18th May 2009

I’ve put most of my Big Finish CDs and Target novelisations up for sale today. Partly because I want to make some big changes in my life as quickly as possible, partly because I’m not getting much use out of them at the moment, and partly because I’m in one of my occasional “material possessions rot the soul” grooves. I only wrote the ad at 8.10am and I’ve already had offers for the full set of CDs, essentially putting about £250 in my pocket in the space of two and a half hours. Not bad really. Its almost a whore’s wage.

My last day of Hartnell. Awww. I’ve really grown to love his Doctor. Midway through The Smugglers now, and then I’ll do The Tenth Planet this afternoon, probably. I think I might cry.

Nine days until the London trip. Eek.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood’s Marathon (Days 5 to 8)

THE SENSORITES:

Its an oddity. Hartnell is brilliant, taking centre stage for the first time and an active role in the story, and shines throughout. The Sensorites themselves are wonderful and diverse characters, a far cry from the generic ‘Monster Of The Week’ that we’ll get later. There’s some genuinely unnerving stuff about people losing their minds. But there’s also an awful lot of very silly, ill-conceived and poorly-realised moments, embarrassingly straightforward detective work, and a woeful understanding of basic physics. Susan is undoubtedly one of the best things about the story. Its the calmer, remote, undeniably alien Susan of 100,000BC/The Daleks rather than the shrieking, hysterical, incompetent basket case she’s become in other stories. Its far-and-away Carole Ann Ford’s best performance since the first two serials.

THE REIGN OF TERROR:

A hugely fun little romp through one of the uglier periods of European history. The comedy is a little unexpected and jars a little with some of the grim events being depicted, but it is nevertheless a very welcome change after the uber-seriousness of this season. A fine end to the first year of adventures.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood’s Marathon (Day 4)

THE KEYS OF MARINUS:

Its really a bit of a mess this one. I mean, it really makes no sense. And whilst some of the design work is excellent, there is a lot of really shoddy stuff in there. Susan is becoming supremely annoying. There is a running theme through these episodes of morality, enforcement of law, the inherent tendency towards corruption, and State attempts to control the heart and mind of the populace, but Terry Nation never really goes anywhere with it. And the Voord are really, really shite. Frustrating.

THE AZTECS:

Superb. I wax lyrical about the story so often that I’ve run out of things to say. Just stunning. I love it.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood’s Marathon (Day 3)

MARCO POLO:

Just beautiful. You’d think that seven episodes told at a sedate pace might drag. But it really, truly doesn’t. The script sparkles, Mark Eden is superb as Marco, Derren Nesbitt is excellent as Tegana, and the main cast once again excel - the scenes in which William Hartnell’s Doctor spars with Kublai Kahn (and is bested by him!) are particularly joyous. Beautiful!

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Books!

My marathon means that I can’t read any Doctor Who novels for a few months (because I don’t want any anachronistic references or whatever interrupting my flow…).So its a welcome opportunity to read, y’know, actual proper novels again for the first time in a while. Plus plenty of silly stuff thrown in for good measure. My reading list for the next week or so (mostly books I’ve been meaning to re-read for ages) looks like this:

• A Happy Death – Albert Camus
• Death In Midsummer – Yukio Mishima
• Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
• The Old Man And The Sea – Ernest Hemmingway
• Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
• The Magician’s Nephew – C. S. Lewis
• Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers – Grant Naylor
• Better Than Life – Grant Naylor
• A Rebour – J. K. Huysmans
• The Republic – Plato

 

That should do for starters, right?

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood’s Marathon Day 2

The Daleks:

Its hard to know what to say really. The perfect Doctor Who story. The regulars are amazing, the Daleks are TERRIFIC – scary, manipulative, scheming, malicious. I really think Terry Nation is an amazing writer (at this point anyway). Just lovely.

Inside The Spaceship:

Absolute shit. Really, just irrideemable cack.

 

Regards,

Marwood.

Marwood’s Marathon (Day 1)

An Unearthly Child/100,000 BC in roughly 100 words or less:

Possibly the single best 25 minutes of television ever produced (seriously). Followed by three god-awful, painfully slow, acutely embarrassing episodes about a group of idiot cavemen who fully deserve to be swept away by Darwinian law. The really surprising thing about these episodes is always the TARDIS crew. The Doctor is remote, mysterious, aggressive and manipulative. Susan is ethereal and alien. Ian is easy going but sceptical. Barbara is somewhat more severe than in later episodes. The TARDIS is absolutely stunning (and will rarely look this good in the future). The first episode is a masterpiece, an amazing start to the series.  The other three episodes are supremely disposable.

 

Regards,

Marwood.