Dr Who

Anyone else noticed the slight similarity with "The Moon" episode and a Blake's 7 episode .The one where Blake lands on a planet that is errupting and massive chasms appearing all over .He tries to befriend what he thinks is the planet's last survivor and it turns out to be the equivalent of a flea .The erruptions are then explained as the planet scratching an itch caused by a parasite .

(08-10-2014 04:57 )mickster Wrote:  Anyone else noticed the slight similarity with "The Moon" episode and a Blake's 7 episode .The one where Blake lands on a planet that is errupting and massive chasms appearing all over .He tries to befriend what he thinks is the planet's last survivor and it turns out to be the equivalent of a flea .The erruptions are then explained as the planet scratching an itch caused by a parasite .

and a slight similarity to the Tom Baker story of Planet of Evil. Guess what goes round comes around

(07-10-2014 17:32 )skully Wrote:  I'm not a ''Whovian'', but I am a lover of all things science fiction, so my complaint is that it's just not good enough. Maybe they dumbed it down for an American audience (no offence intended, but it does happen) and seeing as that's where they're likely to make the bulk of their money/funding, I think that could play a part...

I have to agree on this point with some dumbing down. The title sequence is a little obvious - clocks and space - like saying hello everyone this is a Time and Space tv programme and that funny blue box is a time/space ship!

Come on what was wrong with the classic worm hole! and another thing I hate in Who since Colin Baker's time is the visualisation of the tardis as a blue box spaceship - the police box is a visualisation and it doesn't physically fly like that thru space - re the worm hole effect.

^^^ I agree but the blue box spinning against a black or even a starlit background has a pretty long pedigree going back to Tom Baker stories in the 70s, if not earlier ?
Leading to fairly anally-retentive fandom debates about whether the TARDIS sometimes does actually fly like a conventional spaceship and sometimes travels through a wormhole/vortex.
I think probably the real reason is simply because it would have been more complex/time consuming for them to do model work against a "wormhole" background in the 1970s : a black backcloth with pinholes for stars would have been a lot easier.
Doesn't really excuse it these days when they can green screen in any old background they want.

I really despise the new theme music arrangement - did anyone really think the 1980s Slyvester McCoy version was so good it needs resurrecting ?
The classic 60s tune sounded like nothing on TV - the New Who began sounding like an overblown orchestral Star Wars wannabe and now - worse - sounds like "oooh lets make it more synthesizery cos that's futuristic and spacey". When it fact it just makes it sound like bad 1980s retro cheese trying to sound futuristic and spacey.

I like the early 80's theme tune when Peter Davison was the Doctor as well as the original 60's one.

^^^ I got used to that one - at least it used electric guitars and did something a bit different; though I don't think the "bass line" was as "heavy" and good as the original; it was always a bit "light" for me.

The "worm hole" title sequence (in black & white , we were a poor family ) was the only time I hid behind the sofa as a child in the early '70's !

On the subject of title music ,in 1978 they "disco-fied" it with a "group" called "Mankind" .They even reached the Top Thirty singles chart with it .No mean feat back then ,when you had to sell significant "units" to make the chart .
They were featured on TOTP and were recently reshown late last year and January this on BBC 4.

(09-10-2014 04:44 )mickster Wrote:  On the subject of title music ,in 1978 they "disco-fied" it with a "group" called "Mankind" .They even reached the Top Thirty singles chart with it .No mean feat back then ,when you had to sell significant "units" to make the chart .
They were featured on TOTP and were recently reshown late last year and January this on BBC 4.

They raved it up un the 90's; but Grainger/Derbyshires will forever be the best.

Just for shear energy use a well known search engine and look for Orbital Dr Who - it really Funks it up, now that would be a superb version to hear on Saturday Nights - Needs a couple of cans and specs with lights on to really enjoy but WOW!