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Steven B - Top Ten Doctor Who · A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome back to Doctor Who Top Ten.
• 0:05
  I am recording this very early in the morning, hence the state
• 0:10
  of my voice today. But today we are concentrating
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  on the top ten of Hamster contributor Steven B.
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  Now let me tell you a little bit about Steven.
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  He first came to my attention with his podcast New to Who,
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  which has been on a long hiatus now, but it's still out there
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  for everybody to enjoy. Stephen and I managed to hook up
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  through Nathan Bottomley and that's hook up in the friendship
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  way, not in the sexual way. And we started to zoom each
• 0:48
  other. There were flight for entirety
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  socials. We started to zoom together,
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  realized that we had very similar temperaments,
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  personalities, both quiet, gentle people and both of the
• 1:00
  huge love of Doctor Who. Eventually Steven came to
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  England from Australia to or from Singapore, actually to stay
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  with us for a couple of weeks, and it was two of the most
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  wonderful weeks of my life. We visited the locations of the
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  Android invasion, the androids of Tara.
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  Sorry, it's early. And Castrvalva, which is one of
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  his favorite stories and he did a amazing hamster commentary on
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  and we just had the most wonderful time.
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  Like talking with this fella is the easiest thing you could ever
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  do in the world. And I got to talk with him
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  nonstop for about two weeks. And Steven has also taken it
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  upon himself to do something very bold, very audacious, which
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  is to create an alternative take on Doctor Who, which he calls
• 1:56
  reimagining. Doctor Who on Twitter is at
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  reimagining who I believe, and I'm going to ask him to put in
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  the Twitter thread below all the links to the page.
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  Or I will do that. But essentially he is taking
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  hold of all the nuts and bolts of classic Doctor Who,
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  reimagining it in an almost new series like Way and his blog
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  which is beautifully put together.
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  It's so stylishly done. He has written out a small sort
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  of synopsis for every single story, and then a scene by scene
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  breakdown of each story as well, with sort of AI generated
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  pictures of alternative doctors and companions as he perceives
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  them. It's bold and brilliant and
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  imaginative and crazy and it's going to make you thrilled and
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  frustrated and all the things in between, because it is daring to
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  suggest that there was a different, potentially better
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  way. If anybody was to undertake this
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  enormous task, of course it was going to be Steven.
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  And it is as detailed and as brilliant as you can possibly
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  imagine, so check that out. But for now, let's take hold of
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  this gorgeous man's top ten and see if it chimes with us.
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  So Steven has given me a top ten, and he's written out an
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  explanation for why with each one.
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  So we're starting with the war machines, which Stephen says for
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  1/2 glimpse of what Hartnell's Dr. looks like in a London
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  transformed and even reborn since his last visit less than 3
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  short years ago. And you know what?
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  He fits straight in. He does.
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  And in fact that's not a new thing when you think about
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  Doctor Who later on. It's not.
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  It's not a bold thing to have a contemporary London story where
• 4:02
  the Doctor's working alongside the military.
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  But at that point, a Doctor Who's run just to have a
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  contemporary Doctor Who's story was bold.
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  Hartnell's era was bold to the last, wasn't it?
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  And for giving us Polly and Ben. Oh my God, I bloody love dodos.
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  You know, I'd really like to go to the hottest nightclub in
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  town. All those things in the Inferno
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  nightclub are just so unique, aren't they?
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  Even in the 60s? Doctor Who?
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  Come on, Dodo, the Navy's in trouble.
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  Hi. I mean, Polly and Ben are just
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  instantly, instantly likable. Very sexy.
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  And this is just a very stylishly put together story as
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  well. So that is a top choice.
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  Thank you Steven. I believe we're going to do that
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  as a commentary at some point. His second choice is the
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  invasion for the hang time and the hang Time.
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  He's put in inverted commas there because that's a Nathan
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  Bottomley phrase we get with the Brig Benton and our free
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  regulars, along with the wonderful Isabel in the then
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  contemporary London. A reaccumbing theme in this
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  list. I love this Spyfy version of 60s
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  London that never existed, and not just in Doctor Who.
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  SPYFY, which I'd never heard before until Steven and I
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  committed to a four hour long hamster with a blunt penknife.
