DOCTOR WHO MARATHON 65th MEET-UP - FRONTIER IN SPACE

Sunday 13th November 2016

Our first November meet-up!  A couple of weeks had passed and the festivities of the anniversary meet-up were a distant memory.  Quite good really as I had gotten VERY drunk that day and woke up with a horrid hang-over!  Anyhow just before October finished we gathered around Mark's to watch this little four-parter.....

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MJ: "Here we are at mine.  Yay.  We're watching..."
Shaun: "Frontier In Space."
MJ: "Thank you!  I was going to say 'Colony In Space' but I thought we've already seen that one!"
Jason: "Doctor Who."
MJ: "Ahh yeah, Doctor Who.  That's right!" *Laughs* 
Jason: "Yeah."
MJ: "And we have a full complement and that's all I'm going to say!  Part One!  I don't know much about it, apart from the fact that The Master's in it and Shaun has adorned my wall with many pictures of Masters - which I'm sure you'll see once you go on the website and read this.  Like you ALWAYS do...."
*Laughter*
Mark: "EVERYBODY reads."
Shaun: "I enjoy it!"
MJ: "It's like me masturbating and Shaun's watching!"
*Laughter* "That's what it is.  Part One!"

Photo 1: At MJ's house.

The wall of Master's that Shaun printed out for us to put up!

*EPISODE ONE GETS WATCHED*

MJ: "End of Part One!  No Master yet - says Jason.  And we have Draconions.  Ogrons are back.  And The Doctor is a traitor!!"
Jason: "Maybe The Master's NOT in it!  Maybe someone looks at someone else and they are scared and think it's The Master."  (Context: In this story Ogrons are attacking Earth ships whilst a weird sound is playing.  This sound seems to hypnotise people into seeing what they fear - so instead of Ogrons the Earth people see Draconians - whom they are NEARLY at war with!)
MJ: "Oh could be!"
Shaun: "I'll be VERY disappointed if that is the case."
Jason: "Sorry MJ, you were saying?"
Shaun: "Sorry."
MJ: *Munching on crisps* "Can't think what I was going to say."
Shaun: "Talking b***ocks over you!"
Jason: "No we're not!  We're... speculating!"
MJ: "Mmm."
Mark: "We've made it up to one minute twenty seconds (on the recording).  It's too long already!"
MJ: "Part Two."

*EPISODE TWO GETS WATCHED* 
  
Shaun: "I'm disappointed with the distinct lack of Master!"
MJ: *Laughing* "Four Ogrons costumes were used..." *Mark chuckles* "So no Master so far.  The Doctor and Jo have been blamed for being spies for Earth and then blamed for being spies for Draconia!  So they're sort of stuck in the middle with you - as the song goes.  Yay..." *Laughter* "And now Ogrons are in it going 'Eurrr'..."
Mark: "I feel your heart isn't in this anymore."
*Laughter*
Jason: "I'm quite enjoying it."
MJ: "I am."
Jason: "I mean I don't know what's going on - going forwards."
Mark: "I hope they escape and get captured again..."
MJ: "Well they've done that a few times."
Leigh: "I hope there's another cell."
*Mark laughs*
Jason: "We don't know HOW many cells were created in this story!"
Mark: "I'm hoping there's an Ogron cell."
Shaun: "We didn't get to see a Draconian cell!"
Jason: "I'm quite liking the door noises."
*Sniggers*
Shaun: *Bemused* "Right?!"
Jason: "I just picked up on them earlier and every time I'm listening to see if they make the same noises for each door.  Even when they cut to another scene there's the noise slightly in the background."
Shaun: "That's pretty good - did it happen when the Ogron's destroyed that door?"
Jason: "That was a different door."
*Whilst all that chat was going I seem to have been making Mark laugh by doing impressions of Screech from 'Saved By The Bell' and Norman Wisdom saying 'Mr. Grimsdale!'  So it was hard to make out all the relevant chat!!  We conclude with us all doing Ogron impressions!  At one point I do a Tommy Cooper/Ogron combo!*
Shaun: "Is this the second serial the Ogron's are appearing in?"
MJ: "Yes, the first one was 'Day Of The Daleks'."
Jason: "They're the perfect villain as they can just keep re-using the costume for years to come!"
Shaun: "Yeah, yeah!"
MJ: "Yeah."
Jason: "Apart from the fact that they look too much like Klingons."
Shaun: "They've now brought in the thing that they are mercenaries.  So, you know, they'll work for anyone."
MJ: "They're slags.  Slag-aliens - work for anyone!  As long as you pay them five dollar!"
Mark: "It's exactly that kind of Ogron racism that makes me SO angry!"
*Laughter*
MJ: "Oh dear."
Jason: "They're darker looking Sontarans - just less potato-y!"
Shaun: "Yeah, much less potato-y!"
MJ: "Well I don't know what Sontarans are!!" *Laughs*
Shaun: "Have we not had one with them in it yet?"
Jason: "No!"
Mark: "We haven't had them yet."
Leigh: "They're like giant grapes."
MJ: "Ahh..."
Jason: "'The Time Warrior'?"
Leigh: "Like raisins..."
MJ: "Yeah, 'The Time Warrior' is their first - with Sarah-Jane.  Sarah-Jane's first story."
Shaun: "So it's not too far off then?"
MJ: "Not too far off then."
Shaun: "By which I mean: presumably some point in the future it COULD happen!"
MJ: *Laughing* "Yeah!  Okay well we'll stop it there with our distinct lack of Master!"

