Latest / A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast / Talks to Rod Brown about his choice of The Pirate Planet (1/4)

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Talks to Rod Brown about his choice of The Pirate Planet (1/4) · A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

0:23
None. Welcome back to a hamster with a
0:41
blunt penknife, The Doctor Who commentary podcast.
0:45
This feels very strange this. Does feel so strange we're.
0:49
Saying that rather than welcome to strictly come hamster.
0:53
Where are the other people? It's just you and me.
0:55
Where's everybody? Else you and me now baby.
0:57
And we get to agree with each other as well.
0:59
I know things can't get better. I suppose I better sell everyone
1:03
who you are, isn't it? That's a good.
1:04
Idea, yeah. Welcome to a fabulous four part
1:08
commentary with my very good friend and Co host of Strictly
1:13
Come Hamster, Mr. Rod Brown. Hello, Joe, How are you?
1:18
I always call you Rod, who now I've noticed instead of Rod
1:20
Brown because that's your Twitter name.
1:22
It is my, well, who? Rod, I think is my Twitter name.
1:24
Yeah. Now I was going to ask you the
1:27
question, what momentous thing has happened between our first
1:31
commentary, which was about six months ago on extremists, and
1:36
the latest one? Well, it's funny you should ask
1:38
that, Joe, because we've done what so far?
1:42
11 episodes of Strictly Come Hamster, The Doctor Who
1:45
Championship podcast, which is the tagline you always forget to
1:48
put in. I'm so sorry.
1:52
But yeah, we're having an amazing time on that.
1:55
Absolutely loving doing and with you.
1:57
Enormous success as well. We've got five episodes in the
2:01
top 10 most listened to hamster episodes ever, and the other six
2:05
are lingering sort of in the top 20.
2:07
So it's not like they're they're too far behind.
2:10
It depends on how people's taste go as to whether one inches up
2:13
or down. But I mean, in terms of the
2:16
stuff off now, this has been the most incredible success, like
2:20
instant success. People are absolutely loving it.
2:23
I mean, the comments we go, I think I said to you the other
2:25
day when we first asked for comments on the 3rd episode, I
2:28
think we had something like two comments on the Monster of
2:31
Peloton or the comments we asked for the other day on the orphan
2:34
episodes. Just so people know when this is
2:36
recorded. I've got we've got about 5 pages
2:38
just on Day of the Doctor alone and it's gone bonkers, which is
2:42
great. And since I can decide what goes
2:44
into these episodes or not, what you don't know is basically Rod
2:48
doesn't listen through to the recording.
2:50
And then he says, right, we need to take out these pauses and
2:53
things like this. I mean, it's good because he
2:54
tightens them up beautifully, but he also tries to take out
2:57
the moments when I'm being really rude about people.
3:00
So if I'm in any way acceptable, what happens to it?
3:04
It's entirely thankful. I can't edit you on this one,
3:07
Joe, so. Jesus Christ, these essays we
3:10
get from people about I mean guys, one tweet please, or two
3:14
at the most. Yeah, we, we have I think 18 I
3:18
think was the maximum on one story.
3:22
We've been there all night reading out those tweets and we
3:24
did the whole lot. It's crazy.
3:27
It's, it's good though, isn't it?
3:28
It's great that people are engaging with it and loving it
3:30
so. It's been a massive surprise to
3:32
me because you messaged me completely out of the blue and
3:36
said, I've got an idea for something.
3:39
And you know, when someone does that, you go, oh God, what is
3:41
this? And then you told me the idea
3:44
and I went, oh God, what is this?
3:48
And then we talked about it and I was like, that's really great.
3:52
And then you soon, as you said voting and tactical voting, I
3:56
was like, I'm in. And it's got.
4:00
Oh, it gets nasty sometimes. Oh it.
4:02
Does it? Does sometimes the?
4:04
Hamsters, generally it's all about the love, but it's
4:06
strictly come hamster where anything goes.
4:09
I mean with love with. Love and within reason, but
4:13
yeah, we've got a few coming up, I think, where you and I are
4:15
going to be sitting on very different sides of the fence.
4:19
What do you mean coming up? That's been the whole journey.
4:22
Oh yeah, that's true enough. But today, like you say, today
4:26
we are both on one side of the fence.
4:28
But we're keeping us back on track there, although I'm not
4:31
quite done yet. So please let me just say one
4:33
more thing because aside from, you know, bringing together all
4:37
these unusual combinations of people that we've been doing,
4:39
because like the whole point is, is it's a group exercise.
4:44
Just two random people that we've selected and suddenly
4:47
somehow the chemistry has worked every single time, no matter who
4:50
it's been. I'm waiting for the first dud
4:53
but it hasn't happened yet. Let's hope dub.
