At the end of Sara Jane's last episode she exits the TARDIS, looks behind her up over her shoulder then the frame freezes and the credits begin. When I first saw that it gave me the feeling that it would not be the last time she would see the Doctor. Then, in the revived series when she meets the 10th Doctor, she was absolutely perfect while down in the basement of the school she was investigating, she sees the TARDIS for the first time in decades. I loved that moment. The look on her face was priceless. Two of my favorite episodes because of Elisabeth Sladen.
She's truly one of the greatest Who companions. A shame in New Who The Doctor hadn't had another companion like Leela. I always thought it would be cool if The Doctor had a Roman Gladiator or a female Roman Gladiator as a companion.
The Face of Evil was possibly one of my favorite Who stories. It really had a great plot, and Jameson and Baker’s chemistry was excellent. The way Jameson played Leela was powerful, and very intelligent.
I love it. It's one of my favorites. I bought Face of Evil on VHS in 2000. I never watched it. I remember when I bought it on VHS. My father told me that Leela was like Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess. I love Face of Evil because it was a good story and it was the perfect introduction story for Leela. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson had good chemistry. I bought The Face of Evil on DVD in 2012.
One of the top 5 classic seasons in my opinion. The Doctor would never admit it, but Leela was probably the most useful companion he ever had. She didn't need constant rescuing, and could always be counted on save his arse (and her own) when things got rough. I absolutely love Robots of Death and Talons of Weng Chiang, two stories that are damn near perfect.
The Robots of Death was a creepy classic. Never understood why these creepy robot monsters never took off or became a popular monster. It's like they've been forgotten.
I don't think anyone bothered pitching a sequel to the show's producers. The writer, Chris Boucher, was busy as script editor on Blake's 7 for a while though I think he did write some books or audioplays set in the same civilisation as Robots of Death much later.
If Leela and Ace ever teamed up, there wouldn’t be any monsters for the Doctor to face. Heck, she could have easily put an end to Davros with a simple knife throw to the face. NuWho could do with a non-present day companion or at least add a companion not from our time to play off with one from current day Earth. The Jodie Tardis four man crew could have been interesting if each of the companions were from the past, present and future with the Doctor as the in-between.
It might have helped a bit, but I think it's just that two is the maximum number of long-term companions the show can have without at least one of them feeling redundant in every story. Some of the earliest seasons get a pass because the Doctor wasn't originally intended to be the clear main character, at least not *as* clearly, but by Troughton the show was really struggling to balance more than two companions at a time. Adric, Nyssa and Tegan had a wide range of backgrounds and that Tardis crew had the same problem as Thirteen's.
Maybe present day Who would be decent if they had people who could act. None of the companions are all that memorable and Whitaker is just ridiculous. I wish Helen Mirren had become the first female doctor instead.
Peter Davison on The Tomorrow People in a blonde wig, immediately cuts to 'The Face of Evil'. Dunno whether that was intentional, but I laughed out loud, thanks :)
The Face of Evil might be one of my first memories of Doctor Who, or even of television in general. Assuming it wasn't a repeat, I would've been 5 years old at the time it was broadcast. Weng Chiang is also fixed in my memory, probably because of that creepy doll.
If The Tomorrow People had anything going for it, it had a great title sequence, and Brian Hodgson's eerie score. Hodgson was also working on Doctor Who in the sound department from 1973-1983.
My then 10 year old kids and I watched all the Tom Baker Dr Who's on DVD in the summer of 2015. They absolutely loved it. Who cares about the SFX budget. All that's needed is great stories and great actors.
I’m working my way through and have to say BRAVO. I love your video recaps of classic who. Makes me wanna dig out my VHS and watch them all again from the start.
Leela is my favorite companion and Talons is my favorite episode with her in it. Yes eye candy as a young boy in the early 1980's here in the USA but that term was unfamiliar to me. She defended the doctor unlike any female companion before or after her.
A fantastic season, worth the entry for Robots of Death alone, with not one turkey. Making my way through your reviews and this one has me laughing out loud. Keep it up.👍
Stam fine, I love these videos. They're loving parodies/homages with brilliant jokes and real insider knowledge. They always make me laugh. You're a real fan and clever, brilliant satirist. Kudos to you.
Say what you will about its aging effects and dubious writing, but I learned the word "jaunt" from the Tomorrow People when Nickelodeon was running it back in my youth. Any TV show that isn't on PBS and still manages to expand my vocabulary gets my thumbs up. :)
Terrific review and agree that Leela still remains as the most unique ad fascinating companion superbly portrayed by Louise. Would also say with regards to Blake's 7, most of season 1's budget went on the Liberator flight deck and the actual 3 foot model and both are still design classics.
I hated the later retcon that Sarah was secretly in love with the Doctor. She was a strong, independent woman. She would have said it clearly, and if it wasn't to be, would not have moped about.
SAME it's one of the things I hate about NuWho: everyone is is romantic love with the Doctor. sob sob sob he's gone sob sob sob! the only one who wasn't IN WUB with Eccleston/Tennant/Smith was Donna and look what happened to her. Capaldi tried to bring it back to something sensible, but he always had to fight the TWUE WUB bullsh*t
Doctor Who and The Tomorrow People were the shows that i wished were real and i would be part of when i was a kid! Leela is my 2nd favorite companion, behind Nyssa!
One of my favorite seasons. Robots of Death is one of all time favorite stories. Sarah Jane's good-bye is one of the best the series as ever done. Love Talons for how well it balances creepy and humorous. and I find evil, possessed Sarah Jane strangely hot. Did I say that last one out loud...?