*RECORDING STOPS BUT THEN RESTARTS AGAIN*

MJ: "Oh Shaun said he was enjoying this one more because of the anticipation of waiting for The Master!  Even though he hasn't appeared yet!  If he WILL appear yet!.... He's on the cover."
Mark: *Muffled with a mouthful of food* "He's on the box."
*Leigh & MJ do muffled impressions*
MJ: "Says Mouthful-of-food-Marky-Mark!  So then tea and onto Part Three - oh that rhymed!"
Shaun: "It could be worse so far."

Photo 2: At MJ's house.  All with Master photos over their faces!

We have Shaun, Jason, Leigh (with the DVD case) & Mark (holding the sign).

*PART THREE GETS WATCHED*

MJ: "End of Part Three and the Doctor is stuck in a prison -"
Shaun: "- Most importantly The Master has shown up!!!"
MJ: "Well yes I was going to finish with that!  As an addendum!" *Laughter* "Yes, The Master is back!  Pretending he's some sort of planetary delegate who can take away Jo - who's in prison - and The Doctor - who's in prison.  Yay!  It's good to see him, being his suave self - as usual.  In a silver suit!  With a big collar."
Leigh: "With a picture of the Death Star on it."
MJ: *Laughing* "Yeah!  So onto Part Four!  Ooo!"
Shaun: "Hopefully we'll have more Master in it!"
MJ: "Of course!  They waited three episodes!"
Shaun: "We haven't figured out who he's inevitably aligned himself with - to be inevitably betrayed yet!"
MJ: *Laughing* "Yeah!"
Mark: "The Ogrons!"
Shaun: "Yeah but he's paid them to be his henchmen."
Mark: *Laughing* "Yeah, and inevitably they will betray him!
Shaun: "They MAY betray him."
Mark: "Ahh it'll be the Major guy (General Williams)."
MJ: "Mmm - probably the Major guy." (I said - knowing full well who it REALLY was!)
Shaun: "I like that bit where they changed it from the usual 'Underling wanting more power' to 'We used to be friends, I'd never betray you'."
MJ: "Yeah."
Shaun: "I mean that will probably STILL lead to a betrayal but it's nice to at least have that for once!"
*Mark chuckles*
MJ: "Anyway - next part!"

Photo 3: At MJ's house.  All with Master photos!

Shaun, MJ, Leigh (with the DVD case) & Mark (holding the sign).

*PART FOUR GETS WATCHED*

MJ: "No it was an Ogron receiving The Master's signal - The Master's now in jail with The Doctor.  He did originally imprison The Doctor - "
Leigh: "- Jail number four!"
MJ: "Yes, Jail number four!  And The Doctor escaped and Jo had to babble on for ages."
(She talked to the blanket as if he was still there to try and trick The Master who was listening in)
Jason: "Babylon Five."
MJ: "Babble on for five minutes!"
*Laughter*
Shaun: "Yep!  The Master said what we've all been thinking."
Jason: "What, about Jo's acting?"
*Laughter*

MJ: "Yes!  What did he say exactly?"