4:56
Let's hope some of them will listen to this, you know, so
4:58
they know that we're not just pampering their egos and it's
5:00
actually what we think. But aside from that and the fun
5:03
of doing it and putting it out and it's popular and everything
5:06
is I've got to know you. And that's that's been the best
5:09
thing about well, that's always the best thing about the
5:11
podcasting is the people you make connections with.
5:14
And you know, I've gone from reading out your comments every
5:18
now and again on Finish Big to messaging you every single day
5:22
now. I know my husband keeps saying.
5:25
Is that Joe messaging you again? It's 5:30 in the morning, I'm up
5:31
for work. What's your excuse?
5:33
That's always a good time to start chatting.
5:35
But no, it's been, it's been fantastic experience.
5:38
Yeah. When I first messaged you, we've
5:39
done extremists. And I thought I just had the
5:41
idea for doing it. And I never in the world
5:44
imagined that you were going to say, oh, come on board with it.
5:46
I just thought that's a good idea.
5:47
It's not. It's going to waste.
5:49
Throw it at Joe, see if he wants to do it.
5:51
But yeah, it's been amazing. I've loved doing it.
5:53
In the terms of like the percentage wise here we're sort
5:56
of 9010. You had the idea, you executed
6:00
it, you scheduled it, you edited it.
6:04
I just had the platform and turned up I.
6:08
Think you're doing yourself a disservice there John.
6:11
It will be nothing without the ham fam and your good self.
6:14
Well, now we are in, I'm being complimented.
6:17
So let's shy away from this and move on to very we are here
6:21
today. Exactly why are we?
6:23
Doing it today. We're doing a commentary.
6:25
We're doing a commentary on the Pirate Planet.
6:27
How has that not been covered yet?
6:29
I've no idea. How did you miss this?
6:31
It's absolutely. Awesome.
6:32
I don't know I've even done. I've even managed to do Sharder.
6:34
For God's sake. Your death was done right near
6:37
the start and no one's ever said to.
6:39
Quite nobody. I love the Pirate Planet.
6:42
I'd never get to love. It deserves watching it this
6:44
time in preparation. I mean, I've seen it hundreds of
6:47
times and I listened to it's one of the first ones I audio taped
6:50
off the TV, so I've lost count of the thousands of times I've
6:53
listened to the soundtrack watching it.
6:57
Probably. Probably I was a lonely
6:59
teenager. You must have been.
7:04
Watching it again with a kind of critical eye for this, I can see
7:08
why maybe it doesn't resonate with people.
7:10
It's quite talky. A lot of the revelations are
7:13
talk, not show, but it's bloody glorious, I think.
7:18
There's a reason that they're talk, not shows, because.
7:20
Because it doesn't possibly. Show I think what they do pull
7:24
off though is 9 times out of 10 more than respectable.
7:28
There's the old stuff effect, but I've found a story this
7:31
ambitious. I think they they they certainly
7:34
had bulbs to go for. It.
7:35
Oh Christ, Yeah, reading this, I think Graham MacDonald wants to
7:38
pull out a few times. One because he thought it was
7:40
too joking, too because they thought they couldn't realise
7:42
that they had nothing else to go with.
7:44
So here we are. And you know how history would
7:47
have been different if they hadn't?
7:49
The documentary where Pennant Roberts goes.
7:52
Yeah. And then Graham MacDonald phoned
7:53
me up at the end and went, yeah, all right, you was right.
7:56
Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, it's not Pennant
7:58
Roberts, is it? It's.
7:59
Just. Anthony Reed.
8:01
Hello, Anthony. Reid, yeah, the script editor,
8:03
because he's the one who's a no, we can't do this.
8:06
And Anthony Reid was like, well, I know Roberts seems to think he
8:08
can, you know, I mean, how we remember.
8:11
Thinks a lot of things. Listen to Time Lash and Warriors
8:14
in the Deep is baffling. I think there are some signs
8:17
here. I would not put Mr. Roberts on
8:19
my list of top ten directors. Well, I've only got one question
8:23
for you really. Then before we sort of go into
8:25
episode one, we've got lots to talk about, but we've got a lot
8:27
of time to talk about it. Well, rather not just one
8:32
question, but the same question six times.
8:35
Why, Rod? Why?
8:37
Why? Why?
8:39
Why? Oh, there's some.
8:43
There's some lackluster acting in here is.
8:46
She oh, it's so funny though. It's it's better than those God
8:50
awful cheers. We'll get to them in a minute.
8:53
Those evil zombies. Oh.
8:58
Probably. So we're sort of trouble.
9:00
I mean, it's no trouble for you and me, but we like a bit of
9:03
camp, you and me. Oh, absolutely.
9:05
These mad performances. This is completely in our will.
9:08
Yeah. We just see the 17.
9:10
There's truly come, hamster. Absolutely.
9:11
You would love there for a second of it.
9:13
Divvying out the praise for Lewis Fiander and the fellow who
9:18
played the copilot and all that bunch, you know.
