okamoto@ucbvax.ARPA (Jeff Okamoto) (06/28/85)
Here's a little something for everyone to get their teeth into. Which Romana do you (collectively all you readers of net.tv.drwho) like the best. My personal favorite is Lalla Ward, but I will admit that Mary Tamm did a great job in "The Ribos Operation". A recent poll here at UC Berkeley indicates a slight preference for Mary Tamm. A question again for all of you. How many people videotape the episodes they see? I do and my collection is now around 31 tapes at an average of 5 hours per tape. (Yes, I know I shouldn't use SLP if I want good quality) This includes all of the Tom Baker and Peter Davison serials, plus the first "package" of Jon Pertwee (starts with "Inferno", ends with "Planet of the Spiders"). Right now our local Doctor Who station, KTEH, is showing the remaining package of Jon Pertwee's (starting with "Doctor Who and the Silurians" (We had already seen "Spearhead from Space" so I'm not sure if it belongs in the second package)). And yet another topic for discussion. Although this is supposedly for Doctor Who, I am going to ask a question about another British series, The Prisoner. I am interested in some interpretations that people have about the "messages" contained within. KTEH just finished showing all 17 and is now going to rebroadcast them in a different order (the one McGoohan wanted, I believe). Re: Mr. Percus' challenge: Off the top of my head, I can't remember but I am fairly sure it is from a Tom Baker serial with Leela as his Companion. Oh, I nearly forgot. FASA (FAntaSimulations Associates) has come out with "The Doctor Who Role-Playing Game"! The premise is that players play human Companions to a (presumably) NPC Time Lord in (presumably) a Type 40 capsule OR that one playes Junior Time Lords working for the CIA (Remember "The Deadly Assassin"?). The character generation system is truly horrendous. There are essentially only seven different "levels" for a characteristic or skill. I have no opinion about the combat system. The background information seems consistent (though I don't know much about the Time Lords' doings in the Hartnell/ Troughton era). There is an interesting timeline of the Earth with (supposedly) all the events that involved the Doctor there. However, there are some inconsistencies in the text and timeline, and I don't recall seeing a reference to the Cybermen walking through downtown London. The section on the technological items is interesting and there is even an entry for Jelly Babies! Though there are no scenarios given, there is a rather interesting story about a Time Lord named Stan (actually it is quite longer, but the human Companion shortens it much like Doctor #4 does with Romanadvoratrelunder) who gains the said Companion after foiling a plot by <censored>. The one thing that I see as silly is that Stan is precipitated into a regeneration crisis after only one punch from <censored>. There is also a partial list of the Doctor's Companions written up in game terms. The list is far from complete but does have at least one Companion from each Doctor. The one thing I don't like about them is their use of a "Recognition Handle". This is a VERY terse quality that supposedly instantly identifies the person. Most of them are downright silly (Tegan: "Great legs"; Sarah: "Luxurious hair"). Well, this should keep the net hopping for a while.... "No, my dear Doctor, you must die! Die, Doctor! Die, Doctor! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Jeff Okamoto okamoto@BERKELEY.ARPA ..!ucbvax!okamoto