Anthony and Whitney's Excellent Doctor Who Odyssey

[Anthony Williams]

You must have seen a different recon to the one I saw, which had only about 3 different photos endlessly recycled and flipped, and also had a few photos of (I think) that arctic wolf-trapper guy out of the Keys of Marinus in it, using him to represent another character. I think I'd rather stick with the audios than recons for the most part.

Loose Cannon re-did The Myth Makers a few years ago, as it was one of their earliest ones, and thus not particularly good. The re-done version includes a lot more photos (the majority of which are much clearer) and a vastly cleaned-up audio track.

And I still maintain that anyone who prefers The Celestial Toymaker to The Gunfighters must be clinically insane.

Each to their own. I didn't particularly like either, to be honest - but The Celestial Toymaker was marginally better, if only for Michael Gough being generally superb through the whole thing.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I didn't think there were that many reference photos that existed for the Myth Makers, so I didn't think they would be able to make that one much better. I also thought there was a general agreement with the BBC not to clean the audio up that much so that they didn't compete with their commercial audio releases. I found some nice recons before that used good quality telesnaps and also the cleaned up and narrated audio releases, but I suspect they were probably a bit naughty.

[Jason Thompson]

also had a few photos of (I think) that arctic wolf-trapper guy out of the Keys of Marinus in it, using him to represent another character.

In their defence, the characters were played by the same actor.

[Anthony Williams]

I also thought there was a general agreement with the BBC not to clean the audio up that much so that they didn't compete with their commercial audio releases.

Well, I never said it was cleaned up to the same extent as the official releases, but it's a vast improvement on what they had before. You can actually hear it!

I found some nice recons before that used good quality telesnaps and also the cleaned up and narrated audio releases, but I suspect they were probably a bit naughty.

Yes, those are a bit naughty, but I found some of them myself!

[Stuart Wallis]

'This, sir, is protracted MURDER!'

One of the great overlooked lines in Who!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

In their defence, the characters were played by the same actor.

Hmm, my memory is a little hazy then and maybe I'm getting things confused, but I do remember some recon I saw that had a photo of a totally difference character AND actor from another story. I think.

[Jason Thompson]

Hmm, my memory is a little hazy then and maybe I'm getting things confused, but I do remember some recon I saw that had a photo of a totally difference character AND actor from another story. I think.

There is a Myth Makers recon that uses picture of Altos from The Keys of Marinus, and the Captain from The Romans, neither of which were in The Myth Makers, but in the case of Vasor the fur trapper from 'Marinus', Francis de Wolff did play both him and Agamemnon.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Ah that's it it was Altos. That was quite a gruelling recon to watch as I recall.

[Anthony Williams]

Season Four

Well, yet another season that Whitney hadn't seen. However, unlike previous seasons, there isn't one full story that exists in its entirity. I knew that keeping her attention for all of this one would be tricky, but I didn't realise quite how tricky. And so to begin...

The Smugglers - Our reaction to this one was fairly unanimous: "zzzzzzzzzzzzz...."

The Tenth Planet - I had seen this before. This is a story that I first saw when I was thirteen, with no preconceptions. I loved it almost unequivoably - the Cybermen in it are so fantastically creepy, I loved the concept of a twin planet... and of course, The Doctor regenerates for the first time. On the other hand, Whitney came to this story expecting lots from it - and was sorely disappointed. Perhaps it was overhyped? Perhaps I have rose-tinted spectacles on for this story, as I loved it so much in my formative years? Who knows! What is certain is that one of us enjoyed it, the other did not.

The Power of the Daleks - Loose Canon's recon of this one is old. It's not the easiest to follow, and I think the story suffered for both of us as a result. It's not bad, per se... but neither of us found it particularly engaging, either as a Dalek story, or as an introduction to the Second Doctor. Oh, and we both HATED that f***ing recorder!

The Highlanders - anyone who has read this in the past or knows me well, already knows that my darling wife is American. This is a story filled with English in a strange Scots accent. As a result, Whitney found it very difficult to follow. Again, nothing inherently wrong with this story... but it certainly won't be amongst either of our favourites! Still, Whitney quickly grew to adore Jamie as a companion, so there's at least something going for this story...

The Underwater Menace - I get the feeling that this story gets a lot of unnecessary bad press. We both thoroughly enjoyed this. We got the feeling that if it had existed in its entirity, the sets and costumes would be lavish, and the whole story would've been excellent. Instead, we're left with sodding episode three - which was probably the worst of the four - and it's haunted by Zaroff's "nuzzinkinzevurldcanschtoppmenow!" But yes, we both really liked this one!

