So next it's...

You didn't live near the Wales border did you? I only ask as in 1974 Wales showed Who on Sundays so the episode would be transmitted from London then the videotape would go on a train to Cardiff and be played again for the Wales region. People who lived on the border could get BBC west and BBC Wales and hence which it Saturday and a repeat on Sunday.

AFAIK it was never repeated 'officially' in the UK pre UK Gold.

Nowhere near Wales, so that's not it. I had left home before the parents got a dish so missed out on UK Gold too. So colour viewing might be a false memory. I believe we got colour during Toms first year. I know we saw Spiders in b&w (had to imagine just how blue the crystal might be). But my memory of Ark in Space is colour (mostly white that one, though). On a Baird set from, where else, Radio Rentals.

But how extraordinary that you should know about those Sunday broadcasts.

I just have a good memory from DWMs, Andrew Pixley articles, David Howe, Stephen James Walker, Mark Stammers, David Brunt and others. I've therefore absorbed a lot of data which I use in response to Tiggs viewings.

The Wales episode have jokingly been seen as BBC Wales response to Doctor Who's patronising of the Welsh in The Green Death the previous season, by banishing it to Sunday.

^^ Could that be classified as an Anti-Welsh agenda? ^^

**cranes neck to look for Tiggs**

**slashes through tall grass with machete**

Tiggs? ...... Tiggs! ...... Tiggs?! ......

**encounters himself going the other way**

I haven't seen her, have you?

No.

Oh well ...

**desperately tries to prop up thread but finds himself crushed beneath the weight of newer threads**


AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

:sleep:

Can't .... lift this ... for.. . very .... long......

Ooh sorrrrrry.

*bounces off to look for notes*

**collapses and crawls out from under thread**

See you in a bit, after I get a drink.

Aww you are my hero CoalHill.

Okay from my notes:

The Monster of Peladon. - 4 July 2011

Not sure what to say. Feels very samey to The Curse of Peladon. Not a lot going for it so far. Chapter 2 tomorrow.

16 July 2011

Finished this today. They killed Aggador. Poor innocent furry monster. Would have been great as a kids toy. Did they make any back in the day? Jon seems really tired now. Spent a lot of time pretending he was dead, no good for Sarah Jane's nerves. Story seemed to drag a bit, and not as good as the first Peladon story in my view. Relationship between sarah jane and the doctor warming up nicely though, loved the end clip. Such a shame the doctor has to change so soon. Have spiders on order and should get it on Monday.

No, it's not a classic. But all I remember about it is an excellent monster-fest. Another outing for Alpha Centuari. Marvellous. (I would wish for an appearance by Alpha Centauri in the current show, but I bet they'd use the computer to do it and it'd be all wrong.)

Very much looking forward to your review of episode two of Spiders.

The episode was very woman's libbish..."the woman may come too." Oh and I rather liked the badger design hairdo's. Pertwee really wasn't his active self in this story and I noticed he had a double for the fight stunts too. A sign he was getting tired maybe?

So yes, Spiders next.

Spiders! - 18 July 11

Started on planet of the spiders today.

Couldn't believe it was Mike Yates at first. Kept saying to other half, 'that is Mike Yates, isn't it?' Really pleased to see him back and hopefully rectifying his awful mistakes. And loved the links to Jo bless her.

19 July 11

Part two in about an hours time.

Oh my god. What a funny episode. Really. I was cracking up. Well until i thought they'd killed Benton, but he survived. I loved the car, hovercar, heliplanebike scenes. So much fun.

27 July 11

Just finished it. Aww what a great ending. I absolutely loved that the story had a sort of arc, with regards to the crystal and it relating back to Jo's era. Spiders were a bit naff, but not sure what the capabilities would have been at the time, but looking past that I loved the story. Glad Yates has made a reprieve. Oh and I loved that the Abbot was actually the hermit on the hill that the Doctor talked about. Well I presume that was what he meant. Liked the way they used him to introduce the idea of regeneration to Sarah Jane. And now I fully appreciate that line...a tear Sarah Jane? Still not my favourite of Doctor's but I did feel sad at the end of this story. So what exactly was his fear? Was it the spider or was it actually a fear of regenerating? Because I would prefer it to be a fear of regenerating. Following on from Two not wanting to become Three it would be understandable that Three wouldn't want to leave his body either. And it also adds emphasis to Ten's 'I don't want to go'. Almost like a running theme. Looking forward to the start of Tom's era and that's the first time the idea of a new Doctor/Companion has actually overshadowed the sadness of losing an old Doctor/Companion. I know it's not a new companion but...well I was so sad at the loss of Nine, really upset at the loss of Rose, sad at the loss of Martha, devastated at the loss of Donna, shattered after the loss of Ten, suprisingly upset after One going, and equally upset after Two went. Down after Barbara and Ian went, cried over Zoe and Jamie, also sad when Jo went. But well, Three, it was fun and I will really miss you. But bring on Four!

