tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22713953921327681272024-03-05T02:23:22.993-08:00The Tardis ProjectThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-89790469321945856992014-01-03T16:11:00.002-08:002014-01-03T22:46:31.732-08:00We've Moved!Okay, it's been a while (a really long while) but The TARDIS Project has moved to it's new home at http://tardisproject.net<br />
<br />
We never stopped watching or writing up our discussions. We only stopped posting them. But not anymore! So please come check us out, and see what we've done over the last few years. And we'll continue to post content on the new site each week. Or at least until we're done with this thing (which, by my calculations, should be some time in January or February of 2015 - depending on how many weeks get skipped here and there during the final season).<br />
<br />
Feel free to drop us a line at our new site!<br />
<br />
Thanks,<br />
-Ketina<br />
<br />
Note: site redirector is now working.<br />
<br />The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-48711766912465946852011-08-20T11:20:00.000-07:002011-08-21T10:51:24.460-07:00"The FInal Test"Hello there, the Historian here, falling behind again. But here is the last episode in the adventure with the Celestial Toymaker! While watching this, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother and Photobug. So, let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 23 April 1966. Steven discovers a piece of paper bearing the next "riddle." "Lady Luck will show the way, win the game or here you'll stay." A corridor opens up and the two walk down it into darkness. They finally emerge into the light, only to be met by Cyril, now dressed as a portly schoolboy. "Hello, remember me? I'm Cyril, known to my friends as Billy." He offers Steven his hand, only for the latter to yelp with pain from an electrode concealed in Cyril's glove. As a peace offering, he gives Dodo a bag of sweets as the two companions see on a screen that the Doctor is up to move 902! Steven wonders what the next game will be and Cyril laughs. "Yaroooh!" he says. "It's right over here. You won't find it so easy this time, you know... 'cause you see, you'll be playing against me!" He leers as Steven and Dodo draw back in fear...<br />
<br />
Cyril leads Steven and Dodo to another room where the next game is set up--"TARDIS Hopscotch." There are 14 triangles on an electrified floor, and the object is to reach the end…and the TARDIS, which stands across the room! Each player gets a die which they roll. The result shows up on a dice indicator, along with other messages. If one player lands on a triangle where another player is standing, that second player must return to the start. Meanwhile, the Toymaker gloats to a still invisible Doctor, pointing to two new chairs in his dollhouse labeled "Steven" and "Dodo." Steven, Dodo and Cyril play the game. The Toymaker allows the Doctor to speak, but the Doctor is silent as he continues to concentrate on his Trilogic game. Cyril plays pranks, almost causing Dodo to fall onto the electrified floor and Steven decides he's had enough. Before he can simply jump to the TARDIS, the Toymaker appears and asks them if they are giving up. Steven denies this and tries to jump to the TARDIS, but is stopped by an invisible barrier. The Toymaker tells him it will only be lowered for the winner and vanishes. Steven and Dodo reluctantly continue to play, although the turn order seems to shift. Meanwhile, the Doctor continues to play, but the Toymaker accuses him of playing too slowly and advances the board to move 1000. Only 23 more to go! Cyril continues to trick his opponents, cheating in various ways, and has almost made it to the final triangle. On the next to last one, he surruptitiously sprinkles some powder all over the triangle…but is forced to go back to #9. He continues to trick the others until he happens to roll the number that will take him to triangle 14! In his excitement, Cyril forgets his trap and slips on the powder he left on #13! He falls onto the electrified floor--and dies! Dodo and Steven finish the game and get to the TARDIS just in time--the Doctor has reached move 1014! When the Doctor reaches move 1022 (the next to last one), he has reappeared and regained full control. Before making his final move, he goes to check on Steven and Dodo, who have discovered that they have found the real TARDIS. The Doctor suggests they leave, but the Toymaker appears on a monitor screen and tells them that the game is not over. "Only I can win," he says. "If I lose, the Doctor and I go down together." The Doctor angrily denies this. he realizes that if he makes the final, winning move in his Trilogic game, this world will be destroyed and the Toymaker will simply form a new one--but the Doctor and his friends will not survive. The Doctor sends his friends into the TARDIS. The Toymaker offers the Doctor power. "Serve me and live," he says, but the Doctor laughs. The Toymaker reminds the Doctor that they cannot leave until he has finished the Trilogic game…but the Doctor realizes the trap before he makes the last move. He goes into the TARDIS and explains the situation to his companions: if he makes the final, winning move in his Trilogic game, this world will be destroyed and the Toymaker will simply form a new one--but the Doctor and his friends will not survive. Steven offers to go out and make the last move, but the Doctor won't allow it. Suddenly, he has an idea. He tells Steven to preset the controls for dematerialization, then tells the Toymaker (through the scanner microphone) to stand by the game. He then calls out, "Go to move 1023!" It doesn't work the first time, so the Doctor raises his voice to sound more like the Toymaker. "Go to move 1023!" he yells, and the pieces begin to move…the Toymaker tries to stop them, but cannot. At the Doctor's command, Steven hits the switch and the TARDIS dematerializes just as the Toymaker's world falls apart!<br />
<br />
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to his friends that he simply used the Toymaker's own trick--that of advancing the game through a vocal command--against him! But, he tells them, the Toymaker hasn't been destroyed and he will reform a new world. The Doctor is sure that they will meet again. Still, they have won and the Doctor is jubilant. To celebrate, Dodo gives him the bag of sweets Cyril had given her. The Doctor, in delight, pops one in his mouth…and suddenly cries out in pain! He drops the bag and the candy scatters across the floor….!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/y/y4.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's Transcript<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
Sp: Spoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
<br />
M: So, I was right, he wasn't trying to win. The Toymaker really didn't care if he won.<br />
<br />
H: But even when he loses, he still wins.<br />
<br />
R: The Toymaker is a dill hole.<br />
<br />
H: So, I hope at least some of you read the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bunter">background on Billy Bunter</a> that I sent you... this afternoon... way too late.<br />
<br />
P: Nope.<br />
<br />
M: I didn't think it was necessary, since he is such a stereotype anyway.<br />
<br />
H: It was enough of a context at the time that the BBC had to make a special announcement or get sued. Billy Bunter is a well known character of a round schoolboy who was always doing bad things, like stealing food. In the last episode he introduced himself as “my name is Cyril, but some people call me Billy” and they had to make a special announcement that he wasn't meant to actually be Billy Bunter.<br />
<br />
M: Was he trademarked?<br />
<br />
H: The trademark laws in the UK are different than in the US, so it isn't clear.<br />
<br />
Sp: It's telling that this is most interesting discussion point about the episode.<br />
<br />
<discussion about copyright law continues for a bit... resulting in a near fistfight and a loss of brownies.><br />
<br />
P: Okay, the shadow. As in, we saw your shadow when you're talking Doctor, in the scene where you were supposed to be invisible.<br />
<br />
Sp: Yeah, I saw it.<br />
<br />
K: Saw it too.<br />
<br />
R: I think that was just a visual Billy fluff.<br />
<br />
H: More like a lighting fluff.<br />
<br />
R: No, I can perfectly well imagine Hartnell staring down at the shadow floor and saying “Oh hello there, you handsome devil. Don't you cut a roguish figure.”<br />
<br />
Sp: So, the way to describe some of my frustration with the episode is it's hard to create drama and suspense when the audience doesn't understand the rules. I get what they were trying to do, and eventually the last game, the reason the Doctor couldn't leave, was sort of clever and a neat puzzle. But it was really awkward getting to that point. It's hard to express confusion in a story without confusing the audience. Just like it's hard to portray boredom without being boring.<br />
<br />
M: It played like bad improv where the improvisers were refusing to commit. <br />
<br />
H: I think that it wasn't helped by the fact that several actors really stumbled over the lines during that part of the episode. I knew the plot, so I didn't find it confusing, but I can understand why someone would.<br />
<br />
K: I had seen only this final episode before. And I found this version of it more confusing than just having seen the fourth one on it's own previously. I'd sort of made up in my head what I thought had probably happened in the first [three] parts, and I was totally wrong. And my version was way better and less confusing.<br />
<br />
M: I was disappointed by the moving pictures, because the actual portrayal of the Toymaker was less menacing than the Toymaker that I made up in my head from the stills. [of the recons]<br />
<br />
P: I missed last week, and I forgot the previous ones were recons because I had internalized the story. This is either a huge compliment to the recon, or a huge insult to me.<br />
<br />
M: No, this is a complement to the recon. It may have actually made the episodes better. They made good choices on how to put the recon together.<br />
<br />
K: I don't know, we had a lot of bad things to say about the first three.<br />
<br />
H: We had a lot of good things to say as well, though. I think an interesting thing about this story is that, like the Web Planet, it was failing to reach what they were trying to grasp. I can see what they were going for with the idea. It was interesting. I can see what they were going for.<br />
<br />
Sp: So, final thoughts? [The fact that Spoo said this and not me indicates just how much he wanted to put this story behind him. --H]<br />
<br />
P: I think it was a good episode. It was nice to see an actual logic problem as part of a puzzle.<br />
<br />
H: Even though there was a cheat?<br />
<br />
P: What I enjoyed was not how the Doctor solved the puzzle. Just that they had an actual puzzle.<br />
<br />
M: It ties into the myth of the Towers of Hanoi that the world ends if you actually solve it.<br />
<br />
H: I liked the fact that it ended with a puzzle which was essentially another game.<br />
<br />
K: It ended with candy!<br />
<br />
H: Evil, evil candy.<br />
<br />
Sp: So licorice.<br />
<br />
Sc: I got nothin'.<br />
<br />
M: I liked the ending. There's no conceivable way the Doctor would actually try the candy, but he did anyway. So I thought that was fun. It was in the spirit of the story.<br />
<br />
H: And Cyril booby-trapped the candy.<br />
<br />
R: I expected the “whah whah whah whaaaahhhh” music to play, but it didn't.<br />
<br />
Sp: Once they actually figured out what the problem was with leaving the planet, how they left the planet and destroyed the Toymaker was cool.<br />
<br />
H: We haven't talked at all about Cyril and the hopscotch game.<br />
<br />
M: It was incoherent. They kept changing the turn order. It didn't make any sense.<br />
<br />
Sp: Just push the fatty onto the floor and go to the TARDIS. They spent 10 minute hopping around him when it could have just been “push – whoops – bzzt – TARDIS.”<br />
<br />
M: Of course, that would never be allowable in Doctor Who.<br />
<br />
Sp: Steven could get away with it. He's a man's man.<br />
<br />
R: Next week on Torchwood... Anyway. I had a final thought, but now it's been swallowed up by the image of the Toymaker being played not by Michael Gough but by Adam West.<br />
<br />
<laughter><br />
<br />
K: I was so distracted by them messing up the turn order in the hopscotch game. <br />
<br />
P: Yes, that bothered me too.<br />
<br />
K: And I am super, super disappointed that they implied so heavily that we would see the Toymaker again...<br />
<br />
H: Hey. If season 22 hadn't gotten canned, and then replaced by Trial of a Timelord, then we would have.<br />
<br />
K: So we would have seen it 20 years later?? And yet we still haven't seen it.<br />
<br />
M: Give Moffat a chance.<br />
<br />
H: One, Michael Gough has passed away. And two, the Toymaker did appear in some “Big Finish” audio productions.<br />
<br />
K: Still, they were making him out to be the next Dalek level recurring bad guy at the end, and yet he doesn't show up.<br />
<br />
Sp: He wouldn't play now. <br />
<br />
R: Oh, and Dodo. Remarkably well named.<br />
<br />
M: She lived up to her name from the very beginning.<br />
<br />
P: The Doctor was like “Steven, don't go out there and finish the game.” No, let's send Dodo.<br />
<br />
M: She was certainly better than the Trojan chick. <br />
<br />
Sp: Airlock girl.<br />
<br />
M: “What's this?” Whoosh!<br />
<br />
H: I think we're done now.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And thus ends the Celestial Toymaker. I'll have a wrapup very soon (you'll note that <i>I</i> didn't say what I thought of the story, since I tend to have the final word anyway!), please look out for it! And, coming soon, the next episode we watched! Really! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT: "A HOLIDAY FOR THE DOCTOR"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-666210563074433712011-08-07T19:27:00.000-07:002011-08-07T19:27:20.914-07:00"The Dancing Floor"Hello everyone, the Historian here. We're slowly catching up to "real time!" On 8 July, 2011, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, MisterMother, Spoo and MiniSpoo to continue watching the Toymaker's games. So, without further ado, let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 16 April 1966. The phone in the fake TARDIS rings. It is the Toymaker, who gives Steven and Dodo their next clue: "Hunt the key to fit the door that leads out on the dancing floor; then escape the rhythmic beat, or you'll forever tap your feet." He also warns them that the Doctor is going faster than they are! The back of the cabinet opens to reveal a dark passage. Dodo looks back and sees that the King and Queen have turned into playing cards. About to follow Steven into the passage, Dodo tries calling the dolls one more time. She runs after her friend, not seeing the locked cabinet open and the ballerina dolls slowly and jerkily follow Steven and Dodo down the corridor....!<br />
<br />
The Toymaker selects two dolls, Sergeant Rugg and Mrs. Wiggs, to play with Dodo and Steven. They've come to a closed door when Dodo sees the ballerinas following them. At the last minute, the doors open and the two enter what looks like a crowded early Victorian kitchen. In it are Sgt. Rugg, a soldier, and Mrs. Wiggs, the cook. Dodo interacts with them, while Steven is adamant that the two are just distractions sent by the Toymaker. The nature of this "game" eventually becomes evident: The only door out is locked. The riddle said "Hunt the key to fit the door;" thus a game of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_the_thimble">Hunt the Thimble</a>. While looking, Dodo finds a sleeping kitchen boy who looks exactly like Cyril, the knave of hearts. Dodo tries to charm Rugg into helping, but the whole thing devolves into Rugg and Wiggs throwing buns at each other. Finally, Dodo realizes there's one place neither she nor Steven has looked--a pie that Mrs. Wiggs has been very protective of. They find the key in it and open and run through the door, slamming it behind them. The Toymaker appears immediately to berate and threaten Rugg and Wiggs, telling them to get out to the dancing floor and prevent Steven and Dodo from reaching the TARDIS on the other side "at all costs". "If you fail me," he tells them, "I will break you in pieces... like this." He shatters a plate on the floor. On the other side of the door, Steven and Dodo have found a dance floor, with immobile ballerina dolls standing. What seems to be the TARDIS stands at the other end, but Dodo is sure it won't be so easy to get to it. She recalls the riddle: "Then escape the rhythmic beat, or you'll forever tap your feet." Sure enough, a waltz starts to play when Steven moves to step onto the floor. Just then, Rugg and Wiggs walk in. Steven realizes that they must <i>cross</i> the dance floor to get to the TARDIS, they can't go round. He decides to make a run for it, but starts dancing the moment he steps onto the floor--and can't stop! The ballerinas dance towards him. One grabs him and dances; he tries to dance closer to the TARDIS, but cannot. Dodo decides to try, but is also caught. On the edge, Rugg and Wiggs each try to convince each other to get on the floor, as the Toymaker wants them to reach the TARDIS first. Finally, they both step onto the floor and are grabbed by ballerinas. Steven and Dodo use this distraction to grab each other as dance partners and concentrate even harder on getting to the TARDIS. The two of them make it--only to discover that the TARDIS is another fake!<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the intangible (except for his hand) and inaudible Doctor continues to play the Trilogic game, and the Toymaker continues to cheat, assigning the Doctor penalties for supposed infractions by advancing the game. By the end, he has reached move 900--only 123 moves to go!<br />
<br />
Steven discovers a piece of paper bearing the next "riddle." "Lady Luck will show the way, win the game or here you'll stay." A corridor opens up and the two walk down it into darkness. They finally emerge into the light, only to be met by Cyril, now dressed as a portly schoolboy. "Hello, remember me? I'm Cyril, known to my friends as Billy." He offers Steven his hand, only for the latter to yelp with pain from an electrode concealed in Cyril's glove. As a peace offering, he gives Dodo a bag of sweets as the two companions see on a screen that the Doctor is up to move 902! Steven wonders what the next game will be and Cyril laughs. "Yaroooh!" he says. "It's right over here. You won't find it so easy this time, you know... 'cause you see, you'll be playing against me!" He leers as Steven and Dodo draw back in fear....<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/y/y3.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's Krazy Konversational...Stuff<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
S: Spoo<br />
MS: MiniSpoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
<br />
H: Well, that would have been better with moving pictures.<br />
<br />
M: Yes, especially the dance sequence.<br />
<br />
H: Having read the script and the novelization, watching it with stills I know what's going on, but somehow it isn't as cool. It's really hard to get with just having the stills.<br />
<br />
R: The pie fight doesn't work on radio.<br />
<br />
H: It's interesting because last week felt much more straightforward. And this one felt more like the first than the second, which is disappointing.<br />
<br />
M: Obviously it was supposed to be funny. But it was hard to get a lot of the humor without the visuals.<br />
<br />
K: I don't think it would have been good, even with the visuals.<br />
<br />
M: I was actually grinning during the Sgt. Rugg and Mrs. Wiggs part. I thought this was very French for the BBC. It was a very Ionesco or Anouilh (the guy who wrote Beckett) thing going on there.<br />
<br />
H: Of historical note, the Sgt. kept mentioning the Iron Duke. That's the Duke of Wellington.<br />
<br />
K: Like the beef?<br />
<br />
H: Sort of. Like the “beat the French” guy.<br />
<br />
M: Not all the French. Just one.<br />
<br />
H: He beat a lot of French.<br />
<br />
M: They cheated.<br />
<br />
K: Off topic, guys.<br />
<br />
H: Anyway.<br />
<br />
R: That one invisible “Billy Fluff” was really funny.<br />
<br />
M: Sgt. Rugg had a fluff.<br />
<br />
K: I thought the Toymaker was the only good thing about the episode.<br />
<br />
M: He seemed petty to me.<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, he was.<br />
<br />
Sp: I liked this one. I think that this got across the sense of menace from the Toymaker, and the nature of the toys better than the first episode did. I didn't get the sense of dread, or horror, you got from the first episode. But I got it from this one clearly. “Stop them, or I will shrink you and break you!”<br />
<br />
H: And if Steven and Dodo don't succeed, that's what will happen to them as well.<br />
<br />
Sp: I also liked the old married couple vibe between the Sgt. and the cook.<br />
<br />
M: And boy, does she like her tea. There was like 50 tea kettles in that kitchen.<br />
<br />
R: It was like they were having a fight in the BBC prop room.<br />
<br />
H: Just as a casting note, once again the Sgt. and the Cook are the same actors who played the clowns from the first week and the king and queen from last week. And the kitchen boy and Cyril was also the knave from last week. In fact, the knave was named Cyril, which is why Dodo asked if she'd seen him before.<br />
<br />
M: It was sublimely weird descriptions in the recon subtitles. “Steven easily lifts the kitchen boy, and pats his pockets and checks his chair before putting him back down.” It was strangely written. If I had just read that by itself, I would have had no idea how to mentally parse that.<br />
<br />
H: “That must have looked really neat!”<br />
<br />
Sp: The forced to dance floor thing was more menacing than the clowns. It was just more effective...<br />
<br />
H: Than blind man's bluff?<br />
<br />
Sp: Than playing a kids game with clowns.<br />
<br />
H: I'm glad you liked it. I think once again the main problem with this story was the fact that it was extremely visual with a lot of movement. Last week that wasn't as much of a problem since the stills could explain the movement much more easily. Whereas this one there was movement all over the place. I was glad they had a clip of the Toymaker moving around slightly before the next still.<br />
<br />
M: The credits included a choreographer for this episode. I'm sure it wasn't revolutionary...<br />
<br />
H: When the had Roselyn DeWinter it was pretty revolutionary.<br />
<br />
Sp: The Zarbi tamer!<br />
<br />
M: We don't know.<br />
<br />
Sp: Plot point – the Sgt. and the Cook actively helped them?<br />
<br />
H: Steven was probably right – they are there to distract them.<br />
<br />
Sp: They had to distract the dancers in a certain sequence for Steven to reach the TARDIS. It seemed that they were helping them get past the dancers.<br />
<br />
M: They were actually thwarting the Toymaker on purpose?<br />
<br />
H: The instructions the Toymaker gave them were apparently to either delay Steven and Dodo, so that the Doctor would finish his game, or get to the TARDIS cabinet first.<br />
<br />
Sp: So they weren't actually helping.<br />
<br />
H: So the Sgt. and the Cook didn't know what they were doing. They barely knew anything about the trap and they were trying to make a run for the TARDIS cabinet and they screwed it up completely. Probably because the Toymaker didn't give very good instructions.<br />
<br />
M: I read it a little differently, although it could be that way too. Either they weren't very smart, which could be possible. But also, there was a moment between them before they got on the dance floor, where they tried to remember what the Toymaker wanted them to do. But they might have been saying to each other “hum... what did he want us to do? We're obeying what the Toymaker said, but not well.” Either they were incompetent, or they were feigning incompetence to foil the Toymaker.<br />
<br />
H: But definitely the “I don't dance, you should dance” was because they just saw what happened to Steven and Dodo on the dance floor, and didn't want to get stuck as well.<br />
<br />
M: It's art! It's open the interpretation. Each viewer brings their own meaning to it.<br />
<br />
Sp: (throws stuff at Mr. Mother)<br />
<br />
K: Okay. Don't mess up my couch.<br />
<br />
Sp: And Cyril is creepy.<br />
<br />
K: Meant to be.<br />
<br />
Sp: Because fat grownups in schoolboy costumes are just creepy.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
Sp: The Toymaker has almost given up on the Doctor.<br />
<br />
H: Why do you say that?<br />
<br />
Sp: It seems like the game with the Doctor is more of a nuisance or a chore now, and he's more interested in finishing off Steven and Dodo now.<br />
<br />
M: I didn't think the Toymaker looked like someone who was trying to win.<br />
<br />
H: Perhaps we'll find more about that next week.<br />
<br />
MS: Throwing stuff on the ground was waaaaaay not cool. The Toymaker smashing things was not cool.<br />
<br />
H: Did you think the Toymaker was scary?<br />
<br />
MS: (nods)<br />
<br />
H: So, what else did you like about the episode?<br />
<br />
MS: When they had help from people solving the riddles. I liked it where they have to beat the clock. The Doctor has to keep playing until a certain amount and they have to beat it. If he wants them to win he just has to stop, but if he stops then the game is over and they'll have to stay there.<br />
<br />
Sp: So that's neat because it's a hard challenge.<br />
<br />
MS: (nods yes) The whole movie was cool. I'd really like to see the next episode.<br />
<br />
R: The Toymaker has a really strange idea of what makes good villains. “I know what will get them. What everyone thinks is innocent. A tubby schoolboy!”<br />
<br />
H: This is a cultural thing that Americans wouldn't likely get. There's a specific character called “Billy Bunter” and when Cyril introduces himself he says that he's also called Billy. They almost got sued for this. [Note: More about this next week.]<br />
<br />
K: Meh. I'm disappointed. It hasn't been as good as I'd hoped, and it's plain too weird to comprehend most of it. The Toymaker just isn't evil enough to take him seriously. Or crazy enough.<br />
<br />
Sp: It's because he's more interested in punishing his toys than the main characters. All his evil and breaking stuff is aimed at characters we don't know or care about. We're coming in on the middle of his game.<br />
<br />
M: Maybe he's not what you expected him to be.<br />
<br />
H: I think that the Toymaker is playing more games than we can currently see.<br />
<br />
Sp: Wheels within wheels. Dishes within dishes. Dolls within dolls. It's one of those Russian dolls things! He likes his dolls.<br />
<br />
H: I'm still enjoying it. But I'm very much looking forward to moving pictures next week.<br />
<br />
Sp: Rush concert was awesome! [Most of us had been to a Rush concert the previous weekend. The band played the entire "Moving Pictures" album. It was a very silly joke. --H]<br />
<br />
M: Wasn't it, though?<br />
<br />
K: Off topic again, guys.<br />
<br />
H: Okay, I think we're done.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And one more episode closer to catching up! Here's your obligatory <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> link. See you next post! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT POST: "THE FINAL TEST"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-76779703799180832172011-07-26T19:47:00.000-07:002011-07-26T19:47:05.322-07:00"The Hall of Dolls"Hello everyone, the Historian here, getting closer and closer to catching up! On 1st July, 2011, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Photobug and special guests Altair and Ezio for the second episode of this surreal story. Without further ado, let's get to the (much shorter) summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 9 April 1966. When Steven and Dodo run to the "TARDIS," they discover that it's just an empty cabinet. Dodo finds a slip of paper on the ground with what looks like a riddle on it. "Four legs, no feet, of arms no lack, it carries no burden on its back. Six deadly sisters, seven for choice, call the servants without voice." A door swings open in the back of the "TARDIS" cabinet, but before they walk through, Dodo looks back. In the places where Joey and Clara had fallen are two tiny, broken clown dolls...!<br />
<br />
Steven and Dodo play a deadly game involving chairs and dolls. Their opponents are the Heart family: a King, Queen, Knave (named Cyril) and a Fool/Joker. Dodo treats them as real people (which, overhearing private conversations between the King and Queen, they probably <i>were</i>--before being possessed by the Toymaker), while Steven sees them as simply pawns and distractions of the Toymaker (also seemingly true). The game involves chairs that contain deadly traps, with one chair being safe. Steven and Dodo discover several cabinets of dolls, containing almost enough to test all the chairs. They also discover a cabinet containing ballerina dolls that later seems to be locked. Ultimately, the King and Queen are killed testing a chair--and Dodo almost is!--and the Knave and Fool leave.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the Doctor (intangible and, after annoying the Toymaker, unable to speak) continues his Trilogic game. At various points, as a "penalty," the Toymaker advances the game several moves...putting the Doctor in further danger of finishing his game before Steven and Dodo find the TARDIS!<br />
<br />
Steven and Dodo have found, at the end of their game, another fake TARDIS. Dodo is still wondering what the "dolls without voice" of last episode's riddle meant and she calls, "Dolls, dolls, wherever you are - come out!" Nothing happens, but the phone in the fake TARDIS rings. It is the Toymaker, who gives Steven and Dodo their next clue: "Hunt the key to fit the door that leads out on the dancing floor; then escape the rhythmic beat, or you'll forever tap your feet." He also warns them that the Doctor is going faster than they are! The back of the cabinet opens to reveal a dark passage. Dodo looks back and sees that the King and Queen have turned into playing cards. About to follow Steven into the passage, Dodo tries calling the dolls one more time. She runs after her friend, not seeing the locked cabinet open and the ballerina dolls slowly and jerkily follow Steven and Dodo down the corridor....!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/y/y2.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
Ketina's...stuff<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
P: Photobug<br />
A: Altair<br />
E: Ezio<br />
<br />
P: The sound was awesome.<br />
<br />
K: The sound quality of the recon was horrible.<br />
<br />
P: But the sound quality of the original show was awesome.<br />
<br />
R: It sounds like they patched together the sound from a couple of high quality sources and one really bad one.<br />
<br />
H: Well, they had to make due with what they had.<br />
<br />
P: Better bad than not at all.<br />
<br />
H: Getting onto the episode's content, we have another game from the Toymaker. Which demonstrates that Dodo is the Doctor's first dumb companion.<br />
<br />
K: No, Katarina.<br />
<br />
H: I wouldn't say Katarina is dumb...<br />
<br />
A: She was just uneducated.<br />
<br />
H: Not the way Dodo is dumb. She just gives the game away, Steven has to constantly say “look, take this seriously.” It's interesting because all of the other companions have their bad moments. Steven had in with the forcefield in the Dalek's Master Plan. But no other companions so far have been portrayed as this reckless and thoughtless.<br />
<br />
P: The words “no common sense” apply here.<br />
<br />
H: Exactly.<br />
<br />
R: I thought that this one played out a lot more engagingly than the last one.<br />
<br />
H: Not as much setup.<br />
<br />
R: And the game is a lot less stupid. This worked better as a recon. I though the characters were more interesting and the game was more engaging.<br />
<br />
E: And there were fewer scary clowns.<br />
<br />
P: One of the dolls used by the King and Queen disappeared in the chair when they left the room. So there were two chairs left, not one.<br />
<br />
H: That's an excellent point.<br />
<br />
K: Why couldn't they just reuse the still available dolls.<br />
<br />
A: The fact that the dolls died in horrible ways one by one made this episode creepier than the last one.<br />
<br />
P: It made you wonder “how are they going to die next?” And if you ever played the game “Lunch Money” you get what I'm talking about.<br />
<br />
R: I suspect that if it was against the rules to reuse the dolls, they would have gotten punished for it.<br />
<br />
H: Although the Toymaker didn't indicate one way or the other. But I think that the dolls were unusable in each case after they were sat in the chairs. Even the one that shook, shook the dolls head off. And Dodo SAT IN A CHAIR!<br />
<br />
E: Yeah, good job, Dodo.<br />
<br />
A: The whole time that she's in the chair and I'm thinking “Steven, just pull her out!”<br />
<br />
P: It said in the caption, that when he removed her it teared her from the chair. I was wondering if it was going to rip off her clothing...<br />
<br />
H: No, no, children's show. Interesting point for folks, if they didn't realize. The king and queen are played by the two clown actors from the previous episode. If you continue to watch, you'll see actors being reused.<br />
<br />
K: The queen's voice was less annoying than the clowns though.<br />
<br />
H: The Hartnell voice stuff was obvious pre-recorded.<br />
<br />
K: Was that even his voice?<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, I think so.<br />
<br />
P: Why did they do that?<br />
<br />
H: Partly so he could have a holiday. And there were problems between him and the producer, so I think they wanted some time with him away as well. I do know that the hand with the ring is not Hartnell's hand as well.<br />
<br />
R: I kind of liked the playing card characters. There was more “there, there” than just “we're psychotic clowns to scare children.” These are real people with a back story.<br />
<br />
H: I like that they explain to Dodo “we were real people. The Toymaker owns us now. And this is what's going to happen to you if you don't win.” So Steven and Dodo are finally starting to understand what the stakes might be.<br />
<br />
P: But I think Steven knew all along that there was danger here.<br />
<br />
H: Oh yeah.<br />
<br />
R: And Dodo's reaction is kind of “oh, all right then!”<br />
<br />
H: And she still persists in seeing them as A)Not real people, and B)Not competition. She's just... urgh!<br />
<br />
R: If I saw them as people, my natural inclination would be, “yeah, we all have to get the hell out of here. No one should have to wear those silly pants.”<br />
<br />
H: But as Steven keeps trying to tell her, it's us against them. And Michael Gough is awesome. He's friendly and menacing at the same time. With the menace being much more real than the friendliness.<br />
<br />
E: He's using the friendliness to taunt. Which makes it all the more effective.<br />
<br />
P: Plus he's omnipotent. It's scary having an evil, omnipotent being.<br />
<br />
H: He's certainly omnipotent in his own little realm, at least.<br />
<br />
P: How is that possible?<br />
<br />
H: He controls everything, in the Toyroom.<br />
<br />
R: Yes, everywhere else he's just plemnipotent.<br />
<br />
P: It's like being world famous for a several blocks radius?<br />
<br />
H: Sure, why not.<br />
<br />
(laughter from the group.)<br />
<br />
H: How awesome was the shot where the Toymaker says that he prepared a special place for Steven and Dodo, and you see the two little beds in the dollhouse that are labeled “Steven” and “Dodo.” That was in the original script, so I don't know if that was a picture they had, or something the recon folks put together. It was beautifully creepy.<br />
<br />
P: The rules that he layed out for the Doctor not talking is that he can't talk until he's placed the second to last piece. I think he's done that to prevent the Doctor from slowing down and giving Steven and Dodo.<br />
<br />
K: Whenever the Toymaker want the Doctor to go faster, he skips a bunch of moves. He's done it twice already.<br />
<br />
H: Like when he said “go to move 444.”<br />
<br />
P: Oh, I just assumed that was a time passes sort of thing.<br />
<br />
H: No, that was a penalty for the Doctor. He's already done it once in each episode.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
P: Okay, the chairs were kind of wacky. Which was refreshing and nice. I though the card characters were perfect in character as well as dress. But I was kind of confused when they were supposed to call the servants without voice and they did use their voice.<br />
<br />
H: The implication was that the servants had no voice, not the call. I think there was something that we missed because of the recon. All the women dolls come out of the locked closet in the next room. We'll see next week.<br />
<br />
R: This guy has a weird taste in kidnapping. “I'm going to steal a family, a pair of clowns, and a bunch of ballet dancers.”<br />
<br />
H: The victims aren't necessarily playing what they were in real life.<br />
<br />
R: “Okay, I'm going to need a few more hot chicks to complete my 12 dancing princesses set.” Either way, that's just freaky-deaky.<br />
<br />
E: I kind of liked this episode a bit better. There was more of a risk in playing the game then just winning or losing.<br />
<br />
P: Yeah, if you sit in the chair, boom!<br />
<br />
H: Yet, Dodo does!<br />
<br />
E: Instead of just worrying about the end result, you have to worry about the process of playing too. It added an extra element of danger.<br />
<br />
A: I don't have anything else to add. But I liked it better than last week.<br />
<br />
E: It was better this week because there wasn't a lot of action we were missing. Things were explained there was a lot of dialog, so it was a lot easier to visualize.<br />
<br />
A: Yeah, there wasn't an obstacle course this week.<br />
<br />
E: There are these chairs and dolls. A lot easier to envision than an obstacle course.<br />
<br />
R: Chairs, seating... doom!<br />
<br />
E: I'll never look at a movie theater the same again. There's all these chairs!<br />
<br />
R: One, I was kind of amused that they were like “We're out of dolls. We'll use the fool!” and my immediate thought was, “that's right, the Joker's wild.”<br />
<br />
P: I think it was also an emphasis on royalty verses commoners. This would resonate well with British viewers.<br />
<br />
K: The queen and the fool were the smart ones, the knave was just lazy, and the king was stupid.<br />
<br />
H: Someone was rooting for the knave when they ran out of the room.<br />
<br />
E: Me.<br />
<br />
R: I wouldn't have felt bad seeing the knave set on fire. There was this woeful line that the fool had. The king is like “well, we won't know if it's a good chair until someone sits in it.” and the jester gets it, and he's like “poor Tom, poor Tom.”<br />
<br />
H: All of the playing cards have actual names. The king was Henry, the knave was Cyril. I can't remember the other names, or if the queen had a name.<br />
<br />
P: Had the knave sat down, then the king and queen would have been Cyril-killers.<br />
<br />
(stunned silence, and the sound of disappointment)<br />
<br />
K: I like the idea of “recurring characters” of the toys. It might mean they don't actually die when they lose.<br />
<br />
E: Yeah. He wants a bunch of toys to play with, so he won't kill them off.<br />
<br />
H: They likely go back in the dollhouse.<br />
<br />
K: So, he might not be omnipotent. He just might have a magical doll house.<br />
<br />
H: That sounds like a bad PBS 1980's afternoon children's show.<br />
<br />
K: Anyway. But the riddle wasn't something they needed to answer, it was apparently a clue, or the rules, to the next puzzle. So the audience couldn't have figured it out beyond the chair part.<br />
<br />
H: It really was less of a riddle and more of a clue, and I think that was the intention. No one ever said it was a riddle, it was just a piece of paper that the found that had the verse on it.<br />
<br />
K: But they showed the riddle/ clue at the end of the episode on screen, right? And all these kids in 1966 are watching this thing, they go to school, talk about it with there friends...<br />
<br />
R: “Have you figured it out? Maybe it's teeth...”<br />
<br />
E: “I think it's a chair.”<br />
<br />
K: So they might get the chair part. But the other part of the possible riddle is gibberish if you don't see the next episode. It's not something you can answer on the school grounds all week. I'd be very frustrated as a kid coming back to the next episode a week later to find out there wasn't really an answer.<br />
<br />
H: But it did make you come back to watch next week to find out what the answer it. It is the cliffhanger to make you come back next week.<br />
<br />
P: Yes, but it's a sucky one.<br />
<br />
H: Better than some of the cliffhangers we've seen.<br />
<br />
P: Okay, you win.<br />
<br />
R: It's a fair cop.<br />
<br />
H: One of the things I wanted to say is that I'm bummed that Schmallterm and Spoomeister aren't here to see the episode this week. I think it might have redeemed the story for them. I'm still thouroughly enjoying it, seeing it instead of just reading about it. I think it continues to be an interesting experiment for the show, as it's totally unlike anything they've ever done before.<br />
<br />
P: Last week it was scary in a psychological sort of way. And this week it went from psychological to freaky due to a puzzle.<br />
<br />
E: Plus it makes you afraid to sit in chairs.<br />
<br />
P: But the feel of the episode was different. The first one was more psychological scare. This one was more enjoyable, but it was more working out the problem. Steven's got it. If Dodo wasn't there, he'd be doing better.<br />
<br />
K: She's messing it up for him.<br />
<br />
A: He should have let her stay in the chair.<br />
<br />
R: That's just darn rude.<br />
<br />
H: I think one of the reasons why it feels different as well, this episode had more of a visceral danger. Something actually bad happened to you. It was much more real this week.<br />
<br />
E: And Dodo still doesn't get it.<br />
<br />
K: Why are we being so mean to Dodo?<br />
<br />
H: She doesn't have any common sense.<br />
<br />
P: To quote the expression “She doesn't have enough common sense to survive every day.”<br />
<br />
H: This is a girl who saw a road accident, ran to a police box to get help, went inside instead of picking up the phone, immediately forgot the accident, and said “hey, let's go!”<br />
<br />
R: Yeah, screw those bleeding people.<br />
<br />
H: She's not a terrible character. But compaired to most of the other companions, they're writing her as reckless.<br />
<br />
R: She's a golden retriever. She means well...<br />
<br />
P: “Thing about common sense is that it ain't.” that was Will Rogers, I believe.<br />
<br />
H: I'm throughly enjoying this, and I hope everyone else is too.<br />
<br />
P: I'm enjoying it because we have a new enemy, which is refreshing.<br />
<br />
K: Because it's not a Dalek.<br />
<br />
R: And no swamps!<br />
<br />
H: The absence of the Doctor did not hurt this episode at all. That's relatively unusual.<br />
<br />
K: I usually like the ones where the Doctor shows up better.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And there we have another post! [Insert <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> plug here!] I hope everyone enjoyed it. I'm slowly catching up--another post soon! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT POST: "THE DANCING FLOOR"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-61791885767522219992011-07-20T18:19:00.000-07:002011-07-20T18:26:49.448-07:00"The Celestial Toyroom"Hello everyone, the Historian here, still trying to catch up to where the TARDIS Project has gotten to. On 24 June, 2011, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, Photobug and guests Altair and Ezio as we journeyed from Refusis II into...the unknown! So, let's get to the <i>extremely</i> truncated summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 2 April 1966. The TARDIS is getting ready to land. Both Steven and Dodo have changed their clothes. The Doctor sneezes and fades away, although his voice can still be heard. When Steven calls to him, he fades back in and then out again. Dodo and Steven wonder if this sudden invisibility has something to do with the Refusians. "You're wrong!" says the Doctor. "This is something far more serious. We're in grave danger. This is some form of attack...!"<br />
<br />
The Doctor, Steven and Dodo have arrived in the realm of the Celestial Toymaker, an immortal, dressed as a mandarin, who loves to play games with very high stakes. The Doctor has been here once before, but was able to escape before having to play. This time, he is not so fortunate. The Toymaker, who seems to have total control over his world, removes the TARDIS and sets the travellers playing games. The Doctor must play the "Trilogic" game (in reality, a version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi">the Tower of Hanoi</a>) set up by the Toymaker, while Steven and Dodo must try to "win back" the TARDIS by playing Blind Man's Buff against two of the Toymaker's toys, the clown dolls Joey and Clara, grown to full size. Steven and Dodo must find the TARDIS before the Doctor finishes his game at move 1023, or all three will be trapped in the Toymaker's realm forever. The clowns, being the Toymaker's creatures, are playing to win--and try to cheat the two humans. When the Doctor, who is watching on a screen near his Trilogic game, tries to warn his friends (realizing that, if they lose, they will become the playthings of the Toymaker, just like the clowns), the Toymaker makes him intangible and inaudible--except for his right hand, which continues to play. Dodo, however, discovers that the dolls are using a fake blindfold to win the game and Steven forces Joey to run the course again, this time with a real blindfold. Joey, of course, fails, the two clowns fall down and what seems to be a TARDIS appears in the corner. But, when the two run to it, they discover that it's just an empty cabinet. Dodo finds a slip of paper on the ground with what looks like a riddle on it. "Four legs, no feet, of arms no lack, it carries no burden on its back. Six deadly sisters, seven for choice, call the servants without voice." A door swings open in the back of the "TARDIS" cabinet, but before they walk through, Dodo looks back. In the places where Joey and Clara had fallen are two tiny, broken clown dolls....!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/y/y1.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's Transcript Thing<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
Sp: Spoo<br />
P: Photobug<br />
A: Altair<br />
E: Ezio<br />
<br />
H: This is a story that I've been looking forward to, like a lot of these reconstructions. Having read the script and novelization, and seen stills ages ago, it's a really fantastic story. However, it isn't well served by the reconstruction format. There's a lot of movement that, unfortunately, can't be conveyed by captions.<br />
<br />
Sp: Steven's a BEE! [Referring to the shirt Peter Purves was wearing in this story. --H]<br />
<br />
Sc: That was my thought too.<br />
<br />
H: Having seen a color photo of the shirt, you're not far off. It's a bit more brown than that, but you're spot on.<br />
<br />
Sp: Distracting as all get out.<br />
<br />
P: And she's [Dodo] wearing a bathing suit the entire episode, hello.<br />
<br />
H: No, it was a shirt and skirt.<br />
<br />
P: It looked like a 60's bathing suit.<br />
<br />
R: Ah, the 60's. An era where everyone dressed like a gay man.<br />
<br />
H: Is that another slam at Terry Nation's ascot?<br />
<br />
K: I thought we were done with Terry Nation for like, two more years?<br />
<br />
H: We're actually done with Terry Nation for the rest of the project.<br />
<br />
Sc: Don't speak the name, lest a jungle appear.<br />
<br />
H: Getting back to the story, how were people enjoying it?<br />
