DOCTOR WHO MARATHON 43rd MEET-UP - THE INVASION

Sunday 13th September 2015

This time we had a moment of madness!  We were coming to a story that had 8 parts - The Invasion!  Now we'd not watched this many in a row - 7 had been the most and that had been a bit of a slog.  I offered the group the option of watching 6 parts and then watching the 2 parts next time - along with 4 parts of the next story.

However Shaun, who was to host, suggested to me that we meet at 12 o' clock and then bash out all 8 in one go!  I was up for that, especially as Gavin would be along to join us and this meant he would see all the parts!

So, much to Leigh's hatred, we all decided to meet early to watch this lovely 8 part story IN ONE MASSIVE GO!

Photo 1:

MJ (holding his copy of the DVD Cover),
Leigh (holding Jason's copy of the DVD Cover), Shaun,
Gavin (holding the sign) and Mark around Shaun's house!

So The Invasion is a story I love (even Jason has a copy of the DVD - which he brought over (in case we needed it!)).  6 parts of this story exist and 2 have been animated by the late, great animation company Cosgrove Hall.  When I was a child I'd loved Cosgrove Hall's cartoons "Dangermouse" and "Duckula" and expected high things of this story when I first saw it.  So, as we put in the disc to watch the first (animated) episode I certainly wasn't disappointed.  The characterisation was excellent, the movement and look of the whole thing flowed really well.

The story itself continues on from the last one where the reformed TARDIS has left the Land of Fiction.  It appears in space - just by the Moon - where a missile is suddenly launched at it!  They manage to avoid this by making an emergency landing but then they aren't sure where they've landed!  A face of a friendly cow on the monitor tells them they are in a field on Earth!  That's all good but in making an emergency landing they've damaged the visual stabiliser - which makes the TARDIS invisible!  They all decide to try to find Professor Edward Travers (of The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear) to seek his assistance.  So they hitch a lift to London with a lorry and the driver tells them that they are on private property of International Electromatics, the world's largest electronics manufacturer.  The lorry doesn't go unnoticed and soon they are followed and stopped by two shifty fellows on motorcycles (wearing sunglasses).  The driver shows his pass, whilst our crew hide and, when the motorcyclists have gone, the driver takes them outside the compound.

Sadly we'll never see the real actor playing the animated driver, as soon outside the compound he gets stopped by the motorcyclists again, who shoot him DEAD!!

Photo 2:

Jason (holding his copy of the DVD Cover),Leigh, Shaun, Gavin (holding the sign)

and Mark (holding MJ's copy of the DVD Cover)

 around Shaun's house!

Sinister stuff - not so sinister is when we arrive at the flat which is supposed to belong to Professor Travers.  He's not there (he gone away travelling) but a young lady (who's trying to take photographs of herself and is quite annoyed by the interruption) answers the door.  This is Isobel Watkins who tells us the flat now belongs to her Uncle, Professor Watkins. She explains that the her Uncle disappeared, after he worked on an invention for International Electromatics. The Doctor asks if there is a phone number they can ring for International Electromatics and he is pointed to the wall in the Hall - this is where Isobel writes all her notes down as "You can't lose a wall"!

So, whilst Zoe stays and poses for photos, the Doctor and Jamie go to International Electromatics's head office in London to investigate.  When they get there a computerised receptionist won't let them past, which infuriates the Doctor "Stupid Machine!!", and they seek out another way in.  However they fall unconscious after being gassed, and are taken by security chief Packer to see International Electromatics's Managing Director, Tobias Vaughn.  Vaughn apologises for the rough treatment they have endured - but they DID try and break in!

Photo 3:

MJ (holding his copy of the DVD Cover),
Leigh (holding Jason's copy of the DVD Cover), Shaun,
Gavin (holding the sign) and Mark around Shaun's house!

