tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post696143701579651000..comments2024-03-14T05:07:57.110-07:00Comments on Doc Oho Reviews...: Dragonfire written by Ian Briggs and directed by Chris CloughDoc Ohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01819922630249965949noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-85172872386879824112021-05-01T23:52:00.380-07:002021-05-01T23:52:00.380-07:00Season 24
1. Dragonfire
2. Paradise Towers
3. Delt...Season 24<br />1. Dragonfire<br />2. Paradise Towers<br />3. Delta and the Bannermen<br />4. Time and the RaniLinx D Oderanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06587578831858117637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-77532378664984179562021-05-01T23:51:11.519-07:002021-05-01T23:51:11.519-07:00Watching all in order. The best of the worst seaso...Watching all in order. The best of the worst season. No competition, but I did enjoy Paradise Towers this time. The dialogue is a lot sharper and the story is much better for Glitz's return. Edward Peel is excellent, worth a mention. I do not understand why he killed himself though.<br />It feels like they are still feeling out the 3 part format, but I think it works with some stories. You have said a lot above and this story appears to have had the biggest reaction to your review. I was first to comment on some others.<br />S24 was definitely a rushed, turd of a season, McCoy is very good in this, I like his closing scene with Mel and the audition footage with Janet Fielding is very interesting. Ace is a breath of fresh air, just ignore the cringy dialogue.Linx D Oderanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06587578831858117637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-59839303975821432302018-03-28T13:53:41.794-07:002018-03-28T13:53:41.794-07:00Speaking as that fairly rare thing, a female Class...Speaking as that fairly rare thing, a female Classic Who fan who watched it as it aired (from late Tom onwards at least), I think there's a level to Ace that a large amount of the male fans overlook. She was never, even at her most vulnerable, broken moments (Curse of Fenric), feeble.<br /><br />Look at the first moments of Episode Two here - dragon lumbers towards them. Mel screams, and screams. Ace stares in shock, then delight. Dragon fires. Mel screams. Ace comments that "it can't be a real dragon, it's firing lasers". She shrieks alright - when Kane, who she knows can kill with a touch, reaches out to her with clearly murderous intent. But it's one yell, cut off and as soon as Kane's attention is off her, she legs it. <br /><br />Ace has three strategies when in immediate danger: "stand and fight"; "run like hell"; "look to The Professor". <br /><br />Having grown up watching Romana (think your way out of a problem), Nyssa (stand around doing nothing) and Tegan (shout/talk/stamp your foot at the problem), the switch to Peri (scream at the problem) was bad. (though I'll grant you that now as an adult I can understand her reaction to Sharaz Jek far more than I could as a child.) But if Peri was bad, Mel was worse. I honestly do not know what the hell JNT and the Beeb thought they were doing with these two women. It was the 80's for heaven's sake! Peri was no better than Zoe or Victoria - and Mel was insulting even for the 1960s. <br /><br />And now I had Ace. Was her dialogue realistic back then? No. Has her character aged badly? Dialogue-wise: oh yes. Possibly the worst of any companion, ever, because it was so 'bad 80s'. Character-wise however: no. Watch any of the female companions from the 1960s and early 70s and it's painful: they're belittled, they need protecting, they are even at times sent to make cups of tea for the men! As we get into the later 70s and the 80s (until we reach Peri) it gets better but not by much. I'm not knocking Who here. In it's day of course it was amazing for the sheer fact that it often showed women in positions of power and authority - it's just that that never seemed to apply to companions!. Even Sarah-Jane at times is teeth-grindingly acquiescent (which is odd, given her attitude in Robot but there we are). Very few female companions from Classic Who would work today. But Ace? Change out the dialogue for something less cringe-makingly 80s and she'd fit into Nu Who. <br /><br />To give you examples of how refreshing Ace was after the last few years: "Time and the Rani" - Mel sees a Tetrap. Now ok, it's an alarming thing to see and a shocked yell is entirely understandable, as is running away. But what does Mel do? Scream and stand still and scream and stand still and scream and stand still. Now take "Greatest Show" - Ace is trapped in a dark room with robotic clowns: something she's already scared of. What does Ace do? Tries to _get out of the room_ while mouthing off to the robots. Yes, it's to stop herself screaming but that's my point - when Ace gets scared, she gets mouthy. The moment the threat is gone, she's trying to figure out what to do next. <br /><br />Watching Ace as a mid-teen myself was exhilarating. She was as strong, in terms of personality and ability to _do something_ as any passing bloke they came across. The idea of her screaming at a green baby hatching out of an egg, or screaming at the sheer sight of a Dalek or a Cyberman was laughable even before she yelled "who are you calling small?!" Not only did she not scream a la Mel, she went one step better than Tegan for example and actually tried to do something reasonably intelligent about the situations she was in!