Month: March 2018

The Krotons

Posted on by
The Doctor and Zoe

The Doctor and Zoe come up with a plan to deal with the Krotons.

The Krotons was the fourth story in season six of Doctor WHO. It was written by Robert Holmes, who would go on to become a well known script editor and contributor to the show. It’s a second Doctor story with more Zoe and Jamie goodness.

Episode 1
Troughton exploring a planet while holding an umbrella brought me so much joy at the start of this episode.  The main part of this episode is spent slowly learning about the relationship between the Gonds and the Krotons.  The story also introduces the ‘Learning Hall’ and the’ learning machines’.

Episode 2
While the Doctor is exploring the dark and musty ‘under hall’ that situated beneath the Hall Zoe starts to use on of the ‘learning machines.’ This highlights some of Zoe’s brilliance though I did cringe at the Doctor’s comment that “yes, Zoe is something of a genius, it can be a very irritating at times.” Eventually both Zoe and the Doctor enter the Kroton’s machine, which turns out to be a spaceship. We get a closer glimpse at Kroton technology and at the Kroton’s themselves.

Episode 3
I kind of adore the robotic mechanical sound of the Kroton voices. There’s a lot of Gond politics in this episode, that I found a bit on the dry side. The episode ends with a cliffhanger, with the Doctor in peril…

Episode 4
One of my favourite line in this episode came from Eelek -“I will launch a mass attack with slings and fireballs.” For some reason that phrase just tickled my funny bone – despite it not supposed to be humorous at all. I liked that throughout this story Jamie is sent on a number of errands by the Doctor, but Zoe is left to her own devices or to accompany the Doctor.

The Brier is On

Posted on by

Yup, we’re talking curling here.  The Brier is the men’s Canadian championship in curling and we’re right in the middle of it right now.  Until I moved to Northern Ontario less than a decade ago I had no interest in the sport.  Looking for something to do in the winter months in Thessalon I joined a curling team and quickly discovered the charm of this very Canadian of pastimes. Now during the winter you can find me watching curling on tv, playing in the weekly men’s league in Thessalon, and joining in bonspiels (curling tournaments) whenever possible.

It wasn’t until I had played that I started taking an interest in watching the “pros” on tv.  Getting out on the ice yourself you discover just how long that sheet of ice is and how difficult it is to make the shots that those more experienced make look easy.  I’m also not really a “sports guy” – I don’t really watch any other sports much on tv.  But curling is a bit different.  The majority of the “pros” in Canada have other jobs – curling isn’t a career like NHL hockey player or golfer.  There is money in it, but not enough to sustain the average person’s lifestyle.  This makes it more “real” to me and is part of what makes it so easy to support.

Playing curling is different than other sports too.  It is a sport of graciousness and sportsmanship taken to a higher level.  Games always start with a handshake and “good curling” with the opposing team members.  If the game is nearing the end and it is unlikely that one team could catch up then they shake hands and concede the game – before the technical end of the game.  Now if I happen to catch a hockey game it seems ridiculous watching the underdog continue to try to score when they’re down 5 goals and there’s 2 minutes left in the game.  Imagine if they just shook hands and conceded the game!  That is class.  And at the end of the curling match it is tradition to sit down with your opponents, enjoy a beverage and spend some time together.  From what I hear this happens even at the top levels of curling competition. The community aspect of the sport is as much a part of the game as what happens on the ice.

The other great thing about curling is that people of all ages can enjoy playing the game.  Delivering of rocks can now be done using a “stick” so that the player doesn’t have to get down in the hack, avoiding all that bending and getting back up off the ice. In our club we have people in their late eighties still getting out and playing each week.

Curling is a community activity that provides all sorts of benefits to the members of that community.  I’m glad I discovered this, even if it came a bit later in life!

The Invasion

Posted on by

This is the third story in season 6 of Doctor Who.  It features Troughton‘s Doctor with Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot as the companions.  In this story we get the second appearance of the Brig (yay!) and the version of the Cyberman seen in this story was used up until Earthshock in 1982. Episodes one and four of this eight part story are considered missing – but there are animated versions of those parts available.

Episode 1
More animated Troughton! My first exposure to animation of the missing episodes of Doctor Who was the 2016 release of Power of the Daleks in animated form.  This episode reminded me how much I actually enjoy the animation as a replacement for missing episodes. I really love the black and white animated Tardis. The animation of the Tardis crew is a bit clunky in parts, but it overall it does an effective job of conveying the imagery of the story.

Episode 2
I loved the background music in this one, particularly the music which accompanied the Doctor and Jamie when they were being followed and taken to UNIT – the music combined with the 1960s computers and SF costuming help were some of my favourite parts of this episode.  This is the only Who story with music composed by Don Harper. I also enjoyed Zoe blowing up a computer by overwhelming it with logic.

Episode 3
Kevin Stoney‘s performance as Tobias Vaughn was the standout part of this episode.  The evil, scheming, company owner is well done. The bit about his two offices being identical and standardization as the key to success is a well done gentle hat tip to the coming Cyberman in the episode.

Episode 4
Another animated episode, complete with a daring helicopter rescue by UNIT. The cliffhanger ending is the Cyberman reveal, which actually looks fantastic in animated form.

Episode 5
My favourite part of this episode is the rage from Isobel and Zoe when they are told they shouldn’t do something because they are women, and their response to being told that men are ‘better’ at that kind of thing. So much rage, snark, and wit from Zoe and Isobel in that scene. The fact that they then leave to ‘prove the men wrong’ also made me smile.

Episode 6
I found this episode a little slow paced. But it’s worth sticking through to get to the monumental scene of the Cyberman bursting out of the sewers and taking on London.

Episode 7
Back the sewers! This time its the Doctor navigating the underground to get back to Vaughn’s control area. We’re into the earth defending itself from the Cyberman phase of the story – with a lot of UNIT action and defense planning. Plus Zoe does some quick math and the UNIT team listens to her advice, a win for team Zoe.

Episode 8
More rockets, counter attacks, and scrambling to prevent the Cyberman taking over earth. And UNIT pulls out a bazooka which I kind of love the ridiculousness of.

Overall, there is a lot of greatness in this story.  I loved the Brig and both Zoe and Isobel have some quality segments where they actually engage with Cyberman and do their own thing.