|
Post by Cyggy on Mar 5, 2022 5:43:23 GMT
Please rate and discuss this story here.....
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Mar 6, 2022 19:16:52 GMT
One of the better stories of the latter years, imo.
Good old JN-T for having the brainwave to film it in an actual tent when the BBC went down with an asbestos scare.
Credit to Sylvester too for walking away from that explosion like that!
|
|
|
Post by Black Orchid on Mar 13, 2022 14:36:47 GMT
BELLBOY: Oh, the kites she made, beautiful kites, every colour of the rainbow. All different shapes and sizes. And they use them to watch us and trap us and keep us here. So they destroyed her work and then they destroyed her. ACE: It'll be all right, Bellboy. I'll get you out of here. BELLBOY: Why should I want to get out of here? It's gone. The fun, freedom of being what you want to be, all of it. Don't you understand? ACE: Yes. Look, I'm sorry. We can't stay here forever, can we. I've got to find the Doctor for a start. BELLBOY: They took everything that was bright and good about what we had, and buried it where it will never be found again. ACE: I don't understand. Who's they? BELLBOY: The ones who run the circus. _____________________
A potentially brilliant story, let down by a weak last episode.
Special mention to Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown - superb performance.
Shame that the Whizzkid character was included though.
7.5/10
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Jun 22, 2022 14:47:34 GMT
An alleged Daily Mirror quote atrributed to Davo 12 days after this story (and season) ended...
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Jun 23, 2022 1:18:44 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Future-Diver on Jun 23, 2022 6:13:18 GMT
"I know it's not as good as it used to be but I'm still terribly interested."I don't really like the circus or clowns but this serial is fantastically weird and surreal - hippies, robots, punk werewolves, the Gods Of Ragnarok, Peggy Mount as a terrifying stall keeper ( "Is there no end to you weirdo's?") and Vernon from Coronation Street as a creepy clown. Also, due to a fire alarm at Elstree during filming in 1988, we get this great photo of the cast of Doctor Who mixing with the stars of 'Allo! 'Allo!. 7/10
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Jul 5, 2022 22:00:59 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Jul 11, 2022 15:02:29 GMT
The Greatest Show In The McCoy Era?
|
|
|
Post by Cyggy on Apr 28, 2023 12:49:56 GMT
Only just realised that Ricco Ross (Ringmaster) was also one of the Colonial Marines in Aliens....
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Oct 30, 2023 3:35:01 GMT
This is a WONDERFUL story.
One VERY important point that seems to have gotten lost since the time of its transmission... this was intended as the 2nd story of the season, but got moved around because of some sports event.
Look at it this way. "Remembrance" is almost non-stop high-speed action, which really sets the whole tone of the new season. But then, like the 2nd track on an LP, the 2nd story slows things down.
I hated Ace in "Dragonfire", so what a shock I got to like her in "Remembrance". But her and the Doctor are not really clicking as a team yet. That takes all 4 episodes of "Greatest Show" to do that. By the end of the story, there's a whole different vibe to their relationship.
When "Happiness" starts, they're hitting on all cylinders. Good thing, with only 3 episodes, they have to hit the ground running, and they never slow down.
Then "Nemesis" comes along, and the pacing INCREASES. It's totally insane, they're doing a story that's a sequel to a story we NEVER saw, which, had it been done properly, should have taken 6 episodes. It only really works because the whole plot plays out as a variation on "Remembrance", so you have 2 near-identical stories bracketing the season. As a result, you don't really care about the main story (the Cybermen), it's the subplot that's important (Lady Peinforte). NOTHING is developed properly, because there's no room, NO TIME. It's racing all the way to the finish line... at which point, I believe, the Doctor has pulled a big con game. She thinks he has this "big secret" and threatens to reveal it. He calls her bluff, NOBODY cares. She goes even more insane than she already was, and winds up dead. I think... the Doctor LIED to her in the past, to get her to do what he wanted her to do. Sneaky bastard. (But fans read it the wrong way, and were fooled, TOO!)
After "Nemesis", there's NO WAY "Greatest Show" should follow. (Some have argued with me on this online... but, some people always feel the need to argue about everything.. even if they agree with you. I don't have time for that nonsense.)
Lucky for me, I've always been able to watch these 4 stories in what I consider the "correct" order. I'm sure if I ever got them on Blu-Ray, it would be no different. Probably easier. (I've done the same with the Adam West BATMAN. There's a couple of 2nd-season stories that screw up continuity all over the place, just because ABC ran them in the wrong order way back in 1967. You swap a few things and sudddenly, SO MUCH you never noticed before makes WAY more sense. No kidding.)
