android invasion?

[phileverest]

Hello.

Been busy of late, but I did watch the '75 story 'The Android Invasion' on video recently.
Lis and Tom were in fine form with real chemistry  and banter that made me smile.
Compared to drought ridden Australia, the lush greenery of the Oxfordshire countryside was soothing as well.
A story well liked as a lad.

I hear the Doctor Who Restoration crowd claim that they'll get all the classic stories out on dvd in the next 4 years?.
I think the Android Invasion would make a good dvd release, but I see the schedule for this year is already determined.
Perhaps next year then.

Does anyone know anything about the prospects for this story or any others with Lis in in in the medium future?.
I hear some commentaries may have been done with Lis stories but these things take time .
Finally the new 4th series  of Dr who is now aired here in Australia.
Its being well received compared to the rot usually served up on the telly here (especially by the commercial stations).
The Ood story is on this coming Sunday night.

See you in Devesham.........

Phil

[Stardoe]

I too hope all the Sarah stories come out on DVD. I hear Brain of Morbius is next which really pleases me. I just watched the end of the Ood story tonight on ABC and was pleased to see that we are finally getting the Confidentials, al beit cut down. I have seen all the latest series of DW and watched the Confidential of the last 2 eps. The finale. Really cool. I am glad that SJS is having a revivial and when you see the finale you will see that Sarah does play a pivotal part more as a kind of Doctor, rather than a companion. Go Sarah!!!!! I do not watch DW each Sunday as I have them all on DVD already ..........thanks to modern technology, but I'm glad I caught tonight's Oood one as that is quite pivotal in the whole series prophecy concept.

I love the android invasion and only watched it a couple of days ago. My old videos from 4 yrs back when they ran all the eps from the start just before they began the new series of DW. Of course i still have videos from reruns in the 80's but they are in special storage. When I was watching my DVD of Pyramids of Mars, one of the producers/directors or whoever said something like this...." I'm not putting down the current Doctor Who but I do think that Lis and Tom had the best relationship of all." I do agree. I really think they were the best together and I've had a real problem with the modern series with the romance and kissing garbage etc. I just don't think that's DW. Also i watched Revenge of the Cybermen just yesterday and when the Doctor comes and rescues Sarah....there's real caring there and gladness that they are seeing eachother again and yet there's no hugging or kissing like there is today. But you still see the affection. I think Sarah and the Doctor were at their best and I don't think their relationship compares to any before or since. I think the Rose/Doctor thing was forced by both the media and producers and I resent that. It turned me off Rose, who I liked at first.

Anyway, let's hope that Sarah's revival gives all us SJ fans more DVDs of her stories. Bring them all on, I say.

[phileverest]

Thanks for your thoughts Stardoe,

I'm of the same mind when it comes to the forced nature of the romantic angles pushed in the Dr who of recent years.

I can recall in the '70's there were times when there was real affection and relief when Sarah etc was glad to see the Doctor (usually escape some horror), such as Death to the Daleks or in Monster of Pelodon (note: those two Pelodon stories would make ideal dual release on dvd  akin to the recent k9 combo),  but the forced romance of today is unseemly and disliked by many worldwide.
I live in Tasmania, and people I speak too also feel of a similar mind on this issue.
Rose and Martha overall in the pantheon of assistants will be in the same company as Tegan, Ace and Peri (annoying and mediocre compared to 'greats' like Sarah-Jane or Jo).

Sadly I missed the complete run of Dr who on the ABC in recent years (life's a struggle), but
'tis good to know that the whole lot will be out in the next few years.
Fortunately I know a few friends who have these copied to DVD's so I'm alright there.

I also agree with you Stardoe about the Baker- Sladen relationship, clearly the era when the show was at its peak and after that, things never seemed the same.
The ending of the Hand of Fear of the freeze frame Sarah, is especially poignant, as a snapshot of the show at its peak and then its on the decline.
Recently listening to Terrance Dicks on Horror of Fang Rock commentary, even he agrees that the latter years of the Tom Baker era, the rot had set in and figures were down compared to just a few years earlier.

