worp@ih1ap.UUCP (Roger Espinosa) (07/01/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR CLOISTER BELL *** First, I would like to come to the defense of Pertwee. I think the way he portrayed the Doctor was great. If only he had been given good scripts. I mean, just try and read some of the books based on Pertwee stories: they reek! Sure, the books are targetted for the junior market, but a plot is a plot. (i.e. THE GREEN SLIME. Sure, green slime from nowhere?) Doctor #3 had a great cast, with UNIT and Jo and Sarah (never saw Liz), but the plots were horrid most of the time. Davison has always been attacked. It's too bad he followed Baker, who I believe was the longest running Doctor and the most frequently seen one in America. I, too, wasn't sure about his performance in CASTROVALVA. And we in Chicago only saw the first five, up to TIME FLIGHT. Then it was back to Pertwee. Recently I saw all the Davison, and enjoyed them immensely. I felt more a loss when Davison "died" than when Baker did, actually. And Colin Baker's first words (cringe) "A change...and it's about time" (cringe again). Was this supposed to be sarcastic???? Anyway, my favorite Romana (to answer the poll) is Lalla Ward. Even though the polls at school favored Mary Tamm, she didn't seem to act as well as Ward. And the chemistry (obviously) between Ward and Baker was great, especially in CITY OF DEATH (which I lost the last ten minutes to, thanks to Mister End of Video Tape). Ah well. That's it for me. -- Life is a foreign film, and I can't understand the subtitles. Roger Espinosa, YASS [Yet Another Summer Student] ih1ap!worp
guy@anasazi.UUCP (Guy Finney) (07/08/85)
>... And the chemistry (obviously) between Ward and Baker >was great, especially in CITY OF DEATH (which I lost the last ten >minutes to, thanks to Mister End of Video Tape). Even more chemistry was evident, to me anyway, in State of Decay. They each, at different times in the story, say to the other something like, "You know, you're wonderfull!". "Yes, I suppose I am. Hadn't thought about it really". No doubt a certain amount of chemistry is due to them being married for a while. They divoced a couple of years later, saying only that they were more committed to their acting than to each other. Pity. -- Guy Finney {decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!guy
jerry@uwmcsd1.UUCP (Jerry Lieberthal) (07/11/85)
> >... And the chemistry (obviously) between Ward and Baker > >was great, especially in CITY OF DEATH (which I lost the last ten > >minutes to, thanks to Mister End of Video Tape). > > Even more chemistry was evident, to me anyway, in State of Decay. > They each, at different times in the story, say to the other something like, > > "You know, you're wonderfull!". > "Yes, I suppose I am. Hadn't thought > about it really". > > No doubt a certain amount of chemistry is due to them being married > for a while. They divoced a couple of years later, saying only that they > were more committed to their acting than to each other. Pity. > > -- > Guy Finney > {decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!guy Actually, I believe it took several months after Lalla left the series and a few more after that when Baker left that they were married...
dmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) (07/30/85)
Allow me to express an opinion which I have often been told
is entirely my own. My favorite Romana, and indeed my favorite
Companion, is Lalla Ward.
A while back, KTEH (Channel 54, San Jose) broadcast a "special"
episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person,
and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward
remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have
been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was?
Did Baker object to a publicity episode such as this?
I offer proof that southern california is uncivilized:
KPBS down here doesn't broadcast the good Dr. (Though to their
credit, the do A Prairie Home Companion twice a weekend.)
David M. MacMillanjerry@uwmcsd1.UUCP (Jerry Lieberthal) (08/02/85)
> > Allow me to express an opinion which I have often been told > is entirely my own. My favorite Romana, and indeed my favorite > Companion, is Lalla Ward. > > A while back, KTEH (Channel 54, San Jose) broadcast a "special" > episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person, > and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward > remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have > been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was? > Did Baker object to a publicity episode such as this? The reason was that Baker pulled out of the project in the early going, (I don't remember the exact reason), and the BBC used a short bit of film from an episode that was never aired (SHADA, I think). Too bad, because I wanted to see Baker in the special..
guy@anasazi.UUCP (Guy Finney) (08/02/85)
The film clips of Baker & Ward shown in "The Five Doctors" were
evidently from a story in the Baker era called "Shada", which was
never finished due to a nasty strike at the BBC at the time.
