Stuff That Looks Like Stuff Off Doctor Who

Fourth in a very occasional series.

Two mechanical things in the background of a scene from the 2015 animated movie April and the Extraordinary World.

The Special Weapons Dalek from Remembrance of the Daleks and Asylum of the Daleks.

Earlier instalments:
1st here
2nd here
3rd here

Stuff That Looks Like Stuff Off Doctor Who

Third in a very occasional series.

A freshly steamed Hollands steak and kidney pudding.

A Terileptil from the series 19 Doctor Who story "The Visitation"

Stuff That Looks Like Stuff Off Doctor Who

Second in an occasional series (part 1 here)

Some random arty photo from Facebook

A Monoid from the series 3 Doctor Who story "The Ark"

Doctor Who: Gonna Watch the Lot, an Update of Sorts

I'm sure maybe one visitor to this blog will have noticed that 1 year and 4 days into this experiment I have fallen a somewhat behind with progress updates. Well it doesn't really matter anymore as I've fallen so far behind with them it's rendered further detailed updates kind of pointless.

Having just this hour finished watching the final episode of penultimate season 14 story "The Robots of Death" the totals now stand at:

447 episodes out of 791
084 of which were recons
027 of which were audio recordings

"The Talons of Weng Chiang" followed by "The Horror of Fang Rock" next after which the quality and consistency of the stories takes a noticeable dip and though there is plenty to look forward to over the next 12 seasons of classic Who there is the niggling knowledge that the series has peaked. Which is a shame...

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot: Series 2 Part 2

Good grief, I really am getting somewhat behind with these updates. I've nearly finished series 8 and yet here I am posting an update for the last 4 stories in series 2. Oh well call me lazy and half arsed if you will. I don't care. 

Running total so far:

294 episodes out of 791
084 of which were recons
027 of which were audio recordings

The Crusade (episodes 1 & 3 survive, episodes 2 & 4 watched as recons)
The Tardis lands 12th century Palestine where a holy war is in progress between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin. Barbara is kidnapped so the Doctor, Ian and Vicki make their way to King Richard's palace in the city of Jaffa.


An above average historical story.
7.5 out of 10

The Space Museum (all 4 episodes survive in BBC archive)
The crew find themselves trapped in what turns out to be a somewhat low rent looking intergalactic museum of space stuff.

A genuinely creepy episode one which finds them trying to cheat their apparent fate as exhibits in said museum gives way to a moderately tedious tale with really crap alien baddies and almost as crap goodies.
3.5 out of 10 (8 for episode 1)

The Chase (all 6 episodes survive in BBC archive)

Now this is more like it, a strictly for the kids 6 episode runaround that finds the our heroes randomly traveling around the universe to such places the top of the Empire State Building, a abandoned haunted house fairground attraction, a desert planet where they meet that guy who went on to play Shelley in the classic 80's sitcom dressed in a wet suit covered in fishy fins and eventually the Mechanoids.

Fans don't seem to like this serial as it makes precious little sense and frankly the Daleks are certainly at their least menacing and least intelligent (with one Dalek even earning the somewhat un-PC fan name "Learning Difficulties Dalek") but in my opinion it is great fun and a personal favourite. Sad to say this is Ian and Barbra's last story.

8 out of 10

The Time Meddler (all 4 episodes survive in the BBC archive)

Arguably the finest surviving story of the William Hartnell era. The Tardis and it's crew arrive in 11th century England and encounter the Meddling Monk (as played by Peter Butterworth) a fellow time traveler who makes takes enjoyment in twisting historical events to his own ends.

A genuinely entertaining and fast paced 4 parter, we should be glad this story has survived.

9.5 out of 10

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot: Series 2 Part 1

Oops. Really should update this thing a little more often. In reality I am about to start listening to the BBC CD of series 4 serial 3 yet here I am just getting around to uploading my oppinions on series 2.

