The Five Doctors perfectly captures the spirit of getting all your favourite characters' action figures and pitting them against each other, it's glorious and all the richer for experiencing the preceding 19 years, good on you Sesska it's been an incredible journey and much like The Five Doctors itself, this was a joy to watch, there's a golden reaction moment every five seconds! It's amazing how effortlessly Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee slip back into their roles and Richard Hurndall was a great choice to portray the 1st Doctor. Maybe I'm biased because he's my favourite but I always thought Three gets best served in this special - Bessie, a reunion with Sarah Jane, his archenemy (not Delgado alas but still one of Anthony Ainley's best turns as The Master), faces the Cybermen which he never did during his era, the Raston robot encounter, zipline to the Tower action, the classic reverse the polarity line and best of all teams up with the Brig to K.O The Master. Absolutely legendary.
There is a 1980-ish board game (which I misplaced last year, dammit), which is literally different incarnations of the Doctor competing for the Key of Time. The Doctor tokens are generic, but they had companions from Susan up to Sarah Jane, iconic monsters and gadgets. And it used a 12-sided die for combat. A lot of fun. (K-9 was the best discovered companion, because his blaster provided a much bigger combat bonus than the rest of the companions meager +1.)
Unfortunately William Hartnell passed away in 1975 also Tom Baker was not interested in doing the Doctor so soon after leaving the role. So to play the 1st Doctor actor Richard Hurndall was brought in and scenes from he unfinished Shada serial were used for Tom.
Sadly Hurndall himself passed away before he got paid for this story. Tom was struggling to shake off Doctor Who and get other acting jobs at this time, so we can probably understand his reluctance to appear. He has since said he regrets turning it down.
@@chrispalmer7893 Yes, IIRC, he later said that he wished he'd taken himself a little less seriously and instead had gone and had fun with everybody else. Still, it's probably for the best, because he still cast such a long shadow over the show Dicks was apparently going to write him as the main character and give everybody else - including Davison - side-plots. As it is the plots are fairly well distributed, with Davison having the edge as the incumbent, which is as it should be.
@@chrispalmer7893Actually the bit about Hurndall not being paid for working on the special is untrue as surviving paperwork indicates he was paid and claimed expenses from BBC around the time the episode was filmed until late 1983. Sadly he died in April 1984 less than six months after it was shown.
The excitement she is feeling is reflective of what i felt watching this in real time back in the day. I recorded this on cassette tape and listened to it in the car for WEEKS!
Re: Sarahs fall. The script called for her to fall off a cliff and cling to a root or something until the Doctor recued her. However due to the danger of the stunt and lack of suitable cliff edges at the chosen location it was changed to Sarah falling down a slight incline.
I remember them talking about it on a documentary about the anniversary special. There wasn't much Elizabeth Sladen could do to make it look realistic.
Thank you to you and your editor for blurring the title. I've been looking forward to your reaction to this since you began with Who, and it's nice that the surprise was preserved!
See, this I disagree with. If the idea is to get a 'true' reaction, then i feel like having the same info as someone who watched at the time is the way to go. Like, it's not like people viewing this special when it aired had no idea what it was about (heck, Seska seems to have known this story was coming!). I get being careful about spoilers, but I don't think info that's part of the promotion (or even the episode, like a title card) from the time is spoilers. *shrugs*
The humblebrag about channels that "don't have the stamina to go through Classic Who". Iconic! :D Warms my heart to see you having so much fun with this. Especially the Second Doctor and Brigadier moments. I think that pairing is the highlight of this story. Also, I don't think I've ever heard you say "bro", so when you said "bro, shut up" to Castellan, it was clearly serious! I just watched this yesterday for the first time and I wondered the same thing as you, if Susan tripping was an in-joke. I always hated that when it happened in her episodes, so maybe they were making fun of that trope too. And I love that you have a Cyberman action figure at the side for this reaction. :)
"The seal of the High Council of Gallifrey. Nicked it from the Master in the death zone." -11th Doctor, The Time of the Doctor. I love the implication that he's just had that in his pocket for all that time.
Then, between third's and fifth's passages through this story, when he can't remember it, how does he attribute that he has got it and why he should keep it ?
@@conscienceaginBlackadder Actually, if you go back, you'll see Sarah grabs it and tucks it away. Likely, she gave it back to The Doctor after she met him again in School Reunion.
"one more car chase" is a perfect reaction to seeing Jon Pertwee again. I do think it's an excellent twist that the Time Lords send the Master in to try to rescue the Doctor, but he won't believe he's telling the truth when they meet him. Tom Baker not coming back is mostly a case of it's too recent for him to think it was a good idea to come back so soon. But, it was him declining to do it rather than he was too busy doing something else to be able to if he had wanted.
I think John Pertwee said it best, "Tom was being Tom." There are some publicity photos on line showing the actors in costume around Bessie. Tom is always in the exact same pose because they used Madame Trudaus Wax Museum dummy of Tom in costume.
Tom Baker had just left/fired from Doctor Who.* He didn't get along with the showrunner. So it was way too soon for him. Tom was in the middle of getting divorced while trying to break into Hollywood. Baker has never hidden the fact he was a very demanding co-worker, and he really never socialized with the other Doctors. John Pertwee and Tom Baker didn't get along. *Tom had given two explanations, one that he just quit, the other JNT wanted him gone. Turner felt that Bakers was bringing the show down.
@@Lukecash2Tom resigned, he had "resigned " on a virtually annual basis since around 1978 but Graham Williams had always persuaded him to stay. John Nathan-Turner, somewhat to Tom's surprise, accepted his resignation. Nathan-Turner as a new Producer (showrunner is a 21st century role that is somewhat different) had plans for the series that didn't include the incumbent star. Whilst the two didn't see eye to eye creatively, JN-T did respect Tom's long service to the programme and Tom understood John as a "new broom" was determined to change the show - they were hospitable to each other despite their differences, for the sake of the immediate production at least. Though Tom remained difficult to work with - the production of State of Decay being particularly fraught. Tom had divorced Lalla in 1982. He was distancing himself from the role of the Doctor and took a while to be convinced to join the production, at one point demanding a bigger role. He felt very proprietorial about the role. He didn't get on with Pertwee and felt he wouldn't be able to shine in such a production. Despite at one point agreeing to appear, he eventually passed on the project in early 1983. The Five Doctors filmed in March 1983. Tom did however appear at the Longleat celebration over the Easter weekend that year.
Yeah there's a lot going on in the background for this one, but it comes together really well! The actor playing the 1st Doctor is Richard Hurndall, who one of the production team spotted in an episode of Blakes 7 (another great classic UK Sci-Fi show, written by Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, which i think you would LOVE just for the savageness of some of the sass between the main characters) and figured he would be a good substitute for the special. Like David Bradley, i think he does a pretty good job! There are mixed stories on why Tom didn't want to come back. He's said he felt it was too soon after he left, and there's the odd story about him being uncertain that he'd like playing the role alongside all the others rather than just himself. There's also an impression that he wasn't a huge fan of producer John Nathan Turner and the changes he made to the series in Tom's last season, so that might be part of it. Personally i don't mind, just makes his cameo in the 50th so much more special!
I think all of that is true - Tom hated the more serious tone JNT imposed for his final season; it probably didn’t help that he first knew him as a line producer. Tom almost certainly felt - with some justification - that JNT was a bean counter, not a creative producer. Tom has said he now regrets not appearing, but you have to remember that the Shanda footage has never been seen at that point and it was still pretty exciting to get just that.
God, I love the Five Doctors! :D This is why we have specials, it's to remind us that the show can go full circle and hit us on all the familiar feelings.
