Space Museum - God damn this story is so freaking boring. This is one of those that feels like they stretched a 2 episode plot and made it four. I guess it could be worse, as they could have made it 6. Still, for four episodes, it feels like absolutely nothing actually happened. A shame we lost two episodes of The Crusade rather than this borefest. What's even worse is we have yet another story without a BTS feature. That is really getting annoying. The Chase - A really solid story that is paced extremely well thanks to its constant change of setting. It never overstays its welcome in one area while not feeling like it is rushing through it. I still don't totally under the big deal about the Mary Celeste, but that's okay because that scene is a bit goofy. I don't mean the dudes jumping ship over the Daleks for some reason, I mean the fact that the dude steering the ship is apparently blind to anything happen more than 5 feet away from him. It has a good balance of drama and comedy, providing a delightful adventure. Barbara and Ian were given a good story to go out on. Actually, it is interesting that all of the original companions have now left in Dalek stories. I think the biggest nitpick I have is how the cast was tricked into believing the fake Doctor was the real one when his face looked nothing like Hartnell, not to mention he was taller. It was nice to see the BTS back after a long abysmal absence while the comedy sketch with the robot man was hilarious. Oh, and apparently there is a scene missing from this story revolving around the Beatles, but I have no idea where it would be because I didn't notice anything different from when I watched it on DVD a few years ago.
The Time Meddler - This one is a solid finale for the second season of Doctor Who that brought in an interesting concept of an evil time traveler. Actually, I hope they bring the Time Meddler back sometime soon because like the Rani, there is a lot they could do. Hell, have Rani, the Time Meddler, and the War Chief all appear in the next season to help answer our questions if the later two were actually versions of The Master or not. I doubt the Time Meddler was, but I'm still not so sure on the War Chief. Anyway, Steven gets a solid premier story as being a companion as he and Vicki bounce off each other greatly. I love Vicki's snarkiness in this. I also like how the Doctor has changed his personality a bit now that Ian and Barbara are gone, showing the effect they had on him. Overall, this was a stellar season, even better the second time around. My rankings for the stories are as follows: 1. The Dalek Invasion of Earth 2. The Time Meddler 3. The Chase 4. The Crusade 5. The Rescue 6. The Web Planet 7. Planet of the Giants 8. The Romans 9. The Space Museum The final BTS feature was just as fantastic as the rest while the documentary on the second season was equally captivating. I think my only issue with it is when the documentary said they were going to be talking about The Space Museum, they actually talked about The Chase with Ian and Barbara's depature instead. That was a tad annoying regardless of how awful that story is.
For me personally, even though I do own some of the DVDs the BDs are a considerable upgrade. They're on better quality discs that don't damage as easily, I get the whole season in one set and that to me is better than individual cases, the new bonus features are exceptional, all of the cases match with a single logo design and style as opposed to the DVDs that are all over the place, and the whole season is intact with every story whether it includes the animated version or the still shot recons.
Attack of the Cybermen - We're finally diving into the first season Blu-Ray set to Colin Baker. This story is okay. It's not the worst Cybermen story out there, but it certainly isn't anywhere near the best. This iteration of the Doctor is a highly unlikable jackass so far and I'm not sure I understand the whole point of fixing the chameleon circuit when I believe it was never used again after this story. I could be wrong on that though, guess I'll find out soon enough. The Cybermen seem a bit too human for their own good, but there are some concepts I did like. Peri is as annoying as ever, especially with her constant whining. I do like how this one ties into Tomb of the Cybermen and The Tenth Planet. We only had time for one bonus feature tonight, so we went with the Colin Baker inteview given it's over 80 minutes long. It was quite enjoyable because I learned so much about Colin I never knew was a thing before. Like I had no idea he had a baby who died a a few weeks after he was born and how that motivated him to become apart of some research fundraiser group. That was pretty unique and a good way to turn a tragedy into something inspiring. I also love how humble he seems to be when he talks about his fans. Makes me wish I could meet him someday even though his stories aren't a favorite of mine.
