Hi Greg

Sorry I didn't get your message, my inbox is now clear!

Gosh, people seem to be digging all my old threads up lately!

Anyway, back on topic and yes I stand by what I said originally, though I think having the option to watch it in colour would be nice. It is weird watching the old b&w stuff in colour when you get used to watching it originally, it does add a certain something to it but also takes away the mystique of the earlier episodes as well.

I don't want the 60s in colour any more than I want someone to go and add some synthesisers to The Beatles, which is to say that I don't want it at all. While technically interesting, artistically it's no more than narrow-sighted tampering.

Nor would I. It would be nice if we were given the option, so that those who want to watch them in their original B&W glory can continue to do so, while those of us who wouldn't mind watching them in colour could also do so.

I do understand each point of view, even if I do have a more technical than artistic approach.
I think that when the black & white is an artistic choice, it would be a sacrilege to colorize, but when it's due to technical limitations, it's nice to have a new look at those movies & series.
When colorizing, I do sometimes see details that I couldn't see in black and white, that's fun.
If you're interresed, I'm trying to colorize the first Doctor Who episode (An Unearthly Child, part 1), the first shots are on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ6hkjGPOMs&feature=plcp

Pretty hard to have good results when the scene is too dark (the last part of the video is way better), I wonder what a real artist could do.


You're right, that could be nice, something like what Lucas Arts did for Monkey Island (I & II) SE

I think the alien planet sets etc look better in black+white than colour at least they did in the classic series. In black+white it all looks a bit more alien so it is more believeable while woth episodes like Logopolis, the sets are obviously what they are, just sets. And the rocks are obviously plastic. However with Earthbound stories, I think it was better in colour

Absolutely not. You can't change something as stylistically important as that.

Filming in black and white was actually an advantage for 60s Doctor Who because it hid so much that would look terrible in colour; one good example of this is the clingfilm sea of glass in the Keys of Marinus. As another example, check out the fantastic painted backdrops in 'The Aztecs'; they wouldn't be nearly as convincing in colour.

No, that's how the show was made and that's how we should appreciate it now. Anyone with taste too narrow to do so is missing out; it's their problem.

I'm not sure I will change your mind, but look at that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g15K9yypl44

That was made by a (really talented!) artist named Stuart Humphryes (aka Babelcolour).
I don't think that it looks terrible, but terrific

I have never had any problems appreciating the stories in black and white, but I would love to see these stories in colour. I probably would choose to watch them in b&w the majority of viewings, but to me it shows a new aspect to stories that I've loved and watched many times over. I welcome these innovations.

I've seen the guy's stuff before and it looks good. But I don't think it really adds anything beyond novelty.

I think we've had a little insight in some colour. Namely one of the extras on The Dalek invasion Of Earth DVD where Carole Ann Ford filmed her last day on a silent camera. Even if the previous filmed footage from the camera was interlaced with the studio.

Fascinating all the same.

I've always wished I could see the early historicals like Marco Polo, The Aztecs and Reign of Terror in colour but that may be because I grew up watching films like Kidnapped and Zulu and love the richness of colour in these films.

Black and White is a different medium to colour. It is more intimate and shows light and shade and its probably wrong to colour the early stories. They were made in black and white and its a bit like colouring Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon. Not what the director intended.

Defintley, if there were some special edition DVDs with colour 60's episodes, then I would buy them.Maybe we just have to wait for a while.

It's an utterly stupid idea which adds nothing of any value to the sixties episodes. I can't believe people actually waste their time doing it.