9:20
Malcolm Terrace, absolute OBE. But I do think there are some
9:26
brilliant performances in this as well.
9:27
I. Agree.
9:28
And I think Bruce Purchase is one of those, yeah, I think he
9:32
gets gets underrated. But let's do it when we get into
9:35
it, shall we? Well, shall we get into it?
9:37
Let's get into it. Let's Go 4, episode one of The
9:41
Pirate Planet. You know what, right?
9:43
If people listen to our first commentary together yeah, you
9:46
and me, we've got a shorthand now like you can hear it and how
9:49
we case conversations don't listen to us now first one we're
9:53
all very respectful and. I think we kept saying Oh no,
9:56
you first, no, you first. Please do comment.
9:58
About trouble anymore. That's out the window.
10:01
Oh. Why don't you count us in?
10:04
Let's go for it in 321 play. Oh, here we go.
10:11
Glorious. So Joe, when did you come to
10:13
this? Because no.
10:14
What's? Intriguing.
10:15
Beg your pardon? Shall I rephrase that?
10:19
When? Did you first see this?
10:21
I first saw this when the VHS box set came out.
10:23
Do you remember? Oh no, there was one a month,
10:25
wasn't it? They didn't come out in one go,
10:27
was it? One a month for six months.
10:29
No. The DVDs.
10:30
It was released in America first, wasn't it?
10:32
If you remember for this one, no.
10:33
It was the VHS it. Was an American box set.
10:35
Oh, the VHSS, Yeah. No, the VHSS came out to a month
10:39
I think. Oh, was it 2 over?
10:40
Three months, yeah. They all have fabulous covers as
10:43
well. Didn't.
10:43
They just didn't. They just.
10:46
Now excuse me, like I was talking about here, the special
10:47
effects, I think that the savaging shot, yes, fabulous and
10:52
shot from below to suggest scale.
10:55
Shame it wasn't on film, it would have just given it a bit
10:57
more depth by the by the tower itself.
10:59
The bridge looks amazing in that shot.
11:03
Oh, and here he is, our favorite sniveling Mr. Fibulae.
11:06
What a. Fantastic performance, this guy.
11:09
Andrew Robertson. Oh, he's so funny, isn't he?
11:12
He's. Brilliant to see he's Cap
11:13
captain. Is it Smee?
11:15
Smee to Captain Hook, isn't he? Yeah.
11:18
Again and again, Sir, I. Apologize most abjectly,
11:23
Captain. Oh, and he's stroking his
11:25
parrots. That's not a euphemism.
11:27
Dalit, vulium, gadrium and asinite 455.
11:30
These are definitely Douglas Adams terms.
11:33
Yeah, and again, you know, you were talking about the not we
11:35
watching this. We start off with a list of
11:38
minerals and yeah, the audience probably think, what the fuck
11:42
are they talking about? It's very Doctor Who.
11:45
But do you know what? Right.
11:46
I think you know when Russell Davis goes on about Planet Zulk
11:49
and now, you know, the general audience will be bored.
11:53
I think that's a problem with this sort of thing, even though
11:56
it is a a planet elsewhere that jumps about the place.
12:01
But it's funny and it's witty and it's clever and I think
12:05
audience will get on and it's full of colourful characters as
12:08
well. Yes, and everything's that
12:10
relatable. It's funny watching this again.
12:12
There's mines. Do you know how many times mines
12:15
occur in classic Doctor and mining as a subject?
12:18
It's quite it'd be interesting to know how our American and
12:20
Australian colleagues take this, because it's such a British
12:24
thing, isn't it? To talk about mines and mining,
12:25
the classic series. But it's sort of was then I
12:28
know. It's oh absolutely not now,
12:30
which is why it's not in the current series, maybe.
12:32
The mines all sort of vanish. Was it in?
12:34
The 1980s eighties. Such Maggie, wouldn't it?
12:36
It was. All Maggie.
12:37
Yeah, yeah. Let's not go there, otherwise
12:39
that'll be a different podcast. You see this, right?
12:42
This, this shot of the city there with the cityscape sort of
12:45
as a is it? It's not.
12:47
Painting. It's not painting, Yeah.
12:49
I think I love those it's. Superb, isn't it?
12:51
The trouble with this scene is though, we get this crowd who
12:54
are cheering. So the initial the script told
13:01
them I wrote this down, that they were supposed to cheer more
13:04
from habits than genuine enthusiasm.
13:07
So. It's quite a, it's quite a
13:08
difficult thing to pull off that.
13:09
I say that they're succeeding. Yeah, but if you don't know the
13:13
the stage directions, it does come off as a bit lacklustre.
13:17
And this I do think the Williams era, for all you and I laud it,
13:20
it is the era of lacklustre extras.
13:23
Oh, without a shadow for doubt. Yeah, we've we've covered the
13:27
the dying hordes in Destiny. They always feel like they've
13:30
just been hanging around all day waiting to do something.