Terrance Dicks was given a "shopping list" brief for elements to include in this story and it shows. Nevertheless he crafted a very enjoyable, crowd pleasing love letter to the show, not to mention some lovely little lore for incurable nerds like myself
I've been waiting for this one for as long as I've been following you. The very first reaction of yours that I watched was on the day that The Three Doctors randomly appeared on my feed. Yes, three different actors have played the First Doctor. Sadly, Richard Hurdnal passed away soon after his appearance here. The script originally called for Susan to call the Doctor "Doctor" rather than "grandfather" because BBC didn't want to have their audience thinking about the Doctor having sex. Really. Thankfully Carole Ann Ford, who was very close to William Hartnell, refused to do it unless she got to call him "grandfather". The reason you've seen that scene with Tom Baker is because yes, he declined to appear, and they didn't expect to ever release Shada. Had Baker appeared, the pairings would have been 4th Doctor with Sarah Jane and the 3rd Doctor with the Brigadier.
I once read a rumour that Richard Hurdnal never got paid for his work on this special, but no idea how true that might be. I didn't know about the "Grandfather" issue. It certainly is a far cry from modern Who, who has appeared in a state of undress and routinely snogs people!
Been so excited to reach this one, your reaction did not disappoint. Even though it's not the end of classic who, this does feel like the story all these years of reacting to classic who have been building up to so it's great to finally have the pay off. I also agree that maybe a Five-ish Doctors reaction would've been better for after classic who, but it's still fine to have seen it with the rest of the 50th celebrations.
It's insane that Clone Wars/Rebels/Bad Batch came to an end this year and next year might be the end of Classic Who. The channel Is going to feel so different. Truly a new era.
@@talgoren2246 well since she read summaries instead of reacting to the reconstructions of lost episodes (just the sound with still images) she might find it difficult to react to Big Finish since they have no visuals. (Except the cover art, I guess.) Also they're a bit more niche so it'd be a pretty big risk in terms of views. But anything's possible, maybe if there's enough demand from the viewers she'll try one or two and see how it goes, but there are so many it can be difficult to know where to start. (The Eighth Doctor stuff probably.) We'll just wait and see I guess.
Notice the new Tardis control console? Looks amazing. When you’ve finished Classic Who I would love for you to react to Blake’s 7. There’s many Doctor Who connections there and it’s a terrific series. I remember watching The Five Doctors at the time. There was a huge buzz of excitement in the air. I recorded it on VHS 📼 and must have watched it hundreds of times. Great reaction!
@@danniemadsen1996there is some great big finish stories but not sure Jess is interested in doing audio reactions but would be great if she checked some of it out.
It was wonderful to see your reaction to the five Doctors. It is one of my all time favourite episodes I was 13 in 1983 when it first aired and I have never tiered of it. You are fantastic.
I have some big memories with my dad’s VHS copy of this. Also, the closing theme to this special is especially cool with the 1963 version of the theme bleeding into the 1980 theme.
I wasn't sure if that was directed at anyone in particular. It's a hell of a task getting through 26 seasons of Classic Who and too much for the majority of reactors. Respect to Jess for doing it.
I did watch the Blindwave reaction and they did admit that they’d be judging from a contemporary viewpoint. Which did come across at times as ridicule (Especially with warrior robot ) No shade to them because I like their channel and they admitted that their suspension of disbelief for Classic Doctor Who would be too much. They know they would upset fans by essentially making fun of the show.
The Five Doctors always holds a special place in my heart, being one of the first Doctor Who stories I owned on DVD, and is entertainingly nostalgic experience for me whenever I watch it. While I do prefer both The Three Doctors and The Day of the Doctor better with this playing a bit too safe with its paint-by-numbers/tick-box approach with nothing much to surprise, it's still a fun celebration of Doctor Who's then 20-year history with the returning Doctors and companions reminding us why we loved them to begin with. Behind the scenes, there were plenty bumps and hurdles along the way in making this story happen. When producer John Nathan-Turner started his decade-long stint as Doctor Who's showrunner, he was against having returning writers with an emphasis on new ones instead, but an exception was made with this story with the legendary Robert Holmes having the first stab at it. However, he found the huge list of requirements from Nathan-Turner and script editor Eric Saward to be overbearing and creatively-stiffling, so the role of writer was passed on to the equally legendary Terrence Dicks. In early drafts of the script, some of the Doctor and companion team-ups were different. Originally, the Fourth Doctor would have been paired with Sarah Jane Smith, the Third Doctor with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Second Doctor with Jamie McCrimmon. However, Frazer Hines, Jamie's actor, proved to be unavailable for a lengthy shoot. Further complications arose when Tom Baker decided he did not want to be a part of the 20th anniversary special. Coming so soon (nearly two years) after his long seven-year tenure as the Doctor, he was wisely trying to distance himself from both the character and the show for typecasting reasons, plus he wasn't entirely comfortable with sharing the screen with four other incarnations, saying an interview, "I didn't want to play 20 per cent of the part. I didn't fancy being a feed for other Doctors. In fact, it filled me with horror." To get around this problem, they recycled clips from Shada. Another problem to solve was the unfortunate absence of William Hartnell, who sadly passed away several years prior in 1975. As a solution, Nathan-Turner recast the role with Richard Hurndall stepping in to play the First Doctor.
"The Five Doctors" was actually my first experience of the First Doctor and the Second Doctor. While our local PBS had brought the show to us a couple of years before, they'd started their broadcasts late in the Third Doctor's run, used it as post-midnight filler, bouncing the starting time around, and even then made a mismash of the viewing order. It wasn't until the Fourth Doctor that the viewing order ironed out, though the start time continued to vary some to my great frustration. I was a young teen at the time and had an old black-and-white in my bedroom, so I didn't see the show in color for a while. I took great pains to hide watching it from my parents as we all were supposed to be asleep. :) However, I was allowed to watch the premier of "The Five Doctors" on the living room color console TV, and it broadcast during normal viewing hours to my great delight. While I didn't know the First or Second Doctors the whole production had me terribly excited, much like your reaction.
This is been a long time coming which I've been massively looking forward to & your reaction to it was well worth the wait! I got fairly emotional through watching you seeing parts of this story. Did you or anyone notice that you have a symbol representing the number 5 in plain sight in this reaction just as you had a symbol of 3 in your reaction to The Three Doctors, both while not knowing what was coming? That was quite a coincidence! Hugely stoked to see you reaction for the second half!
Originally Victoria was to be in it too-even appearing in an early publicity shot-but Debbie Watling ultimately was unable to take part.Frazer Hines could only cameo due to his major role in British Soap "Emmerdale Farm" (this also explains why he was replaced by Sgt Benton 10 years earlier)🎩
This brings back so many wonderful memories of my childhood. I started watching Dr. Who at the end of the 4th Dr era and into the 5th. I was aware of previous incarnations, but this was my first experience of them so this special will always be one of my favourites. At the time, I only knew Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge, so it was really trippy for my 10 year old self to see him as Dr Who 😂
I'm glad you didn't know the title, that made it so much better!! 💖 Susan... what gets me is all the fans now who yearn for Susan to return saying "the Doctor never went back." They ALWAYS seem to forget This Story! They have already been reunited on screen! If she did return this should not be forgotten. For me her meeting 8th Doc and Lucy in the audios is enough of a reunion, but I get people want her back on screen, satisfies nostalgia instinct, I get it. I just say, if it happens, there should be no dialogue to contradict the 5 Doctors or her audio work.
This is exactly the reaction we needed! I think it's great that despite knowing The Five Doctors existed, it still managed to sneak up on you - so you (and we) could have that first shock of realization, and then immediately settle in to enjoy the heck out of it, as you should. It makes perfect sense that it would seem so far off in the future that you didn't realize you had arrived at the moment at last, so I don't think you should feel stupid about it at all. I'm loving this, and looking forward to the next part!
And of course, the first time you watched it, you presumably denied yourself the pleasure of knowing what the title was, too, just in case you could be pleasantly surprised at your own reaction. Thought not.
@@wispa1a well, no, not me anyway. I can just about cope with one of her overly dramatic performances per week. Fortunately, for me, she's just finished Fallout season 1 so I just have to put up one per week. 😁
It feels like I have been waiting forever for Sesska to react to this. I love your reaction to part 1 and can't wait to see your reaction to part 2! I can see how the twentieth anniversary special and "The Five Doctors" were not clicking to you as being one in the same. It snuck up on you like you said. I know how you have enjoyed the classic Doctors and companions that reappear here and was heartened to see your reaction to see each character appear on the screen. I can't believe we are getting close to your classic series reactions as a whole in about a year's time. I hope that maybe when we get to that point you see some of the semi-official direct-to-video releases that are related to Doctor Who.
