Wednesday 22 October 2014

DOCTOR WHO MARATHON 18th MEET-UP - THE DALEKS' MASTER PLAN (PARTS 3 - 7)

Tuesday 21st October 2014


What Tuesday!??  What's going on!?  My whole world has been turned upside down!  Surely that day must be a mistake?!?  Nope sadly we all had quite busy weekends coming up so to save there being TOO much of a gap we decided, as a first, to meet up on a Tuesday.  Another first was that we got to meet up around Shaun's for the first time - so many firsts indeed!  Well two.

Anyhow, no time to waste!  Last time we had started the 12 part epic "The Daleks' Master Plan" epic and need to continue with Part 3 -
"Devil's Planet"!  This again was a re-con though did seem to have a few existing clips - which was always good for helping the story flow better.
 


Photo 1: Leigh, Jason, Mark (with the sign), Jim (holding The Dalek's Master Plan DVD cover) and Shaun (holding the Lost In Time DVD cover) around Shaun's house.

Last time Space Agent Bret Vyon had been about to take off in Mavic Chen's ship (which they had stolen) with Katarina and Steven - leaving behind the Doctor!  Thankfully the old boy made it in time and in possession of the Dalek's taranium core!  However they are soon pursued by The Daleks and are forced to crash land on a Prison planet (Desperus) - a planet where convicts are simply left, without any guards or means of escape!  Thankfully the ship only has minor damage and they are soon able to fix it - not before some of the local convicts spot them and try to break in the ship to escape from the planet.  As the Doctor and gang try to take off a prisoner (Kirksen), who has stowed aboard, holds Katarina at knifepoint demanding that the ship goes to Kembel.  This ends that particular episode...
 


Photo 2: Jason, MJ, Mark (with the sign), Jim (holding The Dalek's Master Plan DVD cover) and Shaun (holding the upside down Lost In Time DVD cover)
around Shaun's house
.

So onto the next episode ("The Traitors") and things don't start off well for our new companion!  Her and Kirksen get knocked into the airlock and Katarina opens the airlock, blowing herself and Kirksen into space!  Now you see why I didn't bother doing a new photoshopped photo of the group showing Katarina!  I guess they found it a pain that they were stuck with her from the previous story and decided to kill her off!  The death count in this one is starting to escalate!  Steven thinks Kataraina must have opened the airlock accidentally, but the Doctor thinks it was deliberate in order to allow the Doctor and his companions to return to Earth and warn of the coming invasion.  So Bret takes them back to Earth and Central City where he has a friend (Daxtar) that can help.  However Chen also arrives on Earth telling the Security there that Bret is a traitor and he should be killed.  He assigns Sara Kingdom, the toughest security agent they have, to do the killing and get the taranium back.

The traitor in this episode actually turns out to be Bret's friend
(Daxtar) and so Bret kills him... and then ends up being killed himself by Sara Kingdom who has caught up with them!  So ends another fun episode!
 


Photo 3: Starting to look tired!
Leigh, Jason, Mark
(with the sign), Jim (holding The Dalek's Master Plan DVD cover) and Shaun (holding the Lost In Time DVD cover) around Shaun's house.

After a bit of a break we come to our one REAL episode of the lot: "Counter Plot".  Here we see the Doctor, Steven and Sara (still after them both) rushing into a room (in which a teleportation experiment is happening) and they all (and some white mice) get transported to the distant planet Mira!  Here the budget gets blown on invisible aliens (whom the Doctor describes as Visians)...!  Soon the Daleks also arrive on the planet - killing the mice (Boo!) and then killing off some of the Visians!

Meanwhile Chen is revealing his true plans to a very camp, bald fellow (with an amazing voice!) called Karlton.  Karlton agrees to help Chen to take over the Universe - starting with the Galaxy!

Back on Mira the Daleks find the Doctor and gang and surround them - for the Doctor to announce "The Daleks have won"...

 

Photo 4: Jim (holding The Dalek's Master Plan DVD cover) and Shaun (holding the Lost In Time DVD cover) around Shaun's house.

