That was no conjuring trick, Doctor
Finished watching The Chase with Anjilah yesterday. (Today, she declared that she missed Ian and Barbara, despite not having started The Time Meddler yet.) This is where the watching Who in order should get very interesting. I absolutely love the first two seasons, of course, but I'd seen all the stories, I was familiar with the characters, I knew their arcs. Now, unknown territory! Yay!
Also, I would like to note that I kinda loved The Web Planet. We started at quarter to eleven and finished at two in the morning and I was not bored or tired at all.
The utter alienness of Vortis and its species! The difference between the Menoptra and the Optra and the way they spoke and phrased things; I was particularly fond of 'A silent wall. We must make mouths in it with our weapons. Then it speak more light.' And of how they pronounced the humans' names almost unrecognisably, as if they really couldn't pronounce such alien sounds: 'Ian' and 'Barbara' became 'Air-ron' and 'Ha-ba-lah'.
Also everyone was awesome! The Doctor was so heartbroken when he saw the TARDIS was gone and so imperious with 'This hairdryer or whatever it is' and so One that I was brought to proclaim 'I love One' at several points. Vicki was lovely and sweet with 'Zombo' and still so fun and witty and sparky; I'm really hoping the reports of the decline in her character that I've heard about are greatly exaggerated. Ian and Barbara were wonderful, as always, and I really appreciated their interactions with the Menoptra and Optra. Barbara convinces the Menoptra to fight and draws up battle plans and destroys the Animus because yes, yes, she's strong enough (the shipper in me notes she succeeds after Ian appears) and Ian uses his tie as a belt and goes off to rescue Barbara and persuades the Optra not to kill him and Vrestin.
Of course, there are those things that would be CGIed if New Who ever dared to make such an alien story as this (I doubt it), like the whole set and all the characters except the humanoids, but I think they're utterly fantastic for the era and budget. The thing that most didn't work for me was the hanging strings around the Optras' faces, but then I never choose to watch with replaced CGI. It would be like watching colourised Laurel and Hardy or Miracle on 34th Street. And the whole bit with Barbara waking Vicki up to give her a sedative which turns out to be aspirin, but I'll forgive and handwave that in the love of the conversation that follows. Oh, Vicki thinks the 20th century people are so old and primitive, although she's terribly interested in whether Ian got Barbara a bracelet. And Barbara tells her that they went to Rome too, and met Nero, and I'm sure that story will be told later.
So, in conclusion, there has been a re-evaluation, an about-face; I now really like The Web Planet and that is great. I am glad to own the DVD, even if I did idiotically buy it just a day or so before VAT decreased from 17.5% to 15%.
I have 13 emails marked as unread in my inbox to remind me to reply to comments. I have nothing tomorrow, whoops, today so should do that later.
Also, I would like to note that I kinda loved The Web Planet. We started at quarter to eleven and finished at two in the morning and I was not bored or tired at all.
The utter alienness of Vortis and its species! The difference between the Menoptra and the Optra and the way they spoke and phrased things; I was particularly fond of 'A silent wall. We must make mouths in it with our weapons. Then it speak more light.' And of how they pronounced the humans' names almost unrecognisably, as if they really couldn't pronounce such alien sounds: 'Ian' and 'Barbara' became 'Air-ron' and 'Ha-ba-lah'.
Also everyone was awesome! The Doctor was so heartbroken when he saw the TARDIS was gone and so imperious with 'This hairdryer or whatever it is' and so One that I was brought to proclaim 'I love One' at several points. Vicki was lovely and sweet with 'Zombo' and still so fun and witty and sparky; I'm really hoping the reports of the decline in her character that I've heard about are greatly exaggerated. Ian and Barbara were wonderful, as always, and I really appreciated their interactions with the Menoptra and Optra. Barbara convinces the Menoptra to fight and draws up battle plans and destroys the Animus because yes, yes, she's strong enough (the shipper in me notes she succeeds after Ian appears) and Ian uses his tie as a belt and goes off to rescue Barbara and persuades the Optra not to kill him and Vrestin.
Of course, there are those things that would be CGIed if New Who ever dared to make such an alien story as this (I doubt it), like the whole set and all the characters except the humanoids, but I think they're utterly fantastic for the era and budget. The thing that most didn't work for me was the hanging strings around the Optras' faces, but then I never choose to watch with replaced CGI. It would be like watching colourised Laurel and Hardy or Miracle on 34th Street. And the whole bit with Barbara waking Vicki up to give her a sedative which turns out to be aspirin, but I'll forgive and handwave that in the love of the conversation that follows. Oh, Vicki thinks the 20th century people are so old and primitive, although she's terribly interested in whether Ian got Barbara a bracelet. And Barbara tells her that they went to Rome too, and met Nero, and I'm sure that story will be told later.
So, in conclusion, there has been a re-evaluation, an about-face; I now really like The Web Planet and that is great. I am glad to own the DVD, even if I did idiotically buy it just a day or so before VAT decreased from 17.5% to 15%.
I have 13 emails marked as unread in my inbox to remind me to reply to comments. I have nothing tomorrow, whoops, today so should do that later.