British Comedy Guide

Doctor Who... Page 198

Nah, Dalek.

Here here, one of the best episodes of all time.

Followed by Father's day (also easily Billi's best performance).

When Michael Grade on Room 101 wanted Doctor Who to be put in there, they showed a clip from Warriors of the deep where Ingrid Pitt tries to kung fu kick the Myrka, and the studio audience laughed. I felt ashamed. For me, I never worried about the cheap effects, or bad acting or cheap sets, the story always carried me through. Anyone else feel the same? I mean, wasn't the programme being brave to attempt to do a Myrka-type monster, pre-CGI effects? Maybe if the likes of Michael Grade had put more money into it then it wouldn't have been so easily derided by people who didn't like it and didn't understand it.

I watched that episode the other day, it's definitely not Who's finest moment.

But it ain't bad, and the Murka actually sort of works. By the reactions of the actors to it and the fact it actually kills and is relentless.

How ever many Adrics, Murkas, bright lighting, wobbly sets you throw at Who it won't die.

Dr Who will outlive snide Mr Grade.

And franklt ITV under him produced Primevil.

A text book example about how big budget CGI, can't polish a turd.

I'm sure some people would look at any old WHO and laugh at it, even in the superb Caves of Androzani, the magma beast isn't entirely credible, not to mention the dodgy CSO effects in the 70s, and other creatures such as Alpha Centauri, Aggedor etc. The Myrka might have worked if they had stuck to showing just the head and claws, and done some fast cutting and tight angles.

For me, where the money and ideas ran out, was around the time of Trial of a Time Lord, and Sylvester McCoy's first season.

Hartnell worked partly by making the Dr an unpredictable SOB and quite unlikeable.

When Who sticks to character it's at it's best.

One of the reasons Midnight works so well, is Tenant's Dr comes over as a patronising nob, who runs into a problem to big for him.

By making him more vulnerable and less likeable it got way more edge.

It's bizarre but I really disliked Midnight.

The intro bit where he's chatting to the other passengers is really annoying.

It's just the usual comedy sub-Eastenders characters that RTD puts in that drags it down.

It was just the whole closed set stuff. If you are going to set that kind of challenge you have to be really really good to pulll it off. A playwright basically.

Grade loved the new Doctor Who.

Discuss.

I think when it hits the second half it works quite nicely.

And Grade's being unfair, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and even STOS had some truly awful effects. It's how they used them.

Image

That fella was bloody terrifying in Arena.

I'm bored with special effects. I want good story, good acting, quality production - no special effects, unless thay are totally believable.

You see no monsters in 'The Blair Witch project' but you get scared shitless by your own imagination, as has been said elsewhere on this thread about earlier Dr Who.

Modern TV production is shite.

Discuss! (No don't bother..!!!) Only jesting, some of it must be OK!

I'd quite like to do what sooty is doing and watch all of the episodes one day, or at least the ones that survive. I've got a few of the BBC's audio recordings, Power of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks etc. Anyone know if all of the lost episodes are available on audio?

Quote: Frankie Rage @ August 26 2008, 11:22 AM BST

I'm bored with special effects. I want good story, good acting, quality production - no special effects, unless thay are totally believable.

You see no monsters in 'The Blair Witch project' but you get scared shitless by your own imagination, as has been said elsewhere on this thread about earlier Dr Who.

I seem to remember David Fincher wanted to do Alien3 so you never saw the alien throughout the entire movie. I'd have liked to see that.

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