Classic Who: The Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders

[strange_complex]

Right - now that Life is all up to date and I have some free time, I can continue with my Who reviews. I return here to the sequential viewing of Sarah Jane's stories with the Third Doctor which I started last month.

Comments

[swisstone]

swisstone suggested that it might actually be more interesting to watch Monster unswayed by the influence of Curse

And I was clearly correct. Almost universally, critical reaction to Monster hammers it as an over-long, dull remake of Curse. So it is very interesting to see you take a much more positive approach to it. (Have you seen Curse yet?) Personally, I think the general assessment of Monster is probably near the mark, but it does have some great Sarah Jane material, particularly in episode 5, when she thinks the Doctor is dead. What does she do? She steps up to the mark and takes on the Doctor's role, telling everyone what to do. And when the Doctor comes back, he doesn't patronize her (and this is the Pertwee Doctor, who patronizes everybody - in Day of the Daleks he even patronizes himself!), but picks up the reigns again as if Sarah has functioned as a perfectly good deputy in his absence.

Maybe ten-year-old boys find this excitingMore importantly, Jon Pertwee found the opportunity to drive or fly lots of vehicles

[strange_complex]

Yes, that's important stuff about the way Sarah Jane takes over in episode 5, actually. She handles everything for as long as necessary, and only then gives in to the slumping-over-a-desk grief that I've mentioned in my write-up. It adds an important dimension to her character development which I'd forgotten about (it's actually quite a while now since I saw the story, since I've been busy with other things and have only just had time to do the write-up).

No, I haven't seen Curse yet. I wonder if it'll seem to me like an over-long, dull remake of Monster when I do? ;-)

And good point about The Three Doctors - I hadn't noticed that in the serials list.

sarah jane

[hollyione]

Have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with the first series of the Sarah Jane adventures if only because it's so obviously directed at children. Still it was better than K9 and company........

I will definitely watch however if the brigadier is in it, Am very impressed he is still alive and acting as I remember his looking absolutely ancient in a Dr Who documentary at least 10 years ago. Wikipedia says he is 89, wow. And he is currently shooting a film in which he will be the Archbishop of Canterbury, is there no end to his talents?

Re: sarah jane

[strange_complex]

The Sarah Jane Adventures definitely work on a different level from Doctor Who, but I think they do what they do really well. They have good plots and interesting ideas (especially in 'Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?'), and make great use of Sarah Jane's character. They'll never have quite the same layers to them as really clever episodes of Doctor Who (like 'The Fires of Pompeii'), but they're fun to watch all the same.

And yes indeed - HOW COOL to have the Brig back?! Everyone keeps hoping for him to turn up in Doctor Who, but if we can't have that, having him back in The Sarah Jane Adventures is a very close second best.