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Post by librarylover on May 21, 2009 22:39:31 GMT
If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one episode starring Sylvester McCoy, which one would you choose, and why?
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Post by magnusgreel on May 22, 2009 3:05:24 GMT
I like the feel of Survival so much it might be that, all the bumming around in Perivale etc.. Fenric probably has more in it to figure out in repeat viewings though.
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Post by IMForeman on May 22, 2009 15:46:00 GMT
I love Ghost Light more than just about anything so probably that one. Gothic Victoriana, Ace, Darwinian evolution, Seven being his creepy manipulative self - it's like they made an story just for me. Two years before I was born, too. Very considerate of them.
I even have managed to understand it, too, after seeing supplementary materials on the DVD. Yes, perhaps Fenric would be a better bet, actually, because I'm still not sure if I understand that. I can't say I would be complaining about having to watch that either (more likely I would be complaining about the desert island thing..)
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lynda
Auton Daisy
Posts: 480
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Post by lynda on May 22, 2009 16:58:31 GMT
I've always had a soft spot for Survival; I made a fanvid of it, I liked it so much. It's just so much fun, and the whole "If we fight like animals we die like animals!" speech thing is pretty awesome.Other than that, though, I also like The Greatest Show in the Galaxy a lot, and some of the other like Paradise Towers and the one with the Kandyman are so bad they're good.
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Post by jjpor on May 25, 2009 20:38:25 GMT
This is hard, actually, as I love just about all of Seven's stories to varying degrees (apart from Time and the Rani, but you'll forgive me that), even goofiness like Delta and the Bannermen and Dragonfire. I'm just biased. Ghost Light is a really good one, for all of the reasons mentioned, as is Fenric.
Asked to pick a favourite, I'd go with Remembrance of the Daleks, though, just for sentimental value, and the fact that it's the Daleks. Rival Dalek factions fighting battles with each other! And sort-of-proto-UNIT getting involved (actually, it's the RAF, but their boss-man has a moustache like the Brig's, so...). And Seven being all dark and Seveny, but still finding time to goof around with Ace. And Ace being Ace - "who are you calling small?" - WALLOP! And the stuff about unlimited rice pudding. And the bit where he's in the cafe talking to the butler out of Fresh Prince of Bel Air about the morality of interfering with history...And...Well, I could go on all night, it's that good, for me.
It helps that I saw it when I was about ten, and at just that age to think that it was truly the coolest thing I had ever seen on televison up to that time. And I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it again years later, and it was still good. Or it might just be me being sentimental.
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Post by clocketpatch on May 26, 2009 1:13:43 GMT
But Time and the Rani NEVER HAPPENED. Nope, it didn't. lalalala... *plugs ears and sings*
The only redeemable part of that mess was Seven playing his spoons up and down the Rani and maybe... nope, the spoons is about it.
Other than that I think I can find something to love in every Seven episode too. My favourite is Paradise Towers, despite its lack of Ace, because it's just so camp and fantastic. After that I'd say Survival, Curse of Fenric, Remembrance of the Daleks, and Battlefield.
though it is intensely quotable, I don't like Ghostlight as much as other people seem to, and really I don't see what all the fuss is. But then, I've heard it's one of those episodes you either love or hate. But, I'm just mostly indifferent!??
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Post by jjpor on May 26, 2009 19:00:52 GMT
I certainly think it's an acquired taste; there is a lot there that is offputting; it is one of those stories that you have to watch a few times, and pay attention, to get a handle on what's going on, and in this case I don't really mean that as a compliment the way I do when I'm talking about things like Warriors' Gate. I think it is a muddled story in places; I think they may have taken a longer script and hacked it down to fit the slot that was available.
Having said that, I like it for the Victorian setting and the black humour and Seven possibly at his most scheming and manipulative, even though his game only becomes apparent as the story goes on. This and Fenric are the stories where Seven's character as started to be mapped out in Remembrance really comes out. And it's a great story for Ace, as are Fenric and Survival too; RTD, as much as he might like to think it, did not invent character arcs in Doctor Who (neither did Andrew Cartmel, actually, but that's another rant for another time). And I think Redvers Fenn-Cooper is great; and I remember reading somewhere that the actor actually ad-libbed most of the really funny lines, so hats off to him.
I think Happiness Patrol and Greatest Show in the Galaxy are better stories than some fans want to remember. The only two Seven stories I can't really bring myself to like at least part of the time are that one we are not going to name again ;D and Silver Nemesis, which is really just a slightly rubbish remake of Remembrace, cut-and-pasting Cybermen for Daleks. Even Silver Nemesis, though, has Ace taking out a platoon of Cybermen armed only with a catapult and some gold coins; the *other one* doesn't even have that.
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Post by magnusgreel on May 27, 2009 1:00:57 GMT
My theory was that Ghost Light was great because it made no sense, because there was an impenetrable mystery to it, but it seems some people have actually made sense out of it. Someday I will understand. The main barrier to my understanding is the horrible sound, where the music drowns out what people are saying, and Sylvester is a big old mumbler.
Happiness Patrol is mainly brought down by design choices. It's all in-studio for one thing. The supposed over-cheeriness of the place just isn't there, even superficially, and Ace's protests about how obnoxious the cheeriness is don't work. I mean, I know we're supposed to see beneath the fake optimism, but it shouldn't be quite this transparent. Everything's dark, it's always night, the colors are all pastels... I don't know if that's just 80s fashion, or a comment on the hypocrisy of superficial cheeriness.
The message is very good. We need sadness, without it happiness means nothing. It was particularly popular in our club at the time, which had a strong Depeche Mode/Cure sort of fans-of-depression contingent. I wasn't any of that, but I can bash cheeriness with the best of 'em.
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Captain Spats
UNIT Red Shirt
You don't understand regeneration, Mel. It's a lottery, and I've drawn the short plank.
Posts: 126
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Post by Captain Spats on Jun 17, 2009 19:12:17 GMT
Happiness Patrol. No Contest.
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Post by jjpor on Jun 17, 2009 19:31:53 GMT
Happiness Patrol. No Contest. Happiness Patrol deserves more love than it gets, I think. It's one of my favourites on the quiet. Over here, the Kandyman is the canonical example used whenever anyone says that Doctor Who got "too silly" in the 80s. Clearly, anyone who thinks that has never seen Nightmare of Eden!
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