I met Mark Strickson in 1984 and Nicola Bryant in 1985. Mark was almost bored. Nicola was *nothing* like Peri - animated and friendly and utterly lovely. I couldn't figure out why she had that American accent until this video. Thanks for another great trip down memory lane.
I was 17 years old in 1984, and more than a little distracted by the glamorous Janet Fielding as Tegan - looking back, it's hardly surprising. By this stage they'd toned down the more annoying aspects of the character, and turned the costume design up to 11 - it's enough to make a young man swoon, and I did.
Strange -- I guess I never got past how annoying she was at the beginning. I far preferred Nyssa, particularly in her early costume/makeup. I also liked Leela, because she was so different than the other girls on the show, having this in-your-face sex appeal, while also being almost totally independent of the Doctor... if all the other companions were dogs, she was a cat, who just sort of hung out around him but didn't orbit him like a satellite the way all the other companions did. But of course, the Greatest Companion of All Time was Sarah Jane Smith, who paired with the Greatest Doctor of All Time, Tom Baker, to mark the clear high-point of the decades-long show.
One of my all time favorite seasons. A couple of flawed productions at the bookends, but containing at least two of my favorite stories ever. (Resurrection and Androzani). Matthew Robinson and Graeme Harper are probably my vote for best classic Dr Who directors. And Davison is sublime by this point.
How Warriors turned out was such a crime. It was envisioned as a dark and claustrophobic story (the writer took influences from the Alien movies), and it came out like an over-lit abomination. I’ll overlook the god awful Myrka. The Awakening is a grossly underrated story. Possibly one of the best in the 5th run.
If the lighting wasn't set to "game show level", thr Myrka would have been far, far, far more effective. Partly because most of it wouldn't be distinctly seen 🤪
Nah, Warriors was utterly misconceived from the start. The story of the Silurians and Sea Devils had been told brilliantly the first time in Pertwee's era. There was no point making a contrived, redundant follow-on that was never needed. Especially one that misunderstood the source material so idiotically. Awful fanfiction was what was written and that's what we got. Even if James Cameron had produced and directed it with a million dollar budget, it'd still be terrible.
The Doctor's heroism, courage, sheer bloody mindedness and will to survive in episode 4 is one of DW's greatest standout moments. And it's all beautifully acted by Peter Davison.
I was 10 years old when warriors of the Deep was first broadcast and I loved it then and still love it now! I mean I know its crap but I still love it. Also its not as crap as Legend if the sea devils IMO 🤔
As an American from Southern California, let me just say that Nicola Bryant's supposedly Pasadena accent is nothing of the sort. There should be a drinking game-take one shot every time Peri says a word with a British rather than an American pronunciation. You'll be under the table by the end of any given episode she's in. She's absolutely gorgeous and a lovely person I'm told, but Bryant's accent was really that bad.
To many UK listeners, though, her accent sounded rather American, and for the time that's all that mattered. (I recall Bryant talking about the "mincer" vs "meat grinder" line in the following season and her disagreement with Turner over it, noting how most Americans wouldn't say "mincer" but the much more common "meat grinder". A small detail, true, she said, but one that would mark Peri's American-ness a touch more clearly in the episode.)
@@tideoftime I'm glad to hear that she was really making a good faith attempt. You're probably right that some things were out of her control. The script is the script.
Another awesome presentstion,, thanks! 😍 I will admit this: As a kid, I loved the 6th Doctor's outfit. As an adult, a couple tweaks were needed but for an alien, it did work for me. But the banana pie pants had to go, no question...
If the estate of Terry Nation would allow it then an album of Dalek interpretation of the 'classics' would sell well. Michael Grade, in a likely screw you to his father, did everything he could to kill Doctor Who dead. The fact that it survived for six years under all that pressure is testament to the people involved in making it.
Lew Grade was Michael's uncle and had nothing at all to do with Doctor Who. He was the financier behind the ITC series of the late 60s and 70s, Gerry Anderson's Century 21 productions and "Raise the Titanic", the movie that ked to Lew saying that "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic".
As a 14 year old, Peri was a huge reinforcement of my love for Doctor Who. I even wrote myself into an entire notebook full of stories as a Marty Stu (who'd built a Dalek busting shotgun) teamed with a "teenage" Time Lord whose TARDIS was a BMW Isetta "egg car."
