It was 1987 or 8, and I was 15/16 going through a "sh*t I'm approaching adulthood but I still feel like a kid" phase, and I'd talked to my mum and dad about my earliest memories, and Doctor Who was a surprisingly large part of them. So they bought me the VHS of this for Christmas, and it was perfect. Because I had two younger sisters (who I adore) who also had videos, I couldn't watch it all on Christmas Day, but I watched the classic Tom titles, and that was enough for me. Brilliant.
Boring personal stories aside, it's a brilliant piece of minimum-people, maximum-atmosphere that Doctor Who did so well at that time (still does, given chance - loved Midnight). Gabriel Woolf is fantastically menacing. Much as I love TIP/TSP, a bit of me was still disappointed when the big bad wasn't actually Sutekh.
That's not boring. Love hearing stories like that!
This was the first 'proper' Doctor Who video I owned, which was a present too. (I'd seen fuzzy stuff from various sources, if you get my drift, so the picture quality was quite a step up!)
Watched the heck out of it...wonderful story. Certainly one of Tom's best performances. The scene where he just pushes away Michael Sheard's characters corpse and Sarah loses it with him...brilliant. A real insight into the alien-ness of the Doctor and the fact that he has to have the 'big picture' in mind...just great stuff.
I think the end is a bit disappointing. After all that faffing about and murder and trips to Mars, the Doc' saves the day by getting a doohickey of convenience out of the Tardis. And the whole 2 minutes 'time factor' is a little moot when you've got a Time Machine. They could have stopped off in Starbucks for a Latte and still sent Sutekh into CSOblivion!
One who has a hand under the chair holding his cushion.
I remember I was on GB after The Name of the Doctor had transmitted, they created a wonderful thread called the "Photoshop Clara into every story ever" thread full of images of Clara in classic stories.
One such picture is that it's Clara's hand holding the cushion, which I thought, whoever came up with that is just a genius.
Scroll down on the link below, if you can, it's post number 15
A little bump for the Watch transmission on now. I love this story! First saw it when my dad rented (yes, rented!) it for me in the mid 80s when I off school after an operation. The 70s titles and the old Tardis interior blew my mind! In a way the kids of today miss out by being able to see everything anytime they want to. Glimpses of history were magical and mysterious back then.
I nagged my parents to buy it for me. Doctor Who videos cost £24.99 at the time so a huge amount for nagging was required.:D
A little bump for the Watch transmission on now. I love this story! First saw it when my dad rented (yes, rented!) it for me in the mid 80s when I off school after an operation. The 70s titles and the old Tardis interior blew my mind! In a way the kids of today miss out by being able to see everything anytime they want to. Glimpses of history were magical and mysterious back then.
I nagged my parents to buy it for me. Doctor Who videos cost £24.99 at the time so a huge amount for nagging was required.:D
I love this story, easily my favourite Doctor Who story of them all.
I think we must be of similar ages. I have a similar story, only it's my brother renting it when he was off school. He held onto it excitedly for the whole day waiting for me to get back from school to watch it. He knew it was my favourite, I'd read it to him a year or so earlier.
He's no longer with us, so this story also makes me remember him, another reason why it's my favourite.
I love this story, easily my favourite Doctor Who story of them all.
I think we must be of similar ages. I have a similar story, only it's my brother renting it when he was off school. He held onto it excitedly for the whole day waiting for me to get back from school to watch it. He knew it was my favourite, I'd read it to him a year or so earlier.
He's no longer with us, so this story also makes me remember him, another reason why it's my favourite.
Thanks for sharing such a genuinely touching story:).
I think the end is a bit disappointing. After all that faffing about and murder and trips to Mars, the Doc' saves the day by getting a doohickey of convenience out of the Tardis. And the whole 2 minutes 'time factor' is a little moot when you've got a Time Machine. They could have stopped off in Starbucks for a Latte and still sent Sutekh into CSOblivion!
Yes, he could have used the TARDIS, but even in those days where it seemed to be more reliable, it could still be unreliable!
With a Time Machine like that, would you want to risk leaving the fate of the world to chance it may choose that moment to appear somewhere else?!
Coincedence, but I'm up to this in my rewatch now - it's cool it's airing on watch, are they showing the odd serial? I've a question about this though, in part 2 they go into the TARDIS and Four shows SJ the 'future' 1980 if Sutekh was left to go all out, but how can they go back like they do, by leaving 1911 does that not sort of seal that Sutekh does go all out as he wasn't stopped? Or am I just brain-frazzled after a crazy day at work.
Coincedence, but I'm up to this in my rewatch now - it's cool it's airing on watch, are they showing the odd serial? I've a question about this though, in part 2 they go into the TARDIS and Four shows SJ the 'future' 1980 if Sutekh was left to go all out, but how can they go back like they do, by leaving 1911 does that not sort of seal that Sutekh does go all out as he wasn't stopped? Or am I just brain-frazzled after a crazy day at work.
If they leave and don't go back then yes Sutekh wins and destroys the Earth, leaving and then returning to the same moment is just the same as them not leaving so they still have a chance to stop Sutekh.
Comments
That's not boring. Love hearing stories like that!
This was the first 'proper' Doctor Who video I owned, which was a present too. (I'd seen fuzzy stuff from various sources, if you get my drift, so the picture quality was quite a step up!)
Watched the heck out of it...wonderful story. Certainly one of Tom's best performances. The scene where he just pushes away Michael Sheard's characters corpse and Sarah loses it with him...brilliant. A real insight into the alien-ness of the Doctor and the fact that he has to have the 'big picture' in mind...just great stuff.
the design was good. some trouble was taken with the sets.
I remember I was on GB after The Name of the Doctor had transmitted, they created a wonderful thread called the "Photoshop Clara into every story ever" thread full of images of Clara in classic stories.
One such picture is that it's Clara's hand holding the cushion, which I thought, whoever came up with that is just a genius.
Scroll down on the link below, if you can, it's post number 15
http://gallifreybase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169154
I nagged my parents to buy it for me. Doctor Who videos cost £24.99 at the time so a huge amount for nagging was required.:D
I love this story, easily my favourite Doctor Who story of them all.
I think we must be of similar ages. I have a similar story, only it's my brother renting it when he was off school. He held onto it excitedly for the whole day waiting for me to get back from school to watch it. He knew it was my favourite, I'd read it to him a year or so earlier.
He's no longer with us, so this story also makes me remember him, another reason why it's my favourite.
Thanks for sharing such a genuinely touching story:).
Yes, he could have used the TARDIS, but even in those days where it seemed to be more reliable, it could still be unreliable!
With a Time Machine like that, would you want to risk leaving the fate of the world to chance it may choose that moment to appear somewhere else?!
Why does Sarah Jane claim to be from 1980?
Why isn't Michael Sheard in the credits at the end?
1) That's when she's from! I know, it's confusing, maybe she was being approximate. See UNIT dating for more info.
2) It was an omnibus. I didn't look at end titles but I suspect they used the credits from the last episode, which he wasn't in.
If they leave and don't go back then yes Sutekh wins and destroys the Earth, leaving and then returning to the same moment is just the same as them not leaving so they still have a chance to stop Sutekh.
BIB
One from each Doctor (on Sat and Sundays)