New years day 2019 is the last time I watched anything PERIOD on the BBC and that was that goddam awful abortion of an alleged Dalek story. Previous to this I watched Top Gear under Clarkson which got completely bolloxed under Evans and Doctor Who under Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman....also bolloxed without that Dynamic Duo!
The BBC used to stand for quality programming or so the Donkey thought. It's as if they have given up trying to compete with Netflix or Amazon etc or even trying to justify extorting the license fee out of the set upon public. Remember we used to pay the BBC for the analogue signal which was turned off so what the hell are we paying them for now??
New years day 2019 is the last time I watched anything PERIOD on the BBC and that was that goddam awful abortion of an alleged Dalek story. Previous to this I watched Top Gear under Clarkson which got completely bolloxed under Evans and Doctor Who under Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman....also bolloxed without that Dynamic Duo!
The BBC used to stand for quality programming or so the Donkey thought. It's as if they have given up trying to compete with Netflix or Amazon etc or even trying to justify extorting the license fee out of the set upon public. Remember we used to pay the BBC for the analogue signal which was turned off so what the hell are we paying them for now??
Nine national TV stations, regional TV, one online TV channel, Sports coverage, the largest broadcasting news-gathering operation in the world, weather, a large website, iPlayer, BBC Sounds, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, one worldwide radio station and six orchestras. For 42p a day. You never paid them just for the analogue signal, no.
Netflix has got The Irishman and some truly dreadful films. Great.
If you haven't watched it in a year then how would you know if you're missing anything or that they've 'given up'?
Thunderpussy, did you really watch all the Third Doctor episodes over the last month?
That's a lotta episodes!
As I remember, Pertwee had longer serials, too, I think his first season was all 7 episode stories, which makes it harder to cherrypick just the essentials.
Any observations for us? Any favourite Pertwee stories you'd recommend?
I think the Brigadier is the only companion who witnesses the regeneration twice!
I think the Brigadier is the only companion who witnesses the regeneration twice!
He only actually sees it happen once with his own eyes, but he meets a few incarnations: he's probably the one who meets the most until Clara and River are on the scene.
Hi, caractacus potts. I watched several full stories each night six parts to each. Some I'd already
seen as I have a few adventures on DVD. Even took in many of the Patrick Troughton stories.
With Jon Pertwee I have a great affection for some of these shows. The Green Death, scared the
poo out of me as a kid " Giant Maggots", Invasion of the dinosaurs despite the dated special effects
I love the story. I do tend to jump around as I've already watched several episodes of the other
Doctors, even the " New Who " finished the Christopher Eccleston era and have watched a couple
of the David Tennant shows.
At the moment DR who is all I watch after work etc. On The BBC, I think they will become a
subscription service as the license fee seems an out dated concept, everything I watch is on some
subscription service or other. I watch little to none of the terrestrial TV.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
New years day 2019 is the last time I watched anything PERIOD on the BBC and that was that goddam awful abortion of an alleged Dalek story. Previous to this I watched Top Gear under Clarkson which got completely bolloxed under Evans and Doctor Who under Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman....also bolloxed without that Dynamic Duo!
The BBC used to stand for quality programming or so the Donkey thought. It's as if they have given up trying to compete with Netflix or Amazon etc or even trying to justify extorting the license fee out of the set upon public. Remember we used to pay the BBC for the analogue signal which was turned off so what the hell are we paying them for now??
Nine national TV stations, regional TV, one online TV channel, Sports coverage, the largest broadcasting news-gathering operation in the world, weather, a large website, iPlayer, BBC Sounds, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, one worldwide radio station and six orchestras. For 42p a day. You never paid them just for the analogue signal, no.
Netflix has got The Irishman and some truly dreadful films. Great.
If you haven't watched it in a year then how would you know if you're missing anything or that they've 'given up'?
Good points (how long have you worked for the BBC?) but I choose not to watch or indeed listen. I know a number of die hard Who fans Who continued to watch and quite frankly wish they hadn't because said programme has become so darn awful. Look at the viewing figures or the lack of? and the reaction from fans on social media. This programme used to be fun, a bit of escapism on a Saturday evening before JiM'll Fix You! and at times it would scare the crap out of you or make you think "Blink" certainly comes to mind. The 2018 episodes were too politically and racially correct (how many companions does the Doc need?) while trying to throw in teaching aids such as "KILLING IS BAD!" They, that is the writers appear to have forgotten what DW is all about. There has pretty much been an origins back story running in the background since the 1960s which has been conveniently overlooked. Unfortunately those who are still viewing may have seen all this before back in the Colin Davidson days which were also on the whole just awful!
