Battlefield
(A Gallifreyan Time Lord in King Arthur's Court.... sort of...)
Yep, this is number three this weekend - hey, it's a holiday weekend, and winter, and grey/windy/cold/rainy so why not watch Doctor Who?
I had mixed feelings about this one. The writing seemed rather uneven, which really didn't give the actors a fair shake. There were some definite bright spots, however:
- the fight/fisticuffs/wrestling match between Ancelyn and Winnifred Bambera that, apparently, winds up with Bambera victorious and Ancelyn in cuffs. Which he doesn't seem too upset about. Ah, young warriors in love...
- The Doctor walking between two men fighting with swords, tipping his hat to them as he does so.
- The return of the Lethbridge-Stewart
- The return of Bessie
- The Time Travel Touches, such as the "dig here" untranslatable glyphs found by Ace, in the Doctor's handwriting, the note in King Arthur's helmet addressed to the Doctor from the Doctor, "Open up, it's me", and all the other indications that, while the Doctor isn't and hasn't been Merlin he will be in the future.
- The Brigadier recognizing the Doctor even though he's regenerated.
- Ace and Shou Yuing both being explosive aficionados.
- UNIT oh-so-carefully developing anti-Dalek bullets, anti-Cyberman bullets... "Oh, a non-stick bullet!"
- all the "brick" carphones. Gosh, I remember having one of those...
There were a lot of enjoyable touches, but maybe it's just that I wasn't too fond of the whole Morgan-Le-Fay-Arthur-Knights-Etc. thing going on.
I also am having mixed feelings about the McCoy era opening sequences.
And I tried the "infotext" feature, which was interesting, but also too distracting when I was viewing an episode for the first time.
Anyhow - I got the impression that uneven writing was holding back McCoy, Ace, and the other actors of this era. Well, it's TV, not every episode is going to be a home run.
Revisiting Old Doctor Who: Battlefield
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Broomstick
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Revisiting Old Doctor Who: Battlefield
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Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
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Johonebesus
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Re: Revisiting Old Doctor Who: Battlefield
That was one of my least favorite McCoy stories. Early on it was emphasized that the Doctor was a scientist, and that magic wasn't real. There was always some sci-fi cover for ESP and the like, but I don't recall even the flimsiest attempt give a "scientific" explanation for the magic in this story, just like the witch in the Silver Nemesis. Then there were the truly horrible CG special effects.
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"Sir: Mr. Bernard Levin asks 'Can you eat quarks?' I estimate that he eats 500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 quarks a day...Yours faithfully..." -Sir Alan Cottrell
Elohim's loving mercy: "Hey, you, don't turn around. WTF! I said DON'T tur- you know what, you're a pillar of salt now. Bitch." - an anonymous commenter
Re: Revisiting Old Doctor Who: Battlefield
They did cover it, sort of, in the novelistion IIRC.
Basically, all the magic stuff comes from another Universe/dimension where it still exists.
Basically, all the magic stuff comes from another Universe/dimension where it still exists.