Much more the sort of thing I expected when I first heard about E-space
I think the problem is that you approached the E-Space Trilogy as "The E-Space Trilogy", so to speak -- which is only natural, since that's how it's now always regarded -- rather than as three Doctor Who stories which happen to form a loose trilogy. On original broadcast we had no idea about this trilogy idea (well, I didn't; I've no idea if anyone else did), so I really liked the gradual revelation in Full Circle that we were in another universe. True, they didn't really do much with it -- although it is a plot point in Logopolis -- but since I didn't originally watch it with any foreknowledge, I didn't have my expectations raised like you did.
a gateway between E-space, N-space and the domain of the Tharils - which, as far as I could tell, was something quite different again.
Um, I don't think so, but I admit it's not very clear. I was under the impression that the Tharils' empire was in E-Space, or possibly spanned both universes, and the gateway was just a convenient travel interchange for them!
I don't think it was my prior knowledge that there was an 'E-Space Trilogy' that set me up for disappointment - only my prior knowledge that E-Space was some kind of alternate Universe. It just didn't seem terribly alternate when we first met it in Full Circle, or indeed in State of Decay. I was expecting something much more different from the normal Universe - perhaps a slightly less hostile version of the anti-matter Universe in Planet of Evil. For that reason, I'd have been disappointed by what I saw in Full Circle whether or not I knew that further stories set in the same Universe were still to come.
I'm really not sure about the Tharils' domain, but I think something was said at some point about the gateway being a three-way interchange (though I may just be getting mixed up with the reference to Threefold Man from The Stolen Earth!). Certainly, the place behind the mirror with all the black-and-white backgrounds doesn't seem like E-Space or N-Space, while the Doctor said at one point that what was behind the mirror wasn't any use to ordinary beings - particularly Rorvik and his crew, since that's who he's addressing at the time. So I had interpreted that world as the Tharil domain, which, like them, doesn't really exist in ordinary time and space, but intersects with (certainly) E-Space and (possibly) N-Space at various points in time and space (such as the gateway and its mirrors).
Hmm, you may be right about the Tharil domain, but I must admit I never saw it that way before!
But about the E-space thing, my point is that because I had no prior knowledge, the revelation that this was a different universe came *after* I'd already seen quite a bit of the story, so i had no expectations of what E-space would be like. It was like what I was seeing. :)
I think the problem is that you approached the E-Space Trilogy as "The E-Space Trilogy", so to speak -- which is only natural, since that's how it's now always regarded -- rather than as three Doctor Who stories which happen to form a loose trilogy. On original broadcast we had no idea about this trilogy idea (well, I didn't; I've no idea if anyone else did), so I really liked the gradual revelation in Full Circle that we were in another universe. True, they didn't really do much with it -- although it is a plot point in Logopolis -- but since I didn't originally watch it with any foreknowledge, I didn't have my expectations raised like you did.
a gateway between E-space, N-space and the domain of the Tharils - which, as far as I could tell, was something quite different again.
Um, I don't think so, but I admit it's not very clear. I was under the impression that the Tharils' empire was in E-Space, or possibly spanned both universes, and the gateway was just a convenient travel interchange for them!
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I'm really not sure about the Tharils' domain, but I think something was said at some point about the gateway being a three-way interchange (though I may just be getting mixed up with the reference to Threefold Man from The Stolen Earth!). Certainly, the place behind the mirror with all the black-and-white backgrounds doesn't seem like E-Space or N-Space, while the Doctor said at one point that what was behind the mirror wasn't any use to ordinary beings - particularly Rorvik and his crew, since that's who he's addressing at the time. So I had interpreted that world as the Tharil domain, which, like them, doesn't really exist in ordinary time and space, but intersects with (certainly) E-Space and (possibly) N-Space at various points in time and space (such as the gateway and its mirrors).
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But about the E-space thing, my point is that because I had no prior knowledge, the revelation that this was a different universe came *after* I'd already seen quite a bit of the story, so i had no expectations of what E-space would be like. It was like what I was seeing. :)
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