Jinx,

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:06:39 +1200, Jinx wrote:

> Prime in NZ showed some of the early b/w stuff too. As a
> kid I remember being terrified at the time it first started. And
> noticed an intensity in the old stuff (cheesy acting -William
> Hartnell fluffed lines all over the place - and effects aside)
> that wasn't there in the new series

Indeed - I did occasionally watch from behind a chair!
 
> One of the first series had a plot line about cavemen, which
> I felt distinctly uncomfortable watching in 1964 and looked
> forward to seeing it again for the first time since then. It was
> creepy to begin with, but the illusion was soon busted when
> I saw that the head caveman was played by the actor who
> was later Cap'n Baines from The Onedin Line ;-((
> 
> Ooo arrr

LOL!  Then there was the companion who later became a Blue Peter presenter (in the episodes with the Mechanoids, which you never see referred-to 
any more - I suspect they were among the episodes that were wiped).

I was also surprised at the low quality of the images in those days, possibly because it was 405 lines, and/or the conversion to show them at 625 
degrades the image even beyond what it looked like then.

> Still liked the old Dalek episodes though, they were sick as,
> and the horrible swamp in the Roy Castle film too

I'm afraid that expressing my opinion of the film would bet me wrapped knuckles from James... 

In some early story-lines they went back in time, as you said (it is a time machine, after all) but later on they almost always went to the future, or to 
other places in space, or in the Jon Pertwee era to some Welsh quarries :-).  I suppose sci-fi set in the past was a bit beyond most of the 
scriptwriters...
 
> Kind of given up on the new ones. Too many plots involving
> mind control and humanoid monsters who can't seem to run

Not many monsters of any description can run faster than humans in any sci-fi I've ever seen ("Alien" being a notable exception) - but the lumbering 
bad guy always manages to catch the terrified victims who are running for their lives anyway!  :-)  Of course, that's sometimes the victims' fault, for 
not looking behind them as they walk backwards away from where they think the danger is.

Ah well... I was glad to see Elizabeth Sladen back again in last year's series - she had a terrified scream that could compete with anyone!

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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