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Post by ant-mac on Dec 6, 2022 13:06:51 GMT
THE MIND OF EVIL - 06/12/2022. Possibly my favourite serial featuring Roger Delgado as the Master. The sight of him sitting back, relaxing in his chauffeur-driven black limo, puffing away on a big fat cigar, always puts a smile on my face. I love losing myself in a long and intricate story, featuring many interesting characters, multiple interwoven plots and a multitude of twists and turns. And, of course, "the UNIT family" is at its very peak here, with the Doctor, the Brigadier, the Master, Jo Grant, Captain Yates, Sergeant Benton and Corporal Bell. I'm always sorely disappointed that Corporal Bell - a character with so much potential - was so criminally underused. 5/5. The Mind Of Evil is indeed a smashing Season 8 serial (although it feels much more like something from Season 7), but you didn't mention Captain Chin Lee, played by the lovely Pik Sen Lim. Mike Yates described the Captain as "quite a dolly" (imagine that description being used nowadays! ).I did mention that there were "many interesting characters", which indeed there were. Chin Lee was certainly okay, but I can think of at least five other characters that were equally interesting, if not more so. Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. PS - And I'm sure the same could be said for many other aspects of Classic Who... or film and TV... or society in general. Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 6, 2022 14:04:58 GMT
The Mind Of Evil is indeed a smashing Season 8 serial (although it feels much more like something from Season 7), but you didn't mention Captain Chin Lee, played by the lovely Pik Sen Lim. Mike Yates described the Captain as "quite a dolly" (imagine that description being used nowadays! ). I did mention that there were "many interesting characters", which indeed there were. Chin Lee was certainly okay, but I can think of at least five other characters that were equally interesting, if not more so. Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. PS - And I'm sure the same could be said for many other aspects of Classic Who... or film and TV... or society in general. Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be. "Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. "
Yes, I take your point, but none of those other actors were quite as pretty as Pik Sen Lim, either. "Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be. "I know what you mean - I recently watched all four 'Confessions' films (bawdy comedies starring Robin Askwith) and delighted in imagining how the PC brigade of 2022 would react to them.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 6, 2022 14:19:22 GMT
I did mention that there were "many interesting characters", which indeed there were. Chin Lee was certainly okay, but I can think of at least five other characters that were equally interesting, if not more so. Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. PS - And I'm sure the same could be said for many other aspects of Classic Who... or film and TV... or society in general. Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be. "Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. "
Yes, I take your point, but none of those other actors were quite as pretty as Pik Sen Lim, either. "Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be. "I know what you mean - I recently watched all four 'Confessions' films (bawdy comedies starring Robin Askwith) and delighted in imagining how the PC brigade of 2022 would react to them. 1. She was certainly a nice looking young woman, but my vote remains with Katy Manning in that department. I think Chin Lee and Corporal Bell come out about even. 2. Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 6, 2022 16:16:09 GMT
THE CLAWS OF AXOS - 06/12/2022. Another excellent season 8 serial, with "the UNIT family" on full display once again. This is the very epitome of the typical DOCTOR WHO serial from this era of the TV series. It features everything that was best about it. Everything that draws me back here, time after time, no matter how often I may have already seen these stories. THE CLAWS OF AXOS also features several guest actors as memorable characters, such Peter Bathurst as Chinn, Paul Grist as Bill Filer, Donald Hewlett as George Hardiman, David Savile as Winser and Tim Pigott-Smith as Captain Harker. Sadly, this is also the last appearance of Fernanda Marlowe as Corporal Bell. Such a shame. And, of course, no post concerning THE CLAWS OF AXOS would be complete without a special mention of one of this serial's chief highlights... Jo Grant's purple knickers. 5/5.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 6, 2022 16:40:12 GMT
"Of course, none of those other actors were married to the writer of the serial, Don Houghton. "
Yes, I take your point, but none of those other actors were quite as pretty as Pik Sen Lim, either. "Personally, it just gives me a giggle and adds an extra layer of enjoyment to my viewing experience, thinking about how offended some modern viewers would be. "I know what you mean - I recently watched all four 'Confessions' films (bawdy comedies starring Robin Askwith) and delighted in imagining how the PC brigade of 2022 would react to them. 1. She was certainly a nice looking young woman, but my vote remains with Katy Manning in that department. I think Chin Lee and Corporal Bell come out about even. 2. Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James. "Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James."I agree, but I also like the earlier black and white Carry On films (Sid James made his first CO appearance in Carry On Constable (1960) - a relatively early film in the franchise). A film critic for The Guardian once described them as "ghastly and embarrassing" but to me, that only makes the films funnier. Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Back to Doctor Who...as much as I like Season 8, I really like the tough, gritty, grown-up style of Season 7, and with The Mind Of Evil, we get a little more of the same, sandwiched between the Autons and the Axons (TMOE is Katy Manning's favourite Who story, apparently). There's a bit of James Bond, Quatermass and even A Clockwork Orange in the mix and while I was enthralled with Captain Chin Lee, I forgot to mention the wonderful Michael Sheard as Dr Roland Summers. We like Mr Sheard very much.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 6, 2022 16:51:40 GMT
