Ever done a Tom-a-thon?

[Krono's]

Love Robots of Death!
One of the very first Who's I ever saw and still in my top ten. So good on every level.
Still wish they'd taken the black robot with them as a companion.

Yeah, like D84 would have been "great" in Victorian London.

[Toothy Grin]

We're back in real gothic horror territory again now with the creepily effective Image of the Fendahl. Owing a fair bit to the works of Nigle Kneale and some of the Hammer Horrors, this is still a very imaginative story with some great ideas and a very evocative atmosphere. The early scenes of the hiker being stalked by an unseen 'something' in the woods is very tense and scary, as are the scenes of the skull taking over Thea. A large amount of night filming combined with lots of swirling fog add imensley to the story's eerie atmosphere.There's something about creepy old houses with something nasty lurking in the grounds that seems to crop up quite a lot in Tom's era (Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom, Fendahl, Stones of Blood) and this is one of the most effective and possibly the scariest. Tom seems even more eceentric than usual in this one but thankfully doesn't succumb to going over the top and is actually quite serious and conveys the threat of the Fendahl very well. It's a terrific idea to feature a monster that comes from the dark nightmares of Time Lord mythology.
The Fendahleen is a reasonably effective monster and looks repulsive sliming along the dark corridors of the priory. Stael is a creepy bad guy, and the satanism angle is a surprisingly dark one for the programme, as is his suicide (assisted by the Doctor!). If I had to make any criticisms it's that there's a few too many scenes of white coated scientists standing around talking and the ending of the story feels a little rushed, but overall Image of the Fendahl is a superb story, one of the last genuinely scary Dr Who stories and very underrated.

[Toothy Grin]

Well, I've reached the halfway stage now - The Sun Makers is exactly half way through Tom's run. (Most Doctor's would be regenerating around now!). This is also the point at which the style of stories started to change from the gothic horror and violent stuff to a greater emphasis on wit and humour. The Sun Makers is a good example of this. Taking a dig at the Inland Revenue, taxation and goverment officialdom, The Sun Makers is a wonderfully witty story with some lovely performances and plenty of humourous scenes but an underlying serious message. The characters of the Gatherer and the Collector are brilliant and the sheer insanity of the taxation situation is well satirised. I love the Collector in his little motorized chair which is constantly going round in circles the more he rants and his diminutive stature,bald head and nasal whine make him a very memorable villain.
Leela gets some excellent material here and this story features possibly her strongest performance as she faces up to the rebels. Tom seems to enjoy the wit of the story and his conversations with the Gatherer and Collector are a comic highlight.
Where this story falls down a little is in it's design - it looks very cheap. One of the sets looks like something from a 70's kids show, the location filming - long hospital corridors, grey underground tunnels and a car park roof (!) are not particularly attractive. There seems to have been some attempt to have an Aztec look to some of the sets and costumes but this isn't as well realised as it could have been.
However, despite a few design deficiencies The Sun Makers is a welcome change of style to the show (at the time) and a very witty, humourous, well written and hugely enjoyable story. Shame I can't say the same about the next story though....

[Toothy Grin]

Oh dear! I've been dreading getting to this story. Underworld is the only story I've ever fallen asleep watching and my overriding memory of it is of lots of boring extras in boring grey/brown costumes running around in boring grey/brown tunnels. To be fair, the first episode isn't that bad, (although the spaceship set is a very drab and boring looking, and yes grey/brown), the special effects are pretty good and the story set up seems interesting. Tom, however, seems bored already and as the story progresses he seems to amble through the proceedings looking like he can't wait for the filming to finish so he can get to the pub! Witness the cliffhanger to part 2 where the Doctor is becoming engulfed in a deadly gas and he stands there twirling his scarf around, or the scene where he's decending into the Underworld and just looking boredly arond him without a care in the world. Apparently at this point in the series Tom was not getting on well with Louise and he barely looks at her once in this story.
From episode 2 onwards this story goes into a terminal decline once we get bogged down in the boring grey/brown tunnels (all done with CSO by the way as the budget to build some sets didn't exist) and the effects work is less than convincing with actors occasionally appearing to walk through solid stone and legs and arms bizarrley disappearing. The villain of the story, the Oracle, is very uninspiring, yet another "insane computer" an idea done much better in The Face of Evil, and the parralleling of the story with the greek myths of Jason and the Argonauts (P7E = Persephone, Jackson = Jason, the race banks = the golden fleece etc) is hammered home with no subtlety whatsoever. The acting is pretty poor as well, Alan Lake hamming up his role, and Jackson being terminally boring. Yes, "boring" is basically the word that sums up Underword for me. (Even the title is boring!)Tom's worst story by a country mile.

[tch]

Yeah, 'Underworld' is a text book example of an interesting idea that just doesn't work. Some nice Tom bits, but an unsatisfying whole.
I seemed to recall enjoying the Target novelization more than watching the actual show. Probably because the special effects are less distracting in the book.

One of the stories I mention when people go 'the old show was so much better than the new'.

[Krono's]

Good creepy story.
Shame nobody has every brought the Rutans back. We hear about the war, but never actually see the two sides doing much.

Well, the best you can do is the spin-off Shakedown.

[tch]

Saw 'Shakedown' on youtube a while back and while it is a bit clunky in spots it was fun. Nice bit of space opera and interesting to see how the rest of the universe copes when the Doctor isn't around.

[ThetaSigma]

Check out the novelisation out out by Virgin Publishing. The Doctor is written in in scenes taking place before and after the main story.

[tch]

I actually was able to track down the book easier than the actual show.

Enjoyed the book ( Duh, it's Terrance Dicks) and thought fitting the Doctor's story into Shakedown worked pretty well.

If you liked the 'Shakedown' book, check out 'Lords of the Storm', featuring the Fifth Doctor. It's a sort of, kind of sequel. Good space opera.

[ThetaSigma]

I am actuallly getting back into my classic Who reading/viewing and Terrance Dicks is high on my list.
I also intend to watch the rare VHS The Tom Baker Years this week if I get the time. Thnaksgiving is coming for America so I may be busy with that who knows?