I really liked "Resurrection of the Daleks". An unusually dark and very brutal story where barely anyone survives and it really feels like war. Setting the right tone for the Daleks. I also really loved that researcher lady with the glasses a lot, who worked for the miltary where they discovered these cylinders in the Docklands. Too bad her Character does not have a lot of screentime. She was really really sweet 🥰 They must have saved the whole seasons production costs for that entire story and probably also for Chameleon.
Warriors of the Deep actor Ian McCulloch was also in a trio of Italian horror movies around about the same time, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Zombie Holocaust and Alien Contamination.
Oh wow - Zombie Flesh eaters - one of the classic video nasties! Toplessness, eyeball impalement and a guy in a zombie suit punching a shark; that movie's got everything!
Drop the Dead Woodlice is a show I'd watch. Or the even "The Likely Daleks" with that iconic theme song. Oh what happened to you, Whatever happened to me, What became of the Kaleds, We used to be. So a Dalek civil war, if one side was led by Ruler Davros. surely the other side should have been led by Rula Lenska
Seeing Janet Fielding in the leather skirt was keeping me interested in the episodes....lol I was able to see her (and Sylvester McCoy, just before he debuted in the states) at a small convention in L.A. Unfortunately, my father was in a rush to leave so I couldn't get an autograph from her. Note: Fielding mentioned the leather skirt during her presentation. I forget, though, if she said that she designed it herself or she helped design it.
I seem to recall that the highlight of season 21, along with the 'Cave Of Androzani', was for me, seeing Janet Fielding in a tight leather skirt in Frontios: almost as good as watching her squirm about in the previous season's 'Snakedance'. Right then I knew puberty was on the way.
Approx. 25:00 -- the major issue, production-wise, with Kamelion is that its creator, Mike Powell, had died in an accident not long after it was accepted as a prop/companion on the show. Powell hadn't made any detailed notes about how to repair or operate the prop and, similar to when the set for the "Victorian" control room in T. Baker's era was damaged due to poor storage, the production would make no allowance for redesign nor to pay an outside professional to repair and maintain it. Otherwise, Kamelion *could* have worked as a companion, particularly as many of its appearances would be as someone else (that is, played by "x" actors in whatever episodes). But alas....
It’s baffling that for a shapeshifting companion, they didn’t think to just do that after KD and they have a character who could be used by guest stars.
I think twin dilemma isn't as bad it just happened to follow after several stronger stories. I would rather watch Twin Dilemma than Timelash (although The Borad sections were good and underated villain).
Just imagine if we HAD got Australian involvement in Doctor Who. We could have had Daleks going, "G'Day mate! Ready to Exterminate?" "No worries! Daleks are Supreme!"
Completely disagree with your take on The Awakening as it's my favourite Davison story full of atmosphere, great locations, gorgeous design and a nice tight script. Frontios is a brilliant serial, again with plenty of atmosphere and some very effective lighting. It's also by far Bidmead's best script. Resurrection is an utter mess with a confused script trying to fit too much in. Leslie Grantham was also an unknown when it aired since Dirty Den wouldn't make his debut in EastEnders for another year. Planet Of Fire is brilliant and looks great, but Nicola only kept up the fake American accent off screen until rehearsals for the story began. Otherwise, a decent overview of a pretty good season.
I got the 1000th like! Nice review. It's not all good but there are some major diamonds in the rough here. That nose on the Gravis bugs me but Frontios is cool. I love the gritter, more grown-up feel of Resurrection (plus its later sequels with the Sixth Doctor) and Caves.Peri is one of my all-time favorite companions so that helps. Unfortunately, Twins did a lot to hurt the series and poison audiences against Colin Baker.
