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Showing posts with label Tales Of The TARDIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tales Of The TARDIS. Show all posts

Friday, 21 June 2024

Doctor Who: Tales Of The TARDIS: Pyramids Of Mars SPOILER FILLED Review


Tales of The TARDIS a show that many Doctor Who fans can't see because of the fact that it wasn't payed for by Disney has now finally come back with a new episode. With this episode only being released because of the fact that the villain in this episode is also the villain in the series finale of Doctor Who series 14 and so then join me as I review the episode that came out just a few short days after a review of Pyramids Of Mars was very recently reviewed by me with the episode in question being called simply just "Pyramids Of Mars" enjoy.

The plot of this up is when The Doctor and Ruby meet up in the remembered TARDIS The Doctor starts to tell her about the time that he previously faced of against Sutekh. Now then interms if what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad with the episodes plot being very well done with the same thing not really being true for The Doctor and Ruby scenes which does make sense as those scenes are only bookends for the main story but at the same time given that this episode is featuring the same villain that's going to be featured in the series finale alot more effort should have gone into crafting a decent plot for The Doctor and Ruby scenes with the plot of the main episode being a really good plot which does make sense given that this episodes co-writer was Robert Holmes with the plot of the episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this episode is Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor , Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday and Tom Baker as The Doctor. Also starring in this episode is Bernard Archard as Marcus Scarman , Michael Sheard as Laurence Scarman , Peter Copley as Dr. Warlock , Michael Bilton as Collins , George Tovey as Ernie Clements , Peter Mayock as Namin , Raiders Of The Lost Ark star Vic Tablian as Ahmed and Gabriel Woolf as Sutekh.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about thew actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which really isn't all that surprising as both Millie and Ncuti have both turned in some really good performances in both of there debut years on the show with there acting more often that not being the true highlight of alot of the shows bad episodes and it's also the same thing alot of the cast for the main story as well with the true standout in that part of the episode being Tom Baker who is just simply phenomenal in this episode and while the rest of the cast in the episode as aa whole do turn in some good performances there not going to top just how good Tom , Ncuti and Millie are in this episode as all three of them really do bring there A game for this episode with the acting for this episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all this episodes cast have to do is simply just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does raise the overall quality of the acting that's really in this episode.


What wasn't to be expected from this episode was the fact that use some updated effects and remove alot of the episode original very cheesy looking effects. With the newer effects looking alot better then the cheesy looking effects from the original episode but at the same time tho there's a charm to those classic effects as well that is very sadly missing from the newer effects as the new effects look a little bit to polished and a a little bit to good when the effects in classic Doctor Who were never all that good to begin with and because of that they do have a certain charm to them when there done really well and while yes the effects in the new era of Doctor Who does look and Doctor Who should always have some good effects when your replacing effects in an episode of film and updating then you should at least make an attempt to make the newer effects look like they were made back when the original production was being made as that would help those new effects blend in more where as the effects in this episode despite them looking good and being a vast improvement over the effects in the original episode don't blend in they stand out.

SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!





This show is pretty much Doctor Who's answer to Mystery Science Theater 3000 in that both shows feature segments with there own casts where as Mystery Science Theater 3000 will feature the main cast making jokes of a full movie this show just features a full length episode of the show. With this show and this episode in particular doing something else that Mystery Science Theater 3000 does less often and that's feature edits to whatever it is that's being spotlighted in that weeks particular episode and while the edits don't effect the overall plot of the episode they are noticeable and more often just come across as feeling weird as unlike Mystery Science Theater 3000 which replaces those scenes with there own host segments with this show they don't do that and as a result of that is the fact that there's no need to remove those scenes in the first place as this show doesn't really replace them with anything thus making the edits made to this episode comes across as being rather pointless and are there just for the sake of being there and that's really it.

