Latest / A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast / Talks to Frazer Gregory & Si Hart about their choice of Planet of the Spiders (3/6)

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Talks to Frazer Gregory & Si Hart about their choice of Planet of the Spiders (3/6) · A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

• 0:22
  None hamster with a blunt.
• 0:34
  Pen knife for doing quicker, quicker, quicker.
• 0:41
  Welcome back to a hamster with a blunt pen knife.
• 0:43
  The Doctor Who Commentaries podcast.
• 0:46
  Joe has gone. No, I shan't.
• 0:48
  You shan't. Take him.
• 0:49
  Joe, My husband, my love. Why did you do it?
• 0:50
  Why? Why, Simon?
• 0:52
  Where has Joe gone? Joe's gone down to the Cellar.
• 0:57
  The Cellar. The cellar.
• 0:59
  Joe. Joe.
• 1:00
  Joe. Joe.
• 1:03
  I'm off to get some mutton brass.
• 1:07
  Someone on Twitter told us not to do that actually.
• 1:11
  Yeah, sorry, Fraser, I had no clue where you were going with
• 1:14
  that for a second. I'm like why is he sound like
• 1:17
  the talking clock? I shan't let them take you, I
• 1:19
  shan't, I shan't. Sorry, my husband.
• 1:23
  Why? What?
• 1:24
  Oh, no, that's too much emotion. That's too much.
• 1:26
  Too good I. Realized there's an award with
• 1:30
  her name on it. Yes, which Richard Franklin won.
• 1:34
  A barrier goes. On the skull, he.
• 1:37
  Goes Why is it her reward? The barrier?
• 1:41
  She was bonking the guy who was in charge of the Scott of the
• 1:44
  college. That's why.
• 1:47
  Yes, so welcome back to Hamster with the Blunt Penknife, the
• 1:51
  Doctor Who Commentaries podcast where we are discussing Jon
• 1:54
  Pertwee's epic End of Era celebration, Planet of the
• 2:01
  Spiders. We're up to episode 3, which
• 2:04
  means that as things stand, we've just had the chase to end
• 2:08
  all chases. We are about to witness the
• 2:12
  first trip to Metabolist 3 with the fantastic acting that goes
• 2:17
  on there. But first, someone has went down
• 2:20
  to the cellar. Cellar.
• 2:21
  Cellar. Cellar.
• 2:24
  Right. So get off that mandala.
• 2:28
  What do you think the show so far?
• 2:30
  Guys awful feel like we've been on pretty solid ground until
• 2:39
  now, but things are about to get a bit shaky.
• 2:42
  Yes. I mean, metabolis free is not
• 2:46
  necessarily the most convincing of planets ever.
• 2:52
  Ah, we've had worse, I think. We've had better as well.
• 2:56
  Well, we've had better. We'll have, we'll have worse to
• 2:58
  come or have better to come. You know, there's, you know, I
• 3:01
  think, you know when I say this, this story's flawed and there's,
• 3:05
  you know, better stories, better directed, better written,
• 3:08
  better, you know, individual parts than this story.
• 3:13
  There's a lot worse. As well.
• 3:15
  Oh yeah, And even in the purple years, there's a lot worse than
• 3:18
  this, yeah. But I think to this point we've
• 3:21
  had convincing locations because it's all been set on Earth and
• 3:25
  it's all been drawn up, you know, very authentically.
• 3:29
  We've had all around very good performances and all of a sudden
• 3:35
  we skip off to another planet which looks stagey and has some
• 3:39
  very sort of amateurish fests propping it up.
• 3:44
  I I don't know. I just think until now it's been
• 3:46
  reassuringly good and and for a couple of episodes now it's not
• 3:52
  terrible, but it's not convincing.
• 3:55
  Are you seeing It All Goes to shit at Metabolism?
• 4:00
  Yes, and it's weird because you've got like Gareth Hunt in
• 4:04
  there and he's a new. Adventure.
• 4:07
  And he's great in that, you know?
• 4:08
  Ralph Allis is, is, is great. And yeah, I know, Joe.
• 4:16
  Excuse me? Don't you give me that look,
• 4:17
  Fraser. Gregory, there's a very pretty
• 4:18
  lady on Metabolis 3, and I'm not talking about Jenny Leight.