Running total so far:
144 episodes out of 789
040 of which were recons
017 of which were audio recordings

Planet of Giants
Due to an inflight accident of some type the Tardis and its crew are shrunk to around one sixtieth of their proper size and over the course of 3 episodes find themselves involved with a not that interesting story of murder and industrial fraud.

A somewhat atypical start to season 2 this story appears to be universally disliked. On the down side the plotting is sluggish even by early Who standards. There is no interaction between the Tardis crew and the real size cast and Barbara is uncharacteristicly thick. On the plus side the sets and model work is perhaps the best seen in 60's.
5.5 out of 10

The Dalek Invasion of Earth
I guess this Dalek story is just as important as the first in that if it had flopped that would have been the end of our pepper pot inspired friends as far as Who was concerned.

Having decimated the Earth's population by bombarding it with plague carrying meteorites the Daleks embark on an ambitious plan to hollow out the planets core and convert it into a giant Death Star type intergalactic killing machine.

Though it has it's slack moments (such as the Tardis crew spending 15 minutes of the first episode not noticing the 8 foot tall “Do not dump dead bodies in the Thames” poster behind them) this story is a vast improvement over “The Daleks” and rattles on a reasonable rate of knots.
7 out of 10

The Rescue
2 part filler story designed to introduce new companion Vikki (not to confused with Victoria who turns up in series 4) who's turned up as the replacement for Susane who left at the end of the previous story.

The Doctor, Iain and Barbara save Vikki from an an alien meanie by running away. That's it. On the plus side the bad guy's mask is really rather good and must have looked pretty creepy when first seen in old 410 PAL. On the downside Barbara has another uncharactaristic thick momment where she shoots Vikki's pet alien crocodile slug thing dead despite Vikki literaly screaming down her ear not to so.
6 out of 10

The Romans
Only two of the 9 so called historical stories made between 1963 and 1966 are still complete in the BBC archives (“The Time Meddler” doesn't count due to its overt SF elements), this and “The Aztecs” being the two.

The Tardis lands in the times of the Roman empire where the Doctor and his companions take residence in an abandoned villa. The Doctor finds himself mistaken for a famous lyre player and sent off to Rome itself to play for the Emperor.

Apparently criticized at the time for it's overtly humorous approach this story has since went on to become a firm fan favourite and I can see why. Though perhaps not quite as good as “The Aztecs” or the lost stories “The Myth Makers” and “The Massacre” this four parter is almost as good as surviving Hartnel stories get.
8.5 out of 10

The Web Planet
I think I adore this story as it is genuinely odd, darn right weird even and contains probably the only “death by sticking your arse in a hole to stop everybody else drowning in a flood of acid” scene in TV history. Then I actually sit down and watch the darn thing again.

The Tardis lands on the planet Vortis and the crew get caught up in war between the Zarbi (giant ants) and Menoptra (giant butterflies). This goes for 6 intermittently interesting but lovely to look at episodes. All episodes contains almost continuous use of the most hated sound effect in Doctor Who history.
6.5 out of 10

Well That's Hartnell Over and Done With...

Well it's took me 5 and a half months but 20 minutes ago I finished watching the official BBC recon of episode 4 of "The Tenth Planet" meaning I've reached the end of William Hartnells's tenour as the Doctor.

So the running total is:

134 episodes out of 789
030 of which were recons
017 of which were audio recordings

I will get around to doing brief write ups of seasons 2 & 3 soon.

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot (An Update)

I'm sure none of you give a shit or even remember that back in June I declared my plan to watch all Doctor Who episodes in broadcast order and then after the following "explanation" post I failed to mention the idea ever again.

Well as of this post I have reached Episode 3 of Series 3 story "The Dalek's Master Plan" so here's the running total as it stands:

093 episodes out of 789
016 of which were recons
010 of which were audio recordings

The more anal of you wil notice that the above figures doesn't necessarily tally with the actual surviving episode figures. This is because while episodes 1-3 and 6 of the Reign of Terror do survive in the BBC archive they are only available to view as part of an expensive long out of print limited edition VHS boxed set. With the DVD edition of this story not due for release until at least Novemeber this year and the out of print BBC audio CD costing a little more than I would wish to pay I chose to sign up for a free trial with Amazon Audible just to download that title.

