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locker_monsterWell, I finished off the Seventh Doctor's run last night while waiting for the Christmas special. It was sort of hard getting through Seven's era. Not that it was super horrible, but it was hard watching these episodes knowing I was coming up to the end of the show. Yeah, I know, the show's living on once again, but just imagine being a fan back in 1989. It must have been heartbreaking. Here's this show that's been on 26 years and suddenly it's gone.
I managed to find the special features for the "Time and the Rani" DVD and after watching one of the documentaries, Seven made more sense to me. They wanted a Doctor who was kind of like Two: short, goofy, baggy pants. Okay, I'm joking about that last one, but the similar personality thing is true. So I can see why Seven started out as he did, all goofy smiles and mangled metaphors. But he's got a devious mind under that straw hat, doesn't he. You wouldn't think it just looking at him. Seven's so short. It's cute. It kind of lulls you into a false sense of security. He definitely got a little meaner as the seasons went on. Well, maybe not meaner, but definitely more calculating, maybe a little less merciful. I know it was all part of the "Cartmel Masterplan" to give the Doctor a mysterious air again, but nothing really came from it. But the writers did do a smart thing by playing him the opposite of how he looked. You always got the feeling that he never told Ace everything wherever they went.
But I don't know if I liked this devious, calculating Doctor. Seems to me it didn't really fit his character. So maybe Seven was more in touch with the Doctor's darker side, but I always got the feeling that the Doctor was never the calculating type. Oh sure, he can use manipulate people into acting against each other, but his always came up with plans on the fly. I mean, that's how the Doctor is. He blunders into situations; he never plans to be anywhere when he lands. Steven Moffat sums it up nicely in one of the commentaries for season five. The Doctor is the type of person who reaches the top of a building, steps off the roof, and works out how to land safely on the way down. The same goes for the Doctor's super mysterious background they introduced. They were working toward this bizarre "Other" thing, where the Doctor was the third, lesser known founder of Time Lord society. Again, what? The Doctor, like his Companions, is just a normal guy. One guy on a planet of pompous idiots who said, "No, these rules are stupid. We could be doing so much more." The Doctor didn't set off from Gallifrey with the intention of being a super awesome hero. He's just a clever guy who can't stand by and watch people suffer. I suppose there's still something mysterious about the Doctor even now, but I'm glad this secretive background has pretty much faded away.
I just love how in one scene from "Delta and the Bannermen", the Doctor and Mel land in a shady looking docking port. It's clearly a rundown kind of place, but instead of turning around and going back to the TARDIS, they kept walking around! That is the Doctor. He doesn't turn around. He's so curious he keeps exploring shady looking dockyards. Seven ever has a line that pops up again in New Who. "Walk around like you own the place." Oh, Doctor, that part of you never changes.
But that horrible jumper. And that horrible umbrella. Question marks! No one in their right mind would pick such an ugly jumper, loopy regeneration brain or not. I like the hat though. It was there from day one, no, from before day one. Slyvester McCoy wore the hat for his audition tape. The Doctor needs to start wearing a hat again.
Hee, spoons. I like that Ace says in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", when the Doctor breaks out the spoons, "Not again", which means he had the tendency to play them every once and awhile. I remember reading somewhere that if you asked Slyvester McCoy to play the spoons, he would do so at the drop of a hat. :-) And gah, what's with the opening credits?! I know computer technology was coming along, but that's no reason to use CGI. The TARDIS is flying around and there are weird planets floating about and, whoa, Seven's giant head winking at me! I've never been fond of having the Doctor's head zooming towards me during the credits and this version makes it even worse.
It's kind of sad Doctor Who was in its waning years by this point. You can tell they were trying really hard to be relevant and edgy and exciting, but they just didn't have the scale to do it.
Seventh Doctor round-up:
-Companions: Only two Companions again.
Mel. Um, so she has an eidetic memory, is good with computers, and knows karate? Actually, it looked more like aikido, with the flipping people over nonsense. Wha? I really hate it when characters have all these talents heaped onto them. People can have multiple skills, yes, but not everyone is perfect. Normal people have flaws. That's not to say Mel didn't have flaws. My god, she was a screamer. Sure, aliens and whatnot can be scary, but don't just stand there and scream your head off woman! Other Companions have been screamers, but they actually did something after they were done screaming. All I took away from Mel was "cute and bubbly". She's one of those Companions who you can easily forget. And she just leaves! For no good reason! "I want to travel with this other guy. See ya, Doctor!" Seriously, that was a weird way to write her out of the show. Companions need motivation to leave. It also bugs me we never got to see how the Doctor met Mel. She's the only one who doesn't get a proper introduction story.
It's Ace who's Seven's Companion through and through. Odd how she starts off as random waitress in some diner on an ice planet. I didn't realize she was so young. 16. But I could see they were trying to go a different direction for the Companion. In the beginning, I think it felt like too much, with the giant ass boom box, the baseball bat, the Nitro 9. Here's Ace; she's a tough, street wise girl you don't want to mess with. Being around the Doctor mellowed her, though, and that just proves that the Doctor makes people better. I always found it weird how Ace called the Doctor "Professor". She did it right away in "Dragonfire" without any prompting. Okay, so Seven was kind of professor-ish. I think Ace just liked giving people nicknames. What did she call Mel in "Dragonfire"? Doughnut? You do get that the Doctor was trying to teach Ace, maybe grooming her to be something more.
