Recently I've had several conversations in which it seems obvious that it's about time for me to indulge in another marathon viewing of as many of the pre-Hiatus stories as I can get my hands on (out on Region 1 DVD or available as a photonovel at the BBC website). I'd made a plan to do that in the 8 weeks leading up to Gally as a way to get myself refamiliarized with the older stories.
After taking a look at the playlist, I've realized there's no way I can do it in eight weeks; I need more like sixteen. Conveniently enough, if I start tomorrow, I'll have those sixteen weeks (plus a few days for The Movie) before Gally! So, if you'd like to play along, next week I'll be attempting to watch through the following:
- An Unearthly Child
- The Daleks
- The Edge of Destruction
- The Keys of Marinus
- The Aztecs
- The Dalek Invasion of Earth
- The Rescue
- The Romans
- The Web Planet
- The Crusade [photonovel]
I might skip over The Aztecs – or at least give it only a partial viewing – because it's one I've seen more than once. Regardless, this is going to be a tall order! Feel free to comment on your favorites/least favorites, general impressions of One and his Companions, and/or the idiocy of my plan.
Best of Luck!
Having done all this myself for the podcast I can safely say that it’s well worth doing, although you may struggle with The Edge of Destruction, bits of Marinus and a large chunk of The Web Planet…
Having said that, the very first episode of An Unearthly Child is awesome, The Daleks, The Aztecs and The Crusade are all excellent.
P x
Thanks!
I've seen them all before, so I know basically what I'm getting into. 🙂 It's just a matter of re-familiarizing myself with the material.
So far, I've watched through The Aztecs (one of my faves), thanks to the presence of some offspring-distracting relatives this weekend. Looking forward to the rest of this journey!
First Doctor – Part 2
Here's my list of the second batch of First Doctor stories for the marathon:
These didn't take nearly as long as I'd anticipated, so I've gone right on to the Second Doctor. We'll see whether or not I need the full two weeks for him.
Second Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
Moving on to Two, I have to start with a boatload of photonovels. The entirety of his first season is missing or incomplete. Pretty much the only thing here to watch is Tomb, which was recovered in 1991. Here's the list for the first proposed week of Two's stories:
There's some great stuff in there, including some more Companion comings and goings and the introduction of the Brigadier (though he was only a Colonel at the time…). That takes us into the second season. For the second part of Two's era of the marathon, the list is:
I'm going to start tweeting as I finish stories. You can follow along, if you like!
If Only
I bloody love The Power of the Daleks. I really wish these lost episodes would be found!
Srsly
It really is a shame so much of Troughton’s era is lost. He was a bloody brilliant Doctor.
Power
Yup, Power is stellar. The family listened to it twice on a road trip to Florida: gripping stuff.
Third Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
Having finished Two, I'm now on to Three. Hopefully it won't take me the whole two weeks, as I'd like to post about it next week. However, here's my proposed two-week viewing schedule:
Some of those I've reviewed this year already, so they will probably be more cursory viewings. For the second "week" – or at least Part 2 of the viewing schedule, I'll be watching:
So there you have it. Those are all of Three's stories that currently exist on R1 DVD, and I'll be re-watching them all. I'll try to remember to tweet my thoughts on the stories as I go, just to add a bit of interest.
Jumping Jehosophat!
That’s quite a task for a fortnight. The Third Doctor is not my favourite, despite having some great stories. We’ve just started watching them for the podcast and I’m struggling with Pertwee already…
Didn’t expect that
Huh. I wouldn’t have expected him to irritate you. I’m rather fond of him myself, though the six- and seven-part stories can get a bit long…
Can’t Like ’em All…
Series 8 is where the Brigadier’s character starts it’s slow descent into buffoonery (reaching it’s nadir in The Time Monster) and is also where Pertwee’s Doctor enters his “Arrogant, Pompous, Condescending F***er” period.
In dramatic terms his behaviour can be explained by his growing frustration at being stuck on Earth, and in The Daemons the frustration may be intensified by the tantalising taste of freedom he had enjoyed in the previous story, but it does make it hard for the viewer to wish him well. He does mellow out a bit in the following series, and that’s when his friendship with Jo really seems to blossom but he still maintains an insufferable air of superiority that hovers on the wrong side of endearing.
It’s interesting for me though, as a child of the late Seventies/early Eighties that in a time before the VHS releases I first experienced the Third Doctor through the Target books and never found the character as unpleasant as I do on TV – which I can only level at Pertwee’s performance. TimeVault has just reached the Pertwee years, so I’m waiting to see if my opinion changes…
Of Course Not
Everyone’s got their faves and least faves. 🙂 I’ve always been able to look past the pomposity, somehow.
I’ll be interested to learn, too, if your opinion changes. Coming at it from different directions always affects our views. 🙂
Fourth Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
Seven seasons is a lot to cover. I've tentatively split this up into 4 weeks of viewing, and will be making two posts out of it. The first post will include the following stories, from the first two weeks of viewing. For Week 1, I propose viewing:
and for Week 2, I will attempt:
Yes, that's an awful lot of stuff to get through. Using 1.5x on my DVD player (which still allows me to hear/understand all the dialogue perfectly well) helps!
Fourth Doctor – Parts 3 and 4
Having just finished the first four seasons of Four's tenure, I am preparing my review of the first chunk of his era. However, first there will be a Nu-View to post. In the meantime, I need to continue the viewing marathon in order to keep up with the schedule and be prepared to post a review of the second portion of his era on time.
With that in mind, here's the upcoming viewing plan. I'm hoping to keep up with my original schedule and complete these by the end of the calendar year. To do that, I'd like to get through the following by Christmas:
In the week leading up to New Years', then, I'm planning to watch the rest of Four's stories:
Assuming I can accomplish all that – or, hopefully, stay just a smidge ahead of schedule – I'll be able to get all my thoughts on Four's entire era up before the end of 2011 and start 2012 fresh with a review of the Christmas special.
Wish me luck!
Fifth Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
It seems I've forgotten to mention I've moved on to the Fifth Doctor by now. Thanks to the remainder of my winter break, I should be able to finish both weeks' worth of stories in time to post my impression of Five for next week's entry. If you were playing along at home, here's the play list for the first week:
and for the second week:
As usual, three seasons in two weeks can be a tall order, but then again – I'm obsessive (in case you hadn't noticed).
Sixth Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
We're into the home stretch, having made it to the last few years. Due to new DVD releases, I'm a bit slow getting going on Six. However, here's the proposed viewing schedule for the do-it-yourself marathon, week one:
Week two looks like this:
There's a bit less to watch here, so even though I'm a little behind schedule, I should be able to finish in time to post my review in less than two weeks' time.
Seventh Doctor – Parts 1 and 2
Gally is coming up fast – it will be in full swing a mere month from now! Lucky for me, I've managed to keep up with my viewing schedule. The fact that three of Seven's twelve stories aren't out yet on DVD makes the schedule a little lighter. The first part of the plan is as follows:
For the second part, there are only four more stories:
It's going to be weird to get down to the end of this marathon. All that's left after this is The Movie!