Edit: Oh and Gareth Hunt...kept expecting him to put the coffee on.

I was on holiday when Tiggs updated here but here's the comments I did for her at the time...

Time to comment on Monster of Peladon. I’m glad you have noticed Pertwee’s tiredness as well, he’s in pain from his back but you can tell the enthusiasm is flagging so it was good that he didn’t stay on for the money (if the BBC had done that, which it wouldn’t) and not enjoy the part. This story is playing with the audience as the Doctor is put through more than the usual ‘is he dead?’ scenes particularly at the end of part four and early in part six. His luck will run out soon… Also for the first time ever, the third Doctor loses in a straight fight and gets punched in the face twice! Doubt they’d allow that now. Shame about the obvious doubling of Pertwee who had been so energetic in Curse and doubled far less in that.

Monster is a lesser story to Curse and is a genuine sequel in the sense similar things happen but not as well as before like most films. Peladon is very faithfully recreated but that shouldn’t be a surprise as the temple, throne room and corridor pillars had all been put in storage in early 1972 and dragged back out two years later. This set saving was virtually unique as apart from the TARDIS and a few Dalek consoles in the 60s, sets tended to be built from scratch every time. Alpha Centauri had the same body but a new head and cloak but still acted like a cock. As well as Ysanne Churchman as the voice, Stuart Fell is still the body. Ysanne will be back in Planet of the Spiders. The Ice Warrior costumes from 1967 appear one more time with Sonny Caldinez wearing Bernard Bresslaw’s costume. That costume is the one now on display in the Experience and is the last surviving one. Aggedor is the same costume and the same unfortunate Nick Hobbs within it who, as I mentioned on Curse, was the pensioner who threw pony tailed Rory onto the ground in ‘Amy’s Choice’.

I do think the Ice Warriors give the story a much needed kick from part 4, I wish they had arrived sooner. How much people believed at the time they were still peaceful from Curse and were actually surprised they were a baddie breakaway faction is unknown but I do wish the Ice Warriors good or bad would return to Who as they are great characters

Trivia – Nina Thomas, the Queen, would appear in the Sweeney with John Hurt a couple of years later. The Doctor returned to Peladon on audio and in the novel Legacy. This and Curse were the only Pertwee’s without location filming, they did go to the Ealing studios though. It had been used in Curse for the cliff face scenes and in the 60s for lots of things, especially if the water tank was needed. Pertwee’s second new outfit of the season, a rather garish green number with very wide lapels, at least it’s better than the one in the previous story. Fortunately and maybe appropriately, in his last story although it’s another new costume, it will be black which echoes his first costume of 5 years earlier. Ralph Watson who was Ettis was Captain Knight in Web of Fear and will be Ben in Tom’s Horror of Fang Rock. Rex Robinson was Dr Tyler in Three Doctors and will be Dr Carter in Hand of Fear. Not a dr here but he dressed like a badger instead.

Brian Hayles did not write for Doctor Who again, having contributed The Celestial Toymaker, The Smugglers, The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Death, The Curse of Peladon and this. Malcolm Hulke with the Invasion of the Dinosaurs also bowed out this season (after doing Faceless Ones (with David Ellis), The War Games (with Terrance Dicks), Silurians, rewriting Amabassadors of Death, Colony in Space, The Sea Devils and Frontier in Space. Next story is by Robert Sloman (with Barry Letts) and that will be his last story as well after The Daemons, The Time Monster, The Green Death and that.

I’ll end with my favourite moment – Ettis who is now quite potty, replies to the Doctor with “I don’t be-lieeeve yooouuuu!” A brilliantly over the top bit of acting complete with staring eyes. The next mad character with staring eyes to appear will be Tom Baker…

Pertwee, the Doctor who could be seen as the most arrogant, dies through his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Like some Doctors to come he sets off a chain of events and they come back to haunt him.