<br />
E: When they referred to him as the Toymaker, I half expected to see some kind of crazy “Toy Story” stuff going on.<br />
<br />
H: We did get a little of that with the clowns that started as dolls. When Dodo looks back, they're not people anymore but little twisted dolls.<br />
<br />
P: And I'm thinking, “Ah, clowns! Can't sleep, clown will eat me!”<br />
<br />
E: High octane nightmare fuel.<br />
<br />
H: There were definitely playing on the creepy aspect of clowns.<br />
<br />
P: Honk!<br />
<br />
Sp: The honk and beeps annoyed the heck out of me.<br />
<br />
R: Use the beeps!<br />
<br />
A: Clara's voice irritated me more.<br />
<br />
K: Oh yes.<br />
<br />
Sp: I know this show is for kids. But this went down a few levels as far as target audience. Over explained and really drawn out explanations of the games. And who was what. Ick.<br />
<br />
P: Yet, at the same time, rules not explained well.<br />
<br />
K: Trilogic is relatively well known game. AKA the Towers of Hanoi.<br />
<br />
Sp: AKA, Tech company interview fuel.<br />
<br />
H: I disagree with Spoo. Having read the story, it takes these childhood, supposedly innocent things and makes them creepy. If that hadn't been explained we wouldn't have gotten the whole level of menace.<br />
<br />
Sp: I was going solely off the dialogue. We can't entirely hand wave this one away just due to the reconstruction. I was going off the explanation of the game, who was who, why they couldn't leave, and so on.<br />
<br />
H: I thought it was a building thing.<br />
<br />
K: Evil Blind-man's bluff!<br />
<br />
Sp: With sticks and stairs!<br />
<br />
H: Did everyone enjoy seeing Alfred the Butler dressed as a Chinese Mandarin?<br />
<br />
Sp: <nute Gunray / Mavic Chen voice> I would NEVER do anything to diss Michael Gough!<br />
<br />
H: I think he did a good job though.<br />
<br />
Sp: With what he was given.<br />
<br />
H: Half way between friendly and menacing.<br />
<br />
Sc: This episode was... just was bad. There's... it made no sense first off. They introduce a super powerful omnipotent being who does crazy things for no reason.<br />
<br />
H: They explain why he was doing it.<br />
<br />
Sc: I thought it was just stupid. It was like the Star Trek episode with the arena guy, only without the fighting.<br />
<br />
Sp: Inter-racial kissing would have made this better, yes.<br />
<br />
H: I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.<br />
<br />
P: That's fine, you can be wrong.<br />
<br />
K: But... he's the Historian!<br />
<br />
P: And a wrong one at that.<br />
<br />
Sp: I liked the bit of continuity. There. I liked the reference to the previous story, where they assumed it had something to do with the guy from the previous week.<br />
<br />
H: That was from the cliff hanger from last week.<br />
<br />
K: Not entirely. There were a couple lines about the Refusians beyond the cliffhanger.<br />
<br />
R: I have to admit, I'm coming down a little bit further on the side of the Historian than I think the rest of you are. I though there was a lot of really over tedious dialog. It's a kids show, and kids know the rules to Blind Man's Bluff. But I can see how, as a kid, I would have found this pretty spooky. This creepy adult in this big house with all these toys, who can just bend reality to his will. And, to be fair, this is the guy who was the first omnipotent energy being... or one of the very first after the last story's Refusian.<br />
<br />
H: This story was intended to be an experiment and different.<br />
<br />
Sc: It's certainly different.<br />
<br />
H: It wasn't meant to straightforward. It's kind of weird. It's not even the original scripts. They had to rewrite a lot at the last minute due to the production issues. [I will talk about this a bit more in the wrapup post! --H]<br />
<br />
Sp: So you remember this as a better episode because you know all that?<br />
<br />
H: No, I like this episode as it is.<br />
<br />
P: I don't necessarily see this episode as such a mind bend. It may have been different, but in the end it's still the same as “there's a challenge in front of us that we must meet.” It's just a little more literal this time.<br />
<br />
K: I like the puzzle. It's got a cliffhanger riddle!<br />
<br />
A: Yeah, that was cool.<br />
<br />
P: I imaging people still had a buzz about it.<br />
<br />
Sp: Steven certainly did.<br />
<br />
Sc: <groan><br />
<br />
R: “See what I did there... with the bee reference.”<br />
<br />
Sp: Don't put words in my mouth.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
P: The pacing was erratic. Sometimes it was a slow waltz, and sometimes it was just a complete jump. I would have been happier if it was consistent throughout.<br />
<br />
E: Well, this is my first time seeing a recon of a Doctor Who episode. My thoughts are similar to everyone else. There's a lot of physical action that was subtracted from a little bit with the stills. It was kind of mediocre for me. Ohh-kaaay.<br />
<br />
Sp: More Toymaker, less clowns!<br />
<br />
E: Agree.<br />
<br />
H: Well, no more clowns after this week.<br />
<br />
K: They're all dead!<br />
<br />
H: They were never alive in the first place.<br />
<br />
Sc: I think my dislike I can analyze a bit more. Everything previous has been very natural.. they were in the past or in the future. And now the 60's have happened and we're pretty much not any place. Consider, don't you think that this is way trippier and more 60's than anything we've seen so far.<br />
<br />
H: I think this is certainly odder than anything we've seen so far. But I don't think it's specifically due to the 60's.<br />
<br />
Sc: But in two years we've gone from the male companion wearing a suit and tie to a bee. I don't think the writer are on drugs, but I do think they're picking up cultural...<br />
<br />
H: Zeitgeist<br />
<br />
P: Godblessyou.<br />
<br />
Sp: Hard to say.. hard to spell.<br />
<br />
A: Back to picking up on something cultural, I think this is about the time that subversive precursors to Monty Python we're starting to show up on the BBC.<br />
<br />
H: That's a good point.<br />
<br />
R: “Are you inferring that I am senile.” “No, I am implying that you are senile, and I believe you just proved my point.”<br />
<br />
Sc: Yeah, there was a lot of old coot in this episode.<br />
<br />
Sp: And Michael Gough had a Billy Fluff.<br />
<br />
P: Yeah, a Billy Gruff!<br />
<everyone groans><br />
<br />
P: Yay!<br />
<br />
K: Lord of puns strikes again. Anyway, like the Historian, I also know this story. I've seen part 4 before, so I've been looking forward to this one. But yeah, it didn't start well. I do like the idea of the Toymaker... this bored wanting to play games all day is neat in my mind.<br />
<br />
A: He needs an Xbox.<br />
<br />
K: Yeah, probably. He's trying to form a D&D group with the Doctor. And failing.<br />
<br />
E: He would be the creepies DM every.<br />
<br />
R: “I'd let you play a sorcerer, or a monk or something.”<br />
<br />
Sp: No monks!<br />
<br />
P: Or thieves.<br />
<br />
Sp: “What do you mean I'm invisible. What do you mean I can't touch anything. This game blows!”<br />
<br />
H: A couple things. Something that I think people might have missed... because you were apparently bored. One of the things about the Toymaker and the clowns... people come to play. If they lose a game, they become his play things. The clowns were people who lost the game before. And the fact the Dodo and Steven don't understand it, but we do. They don't understand the danger that they are in. I really like this story. I think the main problem of the episode was that we couldn't see what was going on. I think the reconstruction did as well as it could with what little survives. I really enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
P: Not to play Devil's Advocate, but part of the problem I had with this episode was the sound. Not the quality of the sound, but the voices they chose.<br />
<br />
H: Well, the quality of the taping was quite bad. You can hear some music coming from the other room for parts of it.<br />
<br />
P: The great crooners of the day, like Bing Crosby, were displaced when the quality of the radio improved because their voices sound good on AM radios. When you went to FM other people sound better. So it makes me wonder if the voice of Clara sounded horrible, or if it was the quality of the recording.<br />
<br />
H: It's also possible, knowing other things further on in this story, it could have been a direct reference to something going on in pop culture at the time. We'll talk about that more in future discussions.<br />
<br />
E: The quality that the girl clowns voice was so bad, I couldn't tell what she was saying. When things are lower quality like that, it hikes up the suspense more for me. And there's the element of taking something innocent into something twisted like that, it creeps you out.<br />
<br />
H: That's the entire point of this story.<br />
<br />
E: I liked it, but I feel that the reconstruction subtracted from it. At last this part.<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, it was a rough one.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And there we have the first post of what turned out to be (as you can already tell) a bit of a contentious story for the Project. As always, a plug for <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions,</a> who created the reconstruction we watched. Hopefully, my truncated summary (which was still longer than I thought it'd be) worked for all of you! Feel free to let me know in the comments if you have any, well, comments. Next episode post will be coming soon--keep an eye out for it! I <i>will</i> catch up! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT POST: "THE HALL OF DOLLS"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-19852543682592507032011-07-18T09:22:00.000-07:002011-07-18T09:22:19.291-07:00"The Ark" wrapupHello everyone, the Historian here, on the horns of a dilemma. How to go back and wrap up a story that we finished watching just over a month before? I am still determined to catch up, however, and I owe you all a post for this story!<br />
<br />
When I say "story," I, of course, mean <i>two</i> small stories joined by a single setting in the scripts written by Paul Erickson (though joint credit was given to his wife, Lesley Scott, everything I've read says she didn't actually do much writing). The idea is fine; as others have pointed out, in the days when an audience had no idea how many parts a story would last (no internet! at this point, no full story titles, even!), the idea of the crew seeming to finish the adventure, leave and then come back hundreds of years later was surprising and fun! Unfortunately, in practice, you get a nice little, if oversimplified, two-parter with minimal characterization, followed by an overstuffed two-parter with, essentially, no characterization. (And, of course, with one of the most ridiculous lines ever spoken on Doctor Who: "Take them to the Security Kitchen.") As I've mentioned in the episode posts, I'm pretty sure that this is the first Hartnell story I ever saw in full and I have fond memories of it being charming and fun, many of which were borne out in seeing it again this time. But those memories don't make me blind to its shortcomings either. I'll direct you to the episode posts for more details. As a final story note, the elephant scene, even seeing it all these years later, is still absolutely magical!<br />
<br />
On the production side, this story marked the end of the tempestuous tenure of producer John Wiles. As the second producer of Doctor Who, Wiles had the uncomfortable task of taking over from Verity Lambert around the same time the original cast had broken up, all of which reportedly upset William Hartnell terribly and the star (according to all reports) took a lot of that out on his new producer. Wiles hadn't really wanted to produce the show in the first place, and had been especially unhappy at being stuck with the twelve part Dalek story, and his relationship with Hartnell had put the finishing touches on his unhappiness. With this story, he joins story editor Donald Tosh (whose last televised credit was on "The Massacre") in leaving the show in new hands. Those hands, producer Innes Lloyd and story editor Gerry Davis, would see Doctor Who through some of its most important days to come...<br />
<br />
But, enough of that! Here are the individual episode posts, so you can see what the Project team had to say.<br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/05/steel-sky.html">"The Steel Sky"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/06/plague.html">"The Plague"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/07/return.html">"The Return"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/07/bomb.html">"The Bomb"</a><br />
<br />
Here's the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/ark/">official BBC episode guide</a> for the story and, for the full story I alluded to above as well as other behind-the-scenes info, here's the <a href="http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/x.html">"Brief History"</a> page.<br />
<br />
Next up, one of the odder stories of the Hartnell era, and one where there was some division in the Project team's opinions! Posts coming very soon! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-89033678823982982672011-07-10T18:23:00.000-07:002011-07-10T18:23:30.233-07:00"The Bomb"Hello everyone, the Historian here, continuing my attempts to catch up to what the Project is actually watching. I'm only three episodes behind now, so I have hopes! I'm still going to be doing the truncated summaries, which are actually working well enough that I'm thinking of sticking with this format--which is closer to what we started with anyway. What do you, the readers at home, think?<br />
<br />
So, on 17 June, 2011, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Photobug and Cz, when we watched the last episode in this story. So, without further ado, let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Episode summary: First aired 26 March 1966. The Doctor and Dodo look at the wreckage of the shuttle. Dodo wonders what they should do now, the Doctor replies that they will have to wait until the next party lands. "But what if they don't come? What if they decide to find another planet?" asks Dodo in a panic. "Well, in that case we shall just have to stay here," says the Doctor...!<br />
<br />
Back on the Ark, the Monoids wonder why contact with 2 was cut off. One of them, 4, quietly begins to question 1's leadership. Back on the planet, the Doctor and Dodo explain the situation aboard the Ark to the Refusian, but the Doctor tells him that the Guardians are not always better than the Monoids. But some of them wouldn't mind doing better, insists Dodo. In the security kitchen, Steven and his friends look through a window and see the Monoids rushing around in preparation to leave the Ark. Steven is forming a plan, but needs to gain the help of the collaborator, Maharis. Meanwhile, the Monoids are preparing the drawers that contain the entire miniature Monoid population for transport to Refusis. Steven and his friends manage to trick Maharis into helping them escape the security kitchen just as the Monoids leave in all the remaining shuttles. As they leave, 1 tells his crony 3 that the bomb in the statue will destroy the Ark in twelve hours. The humans, not knowing where it is, begin the search for the bomb. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Dodo have overhear 1 down on the planet revealing the location of the bomb. The Doctor enters one of the empty shuttles and sends a message to Steven on the Ark. The Doctor then sends the Refusian back to the Ark on the shuttle. The Doctor and Dodo are then captured and taken to 1 as the Refusian arrives back on the ship. 1 begins to interrogate the Doctor, to no avail. Just then, 4 comes in and declares that 1's leadership to be incompetent and the lines between the Monoid factions are drawn. Steven sends a few humans back to Refusis II to help the Doctor while he leads the others to "deal with the bomb." On the planet, a firefight begins between the two Monoid factions, killing many of them. The two humans avoid the fight and run to the castle to rescue the Doctor and Dodo. On the Ark, the Refusian effortlessly lifts the giant statue (the head of which contains the bomb) and takes it to the launching bay. It is ejected into space where it explodes. Later, on the Ark, the Doctor, his friends, some of the surviving Monoids, the Guardians and the Refusian wrap things up. The Doctor reminds each side that they'd used the others as servants or slaves, and the Refusian says that everyone must make a new life together. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo enter the TARDIS and depart.<br />
<br />
A little later, the TARDIS is getting ready to land. Both Steven and Dodo have changed their clothes. The Doctor sneezes and fades away, although his voice can still be heard. When Steven calls to him, he fades back in and then out again. Dodo and Steven wonder if this sudden invisibility has something to do with the Refusians. "You're wrong!" says the Doctor. "This is something far more serious. We're in grave danger. This is some form of attack....!"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/x/x4.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's...transcript...thing.<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
P: Photobug<br />
Cz: Cz<br />
<br />
Cz: Welcome all! *fist raised in the air*<br />
<br />
H: So, that certainly was the final episode of a story, wasn’t it?<br />
<br />
K: Yep.<br />
<br />
H: Complete with a “deus ex Refusica”<br />
<br />
P: Oh, I got it. Huh! *yet, he still has a confused look on his face*<br />
<br />
R: I have to say, although the body suits for the Monoids make them look like they are walking around in full diapers, the face makeup is still really impressive. I found myself fixated that the eyes are looking around.<br />
<br />
H: So, I have a question about the Monoids and their physiology. We see a Monoid putting down a clean food bone, yet they have no mouths whatsoever.<br />
<br />
Sc: Just don’t ask.<br />
<br />
Cz: Don’t go there.<br />
<br />
P: Their eyes are bigger than their stomach.<br />
<br />
Cz: Told you not to go there.<br />
<br />
H: So, a lot of stuff did happen in this episode. It just wasn’t all the gripping.<br />
<br />
R: What do you mean? Pods took off, landed. The statue floated. Kinda.<br />
<br />
P: The statue kind of… fell… out the airlock.<br />
<br />
R: I know what we’re thinking, and there was a lot in this episode that was kind of pitiful. But there was also a lot that was actually impressive.<br />
<br />
H: Care to elaborate?<br />
<br />
R: First of all, the near shot of the pod taking off with the small Monoid in the background. That was really good forced perspective. It took me a second to realize how they were doing it. The running gun battle between the monoid sides... not all of it was great, but it was still impressive given that it was on a small sound stage.<br />
<br />
Sc: It was more of a waddling gun battle.<br />
<br />
H: A bit that was really great was at the end, when the Doctor and the humans walked up, and the Monoid (#4) saw the carnage and was disgusted, and just threw down his gun.<br />
<br />
P: There was some good use of creative videography. There were a lot more off the floor angles, no just shots at eye level angles.<br />
<br />
R: The plotting and the dialog were pretty feeble. “I’m the evil guy! Anybody think I’m going to make it to the end of the fourth act?”<br />
<br />
P: I didn’t see that. I thought the Monoids were going to get forced back on the ship and the bomb was going to take them out.<br />
<br />
Sc: I don’t think it was bad in terms of the writing. I felt that the ending didn’t have much suspense.<br />
<br />
P: There’s a point that was missed in the story as it closed, there are still 100,000 Monoids in little trays.<br />
<br />
H: There are still millions of humans in little trays too.<br />
<br />
P: So, the dejected look because they killed everyone wasn’t accurate.<br />
<br />
H: He could just be disgusted by the battle.<br />
<br />
P: But the implication was that the Monoids were wiped out, which isn’t exactly what happened. Where were the cans of Monoids that when down with the first shuttle?<br />
<br />
R: I assume they are still on board one of the drop pods.<br />
<br />
K: Or they were brought into the castle.<br />
<br />
R: If this had been modern Doctor Who, the Monoids and the humans would have had to unite against the invisible energy beings who wanted to enslave them all.<br />
<br />
Sc: That would have been a more interesting plot.<br />
<br />
H: The Refusian felt like the magic that will get them out of their situation.<br />
<br />
R: “My name is MacGuffin.”<br />
<br />
H: There was a small error that crept into the script. The security kitchen lady said that they left earth 700 years before. They actually left earth hundreds of hundreds of years before. It was just 700 years since the Doctor’s last visit.<br />
<br />
Cz: They lost all their histories. They don’t remember.<br />
<br />
H: They remember the Doctor’s visit as a legend.<br />
<br />
P: And they have a visual record of it.<br />
<br />
Sc: Did they explain how these kitchen slave humans were able to fly the landers?<br />
<br />
R: “It’s simple to do. Even a doddering old man like me can do it. He he he.”<br />
<br />
P: I’m seriously concerned about what the planet will become. If there’s any inkling of strife between the humans and the Refusians, we’re talking about a very serious religion here at that point.<br />
<br />
R: Religion?<br />
<br />
H: As in worshiping the Refusians?<br />
<br />
P: As in, “do what I say or I kill you.” Any character flaw of the Refusians will result in a fairly strong religion.<br />
<br />
K: Or fascist dictatorship.<br />
<br />
H: Another issue is, of course, the humans are bringing a full ecosystem with them. But that’s not something that Doctor Who in 1966 would even consider.<br />
<br />
R: Yeah, there’s this crappy alien ecosystem. We made it better.<br />
<br />
P: By 3-M.<br />
<br />
R: Come to that, I was kind of surprised the Refusians didn’t look at those things and were like “Ah, heat guns. How quaint!” Snap snap, look sticks!<br />
<br />
H: That would have been a Star Trek episode.<br />
<br />
R: They could tear a drop ship apart with their bare hands and lift giant statues. They could have destroyed the guns or just taken them away.<br />
<br />
H: A bog standard, soon to come, Star Trek episode.<br />
<br />
K: Doctor Who, not Star Trek!<br />
<br />
H: Exactly! So, I have to be honest, I don’t have much more to say. Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
Cz: I’m glad to see the ending. Because usually I don’t care how it ends, but this one was cool. Boring, but cool.<br />
<br />
K: How could it be boring and cool?<br />
<br />
Cz: It was boring, but it was cool to see the end of something. It had a plot that I followed correctly instead of wrongly.<br />
<br />
Sc: Before you can live on Refusus, you must do one thing: Put on some pants! Please!<br />
<br />
P: The story of the ship, at least, should have been explored. They left the ship and what’s next with that?<br />
<br />
K: It just hangs around in orbit?<br />
<br />
R: Eventually it gets turned into a hotel, and then a museum, then a low budget theater, and then eventually torn down for new condos.<br />
<br />
H: Okay.<br />
<br />
R: “No, this is something more sinister. It’s an attack.” Just like that shirt that Steven is wearing at the end.<br />
<br />
H: That’s next week’s story.<br />
<br />
R: Oh, I’ll have more to say about that, I’m sure.<br />
<br />
P: Dodo’s hat is no better either.<br />
<br />
K: It’s better than the outfit that she had on before.<br />
<br />
Sc: Dodo improved. Steven going downhill, definitely.<br />
<br />
K: I think the shadow thing we saw last week wasn’t supposed to be the Refusian guy. I saw it again this week way over to the side when he was supposed to be in the chair. I think it was just part of the set. Oh, and the planet… looking forward to the new human ecosystem to get rid of all that cottonwood fluff!<br />
<br />
P: Again, no music.<br />
<br />
R: There were music effects “wroom wroom wroom.”<br />
<br />
Cz: “Brghh”<br />
<br />
H: So, this story is really two stories smooshed into one. I felt like, because it’s two episodes followed by two episodes, there wasn’t much story to fit in either part. I felt like the first half the characters were more developed. I remember the names of the humans in the first half, and I don’t remember any of the kitchen slaves.<br />
<br />
Cz: There was 17, 77, 64…<br />
<br />
H: Yes, yes, yes. But my point still stands. And like Ketina, I am very much looking forward to the next story.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Whew! I have finally made it to the end of this story! The wrapup post will probably be one of my shorter ones, and I will continue to try to catch up as quickly as possible. (A warning: the summaries for the next story might be considerably shorter, so you might want to check out the episode transcripts!) Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT TIME: "THE CELESTIAL TOYROOM"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-49956803769690506912011-07-01T18:12:00.000-07:002011-07-01T18:12:17.900-07:00"The Return"Hello everyone, the Historian here with another catch-up post. As I said last time, I'm having to forgo the detailed summaries I've been writing up for the past year or so in order to catch these posts up to where the Project has gotten to. I hope to go back and add full summaries at some point, but hopefully this will help me get back on track.<br />
<br />
On 10 June, 2011, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Spoo, MiniSpoo, Photobug and Cz, as we returned to the giant Ark spaceship about to arrive at Refusis II. So, let's get to the (truncated) summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 19 March 1966. Dodo runs ahead, calling for their friends, but is stopped short. The three look up and see that the giant statue has been finished...but instead of a giant human, it has the head of a Monoid...!<br />
<br />
The Doctor, Dodo and Steven quickly discover that they are 700 years further on from when they were last on the Ark--a few minutes before! They then discover that the Monoids, having developed machines that allow them to speak, have revolted and taken over. Now the humans are the slaves, and they are the masters! There are records of the travellers' previous visit, so the head Monoid ("1") know exactly who they are. He sends them to the "security kitchen" where they see other humans (those who are not collaborators) prepare food. They manage to convince two of the slave leaders that they really are the Doctor and company from the stories passed down. As the Ark nears Refusis, 1 decides to send down a small party in a shuttle to find out about the planet and its inhabitants; the party will consist of "2" (the Monoid second-in-command), a collaborator...and the Doctor and Dodo. They land and see no signs of life, although we can see some bushes moving. At one point, 2 accidentally implies that only the Monoids will leave the Ark alive, angering the collaborator. Suddenly, Dodo notices a castle in the distance and the party makes its way there. They find no one in the building, but--after 2 starts to destroy things--a disembodied voice speaks up. It is a Refusian, an invisible, powerful being. On the ship, 1 and 3 talk about the plan to leave the Ark. A bomb has been planted--in the head of the statue--that will detonate once the Monoids have left, destroying all the humans. Their plot is overheard by Maharis, a collaborator, but he cannot see where 1 indicates the bomb is. He rushes off to warn Steven and the other humans in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the Doctor and the Refusian are getting along tremendously, but 2 and the collaborator leave. 2 kills the collaborator and goes to the shuttle to report. To forestall this, the Refusian destroys the shuttle just as 2 begins his report. The Doctor and Dodo look at the wreckage. Dodo wonders what they should do now, the Doctor replies that they will have to wait until the next party lands. "But what if they don't come? What if they decide to find another planet?" asks Dodo in a panic. "Well, in that case we shall just have to stay here," says the Doctor....!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/x/x3.html">Episode transcript</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's Transcripty...Thingy<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sp: Spoo<br />
MS: MiniSpoo<br />
P: Photobug<br />
Cz: Cz<br />
<br />
SP: Did you like it?<br />
<br />
Cz: no, yes, no... wait. 1, 2, 3, 34. Right?<br />
<br />
H: Well, let me start out with this little factoid...<br />
<br />
Sp: Or Monoid<br />
<br />
H: This episode contains the first Doctor Who episode with someone who's well known for his voice acting, Roy Skelton. He's done Daleks, Cybermen, and a bunch of other creatures on Doctor Who. I believe he does the voices for all the Monoids in this one. Alas, he just passed away earlier this week.<br />
<br />
K:Bummer.<br />
<br />
H: So, on another note, it's been a long time since I've seen this story, and I don't remember it descending into this level of... I'm not going to say silliness. It doesn't look as cool as I remember with the cleaned up visuals. [Note: the Vidfire process makes the picture look a whole lot clearer than the print I remember seeing on TV years ago.]<br />
<br />
Sp: I didn't have a problem with the costumes. But I don't know how guys with eyeballs in their mouths can chew scenery like that.<br />
<br />
H: I think a lot of it was the mime that they were doing.<br />
<br />
Sp: It was the exposition too. They started the episode with a 5 minute visit to King Exposition...<br />
<br />
H: More like a 10 minute visit<br />
<br />
Sp: There was an episode itself in the first 7 minutes of the dialog.<br />
<br />
H: 700 years described in 7 minutes. I agree there was a lot of talk, but they had to explain what happened.<br />
<br />
Sp: Not just that, but also things like the Collaborator character. Great concept “We don't like him, he's a collaborator.” There was no introduction of that character, which would have been more interesting.<br />
<br />
H: It's kind of because it's really two stories smushed into one. Two 2-parts smushed into a four parter. There was more character development in the first two episodes. I think they thought they could get away with exposition more since the character development was in the earlier episodes.<br />
<br />
Sp: I think they could have inserted another episode of character development before this one and made it a better story.<br />
<br />
H: But then we would have said it was just padding.<br />
<br />
K: I don't think it would have done better with another episode. Just do more “show don't tell” in this episode.<br />
<br />
H: They did some “show don't tell” with the Collaborator. He's not trapped in the kitchen, he's serving the Monoid directly.<br />
<br />
K: I'd rather be stuck in the kitchen.<br />
<br />
Sp: It was showing that the roles were reversed, not that he was a collaborator.<br />
<br />
K: Why do the Monoids need numbers on their collars? Can't they tell each other apart? It's the Sensorites all over again.<br />
<br />
Cz: 34 was my favorite.<br />
<br />
H: I liked the fact that 3 was hitting the dough-nuts a little hard there. He was a little pudgy.<br />
<br />
Cz: I thought that was 2?<br />
<br />
H: There was a shot of him standing around the corridor<br />
<br />
Sp: When he stands around the corridor, he really stands around the corridor.<br />
<br />
R: I thought that the episode dragged a little bit. And I agree with Ketina that I could have a gathered up enough seconds to add a decent bit of action. Listening to them go by on the slow mobile flashback, they could have taken that out, and shorten the bit when the landing ship.<br />
<br />
Sp: The extended sequence in the nausea pod certainly could have used some trimming.<br />
<br />
H: I thought the model work was very good.<br />
<br />
Sp: I liked inviso-butt.<br />
<br />
P: You could see the shadow of the guy, and it looked really good.<br />
<br />
R: I liked his amusing reaction to the door switch. It was like “hum, interesting.”<br />
<br />
K: We've been to this planet before in “The Dalek's Master Plan”.<br />
<br />
H: But they were savages in the other story with invisible people.<br />
<br />
K: But it's thousands of years in the future. They advanced.<br />
<br />
R: I found the logic of the Monoids a little bit confusing. We came to help humanity because of the desperate crisis they were in. So we wanted to help them. And then we got mad because they were treating us like servants!<br />
<br />
K: So sometimes they had to hold the collar to talk and sometimes they didn't. Number 1 almost never touched the collar.<br />
<br />
R: Number 1 was smart enough to take a toothpick and jam it under the button.<br />
<br />
Sp: So Number 1's collar was always open. Oh, and I liked seeing the seam in the matte painting.<br />
<br />
R: Dodo comes out and is like “So, this is Refusis?” “No, it's not, it's Studio B.”<br />
<br />
H: Speaking of Dodo, it's nice to see that she's settled down on an accent choice.<br />
<br />
Cz: I haven't even been hearing her.<br />
<br />
H: She did contribute absolutely zero to the plot this week.<br />
<br />
Cz: All I can see is that her legs are different colors. One is green and one is white – I don't care if it's black and white. I see green.<br />
<br />
R: I was amused by the further evidence of weak reasoning by the Monoid side. Number 1 says “I have come up with a cunning plan how to get ride of the humans. Once we leave, the ship will disappear in a shower of flaming debris.” And number 3 is like “You mean, like a bomb?” and Number 1 is all “You have no poetry in your soul.”<br />
<br />
P: The first thing I thought of was how the people of Iraq pulled down the statues. You really think the humans won't find the bomb in there?<br />
<br />
R: There was a phrase used in this episode, that I'm sure hadn't been used before and will never be used again. “Now, take the prisoners to the security kitchen!”<br />
<br />
Sp: You will serve us. We have these guns to keep you in line. Now, make our food.<br />
<br />
Cz: Drop the pill into the sludge.<br />
<br />
R: “To serve Mon.” And they're sitting there going “we have no way of opposing them.” You're controlling their food supply and you have no way of opposing them? One batch of bad shrimp and they're done.<br />
<br />
H: Although Barbara is long gone, it was nice to get a guest shot from her hair.<br />
<br />
R: On sweaty pensive chic in the kitchen? Yeah.<br />
<br />
H: She didn't do that great in the scene where's she's putting the restorative stuff on the guys arm, but overall she wasn't that bad. But it was nice to see the big hair again.<br />
<br />
K: Says you.<br />
<br />
P: Considering they had video technology to observe the slaves, you think they would have known they were walking into a trap.<br />
<br />
R: They were dumb!<br />
<br />
P: They did show earlier that they had cameras in the kitchen. I would think that if you managed slaves, you would have used that technology.<br />
<br />
R: Maybe they're dumb!<br />
<br />
P: Okay, if they were smart.<br />
<br />
R: “A galactic accident... a solar flare.” We accidentally spilled our galaxy... what?<br />
<br />
K: Well, things have been destroyed by solar flares in Doctor Who before. But not quite like that.<br />
<br />
P: The space ship took 3 seconds to reach the planet.<br />
<br />
H: To be fair, they might have flowed time a bit.<br />
<br />
Sp: Maybe the planet is small?<br />
<br />
R: There was a moment where I was halfway expecting the lander to just go thunk into the model. “I don't know if we're all going it fit. It is rather small, really.”<br />
<br />
H: Hey Mini-Spoo? What did you think?<br />
<br />
MS: Weird, awesome, and just plain awful.<br />
<br />
K: It was awesome and awful?<br />
<br />
H: What didn't you like?<br />
<br />
MS: Everything was good except the part when they blasted the people. That was bad. It was a good thing that they didn't have bullets.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
P: Well, my usual comment is about music, and there was none.<br />
<br />
H: There was some when they entered the castle thing.<br />
<br />
P: True. But it was not as good as the last episode. Most of it was predictable. I thought the guns were obscenely large. If you are doing crowd control you don't want a rifle. I thought that Steven didn't pay for starting a riot from either the rioters or the guards. Great, you got a guy killed and nothing happened to him. Also, I was discouraged by the lack of life within the Ark. They didn't bother to keep the animals and the plants alive, which doesn't seem to work for me.<br />
<br />
H: I guess it shows that the Monoids are lousy care takers when they are in charge.<br />
<br />
P: Also, we mentioned that this is a precursor to 1001: A Space Odyssey. The pod leaving the ship definitely felt like that. All in all, we had flat characters. I think that's what hurt this episode the most.<br />
<br />
Sp: Too wordy and talky at the beginning, sketchy production values. A lot of nice concepts, but not very well executed. Meh.<br />
<br />
Cz: So, I was expecting one of the humans to be like “Hey, I'm the great, great, something grandson of the last time you were here.” I was disappointed that didn't happen. The Monoids, whose one distinguishing feature is having an single eyeball in the middle of their heads, have enemies that are invisible. Irony.<br />
<br />
R: “Long ago, we lost our physical forms. But we welcome life and it's activity here. We like to watch living beings. Oh yes, we like to watch.”<br />
<br />
Cz: Yet when they sit they make indents and they move trees?<br />
<br />
R: “We have only metaphysical butts now.”<br />
<br />
Sp: “Conceptual Buttocks,” best “Yes” album ever!<br />
<br />
K: It was lame. I did like the invisible guy, although I would have preferred a reference to the other planet with invisible guys. If you're going to reuse a concept, just make it be the same thing.<br />
<br />
P: If there are no children on the Ark anymore...<br />
<br />
Cz: They're all on the slides.<br />
<br />
K: Anyway. Lots of Monoid stumbles kept things amusing.<br />
<br />
P: They can't see. To be honest, those actors did well, considering.<br />
<br />
H: This is definitely a little bit of a letdown after the first two parts. I have some hope that they can bring it all home next week. I definitely doesn't look as good as I remember it, but I have hope for next week.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Not much more for me to say, except keep an eye out for the next episode post over the next few days. I will try to get caught up over the next week or two--who knows, you might even read a post for an episode right after we watch it soon! I'll work on it. Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT POST: "THE BOMB"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-54239690602407049562011-06-30T19:55:00.000-07:002011-06-30T19:55:21.233-07:00"The Plague"Hello everyone, the Historian <i>finally</i> here. Let me, first and foremost, apologize deeply for the huge delay between posts. I have plenty of excuses, but none of that matters. I can only say that I will try to be more prompt in the future. Getting "meta" for a moment, I can say that what has been tripping me up has been the high level of detail in my summaries--they do take a lot out of me! The solution I've come up with, to try and catch people up with the discussions (which are actually the point of this whole thing) is to do a summary in a few sentences for now. I may go back later and insert longer summaries later. I will also include links to the episode transcripts that have helped me get the level of detail lately. Again, I apologize to our readers and the Project members.<br />
<br />
Now, several weeks ago I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother, Photobug and Cz to watch another episode aboard the ship to Refusis II. Let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 12 March 1966. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo are imprisoned as the fever spreads throughout the Ark. Guardians are getting sick, but Monoids are both getting sick and dying! The travellers are put on trial, with Mellium and Manyak acting for the defense and Steven in the dock. During the trial, just as a guilty verdict is reached, Steven collapses--he has caught the fever! The Doctor is allowed to try to cure the fever, though he has to use Steven as a guinea pig. With help from a Guardian virologist and a Monoid, the Doctor manages to cure first Steven, then the Commander, then everyone. In the end, even Zentos admits he was wrong, and the travellers leave with good feelings all around. They return to the TARDIS and dematerialize...only to reappear in exactly the same place seemingly moments later! But the jungle is empty. Dodo runs ahead, calling for their friends, but is stopped short. The three look up and see that the giant statue has been finished...but instead of a giant human, it has the head of a Monoid....!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dwtpscripts.tripod.com/1stdoc/x/x2.html">Episode Transcript</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
(Finally!) Ketina's Krazy Konversation Transcript<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
Sp: Spoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
Cz: Cz<br />
<br />
H: That was actually as good as I remember it being. I really liked it.<br />
<br />
Sp: “That was awesome”<br />
<br />
H: Spoo, what did you like about the episode?<br />
<br />
Sp: Everything!<br />
<br />
H: Everything? Is there anything you liked in particular?<br />
<br />
Sp: Just two words: Awe – Some.<br />
<br />
H: And thank you for filling in for Mini-Spoo this week.<br />
<br />
M: So, the virus apparently causes overacting.<br />
<br />
Sp: It's a sign of the fever. It makes your back arch, and you neck stick out, and you get more urgent with people that are right next to you.<br />
<br />
M: I liked the commander's overreaction to the injection.<br />
<br />
R: Apparently, the metal was very cold!<br />
<br />
H: It wasn't even an injection. It was a slap patch.<br />
<br />
P: You no longer crave smoking after that.<br />
<br />
Sp: You've cured him if the fever and nicotine addiction.<br />
<br />
H: I was disappointed that the Doctor and the Commander didn't have many more scenes together, as we could have had dueling coots.<br />
<br />
M: What happened to the driver of the car during the funeral?<br />
<br />
H: Good question!<br />
<br />
P: I was thinking the same thing.<br />
<br />
R: So, am I think only one who didn't feel terrible bad about the Monoids taking over from the racist humans?<br />
<br />
H: I didn't think they were that racist.<br />
<br />
R: What, barely upset about several of the Monoids dying as long as none of the humans die?<br />
<br />
H: That was a little bothersome. But it was clear that every human had a specific role, but the Monoids appeared very interchangeable.<br />
<br />
M: I'm suspicious of the Monoids. They definitely seem to have an agenda.<br />
<br />
H: Last week the Monoids seemed very simple, and yet this week they seemed a lot more sophisticated.<br />
<br />
P: The Doctor had a conversation with one... why did they need to use sign language?<br />
<br />
M: The Monoids liked watching the humans doing the sign-language – watching the monkeys dance.<br />
<br />
R: “Standing right here! I'm mute, not stupid.”<br />
<br />
Sp: Do you think the “attack of the soundtrack” was just warbly tape or intentional?<br />
<br />
P: There was definitely a door sound effect that went on too long.<br />
<br />
Sp: Could have been “attack of the soundtrack” there.<br />
<br />
H: I think they added some noise to cover up some other noise. This one has been extensively restored.<br />
<br />
M: If you're going to use the “let's cut away from the scene to have to explain the bits” thing, let's not do it twice in a row! “The virus is...” and immediately later “You need two...”<br />
<br />
H: It's a shame they couldn't use a real elephant for that scene.<br />
<br />
Sp: Or the lizard.<br />
<br />
R: The Monoid was holding up a lizard as stiff as a board when they were collecting the samples.<br />
<br />
H: It's interesting that the Doctor thinks that the temperature going down and a fever going down meant two different things.<br />
<br />
R: When the Doctor said that, my immediate thought was “he's stone dead, let's try it on the other one now.”<br />
<br />
P: I had the same exact reaction. Time for CPR now...<br />
<br />
Sp: So, every human on the ship has a specific role. It is vital that they all stay alive. So, a) the dude that got shrunk was not important, and b) the ones in storage are just breeders?<br />
<br />
H: Presumably they can un-shrink someone who could be trained.<br />
<br />
R: Again, this is probably the “B Ark.”<br />
<br />
Sc: I liked it. I liked the slow mobiles. It was awesome.<br />
<br />
K: Missing last week wasn't a detractor?<br />
<br />
Sc: Not really. Dudes in Speedos in space, elephants, one eyed dudes in space. Pretty clear.<br />
<br />
P: It really moves.<br />
<br />
H: It's a well constructed story. And it has a fake out at the end of the episode. And at the end it looks like the end of a two-part story.<br />
<br />
Sp: We knew there was more going on. The statue of the Monoid was pretty cool.<br />
<br />
P: So, the blueprint for the statue wasn't followed?<br />
<br />
K: Sometime in the intervening years someone changed it. Muhuhahah.<br />
<br />
Sp: “The humans are bad, the humans are infecting us. Oh, the rule of law says that we let the humans run amok trying to cure us.” What? I'm surprised the let typhoid Dodo run around giving everyone the vaccine before they'd proved that it worked.<br />
<br />
P: I wonder if the miniaturized people could have gotten the disease?<br />
<br />
Sp: It would have been a horrible way to go, as the germ would have been the same size as the dude.<br />
<br />
H: No, that story doesn't happen until the Tom Baker era. Anyway, it's either a strength or a failing, that the guy who appeared to be the villain was a good guy at the end. No one here was really bad. I liked it, but some viewers may see that as a weakness.<br />
<br />
M: They said it right in the story. He was afraid of the unknown.<br />
<br />
H: It's been criticized about the story, but I think it worked.<br />
<br />
M: That it was less cliché?<br />
<br />
Sp: But the story isn't over. We haven't gotten to see the real villain yet.<br />
<br />
R: It worked for me. There have been Trek episodes too where the so-called bad guy at the end is like “I don't know what the heck I was thinking!” It worked for me. What I don't forgive is his overacting. At first he's like “I don't know if I like these people.” to “Oh my god, someone got sick! Burn them to space!” He doesn't really have a middle gear does he?<br />
<br />
Sc: I just generally don't see the overacting that you guys are always complaining about.<br />
<br />
H: I agree. It can get a little over the top, but it's in the oeuvre of the show.<br />
<br />
Sp: Are you talking about the “om-noming” of the scenery?<br />
<br />
Sc: I don't see the scenery chewing that you do.<br />
<br />
M: Come on, the old guy was really over the top in this one.<br />
<br />
Sc: I suppose, but I don't really see it, and it doesn't really bother me.<br />
<br />
H: I'm glad it doesn't bother you, because I love it.<br />
<br />
R: It certainly didn't wreck the episode for me. I thought this one came together better than a lot of the episodes that we've seen. It wasn't like “Oh god, we're back in the cave again!” This was more like “Good, we've solved the problem. Oh wait, we didn't solve the problem.”<br />
<br />
M: Could it be that we've gotten so good at dissecting these episodes that we've lost our sense of joy in seeing them?<br />
<br />
P: I agree, but I still enjoy the episodes.<br />
<br />
M: The commentary may be coming off as more negative than we think.<br />
<br />
H: I've reread most of the commentaries and the majority of them have been very positive. I think that we, as we're sitting here talking, just remember the criticisms. Bad is funny, and we tend to remember the funny bits the most. We do over-analyze, but we've generally been positive.<br />