I have only one real gripe about this story. It's that "The Gods Of Ragnarok" are never properly explained. Too much of seasons 24-26 are like that. It's amazing HOW MUCH BETTER seasons 25-26 are than the previous 6 whle years of the show... but, they're still lacking in certain basic things. I'd guess, by design. The idiots at the top of the BBC wanted this show GONE, and stripped it of necessities every chance they got. I'm astonished how good some of the last 2 seasons are, in spite of some basic obvious problems that can scream at you while you're watching. (And, Sylvester McCoy did become my #1 favorite Doctor despite a lot of it.)
|
|
|
Post by GC on May 15, 2024 16:57:35 GMT
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: When Doctor Who was shot in a tent! An amazing CG Set tour
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on May 16, 2024 12:12:18 GMT
BELLBOY: Oh, the kites she made, beautiful kites, every colour of the rainbow. All different shapes and sizes. And they use them to watch us and trap us and keep us here. So they destroyed her work and then they destroyed her. ACE: It'll be all right, Bellboy. I'll get you out of here. BELLBOY: Why should I want to get out of here? It's gone. The fun, freedom of being what you want to be, all of it. Don't you understand? ACE: Yes. Look, I'm sorry. We can't stay here forever, can we. I've got to find the Doctor for a start. BELLBOY: They took everything that was bright and good about what we had, and buried it where it will never be found again. ACE: I don't understand. Who's they? BELLBOY: The ones who run the circus. It really does sound like a criticism of the BBC, JNT & Eric Saward, doesn't it?
|
|
|
Post by Servo on Jun 1, 2024 9:26:33 GMT
I don’t mind this. Yes the last episode lets it down a bit, but you have Ian Reddington’s quite brilliant performance as The Chief Clown to admire amongst other things.
Surprised someone gave it 0 though. It’s like one of those halfwits from Moandas has wandered in here and thought it was a Nu Who story that they hadn’t seen and were compelled to give it a 0.
Like even The Time Monster doesn’t rate a 0 and its utter shit.
|
|
|
Post by Future-Diver on Jun 1, 2024 10:12:30 GMT
I don’t mind this. Yes the last episode lets it down a bit, but you have Ian Reddington’s quite brilliant performance as The Chief Clown to admire amongst other things. Surprised someone gave it 0 though. It’s like one of those halfwits from Moandas has wandered in here and thought it was a Nu Who story that they hadn’t seen and were compelled to give it a 0. Like even The Time Monster doesn’t rate a 0 and its utter shit. You're never going to get over The Time Monster, are you? People have a perfect right to award something 0/10 if they think it deserves it. I'm very fond of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy (I gave it 7/10 ), and must admit, I find a 0/10 score for it rather extreme, to say the least, but if that's the way someone genuinely feels about the serial, then fair enough. It's not for me to question how or why they voted that way. And I'm sure there are halfwits on both sides of the NuWho fence - no doubt there are devoted Nu fans who automatically award 10/10 to any given episode just because it's Dr Who, perhaps out of a misplaced sense of brand loyalty, either here, Planet Mondas or on any of the other Who Forums.
|
|
|
Post by Servo on Jun 1, 2024 11:23:42 GMT
I don’t mind this. Yes the last episode lets it down a bit, but you have Ian Reddington’s quite brilliant performance as The Chief Clown to admire amongst other things. Surprised someone gave it 0 though. It’s like one of those halfwits from Moandas has wandered in here and thought it was a Nu Who story that they hadn’t seen and were compelled to give it a 0. Like even The Time Monster doesn’t rate a 0 and its utter shit. You're never going to get over The Time Monster, are you? People have a perfect right to award something 0/10 if they think it deserves it. I'm very fond of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy (I gave it 7/10 ), and must admit, I find a 0/10 score for it rather extreme, to say the least, but if that's the way someone genuinely feels about the serial, then fair enough. It's not for me to question how or why they voted that way. And I'm sure there are halfwits on both sides of the NuWho fence - no doubt there are devoted Nu fans who automatically award 10/10 to any given episode just because it's Dr Who, perhaps out of a misplaced sense of brand loyalty, either here, Planet Mondas or on any of the other Who Forums. Everyone knows how much i hate The Time Monster and it's sort of become my schtick. The thing that I don't understand is that these people who give stuff a 0 never actually post a review. I don't mind if people watch stuff and hate it, but give us all your reasons. In Moandas' case it's people who haven't bothered to watch the thing that give it a 0, which is really weird as far as I'm concerned. Someone actually admitted it on there that that was what they were doing. If I applied that logic there would be squillions of stuff I'd rate 0, but since i actually haven't seen any of them I don't think it's worth it. I know i'm turning into a grumpy old bastard in my old age but i think at least some of it is justified.
|
|