New years day 2019 is the last time I watched anything PERIOD on the BBC and that was that goddam awful abortion of an alleged Dalek story. Previous to this I watched Top Gear under Clarkson which got completely bolloxed under Evans and Doctor Who under Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman....also bolloxed without that Dynamic Duo!
The BBC used to stand for quality programming or so the Donkey thought. It's as if they have given up trying to compete with Netflix or Amazon etc or even trying to justify extorting the license fee out of the set upon public. Remember we used to pay the BBC for the analogue signal which was turned off so what the hell are we paying them for now??
Nine national TV stations, regional TV, one online TV channel, Sports coverage, the largest broadcasting news-gathering operation in the world, weather, a large website, iPlayer, BBC Sounds, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, one worldwide radio station and six orchestras. For 42p a day. You never paid them just for the analogue signal, no.
Netflix has got The Irishman and some truly dreadful films. Great.
If you haven't watched it in a year then how would you know if you're missing anything or that they've 'given up'?
Good points (how long have you worked for the BBC?) but I choose not to watch or indeed listen. I know a number of die hard Who fans Who continued to watch and quite frankly wish they hadn't because said programme has become so darn awful. Look at the viewing figures or the lack of? and the reaction from fans on social media. This programme used to be fun, a bit of escapism on a Saturday evening before JiM'll Fix You! and at times it would scare the crap out of you or make you think "Blink" certainly comes to mind. The 2018 episodes were too politically and racially correct (how many companions does the Doc need?) while trying to throw in teaching aids such as "KILLING IS BAD!" They, that is the writers appear to have forgotten what DW is all about. There has pretty much been an origins back story running in the background since the 1960s which has been conveniently overlooked. Unfortunately those who are still viewing may have seen all this before back in the Colin Davidson days which were also on the whole just awful!
Yeah it’s pretty poor now. But one programme getting worse does not mean an entire corporation is somehow worthless, unless you think that crap Ryan Reynolds film means that Netflix is completely without worth. How long have you worked for the Daily Mail?
Emtiem, yes I'm watching on Britbox.
The quality is really good, I'm guessing
Some are in HD quality.
Cool; I might have to give it a go at some point- there’s still a few Dr Who stories I haven’t seen. I might wait for Britbox to fill up a bit more on good archive stuff though.
Asp9mmOver the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,541MI6 Agent
The BBC used to be the pinnacle of broadcasting, but their political bias has started to cause a backlash. I can see the licence fee being abolished soon. Their dramas, news reporting and documentaries have all started to slide into the abyss. The only thing they have as stand out programming now are the natural history docs.
They've produced several of the biggest dramas of recent years: I think their drama output is improving. And it's funny how, when it comes to bias, there are complaints from the left that the BBC is too right-balance, and complaints from the right that it is too left-biased. Almost as if... it's actually quite balanced... It's become sort of received wisdom that it is biased and everything is getting worse, but I'm not sure those saying it actually think that or they're just parroting it because they've read it in the newspapers which resent and want to take over the BBC's position of strength in the market.
Just finished the first series with Tom Baker, -{ what a great actor he is. He hit the
ground running with " ROBOT " a brilliant first story.
In the second series first story " Terror of the Zygons" set in some god awful part of
the country ...... Scotland I think The local Laird has a personal servant called
" Caber " . I wonder if this might have been were another author got some inspiration
for his henchman. As Dr who was broadcast in 1975 and License Renewed published in 1976 ?..
( I don't really see a conspiracy, just an odd coincidence )
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
thanks Thunderpussy for posting more Dr Who reviews! keep em coming!
I realise I've seen the Green Death, which you recommended, that's the final story with companion Jo Grant. The next storyline introduces Sarah Jane.
There was a lot of weird environmental horror stories during the Pertwee era, I guess because he was mostly earthbound so the monsters had to come from somewhere.
License Renewed was published 1981, but I suppose it's possible Gardner was making a Dr Who reference. I think Caber could be an obvious name for a Scottish henchman, those guys who toss the caber in real life are huge!
I picked up a copy of The Deadly Assassin!! yay for me!
I don't know which is subjectively best, but I think The Deadly Assassin, and Genesis of the Daleks are the two most essential storylines of the Baker era. Both storylines introduce a lot of elements that will be referenced again and again for decades to come, fleshing out what little had been previously established about Gallifrey and Skaro respectively.