• 4:23
  There's two women on on Metabolis 3.
• 4:26
  I mean that that's quite amazing for Doctor Who.
• 4:28
  Metabolis 3. I love the the Terence Dick's
• 4:32
  comment though about the Spider supermarket where they've got
• 4:37
  all those raised shelves with all the.
• 4:40
  Different spiders on. Them I'll take three, please.
• 4:43
  Two from the back, one from the front.
• 4:48
  Awesome. Wait, should we have a look at
• 4:51
  seeing what happens in episodes? Yeah, go on then.
• 4:53
  Yeah. Planet of the Spiders.
• 4:54
  Ready. I am ready.
• 4:57
  Right. So let's go in 54321.
• 5:05
  You know that's weird because in the cellar of the Lava Sterry,
• 5:10
  there's cobwebs everywhere. Then you chip off to
• 5:13
  Mesabiglia's free and there's no cobwebs to be seen.
• 5:17
  Yes, and Barry Letts says, because Liz Slayden challenges
• 5:21
  him on this in the commentary and he says, yeah, we didn't
• 5:25
  think about this and we didn't put enough cobwebs on the sets
• 5:28
  and we should have done. It's a bit too clean.
• 5:31
  Really. Those sequences with the spiders
• 5:33
  there, That sort of spiders cancel?
• 5:35
  That should be one of the creepiest sets we've ever seen.
• 5:37
  Yes, the lights down put loads of cobwebs up.
• 5:42
  It makes sense though, because if you think you know Earth,
• 5:46
  spiders sculpt around, you know, catch, you know, spin webs to
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  catch food, you know the hidden away, hiding away, coming out,
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  spinning web, blah blah blah. The spiders on metabolis three
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  are in charge. They are, you know, the apex
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  predator, as it were. They are, you know they've got
• 6:08
  humans. They don't need webs.
• 6:09
  They don't need to be, you know. Good point.
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  All they do is spin the cocoons around the the people in their
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  larder. They have four times.
• 6:18
  Later. They have the field guards or
• 6:21
  whatever they call them that can come along and get their food
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  for them. They don't need webs.
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  It's a bit, sort of like it's a bit beneath them, spinning a
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  web, oh. No and I'll.
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  Just remind you that we should to we we're being a bit racist
• 6:36
  here, and actually they're eight legs and not spiders at all.
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  Well, we're not being racist. We're just going to get zapped
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  by. Sorry.
• 6:43
  All right, It's not the. Answer for reluctant.
• 6:45
  Story No. Yeah, OK.
• 6:48
  In story terms it makes perfect sense.
• 6:50
  In atmosphere terms, it doesn't make any sense at all.
• 6:58
  I think it's it's the least of the issues of the set to be
• 7:00
  honest, ma'am. We'll get the metabolism.
• 7:02
  Yeah, probably. Why I I think when they do the
• 7:06
  outside sets, I think the sets are actually pretty good.
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  And for once it doesn't feel like a studio floor, which is
• 7:13
  nice. She's not in cork and all sorts,
• 7:16
  you know, sort of tiles. And it does feel like an outside
• 7:19
  space. It's just kind of how it's lit
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  and the CSO and there's elements that make it feel very
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  artificial. I think the issue for me is
• 7:28
  there's a very sort of Native American theme to it.
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  You know the the dress of the Metabolis 3 inhabitants, you
• 7:39
  know it's it's they're going for a very sort of Native American
• 7:43
  vibe on then I think, you know that kind of leads into what
• 7:48
  we're talking about about Kevin Lindsey as well or I said I
• 7:51
  would talk about later. So now seems a good time.
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  You know, you've got Kevin Lindsey, you've got a white
• 7:57
  actor playing, you know, an Asian character.
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  It's the end of your season. It's the big budget finale.
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  And this character is essentially a bit of a
• 8:11
  stereotype as well. But this isn't Talons of Weng
• 8:15
  Chayang. This is Planet of Spiders.
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  You bring in this element where we're kind of got a bit of
• 8:20
  cultural appropriation from Native American culture to dress
• 8:23
  our sets and whatnot. But why then is this Planet of
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  the Spiders get a pass? And what challenge of Wang
• 8:31
  Chiang doesn't when essentially we've got the same issues?
