Confessions of a Neowhovian

Review of Dragonfire (#151)
DVD Release Date:  08 May 12
Original Air Date:  23 Nov - 07 Dec 1987
Doctor/Companion:  Seven, Melanie Bush, Dorothy "Ace" McShane
Stars:  Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Sophie Aldred
Preceding Story:  Delta and the Bannermen (Seven, Mel)
Succeeding Story:  Remembrance of the Daleks (Seven, Ace)

Since this month's R1 releases included two Seven stories and a Four story, I was going to start with Nightmare of Eden and keep it chronological. After Simon Guerrier (a fellow panelist with me at Gally, and Whovian content creator in his own right) responded to one of my tweets essentially telling me I was slacking, I decided I had to start with Dragonfire.

To be honest, I was sort of looking for an excuse. I adore Ace, and have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to see her introduction. Coming at it from the future, so to speak, was actually a tad unsettling. While the original audience was still reveling in a recognition-of-returning-character moment (Glitz!), I'd cut that moment short to squee that I'd just noticed Ace(!) quietly serving him a drink in the background. Almost from that point on, I have a hard time paying any attention to Mel. Maybe it's that Ace is my all-time favorite Companion (yes, lately Rory's been giving her a run for her money, but stepping back from the swirl of new episodes for a while, the cream rises, and Ace comes back out on top), maybe it's that I know it's Ace's turn next, or maybe it's just that the script seems to have more for Ace to do than for Mel. Whatever the case, it already feels like a Seven-and-Ace story to me instead of a Seven-and-Mel one.

And the script doesn't waste any time developing her character, either. I mean, I love that our first proper look at Ace involves her chafing against authority. We get the whole sense of where she's come from (though, seriously - how does a kid from Perivale know it was a "time storm" that swept her off to Iceworld?) and what her life on Earth was like, too. On the other hand, I was a tad taken aback that there's never any explanation for why she chose to call the Doctor "Professor." Oh well. I suppose that's part of its charm.

Review of Carnival of Monsters: SE (#66)
DVD Release Date:  13 Mar 12
Original Air Date:  27 Jan - 17 Feb 1973
Doctor/Companion:  Three, Jo Grant
Stars:  Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning
Preceding Story:  The Three Doctors (Three, Jo, the Brigadier)
Succeeding Story:  Frontier in Space (Three, Jo)

I have to admit, I was not really looking forward to this one. It had only been a few months since I last watched it for the Marathon, and it's never really struck me as a particularly engaging story.

Whether it was my mood on this day, my evolving tastes in pre-Hiatus Who, or something else, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it this time around. It seemed like there was just the right balance of random political intrigue and technobabble-based s.f.-hijinks in the interior and exterior plot lines.

On the down side, I have to wholeheartedly concur that "Doctor Who should be banned from using dinosaurs." Both the plesiosaur and the Drashigs are utter rubbish (seriously - the Drashigs have six eyes, and they still can't see worth beans?). Bless Katy Manning, she can look terrified at any non-existent horror you can dream up, but I'm afraid I can't muster the same emotion here (unless it refers to the effects). I know, I know... The show is about so much more than the effects, but the Drashigs always make me want to giggle. Or cringe. Or giggle while cringing. Regardless, it's not the impact they were intended to have on tots in the viewing audience, I'm sure.

Another thing that irritated me was the scaling for the miniscope. For example, since the scope itself is between waist and chest height, the "livestock" inside must necessarily be miniaturized to roughly a centimeter or less in height in order to fit (along with their habitats). Yet the TARDIS comes out roughly 8-10 cm tall (at a guess). Worse, the Doctor himself stumbles out of the machine at one point, clearly several inches tall (maybe 20 cm? - regardless, even larger than the TARDIS had been) before beginning to de-miniaturize.

Review of The Dæmons (#59)
DVD Release Date:  10 Apr 12
Original Air Date:  22 May - 19 Jun 1971
Doctor/Companion:  Three, Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Stars:  Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning
Preceding Story:  Colony in Space (Three, Jo)
Succeeding Story:  Day of the Daleks (Three, Jo, the Brigadier)

A lot of Long-Term Fans have a pretty high opinion of The Dæmons, from what I understand. That kind of reputation always makes me approach a story with caution. With a pedestal so high, can it possibly be as beautiful as those who put it there believe?

For me, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, it's an enjoyable story. There's a lot to recommend it, and I could probably watch it again relatively soon without complaint. But there are the standard silly bits, too, and it's not quite engaging enough for me to ignore them all.

Based on conversations elsewhere, I think at least some of the story's charm is lost in translation, as it were. An idyllic English village doesn't trip all the cultural nostalgia triggers that it would for a Brit or that, say, a small rural town or farm would for me, as someone who was raised in the American Midwest. So while the village square surrounded by pub, chapel, and such may stir something deep in the soul of a native of the British Isles, I find it merely quaint.

So what is it I'm not ignoring? Let's start with the Master's whole plan. Why the hell (~ahem~) is the Master bent on dominating humanity? Doesn't he hate this backward little planet? Hasn't he already tried to wipe out our species several times over? Isn't he sick of the place? For a while I thought maybe that last bit was part of the answer - he's stuck here, but has decided to make the best of it, and live up to his name. But that can't be right - it's not till the end of The Dæmons that he's locked up by UNIT (so he can later wreak havoc with The Sea Devils), and since we've just seen him in Colony in Space, we know he's got full control of his TARDIS. So I'm back to square one: wtf?