Mastodawn

Gavin Winters Feb 17, 2023

This weeks future space-fashion is to wear uniforms that make everyone look like they’ve got their underpants on the outside. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Feb 17, 2023

I never noticed before that Radnor is on first name terms with Eldred and calls him ‘Dan’… #DoctorWho

The early episodes of The Seeds Of Death place such emphasis on the idea of rocketry being *completely* obsolete that it’s a bit surprising when they later say “Oh but we use unmanned ones to send up satellites!”. Feels like a bit of a fudge/last-minute rewrite. #DoctorWho

“Look we can’t do G-force effects so you’re just going to have to pull your own faces back.” #DoctorWho

Troughton’s sideburns by the end of this story.

(Apart from in the pre-filmed bits when they mysteriously disappear 😄) #DoctorWho

I pity the poor Ice Warrior actors in their bulky costumes, since the set designer decided to include steps and ramps and narrow doorways.

There’s also that mad hall-of-mirrors Troughton runs through at one point. I guess the moonbase crew needed something for fun. #DoctorWho

The foam machine gets another outing. Not been used this much since Fury From The Deep. Lol at Wendy Padbury corpsing when Troughton falls through the door covered in the stuff. 😄 #DoctorWho

The Space Pirates: hmm, always feels like a chore to get through this one. After season 6 mostly existing, to have this final batch of missing episodes, with no proper telesnaps and poor quality audio… it’s a bit of a slog. 😬 #DoctorWho

And we’re nearly halfway through before the Doctor, Jamie & Zoe get off that bloody space station thing they’re stuck on!

Still, Frazer Hines always cites this as a favourite and recalls it being very good. Who knows? Maybe it was found we might reevaluate it. #DoctorWho

I love how the super advanced Space Corps ship uses a 1960s telly on a wooden table as a monitor screen. 😆

There’s a lot of that in space stories of this era. Just any old bits and scraps they have to hand get used as set decoration. #DoctorWho

At least Milo Clancy injects a bit of fun into proceedings. And things perk up a bit in the later episodes.

At one point the Doctor rigs up a booby-trap that electrocutes and kills a random guard. Ruthless! And to think of the crap Colin got over that acid bath… #DoctorWho

Anyway, no more missing episodes! Full glorious 625-line video from here on in. Yeah baby! 😎 #DoctorWho

The War Games: on paper this could have been a disaster. A ten-part epic, four hours long, with no popular antagonists like the Daleks or Cybermen? But it’s paced out perfectly and never feels overlong or like any episode is just filler. A fitting end for Troughton. #DoctorWho

Sydney Newman may have created #DoctorWho, but here Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke start to solidify the mythology of the show and lay the groundwork for, well, everything that comes after. For me, The War Games is the central story around which the whole history of Who pivots.

Carstairs and Lady Jennifer are good supporting characters, who have a slight Ian and Barbara vibe to them. Appropriate as we round off the 1960s. #DoctorWho

Throughout this story Jamie is wearing the black shirt he obviously nicked off Packer’s still-smouldering corpse after the events of The Invasion. What a vulture! 😆 #DoctorWho

The seething, bitchy hatred between the War Chief and Security Chief that escalates throughout The War Games is always very funny to watch. Put your handbags away, gentlemen! #DoctorWho

The first mention of the Time Lords, and in such a casual throwaway manner.

The SIDRATs are also briefly named, without ever expounding on the acronym (Space and Inter-time Directional Robot All-purpose Transporter, nerdy fact-fans!) #DoctorWho

Jamie dressing up in military gear to impress Arture Vilar. #DoctorWho

The Time Lords have never, ever, seemed more powerful and godlike than when their arrival is heralded by a howling wind in the cliffhanger to episode nine. #DoctorWho

At least the Time Lords gave the Second Doctor a choice of faces before he regenerated… #DoctorWho

“Oh, he’s too old!”

“Well, he’s too fat, isn’t he?” #DoctorWho

“No, he’s too thin!”
#DoctorWho

“That one’s too young!”
#DoctorWho

“Oh no, that won’t do at all!”
#DoctorWho

“Is this the best you can do? I’ve never seen such an incredible bunch!” #DoctorWho

And now for the very worst thing the Time Lords have ever done… ERASING JAMIE AND ZOE’S MEMORIES! 🤬 Oh, and forcibly regenerating the Doctor too of course… #DoctorWho

BASTARDS

FURTHER BASTARDRY. #DoctorWho

EVEN MORE BASTARDRY. #DoctorWho

ABSOLUTE BASTARDS. #DoctorWho

The end of Troughton, Jamie and Zoe… and with them the end of the 1960s and the black-and-white era… always feels a bit like the end of the show’s “innocent” era, with things never being quite the same again. 😕

Next up: Colour! Flares! The 70s! #DoctorWho

Spearhead From Space: my eyes! It’s in colour! 😵‍💫

The whiplash you feel going from B&W telerecordings to this - colour film, in HD on Blu-Ray… and that’s without even mentioning the huge format changes within the show itself. #DoctorWho

Using a trick that would still be done by showrunners decades later, a familiar face (the Brig!) is brought back to ease the transition into the new era.