Ive been looking forward to this one, and you have not disappointed. Excellent review thankyou very much. I generally agree with you analysis. Caves of Androzani cant be praised enough and is indeed one of the best stories ever produced. I quite like the Awakening decent costume if nothing else. Resurrection of the Daleks is a mess but the Dalek assault on the space station is fun, and the mutating gas really scared me as a child. Frontios is a great idea poorly executed. Planet of Fire is just boring except for Peri in a Bikini, does have a good cast, its just so dull they dont get to shine. I dont mind twin dilemma (except the twins), but then Im a 6th Doctor Fan, I dont think he got given the chance all other Doctors have had. Now as for Warriors of the Deep, you are just wrong, Warriors of the Deep is too Dr Who what Goodellas is to gangster films and Schindlers list is too depressing but excellent mainstream cinema. What more could you want Silurians, Sea Devils, an undersea Nuclear missile base, a monster that electrocutes anything it touches, Ingrid Pitt doing what I think is meant to be Karate?? Its a triumph of modern TV not surpassed until the Sopranos ;) (you're right about the lighting though, being able to see the Murka clearly didnt do it any favour)............... Thanks for all the hard work you put in especially the Dalek songs they always make me laugh
He appears in "Revelation of the Daleks", rather a classic of the era... some dislike his role but he's decent... and truly fantastic once he meets Peri.
The episode one cliffhanger in Warriors of the Deep is one of the funniest in all Who! Talk about giving up on the Doctor Turlough! Does he think his leg needs to be amputated when he gets cramp?
Whenever I hear that story about the cast and crew believing Nicola Bryant to be American, I die a little inside. There’s no way anyone could watch her “glahssss” scene in Caves Part 1 and not laugh.
As a kid, I loved Resurrection of the Daleks because of how extreme it was. i always liked the violent ones and as a youngster wanted Who to be more violent and bloody. Think I've mellowed a little bit since then, but still have a good time with this one. I understand the problems with the Chameleon prop, but I think it shows a bit of a lack of imagination, using that as an excuse. This isn't K9. K9 was practically a prop 9sorry to all his fans) -- Chamaelon can assume any shape. You don't even need to use the prop much. Just get some establishing shots with the prop and you could have a different actor play him in every story. Would have been some neat story possibilities there.
Smole me thought the Leisure Hive was boring and loved the shit out of Warriors of the Deep. I really don't get people saying the monsters in some series look bad, they look fake but monstrous and that meets my needs every time. The main difference between a Doctor Who monsters and a Hollywood monster was probably the lighting.
I like the Twin Dilemma. It's a space opera filled with purple prose. At the very least, there's no Fifth... whose defining trait is sarcasm? Well, that is surprising. I was going to say something sarcastic but I wouldn't want to step on the Fifth's toes. It's all he has after al. My doctor listing as of now: 3, 6, 1, 4, 2 and last and least is 5. Sarcasm is a reaction, that's it. My preferences go off of how the various Doctors play off of "I am the Doctor" and what they emphasize; My favorites go for "I" while Tom Baker stressed "the"... the definite article one might say... and Troughton focused on "Doctor". Davison? "Am". If you're going to carry a show, you have to do more than just show up.
I have never really gotten the claim that Warriors of the Deep had any kind of a good script beneath all its production faults. It was mindless moronic misanthropy that associates bodycounts with drama, and just the show sinking to doing its own worst fanfiction. On that score, Grade and the BBC were right to consider the show past its time.
100%. (Gee, that online name looks familiar... heeheehee.) Frankly, the ONLY way to deal with a story like "Warriors"... is to SKIP it entirely on rerurns. There are some STAR TREK episodes I do that with lately. EVEN 1st season episodes!! Actually, there is an alternative with stories that badly-written... but it requires RE-WRITING the things from scratch, and from then on, pretending that the re-written versions are what actually happened.
Doctor Who is ever so changing there have been some popular stories with weird characters and events that change the whole thread to a characters origins or a mix of good characters that standout but on the side of stories I think some writers just read what has come before and mix up the plots from older sources which doesn't mean that's bad sometimes it actually comes across darker or better than the original. Personal I did like Peter Davison he bought something of a old boy school charm and gave a pretty good run as the Doctor but he did full down on over acting or sometimes had to remember his lines before saying them there are many moments you can see him moving his lips before a scenario comes? I suppose the one time we actually grew closer to this Doctor was when Adrik died we saw this as a turning point in doctor history this moment made the doctor really alone even though he wasn't?
