The Story Recycling Thread

[Rob McCow]

The idea with this thread is to compare stories and see what, if any, ideas are re-used, recycled, re-imagined!

The first person will describe five similarities between two stories and then pick two more stories for the next person to spot the recycling in. So, for example:

An Unearthly Child and Survival:

Set in London, at least for some of the story.
They start in a suburban setting, but move to a desert wilderness.
They both feature tribes of people struggling to survive against the odds.
Unconvincing furs are worn in both stories.
Old Mother and The Master both have essentially the same character.

You get the idea!

So for the next person, how about:

Planet of The Daleks and Revenge of The Cybermen?

[Pip Madeley]

Both have cavernous settings.
Both feature alien races that were once completely humanoid.
Both adventures end with the Doctor & his companions heading back for Earth.
Both have bombs as plot devices.
Both Doctors are both knocked unconscious during their stories.

Not bad!

Someone find me five links between The War Machines and The Mark of the Rani. Go.

[Andrew Curnow]

- Both have humans being taken over and used as slaves

- Both include dialogue referring to the Doctor's clothes - the Master makes a snide description of the Doctor wearing "a vulgarly coloured coat" while the owner of the Inferno likes the first Doc's "fab gear"

- Both introduce controversial (to fans anyway) elements into the mythos - one calls the main character 'Doctor Who' and the other claims there are cats on Gallifrey.

That noise you can hear is me scraping the bottom of the barrel, and I've only managed three - somebody will have to take over.

BTW, checking the BBC episode guide in a desperate bid to find something else (I failed) I've learned something new - did anybody else know that Lovett "yes, we want a long panning shot of the huts" Bickford was the AFM on "The War Machines"?

[Lissa]

They both feature revolutionary new technology.
They both feature people being controlled by evil.
In both stories the Doctor bluffs his way into elite society.
Both stories feature non-RP English accents.
In both stories the alien mastermind knows the Doctor despite never having met him before in the series.

Now try Terror of the Autons and The Web Planet

[Andrew Curnow]

I see Lissa's totally beaten me to it - hurrah!

[Jon Masters]

Now try Terror of the Autons and The Web Planet

- both feature companions having some difficulty with their breathing
- a hazardous material is removed by dissolving it chemically
- both feature companions acting oddly because of mental control
- both have a special visual effect which isn't always entirely successful
- an alien race from each is featured in an original DW novel (Twilight of the Gods, and any Nestene/auton book you fancy)

OK, now try Horror of Fang Rock and The Awakening

[Pip Madeley]

Let's see...

- Both stories feature an alien entity that we've never encountered before or since

and...


erm...


I'm out.

[Lissa]

They both have titled gentlemen in the supporting cast.
Both have a single non-humanoid alien.
Both aliens have five-letter names.
Both have a cliffhanger featuring smoke/fog.
They both deal with themes of betrayal and redemption*


*Probably - it's drama after all

[Jon Masters]

@ Pip , Lissa. Do we have a new pair to work on ?

[Lissa]

Hows about Terror of the Vervoids and Human Nature/Family of Blood.

[Andrew Curnow]

Both stories feature bikes (exercise in one, push in t'other)

Both stories begin with the title character having lost somebody he cares about (Peri in the former, himself in the latter)

Both end with the Doctor dishing out some pretty drastic punishment on the enemies (genocide to the Vervoids, and a lot of odd weird shenanigans to the Family)

Both stories begin with some time having elapsed to which the viewers have not been privy (Mel has been aboard ship for some time, and the Doctor has been a human for a couple of months)

And, erm...

Both are tales of mayhem and intrigue

Does that count?

[Jon Masters]

I'd say so - you could also have that both show false versions of events (The Doctor with the axe, John Smith's marriage and subsequent death)

Next please ! (anything to stop me thinking about having to go back to work tomorrow )

[Lissa]

If I can add one more - both stories feature monsters made from vegetable matter (Vervoids and scarecrows).

This is a truly excellent game. Much better than Sudoku.

[Logo Polish]

The Happiness Patrol and Father's Day?

[Pip Madeley]

The Happiness Patrol and Father's Day

• Both stories deal with the theme of personal loss/death of a close one
• Something unusual happens to the TARDIS in both stories (painted pink/loses its interior contents)
• Both feature adversaries we've never met before or since
• Both feature references to BBC sitcoms (the Doctor sings 'As Time Goes By' and Rose calls her dad a bit of a Del Boy ie. 'Only Fools And Horses')
• Both stories have some reference to Thatcher (Helen A's general character/poster proclaiming 'No Third Term For Thatcher')

Right, next up...

