StacyD

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Everything posted by StacyD

  1. Yeah, I remember that being expanded upon with the Daleks need to resurrect Davros to combat the threat of the Movellans in Destiny of the Daleks; the Daleks most certainly did not view Davros as an equal, merely a tool that would enable them to introduce a random element to break the stalemate. Later Davros would escape and begin work on his 'Imperial' Daleks (they of the cream and gold) with himself as the Emperor (the not the Emperor of the Time War. . .or maybe he was. Wibbly-wobbly. . .). The Daleks evolving from his original creation were 'pure strain' Daleks lead by the Supreme Dalek/Black Dalek. This division was most clearly illustrated in the Seventh Doctor serial Remembrance of the Daleks. StacyD
  2. To my mind Hartnell's portrayal is the foundation stone from which all other portrayals built from. Brilliant, erratic, fiercely determined, and possessed of a self-righteousness that sometimes can lead him astray, the Doctor's first incarnation was the one in which he was transformed from a hermit living with his daughter in exile to the wandering hero well all know and love. It's here with Hartnell that we see exactly why the Doctor needs his companions, as he oftentimes learns as much from them as they do from him. While it's true Hartnell's age and his deteriorating physical condition at times worked against him, the man could bring the thunder when necessary. Much like Christopher Eccleston and Matt Smith, he's confident enough in himself to be kind, but will absolutely and completely destroy you if you oppose him and his ideals. It's no wonder that in the multi-Doctor stories in which he plays a part the First Doctor (ironically the 'youngest' Doctor in any given scenario) is often treated with a great deal of respect and reverence. Hell, he was the only one who could keep the Second and Third Doctor from each other's throats, and it was he who figured out the ultimate riddle of Rassilon's Great Game in the Death Zone. While he's not my absolute favorite, the First Doctor stands tall amidst his contemporaries. He is the original, you might say.
  3. Genesis of the Daleks remains an all-time favorite and I'm glad it met with acclaim from both you fine gentlemen. As to Revenge of the Cybermen. . .yeah. I always found the problem with gold to be a little. . .off. I mean, there's nothing to indicate the makeup of the Cybermen would have a problem with this particular element. As a weakness for a Green Lantern it's fine, but not for a cybernetic marauder.
  4. Another fun episode, though you'll forgive me if I don't start rubbing my hands together in anticipation of Episode 47. Genesis of the Daleks, the first shot of the Time War and the debut of the Doctor's true arch-nemesis Davros! I know, I know, the Master is supposed to be the Doctor's Moriarty, but to me the meglomaniacal Kaled genius is the true antithesis to the Doctor. Where the Doctor is about freedom and discovery, Davros is about enslavement and dominance. The Master may be the Doctor's Joker, but Davros is is Ra's Al Ghul. Think about it. Davros' creations have been giving the Doctor no end of grief for the entirety of his lives, they pulled down his people's entire civilization and nearly destroyed the universe. And this is the guy who created them. Small wonder the Doctor suffered a heroic blue screen of death when he first heard his old foe's voice in Journey's End. Simply put, while the Master may be a source of pain and frustration for the Doctor, Davros scares the hell out of him. Stacy
  5. I was always of the opinion the woman from The End of Time was Susan. The pain and the love in the Doctor's eyes speaks volumes as far as I'm concerned, to say nothing of the fact that when Wilfred asks the Doctor who the woman was the Doctor's eyes track from the old man to Donna Noble. I mean. Come. On. It doesn't take Hercule Poirot to put those puzzle pieces together. Time Lords being able to fly. . .well I'm not sure if I buy that. But then, couldn't they pull a trick similar to the 9th Doctor in The End of the World, slowing his rate of Descent so as to essentially materialize from a great height to the ground in a manner that to the untrained observer would suggest a Time Lord had flown. That strikes me their kind of deceptive style.
