Magic Moments

[shada pavlova]

Says you what skipped over it.

[Andrew Curnow]

My lawyer hat compells me to point out that's not quite true. Steve mentioned DMP as a comment on Rob's choice moment from Mission to the Unknown - he didn't necessarily choose the death of Sara (and apologies if I've spoiled the ending there for anybody reading this) as DMP's Magicest Moment.

Anyway, for me the best bit of The Myth Makers was when the Target book came out, because it's just brilliant. But surely somebody must have a favourite moment from the TV version.....

????

[Stuart Wallis]

Don't look at me!

[Stephen Morgan]

Thank you Andrew, that's what I was about to say.

So, for the benefit of SP, I'm sure that The Myth Makers has a few magic moments, after all it's not too bad a story. But Donald Cotton's Target novelisation, brilliant as it is, lends an awful lot of comedy to the tale and my memories (if any) of the original teleplay are coloured by that.
I've not listened to the audio in a good few years, so I've just looked at the episode guide on the BBC site, yeah, yeah, cheating I know, but it's refreshed my memory a little on the dialogue in the story, and I have to say, it's too late to say woe to the horse.

[Dirk Gently]

Well the magic moment of the Myth Makers recon for me was the title music at the end of episode 4!

[Jason Thompson]

This thread seems to have died prematurely, which is a shame, so I'm going to resurrect it. So:

The Myth Makers:

It's pure farce, but the scene in which Steven yields to Paris in order to be taken to Troy, only for Paris to say 'oh I say, this sort of thing is just not done!', and then for Steven to have to play to Paris's ego to convince him that taking him to Troy, where he can tell tales of the 'bravery' of Paris, is the best thing to do. it's fun because both of them expect the outcome to be easy, but then have to improvise a way to make it acceptable to both parties.


The Daleks' Master Plan:

The scene in episode six where the Supreme Dalek and Mavic Chen bicker. The Supreme Dalek gets to deliver the wonderful line: 'you make your incompetence sound like an achievement', and then later his own plan turns out to have gone pear-shaped, and Chen gloats.

'And you had the audacity to accuse me, Mavic Chen, of incompetence!'

'It is-'

'A Dalek pursuit ship stolen?'

'It is not-'

'Really!'

'IT IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!!!!'

'No. More like a catastrophe...'


The Massacre:

It has to be the final scene before Dodo arrives, doesn't it? When Steven is furious at the Doctor for leaving Anne Chaplet to die, and Hartnell delivers that monologue.


So, there's a kick-start for the thread. Anyone care to take up the reins and carry it on?

[Jason Thompson]

With 'The Ark'. Oh dear, might be another stumbling block...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

The bit where they make some instant potatoes, 57th segment-style, in the kitchen. It's a short and simple shot and you might not even notice it, but for me I still think it looks really impressive by the standards of the time, and probably the slickest effects shot of the series to date. And it's wasted on some potatoes But still a magic moment.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Or even the cliffhanger to episode 2. There really was a feeling that all the rules were changing and that anything could happen in Season 3, and that was just another moment that made it feel that way. Even more ominous by the fact that the Monoids had been quite creepy up until that point too, so that promised a lot for the last two episodes. Didn't really work out that way, but still...

[Jason Thompson]

Good choices both.

A magic moment for me (but for all the wrong reasons) comes in episode 3, when Dodo says it will take ages to bring everyone down to Refusis 2 and the Monoid says 'Don;t worry, it may not take as long as you think' in a devious tone of voice. Dodo asks what he means and are they up to something, to which he relpies: 'err.... no!'

But then this is a story where no-one deduces anything, and all the humans find out about the Monoids' plans because they keep talking loudly about them!

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm glad that someone's tried to have a go at bringing this thread back. I agree with Jason, it has lots of potential. I'll volunteer to have a go at The Celestial Toymaker - as 'twere - as the only real flaw with it is that it might be hard for some people to take on the stories that aren't well-known or well-liked, and this one AFAIA comes under both categories.

So in the interests of coming to the aid of the party, the end of part four is a good way of ending the story - not for any sarcastic reasons do I mention this, but it does suggest that the Toymaker has control over everything that survives his realm. It also suggests that he's managed to find a way of doing the Doctor some serious harm because of it. Okay, so it's not poisoning or literal acid drops, but Billy makes it seem like he's done for.

Also, the dubbing of Michael Gough's voice isn't great in the scene, but the Doctor's way of getting the Trilogic game finished, and escaping at the same time, is clever.

[SiHart]

The Gunfighters

I do like the moment when poor old Charlie is shot and the Ballad turns all sad as he slumps over the bar. I find that a rather touching moment in a witty and underrated story.