One of the major issues in this episode is the fact that even tho the episode does feature the fifteenth doctor and Ruby Sunday together again. It doesn't take the time to explain how there together again as in the last episode of Doctor Who they were quite clearly miles apart from each other and not only that the episode doesn't take the time to set up something that could be payed of in the next episode of Doctor Who which granted they didn't have to do but when your rebroadcasting the debut episode of a villain that you've just reintroduced into the show and your featuring newly filmed scenes with The Doctor and Ruby Sunday then it's implied that your going to be setting up something in this episode that could then be payed of in the next episode of Doctor Who and yet this episode doesn't do that as all it does is establish that Sutekh is now a bigger threat then what he was in this episode which really isn't needed as we could have gotten all of that just from the ending of The Legend Of Ruby Sunday and the start of the next episode it's not something that needs to established in this episode but what is needed in this episode is to establish how The Doctor and Ruby are now suddenly in the memory TARDIS and aren't miles away like they were at the end of the previous episode of Doctor Who.


As a villain Sutekh himself isn't really that threatening of a villain as while yes he does have a rather creepy look about him. He doesn't really have that much of a plan as while yes we do find out that he wants to destroy the world we don't find out why and we don't don't find out what he gets out of it with this not really being helped by the fact that the character spends alot of time just sitting down and not really doing nothing with alot of his plans being done by hos servant Laurence Scarman who is arguably a better villain as the makers of the episode at least went to the effort to make him alot more interesting and just as creepy looking as Sutekh was and yet for some reason despite him being the better of the two characters it's Sutekh who is the main villain of the episode and while yes it is easy to see why people would be scared of this villain as he does look like a creepy just because the villain looks creepy doesn't make him an interesting villain and because of that is that it's not that hard to see why this villain was largely forgotten about for the overall vast majority of the Doctor Who fandom as he just isn't all that memorable of a villain.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and sixteen minuets and twenty seconds. Which is a bit on the short side for this show as an episode of this show is typically around the one hour and thirty minuets mark and yet for some strange reason this episode was fifteen whole minuets shorter when the episode really does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that large amount of running time as without the scenes on Ncuti and Millie the original episode ran for around one hour and thirty minuets and yet because of the fact that they made pointless edits for no reason we now have an episode that's oddly shorter then the original episode that's being spotlighted and because of that is the fact that the episode really does feel incomplete where as the original episode despite still being short in it's own right still feels really alot more complete then what this episode does but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this an action show that means that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. Which for classic Doctor Who isn't that bad as they typically didn't do that much action scenes when it came to the classic era of Doctor Who and as a result of that is that when they do have some action in any given episode they usually went as all out as there small budget would allow and that is the case here with the episode making use of model filming for alot of the episodes action with the action in the episode being alot better then what it really had any right to be with this being because of the fact that the action in this episode felt earned and served a purpose of some kind in the overall plot of the episode and wasn't just there just so they could have an action scene in this very in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!


Overall as a lead in to the series finale this episode really doesn't do all that much and kind of feels unimportant because of it but at the same time it;s not that hard to see why this episode could serve as a great double bill with The Legend Of Sunday as it really very easily could have set up things to be payed of in the series finale and yet it just doesn't which is something that really does let down the episode as a whole in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all, pf the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode and are really of course up and on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Doctor Who: Tales Of The Tardis: The Three Doctors Review

 


We knew back when it was announced that Disney was acquiring the distribution rights to Doctor Who that there would be alot more spin offs happening. Well to kick of it's anniversary month the BBC have dropped all six episodes of it's first spin-off series as well as announcing the name of the shared Doctor Who universe as well and well it's really one of those episodes that i'm going to be talking about today and so then join me as I review the episode that really celebrated the shows tenth anniversary with the episode in question being called simply just "The Three Doctors" enjoy.

The plot of the episode is when the creator of the experiments that allowed the time lords to travel in time seeks his revenge against the time lords it's up to the first three doctors to stop him meanwhile Jo and Clyde reunite in the Tardis. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about thew actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with the story also being really entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Starring in this episode is Jon Pertwee as The Doctor , Patrick Troughton as The Doctor and William Hartnell as The Doctor. Also starring in this episode is Katy Manning as Jo Grant , Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart , John Levene as Sergeant Benton , Stephen Thorne as Omega , Roy Purcell as President , Clyde Pollitt as Chancellor , Graham Leaman as A Time Lord , Rex Robinson as Dr. Tyler , Laurie Webb as Ollis , Patricia Prior as Mrs. Ollis and The Sarah Jane Adventures star Daniel Anthony as Clyde Langer.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty. Really good with all of the cast both in the original episode and in the newly filmed scenes really do turn in some really good performances with this really being helped by the fact that not only are these a bunch of really good actors but also because of the fact that this episodes script again both in the original episode and in the newly filmed scenes as well is just so good that all the cast just have to do is say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally.