In this case, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey for the first time ever (this is the show's 14th season, and at this point we're lucky we even know he's a TimeLord), and we learn almost all we will ever get to learn about TimeLord political and educational systems. I think this is the first mention of Rassilon, founder of TimeLord culture (and decades later to be played by Timothy Dalton, he's one of ours). Also, a bit of discussion about the twelve regenerations rule, which became increasingly important in recent years (Whittaker is of course the Thirteenth Doctor).
The Master is in this one too, I think a unique appearance? He looks like a leprous Darth Sidious this time round, I've never seen another story where he looks quite like this.
And there is no companion, for the first time, and I think the last until Tennant's later episodes. Anybody know why there's no companion? (this falls in between SarahJane's departure and Leela's introduction). I suppose the absence of a sidekick allows this particular show to focus more on the Doctor interacting with his own people?
But aside from continuity geekery, most important is:
1. the plot of the first episode is based on the Manchurian Candidate, with some near identical plot points and camera angles!
and
2. Much of the second episode and all of the third is spent in a shared virtual reality created by the stored memories of all deceased TimeLords ... a cyberspace which is perceived as real, yet dream logic rules, and this virtual reality is called ... The Matrix!!! whoa!
So a film reference past and future! Those zany Timelords!
Here in Canada, classic Dr Who dvds are very expensive, even when they show up used, so I was mighty pleased when I found this of all Dr Who episodes at a very reasonable price.
(Genesis of the Daleks is easily available as a bonus feature on a boxset called the Daleks, which otherwise compiles 21st century Dalek episodes)
Seems with the final episode of Dr Who Chris Chibnal just took a big dump
on 57 years of Dr Who history. X-( I've watched a few YouTube videos from
Angry fans, who are "Done" with Dr Who, One of them holds Two world records
for the worlds largest collection of Dr Who Memorabilia !
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
I didn't really care about the change to history: it didn't really change anything. The main problem was that it had no dramatic reason to happen in that episode: it changed nothing and brought no stakes. Really weird bit of writing.
Given the drastic fall in viewers and the god awful writing, along with
the bad reviews and fan backlash. It might be time to " Rest" the show
again ? {:)
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
It's been on a downward spiral for years now but the last two series have been truly diabolical. Actually unwatchable X-(
To hear one of the head honchos at the BBC say it's in fine shape and has never looked better (or words to that effect) are just an insult to the fans. Agree TP, time for a break but it was avoidable and is just self inflicted. Poor stories, scripts, production, casting, OTT woke.
Chibnal is a woeful writer, anyone who’s sat through season 2 of Broadchurch can testify to that - pun intended and I’m sure that testimony will come off as more believable than anything said in those courtroom scenes...
Japanese proverb say, "Bird never make nest in bare tree".
The fact that this Doctor let a civilian kill themselves to save her, was shameful. Every
Doctor before would have save the human and let themselves die. After all under
Chibnal's writing she can regenerate as many times as she wants, so she basically
killed they guy for nothing X-( David Tennant died to save old Wilfred Mott. He
wouldn't let a human die to save him, but this Doc .....
" Ok you blow up the ship, I'm off ....er ... Bye then !"
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
The fact that this Doctor let a civilian kill themselves to save her, was shameful. Every
Doctor before would have save the human and let themselves die. After all under
Chibnal's writing she can regenerate as many times as she wants, so she basically
killed they guy for nothing X-( David Tennant died to save old Wilfred Mott. He
wouldn't let a human die to save him, but this Doc .....
" Ok you blow up the ship, I'm off ....er ... Bye then !"
Especially odd as presumably the 'trauma' she'd been through in the episode was supposed to lead to a 'I'm going to kill you all! No, hang on; I'm better than that' climax where she realised she was acting out of emotional shock... but then she let them all be killed anyway- she just let a man do it for her. It doesn't work.
I first discovered Dr Who as a young boy, This silver haired, elegant dude who knew so much
and helped so many people. He also has some amazing enemies and toys, He was a bit of an
action hero with his venusian aikido. I was hooked. The Dr in question was obviously the late
great Jon Pertwee, and I carried on through the rest of the good Doctors but felt another
special kinship with Peter Capaldi, as I felt he was channelling Jon Pertwee in his performance.
Slightly grumpy, silver haired hero, Even the splash of red in the jacket lining reminded me of
My first Doctor. This didn't in any way detract from Capaldi's performance as he's regarded by many
as probably the best actor to take on the role. So for various reasons I love both Pertwee and
Capaldi, Although another I hold in High Regard, possibly even my Favourite is Matt Smith.
