Doctor Who: "I've finally run out of corridor...there's a life summed up."

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Doctor Who: "I've finally run out of corridor...there's a life summed up."

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Which non-Power of the Daleks story would you like to see an episode found from? This poll is closed.
Marco Polo	36	20.69%
The Myth Makers	10	5.75%
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve	45	25.86%
The Savages	2	1.15%
The Smugglers	2	1.15%
The Highlanders	45	25.86%
The Macra Terror	21	12.07%
Fury from the Deep	13	7.47%
Total:	174 votes

[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Burkion posted:

You obviously do not understand what size I refer to smallman.

You are very skinny thus you are by no means the big Goon. This is the joke.

It also demonstrates that he is not, in fact, one of the Round Things.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2016 06:35

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:36

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

CobiWann posted:

Indeed, this would be the last time UNIT officially showed up in a Doctor Who story until 1989 in the Seventh Doctor story Battlefield.

Well... Not exactly breaking the laws of time, but bending them a little...

_{Me?! I'm allowed everywhere!}

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 03:32

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Jet Jaguar posted:

It seems a crime to not have Star Hustler on before Doctor Who, but that might have been a public television thing.

Before?! You monster, it belongs right after Doctor Who and just before the station signs off with the National Anthem.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 06:25

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Tegan posted:

You mean you're deliberately choosing to go on the run? From your own people? In a rackety old TARDIS?!

DoctorWhat posted:

EDIT: I'm not starting this poo poo again.

Yeah, probably best they didn't go with that.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 14:59

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Rochallor posted:

On a sort of related note, I've just realized that the resolution to Clara's storyline is basically Season 6B.

The Time Lords are going to send creepy robot scarecrows after her? :ohdear:

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 16:50

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Y'all were probably watching bootlegs. Everyone knows Doctor Who is supposed to end with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLQ1wEb2TcI.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 19:19

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

CobiWann posted:

So apparently Washington DC is going to get smacked by Mother Nature this weekend. They're talking at least 12 inches of snow, with 20 inches a possibility.

Sounds like a good excuse to bundle up and watch a whole bunch of Four/Leela.

When they announce whatever stupid name they're giving this winter event, make sure you always refer to it based on the serial you just watched: [Snowthing] of Evil, [Snowthing] of Death, Talons of [Snowthing], Horror of [Snowthing], etc.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 20:07

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Burkion posted:

[Snowthing] OF THE DALEKS

Leela never got to stab a Dalek onscreen.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 20:12

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

pgroce posted:

And we go from Liz�who gets quite a lot of opportunity to demonstrate competence that makes her worthy of standing onscreen next to the super smart alien headliner�to Jo, who, despite a promising backstory, is ultimately written like most every other female companion before her. Even when they tried to shake up the female companion dynamic, I don't think they did quite so well as Liz until Mary Tamm came along.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2016 21:07

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

There's probably something wrong with me, because the first thing I though when I saw "one new episode for at least the next year and half at least" was "Oh good, more people will have to turn to Big Finish and the classic series."

And with how our 2016 election is turning out, the Thatcher-era stories are about to feel real topical in the US. The Davison Reckoning is upon us. :unsmigghh:

On that note, how goes the snow-athon, Cobi? Each story brings you one closer to The Ribos Operation!

# ¿ Jan 23, 2016 01:37

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Astroman posted:

some non who "so Geordi is an alien, right?" outsider

Calling LeVar Burton "Laverne" seemed like the bigger crime to me.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2016 05:59

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

CobiWann posted:

Watching The Hand of Fear with the stepdaughter this morning...

"Ugh. Old school CGI is so UGLY."

Don't worry, Deadly Assassin is next, and episode 3 is pure Robert Holmes practical nightmare fuel filler. :frogsiren:

# ¿ Jan 23, 2016 19:20

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Maxwell Lord posted:

It's a corridor show and will always be a corridor show.

Your anti-quarry bias isn't helping! :mad:

# ¿ Jan 23, 2016 22:52

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

And More posted:

I would agree if Edward Grove was the one responsible, but he's just a by-product of Edith's death. While the house itself is set up, and hinted at from the very first minute, Edith is mainly defined by being "nothing". Charley barely remembers her, and the listener can't remember her because she never was a character up to that point. It's basically a story about marginalisation that marginalises its characters. Admittedly, I didn't realise how old Chimes is. That makes it more understandable.