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  It's not making Kevin Lindsay's character the villain of the
• 8:39
  piece. I think that that affects things
• 8:42
  a lot. Because not how long.
• 8:44
  Portrays the Chinese as evil, essentially, whereas.
• 8:50
  The Tibetans are, yeah. But is that not just just a
• 8:54
  stereotypical to say you know Tibetans or you know all
• 8:58
  Buddhist monks and people of peace and?
• 9:02
  I think it's a less problematic approach, yes.
• 9:06
  And I think because. Because he's not the but if if
• 9:08
  Choji was, the body would would then be, you know, coming down
• 9:11
  on on top of this as well as mostly.
• 9:13
  But and also I think because Barry Letts is coming from as a
• 9:18
  man who is a Buddhist himself and he he writes the religion
• 9:25
  sympathetically and from a place of knowledge and from being a
• 9:30
  part of it, that I think it's not as disrespectful as it might
• 9:36
  be. As the Abominable Snowmen is for
• 9:43
  instance sort of with a similar setting and similar things.
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  Whether where Terence corrects the names in the novelisation
• 9:54
  because he's spoken to Barry about this and says I'm not sure
• 9:57
  this is this is right. What do you think?
• 10:00
  What can we do to to mend this? Weird though, because I think
• 10:04
  Choji is a less offensive representation, but I think Lee
• 10:09
  Sen Chang's a more interesting character.
• 10:12
  Yeah, there's not much to Choji. He is a nice monk.
• 10:19
  And I see what you're saying. They have got the Native
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  American American leanings in their design, Ahmed's biggest
• 10:25
  free, and then they fill it up with sort of Devonshire farmers.
• 10:28
  Yeah, Yeah, it is. It's a it is a little jarring
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  and it is a bit awkward And they do bring it up in the commentary
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  and say and he goes, Barry Letts goes, well that's just how
• 10:41
  things were done back then. It's not an excuse, it's just
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  was done. And Terence Dicks brings up and
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  says, I don't think you would ever get away with portraying
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  Tommy like this now. And Barry Letts acknowledges
• 10:54
  that as well. No, absolutely.
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  Everything's a product of its time.
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  And I think that's fair enough. I think you know it's the the
• 11:02
  same stands for like tons you know it's a product of its time.
• 11:07
  I think we need to acknowledge, though, that that is not, you
• 11:11
  know. Yeah, correct and right.
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  They didn't have to do it at the time.
• 11:15
  There were Chinese actors they could have cast in that role.
• 11:19
  I think I've deferred to Toby Haydock.
• 11:23
  If you go and listen to his podcast, he's done a really
• 11:27
  exceptional 2 parter of his indefinable magic on race in
• 11:33
  Doctor Who with their professor Tom Atta.
• 11:37
  And that is a fantastic lesson. And in that he makes a very good
• 11:41
  point of yes, there was Chinese actors and there was black
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  actors, Asian actors available at the time, but they weren't
• 11:51
  exactly visible as it were. You know you you go to cast an
• 11:59
  actor you go to the Spotlight magazine and you you know Toby
• 12:03
  and his and his discussion he's he points out you know he got a
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  copy of Spotlight magazine from a particular time.
• 12:12
  I don't know if it might have been you know at the time that
• 12:15
  they would have been making the bomber of Snowman and said went
• 12:18
  through, well said how many of these actors was actually Asian
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  And the percentage is minuscule. You know, so it's if you look at
• 12:29
  it that way, you think, well, yes, even if it was the best
• 12:31
  will in the world, if you were one team to cast an Asian actor,
• 12:33
  you might have struggled because actually find them, they were
• 12:37
  there, but you know the time that you had available to
• 12:40
  actually go and find one. It's unfortunate as well that
• 12:44
  when they do make the effort like you, sometimes you get
• 12:47
  someone like Rick James coming in and it's just a terrible
• 12:51
  performance. And that's such a shame, you
• 12:54
  know, because that's a big role for a black actor.
• 13:00
  Yes, I think you know, you look at, you need to look at the time
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  these programs were made and what not just what the
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  prevailing thoughts and you know, the way things were done,
• 13:13
  but you know the actual logistics of doing what you
• 13:18
  would have wanted to do if you made it nowadays.
