Peri-Peri
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Destroyer Of Worlds
Favourite Doctor: Five
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Circular logic will only make you dizzy, Doctor
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« on: July 08, 2012, 06:49:37 pm » |
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This weeks story takes us back to the Fourth Doctor and the beginning of his quest for the Key to Time in The Ribos Operation. The Doctor is recruited by the White Guardian to seek the six segments of the Key to Time. He is given a new assistant, the Time Lady Romana. The quest for the first segment takes them to Ribos, a medieval planet that galactic confidence trickster Garron is trying to sell to the Graff Vynda-K.
The Ribos Operation was the first story of Season 16 of Doctor Who. It began the season-long quest to find the legendary Key to Time.
All four parts of The Ribos Operation ran over the allocated time, so much material was cut from the broadcast version. Some of this material was retained in Ian Marter's novelisation.
There was much debate as to whether K9 should return after the problems the prop had caused in season fifteen. The character was popular with younger audiences however, so with the assurance that the new prop was more efficient, Graham Williams approved the introduction of K9 Mark II.
Tom Baker's lip was cut in an accident in which a dog bit him. This meant he had a visible plaster case upon his face in the publicity stills for this story. The scar from the injury remained visible in much of this and subsequent stories.
The Ribos Operation was notable for seeing a number of debut appearances. It was the first serial to feature Mary Tamm as companion Romana and was also the first to properly feature K9 Mark II. The White Guardian also made his debut. He was not seen again until Enlightenment, though his voice was heard in The Stones of Blood.The next story will be posted on Sunday 22nd July
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It eats you, starting with your bottom
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The Cyber Mistress
Earthling
Favourite Doctor: Eleven
Favourite Companion: Leela
Posts: 367
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« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2012, 11:25:14 pm » |
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This story gets a score of 4/5 from me. I think it's a great tale and a strong intro for Romana. The plot sort of has it all. Intrigue, deception, happy bits, sad bits, aliens, planets and all with great performances. It wasn't perfect though. Some of the dialogue was a bit clunky and Romana was perhaps at her most annoying here, but I still think it's great.
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Nyki
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« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2012, 07:57:03 pm » |
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I gave it a four. It's not perfect, but it does a pretty good job of introducing Romana and the key and telling a pretty good story. And it's worth an extra point for Binro.
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Exterminate
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« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2012, 09:30:43 pm » |
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I've given this a three. It was an ok story and it worked well as an introduction for Romana but it wasn't the best of the Key season.
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Tardis-Console
Timelord
Favourite Doctor: Eleven
Favourite Companion: Amy
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Say it. Everybody does!
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« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2012, 07:40:32 pm » |
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I always feel a bit iffy rating the stories if it is the first time I have watched it. I know from experience that there are a lot of stories (The War Machines, The Claws Of Axos etc) that I have grown more and more fond of on repeated viewings and so rating a story after only seeing it once seems a bit unfair because it probably would receive higher votes had I seen it more. It sort of puts them at a disadvantage. I think this is going to be one of those times. I'm giving it a three, which might be fair, but I found myself getting distracted half way through. It wasn't holding my interest particularly. It wasn't a bad story, it just didn't reel me in like others have done.
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My Series 6 Ratings (so far): TIA 10/10 | DOTM 10/10 | COTBS 8/10 | TDW 10/10 | TRF 9/10 | TAP 10/10 | AGMGTW 10/10 | LKH 8/10 | NT 4/10 | TGWW 10/10
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Saber
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« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2012, 09:21:19 pm » |
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This one is getting a 4 from me. I think it has a stong, witty script, introduces a companion that forces the Doctor (and Tom Baker) to up his game and kick starts a great story. I think it's let down though by a poor villain.
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Blazin Goliath
Faithful Companion
Favourite Doctor: 12
Favourite Companion: Rory Williams
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"Where I stand is where I fall.”
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« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2012, 07:20:29 am » |
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4/5 for me. While I enjoyed the play between Romana and the Doctor, and while it's true that this story starts off a great story arc with the key to time, the lack of suspense and a decent villain really kept it from being a great story.
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"Wonderful chap, all of them"
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Vampyros Adric
Global Moderator
Timelord
Favourite Doctor: 4/6/7
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He is also vain, ego-centric and quite mad
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« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2012, 06:53:56 pm » |
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This story, written by Classic-Who-Jedi, Bob Holmes, does a really difficult job. It ushers in a new script editor (the peerless Douglas Adams), introduces a new companion AND kicks off the first season long arc since The Dalek Master Plan nearly killed Dennis Spooner & Terry Nation in 1965! Viewed in that context it is a triumph that it achieves anything at all as a stand-alone story. Yet it is a ripping good tale. Hugely watchable, with a plot that moves along nice and quickly.
The supporting cast is like a mini rep company, with Iain Cuthbertson, Prentice Hanc0ck and Paul Seed all ripping large chunks out of the script and Cyril Luckenham almost stealing the show as the White Guardian.
Considering all of the exposition and introductory material this story had to get through I gave it a thoroughly well deserved 4/5
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Nyki
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« Reply #8 on: July 24, 2012, 08:38:58 pm » |
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I assume we're not having a new story this week.
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Peri-Peri
Global Moderator
Destroyer Of Worlds
Favourite Doctor: Five
Favourite Companion: Peri
Posts: 8805
Circular logic will only make you dizzy, Doctor
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« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2012, 07:07:57 pm » |
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I assume we're not having a new story this week.
No sorry. My friend passed away on Sunday so I didn't have time to get on and update everything. It will all be done this weekend though.
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It eats you, starting with your bottom
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Peri-Peri
Global Moderator
Destroyer Of Worlds
Favourite Doctor: Five
Favourite Companion: Peri
Posts: 8805
Circular logic will only make you dizzy, Doctor
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I'm giving this story a four. This series gets some mixed reactions but I really like it. I think Romana is a great companion and gets a good introduction here. The story moves along nicely and we get some good characters out of it. It's not perfect and it's not the best of the season but it's not a bad start.
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It eats you, starting with your bottom
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Nyki
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I assume we're not having a new story this week.
No sorry. My friend passed away on Sunday so I didn't have time to get on and update everything. It will all be done this weekend though. I'm sorry to hear that. And of course this would have been a low priority.
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Aneurin
Guardian Of Gallifrey
Favourite Doctor: Eleven
Favourite Companion: River
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Formally River Song
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It's a decent story and it does the job of introducing the new companion but there's nothing overly exciting about it. I've gone with a middle of the road 3!
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Twisted-Sister
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I've gone with a 4, but it was more of a high three. I think both leads have put in better performances and there were times when the story dragged along. I think there wasn't a great deal of balance between the plot and the character stuff. But with that said it's still a very watchable story and not the worst of the KTT series
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Twisted-Sister
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I've gone with a 4, but it was more of a high three. I think both leads have put in better performances and there were times when the story dragged along. I think there wasn't a great deal of balance between the plot and the character stuff. But with that said it's still a very watchable story and not the worst of the KTT series
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lastofthejagaroth
Easily Exterminated
Favourite Doctor: Jon Pertwee
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The centuries that divide me shall be undone!
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« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2015, 07:06:31 pm » |
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4/5 from me. The candle-lit caverns were cool, Holmes' talent for dialogue is very evident here and it is at times very funny. On the flipside, Mary Tamm is weak and the story is silly. (Selling a planet? Really?)
While not the classic of the season, which is probably The Androids of Tara, it is still a solid story.
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The Doctor: "You're Mr Thick Thick Thickety Thickface from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's your dad."
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