<br />
Sp: Getting a bit meta, aren't we?<br />
<br />
K: We're over-analyzing our analysis right now, and our readers (?) are getting bored. Okay, this typist is getting bored, anyway.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts, then?<br />
<br />
M: Oh god, Ronelyn put down the knife!<br />
<br />
Sc: Awe. Some.<br />
<br />
P: Some. Awe.<br />
<br />
Cz: It was a good episode. Awe. Some. There was some awe that happened.<br />
<br />
M: Very nice. Classic clever sci-fi story.<br />
<br />
H: The generational ship kind of thing?<br />
<br />
M: Yeah. Everything, from the disease, the sheltered populous, everything.<br />
<br />
Sp: The cellophane cage.<br />
<br />
Sp: In the future, when all the zoo animals on the ark have one eye...<br />
<br />
H: No.<br />
<br />
Sp: It's a Monoid thing.<br />
<br />
H: Okay.<br />
<br />
Sp: It was fun. I had fun, and I have no idea where they're going next. It was refreshing.<br />
<br />
R: I was amused that apparently all records of civilization are lost, but they still have guinea pigs.<br />
<br />
Sp: They have two of them, right there in the jungle.<br />
<br />
R: Right next to the Komodo dragons. Oh dear, and there they go.<br />
<br />
Sp: Because if they shrink the guinea pigs they're not going to be able to find them.<br />
<br />
K: It was fun. I am enjoying this one more than the last several, but the moving pictures and the science fiction elements help.<br />
<br />
P: Moving pictures but with a vehicle that doesn't move at all.<br />
<br />
*beep beep sounds, of the truck slowly backing up*<br />
<br />
P: What was the deal with the comet?<br />
<br />
M: That was the earth burning up from the super nova.<br />
<br />
H: They were already traveling for hundreds of years. It hadn't burned up yet?<br />
<br />
R: They said that it was the end at last.<br />
<br />
M: They said, “look at the earth scan.” Maybe it was due to the speed of the light traveling towards them.<br />
<br />
<Conversation devolves into comparing the Monoids with Sid and Marty Croft characters, which Ketina couldn't hope to follow with her typing. And it doesn't particularly seem relevant beyond this comment anyway.><br />
<br />
H: My final thoughts are going to echo my first thoughts. The first time I saw this story was also episode by episode, and I remember loving it. And I'm loving it just as much this time.<br />
<br />
---<br />
As a historical note, I'll add that we watched this episode on 21 May, 2011. I will be adding more posts over the next few days to try and catch up to what we're watching tomorrow. All things going well, this "mini-summary" format will help me get back to posting weekly. Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT POST: "THE RETURN"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-77707525761118403262011-06-08T18:18:00.000-07:002011-06-08T18:18:54.767-07:00RIP Roy SkeltonHello all, the Historian here. Yes, I know this isn't the post you might have been expecting (I'll catch up soon! I promise!), but I wanted to note the sad passing of actor Roy Skelton, one of the not-sung-enough heroes of Doctor Who. He was the voice of the Daleks from 1967 until 1988 as well as voicing the Cybermen and multitudes of other creatures and appearing on-screen in the Third Doctor's final adventure, "Planet of the Spiders." As an odd coincidence, the TARDIS Project will be watching Skelton's first work for the show this week (and I will hopefully catch up on things and blog about it by next week).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2010/06/dwn080611171419.html">Here's a nice obituary</a> of Mr. Skelton from the Doctor Who News Page. (Warning: mild spoiler for the current TP story buried in there.)<br />
<br />
RIP Mr. Skelton. Thanks for making so many monsters as scary and believable as they can be.<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-42832153669058686362011-05-25T21:09:00.000-07:002011-05-25T21:09:20.463-07:00"The Steel Sky"Hello everyone, the Historian here, welcoming you back to the TARDIS Project and apologizing for how irregular posts have been lately. Life has been a bit complicated lately and I can only say I'm sorry and hope to get things out regularly. Hopefully we haven't lost too many of you readers!<br />
<br />
Anyway, getting back to this episode, I was joined by Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother, Photobug, Cz and SpookyGirl. We were also honored to be joined not only by seven year old MiniSpoo, but also by almost-six year old ElfGirl, for whom this was her first <i>ever</i> Doctor Who episode! What did she think? Well, for now, let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 5 March 1966. In a jungle, filled with plants and animals, a strange figure watches. It is tall with a head of unkempt hair. It turns to us and we can see that it only has one eye and no mouth! It wanders off into the jungle. A few moments later a wheezing, groaning sound is heard and the TARDIS materializes. Dodo, wearing what looks like a knight's surcoat, jumps out, looks around excitedly and sneezes. Steven follows quickly afterward, berating her for going out before checking to make sure it is safe. "What happens if you get lost?" he says. To Steven's surprise, she answers she'd simply take a bus home! She believes they are in a park just outside London. For proof they are on Earth, she points to a lizard, identifying it as a chameleon, then identifying a locust. "There’s nothing you can tell me about nature, simply nothing," she tells Steven. Suddenly, a weird animal cry ripples through the forest. Dodo jumps. "Having second thoughts?" asks Steven, archly. The Doctor exits the TARDIS and comes towards them, saying that young Dorothea ("Dodo!" she interrupts) might be right, they might be on Earth. "All I can say is that it’s more likely to be Earth than anywhere else and it’s very strange indeed. You know, I’ve been taking a look at my instruments in there...and it’s really very strange." They walk back to the TARDIS, as an arm of one of the one-eyed creatures moves a tree limb, watching them...<br />
<br />
In a control room, a trial is going on. The room is full of men, women and children of various ages as well as a group of the one-eyed creatures. The leader of these people, an old man referred to as the Commander, conducts the trial of a young man who is accused of leaving a heat valve open. "By leaving open a wide valve in the heat exchange unit, you could have caused an explosion that would have been fatal...not only to the human race, but also to our friends, the Monoids," he says, referring to the one-eyed creatures. He sentences the man to the lightest sentence possible: miniaturization. "The prisoner will be retained at micro-cell size, to be re-constituted in its, approximately seven hundred years time, when it can no longer be a danger to us," he says, then asks the prosecutor, a man called Zentos, if he accepts the verdict. He does, and it is carried out, despite the pleas of the Commander's daughter Mellium. The prisoner, through his defense counsel Manyak, also accepts the verdict. He enters a small box and a Monoid flips a switch...and the prisoner shrinks out of sight. One of the other humans takes a tray and walks off.<br />
<br />
Dodo, exploring, calls to her friends. The three travellers gaze in delight as an elephant wanders towards them! They pet the creature and then the Doctor and Steven step away. The Doctor still finds it all strange and Dodo articulates why: "Flowers from America, Birds from Africa, a Snake from Brazil and now an Elephant from India," she says and the Doctor replies that this is exactly his quandary. "Yes, and top of everything else, it’s a jungle without a sky," he adds, and the others look up through the trees to see a metal roof! The Doctor has also noticed that the ground is vibrating slightly--a mechanical vibration. The Doctor wonders if they could be in some kind of giant indoor park, on Earth or not. Just then, Dodo sneezes again and the Doctor irascibly tells her to use her handkerchief. "We must do something about that cold of yours," he says, and berates her for obviously playing around in the TARDIS wardrobe. "Is it all right to wear, or do I have to ask permission for that as well?" she asks angrily, and the Doctor smiles and tells her yes. "Arw, you’re not going to send me home, are you?" Dodo says. "Home?" laughs the Doctor. "What an idea, hmm? I couldn’t send you home even if I wanted to." He wanders off and Dodo delightedly tells Steven that she's beginning to like "this space travel or whatever it is." She wanders after the Doctor and an exasperated Steven follows. None of them notice the watching Monoid who follows the group at a distance.<br />
<br />
On the control deck, a Monoid drives a small truck through the large room. Another Monoid walks up to Zentos and performs a strange sign language with him. Zentos turns to the Commander and reports that intruders have been seen in the jungle. The Commander is incredulous; how could intruders get in? Zentos uses a monitor device to try to track them down as Mellium, who has overheard, asks her father how this could be possible. Zentos completes his work at the controls and an image of Steven, the Doctor and Dodo appear on the large screen at the back of the room. "They look like human beings," says the Commander in surprise. "But they can’t be. We accounted for everyone." "Shall we not arrest them and bring them here and question them?" asks Zentos. Suddenly, Mellium calls everyone's attention to the screen where the TARDIS is now shown. "It seems to be their spaceship," she says. "It is an unusual design." The Commander takes Zentos aside and asks if he is sure that the Monoids have nothing to do with this. "Quite sure," Zentos says. "It was they who reported it." "Good, then you’re right - they must be questioned," says the Commander. But, before Zentos can leave, he quickly adds, "But Zentos...not arrested - invited."<br />
<br />
In the jungle, Dodo has discovered what look like odd paintings on a rock, such as a zebra with two heads. (She also annoys the Doctor by using the slang word "fab" to describe them.) "Yes, we’ve already estab...er...established this place as illogical," the Doctor says. "Why shouldn’t there be animals with two heads, hmm?" "No reason at all, except that the more we see of it, the less like Earth it becomes," replies Steven. Suddenly, an alarm rings out! Steven runs a short distance away to check...but stops short as he catches sight of a group of Monoids looking at the TARDIS. He runs back and says, "You were right. It is an alarm. They’ve found the TARDIS. I can’t say I like the look of them." To keep Dodo from worrying, the Doctor suggests she go into the cave she's found first to hide. "What do they look like, dear boy?" asks the Doctor. "Terrifying!" says Steven. "If this is Earth, it’s no longer inhabited by human beings." "Shh!" says the Doctor. "You’ll frighten the child! Come on!"<br />
<br />
Inside the cave, Dodo tries to ask what the creatures pursuing them look like, but is hushed by the Doctor. She tries to ask again, but is suddenly about to sneeze...Steven covers her nose and mouth and holds her quiet as the Monoids come to the outside of the cave. After a moment, the TARDIS crew hear the creatures leave. Steven releases Dodo and says, "Bless you. Remind me never to take you out again when you’ve got a cold." The Doctor suggests they carefully return to the TARDIS. Dodo finally sneezes and Steven snaps at her to keep quiet! He then softens, as she seems to be crying, but she tells him, "No, me nose is running!" The Doctor tells them both to be quiet and they move out of the cave.<br />
<br />
Steven is leading the way, but he suddenly stops and calls to the Doctor. The Doctor arrives and looks out to where Steven is pointing. He smiles. "Why yes, of course! Yes, ha ha! I know where I am now, yes indeed!" Through the trees, the travellers can now see the futuristic buildings that make up the control area we saw earlier. Steven wonders if it could be a city or factory, but the Doctor replies, "No, no dear boy, all this is a spaceship, hmm!" Steven is shocked, but Dodo asks, "Hey Doctor? If this is a spaceship, what are they?" She points as Monoids rise out of the undergrowth. The Doctor and friends see that they are surrounded.<br />
<br />
Later, in the control room, the Commander addresses the Doctor and company in a friendly manner. "You travel in that black box?" he asks. Steven attempts to explain that they travel in space and time. "Why have you chosen to come here?" asks Zentos, suspicious. "Well, we didn’t," Steven admits. "It has a mind of its own." The Commander laughs. "Experiments to pass through the fourth dimension were undertaken in the twenty-seventh segment of time," he says. "They were unsuccessful. How can anything so crude..." Steven tells him to ask the Doctor. Despite Zentos' objection, Steven is allowed to ask, "Look, is this really a spaceship? This city and all that surrounds it?" The Commander laughs again and shows Steven a map of the Ark. He tells Steven that they, too come from Earth. "The origin of the Monoids is obscure," the Commander explains. "They came to Earth many years ago, apparently from their own planet which was dying. They offered us their invaluable services...for being allowed to come on this joint voyage." At Steven's further question, the Commander says that they are going to the planet Refusis II. "The Earth also is dying. We have left it for the last time....in a short time it will burn and be swallowed in the pull of the Sun." Manyak manipulates some controls and a picture of the Earth appears on the screen. "Then we must have journeyed forward...millions of years!" exclaims Steven in wonder. Zentos suspiciously asks if Steven and his friends really <i>are</i> human. "They could be Refusians sent here to intercept us, to sabotage our mission," he says. "We only know them as intelligence’s that inhabit that planet. They might have a way of assuming human bodies, of using them to pass, to mingle amongst us!" Rubbish! says the Doctor, leading Dodo through the crowd. Just then, she sneezes, and the Doctor uses it as evidence that they are human--complete with "the chills!" "A virus fever which used to be quite common to the human being," he explains, and the Commander says, "And cured so long ago, we’ve forgotten what it was like! Fascinating! Ah ha! It’s like history coming to life. Tell me Doctor, if you cannot direct your spacecraft, your journeys must take you to some strange places." In the background, Zentos has been signing to a Monoid, who nods and walks off. Mellium notices this and asks him what he's doing. "I wish to know more of the travellers spacecraft," he answers, saying that he knows nothing of these strangers, although her father trusts them. "He knows no more than you," Mellium says. "He simply has faith." "So have I," replies Zentos. "In my own eyes and ears, and machines tell fewer lies than men." Meanwhile, the Doctor has been telling stories of his travels, talking about Nero, the Trojan War and the Daleks. The Commander is delighted. "But all that happened in the first segment of time," he says. What segment is this? asks the Doctor. The fifty-seventh, is the answer, which astounds the Doctor. "We must have jumped at least...ten million years, hmm!" Steven asks when their journey will end and the Commander answers, "Not for a long time. Neither I, nor my daughter Mellium, nor Zentos, will ever see the planet. That pleasure is reserved for our children’s children, many years hence." Seven hundred years, he tells them. But why go that far? asks the Doctor. Only Refusis has the proper atmospheric and temperature conditions--though no one has been there, they only know via "audio space research." "Hmm, no wonder you had to bring everything. At least two of each, you suppose," says Steven. "Like the ark?" asks Dodo. But the Commander has never heard of Noah's Ark. But, he confirms, they do have all of Earth's human and animal populations. Only the few, the "Guardians" are awake. The others "are stored in trays and will re-emerge normally when we land. Each cabinet contains a million people." Realizing that there are many things the travellers will want to see, the Commander suggests Mellium show Dodo and Steven "the statue." He invites the Doctor to learn more about the control deck, which delights the Doctor to no end. The Doctor begins to quiz Manyak on how everything works. <br />
<br />
A short distance away, Mellium shows Steven and an excited Dodo what looks like a mini-building site. A Monoid backs a truck containing a block of stone up. What looks like a huge pair of feet have been built on a large stone block. Dodo asks what kind of stone this is, much to Steven's embarrassment, but Mellium explains that it is "Gragarium rock," which will last forever. She shows the plans to her new friends--a giant human holding a tiny ship, the Ark. Dodo is delighted. Suddenly, an alarm rings out! A Monoid drives one of the trucks towards the main control deck; on its back is another Monoid, lying still.<br />
<br />
Zentos runs over as the truck reaches the main area and uses sign language to find out what is wrong. "Commander, the strange disease, the fever is spreading among the Monoids!" he reports, but the Commander seems distracted, holding his head. "I can hardly hear you Zentos," he says. "It’s so hot. What’s happened to the temperature?" The Commander collapses! Zentos begins to yell, "The Commander too - he has the strange fever! The fever brought by the strangers!" Mellium rushes to her father. Zentos tells her to stay away from both the strangers and her father. "Zentos is right," the Commander tells her. "Stay away." The Doctor comes over, but Zentos tells him to keep away. "We may be able to help," he says. Dodo adds, "It’s nothing to worry about. His temperatures a bit high, that’s all. It’s just a fever. It can only be a cold." The Doctor draws Steven aside, not noticing Zentos listening in. "What’s all the fuss about?" Steven asks. "The man’s caught Dodo’s cold, that’s all." "All? All?" says the Doctor. "These people, this generation, have never experienced the common cold - for the simple reason it was wiped out many generations ago before they were born. They have no resistance to it...it might be fatal and we shall be to blame. Yes, it’s all our fault and I should have foreseen it!" Zentos seizes on this, denouncing them to the assembled Guardians with their own words. "But it wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know?" says Dodo. Suddenly, Manyak announces that the sick Monoid...is dead. Zentos orders the strangers to be seized! "All of you listen!" he yells. "The success of all we stand for, everything aboard this spaceship is suddenly endangered by the strange fever, a fever brought by these strangers in our midst!" When the Doctor tries to interrupt, Zentos continues, "I invoke the special galactic law against them. Hold them, take them into custody and later, they will be made to suffer for the crime that they have committed!" The Doctor, Steven and Dodo are taken away. Mellium turns in fear to Zentos and asks what will happen to her father. "He may well die," says Zentos quietly. "But then again, so might all of us. In which case, it was pointless leaving...."<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's...Transcripty...thingamabob<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
Sp: Spoo<br />
MS: MiniSpoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
Cz: Cz<br />
SG: SpookyGirl<br />
EG: ElfGirl<br />
<br />
<br />
Sp: They moved! The pictures moved!<br />
<br />
R: Witchcraft!<br />
<br />
Sp: Sorcery!<br />
<br />
SG: I'm going to invoke Galactic Law!<br />
<br />
Sp: Quick, to the halls of medicine!<br />
<br />
H: So, welcome to the first episode of a new story.<br />
<br />
Group: Yay!<br />
<br />
H: Where all the episodes exist. So we'll have movement for the rest of the month.<br />
<br />
Group: Yay!<br />
<br />
Sp: Goofy side note, the actress who plays the daughter, is she someone? Has she been in something else? She looked familiar.<br />
<br />
H: I don't know, but I can look it up. But my immediate comment is “Dodo, girlfriend, pick an accent!” I know the producers had a hard time making up their minds, but dude, just get there already. [NOTE: The original plan was for Jackie Lane to go for a Cockney accent, as heard in "The Massacre," but there was apparently some resistance from higher-ups because she didn't use the "standard" accent. Here she seems to be traveling from the North to the South to...somewhere... --H]<br />
<br />
R: I have to say that the costumes for the Monoids... the effect was really creepy.<br />
<br />
H: And you're fooled. At first they seem like monsters, but they're servants.<br />
<br />
R: They almost have a menacing appearance, but they don't menace.<br />
<br />
H: So, ElfGirl, this was your first <i>ever</i> Doctor Who episode. What did you think?<br />
<br />
EF: I like when Doctor Who and the guys said that the machine made it turn. It was funny when the guy said “How did you get in?”<br />
<br />
R: When they asked the Doctor how they made it on the space ship?<br />
<br />
EF: Yeah<br />
<br />
H: Did you like it?<br />
<br />
EF: Yeah.<br />
<br />
H: Did you like it Mini-Spoo?<br />
<br />
MS: Yeah. I liked all the parts. It was cool.<br />
<br />
EF: And those eye guys were really creepy.<br />
<br />
MS: My favorite part was when they were talking and the Doctor was stroking his chin like “Oh, yes, indeed.”<br />
<br />
H: Mini-Spoo is totally humoring me. He wasn't watching at all.<br />
<br />
MS: Hey, I was watching a little bit.<br />
<br />
EF: I watched ALL of it!<br />
<br />
H: This is really great! These two kids are part of the original core audience the show was intended for.<br />
<br />
Sp: I know I'm in the minority here, but this is a nice break from the historicals. I don't have the history knowledge to appreciate how well crafted the historicals are. Hey, science fiction. Space concepts!<br />
<br />
K: I agree.<br />
<br />
Sp: It was cool to see it unfold. How long before they figure out they're in a space ship? How long before they figure out they're in an ark? How long until the misunderstanding that makes them prisoners... oh there it is!<br />
<br />
R: But it does feel like it's something we've seen before, a common trope. “Oh yes, we have no diseases. Cured them thousands of years ago.... Hahaha... Oh dear.. *sniffle*... damn!”<br />
<br />
Sp: Is it just an artifact of seeing so many Reconstructions, or did they blow a lot on the sets?<br />
<br />
H: This one is a big budget. The animals for one.<br />
<br />
SG: Yeah, when the elephant came out I thought at first it was stock footage, but it was really there!<br />
<br />
K: They were like filming it in a zoo, or something. [They weren't; the elephant was actually brought into the film studio! --H]<br />
<br />
H: If you look closely, you'll see that some of it is on a big set on film, and some of it is in a studio on video. It was a huge deal that they brought in an elephant. Even now it's very unbelievable. The moment when the Doctor and the companions are petting the elephant is a magical moment in the series.<br />
<br />
Sp: They've arrived!<br />
<br />
SG: I had an issue with the costumes.<br />
<br />
Sp: The human costumes?<br />
<br />
SG: Really, ribbons and Speedos?<br />
<br />
P: In defense, weather is not really a problem.<br />
<br />
R: They spent millions of years in a giant living room.<br />
<br />
P: Bathrobes would make more sense.<br />
<br />
Sp: They should be naked, so instead they should get togas. But instead of togas they get ribbons.<br />
<br />
H: The kind of sad costumes is indicative of how sad the human characters are so far in this story. Not intentionally. The interesting things that happened had to do with the Doctor, the companions, the animals, and the Monoids. Even the evil one...<br />
<br />
Sp: The shouty guy.<br />
<br />
H: Even the shouty guy obviously wants to take this advantage to take over.<br />
<br />
R: “You will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. You will be second. You, I haven't decided yet.”<br />
<br />
Sp: “The living room, and all its elephants, will be mine!”<br />
<br />
SG: You have the hippy old guy, and then the younger one who really should be more easy going.<br />
<br />
H: You have fun grandpa and the authoritarian 30 year old.<br />
<br />
Sp: And together they fight crime.<br />
<br />
H: Well, remember they miniaturized the guy. Very simple, but effective, effect.<br />
<br />
R: I'm terrified to admit, when they were doing the court scene, I thought that the daughter would be like “Father, please do not kill the blond one! He belongs to me, papa!” And then there it was. It struck me as being so much like every radio serial that's ever been done in science fiction. Like “show me more of this earth thing you call kissing.”<br />
<br />
P: Like the plot of Cameron's Avatar.<br />
<br />
R: Yeah.<br />
<br />
H: I guess you could say that the humans are the way they are because they've been in this insular society so long, that they've become weak.<br />
<br />
Sp: With only each other, and the occasional elephant.<br />
<br />
R: “Oh Trunky, only you understand me.”<br />
<br />
K: What is it with the humans just standing around doing nothing?<br />
<br />
H: The children were playing.<br />
<br />
Sp: And the extras were extraing.<br />
<br />
H: It's not often we see children, especially so many, as extras. It was nice to see kids.<br />
<br />
SG: It was creepy that they were having the tribunal in front of the kids.<br />
<br />
H: But the children are part of the Guardians. So they have to learn.<br />
<br />
Sp: “Eat all your vegetables Timmy, or I'm gonna shrink ya!”<br />
<br />
R: “This is what happens if you don't pass your A-Levels.”<br />
<br />
Sp: The sign language, just barely this side of goofy. Just barely the correct side of goofy.<br />
<br />
H: Are you sure it was on the right side?<br />
<br />
P: I think it crossed the line into the bad side.<br />
<br />
SG: The dog paddle they kept doing was on the bad side.<br />
<br />
Sp: “Quick, strangers digging up the garden! Let's shrink them!”<br />
<br />
P: “Timmy fell down the well!”<br />
<br />
Sp: There's a well on the space ship?<br />
<br />
H: I have to agree with Photobug. They were using only 4 or 5 symbols at most, and it was pretty goofy.<br />
<br />
Sp: The Monoids are straight forward dudes. They're some kind of servant class, right?<br />
<br />
H: They came to Earth and offered themselves as servants in order to go on the great journey.<br />
<br />
SG: I think the Monoids might be eating the shrunken people. I think there's something suspicious about those guys.<br />
<br />
Sp: They do have millions of people. It's doubtful anyone is going to notice if they're getting sprinkled on the ramen or something. [Note: Pun. Ramen=Raw Men. Made more sense at the time...barely! --H]<br />
<br />
H: This is a pretty straightforward episode, especially after the last story. Cz, do you have any thoughts?<br />
<br />
Cz: Moving pictures!<br />
<br />
K: Good “Rush” album, but that's not the point.<br />
<br />
Cz: I actually think I like imagining what is happening rather than seeing it.<br />
<br />
H: So you didn't like this episode?<br />
<br />
Cz: It was okay. But I didn't like the strangling moment when Steven was interrupting Dodo's sneeze. It lasted for like 20 seconds!<br />
<br />
Sp: It was a heck of a sneeze.<br />
<br />
K: It was like sexual tension on Doctor Who.<br />
<br />
H: It's interesting, because Steven is very angry about her coming along and not taking things seriously.<br />
<br />
P: But he's being replaced. The older child / younger child thing.<br />
<br />
H: I think it's because he's seen three women who he's traveled with DIE really recently.<br />
<br />
SG: Battle weary?<br />
<br />
H: Take this seriously, new kid. People die!<br />
<br />
K: Maybe only two, if Dodo is supposed to be Anne's great something something granddaughter.<br />
<br />
Sp: But he is battle scarred enough that he is trying to leave in the previous episode. So he's definitely twitchy by now. Battle fatigued.<br />
<br />
K: Actually, I think he's protecting her. And his reason for staying is to keep her from dying as well.<br />
<br />
H: And he's frustrated, and is always believing that she's going to screw things up.<br />
<br />
Sp: I can't stand her.<br />
<br />
SG: She's very annoying. I was kind of hoping she'd walk off a cliff or something. That “fools” outfit doesn't help.<br />
<br />
H: She was actually one of the actresses who was originally cast for Susan, but she originally turned it down. She apparently wasn't ready to be in a long term series. Thankfully Carole Ann Ford stepped in, and was pretty awesome.<br />
<br />
K: And thank god it was Carole Ann Ford who actually played Susan and not the actress who played Dodo.<br />
<br />
P: Hey, she said “fab” and the Doctor corrected her English.<br />
<br />
H: We've never had a companion who was “hip” before.<br />
<br />
P: Are they trying to get more kids to watch the show?<br />
<br />
H: It was intended to be a family show and appeal towards the entire family.<br />
<br />
Sp: Hence the elephants.<br />
<br />
H: And yes, and elephants who might be tuning in as well.<br />
<br />
Sp: “Hello, Roger.”<br />
<br />
R: <in silly French accent> “It is the National Science Fiction show of the Kingdom of Babar!”<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
SG: I definitely liked it. I agree with Spoo, that I prefer the stories that are more sci-fi than Historical. The historicals are well done, but I don't enjoy them as much. I watch Who for sci-fi. And I secretly think those Monoid dudes are evil, and I want to see where it goes.<br />
<br />
Sp: From attacked by the common cold, to arc in space, they packed a lot into the episode. They didn't belabor the point of “are we in a zoo or what?” that contributed to a good pace.<br />
<br />
H: Not like the Space Museum.<br />
<br />
Sp: Yes.<br />
<br />
P: One, no music.<br />
<br />
H: I think some of those weird sounds we heard were intended to be incidental music.<br />
<br />
Sp: You're right, no real music.<br />
<br />
P: Two, they're failing as a Utopian society. Everyone who's bad gets shrunk and gets to wake up on the planet.<br />
<br />
Sp: Miniaturize our criminals, and then when we get to Australia.<br />
<br />
R: Your punishment is forty acres and a mule!<br />
<br />
P: Three, total Doctor gaffe early in the show.<br />
<br />
Sp: There were a couple of Billy Fluffs.<br />
<br />
P: Steven filled in for him on that one.<br />
<br />
H: There was one where the Doctor corrected himself, but yes.<br />
<br />
P: Four... apparently only one vehicle on the ship.<br />
<br />
SG: The most annoying alarm ever.<br />
<br />
P: Oh my god, I almost wanted to stop the DVD.<br />
<br />
Sp: Maybe they could miniaturize the alarm to be more amusing?<br />
<br />
P: Five, I guess they miniaturized the food? Because only the carnivores aren't going to starve to death.<br />
<br />
H: That's a good point. Although the elephant appeared to be eating something.<br />
<br />
SG: Why wouldn't they miniaturize the elephant?<br />
<br />
Sp: They need enough plants and animals to feed everyone and teach the next generation about the animals and plants. It's food and a zoo. It's awesome!<br />
<br />
R: It's zood!<br />
<br />
Sp: “Let's go to the owl exhibit.” “That owl show was great! What's for dinner?” “Owl.”<br />
<br />
P: If we look at this as not the scientific eye, it was a good show. Also, Dodo not so “smarto.”<br />
<br />
H: I can understand having a nickname if your name is Dorothea, but using Dodo?<br />
<br />
Cz: Let's call her D-Dizzle from now on.<br />
<br />
K: Oh yeah, because it's SO MUCH easier to type that then Dodo. No.<br />
<br />
P: I think there was a lot that wasn't covered on this episode, but there you go.<br />
<br />
Sp: It's a four episode story. There's room for more.<br />
<br />
P: But to me, it's so obvious that you're making a planet of criminals.<br />
<br />
H: But the criminals are the minority of the shrunk people.<br />
<br />
P: But, even if it's every once in a while they're shrinking someone, they're slowly filling up the shrunk people with the bad people.<br />
<br />
H: But they shrank the entire population of earth before they left, so most of the people stored are from the original population.<br />
<br />
P: Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're bad. Think of a sine wave, where you stop every one of those when you're bad. Take someone out... oh he's bad now, put him back in the pool. They take people out, and only put the bad ones back.<br />
<br />
H: I think the Guardians are born, not taken out of storage.<br />
<br />
SG: But he's being punished for not repairing a machine. Is that really bad?<br />
<br />
H: He forgot to clean a chicken soup dispenser, so everyone might die.<br />
<br />
SG: And he was shrunk for that. Maybe they are having to bring people out every so often. If a minimal crime gets you shrunk, they wouldn't be able to have kids fast enough to replace them. So they probably have to replace the population with shrunk people a lot.<br />
<br />
Sp: All of these are very good points. And they all assume that the characters are telling the truth.<br />
<br />
R: Rashamon-oid. Let's see, I agree with a lot of what was said earlier. Although we were not attacked by the soundtrack, I guess it got killed off in the last episode, but it's cousin, the CLOSE UP, would jump out at people. And someone just standing there would get zoomed in. “I'm just standing here!” Also, I'm not sure if I heard this, but during the “everybody hide in the caves so Steven can spoon with Dodo” bit, was I mistaken in thinking I heard the sound of apparently the Monoids going by saying “muh muh muh?”<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, I heard that. They didn't make any other noise in the episode, their was a sound there.<br />
<br />
SG: I think there's a mouth hiding under all the hair.<br />
<br />
H: They're Beatles hair-cuts.<br />
<br />
K: I was disturbed by the zipper in the Monoid suit the first time we see one.<br />
<br />
SG: Yes! I think they could have done a better job. They must have spent all of their time trying to get the eye in the mouth thing to look right.<br />
<br />
K: I've seen this one, and I remember it, so I can't say much.<br />
<br />
H: Just think about this episode specifically.<br />
<br />
K: I like the foreshadowing about the thing I can't say. Subtler than I remember. And the stationary crowd bugged me. Why are they just standing there all day?<br />
<br />
Sp: Maybe they were thinking about the Monoids.... If a Monoid needs to get corrective lenses, does he need to go to an optometrist or a dentist. I'd stand around thinking about that all day. Ever see a monocle with a chin strap?<br />
<br />
R: “There's an emergency happening, and I don't have my Xanax. Arrest them!”<br />
<br />
Sp: Shouty guy (Zentos) seemed to be a little crazy and hyper.<br />
<br />
R: The old guy (the Commander) had all the Xanax that the shouty guy should have had. And I think this was the “B-Ark.”<br />
<br />
H: With all the telephone sanitizers and account executives?<br />
<br />
K: Douglas Adams doesn't write for Doctor Who for a while yet, but maybe this is where he got one of his ideas?<br />
<br />
H: As I said earlier, I think this is one of the first Hartnell stories I ever saw. I have good memories of it, but I haven't seen it for many years. I think it's interesting how much my mind cuts to the chase and how I didn't remember how leisurely the pace of the setup of this episode was.<br />
<br />
K: I agree.<br />
<br />
H: But it works well. This episode isn't about building tension, but about building interest. The science fiction concepts themselves are fun and interesting.<br />
<br />
R: Like a lot of the classic Trek episodes.<br />
<br />
H: Mainly what I have to say is that the episode is not exactly like I remembered it, but I was really quite pleased with how it went.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Whew! And there you have the first post in this new story! I promise to try to have the next episode's post up by next week at this time. Really! (And it all works out, because we'd planned on taking this Friday off anyway...so perhaps I'll catch up.) Once again, my apologies for how sporadic the posting's been; I'll try to make sure this doesn't happen too often! So, until next week (give or take a day), I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT WEEK: "THE PLAGUE"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-502322841657023432011-05-15T18:45:00.000-07:002011-05-15T18:45:02.466-07:00"The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve" wrapupHello everyone, the Historian here. As some of you may know, Blogger was down for a good deal of time during the latter half of this week. Unfortunately, this (and my day job) has thrown my posting schedule a bit out the window. So, here's the "Massacre" wrapup post. The new episode post will be up sometime later this week.<br />
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I've read many reviews over the years referring to "The Massacre" as the "best Hartnell story" and such-like. And, while I'm not sure I quite agree (as we've discovered over the course of the Project, there are plenty of great Hartnell stories), this one is definitely high on the list. It's also unique in that the Doctor himself is very much tangential to the action; as we've talked about in the episode discussions, this is very much the companion's story. It is Steven who has the adventure while the Doctor is off doing...whatever it is he's doing. Apparently, the Doctor was far more involved in the action in John Lucarotti's original scripts, but Donald Tosh's extensive rewrites put the show's central character off screen. <br />
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It's a gamble, for sure. In fact, in our discussion, the Project team identified the Doctor popping up out of nowhere as a bit of a coot ex machina. On the other hand, though, we are gifted with the suspense of not knowing whether the Doctor is the Abbot, what he's playing at, etc., etc. And when the Doctor does pop up, finds out when they are and immediately tells Steven that they have to leave...well, that's pretty powerful. The Doctor, realizing what is about to happen, actually seems <i>scared</i>. How bad must things be about to get to make the Doctor afraid? If the Doctor had been more front and center, all of these points would have been lost.<br />
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And, as importantly, we would have been denied Peter Purves' performance as Steven, front and center in the action. This is the first time since Ian and Barbara left that a companion has taken so much of the main role in a story, and Steven does a fine job. He's certainly helped by the obscurity (for us, anyway) of the historical event--he doesn't know what's going to happen and neither do we, so his discoveries are ours as well. As are his fears, for his new friends and especially for the Doctor. Of course, we know that the Doctor can't be dead, but up until that moment, the moment Steven sees the body, we have no reason to not think that the Doctor is the Abbot. It's not the Doctor's apparent masquerade that makes this story work, though; it's Steven's attempts to navigate his way through the quagmire he finds himself in that makes the first three or so parts of this story work so well.<br />
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Something that we overlooked, but that should be mentioned here, is how this story proves how good an actor William Hartnell is. We equate Hartnell's character of the Doctor with his own personality so much, we forget that is it--a character. Acting. But the contrast of his Abbot of Amboise--no laughing, no Billy-fluffs, but a cold, hard and frightening character--shows us just how wonderful a <i>character</i> William Hartnell has built his Doctor into.<br />
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The story itself is a journey through the cloak and dagger moments leading up to the great massacre of Huguenots in France in 1572. As I've mentioned, many of the events and characters in this story are real historical figures. As such, I thought I'd add a few relevant Wikipedia links:<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bartholomew%27s_Day_Massacre">The Massacre itself</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_de_Coligny">Admiral de Coligny</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_de_Saulx">The Marshal Tavannes</a><br />
<a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Louviers">The probable identity of Bondot, the assassin</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IX_of_France">King Charles</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici">Catherine di Medici, the Queen Mother</a><br />
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Of course, when most fans talk about "The Massacre," they tend to focus on the last ten minutes or so of episode four. Steven's angry accusations and the Doctor's soliloquy loom large in both the memories and the myth of this lost story, as they should. As I said in the episode post, it's like we finally have a philosophy for the show. It's almost like we have a mission statement for both the companions (there's only so far they can go, so much they can understand) and the Doctor himself. It's a powerful moment and a fitting one to end Donald Tosh's somewhat troubled tenure as Doctor Who's story editor. The reason he was able to be credited as a co-writer on the last episode is that he was no longer a member of the production team, although he did have a hand in a few of the stories that followed. But, as of episode four of "The Massacre," Gerry Davis joins the team as story editor. Remember that name, fans!<br />
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Finally, I'm not sure whether to make a big deal of this, but I thought it should be mentioned that this is the first Doctor Who story to be directed by a woman, Paddy Russell. She does a fine job, insofar as we can tell from the reconstruction. <br />
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All right, all right, enough of me. Here's the episode links:<br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/04/war-of-god.html">"War of God"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/04/sea-beggar.html">"The Sea Beggar"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/05/priest-of-death.html">"Priest of Death"</a><br />
<a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/05/bell-of-doom.html">"Bell of Doom"</a><br />
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And, as usual, here's the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/massacre/">BBC episode guide link</a> as well as a link to <a href="http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/w.html">all the production inside information</a> from Shannon Sullivan. (I very much recommend the latter for a great insight on the writing of the story.) And, if you're at all intrigued by this story, I'd urge you to go to the <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon</a> page and get yourself a copy of the reconstruction. You'll be glad you did.<br />
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So, we have a new girl in the TARDIS--Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet--and a new adventure coming! The first episode post will be coming later this week, keep an eye out for it! Until then, I remain<br />
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THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-41117271635863893452011-05-08T23:00:00.000-07:002011-05-08T23:00:06.986-07:00"Bell of Doom"Hello everyone, the Historian here with the final episode in this historical story. Joining me this week were Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother, Photobug and Cz. Big climax this week, so let's get to the summary!<br />
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Episode summary: First aired 26 February 1966. In Preslin's shop, Anne is awakened by a pounding on the door. At first, she tries to hide, but then she hears Steven's voice asking her to let him in. She let him in, relieved that the guards hadn't caught him the night before. Steven tells her they nearly did; he'd hid after the curfew bell. He tells her that, although he'd gotten a warning to Nicholas, it came too late. Anne asks Steven whether he will go back to his friend, the Doctor. Steven tells her sadly that he can't; the Doctor is dead. She is shocked, but Steven confirms, "I saw his body lying in the street by the Abbot's house. Before I could do anything Roger Colbert saw me and sent the guards after me again. Heaven knows what I'll do now." Will he go back to England, Anne asks, but Steven says he must find the key to the TARDIS. He explains that without it, he can't leave, but he doesn't know where it is. "If the Doctor had it with him then I'm lost," he says. Steven decides that searching the shop again is their best bet. The two begin to search.<br />
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In the Louvre, Simon is reporting to Marshal Tavannes. They are discussing the king's reaction to Admiral de Teligny's shooting. "But by blaming the death of the Abbot on the Huguenots we may be able to cover our tracks," says the Marshal. Simon asks if the king is paying attention to the Abbot's death, but Tavannes isn't sure. "Fortunately the Admiral himself is helping us," he says. "He doesn't want the inquiry yet so that may give us a little time." "Therefore the Englishman must be caught," says Simon. And killed, confirms the Marshal. "He must be found tonight," he says. "Tomorrow is St. Bartholomew's Day and it will be all too easy for him to evade us in the revelry." There is a knock on the door and a messenger hands Tavannes a note. "The Queen Mother," he says. "She commands me to go to her. No doubt she has thought of some further scheme to protect her good name." He turns to Simon and tells him to wait and leaves. Simon, curious, picks up the note and begins to read.<br />
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In Prelin's shop, Steven and Anne are still searching. Steven is about to give up until Anne brings him what she's found--the Doctor's stick! But she has found no clothes. "Then why the stick?" wonders Steven. "He...he couldn't have pretended to be the Abbot dressed as he was. So he must have changed somewhere. But where?" Anne suggests he might have gone away with Preslin, but Steven says that's impossible, "Because Preslin is either dead or in prison." "He is not!" says a firm and familiar voice behind them. Steven whips around--it is the Doctor!<br />
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At the Admiral's house, Gaston has come to visit the wounded man. He is very agitated, trying to convince de Coligny that he is in great danger; the Catholics want him dead. The Admiral tells his young colleague that he is too impetuous and Teligny (who is there as well, along with Nicholas) reminds Gaston that the king wants to protect de Coligny--he has even set a guard on the house. "A Catholic guard under a Catholic commander!" replies Gaston. "The Admiral could hardly be in the care of a greater enemy." "He is under the protection of the King," says Teligny, but Gaston adds, "And the Queen Mother." Nicholas suggests that Gaston return to the Louvre to attend Navarre; he is tiring the Admiral. But Gaston, still agitated, tells the Admiral it would be better for everyone if he left Paris. Nicholas says the surgeon told them de Coligny is too weak to be moved. "Then may God protect you," says Gaston and leaves. "I hope Henri of Navarre realises how dangerous it is to have such a hothead in his service," says the Admiral. Teligny is still shocked at the idea that the guards would disobey the king and turn on the Admiral. "Is there anything you need, Admiral?" asks Nicholas. "Stay with me," says his master. "We must be grateful that the wounds are not poisoned," says Teligny. "So that there is no fear of you dying." "I do fear death," says Admiral de Coligny. "I only hope that we have nothing to fear from my staying alive."<br />
