I'm a sucker for Doctor Who stories that use world building to flesh out what would otherwise be a fairly typical plot (Frontier in Space, The Ribos Operation, Snakedance, etc), so I've always enjoyed this one myself. Unlike The Wheel in Space, there are enough elements at play here to keep me from getting bored.
I LOVE the Space Pirates! I feel that it's unfairly shat on for being a bit slow, but if it was animated, people would love it a lot more than they do atm.
I feel the urge to defend this story too! It's not 'great' but it has loads of fun elements, jokes, characters, worldbuilding etc - and it really is unfortunate that it's probably the story that most suffers from being lost - we know what the Myth Makers would have been like, but this story is so visual and we can't see any of it! It's too long at six episodes and weirdly underwhelming come the end - Madeleine's personal drama should be what the whole story is about but instead we get yet another ticking bomb. Still, in retrospect this is probably Robert Holmes draft one of Caves of Androzani - so we can see what an improved version of this would look like - and it's great!
I also feel the need to kind of defend this one, because I think it gets maligned far more than it deserves. I think it would benefit massively from even a single episode recovery, as the episode we have is probably the dullest one of the serial. It also MASSIVELY struggles due to no telesnaps existing, meaning the recon is really tough to get through. It's not the greatest serial of all time, not even close, but I think it is better than it's reputation. Even though Underwater Menace has been ocnsidered a bit crap, the recovery of Episode 2 was still a joy and showed off a great performance from Troughton.
I have listened to Space Pirates a few times but none of it sticks in my memory. Are they trapped in a pit at some point? Is there a sort of ‘Ben Gunn’ character? Never even bothered reading the Target. You have inspired me to try again-maybe one episode an evening and really CONCENTRATE!
What you don't like Space Pirates a true classic of the B&W era.... Such atmosphere such drama and the Doctor and companions are hardly in the opening episodes such a fresh breath of air 😂 I joke it's Naff. Mind you it maybe better if found or animated as it feels like a very visual story.
I feel like the space pirates' biggest weakness is it being missing and that its only surviving episode is its weakest. I personally thought pacing wasn't an issue at all.
I don't have much to say about this story other than "what a shit story this was, but at least it is followed by one of the best stories in Doctor Who"
i will defend this story to the death. The only reason it has its reputation is because 5 of its episodes are missing and the 1 surviving episode is the worst one. You know what other story was in that exact position and later got reappraised? Enemy of the world. i feel space pirates would be seen alot better if the missing 5 came back, or it was animated. its a VERY visual story that needs its visuals back
Hang on a mo.... Where's Talons on your shelf? Not between Robots and Horror. Is that the intentional error in the display? As for this story. It's one of my least well-known as its not an audio I tend to return to much. I hope for an animated version one day so I can embrace it more fully. One day.
