrupt and poorly-thought-out resolution. Little effort is made to flesh out the coven, with Garvin being little more than smug nuisance and the others having almost no dialogue - apart from one played, oddly, by Matthew Corbett. But it's genuinely enjoyable, creatively directed by Christopher Barry, light and nostalgic even within itself for cosy villages with Morris dancers on the green, with the televised dig being a bit of in-universe hauntology. A great example of what the series is trying to be at this time, even if it rarely succeeds.

Season Eight.

Ranking:
The Dæmons
The Claws of Axos
Terror of the Autons
The Mind of Evil
Colony in Space

Speaking of which, the year as a whole. The creation of the "UNIT family" takes the edge off the previous year, making it the wrong kind of cosy. Putting the Master in every story was a mistake, as he's clearly shoehorned into several scripts, even if Roger Delgado is compelling whenever he's on screen. Pertwee and Courtney remain strong, with Levene capable in support, but Manning and Franklin are the weak links.

Yates is written completely differently to how he's played, and the idea that he's supposed to be a romantic interest for Jo is laughable. Franklin always plays him too light and he's just not credible as an army officer. Manning is a nightmare. Jo was conceived as an Emma Peel-type, but only when putting down the Stangmoor riot does any of this show. The rest of the time she's more like Daphne Blake, getting into trouble, looking cute, being rescued and having things explained to her. It's as much a failure of the writers as it is the actor, but Manning leans in to the immature, dimwitted character, so that when the Doctor is rude and patronising to her, it's hard not to disagree. She's a pain in the arse.

Having struck a winning formula, with audiences improving, this is the first season to continue with the same cast and crew the previous one had throughout. Despite the flaws of this season - of which there are many - it's time to settle in and expect more of the same.

Overall ranking:

spoiled for length

Inferno
The War Games
The Web of Fear
The Time Meddler
The Silurians
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Aztecs
The Power of the Daleks
The Tenth Planet
The Daleks' Master Plan
[First episode]
Spearhead from Space
The Enemy of the World
The Edge of Destruction
The Crusade
The Dæmons
The Ambassadors of Death
The Invasion
The Claws of Axos
The Savages
The Mind Robber
The Reign of Terror
[The Daleks episodes 1-4]
The Evil of the Daleks
The Romans
The Massacre
An Unearthly Child
Terror of the Autons
Fury from the Deep
The Tomb of the Cybermen
[Caveman story]
The Sensorites
The Macra Terror
The Faceless Ones
The Krotons
The Moonbase
The War Machines
The Ark
The Mind of Evil
The Dominators
The Seeds of Death
The Wheel in Space
The Abominable Snowmen
The Highlanders
The Space Museum
The Rescue
Galaxy 4
Planet of Giants
The Daleks
The Keys of Marinus
The Underwater Menace
Colony in Space
Mission to the Unknown
[The Daleks episodes 5-7]
Marco Polo
The Web Planet
The Celestial Toymaker
The Gunfighters
The Chase
The Smugglers
The Ice Warriors
The Myth Makers
The Space Pirates

[close]

[mjwilson]

I like Warrior's Gate and State of Decay, but the season is a little dry for my tastes. Something that would continue into the Davison era. Undeniably a ratings disaster of a season.

Full Circle was my first story so I have a bit of a soft spot for it.

[Replies From View]

At 102 pages and the end of Bad Ambassador's season 8 reviews, is this the time to start an 'Old Doctor Who - Part 5' thread?

[Replies From View]

Just want to say, I wish more Doctors had tried for the 5 series length model.  Tom Baker's 7 series is a bit too many as a standard, but 3 is too few and when it's spread out over 5 years anyway, I just wish for the kind of depth of exploration 5 series can bring.

Pertwee wouldn't have had 2 series post-exile if he'd only stayed for his first three years.  And when I look at the series Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi had, their tenures just appear disjointed and truncated.

[BritishHobo]

The last couple of pages have got me excited to watch the season 18 extras (which I may do, as I think my marathon was a terrible mistake and I should force myself to take a long break before jumping into Davison's era). Bidmead sounds like a prize twat, even though (yes I know) Logopolis is fucking great. The mad, eerie standout of a muddled season.

[daf]

Just want to say, I wish more Doctors had tried for the 5 series length model.  Tom Baker's 7 series is a bit too many as a standard, but 3 is too few and when it's spread out over 5 years anyway, I just wish for the kind of depth of exploration 5 series can bring.

I agree 3 is too short, and I'm still half-convinced this 'three-year-rule' was based on a misunderstanding on Troughton's part :

In Troughton's era, Doctor Who was producing between 40 and 44 episodes a year. They were filming every week for Ten solid months. It's understandable that three years of THAT schedule would grind anyone down!

By contrast, Davison was doing just 24 weeks - with enough time off to record TWO separate sitcoms, and a panto at Christmas. And by McCoy's era it was down to 14 - three Seasons of that tots up as the equivalent of just 1 Troughton Year! Lightweights!

[Ambient Sheep]

At 102 pages and the end of Bad Ambassador's season 8 reviews, is this the time to start an 'Old Doctor Who - Part 5' thread?

If you hadn't been so busy arguing about Bidmead, you'd have seen that the moment had been prepared for. :)

I'm out today, but now we're at 100 pages I will start the next thread either tonight or tomorrow.  Had hoped to get it done last night before The Dæmons started, but events, dear boy, events...

If everyone can hold their water for a little, I'll finish The Dæmons and S8 tomorrow evening, which might make a nice point to break.

Absolutely fine by me!

Nice one!

New thread is here.