For me a great anniversary story which captures all the emotions you want wrapped up in an entertaining story. Love your classic who reactions, such a joy to see you fall in love with classic Who. Still some great stories to come.
'Five Doctors' also has one ofthe best outtakes in the shows history. If you look for it on youtube you'll probably find it. When the Dalek is chasing 1 and Susan through the corridors he goes wrong at one point. Hence the actor saying, in full Dalek voice, "Bug-ger, I've lost 'em!"
19:57 This Seal The Doctor puts in his pocket is the same item he pulls out in "The Time of the Doctor" (Matt Smith's last episode), that he has "Chuckles" scan to decrypt the signal coming from the crack. Took me years to realize this.
Great reaction as always! At 19:52 The Master gives him the seal of the high council and says he’ll return it to him… only for him to never do that and he brings the seal back out as Matt’s doctor in his final episode, he puts it ontop of handles I believe its to authenticate the message through the crack on Trensalore is from the time lords
Tom didn't think it would be appropriate to return so soon after a long career as the Doctor. William Hartnell had been dead for 10 years by this stage. Richard Hurndall did his best as a replacement. There is so much in this story that is referred to later in the New Who era. The seal that the 3rd Doctor takes from the Master is used by the 11th Doctor in The Time of the Doctor. The musical sting with the trumpets is used in The End Of Time when Rasillon (as played by Tim Dalton) gets "sent back to hell". Clips from this episode are used in The Day Of The Doctor.
There is apparently a 2023 Bluetooth version where they update some of the effects and backdrops in the movie, I just happened to see a recent three way comparison with 3 different edits. But it is the treasured memories of the original versions we watch that are always important (but the 2023 edit does look bloody awesome).
Almost 6 years ago Fandango did an event here showing the entirety of the special in theaters. That was a truly amazing time for my family as we seen it together.
Bravo Jess, we salute your stamina! 🤣And so it came to pass... its only the Five ruddy Doctors!! Smiled all the way through your wonderful reaction to this momentous story 😃
In the 90s, Doctor Who Magazine had 1-page short stories ("Brief Encounters") that were exclusive to the publication. One was with the First Doctor, set just after The Dalek Masterplan, where The Doctor is in a rose garden and is reminded of Susan's Gallifreyan name, which means 'Rose' (coincidence there with the 2005 revival). He wrestles with his guilt of leaving her on Earth in 2164 before deciding that he did the right thing. The story ended with the triangular time-scoop from "The Five Doctors" coming across the horizon towards the rose garden...very nicely done. The Five Doctors was one I borrowed on VHS when I was getting into Doctor Who as a kid in the 90s. I learnt so much lore and backstory from this special
Seeing the Shada scenes from the 4th Doctor and Romana II is always such bliss. It wasn't until the early 90s we got to see a Shada release with the unfinished story edited together. Until then it was just some exquisite Douglas Adams dialogue with two fabulous characters in love on a little holiday in Cambridge.
The 4th doctor and Romana was from Shada which wasn't fully made until 2015 and K-9 being with Sarah Jane was from a 1 episode show called K-9 and Company and was the Mark 3 K-9 that the doctor posted to Sarah.
It's kind of fascinating that even though K-9 and Company was not a really successful spin-off, they still maintained the continuity both here and in modern Who
I think you really enjoyed this seeing all the 5 Doctors and the assortment of conpanions I remember watching this as went out I was so disappointed Tom Baker didn't want to appear, but it was great seeing Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and of course Nicholas Courtney.
A couple of things to touch upon. First, I had issues with my DVD collection so I went through each story from the beginning including some later releases such as Tenth Planet so I can relate to how long it can take to go through each story in real time. You are doing a tremendous job! Second, William Hartnell died in April of 1975 so obviously, as you said, he wasn't available for this story and his replacement, Richard Hurdnall, passed away shortly after this story in April of 1984. He stated that his goal was not to try to be an exact duplicate of Hartnell as he felt it would be disrespectful, but rather his own take on the character of the first Doctor. Third, Tom Baker didn't return because he felt it was too soon after his own time on the show and still felt a bit territorial about it so Terrance Dicks decided to use the , at that time, unused film from Shada to put him into a time eddy to get him out of the way. But in the early versions, Tom had the lion's share of the dialog and action due to his popularity and originally he did consider returning for this. But that is why you have some of his lines being used by Davison like the Alice quote about impossible things before breakfast and the so sorry, must dash. Rewatch that and think of Tom Baker saying the lines. Fourth, Not listening to K9. It is a bit like a horror movie. People shouting out, don't go in there in the theater but the actors in the movies do that anyway. Fifth, The Master. Again Terrance Dicks had considered having him as the big baddy for the story but felt it was WAY too obvious and as far as the high council, they knew they could offer the new regeneration cycle to him and he would snap it up (The Ainley version being a Trakenite body and unable to regenerate as his Gallifreyan one could) and more likely than not, the council figured he would die in the attempt so they wouldn't have to pay up. Plus, after at least one Time Lord having died before, I doubt there were a lot of volunteers lined up for the job.
The Toim Baker/4th Doctor footage was taken from the then unfinished story "Shada". Around 4 or 5 years ago they released a NEW completed version of "Shada" where the missing chapters were don in animation. You may have seen that version of it. - The Music Loving Klingon
I loved this episode, and am grinning ear to ear at your reaction to seeing everyone again. I still think it would have been awesome if Tom Baker had said yes to being a part of it (Also, I crack up at Anthony Aienly’s Master character’s reaction to being asked by the high council to help the Doctor😂)
When this story was shown I was 14 and had to wait two more years to be 16 and leave school, and also I thought the locations were awesome and pretty and also seeing the 3rd Doctor back behind the wheel of his yellow car Bessie was awesome too.
I can’t see a reaction to the Five Doctors without being transported back to 1983. This was shown as a feature-length episode during Children in Need (starting the tradition of Who-related CinN content). It was the subject of a huge row at home. The last hour conflicted with the A Team on ITV and we only had one colour TV. My brother was a big A Team fan and one of us was going to have to use the tiny portable black and white TV instead. My mothers compromise - which I still think was outrageous; the A Team was on every week, this was a one-off special 1 was that we’d start watching the Five Doctors on the colour TV and then I’d have to go and watch the end in black and white. In the end, my brother got so engrossed in The Five Doctors that he forgot all about the A Team that night…
I've watched this 3 times in 24 hours now, and the moment when you tearfully exclaimed "This is The Five Doctors isn't it" tugged at my 50 year old Whovian heart 😊 How wonderful that Uncle Terry's 20th anniversary story still brings joy to Whovians even today. Best reaction to anything ever. Much love
Fun Trivia: -Carol Ann Ford had to convince the creative team to let Susan call the Doctor “grandfather” because they wanted to remove the implication the doctor had biological children and grandchildren. -Sarah Jane’s fall is the cliffhanger to an edited 4 part version of this story. -Kamelion is meant to be around, they just didn’t bother including him (as far as we know, he’s a shapeshifter after all). -Supposedly the Quarks were meant to appear -Originally, Instead of the Brigadier, The Second Doctor was meant to be paired with Jamie or Victoria. -Benton was originally meant to appear.
This 20th anniversary special was like Christmas Day when I first saw it in 1983 ( I was 13). The second time I had this feeling in Dr Who was the Tennant episode with the Daleks vs Cybermen "Doomsday" (I checked your channel to make sure you had seen that episode before mentioning it)
It’s one of the first stories I can remember watching too - though I saw it when it first went out in 1983. I had a poster of this at the time too and I also pinned up the front cover of that week’s Radio Times.
