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Poll: Rate & Review Underworld

Poll
Question: Rate the story
5/5 - Absolutely amazing - 1 (8.3%)
4/5 - Really Good - 3 (25%)
3/5 - Not bad, not great - 3 (25%)
2/5 - Not impressed - 3 (25%)
1/5 - Shockingly bad - 2 (16.7%)
Total Voters: 12

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Author Topic: Poll: Rate & Review Underworld  (Read 104 times)
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« on: January 29, 2012, 03:28:47 pm »


For this weeks story we return to the Fourth Doctor, with Underworld...

At the very edge of the known universe, the TARDIS materialises on an ageing spacecraft, the R1C. On board, the Fourth Doctor and Leela meet Jackson and his crew who are doggedly pursuing their mission to recover the Minyan race bank from a ship which left their home planet centuries earlier.

Closing in at last on the P7E, Jackson risks everything to follow the trail into the heart of a newly formed planet. Can the Doctor help Jackson face his greatest challenge yet, and secure the future of the Minyans?

Underworld was the fifth story of Season 15 of Doctor Who, and the first over which script editor Anthony Read had complete creative control. Read had requested that writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin make the script an explicit allegory of the ancient myth of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece.

Beyond this, though, Underworld was unusual in number of regards. Perhaps most obviously, it was the serial that used by far the most colour separation overlay (CSO) in the programme's history. Rampant inflation had eaten away at the budget for the back half of the season, and using CSO to recreate virtually every shot of the alien world featured in the story was the only feasible way to preserve production of The Invasion of Time. It also advanced the mythos of the Time Lords, by explaining the origin of their non-interference policy.


The next story will be posted on Sunday February 5th
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« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2012, 09:31:17 pm »

I got this when it came out on DVD about 2 years ago and I haven't watched it since. I've no idea why, so it will be good to get it out again.
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« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2012, 02:53:45 pm »

Until a little while ago I wasn't even aware that Underworld existed. I'm quite up to date with the serials, even if I haven't watched them, I at least try to know a bit about them, but not even the name was familiar. I guess this is one of those stories that has been lost amongst better stories of it's season or era, with people neither particularly loving or hating it. It's for that reason that I think it belongs in the underrated stories thread, wherever that has gotten to, because I loved it.

Lots of Doctor Who serials have taken inspiration from other stories, myths and legends, and this one is no different, unashamedly open and honest about how similar it is, even making a plot point of it. The good thing though is if you aren't familiar with the story it is based on it never lets you get lost along the way, using Leela brilliantly as a way of bringing the audience in.

There was a bit of over-reliance on the the green-screen, but I understand the reasoning behind that and it looked a lot better than many other stories I have seen that used it, so I won't mark it down for that. In fact, given how shoddy the budget was for this story (explained in the extras), I think they did an amazing job. The characters were good, though perhaps a little underexplored. Moreso the woman, Tala was it? She felt a bit like a spare part. The Seers looked a bit daft to, but other than that I really, really enjoyed it so I am giving it full marks.
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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2012, 03:38:03 pm »

Another thing that really made me laugh were the scenes in the anti gravity shaft. You look into a big black hole, but then all of a sudden its green with some really cheesy lift music in the background. It felt so out of place but I couldn't help but laugh at it.
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« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2012, 04:03:02 pm »

How clever of you.  The last story I watched was The Sun Makers, so this would have been next anyway  Cool
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« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2012, 03:39:56 pm »

I've gone with a 4 this week. It's a good story but not one of the better 'adaptations', if we can call them that, that the show has done. Leela and the Doctor were on fine form and a lot of the guest cast were great, but it was let down a little by some odd production choices, one of them being, as TC stated, the scene in the anti-gravity chamber. Overall a good story though, if not a little bogged down by stronger ones within the season.
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« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2012, 11:12:57 pm »

I'm with TC. This doesn't sound familiar to me at all. I'm not sure I've ever heard of it before Huh?
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« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2012, 01:56:09 am »

What a load of toot. A poorly thought out interpretation of a classic myth, further let down by bad villains, bad production qualities and some bad characterisations. The only thing that stopped me from giving it a one was some great performances from Tom Baker and Louise Jameson and the fact that episode 1 was actually pretty good. The last three episodes however were a bit rubbish. 2/5
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« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2012, 05:37:53 pm »

Middle of the road 3 for me. I think its an ok story that plods along at a decent pace, but starts to really trail off in the second half of the story. Some of the graphics could be better, though considering the amount of green screen they used I'm suprised it looked half as good as it did. It's not a bady story at all, but it's pretty easily forgettable.
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« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2012, 05:53:47 pm »

I gave it 3.  I'd only watched it once before, apart from the original broadcast, and I wasn't impressed then, but I enjoyed it a bit more than I expected this time.  Not a great story, used the same basic idea as The Face of Evil to less effect, and the visual effects were weak, but it was enjoyable enough.
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« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2012, 01:24:33 am »

Ignoring the production problems, I went with a four. I liked the story and the characters and it kept my interest enough to watch all four episodes in one go, which is usually a good sign for me. Some of the CGI stuff was rubbish but then a lot of the production values on Doctor Who have been less than great, so I don't think its really fair to mark it down for that. Unless of course it totally ruins your viewing pleasure.
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« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2012, 02:11:31 pm »

I went with a three. I liked some of the ideas behind it and I agree with T-C and Saber that Leela was wonderful in this - and I got a nice sense of the strength of the women characters overall (something that, historically, the show hasn't always done that well). Sadly, the whole thing kinda just rumbles along for me (I think this would have benefited extremely from the Nu-Who format.

Sadly the CGI does let the story down. While I take on board Roranicus's very reasonable assertion that a lot of production values of the time were weak. I do feel though that this should have been a production decision either to redraw the script or find a different way of doing it. It kinda jarred a bit as I was watching. However, I haven't marked it down (it would have been a 3 anyway).
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« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2012, 05:55:55 pm »

4/5 from me. The CSO was a pain but the stuff between the Doctor, Leela and K9 made it worth it. Its a good story but it did get a bit slow towards the end.
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« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2012, 04:59:45 pm »

Just a two from me. Episode one was pretty good but from there on it got a bit naff. The acting was ok and it was sort of silly enough to make me laugh at times, but not one of the greats for me.
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« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2012, 10:52:44 pm »

Just a one from me this time. The acting was ok but thats pretty much the only positive I can pull from it.
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« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2012, 07:26:09 pm »

Not a fan of this story really. I like the plot but I think it wasn't written particularly well. The acting was good though. I've given it a 2
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