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Steven has finished telling the Doctor about everything that has happened to him. "Oh, my dear boy, had you stayed at the tavern all this mix-up could have been avoided," he says. Steven snaps that he <i>did</i> wait in the tavern; the Doctor never showed up! "Yes, well, I was unavoidably delayed," admits the Doctor. "Never mind that now." He tells Steven that they must go, but Anne reminds him that the curfew bell has rung. "It'd be easy to leave Paris in the morning, monsieur," she says. "Tomorrow is St. Bartholomew's Day and everyone will be celebrating." "Huh!" says Steven. "With all the trouble that's going on I can't see what they've got to celebrate." The Doctor again wishes that Steven hadn't gotten involved, but Steven says, "Look, I tried not to but the Abbot did look like you. If I hadn't found out about Admiral de Coligny being the 'Sea Beggar' then..." The Doctor is suddenly attentive. "I tried to tell you before," Steven says. "Admiral de Coligny is one of the Huguenot leaders. The Catholics tried to shoot him." The Doctor turns to Anne and asks her if she said tomorrow was <i>St. Bartholomew's Day</i>. He then turns to Steven and asks what year this is. "I don't know," Steven says. "What difference does it make?" The Doctor turns back to Anne and asks for the date. August the twenty-third, she says. But what year? presses the Doctor. "1572, monsieur. But surely you know that?" After a moment to digest this information, the Doctor tells Anne to leave at once. But she says she has nowhere to go! He suggests she returns to the Abbot's house, but she says she can't; if she does, they will kill her! Steven tries to ask what is going on, but the Doctor ignores him, asking Anne if there is anywhere she can stay. She mentions her aunt's place, but still believes they will kill her if she goes there. The Doctor tells her to go anyway, even through the curfew. "Then you know how to avoid the patrols," the Doctor says. "You go back to your aunt; you'll be quite safe. And you take my advice and stay indoors tomorrow. Now do you understand? It's too dangerous for you to stay here. Now off you go, child." Steven again tries to break in, but the Doctor shushes him. Anne turns to Steven. "Goodbye then, Steven. Safe journey," she says and, despite Steven's doubts, she leaves. Steven turns to the Doctor. "Look, are you sure she'll be all right?" he asks. "The guards are waiting for her." "My dear Steven, the Catholics will have other things on their minds tonight," the Doctor replies. "She will be quite safe. Now then, you and I must leave Paris at once. Come!" "Look, Doctor, what is going on?" asks Steven. "There is no time for me to explain," says the Doctor. "Come along, boy. Come along!"<br />
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In the Louvre, Marshal Tavannes is surprised by the Queen Mother. "I have it here," she says. "The order signed by the King. Our plans for tomorrow can go ahead." "Thank God!" says the Marshal, but Catherine answers that God had very little to do with it. Tavannes passes her a paper, telling her it is "the list." "When those Huguenots are killed we need have no further fear of a Protestant France," he says. But the Queen Mother is dismissive. "We have no need of lists, Marshal," she says. "The good people of Paris know their enemies. They will take care of them." The Marshal is shocked. "Madam, if you rouse the mob the innocent will perish with the guilty," he says. "Innocent?" asks Catherine. "Heresy can have no innocence. France will breath a pure air after tomorrow." And what about Navarre? asks Tavannes. "Tomorrow Henri of Navarre will pay for his pretensions to the Crown," she says. We cannot kill Navarre, says the Marshal firmly. "Protestant Europe will merely shed a pious tear over the death of a few thousand Huguenots," he explains. "The death of a prince will launch a Holy War." "If one Huguenot life escapes me tomorrow, we may both regret this act of mercy," says the Queen Mother. Not mercy, replies the Marshal. Policy. Catherine accedes to this logic, but tells Tavannes that <i>he</i> is in charge of getting Henri out of Paris. "And, Marshall," she adds before she leaves, "Close the gates of the city now." After a moment, Simon enters. "The order has been given," Tavannes tells him. "You may begin." An excited Simon asks for the list, but the Marshal says, "We are to unleash the wolves of Paris. None are to be spared." Simon has the excitement of a fanatic, believing that this is good news. The Marshal tells Simon he has a special task: Henri of Navarre. "I am to have the honour?" Simon asks. "Yes," says Tavannes. "But not of killing him. You will escort him out of Paris." Simon is unhappy, but the Marshal is disgusted with his subordinate's fanaticism. "Did you not hear me?" he snaps. "You will be responsible for his safety. You will have to leave tomorrow's work to others. Now get out." Simon leaves and the Marshal sits, wondering what he has set in motion. At dawn tomorrow, this city will weep tears of blood," he says...<br />
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Outside of de Coligny's house, two guards are complaining to each other about having to guard the Huguenot. Just out of sight, Steven and the Doctor wait, realizing they must get past the guards to get to the gate behind which sits the TARDIS. Suddenly, a troop of guards come up to the two who are waiting. An officer tells the two guards they are relieved. The two guards leave just as the Tocsin bell, indicating the end of the curfew. The Doctor and Steven manage to run past as the guards begin to hammer on de Coligny's door. "Open up! In the King's name! Open this door!" the officer calls...<br />
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The TARDIS dematerializes as the mob begins to boil over...the great Massacre has begun as various scenes of horror appear...<br />
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In the TARDIS control room, Steven and the Doctor stand in silence, a silence Steven finally breaks. "Surely there was something we could have done?" he asks. "No, nothing," says the Doctor sadly. "Nothing. In any case, I cannot change the course of history, you know that. The Massacre continued for several days in Paris, then...then spread itself to other parts of France. Oh the senseless waste. What a terrible page of the past." Steven asks if everyone died. "Yes. Most of them. About ten thousand in Paris alone." The Admiral? "Yes," says the Doctor. Nicholas? "Probably," says the Doctor, almost in a whisper. "You had to leave Anne Chaplet, there to die!" Steven says. The Doctor is at a loss. "The girl! The girl who was with me! If you'd brought her with us she needn't have died. But no, you had to leave her there to be slaughtered," Steven yells. "Well, it is possible of course she didn't die, then I was right to leave her," the Doctor says, somewhat lamely. "Possible!" snaps Steven. "Look, how possible! That girl was already hunted by the Catholic guards. If they killed ten thousand how did they spare her? No, you don't know, do you? You can't say for certain that you weren't responsible for that girl's death." "I was not responsible," insists the Doctor. "Oh no!" responds Steven. "You just sent her back to her aunt's house where the guards were waiting to catch her. I tell you this much, Doctor, wherever this machine of yours lands next I'm getting off. If your... 'researches' have so little regard for human life then I want no part of it." An awkward silence falls between the two men. And then the control console stops moving. "We've landed," the Doctor says, and asks his friend if his mind is really made up. Steven looks at the control console, checking to make sure the atmosphere is safe. He activates the scanner and sees a pastoral scene. He opens the TARDIS doors. Before he can leave, the Doctor says, "My dear Steven, history sometimes gives us a terrible shock. That is because we don't quite fully understand. Why should we? After all, we're all too small to realise its final pattern. Therefore, don't try and judge it from where you stand. I was right to do as I did. Yes, that I firmly believe." Without another word, without looking back, Steven leaves the TARDIS. The Doctor is alone, totally alone for the first time since we've known him. He sits in the chair. "Even after all this time he cannot understand," he says to himself. "I dare not change the course of history. Well, at least I taught him to take some precautions. He did remember to look at the scanner before he opened the doors. Now... they're all gone. All gone. None of them could understand. Not even...my little Susan...or Vicki...and yes... Barbara and Chatterton--Chesterton! They were all too impatient to get back to their own time. And now... Steven. Perhaps I should go home, back to my own planet. But I can't. <i>I can't</i>."<br />
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Outside the TARDIS, on Wimbledon Common, a teenage girl sees the "Police Box" and, passing a watching woman, runs inside to find...<br />
<br />
...The control room of the TARDIS! She stares around her and is startled when the Doctor sharply asks her who she is. Recovering, she asks where the telephone is. "Oh, pull yourself together, child," the Doctor says. "I... I think you've made a mistake." She asks him if he is the police. The Doctor is amused at the thought. "Well, this is a police box," she says. "It says so outside." "Yes, yes. I, I know," he says. "But it isn't, if you know what I mean. Now run along and find another police box. In any case, child, what do you want to do with the police?" "There's been an accident. A little boy's been hurt and I've got to phone the police," she says. The Doctor tells her he can't help her and suggests she find another police box. Suddenly, the girl really seems to see her surroundings. "Wait a minute, if this isn't a police box, what is it?" she asks. "And who are you?" "Well, my dear, er, I'm a doctor of science, and this machine is for travelling through time and relative dimensions in space," he tells her, and tries to get her to leave. "There's something odd going on..." she says. Suddenly, Steven runs into the ship, telling the Doctor they have to take off. "Oh, so you've come back, my boy!" says the Doctor delightedly. Steven says yes, but there isn't time--two policemen are coming towards the TARDIS! "Policemen?" says the Doctor. "Coming here? Good gracious me! They'll want to use the telephone or, or something like it." He closes the doors and dematerializes the ship, then turns to Steven and asks the astronaut why he came back. Before Steven can answer, he notices the girl. "How did you get in here?" he asks. "On me feet, the same as you did," she replies. "Look, do you realise what's happening?" Steven asks. "We've taken off! We could land anywhere!" The girl sounds more excited than frightened, even when Steven explains, "We're travelling in time and space. We're not on Earth any more. We could land anywhere in any age." She laughs, disbelieving. Steven turns to the Doctor. "Doctor, how could you?" he asks. "What else could I do, dear boy?" says the Doctor. "You don't want a couple of policemen aboard the TARDIS do you? You know you're the most inconsistent young man? Just now you were telling me off for not having that Chaplet girl aboard!" This is different, insists Steven, and tells the girl this "isn't a joyride." The girl doesn't care; she tells them she has no parents and lives with a great-aunt who "won't care if she never sees me again." The Doctor is delighted. "Don't you think she looks rather like my grandchild Susan?" he asks, but Steven reminds the Doctor that he never met Susan. "Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor says. "No, of course not! No. Yes, but she does you know." He asks the girl her name, and both he and Steven are a little surprised when she replies, "Dodo." "It's Dorothea really," she explains. "Dorothea Chaplet." Steven is astonished. "Chaplet?" he gasps. "Yes, but you're not French are you?" "Don't be daft!" Dodo says. "Me granddad was though." Steven turns to the Doctor. "Doctor, it's not possible is it?" he asks. "Chaplet? Anne's great great..." The Doctor smiles. "Yes, yes, it is possible, my boy," he says. "Very possible. Welcome aboard the TARDIS, Miss Dorothea Chaplet." "Dodo!" she corrects him. "Ah, my dear! My dear!" says the Doctor and he laughs in delight....<br />
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---<br />
WHEW!<br />
<br />
Ketina's VERY Paraphasey Transcript Thing<br />
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H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
S: Spoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
C: Cz<br />
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H: So, Massacre, huh?<br />
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S: Massacre, I didn’t even know her! Well, it sure didn’t take long for things to go downhill.<br />
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H: Plot wise or story wise?<br />
Sp: Not quality wise. Downwards into the gaping maw of history.<br />
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M: Story wise it seemed like a cop out. Oh, we’ve got to go. Now!<br />
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S: As opposed to parking on a hill and eating some popcorn?<br />
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H: As opposed to "The Fires of Pompeii"?<br />
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M: The disappointing part was the way they go to the climax of the story, the Doctor pops out with no explanation, and then they just pop off.<br />
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H: Obviously the Doctor set up some kind of plan with Preslin. Yet we never go the pay off. They’d written themselves into a corner, because they couldn’t have really done anything during the actual massacre.<br />
<br />
S: And that’s kind of the point.<br />
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H: The Doctor can’t change history, and as he says it’s difficult to understand why things happen, even he can’t see the full scope of history.<br />
<br />
M: Yet, anyway.<br />
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S: Spoilers!<br />
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H: Sweetie…<br />
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Sc: I thought the Doctor’s monologue at the end was revealing. It’s the first time I remember them saying he’s from another planet.<br />
<br />
H: They did say that in the first episode, but this is the first time we see him completely alone.<br />
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Sc: And it’s interesting that he says that he doesn’t <i>dare</i> change history, not that he <i>can’t</i> change history.<br />
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M: And he talks about how he can’t go back to his home planet. It’s the first time we see the private thoughts of the Doctor. He’s more than just a doddering old man.<br />
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H: It lays out the whole philosophical part of the Doctor and the show here.<br />
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P: It lays a giant seed here. It shows that he really does need the companions. It’s not an optional thing. And it lays out that there is a moral dilemma going on with him that we hadn’t seen until now, and he lays it out in one go that he really feels the burden of history. This is really the ah-ha moment to me.<br />
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S: Which is why it really works story wise for the Doctor to just up and leave the moment that he understands the date. When he knows the massacre is the next day, he has to avoid the avalanche and up and leave. Anything he was doing off screen for the last two days is just gone. Drop and run.<br />
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H: And get Steven out.<br />
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M: Steven was pissed off that he abandoned Anne. But as far as the Doctor’s concerned, Anne’s fate was sealed. But if Steven died that would be all the Doctor’s fault.<br />
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S: All of that makes the Doctor a more interesting hero.<br />
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H: The companions who he has had a choice with – Vicki and Steven, were both people in situations he knew there wouldn’t be repercussions for taking them into the TARDIS. Katarina, who he didn't have a choice about, died, and likely would have died in Troy. Ian and Barbara, he returned home. It was telling that the Doctor went off with Dodo because he had to, but also he noted that she looked like his granddaughter. That’s interesting and shows that, like Vicki, he really sees her as sort of a "granddaughter substitute;" something that really continues through the history of the series.<br />
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S: The companions were rather interchangeable here. “This cat looked like our old cat! Let’s keep her.”<br />
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P: He’s got granddaughter time complex.<br />
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H: He wants someone to take care of.<br />
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Sc: I kind of have a problem with the Doctor… not that he’s against altering the course of history, but altering history in the past. In the future he can run around killing Daleks. But from about Rome to the present day he can’t alter history.<br />
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P: He’s careful about altering the history of Earth. But it’s important to him to prevent outside forces from interfering.<br />
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H: There are two historical story types. The first type, as in "The Aztecs", he tries to keep history from being changed. The second type is where the Doctor becomes the agent of history, like in "The Romans" where he accidentally gives Nero the idea to burn Rome, and in "The Myth Makers" where he gives them the idea of the Trojan Horse. He is what brings history about. But so far we haven’t seen him intentionally try to change history.<br />
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M: Basically he changes it by accident when he doesn’t know the history, or avoids changing it when he does.<br />
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Sc: What about the future episodes where he is involved doing stuff? From this Doctor Who I’m seeing an inconsistency.<br />
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M: The Daleks may not be part of his history. Might be in his future.<br />
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P: It’s the arrogance of the Time Lords.<br />
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H: The idea of the Time Lords hasn’t been introduced yet, though. But we can talk about the difference between the Doctor and the Monk.<br />
<br />
S: It’s about intention. How comfortable he is. He’s doing what he can, and he understands the time of the Daleks better. It’s a stretch.<br />
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Sc: That’s sort of what I’m saying. We can come up with explanations, but there’s an inconsistency in the story.<br />
<br />
M: It’s not an inconsistency if it’s not his history.<br />
<br />
H: In the historicals he tried not to change history. In the science fiction stories it doesn’t matter.<br />
<br />
S: That’s cheating, Historian.<br />
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P: What was the “Chatterton” bit?<br />
<br />
H: He always gets Ian Chesterton’s name wrong. It started as a “Billy Fluff” but it became a running gag.<br />
<br />
K: It didn’t look like a fluff this time.<br />
<br />
H: He might have done it on purpose.<br />
<br />
R: Chatterton really summed up a lot of the Doctor’s feeling about Ian. That was nice.<br />
<br />
H: That final speech is just amazing.<br />
<br />
M: I think that’s a little of Hartnell missing…<br />
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S: Better actors?<br />
<br />
H: William Russell. But it was made clear that William Hartnell did miss the original cast and crew. He was upset that they left. From what everybody says, he did not deal well with change.<br />
<br />
P: Neither would I be at that age.<br />
<br />
H: Actually, he was only 55 when he took the role.<br />
<br />
P: He looks older. Was he wearing makeup?<br />
<br />
H: Just the wig.<br />
<br />
S: I thought the dialogue, before everybody died, was really cool. As things rushed into the massacre, it was impressive. “You don’t need a list. Just set everybody on fire!”<br />
<br />
M: It sure made Catherine Di Medici very, very evil.<br />
<br />
H: The interesting question that this doesn’t address is how did she persuade the king to sign the order?<br />
<br />
M: She sat on him.<br />
<br />
P: She nagged him until he did it. My point was that this is probably fulfilling the kid’s education aspect of the show more than anything else. I think it’s pretty powerful in this story line.<br />
<br />
Sc: The actual massacre we saw was these gruesome woodcut things. Is that was they showed in the original episode, or was that the recon?<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, that is what they showed. I knew that kind of thing was coming, but I didn’t realize it would be as graphic as it was.<br />
<br />
Sc: Would they have had problems getting that past the censors?<br />
<br />
H: I’m pretty sure that the woodcuts were part of the original plan. It’s more effective and a lot cheaper.<br />
<br />
Sc: It’s interesting that it could get past the censors, but real pictures of that sort of violence certainly would not have.<br />
<br />
H: Historical documents.<br />
<br />
R: And it’s for the kiddies.<br />
<br />
C: I got nothing to say. Yes, I did enjoy it. But no comment!<br />
<br />
H: Okay then. How about the Doctor leaving Anne? The Doctor had no idea who she was…<br />
<br />
P: Who was she? Historically?<br />
<br />
H: She’s a fictional character. But I can totally understand why Steven just thought it was stone cold to leave her.<br />
<br />
R: But I can see the Doctor pointing out that the last one [Historical companion, that is...] we had went so well…<br />
<br />
H: Well, at least Anne knows what a key is.<br />
<br />
M: The last time the Doctor rescued someone from a massacre it didn’t turn out so well for the person they rescued.<br />
<br />
P: Okay, but look at it from Katarina’s view point. Before she died, she got to travel with a god!<br />
<br />
H: True. But getting back to Anne for a second, at least the Doctor told her to “Stay indoors tomorrow! Don’t go out!” So it’s not like he abandoned her completely.<br />
<br />
S: But he did meddle. Because then she produced a Dodo eventually.<br />
<br />
H: When Steven asked if she died, the Doctor said probably. But, if Dodo’s last name is Chaplet, what does it say if Anne had a child. Why wouldn’t Anne’s child have her father’s name?<br />
<br />
K: Who’s the dad?<br />
<br />
H: The implication is that Anne had a bastard child, not that the father of the child was someone specific. Dodo’s cockney accent is awful.<br />
<br />
M: Certainly in her initial appearance, Dodo lives up to her name.<br />
<br />
H: Jackie Lane is so abused!<br />
<br />
S: Flashing some very British teeth there. [In one of the stills used in the recon, Ms. Lane's smile is...not the best.]<br />
<br />
R: And classic Steven slack jawed look.<br />
<br />
H: So, final thoughts?<br />
<br />
S: Slow to start, but ended up being pretty gripping, profound, insightful, and fun.<br />
<br />
M: The story in general was about how religion can be dangerous and how Machiavellian use can result in violence. In this era it was used as a political tool more than anything else.<br />
<br />
H: But I don’t see that from the Protestant side. We more talked about it than any actual..<br />
<br />
M: The two religious camps were synonymous with political camps at this point in history. The founding of the Church of England was a political act.<br />
<br />
R: And the king wanting to get in someone’s pants.<br />
<br />
H: There was a real religious reason for the Church of England too. [MisterMother and I began an argument about the English Reformation, but let's leave that.] But anyway, we’re going off topic here.<br />
<br />
M: Anyway, as I said earlier, Dodo sure does live up to her name.<br />
<br />
P: It’s a deep well to dive into religion. Call it brave, if you will. I thought the story was slow in points this episode especially. It was uncaffeinated actors.<br />
<br />
S: Works for me.<br />
<br />
P: We haven’t heard music.<br />
<br />
K: There was music in the woodcuts scene.<br />
<br />
R: The kettledrum that’s showed up so much.<br />
<br />
P: I also thought that the royalty aspect laid out the evil of the situation. That insight shaped the perception for me.<br />
<br />
R: “What of the innocent?” “What of them?” “Okay then…”<br />
<br />
Sc: I think this episode was about the Doctor, and I was surprised that he left Anne behind. That was a mean thing. And the actual massacre was just something that happened in the background. That’s what I thought was going on. But I liked this arc, although I knew the historical background, which made it more interesting.<br />
<br />
R: I had various witty comments at the start which fled when I became engrossed in the story. I thought it worked very well, I liked the Doctor’s speech a lot. And I was impressed with the woodcuts. Lots of little British kids watching the TV with their minds blown. Cannot un-see that! That would have made an impression if I saw it when I was a kid.<br />
<br />
K: History was boring.<br />
<br />
H: Did it finally start working for you at all?<br />
<br />
K: I did like the Doctor’s speech, Steven’s rant and march out of the TARDIS… I couldn’t remember if he was in the next story, so I wasn’t sure if he was coming back.<br />
<br />
S: It was a mild cheat that he came back. That was a good exit.<br />
<br />
R: But it worked. He took a principled stand, but he’s loyal to the Doctor. He’s angry, but he recognized the good things that the Doctor had done, and he was still his friend.<br />
<br />
S: I like Steven the hothead better.<br />
<br />
K: I agree with Spoo. I think most of the time Steven is an idiot. And it was cool to see him badass, even for only 30 seconds. Dodo is random.<br />
<br />
P: As someone who didn’t know what’s next, I was under the impression that she wasn’t saying. I thought she was too simple for the Doctor.<br />
<br />
S: Not too simple for the vacuum of space! “Quick test lass, use this key, ere not the inside of this TARDIS you see.”<br />
<br />
H: Well, I’m going to have a wrap up post, so I won't say too much here. But this episode gave us, which we haven’t had so much before, was a philosophy for the show. Both from the companion or Steven’s point of view, and the Doctor’s point of view.<br />
<br />
K: Steven’s stuff reminded me a lot of Ian’s stuff too.<br />
<br />
H: It gives you a bigger scope of not just history. For the first time you see the scope of the companion and the Doctor, which made it really interesting. The Doctor understands the responsibility, but a human can’t. This story lived up to the high expectations I had for it. I’d been waiting to see this last episode because of the two speeches, and they did not disappoint.<br />
<br />
K: Too bad they had to follow the speeches with the horrible Dodo scene.<br />
<br />
Sp: *singing* Doe, doe, doe-doe, doe…<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And there you have it, "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve." I hope I've been able to give you some idea of the story in my summaries, but I'd very much recommend visiting <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> and finding out how to get a copy of the recon to watch yourself. I'll have a lot more to say in my wrapup post, but for now I'll just say that I'm looking forward to seeing some <i>moving pictures</i> next week! Yes, a complete story! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT WEEK: "THE STEEL SKY"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-80758303374268041892011-05-03T21:04:00.000-07:002011-05-03T21:04:28.100-07:00"Priest of Death"Hello everyone, the Historian here. This week, we had a full house of myself, Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MiniSpoo, MisterMother, Photobug and Cz. (Talk about a crowded room!) As I've mentioned before, this story hinges on conversation and intrigue, which makes it very hard to convey the atmosphere and full meanings in a summary...but I'll give it a try. So, let's get to the summary!<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 19 February 1966. In Preslin's shop, Steven is awakened by a noise that turns out to be Anne hunting around for something to eat. She tells him that it is dawn and the curfew has been lifted. "And the 'Sea Beggar' dies today," says Steven. Will they leave Paris? asks Anne. Steven gently tells her that no, he must go to the Abbot's house. Despite Anne's fearful pleas, Steven is firm; he believes that the Doctor is masquerading as the Abbot of Amboise and that the Doctor will know who "the Sea Beggar" is. Anne warns him that someone will recognize him, and Steven agrees, looking around and finding a cloak in the shop. Anne finds a hat, and Steven decides he won't be recognized with this disguise.<br />
<br />
In the Louvre, a council meeting is in session. In attendance is Admiral de Coligny, Marshal Tavannes, and another councilor named Teligny. They are in attendance to King Charles IX and the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici. The Admiral is arguing in favor of France intervening in the Dutch attempt to break away from the Spanish empire--on the side of the Protestant Dutch. His current argument is a war will unite the population, regardless of their religious divisions. Tavannes counters that he thought the marriage of the Protestant Henri of Navarre and the king's sister was meant to accomplish this. "For how long?" says the Admiral. "As I have pointed out, frequently, in this chamber, it would take but one small incident and the whole of Paris could be in uproar." Charles seems to be swayed by the Admiral's argument, but the Marshal claims that France cannot afford a war now. "So we are told frequently by our mother," says the king, looking at the silent Queen Mother. The Marshal continues, saying the religious wars in France have left the country without money. But, says Teligny (who has not spoken up until now), does not the treaty of Loire say that England would come to France's assistance in this case? Jokingly, the king says he is glad to hear a different voice than the Marshal or the Admiral. So, he continues, Elizabeth has agreed to help? "Does anyone here trust her?" asks Tavannes. "She breaks more promises than she keeps." She has no love for Spain, counters the Admiral. "She has yet to come out into the open and say so," says the Marshal. "However, if Your Majesty is so eager to fight this war, perhaps we could raise the money by leasing the Alpine hunting grounds to Italy?" The king accuses the Marshal of mocking him and declares he will sell no French land. "There is enough money in France to finance the war," says the de Coligny. "Enough of this war. I am bored with Spain," says Charles, who gets upset when the Admiral tries to press him on the subject. "If the King refuses to make war, may it please God that another war will not be forced on him, which it would not be easy to renounce," says the Admiral.<br />
<br />
In Preslin's shop, Steven is about to leave. Anne is refusing to stay alone and is still trying to convince him not to go to the Abbot's house. Steven says if she won't stay there, she must go with him. "Now look, I'm almost certain that my friend is pretending to be the Abbot. Now he'll make sure that no harm comes to you," he says. Finally, she agrees. Thinking a moment, Steven says that if they have to run and get split up, they should meet back at Preslin's shop. Anne agrees and they leave the shop.<br />
<br />
Back at the Louvre, the argument has moved on to the grievances of the Huguenots. "The treaty drawn up by the Queen Mother to conclude the religious difficulties of the country was generous in the extreme to the 'free thinkers,'" says Tavannes, but the Admiral is not convinced. "Words were spoken," he says. "Signatures were exchanged. But they did not prevent many acts against the Huguenots." The Marshal, aghast, asks if de Coligny doubts the promises of the Queen Mother. "It is easy to promise," says the Admiral. "You speak treason!" yells the Marshal. The king has had enough, leaping out of his chair and yelling, "Enough! Why is it not possible for our councilors to talk without quarreling?" The Admiral asks to be heard, but the king responds, "Admiral, grant me but a few days more in which to amuse myself and then I promise you, as King, that I shall make you happy and all those of your religion." The Admiral says, coldly, "Kings are recognised only by the power they wield. The Queen Mother seems to claim this power. Take care, Your Majesty, that it does not prove detrimental to yourself, and to France." The Marshal is again shocked, and the Queen Mother strides silently from the room. The king declares, "This meeting is over. Since my noble mother has seen fit to depart, let us do likewise. We need to get on with the Feast of St. Bartholomew, so until the day after tomorrow, let us enjoy ourselves." He and Tavannes leave. Teligny turns to the Admiral, asking whether insulting the Queen Mother was wise, and the Admiral replies that it is time her power was challenged. "The King still fears his mother," says Teligny. "Surely this may damage all for which you've worked so hard?" "Let us hope not," says the Admiral. Sure enough, the king reappears to invite the Admiral to play tennis with him. Although the Admiral tries to demur, pleading work, the king will not take no for an answer. " Oh, my dear Admiral, we are pleased with you!" he says. "Since now our mother will not speak to us for the rest of today, you will come with us. I have a new racquet I want you to see. Come!"<br />
<br />
Steven and Anne have arrived at the Abbot's house, where a priest is trying to get them to go. "Erm... I, I have a message for the Abbot, concerning a man who is to die today," Steven says, and the priest tells him there is no need to trouble the Abbot for that; the priest can give the sacraments. Steven says there is more, but he can only tell the Abbot. Just then, the inner door opens and the Abbot (or is it the Doctor??) enters. Steven certainly thinks he knows who it is, and calls out "Doctor!" delightedly. He is taken aback when the Abbot replies, "Silence! Who is this man? And why does he disturb my peace?" Steven isn't sure what to think, but decides he has to play along with whatever "the Doctor" is doing while there are witnesses. Trying to come up with an excuse for being there, he says, "Um, I, I... I've brought back the servant who ran away." Anne is shocked at Steven's betrayal! But it seems to work, as the Abbot tells his priest to leave them. Unfortunately, before anything more can be said, Marshal Tavannes enters and asks to speak to the Abbot. "The young man has returned the girl to us, Marshal," says the Abbot. He clarifies this: "The one who lodged with the 'Sea Beggar'." The Marshal says she is of no importance and again demands to see the Abbot alone. Steven and Anne leave the room...but Steven waits outside the door, listening. "Is Bondot prepared?" asks the Marshal. "Of course, I never fail," says the Abbot. Neither will my servants." Outside the door, Steven turns to Anne. "Quick, we've got to tell Nicholas," he says, and they both leave. Back inside the room, the Abbot says, "Is the 'Sea Beggar' on his way home?" "I don't know," says the Marshal. "The King delayed him after the council. He had seen fit to insult the Queen Mother and His Majesty was naturally pleased with him." "De Coligny will allow no one to take him away from his work," replies the Abbot. "I think we can take it he is on his way by now." Suddenly, Roger Colbert bursts in. He starts to tell them about the girl, but the Abbot yells, "How dare you interrupt us!" "But she is with the Englishman from the Admiral's house," says Roger. "I've just seen them!" The Marshal says, shocked, "What?!" "The Englishman with the girl," explains Roger. "He's the one who was with the Huguenots." The Marshal turns to the Abbot, asking who the man said he was. "I never asked him." Tavannes tells Roger to fetch them back, and Roger says he has sent guards after them. Tavannes turns back to the Abbot. "My Lord Abbot, what mistake have you perpetrated now?" he asks. "He could not hear what was being said," says the Abbot. "I sent him out of the room. In any case, it is too late for him to warn the Admiral." "For your sake it had better be," snaps the Marshal.<br />
<br />
Nicholas is sitting in his office in the Admiral's house. Suddenly, he hears a commotion in the hallway. It is Steven, struggling with a servant, trying to get to Nicholas' room. When he sees his friend, Steven calls, "Nicholas! Quickly, it's the Admiral!" He manages to gasp out that the Catholics plan to kill de Coligny! "Today! Now!" Nicholas asks how, but Steven says he doesn't know. "You've got to warn him." Nicholas says the Admiral is in a council meeting, but Steven says, "No, it's over. They're going to kill him on the way back." Where? Steven tries his best: "The Rue... St... St. Germaine?" "The Rue des Fosse St. Germaine?" asks Nicholas. Steven says yes and Nicholas runs out of the room!<br />
<br />
In the attic of a house in the Rue des Fosse St. Germaine, a man aims a gun at the street below. He is Bondot, and he is waiting for his target. Sure enough, Admiral de Coligny, Teligny and several clerks walk down the road. Suddenly, Bondot fires! The Admiral's papers are blown out of his hand as he falls, wounded! Nicholas rushes down the street, calling for the Admiral. "See how honest men are treated in France?" gasps the Admiral. "The shot came from that window." "Search the house!" orders Teligny. "We must get him to a surgeon."<br />
<br />
In the Abbot's house, Tavannes is pacing nervously. "We should have heard by now," he says, but the Abbot is calm. "The King may have delayed him further," the Abbot says. "Due to your stupidity, the Englishman has had a chance to warn him," says the Marshal angrily. "I said he did not hear anything!" protests the Abbot. Then why did he run? asks the Marshal...to which the Abbot has no answer. "If this should go wrong, you are to blame, and you will be the one to answer for it," warns the Marshal. Trying to sound reasonable, the Abbot says, "If de Coligny is delayed by the King, then the news of his death will be delayed also. Bondot is an excellent marksman. You know that. There is only one thing for us to do, that is to wait. Meantime, I will retire to my room." The Marshal stops him. "You will not," he says. "You will wait here, with me." At that moment, Roger rushes in. "The attempt has failed," he says. Was Bondot caught? asks the Abbot. "He rode away," answers Roger. "The Admiral was only wounded, not killed." "So, the 'Sea Beggar' lives," says Tavannes. You have failed!" He turns to Roger and tells him to call the guards. After Roger leaves, the Marshal turns back to the Abbot. "It is strange, Father Abbot, that since you came everything which had been so carefully planned has gone wrong," he says. Just then, Roger comes back with two guards. "This man is a traitor to the Queen," Tavannes tells them. "Kill him!" When they hesitate, he adds, "You heard my order, kill him!" The guards advance on the Abbot...<br />
<br />
A short time later, in the Louvre, Teligny is waiting for the king. The Queen Mother glares at him, asking him what he wants, but he tells her his news must be given first to her son. Charles walks into the room. "Well, what's the matter?" he asks, peevishly. "Why must I always be interrupted? And I was winning." "Admiral de Coligny has been severely wounded," Teligny tells him. "Someone tried to shoot him." The king screams, "Will I never have any peace?!" Then he asks what has happened. "The assassins were waiting in the Rue des Fosse St. Germaine," says Teligny. "As we came down the street they fired at him." Charles asks if the assassins were caught. "No, sire," Teligny says. "We searched the house and found the weapon, the men had gone." "Well they must be found," the king says, growing more and more agitated. "An inquiry. Call the council! The Admiral's assassins must be caught and punished!" The Queen and Teligny leave to carry out his bidding. "Oh, my Admiral!" says the king. "My little father! I will see you avenged."<br />
<br />
In the Admiral's house, de Coligny lies, still bleeding, on a sofa in the main room. He wants to be helped up to his room, but Nicholas begs him to lie still and wait for the surgeon. Steven is off in another corner of the room and Nicholas goes to him. "Nicholas, I'm sorry. I tried to tell Gaston, he wouldn't listen to me," Steven says. Nicholas replies that Gaston told him that. "I knew that the 'Sea Beggar' was going to be killed," continues Steven. "Until this morning I didn't know who that was." "I could've told you," says Nicholas. "How did you find out?" Steven tells him that he went to the Abbot's house. "The Doctor wasn't there, but I overheard some men talking about the 'Sea Beggar,'" he says. Who were the men? "I don't know," answers Steven. "But, well one of them was the same man who came to see the Abbot this morning." "So the Abbot is behind this," says Nicholas. "No!" says Steven. "The Abbot is the Doctor. Now that I've seen him I'm certain of it. He's just pretending to be the Abbot, that's all." "Now, listen Steven..." starts Nicholas, but just then Teligny enters. After asking about how de Coligny is, Teligny tells them, "The King has called for an inquiry but it won't do any good." Why not? asks Nicholas. "As I left the Louvre I heard that some of our men have taken the law into their own hands," Teligny tells them. "The Abbot of Amboise was murdered just outside his own house." Steven is shocked, but Teligny confirms, "The Abbot is dead and they're blaming it on the Huguenots." "But he wasn't the Abbot!" yells Steven, who runs from the room. Teligny says, "The King has summoned the council. I must return to the Louvre." He looks at the Admiral. "Take care of him, Nicholas," he says. <br />
<br />
In the Louvre, Charles' council is in session. "...And, Marshal," he says to Tavannes. "Since you claim to know nothing of this attempted assassination, I have a special charge for you. You will be responsible for the Admiral's safety. Empty the street of Catholics, station your men around his house, and mark me well, if anything further happens to him, you pay with your head." Teligny snaps, "We do not need the Marshal's protection, sire. To drive Catholics from their homes will only make them hate us even more." "Is that possible?" asks Tavannes. "I gave you an order! See it is done!" commands the king. He dismisses them and they leave. As they go, Catherine enters, furious that Charles has called a council without informing her. "The threat over your friend, the Admiral? You are the King," she snaps. Charles slams his fist down onto the table. "Yes, I am the King!" he says. "And to be obeyed! Now keep out of my sight unless you care to end your days in a convent." "I would wish you have the courage, my son," the Queen Mother says. "Summon your guards, have me arrested. But you had better have a good reason for the council...and for the people." "The attempted assassination of my Admiral, by you and Tavannes," snaps the king. "Do you deny it, Madame?" No, says his mother. "Have a care. I mean what I say. I shall send Tavannes to the block!" he says. For doing his duty? asks the Queen Mother. "He tried to rid you of a dangerous enemy," she explains. "De Coligny is my friend," the king says. "You, Madame, are my enemy." She laughs in frustration and takes out a list on a piece of paper, giving it to him. "Look at these before you decide who are your enemies," she says. "You think the Huguenots would stop at killing me? They want your blood too." "So you keep telling me every day of my life," Charles says. "Why? I protect them. They're all my subjects. What have they to gain?" Until now, nothing, she says. But now... "We have a Protestant prince in Paris - Henri of Navarre. You think they give a fig for your protection now that one of their own is within grasp of the throne?" Charles looks like he doesn't know what to think of this...<br />
<br />
Outside the Abbot's house, a crowd has gathered. The Abbot's (or is it the Doctor's?) body lies on the ground in front of the house. Suddenly, a man shouts, "The Huguenots must have done it!" "The free thinkers!" yells a woman. The crowd grows angrier and angrier. "The Huguenots will stop at nothing!" yells the man. "They even kill our priest! Something will have to be done. The Huguenots must be banned from entering towns! They will kill these poor defenceless priests elsewhere! Now lock them up and kill them!" A little farther away, Roger is standing with the Guard Captain. "You're certain that no one saw the body brought here?" he asks. "Just look at them," says the Captain. "They all believe the Huguenots killed him." Suddenly, Steven arrives on the scene and falls to his hands and knees by the Abbot's body. "What happened? What have they done?" he calls, and is told by a woman in the crowd that the Huguenots did it. No! he yells. The man and woman insist that at least fifteen Huguenots did it, and they saw them! Suddenly, Roger sees Steven and calls out, "Hold that man! He's responsible!" Steven runs with guards close behind as the crowd becomes an angry mob....<br />
<br />
---<br />
Whew!<br />
<br />
Ketina's You Know The Drill<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
S: Spoo<br />
MS: MiniSpoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
C: Cz<br />
<br />
P: Oh my god, that was a long episode.<br />
<br />
H: I enjoyed it, and I didn't think it was long at all.<br />
<br />
P: Because we took a week off, and I'm not familiar with the history behind it, this story wandered like a lost elephant. I'll go this way and I'll go that way. But I think that it's relative.<br />
<br />
H: Fair enough.<br />
<br />
M: I thought it was just fine. It built to the assassination attempt. And they threw in the ringer of the apparent Doctor being dead. It was perfect.<br />
<br />
H: And they used that propaganda against the Huguenots.<br />
<br />
M: It was odd that they had a musket and not a crossbow. I thought it was a crossbow historically, but maybe I'm wrong. [I looked it up and de Coligny was shot by a musket. To be fair, what we saw in the recon did not look like a musket! --H]<br />
<br />
H: It might have just been safer. If they had to use a crossbow they would have actually had to shoot something.<br />
<br />
P: Ah! Wow.<br />
<br />
S: Was it okay to talk to the Queen Mum that way?<br />
<br />
H: Not really.<br />
<br />
S: There seemed to be very little court decorum going on. They could have been talking in a bar.<br />
<br />
H: At this point they had been arguing for a very long time, and it was obvious that Catherine Di Medici (the Queen Mum) was behind a lot of the problems they were having. But that was very gutsy on the Admiral's part. It was clear that the king was more interested in running around playing than ruling, so she was very much the power behind the throne.<br />
<br />
M: But she wasn't actually “the Queen”, per say, but only the mother of the king. It was also a time when France was ruled by coalitions of the powerful nobles, not specific monarchs.<br />
<br />
H: Additionally, Admiral de Coligny had been one of the King's guardians. So there was a special relationship there between the king and the admiral.<br />
<br />
K: I saw that as well, and I honestly wasn't even paying that much attention. And the queen had only like two lines before the final conversation with her son.<br />
<br />
H: She had presence, which we couldn't see with the recon.<br />
<br />
R: Silence and an armed assassin. Like I said, she's a Medici.<br />
<br />
Sc: So, I think just observing, I've seen the movie of this and read the book. [Schmallturm is talking about <i>Queen Margot</i> by Alexandre Dumas. --H] If you know who these people are, and what's going on, it kind of interesting. But if you don't, it's pretty boring, especially as a re-con. It makes me wonder when they stop doing these historicals.<br />
<br />
H: Yes, there are very few historicals left. The perception is that they weren't that popular, although the original ratings may not bear that out. But it may have been an excuse for the production team to change their stories.<br />