Vaughn explains that Professor Watkins was engrossed in a delicate stage of his work, and agreed to remain on site.  The Doctor seems happy with this and leaves the circuits behind as Vaughn has offered to fix or replace them for him.  After they leave, Vaughn opens a hidden panel in the wall of his office, revealing an alien machine!  OoooOOooooOOoo!I think Vaughn is great!  He's played by the great Kevin Stoney who played Mavic Chen in The Daleks Master Plan.  In this story he's calm, smooth, charming and pretty much a James Bond villain!  In fact the whole story could be a James Bond spy thriller - even some of the music sounds spy-like!

Also in this story we get re-introduced to Colonel Lethbridge Stewart (from the Yetis on the London Underground in the story The Web of Fear) - he's now a Brigadier and works for U.N.I.T. aka United Nations Intelligence Taskforce!  They've been investigating

International Electromatics for a while, watching lots of people going in....but not many of them come out again!

Photo 4:

Jason (holding his copy of the DVD Cover), Leigh, Shaun,
Gavin (holding the sign)

and Mark (holding MJ's copy of the DVD Cover)

around Shaun's house!
All of them trying to do Tobias Vaughn faces!

Anyhow we have a bit more to-ing and fro-ing until the end of Episode 4 where we finally see who Vaughn is in league with....The Cybermen!  In fact the very end of this episode is the only time those poor animators get to have a go at drawing the Cybermen!  Oh well.  So this time the Cybermen want to take over the Earth and have promised that Vaughn can be in charge of a vast part of it!  Will that actor never learn?!  When he was Mavic Chen he went in league with the Daleks and was promised he could rule once they'd won - and then they betrayed and killed him!  Now he's Tobias Vaughn he's doing the same thing with the Cybermen - will it end the same?...  (Spoilers - Yes it will!)

Photo 5:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun, Jason (holding the sign)

and MJ around Mark's house!

As I said I am a big fan of this tale and there are so many parts I like.  I like the introduction of UNIT (even with that funny little tune that seems to accompany their movements) and the re-introduction of the Brig.  I think the Cybermen look well designed AND I can make out what they are saying pretty much ALL of the time - which is a first!  I really loved when Vaughn used his new weapon on a semi-aroused (easy!) Cyberman to give it the emotion of fear!  It ran through the sewers SCREAMING in terror and attacking anything it came across (Cybermen or humans)!  I felt both sorry and creeped out by it!  Poor Cyberman!  It was all down to nasty Vaughn!  Ahh Vaughn!  Now I'm a big fan of him and his sidekick PACKER!  As I said classic boss villain in the Bond vein.  During the first few episodes he just oozed charm and if stuff went wrong he would just dismiss it casually - often with a smile or laugh!  It was only later, as the story moved on, we saw an angry Vaughn - and sometimes PETULANT!  When he found out the Cybermen were going to betray him he sulks like a spoilt child, angrily saying to the Doctor " I'll help you to destroy them because I hate them!"  Then rather sadly (and with lip sticking out) follows up with "They destroyed my dream."

Awwww, poor Vaughn!

The animation was superb - the first and best of the whole lot of animations.  I thought the locations were good - we got to see helicopters, aeroplanes, trains and lots of different locations.  The whole story seemed BIG!

So that's our last LONG story for a while - I'm glad we got through it in one go and this time we all scored:

Jason - 8.5/10

Leigh - 7/10

Mark - 7/10

MJ - 9/10

Shaun - 7/10
Gavin - 8.5/10

So it gave us an average of 7.83 out of 10!

So, a popular story!  Okay next time we're back for a shorter tale with a four parter tale with South-African robots....!

Until then, I shall return, yes I shall return

MJ - 17-09-15

DOCTOR WHO MARATHON 42nd MEET-UP - THE MIND ROBBER

Sunday 30th August 2015

Hello folks!  'Tis I, Le-MJ!  I have a tale to tell you of six chaps who met up for a viewing of 1960's Dr Who!  Trouble is we finished the last meet-up too early and so had to fill up the first half and hour with no extra scenery or extra Whoresmen....

Well, except for Gavin!