13:33
Oh well, I've got to do something now, all right?
13:36
But you know what, these opening shots of the mentiads that we're
13:38
looking at at the moment, I think they're brilliant and they
13:40
really do set them up as the baddest, don't they?
13:42
They're like a a satanic cult. Because they, and they do look
13:46
like zombies they've got. They do, absolutely.
13:48
Pallid, aren't they? And they've got the sort of the
13:50
red makeup around the eyes. They're described as ghouls,
13:53
described as zombies. They talk about harvesting
13:55
people and they're seeking vengeance.
13:57
So you really do think, you know, you think they're the big
13:59
part of the story. The and the first cliffhanger is
14:02
them throwing the Doctor against the wall, apparently, you know,
14:05
killing him. So I think that's one of many
14:09
brilliant reversals in this. Absolutely.
14:11
Oh no, this whole bit with her reading the TARDIS manual and
14:16
it's so funny. I'm.
14:19
Just rushing up on the on the technical things of this
14:23
capsule. If you mean TARDIS, why don't
14:25
you just? Say TARDIS.
14:27
Oh, she's What do you think of Mary?
14:29
Oh, she's heaven. She.
14:31
I mean, look at her. She's heaventon.
14:33
She's a feast on the eyes. She's glorious, isn't she?
14:36
She's just got that Snooty attitude down to a tee.
14:40
Hasn't. She Do you like that sort of
14:43
cold arrogance? Do you know what?
14:46
There's lots of references in here, because I think we've got
14:48
bits in here of Blake 7, We've got bits of Star Wars.
14:52
We've got absolutely. Obviously we've got hitchhikers
14:54
in here. She's kind of a Margot Ledbetter
14:57
a little bit, isn't she, from The Good Life.
14:59
She's got that slightly Snooty looking down her nose at
15:03
everybody. I never really thought about it
15:05
until today and thought, my God, yeah, she's, she's riffing off
15:08
that independent. Yeah.
15:11
Very British. Very.
15:12
She needs her equivalent line of oh, but this is the Daily
15:16
Mirror. She does doesn't.
15:19
Say. Oh, I I just think bringing in
15:24
another Time Lord lady, whatever you want to say, it was such an
15:29
inspired idea. And somebody that's technically
15:32
more competent than the Doctor. I don't think we've ever had
15:35
anyone that can properly stand up to Tom until this point.
15:38
And then you cast Mary Tab, who's fucking gorgeous, so he's
15:42
literally putty in our eyes. I'm going to throw the opposite
15:46
view at you, do you think? Not that I believe it.
15:49
I just want to pose throw out. I was a question, so do you
15:52
think we've lost the audience identification figure though by
15:54
having someone super intelligent?
15:56
Because I grew up in an era of Joe and Sarah and you know, I
16:00
could relate to them. Leela probably lesser in terms
16:02
of knifing people, but again, she had that.
16:04
She was questioning everything, wasn't she?
16:06
Whereas Romana suddenly comes in and we've got 2 equals and
16:09
you've got canine who's super intelligent.
16:11
So you lose that kind of. What's going on?
16:14
Maybe that's an issue as a kid, although I know Si Hart
16:18
absolutely adored Romana as a kid, but I think as an adult I
16:21
just see two Co leads now and both of them brilliant and that
16:26
makes great Tilly. So yeah, I think maybe yes, it's
16:29
an issue for a certain age group, but for me now, fuck the
16:33
kids. Yeah.
16:37
No, I think I'm with you on that.
16:38
I'm with you on that. So.
16:41
So now they've tried to materialize, haven't they?
16:43
And the the planets got in the way.
16:46
Exactly. And I don't think it's overly
16:48
clear at this point exactly what's going on.
16:50
You realise something's happening, but obviously, but
16:52
you're not supposed to because otherwise you get what's
16:54
happening. We get the reveal in the next
16:56
episode exactly what's happening.
16:58
But at this point it's just something odd, I think.
17:00
And we we didn't talk about the mirror on effect.
17:02
A good old Ice Warrior gun in the TARDIS.
17:05
Yeah, I. Call it the wiggly wobbly
17:06
effect. Yeah, we've also got the excuse
17:09
as to why Tom Baker has suddenly got those marks all over his
17:12
face on location. Because he's just, he's just
17:14
face planted the console. Well, that was that was make up.
17:17
They put that on him. So, so for the studio sessions,
17:20
the dog bite which had caused those awful marks on his face,
17:23
which as you rightly say is so clear in the in the film
17:26
footage, but they actually had to mimic it in the studio.
17:30
So that's all make up in the TARDIS scene.
17:32
And in fact, all the studio work, it's make up, it's very
17:35
old thing. Can you make Tom Baker up to
17:37
look as though he's been bitten by a dog place?
17:40
Apparently you can, yes. You can.