<br />
S: The overwhelming thing for me is that the Doctor didn't need to be there. Other than the Doctor happening to have a character that looks exactly like him (at least that's what it appears to be) the Doctor is completed unnecessarily to this story.<br />
<br />
P: So, your observation that the Doctor doesn't need to be here is based on the Doctor needing to be somewhere. It is as though he needs to have a direction to do something.<br />
<br />
S: No, it's because the name of the show is “Doctor Who.” As the central character, he should be part of the plot.<br />
<br />
M: But then it couldn't be all mysterious as to what it is that they are doing with the Abbot looking like the Doctor and what's really going on with him.<br />
<br />
H: I think both of you have a point.<br />
<br />
P: My point is, “why is the Doctor here?”, implies that in other stories he had a direct purpose in being there. Part of the purpose is that this is a children's show and teaching stuff. But if you compare this to current Doctor Who stories, he'd be here to save the Universe or something too.<br />
<br />
H: So what Spoo is saying is, how does the show justify this story when the Doctor is making no impact on the plot? This is really <i>Steven's</i> story, though, not the Doctor's.<br />
<br />
M: But if we assume that the Doctor is the Abbot, this would be a very different story. There would no one to hire the assassin and the events would be very different.<br />
<br />
H: But if we assume the Doctor is the Abbot of Amboise, then the Doctor is dead.<br />
<br />
S: Which is good, because he suddenly broke character and is assassinating people.<br />
<br />
H: I will say that obviously there something about this story that's working, because we're getting quite a discussion out of it.<br />
<br />
R: I like it.<br />
<br />
M: I like it a lot. I like that the Doctor ISN'T always saving the bloody universe... and yes I understand that is a reference to future Doctor Who stories.<br />
<br />
S: But he isn't saving the universe. Just saving the Catholics.<br />
<br />
P: Ooo! I can't recall ever seeing the Doctor favor one particular Earth religion.<br />
<br />
K: The Abbot's not the Doctor, guys.<br />
<br />
Sc: He's not? You mean the Doctor is still alive! <all sarcasm><br />
<br />
M: You mean Steven isn't marooned in France because the Doctor is dead?<br />
<br />
Sc: Anyway, we saw basically just a couple of pictures of the external sets and crowds. It seems like this one had a fairly big budget.<br />
<br />
R: Yeah, all in one small hallway.<br />
<br />
Sc: It was very detailed.<br />
<br />
H: What what I understand, yes, they found pictures of all the major sets for the recon. All the sets we saw were standing ones. They didn't tear down the sets and rebuild them during the filming of the episode. So not just shot in a hallway, no.<br />
<br />
Sc: The costumes they could have gotten from the BBC costume department. But I wonder if this set was used for something else and they decided to use it for Doctor Who as well?<br />
<br />
S: So we'll see this set in something else as “the streets of Venice” or something.<br />
<br />
H: Cz? Do you have anything to say this week?<br />
<br />
C: Ughhhhh.<br />
<br />
R: “Cz not like reading subtitles.”<br />
<br />
C: It just kept going on and on, and NOTHING HAPPENED!<br />
<br />
R: You haven't been watching much. A lot happened. Someone was shot.<br />
<br />
M: There was a mob riot.<br />
<br />
MS: I have nothing to say, either.<br />
<br />
K: I thought it was boring too, and I'm over the age of 20.<br />
<br />
R: TLND<br />
<br />
C: You mean TLTB? <Too Long, Too Boring><br />
<br />
R: No, TLND, Too Long, No Daleks.<br />
<br />
M: You're all philistines!<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
P: Long. Interesting at times.<br />
<br />
M: Meaty.<br />
<br />
Sc: I agree that this is Steven's story. It's about him doing stuff. And there are two female characters now.<br />
<br />
H: Three if you count the old woman. She got another line this week.<br />
<br />
R: “Where are them Yew-ga-knows?”<br />
<br />
S: Fruity with notes of anise and oats and a slow finish.<br />
<br />
P: Slow finish?<br />
<br />
S: This deserves a wine-like review.<br />
<br />
H: Well, it is French.<br />
<br />
K: Well, I feel a little whiny.<br />
<br />
R: I liked it, but then again I enjoyed the book “Red Storm Rising.” It was thick and complicated, but I didn't have trouble following it. I felt there was enough political drama to justify paying attention.<br />
<br />
M: Amusing for a British show for the crack they took at Elizabeth the first.<br />
<br />
H: I guess she hadn't come out openly against Spain yet, but she would in the near future.<br />
<br />
K: Well, at least they were wearing Shakespearean outfits for this Shakespearean PLAY.<br />
<br />
H: I didn't feel like it was Shakespearean at all.<br />
<br />
K: Pretty much every scene with the king in it felt Shakespearean to me.<br />
<br />
R: It was all the tennis.<br />
<br />
P: Yeah, they made quite a racket. Oh, but good sound today. Good comments on the video. And even what little we saw there seemed to be a lot of movement in the scene.<br />
<br />
H: We could hear them moving around.<br />
<br />
P: It feels like a play author wrote it, instead of a radio guy who moved into TV.<br />
<br />
K: See, see, someone else agrees with the play thing.<br />
<br />
H: You said <i>Shakespearean</i>. This was written by the same person (John Lucaroti) who wrote "Marco Polo" and "The Aztecs."<br />
<br />
M: Oh yeah, the Doctor and his companions have gotten over their kleptomania. Oh, wait, no Steven stole a cloak!<br />
<br />
H: And a hat. And squatting in the Preslin's shop. But it did take three whole episodes, instead of the first one. I think Marco Polo is the only historical story where stealing hasn't happened.<br />
<br />
K: You sure they didn't steal anything in Marco Polo?<br />
<br />
H: I don't think so.<br />
<br />
K: They stole the TARDIS.<br />
<br />
H: <i>Back</i>. I don't think that counts. Anyway, my final thoughts, I'm still really enjoying it, but I have one criticism. We didn't see Gaston. He had this great character arc where he was all blasé and then getting paranoid. I'm hoping we'll see him next week. There wasn't any space in this episode, but I felt him missing. I think that this is a really strong story dramatically. The action hasn't been fast and furious, but after the Dalek epic I think it's good to have a smaller story. But this one certainly is just as dark.<br />
<br />
K: Servant girl isn't dead yet. Not dark enough. :P<br />
<br />
P: Talk about betrayal!<br />
<br />
H: Luckily Steven and Anne had enough time to escape before the betrayal became an issue. And Steven thought that the Abbot was the Doctor. It was a gamble, because he thought he needed to get the Doctor alone, and bringing up the Anne was an excuse.<br />
<br />
M: It was nicely done.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And there we have this week's very late post! I promise I'll have next week's done by the end of Sunday--well, I'll try, anyway! As always, check out <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> for all of your recon needs, and see you next week for the conclusion to this very dark episode of French history! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT WEEK: "BELL OF DOOM"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-53719092443172173072011-04-24T20:37:00.000-07:002011-04-24T20:37:59.762-07:00"The Sea Beggar"Hello everyone, the Historian here. Once again, my apologies for how late this post is; hopefully we haven't lost too many of you readers! Joining me back in early modern France last week were Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, MisterMother, Photobug, Cz and MiniSpoo. (Strangely, Spoo was <i>not</i> with us; just call us babysitters, I suppose...) As I may have mentioned before, this story is a bit of a bear to summarize, but hopefully I'll be able to give you at least some sense of the intrigue. So, let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 12 February 1966. In a room in Admiral de Coligny's house, Nicholas Muss and Vicomte Gaston de Leran are having a discussion. Gaston is infuriated that his master, the Protestant Prince Henri of Navarre, refuses to believe that the Catholics are plotting to kill him. Nicholas tries to calm his friend down, reminding him that Henri is married to a Catholic princess and must put on a show of faith, but Gaston is having none of it. Gaston asks if de Coligny has been told about what the girl (Anne) overheard. Nicholas says the Admiral refuses to pay attention to the story. Gaston, in desperation, says Nicholas <i>must</i> convince him. The two share their frustration. Suddenly, Gaston asks, "What happened to that Englishman, Steven?" Nicholas replies that he has returned to the tavern to find his friend.<br />
<br />
And, indeed, Steven is outside the tavern, pounding on the locked door. The Landlord opens the door and lets Steven inside. He asks if his friend has left a message and the Landlord at first thinks he means Nicholas. "Not that friend," Steven says. "I'm looking for the old man, the was...the one who was here with me yesterday morning. Well, he should have met me here last night. Look, he was wearing a large travelling cloak and carrying a silver-topped cane." The Landlord angrily says, "No! I've got work to do! If you need help go and ask it from your Huguenot friends!"<br />
<br />
Back at the Admiral's house, Gaston and Nicholas are still discussing. Nicholas wonders whether the girl might have reached the wrong conclusion. Gaston replies, "Look, the girl overheard the men talking about Vase, and it would happen again before the week was out!" Nicholas replies, "It's quite likely the name Vase had nothing to do with the massacre there. And the it was referring to something else entirely." Just then, Steven is shown into the room. Nicholas, concerned, asks if he was unable to find his friend. "Well, no," Steven says. "I even went to the TARD... the place where we were to leave from. There wasn't any sign of him." "Well if he's fallen foul of the Catholics who roam about the streets, heaven help him," Gaston says. "Many of our followers are just as bad," Nicholas protests, but Gaston says that is nonsense. Nicholas asks what he can do to help his new friend. "Well, my friend went to the Port St. Martin as you know," says Steven. "I must try to find him there, but I'm afraid I can't remember your directions." Nicholas offers to go with Steven. Gaston, who has crossed to the window, calls out that they have a visitor--"Roger Colbert! Recently appointed temporal secretary to the Abbot of Amboise during his stay in Paris. I'll wager he's come to fetch the girl." Roger is shown in, ignoring Gaston entirely and talking to Nicholas, "apologizing" for having been put to an "inconvenience" by a servant of the Abbot. Roger attempts to pass the servant off as having been simply confused. "She heard someone speak of Vase and I believe that she was there when that unfortunate business took place," he says. "She was frightened, I suspect, by her own memory, rather than by anything she heard." "And do they discuss the slaughter at Vase so glibly?" says Gaston. "People can talk of the town without referring to that..." says Roger. Just then, Anne walks into the room carrying wine. Surely that is the girl! says Roger. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You must be mistaken, that girl is called, erm, Genevieve," says Gaston. "And she's been working here ever since the Admiral came to Paris." Roger, though not at all convinced, takes his leave. Steven says that Roger is the same man who followed his friend from the tavern the day before! "But what could the Abbot of Amboise want with your friend?" asks Nicholas. Gaston is looking out the window again. "Well, well, well," he says. "The Abbot has come himself, and all for the sake of a servant." The other two join him and Steven is astounded to see who is talking with Roger. "But...but that's the Doctor!" he says. "That's the Doctor talking to Roger Colbert!" He thanks Nicholas and gets ready to walk out of the room when Gaston stops him. "You say that man is your friend?" he asks. Yes, says Steven. "And how long have you been working for the Abbot of Amboise?" Gaston asks. What?! says Steven. Nicholas angrily says, "The man talking to Colbert is the Abbot of Amboise. In what capacity do you serve him?" Steven is astounded. That man was the Doctor, he insists. "If you're certain, the certainty is that I don't like Catholic spies!" says Gaston. "I'm no spy," insists Steven. "Listen to me. I thought that man was the Doctor. If you say it was the Abbot of Amboise, then I must be mistaken." Nicholas is dubious, so Steven continues, "I can prove that the Doctor looks like the Abbot. Show me the way to the Port St. Martin, we'll go to the shop of Preslin the apothecary, you'll meet the Doctor!" "And walk straight into a Catholic trap!" says Gaston. "It's no trap! Nicholas, if I were a spy would I be such a fool as to betray myself like this?" says Steven, logically. Before Gaston can respond, Nicholas tries to defuse the situation. "I think he may be telling the truth. I'll come with you." Gaston tries to invite himself along, but Nicholas says that he should remain and warn the Admiral if Nicholas does not return. "Come, monsieur and for your sake, I hope we find your friend," he tells Steven.<br />
<br />
In the Louvre, Tavannes, the Marshal of France, is talking with Simon Duvall. Simon reports that the Abbot himself went to the Admiral's house. "The Abbot's a fool," says the Marshal. "The girl's not important. She must have told the Huguenots all that she knows. All that she overheard. If they'd made anything of it they'd have acted by now. All he's done is to arouse further suspicion." But, Simon responds, the Abbot did get them the help of "Monsieur Bondot!" "Bondot has yet to prove himself," says the Marshal. "Other assassins might do as well." "His Eminence the Cardinal trusts the Abbot," says Simon. "Yes, I'm not sure that I do," retorts the Marshal. "There's something odd about all this. Watch him closely, Simon, make a note of everything he says or does, and report it to me." Simon assents, then reports that Nicholas Muss is hosting an Englishman at the Admiral's house. "Mmm. Perhaps our fine Admiral is making secret overtures to the English?" wonders the Marshal. Simon protests he seems to be a stranger to France. "All the more reason why Elizabeth of England should send him," replies the Marshall, telling his servant to find out more about Steven and stay close to the Abbot. Just then, unnoticed, the Admiral de Coligny enters the room, just in time to hear the Marshal say, "...And, Simon, tell him I shall bring word later concerning the 'Sea Beggar'." "Interested in the Dutch at last, Marshal Tavannes?" says the Admiral, startling the Marshal. Simon leaves as the Admiral continues, "...The 'sea beggars' as you call them. Their fight with Spain is a just one." At the Marshal's lack of enthusiasm, the Admiral responds, "Your only quarrel with the Dutch is that they're Protestant and not Catholic." "That could also be the reason why you support them," retorts the Marshal. "But rest assured, Admiral, we are examining their claim for France's aid." That's something, I suppose, says the Admiral. Then the Marshal casually asks, "Tell me, have you any news from that other ally of yours, England?" No, replies the Admiral, why? You have an Englishman staying with you? asks the Marshal. "There was a lost stranger who lodged at my house last night," acknowledges the Admiral. "I believe he was English." "And he brought you no word?" asks the Marshal. "You are an extraordinary man, Tavannes," says the Admiral. "You see shadows where there is no sun." "Perhaps," says the Marshal. "Forgive me. I have an audience with the Queen Mother."<br />
<br />
Nicholas and Steven have reached the Port St. Martin and are looking for Preslin's shop. Steven spots a sign and nearly runs over an old lady running to it. He begins pounding on the door as Nicholas apologizes to the old woman. She tells them that Steven can stop pounding, no one lives there. "Nothing lives there except the rats," she tells them. Nicholas asks how long it's been since Preslin lived there and she tells them it has been around two years. "He was arrested for heresy." You mean he's in prison? asks Steven. "Burnt I expect," she replies. "And if he isn't, he should be." The woman leaves them. Nicholas turns to Steven. "Your story is thinner than before," he says. "You say the Doctor is...is with Preslin, who by all accounts is dead." She only said he <i>might</i> be, protests Steven. Nicholas angrily comes out and says it: "Your friend is the Abbot of Amboise." But Steven is thinking. "It is just possible that the Doctor is pretending to be the Abbot," he muses. "For what reason?" asks Nicholas. Wait until I find him, says Steven. "So that you can get further instructions?" snaps Nicholas. "Nicholas! Please believe me!" says Steven desperately. "I know nothing about Vase or the Catholics or half of what you talk about. If the Doctor is pretending to be the Abbot then it's for a very good reason. Please let me go to him. Shall I find out there is a plot of some kind I'll come back and tell you." "No," says Nicholas. "You will come back with me now. There are others who shall decide before I do." He grabs Steven's arm and the two begin to walk away...until Steven sees his chance! He trips Nicholas and pushes him into a passerby and runs away...<br />
<br />
At the Abbot's house, Simon is waiting and growing increasingly impatient. Roger suggests that the Abbot might be with "Monivere." "Will you never learn?" Simon snaps angrily. "Call the assassin Bondot. If the 'Sea Beggar' should find out Monivere is in Paris he'd be put on his guard at once. Why do you think we've chosen code names so very carefully?" Roger is contrite, but Simon tells him he's already been responsible for one mistake and there can be no others. "I parted with the Abbot at De Coligny's house," Roger says. "He did not tell me where he was going." Simon asks what Roger knows of the Abbot. How long has Roger known him? "I only met him yesterday," says Roger. "But he's worked for His Eminence the Cardinal of Lorraine for many years and has done him many services." Yesterday was the first time you'd seen him? asks Simon. "No," says Roger. "I met him for the first time. I saw him once at an encyclical meeting held by the Cardinal." He confirms that is the only other time he'd seen the Abbot. "Tell me, when you saw Nicholas Muss this morning, who else was there?" asks Simon. "The Vicomte De Leran, and the girl is certainly there, because I saw her," says Roger. The girl is not important, says Simon. Was there no one else? "A third man but I didn't know him," confirms Roger. Was he English? asks Simon, but Roger says the man didn't speak so he didn't know. "I want you to find out about him," says Simon. "If he is English, find out who he is and what his business is in France."<br />
<br />
At the Admiral's house, Gaston is talking to Anne. He asks her whether she had ever seen Steven before and she says that she first met him when she was running into the tavern to escape the Abbot's men. She is sure Steven is not one of them, though. "Because he's kind, monsieur, and gentle." Just then, Nicholas enters. Before he can say anything, Gaston excitedly tells him that he has good news. "Henri of Navarre has decided to increase his guard." "And I have bad news," Nicholas replies. "Steven's escaped. He must've been sent here by the Catholics." No! says Anne. "Forgive me, monsieur, but... well I'm sure he's a stranger here. He knows nothing about anything or... or what's going on in Paris. Why, he don't even know about the royal wedding." Gaston tells her to get out...and she goes. "You're too kind to these nothings," he tells Nicholas. "Now, tell me what's been happening." "He didn't find the man who was supposed to look like the Abbot," says Nicholas, somewhat embarrassed. "I was bringing Steven back here when he got away." I knew I should have gone, says Gaston. But at least they know where to find Steven. Yes...with the Abbot of Amboise." says Nicholas.<br />
<br />
In the twilight, Steven approaches the Abbot's house carefully, avoiding guards. He spots an open window with a light on and carefully looks and listens...<br />
<br />
The Marshal is inside talking with Simon and Roger. The Marshal is unhappy that the Abbot is not there and that Simon has no idea where he is. "After my instructions to you earlier today I would have hoped that I could put more faith in you," he says. Simon tells his master that he has looked everywhere. The Marshal, feeling a draft, orders the shutters closed. Steven draws back, but still listens. "Between you, you will find the Abbot and you will give him this message for me," says the Marshal. "Say the decision has been made." You mean, starts Simon... "Tell him the 'Sea Beggar' dies tomorrow," says the Marshal. When? Where? "He will attend an early council meeting at the Louvre," says the Marshal. "On his return, Bondot will be waiting for him." Bondot already has his orders, he continues. He leaves. Simon looks at Roger. "So, the royal command has been given." "What do you mean?" asks Roger. "That order didn't come from Marshal Tavannes," Simon explains. "It came from the Queen Mother."<br />
<br />
Steven, aghast, runs off.<br />
<br />
Back at the Admiral's house, a servant lets Steven into Nicholas' room. Seeing no one there, Steven moves to the desk to find something to write a note on. Suddenly, Gaston enters. He is shocked to see Steven there. "Where is Nicholas?"Steven asks. "I have some important news." Get out! Gaston shouts. "Look, you don't understand..." Steven begins. "What papers are you looking for, spy! Some more information for your Abbot?" yells Gaston, refusing to listen to Steven. He draws his sword and, without knowing what else to do, Steven draws as well. Gaston advances and Steven ineffectually defends himself. Finally, Gaston disarms Steven and yells at him to get out! Steven leaves just as Nicholas enters. "Oh, you're having a very bad effect on me, my friend," Gaston tells Nicholas. "I just spared that wretch's life." He explains that he caught Steven in the room, going through Nicholas' papers. "He must have had a message otherwise he'd never have come back," says Nicholas, to Gaston's amazement. "I tell you he was going through your papers!" Gaston yells. "Where did he go?" asks Nicholas. "How should I know?" snaps Gaston. "Probably back to that animal from Amboise." "Steven said he'd come back here if he found out something important," insists Nicholas. "Did he say anything?" "Nothing! Well don't tell me that you still trust him!" "For pity's sake go back to the Louvre," says Nicholas. "Go back and protect your Lord of Navarre. It's almost time for the curfew."<br />
<br />
Outside, Steven is alone on the streets as night begins to fall. He knows that the curfew is coming, but realizes he has nowhere to go. Suddenly, he realizes someone is following him. He turns around to find...Anne! "What are you doing here?" he asks. "The curfew's ringing. Go back to the house." "No," she says. "I can't go back there now. They'll... they'll know where to find me. I want to come with you." Why? Steven asks. "You were kind to me," she explains. "You were the first one that ever was. Please, don't send me back there." Steven tells her that he doesn't even know where he's going. She tells him she knows Paris and can help him find somewhere. Steven agrees and then says, "Anne, do you know who the 'Sea Beggar' is?" She says she does not know and asks why. "He's going to be killed tomorrow," Steven explains. "All right then, if you insist on coming with me do you know where we can spend the night?" Anne thinks. "We can't go to my aunt's," she says. "They'll be looking for me there. There must be lots of places in Paris where no one would think of finding me." "Yes of course, Preslin's shop," says Steven. "Do you know how to get to the Port St. Martin?" Of course, says Anne. "Take me there," says Steven. "I've only been there once. I don't think I can find it on my own." <br />
<br />
Back at the Admiral's house, Admiral de Coligny walks into the Nicholas' room, finding his young clerk working hard. "I thought you were asleep," says Nicholas surprised. No, says the Admiral. I have been with the king. "I think I've persuaded him." "You've got the King to agree to war with Spain?" says Nicholas, excitedly. "It's possible," says de Coligny. "If he doesn't change his mind by the morning...we are to join the Dutch. You know, Nicholas, after I'd explained the situation to him, he turned to me and he said 'If we do ally ourselves with the Dutch, you, de Coligny, will go down in history as the 'Sea Beggar'.' The Sea Beggar! It's a title I'd be proud of...!"<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Ketina's Paraphrase Transcript...Thing.<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
C: Cz<br />
MS: MiniSpoo<br />
<br />
H: So, Ketina, did you stay awake this week?<br />
<br />
K: You had to start with me, didn't you?<br />
<br />
M: There was another almost fight.<br />
<br />
K: Meh. I don't know what the hell just happened, and I don't think I care.<br />
<br />
H: Still not into the cloak and dagger thing?<br />
<br />
R: I do get slightly annoyed at the whole “You are my best friend! No, wait, that's just what I want you to think!” But I am impressed with the writing and all. I found the turn around a little bit overdone. [Ronelyn was referring to Steven going from a friend to a possible spy because he recognized the Abbot as--apparently--the Doctor. --H]<br />
<br />
M: I found it to be the best part of the episode because it inserted Steven into the middle of the story.<br />
<br />
R: I liked the idea, but I think they could have pulled it more subtly. Maybe have the Huguenots be more understanding.<br />
<br />
M: But knowing the history of the situation, they have serious reason to be really paranoid. Huguenots tended to die in this period of history.<br />
<br />
H: And most of these people are based on real historical figures.<br />
<br />
P: From my perspective, this is teaching me something of the history of the time. This children's entertainment show is doing a great job of teaching.<br />
<br />
H: It was supposed to both teach and entertain.<br />
<br />
M: I do want to compliment the Marshal's “+3 nose of Frenchness.” When the Admiral tells him that he sees shadows where there's no sun, I wanted to shout “It because of his nose!”<br />
<br />
P: His very large, French-like nose.<br />
<br />
R: We're also back, this week, to characters being stalked by an orchestra.<br />
<br />
H: A 1966 chase jazz scene orchestra. Definitely 1966, no question.<br />
<br />
R: Du du don don tch tch<br />
<br />
M: It turns out that Anne is actually Emma Peal.<br />
<br />
R: “Mrs. Chaplet, we're needed!” <quoting The Avengers><br />
<br />
M: I am finding this to be very enjoyable as a recon. Can't say if it would be more enjoyable with a real episode, but the recon makes the cloak and dagger aspect even more mysterious.<br />
<br />
H: And the fact that there's isn't a lot of action to be missing works for it as well.<br />
<br />
K: Okay, if you say so. Sorry, I'm still finding this one boring.<br />
<br />
M: It's a very historical, historical. It's a historical reenactment, almost.<br />
<br />
H: And it's just very cloak and dagger paranoia. Even Steven isn't sure what to believe, at this point.<br />
<br />
K: I don't know, for me it's more evidence that if Hartnell's not in it, it's not going to be good.<br />
<br />
Sc: Is this yet another week where Hartnell was on vacation or something?<br />
<br />
H: I'm not sure. There was the bit at the beginning, but those could have been pre-filmed.<br />
<br />
Sc: Again, still only one female character.<br />
<br />
H: There were two this week.<br />
<br />
Sc: I'm not counting the old woman. Might have been a man.<br />
<br />
M: Yet there were a lot of powerful women in history at the time. Queen Elizabeth and Catherine di Medici, just to name two.<br />
<br />
R: And yet, still, the whole episode was a saucission (french sausage) fest.<br />
<br />
P: I feel like have a small brain around you people.<br />
<br />
R: I took French throughout all of high school and it's still in there.<br />
<br />
H: So, MisterMother made a comment when we were watching about the “Scandalous” assertion that Catherine di Medici could have been responsible for the order to assassinate Admiral de Coligny. Scandalous, I tell you! [Historian and MisterMother laugh.]<br />
<br />
Sc: Um.. that's only funny if you actually know who these people are.<br />
<br />
M: Well, I'm interested in this part of French history.<br />
<br />
H: What do you guys think is going on with the Doctor?<br />
<br />
P: Unfortunately they gave it away, with the monk. That one hint gave it away for me.<br />
<br />
M: Huh?<br />
<br />
P: They showed a picture of the Doctor and they said the Monk. I thought they were talking about the Monk from an earlier episode.<br />
<br />
R: The Meddling Monk?<br />
<br />
P: Yeah, and I've been confused because of that this whole time because of the monk reference. [I have no idea where Photobug got this idea from. --H]<br />
<br />
Sc: It's a total mystery of what's going on with the Doctor. Is this guy a look-a-like? Is the Doctor impersonating him?<br />
<br />
H: Nicolas and Gaston recognized him.<br />
<br />
P: Maybe the Doctor traveled in time earlier or later to disguise himself as the abbot?<br />
<br />
R: Maybe he just really hates protestants?<br />
<br />
H: And there's the thing that he was talking to Preslin about in the last episode.<br />
<br />
K: Science!<br />
<br />
H: He went on some mission or something. Preslin says “good luck my friend,” to the Doctor.<br />
<br />
M: It's very mysterious.<br />
<br />
H: Yes.<br />
<br />
Sc: So, Steven is from the far future. 2900 or something.<br />
<br />
H: Something like that.<br />
<br />
Sc: But, last episode in the bar they asked him, if he's an Englishman, is he a protestant? And he says “yes.” It's interesting that he's from the far future and yet still a protestant.<br />
<br />
P: But wouldn't it have been controversial at the time this show aired if he'd said anything else?<br />
<br />
Sc: But it's unusual to talk about religion like this in a science fiction context regarding someone from the future. It's interesting that he's from the future, yet he plays the part of the modern perspective in this story.<br />
<br />
K: He might not really be protestant. He might have just been agreeing and pretending to be to get them to talk to him.<br />
<br />
H: And he's playing the perspective of the viewer. He's our viewpoint character. And this is the second story in a row where he's playing that role. In the last story it took place in the far, far future and he was closer to us.<br />
<br />
M: He's acting more Ian-y and less Steven-y in this episode.<br />
<br />
Sc: So, is Anne going to be our new female companion?<br />
<br />
K: If they're going to pick one from this story, she's the only one to choose.<br />
<br />
R: For her sake, I hope not.<br />
<br />
P: They haven't been lasting that long lately.<br />
<br />
H: Mini-Spoo, do you have anything to say?<br />
<br />
MS: No.<br />
<br />
H: Cz?<br />
<br />
C: It's scary. I don't want to talk about it.<br />
<br />
H: Final thoughts?<br />
<br />
P: Really liked the music. I thought at the time it was untraditional to have jazz music.<br />
<br />
Sc: In the 60's?<br />
<br />
P: To children, yes? There was some controversy about Jazz.<br />
<br />
H: It was certainly unusual for a historical story.<br />
<br />
P: As someone who enjoys jazz, it was pleasant to hear.<br />
<br />
Sc: I think I've said everything I want to say. I liked it.<br />
<br />
P: Nobody ate any scenery. The absence of the Doctor, in terms of the story, worked nicely.<br />
<br />
H: It worked for the story.<br />
<br />
P: Yeah.<br />
<br />
R: I thought Steven was more effective in this one than he has been for a while. He muddled through, but muddled effectively. He's doing stuff. He's not “Steven the bonehead.” He's “Sir Steven, the effective.”<br />
<br />
M: He's stabilized.<br />
<br />
P: He's got two goals. He's trapped in Paris without the Doctor, looking for him. But now there's someone else out there who may be the Doctor and that's driving Steven's character efficiently forward.<br />
<br />
M: I'm really enjoying this story. I think it's nicely done. I'm sure you can find things to nitpick. I still see Gaston as the one showing the arc of what's going on. In the previous episode he was like “Ah ha!” with discovery. And now he's frustrated and smashing the room.<br />
<br />
K: Aborted fight scene might have been good, I couldn't tell.<br />
<br />
R: Sissy sword fight!<br />
<br />
K: Honestly, I had a hard time following the characters and who was who.<br />
<br />
Sc: Yeah, the recon does make that hard.<br />
<br />
M: But some of them have large noses and whatnot.<br />
<br />
K: One of them was "fabulous", right?<br />
<br />
Sc: Yes, Simon was fabulous. Both “The Admiral's House” and “The Sea Beggar” would probably work great as names for Gay bars. And the all male cast does lend itself to interpretation.<br />
<br />
K: Okay, I like this episode better now.<br />
<br />
H: So, this script, and this episode, it's very dense with stuff. Something is always going on. If you don't get into the cloak and dagger historical thing, I can understand why Ketina found it dull. I'm having a great time, but honestly it's going to be awful to summarize. A sign of a very bad or very good story, and in this case very good.<br />
<br />
P: Would children have known this story?<br />
<br />
H: No, it's a bit obscure. And that's why Steven's perspective is so useful to the story.<br />
<br />
P: And I think they're pulling us along nicely.<br />
<br />
M: Presumably they would know that “Catholics bad.”<br />
<br />
H: They might have, maybe know of Henry of Navarre.<br />
<br />
K: I think they'd know Queen Elizabeth, and that's about it.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
A little more paraphrasey than usual, but hopefully you get the idea! As I alluded to above, this story has been difficult to summarize thus far, since so much comes down to the dialogue. If you feel anything needs clarifying or have any tips to make this easier on me (there's a reason I had to recover from my illness before even attempting this!), please definitely feel free to leave a comment. (And don't forget <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> for your recon needs!) And we'll see you next week for the next episode! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT EPISODE: "PRIEST OF DEATH"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-80409180331013279102011-04-19T19:49:00.000-07:002011-04-19T19:49:33.102-07:00Late PostHello everyone, the Historian here. As you can obviously tell, last week's post is kind of late. Immediately before watching the episode, I was felled with what can only be described as a terrible cold that only got worse over the next few days. I'm finally seeing daylight at the other side of the tunnel, so I'll get to work on the summary soon.<br />
<br />
The only vaguely positive note is that last week's post was going to announce that we'd be taking a week off <i>this</i> week, due to personal commitments of core Project personnel. (It's someone's tenth anniversary, congrats you two!) But now, you'll get a post anyway! Sure, it'll be last week's post, but...<br />
<br />
So yes. "The Sea Beggar" will be coming soon, I promise. Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-61728992886781344732011-04-10T22:20:00.000-07:002011-04-10T22:20:41.881-07:00"War of God"Hello everyone, the Historian here. Joining me this week were Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother and Photobug. (Cz also joined us for the episode itself, but bowed out of the discussion afterwards.) Today we leave science fiction for seventeenth century France. Let's get to the summary!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Episode summary: First aired 5 February 1966. A boy kicks a paper ball down a street. He hears a strange wheezing, groaning sound coming from behind a gate and runs in fear. The gate opens and Steven and the Doctor walk out. The Doctor tells his friend that the TARDIS will be perfectly safe concealed behind the gate. Then he declares they have landed in France, proving it by pointing to a street sign reading "Rue de Bethisy." Very well, says Steven, but what's the date? The Doctor looks around at the buildings and guesses medieval, but just then a man, dressed in clothes of the period, walks up to a door and, when it opens, informs a servant that Nicholas Muss is expecting him. The man is admitted and the Doctor and Steven (who had been hiding) emerge. "You see that?" the Doctor says. "We've landed in the middle of the sixteenth century." He then thinks about going to visit a man named Preslin, apparently a famous apothecary and proto-scientist. Suddenly, the two dive back into cover as the man, along with a friend who he calls "Nicholas," walk back down the street. The two are discussing religious tensions. "The Catholics know of only one way to settle our differences," says the man, Gaston, but his friend tells him not to provoke more quarrels. "I?! Oh come, be fair! Paris hates our kind. It will do anything it can to provoke us," says Gaston. The two walk off, Nicholas still urging caution. Steven observes that they're in Paris and the Doctor hustles them both back inside the TARDIS to get proper clothes and so he can "turn over some papers."<br />
<br />
Inside a tavern, Nicholas, Gaston and some of their friends are drinking. Gaston calls for a toast to "Henri of Navarre, our Protestant prince." They drink, but a man in another part of the bar, Simon Duvall, calls out, "And to his bride, our Catholic princess!" Gaston makes a show of choking on his wine, to Simon's anger. Gaston calls to the landlord, making several allusive insults to Catholics designed to provoke Simon. Nicholas cautions him, but Simon is angered. He claims that Gaston has insulted Princess Marguerite. Nicholas tries to claim it was an accident, so Simon says that he should drink again. They all do, but Gaston, behind Simon's back, spits the wine out and then looks innocent. Simon walks over to the landlord. "Most of them are in the service of the Admiral de Coligny?" he asks in a low tone. The Landlord is defensive; he must make a living, he has no choice but to serve these Huguenots. Simon calms the landlord and asks him to keep his eyes and ears open, passing over some coins. He then leaves, throwing an insulting quip to Gaston (referring to him as "Vicomte") as he goes. As he leaves, Steven and the Doctor enter the tavern. The Doctor is trying to convince his friend not to wander around Paris while he goes to see Preslin. Steven tries to say he'll go along, but the Doctor tells him he'd be incredibly bored. Steven just wants to wander around and see the sights, so the Doctor says he shouldn't go visit the apothecary after all. "You'll never forgive yourself," says Steven. Steven promises to not get into trouble and the Doctor asks him to try not to talk much to anyone, and they will meet in the tavern tonight to return to the TARDIS. He gives Steven some money and goes off to find Preslin, giving Steven the address just in case. "And don't cut yourself with that sword!" he jokes as he leaves. Steven notices that a man gets up and follows the Doctor out of the tavern. He gets up to follow just in case, but the Landlord calls to him to pay. But he refuses to change Steven's gold coin, an Ecu. Nicholas, overhearing, offers to help. He pays the Landlord two sous and stops the Landlord from walking off with both the sous <i>and</i> the ecu. Steven, after thanking Nicholas, asks if he knows how to get to the address the Doctor's gone to. He is worried about the "old man," thinking he may have been followed. Nicholas, however, is not sure the Doctor would be in serious trouble, and asks Steven to come share a drink with him and his friends. He will help Steven find his friend later. Steven doesn't want to intrude...but allows himself to be persuaded. <br />
<br />
The Doctor arrives at Preslin's shop. It looks closed, so the Doctor knocks. There is no answer, but the door is unlocked, so he lets himself in. An old man asks him what he wants and tells him Preslin is gone. The Doctor says it is such a shame; he'd wanted to talk with the apothecary about his work. To make trouble? asks the old man. No, says the Doctor, revealing that he is also a scientist. He talks about how much he knows of Preslin's work, discovering "small creatures, which if attacking humanity could cause a very serious illness" (i.e. germs) and mentions that there is man in Germany working on an optical device that would let Preslin <i>see</i> the germs. "Is it so! Are they really doing this?" says the old man, excitedly. The Doctor smiles. "Yes," he says. "So now, doesn't this encourage you to continue with your theories, Monsieur Preslin?" The old man admits to being Preslin, explaining that "in these days, one has to be careful." The two scientists begin to discuss their work.<br />
<br />
Back in the tavern, Gaston has just finished giving Steven a gentle interrogation. Nicholas says he would question his own shadow. "I'm in France to protect my master, Henri of Navarre," Gaston replies testily. "Just as you are to protect de Coligny." Nicholas mentions that Steven has just returned from abroad; Steven readily admits to knowing nothing about what's going on in Paris. "Yes, but if you come from England you must be for the Huguenot?" asks Gaston. "He is what you call a....a Protestant!" Yes, of course, says Steven (though it's not entirely clear he has any idea what this means). Gaston, delighted, asks Steven where he has been travelling. Steven thinks for a second and then replies, "Egypt." Nicholas is impressed. Steven, however, is still worried and asks again for directions to Preslin's shop. Nicholas offers to show him. Despite his attempts to demur, Steven agrees to let Nicholas at least show him on his way.<br />
<br />
In the street, a guard and a guard captain chases a disheveled looking girl. She tries to hide behind a cart, but the guard continues to chase. Coming to the tavern, she bumps into Steven and Nicholas leaving as she runs inside. The two men decide to follow.<br />
<br />
Inside the tavern, the guard captain looks around, but cannot find any trace of the girl. He sees only Gaston. "My Lord Cardinal's guard aren't you?" he asks. "What does he want with a wench?" She is a servant who ran away, says the captain. Gaston observes, with some insolence, that she doesn't appear to like the service. "She has chosen for the staff of the house of the Abbot of Amboise," replies the captain. It seems she likes that even less, says Gaston, and the captain, incensed, draws his sword...only to realize he is outnumbered by Gaston and his friends. He and his guard withdraw, saying, "My Lord Abbot shall hear of this when he arrives." Gaston merely throws out a quip, suggesting that the Cardinal (who is in Rome) should be told as well. The guards leave, and Gaston notices Steven. "Hey, come Mister Englishman. Join us again. Clearly not safe for you to walk alone." "What about the girl?" Steven asks. "Where is she?" "She's just a servant," replies Gaston.<br />
<br />
In Preslin's shop, the Doctor is asking about the Abbot of Amboise. Preslin tells him that the Abbot "hates us all." "Yes, I suppose just now all churchmen are rather suspicious of your work," the Doctor says. "But surely you can carry on without his knowledge, hmm?" "You don't know the man!" says Preslin. "The Abbot of Amboise is the Cardinal of Lorraine's right hand. With the Cardinal in Rome the Abbot has decided to come to Paris. We shall be hunted down. That man is far more dangerous than the Cardinal." No point in going to see him, then? asks the Doctor. "None, unless you want to be thrown into prison for heresy!" says Preslin. Hmm, says the Doctor...<br />
<br />
In the tavern, Steven is still worried about the girl. Gaston, however, is dismissive. Nicholas says that there are many things that frighten people in Paris these days. Seeing the girl on the other side of the room, Gaston loudly calls her over, but frightens her even more. At first, she does not want to tell them anything, but after Gaston pretends to call for the guards, she relents. In the Cardinal's house, she overheard the captain and another man talking. They mentioned "Vase" and said, "Something about it, er, about it happening before the week was past." Her father died at Vase, she says. Steven is confused until Nicholas explains, "Ten years ago at Vase, a small town some miles south of Paris, a hundred Huguenots were slaughtered by the Catholics." Steven is astounded and horrified. Nicholas asks the girl her name and she replies that it is Anne. They ask her to remember <i>exactly</i> what she overheard.<br />
<br />
In the Cardinal's house, Simon berates the guard captain and another man--the man who tried to follow the Doctor from the tavern, one Roger Colbert. Simon is angry that the captain let Gaston (the Vicomte de Leran) stop him from finding the girl. "If she should remember what you said and should repeat it she could put our friend on his guard," he says. Roger insists that they did not speak of "him," and Simon asks what they <i>did</i> say. "I think we mentioned Vase and the celebrations here in Paris but nothing that anyone could've made head or tail of," says the captain. "Vase? That might have been it. That word alone is enough to put every Huguenot in Paris on his guard," says Simon thoughtfully. Roger offers to go look for the girl, but Simon tells him that he will stay and report this to the Abbot when he arrives. "I'm sure he will want to congratulate you himself," he says, threateningly. He turns to the captain. "And you, find out if she has any relations in Paris. If she has seek them out. And find if she's fled there. That girl must be found!"<br />
<br />
Gaston, realizing Anne has told them all she knows, dismisses her. But Nicholas says, "No, wait! If the Catholics find her they can easily discover what she's told us. We must keep her out of sight." He suggests that she work in the Admiral de Coligny's kitchens and they send her there. "But what do they mean these things she overheard?" asks Steven. "A threat to Navarre. I must warn him. I'll see you later," says Gaston and leaves. Steven says to Nicholas that he wishes he could understand what was going on. "My English friend, it's really quite simple," says Nicholas. "Henri of Navarre is a Huguenot, a Protestant prince. Yesterday he married Marguerite of France, a Catholic. The marriage was arranged by the Queen Mother in the hope that it would heal the religious wound that is tearing France in two. But in the light of what that girl overheard, it looks as if the Catholics of France are plotting against Navarre's life. Do you understand?" Steven says he does. Nicholas apologizes, but he must go and tell the Admiral this news at once. Steven says not to worry; his friend should be back at the tavern soon anyway. They bid each other farewell and Nicholas leaves.<br />
<br />
In Preslin's shop, the old man is talking to a boy. "You showed the old man the way?" says Preslin, and the boy nods assent. "Good, I only hope he succeeds. You were not seen? I should hope not?" The boy shakes his head. The old man thanks the boy, hands him a coin and lets him out of the shop. "Good luck, old man," Preslin says. "Good luck."<br />
<br />