In this case Terrance Dicks’ continuity minded vision with Barry Lett's and Robert Sloman try to create a suitably epic send off that impacts on the character of the Doctor and who he is. You have already picked up on all the links back to the recent Pertwee era showing it’s not only RTD or Moffat who can pull this trick. Pertwee liked an ensemble cast and the UNIT family and friends gather together to see him off.

As you mentioned, the blue crystal from Green Death is returned by the now married Jo Jones who we’ll next hear about 37 years later. Captain Yates is mentioned in her letter and by that point he’s been seen on screen trying to get over the Operation Golden Age mess. Yates turned traitor was incredibly daring for a Who regular so it’s natural he gets his redemption here. We also see the Brig in civvies again and a mention of a liaison with a Doris at the seaside. The Brig should beware of coastal entanglements but you’ll hear more about Doris a long time in the future. Here the Doctor calls him Alistair, in the next story we’ll hear his full name for the first time. Another link back is that John Dearth who was the voice of BOSS in Green Death is now Lupton, a bitter man with a very down to earth reason for revenge.

You mentioned episode 2 – some find it grotesque padding and it was done to fulfil various promises to Pertwee by Letts that they would include an autogyro helicopter, a hovercraft and a speedboat in the programme. Pertwee had seen the autogyro in May 1971 so these were long overdue requests so it’s nice to see the star have some fun one last time. Why didn’t Lupton teleport earlier? Well, I presume they assumed they would outrun the Doctor and didn’t reckon on his persistence. I like how it starts with them all chasing then the Doctor and Sarah and finally him on his own.

This was the second and last use of the Whomobile as it was Pertwee’s own car. In the chase were the policeman – Chubby Oates who had been in Daemons, Pat Gorman as the UNIT soldier who asks where Lupton is going. Pat was on screen as an extra since 1964 and will continue to be seen until 1985. He’s in Tom’s first story as a baddie gate attendant! Terry Walsh who tries to stop the speedboat theft has been a stuntman for ages and will appear up until 1979. He was Pertwee’s stunt double and will be Tom’s in future. The tramp under the hovercraft was Stuart Fell who was first clearly seen in Claws of Axos, had been the body of Alpha Centauri, a Sea Devil and will be Morbius and in regular use for the next decade – I think he’s final work is doubling for the Cybermen deaths in Five Doctors. One of the guard captains on Metebelis III was Walter Randall in his last Who appearance having been in Aztecs, Crusade, Daleks’ Master Plan and Inferno if not more. The other one was Max Faulkner who was an actor/stuntman who had just been killed twice in 5 minutes in part six of Monster of Peladon and would have his biggest role in 1977’s Invasion of Time.

The spider voices included Alpha Centauri herself, Ysanne Churchman and Roger Delgado’s widow Kismet. The Who team knew she was in dire straits after her husband’s unexpected death and gave her the role to help. Gareth Hunt got his part in the following way: He was riding in a BBC lift one day. Barry Letts got in. [Pause] Barry says to Gareth, “Are you an actor?” Gareth, “Yes.” “Would you like to do 4 episodes of Doctor Who?” “Yes.” Gareth always said he’s ridden in many BBC lifts since but no one ever offered him another job since. Shortly after Spiders, he got a part as a footman in Upstairs Downstairs and from that got the role as Gambit in the New Avengers and coffee fame. He wanted to do the commentary for the DVD but was too ill and died shortly after in 2007.

Benton is as great as ever, smaller part than the ones he has had in recent seasons but he did get the ad lib, “Ah Doctor, doing some hairdressing on the side then?” The Brig rings for Dr Sullivan in part two but Harry won’t be seen until Tom starts.

