Reign of Terror- Reigning Down Now!

[SiHart]

The animated episodes were good, but not great. Someone took the decision to overdo with the direction, and so the pictures are constantly cutting from cloe up to fuill shot to shot of eyes moving to close up of face. It's all a bit distracting and too fast for the material, which is talky and not all that action packed. It just doesn't quite feel right.

It settles down a bit in part 5, where the action sequence in the crypt is rather well done I think.

It's a shame, because the characters look beautiful and the sets are all rendered quite magnificently. maybe they just need to slow down a little and think about what it is they're animating? It would maybe less jarring for a story that was wholly animated, but after 3 sedate epsiodes, it was just felt inappropriate.

[Si Hunt]

No-one ever seems to go for the "faithful" approach with animations. They have to make them as if they were film noir, or different styles. Why not just try and recreate what was on screen in the first place? Yes, complete with slow direction, one camera etc. After all, that's what the aim is - to recreate how it used to look.

Si.

[Dirk Gently]

I'm totally with you there, Si.

[Simon R]

I've struggled with this one. The first two episodes are okay but once they get to Paris it becomes very talky and dull and I lost the plot pretty quick. The animations are well intended but don't quite do it for me. It feels as if they did one version, showed it to the powers that be and were then forced to re-edit it to make it more pacey. I'm not keen on the over shiny eyes either. I'll give it another chance but I can see why this story is rarely spoken of.

[Si Hunt]

It starts well but quickly goes downhill when you realise that the plot is basically Barbara and Susan get arrested, try to escape for 10 minutes, get released, Barbara gets recaptured, is released, Susan escapes, meanwhile the Doctor turns up, releases Barbara, who finds Ian, who rescues Susan yadda yadda.

By Episode 6, my God this is dull. The episode starts with a massive scene full of identical historical people in big hats talking about who's going to seize power in historical France. Never was there more of a need for a ruddy big Dalek to come round the corner. It's a wonder any kids were left watching!

It's odd how I would give three of my toes for "The Massacre" to come back, yet never want to see this again.

Si.

[Matthew T]

After the huge fuss over the animated episodes, with Ian Levine declaring the apocalypse upon us after seeing them, I was pleasantly surprised. The "fast cutting" that was frequently referred to is confined to a couple of short scenes, although it is bizarre when it does occur.

I found the eyes a bit weird too, but overall I thought the animations were great and I'm looking forward to more, especially now they should have ironed out these teething problems.

The story itself is one of my least seen, this being only the third time I've ever watched it. It's not great, and is a bit of a slog, especially as it presumes knowledge of the French Revolution, of which I have none. It's not without merit though, I especially liked the sequence with the Doctor and the road builders where he batters the overseer over the head with a shovel. Susan is at her most annoying here though.

[Jason Thompson]

Susan is at her most annoying here though.

Oh god yes! She refuses to dig her way out of the cell because there are rats there, and she refuses to run from the tumbril when the horse throws a shoe because she doesn't feel well, and in both cases Barbara says essentially 'Oh, OK, we won't bother escaping our certain death by guillotine until a better chance comes along then..."

[SiHart]

Good old Barbara. She's so resolutely positive in the face of ever lengthening odds!

[Jon Masters]

Hmmm - the general PS opinion seems to be a resounding 'Meh !'

I was tempted to buy it now at full price, but are those who've seen it suggesting this could wait awhile until it gets cheaper ?

[Stuart Wallis]

That would have been Ebenezer Wallis' suggestion either way...

[Si Hunt]

It's a very dull and dated story. To be honest Jon, I'd wait.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well I liked it although I acknowledge the animation style is a little jarring the first time you see it (it was less so the second time when I was watching in the context of the whole story) but that said having had the opportunity to see it previewed twice I won't be rushing out to spend £15 on it.

[brandynigma]

The animated episodes were good, but not great. Someone took the decision to overdo with the direction, and so the pictures are constantly cutting from cloe up to fuill shot to shot of eyes moving to close up of face. It's all a bit distracting and too fast for the material, which is talky and not all that action packed. It just doesn't quite feel right.

It settles down a bit in part 5, where the action sequence in the crypt is rather well done I think.

It's a shame, because the characters look beautiful and the sets are all rendered quite magnificently. maybe they just need to slow down a little and think about what it is they're animating? It would maybe less jarring for a story that was wholly animated, but after 3 sedate epsiodes, it was just felt inappropriate.

"What's this on the back of the box... 'From the Makers of... NEKROMANTEIA?!'"