His enthusiasm and excitement at even mundane human things ( which an alien should find
different ) is contagious, He also somehow had the ability to act as an old man in a young man's
body.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
watched the Pyramids of Mars
from the Fourth Doctors second season, with Sarah Jane.
The Doctor announces he is no longer UNIT's scientific advisor at the start of the episode, so that he may be free to explore time and space.
This is one of the Gothic horror influenced run of early Fourth Doctor episodes:
An archaeologist had opened a cursed tomb in Egypt and become possessed by the spirit of Set, who is seeking a means to escape eternal captivity. The egyptian gods turn out to actually be Martians, and Set is planning to destroy all the cosmos once released.
Filmed almost entirely in a beautiful old manor house, owned by Mick Jagger. (is this the same house as seen on the cover of Hot Rocks?) with a rather psychedelic finale.
Comments
The BBC used to stand for quality programming or so the Donkey thought. It's as if they have given up trying to compete with Netflix or Amazon etc or even trying to justify extorting the license fee out of the set upon public. Remember we used to pay the BBC for the analogue signal which was turned off so what the hell are we paying them for now??
Nine national TV stations, regional TV, one online TV channel, Sports coverage, the largest broadcasting news-gathering operation in the world, weather, a large website, iPlayer, BBC Sounds, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, one worldwide radio station and six orchestras. For 42p a day. You never paid them just for the analogue signal, no.
Netflix has got The Irishman and some truly dreadful films. Great.
If you haven't watched it in a year then how would you know if you're missing anything or that they've 'given up'?
That's a lotta episodes!
As I remember, Pertwee had longer serials, too, I think his first season was all 7 episode stories, which makes it harder to cherrypick just the essentials.
Any observations for us? Any favourite Pertwee stories you'd recommend?
I think the Brigadier is the only companion who witnesses the regeneration twice!
He only actually sees it happen once with his own eyes, but he meets a few incarnations: he's probably the one who meets the most until Clara and River are on the scene.
seen as I have a few adventures on DVD. Even took in many of the Patrick Troughton stories.
With Jon Pertwee I have a great affection for some of these shows. The Green Death, scared the
poo out of me as a kid " Giant Maggots", Invasion of the dinosaurs despite the dated special effects
I love the story. I do tend to jump around as I've already watched several episodes of the other
Doctors, even the " New Who " finished the Christopher Eccleston era and have watched a couple
of the David Tennant shows.
At the moment DR who is all I watch after work etc. On The BBC, I think they will become a
subscription service as the license fee seems an out dated concept, everything I watch is on some
subscription service or other. I watch little to none of the terrestrial TV.
Agreed about Invasion of the Dinosaurs: I tend to think that might be his best story.
Good points (how long have you worked for the BBC?) but I choose not to watch or indeed listen. I know a number of die hard Who fans Who continued to watch and quite frankly wish they hadn't because said programme has become so darn awful. Look at the viewing figures or the lack of? and the reaction from fans on social media. This programme used to be fun, a bit of escapism on a Saturday evening before JiM'll Fix You! and at times it would scare the crap out of you or make you think "Blink" certainly comes to mind. The 2018 episodes were too politically and racially correct (how many companions does the Doc need?) while trying to throw in teaching aids such as "KILLING IS BAD!" They, that is the writers appear to have forgotten what DW is all about. There has pretty much been an origins back story running in the background since the 1960s which has been conveniently overlooked. Unfortunately those who are still viewing may have seen all this before back in the Colin Davidson days which were also on the whole just awful!
The quality is really good, I'm guessing
Some are in HD quality.
Yeah it’s pretty poor now. But one programme getting worse does not mean an entire corporation is somehow worthless, unless you think that crap Ryan Reynolds film means that Netflix is completely without worth. How long have you worked for the Daily Mail?
Cool; I might have to give it a go at some point- there’s still a few Dr Who stories I haven’t seen. I might wait for Britbox to fill up a bit more on good archive stuff though.
ground running with " ROBOT " a brilliant first story.
In the second series first story " Terror of the Zygons" set in some god awful part of
the country ...... Scotland I think
" Caber " . I wonder if this might have been were another author got some inspiration
for his henchman. As Dr who was broadcast in 1975 and License Renewed published in 1976 ?..
( I don't really see a conspiracy, just an odd coincidence )
I realise I've seen the Green Death, which you recommended, that's the final story with companion Jo Grant. The next storyline introduces Sarah Jane.
There was a lot of weird environmental horror stories during the Pertwee era, I guess because he was mostly earthbound so the monsters had to come from somewhere.