• 13:21
  Do you think there's a big difference in how Barry Letts
• 13:24
  writes this and how Robert Holmes writes Talis wing Chiang,
• 13:28
  though? Definitely.
• 13:29
  Barry Letts sort of gently mocks Buddhism whilst respecting it,
• 13:34
  whereas Robert Holmes frozen lines like we were attacked by
• 13:37
  this little man and four other little men, which is just
• 13:40
  defensive. Yeah, I think.
• 13:43
  I don't think there's much mockery in here, to be honest.
• 13:45
  I think it is. Is very much, I think, yeah, the
• 13:48
  Buddhism has treated very respectfully.
• 13:52
  You know we've we've kind of we've only really touched on it
• 13:55
  so far you know and it's been the as looked and said you know
• 14:00
  I was going to say at some point you know I came here for power
• 14:04
  because he thinks you know this. Yeah, we've just talked all over
• 14:07
  that. It's going to give him power.
• 14:09
  So you know it would have been very easy to go down that route
• 14:12
  of you know, you know comic book sort of stuff of like like Iron
• 14:18
  Fist and Kung Fu Heroes and that sort of stuff.
• 14:22
  But I think you know what Biolettes does is in the
• 14:27
  upcoming episodes you know when you get Campo revealed as
• 14:33
  spoilers the the doctors mentor the hermit guy from from back in
• 14:42
  the time monster then you know let let's is very much you know
• 14:46
  putting it back us like yeah this is it's it's it's a good
• 14:53
  thing it says you know a positive thing.
• 14:57
  It is a religion and it is a positive.
• 14:59
  It's not just a sort of yellow peril or you know Bruce Lee
• 15:05
  because that that's what would have been popular at the time
• 15:07
  you know 1974. You've got like you know Kung Fu
• 15:11
  craze and whatnot. So it would have been very easy
• 15:13
  for him to go down that wouldn't, you know, you
• 15:15
  certainly say it with with these venues in Aikido all the time,
• 15:22
  you know, so easy to go down that routine.
• 15:24
  But let's, like you said, being a Buddhist to say no.
• 15:28
  Well, I'm actually going to give you a bit of a bit of an
• 15:31
  advertise advert really. I'm going to.
• 15:33
  I'm going to sell this, this religion to you.
• 15:37
  But there's also that, that underlying feeling as well of
• 15:41
  that exploration of what's inside you can lead you into a
• 15:45
  dark place as well as a light place.
• 15:48
  And it's not. And it's about having it
• 15:50
  controlled so that you don't go to those places.
• 15:54
  And because Lupton and his group go off on their own and do the
• 15:59
  ceremony at the start that starts all of this that provides
• 16:02
  the link to to Mesabilius free. They've tapped into something
• 16:06
  brews, something that is gentle and kind into something that's
• 16:10
  darker and more powerful. And that's that's really
• 16:13
  interesting because you don't get that discussion of religion
• 16:16
  as A2 sided thing very often and what what meditation can do for
• 16:23
  you can can take you to places that you you don't know.
• 16:27
  I've heard stories of of people who have meditated and end up
• 16:34
  sobbing and they don't understand why because they've
• 16:37
  been somewhere and they can't explain.
• 16:39
  Neither told you that. Oh, that was you?
• 16:43
  I did Transcendental Meditation. Yeah.
• 16:46
  I came out of it half an hour later.
• 16:48
  I had tears flowing from my face and I didn't know where I've
• 16:51
  been, but I tapped into something very emotional.
• 16:54
  Yeah, yeah. But I think it kind of, you
• 16:57
  know, if the Master was in this story, that would have been
• 17:00
  perfect, because you could really have went into the the,
• 17:04
  the sort of Ying and Yang of the Doctor and the Master, the equal
• 17:07
  and opposite, and you know, played into that both very well.
• 17:13
  But you know, we do have Lupton instead.
• 17:14
  Bringing that theme back to Doctor Who, what it says about
• 17:19
  Jon Poetry's Doctor at the end as well, About his greed and
• 17:22
  about his fear and about his arrogance, and you're suddenly
• 17:27
  getting the show talking about the lead, this hero of ours, as
• 17:32
  a really flawed character. That's really interesting and we
• 17:35
  don't usually go there. No, and I do.
