― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 12:54 (twenty-two years ago) link
― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:03 (twenty-two years ago) link
― tigerclawskank, Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:52 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:55 (twenty-two years ago) link
and why is the tracer buzzing in my hand? (nb, this is not a ref to tracer hand)
― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:57 (twenty-two years ago) link
Thought Ian and Barbara in the very early Hartnell shows were terrific and made for each other. Does anyone remember the rather touching "montage" at the end of "The Chase" when they got back to 1960's London - running around Trafalgar Square, knocking on a police box door and laughing? Wouldn't you have wanted them to be your mum and dad?
Liz Shaw - the blue stocking scientist with a nice line in mini-skirts and Brian Jones fedoras.
Sarah-Jane - Lis Sladen was great. One of those "centred/focused" actors who no matter how shit the script was, breathed life into her character and carried herself with dignity.
Leela - probably my favourite. "You will do as the Doctor instructs, or I will cut out your heart!"
Romana I - Mary Tamm was equally good, v. aloof, superior, just standing there looking fabulous and making pithy remarks. Like Glynis Barber/Soolin off Blake's 7 for much the same reason. Lalla Ward had her moments but I'll never forgive her for blubbing at the pepperpots during "Destiny Of The Daleks", something Tamm would never have stooped to.
Tegan/Nyssa - a double act really. Pete Davison was "my" Doctor, the guy who tuned me into Who back in the 80's and I wanted to grow up and be a Mormon so I could thoroughly debauch the pair of them.
Mel - don't start. Bonnie Langford acts like a demented Principal Boy throughout, but she gave an utterly crap character on the page her spirited best shot.
Destroy:
Zoe - catch her shrieking in "The Mind Robber".AdricAce - utterly dismal and embarrassing attempt to keep up with the times. Aldred's a fine actress (great in emotional scenes) but the character - her terrible street yoof speak, her proficiency with hand-made explosives. Forget it.
― Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Saturday, 5 October 2002 18:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Paul (scifisoul), Saturday, 5 October 2002 19:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 13:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
BLOODY HELL.
Thankfully Tom has now explained to me how there are two Romanas. My favourite is obviously Romana TWO because of the RED SHOES OV DEATH. And the boater!
― Sarah (starry), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 13:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
actually given that the Romanas were the only Timelord assistants, it is presumably actually possible that either or both of them were getting it on with the Doctor.
― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 7 May 2003 15:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
andy
― koogs (koogs), Friday, 21 November 2003 07:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Bag Of Soil (starry), Friday, 21 November 2003 16:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 21 November 2003 16:31 (twenty years ago) link
And K-9.
― Sarah (starry), Friday, 21 November 2003 16:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 21 November 2003 17:08 (twenty years ago) link
Also, Zoe and Jamie rocked.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 21 November 2003 17:48 (twenty years ago) link
― mark s (mark s), Friday, 21 November 2003 18:01 (twenty years ago) link
― koogs (koogs), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link
― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:36 (twenty years ago) link
― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:42 (twenty years ago) link
I have a question, btw, has anyone here seen this panto-parody thing that's got Rowan Atkinson as the 9th Richard E. Grant as something like the 10th (quite handsome) Doctor, Hugh Grant as the 11th (handsome) doctor, Pryce or someone as the 17th master, Atkinson, Lumley ... oh hell:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0212887/
Point being, how on earth would a geek in Chicago get his eyes on this?!?
― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Friday, 21 November 2003 21:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 21 November 2003 22:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Friday, 21 November 2003 22:31 (twenty years ago) link
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 21 November 2003 22:35 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 21 November 2003 23:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Ricardo (RickyT), Saturday, 22 November 2003 01:09 (twenty years ago) link
Custos, your description of Turlough made him sound even better than he was!I hated his bright red eyebrows. I wanted to take a lawnmower to the guys forehead.
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Saturday, 22 November 2003 18:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 22 November 2003 18:52 (twenty years ago) link
― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 22 November 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link
― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 22 November 2003 18:58 (twenty years ago) link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/shalka/
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Saturday, 22 November 2003 19:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Saturday, 22 November 2003 22:58 (twenty years ago) link
Companions: Search:
Leela (Louise Jameson) - despite a distinct lack of rapport with Tom Baker, she works superbly, esp. in Season 14 and "Horror of Fang Rock". The much-admired minimalist costume, and the fiery, resourceful savage quality make a fine combination.
Romanas I and II (Mary Tamm & Lalla Ward) - slightly aristocratic superior Time Lady types... work wonderfully well with that genial and *knowing& quality the series projected in those last two Graham Williams-produced seasons. Tamm is the more beautiful, yet Ward is wonderfully teasing in "City of Death". Shouldn't forget that Ward played the part in a more serious (well some of the time) vein in Season 18, particularly in "Warriors' Gate", and that Tamm is sublime in the first 4 stories or so of S16. If one likes that sort of slightly haughty ice maiden tendency; which concealed an interesting level of naivety about things compared to the Doctor.
