Classic Who "Dragonfire" Parts 1&2 Full Reaction
Added 2025-07-25 12:45:00 +0000 UTC
Comments
Oh, I love that outfit and jewelry combo, Jess! Shame that the efforts to brace for the jumpscare have not been particularly successful. What a story so far, like you said. Seems to have calmed down from the more overtly outrageous shenanigans of the previous stories of the Seventh Doctor’s run. Lot of it feels very Hobbit in nature, which is fitting as the Doctor is Radagast the Brown, the foolish fellow. Love how you anticipated the campiness of the dragon, and the look surprised you. Discount xenomorph is an apt description. I noted that too. And you say it looks more adorable than xenomorphs usually do. The one xenomorph that lived it’s best Michigan J. Frog life was quite adorable. Whole thing makes you wonder how the War Doctor would have responded. And with the Hobbit of it all which has Bilbo and the Alien connection there. I was most excited by seeing Patricia Quinn, even saying, “Wait! Is that Patricia Quinn!? That’s Patricia Quinn! Hell yeah!!” Love Patricia as Belazs. Sorry to see Kane do the hand fry thing on her, making her say “Goodbye” to all of this, and “Hello” to oblivion. Damn shame. Biggest talking point is the first appearance of Sophie as Ace. You speak true that generally Ace is a beloved companion. She’s up there high on my list. And Seven and Ace are one of my favorite Doctor and companion pairings. It actually was sort of great that it took a sec to recognize Ace as it made your reaction to when she said “Ace!” and the realization hit, all the more wonderful. You do often allow yourself to be lost in the story and experience. So, I don’t mind that you didn’t realize that Ace would realistically be arriving soon. Just love the reactions you had to Ace in this, Jess. Warms the heart to remember that she pretty much has always referred to the Doctor as “Professor”, lovely. Likewise, lovely to be reminded that that’s a damn fine coat that Ace sports. You noted her rather poor customer service skills. Honestly, I’m with Ace, people are awful. Having to deal with the public, you wish you could do what Ace did. Nice to see Glitz again. Man has the strike against him when not being in favor of the “women folk” in on the adventure. Ace had the great moment of speaking against the sexism in survival situations, and she really went Harrison Ford with the dramatic pointing of the finger, love to see it, and your reactions to that. Then there’s the other bad guy when he says that he he likes “women with fire in their bellies”, and you made the face at that. Me, I asked, “...Was that accidental, or were you trying to make that sound dirty on purpose?” The setting of this is quite gorgeous, yes. Love your assessment of the one strategy that the Doctor employed. The strategy of imitating the philosophical drunk at the party doth prove an efficacious strategy in this scenario. Good on the Doctor for implementing said strategy. The one silly scene of the Doctor hanging by the Umbrella was hilarious to see you respond to that one. You could see it how you were baffled wondering what Great Intelligence inspired the Doctor to do what he did there. Quite the pickle the Doctor was in, though it is amazing when you see it, when the Doctor sees his impossible girl. But that’s another story. All in all, most wonderful reactions to the first two parts of the story, thanks, Jess.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-25 21:31:23 +0000 UTCI typed all of that and then realised I had forgotten one of my favourite lines: "If there's anyone in the emergency control room, would you please answer the phone. Thank you.", Announcer, "Dragonfire"
Andrew Vignaux
2025-07-25 12:55:34 +0000 UTC"Time for a quick adventure then back for tea.", The Doctor, "Dragonfire" I like this story - a bit studio bound, perhaps - and a funny script. "What's the matter, getting cold feet?", Kracauer, "Dragonfire" Hey, it's Tony Osoba! We last saw him in "Destiny of the Daleks" as one of the Movellans, and he was in "Kill the Moon". But best known to me from his role in "Porridge". "You have seventy two hours to find one hundred crowns or you lose your spacecraft.", Belazs, "Dragonfire" Hey, it's Patricia Quinn! Hey, everyone, it's Patricia Quinn!!! Skipping over her obvious "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" role, I remember her from "I, Claudius" playing the scheming Livilla (her character had an affair with Patrick Stewart's character). "I'm on a mission of highly philanthropic nature.", "What's that?", "It means it's beneficial to mankind.", Glitz and Mel, "Dragonfire" Glitz is back! We like to see him back. And we recall the Doctor mentioning "philanthropist" in "The Mysterious Planet". "Everyone calls me Ace.", Ace, "Dragonfire" It's Ace! Much beloved - as bringing her back in "The Power of the Doctor" indicated. "Oh, I'm fed up with being a waitress. Oh, go on, Professor, let me come too.", Ace, "Dragonfire" She is calling the Doctor "Professor" immediately - and we don't get any of the "Don't call me 'Doc'" stuff so the Doctor must be fine with it. "Bet you've never had a milk shake tipped over your head, neither.", Ace, "Dragonfire" Ace's padded jacket (which you will recall she wore in "The Power of the Doctor") has a bunch of badges and pins. Two of these were Blue Peter badges (we've seen the children's "Blue Peter" show in "Aliens of London") and were only available to kids who had projects shown on the program. So there was a bit of controversy that Who was using them as props on her jacket. However, they were actually well-earned badges - awarded to Sophie herself. "I was doing this brill experiment to extract nitroglycerine from gelignite, but I think something must have gone wrong. This time storm blows up from nowhere and whisks me up here.", Ace, "Dragonfire" That's weird. "It was only a small explosion. They couldn't understand how blowing up the art room was a creative act.", Ace, "Dragonfire" She is, as Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North, might put it, "a very violent young woman". "They've got home made Nitro 9 in them now.", Ace, "Dragonfire" By the time we see her in "The Power of the Doctor", she had upgraded the formula to Nitro 999. "We've got eight seconds. Last one back's a gooey mess.", Ace, "Dragonfire" A very violent young woman. "Glitz, I sympathise with your disappointment, but I'm about to plummet to my death.", The Doctor, "Dragonfire" The image of the Doctor dangling from his umbrella was one of the views the Impossible Girl had in the Doctor's timeline. "I think you'll find that a concept can be philosophically valid even if theologically meaningless.", Arnheim, "Dragonfire" That guard is in the wrong line of work! This is a funny sequence! "What are you doing here?", "That's a very difficult question. Why is everyone round here so preoccupied with metaphysics?", Belazs and the Doctor, "Dragonfire" With a running gag! "I think she's going to kill us, Doctor.", "Ah. An existentialist.", Glitz and the Doctor, "Dragonfire" It's great! "It's completely impossible for him to recall any events prior to cryogenesis.", "I remember.", "Except in cases of overwhelming hatred or anger.", The Doctor and Pudovkin, "Dragonfire" This is a really fun script. The script editor, Andrew Cartmel, says it was the best story of the season. "Planetary archives, criminal history segment 93 12 03.", Archivist, "Dragonfire" The Archivist is played by Daphne Oxenford - who played an elderly Agatha Christie in a filmed but deleted scene from the "The Unicorn and the Wasp" story. "At last. After three thousand years, the Dragonfire shall be mine.", Kane, "Dragonfire"
Andrew Vignaux
2025-07-25 12:53:44 +0000 UTC
