Horror of Fang Rock, The Invisible Enemy, Nightmare of Eden

[nwhyte]

Sorry for much Who posting today, but this one brings me up to date with three stories from the Tom Baker era, indeed from two different parts of Graham Williams' term as producer: his first two stories from 1977, and his second last from 1980.

Comments

[strange_complex]

I'm sure this wasn't your prime objective, but I'd just like to record the fact that, what with the integrity of Leela's performance, the fatal weakness of the human knee and the epic awfulness of the mushroom creatures, I was practically in tears of laughter by the time I finished reading this post.

I should be getting to see Nightmare of Eden pretty soon, and consider myself suitably forewarned. However, I suspect that its particular nostalgic resonances for me will probably mean I enjoy it more than it may actually deserve.

[drasecretcampus]

I should be rewriting a conference paper on Paul Magrs' (sp.?) YA novel Strange Boys which features a seven year old boy watching The Invisible Enemy in the north east.

Curiously enough I am pretty well the same age as the author and his protagonist - and I was in Whitley Bay that night. The Fantastic Voyage episode. I have a memory of prawns, for some reason - though whether that's the episode or my tea I can't remember.

[bookzombie]

Re the prawns: probably because the virus looks like a giant, hairy (and ultimately amusing) prawn...

[dalmeny]

She is the one companion who we see the Doctor trying to change and educate

It's been some time since I saw many Seventh Doctor episodes, but wasn't that true also of the Seventh and Ace?

[nwhyte]

I don't think it is quite clear just what the Doctor is up to with Ace. It seems to be more like therapy of some kind, forcing her to confront her past, rather than anything more traditionally educational. But I haven't seen all the stories, so perhaps it is too early to pass judgement.

[captainlucy]

Horror of Fang Rock is one of the finest Who stories there is, wonderfully bleak and dark but with wonderful light moments thanks to Tom and Louise. And yes, I think I missed a lot of the fine points of Louise's performance when I was younger, too. :)

I haven't seen Nightmare of Eden since the first time it was on't telly, and I remember as a 9 year old watching it and cowering in terror at the Mandrells, which was after all the whole point of any monster in Who, and thinking "this is great!". Maybe the intervening years have painted the story in a rosy glow it doesn't deserve.

who on earth is tom baker

[manjushra]

Talking of Tommy, have you ever read his autobiography? It is currently keeping me up till 1 in the morning and making me oversleep on a school morning. I had no idea he was such a seriously screwed up depressive.

Re: who on earth is tom baker

[nwhyte]

I've flipped through it in bookshops and listened to an audio version read by the man himself this time last year, to the dismay of my fellow commuters.

I don't know if you've seen any of the commentaries he does for some of the DVDs? They are utterly hilarious and captivating.