Ever done a Tom-a-thon?

[Graceful Leonard]

...City of Death also benefits greatly from having two top quality actors for the villians.

I would have prefered Sarah Jane to Romana, but then I'm in love with Sarah Jane, so I'm biased.

[Toothy Grin]

After the all time classic that is City Of Death we come back down to Earth (or rather the planet Chloris) with the less -than-well-regarded Creature From The Pit. Or known by it's alternative title: Dr Who and the Giant Green Phallus. The titular enormous green appendage does seem to overshadow all other aspects of this story and it's certainly a prong that cannot be overlooked and once seen this fearsome organ is never forgotten. In this story's favour is an excellent jungle set, made all the better for being shot on film. This is probably the best jungle set seen on the series, looking very realistic with smoke and bird noises as well as Tom appearing very sweaty (although strangely none of the other actors do. Perhaps Tom was having withdrawl symptoms? )
The plot is rather silly and uses a fair amount of nonsensical science fiction and the beardy bandits are played purely for laughs while their leader sounds like Fagin. Lady Adrasta is a typical dictator and performed rather like a pantomime wicked queen. Organon is probably the best character (Geoffrey Bayldon would have made a great Doctor!).
If you're in a rather silly mood The Creature From The Pit is good for a laugh and I defy anyone to watch the scene where Tom tries to communicate with Erato without bursting out laughing or shaking your head in disbelief. How the hell did they get away with it????

[ThetaSigma]

He's Tom Baker, he can get away with anything!

[Toothy Grin]

Off into outer space now for some interstellar shenanigans. Nightmare Of Eden is one of the most frustrating stories for me, as it is a story with a fantastic script and huge potential that is almost totally destroyed by some terrible production decisions and poor casting. My memories of this story consist of vague recollections of the mandrel monsters roaming around the spaceship but when I read the novelization of the story I found it a brilliant story due it's imaginative science fiction ideas and the examination of drug addiction, something almost unheard of in Dr Who. Reading a novelization has the advantage of not being let down by poor special effects, silly monsters and bad acting. These are the main problems with the televised story. The costumes are often ridiculous from the very unflattering spandex body suits of the crew to the spangly uniforms of the customs men that make them look like dodgy male strippers! The Mandrels look ludicrous, like something from the Muppet Show and about half as scary, the set design is bland and uninspired (although the jungle of Eden is reasonable) and the acting performances range from wooden (Della, Stott) to hammy (Rigg, Fisk) and ludicrous (Tryst's over the top Austrian accent is cring-inducing and he ruins every scene he appears in).
Tom seems to be having an off day and just goes through the motions and then has possibly his worst scene ever as he tries to escape the Mandrels crying "My arms! my legs! my everything! Ohh!!" However he redeems himself a little with the scene where he coldy rejects Tryst "Go away", which is nicely understated.
As I said, it's the script which is this story's saving grace. The concept of an addictve drug that is derived from the decomposed remains of an alien creature and a machine that displaces whole areas of planets onto a recording is brilliant. If only the story was better designed and had some decent acting this really could have been one of Tom's best stories. Shame.

[ThetaSigma]

Probably this is my least favorite as well. But I did enjoy the TomDoctor-Romana II pairing. Still ,can't wait for your review on The Horns of Nimon and The Lesiure Hive, both being personal favorites.

[MrWhat]

Why don't we all do a mini DrWho/Tom a thon. pick a story, synchronise watches all watch at the same time and post on here about it. See what we each get out of the episode, did anyone miss something others had seen etc.

[MrWhat]

Why don't we all do a mini DrWho/Tom a thon. pick a story, synchronise watches all watch at the same time and post on here about it. See what we each get out of the episode, did anyone miss something others had seen etc. or has someone already said that. I can't read it all, I am a busy man!

[Toothy Grin]

My Tom-a-thon may be speeding up a little now as I've finished work for christmas so time to get more stories watched! Season 17 ends on a premature and somewhat unsatisfactory note with The Horns Of Nimon, a story that's probably as close to a pantomime as the series can get (but hey, it's panto season anyway!) Like Nightmare Of Eden, the story here is pretty good, with some clever ideas (the complex that shifts around like an electronic circuit and the Nimon being like the Minotaur of Greek myth) but the standard of the production values is seriously below par with some of the cheapest looking sets ever and a cast of actors who are either as wooden as a pine forest or camping things up and making a joke of the whole thing. The main culprit in this regard is Graham Crowden's Soldeed who gives possibly the most hammy and over-the-top performance in all of Dr Who - it's like he thinks he's playing the boo-hiss villain in a pantomime. The Co-Pilot is a laughably bad character who's lines seem to consist of repeatedly growling "Weakling scum!" and then he splits his trousers when he's killed by the Nimon. The Nimon themselves are hard to take seriously either, as they resemble men in ballet tights wearing platform shoes and papier mache bull heads. The booming voices are fairly good but the fact that they have to turn their whole bodies to look at something as the head has no movement rather lessens their impact somewhat.
Tom by this stage was clearly allowed to get away with far too much and plays things mostly for comedic effect and just seems to do what he wants, only Lala Ward seems to be trying to take things seriously.
What a shame that the story that was supposed to conclude this season was cancelled and The Horns of Nimon wasn't.
Nevertheless, I will be reviewing Shada as I have the reconstructed video version, so watch this space...

[ThetaSigma]

Why don't we all do a mini DrWho/Tom a thon. pick a story, synchronise watches all watch at the same time and post on here about it. See what we each get out of the episode, did anyone miss something others had seen etc. or has someone already said that. I can't read it all, I am a busy man!

Sounds like a worthy endeavor, although I don't know if I couid do it on a set basis, as I am very moody and watch things accordingly.

[Krono's]

...City of Death also benefits greatly from having two top quality actors for the villians.

I would have prefered Sarah Jane to Romana, but then I'm in love with Sarah Jane, so I'm biased.

Join the club! As for Creature From The Pit, this is one I plan to watch during Christmas as it has a just for jolly pantomine feel about it. Lady Adrasta is a great pantomine villian as well as a sexy one!