@@UA-camMrP Aw that's cool! My dad saw it when it went out, but he'd grown up watching it during the 70s and also saw The Three Doctors go out. I remember me and my brother with the special edition DVD in my dad's room figuring things out together. I only saw a couple more before the revival, but basically watched new and classic intertwined as my dad go the DVDs and new Series released.
Honestly I am so happy to see you reacting to The Five Doctors. 😊It's one of my favourite multi-Doctor stories (as well as the first one I saw, and the first 5th Doctor story I saw, via a VHS my Dad had when I was a kid), and just seeing your reactions to everything made me smile. Love your reactions to Classic Who, and I hope your day treats you well!
Great reaction. Back in 1983 it was no surprise for viewers, i think it was known in early 83 this was happening. Shocks and surprises were rare, Earthshock cybermen and Adric's death being 2
I read JN-T was already planning this special as early as late 1981. He wanted to make sure actors would be free and the writing and recording would overcome any unforeseen hitches, which most notably was the declining of Robert Holmes to write it.
FINALLY! 🥳 I’ve been looking forward to this since you started Classic Who. It’s one of my favourite stories/episodes of all time from the show. I’m a sucker for anniversaries, especially ones that involve previous characters meeting current (or from their point of view, future) ones.
Robert Holmes, who had given us such heart-stoppers as 'Terror of the Autons' and 'Pyramids of Mars', was first choice to pen the anniversary tale. But he was soon disheartened by the ever-changing list of demands from the production office, who were trying to get THIS companion or THAT Doctor (namely Tom Baker, who ultimately declined to take part). Stepping into the breach like a lisping Henry V was former script-editor and elder statesman of Whovianology Terrance Dicks, who delivered the final product. Dicks had been involved with the show at script level since the days of Troughton and Hines (he even co-wrote 'The War Games' - not coincidentally), but was probably best-loved by younger fans for his adaptations of TV stories for WH Allen's successful series of novelisations. Indeed, if you were a child fan in the early 1980s. chances were you only knew the earlier Doctors through one of his books!
I was so looking foward for you to watch this one. ❤❤ Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor was great, but is so amazing to see Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee back as 2 and 3, their performance is still so on point it feells like they've never left. I can't wait for next friday.
The Doctor would hang on to the Seal of Rassilon well into Eleven's time. In fact Eleven would plug it into Handles to translate the message over Trenzalore in the 50th anniversary special.
That dial that the master had that the Doctor took is the same one that the 11th doctor would use in his final hour. He never returned it to the Time Lords XD
Seeing your reaction to this story breathes such new life into the experience of watching it. :) I was 6 when this came out, so Peter Davison was "my" Doctor. I am pretty sure by this point that I had already seen re-runs of Jon and Tom, but they weren't showing re-runs of b&w WHO, so I may have seen Patrick and William in The Three Doctors, but basically didn't really know them. I knew that there was going to be "all 5" Doctors in the story (though Tom refused to take part for his own reasons), so whilst it was exciting seeing everyone, it wasn't such a shock as what you just went through! Because it was movie length, it wasn't shown at 5.30pm like normal WHO - it was probably 8pm, meaning little 6yo me was up way past my bedtime; I know my eyes were drooping by the end. Because this was all pre-VHS, I didn't even get to see The Five Doctors again for about another 5 years when we finally got a VCR! (And we wore out our first copy, bought a second one, then bought the Special Edition VHS in 95... and then the DVD in 99... and the DVD SE... and now the BluRay Collection. Yes, The Five Doctors has the most different versions of any Doctor Who story out there.
A funnt story about filming the scene whre Three and SJ meet. It was so cold you could see Jon and Liz going blue even under the makeup. The only way to fix the problem was for them to start slapping each other in the face, something both were keen to do, as they spent a few minutes doing so while giggling the whole time. I remember reading that John Nathan Turner offered to help, but they shot him down. This special spawned a few references in NuWho. Two commenting on the Brigadier's office redecoration was copied in Eleven's in Closing Time and the 50th anniversary (by Ten). :P In Night of the Doctor, Eleven places the Seal of the High Council on Handles, who uses it to decode the signal coming from Trenzalore. The entrances to Rassilon's Tower, as heard in the nursery rhyme Two sang, was referenced in Rise of the Cybermen, with Ten telling the gang about the three entrances to Lumic's factory, ie above, between, below. Lastly, of course, the Master finally got his chance to follow through on his promise to destroy the Time Lords with the Cybermen in The Timeless Child. At the time The Five Doctors was made Shada, being an unfinished story, would have been considered unusable. There was a very limited home video market at the time, as tapes were a couple hundred dollars each, so the idea of releasing what they had of Shada was inconceivable. As Tom didn't want to appear and they still owned the rights to his image, the decision was made to use the never-going-to-be-seen material to make up the numbers for the show.
The Five Doctors perfectly captures the spirit of getting all your favourite characters' action figures and pitting them against each other, it's glorious and all the richer for experiencing the preceding 19 years, good on you Sesska it's been an incredible journey and much like The Five Doctors itself, this was a joy to watch, there's a golden reaction moment every five seconds! It's amazing how effortlessly Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee slip back into their roles and Richard Hurndall was a great choice to portray the 1st Doctor. Maybe I'm biased because he's my favourite but I always thought Three gets best served in this special - Bessie, a reunion with Sarah Jane, his archenemy (not Delgado alas but still one of Anthony Ainley's best turns as The Master), faces the Cybermen which he never did during his era, the Raston robot encounter, zipline to the Tower action, the classic reverse the polarity line and best of all teams up with the Brig to K.O The Master. Absolutely legendary.
I strongly suspect that Moffat loves The Five Doctors as so many of his big stories have that same 'action figure mashup' feel.
the original thing was with 1st dr dalecks 2nd dr yeti 3rd dr autons 4th never stared the 5th story
There is a 1980-ish board game (which I misplaced last year, dammit), which is literally different incarnations of the Doctor competing for the Key of Time. The Doctor tokens are generic, but they had companions from Susan up to Sarah Jane, iconic monsters and gadgets. And it used a 12-sided die for combat. A lot of fun.
(K-9 was the best discovered companion, because his blaster provided a much bigger combat bonus than the rest of the companions meager +1.)
Unfortunately William Hartnell passed away in 1975 also Tom Baker was not interested in doing the Doctor so soon after leaving the role. So to play the 1st Doctor actor Richard Hurndall was brought in and scenes from he unfinished Shada serial were used for Tom.
And Tom's wax figure was used for promotion
Sadly Hurndall himself passed away before he got paid for this story. Tom was struggling to shake off Doctor Who and get other acting jobs at this time, so we can probably understand his reluctance to appear. He has since said he regrets turning it down.
@@chrispalmer7893 Yes, IIRC, he later said that he wished he'd taken himself a little less seriously and instead had gone and had fun with everybody else.
Still, it's probably for the best, because he still cast such a long shadow over the show Dicks was apparently going to write him as the main character and give everybody else - including Davison - side-plots. As it is the plots are fairly well distributed, with Davison having the edge as the incumbent, which is as it should be.
@@chrispalmer7893Actually the bit about Hurndall not being paid for working on the special is untrue as surviving paperwork indicates he was paid and claimed expenses from BBC around the time the episode was filmed until late 1983. Sadly he died in April 1984 less than six months after it was shown.
Hartnell's passing is the reason that they added that clip of him at the start.
And the Doctor STILL hasn't returned the Master's borrowed Seal to the High Council! Good job too - Eleven certainly needed it on Trenzalore...
A truly heartwarming reaction Sesska. Many thanks, a 7 year old in 1983 UK ❤
The excitement she is feeling is reflective of what i felt watching this in real time back in the day. I recorded this on cassette tape and listened to it in the car for WEEKS!
Re: Sarahs fall. The script called for her to fall off a cliff and cling to a root or something until the Doctor recued her. However due to the danger of the stunt and lack of suitable cliff edges at the chosen location it was changed to Sarah falling down a slight incline.
Much to the annoyance of Elizabeth Sladen.
The script initially called for her to be attacked by Autons.