  6. I'm finally caught up! Awesome. The Invasion is a treat from start to finish. It's interesting to note the story's effectiveness as a back-door pilot for the changes that were to come in the Pertwee era; an Earthbound Doctor, a clever assistant, U.N.I.T. as the Doctor's support network and the dreaded alien menace threatening London and All We Hold Dear. Jamie's lack of use in this episode strikes me as one of the clearest changes to the format; he's pretty much redundant in the realm of punch & shoot if the Doctor has the Brigadier, Benton, and the troops at his beck and call. Zoe does act as a bit of a forerunner to Liz Shaw, who is easily my favorite Pertwee-era companion who I felt got short-shrift in favor of a more Victoria-esque companion in Jo Grant (though to be fair Jo is light-years ahead of Victoria as a companion). It took some digging through my copy of Doctor Who: The Universal Databank (a reference guide Virgin put out that acts as a glossary to ever episode of the original series) but I found that the HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System) causes the TARDIS to dematerialize if it determines the environment is too hazardous and then re-materialize a safe distance away from danger. Might've been handy to have that working in The Impossible Planet, no? Imagine Ten and Rose running into the meeting hall, burning rubber for where they parked the ship only to find the TARDIS sitting there in the centre of the room, humming it's smuggest hum. Possible explanations as to why it's not featured later in the show could be that, given the Doctor's penchant for finding trouble he disabled the system for fear he'd lose track of the TARDIS's location, or as with all things, that battered type-40 is about as old as time and the system broke down, much like the chameleon and temporal grace circuits. Stac
  7. She's brainy, cute, a nice body and she can kick the ass of a comicbook superhero. What's not to love about our Ms. Heriot? Still, I'd have to go with Leela of the Sevateem. Beautiful, confident, and wicked with a blade or Janis Thorn. Not to mention that leather getup. . .ahem. Of course I was too young to really get her appeal when I was a kid watching the episodes on PBS with my uncle, I tended to groove more on the Doctor being smart and funny and K-9 being awesome. Never disparage the tin dog in my presence. It is. . .unwise. The first real Who crush I had has to be Sophie Aldred's Ace in Remembrance of the Daleks. For the longest time I'd just seen Ace as kind of a sister figure, very tomboyish and fun with a knack for explosives and a pretty cool jacket (I was 13, grade on a curve). But there's this one scene in a boarding house where she wears her hair down. . .my 13 year old self went 'hellooooooo. . .' Needless to say, I crushed on her big time. Still do really as she's matured into a very attractive woman. But that's further on down the line. Stac
  8. Hmm. . .the lovely ladies of Who. So many to choose from, it's hard to settle. But then the Doctor never did, so why should I? ~.^ And yes, the banking reference. I was sitting in the Arby's in my building's food court. There's no way to play something like that off. Believe me, I tried.
