You blind male fool! Mara Tales on DVD - Out Now!

[SiHart]

I fancied a change (and Play was cheaper!).

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Are you in charge of pre-ordering in your house like me then Si? It's a position laden with responsibility!

Si.

[SiHart]

I am. Nominally anyway. I suspect that if I didn't do it, we'd never get any of the DVDs, so we're better off with me in charge. And to be honest I just get on and do it without thinking.

Someone was heard to say "I can't remember the last time I bought a DVD" when we were away. That's fairly telling isn't it?

Si xx

[Larry]

mines on it's way ...

[Rob McCow]

Larry's back in the game!

[Larry]

Larry's back in the game!

did I ever leave.. seriously though I've had so much to watch over these last few months that the I still haven't got around to watching any of the previus 4 Doctor Who, dvd releases and the Mara Tales, will no doubt be joining that "still to watch" pile.

[Rob McCow]

Has anyone had the Mara Tales plop on their doormat yet?

[Si Hunt]

No. We were dissapointed it didn't come on Saturday. On the goodside, it escaped the fate of being crushed to smithereens by our stupid postwoman.

Si.

[SiHart]

I'm hoping it'll be wairing at home when i get back tonight.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Maybe it's a DVD set that you have to be asleep beneath some wind chimes to find.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

While the Royal Mail are enjoying 24 hours D-sleep under the delta-wave augmentor, our minds are elsewhere...

[Si Hunt]

I'd like to give our postwoman 24 hours of something, and it wouldn't be anything as relaxing as "D Sleep".

It would be 24 hours of a kick up the jacksy.

But I won't go on.

Si.

[SiHart]

We've got ours very well trained. He's found the outside cupboard without any prompting.

Si xx

[Perry Vale]

Boo!

I thought from the PS front page that 'The Wheel In Space' had been discovered and was coming out on dvd!

[SiHart]

It's here and I'm in isolated score heaven at the moment. It's lovely to hear the Snakedance music- such as it is without all that mumbling and stuff over the top. The synthy bits in the Snake Mouth cave at the end of pt 4 send shivers down my spine.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Simon says Jane Judge looks like a Cryon.

Si.

[Paul Monk]

I thought from the PS front page that 'The Wheel In Space' had been discovered and was coming out on dvd!

I thought that too!

I REALLY want to get this set. However I shall be patient and go off to meditate in the wilderness with some snakes until its cheaper.

[Si Hunt]

A very strange story so far. The stuff with Tegan in the void is very well done, and very interesting. It strikes me that Doctor Who has had various alternatives on the 'duplicates' theme before, but in these short segments the writer has tried to think what it would be like to actually have two people who were convinced - who knew- they were the real one. What if they both were? I'm not quite sure what it's saying, but it's something to do with different aspects of yourself. Also notable mention to Jeff thing from "The Bill" who is brilliant in his small roll here. The image of the creepy old couple mirroring Adric and Nyssa playing draughts is also highly effective.

One bit I was dissapointed about here is the bit where Tegan is made to go 'invisible' and the suggestion is that the Mara is threatening to leave her like that, invisible and in the blackness, unless she agrees to taking it into the real world. Only they make her have a clever 'outline', presumably as it would have been a bit viewer-unfriendly to have a completely black screen for up to a minute of screen time. But I think that would have been brilliant - to just have the screen go black and hear the voices.

I put a lot of emphasis on the dream sequence because unfortunately the rest is a little variable. The planet - as has often been mentioned - looks oddly fake and I'm not really sure why. The trees and bushes are actually quite imaginatively laid out - there are grassy hillocks and low hanging branches, and rocks with moss on... it's just that the whole thing looks SO like a studio. It's lit exactly the same as the indoor sets are. If only there were some contrast; perhaps the use of spotlights or lower level lighting. Maybe this is one Doctor Who story that would look good filmised?

