Disgruntled Teenagers with Ray Guns Mar 30 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki Oy, such a day. I barely made the treadmill today. Even the support of you, my imaginary readers, almost wasn't enough. What pushed me there was the fact that I am two days away from a complete month of walks/viewings/posts every single day. So I dragged my sorry butt on down to the YMCA and watched the end of The Space Museum. Turns out William Hartnell pretty much had the same issue, and didn't bother to come to work for the first week. But he showed up for the finale, and so did Boba Fett. For reals. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
A Big Ball of Timey Wimey, Wibbly Wobbly Cardigan Wool Mar 29 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki First of all: Woo Hoo! Today I weighed in at a record low since I started this project. Not in-and-of-itself a remarkable thing, but I was really frustrated during most of last week as I seemed to be steadily losing ground and gaining back weight. With this morning's weigh-in I feel like I have solidified the trend back in the right direction. It has been a bit of a challenge getting used to the treadmills at the YMCA. I mean, they are lovely high-tech machines, but they aren't mine so they feel like driving a rental car. It just takes a bit to figure out how to get all the mirrors and seats positioned correctly, such as it is. Anyway, today's episode: I am finding The Space Museum surprisingly interesting. The story represents the first time that the writers have really played around with the concept of Time as a separate dimension, and gone a bit wibbly wobbly with it. There are also several moments of humor which, although a little out of place, were still lots of fun. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
The Sexual Politics of Twelfth Century Saracens and Britons Mar 28 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki Wow, what a lot of women's issues came up in today's viewing. I mean, it's not like Doctor Who is any great bastion of pro-feminist cheerleading (especially in the Classic era), but today it was just all over the place. It's not all bad, by any stretch. Certainly it is well-reflective of twelfth century mores and standards. Frankly, it's pretty well-reflective of many twentieth century mores as well. But holy cow it was a lot to take in. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
One Hundred Miles! Also: Congratulations, Sir Ian Chesterton Mar 27 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki Oh, the ridiculous gyrations I had to go through this morning. I crossed 100 miles, which is awesome, but it took some real juggling to get there. Today I started in on The Crusade, which is the first time in this project I have needed to bounce between a DVD to watch an existing episode and then to my iPad to watch the Loose Canon Recon of a missing episode. And I had to do this, not in the privacy of my own home, but out in public on the YMCA, walking on a treadmill while balancing a cornucopia of electronics on the screen ledge. Oh, the things I do for you, my imaginary readers. But hey, today's story is another pure historical -- this one featuring none other than King Richard I in the midst of the holy war in Palestine. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
We All Float Down Here, Barbara Mar 26 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki I think this is going to be a short one. It's late in the day, I need to get to bed, and this is the first chance I have had to write. Having my own treadmill out of commission is proving to be a right pain in the arse. I am also frustrated by my reversal of progress the past few days. But as for The Web Planet? It finished strong. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
Hang on, this is actually... good? Mar 25 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki I was all down on The Web Planet yesterday, if only for all of the roadblocks it threw in front of me. And the ridiculous ant costumes. This. I'm talking about this. But it turns out that beneath the shoddy production values lies a quite imaginative and interesting story. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
God Hates the Web Planet Mar 24 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki Look, I was already frustrated by this story ages before I got here. It is the one DVD that I failed to get before it went out of print. When it first came out in 2006 it was a stupid $15 story that looked awful, and I wasn't seriously collecting the videos yet. I didn't bother with it. By the time I started in earnest, it had gone out of print and now can only be gotten for upwards of $200. So I knew I was going to have to watch a streaming version, but it made me frustrated. Then today happened, and things got much worse. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
The Pellet with the Poison's in the Vessel with the Pestle Mar 23 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki I finished The Romans this morning. Although the first half had some amount of humor, the second half fully devolves into a farce. There's still a tiny bit of drama, but mostly it is played for broad comedy with Nero the Buffoon and his wacky imperial court. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
All Roads Lead to a Roman Holiday Mar 22 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki It may not feature Gregory Peck or Audrey Hepburn, but today's new story The Romans is the first time a major actor (Derek Francis) actually requested to be on Doctor Who. It is also the first story to have intentional comedic elements, although there is most certainly a dramatic plot as well. I know what you are thinking: British actors wearing togas and performing as ancient Roman characters? Will wonders never cease! Let's talk about that. Read more ...
So Much Entendre! Mar 21 2017 1st Doctor Barbara Wright Ian Chesterton Vicki Here's a bit of trivia for you: The second part of today's story, Desperate Measures was the very first episode of Doctor Who to become one of the ten most-watched shows of the week when it originally aired. In fact, it is one of the highest-charting episodes of the entire 50+ year run of the show. After the last story's farewell to Susan, this story introduces a new traveling companion -- Vicki (no last name, and not short for Victoria, just Vicki). It's a tight little tale that does everything it needs to and nothing it doesn't. It also had two unintentional moments that spoke directly to my inner twelve-year-old. Let's talk about that. Read more ...