Finally the Pertwee- Sladen relationship was oft overlooked, with Jon in his book saying that when Lis came along, her presence on the show now was a positive in the consideration whether he stayed or left.
Ultimately he left, but knowing Lis was the assistant, must have given him some pause for thought to continue.

I'd like to see more of these Pertwee- Lis stories on dvd perhaps next year too after The Time Warrior is out and very polished.

Good to chat with you Stardoe, I wish you good health (I've got a mild head cold in recent days so I'm about as quick as Bloodaxe).

Phil

[Stardoe]

Thanks for the health wishes. So far so good. Tassy must be a bit nippy this time of yr. Got any snow? I'm in western NSW. Bit fresh here too.

I do agree that the relationship between the Pertwee Dr and Sarah was lovely. He was a lovely man and it seemed to shine through. He was very fatherly to her. I know Sarah is one of the few [probably the only] companion to know 2 and now 3 doctors and I think what perhaps some recent fans don't realise is that Sarah sees the Doctor as ONE man. She seems to have adjusted to this young doctor and sees him as the same man as the JP and TB Doctors. To her they are all the same and she feels the same, however, even though Rose has seen 2 doctors, she seems to only "love" [ if I must use that word] the current Tennant Doctor. This shows very true in the last ep of this DW series. Incase you haven't seen it I won't say anything about it but, really Rose is just hung up on this one doctor and if he changed then so would her feelings. Sarah's feelings have stayed the same through all 3 doctors and this was evident in School Reunion when she was jealous of Rose. Even when she got over that jealousy, there was still some evidence of it in this latest DW finale. I'll elaborate on that once I know if people have seen it or not.

I would really love the DW people to stop with the revisiting of old companions and move on, but I would really love the Doctor to turn up in SJA, just him by himself and work with her as a team and let them have some old banter and  interaction. I hope to get that new DW magazine and read about her views of being in that DW finale but they don't seem to always stock them. I think I'll have to order that one; and it comes out here about 2 months behind UK so that is always a pain.

[phileverest]

Good to hear from you Stardoe, I hope you're well. ( I appreciate wellness even more in recent times as I've been laid  low with the 'flu , which is rare for me indeed- I'm a bad patient suffice to say).

There is some snow on the mountains here (such as Mt Wellington above Hobart) but it is melting.
Overall, cold and dry with rain greatly needed here to end the drought- but we need it in quantity!.

We seem to be of a similar mind vis a vis Pertwee and Sarah, Baker and Sarah, etc.

Sarah Jane does seem to have a more mature appraisal of the Doctor, but that was clear even in the '70's, where the relationship was based on friendship.

I must admit to being dissatisfied with Rose and Martha as assistants and I hear there is quite a number who feel similarly. I'm hoping that Donna assumes a more traditional assistant role  compared the the last two, so far she's keeping her head above water, and
adding a certain depricating element to the Doctor in the Tardis.
Better than the last two in my view.....

Your observations on Sarah and Rose, interest me too Stardoe.
Yes I can see the jealousy there, but it seems to be emanating from Rose mainly.
I recall in School Reunion, the moment the Doctor appears with Sarah in the corridor, Rose is immediately catty with "Who's she then"?.
Sarah does respond, but the whole story is one of Rose as an immature girly feeling threatened that her Doctor has had past affiliations .
I dislike the whole Rose/Mickey/Jackie clan recurrances, but for once Mickey was right with the wisdom that the Doctor is like any bloke, like birds and over time has gathered quite a few of them in his travels.

So although I haven't seen the current series final stories, I have heard SJS does come back in them, but from what I saw in School Reunion, the issue is with Rose as the jealousy subject, however I concede others with more informed knowledge are better to judge.