Simon bursts into the tavern. He walks over to the Landlord and demands to know where the girl is. "I don't know, I was down in the cellar and when I came up there she was being questioned by the Huguenots," says the Landlord. You mean Nicholas Muss and Gaston, Vicomte de Leran? Yes, says the Landlord, and another man, over there. He points to Steven, still waiting for the Doctor. Who is he? asks Simon. "I don't know," replies the Landlord. "A stranger. English, I think." He tells Simon that Gaston left quickly once they'd finished with the girl. Simon demands to know what happened to the girl. After some hemming and hawing, and more money changing hands, the Landlord says, "She was sent to the house of Admiral de Coligny." Simon thanks him and then walks over to Steven. Although he seems friendly, Steven recognizes the menace behind Simon's attention. Simon warns Steven that it is almost time for the curfew, "...an unfortunate necessity which even the marriage of protestant Henri to our great King's sister hasn't been able to rectify." "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't understand," Steven says. "I'm on my way back to England. I really know very little of what's been going on here." "I trust you've found yourself somewhere comfortable to stay while you're here," says Simon, with false good feeling. "Apartments are hard to find at this time, Paris being so full for the celebrations." Steven replies that he'll be fine; he's just waiting for a friend. "I hope he comes soon otherwise he won't be able to leave," says Simon. Simon goes over to the Landlord and says, "He's waiting for a friend. Watch and see who it is." Suddenly, the door opens and Nicholas walks in. Simon hides. Nicholas walks over to Steven. He is surprised to see him still there and asks what happened to his friend. "He said he'd meet here tonight. He hasn't arrived yet," says Steven. Nicholas warns Steven about the curfew and offers to put him up for the night. Steven can always come back in the morning. Nicholas calls to the Landlord. "If an old man arrives asking for the Englishman tell him he's lodging with the Admiral de Coligny, and will return here in the morning," he tells the Landlord. After some protests, Steven agrees and the two leave. Simon comes out of hiding. "English? I wonder what they're up to?" he says to himself, then turns to the Landlord. "I shall want a full report in the morning on all that happens," he says.<br />
<br />
In the Cardinal's house, Roger Colbert is reporting to the currently unseen Abbot of Amboise. "And that is what happened," he says. "If it hadn't been for the Vicomte De Leran the Captain would almost certainly have caught her. It was pure mischance." The Abbot, still unseen, starts to angrily tap his stick on the floor. "I'm sure she couldn't have made any sense of what we said," Roger says, nervously. "Simon Duvall has gone to the inn where she escaped and the Captain has gone to find an aunt of hers. I'm certain it's only a matter of time. In fact one of them may be bringing her...back...here now." Suddenly, Simon bursts in. "Forgive me, Father Abbot, but the missing girl is at the house of Admiral de Coligny," he says. The Abbot says, "Fetch her tomorrow! Bring her to me." As he says this, he looks up...and it is revealed that the Abbot of Amboise seems to be...the Doctor....!<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Whew, that was a rough summary! Hope you got all of it!<br />
<br />
Ketina's Transcript Paraphrasey Thingy<br />
<br />
H: Historian<br />
K: Ketina<br />
R: Ronelyn<br />
Sc: Schmallturm<br />
S: Spoo<br />
M: MisterMother<br />
P: Photobug<br />
<br />
R: So, apparently they didn't have the budget to move the TARDIS onto the actual set.<br />
<br />
H: They did explain that. It is in the dialogue. The TARDIS is hidden behind a gate.<br />
<br />
Sc: It could have been part of the recon.<br />
<br />
M: The accents were quite interesting.<br />
<br />
R: I think they're doing what often seems to be done...using English regional accents to approximate the appropriate social classes.<br />
<br />
M: The girl from the French countryside who was either Irish or Cockney. I couldn't tell which. I just thought it was amusing. I particularly enjoyed the Inn-keeper's accent.<br />
<br />
R: I agree with you there. That one was incomprehensible. “Joel, is this going to be one of those period dramas where the women wear longer skirts than the men?”<br />
<br />
H: Yes, apparently it is. [Mystery Science Theater 3000 reference. --H]<br />
<br />
R: This one does look like it's going to be kind of fun though. It's nice to see a period drama that I don't know anything about.<br />
<br />
H: Interesting for Doctor Who, and almost unique, with the exception of the servant girl, the major characters are all real historical people. They've been shying away from that since "Marco Polo." Despite meeting Robespierre (for example), the Doctor and his companions didn't have any effect on any of the history in other stories. And, it's a John Lucarotti script--he wrote "Marco Polo" and "The Aztecs," both great stories.<br />
<br />
K: The innkeeper is historical?<br />
<br />
H: No, just the major characters.<br />
<br />
M: I found Gaston delightful. A well portrayed character that you could get behind.<br />
<br />
R: And, for that matter, Simon didn't gnaw up the scenery the way a lot of bad guys have. “So, you just insulted on my queen. I'd like to see you eat those words.” and instead of going “You will say bad things about the queen! I will destroy you!!” He's much more subtle. [Princess, of course, but Ronelyn has the idea. --H]<br />
<br />
M: It's definitely more cloak and dagger.<br />
<br />
H: One of the things I liked, and Lucarotti is a good writer so I liked a lot, is that it is a relatively obscure piece of history. And what he does is throw Steven in, who knows nothing, and uses Steven's ignorance in various scenes to do little tiny exposition dumps, instead of one big chunk.<br />
<br />
S: That method also gave you a good running start to the plot. You enter in media res, and you get the feeling that everything is already going on.<br />
<br />
H: Similar to what was done in the Aztecs, but this time more sophisticated.<br />
<br />
Sc: I think what you're all trying to say is that the writing is good for this episode.<br />
<br />
M: And there was some good acting too.<br />
<br />
Sc: I actually want to find out next week what happens next.<br />
<br />
K: Frankly, I was bored.<br />
<br />
H: Historical not doing it for you?<br />
<br />
R: Philistine!<br />
<br />
M: But.. Gaston and the Huguenots!<br />
<br />
K: I just wasn't really interested in the story.<br />
<br />
S: Lots of talking, no imminent danger, no obvious bad guys.<br />
<br />
K: There was no action, and I had a hard time hearing the dialogue.<br />
<br />
M: There was <i>almost</i> several fights.<br />
<br />
R: Several times people got angrily up on their feet.<br />
<br />
H: So, you didn't dig the air of menace and paranoia?<br />
<br />
K: I felt like they did such a better job in the Reign of Terror, that I'm not feeling it in this one. By this point in the Reign of Terror there was already a house burned down.<br />
<br />
R: And two dead nitwits.<br />
<br />
K: I guess I was disappointed that the girl didn't die.<br />
<br />
S: Yeah, you've now got the expectation that there should be at least a body count of two by now, plus several explosions.<br />
<br />
P: I thought the title was very deep. I saw “War of God” and I was instantly captivated.<br />
<br />
M: But there was no god?<br />
<br />
R: It's much punchier to say “War of God” than “Nitpicking about our rules over the deity”.<br />
<br />
M: It was all very charming and wonderful...<br />
<br />
S: But there's nothing really to comment on.<br />
<br />
H: Charming and wonderful, huh? I like that. We haven't talked about Preslin the apothecary... That part is supposed to be educational, and the Doctor is discovering about people's ideas.<br />
<br />
S: The Doctor is discovering people working on simultaneous discoveries, thus smashing them together and meddling in human history.<br />
<br />
H: People did historically discover each other. [Although, surprisingly, Preslin is <i>not</i> a historical figure, but merely a representative of science of the time. --H]<br />
<br />
S: Because of the Doctor's meddling.<br />
<br />
H: I would say he's more encouraging.<br />
<br />
S: Like the Meddling Monk.<br />
<br />
H: But the Meddling Monk was trying to change the course of history to meet his own ends. The Doctor is just really interested in what's going on.<br />
<br />
M: He's like “This is neat!”<br />
<br />
R: He shows up and says “You're the guy! Don't give up on this idea. I can't tell you that I've seen what you're going to do, but it's so cool!”<br />
<br />
H: Now, Loose Cannon spoiled the cliffhanger. [They included a sort-of credit sequence before the story started that listed William Hartnell as both the Doctor <i>and</i> the Abbot of Amboise. --H] Was anyone actually surprised by the ending?<br />
<br />
P: Yes. I thought at first that when the Abbot was shown from behind, it was a picture of the Meddling Monk. And when it turned out to be the Doctor, and I was like, cool!<br />
<br />
M: I don't know why the Doctor is there. But I wasn't surprised that he was. [Although it's worth noting that MisterMother missed the beginning, so was <i>not</i> spoiled for this plot development. --H]<br />
<br />
S: I think it's just a cost cutting measure. They hid the TARDIS behind a gate.. they hid the Abbot behind some stunt casting.<br />
<br />
R: And the princess is actually going to be played by Steven.<br />
<br />
K: No female companion. Weird.<br />
<br />
M: Steven!<br />
<br />
R: And, once again, we see Steven's delicate touch with the girls.<br />
<br />
H: No, that was Gaston being obnoxious, not Steven. He actually seemed to <i>care</i> about her, even if she was a servant.<br />
<br />
Sc: But there is only one female character in the whole episode.<br />
<br />
H: It was medieval France. [No idea what Ketina is paraphrasing here, sorry! --H]<br />
<br />
P: History wasn't really written much about women in this point in history, except for royals.<br />
<br />
H: With some rare exceptions.<br />
<br />
S: Well, Joan D'Arc was well done.<br />
<br />
R: Instead of medium rare? What, too soon?<br />
<br />
** groans **<br />
<br />
H: Last thoughts?<br />
<br />
M: Yeah, I'm back. More Doctor Who!<br />
<br />
H: So, now that we're done with Terry Nation, you're back for this one.<br />
<br />
M: Yeah, I'm back.<br />
<br />
P: Okay, Steven says “How do you know we're in Paris” and I see this sign, and in my head I'm thinking that in French it must say “You're in Paris!”<br />
<br />
H: There was almost nothing existing for this episode other than the audio. So a lot of the poses are the same and most of the pictures are composites.<br />
<br />
K: Was Gaston's beard painted on?<br />
<br />
H: I don't know.<br />
<br />
S: Yeah, Doctor Who. Mr. Mother is back!<br />
<br />
Sc: I liked it. I don't have much to say about it. But there were very few female characters.<br />
<br />
K: Did the servant girl scream?<br />
<br />
Sc: No, but she ran.<br />
<br />
H: She was hiding, so she couldn't scream.<br />
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R: Sort of hoping they don't pick up a female companion in this one. If they pick up that poor girl and bring her into space, she's so going to die. Katarina flashbacks!<br />
<br />
K: I really wanted a sword fight. Steven is wearing a sword, the Doctor pointed it out.<br />
<br />
H: And the Doctor pointed out that Steven didn't know how to use it, too.<br />
<br />
K: Ian figured out how to use a sword. If Ian could do it, Steven could do it.<br />
<br />
H: Yeah, I suppose that's true.<br />
<br />
K: Anyway, I'm looking forward to a sword fight next week.<br />
<br />
S: It's too soon to have an opinion of this episode. I'll tell you more about this episode next week after I've seen next week's episode.<br />
<br />
H: Well, I enjoyed it. I was worried about the recon, but I thought it moved pretty well. Lots of captions, but not overwhelming.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
And there we have it. As always, I'll plug <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a>, for all your recon needs. As for what's next, is the Doctor the Abbot? If so, what's his plan? And what will happen "before the week is past?" We'll find out more next episode! Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIAN<br />
<br />
NEXT WEEK: "THE SEA BEGGAR"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-14286532870749327302011-04-01T19:26:00.000-07:002011-04-01T19:26:20.743-07:00No post this weekVarious illnesses have felled various Project members, enough that I decided I had to cancel tonight's episode. Sorry folks. We'll be back next week with the first episode of our new story. Until then, I remain<br />
<br />
THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-29227831790989921332011-03-31T20:12:00.000-07:002011-03-31T20:29:45.571-07:00"The Daleks' Master Plan" wrapupHello everyone, the Historian here. Well. Here we are, finally, at the end of one of the most fabled, most epic Doctor Who stories of all time. So, here we are, twelve episodes, over three months (because of some breaks), and an exhausted Project team later. (Though, to be fair, only Ketina and I made it through every single episode!) <br /><br />So, as I asked the team after we finished, was it worth it? On the whole, I'm going to say yes, though I don't think all of the Project members would agree with me. (Heck, MisterMother decided to skip the rest of this story after watching a few of the episodes.) The story is considered a masterpiece by many fans (especially those with memories of seeing it as kids), but I think it is, at best, a <i>flawed</i> masterpiece.<br /><br />For one thing, it's too long. About 3 episodes too long, I'd say; as Spoo said in the last episode discussion, the "Master Plan" plot would have made a great seven-parter. Admittedly, most of the filler was enjoyable (especially anything involving the Monk), but it was painfully obvious that it <i>was</i> filler. When you get right down to it, the plot could be said to fit into episodes 1-6 and then parts of 10-12, but even those had long scenes of…nothing. (The space radio operators chatting about what to watch on space telly, Chen and Karlton's apparent flirting, Steven and Sara's interminable trek through the jungle, etc. etc.) By the end, you could tell that even the cast and production team, some of whom hadn't been thrilled about a 12 part story from the beginning, were experiencing a bit of story fatigue.<br /><br />But the episodes that consist <i>entirely</i> of filler, while dragging the story out, were a lot of fun, sometimes more fun than the central plot. The Christmas episode was fun mainly for the "legendary" novelty value, but the three episodes with the Monk were pure fun…mainly <i>because</i> of Peter Butterworth's wonderful comic acting. One wishes for more, another whole story of the Monk's inept attepts at revenge. (<i>Carry On Timelord</i>?)<br /><br />Moving on to one of the serial's good points, he came in for a lot of ribbing, but I want to talk a bit about Kevin Stoney's Mavic Chen. True, he was a white man in very heavy "oriental" make-up, but Stoney created a character you just couldn't take your eyes off of. Chen's master manipulation and eventual disintegration ("You can't kill me, I'm immortal!") is compelling…far more compelling, ultimately, than the Daleks and their Time Destructor. It's not easy for someone to steal the show from the Pepperpot Menace, but Mavic Chen did it ably. Which made his final fate even more effective.<br /><br />And then there's Sara. Jean Marsh does a fine job of playing the "fill-in companion," although she has a rocky start. I know the team had some issues with her going from stone cold killer to caring companion--though Marsh (and the writers) are smart enough to keep at least a bit of a prickly edge to her character. I think the best testament I can make to how much Sara came to mean to this story and the team is shown by our reaction to her death in the last episode discussion. <br /><br />Katarina…poor Katarina. Poor Adrienne Hill. In some ways, she was as much a casualty of the change in producers (Verity Lambert to John Wiles) as the vacuum of space. Wiles and Donald Tosh realized, quite rightly, that she didn't work as a character out of her element. Sure, it's always good to have a "what's that Doctor" character, but she took that to an extreme that the show couldn't handle at this point. Thankfully, a later production/writing team would find the balance necessary for "historical" companions. <br /><br />And, of course, this is the story that introduced Nicholas Courtney to Doctor Who, after he got beaten out by Julian Glover for the part of Richard III in "The Crusades." True, Bret Vyon only lasted four episodes, but Nick was a high point in every one of them. <br /><br />Not much I can say about Peter Purves, other than Steven isn't always well served by these scripts, often being overshadowed by Bret or Sara. But when he is able to shine, Purves rises to the occasion. (He is, for example, wonderful in the Monk episodes.) And William Hartnell, regardless of the behind the scenes problems (and there were many) and his failing health (which finally seems to be starting to be visible on screen), is clearly the life and soul of the show. Some scenes without him are very good, but he brings an energy to every episode that is undeniable.<br /><br />Then there are the writers…ok, Terry Nation has gotten a lot of bashing over the past few…months. And yes, some of it was undeserved; there are a lot of great ideas early on in this story. But there's a lot of recycled stuff from his previous Who scripts too. If you include the petrified one in the first Dalek story, he's had five jungle planets/areas in four stories. The "spine" of this story involves the Daleks chasing their enemies, through both time and space…a lot like "The Chase." The "[vi]taranium" reminds one of the special metal developed by the scientist in "Dalek Invasion of Earth"--"dalekanium." And then there's the moment in almost every Nation-scripted episode in this story where the action stops dead. Sometimes there are plot points in those scenes, but they seem to stretch on for far longer than they're actually on screen. Once Dennis Spooner takes over (apparently using Nation's outline), the plot flaws remain, but the dead spots (with a few exceptions!) basically disappear. And the dialogue becomes less portentious, more snappy. And his decision to bring back the Monk (which was <i>not</i> in the outline) was sheer genius, reviving a flagging story. Think how boring the mid-Chase episodes would have been without him!<br /><br />As for the direction, well, Douglas Camfield seems to have done a fine job. Certainly, the existing episodes look good, and the stills give a good idea of how shots were set up. Not a lot to say, but I wanted to mention that this was another strong story from a strong director.<br /><br />Ok, I'd better post the links to the episode writeups before I type all night!<br /><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2010/12/nightmare-begins.html">"The Nightmare Begins"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-of-armageddon.html">"Day of Armageddon"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/devils-planet.html">"Devil's Planet"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/traitors.html">"The Traitors"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/counter-plot.html">"Counter Plot"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/coronas-of-sun.html">"Coronas of the Sun"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/feast-of-steven.html">"The Feast of Steven"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/volcano.html">"Volcano"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/03/golden-death.html">"Golden Death"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/03/escape-switch.html">"Escape Switch"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/03/abandoned-planet.html">"The Abandoned Planet"</a><br /><a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2011/03/destruction-of-time.html">"Destruction of Time"</a><br /><br />And here are links to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/daleksmasterplan/">BBC episode guide</a> and (for all the behind the scenes info) <a href="http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/v.html">the Brief History of Time (Travel) page</a> for the story. I'd really recommend checking at least the latter out. And, of course, I can't say enough about how wonderful the <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> reconstruction was. It's probably one of the best ones yet and I can't recommend it enough. Check it out, you'll be glad you did. (2 videotapes and postage, a deal you can't beat!)<br /><br />Finally, a little trivia quiz for our readers: believe it or not, this story was only the third and fourth time the TARDIS had touched down on "present-day" (i.e. in or around the year of transmission) Earth after leaving it during the first episode. Can you name them all?<br /><br />So, the Doctor and Steven have left Kembel for the last time, moving through time and space towards a story that is completely different from this one. Change, and not a moment too soon! (That is, tomorrow night!) Until then, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-36889018370380993362011-03-26T10:27:00.000-07:002011-03-28T19:20:45.603-07:00"Destruction of Time"Hello everyone, the Historian here. We made it--the end of the twelve episode epic! Joining me this week were Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, Photobug and Cz. This episode was a biggie, so, without further ado, let's get to the summary!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Episode summary: First aired 29 January 1966. "No, I am alive and soon shall be master of the universe!" says Mavic Chen. "Perhaps, Kingdom, you'd like to lead the way. I'm certain the Daleks will be delighted to see you." With no other choice, Sara and Steven make their way into the Dalek tunnel, followed by Mavic Chen, still holding his blaster on them...!<br /><br />The three enter the Dalek tunnel. Steven tries to protest, but it is quickly evident that Chen's hold on sanity has been lost. "I'm not a fool," he says. "I guessed your plan." Our plan is to destroy the Daleks, insists Sara, but Chen refuses to believe this. "Where is the old man, the one you call the Doctor?" he asks, but when Steven insists they are trying to find the Doctor, he explodes. "Now do stop this masquerade!" he snaps. "See, I know he is trying to usurp my position with the Daleks." "That is absurd!" Steven responds. The Doctor has always opposed the Daleks! "Yet I find you at the entrance to the Daleks' secret headquarters," says Chen. "I know the Doctor's here, and that he's trying to take my place. But I'll soon change that." Sara tells Steven to save his breath, Chen will never believe them. "I tell you, he's mad!" she says. "The Daleks need me," Chen insists. "And now I'll be able to show them the Doctor will betray them. Lead on!" As Chen still holds a gun to their backs, Steven and Sara continue into the tunnel.<br /><br />In the Dalek control room, a Dalek reports to the Supreme that an assault division of five thousand Daleks await orders. "The Time Destructor will be placed in the lead ship," says the Supreme. It then turns as another Dalek reports that prisoners have been taken--Mavic Chen and two of the time travellers. The Supreme orders them brought to central control.<br /><br />Daleks cover Chen, Steven and Sara. Chen attempts to dismiss them, telling the Daleks he will take his prisoners to the Supreme alone. "Until you realise that these people are my prisoners, I shall refuse to hand them over," he says. As the Daleks verify their orders, Steven insists that there is no proof that the Doctor is there. "Whatever else is thought about you, one cannot help but admire the way you both continue with your absurd bluff," says Chen. "Representative Chen, new orders have been received," says the lead Dalek. "You are to escort the prisoners to the Dalek Supreme." "Excellent!" responds Chen, and sends the two travellers ahead of him. After he leaves, the Dalek adds, menacingly, "But we are still to assist him."<br /><br />The Supreme orders the prisoners to be brought into the control room. The three humans enter, followed by the Dalek guards. Mavic Chen walks in, believing (as always) that he is fully in control. "Once again, I - Mavic Chen - Guardian of the Solar System - have helped the Daleks with their conquest plan," he says, grandly. But the Supreme, almost ignoring him, replies to Chen, "Our alliance has ended." Chen is absolutely shocked and angered. "What!" he says. "But I have helped you time and time again with your absurd incompetence! I - Mavic Chen - will decide when the Alliance is at an end." He takes a step towards the Supreme. "You, Dalek Supreme, tell them they're to take their orders from me." There is complete silence as the Supreme simply trains its eyestalk on Chen. "I assume that this silence means that the orders have been passed. Good," Chen says, and walks to a Dalek. "You! Bring me the invasion reports." Again, silence. The Dalek does not move. All eyes and eyestalks are on are Chen. "It is essential that I know what stage the countdown has reached. Now, move!" No answer. "You did not pass on my order. Why?" But he gets no answer. "Failure to obey the orders of your ruler brings only one reward," Chen yells and raises his gun! The beam hits the Dalek and does nothing--completely ineffective! In desperation, Chen throws the gun at the Dalek, but it bounces right off! "Take him away and exterminate him, but do not fire in here - you will damage us and some of the controls," orders the Supreme. At this, Chen's mind finally breaks. "You cannot turn against me!" he screams. "I--Mavic Chen--first ruler of the universe - am immortal!" He runs wildly out of the room into the corridor. "Pursue and exterminate in safe area - repeat - in safe area," orders the Supreme, and the Daleks follow Chen, leaving Steven and Sara apparently alone...until Steven feels a tap on his shoulder. "Doctor!" he says in surprise. "How on Earth...?" But the Doctor shushes him and hands him something--the TARDIS key. The Doctor tells Steven to take Sarah and return to the TARDIS, using the impulse compass. "But what about you, Doctor?" asks Steven. "There is no use in all of us taking risks," the Doctor replies. "You must do as I say." But how did he get here? "I followed a Dalek here, of course," the Doctor says. "Now, let me get on." He moves towards the object in the center of the control room. "I am going to activate the Time Destructor," he says.<br /><br />Chen runs through corridors, attempting to evade Daleks. "You will pay for your crimes against your ruler!" he screams. He keeps dodging, but the Daleks meticulously corner him. "You cannot kill me!" Chen screams, but the Dalek guns fire! And Mavic Chen falls to the floor, a victim of his arrogance and ambition.<br /><br />Back at the control room, Steven worries that the Daleks will return any moment. Just then, the Doctor succeeds in activating the Time Destructor! The device emits a beeping sound and pulses with light. Suddenly, the Supreme and several other Daleks reenter the room. "I am afraid you're too late," the Doctor tells them. "The Time Destructor is activated." "Do not fire!" orders the Supreme. "No, you cannot fire, can you?" laughs the Doctor. "You dare not. If you were to, yes, you could kill us, but you will totally destroy your equipment. I think it is checkmate. Hmm. Send one of your Daleks over here. Remember, the Time Destructor is working... working slowly, but if you disobey me, I can accelerate it." "Do what he says," says the Supreme. The Doctor tells Steven and Sara to get behind the advancing Dalek and the three use it as a shield to exit the room, the Doctor carrying the Time Destructor. "Now, both of you, back to the TARDIS," says the Doctor. "What about you, Doctor?" asks Steven. "Do as I say, quickly!" says the Doctor, and Steven grabs Sarah's arm and they leave.<br /><br />Down the corridor, Sara stops, protesting that they can't just leave the Doctor. "The Doctor knows what he's doing," says Steven. "At least, I think he does," he adds. But Sara objects. "If anything goes wrong and the Daleks recapture the Time Destructor, we'll have failed for ever." "I know what you're saying," says Steven. "Now, I'd go back too, if I thought it would help. Whatever he's doing, he's doing because he thinks it's the best way. Now, come on!" They run on.<br /><br />Back at the doorway, the Doctor pushes his Dalek shield into the room and presses the door shutting mechanism, which he then smashes. Taking the Time Destructor, he runs down the corridor...<br /><br />...Only to find Sara waiting for him! When he demands to know what she's doing there, she replies that she wants to help. "You must remember, my child, this machine is working," the Doctor tells her. "It's working slowly because its range is rather small at the moment, but it is working. Now, if you start to feel strange, you must let me know at once." They must get back to the TARDIS, he tells her. "Steven's not with you?" he asks. No, says Sara. "Hurry, my child, hurry!" says the Doctor, and they run.<br /><br />In the jungle, Steven suddenly realizes that Sara is no longer with him. A roaring wind rises as the effects of the Time Destructor begin...<br /><br />Elsewhere in the jungle, Sara and the Doctor, still carrying the pulsing Time Destructor, struggle on. "My dear, are you beginning to feel strange?" asks the Doctor. Sara cannot speak for a moment. She has begun to look older. "The wind... listen... Can't you hear it?" she asks. "I've never heard that on Kembel before." "Yes, well, perhaps it's this Time Destructor having an effect on the elements, hmm," speculates the Doctor. Destroy it! says Sara. "No, no!" replies the Doctor. "That's impossible my dear. There's one thing I do know about this machine - it will continue until the Taranium has finally burnt itself out. Our only chance is to get back to the TARDIS. Then I can neutralise it." The two struggle on again. <br /><br />In the control room, the Daleks have managed to bypass the door control circuit. As the door opens, the Supreme orders, "Pursue and exterminate!" The Daleks move quickly to do so.<br /><br />The wind has risen to a howl as the Doctor and Sara struggle on. Both are moving more slowly; Sara has aged from her strong self into an elderly woman as the Time Destructor takes its toll. "Keep going!" Sara gasps. "The Daleks must be after us by now!"<br /><br />And, indeed, the Daleks have begun to pursue them through the jungle. Around the creatures, though, the effects of the Time Destructor can be seen as trees and plants begin to age and wither.<br /><br />Sara and the Doctor still struggle on, more slowly. Sara has aged even more and even the Doctor is looking older. The Time Destructor continues to pulse...<br /><br />Inside the TARDIS, Steven waits. He has the scanner on and is searching the area around the ship for his friends. He bangs his fist down on the console in frustration. "Nothing!" he says.<br /><br />The Daleks continue to move through the jungle after the Doctor and Sara. They don't appear to be slowing down at all.<br /><br />The wind has grown even stronger as Sara and the Doctor stumble on, barely able to walk. They are almost to the TARDIS...but Sara finally collapses. She in ancient, but determined and she tries to drag herself forward as the Doctor slowly moves into the clearing. But he, too, has aged horribly and can barely move. Around them, the jungle continues to age, trees and plants dying and turning to dust...<br /><br />Inside the TARDIS, Steven happily catches sight of his friends. He opens the doors and runs out to help them.<br /><br />He runs out of the TARDIS and is shocked to see that what was once jungle is now dust covered rocks. No vegetation can be seen. The Doctor has collapsed and the Time Destructor, still pulsing, is still on. Sara, too tired to even pull herself along, stops moving. Steven is horrified to see her, horribly ancient. She stops breathing...but moments later only a skeleton remains. Within seconds, the skeleton turns to dust and blows away in the wind. Steven is shocked, but begins to make his way slowly to the Doctor; he, too, is feeling the effects as his hair begins to turn grey. "Come on, Doctor," he says. "No, don't touch me," replies the old man. Steven insists, "I must help you." "Get back to the ship!" barks the Doctor. Steven moves to the Time Destructor and tries to turn it off. He flicks a switch and seems to change something, but the machine is still doing <i>something</i>. Steven then goes back to the Doctor and tries to drag him back to the TARDIS.<br /><br />Once they are inside, Steven closes the doors. The properties of the interior of the TARDIS seem to reverse the Time Destructor's effects, and Steven and the Doctor are soon their original ages. "Thank you, my friend," gasps the Doctor. "Thank you, Steven. By chance, you reversed the Time Destructor. Instead of Time rushing forward, it's now racing back." Then the Doctor, still recovering, begins to look around for his other companion. He seems to realize what must have happened and says, sadly, "Sara? You realise she came to look for me, to see if I was all right? Hmm." "I was forcing my way through the jungle. I didn't even see her go." says Steven. Just then, the party of Daleks appear on the scanner screen--they are right outside. "The Daleks!" says the Doctor.<br /><br />Outside the TARDIS, the Daleks notice the still-beeping and pulsing Time Destructor. In desperation, they fire at it, but their guns have no effect. Suddenly, the Time Destructor's effects begin to catch up with the Daleks and they appear to lose control of their motor skills. Their shells start to come apart, disintegrating into nothing. The Daleks inside fall to the ground and they, too, begin to change into embryos and then...nothing. Nothing but rocks and dust...and the Time Destructor, which finally stops beeping and becomes inert.<br /><br />The Doctor and Steven leave the TARDIS and look around at the devestation. "Oh, dust. Nothing but dust!" the Doctor says, coughing. Steven walks over to what is left of the Time Destructor and picks it up. "Mavic Chen's Taranium Core has finally burnt itself out," says the Doctor. Steven throws it down in disgust. He looks around. "I wish Sara could have seen the end," he says, sadly. "Yes, my boy, so do I," the Doctor agrees. "You know, Steven, the one thing that Sara lived for was to see the total destruction of the Daleks. Well, now it's all over. Without her help, this could never have been achieved, hmm." Suddenly, the Doctor chuckles and points to a discoloured spot in the dust. "Millions of years of progress reversed back - that's all that remains of a Dalek." He chuckles again, but Steven sighs. "Lets go, Doctor. I've seen enough of this place," he says. The Doctor, though, lingers. He is still a bit pleased with himself as he says, "Well, my boy we finally rid this planet of Daleks!" But Steven angrily counts the cost. "Brett! Katarina!" And then, with a sob, "Sara!" He walks back into the TARDIS. The Doctor, no longer pleased, looks around at the devastation with sadness. "What a waste." he says, shaking his head. "What a terrible waste." He turns and enters the TARDIS, closing the doors. After a moment, the familiar wheezing, groaning sound is heard and the ship slowly vanishes from what was once the vibrant jungle world of Kembel.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Ketina's...Transcript...stuff.<br /><br />H: Historian<br />K: Ketina<br />R: Ronelyn<br />Sc: Schmallturm<br />S: Spoo<br />P: Photobug<br />C: Cz<br /><br />K: Whoa...<br /><br />S: Mavic Chen died with a full stomach. Because my god, did he eat a lot of scenery on the way out.<br /><br />H: He just went nuts. It was amazing to see throughout the entire story, particularly the last two episodes, Chen's mental disintegration.<br /><br />S: So, did the Doctor just resist the effects of the Time Destructor because he's a bad ass, or was it something else?<br /><br />H: He didn't. He was just growing older slower. I think that Hartnell did have aging makeup, but I guess we're supposed to understand that lives a lot longer than a standard human even at this point.<br /><br />S: From the “meta level” I understand that he's a Time Lord, but they haven't established any of that yet.<br /><br />K: We definitely know he's an alien at this point, but that's it.<br /><br />S: So did Chen not get enough Taranium for the Time Destructor to be all that?<br /><br />Sc: It did seem to do what it was supposed to do, whatever that was.<br /><br />S: I was expecting it to be on more of a galactic scale.<br /><br />P: I speculate that the Doctor used a low setting, whereas in battle they would have used a high setting.<br /><br />R: So, he had it on a trans-temporal stun?<br /><br />H: Photobug is right, the Doctor did say it was on a low setting. Also, the Daleks weren't planning on turning it on until they were in position.<br /><br />Sc: So, the Doctor turns on the time destructor. And the Daleks apparently can't turn it off. They couldn't plunge it. So the Doctor picks it up and carries it with him to the one safe place. Why didn't he just leave it behind? They would have reached the TARDIS on time, Sara wouldn't have died, and the Daleks would have all died because, CRIMENY, WE CAN'T PLUNGE IT! They should have just headed for their spaceship and ran!<br /><br />H: Well, taking it back a moment to what the hell were the Daleks thinking.. going back to “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” we have proof that Dalek plans are stupid. Drilling out the core of the earth to drive it around?<br /><br />R: IT WOULD BE LEET!<br /><br />Sc: I think you're reaching.<br /><br />H: What's the difference between a Dalek plan and a Nation script at this point?<br /><br />S: Maybe all the Dalek planning made the assumption that the Destructor was at full power to work? You set it to full and “mwahahaha” you aged your enemy to death!<br /><br />R: Maybe “master Steven” broke the nobs on the Destructor?<br /><br />P: He did flip a switch.<br /><br />H: Turned it in reverse? It wasn't clear.<br /><br />K: No, it did work.<br /><br />H: The caption said something about throwing it into reverse.<br /><br />K: The Daleks got younger, turned into embryos, so it totally worked.<br /><br />H: And that's how the Doctor survived. Sara was already dead when the Destructor was reversed.<br /><br />K: So why didn't the planet get younger again?<br /><br />H: Because it was already destroyed?<br /><br />P: So, things that were already dead, like Sara, couldn't get younger.<br /><br />S: Attack of the soundtrack on this one. From the moment the Time Destructor was on it was really hard to hear any dialogue.<br /><br />R: I thought we were getting lost in the echoes of the death cries of Mavic Chen.<br /><br />Sc: Could have been the fault of the recording.<br /><br />H: Remember, this was someone pointing a microphone at the TV.<br /><br />Sc: Independent of that though. But it was a gruesome episode.<br /><br />R: I like at the end that the Doctor is like “oh dear, we've destroyed the Daleks, hehehe” and Steven was like “shut up, this is serious” and the Doctor shuts up.<br /><br />P: We enjoyed the benefit of knowing the time device went into reverse because of the caption. The viewer didn't necessarily know that.<br /><br />H: I think the visual was there in the original, maybe with the Doctor's makeup.<br /><br />Sc: And the Doctor did say something about things being reverse. IF HE HADN'T FLIPPED THAT SWITCH WE COULD HAVE PLUNGED IT. BUT NOW WE'RE SCREWED.<br /><br />S: The Daleks can communicate wirelessly, but they couldn't bluetooth with the Destructor to talk to it?<br /><br />H: Well, they did have transistors when this was broadcast. [I think this was part of a longer discussion about technology and how big radios and/or walkie talkies would have been in 1966, but I can't remember specifics of who said what. --H]<br /><br />S: In character or out of character, the Daleks seemed to really enjoy killing off Chen.<br /><br />H: Yeah.<br /><br />S: They actually took the 5 minutes to give him the silent treatment, then they wheeled off after him. They totally toyed with him. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO DO THIS FOR 11 WEEKS. DANCE MONKEY, DANCE!<br /><br />H: So there's something that I had been thinking about, prior to watching this episode. There is a gigantic loose end with Spoo's favorite character. Remember Karlton? No one on Earth knows what happened to Chen. Karlton could quietly take over. No one sent a message back to Earth.<br /><br />K: Actually, there was all the other alien council guys who escaped.<br /><br />H: But they're all going after the Daleks. Why would they go off to Earth except to conquer it.<br /><br />R: “Let us not go back to earth. It is a silly place.”<br /><br />S: There isn't any scenery left on Earth to eat. We would all starve.<br /><br />P: We need to define “chewing scenery” here for our readers.<br /><br />H: It basically means WAY over acting.<br /><br />K: Right at the start of the episode, and I tried to keep this in my head, Chen goes “I am the Master of the Universe.” and I thought “Skeletor or He-Man?”<br /><br />S: Castle Greyskull... yeah yeah yeah.<br /><br />R: Very funny.<br /><br />K: Hey. I'm typing here.<br /><br />H: Does that make Karlon Cringer?<br /><br />K: Okay, whatever.<br /><br />H: In Doctor Who fan controversy...<br /><br />R: Known as “fantroversy”<br /><br />H: Sara Kingdom, companion or not?<br /><br />S: Knowing what a lock is, I would say yes.<br /><br />P: Is this about motivation?<br /><br />S: What else is there to talk about?<br /><br />Sc: I want to talk about the moving Daleks in the recon. Every Dalek moved. They spun around, moved down corridors, way more than just blinking lights. It was kind of impressive.<br /><br />R: It worked really well. The only time I had trouble was when there was a lot of motion and it would go back to a scene and I was like “is this recon, or just a tableau?” and then it realized we were back to stills. So it took me out of things a bit sometimes.<br /><br />H: Anyway, the controversy about Sara Kingdom is that she's only in one story. I think she counts as a companion. She was in more episodes than Katarina. She travels in the TARDIS longer than her brother Bret, who was only in the first three episodes. But there are people who think of her only as a secondary character and she shouldn't count.<br /><br />S: I guess another companion test is the nature of her interaction of the Doctor. Did she learn anything from the Doctor? Did she grow as a companion? Did the Doctor miss her when she was gone?<br /><br />H: You can use that argument with many secondary characters though. But she traveled with them for only 6 or 7 episodes. I think she's a companion, so I'm tagging this post accordingly as "Cast Changes."<br /><br />C: She came in when Katarina left, right? So, if she's only a secondary character that means that the Doctor was female companionless for a good 7 episodes.<br /><br />R: “I'm going commando! Billy Fluff this!”<br /><br />K: My argument, she traveled though time and space in the TARDIS.<br /><br />H: Well, it's not as controversial as calling the Brigadier a companion.<br /><br />R: Well, what was <i>he</i> then?<br /><br />H: He was a secondary character. These are the arguments fans have.<br /><br />S: Are there any other open plot threads beyond Karlton?<br /><br />H: Well, there's the armada looking for the Daleks.<br /><br />Sc: Let's be honest, they're better off not finding the Daleks. Model UN finding the Daleks is not a good thing.<br /><br />R: I think that's a universal truism. Finding the Daleks is never a good thing.<br /><br />K: Unless you want pepper on your spaghetti.<br /><br />R: OW, STOP TWISTING MY NECK! IF I GRABBED YOUR HEAD AND STARTING TWISTING, WOULD YOU EXPECT CONDIMENTS TO COME OUT OF YOUR BUTT?<br /><br />H: So, twelve episodes, was it worth it?<br /><br />P: Now it is.<br /><br />S: I've watched enough terrible movies and MST3K that I recuse myself.<br /><br />R: I was kind of begging the Daleks to kill of Mavic Chen at the end. I was like “DUDE, LET'S KILL THIS GUY.” But when it became apparent that they were killing off Sara I was like “That sucks.” I really liked her character and I thought she was getting interesting. Not to mention a woman in uniform and all that.<br /><br />C: But she killed her brother!<br /><br />R: You did see the Troy one just before, right? Not necessarily a disqualification.<br /><br />Sc: I feel this story arc was one of the lower quality stories we've seen. I think the high points were in the earlier episodes, but things got dragged at the end. So I'm really glad to see it over.<br /><br />H: I felt that it was several story arcs, with the Egyptian thing in the middle.<br /><br />S: I thought the Egyptian story arc gave it scale. But it probably could have been about 7 episodes and had really been strong. But it gave Kevin Stoney (Mavic Chen) to the world, and that was worth a lot.<br /><br />Sc: I liked a lot of the characters and concepts that were introduced, but the whole thing didn't work very well for me. I liked the Evil Model UN – I wanted to see more of that.<br /><br />H: Final thoughts?<br /><br />P: It's kind of a shame that this story arc is ending in some ways, because this weapon could have been explained better to the viewer than just “impending danger.”<br /><br />H: On the one hand, it's cool to leave it mysterious. But you have a point, it could have been developed better.<br /><br />P: Maybe that's a little too much hand holding for some people.<br /><br />R: They had plenty of narrative space to have explained it.<br /><br />H: I will say that this story is the first one that feels like it had the “I'll explain later” trope in Doctor Who.<br /><br />P: It's nice to see the story close. I think the recon was well worth it's efforts.<br /><br />S: “Mavic Chen will never do anything...”<br /><br />H: Again?<br /><br />S: Seriously, he's dead. I'll miss making fun of him. I gotta get a new tag line.<br /><br />Sc: I don't really have anything more to add.<br /><br />R: I think the bits of this arc that I will remember will be better than the arc itself. I will remember the secret transmission from space and the guy who died to tell them the thing they already knew. I'll remember Bret. I'll remember Mavic Chen. And I'll remember Sara Kingdom. But the rest will likely go away.<br /><br />K: I'll remember teeth guy. But then he turned into wiggle face guy and died horribly.<br /><br />C: This was the first full story arc I've seen since joining the project. And by the end of it I was feeling like it's the Doctor Who that I'm used to watching, which is the new ones. But I thought the reconstruction was really good. People were moving, stuff wasn't boring. Sara Kingdom's death had animation to it. I was really excited to see this one, unlike many of the other ones.<br /><br />K: I knew Sara's death was going to happen, because I'm such a big time Doctor Who fan and know that stuff. But the event was horrible even knowing it was going to happen. I've been sort of waiting for it for the last two episodes, but wow. That was harsh. <sniff><br /><br />H: Do you have any comments about the story as a whole?<br /><br />K: Too long. Loved model UN. Sara's turn around from fratricide to heroine was odd. Egypt was stupid.<br /><br />H: Even the Monk?<br /><br />K: Except for the Monk. The Monk was awesome. Wish there was more Monk. Glad the story is over, it was too friggin' long.<br /><br />H: I'm going to be doing a big wrapup post for the whole story, so I should save some stuff for that. But I will say that this is one of the “holy grails” of missing Doctor Who. I'm glad I've seen it. I agree that it was too long, but I enjoyed it. And the recon was awesome.<br /><br />K: We do say awesome a lot, don't we?<br /><br />H: <i>MiniSpoo</i> says awesome a lot. :)<br /><br />---<br /><br />And there we have it, "The Daleks' Master Plan!" As I mentioned above, there will be a wrapup post coming, before Friday if all goes to plan. As before, I want to apologize for how late these posts are getting. We're still watching them on Friday nights, but the summaries have been really taking some time. I hope you've all been enjoying them; I've tried to give those who haven't been able to see these episodes a good sense of what it's like to watch them. Hopefully I've succeeded...and that's a great segue to my standard <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> plug. In all seriousness, check out their work. It's absolutely fantastic.<br /><br />And next, we have something <i>completely</i> different. Until then, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIAN<br /><br />NEXT WEEK: "WAR OF GOD"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-57014431914624776932011-03-18T21:32:00.000-07:002011-03-20T19:53:00.063-07:00"The Abandoned Planet"Hello everyone, the Historian here, along with Ketina, Schmallturm, Spoo, MiniSpoo, Photobug and Cz. We're in the home stretch, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but this week it may have been the light from an oncoming train. Let's get to the summary.