tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post7223826650726515012..comments2024-03-26T19:08:32.544-04:00Comments on That's alls I know: Classic Doctor Who countdown (#110 - #101)Tommy Kraskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-36733100153520215962018-01-20T12:21:22.096-05:002018-01-20T12:21:22.096-05:00Personally, I rather Caves rather high on my list....Personally, I rather Caves rather high on my list. And I think part of that is due to the chilliness. For *this* story set on *this* planet with *this* set of supporting characters, I think it works.<br /><br />I wouldn't want an entire season of stories like this. Hell, I think it would be quite difficult to pull off again for a single story (Varos comes close, but Revelation missed by a wide margin).<br />Bob Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08064350802590956177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-81083445511022220512018-01-20T10:10:37.140-05:002018-01-20T10:10:37.140-05:00Ouch -- I (obviously) did not know some of that ab...Ouch -- I (obviously) did not know some of that about "Celestial Toymaker," or I wouldn't have come quite so strongly to its defense. Nothing in Michael Gough's performance, as I hear it at least, suggests that he's Asian; we in the States were still, at that time, using Caucasian actors in TV roles that called for, say, "a Japanese businessman" -- but they adopted an accent (an unfortunate one, to be sure) that suggested a Far Eastern background. I don't get that listening to Gough at all. And the "n" word -- ugh. I obviously hadn't heard it -- I watch the reconstructions mostly with the audio book providing the sound (so I can enjoy the helpful narration), so I'm obviously used to Purves speaking over the offending word. And for all that, I came to "Celestial" this last time intending to hate it; I hadn't watched in a few years, and had forgotten my initial impressions, and had other people's reviews stuck in my head. But I didn't hate it at all, and Philip -- watching for the first time -- rather enjoyed it. He found it a fun change of pace. It is paper-thin, and wastes Hartnell, and I guess has, as you say, both offending subtext and text -- but Purves, as ever, is game for anything, and I'll forever find Lane underrated. I guess, bottom line, I'd rather listen to Purves and Lane pick the proper chair for an episode than watch Baker and Sladen deal with killer plants for six. Wow, I really need professional help...Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-15757540703991027952018-01-19T15:32:32.984-05:002018-01-19T15:32:32.984-05:00I've heard suggestions that The Celestial Toym...I've heard suggestions that The Celestial Toymaker is indeed meant to be Chinese, given that 'celestial' was once a synonym for 'Chinese person' (I seem to recall Jago mentioning "the celestial Chang" in Talons). That said, the most racist moment in the story comes in episode 3, when the n-word crops up during 'eeny meeny miney mo'. From what I've heard, this wasn't in the script, but the actor ad libbed it. It's muffled in the recons and Peter Purves talks over it on the audio version; should the episode ever turn up, goodness knows what they'd do about releasing it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00894786973064551928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-18089473500657620852018-01-13T15:45:29.307-05:002018-01-13T15:45:29.307-05:00I have seen "The Chase" in a couple diff...I have seen "The Chase" in a couple different formats -- DVD, Hulu, Britbox. Some have The Beatles; some don't. Maybe they're on the streaming version, but not on the DVD? But yes, I too love that moment. I love that whole sequence: something like twelve minutes just relaxing with the TARDIS crew -- it's heavenly.<br /><br />I was going to say that I suspect "Caves" is my most controversial ranking, but no, that's probably "Talons," way down at #121. But "Caves" is a serial that's never excited me; I see all the craftsmanship, but it's not one I'd ever sit down to watch for the sheer pleasure so much of Classic Who provides. It's a serial that I'd heard about before I ever saw it (a friend had recommended it highly, and I'd seen a slew of ecstatic fan reviews, as well as its ranking as "the best Classic Who serial of all time"), so at first, I thought my expectations were simply too high. But I've watched it several times since to much the same response: I just find it chilly. And by and large, the Davison era feels very warm to me. I think as good as Holmes could be, there's only so much you can do when you haven't even watched the Doctor you're writing for -- no doubt why the Doctor feels peripheral so much of the time. And as you said, it's not like Saward was going to ask for or make corrections; he liked serials that were Doctor-lite.Tommy Kraskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564935526936828636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768495027896028196.post-75723744715057285552018-01-13T12:17:23.744-05:002018-01-13T12:17:23.744-05:00Fun fact about The Chase: The Beatles make an appe...Fun fact about The Chase: The Beatles make an appearance on the Time-Space Visualizer, thus making this story a nice Venn diagram of two of my three fandoms (if only the Doctor enjoyed Cubs baseball as much as cricket!). Due to rights issues etc I don't think the Fab Four appear on the DVDs. Now I'll have to re-watch that as well!<br /><br />I think you are spot-on in your critique of Caves. I found it interesting that it was a story that the Doctor was only tangentially involved in, but he needs to get involved quickly, since his name is on the show. Unfortunately, Saward would continue to do that with Six in the Varos story and especially Revelation of the Daleks.Bob Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08064350802590956177noreply@blogger.com