Magic Moments

[Pip Madeley]

Is she? Must have nipped to the toilet.

[SiHart]

Perhaps you could tell us all what you think of Zoe's Seeds of Death costume before we get bogged down with who isn't and who is in which scenes in The Krotons!

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I'd rather hear Si Hunt tell us why Ronald Leigh Hunt is so awesome.

[Andrew Curnow]

Indeed - there is just one poster, one poster alone who can tell us that now!!

[Pip Madeley]

With Si in control we can't fail to succeed!

[Jason Thompson]

The Invasion

My god, where to start?

Brilliant music, Kevin Stoney is chillingly good, Cybermen in the Sewers, Cybermen coming out of the sewers, the Brigadier, Benton, and so much more.

The only bad thing is that the helicopter rescue sequence in episode 4 would have been so much better to see in live-action.

Yes indeed. My favourite bit is the cliffhanger to part 6, with the noise, the people collapsing, the Cybermen emerging and striding through the streets. One of the best cliffhangers ever, IMO.

[Jason Thompson]

The Krotons

Zoe in PVC.

Come on, that's what most of you were thinking. And it's not like there's much else worth talking about.

Isn't there? How about Jamie getting a decent fight in part 1, overpowering a man with an axe? How about the slapstick scene with Beta and Jamie making up sulphuric acid among fumes and explosions? The Doctor failing on the teaching machine because he's flustered? The Doctor and Zoe messing around to stall the Krotons? 'Doctor-gond? IDIOTS!'?

I think the Krotons is actually a nice little story, and certainly doesn't deserve the maligning it gets.

[Pip Madeley]

Most of that I wouldn't call "magic" Jason, but each to their own!

This thread is waiting for Si Hunt... come on man!

[Si Hunt]

[Stuart Wallis]

Typical!

How about the moody shot in The Seeds Of Death of the Ice Warrior with the Sun behind it, on the way to Weather Control?

And what's wrong with The Krotons? Not perfect, but there's far worse.

[shada pavlova]

I do like the scene in The Space Pirates where Madeleine Issigri and Caven are arguing about how guilty they each are of piracy, and Milo Clancey chips in.

Classic Holmes dialogue.

[Si Hunt]

I can contribute The Secret Diary of Daniel Eldred for "The Seeds of Death".

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm going to be a meanie and leap in quick to 'do' The War Games. Perhaps a bit odd, but my favourite moment in that comes right at the end of episode nine. Carstairs has escorted the regulars back to where the TARDIS has landed. As the travellers watch, he vanishes - and then they struggle to get to the TARDIS. The whole 'oh gosh darn, the Time lords are coming, let's get to the TARDIS' bit is great, but my actual favourite moment is just that shot of Carstairs disappearing. Simply because the first time I saw it, it struck me that he's going back home... but that means that he's probably going to his death, back in the battlefields of WW1. It's a haunting moment, IMHO.

And when this thread returns, no doubt it will be in colour for the first time!!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

You didn't leap in that quick, I was going to do it hours ago I just couldn't think of a particular magic moment.

[shada pavlova]

the first time I saw it, it struck me that he's going back home... but that means that he's probably going to his death, back in the battlefields of WW1. It's a haunting moment, IMHO.

Don't worry. There's a nice little retcon in Players in which it is revealed that Carstairs and Jennifer both survived the war. But forgot about all the stuff in The War Games.

As for Spearhead From Space, the bit when all the Autons come out of the windows and kill everyone. I just love that bit so much. The new series tried hard to emulate it, but failed, IMHO.

[Andrew Curnow]

That's interesting to hear you say that. It's probably fair to say that for many people of my age, the 'shop window' scene in Spearhead from Space actually came as a bit of a disappointment when we got to see it - that is to say, I'd read The Auton Invasion several times before the VHS of Spearhead came out in the late 80s. I never knew, until I watched it, that no actual window smashing is shown, and in contrast to the book it is actually a bit, well, tame.

[Si Hunt]

I've always thought the gunned down policeman was a bit daring, and not something they'd do now perhaps?

I think it encapsulates a bit of the magic of Doctor Who. You can convey the terror of the situation simply through reaction shots of frightened shoppers and screams, and you don't actually need to see any of the violence. Doctor Who always did leave your mind to fill in the gaps; the scariest bits were the bits you didn't actually see.

Si.

[Stephen Morgan]

I think the whole of Spearhead is magic really. Although I didn't see Spearhead in colour until the VHS came out in the late 1980's, there was definately something magic about this one in 1970 on its original transmission. After six years of black and white the show was coming of age in colour, and even though we were still watching in black and white, you could tell there was something different about it, the whole feel of the show had changed, it had become less whimsical and was becoming grittier and more realistic.
To quote the Brigadier "In the last decade, we've been sending probes deeper and deeper into space. We've drawn attention to ourselves, Miss Shaw." I felt this was true, barely months before this story was shown men had set foot on the moon, and as a kid with a vivid imagination well into my teens, I was thinking that, yes, there could be other life forms out there in deep space watching us develop, watching our endeavours beyond our planet. It wasn't such a far fetched idea, and hearing it confirmed on Doctor Who was just...well... magic.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Don't worry. There's a nice little retcon in Players in which it is revealed that Carstairs and Jennifer both survived the war. But forgot about all the stuff in The War Games.

I actually wrote my own little bit of fan fic where the Doctor comes back and restores their memories, and shortly afterwards they both get gunned down by bank robbers. So unfortunately they didn't get a happy ending after all. Sorry.

[shada pavlova]

Doctor Who and the Silurians

It's amazing that they managed to score 7 episodes using nothing but a kazoo and a stick.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

So that would be a magic three hours then?

[Pip Madeley]

The Ambassadors of Death

The scene where one of the Ambassadors marches towards the Space Centre silhouetted against the sun is nothing short of iconic.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

You're not going for "transmigration of object" then?

[Pip Madeley]

Er, no.

[shada pavlova]

Or the bit at the end of part 5 when Jon Pertwee sees the spaceship for the first time?

I swear, i get goosebumps from that every time I watch it.

And I imagine kids in 1970 did too.