The Moonbase - Whitney picked up rather quickly that this story trod rather familiar ground. Yet, she did find it more engaging than The Tenth Planet. Overall, there's not a huge amount more to say about this one - it's a story that I'm rather indifferent to.

The Macra Terror - we both loved this. Creepy and mysterious, the whole thing is wonderful. I felt that it actually had quite a similar vibe to Seasons 24 and 25, with similar themes to both Delta and the Bannermen and The Happiness Patrol, but we haven't reached those yet, so I shan't say much on that! It's really by this story that Whitney had warmed to the Second Doctor, which I'm rather glad about - after all, he is my second favourite Doctor!

The Faceless Ones - Whitney really struggled to pay attention here. It's not that this was a bad concept - there are plenty of fantastic ideas here. However, we both felt that this would've been an amazing four-parter, but turned out to be a rather mediocre six-parter. The pacing just felt all wrong, and that was a shame. Still, we were both sad to wave goodbye to the marvellous Ben and Polly - we both really felt that the team of Ben, Polly and Jamie were the best combination of companions that we've had so far, and it seemed like a shame to split them up. Still, actors will want to move on and all that!

The Evil fo the Daleks - this is one of my absolute favourite Troughton adventures. Maybe that stems from being about six years old, and listening to the marvellous version on casette tape with Tom Baker narrating, on my walkman, during long car journeys. Whitney likes me read the subtitles on the recons for her (and I have no problem with doing that), but I really struggled not to use Tom Baker's nuances and drawl when reading them from this. To me, this is the absolute ultimate in Dalek adventures, culminating in the epic Dalek civil war. Whitney, on the other hand, wasn't quite as enamoured as I was - she found the pacing to be all wrong - she felt that the time in Victorian England dragged out for far too long (particuarly with episode five), while the Dalek Civil War was over a bit too quickly. Overall, she seemed to enjoy this one, but with reservations.

Season round-up

Season four is a difficult one to judge - with only nine out of forty-three episodes still existing (and not one of them being a complete story) - it makes it difficult to really get any sense of continuity. As I've mentioned before, while some of us can survive through recons, not all fans are as obsessed as us, and really struggle to watch static pictures go by to a soundtrack. Sadly, my wife really does struggle with the recons. Still, there were some stories here that we could easily picture as being amazing if they were to exist, and some others that... well, that we're not so eager to see recovered!

Still, we were sad to see the departure of Ben and Polly, glad to see the arrival of Jamie, and ecsatic to see the Second Doctor come in - my second favourite Doctor, and one that Whitney is quickly warming to. Hurrah!

Overall, this was a disappointing season, simply because not much of it exists. Sad times!

[Junkyard]

I remember seeing 'The Evil of the Daleks' when it was first broadcast and I still love it! I didn't like the 'new' Doctor at first, I was too used to Hartnell's character; it wasn't until 'The Faceless Ones' that I accepted Pat Troughton as the Doctor. But the Cybermen were an immediate hit when they first appeared.

[Anthony Williams]

I remember seeing 'The Evil of the Daleks' when it was first broadcast and I still love it!

Gah! Words cannot express the intense jealousy that I'm feeling right now!

[Junkyard]

Gah! Words cannot express the intense jealousy that I'm feeling right now!

My apologies but I cannot help the fact that I was born before 'Doctor Who' first began! Just regard me as a resource for early Doctor adventures. I still have memories and impressions of many of the lost stories and the effect they had on me as a child. Wait 'till you get to 'The Web of Fear'!

[Anthony Williams]

My apologies but I cannot help the fact that I was born before 'Doctor Who' first began! Just regard me as a resource for early Doctor adventures. I still have memories and impressions of many of the lost stories and the effect they had on me as a child. Wait 'till you get to 'The Web of Fear'!

Mmm my father remembers a lot of early Doctor Who, too - including The Tenth Planet, episode 4! Again, I'm very jealous!

[SiHart]

I remember my Mum telling me all about the mid to late Troughton stories when i was little and we were reading the Target books. It was both exciting and sad at the same time because I knew, even then that I wouldn't get to see most of them.

[Anthony Williams]

and so, we've finally got moved through another season of mostly recons... here are our thoughts:

Tomb of the Cybermen

Hurrah! The only complete story in two full seasons! Sadly, neither of us found this to be that great - perhaps for me that was because I had heard it so over-hyped before I first saw it in 2002. Had I seen it earlier in childhood, I probably would've loved it for nostalgia value.