So comes episode 6 "Coronas Of The Sun"!  The Doctor and co escape the Daleks after the invisible aliens go bat-shit crazy and start attacking the Daleks!  This let the Doctor and co steal the Dalek's ship (throwing mud in the eye of the one Dalek guard - thus impairing it's vision!).  On the stolen ship the Doctor then proceeds to make a fake taranium core and then suggests to the Daleks and Chen (who are hot on their heels) that they will give them this (fake) core at their TARDIS - if they are allowed to go free.  The Daleks don't like this idea but Chen over-rides them and agrees.  So at the TARDIS the Doctor and Sara go inside the ship whilst Steven hands over the core.  Immediately the Daleks shoot him - only to find that the Doctor has erected a force field over the TARDIS!  And so the all escape but end up on a planet with, what seems like a very poisonous atmosphere...
 


Photo 5: Jason, Michael and Mark (holding the sign) around Shaun's house.

And so we come to the last episode of the night "The Feast Of Steven".  Now all 60's episodes that exist no longer have their original videotapes - these were all wiped and re-used a long time ago.  However before they were wiped a lot of episodes were recorded onto film to be sold overseas and it is these film copies which form the basis of all episodes we have today.  Sadly the Dalek's Master Plan was never sold abroad - Australia did have viewing prints sent but they found it too violent and scary to broadcast!  So film copies were made of all Master Plan episodes....

..except one episode!  "The Feast Of Stephen" was broadcast on Christmas Day and the producers felt that a lot of people might miss it because of this - so they made a special caper that didn't have much to do with the main Master Plan narrative.  It was this episode that a film copy was never made and so it was never even tried to be sold over-seas.  This makes it the one episode which is most likely never to be found!
This probably isn't a bad thing as it really is the most bizarre piece of throwaway Who produced!  Still it probably alleviated the many deaths we'd previously seen!  Anyhow we find out the pollution the Doctor detected is actually a polluted area of 1960s England and they've landed outside a police station.  Here a group of policemen are quite suspicious of the sudden appearance of a Police Phone Box!  Anyhow The Doctor and Sarah nearly end up arrested whilst Steven dresses up and pretends to be a policeman!

Anyhow he Steven gets them away and then the TARDIS pops up on a Hollywood film set - where the crew meet famous stars (Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby (not the real ones - just actors pretending!)), interrupt filming and end up on a Lawrence Of Arabia type film set!

When they finally get away the film director is WOWED by the effect of the TARDIS disappearing!  The show finishes with the Doctor getting them all champagne as it's Christmas Day (why it's
Christmas Day on a ship that can land anywhere and any time is beyond me!), toasting Steven and Sara.....and then turning to the camera and toasting us all at home!!  HE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL!!

With that episode done I felt we had done enough and we decided to catch up on the other five episodes next time.
So what did Shaun think?  Shaun:

"Very good.  It will come as a surprise to no one that I love the darker stuff, and this was pretty brutal in places.  The death of several key characters, the new companion Katarina, shortly after Bret's death at the hands of his sister Kingdom (who got the far more epic name in the family!) was pretty jarring.  In a good way.

There genuinely seems a lot at stake in this one, and killing characters we are coming to know and expect to be around for a while is giving the entire arc a sense of danger that Doctor Who to date doesn't really have.

It's much better than an assistant just leaving for some guy they just met at any rate.
Mavic Chen, and the actor playing him, are really holding a lot of intrigue throughout and giving us a human, down to Earth (sorry, pun attack) 'evil' to root against.... And for...
The Daleks are charismatic as always, and are holding the arc up as usual.
The Doctor on the back-foot is quite compelling.  He seems to be making on the spot decisions with the fate of the Solar System in the balance and is noticeably more serious than in other story-lines.

Also, the inclusion of the various political machinations is very interesting and something I didn't expect, at least not in any depth.  We have the uneasy alliance,  The Daleks planning to betray everyone eventually, of course, by Chen's ambitions are highlighted well, and it's nice to see that other factions are also planning the others' downfall (although we get little POV stuff from them).

It's also nice that, on a limited budget, we've seen several new worlds, technologies and species.  I was not surprised to see Terry Nation's name on the credits for this.  I think he's our best bet in these early days.

I am wondering how much darker this will get by the end.  And look forward to Chen's horrible fate, of course.  Greatly looking forward to the conclusion (and no more Xmas episodes!!!)."

Wow lots of stuff there Shaun - but what makes you think Mavic Chen will have a horrible fate?.....