@@mdatkinson92 But of course, budget. Suppose she was chased by an Axon, Ogron, or a Sontaran?
I remember them talking about it on a documentary about the anniversary special. There wasn't much Elizabeth Sladen could do to make it look realistic.
Thank you to you and your editor for blurring the title. I've been looking forward to your reaction to this since you began with Who, and it's nice that the surprise was preserved!
See, this I disagree with. If the idea is to get a 'true' reaction, then i feel like having the same info as someone who watched at the time is the way to go. Like, it's not like people viewing this special when it aired had no idea what it was about (heck, Seska seems to have known this story was coming!). I get being careful about spoilers, but I don't think info that's part of the promotion (or even the episode, like a title card) from the time is spoilers. *shrugs*
The humblebrag about channels that "don't have the stamina to go through Classic Who". Iconic! :D
Warms my heart to see you having so much fun with this. Especially the Second Doctor and Brigadier moments. I think that pairing is the highlight of this story. Also, I don't think I've ever heard you say "bro", so when you said "bro, shut up" to Castellan, it was clearly serious!
I just watched this yesterday for the first time and I wondered the same thing as you, if Susan tripping was an in-joke. I always hated that when it happened in her episodes, so maybe they were making fun of that trope too. And I love that you have a Cyberman action figure at the side for this reaction. :)
"The seal of the High Council of Gallifrey. Nicked it from the Master in the death zone." -11th Doctor, The Time of the Doctor. I love the implication that he's just had that in his pocket for all that time.
Probably has. Time Lord pockets are bigger on the inside.
Then, between third's and fifth's passages through this story, when he can't remember it, how does he attribute that he has got it and why he should keep it ?
@@conscienceaginBlackadderthe 5th Doctor probably only realised he still had the seal when he was already fleeing Gallifrey with extreme predjudice.
@@conscienceaginBlackadder Actually, if you go back, you'll see Sarah grabs it and tucks it away. Likely, she gave it back to The Doctor after she met him again in School Reunion.
22:20 I love it when randomly a piece of recognisable Douglas Adams writing pops up in British SciFi!
"one more car chase" is a perfect reaction to seeing Jon Pertwee again. I do think it's an excellent twist that the Time Lords send the Master in to try to rescue the Doctor, but he won't believe he's telling the truth when they meet him.
Tom Baker not coming back is mostly a case of it's too recent for him to think it was a good idea to come back so soon. But, it was him declining to do it rather than he was too busy doing something else to be able to if he had wanted.
I think John Pertwee said it best, "Tom was being Tom." There are some publicity photos on line showing the actors in costume around Bessie. Tom is always in the exact same pose because they used Madame Trudaus Wax Museum dummy of Tom in costume.
They were all messing around and teasing the Tom prop too, which Lis Sladen said actually quietly upset her.
Tom Baker had just left/fired from Doctor Who.* He didn't get along with the showrunner. So it was way too soon for him.
Tom was in the middle of getting divorced while trying to break into Hollywood.
Baker has never hidden the fact he was a very demanding co-worker, and he really never socialized with the other Doctors. John Pertwee and Tom Baker didn't get along.
*Tom had given two explanations, one that he just quit, the other JNT wanted him gone. Turner felt that Bakers was bringing the show down.
@@Lukecash2Tom resigned, he had "resigned " on a virtually annual basis since around 1978 but Graham Williams had always persuaded him to stay. John Nathan-Turner, somewhat to Tom's surprise, accepted his resignation.
Nathan-Turner as a new Producer (showrunner is a 21st century role that is somewhat different) had plans for the series that didn't include the incumbent star. Whilst the two didn't see eye to eye creatively, JN-T did respect Tom's long service to the programme and Tom understood John as a "new broom" was determined to change the show - they were hospitable to each other despite their differences, for the sake of the immediate production at least. Though Tom remained difficult to work with - the production of State of Decay being particularly fraught.
Tom had divorced Lalla in 1982. He was distancing himself from the role of the Doctor and took a while to be convinced to join the production, at one point demanding a bigger role.
He felt very proprietorial about the role. He didn't get on with Pertwee and felt he wouldn't be able to shine in such a production. Despite at one point agreeing to appear, he eventually passed on the project in early 1983.
The Five Doctors filmed in March 1983. Tom did however appear at the Longleat celebration over the Easter weekend that year.
Sarah Jane making herself fall down that near horizontal slope is hilarious.
Yeah there's a lot going on in the background for this one, but it comes together really well!
The actor playing the 1st Doctor is Richard Hurndall, who one of the production team spotted in an episode of Blakes 7 (another great classic UK Sci-Fi show, written by Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, which i think you would LOVE just for the savageness of some of the sass between the main characters) and figured he would be a good substitute for the special. Like David Bradley, i think he does a pretty good job!
There are mixed stories on why Tom didn't want to come back. He's said he felt it was too soon after he left, and there's the odd story about him being uncertain that he'd like playing the role alongside all the others rather than just himself. There's also an impression that he wasn't a huge fan of producer John Nathan Turner and the changes he made to the series in Tom's last season, so that might be part of it. Personally i don't mind, just makes his cameo in the 50th so much more special!
I think all of that is true - Tom hated the more serious tone JNT imposed for his final season; it probably didn’t help that he first knew him as a line producer. Tom almost certainly felt - with some justification - that JNT was a bean counter, not a creative producer. Tom has said he now regrets not appearing, but you have to remember that the Shanda footage has never been seen at that point and it was still pretty exciting to get just that.
God, I love the Five Doctors! :D
This is why we have specials, it's to remind us that the show can go full circle and hit us on all the familiar feelings.
Your reaction felt like a birthday and Christmas morning rolled into one! I can't wait for Part 2.
I've seen this so many times but your genuine and strong reactions are making me see it in a new light all over again! Thank you!
Terrance Dicks was given a "shopping list" brief for elements to include in this story and it shows. Nevertheless he crafted a very enjoyable, crowd pleasing love letter to the show, not to mention some lovely little lore for incurable nerds like myself
I've been waiting for this one for as long as I've been following you. The very first reaction of yours that I watched was on the day that The Three Doctors randomly appeared on my feed.
Yes, three different actors have played the First Doctor. Sadly, Richard Hurdnal passed away soon after his appearance here. The script originally called for Susan to call the Doctor "Doctor" rather than "grandfather" because BBC didn't want to have their audience thinking about the Doctor having sex. Really. Thankfully Carole Ann Ford, who was very close to William Hartnell, refused to do it unless she got to call him "grandfather".
The reason you've seen that scene with Tom Baker is because yes, he declined to appear, and they didn't expect to ever release Shada.
Had Baker appeared, the pairings would have been 4th Doctor with Sarah Jane and the 3rd Doctor with the Brigadier.
I once read a rumour that Richard Hurdnal never got paid for his work on this special, but no idea how true that might be.
I didn't know about the "Grandfather" issue. It certainly is a far cry from modern Who, who has appeared in a state of undress and routinely snogs people!
Susan not calling the Doctor "grandfather" would feel weird.
Been so excited to reach this one, your reaction did not disappoint. Even though it's not the end of classic who, this does feel like the story all these years of reacting to classic who have been building up to so it's great to finally have the pay off. I also agree that maybe a Five-ish Doctors reaction would've been better for after classic who, but it's still fine to have seen it with the rest of the 50th celebrations.
It's insane that Clone Wars/Rebels/Bad Batch came to an end this year and next year might be the end of Classic Who. The channel Is going to feel so different. Truly a new era.
maybe she could start reacting to big finish? is audio reactions a thing?
@@talgoren2246 well since she read summaries instead of reacting to the reconstructions of lost episodes (just the sound with still images) she might find it difficult to react to Big Finish since they have no visuals. (Except the cover art, I guess.)
Also they're a bit more niche so it'd be a pretty big risk in terms of views.
But anything's possible, maybe if there's enough demand from the viewers she'll try one or two and see how it goes, but there are so many it can be difficult to know where to start. (The Eighth Doctor stuff probably.)
We'll just wait and see I guess.
