Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who episode “73 Yards”.
Doctor-Lite stories have so far been very good, which raises the possibility that the thing that′s really holding back Doctor Who is Doctor Who.
As you may know, Ncuti Gatwa was finishing filming his last series of Sex Education for Netflix while “73 Yards” was being filmed, and so the episode was pushed onto the array of ′Doctor-Lite′ stories (put simply: ones in which the Doctor doesn′t appear very much). The idea of doubling up the filming of episodes and balancing the cast accordingly has been in place since the show returned in 2005, with it formally being named as a budget-saving strategy in 2007 with “Blink”. They may also be referred to as “double-banking” episodes where two episodes are filmed simultaneously and so the regular cast can’t substantially appear in both.
Doctor Who often gave its leads a holiday in the 1960s,...
Doctor-Lite stories have so far been very good, which raises the possibility that the thing that′s really holding back Doctor Who is Doctor Who.
As you may know, Ncuti Gatwa was finishing filming his last series of Sex Education for Netflix while “73 Yards” was being filmed, and so the episode was pushed onto the array of ′Doctor-Lite′ stories (put simply: ones in which the Doctor doesn′t appear very much). The idea of doubling up the filming of episodes and balancing the cast accordingly has been in place since the show returned in 2005, with it formally being named as a budget-saving strategy in 2007 with “Blink”. They may also be referred to as “double-banking” episodes where two episodes are filmed simultaneously and so the regular cast can’t substantially appear in both.
Doctor Who often gave its leads a holiday in the 1960s,...
- 5/29/2024
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
I mean, it’s not like absolutely everything is terrible right now, but certainly a lot of things are and we could all do with a break. As a result, here’s a list of Doctor Who stories – one chosen per Doctor – that I put on for comfort. Sometimes you need something familiar and well-worn to unwind with.
This list is very much subjective, some of it is down to which Doctor Who videos I could afford when I was 10. These stories work for me and it’s unlikely they will work completely for someone else. Also worth mentioning is that this list is incomplete; these are not the only stories I watch for comfort, and indeed sometimes that’s not the reason I watch these stories.
First Doctor: ‘The Aztecs’
‘The Aztecs’ is a great example of Doctor Who that can be both familiar, endearing and brutal. In this...
This list is very much subjective, some of it is down to which Doctor Who videos I could afford when I was 10. These stories work for me and it’s unlikely they will work completely for someone else. Also worth mentioning is that this list is incomplete; these are not the only stories I watch for comfort, and indeed sometimes that’s not the reason I watch these stories.
First Doctor: ‘The Aztecs’
‘The Aztecs’ is a great example of Doctor Who that can be both familiar, endearing and brutal. In this...
- 7/1/2021
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Alex pays a fond return revisit to 1960s classic TV series, The Avengers...
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
- 10/13/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Feature Cliff Chapman 11 Feb 2014 - 07:00
Cliff takes us through ten Doctor Who stories still lost, from Marco Polo to Fury From The Deep...
Doctor Who was for the first twenty six years a series of serials, so episodes make up stories or serials, e.g. Power of the Daleks is a story or serial made up of six episodes, rather than ‘an episode’. Around 250 weekly instalments of Doctor Who were shown between 1963 and 1969. As of January 2014, 97 of these are not held by the BBC, or known to survive, and cannot be viewed - although they can be experienced in a number of ways. Although recent returns have massively helped in evening up the scores, you’ll note that there’s a slight bias towards Hartnell against Troughton for completely missing stories. Troughton still fares worse, however as he has fewer fully existing stories, seven complete stories versus Hartnell’s fifteen.
Cliff takes us through ten Doctor Who stories still lost, from Marco Polo to Fury From The Deep...
Doctor Who was for the first twenty six years a series of serials, so episodes make up stories or serials, e.g. Power of the Daleks is a story or serial made up of six episodes, rather than ‘an episode’. Around 250 weekly instalments of Doctor Who were shown between 1963 and 1969. As of January 2014, 97 of these are not held by the BBC, or known to survive, and cannot be viewed - although they can be experienced in a number of ways. Although recent returns have massively helped in evening up the scores, you’ll note that there’s a slight bias towards Hartnell against Troughton for completely missing stories. Troughton still fares worse, however as he has fewer fully existing stories, seven complete stories versus Hartnell’s fifteen.