Whitney, on the other hand, disliked it for entirely different reasons. She found the plot holes to be enormous, the motives of the Doctor to be ambiguous and poorly explained at best, and the characters to all be extreme cliches - whether it was the servitude of Toberman, the stereotypical American flying the spaceship or the Eastern European Kaftan being untrustworthy, they were all nothing but cliches.

One thing that we both agree on is that we like Victoria. She's not terribly "with it", but she's very sweet. We both agree that since Dodo, there really has been an absolutely fantastic run of companions.

The Abominable Snowmen

Before I say anything about this story, I feel I should mention that Whitney used to be a practising Buddhist (to the point of teaching the Buddhist equivalent to Sunday school) before she had a revelation that she believed in God. However, this meant that she was sitting there pointing out every single flaw in what the story said that the monks believed in. I had heard this story before (in audio format), and I didn't particularly enjoy it. However, this meant that I came to absolutely loathe it.

And just like when there are poor American accents in a story *cough*The Gunfighters*cough*, Whitney came to really dislike this one, as it went against so much that she knew.

All in all, this just wasn't great, despite the first appearance of the Yeti and the Great Intelligence. As you will see as you read on, we both preferred their second outing.

The Ice Warriors

Our main thought about this story was "did it really need to be six episodes long?" It really just didn't seem to have nearly enough going on to justify its length, and just seemed filled out with padding and stretched beyond its natural length. It would have made a marvellous four parter, I'm sure.

We both found the Ice Warriors difficult to understand, and felt that the direction in the story completely destroyed the tension that should have been there.

Really, beyond the costumes, we just found this one rather dull.

The Enemy of the World

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! This one really was a struggle for us to get through. Whitney really despised it. I really despised it. This story of political intreague just didn't work very well. Perhaps it was more visual, for the most part, but after what would have clearly been a very exciting, action-packed episode one, we both felt that this was just dull, dull, dull.

On the bright side, Whitney grew up in an area of Atlanta with a large Mexican community. She complimented Pat Troughton on his accent as Salamander, saying how authentic it was!

The Web of Fear

We loved this! This story was absolutely great, after the dismal and dreary The Enemy of the World. We loved the setting, we both found the Yeti and the Great Inteligence to be more bareable. And we both loved the first appearance of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart!

I'll be honest. I've always been a massive Tube geek. When I was a child, I could tell you the best way to get between any two stations on the network. I loved how realistic the sets were. I loved the concepts behind it. I loved the claustrophobia that the setting gave to the story. Whitney is also fascinated by the Tube, since the Atlanta equivalent isn't nearly as interesting, and so she loved it for almost all the same reasons I did.

Thanks to a lovely member of this forum, we had managed to acquire Loose Canon's recon version this story, and enjoyed it in that format. We were both shocked to learn that there were clearly no decent shots of Evans the Driver, as every single one of them seemed to resemble this:



Likewise, we sat and counted how many times the same little pieces of footage were used again and again, particularly during the fight scenes, which was to our great amusement.

We both loved a lot about this story, and both felt that this could've been very well served by the existing footage. The tension through the entire story was delightful, the acting superb and the plot brilliant. It was everything that The Abominable Snowmen should have been, really. Frankly, this is the one story from Season Five that we would most like to see returned to the archives.

Fury from the Deep

It was during this story that I mentioned very off-handedly that these were fan recons, which was something that Whitney was astonished at. It meant that she forgave the shoddy quality of them, and resulted in the proclomation of "well, if I'd known that before, I wouldn't have been nearly as critical of them!" She let out a cheer as she noticed the use of the sonic screwdriver for the first time. What with the Brigadier last story, she made a comment about how well the whole of Who was coming together at this point, and that this season was providing things that would shape Who as so many know it. How right she is!

Anyway, onto the story itself... we both definitely thought that this was one of the better recons, and it suited the story absolutely wonderfully, really building up the tension. In fact, we both thought that this was probably one of the few stories that actually works better in not existing. Neither of us could imagine this one being realised terribly well on screen, particularly not with the tendrils of the weed lashing out and advancing on people.

This was also the story that Whitney realised quite how formulaic this season had been. She kept saying "he's being controlled by the Great Intelli--- oh, I mean the weed!" Even though the similarities were fairly clear by this point, we really enjoyed this particular story, and we both felt that this one served the "base under siege" theme well, particularly in the recon format.