• 17:39
  Again. Lots of the new series.
• 17:42
  But not in the same way do we. We get, you know, in this when
• 17:47
  this happens, it's it's very much, you know, we're coming out
• 17:49
  and admitting, you know, I am the one with the flaws.
• 17:51
  I am, you know, I have bought this, you know?
• 17:55
  So that has been so resolutely, absolutely the moral centre of
• 18:01
  this show for five years. That is a that's an astounding
• 18:05
  revelation really, at the end that he yeah, And he he's not
• 18:11
  the one who sees it. It's his oldest friend who is
• 18:14
  the one who sees it. And maybe that's what the master
• 18:17
  would have, would have done, You know you.
• 18:19
  Know what you consider about John Durf's own history and
• 18:23
  forming this? Yeah, you know, when they're
• 18:25
  talking about John Purwee's grade, all I was kept hearing
• 18:28
  was, you know, when he stole that binnica from Carnival of
• 18:31
  Monsters and things like that. And they're like, right, we're
• 18:32
  going to write this about purwee very quickly.
• 18:35
  Go back to what you were saying about the the race issue and
• 18:39
  things like that. I think you've only got to
• 18:41
  compare Kevin Lindsay's performance of Choji and say
• 18:47
  Peter Usanov's performance in one of our Dinosaurs is missing
• 18:51
  to see how offensive that kind of performance can be.
• 18:56
  And this is terribly respectful in, but also as well.
• 19:00
  I think it's how the other characters treat like in terms
• 19:05
  of being trying, the Chinese characters are treated with
• 19:07
  suspicion and fear and they're treated like they are the
• 19:11
  villains. Whereas Sarah treats Tommy with
• 19:14
  a lot of respect in this, so that's slightly less
• 19:16
  problematic. And the Doctor treats Choji with
• 19:19
  a ton of respect. I do.
• 19:22
  I do think it's it is it is a problem.
• 19:26
  It feels less of a problem, I just think, because Barry Less
• 19:29
  is such a considered and thoughtful man.
• 19:34
  Bob Holmes isn't. Less so, yeah, I think.
• 19:39
  I think Bob Holmes doesn't mind stirring the pot as well a bit.
• 19:43
  He's a naughty man. Anyhow, back to the plot.
• 19:47
  So what's happened now is that Sarah Jane Smith has just missed
• 19:50
  the opportunity to knock two episodes off this story.
• 19:53
  I know, Liz, Siden says in the commentary.
• 19:55
  I love these bits. You know where you're going,
• 19:56
  Sarah. Just listen to him.
• 20:01
  That's good for the audience and that's good for the children at
• 20:04
  home where they're sort of working this out as well.
• 20:08
  I've forgotten how much of this episode was still on Earth.
• 20:11
  Yeah, it's it's it's surprising. Isn't it?
• 20:14
  Yeah, we're 10 minutes from the end of the episode and we
• 20:16
  haven't hit. Metabolis.
• 20:20
  All right, Fraser. And Sarah Jane's got her third
• 20:24
  costume. Just.
• 20:27
  Keeping track of this I love the stripy jacket.
• 20:29
  Yeah, the stripy jacket is cool. Are you on clothes?
• 20:32
  Watch tonight So. I am tonight, yes.
• 20:36
  We'll wait till we get to Metabolis free, then you're
• 20:40
  going to see some interesting sheepskin.
• 20:46
  Look at pellet weight. Look, I mean, I don't think he's
• 20:48
  a little more Dandish than that. As in, no.
• 20:51
  His frills have frills. Yes.
• 20:56
  Oh God, I think he's trying to tell you something important.
• 20:59
  Mike. Thank God someone's listening to
• 21:00
  him at last. I know.
• 21:04
  That's that's nice touch as well.
• 21:06
  That is, the doctor that realizes that Tommy's, yes
• 21:10
  actually got something important to say because everyone else is
• 21:12
  just pushing them off as, again, problematic, isn't it?
• 21:15
  Is it not an incredible coincidence that the the crystal
• 21:20
  that the Great One needed to complete her circuit and take
• 21:23
  over the entire universe just happened to be the one that the
• 21:26
  Doctor picked up in the Green Death well?
