City Of Death

[poliphilo]

On the plus side: Tom Baker (though I find him a bit showy and self-regarding), Lalla Ward, the chemistry between them, her wardrobe, a script that occasionally glitters (something to do with Douglas Adams having a hand in it?) and a brief appearance by John Cleese and Eleanor Bron. 

On the minus side: lengthy sequences of the characters weaving their way through the streets of Paris (look at us, we're on our hols!), 
a silly looking monster, and one seriously disappointing dropped catch: we travel back in time to Leonardo's da Vinci's studio and never get to meet him.  This is the fourth story I've watched in succession (cruising round the continuum, dropping in on different Doctors) and the one I've been most tempted to fast-forward. Golden Age? I'm not convinced.

And now I think I fancy a little Peter Davison.

Comments

[moodywho.livejournal.com]

Haha, City of Death might be my favorite. I loved all that running through the street of Paris. The score was good, also, in my opinion.

We watched The Ribos Operation the other day and I enjoyed it much more this time than I did when I first saw it several years ago.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll try The Ribos Operation...

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Tom Baker was my first Doctor and will always be my favorite. Peter Davison, who I remember best as Tristan Farnon, probably my second favorite.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Tom Baker looked exactly-like-but-nothing-like an old boyfriend of mine.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Did he have the same hair?

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

George's hair was a little lighter-colored, but impossibly curly. They both had the same sparkly eyes and wicked grins. And very similar noses. George's teeth weren't quite so, ummm, overweening, though.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I loved his curly hair and his eyes. I have seen him of late in Monarch of the Glen and...well, to put it simply, he got fat.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I go all the way back to William Hartnell. By the time Baker came along I was losing interest...

[sovay]

And now I think I fancy a little Peter Davidson.

I remember him only vaguely as the Doctor, but he's a wonderful Albert Campion in the 1989–90 television series.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Davidson is a very dependable TV actor. I'm fond of him. Yes, he was good casting as Campion.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Agreed. He's very good at those diffident but effective roles. I have a lot of time for his Doctor; if any of them had set out from Gallifrey to make the universe a better place, it would be his incarnation.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He's the only one of the "classic" Doctors who underplays the role. It's rather refreshing.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I always fancy a little Peter Davidson, especially as Tristan in All Things Great and Small.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A very likeable actor.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Davison. Please, the man's name is Davison. And yes, he was great as Tristan and he was a good Campion. And a good Doctor!

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Oopsie. Davison is is. I sit corrected.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I started it. I'll correct his name in my post.

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

I had the pleasure of introducing Doctor Who to my wife (who became interested after one of the robots on Mystery Science Theater made a reference to "the Doctor Who who looked like Moe").

City of Death was one of the first episodes I showed her and she liked.

BTW, the first episode I showed her was 'Pirate Planet' a very well written episode by Douglas Adams. Unfortunately Tom Baker has a cold sore on his lip which turned her off to Tom baker.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Poor Tom.

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

something to do with Douglas Adams having a hand in it?

He rewrote the whole script, from what I hear.

a silly looking monster

For some reason I'm always willing to accept any rubber mask but I'll still make fun of cgi.

And now I think I fancy a little Peter Davison.

I saw a poll that named his Caves of Androzani the best Doctor Who story ever--I certainly agree it's his best (and also the best use of Perry's cleavage), though it is also his last serial, so I don't know if you'd want to hop into that one. Otherwise I think I liked Terminus and Enlightenment best. I tend to avoid Davison's first season, despite some good stories, due to Adric, and his last season, aside from Androzani, is generally as badly written as some of Colin Baker's worst episodes.

Incidentally, at Comic-Con to-day I saw two girls dressed as the fourth and fifth Doctors together with a girl in a TARDIS bunny girl outfit.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm actually halfway through Caves of Androzani. I'm enjoying Davison's Doctor but the story's really grim.

I don't like cgi monsters either. Russell T Davies used them far too much

[butterscotch711.livejournal.com]

If you try some more Tom Baker, his early serials are quite different. Genesis of the Daleks is one of my all-time favourites, although it's quite dark. But during that period (Sarah Jane and early Leela) they did lots of 'Let's remake such-and-such Hammer Horror movie but with a Doctor Who twist' serials. A lot of them are fun and stylish. And lots of body horror.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think I need to sample more Tom Baker. I watched part of Talons of Weng Chiang recently. That is very Hammer.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

And Julian Glover - who played General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back. As a Star Wars fan (sorry!!) this is important to me!