The Wheel in Space

Well, this was a nice ending to the season. We finally found ourselves out of recon-land at part three, having sat through thirteen episodes that were only recons. Amazingly, I'd managed to keep the appearance of the Cybermen a surprise from Whitney, and when they appeared at the end of part two, she was genuinely excited about them turning up. Likewise, she loved the fact that this was the first time that the Doctor was referred to as "John Smith".

Yet, this story was sorely disappointing. The first episode is dull, and neither of us could imagine it being any more interesting if it actually existed. To both of us, it just seemed like extreme filler, as we waited for the plot to kick in properly. While Whitney had finally realised that these were fan recons, she still found the quality of the CGI to be rather jarring, and the doors opening and closing to reveal stills of the Doctor and Jamie rather laughable.

However, the main thing from this story was just how much Whitney decided that she hated Zoe. In fact, she missed a good chunk of episode six, because she got ranting on just how annoying she found Zoe, comparing her to one of the most annoying characters in the history of sci-fi:



Yes, really. And I think that there was something in there of "she's no Victoria!", too. With the lack of Victoria, Whitney also lamented that all the stupid actions that would have traditionally been given to Victoria were now undertaken by Jamie, who was woefully overshadowed by the colossal intelligence of Zoe.

Me? I quite like Zoe, really...

Season round-up

Like season 4, the majority of this season is missing. Here, we only have 13 out of 40 episodes. So, like season 4, this is quite difficult to judge. What we heard was so mixed, and those episodes that we did see, we weren't too impressed with, for the most part. The second half definitely seems to be better than the first, particularly the last three serials. By the end of the season, we were both rather glad that we were out of the worst of recon-land, with only seven more missing episodes to get through (two of which are animated anyway, so won't be nearly as rough!)

As I said earlier in this review, it was nice to see so many elements of what we know of as Doctor Who come together - the sonic screwdriver, the Brigadier, the pseudonym of John Smith.

We were both sad to say goodbye to Victoria, who we felt had served the Second Doctor well, and Whitney was, as I said, extremely annoyed by Zoe. I wouldn't say that there's one companion that I particularly dislike, and I, for one, was glad to see her arrive.

[Stuart Wallis]

The Enemy of the World

On the bright side, Whitney grew up in an area of Atlanta with a large Mexican community. She complimented Pat Troughton on his accent as Salamander, saying how authentic it was!

Interesting, bearing in mind the number of times I for one have heard something along the lines of "Can we really be expected to take that accent seriously?". I stand corrected.

Me? I quite like Zoe, really...

Really? you never told us this!

We were both sad to say goodbye to Victoria, who we felt had served the Second Doctor well

No, don't even go there!

[Junkyard]

This was the season that really established Pat Troughton as the Doctor in my mind. At the time it was broadcast, it was considered the best season so far by many. The Web of Fear is almost the archtypical Doctor Who story and scared me silly as a child. All the others, except Enemy of the World, I can remember watching (when I wasn't behind the sofa).

[Whitney]

Whitney shall speak.

Whitney has bad memory (see? she can't even remember that she is herself.)

Season 1:
(Oh my god. My husband seriously just looked over and corrected me by saying "AN Unearthly Child." Heaven forbid I forget a preposition).

AN Unearthly Child - First episode gives me tingles. Then I get bored. Cavemen.

The Daleks - So, I started watching Doctor Who for the first time in order. This means I saw the Daleks without knowing what they are. They are scary as __ is what they are. I'm a grown woman. I almost peed myself.

The Edge Of Destruction - Lets not kid ourselves, the TARDIS is the best part of DW. Period.

Marco Polo - A recon that I can pay attention to. It's magic.

The Keys of Marinus - Boring.

The Aztecs - I'm jealous of Barbara's head thing.

The Sensorites - Susan = Wesley Crusher.

The Reign of Terror - It makes more sense when you have a Brit explaining French stereotypes. Otherwise, the plot is confusing.

Planet of Giants - I think this is when they were still trying to teach something to children. I find that neat -- I think the lesson was done well here.

The Daleks Invasion of Earth -- "that's the one where they invaded earth" You mean, like all the other times? I really can't keep it all straight. Was Tennant in this one? Also, horrible grandfather.

The Rescue - Apparently, I think the ugly bearded man is handsome. Oh, memory.

The Romans - Yet another example of the fact "The Doctor is an asshole." Remember this sentence. It shall be as valuable as "There is no Macra."

The Web Planet - I pouted the whole time.