Chimes just pales in comparison to The Doctor's Wife. Both are counternarratives with evil houses in them, but Neil Gaiman's version actually establishes its marginalised characters well.

It's not caused by Edith's death either, but by Charley's life and the Doctor's decision to pull a "what the hell" Doc Brown at the end of Storm Warning. Paul McG's second season is structured around the fallout from that decision. That's the main reason I usually tell people not to listen to Chimes in isolation. Even if Charley could barely remember Edith, their lives were still connected - there's a lot in that period about the way that small decisions (to you) largely affect other people you're not aware of.

So, like It's A Wonderful Life. With a time loop. If George Bailey was "supposed" to die.

Which makes it more like the first Beavis and Butt-Head Christmas special. But you get the idea.

EDIT - Actually dealing with the consequence of the Doctor breaking the rules was one of the ways Big Finish expanded from the onscreen past. These stories were mostly given to Paul McGann - as the current Doctor, they could be as different as they liked without worrying about expectations for what an "Eight" story should be, including featuring an ongoing storyline. It's one of the reasons that run is so beloved 'round these parts.

After The War fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Jan 27, 2016

# ¿ Jan 27, 2016 14:52

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

And More posted:

Well, now I'm intrigued. Let's say I only listen to Storm Warning, Chimes, Seasons of Fear and Neverland, would I be able to follow the season finale? Would Storm Warning help me appreciate Chimes more, or do I need to listen to the other ones in between?

"Need to" is a subjective thing. Those are absolutely the best stories of that season, but there isn't a bad story either, and the other ones do good job of building up the damaged timeline threat from "hmm, this isn't how I remember it" in Invaders From Mars to the total temporal chaos at the opening of Neverland. There may have been way too much going on in it, but I rather enjoyed Time of the Daleks, especially the way it works into the season's story arc as different groups try to exploit the temporal crisis for their own ends.

Storm Warning is, while not a fantastic story, fun to listen to despite early BF cheese and gives Charley a great entrance. There are also a number of callbacks in her final Eight story, The Girl Who Never Was, which is a great audio. Personally, in my initial Big Finish explorations, I found it distracting to hear new companions without having done their introduction story first. Not that you have to follow me down the lunatic path of All Big Finish In Release Order*, but it's nice to hear the ongoing plot points as they happen rather being referenced later.

Of course, the other thing is that, per the First Rule of Doctor Who, you may find yourself really liking some stories that didn't click with other people. And I'd love to keep hearing your opinions, especially if we continue discussing them from a narrative/story perspective.

_{*Except Iris Wildthyme or Bernice Summerfield solo stuff}

# ¿ Jan 28, 2016 17:27

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Paging DoctorWhat, please report to the thread, DoctorWhat...

Uproxx Guy posted:

No one who likes Doctor Who also enjoys Transformers, but I digress.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2016 17:30

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

McGann was the Ur-Doctor who could be all things, who kept us strong during the Time of Darkness. :worship:

# ¿ Jan 29, 2016 00:08

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Valeyard posted:

There's a wonderful irony in that request coming from someone whose namesake invented Doctor Who commentary tracks...

# ¿ Jan 30, 2016 19:37

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Glad someone else actually enjoyed Dalek Empire!

And More posted:

Dalek Empire III
"I mean, you tried once, and messed it up, didn't you? Would be nice if you got it right this time."
Part three suffers mostly from looping around to the start. You know you've got problems when your own characters start mocking you for failing to get things done. The Daleks have also finally stopped feeling like a real threat again. With a bunch of Wardens and two enhanced humans beating them at every turn, the heroes seem in control constantly. Siy Tarkov annoyed me. He is very whiny. Tennant was really good, but I didn't like how his story concluded. It just felt bleak and nonsensical considering how much Elaria had helped them. I guess he's a psycho after all. 2/5

One of the things I really liked about this one (and the same applies to the first Cyberman series to a lesser degree) is how it made the conversion process scary again by slowing it down. It's one thing where the current TV series has really dropped the ball with "human goes in, comedy sound effect, instant Cyberman/Dalek!" The gradual process in Dalek Empire III is pure Lovecraft, complete with nightmares.