What the bloomin' heck are you talking about, MJ!?  I'll tell you!  We all met around Jason's to watch the five part tale - The Mind Robber!  Originally this tale was to be a four parter, but I believe they had knocked one episode off the previous tale (The Dominators) to make it punchier!  This meant they had a spare episode and so they made The Mind Robber a five parter (instead of a four parter).  All fine except that they had no budget for new sets or any extra cast.


So you'd think we'd see lots of padding from Padders (Wendy) & co - but no!  Oh no!  No, no, no no - there are no ACTUAL limits!  The first episode was one of the weirdest and strange episodes I'd seen for a while - slightly akin to the First Doctor story "The Edge of Destruction".  The tale continued from the last story by the TARDIS being buried in lava - this blows a fluid link in the process and forces the Doctor to use the emergency unit to take the TARDIS away from danger and indeed out of reality itself....
Between odd things happening in the TARDIS (and on a white, misty sound-stage) this could have been a weird, Dadaist art film from back in the day!  For me it was excellent!  It had been ages since I had seen it so I had no idea what was going on!  I love how strange it all was and thought the main cast dealt with it really well!

Photo 1:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun (holding the sign)

Jason and Leigh around Mark's house!

I would say the rest of the episodes followed on normally and, although not as whacky as that first episode, we actually find ourselves out of our reality and in the Land of Fiction!

So the Doctor and co have to face a series of puzzles put on by the mysterious Master (a later more famous Villain was also called "The Master" so this one is always referred to as the "Master of the Land of Fiction"), whilst being chased by white robots!

Along the way we meet many story-book characters, like Rapunzel (who's quite happy to let people use her hair for climbing - she's used to it now!) and, even more gloriously, Gulliver!

The chap who played Gulliver was wonderful and had a great and unusual way of speaking - we warmed to him so much that we wanted him to be the next companion!

Photo 2:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun (holding the sign)

Jason and Leigh around Mark's house!

Frazer Hinzes, who plays Jamie, actually contracted chickenpox and, as this was a fantasy land, they had the clever idea of turning Jamie into a flat photo - with no face!
Next to this cut-out was a board with many different face-pieces on it and the Doctor had to re-arrange the pieces to make Jamie's face again.  Unfortunately he gets it wrong and accidentally gives Jamie a new face (this meant that actor Hamish Wilson could cover whilst Frazer recovered)!  This happens only for episode 2 but it is a great way of getting around a problem!

Photo 3:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun, Jason (holding the sign)

and MJ around Mark's house!

Zoe is great in this story - she's looks a treat in her glittery jump-suit and there's a great scene of her clinging onto the TARDIS console (as the TARDIS has exploded) spinning slowly around whilst her lovely glittery bottom comes into view!

She also gets to have a fight with a comic-book hero called Karkus - throwing this giant fellow over her shoulder etc!  Great stuff!

Photo 3:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun, Jason (holding the sign)

and MJ around Mark's house!

With inventive sets and characters this was a great story.  I also enjoyed the reveal that the whole land was being controlled by "The Master" - who in turn was only a novelist from Earth who had been trapped in this weird land and was being forced to control it all.  Once he was freed and went back to his time I assume that the Land of Fiction disappeared.

The only thing about The Master that kept distracting me was a tiny bit of spittle that the actor had at the corner of his mouth on his beard!  That bugged me more than it should have!!  They should spend thousands in CGI to remove it!!  ;)

Photo 3:

Mark (holding the DVD Cover), Shaun, Jason (holding the sign)

and MJ around Mark's house!

Anyhow we all found it thoroughly entertaining - well apart from Leigh who wasn't keen at all!

The scores on the doors were:

Jason - 8.5/10

Leigh - 6/10

Mark - 9/10

MJ - 9/10

Shaun - 10/10
Gavin - 9/10

So it gave us an average of 8.6 out of 10!  Shaun really enjoyed it!

So next time we will have to see if the TARDIS rejoins again in one of my favourite stories - The Invasion!

Until then, I shall return, yes I shall return

MJ - 04-09-15