The Crusade - I don't remember this one at all. It must have been riveting.

The Space Museum - I actually like this one. Couldn't tell you why.

The Chase - After this, no doctor who writers think of any new plots. All the plots after this point are retellings of the plots before this point. Mark my words. Mark 'em. Right here.

The Time Meddler - I am a gallifrey-head so I loved this. Also, husband says "Meddler has two d's." I have the English degree here, sweetheart.

Galaxy 4 - Crap.

Mission to the Unknown - Pointless.

THE Myth Makers - "Is this the one with Ian and wrestling." "You're thinking of the Romans" Oh, the creative spirit of DW -- where I can't tell the difference.

THE Dalek's Masterplan - All I remember was the geraniums. Why did they want them so bad??

The Massacre - Again, French people. I don't get it.

The Ark - I try to tell my coworkers to use hand sanitizer but they just don't get it. Now I have a cold. Literally, right now. People.

The Celestial Toymaker - Boo.

The Gunfighters - STOP TRYING TO BE AMERICAN

The Savages - "Reacting vibrator."

The War Machines - I loved the out of order sign.

The Smugglers - Boo.

The Tenth Planet - I was really looking forward to this one and was very disappointed.

Power of the Daleks - Daleks get cheeky and then die.

The Highlanders - I don't get scottish and irish accents. It makes it hard to follow the plot when you have no idea what is being said

Underwater Meanace - I liked it when they floated.

The Moonbase - Boo.

THE MACRA TERROR -- THIS IS WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER! This is when I KNEW --
I KNEW -- THE PLOT BEHIND ALL WHO! Mark my words -- one day, 13th regeneration is dying. All the producers have said "We want to end on a high note." Who is truly coming to an end... and he will say... "It was the Macra... it was the macra all along."

GO BACK! REWATCH THE STORIES! You'll see clues of the Macra THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH! It will all make sense. You will see the greater arch to all of Time. You will understand all.

It was the Macra all along.

It was the Macra all alone.

The Faceless Ones - Did I really watch this? Again, no memory.

The Evil of the Daleks - I like Victoria.

The Tomb of the Cybermen - "Oh, oh, they go down that big tunnel."

The Abominable Snowman - "Do you need me to help you spell abominable?" "No, I actually got this one right." Hubby had just seen me try to spell "galaxy" with a t. Let's not delve too deep into my mind, kay?

The Ice Warriors -- Really are not nearly as cool of a villain as their creator seems to think they are.

The Enemy of the World - MEXICAN FOOD. I'm hungry.

The Web of Fear - EVANS YOUR FACE IS SO DEFORMED. PROBLEM?

Fury from the Deep - Weed.

The Wheel in Space - I hate Zoe. I hate hate hate Zoe. She's a Wesley Crusher and Susan mushed together into one person. Wait, add in a Pomeranian. There. Perfect.

Apparently, some people think that all of Doctor Who is "pretty good." You are wrong, and your opinion insults the episodes that actually are good. Example: Marco Polo.

Hartnell is my favorite.

[Whitney]

That was not ADD -- that was "stream of consciousness." Joyce made history with it. Respect.

[SiHart]

THE MACRA TERROR -- THIS IS WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER! This is when I KNEW --
I KNEW -- THE PLOT BEHIND ALL WHO! Mark my words -- one day, 13th regeneration is dying. All the producers have said "We want to end on a high note." Who is truly coming to an end... and he will say... "It was the Macra... it was the macra all along."

GO BACK! REWATCH THE STORIES! You'll see clues of the Macra THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH! It will all make sense. You will see the greater arch to all of Time. You will understand all.

It was the Macra all along.

It was the Macra all alone.

This made me laugh! I hope you're right!

[Dirk Gently]

The Space Museum - I actually like this one. Couldn't tell you why.

I know what you mean. I've always liked it. I even got everyone to watch it when I was at an audio recording session. It went down well considering everyone thinks little of it.

[SiHart]

It did... That reminds me, I must sort out the commentary sometime for everyone to listen to!

[Dirk Gently]

Well everyone had a laugh...at least it wasn't boring.

[Anthony Williams]

This made me laugh! I hope you're right!

The worrying thing is that she's not joking. Halfway through the first episode of each story from Season 6 that we've done, she's asked "is it the Macra!?!?"

But more on that when we get to the end of the season and I do our comprehensive review!

[Whitney]

In fact, I have a macra dance. We're currently trying to figure out how to turn it into a gif.