1. She was certainly a nice looking young woman, but my vote remains with Katy Manning in that department. I think Chin Lee and Corporal Bell come out about even. 2. Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James. "Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James."I agree, but I also like the earlier black and white Carry On films (Sid James made his first CO appearance in Carry On Constable (1960) - a relatively early film in the franchise). A film critic for The Guardian once described them as "ghastly and embarrassing" but to me, that only makes the films funnier. Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Back to Doctor Who...as much as I like Season 8, I really like the tough, gritty, grown-up style of Season 7, and with The Mind Of Evil, we get a little more of the same, sandwiched between the Autons and the Axons (TMOE is Katy Manning's favourite Who story, apparently). There's a bit of James Bond, Quatermass and even A Clockwork Orange in the mix and while I was enthralled with Captain Chin Lee, I forgot to mention the wonderful Michael Sheard as Dr Roland Summers. We like Mr Sheard very much. Yes, I'm also quite fond of the early black and white CARRY ON films. In particular, CARRY ON SERGEANT, CARRY ON NURSE and CARRY ON TEACHER spring to mind. As for what film critics think... I don't really care. Films and TV series are made for their audiences to enjoy and I'll take their opinions over those of "professional" film critics any day. Yes, Doctor Roland Summers was one of the five other characters I was referring to in my earlier post. And as for my opinion of season seven... SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE 5/5 THE SILURIANS 5/5 THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH 4/5 INFERNO 5/5 I like all of Jon Pertwee's era, but I wish the maturity of his first season had persisted for longer and had dissipated more slowly.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 6, 2022 19:09:07 GMT
"Yes, I get a similar feel from the CARRY ON films... particularly the later ones that featured Sid James."I agree, but I also like the earlier black and white Carry On films (Sid James made his first CO appearance in Carry On Constable (1960) - a relatively early film in the franchise). A film critic for The Guardian once described them as "ghastly and embarrassing" but to me, that only makes the films funnier. Anyway, I'll leave it at that. Back to Doctor Who...as much as I like Season 8, I really like the tough, gritty, grown-up style of Season 7, and with The Mind Of Evil, we get a little more of the same, sandwiched between the Autons and the Axons (TMOE is Katy Manning's favourite Who story, apparently). There's a bit of James Bond, Quatermass and even A Clockwork Orange in the mix and while I was enthralled with Captain Chin Lee, I forgot to mention the wonderful Michael Sheard as Dr Roland Summers. We like Mr Sheard very much. Yes, I'm also quite fond of the early black and white CARRY ON films. In particular, CARRY ON SERGEANT, CARRY ON NURSE and CARRY ON TEACHER spring to mind. As for what film critics think... I don't really care. Films and TV series are made for their audiences to enjoy and I'll take their opinions over those of "professional" film critics any day. Yes, Doctor Roland Summers was one of the five other characters I was referring to in my earlier post. And as for my opinion of season seven... SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE 5/5 THE SILURIANS 5/5 THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH 4/5 INFERNO 5/5 I like all of Jon Pertwee's era, but I wish the maturity of his first season had persisted for longer and had dissipated more slowly. Yep, I'll go along with that. Spearhead From Space in particular is great fun and looks absolutely smashing on film (imagine if all of Season 7 had been made entirely on film...).
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Post by HappyGoLucky on Dec 9, 2022 12:05:33 GMT
TERROR OF THE AUTONS - 05/12/2022. Having finally finished celebration of the anniversary and my EIGHT FACES OF DOCTOR WHO season of adventures, I said I would follow this up with a watch through of the Roger Delgado series of Master serials. And so we come to TERROR OF THE AUTONS, which introduced the Doctor's new companion, Jo Grant, his archenemy the Master, Captain Mike Yates and firmly established what would later become known as "the UNIT family". And just out of interest, Christopher Burgess appeared as Professor Philips and Andrew Staines appeared as Goodge. Both actors had previously appeared together in THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD and they would both go on to appear together in PLANET OF THE SPIDERS. All three serials were directed by Barry Letts. 4/5. I met Christopher Burgess, a few times as i went to the same secondary school and sat in the same class as his nephew, also called Christopher Burgess. The senior version warned me of the upcoming Planet of the Spiders as being a bit scary, no mention of the demise of the Doctor, kept that one a secret!! Regards HGL.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 9, 2022 12:13:49 GMT
TERROR OF THE AUTONS - 05/12/2022. Having finally finished celebration of the anniversary and my EIGHT FACES OF DOCTOR WHO season of adventures, I said I would follow this up with a watch through of the Roger Delgado series of Master serials. And so we come to TERROR OF THE AUTONS, which introduced the Doctor's new companion, Jo Grant, his archenemy the Master, Captain Mike Yates and firmly established what would later become known as "the UNIT family". And just out of interest, Christopher Burgess appeared as Professor Philips and Andrew Staines appeared as Goodge. Both actors had previously appeared together in THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD and they would both go on to appear together in PLANET OF THE SPIDERS. All three serials were directed by Barry Letts. 4/5. I met Christopher Burgess, a few times as i went to the same secondary school and sat in the same class as his nephew, also called Christopher Burgess. The senior version warned me of the upcoming Planet of the Spiders as being a bit scary, no mention of the demise of the Doctor, kept that one a secret!! Regards HGL. I always liked what I saw of him on screen. He may not always of been an actual good guy, but he mostly came across as a sympathetic character.