This story is a rarity in that it was produced, co-written and directed by Barry Letts. True, any brickbats go to him but the story does have a soul to it. The Doctor has to face the thing he is most scared of (the Great One) and face death fearlessly to atone for his sins of greed and curiousity. The Doctor is still curious so when reborn into his new life, he doesn’t quite achieve a higher level. Barry Lett’s Buddhism comes out clearly in this. Nice to see a goodie Time Lord for a change, and it is the hermit mentioned in Time Monster – I did unsubtly mention that scene at the time. He will be mentioned again but not for some time… I wonder if he’s still out there…

The Doctor feared the spider but he was really facing the consequences of his actions and was prepared to sacrifice himself for them – something even Ten baulked at in End of Time – he runs from his actions, for a time. In this case he doesn’t fear regenerating as he fully expects to die. K’Ampo has to nudge him into regenerating. That is literally the Doctor’s death scene pre-Impossible Astronaut.

You’ll have a ball with Tom and I look forward to seeing you on the journey as his style changes so much! I’ll have plenty to comment on there.

Trivia – made at the same time as Robot and confused Elisabeth Sladen as she was doing both at once. The Pertwee/Baker regeneration was actually done in the first of three studio recording blocks with all the UNIT lab scenes for episodes 1,2 and 6. So Tom had regenerated before playing him on location for the first time. As mentioned before, Pertwee’s (new) sombre black costume echoes his first costume. The sonic screwdriver is used by Clegg to show flashbacks to Carnival of Monsters (edited to avoid showing Jo). Carnival was directed by Letts as well of course. Whereas Jon liked being part of the ‘company’, but in this story’s rehearsals he withdrew to a table between scenes and started signing fan mail as he got used to the idea of leaving the show and emotionally started to detach himself. Jon’s next job was as quizmaster on ITV’s Whodunnit? He also had surgery on his back that had played him up so badly in his last year on the show. Despite Pertwee being known for the cape, he doesn’t wear one for his last three stories but the Curse of Peladon and Invasion of the Dinosaurs ones are on the hatstand in part six.
Nicholas Courtney suggested changing his last line from ‘Pon my soul’ or similar to “Well, here we go again!”

Jon wanted a car for public appearances and when it was built - early-mid 1973 it suggests he wasn't planning to quit as it suited the Doctor as he played him. By the time the car was finished he was in his last season and had resigned. My favourite actor reuse is Margaret John who was in Fury from the Deep then returned in Idiot's Lantern - 39 years later.

Where's the "publish thread as book" button on this forum?

Only thing of (marginal) interest I have to say is that by coincidence I saw the Bresslaw Ice Warrior costume today. (he was a big boy). Did not know it was also the "Monster" one. But I do now. Also...Jon used an anecdote about the hoverboat chase which was at Barry Lett's expense. Barry contradicted it. You can hear both variants if you listen to Radio 4 Extra (or Radio Seven as was or Radio Round The Horne as I call it). Barry's memoir and Jon's one man reminiscences show come round every now and then.

Sonny (Kemel/Turoc/Ssorg/Sskel) Caldinez tells the story that his Ice Warrior shell was damaged when he fell over in it in the Ice Warriors so when he played other Ice Warriors in the 3 sequels, he was given Bresslaw's costume.

Presumably as he was wearing the lead costume, it was the one kept on display and over the years the others were junked. The others are more of a hodge podge in Monster as most of the costumes hadn't been used in 6 years. It seems clear there were no plans to bring back Ice Warriors even in 1975 as of course one of the costumes back piece was sprayed grey and used as a mutation in the cave scene in Genesis of the Daleks (seen crawling past the grille). It's so nice one costume survived, maybe it can be the mould for a return, one day...

Have written comments on Robot to Revenge of the Cybermen but will wait for Tiggs first as 'her' thread.

Wandered off again, has she? I haven't the strength for another safari so soon...

Tiggs hasn't been sighted in almost a month.

I fear for the future

As an aside - for my own latest Classic rewatch I've adopted a different approach. I've started by watching each of the first seven Doctors' opening episodes, then following on with their second and third etc.

So it goes like this:

An Unearthly Child
Planet Of The Daleks (LC10)
Spearhead From Space
Robot
Castrovalva
The Twin Dilemma
Time and the Rani
The Daleks
The Highlanders (LC27)
Doctor Who and the Silurians
The Ark In Space
Four to Doomsday
Attack Of The Cybermen
Paradise Towers

Etc.

Just about to start Castrovalva, and I have to say that watching in this order is feeling quite fresh, at the moment.

Of course, some Doctors will fall to the wayside sooner than others, but I'm enjoying having a new, disciplined format for a rewatch.

A bit like a seven-layered cake. Vertical slices through time.