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  The Invasion commentary? Go check that out.
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  I'll put those in the Twitter thread as well.
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  It's glorious, isn't it? The Invasion.
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  I imagine that would turn up on quite a few people's list.
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  Even the Invasion or the war machines from series 6.
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  Parker. Oh oh, you're a fool.
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  Form. I mean, I love it.
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  Hey, are you thinking rich? He's right.
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  There are brilliant, brilliant characters in this.
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  But I also think as well there's some of the most stylishly
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  shocked. So I've been scenes as well,
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  especially in the last sort of three episodes.
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  Excellent choice. Nothing too objective here so
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  far. Oh, I believe this might have
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  been on every list so far, or if not on every list so far.
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  It's certainly been on one Terror of the Autumns.
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  And Steven says for the Target novelization and introduction of
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  the shows. Sorry, in the introduction of
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  the shows Cozy Warm Blanket, The Unit Family, which incidentally
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  absolutely includes the villain of the piece, Care of the
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  Autumns. You have Fisted, Bumbender You
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  are. I refuse to be worried by
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  someone called The Master. He's a he's an unimaginative
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  plodder. It's four episodes of craziness,
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  isn't it? Craziness.
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  Color scares. Was Robert Holmes ever this
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  naughty again? I don't think he was, you know,
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  and I think Dudley Simpson work into his brief of doing an
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  electronic score. He does a really good job in
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  this, doesn't he? The.
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  OK, I won't do the master fame, but you know which one I mean.
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  Yeah, the Pertway's popular in these top ten lists.
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  I've noticed he's still very, very popular.
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  On to one of my favorites, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, for
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  being a perfect rainy Saturday afternoon 6th passer that says
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  so much that it's still wrong with our society, politics, hand
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  culture. Malcolm Holk, who writes a
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  brilliant sort of adventure story full of incident, full of
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  drama, full of jeopardy, but gives Doctor Who a point as
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  well. It gives it a moral and it says
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  something about society. Yeah, you're right, Steven,
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  that's a brilliant choice. Plus this has some excellent
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  dinosaur. I think this is on Joe Schulz
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  list as well, wasn't it? People have got such a hard on.
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  Well sorry Joe Short hasn't got hard on.
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  People have got such a love for these dinosaurs.
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  I think wonderful wonderful. Especially like the dinosaur.
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  The Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Oh my God, what's the one with
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  the spikes on his back? Brontosaurus Diplodocus.
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  Dinosaur on dinosaur action. Don't mean in a kinky way.
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  In episode 6. And the Doctor and the Brigadier
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  Dr. under it with a UNIT Jeep. I mean, you don't get that shit
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  on any other show, do you? Oh my God, my Ralph would be so
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  happy with this next choice. The Android invasion for being
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  the forgotten story. Lost in the folds of your
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  favorite sofa That is Hinchcliff and Homes.
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  Is it flawed? You bet.
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  Is it any good? Even that is debatable, but for
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  Tom and Liz, traipsing about the English green and pleasant
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  summertime land while treating us to an episode of The
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  Avengers, it's superb. From You know, I never used to
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  like this one. And since the man I fell in love
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  with has beaten me around the head, taking me to Didcot and
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  made me watch it more times than I care to with two separate
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  commentaries with him, he has worn me down.
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  And now I think it's glorious. Get back, Steven.
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  You know the real Joe wasn't even wearing a scarf.
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  What have you done with Joel? The next choice is Castra Valva.
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  And he puts just because you know, you and I know precisely
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  why, my gentle friend. Now seek out Stevens Castra
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  Valva commentary because he really does an excellent job of
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  using the Target novel as an anchor for that conversation
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  because he loves the targets and he particularly loves Castro
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  Valva. Unfortunately, due to Wi-Fi and
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  how I was recording at the time, Steven Sound isn't great on that
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  recording, but some persevere because his insights are
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  extraordinary. Listen, slightly obvious choice
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  now, but I'm surprised it hasn't turned off on our list yet.
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  The Five Doctors for being the only reunion I've ever been.
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  Part of that lived up to the promise of being fun and funny.
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  Sometimes all I want to do is see my friends and myself as we
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  were once together, even in the briefest of moments.
