And, on an entirely unrelated fannish note...

[redneckgaijin]

... last week I watched the Colin Baker Doctor Who serial, "Mark of the Rani."

I've revised sharply upward my opinion of C. Baker's Doctor. It was, surprisingly, quite a good outing...

... though, on reflection, the OTHER Doctor named Baker could have played in it with the very most minimal changes of script.

Favorite exchange (approximated):

19th CENT. INVENTOR: My word! What manner of metal are these shackles made of? I've never seen any metal like it!

DOCTOR: Yes, quite remarkable, isn't it?

19th CENT. INVENTOR: Oh aye!

DOCTOR: Now, would you mind... undoing the shackles?

The Rani herself wasn't bad, although I still feel she was overshadowed rather badly by the Master. I must watch "Time and the Rani" and compare.

Peri, on the other hand, retains her title in my book as The Most Useless Companion Ever, without even the compensation of her usual highly revealing clothing...

Comments

[bibulb.livejournal.com]

Dude, really. Aside from the fact that it's got Sylvester McCoy, why watch "Time and the Rani"? Seriously.

(Granted, I'll watch some exceedingly meh Who if it's got Sylvester McCoy in it (Silver Nemesis, anyone?) but that one really was just a dog's dinner.)

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

I've seen four McCoy serials thus far; Remembrance of the Daleks, Curse of Fenric, Ghost Light, Survival.

All four of them had pretty good acting by McCoy, superb acting by Sophie Allred, and scripts that self-insert slashfic fanfic writers would be ashamed to admit came from their pen- with directing to match.

IOW, hated 'em all thus far.

But the Rani only appeared in two serials, so if I want to get a better feel for the character, there's no other option, is there?

Brace yourself for total FAILure

[doctorpinkerton.livejournal.com]

'Mark of the Rani' is the high point of Colin Baker's era, and one of my very favorite episodes of all time to boot. It's endlessly quotable, and I dearly hope they let the Rani resurface at some point in the current series. She's wayyyy to smart to have become engulfed in the Time War.

'Time and the Rani' on the other hand... well, let me put it this way. I'm not sure whether holding your nose while viewing will help, but you'd better hold on to SOMETHING to help get you through this malodorous piece of british video limburger. Hearing Sly rrrrrroll out the phrase 'brilliant brain' is not enough compensation for the preceeding 89 minutes.

Incidentally, except for the horrible 'Survival', you've seen most of the BEST of Sylvester's tenure, and sadly, this is not one of them.

Re: Brace yourself for total FAILure

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised by your description.

Of course, I can't find the serial in question on blockbuster.com, so I might be saved from exposure to said tripe for a while longer anyhow.

Re: Brace yourself for total FAILure

[doctorpinkerton.livejournal.com]

If you're looking for it on DVD, it hasn't been issued yet... though I see they're about to drop Colin Baker's malodorous debut.