-Enemies: Hmm... Nothing really stands out in my mind. The usual suspects are there: Daleks, Cybermen, Rani and the Master. Though, I was always under the impression the Doctor wiped out the original Cyberman because the new series came up with new Cybermen. Nope, he destroyed one of their fleets but the Mondas Cybermen were never wiped out completely. So that means, potentially, there are still Mondas Cybermen still out there.
-Stories: The stories were all over the place. Seven's first season wasn't that great, to be honest. "Delta and the Bannermen" just struck me as super weird. The Doctor and Mel end up at some Welsh holiday camp in the 1950s and there this rapidly growing green baby. Funny to think that the new series eventually ended up back there to shoot. "Remembrance of the Daleks" had all those wonderful callbacks to the very first episode of the show. Totter's Lane and Coalhill School. Ace even picks up the (presumably) same textbook about the French Revolution that Susan flipped through. But how the heck did Davros end up a head in a box?
Man, I barely got through "The Happiness Patrol". I read it was supposed to be commenting on Margaret Thatcher and her policies or something, and I'm sure it was more obvious at the time, but where the heck did the idea for the Kandy Man come from? Was the writer eating assorted licorice at the time? Killing people with fondant? Heck, the Doctor kills a alien space dog with encrusted syrup in a tunnel. The point of the story just got lost in the sheer weirdness. And why did they have to have a story with clowns as the henchmen? Gah, clowns are creepy enough on their own. Also, could someone explain "Ghost Light" to me? I have no idea what the heck was going on. I suspect I might have to watch the DVD for that one. I remember liking "The Curse of Fenric" well enough when I saw it the first time, but upon re-watching it, it made less sense for some reason.
And we ended on the Master and cat people? With the Doctor on a motorcycle, playing chicken with a half cat person? I know "Survival" wasn't supposed to be the last episode ever of Classic Who, so it's a shame we didn't get a super awesome story to go out on. But the last scene is nice. The universe is full of wonderful things and life goes on. If you ever stop exploring and learning new things, then what's the point, right? And the Doctor's adventures go on, even if we're not around to see them.
"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace — we’ve got work to do!"
I think if the show had gone on for another season, it would have hit its stride again. The writers had figured out who Seven was and Ace was becoming more a strong young woman and less a rebellious teenager.
Well, one more Doctor and I'm done Classic Who. Okay, strictly speaking, Eight isn't Classic Who, but I would feel bad if I left him out. :-)
I managed to find the special features for the "Time and the Rani" DVD and after watching one of the documentaries, Seven made more sense to me. They wanted a Doctor who was kind of like Two: short, goofy, baggy pants. Okay, I'm joking about that last one, but the similar personality thing is true. So I can see why Seven started out as he did, all goofy smiles and mangled metaphors. But he's got a devious mind under that straw hat, doesn't he. You wouldn't think it just looking at him. Seven's so short. It's cute. It kind of lulls you into a false sense of security. He definitely got a little meaner as the seasons went on. Well, maybe not meaner, but definitely more calculating, maybe a little less merciful. I know it was all part of the "Cartmel Masterplan" to give the Doctor a mysterious air again, but nothing really came from it. But the writers did do a smart thing by playing him the opposite of how he looked. You always got the feeling that he never told Ace everything wherever they went.
But I don't know if I liked this devious, calculating Doctor. Seems to me it didn't really fit his character. So maybe Seven was more in touch with the Doctor's darker side, but I always got the feeling that the Doctor was never the calculating type. Oh sure, he can use manipulate people into acting against each other, but his always came up with plans on the fly. I mean, that's how the Doctor is. He blunders into situations; he never plans to be anywhere when he lands. Steven Moffat sums it up nicely in one of the commentaries for season five. The Doctor is the type of person who reaches the top of a building, steps off the roof, and works out how to land safely on the way down. The same goes for the Doctor's super mysterious background they introduced. They were working toward this bizarre "Other" thing, where the Doctor was the third, lesser known founder of Time Lord society. Again, what? The Doctor, like his Companions, is just a normal guy. One guy on a planet of pompous idiots who said, "No, these rules are stupid. We could be doing so much more." The Doctor didn't set off from Gallifrey with the intention of being a super awesome hero. He's just a clever guy who can't stand by and watch people suffer. I suppose there's still something mysterious about the Doctor even now, but I'm glad this secretive background has pretty much faded away.
I just love how in one scene from "Delta and the Bannermen", the Doctor and Mel land in a shady looking docking port. It's clearly a rundown kind of place, but instead of turning around and going back to the TARDIS, they kept walking around! That is the Doctor. He doesn't turn around. He's so curious he keeps exploring shady looking dockyards. Seven ever has a line that pops up again in New Who. "Walk around like you own the place." Oh, Doctor, that part of you never changes.