When the strikers came back, the budget was running out so they
decided to cut their losses & forget about completing the shooting
of the story. Too bad, too. Written by Douglas Adams, it sounded
like a good one - Shada was sort of a penal colony or something.
Kind of like the Death Zone, another skeleton in the Time Lords' closet.
--
Guy Finney
{decvax|ihnp4|hao}!noao!terak!anasazi!guyal@mot.UUCP (Al Filipski) (08/02/85)
> > Allow me to express an opinion which I have often been told > is entirely my own. My favorite Romana, and indeed my favorite > Companion, is Lalla Ward. No comparison, in my opinion. Certainly Lalla Ward is THE Romana. I'd give the edge to Leela, though, among all companions. > > A while back, KTEH (Channel 54, San Jose) broadcast a "special" > episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person, > and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward > remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have > been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was? > Did Baker object to a publicity episode such as this? I've wondered about this too. It is as if they were afraid that Baker would completely overshadow the others (as he would have) and prove who the REAL Doctor is. > > David M. MacMillan -------------------------------- Alan Filipski, UNIX group, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ U.S.A {seismo|ihnp4}!ut-sally!oakhill!mot!al ucbvax!arizona!asuvax!mot!al -------------------------------- "...and laughter unquenchable arose among the blessed gods."-- Homer
ables@mcc-db.UUCP (King Ables) (08/03/85)
> No comparison, in my opinion. Certainly Lalla Ward is THE Romana. > I'd give the edge to Leela, though, among all companions. Actually, THE Romana is the first one, Lalla must be the OTHER Romana. Be that as it may, I liked the first one better (but I forget her name, oh well). I still wish The Doctor had kept calling her Fred! Now, I do realize that Tom Baker and Lalla Ward had a better chemistry between them (after all, the did get married later), but I just didn't like Lalla very much, I guess. Leela is the most admirable of all the companions (that I've seen, Pertwee through Davison), but I like Nyssa the best (especially when she starts "molting" toward the end of her stay ("but companions don't molt. But penguins do. There! I run rings around you logically!" -- never mind, you had to be there). > > episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person, > > and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward > > remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have > > been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was? > > Did Baker object to a publicity episode such as this? "The Five Doctors" was the 20th anniversary special (as "The Three Doctors" was the 10th). William Hartnell (Doc#1) wasn't in it since he had died since the filming of "The Three Doctors" in which he appeared very little due to illness at the time. All the other doctors were still around, but Tom Baker didn't wish to do the special (fear of type-casting or some such stuff). They took clips from an episode called "Shada" which was never finished (nor aired) due to a BBC strike of some sort (I want to say the writers, but that wouldn't make much sense since they were filming, so maybe it was production crew or something). They worked enough footage from that episode to put The Doctor and Romana off in a "void" and neatly but temporairly dispose of them for most of the show. I have to say that even though Tom Baker was the Doctor for the longest time (7 years), I think I like Peter Davison the best. I think it would be interesting to hear (from those of you who like T.Baker the best) who you like 2nd best. The general idea I get is Tom is the most popular in the states, but part of that is he is the first Doctor most people probably saw, and maybe even the ONLY one some people have seen. Then there's those lucky stiffs in NJ (and other places I guess) who have seen Colin Baker... oh well, only a few more years... by the way, my info on the shows comes from the 20th anniversary Dr. Who magazine published by STARLOG PRESS a year or two ago. I think Starlog still runs ads for it in their issues. It's one of the few Dr. Who publications I've seen that are REALLY worth the money. -King ARPA: ables@mcc UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!mcc-db!ables Wise utterance by the Doctor (last night, no less): "Interfere? Of course, interfere. Do what you're best at!"
lipinski@hpisla.UUCP (Greg Lipinski) (08/04/85)
The episode you are referring to is "The Five Doctors". Richard Hurndall
did a great impression of the first doctor. As I understand it, Tom Baker
was tied up contractually, and couldn't appear. So, instead they used some
clips from the never broadcast "Shada". Tom didn't even appear in any of
the publicity shots, and so for these they used his wax figure from Madame
Trousseau's (sp?). I don't know if there were any hard feeling there.