• 21:28
  Of course, all stories are based on a bit of a coincidence like
• 21:32
  that. Oh, Sarah came on.
• 21:33
  That man. Times Mark managed to say that
• 21:41
  in the two Watch Who episode with Sarah's Co host.
• 21:47
  I just have been the cliffhanger.
• 21:49
  Possibly, yeah. It feels like a cliffhanger.
• 21:51
  Doesn't. It and you.
• 21:52
  Whilst it's a shitty CSO effect, I really appreciate the seeing
• 21:57
  it from her point of view. Yes, that doesn't happen very
• 22:00
  often. That's a really.
• 22:01
  It's not her disappearing, it's her surroundings disappearing
• 22:05
  around and. Metabolis 3 reappearing.
• 22:10
  Is that Monument Valley? Yeah, it looks like it.
• 22:12
  It's definitely Utah. It's a shame, you know, because
• 22:16
  I I'd like. More like chroma than me, so.
• 22:20
  Chrome key. Oh dear.
• 22:28
  I know I do admire the ambition of of trying to map them in, and
• 22:32
  it's just a shame the technology wasn't quite there at this
• 22:35
  point. It's still not the most
• 22:37
  offensive CSO though. I think the Green death, what's
• 22:39
  the worst? Yeah.
• 22:41
  Those mind scenes are not good. Look at we explaining stuff to
• 22:46
  make. I mean, this is just, you know,
• 22:49
  when you say like, he's a much more charming character in this,
• 22:53
  this scenes like this where he's he's not just don't you see your
• 22:57
  fool? No to talk.
• 22:59
  To none of that. At all.
• 23:00
  He's actually, you know, been quite, you know, careful and
• 23:04
  considerate in in what he's explaining.
• 23:06
  Was this the first era where the Doctor was talking about the
• 23:08
  TARDIS as a female? He just said I'll leave it to
• 23:12
  the TARDIS. Yeah, Perk, we always called an
• 23:14
  old, old girl. I don't think anyone else,
• 23:16
  Hartnell or Trouter, never did that.
• 23:19
  Oh, here we go. Right.
• 23:20
  We're going to see some serious amdram Now I.
• 23:25
  Mean that beard? I know.
• 23:28
  Although do you know what I feel like every sort of star Get SG-1
• 23:30
  episode, there was villages like this.
• 23:32
  Wasn't the kid turning off? Yes, before it's time.
• 23:36
  But what did you say that fella's name was?
• 23:37
  Alice. Yeah, Ralph Alice.
• 23:40
  Oh, he's. Beautiful.
• 23:43
  Unfortunately, he's got the sort of the worst Mummer set accent
• 23:46
  of a lot. More Yeah.
• 23:51
  See that? I come back inside, my son.
• 23:54
  That should be a great moment where they where they put Sarah
• 23:57
  over the over the edge there. It just needs to be on vacation.
• 24:07
  Oh no, we're all watching now. Yeah, I like the way all the men
• 24:12
  talk with the with the old accent, and that's all going on.
• 24:15
  But the women are all terribly precise and lovely, and are all
• 24:18
  Received Pronunciation. Well, some of them are.
• 24:22
  Why not ask her? Some of them are.
• 24:24
  Speaking to her cardboard, Although again, Sarah's on her
• 24:31
  own here, Isn't she driving herself?
• 24:35
  Oh, don't you love the fact that the queen of the eight legs gets
• 24:37
  carried around? On Oh, it's wonderful.
• 24:41
  Quite right too. No need to spin a web.
• 24:44
  She's got everyone to do everything for her.
• 24:47
  Yeah, do you know what? Maybe a lot of these scenes, The
• 24:49
  inside scenes look pretty good. Yeah, and it looks good when
• 24:53
  it's shot as if it's night. So yeah, works well then.
• 25:00
  Yeah. But I'm not sure the the big
• 25:02
  flared trousers of the guards looks looks good.
• 25:06
  Oh, there's Walter Randall, back from Inferno.
• 25:09
  That's right. Yeah.
• 25:11
  I think those spider puppies look great, you know?
• 25:13
  Yeah. Did he always move?
• 25:16
  I. Don't think so.
• 25:18
  I'm not. Sure.
