Doctor Who Reactions: "The Ark" (SPOILERS)

[The Baron]

The Steel Sky

1)The Monoids are sufficiently goofy-looking. I can't think why our Steven hasn't brought them back.

 

2)"Have you been frootling about in my wardrobe?"

 

"If you go trying any frootling about in there, I'll blow your head off."

 

3)"The Monoids acquaint us of intruders."

 

4)"No, me nose is running."  Ah, back at the start of Jackie Lane's run, when she was still occasionally trying to sound "Cockney".

 

5)"Nero, the Trojan Wars, the Daleks - but all that happened in the first segment of time."

 

6)Cliffhanger #1: Everyone may die of the cold!

 

The Plague

7)This is interesting - the show has never really addressed much the idea that they might be spreading germs all around space and time. The Doctor pretty much just doesn't want to think about it.

 

8)"You still fear the unknown, like everyone else before you."

 

9)Good grief, what kind of plague was Dodo carrying?

 

10)"Now, once this crisis is over, I am going to teach you to speak English."

 

11)"Yes, I know I'm a bit of a quack..."

 

12)"The last moment has come."  It looked better in "The End of the World".

 

13)Cliffhanger #2: The statue is a Monoid!

 

The Return

14)"It appears the Monoids have become overlords."

 

15)I wonder if the Refusians are related to the Spiridons?

 

16)That Monoid had a nice trip in the doorway.

 

17)Cliffhanger #3: The Doctor and Dodo are stranded on Refusis II.

 

The Bomb

18)"What about the bomb?"  Good question.

 

19)OK, there were clearly some strings involved with those launchers.

 

20)Humans and Monoids having to learn to get along - it's like a precursor to the humans and Hath.

 

21)Cliffhanger #4: The Doctor sneezed so had he turned invisible!

 

Another fairly good story, where they tried something new. I think the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo are a pretty good team! 

 

[The Baron]

One thing I didn't mention above is how interesting I find the fact that the TARDIS materialized back on the ship in the same spot - only of course, seven hundred years and umpty number of light years away from where it had been.  Steven as much as says that the TARDIS decides where they land. I think this could be an example of the TARDIS (or, if you prefer, the Time Lords) guidng them back to the ship to clean up a "mess" that they had a hand in creating.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

In this case, I would be inclined to say the TARDIS rather than the Time Lords. I would credit the TARDIS, too, for somehow decontaminating the Doctor and his companions before debarkation from this point forward, now that the problem is known, probably do to some sort of a subconscious telepathic link with the Doctor's wishes/wants/needs/desires.

[The Baron]

Watched the extras for this -

 

First was "One Hit Wonders", which was a very brief look at why some monsters have only appeared once.

 

Then was "All's Wells That Ends Wells", a quick look at how H.G. Wells impacted science fiction, and Doctor Who in particular, and which has alot of clips from "Timelash" in it.

 

Third was "Riverside Story", with Peter Purves and a fellow whose name I didn't catch reminiscing about Riverside Studios, where many an episode was filmed.

 

Then I re-watched it with the commentary track on. The commenters were Peter Purves and director Michael Imison, moderated by Toby Hadoke, who seems to be a fanboy who somehow weaseled his way into these things.  Not sure why they think Purves and Imison need "moderating".  Purves particularly talks about how crap the Monoids were and Imison talks about how this was his last directing job, as he got his notice that his contract wasn't being renewed right around the time they started filming.

 

 

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Toby Hadoke is a fanboy ... but he's also an actor, writer and comedian who, among other things, did an apparently well-regarded one-man show called "Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf."  He's also the moderator for the DVD commentary on the The Rescue and The Romans (and maybe others, I'm not sure).

He's also the co-author (with Robert Shearman, who wrote Dalek for RTD and shows up on a number of these DVD extras these days) of a (projected) 3-volume book series titled "Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby's Marathon Watch of Doctor Who", in which they comment on every single episode of Who, which they watched 2-a-day, every day, starting January 1, 2009.  Volume 1 just came out recently, and it's in my briefcase right now.  (I'm up to Episode 4 of The Celestial Toymaker.)

And that is, undoubtedly, more than you ever wanted to know about Toby Hadoke (assuming you didn't already know this, which is entirely possible).

[The Baron]

No, I hadn't known that, Doc, thanks.

 

Also, they noted that "The Ark" was the first of many Doctor Who appearances for actor Michael Sheard.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The Monoids were crap in execution, but I don’t think the concept was all that bad. Some of the discussion on the extra features compares the Monoids to the Ood. I didn’t really see it at first… until I started watching part three. It’s not so much that the respective alien species themselves are so similar, but rather there’s a similarity of story structure in that the race we first meet is very different from the race they become. Of course, RTD’s Ood have the benefit of being aimed at an audience with a longer attention span than the Monoid’s audience of 1966. Today, the development of the Monoids would be spread across seasons rather than back-to-back two-parters. I still have one episode left to go, but I’m really enjoying “The Ark” because of the influence it apparently had on more recent Doctor Who as well as Lost.

[The Baron]

I think one purpose that Hadoke serves in these commentaries is that because he's an obsessive fanboy, he knows details about the production of these stories that folks like Imison and Purves may not remember after 40 years. 

 

Also, Purves offers some interesting insights into Hartnell's character, saying that no one was more frustrated by his verbal fluffs than Hartnell himself was, and that, frankly, Hartnell could be a bit of a bully sometimes.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Have you seen any official confirmation of what's in that box set? Amazon's not helpful."

"'The Daleks' Master Plan' and 'The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve.'"

Sorry... "The Daleks' Master Plan" and "The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve" and "The Celestial Toymaker" and "The Savages." Now how much would you pay?

[Doctor Hmmm?]

That's more like it!  Does "Master Plan" include "Mission to the Unknown"?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Not as far as I know (which seems odd to me). The first set contained 27 episodes. The stories listed above comprise 24 episodes, so there's certainly room for it. The previous set included "Galaxy 4" and "The Myth Makers" (which skipped right around it). I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Set 2 was solicited in Previews for April 13 release; I pre-oredered mine via Amazon over  the weekend.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Thanks.  I'll probably buy it regardless -- especially now that I know "The Celestial Toymaker" is in the set.  I've been watching/listening to a very crudely animated fan reproduction of "Master Plan", but the audio is pretty awful.  I want to hear Kevin Stoney's voice in all its glory.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

"Security kitchen"?