"It's a quarry"
"Dressed like Andy Pandy"

Would you say that Nick Courtney's career went onwards and upwards from 1980 and for decades afterwards?

Nice to see a quarry being used as a quarry!
I was worried that she had killed the lab guy and that wouldn't have been like SJS at all!

Did anyone else notice that when the nuclear boss guy was talking on the tannoy, there was a fly walking over his forehead?

Great to see this again. Is anyone watching with their kids? What do they make of it? It must seem quite strange for children who have been raised on today's Who (and seeing SJ as a young girl must seem weird too).

Eldrad must live!

Love it.

Must go and look up Glyn Houston now.

Lis chose to back away from acting to be a full-time mum raising her daughter and seeing as she only recently died I think your tone is a little disrespectful.

Didn't watch it on BBC4 tonight, but I know this story is a good one and it's fascinating to read the views of people who haven't seen much or no Classic Who.

I agree it was nice to see a quarry being a quarry for once and The Doctor indulging in a bit of Cricket many year before Doc 5. I thought Lis Sladen put in a superb performance as the possessed Sarah and it was a really good opening first episode and an unusual way of introducing the regulars into it.

It's quite strange for me and although I wasn't a child when new who started, I'm too young to have caught the classic series the first time around so I've only seen a few of them. I must admit I did have a little giggle at the wobbly set and the poorly superimposed hand!
I think a child might find it even less strange, I know when I was younger I would watch older programmes and I can't remember noticing big differences in the set and FX quality but I suppose 90's tv looks pretty bad compared to today's HD.
I hope you understand that I'm only picking on it in an affectionate way! It's a great story and I'm looking forward to the final parts tomorrow

my four year old got to stay up to watch it as a treat and he really enjoyed it - loves the classic music - but he was confused, kept asking when the ood was coming on as it was at the end of the ep 4 trailer for the new series

this is the second classic story he's watched, he absolutely loved the five doctors

nice seeing lis sladen as a young sarah, great chemistry between her and tom

What was noticeable - apart from the lousy music - was how much of the action was NOT centred on the main characters. There were even long periods when neither were on-screen

I think the difference is that Lis was the main character in a current Children's BBC serial, and was filming for that serial at the time of her death.

I know "The Brig" had appeared in SJA, but only as a one off.

However, I agree that a classic episode they were both in would have been a better choice. I suppose they chose HoF because it was Lis's last DW until School reunion.

(Not counting the K9 thing!)

I think it's more than a little disrespectful. There's no need to say that about anyone, alive or dead. You could see from the responses on this forum that her death affected many people, even those who have only watched a couple of DW/SJA episodes in passing.
The loss of Nick Courtney is also terrible and I agree it deserves some sort of tribute but I can understand why the untimely and sudden passing of an actor who was still regularly on television would get more attention.

Besides, it is quite possible to mourn the loss of a fine actor without an official tribute. Fans will always feel grief over a death without a reminder of the past. The huge sum of money raised in Nick and Lis' name for charity is a better tribute than any tape the BBC thought they had a duty to play. (Although I did enjoy their choice very much )

I agree, it's not a problem to question why there was not a tribute for Nick without having a dig at Elisabeth Sladen. I'm still very sad when I see her and realise that she was far too young.

First part of the post I agree with.

Last sentence totally uncalled for.

Or ... it turns out that it's now not available to download or view on BBC iPlayer after all, but apparently
according to the redirected page from my earlier link, it can be viewed on selected mobile devices.

Whenever I go back to one of these older episodes what strikes me most is the sedate pacing. A four-parter gave the writer plenty of time. On the other hand the 45 minute episodes of the modern series produces, I think anyway, a much tighter script. I think the advent of video recording and then view on demand changed the way television is watched and also the way it is written. The writer of popular drama now knows that it will be watched many times by the most dedicated viewers, and this enables much denser, more cryptic storytelling.

Well she did also struggle to get work. She did not do too badly on leaving Who but come 1980 really struggled.

It was one of the reasons she refused to appear at UK conventions (although happy to go to the more lucrative American ones).

I'm not being disrespectful, simply pointing something out.

But your point seemed to be that she didn't deserve a tribute, because her career might not be on a flying high in the 1980's. Who cares? Even if she had not reappared on our screens, it's nice to see the BBC paying tribute.

It would have been nice to have a tribute for Nick as well, and that's what was really wrong.

Even though modern programmes have different special effects, I still found the hand moving by itself scary!

The custom sets were the usual wobbly ones but I noticed that a lot of the episodes shown took place in a real nuclear power station.

Obviously one that had not yet been commissioned.

It was weird watching her walk between the turbines/generating sets in silence.

Me too. Quite atmospheric as well.

Do you have any credible evidence for that or are you just making it up?

By all appearances she worked until 1985 when her daughter was born at which time she decided to devote her time to bringing up the child.


The reason she gave up UK conventions was because she thought it would be discourteous to the actors that followed her as companions in Doctor Who. She continued to attend foreign conventions because the programmes she appeared in were still being shown abroad.


Except that you seem to be 'pointing out' things that are not backed up by available sources and appear picked to show her in an unfavourable light. i.e. 'struggled to find work' as opposed to concentrating on bringing up a young child and the implication of mercenary motives rather than simple consideration for others.

Quote:
Originally Posted by k9fan
Even though modern programmes have different special effects, I still found the hand moving by itself scary!

I know! Then they just wakled along corridors. Nowadays they run! Fast!

I believe there are "licensing" issues that prevent some things they sell on DVD being shown on iPlayer