• 25:20
  I just think they get the sort of the the, the sort of twitchy
• 25:24
  movements right. It's not just one poking it with
• 25:28
  a stick from underneath, isn't it?
• 25:29
  Well, no, because the legs are all moving as well, aren't they?
• 25:32
  Are they? Are they marionettes?
• 25:34
  Yeah, I think there are some that are.
• 25:36
  There's a variety of different ones.
• 25:38
  Well, I can't see the strings. I think it looks good.
• 25:43
  Oh, God. He goes out there to get killed.
• 25:45
  Just to get away from Jenny. Yeah.
• 25:50
  What a miserable marriage I've had.
• 25:54
  What? What's for supper tonight?
• 25:55
  Mutton Stew? Oh no.
• 25:57
  Right, Not again. Even this though, even the way
• 26:03
  he sort of comes out to sacrifice himself isn't very up
• 26:06
  to play. That's a good little scene of
• 26:11
  just, you know, explaining what life under spiders is like.
• 26:16
  They've all got shitty space names as well, named Nesca Arak.
• 26:21
  What's wrong with the space name?
• 26:22
  Drago because I just sound. Rega.
• 26:26
  I sound like the names from another planet.
• 26:29
  No. Well, what you Why would they
• 26:30
  have bizarre names like that? What do you want to be called,
• 26:33
  Gary? Yes, please.
• 26:35
  I watched the Star Trek the other week with a Nigel in it,
• 26:38
  you know. No Tony, my son.
• 26:42
  No, Tony. Brian, don't go out, Brian,
• 26:48
  it's. Johnny, my husband here.
• 26:51
  She goes, here she goes. No, I shan't.
• 26:53
  You shan't take him, you shan't. I'm sorry, my husband.
• 26:58
  Why? Why?
• 27:01
  Sorry? We're doing that with too much
• 27:02
  emotion. I shan't let them take you.
• 27:07
  I shan't. I shan't.
• 27:10
  Oh dear, this is not great, is it?
• 27:13
  We've no and there's lots of scenes of this sort of thing
• 27:17
  from for a while and it's it's all a bit dreary.
• 27:22
  Is, but you know, you've got Liz Laden in there showing you how
• 27:24
  it's done. Yes, I mean, it's always a nice
• 27:30
  pert. We've rushing into the TARDIS
• 27:32
  scene. That's always good, isn't it?
• 27:34
  Sorry, I'll talk to anyone. If you think about that, that
• 27:42
  bit where Sarah Jean's appeared on Metabolism 3 and we see that
• 27:46
  could be a cliffhanger, that essentially could be the
• 27:48
  cliffhanger Episode 2. So kind of.
• 27:52
  I think this episode though, because it reminds me of the war
• 27:56
  games nine of the Doctor reaching out for the TARDIS.
• 27:59
  And. It feels a bit desperate, you
• 28:02
  know, like something's gone terribly wrong, we've.
• 28:06
  Got to have a perk, we greatest hit first.
• 28:08
  I love the fact that he's hit with that pain stick and it just
• 28:11
  goes, Don't do that. Oh, here he is, hobnobbing
• 28:17
  royalty. Yeah, he loves the monarchy.
• 28:23
  So what's the back story again? The spiders were on the colony
• 28:27
  ship. Yes, that's right.
• 28:29
  And they were. Their intelligence and their
• 28:32
  size were manipulated by the crystals in the Great Cave and
• 28:37
  the radiation. That's nice, because they didn't
• 28:39
  really have to give an X man. There could just be giant
• 28:41
  spiders on this planet. Couldn't.
• 28:42
  They tight. Fate.
• 28:44
  Fate. Fate.
• 28:44
  Fate. Good old Kerry Walsh.
• 28:47
  Oh. Yeah, that week was a bit
• 28:48
  dramatic, wasn't it? But it's again, it's what you
• 28:53
  want from a where you want to see him doing his IKEA.
• 28:56
  Yeah, absolutely. When Jenny Laur don't say
• 28:59
  nothing, she ain't too terrible. No.
• 29:04
  Oh, nice fall there. Awkward.
• 29:07
  You know the TARDIS just happened to land where the Queen
• 29:09
  spider was, and all this to do was going on.