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  And this hits that very specific spot.
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  Yeah, The Five Doctors, which is exemplified by the brilliant new
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  version on the Blu rays that came out, is it's just a
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  masterpiece. I do wonder whether the
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  direction is a bit ponderous, but I don't think it even
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  matters because just the joy of seeing Trout and Pertwee Davison
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  clips of Tom Baker Hundle doing a fine First Doctor impression.
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  All of those companions, all of those monsters, all coming
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  together in a story that's the the probably the most quotable
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  Doctor Who story. Oh, it's just glorious.
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  It is glorious. Every scene is a delight.
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  Right on to the new series now. So we've got a couple of new
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  series episodes, one from Russie Davis this time and one from
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  Stephen Moffett. So we've got the girl in the
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  fireplace because there comes a time when every lonely little
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  boy must learn how to dance. And because you know what Series
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  2 means and still means to me. Stephen says I do, I do, And we
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  probably should talk about the girl in the fireplace one day,
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  which I still think is extraordinary.
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  I remember a female friend of mine who had never watched
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  Doctor Who before but heard this one was going to be sort of a
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  bit more romancy. Stuck this one on, and she
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  phoned me afterwards and left a message and said that was one of
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  the best bits of telly that she'd ever seen.
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  I mean is cool in terms of production value.
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  So I'm talking about design, lighting, set dressing.
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  It's one of the most beautiful Doctor Who stories in terms of
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  the lyrical, romantic dialogue. I don't think it was ever
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  bettered in terms of a carrot study for the Doctor.
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  It's certainly out there as a performance piece.
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  It's brilliant on every level. I think you get like a 123 bang,
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  Bang Bang with School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace and
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  Sorry, School Reunion, Tucson Claw School Reunion, The Girl in
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  the Fireplace. That is a triple whammy at the
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  start of series 2. And that's a series that not
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  many people think much of, except for Steven and myself.
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  And finally we've got The Beast below, which is an unusual and
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  brilliant choice, I think, for the tantalizing vision of Doctor
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  Who as all out fairy tale, complete with a moral of the
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  story, while still being about both lovely and loathsome
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  people, but especially England and the English are, can and
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  should be. And for what you do when you
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  think there are no good choices left open to you.
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  What do you want? What do you want?
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  Sorry, you do want the Doctor does Steven.
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  I've lost his sentence. Oh, sorry.
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  You do what the Doctor does and take another choice and make
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  things better. See, I got there in the end.
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  I've never thought much of the Beast below, so maybe this is
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  one I need to reevaluate. And I found just the Stephen and
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  Fraser that I can do it with. He says, oh, I can rave about
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  the Beast below underneath when I said not an obvious choice.
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  Yeah, it certainly is a vivid story, and it is in that very
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  early fairy tale period of Matt Smith's time.
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  I think the interaction between Smith and Gillan YBA is best
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  here as well. Perhaps this deserves
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  reevaluation. I will get there.
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  And oh, he's added an extra 1 here.
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  The stones of blood for being what the Android invasion is.
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  Except this time as an episode of the New Avengers starring a
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  real life goddess. Mary Tam as Athena, as Romana to
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  Tom's Odysseus as the Doctor. Say he is brilliant.
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  Wow, what a great observation. And of course the stones of
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  blood you get. And the cause of science.
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  I think it's our duty to capture that creature.
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  We could track it to its layer. Come on.
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  Oh, and the same with the hikers as well.
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  She turns up on Ice World later on, that woman, so maybe she
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  didn't die after all. It is glorious.
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  The Stones of Blood. It's so funny.
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  I think line for line is as funny as Sit Your Death, and I
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  think it has some proper scares. It has some brilliant Doctor
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  Romano moments. It is just sublime throughout.
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  And that is Steven's list. What an amazing list.
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  You're going to hear a lot more from Steven in the future.
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  We've got some more exciting commentaries planned, but in the
• 15:20
  meantime, take a look at reimagining Doctor Who.
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  The man is a genius, and just for the the daring to take on
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  such a insane task and do it with such detail.
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  He's he's wonderful. Steven, from me to you.
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  I love you, my friend.