Without giving too much away, Stardoe, could you develop  your point?.
Perhaps I'm biassed, but I thought Sarah handled herself better than the petulant Rose.

Thanks for a informative discussion  and I may see you on Karn.
Phil

 

[Stardoe]

Well it's been a while and i see DW finale pt 1 is on this coming sunday. I think I'll wait till after it's aired and then discuss the relationship stuff further.

Stardoe

[phileverest]

Hello Stardoe,

Yes, I'm quite looking forward to seeing our Sarah again here for the final shows.
Good to see how the latest assistants compare to our Sarah.

I hear too that late this year, the box set of the Sarah Jane Adventures dvd will be out.
To my knowledge the show has never been aired here in Australia, so the only way I can see it is to buy the dvd set.

Finally, I've not heard of any more Sarah dvd's from the '70's coming out.
The War Games seems a goer early next year and I've seen a list of stories where commentaries have been made (or partial) where some good Pertwee/Baker are in the list, including many with our Sarah.

Reading the rationale by  the 2entertain crowd, they seem to like completing whole series and then releasing bex sets, thus Revenge of the Cybermen seems logical to proceed to fill in Series 12 and I do recall this year listen to Lis in commentaries that she has watched that story again this year.
This makes me wonder if this story is coming next year but I admit I have no special knowledge merely reasoning it out.

As an aside, there was some thinking that dual box sets would appear by 2entertain of stories side by side or with some close link.

The Kinda/Snakedance combo is mooted in this regard,  I've thought too that the Peladon
pairing would be logical and Lis has recently done the audio CD of the Monster of Peladon (Which I'm waiting to receive after 5 weeks since I placed by order at the Hobart ABC shop).
So I wonder if at some point if the Peladon series will get a combo release.
As to when, well WHO knows............

If anyone has any news please feel free to let us know.

Good to hear from you again Stardoe.

Good health,

Phil
 

[Stardoe]

Hello Phil
Yes I had heard that the Brain of Morbius is out on cd but also was going to come out on DVD. On one of the other commentaries, Tom Baker said that it was his favourite, which doesn't surprise me as he has a dark side to his nature. I love B of M and hope this is true but i haven't heard much on the subject. I would love to see more Sarah stories on DVD and I think we are lucky in that she has the SJA show to lift her profile once again, even though I think they were some of the best stories anyway.

I hope you get to see dw this week and next. Sarah is not what I would call a companion in this. She acts more like another Doctor in her own right. I think she plays an important role, in that she seems to function without the aide of the doctor and uses her good old sarah initiative and bravery to do may things. Not great things but little things that are appreciated by us. She uses her sonic lipstick and makes a big decision and has another device that only she could get her hands on as an "ordinary" earth woman. I think she's more spcial than the others. Elevated from "just" a companion. Interested in what others think of this. My only disapointment is that she and the doctor really don't speak to each other at all apart from at the end.

I liked Martha quite alot when she came on. I thought the stories were different and I loved that Rose had gone and taken the lovely dovey garbage with her. I liked Martha beause she was fresh and she really was over awed by the time travel etc, often showing her excitement which most normal people would. She seemed quite normal to me. I really do like Donna too. Definitely NOT in love with the doctor but still wanting to travel with him forever beause of the awe of it all. [Like Sarah] How can one ever go back to a normal life after that?

Anyway, hope the eps are enjoyed. Looking forward to people's comments about Sarah.

Stardoe

[phileverest]

Hello Stardoe,

I thank you for your insights into the final shows with our Sarah. I'll be watching for her in particular in the final two stories and I agree with you she is already acting like The Doctor
in her own show and presumably in the final two stories of Dr Who.
Mind you she was always quite wilful in the '70's and often helping the Doctor on her own.
Eg. in Terror of the Zygons, without Sarah, UNIT and the Doctor wouldn't know something about the aliens, a sample of their technology and that the Fox Inn (In West Sussex was it?) was being bugged. Clearly Sarah was a pivotal 'part of the team'.
I'll be mindful of that as I view it, bearing in mind that last night here in Hobart I saw a few previews for Sunday, with lots of Dalek spaceships zooming about an a collage of Dr who associates appearing with a Dalek or two doing what they do best. Looks good.