Nurse, the screens!

[Jason Thompson]

What a strange little story this one is. It goes along OK but not much actually happens. For the first five episodes it's just the TARDIS crew caught up in events that could be anywhere and any time, since aside from the Doctor's brief chat with Robespierre there is nothing to make it uniquely revolutionary France. It's just a lot of capture, escape, recapture and subterfuge which could fit into any other story. Then in part six a couple of significant (but re-written with heavy artistic license) relevant events occur. It's as if the author suddenly remembered where and when the story was supposed to be set and chucked them in as an afterthought.

The timings are weird as well. The travellers arrive at dusk, with it being pitch black by the time they are arrested and the house burned. By the time the Doctor recovers and sets off it's broad daylight again. Has Jean Pierre really pulled him from a burning house then sat with him on the ground all night rather than, say, taking him somewhere more comfortable? And then it takes so long for the Doctor to get to Paris (a distance of only 12 km) that, even with his temporary diversion with the road digging party, by the time he reaches the prison Barbara and Susan have had time to do enough digging that their hands are blistered, been dispatched to the guillotine and rescued, and Ian has had several hours in a cell with Webster after he died and has already escaped.

Plot points and characters are clumsily handled and disposed of as well. The shopkeeper happily gives the Doctor everything he needs to impersonate a government official without even asking to check his credentials, then goes to report him having given him ample time to start causing trouble, rather than, say, refusing the exchange and calling the militia. Ian's 'arranged' escape from the prison relies on the jailer leaving the key in the lock and Ian realising this has actually occurred, both of which are staggeringly improbably events that LeMaitre had no possible way of 'arranging' simply by yelling at the jailer. Susan is so ill she refuses even to run away from the back of a tumbril taking her to be executed. She goes to a physician who confirms she has a fever. But then by the time she's been dragged back to the prison a little later Barbara is able to tell the Doctor that she's fully recovered. Jean appears to be there simply because a single-handed rescue by Jules would have been stretching credulity, but then an episode later he heads off to find the Doctor and we never see him again. Nor is he even mentioned.

It's not all bad. Hartnell in particular gives a fine performance, and I love the scene where he arranges for Barbara to just walk out of the prison. Being a historical it is not let down by too many dodgy sets and props (though Robespierre's office doors need very little in the way of 'breaking down' by the mob in part six), and the dialogue sparkles in places. Overall it just can't rise above mediocrity, though.

[Stephen Morgan]

Hmmm.... I've watched this several times on video but it's never seemed to stick in my mind. I was looking forward to seeing this again, especially with the animated episodes, but somehow I've not got round to actually taking the cellophane off the case yet. Judging by opinions here it seems hardly worth bothering.
A poorly received package methinks.

[Dirk Gently]

I've watched the first episode & I've quite enjoyed it so far.

[Si Hunt]

Sorry Tim but its all downhill from there!

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

The animation does not impress me. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have some sort of way to show these episodes beyond a cut-down recon, or some links, but really. The movement is just all wrong. Heads constantly bob in an unnatural way, while the direction is just all wrong for the story.

Disappointing, really. In the unlikely event that we get more animations, I hope that they're done better than this.

[MacNimon]

I ordered my copy from Play.com at the bargain price of £6.99 yesterday after seeing Pip's link on Facebook. Just in time by the looks of things, it's over £13 now, only available from other Play.com market sellers. The cheap price must have been a way of getting rid of stock before they close up shop next month...

[Dave Tudor]

What, is Play closing?

[MacNimon]

Yes, sadly, in March due to the closing of a tax loophole affecting Jersey-based businesses. It will still exist a a marketplace of sorts, but the 'real' Play.com which we've probably all used for years will soon be no more.

Play.com closes direct retail business
The Guardian

[Dirk Gently]

This might be a good time to get some good reductions!

[Dave Tudor]

That's a shame - I must admit I use them less and less, and tend to go straight to Amazon these days, as they seem to have a wider variety (this might be one of the reasons they're folding), but there was a time, when I first started buying things online, that Play was always my first choice.

[Dirk Gently]

For DVD's/CD's Play is always my first choice. For books Amazon seems better.

[Stephen Morgan]

I used to use Play quite a lot until they let me down badly with a DVD which showed no sign of being despatched despite several e-mails and phone calls, and eventual cancellation. Oddly enough though, I pre-ordered The Ark In Space DVD from them a couple of weeks ago, it was sent out last Thursday and I received it Saturday morning, it was then, while looking through their site, I found that they were closing.