Earthstory: Malus Come, Mr Wearp! - The Gunfighters / The Awakening 20th June 2011

[Stuart Wallis]

We did the commentary for The Awakening - I suspect Eric Saward's drinks were spiked, because he was actually complimentary about a few things, including Matt Smith as the Doctor.

Well JN-T had nothing to do with Matt...

[SiHart]

Mary Tamm is an absolute joy on Tomorrow's Times. I haven't laughed so much in ages!

[Ralph]

The Tammster was an unexpected bonus!

I preordered this DVD at "Send it" and it arrived today - I'll be sticking with Play for the golden era DVDs...that's for sure..

I guess they must have thought nobody will be in a hurry to see this one?...

[Perry Vale]

I'm sure you'd like to think that but it's par for the course with Sendit.

Watched End Of The Line last night, which is fabulous, and then watched The Awakening. The film inserts look absolutely gorgeous, and it just made me wish that Black Orchid & The Five Doctors looked that good, and didn't have such 'loud' reds. Edit: And The Invasion Of Time.

[Ralph]

I'm sure you'd like to think that

I know send-it can be slow but I have found not normally that slow... anyway nice to see opinions never change

[Logo Polish]

The Tammster was an unexpected bonus!

I preordered this DVD at "Send it" and it arrived today - I'll be sticking with Play for the golden era DVDs...that's for sure..

I guess they must have thought nobody will be in a hurry to see this one?...

Which is the golden era again? Spearhead from Space - Planet of the Spiders? Spearhead from Space - City of Death?

[Si Hunt]

The fact it happens three quarters through Episode 2 helps disguise the almighty cop-out ending that "The Awakening" somehow gets away with. Basically the Doctor fiddles with the TARDIS and sorts out the Malus! WHAT?! An outrageously lazy resolution to an atmospheric story with a lovely little plot idea behind it.

Si.

[Ralph]

Which is the golden era again? Spearhead from Space - Planet of the Spiders? Spearhead from Space - City of Death?

Hi Logo correct on the second count...Spearhead to City...

How could Tom not be part of the pinnacle of the programme!!

[SiHart]

How can the end of Tom not be a part of it too?

[Ralph]

How can the end of Tom not be a part of it too?

Certainly that season was clearly the end of Tom! He should have bowed out on City of Death...still I do like the Leisure Hive but as to the rest...and don't get me started on that snoozefest Logopolis - mind you at least the Doctor was awake during that story - we were all asleep including the Doctor on the next story...

[SiHart]

Ralph- we need your thoughts over here!http://www.planetskaro.org.uk/forums...splay.php?f=45

[Ralph]

I'll get onto it my good fellow ... but I better get back to study as I've an exam to pass tommorow afternoon and it isn't specialist subject "The Golden Era"

[Rob McCow]

Nobody leaves the TARDIS in The Awakening. The whole village of Little Hodcombe is a projection created by The Malus. If they'd run the camera for a little longer in the last scene, Mr Verney and the others would simply fade away.

[Stuart Wallis]

...and don't get me started on that snoozefest Logopolis

You and i are both going to be unpopular in the morning now!

[Nyder]

Getting 'The Gunfighters' on DVD rental today. Looking fwd to this one - will post more when I've finished viewing. See y'all!

[Nyder]

Well that's Episode 1 viewed. Few comments from me (now remember, I'm coming to this story completely afresh, having no knowledge of the storyline or background info - remember those days? )

1) This is the first story I've watched with Peter Purves in. I like. A lot! He certainly delivers his lines with panache, and there's great energy to his character.

2) I wonder what the audience originally thought of this story? I suppose modern DW fans are used to something a bit quirky these days.

3) I'm assuming that the singer Lynda Barron is Nurse Gladys Emmanuel herself. I want to look that up but don't want to discover anything else about the story!

4) We're quite a few years into DW now and it seems they still can't quite get the hang of which sound effect is used for TARDIS materialisation and which is used for dematerialisation. When did they finally get this right??

5) Some delightfully dodgy cowboy accents are present. Makes the accents in "Carry On Cowboy" positively authentic

6) I wonder if the Doctor's tooth regenerated??

Episode Two to view tomorrow.......

Very enjoyable!!

[Rob McCow]

I wonder what the audience originally thought of this story?

For years it was known as the 'Much Maligned The Gunfighters'. Who was doing all this 'Much Maligning' remains a mystery, however.

I love this story! It's tremendous fun.

[Antony Cox]

I love this story! It's tremendous fun.

I agree! Very unusual/quirky for Doctor Who, and there's certainly no traditional 'story' as such, but still great fun!

[Jason Thompson]

1) This is the first story I've watched with Peter Purves in. I like. A lot! He certainly delivers his lines with panache, and there's great energy to his character.

Peter Purves is, I think, the most underrated companion of the show. He is great in every scene. If you watch The Chase and see him as Morton Dill, knowing he got a regular role on the strength of that you might wonder what the production team had been smoking, but when he comes back as Steven it is clear they did know what they were doing. His scenes in The Time Meddler are an absolute joy.

2) I wonder what the audience originally thought of this story? I suppose modern DW fans are used to something a bit quirky these days.

Remember the context. The Gunfighters may seem quirky now, in relation to an overall knowledge of the show, but look at what had preceded it. In that season alone we had:

Space dominatrixes and chumbley robots
An episode without any of the regulars in it at all
High comedy on the plains of Troy
An epic Dalek story that included the monk and a Christmas knees-up
A dark drama about a massacre in which the Doctor is almost entirely absent
A story with Monoids and invisible aliens
A story with living toys and an omnipotent Michael Gough dressed as a mandarin!

In contrast The Gunfighters seems pretty normal...

3) I'm assuming that the singer Lynda Barron is Nurse Gladys Emmanuel herself.

You assume correctly.

4) We're quite a few years into DW now and it seems they still can't quite get the hang of which sound effect is used for TARDIS materialisation and which is used for dematerialisation. When did they finally get this right??

Oh, not for some time...