Hindle. I'm really not sure about all his scenes. Simon Rouse is undoubtedly great, and as a portrait of madness it's acted flawlessly. The trouble is, this is a story with a lot of other things that are quite difficult to understand - the concept of the Kinda and the way the viewer has to deduce that the males can't speak, the people communicate telepathically, and "voice" is a sign of wisdom, not a gift, and that the box of Jhana is a device for clearing the mind much like the Metabelis Crystal (I think). Anyway, on top of this we just happen to have a completely unrelated human character who just happens to be insane and acting completely irrationally. Have I got this right? So in a story which is hard enough to understand as it is, we have one of the humans doing things almost randomly in an state of mindelessness. I don't think Hindle's witterings about attacking plants or his games with the paper soldiers actually mean anything do they?

Also I don't like Peter Davison's portrayal in this. He's TOO vulnerable. It's hard to imagine the Third, Fourth or even First Doctors hanging around in the dome for three episodes while a derranged human holds him hostage; those Doctors would have escaped in about ten minutes! The Fifth Doctor not only has no idea what to do or what's going on, but he acts as if he is constantly bewildered and terrified. "It's Hindle that worries me..." he whimpers. Stitch on a pair! You're supposed to be the Doctor. It's surprising how the character of the Doctor has gone from being a pro-active solver of problems to a victim in such a short space of time. Later on Davison would play him a little more assertive (compare with the what he squares up to Jek some years later, a rather more formiddable and capable opponent) and you can see how far he came.

I'm also surprised how little Janet Fielding is in this, and what a short period of time it is that she is taken over by the Mara. Reputation has it that this is the story where she really shines; but she's the Mara for all of about two minutes of screen time, and even then she's largely aided by clever make-up and a modulated voice. It's a bit of a myth that she puts on this amazing performance, not to say she's at all bad, but she doesn't have to do very much for very long.

Si.

[SiHart]

Nice review Si. I haven't watched the story yet so I'll be watching out for some of these points.

I've always felt that Janet Fielding's Mara performance reputation actually comes from Snakedance, where she really goes for it and has the material to really work up a performance that's frighteningly sexually powerful compared to the normal Tegan.

Actually I think Snakedance is generally the better Mara story.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I should note I've only re-watched Episodes 1 and 2 so far, but she's already "passed on" the Mara to Aris, so I think you're right.

With memories of "Snakedance" it's surprising how different "Kinda" is in style - it does almost feel a shame that "Snakedance" is so, well, like normal Doctor Who. Yet at the same time, I think "Snakedance" is my favourite of the two stories - the Mara is more clearly defined, and has more screentime via its possession of both Lon and Tegan, and there are far more vivid characters. There's a lot more too "Snakedance", if less of the memorable weird atmosphere of "Kinda".

Incidentally Mary Morris is wonderful in "Kinda". She just looks odd, and her acting of being blind is brilliant. It's easy to wonder if the actress herself was blind, such is her good performance, though with stories of her driving many miles through the mountains for filming from abroad, one hopes this wasn't actually the case.

Si.

[Logo Polish]

It's hard to imagine the Third, Fourth or even First Doctors hanging around in the dome for three episodes while a derranged human holds him hostage; those Doctors would have escaped in about ten minutes!

It's effectively only for the duration of one episode he is held hostage, from the first cliffhanger to just after the start of the third episode. Also, it doesn't seem that different from the situation in The Mind of Evil to me, where the Third Doctor spends several episodes being pushed about by Mailer or the Master, and being locked up various times.

[Si Hunt]

Here's a shock - the CGI snake is superb!

Genuinely don't know how they did it!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

We saw it this morning - it looks like a really, really good rubber/latex snake than a CGI one!

[MacNimon]

I've never really been a fan of either of these stories. I feel that they're among the weakest of Davison's era. Snakedance I feel is more accessable and traditional, while Si Hunt has described Kinda perfectly for me...a rather strange sort of story which I could never get into.

[Lissa]

The Kinda documentary was good but I can't believe no one mentioned the Kate Bush thing. The commentary is good too - Matthew Waterhouse gets a fair bit of teasing over the Richard Todd incident.