Once the "Reign of Terror" DVD is released I will watch it and update the running totals accordingly by removing 6 from the the audio recordings and adding 2 to the recons (obviously the total episode tally will remain the same)

Here are a few brief thoughts on each story from series 1.

An Unearthly Child:
Frankly recieved wisdom is right about this story. Episode 1 is an intriguing drama about two teachers concern and curiosity over a prodigious yet distant pupil by the name of Susan which famously leads them to a junk yard where they encount her unpleasant grandfather and a mysterious police box that is "larger on the outside than the inside".

Then the following 3 episode are mostly boring rubbish about cavemen trying to discover fire.
3 out of 10 (7 out of 10 for episode 1)

The Daleks:
A good 2 part story stretched out into an intermitently interesting 7 parter. With their completely inhuman appearence the Daleks are an undeniably inspired piece of design work and deserve to be regarded as the all time classic science fiction monsters they are.

Their debut story, to modern eyes, however is mostly a bore.
3 out of 10

The Edge of Destruction:
Two part Tardis set filler story that somehow conspires to be more interesting than the two preceding it. Something goes wrong with the Tardis. The Doctor bangs his head, goes a bit weird and paranoid and starts blaming his 3 traveling companions.
5 out of 10

Marco Polo (all 7 episodes watched as recons):
4 stories in and we have the first lost (ie wiped) story. Shame really as it's conciderably better than the 3 that proceed it.

The first of the black and white era's many historical stories. The Tardis lands in the Himalayas and the crew meet up with, well do you need telling? 7 episodes of political back stabbing, stolen keys, sabotaged water suplies and enforced marriage.
7 out of 10

The Keys of Marinus
Many people regard this 6 part Terry Nation story, the only non-Dalek story he wrote for the show, as crude and a bit dull. They are wrong. While it certainly isn't the best series 1 has to offer it's IMO an entertaining romp

The model work in episode 1 is among the best of the black and white era while the story's episodic nature means that if one episode isn't of interest there's something of interest coming along next week.
7 out of 10

The Aztecs
Unquestionably series 1's best story and probably Barbara's finest hour. The Tardis lands in ancient Mexico and through various tricks of fate Barbara finds herself proclaimed a god and the Doctor finds himself married (a fact seemingly forgotten by a certain Steve Moffat)
9 out of 10

The Sensorites
And we crash back down to Earth with this snooze inducer. Much like the "An Unearthly Child" this story begins with a interesting and suspenseful episode one complete with genuinely creepy cliff hanger only in this case to pan out into a dull story of political intregue.
3 out of 10

The Reign of Terror (all episodes listened to as narrated off air audio recordings) Another historical, this time set during the French Revolution. As an audio recording this sounded like something of a run around. Certainly enjoyable and seemingly quite violent, something that may be confirmed once I get to see the forthcoming DVD release.
8 out of 10

Stuff That Looks Like Stuff Off Doctor Who

First in an occasional series.

A railing outside Douglas Steam Railway Station, Isle of Man

A Quark, as seen in series 6 Doctor Who story "The Dominators"

Doctor Who: 1 Down 223 To Go + An Explanation

Total so far:
004 episodes out of 784
000 of which were recons
000 of which were audio recordings

Four days in and with the very first Doctor Who serial "An Unearthly Child" watched I now have only 223 more stories to view.

Having meant to do this in the first post I think I should explain the running totals at the top of the page. As with much pre-1970's TV the BBC (not the only culprits for sure), for what in this age of DVDs and VCRs now seem somewhat spurious economical reasons, chose to wipe the original video tape masters of much of there output. In fact the video masters of all 253 black and white episodes (along with a fair percentage of early colour John Pertwee episodes) where wiped between 1967 and 1978 meaning that only episodes held as 16mm or 35mm telecordings by the BBC's export division BBC Enterprises initially survived.

