Continuing my ongoing observations of TV and film, here are a few things I've seen in the last week.
Crossroads to Crime: not Sci-Fi but a Gerry Anderson directed film nonetheless. I only saw about a quarter of this black and white crime drama but what I saw I enjoyed. Gritty and pacey, I imagine it was a decent filler in a double bill when it came out in 1960. Gerry was hopefully pleased. Has anyone else seen this film, maybe all of it?
Doctor Who: I watched a full episode last night with Missus Moonbase for the first time in years. I can see why we haven't kept up. OK, I know its a kids' programme but what on Earth has happened to this classic show? Countless uninteresting actors seem to surround the Doctor, who is thus relegated to an unmemorable bit part in a messy plot. Essentially the plot was about a holiday resort that had been built on a lethal planet full of mutant monsters, who had more than a passing resemblance to Rawhead Rex. I did like the monsters but that was all. The plasterboard resort set was terrible, the grey lethal planet surface tedious to the max and the action and dialogue simply awful. Yet the worst thing for me by far was the incessant musak which washes over the entire programme like stellar interference. Its just so much noise and since it never ends its impossible to decipher what the music means. Tension? Suspense? Light relief? Who knows, certainly not the Doctor. And what is with all the wise cracks everyone is making and calling each other mate? What ever happened to brilliant serious and frightening Who like the Sea Devils? No, despite the welcome earthy accent of the new Doctor, a fellow Yorkshire tyke, I shan't be watching it again in a hurry. How do you find it readers?
Mystery and Imagination: I caught the final episode of this old TV play series on Sunday. It was the last show, the Curse of the Mummy. I've seen about four of these now on the great Talking Pictures TV channel. All from the 1960's each of the plays was a TV adaptation of a classic horror or melodrama such as Uncle Silas, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Suicide Club, Sweeney Todd and the aforementioned Mummy, which was in colour. I think I recall this series when I was kid but then again the three channels we had back then were awash with TV plays like Armchair Theater and Play for Today so I may be remembering any number of them. Having read up on Mystery and Imagination this week it appears that many of the shows have been lost in the mists of time, which is a great shame. The ones left can all be found on a Network DVD, which Talking Pictures TV have been showing since November. And they contained hardly any if no music at all! How brave is that! Did anyone else catch any of them?
I agree with your take on the new Doctor Who episodes. I initially thought a female Doctor was an interesting idea, but even a good actor can't compete with poor scripts (the otherwise excellent Capaldi being a case in point), the fake "my Fam"(?) chumminess, relentlessly fast pacing and breathless dialogue, relentlessly loud music, the relentless PC-ness of it all, and so on. The BBC has lost the plot. Yeah, I probably sound like an old fart but as an original fan since the Hartnell days I don't see the point in prolonging the life a show where the main character has been relegated to playing second fiddle to his/her increasingly dull companions. Matt Smith's interpretation of the character was the last one I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have a problem with a female Doctor if it was the Doctor's daughter, or his successor who inherited the title on his retirement. No, what annoys me is the PC attempt to diminish (destroy would be a better word) the distinction between genders, in an attempt to kowtow to the LGBTQ brigade. Funny how minorities now get to dictate to the rest of us how we should think and what we should believe. (Just noticed recently that 'Q' has been added to 'LGBT' - what's it stand for?
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DeleteI watched Dr Who from the very first episode back in 1963. For me the Doctor charactor didn't improve as 'humour' was introduced more and more with successive reincarnations.
ReplyDeleteWhen the series initially died in the 80's it wasn't missed. The relaunch in 2005 was enjoyed as the Doctor charactor wasn't a full on clown. For me the series then went downhill culminating in Capaldi becoming the Doctor and The Master turned into a woman.
The final nail in the coffin for me was when the two Scottish actors playing the Doctor and Master had a conversation in thick brogue and techno-babble.
Stopped watching then, and the intro to the present female Doctor wearing braces (suspenders) effectively removed Who from my TV watching.
Personally, I don't have a problem with Scottish brogue (didn't sound thick to me), though the techno-babble annoys me. No, it's those English actors with their plummy or regional accents which confuse me. What exactly are they saying? I can't make out a word! (He lied, in order to make a humorous but relevant point, T47.)
DeleteI don't think a plummy accent has ever been attached to the Doctor and a number of Scots have played the Doctor in the past. It was just that those two just were 'acting silly' and out of charactor. As to regional accents, the ninth Doctor did say in reply to that, "Other planets have a North!"
DeleteMatt Smith sounds plummy to me, T47, which is why he probably got the role of Duke of Edinburgh. (And Peter Davidson also sounded a bit plummy.) However, I was actually using irony (badly it seems) to point out that there was nothing wrong with accents, especially not Capaldi's. You sounded as if you were more against 'thick (Scottish) brogues', instead of them just 'acting silly'.
