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jenny_wildcatOkay, okay - it's not really a review, per se. I might do an actual review of this later, but I just need somewhere to process my thoughts for a minute. I was going to put this with my previous post, but it got long and I might as well just make it a review of sorts (what can I say? I ramble).
Mark Watches recently reviewed "The Caves of Androzani," which is the last Doctor Who story to feature Peter Davison as the Doctor. Now, a little background might help - I started tackling Classic Who a while ago. I wanted to start from the very beginning, but that proved to be overwhelming. So, I canvassed![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
doctorwho to see where the best place to start would be. I got a few recommendations and since I'd seen Davison as the Fifth Doctor in "Time Crash" (which is a must-see and easily searchable on YouTube - it's less than 8 minutes long), I went with his first story, "Castrovalva." I really liked that one, so I went on to "Four to Doomsday." Then I was glued to "Kinda" (that one was amazing - I'm surprised it doesn't get more love from the fandom). Pretty soon, I'd plowed through Five's entire first season without breaking a sweat (even getting a little bleary-eyed at "Earthshock").
It was at that point I made myself pull back because I was racing through Five's era so quickly and I wanted to make it last a bit longer, so I tracked down some Tom Baker episodes and sampled some Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, all of which I enjoyed very much (I'm one of those people who likes everybody and everything. It takes a lot to get me to hate anything, really). Then, school started up again and life got busy and we all know how that goes.
Then, Mark reviews "Blink" from the new series (you know, that really scary one with the angel statues that you can't look away from?) and a commenter mentions in passing that there was a poll in "Doctor Who Magazine" that ranked the top fan-favorite "Doctor Who" stories. "Blink" came in second only behind "The Caves of Androzani." Mark, being Mark, and coming up on a pause between seasons of the new series where he would take a day to review a classic series episode, chose to review "The Caves of Androzani."
By now, I had become a total Five fangirl. Part of the reason I was dragging my feet in watching the rest of the Peter Davison era was because I really hate watching my favorite characters die (he does come back, but he's a totally new person. Essentially, it's still the same character, but... it's DEATH!) And I knew - I JUST KNEW - that "Caves" was going to be awesome and exciting and soul-crushing all at the same time.
And I am - well, not really pleased to report, but I am going to say that I was unsurprisingly correct. So much so that I was still in a depressed funk the next morning at work (one of the teachers I work with is also a "Doctor Who" fan and we had a mini therapy session while the students were doing their assignments. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a little too pathetic).
I watched this out of order, which softened the blow a bit. I still had some Five episodes to go back to, but I don't know if that made it any better. Either way, these were my initial thoughts. I think I'll go back a watch the whole thing again, just to get a better grasp on what's going on. But for now, this is my comment from "Mark Watches" and I wanted to save it here -
For the past little while, I'd been working my way through the Peter Davison era. I absolutely adore Five (I think it's the celery - never in the history of anything has a vegetable been made of so much awesome) and I was dreading his regeneration because REGENERATION IS SO SAD! (That's probably the only thing I hate about "Doctor Who" - you get attached to one Doctor and he's wonderful and you love him… and then he regenerates. And it's not enough that he regenerates, but they have to do it in the most heartbreaking way possible).
Now that I've had a day to grieve and rant and freak out, this is how I see this story - all the other characters surrounding the Doctor and Peri are pretty much all bad guys. The focus on this story is not the events on Androzani and how the Doctor can fix their issues . The focus is the Doctor and Peri are in trouble and they've got to get the antidote and get out of there. There is NO fixing the problem between the government and the rebels - better to leave them to duke it out amongst themselves. The Doctor and Peri have no allies (maybe Salateen, but even his reliability is dubious) and they are completely on their own - even more so when they get separated from each other). This is such a shift from how other "Doctor Who" stories are set up and everything about it is beyond brilliant. Peri is so adorable, Jek is the epitome of creepy, and even poisoned, the Doctor is badass awesome. And the CELERY - I think I was okay in the eye-moisture department until the Doctor pulled out the celery and tried to revive Peri with it - THAT is where you know the Doctor has no idea what to do. And when the Doctor is clueless… it's time to crawl into the corner with the blankie and sob. I can definitely see why this ranks even higher than "Blink" as a fan favorite…
…BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO KILL MY SOUL????