@@emeraldkoala2 who knows? in a few years, maybe AI would be advance enough to create visuals to all the big finish stories.
Notice the new Tardis control console? Looks amazing. When you’ve finished Classic Who I would love for you to react to Blake’s 7. There’s many Doctor Who connections there and it’s a terrific series. I remember watching The Five Doctors at the time. There was a huge buzz of excitement in the air. I recorded it on VHS 📼 and must have watched it hundreds of times. Great reaction!
The Actor who played The brigadiers replacement Crition was the same actor who played Carstairs in War Games
Well this was a delight. It'll be quite bittersweet in about a year's time when there's no more Classic Who reactions to look forward to on a Friday!
Luckily there is still so much content she can still react to besides the TV stories.
@@danniemadsen1996there is some great big finish stories but not sure Jess is interested in doing audio reactions but would be great if she checked some of it out.
@@danniemadsen1996Big Finish reactions would be wild
@@ryanbaillie11 I meant more like mini-episodes and webcasts and the like. 😅
It was wonderful to see your reaction to the five Doctors. It is one of my all time favourite episodes I was 13 in 1983 when it first aired and I have never tiered of it. You are fantastic.
I have some big memories with my dad’s VHS copy of this. Also, the closing theme to this special is especially cool with the 1963 version of the theme bleeding into the 1980 theme.
I can't tell you how much I've watched this, and how perfectly I know it. I was 9.
the Blindwave roast is amazing
Must have missed that, where does she roast them, please?
@@Domihork I think he meant at 29:54
I wasn't sure if that was directed at anyone in particular. It's a hell of a task getting through 26 seasons of Classic Who and too much for the majority of reactors. Respect to Jess for doing it.
@@cooluncle4242 sure but it has the same vibes as watching Day of the Doctor without watching the previous seasons before ya know?
I did watch the Blindwave reaction and they did admit that they’d be judging from a contemporary viewpoint. Which did come across at times as ridicule (Especially with warrior robot ) No shade to them because I like their channel and they admitted that their suspension of disbelief for Classic Doctor Who would be too much. They know they would upset fans by essentially making fun of the show.
WE HERE WE FINALY HERE! IVE BEEN WAITNG AGES
The Five Doctors always holds a special place in my heart, being one of the first Doctor Who stories I owned on DVD, and is entertainingly nostalgic experience for me whenever I watch it. While I do prefer both The Three Doctors and The Day of the Doctor better with this playing a bit too safe with its paint-by-numbers/tick-box approach with nothing much to surprise, it's still a fun celebration of Doctor Who's then 20-year history with the returning Doctors and companions reminding us why we loved them to begin with.
Behind the scenes, there were plenty bumps and hurdles along the way in making this story happen. When producer John Nathan-Turner started his decade-long stint as Doctor Who's showrunner, he was against having returning writers with an emphasis on new ones instead, but an exception was made with this story with the legendary Robert Holmes having the first stab at it. However, he found the huge list of requirements from Nathan-Turner and script editor Eric Saward to be overbearing and creatively-stiffling, so the role of writer was passed on to the equally legendary Terrence Dicks. In early drafts of the script, some of the Doctor and companion team-ups were different. Originally, the Fourth Doctor would have been paired with Sarah Jane Smith, the Third Doctor with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Second Doctor with Jamie McCrimmon. However, Frazer Hines, Jamie's actor, proved to be unavailable for a lengthy shoot. Further complications arose when Tom Baker decided he did not want to be a part of the 20th anniversary special. Coming so soon (nearly two years) after his long seven-year tenure as the Doctor, he was wisely trying to distance himself from both the character and the show for typecasting reasons, plus he wasn't entirely comfortable with sharing the screen with four other incarnations, saying an interview, "I didn't want to play 20 per cent of the part. I didn't fancy being a feed for other Doctors. In fact, it filled me with horror." To get around this problem, they recycled clips from Shada. Another problem to solve was the unfortunate absence of William Hartnell, who sadly passed away several years prior in 1975. As a solution, Nathan-Turner recast the role with Richard Hurndall stepping in to play the First Doctor.
"The Five Doctors" was actually my first experience of the First Doctor and the Second Doctor. While our local PBS had brought the show to us a couple of years before, they'd started their broadcasts late in the Third Doctor's run, used it as post-midnight filler, bouncing the starting time around, and even then made a mismash of the viewing order. It wasn't until the Fourth Doctor that the viewing order ironed out, though the start time continued to vary some to my great frustration. I was a young teen at the time and had an old black-and-white in my bedroom, so I didn't see the show in color for a while. I took great pains to hide watching it from my parents as we all were supposed to be asleep. :) However, I was allowed to watch the premier of "The Five Doctors" on the living room color console TV, and it broadcast during normal viewing hours to my great delight. While I didn't know the First or Second Doctors the whole production had me terribly excited, much like your reaction.
That was one of the most fun reactions I have seen , thank you, really looking forward to next week
This is been a long time coming which I've been massively looking forward to & your reaction to it was well worth the wait! I got fairly emotional through watching you seeing parts of this story. Did you or anyone notice that you have a symbol representing the number 5 in plain sight in this reaction just as you had a symbol of 3 in your reaction to The Three Doctors, both while not knowing what was coming? That was quite a coincidence! Hugely stoked to see you reaction for the second half!
Originally Victoria was to be in it too-even appearing in an early publicity shot-but Debbie Watling ultimately was unable to take part.Frazer Hines could only cameo due to his major role in British Soap "Emmerdale Farm" (this also explains why he was replaced by Sgt Benton 10 years earlier)🎩
This brings back so many wonderful memories of my childhood. I started watching Dr. Who at the end of the 4th Dr era and into the 5th. I was aware of previous incarnations, but this was my first experience of them so this special will always be one of my favourites.
At the time, I only knew Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge, so it was really trippy for my 10 year old self to see him as Dr Who 😂
I'm glad you didn't know the title, that made it so much better!! 💖
Susan... what gets me is all the fans now who yearn for Susan to return saying "the Doctor never went back." They ALWAYS seem to forget This Story! They have already been reunited on screen! If she did return this should not be forgotten. For me her meeting 8th Doc and Lucy in the audios is enough of a reunion, but I get people want her back on screen, satisfies nostalgia instinct, I get it. I just say, if it happens, there should be no dialogue to contradict the 5 Doctors or her audio work.
This is exactly the reaction we needed! I think it's great that despite knowing The Five Doctors existed, it still managed to sneak up on you - so you (and we) could have that first shock of realization, and then immediately settle in to enjoy the heck out of it, as you should. It makes perfect sense that it would seem so far off in the future that you didn't realize you had arrived at the moment at last, so I don't think you should feel stupid about it at all. I'm loving this, and looking forward to the next part!
And of course, the first time you watched it, you presumably denied yourself the pleasure of knowing what the title was, too, just in case you could be pleasantly surprised at your own reaction. Thought not.
This was my first Doctor Who story, when the VHS was first released in 1990. It was a good place to start for a new fan, seeing all those Doctors.
This is the first time the time lords say they can grant a new regeneration cycle, which was granted to the doctor in The Time of the Doctor
the doctor also has the seal of the high council in that episode which we see them get from the master here. very full circle-y
I love how much you've grown to love Doctor Who lore. All the classics too. Thank you for being you.
Undisputed greatest Doctor Who reactor of all time
More like the undisputed overly dramatic (Doctor Who) reactor of all time. Although I still watch the occasional reactions (DW & Fallout) of hers.
@@GrumpyOldGit-zk1kw same thing 🤷🏻♂️
@@GrumpyOldGit-zk1kw username checks out
Isn't that why we watch to see the Americans reaction?@@GrumpyOldGit-zk1kw
@@wispa1a well, no, not me anyway. I can just about cope with one of her overly dramatic performances per week. Fortunately, for me, she's just finished Fallout season 1 so I just have to put up one per week. 😁
It was a gloomy day in this corner of Kasterberus. But thank you for filling MY day with absolute joy!
Such a joyful reaction! Thanks, Jess!