Shaun: " 'We'll let you know, Miss Grant'!"

MJ: "Hah!  That was brilliant!  He's just as glorious as ever isn't he?"
Shaun: "He is!  I'm thoroughly enjoying it!  The Ogrons are an added bonus.  I quite liked them in the last one."
MJ: "Well they just go:" *Does Ogron grunting noises*
Leigh: "It's like talking to Jason!"
Jason: *Doing Ogron voice* "Huh??"
*Leigh laughs*
Shaun: "Yes they're a fun secondary race."
MJ: "They are."  *Talking higher picthed to MJ's dog - Yana* "Are you alright there girl?  Look like you're having a play!" *Normal voice* "This'll be weird for the voice recorder!" *Laughter* " 'Why do you talk to Leigh like that!?" *Laughter*
Shaun: "The Doctor went outside in his space suit."
MJ: "He did, yes!"
Shaun: "You could see his wires and the edge!"
Mark: "There were no wires!!"
Leigh: "It was space rain!"
Shaun: *Laughing* "Space rain!?"
Jason: "This story has got to be SO much more expensive than the last several."
Shaun: "Yeah!"
Jason: "Lots of different sets."
MJ: "There have been lots of locations.  Yeah."
Leigh: "Making cells!"
Shaun: "But you could say the same about the last story."
Jason: "What was the last one?  Well I WILL say the same about the last one then!"
Shaun: "The last story was 'The Carnival Of Monsters'."
Jason: "Well it was all basically the one set though."
Shaun: "No!  It was quite a few sets!"
Mark: "There was loads!"
MJ: "They went into the bog of eternal stench!"
Shaun: "You had the internal circuitry, then you had the ship..."
Jason: "I just remember the black room with a couple of things they moved around!  And then they did it on a field somewhere."
Shaun: "Yeah in a field."
Jason: "Lots of puppets."
Shaun: "And some puppets."
Jason: "Okay, what I'm saying is they got more budget suddenly!  They're not filming in some army training centre again."
Shaun: "I've not seen a quarry for a while!"
Mark: "There's been no quarry."
MJ: "There hasn't been -"
Shaun: "- However, we ARE heading to a new planet!  So perhaps it will be quarry-esque!"
MJ: "- Unless you count The Master as The Doctor's quarry!" *Lots of sage-like 'Ahhh's'* "That was clever."
Leigh: "We've got to find out who's employed The Master."
MJ: "Yes!  I still think the Ogrons remind me of Klingons."
Jason: "Yes."
MJ: "And the other ones - the Draconians - they remind me of Klingons as well!  If you combine the two together then you'd have Klingons!"
Jason: "They remind me of, erm - "
MJ: "- The babe?!"
Jason: *At the same time* "Don't say 'The babe'!"
MJ: "Oh.  I did!"
Jason: "What's the 'Babylon 5' species?  The green ones?"
MJ: "Hmm, there's the Minbari and there's the..."
Jason: "Not the Vorlon."
MJ: "There's Robert Mugabe and there's.." *Laughs*
Jason: "There's like you had the Centauri and then there's the green ones - the big aliens in it!"
Leigh: "They weren't green!  Narn."
Shaun: "The Narns!  They were orange!"
Jason: "Yeah."
MJ: "Mmmm - Naan!"
Leigh: "There aren't any green ones."
Jason: "No, you're probably right!" *Leigh laughs* "But they REMIND me of the 'Green' Narns!"
Shaun: "And now we'll find out that Jason's thinking of 'Andromeda' or 'Farscape'!"
MJ: *Steering conversation back* "Although this serial is pretty much a, err, escape, get imprisoned, escape, get imprisoned - like we've seen a lot of times - I still am quite enjoying it."
Shaun: "It's got a lot going on though."
MJ: "Yes."
Mark: "I feel it's already three episodes too long!"
*MJ laughs*
Shaun: "Ahhhhh!"
MJ: "Ahhhh!"
Jason: "But they're escaping from different things TO different things!  It's not the SAME room - well it was the same room -"
*Laughter*
Shaun: "He has escaped from the same cell two times!"
Jason: "But they only escaped from the second cell two or three times!"
MJ: "I mean it took us until this episode - was it just this episode we got The Master in?"
Shaun: "No the one before."
MJ: "Yes it's four we've just watched."
Shaun: "He came in late in Episode Three."
MJ: *Does Master impression* "Yes, I'm sorry Miss Grant!" *Laughs and distorts the impression to a weird old timer one!* "I don't know why I bother!  I'm the Master!"
Leigh: "Why's every one an Oldy-Prospector now, MJ?!"
MJ: *Laughing* " 'Tis the fashion!!"
Shaun: "Because - unveils a mask - MJ is an Oldy-Prospector!!"
*Laughter*