With this show we see the launch of the Whoniverse which us the brand name for anything to do with Doctor Who and all of it's related products. With not only this show launching but also a new documentary hosted by David Tennant and over eight hundred hours of classic Doctor Who which doesn't include all of the episodes mostly because of  the fact that alot of the episodes but in the case of An Un Earthly Child it's because the son of the episodes writer falsely believes that alot of the Doctor Who iconography that was introduced in that episode was first thought up by his father but either way we have never had and mostly never will have this much Doctor Who all in one place with the whole idea of the Whoniverse really is to basically be Doctor Who's answer to the modern day cinematic universe.


The best way that I can describe this show to those of you who are outside of the UK right now is that it's basically Doctor Who's answer to Mystery Science Theater 3000. As both shows do have their own plot lines with their own cast and crew working on them but they also integrate either a full length movie or in this case a full length episode of classic Doctor Who however that's where the similarities end as where as Mystery Science Theater 3000 frequently makes edits to the movies that there showing and has alot of host segments in each episode this show leaves the original episode untouched an only has two host segments one at the start of the episode and one at the end of the episode or at least that's how it was interms of this episode.

Altho I will admit that while this episode is mostly perfect that are some issues that I have with this episode. Like the fact that even this episode is being told from Jo's point of view we are being shown things that she wouldn't have seen and as such this is a case were removing those scenes would have made sense in the context of this show the other really major issue that I have with this episode is the fact Clyde really doesn't get alot of love and attention in this episode which does make sense as he never traveled with the Doctor but f your going to go to the trouble to bring back a character that hasn't been seen on screen for the first time in well over ten years then you really should give him some attention even if it's just him telling us what he's been up to in the years since we last him. 


I have to admit that even tho it was rather understandable as why we couldn't have gotten all three of the actors playing The Doctor in the same room together. It still would have been to see how all three doctors would have acted when they are in the same room as each other and while we do get hints of what a scene would have looked like thanks to William Hartnell not being able to commit to studio filming due to his health all we get is his doctor being trapped and only appearing on the TARDIS TV screen with his doctor acting like an older brother type of figure to the second and third doctors younger brothers which is something that would have been great to see with all of three of them in the same room as each other and it would have been fun seeing how all three of them would have come up with a solution to defeat Omega.

Noe then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty two minuets and five seconds. This is a bit on the long side for the episode to last as even tho both the newly filmed scenes and the original episodes have plenty of story to help tom cover that large amount of running time there are parts of the stories that do drag on a bit and really don't feel needed in the grand scheme like for example we don't really need to see as much of the time lords as we do in this episode and the ending with Jo and Clyde could have been trimmed down a bit as the ending really does start to drag on a bit but I will however admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.


So now then as this is an action show that means that I have to actually talk about thew actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really cheesy at best. As even tho they obviously make it obvious when there using a stunt double it's when we get to Jon Pertwee's but fight scene where things get really cheesy as for some strange reason the whole thing is show in slow motion and mostly consists of both The Doctor and the creature that he's facing flipping each other with them occasionally chopping over and that's really it which just makes the whole fight look really bad and really cheesy as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.


Overall this was a rather solid both from the original episode and the newly filmed scenes as well and incase your wondering you can only watch this show on BBCIPlayer as the whole show was funded by the BBC with no money coming in from Disney with this show so far being a really great way to start to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of this truly iconic show in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode earns itself a grand old core of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Doctor Who fandom wiki age and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episodes that I used in this very review being Google Images simply just due to the fact that really alot if not all of the images that are on Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as being fairly freaking high in definition.