Also, I'm sympatico with your assessment of the lovey dovey nonsense with Rose and later Martha.
I was initially positive, but I'm afraid my view of them both declined as the romantic aspect was pushed.
This is a frequent complaint I hear from many people.

Donna I agree is more traditional, she's also a little older, more mature and not afraid to get a bit lippy if she doesn't like something.
There is a touch of Sarah in there.
I dislike the quasi 'deification' of the Doctor though in some quarters.
There is a tendency in some stories and with some people to confer on him a 'Christ-like'
aspect that I feel is inapt.

Call me a twit, but I still think the Tardis interior is too cluttered and confusing.
I prefer the original white futuristic interior so the actors could be properly seen.
Either that of the Edwardian console room in the Masque of Madragora/Hand of fear stories with the wood panelling.
That one would be good to see back.

Thanks again Stardoe for your insights, I'll be sure to be watching on Sunday night here.
Good health to you.
Phil en route to the Fleur de Lys

[Stardoe]

Thought I'd reply back with some comments. I agree about the way they seem to have increased the magical nature of the Doctor. You know, with him being able to use his energy for various things. yes, he's been good at hypnotising people, Sarah in particular, but to be able to erase or link with minds as in that Girl in the Fireplace show, I find, is going overboard a bit. Maybe he could always do it and that's why he can hypnotise so well and I know that in.....I think it was......Deadly Assassin, the timelords there said that it is the artron energy that makes time lords telepathic. They commented that the Doctor has a vast amount of artron energy, more than normal, due to his  travels and therefore was way more telepathic. So I suppose now after all this time travelling trough the vortex..........he's become more powerful. i like that the TARDIS is made to show its true potential on this finale. i don't mind that but I do dislike the interior. It's too big and downright ugly. And I don't agree that it should have all those levers and pumps that he needs to turn and move and pump the whole time. This machine was made by people who can harness and manipulate the time vortex and yet the TARDIS has levers and pumps? Give me a break. I liked the Peter Davidson console. It should be even better than that one now. We have microchips and digital stuff. The timelords and even the Dr should be way past that now. So I totally agree with the TARDIS. YOu will get to see it flown properly in the finale.

I'll go. Enjoy it. I think they did a great job of incorporating everyone in it. I really think it was big screen material. Sarah is fantastic and I'm so glad to see that rose has layed off on the mascara at last.

Stardoe

[phileverest]

Appreciate your thoughts Stardoe.

I watched the Stolen Earth last night and enjoyed seeing our Sarah in it.
Glad I'm not alone in disliking the modern Tardis interior, but call be a twit but I just find it overly distracting and cluttered.
Mind you I'm an aesthete really so the simple white original futuristic console room was more to my liking.

You raise good points Stardoe on the Doctor, but I still think the current writers are imbuing him with more than what he is.
Even the Sonic Screwdriver is more like a magic wand now!.
I've heard Terrance Dicks mention this on a dvd commentary and I agree.

I hope to watch the SJA late this yaar when the box set comes out and so I'll be interested to see if Sara's Sonic Lippy is used as a 'magic wand'.

I saw on the cut down Dr Who Confidential, that our Lis in rehersal read throughts was sitting next to Tennant too!. The centre of the show.
Good to see the 'nasty wee salt shakers' back last night with ol Davros, but  the final show looks to be good.
 Finally, with Rose showing up, one has a certain amount of vindication, as I thought she was mediocre at the time ans now in comparison with other assistants, (especially SJ), Rose is very much an also-ran.
Donna is  much better and more traditional, even Martha is better than Rose and she too was caught in the romantic folly during her tenure.
I know there is some subjectivity in this, but to me Rose will be one of the more minor  and annoying assistants akin to Tegan, Adric, Ace etc.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing The War Machines later this year here, as I hear Polly (Anneke Wills) was well regarded and was offered an extension on the show beyond The Faceless Ones'.
I'd  like to see her in action and she's one of those assistants oft overlooked but could have been bigger .