Mark Watches recently reviewed "The Caves of Androzani," which is the last Doctor Who story to feature Peter Davison as the Doctor. Now, a little background might help - I started tackling Classic Who a while ago. I wanted to start from the very beginning, but that proved to be overwhelming. So, I canvassed
doctorwho to see where the best place to start would be. I got a few recommendations and since I'd seen Davison as the Fifth Doctor in "Time Crash" (which is a must-see and easily searchable on YouTube - it's less than 8 minutes long), I went with his first story, "Castrovalva." I really liked that one, so I went on to "Four to Doomsday." Then I was glued to "Kinda" (that one was amazing - I'm surprised it doesn't get more love from the fandom). Pretty soon, I'd plowed through Five's entire first season without breaking a sweat (even getting a little bleary-eyed at "Earthshock").It was at that point I made myself pull back because I was racing through Five's era so quickly and I wanted to make it last a bit longer, so I tracked down some Tom Baker episodes and sampled some Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, all of which I enjoyed very much (I'm one of those people who likes everybody and everything. It takes a lot to get me to hate anything, really). Then, school started up again and life got busy and we all know how that goes.
Then, Mark reviews "Blink" from the new series (you know, that really scary one with the angel statues that you can't look away from?) and a commenter mentions in passing that there was a poll in "Doctor Who Magazine" that ranked the top fan-favorite "Doctor Who" stories. "Blink" came in second only behind "The Caves of Androzani." Mark, being Mark, and coming up on a pause between seasons of the new series where he would take a day to review a classic series episode, chose to review "The Caves of Androzani."
By now, I had become a total Five fangirl. Part of the reason I was dragging my feet in watching the rest of the Peter Davison era was because I really hate watching my favorite characters die (he does come back, but he's a totally new person. Essentially, it's still the same character, but... it's DEATH!) And I knew - I JUST KNEW - that "Caves" was going to be awesome and exciting and soul-crushing all at the same time.
And I am - well, not really pleased to report, but I am going to say that I was unsurprisingly correct. So much so that I was still in a depressed funk the next morning at work (one of the teachers I work with is also a "Doctor Who" fan and we had a mini therapy session while the students were doing their assignments. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a little too pathetic).
I watched this out of order, which softened the blow a bit. I still had some Five episodes to go back to, but I don't know if that made it any better. Either way, these were my initial thoughts. I think I'll go back a watch the whole thing again, just to get a better grasp on what's going on. But for now, this is my comment from "Mark Watches" and I wanted to save it here -
For the past little while, I'd been working my way through the Peter Davison era. I absolutely adore Five (I think it's the celery - never in the history of anything has a vegetable been made of so much awesome) and I was dreading his regeneration because REGENERATION IS SO SAD! (That's probably the only thing I hate about "Doctor Who" - you get attached to one Doctor and he's wonderful and you love him… and then he regenerates. And it's not enough that he regenerates, but they have to do it in the most heartbreaking way possible).
Now that I've had a day to grieve and rant and freak out, this is how I see this story - all the other characters surrounding the Doctor and Peri are pretty much all bad guys. The focus on this story is not the events on Androzani and how the Doctor can fix their issues . The focus is the Doctor and Peri are in trouble and they've got to get the antidote and get out of there. There is NO fixing the problem between the government and the rebels - better to leave them to duke it out amongst themselves. The Doctor and Peri have no allies (maybe Salateen, but even his reliability is dubious) and they are completely on their own - even more so when they get separated from each other). This is such a shift from how other "Doctor Who" stories are set up and everything about it is beyond brilliant. Peri is so adorable, Jek is the epitome of creepy, and even poisoned, the Doctor is badass awesome. And the CELERY - I think I was okay in the eye-moisture department until the Doctor pulled out the celery and tried to revive Peri with it - THAT is where you know the Doctor has no idea what to do. And when the Doctor is clueless… it's time to crawl into the corner with the blankie and sob. I can definitely see why this ranks even higher than "Blink" as a fan favorite…
…BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO KILL MY SOUL????