"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle science fiction."
Greg Lipinski
{ihnp4,hplabs}!hpfcla!hpisla!lipinskiags@pucc-h (Dave Seaman) (08/04/85)
In article <512@calmasd.UUCP> dmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) writes: > A while back, KTEH (Channel 54, San Jose) broadcast a "special" >episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person, >and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward >remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have >been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was? Tom Baker was not available for "The Five Doctors" because of other commitments. They used scenes from "Shada" (the story which was never completed and never shown) so that the fourth Doctor could make an appearance. -- Dave Seaman ..!pur-ee!pucc-h:ags
worp@ih1ap.UUCP (Federation for Banning Barcodes) (08/05/85)
> > Allow me to express an opinion which I have often been told > is entirely my own. My favorite Romana, and indeed my favorite > Companion, is Lalla Ward. > > A while back, KTEH (Channel 54, San Jose) broadcast a "special" > episode featuring all (then) 5 doctors. They used #2 in person, > and had someone else play #1. However, Baker & Lalla Ward > remained suspended after just a brief bit of film that might have > been culled from the archive. Does anyone know why this was? > Did Baker object to a publicity episode such as this? > > David M. MacMillan Baker did not wish to be associated with the Five Doctors Episode. He said he had had a lot of fun working on the show, but that it had, after all the time he had spent on it, become repetitious. I think I heard he did not wish to "share" his role with the other Four Doctors. The bits of film came from "Shada," a Douglas Adams episode that was never completed because of a BBC strike. So, they just had him stuck in a time limbo. Bye. -- Roger Espinosa, YASS [Yet Another Summer Student] ihnp4!ih1ap!worp "Not fair, not fair! It isn't fair, my precious, to ask us what's it's got in its nasty little pocketses!" --the Gollum
tmoody@sjuvax.UUCP (T. Moody) (08/06/85)
> > I have to say that even though Tom Baker was the Doctor for the longest > time (7 years), I think I like Peter Davison the best. I think it would > be interesting to hear (from those of you who like T.Baker the best) who > you like 2nd best. The general idea I get is Tom is the most popular > in the states, but part of that is he is the first Doctor most people > probably saw, and maybe even the ONLY one some people have seen. Then > there's those lucky stiffs in NJ (and other places I guess) who have > seen Colin Baker... oh well, only a few more years... > > -King > ARPA: ables@mcc > UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!mcc-db!ables *** Although I am not a Dr. Who fanatic, I do watch the program fairly often. I have seen mostly Tom Baker, Peter Davison, and John Pertwee episodes (al- though I also saw "The Five Doctors"). It was Tom Baker's delightful charisma that got me interested in the show in the first place, and I still prefer his episodes (I had watched earlier Doctors (not Pertwee) back when I lived in Rhode Island, and never developed any liking for the show). When Tom Baker "regenerated" into Peter Davison, I was very interested and I think open-minded. But one thing struck me immediately: When Tom Baker's Doctor became angry, or sullen, or self-righteous, Baker was superbly capable of keeping his tongue *ever* so slightly in his cheek, making these vicissitudes of temperament appear to be a rather charming eccentricity. Davison, in my opinion, lacked this knack, and often ended up being obnoxious. Recently, a bunch of Pertwee episodes have been aired in this area. So far, then, Pertwee is my second-favorite Doctor. He, like Baker, is highly charismatic, although in a rather different way. Personal charisma, as elusive a trait as it may be, seems to be the key to a good Doctor (perhaps a good physician, too). As for companions, I liked Leela, the 2nd Romana, and Nyssa. The skinny redheaded companion of Davison's was certainly not likable, but he was very interesting. Leela, however, was a classic. Todd Moody {allegra|astrovax|bpa|burdvax}!sjuvax!tmoody Philosophy Department St. Joseph's U. Philadelphia, PA 19131
stuart@sesame.UUCP (Stuart Freedman) (08/08/85)
> Too bad, too. Written by Douglas Adams, it sounded > like a good one - Shada was sort of a penal colony or something. > -- > Guy Finney On a side note, I, too, would love to have seen what there is of Shada, but Douglas Adams thinks that it is better buried. Then again, he always seems to have a negative attitude towards his own work... Anyway, does anyone know if there will be a DW con in the Boston area in the near future at which one can see this mysterious, over-hyped portion of an episode? -- Stuart Freedman {genrad|ihnp4|ima}!wjh12!talcott!sesame!stuart Data General Corp. {cbosgd|harvard}!talcott!sesame!stuart Westboro, MA or mit-eddie!futura!stuart I'm too busy reading other people's cute quotes to think of any of my own.