Leigh: "And The Master!"

*Mark chuckles*
MJ: "I'm going to make teas and stuff!"

Photo 4: At MJ's house.  All peeping over Master photos!

We have Shaun, Jason, Leigh (with the DVD case) & Mark (holding the sign).

*PART FIVE GETS WATCHED*

MJ: "End of Part Five." *Reading end credits* "John Woodnutt.  And the Draconians have finally got through to the Earth people saying 'It wasn't us!' and now they believe them.  And the Ogrons have done.... I don't know what they've done actually!"
Jason: "And they're in a quarry."
MJ: "In a quarry with The Doctor."
Jason: "On the planet of the Ogrons - if it exists."
MJ: "Planet of the Ogrons - if it exists."
Leigh: "There wasn't a cell in this episode!  Not a new one anyway!  There will probably be TWO in the next one!"
*Laughter*

Mark: "The Master's digs ain't all that fancy, so it's almost a cell I'd say!"

MJ: "The Master just tried to hypnotise Jo but she just quoted nursery rhymes at him and just annoyed him!  So lots of good sh*t going on and we go onto Part-ey The Six!"

Jason: "Part-ey The Six?"

Mark: *Laughing* "Part-ey?!"

MJ: "There ain't no part-ey like an Ogron part-ey!  Part six..."

*Laughter*

Photo 5: At MJ's house.

Shaun holds a Master photo over the face of MJ's dog Yana.

*PART SIX GETS WATCHED*

MJ: "So there we go!  The Daleks appeared in the last ten minutes of that episode!!  It was a big shock and surprise!  Did you know that they were coming into in, Jason?"
Jason: "No."
MJ: "I didn't mention that the NEXT story is called 'Planet Of The Daleks' in case it spoiled it!"
Shaun: "I knew the next one was called 'Something Of The Daleks'.  But I had no idea they were going to show up!  I thought this would conclude and that would be it."
MJ: "Yes, The Master was working with them all along."
Shaun: *Laughing* "And, whilst he was working with them all along, as soon as he was alone without them, he revealed that he planned to betray them!"
Jason: "I generally enjoyed it.  Good sets.  Nice action.  Character development from Jo."
MJ: "Yep. I think they got captured once or twice..."
Jason: "I think they escaped in a serial way.  I think their natural state of being is: being captured!  The event is getting out!  And you did get your two cells as well!"
MJ: "I liked the make-up on the Draconians.  They looked good."
Shaun: "I thought the Draconians looked really good.  That giant testicle though..."
MJ: "Yeah that was weird!!  That only appeared RIGHT at the end though!  To attack the Ogrons or whatever."
Jason: "Who are you to judge what aliens look like!?"
Shaun: "Someone who watches a lot of sci-fi!"
*Sniggers*
Jason: "It probably wouldn't look like a humanoid in make-up - would it!?  It would probably look like a balloon/testicle."
*Shaun snorts a laugh*
MJ: "So were you all genuinely surprised when the Daleks appeared?"
Jason: "Well I didn't quite go -" *Does a gasping noise*  *Laughter* "I went: 'It's probably going to be something like The Daleks..."
*Leigh chuckles*
MJ: " 'Cos all the way through you were all going 'But we haven't seen who the masters are yet?' and I just played it down and I thought 'I'm not even going to engage'!"
Jason: "There was a moment when The Master was standing on the top of the hill and I thought 'There's a Dalek going to come up and then a Cyberman going to come up...' "
MJ: "Ahhhh!"
Jason: "And then another one going to come up..."
MJ: "Ice Warrior?"
Jason: "Yeah."
MJ: *Sniggering* "Cassandra!"
Jason: "And the Quarks - no, what's the little cube things?"
MJ: "Yeah they were the Quarks - with the Dominators."
Jason: "Obviously the War Machines..."
MJ: "Krotons..."
Mark: "The War Machines smashing a box in the corner!!" 
*Leigh laughs*
MJ: *Laughing* "That would have been good!  So, overall you like this 'Frontier In Space'?"
Shaun: "Yep."
Leigh: "It was good.  It was a bit repetitive with the escape thing - capture - escape - capture."
Shaun: "Yes."
Jason: "I think I've been drilled out of that repetition as it's repeated so often.  Just with different cells!"
*Leigh laughs*

