The Mutants - Un-Out on Un-DVD Un-Together!

[SiHart]

You'll all be delighted to hear that extras for The Mutants have been cleared at the BBFC:

00:02:55:18 THE MUTANTS - PHOTO GALLERY
00:20:36:21 MUTT MAD - THE MAKING OF THE MUTANTS
00:01:35:07 (BLUE PETER) (CLIP FROM BLUE PETER IN 1970S)
00:27:03:13 DRESSING DOCTOR WHO - JAMES ACHESON (FEATURETTE)
00:37:36:10 RACE AGAINST TIME (FEATURETTE)

Si xx

[Ralph]

Hmmm .... my least fave Pertwee... still better than nought!!

[Jason Thompson]

I have to say I actually quite enjoyed The Mutants. It's nt a classic by any means, but it has something that just appeals a little to me. Maybe precisely because it is so poorly regarded and so not overexposed.

[SiHart]

It should be a bit more bearable when the 525 line prints are smartened up and don't look quite so washed out.

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

Will there be a special CGI feature where Messrs Coll and James are digitally replaced by two planks of wood ?

[Si Hunt]

It's a Pertwee (hurrah!) but not another delicious recolourisation (boo!). Bring on "Terror of the Autons" and ""The Daemons"!

Is there Reverse Standards Conversion required on this?

Si.

[SiHart]

Cor, even the Pertwee fans aren't excited about this Pertwee release!

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

Pish & tush, I love The Mutants. As I've often said of it, it just keeps on chucking stuff at you that it's just impossible to get bored. It's not without its (many) faults, but as a kid I remember being particularly fascinated by the 'evolution' element of it.

[Stephen Morgan]

It should be a bit more bearable when the 525 line prints are smartened up and don't look quite so washed out.

Si xx

I should think those prints are suitable candidates for an RSC job, every copy I've seen of it looks old and washed out. However, I am looking forward to this one, it's not too bad.

[Si Hunt]

Shame the Making Of is barely 20 minutes, but what looks like a dreary thing on apartheid is twice as long. I'll put the washing away when that comes on.

Si. :mobile

[SiHart]

Apparently that one's been made by Noel Clarke. and it's about minority actors appearing in Doctor Who.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

Will they be interviewing whatsisname who plays Cotton (Rick James is it)? Hope he's a better interviewee than he is an actor!

At the risk of not being PC though... nearly 40 minutes does seem a long time to spend on that. Without being rude to Who, we could probably reel off the names of all the 'minority' actors who've ever appeared in Who pretty quickly, it's not like there are thousands of potential interviewees.

Edited to add: Although maybe it's going to look at the other side of things, with, for example, John Bennett being 'Chinesed-Up' for Talons. At the time I don't thing many people would have even given that a thought, but I do remember Zel actually being quite shocked when she first saw it (she'd missed it completely in 1976, so this was around 1999). Maybe that's another element of it, probably widening to TV & the BBC as a whole (cue clips from "It Ain't Alf Hot Mum" maybe?). Actually, you know, it could be quite interesting!!

[Logo Polish]

Is there Reverse Standards Conversion required on this?

Only for the first two episodes.

Will they be interviewing whatsisname who plays Cotton (Rick James is it)? Hope he's a better interviewee than he is an actor!

I shouldn't think so, he died years ago.

The documentary might be looking at the overall issue of casting ethnic actors in British TV programmes in the 60s and 70s with particular reference to Doctor Who eg examining whether minorities were under-represented, were the characters they were cast as stereotyped or not, discussions of that sort of nature.

[Si Hunt]

He died a few times when he was in "Doctor Who".

Interesting choice of Noel Clarke to make this one. It can't be because he's a minority actor, as arguably that situation doesn't exist anymore. Perhaps it's that they think by getting a black actor to make it, they can't be accused of any actual racism in the feature itself?

Si.

[SiHart]

Maybe it was something he wanted to do?

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

But if I believed that it wouldn't involve any cynacism!

Si.

[SiHart]

I'm optimistic your cynacism is misplaced!

Si xx

[Logo Polish]

Has he actually "made" it himself, as it were, I was under the impression that he'd just provided the narration?

[Antony Cox]

It should be a bit more bearable when the 525 line prints are smartened up and don't look quite so washed out.

Si xx

*Must-resist-temptation-to-point-out-that-they're-not-film-prints*

Gah! That was difficult!

[SiHart]

Sorry Ant.

Si xx

[Antony Cox]

Apology accepted!

[shada pavlova]

I like Stubbs.

[Andrew Curnow]

I shouldn't think so, he died years ago.

Oops! Thanks Logo.

[Terry Leptil]

I think The Mutants is an underrated Pertwee story. Not the best but better than say, The Time Monster.

I shouldn't think so, he died years ago.

Where did you hear this? There's nothing on his page at the US IMDb or anywhere else. (You're not getting confused with singer are you?) There's probably lots of Richard James on Ancestry and Find My Past which could make it difficult to determine which one is the actor Rick James. (Interestingly, Colin Baker was originally considered for the part of Cotton.)

[Logo Polish]

No, I'm not thinking of the singer. It was a few years ago I was told about it and unfortunately can't remember exactly where or who it was, but they definitely said that the Rick James who appeared in The Mutants was no longer with us.

I'll accept that the source might have been mistaken as I can't check it now, although the fact that, according to IMDB, he doesn't seem to have appeared in anything since 1981 doesn't make me hopeful.