Thanks for your comments Stardoe and I'm looking forward to Sunday night.
Good health to you,

Phil

[Stardoe]

Glad you liked the show. I watched the second part last night. It's really good. I agree with your thoughts on Rose. I liked her until they started to ram her down our throats as the be all and end all, love of the Doctor's life companion. I think it is unfair to do that. I have always welcomed the new companions and liked most of them until Tegen, Adric and Nyssa came along. Really don't know any after that beause I stopped watching after Peri and her annoying fake american accent. I liked Turlough though. He was interesting. I've seen Ace but her bad dental occlusion really was a turn off. I have to say I've liked the new DW companions better than the ones I"ve just mentioned.

So what did you think of Sarah so far?  I think she's great but I was a bit worried that she might have had a bit if work done on her face. Her eyes look a bit taught. But later scenes make me think it's only a bit of botox or facial peel or something. I certainly hope she has resisted having anything done beause she is very youthful naturally and also I hate when tv producers try to disguise someone's real age. Sarah is old. That's how it is and I actually like it when the lighting shows up all her wrinkles. Looks good for her age though, but really still should be shown to be her age as well. I did not like the crying scene with Luke. it did not seem to be Sarahish. I have a thing about this. I constantly look for old Sarahisms and this was not one of those times. Not that Sarah was ever into crying but i really think this was not the way Sarah would have cried or has cried in the past, but then she was not faced with the terrible obliteration of the earth. I am really looking forward to SJA s2 beginning next Monday. Hope it's as good as the first series. I must get the DW magazine but problem is it is never in the newsagent. I think I'll have to order it.

Sarah really comes into her own in part 2

[phileverest]

Hello Again Stardoe,

Yes you're right about Peri and her ruddy yank accent (what were they thinking?).
A real slump in the whole series in the '80's.

On your question of SJ and her appearance, yes she has aged but she is still a looker even though she's changed, one instinctively looks for the 'young Sarah' and still sees her at times  with certain angles and characteristics, but mostly its an intellectual realisation that this is Sarah but older.

The crying is overdone, but she more than anyone knows what the Daleks mean and that implication would overcome one.
I've for example heard even the hardest of people when faced with some dire situation can  be overcome with emotion.
POW's in war or injured badly soldiers call out to their mothers etc.
(which is another reminder for us all on the ghastliness of war and why there is no glory in it as the old soldiers tell us if we're wise enough to listen to them).

So Sarah's crying is understandable and she does cry in Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders to name two, when she fears the Doctor is dead or dying.

Finally, I've heard of a few articles coming out of her and the SJA 2 imminent, but I'll have to wait until I see Series 1!.
Maybe for Christmas in a box set.

Meanwhile I'm keen to hear what the DVD schedule is for 2009 with more Dr who stories.
Surely a few with the great Jon Pertwee can't be too far away......

Please let me know if anyone knows anything on the 2009 schedule.

Take care Stardoe, always a pleasure to hear from you my friend.

Phil en route to Devesham and the pub if its open there ......

[Stardoe]

Good news, Phil. I hear from a friend that SJA series 1 is starting on austar. Do you have pay TV? I don't. No time to watch it and it's too expensive for what I want to see on it. I hate sport and that's how they sell it to you so I've always said no thanks to the phone offers.

[phileverest]

Thanks for the thought Stardoe.
Like you I don't have pay tv, out of principle as most commerical telly is rubbish.
Now Dr who has finished for the year, thats it for me in terms of something to watch.
I only watch the news, current affairs etc on the ABC or SBS when I can.
The telly is utter bilge here in my view.

I'll wait until the DVD of S1 SJS emerges.