MJ: "The General (Williams), who was for war and all that stuff, he was really against them until that one thing where they (The Draconians) said 'We weren't armed' and he believed them and turned around (his opinions) straight away.  I thought he might be a bit more resistant." (Twenty years before, the Draconians sent a battlecruiser on a diplomatic mission. When the Draconian ship did not answer hails, General Williams gave the order to attack. The battlecruiser was unarmed, its missile banks empty, and the reason it did not answer was because its communications systems were destroyed in the same neutron storm that had damaged Williams's ship.  After hearing this Williams is shaken by the prince's revelation and apologises for the wrong he had done to the Draconians.)

Shaun: "I'd have thought that would have come up before."
Jason: "No!  'Cos he didn't listen before!  You saw how he wouldn't listen to The Doctor that time!"
MJ: "Yeah."
Jason: "It takes a moment of: just sit down and TALK!"
MJ: "Annoying."
Jason: "Which is also repeated in 'Doctor Who'.  People just needed to talk - as Bob Hoskins said."
Leigh: "It's good to talk!"
MJ: "So, ten!"
Jason: "Episode Ten??!"
MJ: "Marks out of ten!!"
Jason: "I'll go a nine."
MJ: "Oh!!  That's a lot!!"
Jason: "Well I can't really fault much of it - apart from the repetition!  And the ending went a bit quick but it leads onto the next story."
MJ: "Yeah, if THAT was that and it went into a completely different story, that would be a rubbish ending."
Jason: "How many shows do we watch these days where an entire series ends on a cliffhanger?!"
MJ: "Yeah I suppose that's true."
Shaun: "Again that was good."
MJ: "So nine from Jason."
Shaun: "I'm going to go, bearing in mind that obviously there is an extra mark in there just for The Master being in it." *Laughter* "It's how I mark these things."
Jason: "You have to deduct some for the testicle!"
*Leigh chuckles*
Shaun: "No!  I'm going to give it an eight point three two one five nine."
MJ: "That's high from you as well!"
Shaun: "I thought it was pretty good!"
MJ: "Marky Mark?"
Mark: "I'm giving it a C6..."
*HUGE laughter!*
MJ: "Oh I'd forgot about that!  The fact they kept repeating that!  What was it?  The name of a space ship or something?"
Mark: "It was the name of the space ship (Actually called the 'C982' a transmission kept saying that and it's co-ordinates over and over) - instead of having a name..."
MJ: "And it was ridiculous!  Why couldn't they have just called it 'Spaceship Bob'!?

Mark: "Because they had six episodes to fill!  All they had was getting captured!" *Leigh laughs*  "There was like TWO episodes in that six episodes!"

Jason: "What was your score again?"

MJ: "He didn't give it."

Mark: "I said: C six" *Laughter* "slash three two four five!"

MJ: "I need a proper score!  Oh Six point three two five is your score!?"

Mark: "Two FOUR five - yeah, it needs to be accurate!"

Leigh: "I'll give it an eight!"

