Oh, and any chance we'll get to see The Master return? Was anything "final" ever done with him during the original series? He was such a good villain, so many bastardly, cold-hearted moments. You could tell he really enjoyed causing trouble. 
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The Official Doctor Who
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The last time we saw the Master was in the final episode of the original series, "Survival," where he was consumed by his animal side and left to die on the exploding planet of the Cheetah People. Unless, that is, you count the TV Movie made seven years later, which many of us try (successfully) to ignore. In this he had the guile to rather bizarrely turn into a slug, possesses people, become a vampire, and ultimately get sucked into the Eye of Harmony, rather bizarrely placed in the Doctor's TARDIS.
Then, if you want to go even deeper, you get the various iterations of the Master portrayed in the many professional audio dramas, novels, and the comic strip that have been going since the series was originally cancelled.
All that said, it's fairly unlikely that he'll come back on the new series, largely because, as the "Completely Useless Encyclopedia" says, he was "nuttier than squirrel ****," and towards the end rather camp to boot.
I'm loving the new series, by the way. Of course I miss the old 10 part episodes (set aside a whole day to watch "The War Games"), but the new one has an incredible cast, incredible writers (many of whom are from the books), and an enthusiastic production team all around. Check out Outpost Gallifrey for what is really the best coverage of the new series and old alike.
It's great to see so many Mac fans are keen on the new Who, too. It's appropriate that both fan bases are notorious for their veracity!
Then, if you want to go even deeper, you get the various iterations of the Master portrayed in the many professional audio dramas, novels, and the comic strip that have been going since the series was originally cancelled.
All that said, it's fairly unlikely that he'll come back on the new series, largely because, as the "Completely Useless Encyclopedia" says, he was "nuttier than squirrel ****," and towards the end rather camp to boot.
I'm loving the new series, by the way. Of course I miss the old 10 part episodes (set aside a whole day to watch "The War Games"), but the new one has an incredible cast, incredible writers (many of whom are from the books), and an enthusiastic production team all around. Check out Outpost Gallifrey for what is really the best coverage of the new series and old alike.
It's great to see so many Mac fans are keen on the new Who, too. It's appropriate that both fan bases are notorious for their veracity!
Marble said:
Well said.
And thanks for the thorough info on the Master, I forgot about the whole Cheetah People thing...
stcanard said:Wow! I complain about this, and what do I get? A two parter 2 hour episode that ends in a cliffhanger! Woohoo! My son is killing himself waiting for next week
Yes I was delighted to see that as well! Thank God...
My other question though, is that this season is only 13 episodes - that seems kind of short, especially when throwing 2-part episodes in from time to time (possibly an odd one that's even longer? Wishful thinking....
), and I can't recall if this was the case when the original Dr. Who actually aired. I guess watching the 70's episodes in re-runs, there were so many of them it seemed like they had to have done more episodes per season, maybe I'm wrong...
stcanard said:
Yah, I realize that - in fact, some of my favorite Brit shows (Fawlty Towers and the Office) are only 6-12 episodes in total! Like I said, I guess it just seemed like the seasons must have been longer, especially during the Tom Baker years when it seems like he went on millions of epic journeys.
Although I seem to remember a couple ones with Pertwee that had to have been 7-8 parts as well... ~Shard~ said:My other question though, is that this season is only 13 episodes - that seems kind of short, especially when throwing 2-part episodes in from time to time (possibly an odd one that's even longer? Wishful thinking....
No, you're not wrong, there used be more episodes per season. Although they were typically half-hour episodes, except for Colin Baker's first season where they did 45-minute episodes. In the early 60's (and much like American TV at the time), they did loads of episodes per year, 40+. (Must have worn out poor old Richard Hartnell, the first Doctor, who wasn't in great health.) It went down gradually, and stayed at 26 episodes per year for quite a while, through the end of the fifth Doctor's final season I believe.
--Eric
stcanard said:
Are they full hours though? I was under the impression that the run time was more like 45 minutes, but I don't know. The original half hour episodes really were pretty close to half an hour, including credits.
In any case, it's still better than the 12 half-hour episodes that we got for the last three seasons or so.
--Eric
Eric5h5 said:
Hmm, the CBC run seems to fill the full 8:00 to 9:00 slot, and it didn't feel like they were padding too many commercials. Can't say I've timed it though.
It they are only about 45 minutes that could be why the single episodes felt so rushed though.
Downloaded episode 5 last night. Really digging the new Doctor Who as a longtime fan!
The DVDs will be out in May and I can't wait. I have every Dr. Who from Pertwee through the end on VHS. I love my Who.
The DVDs will be out in May and I can't wait. I have every Dr. Who from Pertwee through the end on VHS. I love my Who.
Eric5h5 said:
As the other poster said, 26 half-hour episodes does equal 13 hour-long episodes give or take, but yes, I thought the earlier seasons were all a bit longer, thanks for verifying. Like I said, the Tom Baker years seemed to last a lifetime when I think back to all his adventures, companions, and all that. He must hold the record for encountering the Daleks the most (and surviving!
)
Actually, was there ever a Doctor who didn't encounter the Daleks? I guess just the 8th, Paul McGann? Colin Baker even did in his short stint, and I'm pretty sure the Daleks made their first appearance with the First Doctor...
stcanard said:
Yah, I watch it on CBC as well, and there definitely doesn't seem to be too many commercials. The first episodes still seemed too short, but hopefully they'll give us these 2-parters more often than not.
Don M. said:Downloaded episode 5 last night. Really digging the new Doctor Who as a longtime fan!
The DVDs will be out in May and I can't wait. I have every Dr. Who from Pertwee through the end on VHS. I love my Who.
Wow, that must be quite the VHS collection! And I had no idea they are coming out on DVD in May - is this more of an official release? I thought there already were a few ones out there on DVD, (I believe "The Key to Time" saga is on DVD), but no official collections...
~Shard~ said:
Nope, they're a staple. (Almost didn't make it this time around, though, due to a dispute with the estate of Terry Nation, the guy who invented the Daleks, which was fortunately resolved.)
Hmm...the Daleks were present at the very beginning of that movie, or at least Skaro is mentioned and you can hear Dalek voices. But Sylvester McCoy was still the Doctor at that point, so yeah.
Oh yes indeed.
The very first episodes were up against the Kennedy assasination, so the show got kind of buried and ignored initially. But after the caveman stuff in the first story, the Daleks showed up in the second. Lots of British schoolkids going around saying "Exterminate!" after that, apparently.... Without the Daleks to jumpstart the show, I wonder if it would have lasted?--Eric
I love visiting the Doctor Who guide and browsing down the massive list of official Doctor Who that has been written in so many mediums. It is amazing. If we're going just by televised episodes, the Doctor has appeared to the British public following that haunting theme tune just over seven hundred times. But it's obvious that even beyond that incredible number, so much more Who has been made. *love*
Eric5h5 said:
I thought Davross invented the Daleks...
Right, I heard about that dispute, glad to hear everything was sorted out. It'll be interesting to see the Daleks again after so many years.
Eric5h5 said:Oh yes indeed.
Cool.
Yes, maybe we should be thanking the Daleks for allowing the show to prosper as it has!
Marble said:
Cool, I wasn't aware of this site. Guess I know what I'll be browsing through the next little while...
The new series comes out on DVD in May w/ a boxed set (in the shape of a TARDIS no less!) in "the summer."~Shard~ said:
No link handy but details available on the official BBC/Doctor Who website.
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