License Renewed was published 1981, but I suppose it's possible Gardner was making a Dr Who reference. I think Caber could be an obvious name for a Scottish henchman, those guys who toss the caber in real life are huge!
I don't know which is subjectively best, but I think The Deadly Assassin, and Genesis of the Daleks are the two most essential storylines of the Baker era. Both storylines introduce a lot of elements that will be referenced again and again for decades to come, fleshing out what little had been previously established about Gallifrey and Skaro respectively.
In this case, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey for the first time ever (this is the show's 14th season, and at this point we're lucky we even know he's a TimeLord), and we learn almost all we will ever get to learn about TimeLord political and educational systems. I think this is the first mention of Rassilon, founder of TimeLord culture (and decades later to be played by Timothy Dalton, he's one of ours). Also, a bit of discussion about the twelve regenerations rule, which became increasingly important in recent years (Whittaker is of course the Thirteenth Doctor).
The Master is in this one too, I think a unique appearance? He looks like a leprous Darth Sidious this time round, I've never seen another story where he looks quite like this.
And there is no companion, for the first time, and I think the last until Tennant's later episodes. Anybody know why there's no companion? (this falls in between SarahJane's departure and Leela's introduction). I suppose the absence of a sidekick allows this particular show to focus more on the Doctor interacting with his own people?
But aside from continuity geekery, most important is:
1. the plot of the first episode is based on the Manchurian Candidate, with some near identical plot points and camera angles!
and
2. Much of the second episode and all of the third is spent in a shared virtual reality created by the stored memories of all deceased TimeLords ... a cyberspace which is perceived as real, yet dream logic rules, and this virtual reality is called ... The Matrix!!! whoa!
So a film reference past and future! Those zany Timelords!
Here in Canada, classic Dr Who dvds are very expensive, even when they show up used, so I was mighty pleased when I found this of all Dr Who episodes at a very reasonable price.
(Genesis of the Daleks is easily available as a bonus feature on a boxset called the Daleks, which otherwise compiles 21st century Dalek episodes)
on 57 years of Dr Who history. X-( I've watched a few YouTube videos from
Angry fans, who are "Done" with Dr Who, One of them holds Two world records
for the worlds largest collection of Dr Who Memorabilia !
the bad reviews and fan backlash. It might be time to " Rest" the show
again ? {:)
To hear one of the head honchos at the BBC say it's in fine shape and has never looked better (or words to that effect) are just an insult to the fans. Agree TP, time for a break but it was avoidable and is just self inflicted. Poor stories, scripts, production, casting, OTT woke.
Doctor before would have save the human and let themselves die. After all under
Chibnal's writing she can regenerate as many times as she wants, so she basically
killed they guy for nothing X-( David Tennant died to save old Wilfred Mott. He
wouldn't let a human die to save him, but this Doc .....
" Ok you blow up the ship, I'm off ....er ... Bye then !"
Especially odd as presumably the 'trauma' she'd been through in the episode was supposed to lead to a 'I'm going to kill you all! No, hang on; I'm better than that' climax where she realised she was acting out of emotional shock... but then she let them all be killed anyway- she just let a man do it for her. It doesn't work.
and helped so many people. He also has some amazing enemies and toys, He was a bit of an
action hero with his venusian aikido. I was hooked. The Dr in question was obviously the late
great Jon Pertwee, and I carried on through the rest of the good Doctors but felt another
special kinship with Peter Capaldi, as I felt he was channelling Jon Pertwee in his performance.
Slightly grumpy, silver haired hero, Even the splash of red in the jacket lining reminded me of
My first Doctor. This didn't in any way detract from Capaldi's performance as he's regarded by many
as probably the best actor to take on the role. So for various reasons I love both Pertwee and
Capaldi, Although another I hold in High Regard, possibly even my Favourite is Matt Smith.
His enthusiasm and excitement at even mundane human things ( which an alien should find
different ) is contagious, He also somehow had the ability to act as an old man in a young man's
body.
from the Fourth Doctors second season, with Sarah Jane.
The Doctor announces he is no longer UNIT's scientific advisor at the start of the episode, so that he may be free to explore time and space.
This is one of the Gothic horror influenced run of early Fourth Doctor episodes:
An archaeologist had opened a cursed tomb in Egypt and become possessed by the spirit of Set, who is seeking a means to escape eternal captivity. The egyptian gods turn out to actually be Martians, and Set is planning to destroy all the cosmos once released.
Filmed almost entirely in a beautiful old manor house, owned by Mick Jagger. (is this the same house as seen on the cover of Hot Rocks?) with a rather psychedelic finale.