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Episode summary: First aired 22 January 1966. In the control room, the Doctor has finished wiring the new unit into the console. Still, he hesitates before testing it. "Well, come on. I thought you said that it was finished," says Sara. "Yes my dear, I've finished, but..." says the Doctor. "Oh come on, Doctor," says Steven. "We haven't got time for buts! This is our only hope!" "You realize, my boy, we're taking a terrible chance," says the old man. "Then you can save your breath," replies Steven. "We've got to try it!" The Doctor pauses a moment, turns away, grasps his lapels and says, "Very well. Pull the main switch!" Steven waits for a moment and then pulls the switch. The wheezing, groaning sound of the TARDIS taking off begins, but suddenly there is an explosion and the room fills with smoke...!<br /><br />In the Dalek control room on the planet Kembel, the Dalek time machine materializes. The door opens and Mavic Chen emerges, clutching the Taranium which he presents to the Dalek Supreme who is waiting. "The mission has been completed successfully," he says. "With guile and cunning, I have been able to repossess the Taranium." Is he certain that it is the <i>real</i> core? "Of course," Chen replies. "I had it examined before we arrived here. It is ready to be fitted to the Time Destructor. I hope that the Daleks will not suffer any more setbacks which could upset the plans for our conquest of the universe." The Supreme tells Chen that the final pre-invasion meeting of the Galactic Council is waiting for him; Chen arrogantly says he'll go and address them...presently. He leaves. After a moment, the Supreme turns to another Dalek. The Dalek tells its leader that the core is being fitted into the Time Destructor. "Do we now deal with Mavic Chen?" it asks. "No," the Supreme answers. "His arrogance and greed have a further use for us. Alert the council to attend their final conference."<br /><br />In the TARDIS control room, the Doctor and his friends have picked themselves up. The Doctor is examining the circuits of the control console. Fortunately, he says, there was no damage to the console itself, but the directional unit has been rendered useless. He holds it up so Sara and Steven can see that it is a blackened mess. The Doctor explains that the unit required more power than the TARDIS could provide. Thankfully, a safety feature made sure it was the directional unit burned out not the console itself. But that means the Doctor's plan to return to Kembel has failed. His companions frantic, the Doctor considers that their only option is to try to capture either the Monk's or the Daleks' machines. (Not knowing that both parties left before they did.) Before leaving, though, they decide to look on the scanner to see if any Egyptians are about...and are surprised to see the image of a jungle outside! "It might be Kembel," says the Doctor. "Do you know, that means that that directional unit must have burned itself out after we'd dematerialised!" He asks Steven to go get the impulse compass. The Doctor turns to Sara and tells her to have a little faith in the future! Sara tries to respond that it was the <i>Doctor</i> who had said they'd failed! But the old man will have none of it. "Oh come on, Doctor, you'll have to forgive her. After all, she hasn't known you very long," says Steven, trying not to laugh. The Doctor suggests they make a plan. He decides that they might be within walking distance of the Dalek city and he will go out and try to get his bearings. He leaves. Sara fumes, and Steven tells her to save it for the Daleks.<br /><br />In the Galactic Council room, the remaining council (Malpha, Gearon, Sentreal, Beaus and Celation) wait angrily. Celation demands that Chen be removed. Beaus defends Chen, saying the Earthman had brought the Taranium. Celation responds that the Daleks will return the core. Then what do we need Chen for, Beaus asks. Exactly! says Celation and calls for a censure motion. The council members bang on the table in assent...but the Dalek Supreme appears and demands silence! It announces that Mavic Chen will address them. Chen walks in and begins. "Fellow delegates, even as you sit here, the great war force, assembled under the Daleks, is awaiting the final order to set out and conquer the universe!" But Beaus interrupts, asking why Chen is speaking for the Supreme. Chen attempts to ignore him and continues. "The final checks are being made. And in a very short time, that final order will be given!" But Celation breaks in: "Why is it that Mavic Chen is in possession of information denied to the rest of this Council?" Chen responds, "Although we are all equal partners with the Daleks on this great conquest... some of us are more equal than others." The other council members are furious, but Chen responds that "My contribution, of the emm of Taranium, is greater than all of yours put together. You have been dwarfed, dwarfed!" Beaus and Celation call for Chen's arrest, but Chen responds that they are "...nothing! Nothing!" "Your ambition condemns you, Mavic Chen," Celation declares, and the council members yell for death! Suddenly, Chen draws a blaster and shoots Beaus! Unnoticed, the Supreme slips out of the room as Chen turns to the delegates. "Before this conference began, the Dalek Supreme and I spoke together. This Council now is under my power. I will give the orders. You will obey them!"<br /><br />In the jungle, Sara and Steven are looking for the Dalek city. Steven warns Sara to watch out for Varga plans, but she points out that she hasn't seen any. "Come to think about it, neither have I," says Steven. "I thought the Daleks scattered them all over Kembel." Are you sure we're on Kembel? asks Sara. Of course, says Steven. The Doctor took those readings...wait, where is he? The two look around and see the Doctor is gone.<br /><br />In the council room, the delegates are still arguing. Chen continues to arrogantly claim precedence, saying that he alone was responsible for the recovery of the Time Destructor core. Suddenly, Malpha says, "There remains one question. Where is our co-ruler - the Dalek Supreme?" Chen is taken aback. He looks around a moment, but manages to regain his composure. "It is clear that he knows that I can run this council without his aid. Now, gentlemen, we come to the main discussion before this meeting. The apportioning of the government of the universe after the conquest. All of you will be allowed to oversee your own galaxies. BUT... all of you will be responsible to the Dalek Supreme... and me!" Just as he finishes, Daleks enter the room, pointing their weapons at all of the delegates. "There will be no more discussion," the Dalek says. "All representatives will come with us."<br /><br />In the jungle, Steven and Sara are trying to use the compass to find both the Dalek city and the Doctor. Steven is worried that he may have been caught by the Daleks, but Sara is practical. If he has been caught, it's now up to them to stop the Dalek invasion. "Mavic Chen will have returned with the Taranium. That means the Daleks' plans will be ready to go ahead and we've got to stop them!" Steven argues that they can't just leave the Doctor, possibly wandering around the jungle, but Sara says, knowing him, he's probably already at the city. Steven grudgingly agrees and they move on. After a few minutes, he takes another reading from the compass and says they should continue on their bearing. Sara asks how the "power impulse compass" works, but Steven says they don't have time. But what if something happens to you, asks Sara. I'll have to know how to use it. "Oh, you are so cheerful, aren't you," responds Steven.<br /><br />In the Dalek control room, the Supreme is told that the delegates are detained as ordered. "They will be destroyed at the same time as the headquarters, at the start of the conquest of the planet Earth," says the Supreme. "Commence invasion countdown!"<br /><br />Steven and Sara look down at the landing pad, viewing the delegates' various space ships. They argue for a couple of minutes about the best way to enter the Dalek city, with Sara angered at Steven's attitude. They finally begin to walk towards the outskirts of the city.<br /><br />Inside the city, Steven and Sara are surprised to find...no one! They keep moving, but there is still not one Dalek in sight. Sara speculates that the Daleks might be making final plans for the invasion, but Steven says they should still be running into guards. He suggests that perhaps the Doctor has already been captured. "Steven, this could all be a trick," says Sara. "If they have caught the Doctor, then they could be waiting for us." "No," replies Steven. "If they've caught the Doctor, they won't worry about us. We've got to find him." <br /><br />The two arrive in the Dalek control room, only to find it is also empty! Steven notices the abandoned time machine in the center of the room and Sara suggests using it to warn Earth. Steven objects that neither of them knows how to use it, but he has an idea. They can lock themselves inside the machine until the Daleks bring the Doctor to them. Sara, for some reason, thinks this plan could work. She finds the Dalek loudspeaker system. "This is Sara Kingdom of Space Security. Send the Doctor to the control room," she says, as Steven starts to try to figure out how to get into the time machine. They are both surprised to hear Mavic Chen's voice through the speaker. "Hello, Kingdom, Where are you?" Steven, believing Chen is still working with the Daleks, begins to talk to him.<br /><br />In the small cell, crowded with delegates, Steven's voice comes through clearly. "Let us speak to the Doctor." Celation, ever suspicious, says, "Is this more treachery? Who are these people?" Chen tells them they are the ones who stole the Taranium. Why have they come back? asks Celation, as the representatives hold Chen back. "I DON'T KNOW!" says the Guardian of the Solar System desperately. "YOU MUST LET ME SPEAK TO THEM!" "NO!" says Celation. "Already you have betrayed us. This could be another trick." Again, Steven's voice is heard: "Mavic Chen! Let me speak to the Doctor."<br /><br />Back in the control room, Sara is running out of patience. Suddenly, they hear a strange voice from the speaker. It is Celation. "Through the treachery of Chen we have been imprisoned," he tells them. Sara asks who they are, and Celation tells her they are the Galactic Council. Where are you? asks Steven. In a detention cell, replies Celation. Yes, but <i>where</i>? "We do not know!" the delegate answers. Steven moves to exit the room, saying they have to find this council. Sara wonders if this could be a trap, but Steven says, "No, I don't think so. Look, if there were any Daleks around, they'd be here by now. They must have gone. Maybe the Doctor's with the Council! Come on!" They leave.<br /><br />In the cell, Celation threatens Chen. "Mavic Chen, if this is a further trick, we shall destroy you before they could destroy us." Chen, growing increasingly frantic, denies that it is a trick. Why have these people returned then? asks Gearon. "If you'd only think!" says Chen. "Is there no sense in the outer galaxies? It is clear that they have lost their leader - the one they call the Doctor. The girl has bought the young man here to look for him, but really she has come back out of loyalty to me - to ensure my safety as the Guardian as the Solar System." It is unclear whether he is grasping at straws or if he actually believes this.<br /><br />Steven and Sara run through the city, looking for the detention area.<br /><br />In the cell, Chen continues to pontificate. But what about the Daleks, asks Celation. "Once we are out of here, we can destroy the Daleks, Chen replies. "Between us, we muster a greater force than they do. We can form our own galactic council." Suddenly, there is the sound of running feet. After a moment, Sara and Steven burst into the room. Chen demands Sara release him, but Steven says no. Where is the Doctor? he asks. Celation replies that if "the Doctor" is Steven's leader, then he is not there. Steven yells, "Where is he?" Chen responds, just as frantically, "I don't know!" He demands to be released, but Steven says, "So that you can rejoin the Daleks? Not likely." "Absurd!" responds Celation. "The Daleks have betrayed us!" Why should they rejoin the Daleks? "If we let them out, there's just a chance that some of them could mobilise a force to defeat the Daleks," says Sara. The delegates agree. After a moment, Steven agrees. "But the Daleks have already left Kembel," Steven tells them. "It's probable that their invasion plans are already going ahead and the universe can be taken by surprise, because of your greed!" "Must you moralize?" sighs Chen. "Your only chance is to go back to your own people and warn them," continues Steven, ignoring Chen. Celation says they must destroy the Daleks! The delegates agree, loudly...except for Chen. Malpha says, "We agree to go and defend our galaxies and to organise a search for the Dalek invasion force." Steven lets the delegates out of the cell. As he leaves, Chen turns to Sara and says, "You are a sensible woman, Kingdom. I will see that you are justly rewarded." She just stares at him with hatred.<br /><br />In the jungle, Steven and Sara watch as the delegates' ships begin to leave. Chen's ship is the last to leave. It begins to take off...and suddenly explodes! "Now he won't be able to get back to Earth and warn them," Sara says. "Let's hope that the others can mobilise fast enough," Steven replies. "There must be something we can do." "Yes - find the Doctor," says Sara, and they begin to move off into the jungle.<br /><br />They move through the jungle. Suddenly, Steven hears something moving. He and Sara move into the undergrowth. After a moment, they see...a Dalek! It moves off further into the jungle. "We must follow it!" says Steven. "Quickly!"<br /><br />A short distance later, they watch from cover as the Dalek enters an artificial-looking cave cut into a mountain. "Underground" says Sara. "Why didn't we think of that before." "Sara, it's possible the invasion hasn't started yet," says Steven. "Maybe the rest of the force are down there." "Or part of them," agrees Sara. "Yes, but that Dalek must know that the representatives got away," says Steven. "They might even know that we're on Kembel," says Sara. "The representatives gone and the Doctor disappeared - we're going to have to put them out of action ourselves," says Steven. Can we? asks Sara. "We've got to. Earth will still be invaded," says Steven. Suddenly, a voice rings out from behind them. "Certainly," says Mavic Chen. "Thanks to you." They spin around to see Chen covering them with a blaster. "Chen!" she says, shocked. "But you're dead!" "Not yet, my innocent one, though I'm delighted my pyrotechnic display impressed you," he replies. "No, I am alive and soon shall be master of the universe! Perhaps, Kingdom, you'd like to lead the way. I'm certain the Daleks will be delighted to see you." With no other choice, Sara and Steven make their way into the Dalek tunnel, followed by Mavic Chen, still holding his blaster on them....!<br /><br />---<br /><br />Ketina's Transcripty Thing<br /><br />H: Historian<br />K: Ketina<br />Sc: Schmallturm<br />S: Spoo<br />MS: MiniSpoo<br />P: Photobug<br />C: Cz<br /><br />H: [singing] Pad, pad, pad the script...<br /><br />Sc: Yeah, pretty much.<br /><br />H: Those walking through the jungle scenes were just padding after padding. I know some of the episodes didn't run long enough, but jeez.<br /><br />S: Who was the writer?<br /><br />H: Spooner.<br /><br />S: Who was the idea from?<br /><br />H: Nation. I'm not quite sure where you are going with this...<br /><br />S: <Speaking as Spooner> “Bloody hell, Terry. Billy didn't leave for 20 minutes and you had to put a bloody jungle in there.”<br /><br />P: I am now waiting for this story arc to be over with.<br /><br />H: I think we all are.<br /><br />P: And I think we're waiting for them to destroy the Daleks!<br /><br />Sc: I would say that not even the presence of Mavic Chen and the "Model UN", my favorite parts of this story-arc, were enough to save this episode.<br /><br />S: Huge props to the reconstruction guys. Best pictures I've seen for a recon yet. Fantastic ones for the dialogue and Chen's movement.<br /><br />H: I loved the animated Dalek at the end moving into the still to give it an illusion of depth. That was pretty cool.<br /><br />Sc: There was a thing in the beginning where the Doctor was leaving with the compass, and then Steven and Sara were locked out. I don't know what happened there.<br /><br />H: From my understanding, there's no indication in the script of why William Hartnell left the story suddenly like that. It may have been due to an issue he had with the John Wiles, the producer. I know there was a crew mini-strike caused by Hartnell screaming at his dresser. I suppose it's possible that William Hartnell basically walked out. Apparently a bunch of Steven's lines were scripted for the Doctor.<br /><br />S: The “Impulse Compass” bit amused me. When Sara asked Steven how it worked it was back to “Well, first I have to explain what a lock is...”<br /><br />P: It seemed to me that the “if something happened to you” explanation that Sara gave Steven was something not good.<br /><br />H: You mean like she was threatening him?<br /><br />P: It didn't make sense as a motivation for her character, but it came across that way.<br /><br />H: And yeah, Chen just lost it. He went from being smart to sort of megalomaniac to just plain crazy. It was like his earlier scene in the episode on Earth where he was not even thinking... he's like “The Dalek Supreme is behind me, so everyone against the wall.”<br /><br />S: He couldn't wait to get to the good part.... Kind of like us, actually.<br /><br />C: I was happy when he died. But then he didn't.<br /><br />S: That pretty much sums up the episode.<br /><br />C: hissss [doing an impression of Celation]<br /><br />H: I think the guy's name is Celation. The hissy snakey guy.<br /><br />P: From the house of Slitherin.<br /><br />C: Voldemort with zits all over him.<br /><br />S: Which is better than Muppet cardboard tube guy. [I <i>think</i> that's Gearon. --H] He was like “And I was here too!”<br /><br />C: He had one line. “Destroy!”<br /><br />H: I have to wonder what that guy looked like when he moved.<br /><br />P: I'm sure he moved like an Egyptian.<br /><br />H: Lame resolution to the cliffhanger. Well, we burned out of a piece of equipment, but we're where we needed to be in the first place.<br /><br />Sc: It was just an introduction of lameness that continued through the whole episode.<br /><br />H: Normally this is the point where I say “ah Schmallturm, come on...it wasn't that bad...” but this time you're right.<br /><br />S: When was this episode broadcast?<br /><br />H: January 1966.<br /><br />S: This was a precedent for exploding control panels as circuit breakers.<br /><br />P: What about Flash Gordon?<br /><br />H: There might have been other stuff that did exploding panels, but not quite like in this story, no.<br /><br />S: Are we really reaching for things to talk about here?<br /><br />H: I don't think there's really much to say, unless we make more Mavic Chen jokes.<br /><br />S: The “Billy Fluff” wasn't a fluff.<br /><br />C: Which line?<br /><br />S: When he's asking for one of the parts, and for once it seems to be the right name.<br /><br />H: I think it was a Billy Fluff and Steven rescued the line. It's something that William Russell did for Hartnell did a lot as well.<br /><br />P: Yeah, Steven saved him.<br /><br />S: And the Dalek Surpreme has the line “Mavic Chen's greed is still useful to us.”<br /><br />H: I think it was greed and arrogance.<br /><br />S: Dalek Supreme still makes me think of Mexican food. RUN FOR THE BORDER! [Spoo and I later decided that the Dalek Supreme has seven layers of hate--held together by sour cream and refried beans. I'm well aware that people outside of North America may not get the joke, but I'm including it anyway. --H]<br /><br />P: My usual comment.. no music.<br /><br />K: We had music.<br /><br />H: Just a couple of stings.<br /><br />K: Walking through the Dalek building for hours. There was tons of music.<br /><br />H: I don't remember any. I must have tuned it out.<br /><br />S: Philip Glass in a bathroom kind of thing.<br /><br />H: So Philip Glass then.<br /><br />P: I guess padding really is the word for this episode.<br /><br />H: Not enough happened to fill a full 25 minutes.<br /><br />S: There would have been more, but the Daleks didn't have shoes to pound on the council room table.<br /><br />Sc: There's a bit where they're wandering through the jungle, and Steven says to watch out for the deadly plants [Vargas], but then they never show up.<br /><br />H: I have possible out of story and in-story explanations for that. In-story: It could be if the Daleks have left they've taken the Varga plants with them.<br /><br />S: What?<br /><br />K: That's what I thought.<br /><br />H: Yep, that the best explanation. They do use the Varga plants as watch dogs and would want them for later. But, out-of-story explanation is that they didn't have to pay the actors to be in the suits.<br /><br />K: So why mention them at all?<br /><br />H: Because they were on Kembel and some fan was going to ask. Someone would have pointed it out.<br /><br />S: The loyal viewer.<br /><br />P: Another explanation, they arrived at the planet too early.. in the right place but at the wrong time. But it didn't turn out to be the case.<br /><br />C: That would have made the plot much more interesting that it is.<br /><br />Sc: Yes, that would require good writing too.<br /><br />S: I agree because for the first 5 minutes they were on the planet I expected a time-travel story and never got one.<br /><br />C: Hissssss<br /><br />S: The sound was really bad. Or the sound direction was bad. Five times it sounded like one of the actors was speaking into the corner of the set.<br /><br />H: I think the sound track was probably taken from multiple sources and it was a reconstruction technique to splice them together.<br /><br />S: I don't think so. I know quite a bit about sound mixing, and that sounded like actors speaking into corners or away from microphones.<br /><br />K: I think so with at least with the UN council because of the costumes.<br /><br />S: Yes.<br /><br />K: Reuse of the set from “The Daleks”. Was that just a reconstruction thing?<br /><br />H: I don't know. It would have been the best source to get Dalek building pictures.<br /><br />S: It was clever, whoever thought of it.<br /><br />K: Except for the really bad matte painting from “The Daleks” that was used again.<br /><br />P: There was Chen's great line to the council...<br /><br />H: Mavic Chen has apparently read George Orwell. All delegates are equal, but some are more equal than others. <br /><br />C: You can't be more equal! Euhhh math! [Cz has, apparently, <i>not</i> read Orwell...]<br /><br />MS: I'd like to add something. Using two words. AWE and SOME. Awesome.<br /><br />H: So you really liked it?<br /><br />MS: [two thumbs up] I liked it.<br /><br />S: So, apparently to really like this episode is not to pay attention to it.<br /><br />H: So, next week we have the allegedly exciting conclusion to this story, thank goodness.<br /><br />S: I have a “meta” plea. Looking ahead in the project, when is the next story by Terry Nation?<br /><br />H: Next Doctor Who he wrote was in 1973. Outside of the realm of the Project.<br /><br />S: I love you, and everything that you stand for.<br /><br />P: It was weird how the music swelled right then too.<br /><br />---<br /><br />And there we have this week's episode. Again, sorry for the posting delay--these summaries are really knocking me out! It's only left for me to make the standard <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> plug (the recon is wonderful!). Come back next week for the *whew* conclusion of the Dalek epic! Will Steven and Sara be able to stop the Dalek invasion? What will happen to Chen? Where <i>is</i> the Doctor, anyway? Find out next week! Until then, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIAN<br /><br />NEXT WEEK: "DESTRUCTION OF TIME"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-61232639207500053892011-03-11T21:22:00.000-08:002011-03-14T20:22:55.544-07:00"Escape Switch"Hello everyone, the Historian here, with the <i>tenth</i> episode of our Dalek epic. Joining me this week are Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, Photobug and Cz. This week--moving pictures! Let's get to the summary!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Episode Summary: First aired 15 January 1966. Steven calls for the Doctor as they enter the pyramid tomb, but there is no answer. Sara, noticing the TARDIS, wonders if the Doctor is inside, but the door is locked. Steven starts to call again, but Sara sees something behind them. "Steven! Look!" The lid of the tomb's coffin is being lifted by a hand covered with bandages...!<br /><br />The lid opens, revealing a fully bandaged, mummy-like figure! The figure groans, trying to speak. Steven and Sara run over towards it and begin unwinding bandages to reveal--the Monk! "Well, thank goodness for that!" he says.<br /><br />In the Dalek time machine, the Red Dalek has lost patience with the Monk. Mavic Chen replies that they should give the Monk more time. "We don't know what difficulties he had to face," he says. The Red Dalek replies that the hour given the Monk to retrieve the Taranium has expired, but Chen responds, "In the present situation we can't afford to measure time exactly." The Red Dalek replies that the Monk must have betrayed them, but Chen doesn't think so. "He DARE not! Will the Daleks never learn that all things do not work to a pattern - that flexibility can also lead to conquest?" The Red Dalek ignores this and orders its patrol to disembark. All life forms are to be treated as hostile. It then tells Chen he will go with them. "If you insist on this approach, I fail to see how I will be able to answer for the consequences!" Chen snaps, and pushes the Dalek's eye stick out of his way as he strides out. <br /><br />Steven has unwound the Monk's bandages. He tells Steven and Sara that the Doctor did it to him. "Well, he didn't say anything really. Nothing. There I was, trying to warn him of the Daleks, and suddenly, there I am in the sarcophagus!" Sara is sure the Doctor will apologize, but the Monk waves the idea off with good humor. Steven asks where the Doctor went, but Sara simply ignores the Monk and suggests the Doctor must be off looking for them. The Monk, meanwhile, keeps trying to break in, suggesting he has a headache and perhaps the Doctor has some kind of drug inside the TARDIS...? He is still trying to get inside to grab the Taranium, but both Steven and Sara ignore him until Sara turns and asks what they should do with the Monk. "He can come with us," says Steven. "That way, we can keep an eye on him." They begin to leave, but the Monk hangs back. He asks Steven if he's going to be let into the TARDIS or not. "I couldn't, even if I wanted to," replies Steven. "The Doctor's the only one with a key." The Monk is visibly disappointed and Steven, misunderstanding, tries to comfort him. "Don't worry, we'll find him," Steven says. "That's what I'm worried about," mutters the Monk.<br /><br />Chen and the Daleks walk through the pyramid site, looking for the Monk or the Doctor. Suddenly, they hear a voice in the distance--it is Steven, shouting for the Doctor!<br /><br />Steven, Sara and the Monk arrive at a corner of the base of the pyramid. Steven and Sara call out for the Doctor. The Monk, holding his hands in front of his mouth to muffle the sound, pretends to call for the Doctor. Sara feels dispirited and Steven asks what else they can do as the Monk slips off around the pyramid...and straight into the Dalek patrol! "Ah... there you are," he says, desperately trying to regain control of the situation. "I've been looking for you." Sara, hearing his voice, turns towards the Monk. Suddenly, more Daleks appear and back the three up against the side of the pyramid. "Prepare to exterminate them!" says the Red Dalek. The Monk protests. "Exterminated? When I've fulfilled my part of the bargain?" Mavic Chen runs forward and demands the Taranium core from the Monk. "I... I haven't actually got the Core, but... I've brought you hostages!" Steven is disgusted, but Chen is intrigued. The Doctor's loyalty to his friends is well known, he tells the Red Dalek. "In exchange for their lives, the Doctor would hand us the Core of the Time Destructor," he says. "Is this true?" the Red Dalek asks Steven, who remains silent. "Their silence confirms that it is," says Chen. "They know that it is true." The Red Dalek order Steven and Sara taken back to their time machine. The Monk starts to leave. "Well, now that little problem's settled, I'd better be..." but the Red Dalek interrupts. "You will return with us!" "Return with you? That was what I was going to say," the Monk lamely finishes.<br /><br />In one of the work shacks, Khephren is startled when Tuthmos stumbles in, gasping that the prisoners have escaped. "We left the tomb unsealed," Khephren says, worriedly. But when his servant says that they must go after the escapees, he responds, "No! The war machines will destroy us all. Hyksos said he would return when the sun is above us. See." He points at the sky. "We do not have long to wait."<br /><br />In the Dalek time machine, adjustments are being made to the "voice audio" device, making its range seven Earth miles. The Red Dalek orders Chen to be brought to issue the "ultimatum." Meanwhile, Sara, Steven and the Monk are being guarded in a corner of the room. The Monk detects a certain...coolness from his companions. But, he tells them, I saved our lives! Steven is more than dubious. "Just a minute... you don't actually think I meant what I said to the Daleks?" the Monk says with apparent shock. "My dear fellow, it was a desperate gamble, risking my own life to save yours." Steven is contemptuous, but Sara (who doesn't know the Monk very well) wonders if he could be telling the truth. Chen arrives and walks to the voice audio. He speaks into the microphone. "Doctor? Doctor, you should be able to hear me now, wherever you are." Steven mutters to Sara, "Maybe it would be better if the Doctor couldn't hear it."<br /><br />Elsewhere in the building site, the Doctor is exploring, looking for Sara and Steven. Suddenly, he hears Chen's voice. "Doctor, listen carefully to what I have to say. It is useless to try to fight us any more. Your two young friends are held prisoner by the Daleks. You know why we have pursued you through time and space. We want the Taranium that you stole. You are to proceed to the Dalek time-machine, south of the Great Pyramid, and receive your instructions. The vital Core will be returned to us. Failure will mean the death of your friends." The Doctor, face grim, moves off.<br /><br />In the work shack, Tuthmos is prostrating himself on the ground. "Master, It is the voice of the gods," he tells Khephren. "No, Tuthmos," says his master. "The gods would speak words that we would understood." "Who else but the gods could speak in a voice like thunder?" asks Tuthmos. "The same mortals who would build war machines that throw fire," says Khephren. "When Hyksos returns, you will see the end of your gods!"<br /><br />In the Dalek machine, Chen and the Red Dalek are preparing to depart. Chen turns to the prisoners. "For your sake, I hope that the Doctor does not keep us waiting long," he tells them and leaves. Sara wishes they could warn the Doctor (the Monk asks, "What for?" but is ignored), but Steven says, "No, Sara, it wouldn't stop him coming here. In fact, it would probably make him more determined." Just then, from outside, they hear the Doctor's voice!<br /><br />The Doctor sounds more angry than frightened. Chen and several of the Daleks leave the ship. "Where are they?" demands the Doctor. Chen suggests to the Red Dalek that the Doctor needs proof. Steven, Sara and the Monk are brought out of the ship. "We want the Taranium Core back, Doctor, and there is nothing you can do to stop us now," says Chen. The Doctor agrees that he will hand over the core--but on his terms. "You are in no position to make demands, Doctor," says Chen, but the Doctor angrily insists. "We could exterminate you now," says the Red Dalek. "Yes, indeed, indeed you could, but then you'd never get back the Taranium Core, hmm, would you?" responds the Doctor. The Doctor gives his terms: "You will release your prisoners. I also include that Monk fellow too, although I don't know why I should bother with him. Bring all three to the place of rendezvous and handed them over at the same time." Chen and <i>one</i> Dalek will bring the prisoners to the west angle of the Great Pyramid. The Red Dalek agrees to the demands and the prisoners are hustled back inside. The Doctor leaves and Chen turns to the Red Dalek. "I'm surprised that that you met his terms so readily," he says. "One Dalek is capable of exterminating all!" responds the Dalek leader.<br /><br />In the work shack, Khephren and Tuthmos are delighted to see Hyksos coming back with a full contingent of men. He readies his men to attack the war machines!<br /><br />It is time for the rendezvous and the prisoners are hustled out towards the meeting point. Outside, one of Hyksos' men watches the Daleks leave their ship and runs off to tell his captain. <br /><br />The Daleks, Chen and the prisoners have arrived at the west angle of the pyramid and await the Doctor. The Red Dalek tells Chen he will receive the Taranium; it also tells the prisoners they will be silent. The Monk mutters, "It's not being done on your terms. Why don't you shut up?" Suddenly, the Doctor's voice can be heard loud and clearly from behind cover. "Stay where you are. You will move when I tell you." The Doctor moves into view. He orders Chen to step forward, but sees that the Red Dalek is following and orders it to stop. "Mavic Chen! You have disregard my conditions. I said one Dalek." Chen protests that he is not the Daleks' masters. "Before we go any further, you will now release your hostages!" says the Doctor. "Then, and only then, will I hand you the Taranium Core." The Red Dalek declares the prisoners to be released and the Doctor yells at them to get going and all three dash off. The Doctor then tells Chen to walk towards him. As Chen moves forward, the Doctor calls out, "I am now about to hand over the Taranium Core to Mavic Chen." The Doctor has the core in his hand and is about to hand it over when...Hyksos and his men attack! Chen grabs the core away from the Doctor and jumps for cover as the Doctor takes off in the other direction. The fight between the Daleks and the Egyptians is unequal, and many of the poor soldiers are mowed down. But the Red Dalek finds itself in difficulty as it is surrounded by rocks put around its base by soldiers and is unable to move! The Monk has run off, but Steven, Sara and the Doctor run towards the treasure room of the tomb.<br /><br />The three companions make it back to the TARDIS. Steven and Sara are jubilant at their escape, but the Doctor is grim. He has had to give up the Taranium to ensure their escape. He'd hoped to keep it in the chaos, but... "That means that the Daleks have won! There's nothing to stop them now," Sara exclaims. Nothing...except this! says the Doctor, holding up the component he'd stolen from the Monk's TARDIS. It's a Directional Unit and with it, they can return to Kembel! But that's not all... "Now, while I was collecting that unit, I changed the Monk's TARDIS into a police telephone box," he tells them. Sara laughs. "Like yours?" she asks. "Yes, yes, exactly like mine," answers the Doctor. "Of course, the Daleks will be on our track. But I think - should my plan succeed - they would find the Monk." They laugh again. Steven thinks a moment. "By the way, what happened to him? He was with us." "I don't care if he is in Timbuktu," says the Doctor and the three enter the TARDIS.<br /><br />The Monk, too, has made it back to his TARDIS, smirking about how he has got away from Steven and Sara. Then he sees his ship--and its new Police Box shape! Suddenly, he hears a Dalek calling from offscreen: "There is one of the time travellers. Stop his escape." The Monk dives into his TARDIS, just as a patrol of Daleks appears! As they fire, the Monk's TARDIS dematerializes. As the Daleks cease firing, Mavic Chen appears. The Patrol Leader says, "They have escaped! We shall pursue them through eternity. The Taranium core must be recovered!" But Chen smiles. "All this hysteria is unnecessary," he says. "The operation is a complete success. I have the Taranium here!" He shows it to the Patrol Leader, who declares that they must return to the machine and journey back to Kembel at once!<br /><br />In the control room, the Doctor is busy fitting the Monk's Directional Finder into the console. "Yes, well," says Steven, "I hope that the Daleks don't catch the Monk." Even after all he has done? asks Sara. Yes, says Steven. "Well, I shouldn't worry any more, my dear boy," says the Doctor. "There's no doubt about it. He's well away by now." "Do you think he will be going for revenge again?" asks Steven. "Perhaps. Perhaps," says the Doctor. "Yes, perhaps one day. But at the moment, I should say he has quite enough for us for a while. Having taken his directional unit, it's going to take him quite a time to make the necessary repairs to his ship." But will it work for us? asks Sara. The Doctor responds, "Well, I am not certain. It's a Mark IV, remember. There are two possibilities: one - it will work..." "Go on, Doc..." prompts Steven. "Number two - the increased energy rate will certainly destroy the centre column," finishes the Doctor. "But we do have a chance?" asks Sara. "Yes, my dear. A chance. A slim one," says the Doctor.<br /><br />Elsewhere, the Dalek time machine leaves Egypt to return to Kembel.<br /><br />An ice field. A planet of mountains and ice. Suddenly, a new ice block appears...and a man walks out of a door in it. It is the Monk and he is shocked at what he sees. "A planet of ice. I didn't set course for this. Unl... The Doctor again... The Doctor..." He goes back inside and is out again a moment later. He's stolen my directional unit," he says, furiously. "Now I will have to wander through time and space as lost as he is!" He looks up into space. "I'll get you for this, Doctor! I'll get you one day!" he yells, and dashes back into his TARDIS, slamming the door behind him.<br /><br />In the control room, the Doctor has finished wiring the new unit into the console. Still, he hesitates before testing it. "Well, come on. I thought you said that it was finished," says Sara. "Yes my dear, I've finished, but..." says the Doctor. "Oh come on, Doctor," says Steven. "We haven't got time for buts! This is our only hope!" "You realize, my boy, we're taking a terrible chance," says the old man. "Then you can save your breath," replies Steven. "We've got to try it!" The Doctor pauses a moment, turns away, grasps his lapels and says, "Very well. Pull the main switch!" Steven waits for a moment and then pulls the switch. The wheezing, groaning sound of the TARDIS taking off begins, but suddenly there is an explosion and the room fills with smoke....!<br /><br />---<br /><br />Ketina's Paraphrasey Transciptions<br /><br />H: Historian<br />K: Ketina<br />R: Ronelyn<br />Sc: Schmallturm<br />S: Spoo<br />P: Photobug<br />C: Cz<br /><br />[NOTE: Ketina has decided to try her own editing and explaining this week, so I'll try to let her take the brunt of it. I'll only add stuff when necessary! --H]<br /><br /><The Historian and Spoo start us off by singing “Magic Chen” to the tune of Heart's “Magic Man”><br /><br />S: “He's a Magic Chen-en.. yeah yeah. Magic Chen, oh!”<br /><br />H: “Do do doo do do do!”<br /><br />H: So, in spite of the “Billy Fluff” <Hartnell referring to Chen as "Magic--Mavic Chen" which inspired the song>, moving pictures everybody!<br /><br />C: Moving pictures, yay!<br /><br />S: Awesome album!<br /><br />H: I believe they found this lost episode in a church basement. It was either this one or episode five. [Actually, it was both. --H]<br /><br />R: “THE MONK HAS FAILED! YEAH, THAT GUY IS A TOOL!”<br /><br />S: Voice audio, huh? As opposed to voice video? “I cannot use this voice audio. It is too small of a piece of scenery to chew.”<br /><br />H: Did anyone else enjoy the creaking of the balsa wood of the set of the Dalek time machine. The audio was so cleaned up for the DVD you could clearly hear it.<br /><br />R: “HEY, IT'S NOT OUR FAULT THAT WE GOT SAND IN OUR BEARINGS.”<br /><br />Sc: I thought this one was kind of slow and talky compared to the last one.<br /><br />H: Less happened in it.<br /><br />Sc: A lot of Daleks standing around repeating things to each other.<br /><br />S: And not shooting things.<br /><br />H: Remember, they can't shoot at the Taranium.<br /><br />S: The Ewoks.. sorry, Egyptians, did a good job taking care of that one Dalek.<br /><br />Sc: But we didn't see anything about him later, so we don't know if he eventually got away.<br /><br />K: He didn't. When they went back to the TARDIS there were only four Daleks.<br /><br />S: And thus was history altered... sideways guy, sideways guy, Dalek, sideways guy...<br /><br />Sc: “The Mummy: Five” where they find a Dalek in an Egyptian tomb.<br /><br />H: I would totally see that movie.<br /><br />Sc: You and two others.<br /><br />S: I think the Monk was fantastic. His lines were ridiculous fun.<br /><br />H: He was hilarious.<br /><br />R: He was running off at the mouth trying to chase down the plot... “Wait, um.. I have a headache! Wait, what do I say to stay alive?”<br /><br />H: Steven knows the Monk. He wasn't going to be fooled by him.<br /><br />P: It didn't make much sense to me when they left the prisoners alone in the control room.<br /><br />Sc: I think there was always at least one Dalek in there.<br /><br />H: The chief left, but not the others.<br /><br />S: So, the Daleks finally have the terrarium.<br /><br />H: Taranium!<br /><br />S: Whatever. Anyway, and the means to go back to where they're supposed to. Put the core back in the time destructor and off you go. So what's the Doctor's idea to stop them, exactly? Have a working TARDIS and race them back? He succeeded in taking care of the Monk, but the other thing?<br /><br />Sc: He goes back in time before they take the destructor away from Mavic Chen before Chen brings it to the Daleks.<br /><br />S: They haven't done that sort of plot yet.<br /><br />Sc: Then he goes even farther to Uranus and stops them from even making the core. Then he goes yet even further back and makes sure that Chen is never even born!<br /><br />H: Well, if we make sure that Marty's father and mother never marry... <reference to “Back to the Future"><br /><br />S: This one was really a connection between plot points. Our hero is lost. He saved his companions, but “oops, universe!”<br /><br />H: Well, there's two episodes of the story left.<br /><br />S: And one is apparently about repairing the TARDIS.<br /><br />R: “So, this here is your problem. The neutron flow on this thing is inverted.”<br /><br />K: The polarity of the neutron flow is inverted.<br /><br />P: So, while I don't expect an opera every week, the music appears to be tapering off.<br /><br />R: There was only one “attack of the sound track” this week.<br /><br />C: Two!<br /><br />R: But only one where it jumped out at you “ooga booga!”<br /><br />H: I actually thought there was some nice directoral stylist touches, like when they went from the sun to the reflection on the Daleks.<br /><br />P: And when the went from the scenery to panning upwards at the beginning.<br /><br />Sc: I noticed one shot when the Dalek was speaking, and there was “Egyptian crotch” huge in the scene.<br /><br />P: I saw that, and I was thinking “are we sure that's a children's show?”<br /><br />H: “Ah Joel, I hate it when there's men wearing skirts shorter than the women!” <MST3K reference><br /><br />R: I have names for them all. Short skirt guy was George [Khephren], the small nervous guy was Ringo [Tuthmos], and the guy who brought in the reinforcements was definitely John with the goatee [Hyksos].<br /><br />H: They all have real names that are references to Egyptian history that Spooner liked. But no one really cares since they almost all die anyway.<br /><br />H: Last thoughts?<br /><br />P: Good scenery. Good photography <Says Photobug>. I was kind of perplexed by the Doctor's plan of turning the Monk's TARDIS into looking like his, because it could have just as easily fooled his companions.<br /><br />H: That's a good point. He didn't know that Steven and Sara knew the TARDIS would be in the tomb.<br /><br />Sc: It was cool to see Mavic Chen moving.<br /><br />H: Wasn't his gestures and movement like a Fu Manchu kind of thing? From the pulps and the movies or something? It could be a “yellow peril” kind of thing.<br /><br />S: “I would never do anything.” Full stop.. really. I would never do anything. I don't have much to say, but I want to see how the Doctor gets through that big pillar of smoke.<br /><br />P: And follow the plan.<br /><br />S: I don't think there is a plan.<br /><br />R: It will be very interesting if the resolution is “Well, that didn't work.”<br /><br />S: It will make sense if the “written by” and “from an idea by” are flipped next week. Whoopsadoodle!<br /><br />R: I am disappointed that the Egyptians didn't think “wait a minute, it's a tomb. Close the door!” It would have been fun to see them think “I bet they can't throw fire through rock.” or “We're sitting here in this HUGE construction site with only giant rocks and these spears...”<br /><br />S: Give me a lever.<br /><br />Sc: The Egyptians were lame. The Ewoks were more effective.<br /><br />S: They have claws and at least you can throw them at things.<br /><br />C: I kept looking at Sara Kingdom in the background and she looked pissed the entire time.<br /><br />S: That's because she wasn't given anything to do.<br /><br />C: Yeah, she just looked bored.<br /><br />K: My biggest beef was probably the Doctor screaming “I have the taranium now!”<br /><br />R: I'm going to tell you because we're standing behind a block and I can't show you.<br /><br />H: I'm assuming that's so that he's saying “Get ready to run, companions!”<br /><br />S: I was just amused by Steven and Sara's shouting “Doctor! Doctor!”<br /><br />H: Especially since they knew the Daleks were out looking for them. [Ok, gotta break in here. What I thought was funny/stupid was that Steven and Sara <i>know</i> a Dalek patrol is out there, but they still yelled their heads off to bring the patrol down on them. Sorry Ketina! --H]<br /><br />P: Oh, and seriously, flat things everywhere? Realistically the Daleks shouldn't have been moving anywhere.<br /><br />C: Sand!<br /><br />K: Did the Monk get knocked out at the end of the last episode? How did the Doctor manage to tie him up?<br /><br />H: The Doctor did tie up that kid in "The Space Museum" too. He had to learn Vesuvian Aikido sometime.<br /><br />K: I liked that the Egyptians couldn't understand what the Daleks were saying.<br /><br />H: They seemed to understand it, but it didn't make any sense to them.<br /><br />K: But they shouldn't have understood it at all. I was worried about that when the big speech started, and I liked that it wasn't entirely clear. The Daleks certainly aren't speaking ancient Egyptian.<br /><br />H: But people in "The Chase," like on top of the Empire State Building, they could understand what the Daleks were saying.<br /><br />K: Well, the Daleks can obviously speak English because they can understand all the British people. :P<br /><br />H: I think they just didn't understand the content. But it was certainly ambiguous, and more than one interpretation is possible.<br /><br />K: Okay.<br /><br />H: So, the plot did advance. The Daleks have the taranium again, and the Doctor has to do whatever the heck he needs to do next. And I think it's the second point in the story where the Daleks appear to have won. It's more adversity for them to overcome.