The final of Dr Who was alright too.
Overall the show pales to the peak of the show in the '70's, but it has its moments.
Donna was the best assistant in recent years and its a shame she suffered the same fate as Jamie and Zoe ultimately.
Donna was similar to Sarah Jane, a lippy bird with a bit of of get up and go.
Sad to see her.

Well it looks like the next dvd I'll be getting are the War Machines which I've not seen.
Reading the synopsis, I wonder if the writers and the BBC can claim intellectual theft from the  yank Terminator films....
The yanks think they now rule the waves, but they also think they can waive the rules too!.
heh heh......
Thanks for the news Stardoe.

tickity boo

P

[Dr. Dasha]

Hello, my two fave southern-hemisphere-dwellers!  Sorry to intrude on your tete-a-tete, but I just had to pipe up.  :)  I can't speak for the rest of my fellow citizens, but this Yank knows that we do not "rule the waves."  British TV is the best!!!

I don't have pay TV either.  I figure that I've saved at least $3000 so far in my adult lifetime by never having had pay TV.  But if there were a way that I could get only BBC America and the Sci Fi channel (which airs Nu Who and SJA), without getting all the other channels, then I'd sign up in a heartbeat.  :)

Take care!

[phileverest]

Dr Dasha,
The  other 'fellow citizens' you mention unfortunately have been letting your side down as I've directly experienced myself over a lengthy timeframe now.

With only 2-3 exceptions, most yanks (seemingly ordinary people) I've met or spoken to have been the most insufferable American supremicists/triumphalists one would wish not to meet.
One  yank twit in particular has been 'stalking' me for years, every time I publish some new work or proffer a view, out he comes like a garish jack-in-the-box, spewing forth the most horrid invective and surliness. Because someone else from another country, has done something better than they have......
I've tried quiet reasoning with him, trying to make peace but to no avail.
You can't help people who are determined to miss the point
Now the damage is done and I now oppose them, stop talking to them, ignore them and want nothing to do with them and continue on my merry way.
I conclude he and those in the U.S like him, don't want peace, just tendentious, thuggish domination of the world. (As Pertwee would say, I seem to recall another crowd like that once.....)
From these examples and many other unpleasant observations, my summation of the yanks stands.  They reap what they sow.
Hubristically,they think they rule the waves, but also think they can waive the rules.

P

[Dr. Dasha]

Wow, sorry to hear about that.  I promise, though, that not all Americans are obnoxious.  :)

[phileverest]

One can only take others as they choose to present themselves Dr Dasha.
My experiences 98% of the time with them suggests some variance between what I've experienced and your assertions.

P

[Stardoe]

LOL. Goodness me, what a marvellous tirade, Phil. Great words. I love words, myself. A bit of a grammar guru. I won't enter into it of course, I'm sure Dr Dasha is not like that, are you Doc?

I have to agree that comercial TV here is rubbish. I don't get time to watch it anyway. The family are into buying up box sets of old shows that I watched as a kid. Nice family shows that everyone sat down to watch at 7:30 each night. Not this ridiculous reality garbage they have now. At the moment we are on holidays so Little House on the Prairie is getting a good go. We've done Family Affair, The Nanny, Wonder Woman, Bewitched, Jeannie, Flying Nun, XFiles etc. Then of course there's Doctor Who and SJA. The only commercial shows I watch as an occasional viewer are City Homicide, All Saints, Medium and Ghost Whisperer.

You would have a better choice of non pay Tv wouldn't you Dr Dasha? Here, we get 5 stations with garbage on most nights and that's it. When I was gowing up we had 2 stations. Luckily the ABC had Dr Who. :-) SBS isn't bad. I watch Inspector Rex which is an Austrian police dog show. English subtitles though. It's a great show.SBS is the foreign channel. WE also have Imparja which is an aboriginal channel but I think only people way out west can get it.

Stardoe.............still not liking Sarah's hair do