And what a version of the character this is: intelligent, capable, non-sceptical…if only they’d kept him this way #DoctorWho

It’s often been said, but imagine if Twitter/the internet/organised fandom had been around back then… the outrage over this totally revamped, almost unrecognisable version of the show would have been spectacular. “Pertwee? Not My Doctor!”, etc. #DoctorWho

Pertwee in the hospital shower… the closest we ever come to seeing the Doctor’s arse crack…😵

And the tattoo! I’ll go with the fan-canon that it’s the mark of an exiled Time Lord. 😜 #DoctorWho

That factory premises has only just cleaned up all the dead Cybermen and now it’s littered with deactivated Autons. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 3, 2023

The Silurians: a rare example of them making a bit of effort with cave floor sets and doing them as realistically as possible, given the budget - rocks, dirt, uneven surfaces, even the odd pool of water. Unlike the smooth studio floors you’d sometimes see in the 80s. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 3, 2023

Bit repetitive to have two stories in a row where a husband and wife living in a rustic countryside cottage are threatened by an otherworldly visitor. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 3, 2023

They sort of wrote themselves into a corner with the idea that anyone witnessing a Silurian goes mad and starts drawing palaeolithic cave art. The story couldn’t progress much if that kept happening, so it’s quietly dropped once Liz and Major Baker see them. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters

I love Pertwee being a massive pain-in-the-arse to Doctor Quinn as he pokes his nose round his cottage. 😄 #DoctorWho

Peter Miles’ combover in this story is phenomenal in its audacity.

Amazing how it had all miraculously grown back by the time of Genesis Of The Daleks… 👀 #DoctorWho

For the first time, Pertwee’s Doctor claims to be “thousands of years” old. Remembering bits of the Timeless Child era? #DoctorWho

A 53-year-old scene that has no relevance to the modern world at all. Nope. No Siree… #DoctorWho

The scenes of the virus outbreak across London would be impressive in their realism if done in #DoctorWho today, never mind 1970.

When the ticket inspector in the station faints, I still don’t know if those are extras or genuine (bemused) members of the public bustling past him.

The Ambassadors… (TWANG!) …Of Death: (that’s it’s official name, don’t argue.)

This is the epitome of the idea season 7 is a grittier, more adult take on #DoctorWho. So many layers of conspiracy and double-crossing and mystery. Not one to watch and only pay half-attention to.

What’s going on here? Bizarre new TARDIS interior or just a room in UNIT HQ the Doctor’s managed to get the console into? #DoctorWho

The crew of the Space Centre are all wearing quasi-futuristic uniforms, makes it look very Troughton-era.

The Doctor is *fantastically* rude to Cornish when he barges in and arrogantly takes over. Honestly, who could blame Cornish if he told him to go f*** himself! #DoctorWho

They get their money’s worth from the HAVOC stunt team with that brilliant fight scene in episode 1. It’s one thing to see UNIT fighting Cybermen or whatever, but a shootout with grubby 70s thugs in a warehouse makes it look like something from The Sweeney. #DoctorWho

Professor Taltallian and his outrrrrrrageous Frunch ack-sont. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 8, 2023

“Simple transmigration of object”, says the Doctor, after making a whole magnetic tape reel magically disappear and re-appear. Why the hell has he never used that skill before… or since?? #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 8, 2023

Some good editing in this story, like the creepy reveal of the blue-faced alien to Liz, which is shot like something from a horror film.

And the cliffhanger to episode six, with the quick cuts of Carrington pointing his gun at the Doctor. #DoctorWho

Gavin Winters Mar 8, 2023

Overall I’ve really enjoyed Ambassadors Of Death on this rewatch. It could maybe lose some of the twists and turns to be a couple of episodes shorter, but there’s an attempt at realism and an attention to detail which you never really get again in later UNIT stories. #DoctorWho

Tom Truszkowski Mar 8, 2023

@gavinwinters Ambassadors of Death is definitely one of my favorite UNIT stories. Even in the edited together movie format black & white version I taped off PBS probably 30+ years ago! (Though I have the color DVD now.)

Inferno: *turns around wearing eyepatch to write this*

One of the very best Pertwees. Parallel universe stories are always fun, seeing alternate versions of the regular characters. Nick Courtney in particular makes the Brigade-Leader an utter bastard. #DoctorWho

Evil Liz in her kinky sub-Nazi getup though… 👀
#DoctorWho

The golden rule of sci-fi that no-one every obeys: Don’t touch the weird alien thing with your bare hands! Nothing good ever comes from touching the weird alien thing with your bare hands!

(Characters touch the strange green slime with their bare hands)

🙄
#DoctorWho

Behold, viewers of 1970, as Dr. Who dazzles you with his incredible futuristic invention of… a remote control garage door opener! Amazing! #DoctorWho

Greg Sutton, clearly a descendant of Za, but this time trying *not* to make fire. #DoctorWho

I love how it’s basically a glitterball used to depict the transition between universes.

Strange how they just accept the Doctor’s improbable story at the end, especially when they’re all being left to die. The Brigade-Leader’s desperation to live is more believable! #DoctorWho

It’s the comedy joke shop teeth that make Benton’s transformation into a Primord so funny… 😄 #DoctorWho

As interesting and innovative as season 7 was, with its obvious Quatermass influences, I don’t know if #DoctorWho could have continued as long as it did with that format. The pendulum inevitably had to swing back a bit to more kid-friendly adventures with monsters and chases.

And with that in mind, goodbye sensible intelligent scientist Liz and hello ditzy stumbling childlike Jo!

Mx. Dudula the Dud Mar 6, 2023

@gavinwinters It's the TARDIS! It can be whatever the bloody hell it wants to be inside! 🙃

@BackFromTheDud But we see the console outside of the TARDIS in Inferno, which lends weight to the idea that that’s also what’s happened here. 😜