February: Classic Who Reactions
Added 2023-01-27 18:51:26 +0000 UTCHello, all! I hope 2023 is going well for everyone so far. :-)
I'll be posting the last part of "The Green Death" this weekend, and "The Time Warrior" should be up on Monday/Tuesday. (Pushing things right up to the end of the month as usual! Typical FWR.)
For February, we've got the same amount of arcs and episodes with:
- 11x05 Planet of the Spiders (6 eps)
- 12x01 Robot (4 eps)
- 12x02 The Ark in Space (4 eps)
I know we're now entering 4th Doctor territory here, and I'll be posting a list of all the episodes that were recommended for this era so you know what's coming up. I may have scale back the scope of the suggestions a little, but I think we're okay for now to get started.
I'm very excited for the upcoming era! Thanks so much for supporting the Patreon and watching with me! π FWR
Comments
The Green Death is right up there in my 'favourite 3rd Doctor stories' list (along with the two Auton adventures). It contains a large amount of absolutely everything! It's creepy and disgusting; exciting and funny; fast-moving and (especially today) timely; and it has a really well-played developing romance. It's one of the few six parters which is able to successfully fill it's longer duration. Great fun!
Ian Smith
2023-01-28 21:55:39 +0000 UTCTom Baker's era is a tricky one because it's so long (41 stories/172 episodes across 7 seasons) and because they start to link stories together and do more story arcs in this era. I know you may have already finalised which stories you're reacting to for his era, but I thought I would still give my breakdown and suggestions for how I think you should tackle it. All of S12's stories are linked together in a loose story arc, so you should probably react to them all because you may feel a bit lost if you skip any. For S13, Terror of the Zygons, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom are all must see classics. You can skip the other two. For S14, The Hand of Fear is a must because it's the most famous companion departure in all of classic Who and links to a modern Who story (you may have guessed what I'm referring to). The Deadly Assassin should definitely be reacted to because not only is it a great story, it also adds A LOT to the lore of the show. The Face of Evil is another great story that introduces a new companion and The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng Chiang are just brilliant stories, you should react to all three. S15 is one of the most skippable seasons in Tom's era (second only to S17, but I'll get to that later) as it feels very transitional, but you should still do two stories from it. Horror of Fang Rock because it's the last hurrah for the gothic horror tone Tom Baker's era had employed to great effect up to this point. It also marks the end of a golden period in the show's history since Tom took over, where there are very few stories that are less than very good. The Sun Makers is another one that should be reacted to because it introduces the new, more comedic/lighthearted tone Tom's era will use for the next couple of seasons. S16 is another season, like with S12, where every story is linked together by a loose story arc. S16 is sometimes called 'The Key to Time', which is referring to the Doctor being sent on a mission to find the six segments that make up the artefact. I would suggest to not skip any story from S16. S17 has only one story you need to see, City of Death. An absolute comedic masterpiece written by Douglas Adams. This story achieved the highest ratings in the history of the show, averaging around 16 million across the four episodes. You can skip the rest of S17. You can also skip the first two stories of S18, neither of which are particularly highly regarded. Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate on the other hand are three very interesting, experimental stories and they also form a trilogy and set up the finale, which is Tom Baker's regeneration story, Logopolis. Oh. and they have a companion departure and introduction in them too. Can't skip those three. You also can't skip The Keeper of Traken either though because it leads directly into Logopolis with the surprise return of a familiar foe. Phew, that was a lot to get through! In total you would be reacting to 28 stories/118 episodes. Significantly more stories/episodes to react to for Tom than any of his three predecessors, but his era is quite a lot longer than any of theirs. To be able to fully appreciate all the different sides of Tom's era, I do think it's necessary. It'll take a lot longer to get through his era, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.
Azmat Mahmood
2023-01-27 20:50:32 +0000 UTC