A major problem with this state of affairs was the fact that the BBC did not have any official archiving policy until 1978, in fact the BBC didn't even employ anyone in the position of archivist until the same years. On top of which the BBC tape department failed to liaise with BBC Enterprises (and the other way around) to to see which episodes either division still held meaning that many an episode that could have been archived was junked when either department considered it to no longer be of commercial use.

This meant that come the time the BBC actually chose to catalogue their Doctor Who library it was found that 147 of the 253 black and white episodes were missing. Since then 41 episodes, including 2 serials that were missing in there entirety, have been recovered from overseas broadcasters, private collectors and twice in the cupboards or basements of old BBC buildings. However this obviously means there are still 106 episodes missing, and as only 2 episodes have turned up since 2004 I'm not holding my breath awaiting news of any new finds.

Fortunately for fans all Who stories from Marco Polo onwards (serial 4 of series 1) survive as off air audio recordings of variable quality made by fans of the show. Having been circulated among fans for the best part of 50 years these tapes now provide the base for two distinctly superior methods for fans to enjoy the missing shows.

The first of these are the official BBC audio CDs which feature remastered audio recordings of lost episodes with audio descriptive detail added using narration by a relevant actor/actress from the serial. There are also earlier cassette releases which feature inferior sound and third person narration from actors not linked to the serials in question (Tom Baker on "The Evil of the Daleks" or Colin Baker on "The Macra Terror" for example) and CD releases of stories that though not lost were not available at the time on DVD (the CD of "The Invasion" was released rather sneakily a whole year before the DVD). These "not lost" audio releases always contain exclusive, though IMO far from revelatory, audio interviews with a relevant cast member by way of a bonus incentive to make fans part with their cash.

The other method is perhaps more interesting. With many missing episodes existing as telesnaps (literally photographs taken of the TV screen to provide a visual record of the program) some fans in the 1980's took to editing these in sync with the soundtrack recording to provide an approximation of the original TV airings.

Over the years these have got a lot more complex, with producers adding subtitles to fill in details not apparent from the A/V material, CGI effects, specially shot material, surviving clips and photoshoped montages. Provided free of charge by fan groups such as Loose Cannon these are perhaps my favourite way of experiencing missing Doctor Who episodes.

And now I've typed all that out I really don't feel like talking about the story itself. This in itself isn't a problem because there are hundreds of reviews out there that are a million times more perceptive and entertaining than anything I could manage. Why not go find one?

Doctor Who, Gonna Watch the Lot...

Total so far:
001 episodes out of 784
000 of which were recons
000 of which were audio recordings

For very personal and unhappy reasons these last couple of weeks I've found myself with plenty of time on my hands yet no energy for and precious little inclination to do anything creative. As such I've decided to make a start on something I have been toying with for a couple of years. So having just a few minutes ago finished viewing An Unearthly Child episode one I have began my quest to watch of all 784 episodes of Doctor Who in broadcast order.

To be honest I probably won't write up this experiment in any great detail here on this blog unless a particular episode or story strikes me as worth talking about. The one I just watched was pretty good and I'd forgotten how wonderfully abrasive and cantankerous William Hartnell's Doctor was in those first few stories. I think it a real shame the producers so quickly sought to mellow this somewhat crotchety and even patronizing character.

Missing episodes (there are 106 of the beggars) will either be watched as reconstructions or will be listened to on BBC Audio CD/Cassette releases (every 60's story from Marco Polo onwards survives as fan made off air audio recordings).

Also at the relevant points I will watch Shada and the charity specials. I'll also watch A Fix With Sontarans, the mini episodes from the Series 5 and 6 (or series 31 and 32 if you preffer) boxed sets and if I can find them the "Script To Screen Competion" mini episodes, the interactive digital TV story (trhe name of which escapes me) and the web episodes. However these will not count towards my episode tally.

Finally I will state once and for all that I will not be watching the two Peter Cushing Dr. Who (see the subtle copyright fee dodging change they made there?) movies because they are stupid and shit and in no way can be concider canon.