I'd tried to watch a solid handful of Four episodes before this and never got the appeal, but watching through in order has made me see the error of my ways.
Well, Tom Baker seasons 12-15 is now my favorite Classic Doctor I have seen and Tom Baker seasons 16-18 is my least favorite Classic Doctor I have seen.
Actually, I was reading through your Four tag a bit while I watched and it was like 'oh good, we agree on nothing.' Except Leela. Leela is amazing. I kept reading anyway tho because you're entertaining and I like disagreeing with people.
And the Nimons are pretty great.
But, like, Four got a lobotomy between seasons 15 and 16 or something. Which is sad because I want to like funny lighthearted episodes! And Romana! I was complaining to Elisi because Douglas Adams is in charge and the companion is a mega-smart, quippy lady who can take the Doctor down a peg and I hate everything, what is wrong with me?!?!!
Mostly I have a lot of conflicting feelings about every season of Four. Because Four is the best from about seasons 13-15 (he kinda reminds me of Twelve round about season nine? I always thought Four was mostly just spacey and weird and a bit rude, but this one has depth and it was very exciting!) and Sarah is pretty great as soon as you get her away from Harry, but the Hinchcliffe horror thing is dull, really. Leela fills me with unmitigated squee but there's a lot of dud episodes in her seasons and so help me, K9 makes me want to murder things. I want to like Romana and Four'n'Romana so much more than I do, expect in Shada and season 18 I do rather love them? And I want to like funny, lighthearted, caper-y Doctor Who so much more than I do, except City of Death, and Shada actually are excellent and I wish Adams had managed to write more episodes. Also Ribos Operation was good fun. And then season 18 is the first time that the writing has really been working for me AND THEY FINALLY KILLED K9 THANK YOU and Four is a bit better again, but he is still basically phoning it in.
^^^ No idea if all of that is just par for the course with Classic Who or if Four is special or if I am weird, but there it is.
Early Four kind of bores me and I like him a lot more once Romana shows up when he becomes one of my faves. If he'd left after S15 he'd be quite low on my list.
She tells Four he should blow something up! So she can be da bomb too.
Early Four kind of bores me and I like him a lot more once Romana shows up when he becomes one of my faves. If he'd left after S15 he'd be quite low on my list. Well, there's nothing for it; we shall have to be mortal enemies forever.
Can you answer a burning question for me first, though? Why do they keep having soft-focus shots of Tom Baker crouching in the underbrush like some exotic native maiden glimpsed tantalizingly through the butterflies and reeds? Because it's hysterical.
ENEMIES 4 LIFE!! LIKE THE DOCTOR AND THE MASTER!!! BUT LESS SEXUAL!!
Why do they keep having soft-focus shots of Tom Baker crouching in the underbrush like some exotic native maiden glimpsed tantalizingly through the butterflies and reeds?
To appeal to the weirdos who think he's beautiful?
I have been slacking my duties as your mortal enemy, but I promise to kill you in as unnecessarily dramatic and easily foil-able a way as possible today. Or maybe tomorrow.
To appeal to the weirdos who think he's beautiful? That hair! That nose! Such magnificent beauty!
Also he gets sacrificed a whole lot. He just has one of those faces that makes you go 'yes, I want to tie that to a blood-stained rock' I guess.
Actually, my first thought was 'why would you spoil this moment with Harry Sullivan?' but that is a fairly accurate depiction of how I was feeling round about season 16, so . . .
Are going to have a break or just plow onwards? I'm gonna keep going, though I think I might manage a slightly less insane pace now. Also I'm gonna watch some The Hour this weekend as a reward!
Actually, my first thought was 'why would you spoil this moment with Harry Sullivan?' but that is a fairly accurate depiction of how I was feeling round about season 16, so . . . It just made me laugh.
Also I'm gonna watch some The Hour this weekend as a reward! We watched ep 3 the other night and it was too late to watch ep 4 and it was very frustrating and we will probably watch it today.
I gather from your other comments that you don't like Harry Sullivan, and I used to love Harry Sullivan, but I also mostly watched 4 as a tween and as a tween I had questionable taste. My strongest memory of him is not any episode he was in, but an idea I had for a M*A*S*H/Doctor Who crossover. (I was watching a lot of both shows at the time, although I had not yet discovered fanfic or online fandom, so alas I never shared the details of this crossover with the world, and the details are long lost.)
I gather from your other comments that you don't like Harry Sullivan, and I used to love Harry Sullivan, but I also mostly watched 4 as a tween and as a tween I had questionable taste. Other people seem to like him too, so I am probably the weird one! But I swear I can't remember a thing about him other than he calls Sarah Jane 'old girl' a lot. Elisi and I decided that Steve the Silent is standing behind his shoulder at all times. They are lovers.
I think what really cements my hatred though is that Sarah Jane was so boring while he was on and then suddenly became massively better when he left.
My strongest memory of him is not any episode he was in, but an idea I had for a M*A*S*H/Doctor Who crossover. (I was watching a lot of both shows at the time, although I had not yet discovered fanfic or online fandom, so alas I never shared the details of this crossover with the world, and the details are long lost.) Alas! So are so many works of preteen genius lost.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 02:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 02:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 06:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:27 am (UTC)I am quite liking Five's writing team. It's v. exciting.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 04:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 09:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13 Dec 2018 12:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16 Dec 2018 08:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 07:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:32 am (UTC)So . . . ish?