It really felt like they were building up to another series to resolve the cliffhanger, but then Tennant got the Big Job and they were unable to resolve it. If Cyberman II was any indication, they probably would have done a good job wrapping things up even after a lengthy delay.

Dalek Empire IV is more what people expect by "space opera" than the darker, brutal I-III. There aren't any major plot twists, but "follow a rag-tag squad of irregulars and misfits" (think Rogue Squadron) isn't a subgenre we've gotten to see in Doctor Who and Noel Clarke has fun playing a badass.

And More posted:

Guess I'll have to find something else to listen to, now. I basically binged through Dalek Empire, but Dalek Empire IV doesn't really seem all that interesting. Maybe I'll give Eight's Season One a shot, like After The War suggested. Sword of Orion definitely seems worth checking out considering how often they reference it in Cyberman.

I think I said to listen to Storm Warning and to try and give every story a shot, so don't blame me for Minuet In Hell! Actually, I found that more listenable than the boring/purple Stones of Venice, so make of that what you will. Season 2 was the one where I said to try every story.

Sword of Orion was the first story in the Cybermen vs. Humans vs. Androids thing that the Cyberman series continued, so it's not required. It's pretty atmospheric for early Big Finish, though, and uses the EXCELLENT 80s voices.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2016 17:51

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

And More posted:

In Cyberman, I loved the reveal of the bug in Karen's reprogramming. Liam's partial conversion was kind of goofy, honestly. As far as moments between humanity and conversion go, Spare Parts handled it probably the best. Just a weeping Cyberman trying to remember who she is.

I said it around the time someone in the thread finished Cyberman 2, but Big Finish finally broke my resolve and made me care about the Orion War thing with the Keepsake appendix attached to the disappointing Kingdom of Silver. With that out of the way, I ended up enjoying Cyberman 2 a lot.

And More posted:

That… is really confusing. Thank you for clarifying that. Season Two it is, then.

Yep, at the current web pricing, the download will cost exactly 10% of what you were afraid it would. And you've already got one. Is Chimes of Midnight the only season 2 story you've heard? Because that means you're in the enviable position of getting to hear Seasons of Fear and Neverland for the first time.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2016 04:17

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

The_Doctor posted:

Yeah the BBC is launching its own streaming platform very soon. There's adverts on the Tube for it.

CBS has taken all the Star Trek series off Netflix (aside from in the US, although I'd wager that won't be there too much longer) to put on its own steaming service, along with the new series coming in 2017.

The downside of all this is that with everyone wanting their slice of the streaming pie, the consumer isn't going to be willing to pony up for each individual service, but would rather have it all in one place, which is what made Netflix so popular. They're just going to bring about more piracy and lose money because they'd rather put their content in their own little forts rather than share it around and let everyone access it.

They all laughed when I was stockpiling DVDs! They said I was mad! WELL, WHO'S MAD NOW?!!

# ¿ Feb 5, 2016 18:53

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

You guys are just reminding me that I need to watch the Tenth Planet DVD BSam gave me so I can start on how the clOth CYYYbermen were suupEEErior. :geno:

# ¿ Feb 6, 2016 15:26

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Bicyclops posted:

It has the clown suit scene in it, which was right around when I felt the Baker direction change begin and got me re-excited in the show (which is nothing against the Pertwee years, but after five years of James Bond chase scenes, I was ready for a change).

Tim Burns Effect posted:

I love creepy 7th Doctor stories, is Rrrrrrrred worth the purchase?

Don't know if you've heard it yet, but The Death Collectors is the most effectively creepy Seven story I've heard.

Then the acid kicks in and you get Spider's Shadow.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2016 23:30

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

You're all wrong, and Four To Doomsday is, in fact, awesome.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2016 23:09

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Davros1 posted:

You can also see they blew their budget on the sets for those eps.

Blowing the budget on a new Doctor's second story has become a time-honored tradition. :colbert:

EDIT - At least End of the World and Beast Below. I completely blanked on the Tennant era, but that's pretty normal for me.