It feels like I have been waiting forever for Sesska to react to this. I love your reaction to part 1 and can't wait to see your reaction to part 2! I can see how the twentieth anniversary special and "The Five Doctors" were not clicking to you as being one in the same. It snuck up on you like you said. I know how you have enjoyed the classic Doctors and companions that reappear here and was heartened to see your reaction to see each character appear on the screen.
I can't believe we are getting close to your classic series reactions as a whole in about a year's time. I hope that maybe when we get to that point you see some of the semi-official direct-to-video releases that are related to Doctor Who.
I would like to see her react to the "fan" films such as Downtime, mainly because of a particular character.
For me a great anniversary story which captures all the emotions you want wrapped up in an entertaining story.
Love your classic who reactions, such a joy to see you fall in love with classic Who. Still some great stories to come.
The Spinning Triangle of Turning You Into Action Figures is 100% what this episode would be called in the modern era 😄
The Pyramid of Toys 😉
22:12 here's where they get the audio for the fiftieth, the sample with the fifth Doctor saying "Soon be there"
'Five Doctors' also has one ofthe best outtakes in the shows history. If you look for it on youtube you'll probably find it. When the Dalek is chasing 1 and Susan through the corridors he goes wrong at one point. Hence the actor saying, in full Dalek voice, "Bug-ger, I've lost 'em!"
ua-cam.com/video/h9IZc-1Ra_Q/v-deo.htmlsi=Y9BxAgyZoAHS5ULv
19:57 This Seal The Doctor puts in his pocket is the same item he pulls out in "The Time of the Doctor" (Matt Smith's last episode), that he has "Chuckles" scan to decrypt the signal coming from the crack. Took me years to realize this.
I absolutely adore this episode! What an anniversary!!! 😍
Great reaction as always!
At 19:52 The Master gives him the seal of the high council and says he’ll return it to him… only for him to never do that and he brings the seal back out as Matt’s doctor in his final episode, he puts it ontop of handles I believe its to authenticate the message through the crack on Trensalore is from the time lords
Tom didn't think it would be appropriate to return so soon after a long career as the Doctor.
William Hartnell had been dead for 10 years by this stage. Richard Hurndall did his best as a replacement.
There is so much in this story that is referred to later in the New Who era.
The seal that the 3rd Doctor takes from the Master is used by the 11th Doctor in The Time of the Doctor.
The musical sting with the trumpets is used in The End Of Time when Rasillon (as played by Tim Dalton) gets "sent back to hell".
Clips from this episode are used in The Day Of The Doctor.
In Rise of the Cybermen the Doctor proposes going "above, between, below" as an infiltration tactic to Lumic's HQ.
Also "You redecorated! I don't like it"
Soon be there!
@@Domihork although that was also a line from The Three Doctors
There is apparently a 2023 Bluetooth version where they update some of the effects and backdrops in the movie, I just happened to see a recent three way comparison with 3 different edits.
But it is the treasured memories of the original versions we watch that are always important (but the 2023 edit does look bloody awesome).
Wonderful anniversary special which was great to see first time in 1983 & I still enjoy it now. Loved your reaction
Almost 6 years ago Fandango did an event here showing the entirety of the special in theaters. That was a truly amazing time for my family as we seen it together.
Bravo Jess, we salute your stamina! 🤣And so it came to pass... its only the Five ruddy Doctors!! Smiled all the way through your wonderful reaction to this momentous story 😃
In the 90s, Doctor Who Magazine had 1-page short stories ("Brief Encounters") that were exclusive to the publication. One was with the First Doctor, set just after The Dalek Masterplan, where The Doctor is in a rose garden and is reminded of Susan's Gallifreyan name, which means 'Rose' (coincidence there with the 2005 revival). He wrestles with his guilt of leaving her on Earth in 2164 before deciding that he did the right thing. The story ended with the triangular time-scoop from "The Five Doctors" coming across the horizon towards the rose garden...very nicely done.
The Five Doctors was one I borrowed on VHS when I was getting into Doctor Who as a kid in the 90s. I learnt so much lore and backstory from this special
When this aired in my country I was away at school camp. I had to get my mum to record it on the VCR!
Unfortunately Tom didn’t want to take part at the time. He felt it was too soon after his era. I believe he regrets that decision now
On his 1992 Tom Baker Years vhs he literally says he regrets not doing it.
This was fabulous, so satisfying and worth the wait 🙂 So pleased you enjoyed it Jess
Seeing the Shada scenes from the 4th Doctor and Romana II is always such bliss. It wasn't until the early 90s we got to see a Shada release with the unfinished story edited together. Until then it was just some exquisite Douglas Adams dialogue with two fabulous characters in love on a little holiday in Cambridge.
The 4th doctor and Romana was from Shada which wasn't fully made until 2015 and K-9 being with Sarah Jane was from a 1 episode show called K-9 and Company and was the Mark 3 K-9 that the doctor posted to Sarah.
It's kind of fascinating that even though K-9 and Company was not a really successful spin-off, they still maintained the continuity both here and in modern Who
I think you really enjoyed this seeing all the 5 Doctors and the assortment of conpanions I remember watching this as went out I was so disappointed Tom Baker didn't want to appear, but it was great seeing Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and of course Nicholas Courtney.
A couple of things to touch upon. First, I had issues with my DVD collection so I went through each story from the beginning including some later releases such as Tenth Planet so I can relate to how long it can take to go through each story in real time. You are doing a tremendous job!
Second, William Hartnell died in April of 1975 so obviously, as you said, he wasn't available for this story and his replacement, Richard Hurdnall, passed away shortly after this story in April of 1984. He stated that his goal was not to try to be an exact duplicate of Hartnell as he felt it would be disrespectful, but rather his own take on the character of the first Doctor.
Third, Tom Baker didn't return because he felt it was too soon after his own time on the show and still felt a bit territorial about it so Terrance Dicks decided to use the , at that time, unused film from Shada to put him into a time eddy to get him out of the way. But in the early versions, Tom had the lion's share of the dialog and action due to his popularity and originally he did consider returning for this. But that is why you have some of his lines being used by Davison like the Alice quote about impossible things before breakfast and the so sorry, must dash. Rewatch that and think of Tom Baker saying the lines.
Fourth, Not listening to K9. It is a bit like a horror movie. People shouting out, don't go in there in the theater but the actors in the movies do that anyway.
Fifth, The Master. Again Terrance Dicks had considered having him as the big baddy for the story but felt it was WAY too obvious and as far as the high council, they knew they could offer the new regeneration cycle to him and he would snap it up (The Ainley version being a Trakenite body and unable to regenerate as his Gallifreyan one could) and more likely than not, the council figured he would die in the attempt so they wouldn't have to pay up. Plus, after at least one Time Lord having died before, I doubt there were a lot of volunteers lined up for the job.
The Toim Baker/4th Doctor footage was taken from the then unfinished story "Shada". Around 4 or 5 years ago they released a NEW completed version of "Shada" where the missing chapters were don in animation. You may have seen that version of it. - The Music Loving Klingon
this is the reaction we all have been waiting for. great as always.
Great reaction, as always :) You really add to my enjoyment of Classic Who.
Love your Cyberman :)
I loved this episode, and am grinning ear to ear at your reaction to seeing everyone again. I still think it would have been awesome if Tom Baker had said yes to being a part of it
(Also, I crack up at Anthony Aienly’s Master character’s reaction to being asked by the high council to help the Doctor😂)
fun fact, the reason they had that clip of Hartnell in the opening was so that he could be credited with the others
When this story was shown I was 14 and had to wait two more years to be 16 and leave school, and also I thought the locations were awesome and pretty and also seeing the 3rd Doctor back behind the wheel of his yellow car Bessie was awesome too.
I knew it would be joyous watching you react to this story - and it is😇
Great time's lived and loved the 20th anniversary, lots of nostalgia here!!