17:43
You know what this has as well and Douglas Adams scripts do in
17:46
general. It is that very fast word play
17:52
in effect, and it reminds me of comedies like The Two Ronnies
17:54
and things like that, where it's all complicated words done at a
17:58
pace but structured towards a gag.
18:02
Absolutely. It takes real skill to write
18:05
that stuff. And dare I say there's a bit of
18:07
Muffet here too? I get definite River River Song
18:10
vibes of Mary flying the TARDIS and showing the Doctor how to do
18:14
it better and telling him he's been getting it wrong all these
18:16
years. Way to ruin Romana one for me,
18:19
thank. You very much.
18:20
Oh. My God, that's so funny because
18:22
she's a woman. He's like, oh God, canine, hold
18:25
on, we're. Landing.
18:28
You sexist git. Women.
18:31
I'm surprised he didn't say that, actually.
18:33
Women drive us. Isn't John Lisa having a ball
18:36
with us? He's like very, very, very good
18:37
master. Oh.
18:38
He's lovely, isn't he? Why did why did he leave us for
18:42
season 17? That would have just Oh.
18:44
I quite like sort of. Yeah.
18:46
I always figured that's what Sheridan from Keeping Up
18:48
Appearances sounded like. The David Brierley canine.
18:50
You know, our professor is good. Oh, look at him now, he goes.
18:58
You have made an enormous mistake.
19:02
You probably missed it by a couple of minutes like you.
19:06
Oh, Kane now that was in the trailer for the series.
19:09
Canine spinning around on his axis.
19:11
I remember that image. Stuck with me really.
19:13
To have canine spinning and then then going around in a circle,
19:16
it makes a direct link between one is affecting the other.
19:19
Absolutely. Like a visual link.
19:21
Hannah Roberts. He might not be the most dynamic
19:24
director. I think he can be a thoughtful
19:27
director though. Yeah, absolutely.
19:29
Now do you get Strong Tomorrow People vibes from this?
19:33
So we've seen Prelix here, whose telepathy is.
19:36
Coming out and he's. Breaking out, breaking out, I
19:39
think rather coming out. He might be coming out as well,
19:41
who knows? He'll be in spandex before we
19:44
know it, wouldn't he? He's a bit.
19:45
He's a. Bit small for one of the
19:46
tomorrow people, isn't he? But there's a there's a definite
19:48
tomorrow people vibe here. I think this this is an attempt
19:52
to sort of give this a domestic angle, isn't it a family?
19:55
Some, But unfortunately they brought in these very theatrical
19:58
actors, so. Well, yeah, Balaton is
20:02
definitely. Always wonderful.
20:04
But it's really clever because you've got Balaton, who's just
20:07
going to say whatever he thinks and agree with the captain.
20:10
You've got Kimos, who we're about to see in a minute, who's
20:12
complete opposite. He's a hot head revolutionary.
20:15
And then you've got Mueller in the middle asking all the
20:17
questions. So you've got kind of the three
20:19
different perspectives. She only asked one question.
20:22
Ross Why? Why, why, why, why?
20:26
We haven't even got to that yet. Oh dear.
20:29
And it was so clever because the joke is that he doesn't think
20:33
she could drive. And the payoff is they're in the
20:36
wrong place. But then the payoff to that is,
20:39
no, she was in the right place. There's another planet.
20:42
It's so clever. It is very clever.
20:44
Bast Douglas Adams for you is it?
20:46
Do you know I In some ways I think this is a cleverer script
20:50
than City of Death. And obviously City of Death is
20:52
very different because so much of it was David Fisher.
20:55
And this is This one is pure Douglas Adams.
20:58
This is Graham Williams. Don't forget Graham Williams is
21:00
actually city of death as well. This is pure Douglas Adams,
21:04
absolutely, but apparently Anthony Reid had to structure it
21:08
a bit. Yeah, well, you know, Anthony
21:11
Reid would like to take some. Are you suggesting that the
21:15
script editor does nothing? I wouldn't possibly say that.
21:19
Terrance Fix, your reputation has been tarred here.
21:22
Oh no, leave St. Terrance out of this.
21:25
I love these houses. They use curtains for
21:28
everything. There's not much privacy.
21:29
It's that. Muffin fucking freezing as well.
21:32
The Doors. Can come in.
21:34
I know she's trying to hide Prelix so she closes a see
21:37
through curtain. You see that?
21:42
That sort of wallpaper they've got there?
21:44
Oh, hideous. Isn't.
21:46
It well, you know what? When we moved my uncle out of
21:48
this flat about five years ago, he still had wallpaper up from
21:50
the 70s. It looked just like that.
21:53
Well, I mean. It was sort of enormous
21:55
sunflowers and things, you know, oh, this bit now where you guys
22:01
nonsense, you know, making contact with a race, it requires
22:03
tact and finesse. What would she know about it?