After The War fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Feb 16, 2016

# ¿ Feb 16, 2016 05:27

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

twistedmentat posted:

the first Rani epidermis

# ¿ Feb 16, 2016 14:46

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Robert Holmes: Did someone say... :getin:

mannequins? :unsmigghh:

# ¿ Feb 17, 2016 01:24

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Every person I've started with City of Death has become a fan of the series. :colbert:

# ¿ Feb 17, 2016 03:00

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Why so few votes for Ark

We're all a little too bubble wrap-conscious?

# ¿ Feb 17, 2016 14:33

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Picklepuss posted:

It could be worse. They could bring Angie and Artie from Nightmare in Silver back as students.

"I'M BORED!"

Neil Gaiman must have been so proud.

They should have teamed up with the Gods of Rrrrrrrrrragnarrrrrrrock.

EDIT - Or the Eternals, they complained about being bored a lot, too.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2016 16:58

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Someone's at MAGFest! When I went a few years ago, they had the machine, but it was non-functional.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2016 15:37

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Bidmead was generally of the opinion that you didn't need a silly monster to make a story great, Frontios is excellent evidence because everything not involving the Tractators is brilliant and the rest of it is not.

Remember how disappointed the kid* who designed the Abzorbaloff was? That feeling must be like alcohol to Doctor Who writers. First it disgusts them, then they learn to live with it, and eventually, life just doesn't seem as good without it.

_{* Apparently he changed his story between early interviews and the DVD commentary, so the process has begun. Blue Peter winner William Grantham for showrunner!}

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 14:47

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Davros1 posted:

the production just said "gently caress it, that's good enough".

This summarizes everything about Horns of Nimon.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 14:48

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Except the performance of Graham Crowden, who gives it both barrels

I was thinking of anyone whose job it was to reign him in.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 15:10

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Trin Tragula posted:

There's a reason Cartmel and Stephen Wyatt came up with the idea for The Greatest Show in the Galaxy and the Whizzkid character in particular, it's exactly the sort of thing they'd think up after hanging around the production office for a year in 1987.

That takedown is so great because everyone can look at the character and go " :smug:

Glad I'm not one of those fans" whether they are or not.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2016 22:59

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Of course he is!

# ¿ Feb 24, 2016 14:56

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

CobiWann posted:

Singularity is an underrated gem.

And once again I'll cite those last thirty seconds as an emotional gut-punch that only Davison could have pulled off.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2016 05:28

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Anyway what should I listen to next? Only heard Loup-Garoux, Chimes, Spare Prats, Davros, The One Doctor and Blood of the Daleks so far and my tablet's given up the ghost so I need something else to entertain me in the gym.

(Respectively: ok, ok, , , absolute shite, )

There's a disturbing lack of Evelyn in that list.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2016 05:28

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Jerusalem posted:

I love how lived-in the world seems, stuff like the mother and daughter living in the cabin who sell them out to the Daleks for a few scraps of food for instance.

Regardless of all other complaints (we should do a countdown of them!), this is one thing Terry Nation was very good at.

IceAgeComing posted:

i'm in the middle of watching dalek invasion of earth, please don't spoil the 50 year old story for me

Yeah, well, too bad.

Glorious.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2016 23:56

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 01:36

After The War: Apr 12, 2005; to all of my Architects
let me be traitor

Jerusalem posted:

Different strokes for different folks obviously, and I have no doubt the performances will be great - but I just can't buy into the idea of an alternate universe Doctor. It's purely something in my own head, but I just associate the idea of Time Lords being unique in time, in all the multiverse there is only one of each of them (just in the case of the Doctor and the Master there are multiple incarnations of that one running around in time and space having adventures!)

That's not quite what the Unbound series is - there's no indication that they're considering these in an Inferno/Rise of the Cybermen/Mirror, Mirror sense where they exist parallel to "our" universe, and I'd be disappointed if they ever incorporated that. Rather, they're more "we'll do a different version of Doctor Who starting from this point" (mostly The War Games). They still feature characters and events from the stories we know, but treated more as pieces to pull from the toy box and incorporated how the writer sees fit.

And Masters of War is really, really good.

After The War fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Mar 4, 2016

# ¿ Mar 4, 2016 01:28

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Doctor Who: "I've finally run out of corridor...there's a life summed up."

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