Ian & Barbara (William Russell & Jacqueline Hill) - stalwart, well-characterised pair of teachers. Don't think Russell is the last instance of heterosexuality in the TARDIS... Jamie in more than one story indicates such leanings, as ambiguously does Pertwee's Doctor in "The Green Death"... Barbara is a very strong character; see, "The Aztecs", "The Romans" and many more; idealistic, and reasoning. A shame they never really thought to bring any more history teachers into the TARDIS. What did Chesterton study again...? Surely a more masculine science or maths...? ;-)
"Jamie & Zoe!" (Frazer Hines & Wendy Padbury) - they work wonderfully in the Troughtons I've seen (most surviving Troughton seems to be from Season 6). Precocious, slightly impudent brainbox girl (with real '60s' futurist costumes) and the loveable old Scots fish-out-of-water himself. The 3 actors seemed to be so suited to each other, and put so much spirit into things.
Liz Shaw (Caroline John) - perhaps an under-explored character and one who never left earth (well barring the tomfoolery of Ambassadors #1 in the TARDIS), but one of the more intelligent companions, who yeah, also had some incredibly short skirts; particularly in "Inferno" and "Ambassadors". ;-)
Ace (Sophie Aldred) - An example of the writers getting it together and really putting some extra thought into characterisation. Aldred's no great actress, but in Season 26 she is served by some excellent writing. Ace is one of the more substantial characters of all the companions, though in S25 she could get annoying with all the pseudo-street/hip tendencies. All works really well though, in the learning curve that produced the wonderful final season. Not at all as attractive as the likes of Liz, Peri, the Romanas, Leela for me, sorry. :)
The Brigadier (Nick Courtney) - brought to life gloriously by the actor. In early stories, he is a calculating, professional and at times edgy figure... in the later guest appearances, he is a loveable crusty old uncle sort. In the middle (seasons 8-11) he is a bit of a caricature; admittedly this can be enjoyed on some level, but it gets irritating. Not the actor's fault. He seemed to take on a new lease of life in the two stories he had with Tom Baker's Doctor; there was more of a clash of perspectives between the two, and the comedy all came off better. Particularly a wonderful double-take in "Robot" after this great exchange: Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: [On neutral monitoring of superpower missile bases] Naturally enough, the only country that could be trusted with such a role was Great Britain... The Doctor: Naturally, I mean, the rest were all foreigners.
Mixed:Sarah-Jane Smith (Lis Sladen) - one of the most down-to-earth and likeable companions in the show; seemed close to a 'real person'. Yet, occasionally quite tiresome. Her departure scene cannot be beaten though; wonderfully played by Sladen, and particularly ambiguously by Baker... she works as a breath of fresh air in the tired late Pertwee episodes. She's wonderfully integral to the plot of "The Time Warrior". She did lose a bit of her distinctiveness as the seasons passed however; where did the strong feminist views go, or the sharp tongue?
Jo Grant (Katy Manning) - ill-served at times by scripts, but Manning gave an increasingly likeable, distinctive portrayal in her later stories; particularly things like "Frontier in Space" (a yawn of a story generally), "Carnival of Monsters" and "The Green Death" most of all, as we see her fall for the eccentric 'younger doctor' hippy scientist, Jones. She really doesn't work very well in her first few stories; not quite to grips with the part yet.
K9 (voiced by J. Leeson in the main) - Oh, loveable addition to the series for kids, or a pointless way of solving narrative difficulties, like the Sonic Screwdriver? I'm maybe some way in between, but it must be said that John Leeson's voice is wonderful as K9 and he did have so many choice lines: in the "Pirate Planet", "She's PRETTIER than you, master" (on Romana I, compared to the Doctor... indeed ;-)) and responding to the ludicrous cockney Time Lord of "The Armageddon Factor":
Drax: 'Blimey, it's a dog! Who's a little tin dog, then?' K9: 'Your silliness is noted.'
;-)
Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown (Nicola Bryant) - absurd first name, and bizarre in that she had one of television's few on-screen romances with Brian Blessed... okay, she had a habit of being sour and bitchy, but there were depths in the character - more so in general than Tegan perhaps - that were occasionally explored. She worked really well with Davison, and I do actually enjoy at times the love-hate rapport she has with Colin Baker. There is enough tenderness there in selected moments of Season 22 to suggest this, behind the bickering. I think Bryant did as good a job as she could with what she was given, especially considering she was forced to put on an accent foreign to her. Writing for the character was occasionally abysmal - see "Timelash" - and often tended to make her scream or become the object of lust of some perverted figure. Such sweet scenes as the one with Alexei Sayle's DJ in "Revelation" (that's really *the* 6th Doc. story that got it all right...), arm-in-arm with the Doctor at the start of "Mysterious Planet", the nice finale to "Mark of the Rani"... here you get the impression that she'd be a really nice person to know, which is always the mark of a good companion.I feel Peri's underrated, and sadly was short changed too often by writers. Could have been one of the best companions, if her sweet side was more often brought out, or if her screwball sourness was ever really explained/explored in depth.