In regards to the Caves of Androzanni... I was supposed to see Sharaz Jek as a villain? We had a neurotic government army working for a shady corporation who were fighting this guy so I thought he was more an anti-hero. And then there's the androids, made with such precision and artifice to look like two new people instantly... say it with me now... "take our word for it". I was fine with the monster, I thought everything else was dodgy. "I look 50, would you believe I'm 82?" These days in 2020, YES but even back in the 80s, it should be "looks 30/40s but they're really 80".... because that's why they did before. "I know I look like I'm nearing my retirement age but really I have one foot in the grave." Is it possible to replace a human with an android under command of a really paranoid military officer? "Take our word for it". I do find it hilarious that this story has such renown. The sarcastic Fifth Doctor was risking his life for the woman he just met a few days ago? Talk about your small insignificant hills to die on. The Doctor and his companion do something stupid and now have X amount of time to find an antidote, something which should be a lot more common in the area? "Take our word for it." If you have to explain what the danger was after it happened then there is no danger. It seems like a stand in for radiation but that would be too easy to resolve so it was turned into something with a macguffin cure with macguffin symptons and a macguffin outcome. Lovely. I'm mostly just relieved I'm done with the Fifth Doctor; The only ones I genuinely liked brought back old characters.
I should note that I do not require Spectrox to inhibit my aging process. I just drain the life force out of humans! (Alondro is one of those Nimon things from the Baker era...)
I know a lot of Warriors was bad, but at least if it'd been able to be lit properly we could've excused the Myrka a bit more and the feeling of menace would've been stronger. Or, failing that, if they knew it had to be floodlit then the designer would've been able to make it grubbier and got the effect that way. It's the worst of both worlds.
I've never understood this assertion. If the air of menace and threat from the invading reptiles had been stronger, then all it would've done is make the Doctor's insistence on the creatures' 'nobility' and his protestations that violence was an unnecessary response seem even more deluded and insane. Every fix I hear suggested for the story would only, to my mind, make it worse.
@@sadako24 you're ignoring the fact that I'm not talking about the menace of the Homo Reptillians but of the whole 'being stuck down in a underwater base' thing. Also, honestly, The Doctor can't always be right. (Though arguably under Saward's tenure he went too far the other way)
@@TheGerkuman Well, if the story was just meant to be an atmospheric base under siege story and didn't try to convey some confused moral message at the same time, then yes that would work. The problem is the story tries to do both. I don't really buy the defence that the Doctor needs to fail like this sometimes. At this point he'd demonstrated himself as smart and pragmatic so many times in Jon and Tom's tenure, that it just makes no sense whatsoever for him to suddenly become this stubbornly insensible and unfit for purpose, as though the previous years of intelligent character development never happened. Also, if a story is trying to convey some important anti-war message, then I don't think it can afford to have its message represented by such an ambiguously unreliable figure who doesn't even seem to live in the real world he's supposedly commenting on.
If, like all who seek coolness by the sarcastic sneery nihilist style, you feel so confident to slag cowards, let's see you stand up to a situation as dangerous as being stuck in a half-there building amid a Dalek battle.
Peri's accent was so bad I only recently realized she was supposed to be American. At least she didn't drop her pitch half an octave like many Brits seem to do.
As I watch your videos I find it funny the ones you are NOT fond of are the ones I love, and the ones I love you are not fond of. Maybe I am more forgiving on Special effects and more about the story, acting..... I mean I grew up with crappy 50' & 60' Special effects. and proper CGI would take another 20 years. I admire the cleaver use of what they had to deliver the story.
How did Nicola's co-stars not know she's British. You can hear her British accent coming through all the time. The way she said "sand" and especially "glass". She's obviously faking an American accent
I am American. Peri never sounded like an American to me. She sounded as British and as an actress who forgot to do an accent. Never like Peri. Always seemed to be a whiner.
The Caves of Androzani in my not so humble opinion, is by far the worst regeneration story of the series (old and new). The script was poorly written, acting was over the top ham at best. The threat to the Doctor and Peri was essentially a spider web. What a joke. Warriors of the Deep was just plain awful all the way around. The less said about it the better. The rest of the season was enjoyable. The Twin Dilemma was actually better than the Caves of Androzani, but that was a low bar to jump.
children what it was aimed it did't pick apart things, yes it was limited in appearance due to the bbc's cheap attitude and low opinion of children relevance - this can be still be seen in their toddler tv - a dozen cheap episodes that get repeated (even in same day) for next 2 decades
I'm a Brit and was a kid in the 80s - even with no video and nothing else to watch and as a kid, I thought D.r Who was complete trash. It was a cheap joke in the U.K but for someone reason its still on. Complete trash.