DeleteI wonder what Gallifreyan would actually sound like?
DeleteBTW, I wish there was a way for fans of vintage UK broadcasting now residing in the USA to access 'The Talking Pictures TV Channel'. The programme listings look fascinating!
ReplyDeleteCharlie, We just have to watch BBC AMERICA and also hope our local PBS stations dig deep in the BBC archives for cheap programming.
DeleteYep, Talking Pictures TV is a real gem amongst the dross on our terrestrial channels Charlie.
DeleteSorry for the rant Paul, but this needs to be said about British Television.
ReplyDeleteI am a long-time Dr Who fan, since the days of Patrick Troughton. I’ve warmed to some incarnations more than others, but all the PC SJW preaching, and the appointment of a female doctor killed it for me, and Sharon, who is also a fan. We watched it, AAARRGGGHHHH! – Definitely not for us, it wasn’t Dr Who! Jodie Whittaker gurns too much, is just annoying and basically, I cannot stand her. Both of us get the impression that the showrunner; Chris Chubnall doesn’t seem to have the remotest idea what the series is really about. Other than perhaps a platform to force feed viewers a diet of junk food PC. I was a member of Gallifrey Base, but dropped my membership in protest to what the BBC had done. The guy that runs it was clearly upset, no-one wants to loose members.
Neither of us will watch the series while this nonsense is parroted by the BBC, and vote with our remotes. The latest figures show an audience of 4.1 million and dropping, so we’re not the only ones to be voting with the remote. This is how it will be until they reinstate a Male Doctor, and stop the PC SJW digs! Yes, I’ve also registered my views with the BBC, but they are arrogant, and the acolytes of this junk come out with the usual condescending muck as an answer. But it’s still my opinion and I’m allowed to think what I like.
We regularly visit St Fagens, which is a local Folk Museum just outside Cardiff. Chunks of Dr Who have been filmed there since the days of Jon Pertwee. Both the misses and I had a good-natured chat [after all it is ONLY a TV show] with one of the staff about this, who was very pro the current regime. Of course, the old chestnut of being prejudiced against women was used. But as both of us pointed out, we have the right to have our own opinions. We don’t like it, we both want a male Doctor Who and no PC SJW junk. So won’t watch it, and we don’t care how that comes over…
Ultimately it’s about viewers, and if the current decline continues, the BBC will sack both of them. They might dress it up, and make it look like they are leaving after the standard time, but they will only be fooling themselves. It’s happened before… Dr Who is in many ways a reflection of the times and sometimes the current fad. Today’s current fads are obnoxious SJWs, PC, LBGTQ+ and to stigmatise the majority. At some point it will change, they will reinstate a male Doctor, and the PC SJW stuff will stop, and then we’ll start watching again. We won’t be the only ones.
In the meantime, we’ll be watching The Man in the High Castle on Amazon! – And that’s definitely NOT PC.
Diversity is thw current buzzword and all public groups are falling over themselves to ensure that everyone from all walks of life and all perspectives ate included and nobody, no matter how exclusive is left out. Unfortunately, this just leafs to bad storytelling and confusing narratives, which are just meant to tick boxes. BBCs Dracula was purportedly bi-sexual, but Gatiss explained he was basically bi-homicidal ! Even Star Wars has jumped on the LGBTV bandwagon with a very staged and false lesbian kiss and a possible homosexual romance. Its getting out of hand now, and needs to be addressed before what is regarded as normal, become something completely out there.
ReplyDeleteIf you rearrange the letters you get a BLT with VG on the side! ��
ReplyDeleteIts obvious the new Doctor Who series generates strong feelings. As a nipper it was fear I felt and maybe they should return to scaring kids. As an adult I'm now able to appreciate how good those old WHO stories where. I found this site which lists some creepy Doctor episodes. I know the brilliant Daemons, largely through Scoop but the rest of the old stuff I will try to track down as I'd like to see them.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/doctor-who/67688/folk-horror-and-doctor-who-a-history
ReplyDeleteThe Daemons was a great story to watch, there is a piece on it in the Countdown 1971/72 annual. In the story where the Master is finally captured and being carted off by UNIT, the Director asked for all the villagers, who were also extras in the story, to boo. But the actor Roger Delgado was such a nice man, they didn't want to!
ReplyDeleteYep, its a great creepy story Bill and just the kind I love and loved as a nipper. It was Scoop who rekindled my interest in Daemons and I watched it again a few years back. Really excellent stuff. Scoop went to visit the locations five years ago and kindly blogged it http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-visit-to-devils-end.html
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