Easy Love: Terror and Spearhead Out on Plastic Disc Now!

[Si Hunt]

I am damp in anticipation of "Terror". Damp!

Si.

[SiHart]

Spearhead cover up here: http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2011/...k-details.html

Si xx

[Larry]

not quite sure why they even needed to put the daffodil on the cover of terror, but apart from that very minor niggle I think these are two of the best covers we've had in a long time.

[Dave Tudor]

Verdict:

Box - Excellent
Spearhead cover - really good
Terror cover - not-so-good
Title - terrible!

I'm really looking forward to this release.

[Larry]

Title - terrible!

.

agreed, you do some times wonder who it is and how they come up with some of these titles.

[Si Hunt]

I would have called "The Gunfighters" DVD "Baron Barminess!"

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

not quite sure why they even needed to put the daffodil on the cover of terror

Makes Katy look as though she's doing a Morrisey as well! Like the Spearhead cover.

[Perry Vale]

Oh dear, I think a furore is about to blow up that will make "Spannergate" pale in comparison...

Tom Spilsbury has apparently tweeted...

Watching Spearhead from Space DVD. They've changed the TARDIS sound effect when it lands. Booo!! It's SUPPOSED to sound wonky there.

Time to put your hard hat on...

[Si Hunt]

No!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

Okay, I don't care if I'm playing up to stereotype, I'm cross.

This is a key part of the story - it's an iconic scene, and I love that bit where the TARDIS arrives. I LOVE the way it's groany and rough. But what annoys me is that someone, somewhere made the decision that it should be that way. And for no reason at all those meddling restorers have decided to change it. The thing is, this DVD is going to be selling to a lot of completists because they've asked fans to buy it again for new extras.

Unfortunately, we were too quick off the mark and have already taken our old copy to the charity shop. So, astoundingly, I find myself in the weird position of needing to buy another copy of "Spearhead from Space".

They've really let us down here.

Si.

[SiHart]

Oh dear! This is not good. Not good at all.

[Simon R]

I don't get why if Tom Spilsbury is watching an advance copy now, they don't let someone like him watch a test copy before they sign it off and start pressing the discs. Unless that is what's happened here and it'll all be fine?

[Perry Vale]

To clarify things, MArk Ayres has explained...

These things are always a judgement call on the part of the person doing the mastering. i.e. - me.

The snatched start of the TARDIS materialisation effect is, to my mind and on the balance of probabilities, an operational error made on original tracklay. Basically, they only wanted to use the very end of the sound, so paused the tape at the point where they wanted it to come in (it's called "back-timing"). The idea would have been to start the tape momentarily before it was required, then fade it up ("pre-fade cueing"). This is the way the TARDIS sound was almost always played in, from a single stock master recording back-timed to suit the action, until Dick Mills took over Special Sound duties with "The Three Doctors". (Dick would pre-cut a copy of the TARDIS sound to the correct length and individually leader it for each occurrence, one reason being to avoid precisely this problem). It has always seemed to me, looking at Spearhead, that the operator missed the cue and started the tape slightly late with the fader open; it bangs against the head as the tension is applied, then settles.

There is of course the very slim chance it was deliberate but, as an experienced grams op. myself, I have made the same mistake on live broadcast and wished I hadn't. I can almost feel the gram operator's heart thumping. Previously I've been asked why this was not fixed last time around, so I thought I would please that constituency and do it this time. I've just looked at it again and, technically, I believe I made the right call.

Unfortunately - as is always the case where these things are concerned, whatever I had done (or not done) it would please some and infuriate others (as evidenced by posts in this very thread). If it's any consolation to those offended, it's only 20 frames of sound that has been replaced, covering only the "wowed" start of the sound.

MArk.

Sounds fair enough to me.

[Andrew Curnow]

To my mind, that's the daftest explanation ever. Too late in the day now, but surely the best rule of thumb is that if they have to ask the question 'should I do this?' then the best answer is no - the fact that they're uncertain makes it obvious that there's no definitive answer.

Put another way, they must surely have enough sense to realise NOBODY is going to complain about the effect being left as is, whereas at the very least SOMEBODY will complain about if being changed.

Slightly tactless of Mr Spilsbury to mention it though, I bet he's off the RT's Christmas card list now!

(On the plus side, Si, you should find the 'original' Spearhead going pretty cheaply online now!)

[Si Hunt]

The idea would have been to start the tape momentarily before it was required, then fade it up ("pre-fade cueing"). This is the way the TARDIS sound was almost always played in, from a single stock master recording back-timed to suit the action, until Dick Mills took over Special Sound duties with "The Three Doctors". (Dick would pre-cut a copy of the TARDIS sound to the correct length and individually leader it for each occurrence, one reason being to avoid precisely this problem).

He can waffle on all he likes about pre-fade queuing and pre-cut Dicks, it sounds like another case of tinkering for the sake of it. When I first read about this I wanted to burn someone's house down, but I've cooled somewhat during the past few hours and now I don't care.

Another thing though, I used to love reading the RT Forum, then they got rid of it apparently because they'd had enough or something. But it seems to me they all simply decamped off to another forum to resume doing exactly the same. Where is the forum this came from? Is it Roobarbs? Isn't that the nasty one? So now I have to join an unpleasant forum to read dull stuff about restoration. I was quite happy with the one they had before.

Si.

[Perry Vale]

Yes it's from Roobarbs. I personally wouldn't call it "the nasty one", but don't know what others think.

None of the RT post there very much with regards to DW restoration anymore.

[Si Hunt]

Do they post anywhere? I do miss reading the technical stuff.

Si.

[Perry Vale]

Don't know really, but I get the impression they may post on GB, or perhaps DWO, but as I don't post on either couldn't say for sure.

[Dino]

"Sam Seely, you've not been overdubbing the TARDIS landing noise again?"

"Oh thart's nice, innit? Accuse your ohwn 'usbahnd!"

I think they should go the whole hog and get an African American to overdub the sequence instead? "Freaky... freaky... It laand."

(I didn't steal that joke from Family Guy, I adapted it!)

[Jonno]

The thing is, this DVD is going to be selling to a lot of completists because they've asked fans to buy it again for new extras.

To be honest, completists have no choice but to buy the remastered Spearhead in order to buy a story never before released on DVD...

[SiHart]

Roobarbs isn't nasty. They're OK over there.

[Si Hunt]

Which ones the nasty one? Is it The Leisure Hive?

Si.

[Jason Thompson]

He can waffle on all he likes about pre-fade queuing and pre-cut Dicks, it sounds like another case of tinkering for the sake of it.

As much as Mark Ayres may not be the easiest person to like, that was not waffle but an expert opinion from someone with extensive experience in the field. Why is fixing what is most likely a poorly played back sound effect worse than stabilising a wobbly CSO shot, taking out talkback from early episodes or fixing a music cue dropout?

As he says, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, since he's already taken flak for not fixing it in the first release of Spearhead.

[Rob McCow]

I think these improvements are fine - in fact they'd be very welcome - on a 'Special Edition' release, with CGI effects and edited together episodes and all the extra bells and whistles. But on a general release, they're harder to justify.

The main justification for something like this though is that unless you've had it pointed out to you, the chances are that 99.5% of the viewers simply would not notice.

[Jason Thompson]

But this is a special edition. It's a re-release with extra features. There is still the 'wonky TARDIS sound' version on shiny disc widely distributed across the world.