On a baser note, she had some nice flattering/revealing costumes... (there's no way around viewing DW companions in this way really!)
Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) - generally successful, but in a very low key. Nice attempt to make a companion clearly alien in her outlook and way of speaking. Not enough was made of her.
Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) - OK, he's clearly not an example of 'heterosexuality in the TARDIS', yet I'm not suggesting he is well, a gay man. Just a bizarre throwback to Bertie Wooster almost, who somehow is involved in the military - admittedly as a medical figure though, am I right?
Ben and Polly (M. Craze and Anneke Wills) - again, far too little exists in the archives... yet, I'd say they seem pretty good. Polly actually not at all the stereotyped 60s dolly bird - though she indeed has the look down pat - and Ben a likeable, 'able seaman'. 'Was he a taste of heterosexuality in the TARDIS or not?' Discuss. ;-)
Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) - seen too little to fully judge; she seems okay. Good in "The Myth Makers" by all accounts. Nicely scornful and petulant in "The Time Meddler".
Steven Taylor (Pete Purves) - not seen enough really. Though he was entertaining in "The Time Meddler" as a smug, slightly raffish, though at-heart-likeable chap. A fine comic foil for Hartnell in that story.
Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson) - I like the fact that they tried to do make a very dubious-intentions based companion. Strickson was all right as well. Some slightly hammy acting, but it's fun - I can't quite recall his histrionics in "Frontios"... It was a shame, again, that he was made rather more bland after "Enlightenment", and played less of a part generally in the stories.
Grace (Daphne Ashbrook) - From the McGann TVM. She just didn't work really; a sketchy, ill-defined character. Too Scully-esque in the scepticism; not enough sense of who she really is.
Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) - just not the right actress or part really for a companion. Comes across best in the runaround "Delta and the Bannermen". Is awful in "The Ultimate Foe" and from all I remember "Time and the Rani".
Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) - I am aware he has some support from female quarters, c.f. his indie maths quality. All I can say is that he was a millstone around a few stories' necks; an insufficient actor, straitjacketed by those ridiculous yellow pyjamas he constantly wore. Works slightly better with T. Baker than Davison.
Tegan (Janet Fielding) - Some good moments, but too much tiresome whingeing. Best in "Enlightenment", with that talk about love with that strange Mariner (IIRC ?) character.
Kamelion (voiced by Gerald Flood IIRC) - pointless android who had a first and last story but nothing in between as he was too impractical to use!
Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) - the screamer par excellence (well, close to Mel in that regard...) which must alone make one dubious of her. Yet, she doesn't impact on the stories badly at all; though generally adds little either. Amusing use of her talents in "Fury from the Deep". I suppose she does actually have a lovely reflective scene with Troughton's Doctor in "The Tomb of the Cybermen" and is key to the plot of "Evil of the Daleks"... but generally, not a good companion.
Dodo (Jackie Lane) - sadly, she has seemed just wet in most of the things I've seen her in. Overplayed in an irritating vein by the actress.
― Tom May (Tom May), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:41 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link
― Tom May (Tom May), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:45 (twenty years ago) link
KindaSnakedanceArc of InfinityEnlightenmentThe AwakeningFrontiosResurrection of the Daleks
Earthshock is one of the best stories ever for the simple fact that it ended with Adric dying in a fiery explosion.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:54 (twenty years ago) link
Oh, and I missed Susan - the very first - from my epic trawl through the companions... I'd say mixed really; she's great in the stunning opening episode, "An Unearthly Child" but too often is a bit of a screamer in later stories. We get to see far too little of her mooted intelligence.
― Tom May (Tom May), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 21:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 21:11 (twenty years ago) link
― Tom May (Tom May), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 21:20 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 04:07 (twenty years ago) link
― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 12:09 (twenty years ago) link
Turlough is loathesome and creepy but is also very watchable - his knee-jerk cowardice is a terrific character trait plot-wise (and makes his few brave scenes pretty memorable) though I think a short run as a companion suited him best.
Tegan can be awful but it's very hard to imagine the Davison stories without her.
― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 12:38 (twenty years ago) link
Black Orchid was an odd story in that it was almost as if it started life as an ordinary period costume drama and Dr. Who was just thrown in as an afterthought.
― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 12:41 (twenty years ago) link
around the same moment she sees some prisoner the cops have hauled in and says "Put him to the torture!".
what ethnicity is Tegan meant to be?
― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 13:11 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 13:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 13:24 (twenty years ago) link
― Sarah (starry), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 13:32 (twenty years ago) link