1)I gather the production team caught alot of heat for having guys in police uniforms gunning people down with machine pistols. They're fairly sensitive about that sort of stuff over int he UK, apparently.
2)Lots of goofy headgear. Particularly, the Dalek Troopers' "eyestalk helmets" made them look almost literally like, well, ****heads.
3)JNT loved working with "stars", which is how we ended up with Rula Lenska playing Styles. I mostly remember her from a commercial from years ago, in which she announced "I'm Rula Lenska" in a tone which implied that I should have heard of her, and I hadn't. To give her credit, she's really the only interesting new character in this.
4)Is London ever a empty as it seemed in this story? In a weird way, it reminded me of the early Halloween movies, in which the streets were empty when they should've been busy.
5)You'd think a prison with someone like Davros in it would be better kept up.
6)I wasn't all that amazed by Maurice Colborne as Lytton, although someone must've liked him well enough to bring him back the next year.
7)The melted face stuff was kind of gross. There's one scene where a guy is affected by the gas, and his buddy's reaction is to scream and shoot him!
8)Terry Molloy does OK as Davros - no one's ever lived up to Michael Wisher for me, though.
9)The Dalek stuff was OK. I liked the way the Daleks and Davros schemeed against one another. Perhaps the Dalek plague could have been better realized than by having them suddenly start squirting out shaving cream.
10)Daleks are cats?
11)"There are still members of the crew still at large." Still?
12)This seems to be the first story where the Daleks are actively plotting against the Time Lords. Maybe the TIme War has already started?
13)Wow, Davison had alot of fillings.
14)When they show all the companions, they skip Kamelion, Leela, Benton and Yates. Sloppy, that.
15)"I can't stand the confusion in my mind!" My brain hurts, too.
16)The Doctor can't bring himself to shoot Davros, but he doesn't mind blazing away at the Dalek mutant. I've always thought that this "never use a gun" business was a bit hypocritical, considering how many deaths he has otherwise engineered over the years.
17)Tegan gets a reasonably good "leaving" scene, I thought. "It's stopped being fun, Doctor." When was it wever fun for you, Tegan?
18)"I left Gallifrey for similar reasons."
19)I distinctly remember that when I first saw this, at least one episode was broadcast with the special effects missing, as happened with "The Brain of Morbius". I always wonder how they can let that happen.
20)Cliffhangers:
- Part One: A Dalek appears!
- Part Two: Stien is a Dalek agent!
- Part Three: Davros is all ranty!
- Part Four: "Doctor, I will miss you."
Overall:
If I to choose my "least favorite Dalek story", this would probably be it, narrowly edging out "Revelation of the Daleks". I think that one mistake that the old show made was having every story from "Genesis" on be a Davros story. Not that I don't like Davros as a character, but I think that having him in every Dalek story diminishes the Daleks themselves.
[Part of list of Doctor Who episodes here.]
Replies
"I distinctly remember that when I first saw this, at least one episode was broadcast with the special effects missing, as happened with "The Brain of Morbius". I always wonder how they can let that happen."
For years I wasn't sure, but, yeah, the 1st episode of "MORBIUS" (as run on PBS) had no music or sound effects. And the 2nd HALF of "RESSURECTION" (it was run as a 2-parter), somehow, a defective copy was sent to America, and that's what got run here for at least a decade. I had to rent a copy once to finally watch it "properly", but my 2nd VCR wasn't working right so I was unable to make a copy for myself. So I'm still putting up with the defective versions of these stories.
Then again, some of the early "movie version edits" were not done right. My copy of "THE SEEDS OF DOOM" is missing the part of the cliffhanger where the Arctic base is blown to pieces.
"RESSURECTION" is one of the few WHO stories I've dug out to watch by itself a couple of times over the years. Much of this was trying to follow its "too damn much plot". But over many years and viewings, I've come to realize... you know what? The story really DOES suck. This last time around, I skipped it. So, in Daleks terms, I went straight from "DESTINY" (which is at least fun in spots) to "REVELATION" (which is a sick, twisted, work of art).
Maurice Colbourne turned up in an episode of RETURN OF THE SAINT (with Ian Ogilvy) where he played a total bastard!!!! The whole story, all you wanted to see was the guy get what was coming to him, and when he did, it was still too good for him.
I've just rewatched "Resurrection." The story isn't so bad, but the execution is terrible. There's lots of overacting and just plain poor acting. They should have limited the space effects when they saw how they were turning out. It's Tegan's last story, and she spends half of it lying on a cot.
Yeah, the whole story seems like a first draft that could use some tightening up.
It's as though they recorded the rehearsals and didn't get to the actual production.
Where are you guys seeing these shows? On the internet? On DVD? On VHS? Pirated or over the counter?
DVD.
VHS recorded back in 1984 (probably).
There's too much plot in this thing, and none of it is developed properly enough to make sense. This could have/should have been a 6-parter (or 3 45-min. eps), but it would have needed a lot more "humanity" and better writing to have been worth it.
My daughter is into Dr. WHo in a big way...and likes the old 4 & 6 parter arcs with TWO and THREE as well as FOUR. But she LOVES ELEVEN! We all watch him!
I just told her that you guys were discussing this, and read some of your points, and she got excited and asked "Who is discussing this?" and "Why are they discussing this on a comics board?"