Jim also had stuff to say: "Bloodbath!  Never expected so many 'good' characters to kick the bucket.  I get why Australia thought it was too violent.  Certainly by 60s family TV standards.
I'm enjoying the power-struggles between the Daleks and Chen, and between Chen and cool-voiced-chap.  It's moving along at a good pace, the writers aren't trying to fit too much in too soon.  The prison planet (read Australia) seemed a bit extraneous but apart from that - great."


So that's all for now.  As ever, until next time I shall return, yes, I shall return....


MJ 22-10-14

Tuesday 14 October 2014

DOCTOR WHO MARATHON 17th MEET-UP - THE MYTH MAKERS & THE DALEKS' MASTER PLAN (PARTS 1 & 2)

Sunday 12th October 2014


Another Sunday meet-up and this time we were around Mark's house - meaning we were joined by a Gavin!  Which was nice.

It was also nice that we had two firsts for this meet-up.  It was the first meet-up we had where I was beardless (having shaved it off the week before!) and, perhaps more importantly, it was the first meet-up where Jason was a married man!  He'd gotten married the previous Saturday where all of us Whoresmen had had a glorious time
!
 


Photo 1: Gavin, Leigh (holding the Myth Makers DVD cover), Shaun,
Michael (with the sign), Jason & Jim around Mark's house.

Anyway now that Jason's wedding was FINALLY out of the way we could concentrate on more important things....namely carrying on with our marathon - and this week we started with "The Myth Makers".  Now this was our first COMPLETELY missing story (if we ignore the one part "Mission To the Unknown") since we watched "Marco Polo" many months back.  I did worry that it might be a slightly tedious watch.

However such thoughts were to be unfounded!  It was a really good story, fairly pacey and extremely funny!  First time writer for the series, Donald Cotton, really nails some great characters and gives them fantastic dialogue.  The actors seem to rise to this and I, for one, found myself laughing out loud at many a moment in the script
!
 


Photo 2: Leigh (holding the Myth Makers DVD cover), Shaun (with the sign),
Jason
& Mark (eyes closed) around Mark's house.

The story, to give a brief re-cap, shows us in ancient Greece where the Greek army has besieged the ancient walled city of Troy for 10 years.  On the plains just outside Troy the Greek warrior Achilles slays the Trojan Hector, another son of King Priam, when the materialisation of the TARDIS disturbs Hector's concentration.  When the Doctor emerges from within the TARDIS, Achilles believes him to be the god Zeus disguised as an old beggar, and insists he accompany him to the Greek encampment.  This he is done whilst companions Vicki and Steven can only watch as he's being led away
!
 


Photo 3: Gavin, Leigh (holding the holding the Myth Makers DVD cover),
Shaun
(with the sign), Jason, Mark & Jim around Mark's house.

They stay within the TARDIS - but that doesn't stop the TARDIS being taken away and left within the walled city of Troy as a prize for King Priam by his, rather bumbling and funny, son Paris.  Priam's daughter, the prophetess Cassandra, thinks the blue police box is dangerous – she has dreamt that the Greeks will leave a gift on the plain which will contain soldiers to attack the Trojans.

Anyhow the story continues on along these lines and of course ends with the Doctor giving the Greeks the idea of building the legendary giant wooden (Trojan) horse that the Greek Army hide in.  Of course Troy gets ransacked and destroyed by the Greeks and history/mythology unfolds.

Quite unexpectedly the story ends with the departure of another companion - Vicki has quickly fallen in love with the warrior Troilus and decides to stay!
Apparently she will pass into legend as Cressida (the name given to her by King Priam)
.
 


Photo 4: Gavin, Leigh (holding the Myth Makers DVD cover), Shaun,
Michael 
(with the sign), Jason & Jim around Mark's house.

However as one companion leaves - another joins!  A Trojan girl Katarina ( Cassandra's handmaiden who has been flirting around the edges of the story) enters the TARDIS in Vicki's place.  And so the travels leave - with Steven quite badly wounded after having had a fight with a Trojan soldier.

As I said before I really thought this an excellent story - top-notch stuff with some great acting - yes the story unfolded as expected but the ride was pretty fun!

