Doctor Who, The Time Warrior, Sarah-Jane Smith’s first adventure

Doctor Who, the Time Warrior
Doctor Who, the Time Warrior

This is a great story. Sarah-Jane’s first outing with the Doctor, and a great one to start off with too. Sontarans are always good fun right!

I hadn’t seen this in ages, but it really has stood the test of time, and, as ever, Pertwee is brilliant.

Finished watching Planet of the Apes, the TV series

Planet of the Apes TV series
Planet of the Apes TV series

I’ve said it before, I’m a big fan of Planet of the Apes, in all its iterations. Of course, my favourites are the original films from 1968 to 1973. Above is the TV series which came out in 1974 and ran for only 14 episodes.

Having watched it again in 2016 I realise that it was very much like a lot of other TV series in the 70’s. Built to run as long as possible, with a handful (in this case 2 humans and an ape) of good guys going from place to place and doing good, righting wrongs etc. There are plenty of examples of this kind of TV show from the period.

The sad thing is that the TV version of Planet of the Apes wasn’t about the story at all. It started off being about the story and then devolved into a weekly story about going from village to village. When it ran out of episodes the series didn’t even end. There was no closure at all. It was a shame really.

So now I’ve only got one more DVD to watch. The animated series, which is apparently not bad. We’ll see, and I’ll let you know what I think.

3rd Doctor … The Mind of Evil

Doctor Who The Mind of Evil
Doctor Who The Mind of Evil

This is a great old story 3rd Doctor story. An excellent performance from Roger Delgado and of course from Mr Pertwee himself. I really liked this story and it has been restored beautifully as well.

This version comes on 2 discs. The second disc has some really good extras on it and some very interesting revelations about how the production was put together and the issues that it faced.

The restoration job on the series was really good, both picture and audio. I have to say I was very impressed with it.

I’d seen this story on TV in the not too distant past so it wasn’t totally new to me, but it was good to see it nevertheless.

Torchwood: Uncanny Valley

Torchwood Uncanny Valley
Torchwood Uncanny Valley

I listened to this yesterday. Not a bad story if a little one dimensional. The idea isn’t a new one, but, as often with Torchwood, was taken much further than I’ve seen it taken before, and possibly would have liked to have seen (or rather heard) it taken before.

I didn’t feel it moved the story arc on any further though, not really. That was a bit of a wasted opportunity in my view. There isn’t anything more known about the arc than at the start of this episode. I’ll stick with the series, but I’d like to see (hear) it move forward a bit more than it is right now.

What did I think? 4th Doctor, Wave of Destruction

Doctor Who and the Wave of Destruction
Doctor Who and the Wave of Destruction

This is a real return to form. I absolutely love it. I shan’t give anything away just in case you’re likely to listen to it, but it is a lovely story and a great one for Romana II to return to. It has the feel of another delightful story, “The Auntie Matter”, which is gorgeous.

If this is setting the tone for this season then I’m going to be very happy indeed.

Thunderbirds, the original, and what’s coming …

Lady Penelope
Lady Penelope
Lady Penelope and Parker
Lady Penelope and Parker

These pictures are from the upcoming new episodes that were funded via Kickstarter last year. I’m really looking forward to seeing them, and in preparation I’ve been making my way through all of the original episodes, which is no minor task I can tell you. I’m only disc 4 so far, but it’s worth it. I’m enjoying seeing them again.

Return to the Planet of the Apes

I was researching around the Planet of the Apes stories to see what other things I’d missed, and I came across this spin off which was made after the original film, and after the TV series. It has a different view of the ape culture where the apes are more sophisticated and have a higher technology culture than portrayed in both the films and in the TV series. Apparently this is more in keeping with the original book, which I’m sad to say I’ve never read! I must put that right soon though.

So I’m planning on getting hold of this at some point soon, although possibly after I’ve watched the whole of the TV series.

Short Trips, The Black Dog

The Black Dog
The Black Dog

I was skeptical about this audiobook as I thought it would just be too short get a real story going. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though it was short, only 35 minutes long, it was great. A good, self contained Doctor Who story. Well narrated by Louise Jameson too.

So I might need to look into a few more of these short trips stories now.