Doctor Who IV - Everything Whovian - Would you like a jelly baby?

[Matt]

Pyramids of Mars, at least the DVD release, also gave us this great short

https://youtu.be/Q1xnU2BNryo

[jbmasta]

Agreed. There's a letter he wrote to a fan magazine as a kid on the passing of Roger Delgado somewhere online, so he's a real fan himself and knows how it feels on that side of the fence.

Matthew Waterhouse was a fan, and even had a letter published in Doctor Who Magazine or whatever it was called then before he was cast as Adric.

[jbmasta]

I think they blew most of the production money on that opening sequence for Trial lol. Nevertheless, for a BBC show at the time, it was pretty darn impressive. But there certainly was some spectacular FX being done in McCoy's era.

When Philip Hinchcliffe left he made sure that his final story, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, was an expensive one. The following season had a reduced budget, as anyone who has seen Underworld can attest to.

Speaking of the McCoy era, there's a great production history with Greatest Show in the Galaxy. The studio had asbestos so the studio filming was done in tents in the parking lot. Say what you will about John Nathan Turner, he found ways to get the show made.

[Matt]

Matthew Waterhouse was a fan, and even had a letter published in Doctor Who Magazine or whatever it was called then before he was cast as Adric.

The only reply to that is seeing the wonderful Episode 5 of Earthshock.

[Somecrazyaussie]

When Philip Hinchcliffe left he made sure that his final story, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, was an expensive one. The following season had a reduced budget, as anyone who has seen Underworld can attest to.

Speaking of the McCoy era, there's a great production history with Greatest Show in the Galaxy. The studio had asbestos so the studio filming was done in tents in the parking lot. Say what you will about John Nathan Turner, he found ways to get the show made.

Haha yeah, the Hinchcliffe doco on The Android Invasion elaborates on that. He stated that, if it was going to be his last one, he might as well "Go out with a bang." Secretly, though, I reckon that might have been his way of sticking it to the BBC management a bit over being "encouraged" to move on from the show.

Underworld suffed due to the rampant inflation that occurred during the tail end of the production on the 1977/78 season. It was also produced on a shoestring budget to allow for the production of The Invasion of Time. Given how cheap that one looks, it was evident there wasn't much money to go around.

Greatest Show benefited from the fact it was a story that took place at a circus. Quite serendipitous, really. If it has been anything else, it would have gone the way of Shada. JNT was the Production Unit Manager on that one, and he was determined history wasn't going to repeat itself. In any case, the adversity faced by Greatest Show In The Galaxy turned out to be its greatest asset.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I bought the Time War boxset from Big Finish and it was pretty good.

[jbmasta]

I bought the Time War boxset from Big Finish and it was pretty good.

Is that the Eighth Doctor set, or one of the War Doctor sets? The War Master set is phenomenal, my personal favorite is the third story from that.

[jbmasta]

The only reply to that is seeing the wonderful Episode 5 of Earthshock.

I'll encourage you to listen to the Short Trips stories A Full Life and The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius. Pretty much any of the Big Finish audios he's done really. Matthew has also done a few Dark Shadows stories with Big Finish, both acting (The Creeping Fog, Bloodlust, the 50th anniversary story Blood and Fire, a couple of short stories) and writing (Old Acquaintance from the Dreams of Long Ago short story release).

[jbmasta]

Haha yeah, the Hinchcliffe doco on The Android Invasion elaborates on that. He stated that, if it was going to be his last one, he might as well "Go out with a bang." Secretly, though, I reckon that might have been his way of sticking it to the BBC management a bit over being "encouraged" to move on from the show.

Underworld suffed due to the rampant inflation that occurred during the tail end of the production on the 1977/78 season. It was also produced on a shoestring budget to allow for the production of The Invasion of Time. Given how cheap that one looks, it was evident there wasn't much money to go around.

Greatest Show benefited from the fact it was a story that took place at a circus. Quite serendipitous, really. If it has been anything else, it would have gone the way of Shada. JNT was the Production Unit Manager on that one, and he was determined history wasn't going to repeat itself. In any case, the adversity faced by Greatest Show In The Galaxy turned out to be its greatest asset.

Invasion of Time. The one with the tinfoil aliens and the last episode chase through the TARDIS interior, which looks like footage of the actors running through the same corridors and warehouse on repeat a few times.

[Matt]

With Greatest Show, that giant robot (even half buried by sand) must not have been cheap to set up.

[Matt]

Of course, this leads to be interesting discussion topic.

What do you regard as the worst example of special effects ever in Doctor Who?

I immediately think of:
The dinosaurs from the 3rd Doctor story Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Plastic figures from a nearby supermarket?
696227e3f40a1599f3113523b953e5be.jpg

The Myrka from the 5th Doctor story Warriors of the Deep. Two poor schlubs in a modified horse costume.
wpid-warriors-of-the-deep-doctor-who.jpg

[jbmasta]

Of course, this leads to be interesting discussion topic.

What do you regard as the worst example of special effects ever in Doctor Who?

I immediately think of:
The dinosaurs from the 3rd Doctor story Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Plastic figures from a nearby supermarket?
696227e3f40a1599f3113523b953e5be.jpg

The Myrka from the 5th Doctor story Warriors of the Deep. Two poor schlubs in a modified horse costume.
wpid-warriors-of-the-deep-doctor-who.jpg

In Planet of the Daleks the shot of the Daleks in the underground caverns is achieved with toys, pre-existing Dalek merchandise. The best example of bad special effects has to be the Wirrn transformation effect in Ark in Space, where the actor's hand is wrapped in green bubble wrap. Then there's the bum hand of Sutekh (I've seen that as a forum username, and it's poked fun at in the Oh, Mummy feature on the Pyramids of Mars DVD). Who can forget Weng-Chiang's giant rat?

It's not a horribly bad monster costume, but the quality of The Caves of Androzani makes the Magma Beast one of the two weak links in the story. The other is a prop that's clearly a television remote control.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Is that the Eighth Doctor set, or one of the War Doctor sets? The War Master set is phenomenal, my personal favorite is the third story from that.

the eight doctor set.

[jbmasta]

the eight doctor set.

That is a good one, but I felt the scripts limited the new companion. Any excuse for more Jacqueline Pearce is a good one.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

That is a good one, but I felt the scripts limited the new companion. Any excuse for more Jacqueline Pearce is a good one.

I liked her but she did feel superflous to the box's set story. Maybe the others might do more with her?