steve@siemens.UUCP (08/08/85)
I guess maybe I just suffer from Baker (Tom) overload -- I've seen almost
all his episodes twice and many of them more than that. I'm pretty sick of
him as doctor.
But it's really quite impossible to say which doctor is the best. Each
one has particular good points and bad. It's also hard (for me anyway)
to separate the doctor from the general quality of the scripts at the time.
I think there are a lot of low quality Baker scripts out there, and the
Davisons are overall much better. Pertwee has his ups and downs, but
there aren't so many downs if you don't mind the Unit days. So I cannot
choose my favorite, but my least favorite is Tom Baker.
I haven't seen enough Hartnells, Troughtons, or Colin Bakers to have an
opinion on them, but I will probably like each one best as his episodes are
shown. I really like the changes the show goes through as new doctors
appear.
One last word in favor of Davison: he is clearly a bettor actor than
Tom Baker; Baker always acts the same (on Dr. Who), and Davison is able to
have more different emotions and behave more different ways.
Complaints to {ihnp4, topaz}!princeton!siemens!steve
Serious flames to the net
REAL serious flames to /dev/nulldmm@calmasd.UUCP (David M. MacMillan) (08/09/85)
If memory serves, the name of the first Romana was Mary Tamm,
and I think (?) she was only present for the Key of Time episodes
(in two or three sets of reruns, I've consistantly missed that
first K of T episode).
To the Net: I really had no idea that my query about
"The Five Doctors" would generate so much response. Thank you
all, even if all of the information was not without conflict.
Those who like Peter Davison as Doctor (as well as those
who do not) would be well-advised to watch "All Creatures
Great and Small" (in reruns on PBS), where he played the
part of Tristan Farnon admirably.
Sincerely,
David M. MacMillanpercus@acf4.UUCP (Allon G. Percus) (08/19/85)
> On a side note, I, too, would love to have seen what there is of Shada, but > Douglas Adams thinks that it is better buried. Then again, he always seems > to have a negative attitude towards his own work... For a very simple reason: In the case of Dr. Who, most of the time, it isn't his own work. Tom Baker had a lot of fun throwing Douglas Adams' scripts out into the center of the Space-Time continuum (the window of the BBC studios, actually), and rewriting it the way HE liked it. Therefore, you can assume that an episode like "City of Death" was 80% Tom Baker stuff. A. G. Percus (ARPA) percus@acf4 (NYU) percus.acf4 (UUCP) ...!ihnp4!cmcl2!acf4!percus Back again in net-land. What happened while I was away? [That's NOT a quote, it's a question!]
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (08/22/85)
> > Baker did not wish to be associated with the Five Doctors Episode. He > said he had had a lot of fun working on the show, but that it had, after > all the time he had spent on it, become repetitious. I think I heard > he did not wish to "share" his role with the other Four Doctors. > I have heard this also -- but I have also heard that Baker was busy doing other projects at the time. Does someone have a direct quote? Or is this another fan-tasy, like Leonard Nimoy disliking the role of Spock (I have a disclaimer to that in print somewhere, I might be able to find it upon request . . . *if* I can find that back room of the TARDIS (read 'black hole' read den) . . . .) Barb Jernigan " ***** * HIS," he said, "just bears out what a very wise * being once told me -- 'Despite all our wisdom and * knowledge and the ability to figure things out and to make logical choices, it is still a fact that at any given instant in time, none of us has the slightest notion of what is going on.'" Elgan (*Ushurak*)