  9. Good Lord. . .I nearly snorted my soda. You dastards. ;p Stac
  10. I'd be lying if I said the bit with the Scissor Sisters wasn't amusing (and it turned me on to the group's music, along with the Rogue Traders 'Voodoo Child'). Mileage may vary, and I'll take Who with issues over certain other science fiction franchises who believe having fun ruins the depressive atmosphere. I think we can all agree that Kate O'Mara's the Rani was a stone-cold fox. ^.^ Stac
  11. Again, this is no fault of John Simm and I can see the idea that Davies & Co. were putting across; that the Doctor's erratic nature and buffoonery can act as an effective weapon against his enemies. But it's completely wasted on the portrayal of the Master, who is not the Doctor's evil double (that role is filled by the Valeyard, who would've been a far far creepier 'my enemy is myself' archetype to use) but rather the Doctor's 'best enemy'. There's a fierce hatred between the two, but there's also a kind of mutual affection also. The Doctor wants to save his friend, who's become violently insane and dangerous and the Master wants to prove that he is better than the Doctor, that he is undeniably, indisputably right in his actions and his world view and he wants the Doctor to acknowledge him as being so. I will agree that Last of the Time Lords did pay off with a climax that'd been hinted at since The Mind of Evil with the Master powerless before an omnipotent Doctor, but apart from that and a few neat little bits of business the character was just wasted, a long-term plotter and a charismatic villain left a poor xerox of the main character. I hope The End of Time restores the Master to his former glory and that the war between these two strong-willed adversaries enters a new renaissance under Moffat. Stac
  12. Glad to be here Dan! Love the show, being a hardcore Whovian from way back. ^.^ Stac
  13. I will agree the Delgado Master is almighty creepy, but am I alone in being the only one to find Simm's portrayal of the Master molar-grindingly irritating? I can see what they were attempting to do but to me the Master is the Hannibal Lecter of Who villainy, not the Joker. Making the Master EDT (Evil David Tennant) was a serious misstep in my estimation. Yeah, I can get behind the whole 'well now he's using the Doctor's charm and whackiness against him' but the Master knows the Doctor of old. You'd think he'd be the one person to see through the Doctor's crap and know exactly what moves to make to counter him. Funny faces and jelly babies need not apply. The Master is not zany. When he shows up the first thing on everyone's mind shouldn't be 'Who is this loon?' but rather 'oh we need to get out of here now. Right now. Now.' Jacobi's Master was so wonderfully creepy, then he regenerated into Simm, who I initially viewed as 'Oh, post-regenerative trauma has him acting a bit wonky. He'll settle down. . .or not. . .oh dear God it's gonna go on like this. . .' To me, the most frightening villains of Doctor Who are easily the Time Lords themselves. They condemn the Doctor for interfering with the development of other races whilst making their own adjustments to the space-time continuum (under the auspices of the Celestial Intervention Agency, not to mention effectively firing the first shot of the Time War in 'Genesis of the Daleks') they have ancient technology that they've largely forgotten the use for, living apart from the rest of the universe in their great glass dome. Their stated credo of noninterference is a source of some relief, but The Waters of Mars has me thinking a universe without the Time Lords might not be such a bad thing. . . Stac
  14. The current series can be appreciated on its own merits and you needn't go any further than the 4 boxed sets currently available if that's your choice. However, if you want to explore the larger tapestry of Doctor Who you've got hours upon hours of adventures to enjoy featuring the original seven Doctors, not to mention the spinoff novels and the Big Finish audio dramas. Unlike certain science fiction sagas which are pretty rigid in the order you Absolutely Must See Them, the beauty of Who is that most any adventure can be dipped into once you realize the structure: 1. TARDIS lands. 2. Trouble Ensues. 3. The Doctor saves the day. (for early Pertwee swap in 'U.N.I.T. investigates X' for #1). Apart from that, have a blast. ^.^ Stac
  15. 1. Susan's status as the Doctor's granddaughter is one of the points the show does work to support, though as the series developed her full status became something of a sticky wicket in terms of continuity. If she truly was a Time Lady, could the Doctor be more cruel in leaving her to outlive her boyfriend, stranded on Earth for the rest of her immortal life? Marc Platt's Lungbarrow--one of the last of Virgin's New Adventures line--attempted to shore this up by stating she was the granddaughter of the Other, a contemporary of Rassilon and Omega who the Doctor had been a reincarnation of (hence the 7th Doctor's odd knowledge of certain events in Gallifrey's ancient past and his assertions of being 'more than just another Time Lord). Big Finish has just announced Susan's return to the audio Whoniverse, so maybe they'll be some explanations and clarifications along that route. That's the great thing about Doctor Who continuity. . .it's largely build your own. ;p 2. Possibly to shore up her social skills more than anything else. Susan had a great deal of knowledge, but little experience in dealing with people. It might be the Doctor wanted her to learn more about humanity by placing her in a social setting conductive to her physical appearance of a teenaged girl. Just my $0.02 and assorted pocket lint. Stac