<br /><br />---<br /><br />And that's kind of where we ended things. For once, I don't <i>have</i> to plug <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a>, since this episode wasn't a recon, but I will anyway. Check them out! And, once again, many apologies for the lateness of this post. (Although the timestamp may be Friday 11 March, it's Monday 14 March as I type this.) Once again, it's the detailed summary that's taking the time, so...if you appreciate that, there we go. (If you <i>don't</i> appreciate it and would rather have posts out every Friday night, let us know!) <br /><br />Two more episodes to go...See you later this week for episode eleven! Until then, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIAN<br /><br />NEXT WEEK: "THE ABANDONED PLANET"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-23072996813036460742011-03-04T21:07:00.000-08:002011-03-06T20:28:26.142-08:00"Golden Death"Hello everyone, the Historian here with the next episode in the Dalek story that may very well never end. Joining me was, as always, Ketina and Ronelyn, with Schmallturm, Spoo, MiniSpoo and Photobug. Anyway, let's get to the summary!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Episode summary: First aired 8 January 1966. On Kembel, the countdown as reached an end! Three, Two, One, Zero! The Dalek machine disappears, en route to meet the enemy ship--wherever they are! The Supreme announces, "Report to Skaro. Our time machine is now in pursuit. Nothing can match Dalek technology! The universe shall be ours! Conquest is assured!" Around him, Dalek voices ring out, all with one word: "CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST..!"<br /><br />Ancient Egypt. A Pyramid can be seen in the distance. With a wheezing, groaning sound, the TARDIS materializes.<br /><br />Inside the Dalek time machine, the task force leader, a red Dalek, reminds Mavic Chen that the recovery of the Taranium is his responsibility. "I welcome it," says Chen. "Guile and cunning will succeed where force would fail." The Red Dalek reiterated that the humans will be exterminated. Chen, noticing the time scanner, asks if that's where the time travellers have landed. The Red Dalek says they will be arriving in four Earth minutes and Chen wonders why the other ship hasn't bothered to take off to try and elude the Daleks.<br /><br />In the desert, the Doctor is working on repairing the TARDIS lock while Steven is on the lookout for the Monk's ship. In answer to Steven's question, the Doctor says he doesn't know how long it will take for him to fix the lock; the Monk may have done more damage than he'd thought. Steven is impressed with the pyramid. "Well, they've finished it, you think?" he asks. "There doesn't seem to be anyone around." The Doctor, meanwhile, is still working on the lock. He absentmindedly asks Steven for a tool, but angrily gets it himself when the astronaut fails to give him the right one. Steven notes there isn't much cover on this side of the pyramid; he should be able to see the Monk's TARDIS if it lands on their side. But to get a better viewpoint, he decides to go up a ramp to see further. After he leaves, the Doctor, still working on the lock, continues to talk to Steven...until he notices, with a laugh, that his young friend is already gone.<br /><br />Inside the Dalek time machine, all is in preparation for landing. The craft materializes in the desert.<br /><br />From his vantage point, Steven sees the ship (which he assumes is the Monk's) appear. He runs down to the TARDIS just as Sara emerges from it to tell the Doctor that whatever was following them has stopped registering on the instrument. Steven tells them what he's seen and he and Sara go to investigate while the Doctor continues to work on the lock. So deeply engrossed in his work is the Doctor that he doesn't notice he is being watched by a native...<br /><br />The native, Tuthmos, runs off to the tent of the pyramid builder, Khepren. He is dining with Hyksos, the captain of the local guards. Tuthmos gasps out his news and Hyksos immediately goes to gather his troops.<br /><br />Steven and Sara are slowly approaching the time machine. Steven is surprised that the Monk's TARDIS (which is what he believes the ship to be) hasn't changed. He explains to Sara that even the Doctor's TARDIS is <i>supposed</i> to change appearance to blend in with its surroundings. Sara wonders if, perhaps, the Monk hasn't bothered with the change, but Steven thinks it must be supposed to be automatic. The two approach the ship, but draw back as Mavic Chen and a Dalek emerge from it! Steven and Sara retreat, hoping to warn the Doctor, but they run right into Hyksos' patrol! The guards grab them, knock them out and take them away while Hyksos and the rest of his patrol go to confront the invaders! It...does not go well for the Egyptians. Armed with spears, they confront the Daleks who mow many of them down--as Chen dives for cover. The Dalek leader orders, "Pursue and exterminate!" Hyksos, having managed to escape with a few men, runs to get reinforcements. The Daleks, meanwhile, consult. They have sustained no damage. The order comes through: exterminate the natives of this time on sight!<br /><br />Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor has finished his work and put away his tools. He calls for his friends, but, getting no answer, decides to try and find them. He walks around the pyramid building sight, impressed at the grand scale of the work. Suddenly, he hears a familiar wheezing, groaning sound. The Doctor takes cover and sees...a large stone block materialize! The Doctor stifles a laugh. After a moment, the Monk emerges from the "stone block." Still dressed in his cassock, he looks up at the bright sun, shielding his eyes, and then disappears back into his ship. He comes back out a moment later, now wearing a pair of sunglasses! The Monk walks off, looking for the Doctor's ship. The Doctor, now laughing openly, walks out into the open. He looks at the Monk's ship and laughs again, but then stops. "Who was it landed here before, then?" he muses, but the answer comes to him with a shock. "The Daleks!"<br /><br />The guards bring Sara and Steven to a room and throw them roughly to the floor at the feet of Khephren and Tuthmus. Hyksos runs in and explains that these intruders are "plunderers" and "murderers." Hyksos tells the architect and his slave that he will journey to the next settlement to gather reinforcements to "do battle with their fire-throwing machines." Khephren, in turn, will take his slaves to the tomb. They will place the treasures that Pharaoh has sent inside the tomb where they will be easier to guard. Steven, surreptitiously tests his bonds. Hyksos tells his colleagues that he will return "when the sun is above us." The three exit, leaving a guard to watch over Steven and Sara. Steven asks the guard how long they'll be kept here. The guard answers they'll be kept until their "friends" come to join them. Then all will be made to answer for their crimes. Steven protests that they have nothing to answer for--they're not interested in the Egyptian treasures! Not even the old man? asks the guard. Then why was he seen examining that blue box so carefully? Steven replies that the blue box <i>belongs</i> to the "old man." The guard says, "Now I know you lie! Everything the slaves hauled here across the desert belongs to Pharaoh!" The guard leaves. Sara has backed against a wall and is tugging at her bonds. She tells Steven that she's found a sharp piece of pottery and is trying to use it to cut through her bonds. <br /><br />The Monk is delightedly tromping through the sand around the building site. He is completely oblivious to the Doctor, who is following his quarry with amusement. The Monk catches a glimpse of a figure ahead and decides to bluff it out by using his "monk" act. He walks forward, head bent, and greets the figure with a "Good morning, my son." Lifting his head, he yelps as he sees what exactly he has run into, "A DALEK!" He moves to flee, but the Dalek aims its gun....and Mavic Chen yells, "Wait!" Chen turns on his charm. "So, you have heard of the Daleks," he says. "Yes, yes. By reputation," replies a still rattled Monk. Then you must not be from this time, Chen continues. "No. Oh no. Certainly not," replies the Monk. "No. Just a passing time-traveller, anxious to be on his way. So, if you'll excuse me, I'd..." He tries to retreat, but is stopped by a Dalek. Chen continues, "Three time machines in one infinitesimal speck of space and time! Of course, a coincidence is possible - but hardly likely. You would agree?" The Monk babblingly agrees. Then why are you here? asks Chen. "Yes, well... the odd one out belongs to a certain Doctor..." says the Monk. "The enemy ship!" pipes up a Dalek. The Monk seizes on this. "Yes, that's right," he says. "The enemy. I have an old score to settle with him. But I'm sure yours is the prior claim." Chen, still polite, asks if the Doctor is a friend. "Friend? No, no. An enemy! An enemy to end all enemies!" He raises his voice to make sure the Daleks have no doubt. "I came here to inflict a terrible vengeance on him! I mean, we are all on the same side here, aren't we?" At this point, Chen's amusement is growing at about same level the Monk's panic is rising. But you <i>do</i> know him? asks Chen. "Well... in a manner of speaking, yes... and again, in another manner of speaking, no," the Monk replies. "Could you gain his confidence?" Chen asks. The Monk responds with panicked enthusiasm, "Certainly. If you wanted me to. No question about it! No doubt at all." "Then you may have a slight chance of saving your life," says the Guardian of the Solar System. "The Doctor and his friends have in their possession a full emm of Taranium." The Monk reacts with a bit of forced shock. A whole emm! "It belongs to the Daleks," Chen says. "You will recover this and return it to us within one Earth hour." Oh, of course, of course, says the Monk. "I need hardly remind you that the Daleks will reward failure on your part with elimination," says Chen. The Monk nods quickly. "Elimination. Thank you. Elimination! Oh, you'll get it back. Have no fear." He begins to leave, but Chen, who is having problems not actually laughing, directs him towards the Doctor's TARDIS. The Monk changes direction. <br /><br />He returns to his own ship, and emerges with some kind of energy detector device. It bleeps as he moves through the desert. Of course, he is unaware that the Doctor has been following him the whole time. The Doctor, watching the Monk wander off, is delighted with the opportunity he has been handed. He enters the Monk's TARDIS. After a moment, the ship changes shape! From a stone block, it becomes a stagecoach, a Conestoga wagon, a tree, a <i>tank</i>...and then finally settles on a battered Police Box--just like the Doctor's! He emerges from the Monk's ship, carrying some kind of device he has removed from it. Laughing, he walks after the Monk.<br /><br />Back in the chamber, Sara has managed to cut through her ropes. She quickly frees Steven and the two manage to overpower their guards. Well, Sarah does most of the overpowering, thanks to her judo. "Remind me not to pick a fight with you," says Steven. "Come on." They leave.<br /><br />Khephren's slaves have finished moving the TARDIS into the pyramid's tomb. Nearby, the Monk is approaching the area, tracking the Doctor's ship. He enters the tomb area. The Pharaoh's treasures litter the room, but the Monk's detector lead him right to the corner of the room where the TARDIS stands. He approaches it and tries to open the door. Suddenly, he hears a voice behind him. "You're wasting your time. You won't get in." He whirls around to see--the Doctor! The Monk, trying hard to regain his composure, accuses the Doctor of following him. "For a time, yes. For a time," he says. "I've been glad to. You know, I don't think that I would have found my TARDIS without the help of that energy counter." The Monk agrees, and then adds, "You know, Doctor, if your machine would blend in with its surroundings, people wouldn't be able to find it. And then we wouldn't have all this trouble." "Yes. Like your machine, I suppose, hmm?" says the Doctor. Exactly, the Monk replies. The Doctor jokes that the Egyptians obviously thought enough of his box to bring it in here. "As for your machine," he says, "Well, it's probably disguised as a... what... a sort of... a block of stone? Hmm... Hm...?" The Monk face cannot disguise his absolute shock, but, with an effort, he manages to almost regain control. "Now, Doctor, it's a pity that we're having this feud, you know." he says. "By the way, you didn't track me on your time curve indicator this time, did you?" Not <i>your</i> machine, the Doctor replies, and the Monk beams, missing the Doctor's meaning. He used a trick and jumped a time track to avoid detection. He suggests that the Doctor join him in the TARDIS and he'll show the Doctor a few tricks. "And then you would be able to see the Taranium too." smiles the Doctor. It takes the Monk a moment to realize that the Doctor must have overheard his talk with Chen. "Do you know, I knew there was something I had to tell you," he says. "I've come here to warn you about the Daleks." Oh? "Yes. I played them along their own game, of course, for quite a time, but they don't like you, you know. They don't like you at all." "Why didn't you?" asks the Doctor. What? says the Monk. "Warn me," says the Doctor. The Monk grasps a bit. "Oh... well," he says. "You were talking at the time. I didn't want to interrupt." The Doctor chuckles. "You know, I think, before I go, I shall put you safely out of the way," he says, and begins to advance on the Monk, who backs away. "Come now, Doctor. Surely you don't think that I was going to help the Daleks?" he says. I did, replies the Doctor. "Now Doctor," says the Monk, increasingly desperately. "Look, let's talk this over like civilised time-travellers. It's the Taranium core they want, not you. Why don't you give it to them. Then we can be all on our way." The Doctor laughs. "If you believe that, my friend, you will believe anything!" he says, still advancing. The Monk has been backed into a corner of the room. "Doctor, don't do anything you might regret. Doctor? DOCTOR!"<br /><br />In the Dalek time machine, a Dalek reports to its captain that the time traveller (i.e. the Monk) has not made contact. The captain responds, "He has betrayed us. Prepare a task force to attack. All the humans will be exterminated." "I obey," replies the other Dalek.<br /><br />Steven and Sara, after escaping the hut, have arrived at the original TARDIS landing site. They see signs that the ship has been dragged away and head towards the tomb. Steven calls for the Doctor as they enter the tomb, but there is no answer. Sara, noticing the TARDIS, wonders if the Doctor is inside, but the door is locked. Steven starts to call again, but Sara sees something behind them. "Steven! Look!" The lid of the tomb's coffin is being lifted by a hand covered with bandages....!<br /><br />---<br /><br />Ketina's Transcripty Thingy<br /><br />H: Historian<br />K: Ketina<br />R: Ronelyn<br />Sc: Schmallturm<br />S: Spoo<br />MS: MiniSpoo<br />P: Photobug<br /><br />K: The Meddling Monk is totally my favorite bad guy now.<br /><br />H: I love the Monk. Ray Bans FTW! So, can we officially say we're back to the plot now?<br /><br />R: I hope so.<br /><br />Sc: We're free of the curse of Terry Nation now.<br /><br />R: “You've screwed it all up! Gimme the pen!”... “No, I'm not done adding this swamp.”<br /><br />H: The thing is that Nation couldn't finish this story because he was too busy with other writing jobs. It was more like “Here, you do it, I've got more important things to do.”<br /><br />R: “I've gotta finish writing this period comedy... also set in a swamp.”<br /><br />H: Okay, enough with the Nation bashing.<br /><br />S: I was fully prepared to make fun of this episode. "Mock like an Egyptian" (strikes a pose)... That must be how they were able to defeat them in combat so quickly. Because they fought like this (makes Egyptian hand pose). Lamest kung fu ever.<br /><br />R: I think they lost because the Daleks have giant ray guns and the Egyptians were a bunch of simps with pointed sticks.<br /><br />H: It could have been worse, they could have been armed with fresh fruit.<br /><br />S: But I liked it. The writing, the pace, the subterfuge.<br /><br />H: Sort of subterfuge.<br /><br />R: “I would ne—ver do an---nything to betray the Daleks” (attempting to impersonate the monk impersonating Chen impersonating Star Wars' Nute Gunray. Very meta-joke, sorry).<br /><br />H: I'm glad they were able to cut away from William Hartnell early on so he could manage to get a drink of water because his voice was so hoarse.<br /><br />S: Why did the Daleks let the Monk go off and have his hour to go back to his TARDIS? Why didn't the Monk just escape when he reached it?<br /><br />H: Well, the Daleks could have followed him like the were following the Doctor. And I think his reaction was like “Daleks! Oh crap, I've got to work with them.”<br /><br />Sc: But why didn't he just escape there?<br /><br />S: A blemish on an otherwise spiffy and speedy episode. I'm also glad we're not getting bogged down in Egyptian intrigue and they're just mooks to mow down.<br /><br />H: There's been some criticism that there's no story here with the Egyptians.<br /><br />S: But it also gives us some scale and scope that these weenie Egyptians are nothing on the Daleks, time travelers, and random Asian guy.<br /><br />Sc: All I could think of was “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with the Egyptians. But I enjoyed it. Chen is awesome.<br /><br />H: The monk was great.<br /><br />S: The monk was awesome.<br /><br />R: AND IF CHEN RETURNS WITHOUT THE TARANIUM WE WILL EXTERMINATE HIM. UNLESS HE HAS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE REALLY GOOD EXCUSES.<br /><br />P: Why were the Daleks repeating "Conquest" over and over at the beginning?<br /><br />H: They conquest.<br /><br />R: They're like robotic soccer hooligans.<br /><br />P: WE LIKE SOCCER BECAUSE WE HAVE NO HANDS. BUT OUR GOALIE SUCKS.<br /><br />Sc: Is this the first Judo Chop in Doctor Who?<br /><br />H: Terry Nation did create Sara Kingdom with the Avengers in mind.<br /><br />Sc: I don't recall her doing a Judo Chop before now.<br /><br />H: But she's definitely influenced by Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale character.<br /><br />MS: I liked it a little bit.<br /><br />S: When you were looking up from your Nintendo DS?<br /><br />MS: Well...<br /><br />S: Did you like the Daleks? Yeah?<br /><br />MS: EXTERMINATE!<br /><br />S: Are Daleks good at counting?<br /><br />MS: No. They go like this: TEN... FIFTY.. TRY ONE HUNDRED... TEN.. AH.. NINE.. AH...<br /><br />P: They must be the best at getting rid of termites. [Exterminator joke. Yyyyeah.]<br /><br />H: I think some of the model work was the recon guys setting up models.<br /><br />S: I loved the grinning Doctor photo.<br /><br />R: Doctor got his coot on in a big way.<br /><br />S: He was having a little too much fun with the Monk's TARDIS.<br /><br />H: He was having a little too much fun with the Monk. It shows that the Monk isn't as smart as he thinks it is, but the Doctor does seem to be as smart as he thinks he is.<br /><br />S: This was a really action heavy episode. Not a lot of subtly.<br /><br />H: A lot happened though. I loved the Doctor changing the Monk's TARDIS's appearance.<br /><br />R: The man is evil.<br /><br />H: Evil on the side of good.<br /><br />P: Troublemaker.<br /><br />H: Mischievous.<br /><br />P: So, there's no music. Very little special effects besides the time machine's appearance. How does the Doctor know what the TARDIS sounds like from the outside?<br /><br />H: He's probably heard one before. We do know at this point that the Monk and the Doctor are from the same planet and the Monk is younger.<br /><br />S: I thought the Monk wasn't a time lord, but stole a time machine.<br /><br />H: No, he's from the Doctor's planet.<br /><br />S: He's from Gallifrey?<br /><br />H: No, no, no. We don't learn about Gallifrey for years to come. 1973.<br /><br />S: Oh yeah.<br /><br />K: Sunglasses on the Monk... best scene ever!<br /><br />H: Because you knew it was coming.<br /><br />S: I didn't. I figured he was getting a hat.<br /><br />P: What was up with him still wearing a monk costume.<br /><br />H: So we could recognize his character.<br /><br />P: Because he was in a monastery last time.<br /><br />Sc: It was airy and comfortable.<br /><br />P: If a TARDIS is supposed to hide in plain sight, how can you have a TARDIS energy detector?<br /><br />H: Early on the Doctor uses a TARDIS homing detector, so there's some way to detect it.<br /><br />K: In "The Chase" no less.<br /><br />H: You're right, it was.<br /><br />P: If you're using the device to detect the TARDIS, how does it work if you're near your own TARDIS?<br /><br />R: Good point.<br /><br />H: The Monk's TARDIS is a different model.<br /><br />P: At some point the story is moving along by magic.<br /><br />H: It's science!<br /><br />R: You can detect two airplanes with a radar dish. Unless the Monk's TARDIS is in an exact line with the Doctor's TARDIS, he should be able to detect it.<br /><br />Sc: Why do you have a problem with a thing that can detect two things?<br /><br />P: Because at that moment that I saw it my disbelief stopped being suspended.<br /><br />H: Huh. I didn't get that.<br /><br />P: First he hides his ship but not himself. It's a rock, he's still a monk. And why didn't he detect the third time machine?<br /><br />Sc: Well, he didn't get the device until after he'd seen the Daleks.<br /><br />P: It just pulled me out of the story. Both because I've seen later episodes, and because I think like a scientist. Anyway, the sci-fi budget was pretty small in this episode.<br /><br />H: There was the materializations, the Monk's TARDIS changing, and the Dalek guns.<br /><br />K: And the choreography of the fight scene.<br /><br />H: JUDO CHOP!!<br /><br />R: I was trying to visualize the fight there. [Note: Due to the nature of the reconstruction, the fight was limited to various stills and the soundtrack. --H] So Steven cleverly sneaks up by climbing a book shelf?<br /><br />S: I'm going to hand wave that as a limitation of the recon.<br /><br />H: It sounded like a good fight.<br /><br />R: I'm all down with sisters kicking butt.<br /><br />H: Finally Sara Kingdom stops being wimpy. She rescues them, beats up the bad guys.<br /><br />P: What happened to her gun?<br /><br />H: Steven took it away a while ago and we haven't seen it since. I guess he threw it away.<br /><br />S: Fight scenes would be more interesting if the Daleks used hand to hand, or hand to plunger, combat.<br /><br />MS: I wonder if Daleks vote for Dalek presidents?<br /><br />H: They have a leader called the Dalek Supreme. I don't think they vote.<br /><br />R: THE DALEK SUPREME REIGNS SUPREME!<br /><br />S: I ORDERED IT WITH MEXI-NUGGETS. EXTERMINADOS!<br /><br />Sc: I enjoyed it. Yeah. Nothing specific, sorry.<br /><br />P: Seriously, what is stopping Daleks from just kicking butt.<br /><br />K: They can't climb stairs!<br /><br />H: You mean, forget the time destructor, just kick butt?<br /><br />P: Just kill the Doctor, grab the key, and be done with it.<br /><br />Sc: All the Daleks who've tried to kill the Doctor and take the key are dead now. So that clearly doesn't work.<br /><br />MS: This really.. the sunglasses and the hood... really? I think they are just trying to make people laugh.<br /><br />H: You think the Monk was just there to make people laugh?<br /><br />MS: I think he was just there to trick people. And I don't know where the Doctor got that hat.<br /><br />S: Hat rack, my boy.<br /><br />MS: As soon as the Monk helped to betray the Daleks... Daleks have just too many people to fight.<br /><br />P: You think they're taking on too big of a fight? Why do you think they fight everybody?<br /><br />MS: Because they hate humans and they want to conquer the world.<br /><br />S: This week proves again that script by Spooner and idea by Nation is infinitely better than the other way around. A+++, I would watch it again.<br /><br />R: This is the second time I've been greatly amused by the on screen appearance by a Scottish Egyptian.<br /><br />H: I didn't hear it.<br /><br />R: It was [adopts a brogue] “Capture them! And destroy the others!” He got better later, but it was distinct with that line. [Note that the other Scottish Egyptian Ronelyn is referring to is the Sean Connery character in the movie "Highlander."]<br /><br />K: More Monk! This is his last story, isn't it?<br /><br />H: I'm just going to keep mum about that. And who knows what's coming in the future.<br /><br />P: The future may come in the future!<br /><br />R: I'm thinking Chumblies.<br /><br />H: So, I remember reading things about that, people complained that these episodes were like filler stretching the plot out. But I think this was fun. Yes, it's stretching the plot out, but in a good way. I'm looking forward to see what's in Egypt next week.<br /><br />P: In more than one way. (referring to the current real life politics in Egypt going on at the time we watched this).<br /><br />H: Good point.<br /><br />---<br /><br />And there we leave things for this week. As I seem to always say these days, my apologies for the lateness of the post, but this time the delay in summary writing was caused by our journey to Seattle's Emerald City Comicon. Ketina, Ronelyn, MisterMother and I (Photobug and his lovely wife were around somewhere, but we never ran into them) had a wonderful time wandering the floor. Ketina bought too many Doctor Who toys, I got my wife a new sonic screwdriver and got some fantastic Doctor Who sketches from some great artists. We also did a small amount of networking, although the business card thing fell through. (Next year!) So, hello to any new readers!<br /><br />Oh, and don't forget--<a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> for your recon needs! Check them out, they rock!<br /><br />Until next time, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIAN<br /><br />NEXT WEEK: "ESCAPE SWITCH"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-25714976656976335082011-03-03T17:43:00.001-08:002011-03-03T17:51:36.109-08:00The TARDIS Project lands in the Emerald City!For any readers in the Seattle area, Project members Ketina, Ronelyn, (maybe) Cz and I will be at the <a href="http://emeraldcitycomicon.com/">Emerald City Comicon</a> this Saturday, March 5th. We'll be wandering the floor, together or separately, probably for most of the day. I've no idea what I'll be wearing, but Ketina tells me you can just "look for a woman with long purple hair in a Doctor Who t-shirt. Seriously, how many of those can there be a convention?" We should have TARDIS Project business cards (no idea how many, though!) to hand out to all and sundry...or simply sundry, depending on how long they last. You can ask us about the blog, give us feedback or just talk Doctor Who in person--how exciting!<br /><br />Hope to see a few of you there! And look for the new "Daleks' Master Plan" episode post this weekend as well!<br /><br />THE HISTORIANThe Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2271395392132768127.post-814326649479189402011-02-25T21:49:00.000-08:002011-02-27T10:57:08.866-08:00"Volcano"Hello everyone, the Historian here. We've gone from a full house last week to a small group this week, with only Ketina, Ronelyn and Schmallturm joining me as we get back to the <i>plot</i> of this Dalek story. Eight episodes down, four to go...Let's get to the summary!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Episode summary: First aired 1 January 1966. On Kembel, a Dalek reports to its superior. The Time Destructor is ready for testing. All circuits are operational and the Taranium core has been fitted.<br /><br />In the Dalek control room, delegates Trantis, Celation and Mavic Chen discuss the current situation. Trantis is relieved that the story that his people had stolen the core has been discredited. Celation notes that the theives are from Earth. Only two of them, says Chen, quickly, "And they are under the influence of some creature from another galaxy." Trantis notes that the third one looked he was from Earth, but Chen replies, "That's only a disguise. The Daleks know of him. He is some kind of time and space traveller." Celation says that his people have yet to "conquer the dimension of time," and Trantis also admits that his people's experiments have yet to succeed. "Only the Daleks know how to break the time barrier," he says. Celation wonders where the "other creature" (the Doctor) came from, but Chen replies that it doesn't matter. They have the core and the Time Destructor is ready. Indeed, on the other side of the room, the Dalek Supreme is giving orders for the Destructor to be programmed for testing. When a Dalek mentions that they need a test subject, the Supreme says, "The subject has been selected." Its eyestalk turns to focus on Trantis...<br /><br />In the TARDIS control room, the Doctor, Sara and Steven are staring at an instrument panel. A small light is flashing. The instrument tells them they are being followed, but, to Sara's consternation, not by <i>who</i>. It must be the Daleks, says Steven. The Doctor, while admonishing his young friend for making a hasty judgment, admits he's probably right. But how could they have tested the Taranium core so quickly. Sara says they must return to Kembel. "We must," she says. "We've got to destroy the Daleks' invasion fleet."<br /><br />Celation and Chen stand in a room, watching another room through a large window. In the other room, Trantis has been secured, awaiting the Time Destructor test. Celation wonders why the Daleks have chosen to use Trantis for the test; Chen replies, with a smile that it was Trantis' choice. "He was so eager to make a contribution to the Time Destructor that they've let him make one. His life." Elsewhere in the room, the Supreme orders the test to begin. "Are the other two creatures to be present at the destruction?" asks its subordinate. Yes, says the Supreme. "Their greed for power is so great that they can be trusted." It orders the machine to be activated. The device begins to pulse as Trantis tries to draw away. He cowers in abject fear as the machine...just continues to pulse with some light. Celation says the Time Destructor does not work; that's impossible, says Chen. A Dalek reports that the actual mechanism is functioning, the fault is with the Taranium. The Supreme rounds on a clearly terrified Chen. It accuses him of lying to them, but Chen insists he has given them real Taranium. Suddenly, he realizes: "It was the old man, that time-traveller. He must have changed it." But you said he had given you the Taranium core, says Celation. Chen snaps that he knows, but he didn't actually check. The Daleks should have checked it before they fitted the core into the machine, he adds. The Supreme orders a message be sent to Skaro and a Dalek time craft dispatched. It orders the two delegates to remain there, but Celation successfully argues that he has had nothing to do with the situation and is allowed to leave. As for Trantis, the unwitting, unsuccessful test subject? Exterminate him, says the Supreme. Chen watches in horror as a terrified Trantis is gunned down by a Dalek.<br /><br />Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor has been unable to shake off the pursuing time machine. He decides to land to see if he can lose it.<br /><br />On the cricket pitch at Lords, a match between England and Australia is being played. Narrated by two commentators, the match is going badly for England when...a Police Telephone Box appears on the pitch! This could be disasterous for England--if the box isn't cleared off, they won't have time to score the runs they need! Suddenly, the Police Box starts making a funny noise...and disappears. So England still has time to get their runs...<br /><br />In the control room, there is some discussion of what was going on and where precisely they had been. Regardless, the Doctor's plan hasn't worked; the other craft is still following and getting closer...<br /><br />A Dalek time machine materializes in the Dalek control room on Kembel. A Dalek emerges from it to report to the Supreme. It orders that the position of the enemy craft be pinpointed on the space-time scope. The Supreme then turns to Chen and orders him to go with the task force and aid them in recovering the Taranium core. Chen responds, "Of course, I shall do everything in my power." The Supreme says, "If you fail, or if we find that you have deceived us, you will suffer the same fate as the time-travellers - annihilation!"<br /><br />The TARDIS materializes on a planet filled with active volcanoes. In the control room, the three friends look at the scanner. Realizing the area might be dangerous, the Doctor suggests they take off soon. But Sara notices that the light on the tracking indicator has stopped. This means, the Doctor realizes, that the pursuing craft has caught up with them and landed out there!<br /><br />Out on the planet's surface, what looks like a rock materializes...and out of a door in it emerges...the Meddling Monk!<br /><br />The TARDIS crew has gone out to the surface of the planet to explore. The sooner they find out who's following them, the Doctor says, the better. Steven sits down on a boulder and immediately leaps up. "Hey, this is hot!" he says. The Doctor, amused, tells him that this is a new planet and is still cooling down. As Sara and Steven walk away to explore, the Doctor ponders about who might be following them. "Yes, I think there is an explanation, but unlikely. Possible, very possible."<br /><br />The Monk, meanwhile, is back at the Doctor's TARDIS. He uses some kind of futuristic tools and appears to be working on the lock...<br /><br />Still searching, the Doctor finally stands on top of a rock and calls out, "Don't you think we should meet and talk it over, hmm?" Steven asks the Doctor who they're waiting for, but he just tells his friend to wait and see. "Oh come on," Steven says. "Tell us, otherwise you'll say you were right whoever we meet." The Doctor tells Steven to have patience. Sara yelps at the two of them to look! On a rock ledge above the three, the Monk stands with a large rock, ready to throw it down at them! The Doctor tells him to stop being silly and put the rock down and the Monk does. The two banter back and forth a bit; the Doctor congratulates the Monk on his escape from 1066. 1066? asks Sara, and Steven tells her he'll explain later. Finally, the Doctor tries to get back down to the point. "And you returned here for one obvious reason, did you not?" "I'm afraid so, Doctor." says the Monk. "Revenge is a strange thing, isn't it?" The Doctor asks if the Monk has had any plans, and the Monk tells him they've already been carried out. "Doctor, you remember you left me in 1066? Now I've marooned you on the planet Tigus, look." He begins to laugh and is joined by the Doctor and, after a moment, Steven and Sara. Then, realizing they have nothing to laugh about, everyone but the Monk stops. "Well, goodbye, Doctor." says the Monk. "Perhaps I'll come back one day and rescue you." He disappears behind the ridge. Hey, wait, calls Steven. But the Doctor says, "Don't waste your breath, young man. The most important thing is, is to find out what he's done to the TARDIS."<br /><br />Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor discovers he can't open the door! "He probably used some kind of ray," muses the Doctor. (Out of sight, the Monk watches, chuckling to himself.) Steven begins to try to pick the lock, but the Doctor tells him that would be no use. Both Sara and Steven say at least they're trying to do <i>something</i>, but the Doctor tells them he is doing something too--using his brain! He takes his ring from his finger. He angles the beam of light from the sun through his ring and onto the lock and, after a moment, he drops the now hot ring. Sara tries to open the door, but it doesn't budge. "It hasn't worked," she says. The Doctor, picking up his ring tells her to wait a moment...and then unlocks the door with his key. Sara pushes the door open. Steven tells the Doctor he's a genius, to which the Doctor replies, "Yes - I know, my boy, I know." The three pile into the ship and, a minute later, the TARDIS dematerializes. The Monk, absolutely furious, comes out of hiding. "Oh, no, no," he says. "Don't think I'm going to leave it at this. You haven't heard the last of me, Doctor. You haven't heard the last of me!"<br /><br />In the control room, Steven is saying, "If you ask me, we haven't heard the last of that monk." The Doctor agrees, and Sara adds that next time they will be ready for him! Quite so, says the Doctor, and asks Steven to watch the instrument to let them know the moment the Monk's ship begins to follow them. But Steven first asks the Doctor to explain how he opened the door. "Oh, that's all very simple, dear boy," the Doctor replies. "You see, the sun in that particular galaxy has very unusual powers. I merely reflected its powers through that ring." Sara asks if the ring is special in some way, and the Doctor says, "Yes, it has certain properties." The special power of the light and properties of the ring allowed him to break through the Monk's interference. But when Steven asks <i>what</i> the "properties" of the ring are, the Doctor refuses to answer and tells him to go check the instrument.<br /><br />On Kembel, the Supreme is told that the task force is ready to be sent through time. A countdown begins: Ninety-nine, Ninety-eight... A Dalek reports that the time craft has been located. "Space-time bearing: planet Earth, London, 1966." The Dalek task force will use a locator beam to go directly to the enemy craft. Ninety-seven, ninety-six...<br /><br />The TARDIS has materialized in Trafalger Square at midnight, 1 January 1966! (Where have we seen that date before in this post? Hmm...) On the scanner, people are seen celebrating the coming of the New Year. Steven says that the Doctor won't be able to make his repairs here and the Doctor agrees. Sara wonders what kind of celebration might be happening. The Doctor doesn't know, but..listen! They hear the bells of London pealing.<br /><br />Back on Kembel, the countdown continues. Twenty-two, Twenty-one, Twenty, Ninetee, Eighteen...<br /><br />In the control room, the Doctor is still trying to figure out what is going on outside. It's certainly Earth, he says. As far as he can recall, he's seen a celebration like this once before...after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_of_Mafeking">the Relief of Mafeking</a>.<br /><br />On Kembel, the countdown as reached an end! Three, Two, One, Zero! The Dalek machine disappears, en route to meet the enemy ship--wherever they are! The Supreme announces, "Report to Skaro. Our time machine is now in pursuit. Nothing can match Dalek technology! The universe shall be ours! Conquest is assured!" Around him, Dalek voices ring out, all with one word: "CONQUEST! CONQUEST! CONQUEST...!"<br /><br />---<br /><br />Whew! I included the link about Mafeking since, when Hartnell said the line, Schmallturm and I chuckled, but everyone else looked kind of baffled. I know explaining a joke sometimes kills it, but... And, to remind those who might have forgotten, here's a link to our <a href="http://tardisproject.blogspot.com/2010/09/time-meddler-wrapup.html">wrapup of the Meddling Monk's first appearance</a>. (It's worth pointing out that the Monk's last line to the Doctor in this episode almost perfectly echoes the Doctor's last line to the Monk in the episode "Checkmate!")<br /><br />---<br /><br />Ketina's Transcripty Thingy<br /><br />H: Historian<br />K: Ketina<br />R: Ronelyn<br />Sc: Schmallturm<br /><br />H: So, we're back to the actual story.<br /><br />R: We are?<br /><br />H: Well, more than we were last week. So, I guess the big fake out this week was “who's following the Doctor” but the Daleks' time machine wasn't ready yet.<br /><br />Sc: They could have gone back in time and then followed the Doctor...<br /><br />H: Exactly.<br /><br />Sc: There was a lot of potential time paradox stuff there.<br /><br />H: So I thought that was a really clever bit of story telling.<br /><br />Sc: I thought how they escaped from the Monk's trap was lame. It was just a Deus Ex Machina.<br /><br />H: Yeah, it was like magic. They've alluded to the ring's "special magical powers" before, but never this bad.<br /><br />R: [As Hartnell] "It was given to me by a Scotsman named “MacGuffin.”<br /><br />R: I was impressed by how much better the scene chewing was between the Doctor and the Monk, than it was between Chen and the Daleks.<br /><br />Sc: I thought it was the opposite, actually.<br /><br />H: I liked them both, really. I didn't really mind the scene chewing with Chen. Although in the audio he sounds silly, I would have been interested to see how Celation moved. He sounded all snakey, and when we did see him walking in during and earlier episode it looked like he was walking under water.<br /><br />Sc: I liked the "Evil Model U.N." [i.e. the delegates] It's been my favorite part of this story. But it's been getting smaller as Chen has been picking them off one by one.<br /><br />R: “I didn't even want to be part of this evil club anyway!”<br /><br />H: Although Chen, apparently when he saw Trantis get it, he was just horrified. Which doesn't fit with his whole ruthless “I'll get them all” thing from previous episodes. But maybe he didn't expect the Daleks to be so ruthless. <br /><br />R: There was very little “ruth” at all.<br /><br />K: I like Celation's eyes.<br /><br />H: Those were cool. <br /><br />K: But I hate Trantis's face.<br /><br />H: Well, you won't have to worry about it anymore.<br /><br />R: “You're failure has cost you your life!”<br /><br />H: “Failure? What??”<br /><br />K: Was that teeth guy? What happened to his face?<br /><br />H: That was the way he looked in the recon to “Mission to the Unknown.” I don't know if that's a recon issue [that they used the MitU version, rather than the one in the existing DMP episode], or if they kept changing his makeup around.<br /><br />H: So, Dennis Spooner brings back his creation the Meddling Monk. It was a great reveal, him walking out from behind the rock.<br /><br />K: Why aren't they burning on volcano planet?<br /><br />H: Because it's magic?<br /><br />Sc: It wasn't that hot.<br /><br />H: Hot enough that Steven couldn't sit down.<br /><br />R: Pants hot, but not shoes hot.<br /><br />H: When you get right down to it, the Doctor left the Monk stranded but okay. The Monk was going to leave the Doctor stranded and probably soon dead.<br /><br />R: The difference is the Doctor is a jerk and the Monk is a murderous jerk.<br /><br />H: *laughs* I guess the other tease here is that we saw the Destructor and saw them start it up, but we still don't know what it does. Quantum Mechanics stuff? Who knows.<br /><br />Sc: The cricket match was just filling up space. I assume they got real announcers for that?<br /><br />H: In the credits the announcer characters were given names so they were portrayed by someone else. No idea if they were still real announcers or not. I loved the line “so and so is checking the statistics to find out if this has ever happened before.” At least it was enjoyable filler.<br /><br />Sc: Unlike painful Terry Nation filler.<br /><br />H: Well, it wasn't “an ordeal” if you know what I mean.<br /><br />K: Oh god, a cricket match in the middle of the Daleks! Thals playing cricket!<br /><br />R: And suddenly a silvery spaceship lands at Lords, and an alien comes out and says “Author Philip Deodat?”<br /><br />H: One of Douglas Adams' first submissions to Doctor Who was “Doctor Who and the Krikketmen,” which, of course, he later recycled into part of <i>Life, the Universe and Everything</i>. Perhaps he was watching this one at home as a youth and it gave him ideas.<br /><br />Sc: That did have kind of a Douglas Adams feel to it.<br /><br />H: And New Years 1966! Very exciting. I wonder if the stills they used in the recon were actually from that New Years.<br /><br />R: I wondered that about the cricket match as well.<br /><br />H: Some of the film would had to have been re-filmed, like the cricket player walking up the the TARDIS. I wonder if it was basically stock footage they found. And speaking of stock footage, good use of previously used stock footage with the “Inferno” credits being used for the recon. [For the Volcano eruptions on Tigus.] I knew I'd seen that before when it came on the screen, but it took me a second to recognize it!<br /><br />K: Except “Inferno” was in colour.<br /><br />H: Well, yeah. Oh, and I remember during “The Chase” a couple of folks were disappointed that the Dalek time ship looked like a box. This time they redesigned it so that it sort of looks interesting. I wonder if the maths challenged Dalek will be back?<br /><br />R: “WHY DO WE STILL HAVE THIS GUY?”<br /><br />H: “UH... SEVEN?”<br /><br />Sc: “HE'S MY SISTER'S KID.”<br /><br />R: “THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE”<br /><br />Sc: “YOU DON'T KNOW MY SISTER.”<br /><br />K: I thought he died. Got dumped off a boat in the Chase, didn't he?<br /><br />Sc: Is this the first time we've had Daleks unleashed in 1966? Because I assume the Daleks are going to show up at the New Years party. [Since that's where the TARDIS is and the Daleks are homing in on them.]<br /><br />H: I don't know, he said, being evasive.<br /><br />Sc: Well, that's what I'm looking forward to.<br /><br />K: Sara Kingdom is way lamer than she was before.<br /><br />Sc: She didn't do much.<br /><br />H: Well, neither did Steven, except for almost getting his pants burned and his little banter with the Monk.<br /><br />Sc: I liked it, but nothing much happened. Other than discovering the substitution of the Taranium Uranus stuff.<br /><br />R: It was okay. Like I said, I kind of thought that the alien Madagascar hissing cockroach [Celation] got old fast. And the guy who ate the chopsticks the wrong way [Trantis] just looked kind of glum in the room with the Time Destructor.<br /><br />H: That was probably just the recon. They mentioned in a caption that he basically loses it.<br /><br />R: It was not exactly.. nothing much happened. But I did like the Monk's acting. Good byplay between them.<br /><br />K: I was surprised to see the Monk return. I didn't know he was in more than one store. I still want to think he's the Master.<br /><br />H: No, no! We've had this discussion before! *laughs* But it sounds like the big reveal “is the Daleks or isn't it?” really worked for you then.<br /><br />R: Uh huh.<br /><br />K: Well, at least it was better than last week. Easier to follow anyway. Wasn't eagerly waiting for it to end.<br /><br />H: I would agree that not a lot happened this week. But I was happy to see the return of Dennis Spooner because his words are just so fun to listen to. Nothing happened, but it was still a lot of fun. With the Doctor and the Monk, and Mavic Chen snarking. It had a little sparkle in the dialogue.<br /><br />R: Although as you said, on the whole Dennis Spooner's writing moves, there was one moment where Chen went “Doctor Evil”... “Well, he DID say that he wanted to contribute to the test.”<br /><br />H: I liked that...<br /><br />R: “With his life!”<br /><br />H: Yeah, okay, I'll agree with you there.<br /><br />R: That was the difference that makes the difference.<br /><br />H: I didn't say he was subtle. I just said he was fun.<br /><br />K: It so reminds me of “The Chase.”<br /><br />H: Funny that.<br /><br />K: But we've seen Dalek stories so far that weren't like “The Chase.”<br /><br />H: This is the fourth Dalek story. “The Chase” did very well, so I'm not surprised that they're reusing the format.<br /><br />K: Although thank goodness they're adding this glue plot.<br /><br />R: Rather than just “Run!”<br /><br />K: “When I say run...”<br /><br />H: No, not yet! Not for another few months. Heck, we still have another month of Daleks left to go.<br /><br />K: You were the one who wanted to do this one week at a time.<br /><br />H: Who am I to argue with the mother-in-law of the BBC managing director in 1965. She wanted more Daleks, and here we get a 12 part story about them!<br /><br />---<br /><br />And there we have it for this week! It only remains for me to give the standard plug for the amazing work of <a href="http://www.recons.com">Loose Cannon Productions</a> (order recons! They're great!) and to let everyone know that next week's post might be a little later than usual (A little later, even, than this one!) Still, with a month more to go in the story, I'm looking forward to it; the Daleks haven't <i>quite</i> worn out their welcome yet! Until then, I remain<br /><br />THE HISTORIAN<br /><br />NEXT WEEK: "GOLDEN DEATH"The Tardis Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13676560730893653875noreply@blogger.com0