newmoonstar (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
newmoonstar) wrote2017-06-12 11:50 pm
newmoonstar) wrote2017-06-12 11:50 pm
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Not much to post about- been shockingly unproductive lately. (Though I did go to see My Fair Lady at the Lyric Opera a second time before it closed! It was even better the second time, and it's now unquestionably my favorite show I've ever seen. If only it had been filmed!! I'd watch it all the time. Ugh, I just love it soooo much!! *starts humming 'I Could Have Danced All Night'*)
I'm slightly questioning whether I'll go to this year's Doctor Who convention- I did already buy tickets, but you can still transfer them to someone else. I had intended to compete in the Masquerade, since there's no guests I want pics or autographs from this year, so I would have time to go to all the rehearsals and whatnot, but I'm having a devil of a time finding a pattern to use for the cosplay I wanted to do. I have all the fabric and accessories for Tegan's Victorian ballgown from 'Enlightenment', but when I made a muslin of the bodice pattern I planned to use (Laughing Moon 1890s bodice)- it did not fit AT ALL. So I'm back to square one, and not terribly enthused about it, and if I don't compete in the Masquerade, I don't know if it's worth it to go. :/
Nearing the end of my Classic Who watch-a-thon though! I've had to go somewhat out of order out of necessity, so I just watched Romana II's last ep and Sarah Jane's last back to back.
'Warrior's Gate' was really cool- well directed, beautiful to look at, a rather complicated story- but interesting complicated rather than nonsensical complicated. I like Romana II better in season 18, but then, season 18 is a huge improvement over season 17 in general. Season 17 was incredibly campy, but Season 18 was more of a throwback to the more serious sci-fi stories of the 60s/early 70s, which is my favorite kind. (Except for 'Meglos', which was extremely campy and frankly awful- Jacqueline Hill's presence was the only thing that made it worth watching. She's so beautiful and regal, and way too good for a story that stupid, but apparently she had fun making it, so that makes me feel better at least. I'll never quite get over the cruel irony that she came back to the show as someone other than Barbara tho. So close and yet so far!)
I have to say that I like Adric much better with the Fourth Doctor than with Five, and he's especially good with K9 and Romana. He's just an ordinary kid who wants to eat food and do math- I can't figure out why so much of the fandom hates him? He's never going to be one of my favorite companions, but I'll always be sad he got killed off. :(
I liked 'The Hand of Fear' as a serial overall; the make-up on the female Eldrad was fantastic, the location filming in a real nuclear plant gave it a nice sense of realism, and the plot twist with the villain getting their ironic comeuppance at the end was clever. I'm not such a fan of Sarah Jane being possessed for most of the story, since plot devices that rob her of nearly all agency are a recurring problem in her stories with Four, and I'll never understand the outfit they put her in- it looks like something a five year old would wear. Please tell me no one actually dressed like that in real life! And this was the first on-screen companion departure that felt curiously unemotional, but I think that has to do with the Fourth Doctor more than anything. Four simply wasn't the openly affectionate character his predecessors were, and you get the feeling he'd run off screaming 'ew!' if his companions dared to offer him a tearful farewell hug, and he would never be the one to offer hugs or tears himself. I suppose that was a conscious choice on the part of the writers and Tom Baker about how they wanted the Doctor to be, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. There's some perverse part of me that feels like a companion leaving isn't quite right if I'm not sobbing by the end of the episode. Though I didn't mind it as much in Romana's case, even though her exit was just as tacked on/unemotional as Sarah Jane's. Romana being a rebel Time Lady choosing to leave to free an entire species from slavery and escape going back to the stultifying Time Lord society of Gallifrey in the process is pretty badass, so I'll forego tears in the name of claiming the empowering aspect of her decision. (And they did try to set up the idea of her leaving a few stories back in 'Full Circle', so bonus points to the writers for that.)
So now I have only six more serials left to watch before I'll have seen every Classic Who story!! It's been more than four years since I started; it's going to be strange not to have 'new' old Who to watch. But then of course, there's always Big Finish. I bought the rest of Eight & Charley's stories last time they had a sale, so I've got quite a lot to listen to. There's not really any such thing as being 'done' where Doctor Who is concerned, lol.
