why the Second Doctor is the best

[kindkit]

I just started watching the reconstruction of "Fury From the Deep." Two minutes into the first episode, and the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria are having a sea-foam fight. *hearts them*

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Comments

[vilakins]

Is that one of the lost stories? How do they reconstruct them? Are they just audio?

[kindkit]

Reconstructions combine the audio (home-recorded by fans back in the day) with still photographs from the set, of which there are quite a few. Some, such as the one for "Fury," also have captions describing any action we can't see and include any surviving fragments of film (often, it's short clips that were removed--and retained, for some reason--by Australian censors before broadcast there because they were considered too violent). There are also some Second Doctor reconstructions that have audio narration by Frazer Hines, who played Jamie. How they managed that I don't know, because they're very unofficial, but I guess the BBC's policy is to be tolerant of the reconstructions so long as no one tries to profit from them.

The results aren't bad, usually. Some people prefer just to listen to the audio, but I don't get that, myself. It's hard to follow what's happening without stills and captions, and I like seeing the stills.

[vilakins]

Thanks for that. I'd prefer to see the stills and captions too. I imagine the BBC don't object since they destroyed the footage anyway; otherwise they'd be down on everyone like the Assyrian.

[van]

I definitely prefer the audio timed to telesnaps myself. Fury also has, as I recall, a scene where Jamie stands on the Doctor's shoulders and the surviving telesnape is the Doctor looking directly up his kilt. Ahahha I am twelve.

[kindkit]

telesnaps

Duh, it never occurred to me that some of the stills were from people taking pictures of their TV screens. I assumed they were all production photos. Now I understand why the quality of the stills is sometimes so bad.

the Doctor looking directly up his kilt

Well, if you're twelve, so am I, because my thought was "enjoying the view, Doctor?"

[van]

Ahahaha, oh, I wrote telesnape. A++ Van.

Actually, while that is technically what telesnaps are (photos of a TV), they're generally "official" production ones. I believe it was common practice for the director of a serial to order a set number of telesnaps taken of his completed work sort of as a "portfolio" for things he's done for TV. (Back before he could just get a copy to show people.) They were automatically done, set to timers for whatever length of time, etc. Sometimes directors didn't get telesnaps made for whatever reason (the serial "Marco Polo" comes to mind), but that's why almost all the serials have them and with such regular spacing between them. While there may be some fan-made telesnaps in there, definitely the majority are the ones made for the director.

And, oh yes. I'm sure the Doctor enjoyed the view. I wonder if Pat did as well. Snicker. I just love that THAT is what got telesnaped. :D Did you finish the serial yet?

[kindkit]

they're generally "official" production ones

Ah, I see. That clarifies a lot, thanks!

Did you finish the serial yet?

I just finished it. Awwww. *sniffles* I'm not as much of a Victoria fan as you are, but poor Jamie, losing his friend. (*la la la I choose to ignore any possible romantic subtext between them, which is easy to do since Jamie didn't for a moment consider staying with her*)

I really like how her decision to stay behind is handled. It's built up to well and it's very much presented as a rational choice she makes. The Doctor not letting Jamie try to pressure her is lovely, and so is Jamie's eventual acceptance of her decision. Even if he is horribly sulky towards the Doctor later.

[kindkit]

I wonder if Pat did as well.

Has Frazer Hines ever said what (if anything) he wore under the kilt?

[van]

I've never asked, and I've never read anything, though I seem to recall coming across a picture of him in some black sort of tight boxer-briefs/biker shorts, so I imagine something like that.

Though I have seen times in the show where his kilt swings up and you can see an awful lot of thigh.

[kindkit]

It would make sense for him to have worn something under it, or the whole set would've gotten an eyeful every time there was a breeze. Or a climbing scene. But it's certainly amusing to contemplate him wearing nothing at all underneath. Maybe the day they filmed the "standing on the Doctor's shoulders" scene, he went bare as a joke?

[van]

Ehehehehehe, it's certainly the sort of thing that fanfic is for, ha.

In any event, regardless of what Frazer wore, I'm confident Jamie didn't, so the Doctor is certainly getting a shadowy-eyeful.

[lullabee_lj]

I wonder if the person who took the photo in the first place did so because the Doctor was getting an eyeful? Perhaps we have a slasher from the '60s to thank for that picture.

[kindkit]

That's a happy thought.

[lullabee_lj]

Or, since apparently the director has them made, the slashiness is intentional and he was quite proud of it too.