• 29:12
  He leaves the land into the TARDIS jaw.
• 29:14
  Oh. What is it?
• 29:15
  Says the doctor's wife. You you never told me where I
• 29:19
  wanted to go. Oh, you took me where I needed
• 29:21
  to go. Yeah.
• 29:23
  All right. I'll give you that one.
• 29:25
  Yeah. It was like reaching out for the
• 29:27
  TARDIS. I'm supposed to think he's dead,
• 29:29
  though. Well, of course, it's his last
• 29:32
  story, so he's going to die. Actually, that's a good point.
• 29:35
  You know, Did people know this was going to be his last story?
• 29:38
  I think so. I think there'd been lots of
• 29:39
  publicity that he was going because Pearl, we was never once
• 29:43
  turned down a bit of publicity for himself, was he?
• 29:46
  So no. So the kids were all waiting for
• 29:51
  that moment, mind you. Kind of know it's going to be
• 29:53
  the end of the story, isn't it? Well.
• 29:54
  Of course, yeah, but there's always that.
• 29:56
  Well, but they might. But always thought it would
• 30:00
  would be brilliant to have a regeneration story where the
• 30:04
  regeneration happens halfway through the story and the new
• 30:06
  Doctor has to finish the story off.
• 30:09
  You mean the stolen Earth? Well, well, entire well,
• 30:13
  exactly, I. Mean.
• 30:14
  That would have been great if if Matt Smith.
• 30:16
  If Matt Smith had turned up, that would have been a shocker,
• 30:18
  wouldn't it? Yeah.
• 30:20
  Oh, we would have had 3 1/2 more episodes where we've been here.
• 30:23
  Matt Smith and Catherine Tate. Oh, now you're talking.
• 30:30
  That's an interesting idea. You know it.
• 30:32
  Is, yeah. Well, anything can happen in the
• 30:35
  60th, you know. I'll swear he's going to be in
• 30:37
  there somewhere. Sorry, we've got.
• 30:43
  We shall see, won't we? But do you think, OK, do you
• 30:47
  think the story has started to stutter a bit now we're on
• 30:52
  Metabolis 3I? Think we we pause a little and
• 30:56
  there's there's lots of incident, but it's not moving
• 31:01
  forward until we meet the Great one.
• 31:06
  I think the story hasn't started the stutter because the story
• 31:10
  was actually stood from the start.
• 31:14
  I think if you look back, yes, we had a good episode one, but
• 31:18
  how much really happened in episode one?
• 31:21
  It's a long scene setting. Yeah, we had a really
• 31:25
  interesting and exciting and enjoyable Episode 2.
• 31:28
  But again, how much actually happened in episode 2?
• 31:32
  We're up to episode 3 now we're finally got to I see finally
• 31:35
  we've got to Metabolis 3. And you know we're now going to
• 31:38
  crack on with what's happening there.
• 31:41
  But ultimately we're we're this could, this story could easily
• 31:46
  be condensed, you know, because nothing really much is
• 31:49
  happening. Thankfully, though, what's not
• 31:52
  happening is really happening in a really entertaining way.
• 31:55
  Yes, yeah. Plenty of charming perk wee
• 31:59
  scenes. Which exactly is?
• 32:00
  Nice. And Liz Sladen's had lots to do.
• 32:04
  Yep. Is that because they've been at
• 32:08
  this for five seasons now and there's just a general
• 32:10
  competence to what they're producing?
• 32:13
  Yeah, I think that's very much what season 11 is, is like.
• 32:18
  It's the stalwart writers of Doctor Who who can bash out a
• 32:24
  good script that isn't going to need too much work while they're
• 32:28
  off making Moon Base free and and ready to hand hand the show
• 32:34
  over to another production team so there's not too much needs
• 32:38
  doing. They've got their trusted team
• 32:40
  in place and it's business as usual.
• 32:46
  Yeah. Definitely.
• 32:49
  Well, I actually, I agree. My God, we're all in accordance.
• 32:52
  What? We better have a break.
• 32:55
  There's a cliffhanger to end the as long as you guys promise me
• 33:02
  this won't happen again. Oh, it might do.
• 33:05
  I'll make sure it doesn't. That's our Fraser.
• 33:10
  I'll cut it here.