The End of the World and All That

[meddow]

I’m loving all this stuff about the Large Hadron Collider and how its going to be the end of the world and all that. It seems to very Doctor Who. In fact Torchwood's coming to the rescue (screw the testimony of scientists and court cases - it's that which conclusively tells me we're doomed). Although, I thought the black hole Sarah Jane's got locked up in her attic was the Whoniverse's sneaky reference to CERN and the LHC.

I finally finished The Power of the Daleks. It took me a month to listen to the episode reconstruction. I don't quite know why, but I struggled with it where I didn't with the First Doctor episode reconstructions I've listened to. Possibly because I wasn't familiar with Ben and Polly before I started it, and this is the third Second Doctor serial I've gone near.

Anyway, I quite like Polly. Ben I initially didn't like very much. Again couldn't quite put my finger on why. He did seem to be always shouting and without the performance to match it can grate. But I've warmed to an indifferent by the end of the serial.

"We are your servants" has to be the creepiest phrase a Dalek can utter. When (because with the Daleks it is always a 'when' and not an 'if') the Daleks show up again on the New Series, I'd love them to do something similar, with the Daleks pretending to be good and nobody believing the Doctor.

I do wonder whether it was a conscious decision of the writer and producer to have in the serial after the first ever regeneration the Doctor referred to as 'the examiner' throughout. I also though the denials from the Doctor that he was the Doctor in the first episode was also quite nifty. Sort of using reverse-psychology to point out that the new bloke is in fact the Doctor.

Comments

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Oh GOD. The Power Daleks truly are the creepiest Daleks ever, yes. And I hope they do try to remake it for Nu Who (though I sadly suspect it won't be nearly as good, much like Evolution wasn't nearly as good as Evil.)

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Another Evolution would be the risk and it would be more difficult to do in the New Series format, which wouldn't as easily allow for the long buildup to the inevitable that worked so well for Power. And I suppose they even did it briefly in Dalek with Rose and the Dalek.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

XD I adored Ben in Power of the Daleks. I adore him in general -- and yes, he can get a bit tetchy and frustrated, but he's got an underlying sense of chivalry and it's all very cute -- but him being freaked out by Two and blowing into the recorder instead of cursing and calling the actual governor "guvnor" as slang and being amused to himself about it and calling Polly "love" and...uh, yes. I adored Ben. XD

The Daleks were creepy in this. *shudders* So was the Doctor. That's the about the most and certainly the most consistently creepy I've found Two to be, in this story. All in all, I burned through this story. I listened to it in audio form, though. And Wheel in Space, too. They were great listens.

Recons can be weird. I can usually get through them fine, and there are some recons I'm actually really enthusiastic about. Then there's the Highlanders. OH DEAR GOD. I might as well have stuck my head in water and tested my hearing that way.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

While I'm indifferent to Ben in this serial, I have no idea how he made the worse companions list. You can't really blame him for wanting to know what was going on with the Doctor.

Two was creepy in this. I'm so used to the hobo version of Two it was kid of weird with him being so dark.

A lot of the reconstructions I finish in a couple of days. Weirdly, some of the ones I expect to be a bit dull are excellent. I loved Marco Polo. And I was going to listen to the Highlanders next...

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how he made worst, either. I can figure he wouldn't make it that high since most of his stuff was burninated, but that should result in lack of opinion, I would think. The stuff he is in, he's certainly not hate-worthy. =( *loves on Ben*

Yes. There are those moments in other serials where Two goes dark, and he's amazing, but he spent like this whole serial not at all being the generally cuddly thing he is most of the rest of his run. He actually feels a little more Doctory to me when he is kinda creepy, and he commands it so well. But I've loved him in all his forms anyway.

Maybe an audio Highlanders would have better sound than the screencap recon? *shrug*