22:08
Do you know what? Again, going back to season 17,
22:09
we talked about Lala Ward being the kind of doctor in the horns
22:12
of my mum, but Mary Tom is just as much the doctor.
22:16
She out doctors the doctor, he can't get anyone to speak to him
22:19
and she just walks up to him, smiles and gets all the
22:22
information she wants. She is prettier than you,
22:24
Master. Is she it's?
22:28
So funny. Yeah, that's definitely leading
22:31
into the you're a beautiful woman.
22:33
Probably lying, isn't it? But I think there's a difference
22:36
between comedy and confident comedy like, you know, like
22:41
comedy in the Peter Davidson era, you know, is often dismal
22:46
when this is the mark by is. There any well.
22:50
No. Excuse me.
22:51
What exactly goes? My name is Lynn Fusu.
22:53
Well, really, you look at the best of health.
22:54
I mean, that's the comedy. The Peter Davidson era.
22:58
Yeah. Oh, I love this.
23:00
Where'd you get those Jelly babies?
23:02
Your pockets, of course. Who's this fella?
23:07
I can look up the actor's name actually.
23:09
You golden. Age of prosperity rods?
23:11
Absolutely. I know we have them rather often
23:13
these days. Oh, don't we?
23:15
Just yeah, don't start me on that.
23:16
Not. Here we don't.
23:17
Not on this Earth, in fact. Golden age of austerity we get
23:21
I. Think the best thing we could do
23:23
is have a big hungry planet materialize around us and munch
23:27
us up? Frankly.
23:28
Definitely start again. Oh dear, this is.
23:31
Really good though isn't he's talking about light in the.
23:33
Sky, every single mystery that's set up here.
23:37
Yeah, pays off. Pays off, yeah.
23:40
It's a very clever script. Like Ruby's rod, he's sort of
23:43
pretty boy. Like you, I was.
23:47
Just because this guy's just in the one scene, but he's great.
23:50
What's that down there on the floor, Rod?
23:53
That's a Ruby. That's a diamond gravel.
23:56
It's Ulium. And then he says gravel and
23:59
throws gravel. Ulium I guess.
24:02
Watch out for the mentiads. And actually it's very clever
24:07
this set because there's lots of exits, so it feels bigger, so
24:11
you sort of shoot it from different angles.
24:12
It feels like a big space. It's quite French farcy isn't
24:15
it, with people coming in and out of the various.
24:19
Oh, they. Just work so well.
24:26
Today omens in the sky. And of course it would be,
24:29
because the stars would all change.
24:31
And here we come with our very Blake 7 inspired costumed guard.
24:36
Oh, Blake Seven. I was thinking S&M.
24:38
Well, yeah, a bit of that too. Yes, those helmets do look as
24:42
though he's blinded. I don't see how he sees out of
24:46
them. Have you ever been to one of
24:47
those parties? One of those parties.
24:50
Yeah, they all. I'm expecting you to say yes.
24:53
They've all got sort of level of stub, sort of things like that.
24:57
Yeah. And I only went to one.
24:58
There's only so often I can bar like a dog.
25:00
I'm talking of dogs. Thank.
25:04
You thank you for that segue God we needed.
25:08
That Oh, I love this because he goes oh, it's littered with
25:11
them, but actually they're only in this that's that's rather
25:17
those occasions I was talking about earlier where you can see
25:19
the limitations of Doctor Who you.
25:21
Know, absolutely. But we gather all the way
25:23
through the classic run, don't we?
25:24
We get the point. I'd rather have a story that's
25:27
full of big ideas that they can't quite execute than a story
25:31
that's not full of big ideas that they can.
25:33
Oh 100 * 100 times over. Did I say that right?
25:36
You did, and that's what we watched Doctor Who for is for
25:38
the imagination. And there's no shortage of it in
25:41
the Graham Williams era. No, there absolutely isn't.
25:44
And when when Douglas Adams comes along, those two are a
25:47
pair made in heaven. He didn't produce a lot of this,
25:50
did he? Because he had broken legs.
25:52
So Anthony Reed did a lot of the producing on the pirate planet.
25:55
Oh. Really.
25:56
Yeah. Graham Williams is having
25:58
literally having a nightmare going.
25:59
No, no way. I'm not touching it.
26:02
The bosses don't like it. I've just seen Star Wars, all
26:05
right? You know, it's ballot on again.
26:07
It's just the way life is accepted.
26:11
Do you know what I feel like? Hemus?
26:14
What's that actor's name? David Warwick.
26:16
I feel like he's supposed to be sort of like, you know, the the
26:19
hot rebel, isn't he? He is.
26:21
Trouble is, he's got that enormous mullet.
26:25
This is 1978. Come on.
26:28
Did you know she liked a bit later on when he goes, you
26:31
hideous murdering maniac? Oh.
26:36
And of course, we saw him recently in Doomsday.
26:40
Recently. Well, when we did strictly.