Jim: "I liked the Myth Makers.  Wasn't expecting the John Le Mesurier-type Paris character but it elevated it above just another historical serial.  Story-wise, it wasn't too great (it ended up unfolding as I thought) but enjoyed it on the whole".

Shaun: "The Doctor's interference directly caused the slaughter at Troy (at which he felt no remorse, in fact didn't even acknowledge it!), and Vicki, out of nowhere, f**ked off with a guy she spoke to two/three times.  So quite jarring.It was a fun romp, Paris was an absolute highlight, and Cassandra's overacting was fun.  A good, solid 4 parter.  I think it included enough characters to hold the two hours, but not too many to feel cluttered".


**************************************************************************************************************

We then had a quick break and decided to start the feast that is the 12 part(!) story that is "The Daleks' Master Plan".  This is quite an epic and, sadly, one that never got sold overseas, so the chances of any episodes existing are quite low.....



Photo 5: Gavin, Leigh, Jason (holding the Daleks' Master Plan DVD cover),
Michael, Mark
(with the sign) & Jim (with The Lost In Time DVD Cover)
around Mark's house.

...however luckily 3 parts DO!  And one of them was episode 2 (viewable on the 3 disc collection of orphaned stories called "Lost In Time") - which was lucky as we only planned to watch just 2 parts of this story today!

The story starts back on Kembel (where we had seen the doomed mission during the earlier one-off story "Mission To The Unknown" - in fact this is 6 months later) and has the Doctor and Katarina worrying what to do with the still wounded Steven.  Also on Kembel are two Space Agents, Bret Vyon (played by Nicholas Courtney - an actor that would go on to greater glory in later Who!  But that is for later....) and Kert Gantry (played Brian Cant - more known for being a presenter of the kid's show "Play School"!).  Sadly Kert doesn't last long and, in a sequence that still exists, he gets shot down by a Dalek!  Bret, after an initial aggressive meeting with the TARDIS travellers (he very nicely holds them at gunpoint and demands to be taken away from the planet!), cures Steven and agrees to work with them to escape and warn Earth of the massive Dalek-led alliance that is amassing on the planet!



Photo 6: Gavin, Leigh, Jason (holding the Daleks' Master Plan DVD cover),
Michael, Mark
(with the sign) & Jim (with The Lost In Time DVD Cover)
around Mark's house.


The Doctor wants to know what's going on and disguises himself as one of the Aliens that are in league with the Daleks (by knocking out said alien and nicking his cloak!).  We then find out that the treacherous Guardian of Earth, Mavic Chen, has brought a sample of a rare mineral Taranium, which is to become a part of the Daleks' ultimate weapon, the Time Destructor.  Why they would want to destroy time isn't explained!  Surely destructing time would destruct them as well?


Photo 7: Gavin, Leigh & Jason (jointly holding the Daleks' Master Plan DVD cover),
Shaun, Mark
(with the sign) & Jim (with The Lost In Time DVD Cover)
around Mark's house.


Anyhow the Doctor steals the Taranium but the alien, who he had knocked-out, sounds the alarm!  The Doctor's companions and Bret escape onto Chen's spaceship!  But Chen wants to take off without the Doctor - and so it ends with Steven and Katarina pleading with Bret not to take off....!

Photo 8: Leigh & Jason (jointly holding the Daleks' Master Plan DVD cover),
Shaun, Mark
(with the sign) & part of Jim (with The Lost In Time DVD Cover)
around Mark's house.
 


Great stuff.  I personally found it quite a good start and I really like the Bond-esque villain Mavic Chen and his little-finger acting!



Photo 9: Mark (with the sign) & Jim (with The Lost In Time DVD Cover)
around Mark's house.

But that's what I thought - how about Shaun?

Shaun: "Slow, but steady pace.  Never boring, but future parts could easily go that way.  We'll have to see.
Interesting politicking, the Guardian of the Solar System's turn and motivation were good. The new assistant is giving a light comic relief to stop it feeling too bleak.

I like that it took less than 2 eps for the Daleks to reveal they plan to betray everyone.
I'd like to see more from the other conspirators and their motivations.

The Doctor was more or less irrelevant to the story so far.  A good start, anyway". 


************************************************************************************************************

I look forward to seeing the next few parts!  But that's for next time (AND the time after!!)! 

Until then I shall return, yes, I shall return....

MJ 13-10-14