Vengeance on Varos - We watched the extended cut of this story that had over 15 minutes of additional footage and it made the story a vast improvement over the broadcast one. It's a shame they didn't properly remaster the new footage because it deserved it. There were so many bits of character development that should have been included in the first place as it really improved the show significantly. Yes, it does still drag in some areas, but it was a lot more enjoyable this time around than the last time. The social commentary was kind of fun too and made a lot more sense in this version. The Mark of the Rani - Still the best tale of the season so far. There is a lot of great chemistry going around with the Doctor, Rani, and Master playing off of each other. The Rani is a truly interesting villain who needs to come back. It's also interesting that she is the first person to use a remote control for the Tardis, something that will become a staple in the modern series. Now I want a story telling us how the Doctor acquire the tech for his own Tardis between series since he clearly had to get it from her. There are also quite a bit of great one liners in this one and I love the conversation at the end with the inventor dudes figuring there was no point in asking the Doctor for an actual explanation as to what happened. If I have any complaint, it's the few bits that amounted to nothing such as the woman looking for her husband who turned out to be one of Rani's bodyguards. Either way, a pretty solid adventure that is one of Colin's best. We watched all of the bonus features so far on Varos because they were NOT on the disc we borrowed from our library years ago. The making of was decent, though not my favorite. As usual, the BTS ones were great. The interview with Michael Grade was the feature I was looking forward to the most and I have to say that I'm a tad disappointed in it. My biggest issue is that Matthew Sweet seemed more interested in trying to get him to give his thoughts on the cancelation of Doctor Who rather than just having a normal conversation about his history as he does with every other person he interviews. He repeated the same questions over continuously, which did get annoying. The worst part is, from a business point of view, everything Michael Grade said made complete sense. He said the show had run its course, and let's be reawl, at 22 seasons, it had. The only advantage I feel Doctor Who does have over other shows is changing out the lead actor can reinvigorate the story. However, things really did get stale in the midst of Davison's run and as much as I love several of McCoy's stories, as a whole, the show had already told everything it had to tell, at least, at the time because it wasn't willing to try anything out of the box. Now one thing I remember people telling me when I got into the franchise is that the show was put into a death timeslot by going against Coronation Street, which meant it's ratings declined so badly it was canceled. Well Grade talked about how he had already canceled the show by that point and putting it opposite Coronation was because something had to be put in that timeslot, so obviously you're going to put a dead show there. Then there is the fact that he mentioned that Doctor Who was also keeping the BBC from making new original content, which again, is totally understandable. If you have a series that has gone on for 20+ years that is only being watched by dedicated fans whereas something new and completely revolutionary is unable to get greenlit due to the old guard being in the way, of course you're going to go for the new blood. That is Business 101. As such, I can no longer find myself having any qualms about Michael Grade's decision making because he made his points and they were sensible. His argument was sound and it is something we have to accept. Plus, again, by that point, the show needed the break it has so the hiatus could allow for new blood to come into the mix and give it new life. Hell, I feel that is Ncuti's run is as bad as Whitaker's, it's time for the franchise to take another break.
The Two Doctors - The first episode is quite enjoyable with a lot of fantastic moments from Troughton and Hines. I also love how the facility they arrive in is bright and has a lot of activity going on, which is then complimented by the new Doctor and Peri entering a place that is desolate, battle ridden, and dark. The music in that scene also makes it very atmospheric. In fact, the music to this story is hands down one of the classic series' finest scores. I love almost every piece from the Sontaron theme to the spanish guitar rifts around Seville, and so on. The second episode has a lot less Troughton while the third is quite a bore to sit through. It also gets a little too goofy in the third part thanks to that awful make-up job on Troughton when he's acting like the chef alien dude. I'm sure he has his fans, but I find him to be completely out of place with this story. The only positive he brings to the table is allowing us to witness some nice location shots in Seville even though they're kind of pointless to the overall narrative since everything returns back to the villa and Mr Chefman is back with his cohorts as if nothing happened. I also find it a bit pathetic the one dude in the restaurant was killed from such a small knife wound. I was totally expecting him to start snooring after he did his over the top death scene. Not a fan of how the plot armor of Peri and Jamie was at full power here. A little too convenient with how many times they nearly bought it only to be saved by something so miniscule. My last nitpick is the plothole of the Doctor and Jamie talking about the Time Lords after they mention Victoria's departure even though he never once informed Jamie of them until the end of War Games.
