By Roy Mathur, on 2014-07-13, at 2014-06-29 11:35:00--12:13:00 BST, for Roy's Rocket Radio
Has suffered because I was horribly ill last week. That's also why I missed the last Sunday podcast, sorry about that. I think things are okay again though, fingers crossed. And about that writing... I got three chapters into to two books; an SF novel and a sequel to the first, but something isn't quite working for me so I'm working on a horror novel.
Being sick has meant a slight delay, but I'm not working flat out, which is exhausting (and not healthy) trying to catch up. But then the stress of not catching up is worse than the stress of exhaustion, so... green tea.
Tried a whole bunch of different stuff; nothing's working. It's all down to the money I don't have! I have gone for a very simple solution to make the best of things in the short-term; recording in well padded rooms (or car), bringing the mic in closer, etc., so hopefully the show will sound better, or at least, less hateful this week.
As a podcast listener myself, I know how much of a turn-off poor sound quality is. So, sorry for the inconvenience, just know that I'm trying my best with very limited resources.
1st Doctor, Series 3, 1, 1--4, 1965
Broadcast: 11 September - 2 October 1965
Writer: William Emms
Director: Derek Martinus and Mervyn Pinfield
Producer: Verity Lambert
Cast: William Hartnell as the Doctor, Maureen O'Brien as Vicki and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor (companions)
Synopsis: Following on from Time Meddler, the Series 2 finale that we covered last, we dive into this the first adventure of Series 3. The Doctor, Vicki and Steven Taylor land on a planet and find cute, wheeled robots that Vicki names Chumblies. They then meet the beautiful Drahvin, a female society (who have killed most of the males on their planet) made up of a ruthless elite ruling a slave, clone-army). The Drahvin are stuck on the planet, which is about to explode, and are planning to steal the horrible-looking Rill's ship, another alien race currently on the planet, in order to escape. The Chumblies are the Rill's robotic interface as they cannot breath the same air as us (humanoids). Turns out that the good-looking Drahvin are the villains and the horrible-looking Rill are the good-guys who have offered to rescue the Drahvin, but the Drahvin, under their psychopathic leader Maaga would rather steal and kill. Let's just say that they get their just deserts!
My View: Apparently the part spoken by Steven was originally written for Barbara and Peter Purves felt the lines he had were too girly. I have to say that I disagree with him entirely. Another striking example of not judging by appearances - a fairly constant theme that I quite enjoy in Doctor Who. Oh, and as far as I can see, the third occasion of robotic, wheeled aliens (Daleks, Mechanoids and now Chumblies). I must say, like Vicky, I find the Chumblies cute.
Further Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_4
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Galaxy_4_%28TV_story%29
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/galaxyfour/
SF TV series on The CW first aired in March so we're getting it 4 months late (as usual). Based on the YA novel by Kass Morgan. Earth has been scoured of life by a nuclear apocalypse. Only an large international space-station remains. With resources dwindling, more and more crimes are punishable by death (spacing) in order to keep the population down and lessen the strain on resources. The station crew send down their teen criminals early to see if earth's atmosphere is capable of supporting them and it is the young criminals adventures on earth that we follow.
Not bad, certainly better than the rebooted and recently cancelled The Tomorrow People (2013) also from The CW. Cast maybe a bit too pretty, but some good shocking moments (all I'm saying is MUTATION!!!)
Nine hostages bond during a bank heist. Kind of reminiscent of Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006), but minus the pointlessly portentous music or the ridiculous plot. A teeny bit predictable, but on the whole quite enjoyable. My favourite character was nerdy Egan Foote played by John Billingsley, the doctor from Enterprise. I enjoyed watching his character and story arc develop over the course of the series.
Ran for a single season on ABC. Not sure if it was cancelled or only intended to have thirteen episodes, but it's as long as it needs to be. Another even better mini-series: Harper's Island (2008) CBS (Horror).