Doctor Who 2008: Sontarans cometh, RTD Ood 'ave 'im etc.

Who Evelyn?

irritating old biddy companion from the radio plays

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Smythe

'Bizarre and racist cariacatures' seems a little bit much. They weren't bizarre at all in fact, they were well-established (Sax Rohmer was it, who came up with the Yellow Peril stuff in his Fu Manchu stories?). And they were racial cariacatures rather than, I think, racist.

I'm pretty certain the fuss centred around the Victorian-in-spirit as well as Victorian-in-context depictions of Chinese. Li Hsen Chang's stage presence is similar to that of the actual Chung Ling Soo - on stage Chinese bullet catching magician, but actually American William Robinson (who nicked the Chinese persona from genuine Chinese magician Chung Ling Foo. Li Hsen Chang actually does a bullet trick with Tom Baker in a particularly good set piece. There is precedence and what could be seen as deliberate reference.

However Li Hsen is genuinely Chinese and also, by the end genuinely sympathetic - in fact his type is not a racist type at all, but a generic Dr Faustus type - over reaching himself with the aid of supernatural/alien powers (if you'll pardon the crude backslash)

General henchmen somewhat problematic (and what feeble ninja skilz). Imbecile British bobbies don't show up too well either.

Robert Holmes probably wanted to do an old style early 20th century romp and didn't care too much about niceties. Personally I love it.

That season + Key To Time season = my favorite seasons

And they were racial cariacatures rather than, I think, racist.

That was over-casual, as well as being mis-spelt but I just felt that 'racist caricatures' rather belaboured the point.

FUCKING ZIMBABWE FUCKERS
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a147355/zimbabwe-hoarding-lost-who-episodes.html

Time to invade.

Also I would like to see the new doctor and companion get involved a la Tennant and Piper.

No, really.

robert mugabe ruins the fun for everyone.

You mean the new companion gets involved with Mugabe?

there must be 'she'll turn out to be The Rani' rumours by now

the rani and robert mugabe: 2010 series finale.

That article's priceless.

Do you think Iran might have them as well?

what does it say about me that I don't think it's a good idea to invade a country for oil but I'm all for invading a country for old Doctor Who episodes

No blood for oil, but blood should totally be spilled to get more Doctor Who.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00737/dialect_737444a.jpg

President Robert Mugabe has banned BBC personnel from entering the country, which has reportedly led the corporation to fear that they might never retrieve the missing serials.

ha, oh there's probably a handful of fans that would be willing to take the risk.

"Um, yes, we're here to see the sights. Lovely country and all, but there's one place in particular we'd like to, uh, visit..."

haha to the Sun. Check the filename on the Davros mashup:

dialect_737444a.jpg

http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/lb0223cd20090220075017.jpg

OH NO NOW THEY COMING FOR OUR WHITE GRANDMAS' PURSES

http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/2-20-09natohelprgb20090220033519.jpg

haha, wrong thread

dear ilxors: which Mccoy stories should I bother with? I've seen 'Curse of Fenric' and have the Dalek one sitting around here somewhere, but what about the others?

Survival - the one with the fuzzy cat women. And, er, Hale & Pace (who aren't terrible tbh). As it's the last 'classic' Who story, the ending is poigniant as eff.

Watching the extras on the 'Curse of Fenric' discs, it's funny to see the writer Ian Briggs both from vid back then and interview vid now and it's great to see how he's still this fanboy writer dork several years after the fact...

Ghostlight is regarded as McCoy's bonafide classic isn't it? It's an interesting story, but kind of bonkers. I've got a lot of love for Paradise Towers, due to it first being screened when I was nine and the robot cleaners giving me the shits hardcore.

he's still this fanboy writer dork

Ben Aaronovitch to thread.

Just saw Matt Smith watching the footie in the Camden Tup. Interesting story.

The Happiness Patrol has its moments. The Candyman is one supremely mental idea for a villain (robot made from boiled lollies mounted on cut-price-terminator-style endoskeleton), and really cool with it.

I won a Dalek Sec voice-changer mask from answering some trivia questions at a drunken geeky movie awards show at a local comic shop tonight. Photos to come.

I'm thinking of just ripping out the voice-mod circuit to see what interesting thigns I can do with it.

Ghost Light doesn't really make any sense and the last act kinda sucks but I still like it a lot. Greatest Show in the Galaxy and Survival are both pretty cool.

"Ghost Light" works much, much better as a book than it does as a television story. "Paradise Towers" is incredibly goofy but also pretty awesome in its full-on dementia; I also recommend "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" and "Happiness Patrol". The ones that get mentioned as McCoy classics ("Remembrance of the Daleks", "The Curse of Fenric", "Ghost Light") have interesting ideas but seem to have been bungled one way or another in their presentation as shows; "Survival" isn't necessarily much better but most of the WTF-factor actually works for it rather than against it.

"Dragonfire" is possibly the worst thing ever filmed, don't ever watch it.

The chief clown in 'Greatest Show' is also an ace villain.

Dragonfire is worth watching for that very reason. See if you can spot the cliffhanger.

okay, i have 1.5 dvds to watch before they have to go back to Videorama, and only 2 pints of beer left. However will I make it?

Okay, finished the McCoy Dalek story, now watching 'the Mind Robber'. I like how this has some serious late-60's Prisoner-level shit going on. If nothing else, this is one of the things that proves that if you have good enough ideas & an imaginative way to do it, you can get around the lack of a budget.

Zoe in the white catsuit has some serious cameltoe going on.

for those who haven't seen it yet:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/20/tesla-coils-sing-the.html

I was hoping the guy on stilts would get a bit closer to the coils.

Watching the Colin Baker Dalek story. Cute little turn by Alexei sayle as the DJ frying daleks with amp feedback set to a drum machine.

Also, when does 'The War Games' get released on DVD?

War Games will be this year, no dates confirmed as yet.

The Rescue/The Romans came out yesterday (and are both very good, Rescue better rthan I remember it and Romans a brave stab at an out-and-out Farce in places)
Attack of the Cybermen is next up

Apart from that, other confirmations (from BBFC clearances or DWO announcements ) are

Black Guardian trilogy
War Games
Deadly Assassin
Image of the Fendahl
Delta & the Bannermen
Dalek War (Frontier in Space/Planet of the Daleks box)
Keys of Marinus

Also rumours of a "Myths & Legends" box
which would be Time Monster, Horns of Nimon, Underworld.

lol, "Underworld"

Make your own Underworld by badly cutting out a picture of Tom and Louise, drawing a thick blue line equally badly round the outside, and film it moving up and down inside your coat sleeve.

I know I've seen Underworld but I can't for the life of me recall a single thing about it.

What, is the whole thing just bad chromakey or something?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underworld_(Doctor_Who)

Just finished "Ghostlight." Several of the talking heads mention how the plot made far more sense in the original script, but was cut for time.

So yeah, the book would probably work better.

Tonight's dvd is "Hand of Fear", and you can tell you're in the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era, b/c of the gothic horror vibe and massive fucking bodycount.

hahaha, horror of fang rock sets the record for that!