Si xx

[Jason Thompson]

The Savages:

Been a while since I've 'seen' this one, but the bit I remember liking is the moment where Exorse begins to realise just how awfully he's been treating the Savages. He's had a light gun turned on him and been tied up, and one of the Savages tries to kill him. Nanina, whom Exorse had already taken once with his light gun and had been quite horrible to only minutes earlier, intervenes, sends the murderous savage away and checks Exorse is all right. The formerly tough guard is stunned by her compassion. 'Nanina. I will remember.'

[Andrew Curnow]

Hurrah for bringing this thread back from the brink of disaster!! BTW, my favourite Celestial Toymaker related moment would be when DWM announced the discovery of episode 4 - because until the awful moments some years later when we all got to saw it, it was still possible to believe that it was a classic episode from an all-time great story!!!

The War Machines - I'm not going to pick the obvious part 3 cliffhanger moment (although it is awesome) but something altogether less dramatic. In part 2, I just love the Doctor at Sir Charles' home breakfasting & reading the paper. It's such a lovely domestic image, and especially unusual for the first Doctor. It also demonstrates how good Hartnell is - by this point the show is arguably almost unrecognisable from the show he signed up for, but he's still giving it his all, and 'rolling with the punches' (just like Tom during season 18). He's on top form throughout in fact!

[Jason Thompson]

I can't think of anything for The Smuggler, and I've only just sat through it. It's a bit of a nothing, that story, really.

[Thasc]

Well done Andrew for coming up with this thread. I'm enjoying reading everybody's comments. I can't wait for the Pertwee stories to come round

[SiHart]

The Smugglers

What I like in this story is the way that ben and Polly are written. Their scepticism about travelling in time is fun and I like the way they don't immediately think they're in danger. It's fun and would be echoed later in The Time Warrior.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

The Tenth Planet

It has to be Hartnell's final moments. It's utterly captivating even on audio as our hero quietly retires (fitting his last words are those of compassion and concern for others rather than himself ie. "Keep warm") to the TARDIS before undergoing his first regeneration - something that must have been edge-of-your-seat pant-wettingly exciting viewing back in 1966. They knew something serious, original and exciting was going on and the show would never be the same again...

God bless you Billy.

[Stephen Morgan]

There's a marvelous trailer for Power of the Daleks on The Lost in Time set which is a magic moment in itself. Firstly, that it actually exists, and secondly, it shows just how creepy Dr. Who could be at it's best.
With hardly any fanfare for a new Doctor, the trailer opens as the Doctor, with Ben and Polly close behind, stealthily creeps down a dark and eerie corridor, even the background music is suitably creepy. They come to a door, and as it slowly opens the Doctor, with slow realisation, exclaims "Ben, Polly, come and meet the Daleks"
There's another magic moment at the end of episode three as the Daleks begin to build up their power and gain strength. "We will get our power, we will get our power, we will get our power" cue title music, and I don't think it's ever sounded as eerie as it does at the end of that episode.

[Stuart Wallis]

There's some good bits in this story: the mocking "We are your ser-vants"; the production line; the newly-regenerated Doctor teasing Ben and Polly at the start...

[Jason Thompson]

Good bits? It's a bloody brilliant story! It really looks like everyone involved knew that they were taking a huge chance by changing the leading man and this was the make-or-break story.

[shada pavlova]

The Highlanders. Weeeeeell...

I suppose the surviving clip of the Highlander killing the Redcoat is quite gratifying to see.

[Antony Cox]

I like the bit in The Underwater Menace where The Doctor's wearing a disguise in the marketplace!

[Stephen Morgan]

I think The Underwater Menace is the campest Doctor Who story ever. Far from being one of the worst stories, I think it's actually quite good, with a villain in the grand tradition of all villains. The existing episode is always worth a watch.

[Stuart Wallis]

Good bits? It's a bloody brilliant story!

Of course it is. I just took ther first three that came to mind that hadn't been used already. Calm down Jason, it's a commercial!

The Underwater Menace has gained a bit of a reputation, based on the surviving episode not being the best one of the story. Overall it's not quite as bad as people think - it's pretty decent in its way, for a story that was written as a last-minute replacement for something else. Would they get away with Joseph Furst being seen to be washed away these days, rather than a stuntman?

If everyone's ready for The Moonbase, I've always liked the opening shot of episode 4. Yes, alright, it's of a load of silver-painted DMs marching across the Moon; but it's the basic idea of an army marching inexorably on. Another old Cyber-idea recycled by Earthshock! And Polly trying to rephrase her suggestion that the Doctor's medical knowledge may not be up to it.