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Post by HappyGoLucky on Dec 9, 2022 12:13:57 GMT
Well i finally watched The Ice Warriors which means that i can announce that the cold spell and winter normality has finally arrived in my neck of the woods, i even fired up the boiler ( Not a euphemism ). It is 2 episodes too long i think we can all agree? I can now start to indulge in the whole DVD collection. Regards HGL. I'm sorry, mate, but I can't agree about the length of THE ICE WARRIORS. I thoroughly enjoy all six episodes... and never once does it feel like it's dragging or taking too long. In fact, of all Classic Who serials, there's only one that I feel might've benefited from a shorter runtime... and that's THE WEB PLANET. And even then, I'd still prefer to watch it than anything New Who has to offer. Well , The Web Planet is actually 6 episodes too long. Sorry , but true.
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Post by HappyGoLucky on Dec 9, 2022 12:17:42 GMT
I met Christopher Burgess, a few times as i went to the same secondary school and sat in the same class as his nephew, also called Christopher Burgess. The senior version warned me of the upcoming Planet of the Spiders as being a bit scary, no mention of the demise of the Doctor, kept that one a secret!! Regards HGL. I always liked what I saw of him on screen. He may not always of been an actual good guy, but he mostly came across as a sympathetic character. He was actually as Bill Hartnell would say, " a Dandy" a genuine nice guy too. Regards HGL.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 9, 2022 13:24:46 GMT
I'm sorry, mate, but I can't agree about the length of THE ICE WARRIORS. I thoroughly enjoy all six episodes... and never once does it feel like it's dragging or taking too long. In fact, of all Classic Who serials, there's only one that I feel might've benefited from a shorter runtime... and that's THE WEB PLANET. And even then, I'd still prefer to watch it than anything New Who has to offer. Well , The Web Planet is actually 6 episodes too long. Sorry , but true. Oh well, each to their own.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 9, 2022 13:25:24 GMT
I always liked what I saw of him on screen. He may not always of been an actual good guy, but he mostly came across as a sympathetic character. He was actually as Bill Hartnell would say, " a Dandy" a genuine nice guy too. Regards HGL. Not surprising... It shows through in his performance.
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Post by ant-mac on Dec 10, 2022 0:28:24 GMT
COLONY IN SPACE - 09/12/2022.
A watershed moment in the era of the third Doctor. With the exception of his brief foray to an Earth in a parallel universe and near Earth orbit in THE CLAWS OF AXOS, this is the first time the third Doctor visits an extraterrestrial quarry. Overall, I find this to be an excellent serial in terms of plot, pacing and characters, however it's let down by its visuals and special effects... or lack thereof.
Both the regular and guest cast are uniformly excellent, although if I were to have one complaint, it would be the rejection of actress Susan Jameson, who was originally cast as Morgan, because the BBC's Head of Drama Serials decided the role was inappropriate for a woman to perform. I've always liked Tony Caunter, but I believe a real opportunity was missed here, as I think Susan Jameson would've been absolutely brilliant and very memorable.
4/5.
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Post by Future-Diver on Dec 11, 2022 11:54:47 GMT
The Ice Warriors. North London is freezing and we can't afford to heat our little flat properly, so in a strange act of masochism, I chose to re-watch Brian Hayles' frozen 6-Parter from 1967. The first episode is very good indeed (parts of it almost feel like an episode of 'Out Of The Unknown') - Peter Barkworth and Pat Troughton playing well together and I like the groovy '60's futuristic outfits and the idea of space-aged-technology in the middle of an old stately home (right next to a glacier). Unfortunately, once the Warriors themselves turn up, TIW gets awfully formulaic and seems a bit too similar to The Moonbase (and I prefer the Cybermen, any day).
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