But that horrible jumper. And that horrible umbrella. Question marks! No one in their right mind would pick such an ugly jumper, loopy regeneration brain or not. I like the hat though. It was there from day one, no, from before day one. Slyvester McCoy wore the hat for his audition tape. The Doctor needs to start wearing a hat again.
Hee, spoons. I like that Ace says in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", when the Doctor breaks out the spoons, "Not again", which means he had the tendency to play them every once and awhile. I remember reading somewhere that if you asked Slyvester McCoy to play the spoons, he would do so at the drop of a hat. :-) And gah, what's with the opening credits?! I know computer technology was coming along, but that's no reason to use CGI. The TARDIS is flying around and there are weird planets floating about and, whoa, Seven's giant head winking at me! I've never been fond of having the Doctor's head zooming towards me during the credits and this version makes it even worse.
It's kind of sad Doctor Who was in its waning years by this point. You can tell they were trying really hard to be relevant and edgy and exciting, but they just didn't have the scale to do it.
Seventh Doctor round-up:
-Companions: Only two Companions again.
Mel. Um, so she has an eidetic memory, is good with computers, and knows karate? Actually, it looked more like aikido, with the flipping people over nonsense. Wha? I really hate it when characters have all these talents heaped onto them. People can have multiple skills, yes, but not everyone is perfect. Normal people have flaws. That's not to say Mel didn't have flaws. My god, she was a screamer. Sure, aliens and whatnot can be scary, but don't just stand there and scream your head off woman! Other Companions have been screamers, but they actually did something after they were done screaming. All I took away from Mel was "cute and bubbly". She's one of those Companions who you can easily forget. And she just leaves! For no good reason! "I want to travel with this other guy. See ya, Doctor!" Seriously, that was a weird way to write her out of the show. Companions need motivation to leave. It also bugs me we never got to see how the Doctor met Mel. She's the only one who doesn't get a proper introduction story.
It's Ace who's Seven's Companion through and through. Odd how she starts off as random waitress in some diner on an ice planet. I didn't realize she was so young. 16. But I could see they were trying to go a different direction for the Companion. In the beginning, I think it felt like too much, with the giant ass boom box, the baseball bat, the Nitro 9. Here's Ace; she's a tough, street wise girl you don't want to mess with. Being around the Doctor mellowed her, though, and that just proves that the Doctor makes people better. I always found it weird how Ace called the Doctor "Professor". She did it right away in "Dragonfire" without any prompting. Okay, so Seven was kind of professor-ish. I think Ace just liked giving people nicknames. What did she call Mel in "Dragonfire"? Doughnut? You do get that the Doctor was trying to teach Ace, maybe grooming her to be something more.
-Enemies: Hmm... Nothing really stands out in my mind. The usual suspects are there: Daleks, Cybermen, Rani and the Master. Though, I was always under the impression the Doctor wiped out the original Cyberman because the new series came up with new Cybermen. Nope, he destroyed one of their fleets but the Mondas Cybermen were never wiped out completely. So that means, potentially, there are still Mondas Cybermen still out there.
-Stories: The stories were all over the place. Seven's first season wasn't that great, to be honest. "Delta and the Bannermen" just struck me as super weird. The Doctor and Mel end up at some Welsh holiday camp in the 1950s and there this rapidly growing green baby. Funny to think that the new series eventually ended up back there to shoot. "Remembrance of the Daleks" had all those wonderful callbacks to the very first episode of the show. Totter's Lane and Coalhill School. Ace even picks up the (presumably) same textbook about the French Revolution that Susan flipped through. But how the heck did Davros end up a head in a box?
Man, I barely got through "The Happiness Patrol". I read it was supposed to be commenting on Margaret Thatcher and her policies or something, and I'm sure it was more obvious at the time, but where the heck did the idea for the Kandy Man come from? Was the writer eating assorted licorice at the time? Killing people with fondant? Heck, the Doctor kills a alien space dog with encrusted syrup in a tunnel. The point of the story just got lost in the sheer weirdness. And why did they have to have a story with clowns as the henchmen? Gah, clowns are creepy enough on their own. Also, could someone explain "Ghost Light" to me? I have no idea what the heck was going on. I suspect I might have to watch the DVD for that one. I remember liking "The Curse of Fenric" well enough when I saw it the first time, but upon re-watching it, it made less sense for some reason.
And we ended on the Master and cat people? With the Doctor on a motorcycle, playing chicken with a half cat person? I know "Survival" wasn't supposed to be the last episode ever of Classic Who, so it's a shame we didn't get a super awesome story to go out on. But the last scene is nice. The universe is full of wonderful things and life goes on. If you ever stop exploring and learning new things, then what's the point, right? And the Doctor's adventures go on, even if we're not around to see them.
I think if the show had gone on for another season, it would have hit its stride again. The writers had figured out who Seven was and Ace was becoming more a strong young woman and less a rebellious teenager.
Well, one more Doctor and I'm done Classic Who. Okay, strictly speaking, Eight isn't Classic Who, but I would feel bad if I left him out. :-)
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