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 12:16 pm (UTC)Actually, I was reading through your Four tag a bit while I watched and it was like 'oh good, we agree on nothing.' Except Leela. Leela is amazing. I kept reading anyway tho because you're entertaining and I like disagreeing with people.
And the Nimons are pretty great.
But, like, Four got a lobotomy between seasons 15 and 16 or something. Which is sad because I want to like funny lighthearted episodes! And Romana! I was complaining to Elisi because Douglas Adams is in charge and the companion is a mega-smart, quippy lady who can take the Doctor down a peg and I hate everything, what is wrong with me?!?!!
Mostly I have a lot of conflicting feelings about every season of Four. Because Four is the best from about seasons 13-15 (he kinda reminds me of Twelve round about season nine? I always thought Four was mostly just spacey and weird and a bit rude, but this one has depth and it was very exciting!) and Sarah is pretty great as soon as you get her away from Harry, but the Hinchcliffe horror thing is dull, really. Leela fills me with unmitigated squee but there's a lot of dud episodes in her seasons and so help me, K9 makes me want to murder things. I want to like Romana and Four'n'Romana so much more than I do, expect in Shada and season 18 I do rather love them? And I want to like funny, lighthearted, caper-y Doctor Who so much more than I do, except City of Death, and Shada actually are excellent and I wish Adams had managed to write more episodes. Also Ribos Operation was good fun. And then season 18 is the first time that the writing has really been working for me AND THEY FINALLY KILLED K9 THANK YOU and Four is a bit better again, but he is still basically phoning it in.
^^^ No idea if all of that is just par for the course with Classic Who or if Four is special or if I am weird, but there it is.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:57 pm (UTC)Yours is to be a fractal and continually find more depth.
That too! I am large. I contain multitudes.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 02:12 pm (UTC)Touche.
That too! I am large. I contain multitudes.
You are a TARDIS.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:56 pm (UTC)Early Four kind of bores me and I like him a lot more once Romana shows up when he becomes one of my faves. If he'd left after S15 he'd be quite low on my list.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 02:05 pm (UTC)Early Four kind of bores me and I like him a lot more once Romana shows up when he becomes one of my faves. If he'd left after S15 he'd be quite low on my list.
Well, there's nothing for it; we shall have to be mortal enemies forever.
Can you answer a burning question for me first, though? Why do they keep having soft-focus shots of Tom Baker crouching in the underbrush like some exotic native maiden glimpsed tantalizingly through the butterflies and reeds? Because it's hysterical.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 02:06 pm (UTC)Why do they keep having soft-focus shots of Tom Baker crouching in the underbrush like some exotic native maiden glimpsed tantalizingly through the butterflies and reeds?
To appeal to the weirdos who think he's beautiful?
(no subject)
Date: 13 Dec 2018 12:31 pm (UTC)To appeal to the weirdos who think he's beautiful?
That hair! That nose! Such magnificent beauty!
Also he gets sacrificed a whole lot. He just has one of those faces that makes you go 'yes, I want to tie that to a blood-stained rock' I guess.
(no subject)
Date: 13 Dec 2018 03:50 pm (UTC)Will we have undeniable sexual tension as well though?
I've never thought of Four as sexy but apparently Romana does so who am I to judge?
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 09:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 09:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 10:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:36 am (UTC)Though the new writing team has given me a fresh wind.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:47 am (UTC)Are going to have a break or just plow onwards?
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 12:21 pm (UTC)Are going to have a break or just plow onwards?
I'm gonna keep going, though I think I might manage a slightly less insane pace now. Also I'm gonna watch some The Hour this weekend as a reward!
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 12:28 pm (UTC)It just made me laugh.
Also I'm gonna watch some The Hour this weekend as a reward!
We watched ep 3 the other night and it was too late to watch ep 4 and it was very frustrating and we will probably watch it today.
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 01:59 pm (UTC)Quite right too. I even feel vaguely fond of him there for a moment.
We watched ep 3 the other night and it was too late to watch ep 4 and it was very frustrating and we will probably watch it today.
*hopeless squeeing*
(no subject)
Date: 8 Dec 2018 11:14 pm (UTC)But we'll get to The Hour, maybe tomorrow. :)
(no subject)
Date: 10 Dec 2018 01:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 13 Dec 2018 12:25 pm (UTC)Other people seem to like him too, so I am probably the weird one! But I swear I can't remember a thing about him other than he calls Sarah Jane 'old girl' a lot. Elisi and I decided that Steve the Silent is standing behind his shoulder at all times. They are lovers.
I think what really cements my hatred though is that Sarah Jane was so boring while he was on and then suddenly became massively better when he left.
My strongest memory of him is not any episode he was in, but an idea I had for a M*A*S*H/Doctor Who crossover. (I was watching a lot of both shows at the time, although I had not yet discovered fanfic or online fandom, so alas I never shared the details of this crossover with the world, and the details are long lost.)
Alas! So are so many works of preteen genius lost.
(no subject)
Date: 15 Dec 2018 07:24 pm (UTC)