The Romans and Attack Of The Cybermen

[Lissa]

Both feature humans used as slave labour.
Both feature the Doctor attempting to play a musical instrument.
Both involve the Doctor striving to preserve established future history.
Both feature the Doctor having a manly grapple with a physically stronger opponent.
Ian Levine wrote Attack of the Cybermen and starred as Nero*

*maybe

Next - Inferno and The Keeper of Traken

[Logo Polish]

Both feature an extremely dictatorial and inflexible authority figure in charge.
Both involve the same figure trying to have inconvenient people removed from any position where they can have any influence.
Both see this authority figure undergoing a physical transformation at the end.
Both involve an attempt to harness a potential source of power.
Both have a friendly scientist who allies himself with the Doctor to the increasing annoyance of his own superiors/peers.

Nightmare of Eden and Vengeance on Varos?

[Rob McCow]

Nightmare of Eden and Vengeance on Varos:

Jungles that can be accessed from inside a room.
The Doctor finds and rescues a man that everyone assumes is dead or dying.
Plants that kill!
The Doctor wrestles with something that is unexpectedly killed by a neaby lethal hazard.
The general populations appear to be docile and entertained.

It might be tough comparing stories from far-flung ends of the show, but try these:
Rememberance of The Daleks and The Happiness Patrol

[SiHart]

Remembrance of The Daleks and The Happiness Patrol

Both have the message that dislike for the unlike is not right.
Both star Sylvester Mcoy and Sophie Aldred
Both have mentions of previous UNIT era adventures
Both have Cy Town as an extra
Both star someone who has been in a 5th doctor story- John Normington and Micheal Sheard.

Now try: Marco Polo and The Sea Devils. If you dare!

Si xx

[Lord President]

I dare!

Marco Polo and The Sea Devils

They both feature sand - Desert and Beach
They both feature water - Condensation and Sea
The both feature Sword Fights
They are both Preceded by stories The ????? of ?????
They both feature characters related to Ocean Travel!

That's really bad, but hey, what are you going to do?

Try The Talons of Weng-Chiang and Boom Town

[Jon Masters]

Too easy

Both feature a transportation device which will have a bad effect on the location if activated
Both have a villain who is keen to stay out of the hands of the authorities for fear of corporal punishment
Both have a major scene featuring a meal
Both have a prolonged, and ultimately unnecessary chase sequence
Both feature a lethal poison failing to be administered.

OK, try The Space Museum and the Ribos Operation

[Pip Madeley]

The Space Museum and The Ribos Operation

• The TARDIS console room is plunged into darkness at the beginning of both stories.
• In both stories, the Doctor takes something from the planet he visits (Time/Space Visualiser & the first Key)
• The Doctor can't resist namedropping (he was trained in sleight of hand by Mescalin & was with James Watt when he discovered steam power)
• There are only two female characters in each story.
• The Doctor is unaware that he is under watch by malevolent forces in both adventures (the Daleks tracked him down to Xeros, whilst the Shadow is watching the Doctor's 'jackdaw meanderings')

Howzabout... The War Games and Meglos

[SiHart]

OK... having failed to grasp the game last time, let me try again:

1. The Doctor and his companions are recalled to Gallifrey in the last episode.
2. Both have a cliffhanger where the Doctor is about to execued for a crime he didn't commit.
3. Both feature clever female companions who get the better of their inferiors by baffling them.
4. Both feature important objects that have a number of faces divisible by 3... a cube (6)and a dodecahedron (12)
5. Both feature a character the Doctor has met before, but never mentioned to anyone.

Hooray! Look they're the same story!

Go on someone try: The Android Invasion and The Horns of Nimon

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

Tough!

• The Kraals and the Nimon are both trying to conquer another planet for themselves
• Both races dupe a humanoid (Crayford and Soldeed) into helping them achieve their goals
• Once again, the Doctor namedrops (he forgot to remind Theseus to paint his ship white & once met the Duke of Marlborough)
• Both races wear boots (Kraals wear Doc Martens, Nimons wear platforms).
• Only three of each race of adversaries appear in the story.

Try this pair - The Keys Of Marinus and Earthshock

[Jon Masters]

• Both have three companions with the Doctor
• Both feature an artiste who appeared in the 1969 film The Assassination Bureaus (use IMDB to find out who )
• Both feature warriors who attack but don't ever speak
• Both have someone who dies beacuse their flesh has been dissolved away
• Both stories written by writers who also wrote Dalek stories

Try The Unquiet Dead and The Runaway Bride