I think your ordering of the serials there is spot on. I might have put Aztecs top but that is based on being able to actually watch it as intended.

 

I think those viewers who saw these shows at the time would put Marco Polo top too. It has a very strong reputation.

 

The pure historicals as a rule were always brilliant (Highlanders and Gunfighters being the exceptions) and I wish they still did the odd one every year, kind of like Black Orchid in 82

 

These are absolutely brilliant. Gave me a much needed smile. To be frank those reviews are probably more highbrow than the ramblings found here.

 

aww thanks, glad you enjoyed them :lol:

Very fair reviews I think, and I agree about Unearthly Child being wonderful...and the rest being a disappointment following on. The Daleks is the moment Who became a sensation and so I'm always going to be biased towards it. My birthday present was a presentation box of Daleks across the decades in display cases, so family still see the Daleks as a thing for me :lol:

Thanks glad you thing the ratings are fair, I tried do them very much based on what I saw rather than their reputations but it's fair to say Marco Polo probably had the best reputation. Although I think that reputation might actually be aided by it being missing.

Ok then moving on - I'd heard bad things about this, and sadly they were all true. What a load of crap.

 

Planet of the Giants

31 October 1964 - 14 November 1964 (3 x 25)

Season 2: First Doctor, Ian, Susan, Barbara

 

This is a really bizarre serial in a number of ways, firstly it’s only 3 episodes long in an era where the traditional bare minimum was 4 episodes - although by the end of the serial it’s hard not to consider that a big relief. The tiny amount of plot is hardly satisfactory to pad out more than a handful of episodes - something the production team acknowledged themselves in cutting it down to 3 rather than 4 episodes.

 

The TARDIS malfunctions and makes the TARDIS crew absolutely tiny - smaller than an ant - meanwhile someones trying to get their excessively lethal pesticide over the line by killing a government scientist.

 

Credit is due for it being a proper sci-fi storyline and certainly the beginning of a trend to more reverence for this sort of stuff in the show. Unfortunately big people are only so scary and you never truly feel like the TARDIS crew are in any danger from the pesticide - once it becomes fairly damn obvious it isn’t going to kill any of them. The political saga is ultimately boring, and feels like it belongs in a film of the era rather than in Doctor Who. Barbara is written absolutely appallingly. The stuff in the sink with the echoing seems like the most blatant attempt at ticking the educational boxes in the show so far, thank god that requirement will eventually be discarded so we can get on with the fun stuff.

 

In essence Planet of the Giants is a watchable but ultimately flawed piece of filler which makes absolutely no sense as a season opener - especially when you know what comes after it is an utter masterpiece - which frankly makes the decision even more bizarre. It’s merciful they cut it down, as 4 episodes of this might have elevated it to utter unwatchability.

 

They had no choice with it as a season opener in the end. Both this story and Dalek Invasion of Earth were filmed as part of the production block for the previous season but held back to open the 2nd season. Unfortunately Carol Ann Ford decided to leave the show which meant some speedy re-writes for the Dalek story. As she would not be available to film any other story in the season it was realistically the only story in which she could be written out satisfactorily without massive re-writes or re-shoots, something that time did not afford them, especially with the additional need to come up with The Rescue to introduce her replacement. Narratively this meant that Planet of Giants could only be placed as the season opener.

 

Beyond that I agree with your comments, Barbara is appallingly served here and there isn't enough in the story to sustain interest. I do admire the attempt to bring an environmentalist message to the show at a time when only a few scientists were looking in to the possibility of long term damage caused by man's actions. I just wish it had been a more interesting story to frame that in. They would however, return to this particular well many times later and with better results.

 

The next story though is only enhanced when positioned immediately after this one.

They had no choice with it as a season opener in the end. Both this story and Dalek Invasion of Earth were filmed as part of the production block for the previous season but held back to open the 2nd season. Unfortunately Carol Ann Ford decided to leave the show which meant some speedy re-writes for the Dalek story. As she would not be available to film any other story in the season it was realistically the only story in which she could be written out satisfactorily without massive re-writes or re-shoots, something that time did not afford them, especially with the additional need to come up with The Rescue to introduce her replacement. Narratively this meant that Planet of Giants could only be placed as the season opener.

 

Beyond that I agree with your comments, Barbara is appallingly served here and there isn't enough in the story to sustain interest. I do admire the attempt to bring an environmentalist message to the show at a time when only a few scientists were looking in to the possibility of long term damage caused by man's actions. I just wish it had been a more interesting story to frame that in. They would however, return to this particular well many times later and with better results.

 

The next story though is only enhanced when positioned immediately after this one.

 

Yeah I get what your saying that they've really not had much choice with Carol Ann Ford's departure, but from a creative point of view it ends up coming out pretty badly. As you say though, the next serial really does benefit from this positioning, despite being incredibly good on it's own merits.

 

Animations cancelled.

 

Well that's put me in a bit of a downer mood. Was hoping more would have been finished by the time I got round to them.

 

https://winteriscoming.net/2022/01/14/bbc-r...tm_medium=email

The BBC will just look for some other company willing to get involved. The future is probably in deepfake tech eventually anyway.

 

 

Abominable Snowmen is still due too

Yeh, I think the BBC are still keen to make them but this is a result of BBC America pulling out so they need to find another partner before they can make any more. I thought it would have been odd as I know animation for The Web of Fear was done with a view to seeing how it could work for the more challenging stories. I think the ones remaining are those that will be harder to do on the current budget restrictions or are the less popular stories.

 

I’m grateful to have the ones that we do have though as it’s helped fill in a lot of gaps and helps me experience more stories. I’ve seen all the surviving episodes but struggle to get away with the missing stories without something more visual. The Macra Terror has been one of my favourite stories of classic Who yet I know it was near the bottom of many people’s lists before the animation :lol:

That's a shame, but they must be moneymaking or they wouldnt keep them coming - and the BBC is going to need anything that brings in money judging by Tory threats to choke the BBC of all funding, starting with a 2 billion cut effectively.

That's a shame, but they must be moneymaking or they wouldnt keep them coming - and the BBC is going to need anything that brings in money judging by Tory threats to choke the BBC of all funding, starting with a 2 billion cut effectively.

 

Think the issue might be Britbox here - quite a few anoamtooms aren't there. I'd imagine ITV only want animations San tioned tajt Britbox will have the right to as Doctor Who is one of their biggest pulls iirc.

Sorry to stick it in here, but as I've already posted a link to my childhood musings and scribblings, I think I'd just mention the photo art site Redbubble just got a warning from the BBC to take down one of them as it infringed copyright! Hilarious way to undermine your supporters! I've never sold a copy of it (I've made about £20 selling arty photos and the occasional mug or framed print). The website is USA based so I could challenge them on the grounds that a) it's a review, and that isn't copywrited, and b) my drawing of the Tardis bears no resemblance to the actual Tardis, except inasmuch as it's a rectangle and c) it's an enthusiastic child sharing enthusiasm and publicising ancient Doctor Who (and probably the oldest existing children's review of Doctor Who and therefore of historical importance).

 

But as I'm never going to make any money out of it I'll just continue to plaster it on the internet for free as a historically interesting period review showing that kids were very much enthused as shown in the Time And Space biopic of William Hartnell and muse on the rationale of paying someone to chase up stuff like this while missing the obvious value in it isn't financial. Guess the Beeb really IS trying to kill itself off... :lol: