I finally got around to renting the DVD of 'The Creature from the Pit' this weekend. I'd seen it on the UK Gold repeats some years ago (and probably at the time of broadcast but long forgotten) and thought it was absolute rubbish. So this was one to rent and not buy!

Well, I started off by watching the extras and came across this little docu 'Team Erato' - a piece all about the failed creation of the creature (Erato himself!). What a fantastic little docu this was. An absolute delight to watch, especially hearing the opinions of the VFX assistants and in particular Morag Mclean who told the story of creating and operating the alien in such vivid detail. I really couldn't help but feel sorry for Erato and what those poor VFX guys went through.

On viewing again I really enjoyed this story. OK, its not one of the best, in fact there are some really dodgy moments, such as the bandits (terribly acted), K9's voice (David Brierly and not John Lesson), and Lalla Ward's awful performance as Romana. Skipping past those moments there are some gems to be had. Myra Frances puts in an amazing performance as Lady Adrastra - totally OTT and I loved the Wolfweeds, especially when they were brought to order with the crack of a whip!

The fact that its a totally rubbish alien menace (with a huge c*ck!) makes it all the better - in a very tongue in cheek way! I might even buy on DVD!

I remember that story....and had it on VHS for a while - I ended up wiping it in the end. BUT - it was a fun story to be honest.
I find this with most 'Classic Who' stories. They were good, wholesome stories - and also a bit crap! But , on reflection, after seeing the 'Nu-Who' stories (which are brillaint!) it's nice to go back to a bit of nostalgia (for those of us that remember it!) and just enjoy the cardboard-sets and rubber monsters....they weren't THAT bad! Errrmm well - maybe some were! But when you bare in mind there was no CGI in those days, nor any other special-effects like we have now - they did rather well.....on a VERY small budget.
I LOVE watching some of the old classics on a rainy Sunday afternoon!

I think, like many stories from that era, Creature from the Pit is not nearly as bad as it's made out to be. Like Horns of Nimon, it has its flaws and they do stick out a mile (rather like Erato's...no, I won't say it ) but there really is a lot of enjoyment to be had if you just accept its limitations and go along with it.

I quite enjoyed this story. The bandits were the only bad bit IMO.

You had to be a fan for the stories and just have fun with the low budget SFX. All things considered, they did some amazing things with the little money that they had. If the series could be redone today, in color and with the other technical advances that have come along since then, many of those stories would far outshine some of the modern day episodes.

If the Doctor is still on-air 50 years from now, I'm sure the fans will be laughing at the almost primative efforts of the Eccleston/Tennant/Smith era.

I like this story too. The humour of Season 17 is amazing and it hadn't yet hit it's peak at this point(that was coming in The Horns Of Nimon)

I loved the over-the-top acting, as Tom Baker has freely admitted, when he talks to the creature. I remember before the days I started watching Who properly seeing this show and the creature scared the crap out of me as a young kid. Looking at it now, it makes me chuckle but it works.

Adrastra was a superb villain in a period when female villains were quite regular. I rate her as one of the best. As for Romana, it was one of the worst outfits she wore for the show, especially coming straight after that outfit in City Of Death!

In defence of the old show: there were no cardboard sets. Barry Letts used to get very annoyed at people saying the sets wobbled, as they went out of their way to ensure that they didn't. And Doctor Who actually pioneered a lot of special effects that were later refined and used to great effect elsewhere, even in movies. If Doctor Who's effects people hadn't done so much work on what was then called Colour seperation Overlay, the greenscreen effects commonly used today might not be in use at all.

Speaking of that serial I had to post this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSaHm...eature=related

I rather like Creature from the Pit. like so many other stories of that period, there's a decent story hampered by some silliniess, so iffy design, some duff performances, and a crap monster.

Myra Frances and Eileen Way are magnificent, as Adrasta and Karela.

The DVD docco about the monster makers is fascinating. Great to see the monster operators and effects assistants talking about their experience, instead of just letting dreary old Mat Irvine and his dreadful puns steamroller across everything.