Post by jjpor on Aug 21, 2008 22:50:57 GMT
So, I've been watching this again, for the first time in quite a few years, and I'd thought I'd share some thoughts. Not a full review, and not one of those amusing commentary things, just some...thoughts.
This has to be one of my very earliest memories of Who; I remember Baker regenerating into Davison, in some vague, half-made-up way (even though I was approximately three years old at the time), but I definitely remember "Resurrection of the Daleks" being broadcast as a two-parter, and, most vivid of all, I remember sitting with my much-beloved granddad and watching the Raston Warrior Robot carving up those hapless Cybermen. How we both cheered (he was the best granddad a young Who supporter could have had)!!
Seeing it again, in the cold light of day, maybe the Raston Warrior Robot wasn't quite as apocalyptically Kewl as I remember him being, but he was still pretty damn good. Who doesn't love seeing Cybermen getting their proverbials kicked? All in all, this 20th anniversary nostalgiafest is a lot like that; it doesn't stand up to a modern-day viewing quite as well as I want it to, but there are still some things to recommend about it.
Let's get the bad things out of the way first; the plot is contrived, much of the dialogue is leaden, Time Lord politics are as boring as they usually are. Okay? Oh, and that chap playing the Castellan isn't anywhere near as good an actor as he thinks he is, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing; his delivery of "No - Not the Mind Probe!!!" has, after all, passed into legend.
I only want to talk about good things, and some of the good things were kind of surprising to my prejudiced fanboy mind. First of all, Anthony Ainley absolutely steals every scene he is in. Yes, he's hammy - but he very obviously knows he is being hammy, and is loving every minute of it, and that counts for a lot. His first scene with the Time Lord leadership, the faceoff with Pertwee, the way he completely manipulates and then betrays the Cybermen, may well be some of the best scenes Ainley ever played as the Master, apart from some of the ones he has in "Survival".
Second of all, Susan isn't as awful as some people make out. Sure, she isn't outstanding, but she's okay.
Thirdly, sacreligious as it seems to say so, Richard Hurndall is really rather good as One. Let's be clear - he bears absolutely no resemblance to Hartnell either physically or vocally (apart from the hairdo and going "Hmm" a couple of times); the One he plays isn't really the same character as the real One. Nevertheless, I like him, and I like his interaction with Tegan.
I like Davison in this; I always like Davison, no matter how much I dislike the given story he is in, but he is really good here. He is very much the centre of the piece, holding it together while all of the flashy guest stars do their thing.
It's a truism to say so, but Patrick Troughton is brilliant in this. He is easily the best of the five Doctors on display, even if the lines he is given are sometimes rather clunky. I LOL helplessly every time I see him going through his pockets when he and the Brig are cornered by the Yeti in the cave. The blink-and-youll-miss-it way he hands off the bag of jelly babies to the Brig (even though jelly babies are a Four thing)!
Two and the Brig make a good, if not very obvious, pairing, actually; even if the Brig seems a bit...nervous here compared to the unflappable soldier we're used to from the 70s - must be that nervous breakdown he had LOL.
Three, Sarah Jane, Turlough, and anybody else I forgot to mention were all very good too, even if I can't think of anything good to say about them. In fact, the Castellan aside, I think that most of the very obvious problems with The Five Doctors come from the script rather than from the actors. I mean, does anybody honestly know how that Pi thing with the chessboard actually worked?!
I do tend to muse, though, on what it might have been if Four had participated. I know that Baker had his differences with JNT and co (and with Lalla Ward too by 1983, although it's not a given that she would have been his featured companion). but it would have added a different dynamic to the proceedings. Not necessarily a good different dynamic, I'll admit; Baker doesn't seem like an actor who shares screentime well with others; I may be wrong, but that's my impression.
Still, while I wouldn't claim that The Five Doctors is one of the best classic Who stories, it is certainly quite entertaining, and worth a look if you haven't already seen it.
This has to be one of my very earliest memories of Who; I remember Baker regenerating into Davison, in some vague, half-made-up way (even though I was approximately three years old at the time), but I definitely remember "Resurrection of the Daleks" being broadcast as a two-parter, and, most vivid of all, I remember sitting with my much-beloved granddad and watching the Raston Warrior Robot carving up those hapless Cybermen. How we both cheered (he was the best granddad a young Who supporter could have had)!!
Seeing it again, in the cold light of day, maybe the Raston Warrior Robot wasn't quite as apocalyptically Kewl as I remember him being, but he was still pretty damn good. Who doesn't love seeing Cybermen getting their proverbials kicked? All in all, this 20th anniversary nostalgiafest is a lot like that; it doesn't stand up to a modern-day viewing quite as well as I want it to, but there are still some things to recommend about it.
Let's get the bad things out of the way first; the plot is contrived, much of the dialogue is leaden, Time Lord politics are as boring as they usually are. Okay? Oh, and that chap playing the Castellan isn't anywhere near as good an actor as he thinks he is, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing; his delivery of "No - Not the Mind Probe!!!" has, after all, passed into legend.
I only want to talk about good things, and some of the good things were kind of surprising to my prejudiced fanboy mind. First of all, Anthony Ainley absolutely steals every scene he is in. Yes, he's hammy - but he very obviously knows he is being hammy, and is loving every minute of it, and that counts for a lot. His first scene with the Time Lord leadership, the faceoff with Pertwee, the way he completely manipulates and then betrays the Cybermen, may well be some of the best scenes Ainley ever played as the Master, apart from some of the ones he has in "Survival".
Second of all, Susan isn't as awful as some people make out. Sure, she isn't outstanding, but she's okay.
Thirdly, sacreligious as it seems to say so, Richard Hurndall is really rather good as One. Let's be clear - he bears absolutely no resemblance to Hartnell either physically or vocally (apart from the hairdo and going "Hmm" a couple of times); the One he plays isn't really the same character as the real One. Nevertheless, I like him, and I like his interaction with Tegan.
I like Davison in this; I always like Davison, no matter how much I dislike the given story he is in, but he is really good here. He is very much the centre of the piece, holding it together while all of the flashy guest stars do their thing.
It's a truism to say so, but Patrick Troughton is brilliant in this. He is easily the best of the five Doctors on display, even if the lines he is given are sometimes rather clunky. I LOL helplessly every time I see him going through his pockets when he and the Brig are cornered by the Yeti in the cave. The blink-and-youll-miss-it way he hands off the bag of jelly babies to the Brig (even though jelly babies are a Four thing)!
Two and the Brig make a good, if not very obvious, pairing, actually; even if the Brig seems a bit...nervous here compared to the unflappable soldier we're used to from the 70s - must be that nervous breakdown he had LOL.
Three, Sarah Jane, Turlough, and anybody else I forgot to mention were all very good too, even if I can't think of anything good to say about them. In fact, the Castellan aside, I think that most of the very obvious problems with The Five Doctors come from the script rather than from the actors. I mean, does anybody honestly know how that Pi thing with the chessboard actually worked?!
I do tend to muse, though, on what it might have been if Four had participated. I know that Baker had his differences with JNT and co (and with Lalla Ward too by 1983, although it's not a given that she would have been his featured companion). but it would have added a different dynamic to the proceedings. Not necessarily a good different dynamic, I'll admit; Baker doesn't seem like an actor who shares screentime well with others; I may be wrong, but that's my impression.
Still, while I wouldn't claim that The Five Doctors is one of the best classic Who stories, it is certainly quite entertaining, and worth a look if you haven't already seen it.
) but, it made me happyHAppY because it's the FIRST time I've ever found a Classic Who rental. Unfortunately it appears to be the only one they have, but oh well. LOL