<br /><br />I'll stop now ;-) but as you can see - Ace always was, and always will be, one of my favourite Companions - Nu or Classic. I think she's one of the best examples of strong female characters the show has ever given us.RuthChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01936918094746854631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-57009318926956615822018-03-11T22:55:58.422-07:002018-03-11T22:55:58.422-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.David Pirtlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00636601389899125100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-81530280384578940882017-01-19T23:48:57.809-08:002017-01-19T23:48:57.809-08:00If you are looking for a good contextual advertisi...If you are looking for a good <b>contextual advertising company</b>, I recommend you have a look at <b><a href="http://adnetwork.syntaxlinks.com/r/Chitika" rel="nofollow">Chitika</a></b>.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-70327329717662937192014-01-15T23:13:13.221-08:002014-01-15T23:13:13.221-08:00Thanks for all the comments guys, such a fascinati...Thanks for all the comments guys, such a fascinating spread of opinions. I used to really enjoy Dragonfire too but I don't think it has aged at all well, especially not compared to Delta, which had an initial backlash but more and more people have grown to love over the years. Doc Ohohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01819922630249965949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-14029212986845333982014-01-14T10:05:23.706-08:002014-01-14T10:05:23.706-08:00I found this a watchable, average story. But in a...I found this a watchable, average story. But in a season that is very weak, the one eyed man is king.<br /><br />I am surprised that this is by the same writer as the superb Curse of Fenric, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-10492564725388836472014-01-12T10:54:33.972-08:002014-01-12T10:54:33.972-08:00It's really odd how bad the dialogue is throug...It's really odd how bad the dialogue is throughout the McCoy stories given that Cartmel, Aaronivitch, Briggs and Wyatt all seem to be reasonably talented writers (going by their novels and later writing careers) it must, presumably, be Cartmel's terrible script editing? It's also odd that, given how much I cringe throughout season 24, it is the season that brought me back to Dr Who. I love Delta and the Bannermen (except for the moment when all the Bannermen stick their red tongues out and hiss) and I quite like Paradise Towers. Rani and Dragonfire are really bloody awful though.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16677664117297114557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-64686731206371754402014-01-12T10:13:27.733-08:002014-01-12T10:13:27.733-08:00I have always had a bit of a soft spot for this st...I have always had a bit of a soft spot for this story. I went to school with Ben Peel, the son of Edward Peel who played Kane in this story. I think we were all in the 6th form when this was on and were all dead chuffed that we had a link to the show when it was airing.Paolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383786801759206704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-53442752215662905432014-01-12T08:06:05.587-08:002014-01-12T08:06:05.587-08:00Your comments on the characterisation of Ace intri...Your comments on the characterisation of Ace intrigue me. Yes, I always thought she was a pastiche created by writers like Andrew Cartmel and Ben Aaronovitch who probably just based her off random teenagers they didn't really understand. Aaronovitch's dad was an economist so your middle class comment does ring true to me knowing that. Personally, I always liked her just they always made her and Seven intentionally unlikeable particularly in the New Adventures. I don't think that's what you should aim for in a companion. Just look at Amy Pond... A companion I could not agree with you more on. However, Ace for me is one companion that even when I was about eight or nine struck me as being a little false at the start of Remembrance of the Daleks, yet as the story went on I grew to like her more. Just she reminded me of Bart Simpson with her constant catchphrases.Tyrionhalfmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-35639917974429173952014-01-12T07:37:34.489-08:002014-01-12T07:37:34.489-08:00I hated Season 24 in general... Now, having read y...I hated Season 24 in general... Now, having read your recent posts of the season, I "get" why you liked them, but I never could enjoy them the way you did. Maybe if I watched it again I'd find I could enjoy them as unintentionally funny... but I doubt it. <br /><br />Okay that brings me to Dragonfire. When this started airing and Glitz showed up, I was thrilled to see him. He was my favorite character, apart from Colin, in the previous season and seeing him I had high hopes for this story. (is there some reason Big Finish never used Glitz?) Alas, my hopes were quickly dashed as just about everything in this story was rubbish. <br /><br />*sigh*<br /><br />I don't know if I could watch this one again either. rumblebarshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04268590078463626756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386390949828958591.post-74652150841709645812014-01-12T01:45:49.458-08:002014-01-12T01:45:49.458-08:00You're right about this being the worst story ...You're right about this being the worst story of the McCoy era, I can't bring myself to watch this one.Audrey the Leviathan Vampire Girlnoreply@blogger.com