Visit the official Doctor Who website

Visit the official Doctor Who website
Look to the future

Asylum seekers...

Asylum seekers...
Refuge of the Daleks

Doctor Who picture resource

Doctor Who picture resource
Roam the space lanes!

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website

Explore the Doctor Who classic series website
Step back in time

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood

Infiltrate The Hub of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood
Armed and extremely dangerous

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures

Investigate The Sarah Jane Adventures
Fearless in the face of adversity

Call on Dani’s House

Call on Dani’s House
Harmer’s a charmer

Intercept the UFO fabsite

Intercept the UFO fabsite
Defending the Earth against alien invaders!

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse

Uncover the secrets of the Dollhouse
Programmable agent Echo exposed!

Hell’s belles

Hell’s belles
Naughty but nice

Love Exposure

Love Exposure
Flash photography!

Primeval portal

Primeval portal
Dressed to kill or damsels in distress?

Charmed, to be sure!

Charmed, to be sure!
The witches of San Francisco

Take on t.A.T.u.

Take on t.A.T.u.
All the way from Moscow

Proceed to the Luther website

Proceed to the Luther website
John and Jenny discuss their next move

DCI Banks is on the case

DCI Banks is on the case
You can bet on it!

On The Grid with Spooks

On The Grid with Spooks
Secret agents of Section D

Bridge to Hustle

Bridge to Hustle
Shady characters

Life on Ashes To Ashes

Life on Ashes To Ashes
Coppers with a chequered past

Claire’s no Exile

Claire’s no Exile
Goose steps

Vexed is back on the beat!

Vexed is back on the beat!
Mismatched DI Armstrong and bright fast-tracker Georgina Dixon

Medium, both super and natural

Medium, both super and natural
Open the door to your dreams

Who’s that girl? (350-picture Slideshow)

Tuesday 29 August 2006

The Ood Couple


Because of where the three episodes, that comprise the two stories on this DVD release, are placed in the second series run, it is a little unfortunate that they have ended up on the same disc! Perhaps there is truth in the old adage “opposites attract”. What we have here, in the two-part black hole tale, is not only the best story of the second series but the best of both last year’s and the most recent combined, coupled with, in “Love & Monsters”, not only the worst story of the second series but also the worst of both series together. A marriage made in heaven then!

And BBC THREE have also managed to pull off the same remarkable feat, over the Bank Holiday weekend, with their recent season of repeats. On Sunday night they ran the opening episode of the two-parter, “The Impossible Planet”, concluding the story, with “The Satan Pit”, the following evening as part of a double bill with the previously disclosed offending episode! What a shame their schedules didn’t allow a better combination. Or maybe it was a ruse to get us to watch Marc Warren battling Peter Kay all over again. If it was, it didn’t work. This viewer’s viewing terminated at 8:10pm precisely. Though, I have nothing against the Electric Light Orchestra! And even Elton wrote some good songs, back in the early Seventies, before giving up rock ‘n’ roll for showbiz!!

Many “Doctor Who” fans are no doubt waiting for the box set of the second series but, putting that to one side, I would be more inclined to buy this release if it only contained the first two episodes. It’s such an odd pairing of stories that here I am actually asking for less for my money! Imagine buying a box set containing both “The Caves of Androzani” and “The Twin Dilemma”!! If I watch “Love & Monsters”, especially after “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit”, I end up feeling depressed over the state my favourite show is in after 43 years but if I switch off at the end of the two-parter I leave the experience on a high.

With this in mind, there’s no point in the Abzorbaloff episode being on the disc. I long for incompleteness! Well, at least in this instance. I have in mind a scene missing from the original omnibus video release of that other story featuring Gabriel Woolf, “Pyramids of Mars”, to do with getting in and out the Priory, which made little sense until the repeats on BBC2, early 1994, when something illogical suddenly became completely clear! A DVD without “Love & Monsters” would still be the length of many classic releases, such as the aforementioned Sutekh story, and I, for one, would be happier if this artistically Ood coupling went their separate ways!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Leeland said...

Hi Tim! I saw your message on Karen's blog. I think she's on holiday at the moment, which also explains the lack of posts.
Take care!