- 2/10/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Digital Spy readers named David Tennant as Doctor Who's greatest ever Doctor - now, with just 10 weeks to go until the 50th anniversary, DS is embarking on a new quest... to list the top 10 Who stories of all time.
We kick off with a William Hartnell classic - a sublime character drama set in 15th century Mexico that saw Doctor Who confront the dangers of time-travel and changing history for the first time...
10. The Aztecs (1964) - Four episodes - written by John Lucarotti
Narrowing down Doctor Who's (as-of-writing) 239 stories to the 10 best was an incredibly difficult task, but one serial that was always guaranteed to make it into this writer's own personal 'Best Of' list is John Lucarotti's fantastic jaunt into history, 'The Aztecs'.
William Hartnell's first Doctor struck gold early on - his sixth story is his very best, with a multi-layered and powerful script,...
We kick off with a William Hartnell classic - a sublime character drama set in 15th century Mexico that saw Doctor Who confront the dangers of time-travel and changing history for the first time...
10. The Aztecs (1964) - Four episodes - written by John Lucarotti
Narrowing down Doctor Who's (as-of-writing) 239 stories to the 10 best was an incredibly difficult task, but one serial that was always guaranteed to make it into this writer's own personal 'Best Of' list is John Lucarotti's fantastic jaunt into history, 'The Aztecs'.
William Hartnell's first Doctor struck gold early on - his sixth story is his very best, with a multi-layered and powerful script,...
- 9/16/2013
- Digital Spy
On the 15th June, we wrote about the welcomed revelation that a whole host of classic Doctor Who episodes, missing to viewers since the 1960’s, had returned. A whole 90 episodes in fact.
There is a lot of speculation to this story, particularly the rumour that the entire William Hartnell catalogue might have been recovered. For me, it seems an awfully big coincidence that in the 50th year of Doctor Who, all those episodes, missing ‘legends’, have found their way back again.
And apparently the BBC is now denying these missing episodes have turned up at all. The bitter truth? Or denying the rumour so that they can come up with a big ‘surprise’ announcement last this year?
I have no idea.
But you know what? If it is true, then there are some fantastic stories to come our way. From all the stories and reviews I’ve read, if there...
There is a lot of speculation to this story, particularly the rumour that the entire William Hartnell catalogue might have been recovered. For me, it seems an awfully big coincidence that in the 50th year of Doctor Who, all those episodes, missing ‘legends’, have found their way back again.
And apparently the BBC is now denying these missing episodes have turned up at all. The bitter truth? Or denying the rumour so that they can come up with a big ‘surprise’ announcement last this year?
I have no idea.
But you know what? If it is true, then there are some fantastic stories to come our way. From all the stories and reviews I’ve read, if there...
- 6/24/2013
- by Baz Greenland
- Obsessed with Film
Since Doctor Who began on November 23rd 1963, there have been 790 episodes. However, not all of them have seen the light of day. In the very early stages of Doctor Who at the BBC, some tapes where “lost” or recorded over by “mistake”. Today, we take a look at some key episodes that went missing and briefly outline the adventures had. You could say, we’re making up for “lost time”. Note, this article is looking at episodes that are completely lost. Part two (coming soonn!) will examine those partially lost. So without further ado…
4. Marco Polo
The fourth episode of Doctor Who, Marco Polo, is missing all seven episodes featuring William Hartnell as the first Doctor. It was first broadcast between February 22nd to April 4th 1964. The episode saw the Tardis crew (The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbra) land in the Himalayas of Catchay in 1289. The Tardis is badly damaged,...
4. Marco Polo
The fourth episode of Doctor Who, Marco Polo, is missing all seven episodes featuring William Hartnell as the first Doctor. It was first broadcast between February 22nd to April 4th 1964. The episode saw the Tardis crew (The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbra) land in the Himalayas of Catchay in 1289. The Tardis is badly damaged,...
- 1/21/2013
- by Adam Smith
- Obsessed with Film
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