@15:05 pissed myself laughing at the diversity/pillowcase gag there. This is amazing watching these was 2 years old in 76 and remember very clearly lots of the imagery from these episodes you discus here. It was my favourite thing as a child; every saturday without fail. Thank you for making this series.
I cannot comprehend the costuming for Eldrad. And non human companions made sense to me because if they have a dialogue about what's happening that's enough explanation for me.
I love your videos the format and everything I watch these reviews again and again they are so entertaining. My dad is a television actor called Melvyn Hayes, he voiced Wilkin in the audio version of Shada alongside Paul MGann. Best Wishes Josh Hayes
Will you be doing a season 26 review from 1989 at all my favourite story from that season is “Survival” My favourite quote from Sargent Patterson played by actor Julian Holloway: “One finger can be a deadly weapon.” The story was written by Rona Munroe
Ironically, they didn't want to hamstring future producers with the Master, but casually throw in a regeneration limit to hamstring future producers with the Doctor, requiring more ham and string than a dozen delis to address it after embracing so much they got tied up with it.
@@StamFine There's also the fact that when Bob Holmes wrote it he was just looking for a reason for the Master to look like that and need the macguffin of the story. He wasn't expecting that passing comment about the Master to be taken for a hard and fast rule, or even be remembered beyond that single story.
The Wachowskis almost certainly lifted the term "The Matrix" from William Gibson's cyberpunk fiction (where it was a synonym for cyberspace/the Internet), and Gibson more likely than not got it from Doctor Who.
I was a young boy when seasons 13 and 14 were aired. So many good stories and it's a real shame the BBC changed direction after that. Such violence and horror would never be considered for kids TV these days. I sometimes wish they could make a post-watershed version and bring back the scary stuff. Ah well...
BBC does great European set historical settings (set everywhere from the time of Imperial Rome to even WW2). The US use to do great with Wild West and 30s urban settings. Which is why it was always surprising when shows had unbelievable costumes, sets and inachronistic acting & dialog set in these eras. It's as if the networks never bothered to let their left hand ever cross paths with their right. Its also a shame when a good historical set show, movie or episode comes along a generation after it shows how much skill at doing these eras has been lost.
Having only watched the first 7 or so seasons of Mew Who (right around when Capaldi was the newest Doctor), the Face of Evil reminds me of the New Who episode with the two groups of clones that had been fighting "for generations" and it turned out to have been a rather short time. I like it
I really wish Baker and Sladen had more episodes together. She should never have left the series, and to be brutally honest, only Lala Wars and Sophie Aldred could challenge her crown as the show’s best costar. I always loved The Hand of Fear, it’s a classic that gets overlooked easily. The Deadly Assassin is an…oh, wait, the video already says it. Yeah, all-time classic. And Robots of Death is also another masterpiece that I enjoy endlessly. If Horror on Fang Rock was part of this season, this would be the greatest Who season ever.
Great review... I do hope you get to recap The Tomorrow People ... just on the edge of my memory (TIM the computer in dangling tubes?) with good music and themes to catch a young audience akin to HP or StarWars of its day, delivered in 30min chunks as best I recall.
Leela looked pretty cute in that victorian era outfit. Also, the stories of this season are pretty fun to watch. I never felt like the stories ran an episode too long.
This is my favourite season with all the Leela Stories being in my top ten really thought I wish Magnus Greel had turned out to be the Master but he's a good enough villain I suppose, though Face of Evil is probably my favourite Baker Story and the gap between it and Deadly Assassin gives fans speculation how long the doctor was on his own but most people don't talk to themselves if they've had people living with them.
Leela is still my favourite companion, and not just because she was hot. Some of my favourite stories. I love Talons of Weng Chiang. All the side characters were very well rounded.
I’ve always felt the first couple of episodes of the season were really weak, and while The Deadly Assassin had great concepts and some amusing portrayals of the Time Lords, was something of a chore to actually watch - the runaround inside The Matrix wasn’t particularly interesting. But oh boy, once Leela comes onboard the program catches fire, with easily the best 3-serial run of Baker’s time in the role.
If female Eldrad was based on Sarah, why didn't they do split screen for Liz Sladen? (Judith Paris still steals the show effortlessly, so I wouldn't change a thing!)
New Doctor Who tends to be more focused around the characters of the companions so there's always a strong side focus on their domestic life back in Modern London
Eldred was killed but not killed about the time the story of ice and fire was started over a million years ago. So funny!! His fossilized hand overcomes Sara Jane in a kind of possession thing , yeah good rv shows.
@ 8:19 -- Is that Peter Davidson? He did appear in three episodes of "The Tomorrow People" (1975) ...Well, at least he isn't dressed as a COW. heheheh.
The head of the robot seen in the clip from The Tomorrow People is he same head on the robot from The Visitation. Might even be the same costume just more decorated on the Who story.
Season 14 is one of the seasons already released on Bluray, but the North American versions are listed as Tom Baker Complete Season Three. Also they tend to sell out very quickly.
I couldn't take to Tom Baker. I thought he was a letdown after Pertwee! He had his moments but they were few and far between. I did like the tomorrow people though and Peter Davison did appear!
When sarah jane smith left it just wasn't the same for me she was one of the best companion. Then we had billy piper i thought she done a good job as well
I think in billions of ways the non presence of UNIT in season 14 was not a bad thing and the Dr never even mentions UNIT to Professor Watson in Hand of Feat the only contempary Earth story in season 14 and Hand of Fear is the second modern day Earth story with no UNIT present the first was the Sea Devils with the 3rd Dr who in that story was helped by the Navy lead by Captain John Hart instead of UNIT lead by Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge Stewart