26:42
Oh yeah, that was a little while ago now.
26:46
That was on God damn. Everyone stay in your homes.
26:51
He hasn't got any better. He hasn't, but he hasn't aged
26:54
too badly, bless her. Oh, this is, you see, this is
26:58
quite grim. So Mueller's father was taken
27:01
outside and shot like a dog in the street.
27:03
I mean, it's quite a grim, grim portrait.
27:06
They don't, they don't, you know, mince their words on this
27:09
one, do they? I.
27:10
Would cheerfully strangled prelics with my bare hands and
27:14
to save him from those nose. And then we come to them.
27:19
Oh, here we are. They're talking about harvesting
27:21
prelics. Yeah, the language is very
27:23
clever because they really are setting up as a satanic cult.
27:27
And of course, we're going to have to wait till the next story
27:29
stems a blood scat. A satanic cult.
27:32
Indeed. Oh, fabulous.
27:34
No, I mean, it's hot season. It's fabulous.
27:36
Spoiler for season 16 of Strictly.
27:38
They're all going through there's.
27:39
Going to be there's going to be a lot of love.
27:43
But you know, what a serious question there for a second,
27:45
because like the scenes with the Mentias, they are underplayed
27:48
and dark and darkly lit and sort of menacing.
27:51
And then you cut to Balaton, you know?
27:55
Railing. But like the contrast between
27:58
the two, it is wide. You know what, if this was hinge
28:02
clear, those scenes with battle, they would all be underplayed as
28:06
well. And the whole thing, you could
28:07
probably take it a lot more seriously.
28:09
Yes. Do you think that is how this
28:12
should? Because I think it's more
28:14
entertaining like this. I think it is, but then again,
28:17
that's us looking at it with a fan head and a fan Jean.
28:21
I'm not sure the general audience sees it quite like, I
28:24
wonder whether some of Tom's, I'm not going to say setting up
28:27
because I don't think he ever sent it up.
28:29
But he does push the boundaries, doesn't he, on what he can get
28:33
away with. And I think possibly for the
28:35
general audience, it looks like he's subverting it a little bit.
28:39
I agree, but I do wonder now, you know, sort of with the
28:41
distance of time, if you put on something like, I don't know,
28:45
Genesis of the dialects, which is very serious, or the pirate
28:49
planet to just someone who's never seen Doctor Who before.
28:52
I think people would have more fun with the pirate planet and
28:55
they will be Genesis and the Daleks.
28:57
Very probably, very probably. Mind you I tried playing my
29:00
other half, City of Death, and we only got to end of episode
29:03
one. Oh yeah, should I watch Jack
29:05
Shannon and Shuck his mum? That and she went, oh, turn this
29:07
off. Please, this is fantastic.
29:12
This is as. Good as I get.
29:17
Oh, this whole scene here tells you everything you need to know
29:19
about the system, isn't it? Everything is forbidden.
29:24
Strangers are. Forbidden.
29:27
No, she says. Oh, don't tell me doctors are
29:29
forbidden too. She's got such a it's only a
29:32
second story. Do you know what she's got?
29:34
She's really settled into the role so quickly, didn't she?
29:37
What, because they're writing her up as well, though Yeah,
29:39
they're. Oh.
29:40
God, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're, they're giving us I, I
29:43
do think it's sort of Peters out a little bit mid season.
29:48
She's a victim, isn't she? And she stones her blood.
29:50
And then I think the same almost happens in Andrew Zatara, but
29:54
then she gets the double roll, so.
29:57
She does a lot of screaming on the back of horseback.
29:59
And on power Crow as well. Yeah, true.
30:02
At the end of episode one, I actually think she's fabulous in
30:05
Armageddon Factor. She is she just?
30:07
Strides around that story like she's too good for it.
30:10
And let's be honest, she is. We haven't talked about Bruce's
30:13
purchase yet, but there's plenty of time.
30:15
And we're just looking at the beautiful scene where he's
30:17
quietened it right the way down and he's talking to Polyphase
30:21
Avatron, his parrot. And I think you needed that
30:24
contrast. You needed that quieter, gentle
30:27
aside of him so that you begin to realise that, yeah,
30:30
everything is bluster. He's putting on a performance.
30:34
I think we desperately needed that.
30:36
Yeah, that via because otherwise it is just it's another phantom.
30:39
It's. Another madly over the top
30:42
villain, but actually it's a lot cleverer that he is playing that
30:46
role to fool Zanxia whilst he's trying to plot against her.
30:50
Absolutely. And they do talk about that a
30:52
lot on the plot. They use the word, oh, he's full
30:54
of bluster. But yeah, I think we needed to
30:57
actually see it. And I think putting that in
30:58
episode one was very clever. And he got dementiads.
31:03
It's quite subtle, but then in episode 2 when they're in the
31:05
power station and the doctor says to Romana, you know, he's a
31:08
very clever man. It really drives the point home.