MJ: "Well done!  Thank you!" *Laughter* "Repeat it again, Mark, six point four three two five?"

*Laughter*

Shaun: "You're recording it!!!"

MJ: "No but I keep talking over it!

*Leigh laughs*

Mark: "Six point two three four five?"

MJ: "That's got it!" (Although he said it different the last time!)

Mark: "Co-ordinates: five two eight..."

*Laughter*

MJ: "Shut up!  And I will give it - yeah I'll give it a nine!  I was really happy with that.  I was thinking eight, but then I thought 'nah, give it a nine'!  Finished with The Daleks - the Dalek-money-shot at the end.  That's nice." *Laughter* "We all need that.  And yeah I can see the faults and stuff...but what does 'The Book' think?"

Mark: "There was two episodes of stuff I really liked in that."

MJ: "Mmm."

Mark: "There weren't just two episodes."

MJ: "No."

Mark: "To FILL two episodes..."

Photo 6: At MJ's house.  Posing with Master photos!

We have Shaun & MJ.

Jason: *Reading from 'The Book'* " 'In the twenty-sixth century the Earth and Draconia are fighting for control of the galaxy!'"

Shaun: "No they're not!  That's entirely wrong!"

Jason: *Reading from 'The Book'* " 'Walkways around the Hayward Gallery and a house in Fitzroy Park, Highgate, provide the London locations.  While a quarry in Redhill, Surrey' -"

Leigh: "Arrrr!"

Jason: "I said so didn't I?!"

Shaun: "You did."

Jason: "Oh no, I said Sussex!  Close!" *Reading from 'The Book'* " '- was the Ogron's home world.  The Spacecrafts from the story were re-used from Gerry Anderson's 'UFO'.  This was Roger Delgado's last appearance as The Master' -" *Ahhh's from MJ and Shaun* " '- he was killed on the 18th of June 1973 in a car crash in Turkey.  David Maloney re-shot the ending to tie-in more closely with his following Dalek story. Verdict: An over-long and uninteresting space opera - a genre that Doctor Who has never done well.  Delgado's exit is particularly badly handled.  Two out of ten'."

*Lots of ooo's and woaahs*

MJ: "Oh WHAT??!  WE are NOT with the book there!!  I thought The Master was excellent!  In sparkling form in this one!"

Mark: "Yeah!"

Shaun: "I think perhaps they mean his actual exit from the last episode, where he fires a gun at The Doctor and vanishes."

Mark: "Yeah."

MJ: "I suppose so.  But then again they didn't know that he (the actor) was going to drive off a cliff."

Shaun: "No."

MJ: "I mean they had plans to bring him back... so yeah, that's it.  Yeah it is sad.  So, as Shaun has said, we've all here really enjoyed The Master.  He's made the stories a lot better when they haven't been!"

Shaun: "Yes."

MJ: "A lot more interesting as a villain.  I don't think we've had an interesting villain - The Daleks are fun but they haven't got the same sort of nature as -"

Shaun: "No they're not a charismatic."

MJ: "Charismatic, witty banter."

Mark: "They know how to do a count-down."

*Laughter*

Leigh: "They KNOW how to do a count-down!"

Shaun: *Dalek voice* "FIFT-EEN BAJ-ILL-I-ON RELLS!"

Jason: "I can't see them ON 'Countdown'."

MJ: *Laughs and puts on Dalek voice* "I'LL-HAVE-TWO-FROM-THE-TOP!!" *Laughs* "Yes, so that is the, erm, story!  'Frontier In Space'.  Bye!"

*Laughs*             

Photo 7: At MJ's house.  Posing with Master photos!

We have Shaun, MJ, Leigh (with the DVD case) & Mark (holding the sign).

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Well that was that shizzle!  Here are the scores again:

Jason - 9/10

Leigh - 8/10

Mark - 6.2345/10

MJ - 9/10

Shaun  - 8.32159/10

This gives us an average of 8.111218 out of 10.  So next time we will have Daleks - and not only that but a virtual Jason AND a new girl!  Find out next time what the heck I mean!

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

MJ - 07/01/2017

Photo 8: At MJ's house.  A final shot of MJ's dog, Yana, with her husky toy.