I'm slightly questioning whether I'll go to this year's Doctor Who convention- I did already buy tickets, but you can still transfer them to someone else. I had intended to compete in the Masquerade, since there's no guests I want pics or autographs from this year, so I would have time to go to all the rehearsals and whatnot, but I'm having a devil of a time finding a pattern to use for the cosplay I wanted to do. I have all the fabric and accessories for Tegan's Victorian ballgown from 'Enlightenment', but when I made a muslin of the bodice pattern I planned to use (Laughing Moon 1890s bodice)- it did not fit AT ALL. So I'm back to square one, and not terribly enthused about it, and if I don't compete in the Masquerade, I don't know if it's worth it to go. :/
Nearing the end of my Classic Who watch-a-thon though! I've had to go somewhat out of order out of necessity, so I just watched Romana II's last ep and Sarah Jane's last back to back.
'Warrior's Gate' was really cool- well directed, beautiful to look at, a rather complicated story- but interesting complicated rather than nonsensical complicated. I like Romana II better in season 18, but then, season 18 is a huge improvement over season 17 in general. Season 17 was incredibly campy, but Season 18 was more of a throwback to the more serious sci-fi stories of the 60s/early 70s, which is my favorite kind. (Except for 'Meglos', which was extremely campy and frankly awful- Jacqueline Hill's presence was the only thing that made it worth watching. She's so beautiful and regal, and way too good for a story that stupid, but apparently she had fun making it, so that makes me feel better at least. I'll never quite get over the cruel irony that she came back to the show as someone other than Barbara tho. So close and yet so far!)
I have to say that I like Adric much better with the Fourth Doctor than with Five, and he's especially good with K9 and Romana. He's just an ordinary kid who wants to eat food and do math- I can't figure out why so much of the fandom hates him? He's never going to be one of my favorite companions, but I'll always be sad he got killed off. :(
I liked 'The Hand of Fear' as a serial overall; the make-up on the female Eldrad was fantastic, the location filming in a real nuclear plant gave it a nice sense of realism, and the plot twist with the villain getting their ironic comeuppance at the end was clever. I'm not such a fan of Sarah Jane being possessed for most of the story, since plot devices that rob her of nearly all agency are a recurring problem in her stories with Four, and I'll never understand the outfit they put her in- it looks like something a five year old would wear. Please tell me no one actually dressed like that in real life! And this was the first on-screen companion departure that felt curiously unemotional, but I think that has to do with the Fourth Doctor more than anything. Four simply wasn't the openly affectionate character his predecessors were, and you get the feeling he'd run off screaming 'ew!' if his companions dared to offer him a tearful farewell hug, and he would never be the one to offer hugs or tears himself. I suppose that was a conscious choice on the part of the writers and Tom Baker about how they wanted the Doctor to be, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. There's some perverse part of me that feels like a companion leaving isn't quite right if I'm not sobbing by the end of the episode. Though I didn't mind it as much in Romana's case, even though her exit was just as tacked on/unemotional as Sarah Jane's. Romana being a rebel Time Lady choosing to leave to free an entire species from slavery and escape going back to the stultifying Time Lord society of Gallifrey in the process is pretty badass, so I'll forego tears in the name of claiming the empowering aspect of her decision. (And they did try to set up the idea of her leaving a few stories back in 'Full Circle', so bonus points to the writers for that.)
So now I have only six more serials left to watch before I'll have seen every Classic Who story!! It's been more than four years since I started; it's going to be strange not to have 'new' old Who to watch. But then of course, there's always Big Finish. I bought the rest of Eight & Charley's stories last time they had a sale, so I've got quite a lot to listen to. There's not really any such thing as being 'done' where Doctor Who is concerned, lol.
no subject
So very true!
I do think Sarah's departure is emotional, though, and all the more so for its sudden-ness and understated nature where neither of them can really say what they're obviously feeling. <3 <3 (Repression always works for me!!)
But it was Elisabeth Sladen's choice; I remember reading that she had seen Jo's departure and she didn't want the episode to be all about Sarah, so it was written the way it was at her request at least.
no subject
no subject
We can, however, agree that Four, Sarah and Harry are just lovely. :-)