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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« on: September 04, 2013, 11:59:31 am » |
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This weeks classic story takes us right back to the very first season, with the First Doctor story, The Sensorites. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in the TARDIS on board a spaceship. Their initial concern is for the ship's human crew, who are suffering from telepathic interference from the Sensorites, but Susan communicates with the Sensorites and finds the aliens fear an attack by the humans and are just defending themselves. Travelling to the Sense Sphere (the Sensorites' planet) the Doctor seeks to cure an illness the Sensorites and Ian have succumbed to, but finds it has been caused by deliberate poisoning. The political manoeuvring of the Sensorite City Administrator poses another threat to the TARDIS crew as he seeks to discredit and implicate them.
The Sensorites was the seventh story of the first season of Doctor Who. Though The Keys of Marinus and The Daleks had both been clear examples of science fiction Doctor Who adventures, neither had specifically stated they were in the future. By contrast, The Sensorites was the first story to flatly claim a setting more than a century after the broadcast.
The third episode, "Hidden Danger", had the dubious distinction of being the first episode of Doctor Who delayed because of programming by another BBC department. Just as Series 3 and 4 of the BBC Wales version featured one-week gaps for the Eurovision Song Contest, The Sensorites was interrupted due to Summer Grandstand being extended on Saturday 4 July 1964 for special sports programming.
Narratively, certain elements of the story carried on into 21st century Doctor Who. Susan's description of her home planet was almost directly quoted by the Tenth Doctor in Gridlock, and Planet of the Ood suggested a kinship between the Ood and the equally telepathic Sensorites. The next story will be posted on Wednesday September 11th.
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It eats you, starting with your bottom
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Nyki
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« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2013, 12:58:25 am » |
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I tossed up between a 3 and 4, but I went with a 4. It's one of those stories that starts excellently, with the mystery in the spaceship and the unknown, sinister aliens, but it doesn't hold up quite so well when the Sensorites become just people. Not that it's bad, but there isn't such a sense of tension as at the start.
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Nyki
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« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2013, 12:58:53 am » |
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Shouldn't some of these threads be pinned at the top?
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poprockgeek
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« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2013, 09:48:44 am » |
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You're right Nyki. I've pinned a few (based on what was pinned for Ghost Light) - let me know if you think anymore need doing
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"He is ever after only one thing: power. And also helmets with horns ... he's really into those."
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Exterminate
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« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2013, 11:30:59 am » |
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4/5 from me. I think, as Nyki says, the story starts out very strong and then gets weaker towards the end. It had some good themes and I liked the Sensorites as a race though and it's enjoyable to rewatch, so I think 4 is fair.
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Simone
Tin Dog
Favourite Doctor: Matt Smith/Tom Baker
Favourite Companion: Clara/Ace
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« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2013, 11:34:25 am » |
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I'm going with a 3 for this story. I do enjoy it, but I think that the story is a tad too long and as a result it can't sort of carry it's own weight. Had it been shorter then there may have been a tighter, stronger story and the score may have been higher.
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Mr Chinn
TARDIS Traveller
Favourite Doctor: McCoy and Smith
Favourite Companion: Jo, Romana I, Ace & Donna
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« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2013, 03:26:40 pm » |
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Some parts of this story are awesome, but I find the bulk of it to be pretty weak. Simone suggested above that if it were shorter it would have been better, and I agree. They had too much time and not enough story to fill it, which is a shame because the Sensorites are pretty cool and the setting worked well, too, the plot just ran a little thin.
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Aneurin
Guardian Of Gallifrey
Favourite Doctor: Eleven
Favourite Companion: River
Posts: 5764
Formally River Song
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« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2013, 02:13:44 pm » |
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I've gone with 3/5. I've only seen this story once and so it could turn out to be a grower and get better on rewatch.
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Roranicus
Global Moderator
Timelord
Favourite Doctor: Eleven
Favourite Companion: Rory
Posts: 4677
Rory FTW
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« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2013, 10:09:02 am » |
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3/5
Some bits of this were good, others got a little boring. It's not a bad story but I think it could have done with some trimming down for length.
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Oh my god Karen, you can't just ask someone why they're white!
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