Monday, November 12, 2012

Who Watch Part 12: OMG I totally should've planned this so there were 13 parts and called each one a regeneration so Whovians got pissed and invoked the 12 regenerations rule. Easier than promoting properly!

Story 106 The Creature from the Pit
Never thought I'd welcome the voice of K-9. However, the swap in this season . . . it hurts. New dude  is even more annoying when doing a robo-voice. OH MAN! Erato is awesome! They really robbed us in Frontier of Space by panning away from the amorphous blob of a monster but here it has more lines than some of  the humanoids. Special features tell me that the show-runners got in trouble for how poorly it was executed. Honestly, the person who conceived Erato was to blame. Something of that scale on a budget that size just isn't going to happen. Anyhow, I'm liking this season better than the last. Baker has better chemistry with Ward so the viewer suffers less. Of course, the previous  Romana started as an equal then became another damsel tied to the tracks so I'm guessing she got a bit pissed and stormed off. Fun episode, all told.

Story 108 The Horns of Nimon
I'm not sure if the design of the Nimon was caused by budget or done semi-deliberately. It crossed a beetle with a minotaur. The first one hid in a labyrinth and it was revealed they acted like locusts. So, the horns and the headpiece make sense. However, why they need to wear platform shoes is beyond me. It makes them extra stumbly. 
That aside, who can care about them as villains when there's Graham Crowden doing a Johnathan Pryce impression attacking every bit of scenery in sight? He skipped down hallways holding a shower curtain rod with a crystal doorknob on top, laughed maniacally, and held on just long enough at the end to squeeze out the final word in "you're all doomed, DOOMED." Honestly, I didn't notice much else besides him. Just such a brilliant un-nuanced performance!

Story 109 The Leisure Hive
It's kind of funny. Live action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Cat in the Hat had large budgets and managed to turn Seuss' artwork into monstrosities. Yet, here's a show with notoriously low budgets which managed to make an alien race look about twenty times closer. Of course, one of them is supposed to be the heavy so his recalling the type of Who down in Whoville wasn't desirable. Luckily, Pangol is convincing enough to overcome his wacky hair and candy colored skin a bit and convey a bit of genocidal maniac. Fairly interesting post-apocalyptic madman story with some non-intrusive pseudo science and decent old age makeup. Nothing really struck me as groundbreaking or momentum generating but by this point in Baker's run, I'm pretty okay with the show not descending into goofy whackadoodle exploits full of The Doctor openly resenting everyone around him. 

Story 110 Meglos
Nice to see an episode not  marred by inadequate effects. Some of the doomsday device shots were a bit model-y but Baker vs. Baker looked decent and I liked the prickly cactus man makeup. It was also great to see Jacqueline Hill again. Didn't realize how much I missed Barbara until the actress showed up playing someone else. All in all, a jolly good romp.

Story 114 The Keeper of Traken
Yay! The Master is back! Wasn't initially sold on Ainsley because I loved Delgado so much. However, something in that smirk after stealing some new flesh made me giddy for the possibilities. That's not to undersell the pre-skin version. He behaved a bit less classy than the Master, IMO, should be. As the story progressed, it became apparent that this was a result of his physical state. The portrayal held things together nicely. Shame in a way that Geoffrey Beevers by default got overshadowed by the re-debut of a full-flesh master. Looking forward to the next couple stories to see how they handled things. Very hopeful that it works out so maybe the reliance on Daleks can reduce.

Story 115 Logopolis
There's a TARDIS within a TARDIS within a TARDIS! The auton with a feather boa HE'S THE 5TH DOCTOR WITHIN THE LIFE OF THE 4TH DOCTOR! MATH SHALL DEFEAT ENTROPY! Yeah. Writer got a bit big for his britches here. Shame that Tom went out on this turkey.

Story 116 Castrovalva
Ah but that time two days ago when I was all excited for the return of The Master! That was before  I knew that "written by Christopher Bidmead" meant "full of interesting ideas which a fair portion of the episode will be dedicated to fairly confusing exposition of." Ainsley I can be a bit more forgiving of. Delgado set the bar ridiculously high and had astounding chemistry with Pertwee. Anyhow, I think Davison did a decent job filling the shoes placed before him. His Hartnell impression was a bit shrill but it was refreshing to see someone be professional enough  he didn't need to be in love with an actress to work well with her. Don't get me wrong; I liked Baker overall. There were just times where his being a bitch hurt the show. Anyhow, I can see myself watching this one again whereas I'd probably stick to reading a summary of Logopolis to get the elements necessary for coherency.

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