31:12
Well, yeah, here's the mentee has wandering around.
31:15
It would normally be picturesque whales, but it's been a bit of a
31:18
damp day. So we're in South Wales.
31:22
Who knew that'll never happen again?
31:24
They're only here because they're not mine though, aren't
31:26
they? Let's be honest.
31:27
But. You know what, after after Ribos
31:29
operation and now this, we were desperate for a better location
31:32
work, so it is nice to suddenly get out the studio a bit even
31:36
though it's a bit lackluster. Well, you get the location work
31:39
here, you get lovely location working stones for blood, and
31:41
then best of all, you get the gorgeous Android's location.
31:46
Yeah, well, no, I do think Ribos has a ton of atmosphere, you
31:49
know. Oh, without a doubt.
31:50
But sometimes I think getting that bit of filming work and bit
31:53
of location does add to it. Now I'm going to say to you,
31:57
next time we start strictly come hamster.
32:00
Go for. It ah, the bones.
32:02
The bones, the bones. The one you seek is here.
32:08
Sorry, nothing to do with this story.
32:11
So. So this is the Doctor.
32:13
He's come into the family now, he's realised something's gone
32:17
wrong, that there he knows that the mentiads are coming for him
32:21
and it's sort of like house under siege.
32:22
It's not really directed as such, but.
32:24
No, that's the idea. I do see the directional
32:27
activity. So we've just talked over the
32:29
bit where the guards were shooting at the mentiads.
32:31
Now thinking of Time Lash and Warriors, the deep and Pennant
32:34
Roberts slightly not very successful attempts at somebody
32:39
battling an oncoming army. If you do look at them and think
32:42
well are they are they missing, are they hitting?
32:45
I don't think he's overly clear that they are hitting the
32:47
mentiads, but the mentiads aren't affected as opposed to
32:50
the guards are just missing. I don't think those little red
32:53
blobs they use for the guns either are truly effective.
32:56
As to the show, who's been here? The CSO generally in this story
33:00
is a bit like. One of the reasons why I think
33:03
that Pennant Roberts managed to ride this one out one, I think
33:06
we he just deserves all the praise in the world for as you
33:09
say, no, let's do it. But also I think you've got some
33:12
lovely sets in there. So there is some visual
33:14
splendor. I haven't talked about it yet,
33:15
but the bridge set is amazing. Oh yes, absolutely.
33:18
But there's just so many ideas. The pace of the writing means
33:21
there is pace to this, despite the direction.
33:25
And and because he casts so well, he casts all these
33:28
brilliant actors that can handle all this dialogue and all these
33:31
ideas. Yes, yeah, I was about to.
33:33
I was about to say the casting as well because I think
33:35
generally, I know we're taking the Mickey out of ballot on
33:38
here, but but you know what, You couldn't really do much else
33:41
with these lines on it. There are quite OTT lines and
33:43
he's delivering an OTT performance.
33:47
What? What's there, really?
33:48
Seriously here? Well, as we have said a million
33:51
times that you can do in the season 1516 and 17 and the end
33:55
of Episode 2. And when we get there, I can't
33:58
wait to talk about that, how deadly serious he is about
34:01
what's going on. Well, my point earlier was is
34:05
that there's energy to this. Even even though the direction
34:08
is a little lacklustre, I never feel like this is slow paced.
34:12
No complete and one another thing we haven't mentioned
34:15
because we've got the sound down, but I think the score from
34:17
Dudley is brilliant in this story as well.
34:20
I think it's a really good strong.
34:21
Give me a little bit of the music.
34:22
Come on. Given it's hamster.
34:25
I'll leave it to you, Joe. You sing.
34:26
You sing far back. I'll tell you which episode it's
34:28
from, but. Okay, okay, what's this saying?
34:46
Oh my God, you're such a gay. For anyone who doesn't know,
34:51
it's the end of episode 3. Absolutely.
34:54
Oh, there's total silence. I know we've talked over the
34:57
ending. I'm going to suggest that, oh,
34:59
even though we lauded that with praise, that Cliff hour where he
35:02
slides down the wall, it's really lame.
35:05
It's a bit hammy, isn't it, Blossom?
35:07
Are we supposed to believe the doctors there?
35:09
I don't think that anyone came back for episode two thing.
35:11
Is the Doctor really dead? And imagine if Peter David
35:14
popped out after that ending, You know, very disappointing.
35:19
Well, it was a great opening episode.
35:21
Well, so we've got, what have we got?
35:24
We've got huge ideas. We've got mysteries, we've got
35:27
suspense, we've got zombies. Huge characters, the captain.
35:30
We haven't really talked about Bruce Birch yet.
35:32
We need to in the next episode. But yeah, we've there's still a
35:36
lot more to go. Broad, pure joy, may I say.
35:41
Should we go in there and watch episode 2?
35:43
Let's go for it do. It.