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Doctor Who - Cult Fiction

The Mark of the Rani

September 9th 2006 08:50
The Mark of the Rani (1985, Season 22)

So... The Mark of the Rani is coming out on DVD. I gotta say this upfront - as far as television goes, The Mark of the Rani is pretty bad. My favourite episode of Doctor Who it aint.

VITAL STATISTICS
MAIN CHARACTERS: The 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant)

RECURRING CHARACTERS: The Master (Anthony Ainley) and introducing The Rani (Kate O'Mara)
EPISODES: Two 45 minute episodes
SETTING: 19th Century English village, during the Luddite Uprising.
OTHER: Features George Stephenson, inventor of the Steam Engine.

HOW DOES IT FAIR BY TODAY’S STANDARDS
The use of some kind of 19th century museum park as the location for this story was pretty inspired. As a result it looks pretty authentic, then again, thanks to the BBC massive costume department, Doctor Who has always done period stories well. The Rani's TARDIS is fairly 80s but it doesn't look too bad at all. The dinosaur and man-turned-tree were pretty bad though and anyone watching it for the first time will laugh (especially at the tree).

BITS I LIKE
The Doctor is pretty cool in this one. It's a shame the 6th Doctor didn't get to visit more places in Earth's past... then again, if they will make him wear that godawful costume he was always going to stick out. I liked the Rani's TARDIS and the idea of the Rani as more amoral than immoral was good in theory. Using the Luddite Uprisings as a backdrop to the story was a nice touch too.


The Target novelisation


BITS I DON’T LIKE
The cliffhanger at the end of the first episode is bad.

The Rani is a pretty pisspoor attempt by the production team to add something new to the show at a point in it's history when it was pandering too much to the hardcore fans.

There seems to be no point to the Master's presence.

HOW MANY TIMES I’VE SEEN THIS NOW
About three times.

DISTRACTABILITY SCALE
This probably could've been the equivelant of a three-parter. There's less going on here than in 1 episode of the new series of Doctor Who. It plods along a fair bit in the second part.

THE ACTING
Not a fan of the Rani's acting, too melodrammatic. Anthony Ainley's Master is pretty hard to watch here too.

Most of the supporting actors are okay, no one really stands out, except maybe the guy who plays Luke... he's pretty terrible.
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The Impossible Planet

September 4th 2006 08:48


Well, last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who was an absolute corker and one of the best of the season so far.

Finally, the good Doctor and Rose land on an alien planet... but not just any alien planet, this planet is held just above the rim of a black hole - defying the very laws of physics! A team of human scientists have set up base on the impossible planet and are drilling into the planet's core in an attempt to find out where the planet's amazing source of power originates. Meanwhile, the base's computer and the team's alien servents (the Ood) are beginning to act strangely...

The new series of Doctor Who has never been scarier than here. Drawing on influences such as the film 'Event Horizon', 'Aliens', various cult b-grade sci-fi films, older episode of Doctor Who and even the computer game Doom, the episode 'The Impossible Planet' offers up an effective pop-culture pastiche of sci-fi horror. From the haunting music (some of the best featured in Doctor Who so far) to the Lovecraftian aliens and freaky throwaway references to all things satanic, this episode is all class and I didn't want it to end. Regardless of how it's resolved next week, this episode remains one of my favourites of this series.

Anyway, if you missed this - you missed out!

HIGHLIGHTS: The effects are really top notch, once again. The realisation of the Ood, the alien planet, the black hole... everything, was all so well done.

Toby stepping out onto the barren surface of the planet sans-space suit was pretty creepy.

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The Idiot's Lantern

August 28th 2006 12:08


Last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who was rather uninspiring stuff after the two-part return of the Cybermen. I suppose it had to happen, we'd had such a good run... the werewolf in 'Tooth and Claw', the return of Sarah and K9 in 'School Reunion', the fabulously well-written 'Girl in the Fireplace' and the impressive reinvention of the Cybermen in 'Rise of the Cybermen' and 'The Age of Steel' all went a long way to making this current series of Doctor Who even better than the last (something I didn't think was possible). I guess the streak had to have a hiccup somewhere or other.

'The Idiot's Lantern' is by no means a terrible episode, it's just so... I don't know, uninspired. The Doctor and Rose land in 1950s London where the rather put-upon Mr. Magpie is distributing TV after TV in the hope of getting enough installed in time for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. Why does he need to get so many TVs installed? An alien entity known as 'The Wire' is behind Mr. Magpie, using the televisions to steal people's indentities. Soon enough, the Doctor loses Rose and has to race against the clock to stop 'The Wire' from using the televisions to manifest itself on Earth and do bad stuff. Or something.

There were interesting facets to this episode... I liked the interplay between the 'sensitive' boy Tommy and his domineering father, Eddie. The 50s was nicely recreated and - as always for the new series - the effects were top-notch (hard to get used to after so many years of dodgy Doctor Who effects!)

The Wire was just so uninteresting though! And I'm sick to death of seeing Earth. And 20th century Earth. And Earth in London at that. And Earth in suburban London! For fuck's sake, the Doctor can travel through all time and space - the possibilities are endless! Find some new places to take us!

Anyway. Like I said, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It's by no means the worst episode of this series. Bring on this week's 'The Impossible Planet' - finally, an episode set on an alien planet!
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Doctor Who - New DVD

August 21st 2006 07:08
Doctor Who


The second batch of episodes from the latest series of Doctor Who has just been released in Australia, hot on the back of their recent broadcast on the ABC


[ Click here to read more ]
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Rise of the Cybermen

August 10th 2006 06:09
Cybermen
The new look Cybermen
This Saturday's upcoming episode of the new Doctor Who series is 'Rise of the Cybermen'.

If you haven't guess from the title, it features the much anticipated return of the Cybermen, last seen in the 1988 Doctor Who story 'Silver Nemesis'. And they've received a very impressive costume update


[ Click here to read more ]
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