Ok, so, let's be honest: The Underwater Menace is... not good. I mean, it's no Planet of Giants, but it's really not good. In fact, I think it exemplifies all of the negative preconceptions of what classic Doctor Who is - cheap sets, tacky costumes, poor writing, pantomime storytelling, it's all there. Usually, for me at least, the show rises above its technical and financial limitations by presenting interesting ideas and captivating characters. But sometimes, like with this story, it's just cheap and badly written.

As of this morning, I have taken more than 500,000 steps since the start of this project. When I began nearly three months ago, it was all I could do to last 55 minutes at 3 miles per hour, reaching a grand total of 2.4 miles per day. I have been gradually increasing the speed over time, to the point where this morning I was up to 3.9 miles per hour and a total distance walked of 3.57 miles -- that's over a mile further I am walking every day. I'm not sure at what point I will cross over from walking to jogging, but I expect it will happen before I meet Sarah Jane Smith.

Anyway, today I watched the first half of The Underwater Menace on DVD. The first episode was a reconstruction using telesnaps, and I have to say that although the audio quality was superior I really do think that Loose Cannon does a better job with the video reconstruction. The DVD reconstruction was missing any descriptive subtitles during several passages where they would have been helpful to clarify the action. Also, all of the pictures were static and sometimes poorly timed, as opposed to how Loose Cannon frequently animates things by moving or panning the picture, or by cutting to facial closeups of the characters who are speaking. The second episode, however, was an honest-to-goodness real existing video. I was suddenly struck that, fully a dozen episodes into the Second Doctor's era, this was the first time I was actually seeing Patrick Troughton in action.

Let's talk about that.

Sure enough, Jamie McCrimmon first appeared in yesterday's viewing. But really he had very little to do with the story, he was more than a background character but less than a guest star. With today's viewing, he finally came to the foreground - first in his determination on board the ship Annabelle and then later in his decision to throw in with the Doctor permanently. That's not surprising, given that originally he was not intended to be a companion. After filming had completed on The Highlanders, actor Frazier Hines got a call from producer Innes Lloyd asking if he wanted to join the show as a regular. "But I can't," Hines replied, "you've already filmed me waving goodbye." Lloyd replied back, "Oh, we can just re-shoot that bit!" And so he agreed, and went on to become the longest running companion ever in the history of Doctor Who (at least in terms of televised episodes.)

Let's talk about that.

Before I get to today's viewing of The Highlanders, I need to tell a weight loss story. So, last night my wife and I were getting ready to go out on a date to see a show. I had just put away a bunch of laundry, and I chose a nice gray button-down shirt to wear. As soon as I put it on, it felt a little snug. "That's weird," I thought, "lately I have been fitting into shirts I haven't worn in ages, this should fit me fine..."  I started to button it, and it really started feeling tight. I was beginning to panic, thinking my belly had suddenly bloated in size. It was really frustrating, especially since last week I had a definite road bump in my weight loss progress. I tried to adjust the shirt a little (as if that would make any difference), when my wife looked at me and said, "Are you trying to wear one Ben's shirts?" (Ben is our 23 year old autistic son.)  All of a sudden it made perfect sense. I wasn't suddenly fatter again, I was just stupid! I had mistaken the top shirt from his basket of laundry as my own. Lord, I am moron sometimes....

Anyway, about Doctor Who: today I started The Highlanders, which is notable for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is the last pure historical story every done in the series (unless you count 1982's Black Orchid, which is set in a historical time period and with no science fiction elements, but which is not based on any real historical event.)  Second of all, it is the story that introduces Jamie McCrimmon, who would go on to be the longest running Doctor Who companion of all time.

Let's talk about that.