-- DSW

Mar 222012
 

Spring is that season of renewal it's often said, and so it is this year with Doctor Who.  Nowadays the arrival (or announcement) of a new companion is greeted with almost as much fervor as that of a new Doctor. 

And why not?  It isn't as though it happens very often, and since RTD used to change out the companion at season's end during his run, there was an unintended sense of closure to that story and then onto the next chapter for the Doctor.

But the Moff as a student of Who history knows that, especially during the sixties, companions were changed as often as socks (Katarina of Sara Kingdom anyone?).  It's with this in mind that we welcome Jenna-Louise Coleman to the fold, and here at THT Towers we introduce her to the mania in the only way we know how.  We've scoured the goodness of the interwebs to produce an initial gallery of images for her, some of the introductory announcement but others from various other sources.  Lots of "red carpet" type situations of course but 200 or so images is a nice start.

 Posted by at 7:15 pm
Mar 052012
 

Welsh actually.  Still it is with a heavy sigh to learn that Philip Madoc has died, aged 77.  Strange how some actors cast such a long shodow over a program such as Doctor Who.  The art of acting for many of the best character actors is to suggest menace rather than show it out-right.  In that regard Philip Madoc was masterful.

He could project such a wonderfully lugubrious quality running straight through from the smuggler Brockley in Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD to the War Lord in The War Games and then to his greatest  triumph as Solon in The Brain of Morbius. 

Of course his career carried over to many other series and appearances.  I remember his comedic appearance  in "The Avengers" episode The Correct Way to Kill or as a slimy publisher in A Very British Coup.

What a magnificent head.

 Posted by at 8:00 pm
Feb 292012
 

Today we celebrate the 12th Anniversary of possibly the most unusual episode of Doctor Who in the program's history.  12th Anniversary you say?  The math simply doesn't work in the context of nu-Who doesn't it?  On February 29th, 1964 episode 2 of the William Hartnell historical Marco Polo entitled "The Singing Sands" was broadcast for the first and only time on BBC1. 

Sure Mission to the Unknown has the distinction of being the only recognized single-episode story in the classic canon, but this one is the only episode to have been put out on leap day itself, so technically we honor it's 12th anniversary today.

Marco Polo is often cited as one of the most desired stories which are incomplete (or in this case completely missing) in the BBC Archives.  Looking at the Tour's gallery for the story it's easy to see why.  It looked simply sumptuous and, having listened to the audio for the story a few years back, would have been a great example of early Doctor Who at it's best.

 Posted by at 1:00 am
Feb 242012
 

Doctor Who Season 7 spoilers!

  • The Doctor is to gain a new companion called Liz. Sources suggest she’s a scientist.
  • The Silurians make an appearance.
  • UNIT, who we encountered in the new series in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, employ the Doctor as a scientific adviser.
  • Becoming stranded on Earth, the Doctor gets a car called Bessie.
  • There’s an astronaut or two in this series, as well.
  • As for boring into the Earth, somebody’s got further than they did in Wales in Series 5…

Can't claim this is original having found it on tumblr.  Don't know about you, but I was more than halfway through it before I caught the joke (Must have been a long day.  Sure it was.).  It's in part a measure of how long this gap is between seasons that any, ANY scrap of information, is dissected six ways to Sunday.

Still it's an excuse to think a bit about a truly crucial and groundbreaking season (especially in the case of Inferno).  Spearhead from Space is the "most" unique story in classic Who.  The Silurians was gritty and ambitious in scope.  The Ambassadors of Death was weird, slow, and wonderful.  And Inferno is simply a top-ten all time story.  During this long gap, take an afternoon and indulge in one of these beauties.

 Posted by at 4:21 pm
Jan 152012
 

For fans of a "certain age" here in the U.S. "our Doctor," as the saying goes, is no surprise, Tom Baker.  Ol' Scarf Boy.  So it's with some interest when one of the stories of one of the classic series golden eras, namely Seasons 13 and 14, finally comes to DVD. 

We've made mention on these pages before about neglected gems, stories which, through no fault of their own, get outshone by more celebrated neighboring tales (we often cite Planet of Fire as an example of this). 

The Android Invasion is part of a string of great stories which begin with Terror of the Zygons and runs all the way The Talons of Weng Chiang so it's kind of easy, especially directly following The Pyramids of Mars, to overlook this little gem.  Terry Nation has only two non-Dalek stories in his Doctor Who resume, the other being The Keys of Marinus for William Hartnell, but this story boasts some of the best Tom/Lis interaction in their time together.

Watching this story once again, as has been remarked upon here before, is like an afternoon with an old friend.  We'll be posting some stills and a set of vastly improved caps from this story in the near future, but if you've got a fellow fan who's somewhat dismissive of the classic series, preferring the new to the old, you could do a lot worse in stating your case than sitting down for The Android Invasion.

 Posted by at 5:12 pm
Dec 312011
 

When it comes to Christmas specials Doctor Who fans are often caught in the trap of knowledge.  While fans understand inherently that a program tailored just for fans is not and cannot be sustainable in the long term, fans also don't want the program to be so broad that it loses it's niche appeal. 

This is doubly true at Christmas time where Doctor Who has held the prestige spot on the BBC's Christmas day schedule for a few years now.  The delicate needle that must be threaded, at least for fans, makes for hit or miss evaluations as to story and overall importance to the larger mythos of the show.  One need look no further than The Runaway Bride as evidence of this.

All of which brings us to this years outing.  It should be stated clearly here that there is nothing inherently bad about The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe.  Performance by one and all was uniformly fine.  Matt Smith was at his fizzy best but the sense of scale was missing this time around, kind of like The Next Doctor in that respect.  Still we shouldn't judge too harshly.  It's the last new Who for 9 months we figure so if history is our guide we'll probably be more kindly disposed to The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe come late spring or early summer when anticipation will be mounting yet again. 

For the sake of completeness here's our revised list ranking the Christmas specials:

Images and caps for The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe are now online.  BTW even though the view here at THT Towers is that "Doctor Who Confidential" had served it's purpose and run it's course, didn't you miss it too?

 Posted by at 2:12 pm