I can’t see a reaction to the Five Doctors without being transported back to 1983. This was shown as a feature-length episode during Children in Need (starting the tradition of Who-related CinN content). It was the subject of a huge row at home. The last hour conflicted with the A Team on ITV and we only had one colour TV. My brother was a big A Team fan and one of us was going to have to use the tiny portable black and white TV instead. My mothers compromise - which I still think was outrageous; the A Team was on every week, this was a one-off special 1 was that we’d start watching the Five Doctors on the colour TV and then I’d have to go and watch the end in black and white. In the end, my brother got so engrossed in The Five Doctors that he forgot all about the A Team that night…
I've watched this 3 times in 24 hours now, and the moment when you tearfully exclaimed "This is The Five Doctors isn't it" tugged at my 50 year old Whovian heart 😊 How wonderful that Uncle Terry's 20th anniversary story still brings joy to Whovians even today. Best reaction to anything ever. Much love
5:32 in the 1993 remaster, the black triangles were replaced with a coiled, crystal like thing.
Fun Trivia:
-Carol Ann Ford had to convince the creative team to let Susan call the Doctor “grandfather” because they wanted to remove the implication the doctor had biological children and grandchildren.
-Sarah Jane’s fall is the cliffhanger to an edited 4 part version of this story.
-Kamelion is meant to be around, they just didn’t bother including him (as far as we know, he’s a shapeshifter after all).
-Supposedly the Quarks were meant to appear
-Originally, Instead of the Brigadier, The Second Doctor was meant to be paired with Jamie or Victoria.
-Benton was originally meant to appear.
This 20th anniversary special was like Christmas Day when I first saw it in 1983 ( I was 13). The second time I had this feeling in Dr Who was the Tennant episode with the Daleks vs Cybermen "Doomsday" (I checked your channel to make sure you had seen that episode before mentioning it)
Look out Sarah Jane for that steep incline.🤣
Originally, it was supposed to be much steeper
To think we nearly had her stumbling upon the Autons and the Third Doctor rescuing her.
With the first 2 Dalek scenes I couldn't help but think of the "Bugger, I've lost 'em" blooper.
I'm so happy to see you reach this special. It's actually the first Doctor Who I ever watched only months before the revival when I was 5/6 years old.
It’s one of the first stories I can remember watching too - though I saw it when it first went out in 1983. I had a poster of this at the time too and I also pinned up the front cover of that week’s Radio Times.
@@UA-camMrP Aw that's cool! My dad saw it when it went out, but he'd grown up watching it during the 70s and also saw The Three Doctors go out. I remember me and my brother with the special edition DVD in my dad's room figuring things out together. I only saw a couple more before the revival, but basically watched new and classic intertwined as my dad go the DVDs and new Series released.
Great reaction! I loved your excitement at seeing all the returning faces.
Honestly I am so happy to see you reacting to The Five Doctors. 😊It's one of my favourite multi-Doctor stories (as well as the first one I saw, and the first 5th Doctor story I saw, via a VHS my Dad had when I was a kid), and just seeing your reactions to everything made me smile. Love your reactions to Classic Who, and I hope your day treats you well!
Great reaction. Back in 1983 it was no surprise for viewers, i think it was known in early 83 this was happening. Shocks and surprises were rare, Earthshock cybermen and Adric's death being 2
I read JN-T was already planning this special as early as late 1981. He wanted to make sure actors would be free and the writing and recording would overcome any unforeseen hitches, which most notably was the declining of Robert Holmes to write it.
1:33 I met him at comic con 2019 in australia such a nice man
FINALLY! 🥳 I’ve been looking forward to this since you started Classic Who. It’s one of my favourite stories/episodes of all time from the show. I’m a sucker for anniversaries, especially ones that involve previous characters meeting current (or from their point of view, future) ones.
No you are 100% right, some reactors are very snooty about watching classic who at all. Throw all the shade you like.
Robert Holmes, who had given us such heart-stoppers as 'Terror of the Autons' and 'Pyramids of Mars', was first choice to pen the anniversary tale. But he was soon disheartened by the ever-changing list of demands from the production office, who were trying to get THIS companion or THAT Doctor (namely Tom Baker, who ultimately declined to take part). Stepping into the breach like a lisping Henry V was former script-editor and elder statesman of Whovianology Terrance Dicks, who delivered the final product. Dicks had been involved with the show at script level since the days of Troughton and Hines (he even co-wrote 'The War Games' - not coincidentally), but was probably best-loved by younger fans for his adaptations of TV stories for WH Allen's successful series of novelisations. Indeed, if you were a child fan in the early 1980s. chances were you only knew the earlier Doctors through one of his books!
I was so looking foward for you to watch this one. ❤❤
Richard Hurndall as the First Doctor was great, but is so amazing to see Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee back as 2 and 3, their performance is still so on point it feells like they've never left. I can't wait for next friday.
Oh wow. So looking forward to this one and you didn't disappoint.
There will never be anyone that makes a better reaction video to Doctor Who than you do. Love your channel!
All happy tears here. 🥲
Been waiting for this for sooo long!
Imagine Tegan going toe-to-toe with Hartnell’s First Doctor.
The Doctor would hang on to the Seal of Rassilon well into Eleven's time. In fact Eleven would plug it into Handles to translate the message over Trenzalore in the 50th anniversary special.
That dial that the master had that the Doctor took is the same one that the 11th doctor would use in his final hour. He never returned it to the Time Lords XD
This has been a long time coming. I have been waiting for this reaction.
I remember watching this story when I was 5 years old when it first came out. Makes me feel old lol
Wow! That's exciting that you've had the chance to see so many incredible Doctor Who's through the years to a 60th anniversary
@@MetalPharoah The only one I haven't seen is William Hartnell as he passed away 4 years before I was born
@@BryanTidwell-k7q That's still pretty amazing to me. Such beautiful memories you must have as a child
As soon you said “Deep Breath after that” I thought you were making a 12th Doctor reference too!
Seeing your reaction to this story breathes such new life into the experience of watching it. :) I was 6 when this came out, so Peter Davison was "my" Doctor. I am pretty sure by this point that I had already seen re-runs of Jon and Tom, but they weren't showing re-runs of b&w WHO, so I may have seen Patrick and William in The Three Doctors, but basically didn't really know them. I knew that there was going to be "all 5" Doctors in the story (though Tom refused to take part for his own reasons), so whilst it was exciting seeing everyone, it wasn't such a shock as what you just went through!
Because it was movie length, it wasn't shown at 5.30pm like normal WHO - it was probably 8pm, meaning little 6yo me was up way past my bedtime; I know my eyes were drooping by the end. Because this was all pre-VHS, I didn't even get to see The Five Doctors again for about another 5 years when we finally got a VCR! (And we wore out our first copy, bought a second one, then bought the Special Edition VHS in 95... and then the DVD in 99... and the DVD SE... and now the BluRay Collection. Yes, The Five Doctors has the most different versions of any Doctor Who story out there.
A funnt story about filming the scene whre Three and SJ meet. It was so cold you could see Jon and Liz going blue even under the makeup. The only way to fix the problem was for them to start slapping each other in the face, something both were keen to do, as they spent a few minutes doing so while giggling the whole time. I remember reading that John Nathan Turner offered to help, but they shot him down.
This special spawned a few references in NuWho. Two commenting on the Brigadier's office redecoration was copied in Eleven's in Closing Time and the 50th anniversary (by Ten). :P In Night of the Doctor, Eleven places the Seal of the High Council on Handles, who uses it to decode the signal coming from Trenzalore. The entrances to Rassilon's Tower, as heard in the nursery rhyme Two sang, was referenced in Rise of the Cybermen, with Ten telling the gang about the three entrances to Lumic's factory, ie above, between, below. Lastly, of course, the Master finally got his chance to follow through on his promise to destroy the Time Lords with the Cybermen in The Timeless Child.
At the time The Five Doctors was made Shada, being an unfinished story, would have been considered unusable. There was a very limited home video market at the time, as tapes were a couple hundred dollars each, so the idea of releasing what they had of Shada was inconceivable. As Tom didn't want to appear and they still owned the rights to his image, the decision was made to use the never-going-to-be-seen material to make up the numbers for the show.