.....Well the theory has long been that the 2nd doctor worked for the Time Lords for a bit before they erased his memory of it, and he dragged Jamie along for it. which was why he and Jamie were older. Which Big Finish has turned into a new series of audios Reviewed: The Second Doctor goes Beyond War Games for Big Finish
Yes, that's fits for The Five Doctors, but in The Two Doctors they specifically state it is directly after Victoria has stayed behind. As such, that places this story between Fury From The Deep and The Wheel in Space.
Timelash - While the updated effects do improve this story in some areas, it's still not exactly the most thrilling Doctor Who adventure. Easily the weakest of the season so far. There's a lot of meandering about and the overacting is excessive even by Doctor Who standards. Also, the whole HG Wells thing was a bit too on the nose and I'm not a fan of how abrupt the story ends. On the other hand, I did still enjoy the connection to Pertwee's Doctor, though I'm trying to remember which story it could have been from. Last time I watched this I had no watched his era yet, now I'm trying to remember them all. It has to be one from either his third or fourth season given they mentioned Jo and he didn't have access to travel in the second season. Anyway, the villain makes me think of a Goomba from that awful live action Mario movie and not in a good way. I also kept waiting for his robot soldiers to start singing, "I'm blue da ba dee." Revelations of the Daleks - Between this and Destiny, this is definitely the better post-Genesis Dalek story, mostly because it actually takes itself seriously compared to that Saturday morning cartoon extravaganza. I'm still not exaclty sure what the purpose of the DJ is, as he does absolutely nothing and has no character arc, but the overall narrative is a good one. It is odd that this is the last time Davros appeared in the original show so we never know what happened to him after being taken by the black Daleks. It is a bit annoying how they don't even mention dropping HG Wells off and as with Timelash, this story has another whiplash ending. Nevertheless, it wasn't a bad story. Overall, I enjoyed this season a lot more this time around than the first. I'm not sure if I found it absolutely dreadful the first time due to how much of a downgrade it was compared to previous seasons, if it is because my standards have lowered after watching the abysmal Whitaker run, or perhaps my wife and I were just feeling a bit of burn-out when we got to this season after having watched 10 seasons before it. Either way, it wasn't the dumpster fire I was dreading and had some cool ideas going on within it. I don't really remember what my original rankings for this season were, but as of now, it is: 1. Mark of the Rani 2. Revelation of the Daleks 3. Attack of the Cybermen 4. The Two Doctors 5. Vengeance on Varos 6. Timelash A little sad that's all there is until the next Pertwee BD set comes out, but oh well. We still have a few bonus features left to watch, so at least there is that. I do hope we learn what the next set will be sooner rather than later. Crossing my fingers for Tom Baker's second season.
Christoph Waltz: ‘My only regret is that I didn’t attack Nigel Farage enough’ Christoph Waltz would enjoy playing a Doctor, but only if they actually wanted him for the role. He won't say more than that.
Well that would make sense since it's not an American show. I know people are expecting Harris' character is going to turn out to be the Celestial Toy Maker, but I'm hoping he's either actually the Rani or the Time Meddler.
Actually he’s officially referred to as The Monk. And his character is very different from the way Harris is acting. He’s more or less an overgrown child who is playing in time and meddles because he thinks things like Romans with laser pistols would be cool. He’s been reappearing on Big Finish for years now first reappearing in season 4 of the 8th Doctor’s run where he recruited one of the Doctor’s companions and teamed up with the Daleks again and got a bunch of people killed, then declared vengeance on the Doctor for a bit who he blamed for all the trouble he caused, but he wasn’t particular to which one and picked a fight with the 5th Doctor. Eventually he regenerated and has said that he treats each regeneration as a new start and ignores slights from previous lives. He was last seen being dragged around by Missy after she stole his Tardis in her series. They have a humorous mutual dislike partnership going on. Both will betray each other at the drop of a hat. There is also a female version out there who calls herself the Nun. They have never stated the order of the regeneration with the exception of the one the 8th doctor dealt with who was still stuck in the past because of of the part the Doctor has stolen from his Tardis. All of The Monk’s aliases usually revolve around some kind of religious character. The Rani is less about crazy spectacles and more about mad science experiments. She’s basically evil time lord mad scientist. Usually she is trying to create a new life form or experiment she intends to use to take over the universe. She was last seen dealing with the 6th Doctor after she regenerated in the audios. So the Celestial Toy maker or a more cosmic character seems more likely than the Monk or Rani, but I could be wrong.
