This is one of my fav seasons. Stones of Blood is the bomb. Loved Mary Tamm. She was gorgeous and dressed well. She died way too young. Sad story how her hubby died of grief soon after she passed.
This was one of the first seasons I watched when Dr Who made it Stateside and on the PBS affiliate. For a 6 year old that giant green squid was one of my favorite early Who memories.
_Stones of Blood_ is my all time favorite!! Celtic mythology AND Hyperspace! Great acting and great story! This was a wonderful presentation, thank you!!!!
I wish she had too, but Romana II got better writing thanks to Lalla Ward’s rapport with Douglas Adams, so I find her a better character than Romana I. That’s no slight against Mary Tamm, she just didn’t get the same level of quality writing.
Great concept for a season-long story arc. It's a real mixed bag, ranging from the quirky Pirate Planet to the genuinely creepy Stones of Blood. These two stories are notably different in tone, but I love them both!
I always wished Mary Tamm had stayed at least another season. She was just getting a handle on the character. She was much better as far as I'm concerned than Lala Ward. She added the class that was missing since Elizabeth Sladen left.
She felt the character had reached the limit of her development, and Romana had not lived up to the potential the producers had promised her when she accepted the role. She wanted to play a character who was the Doctor's equal, not just an assistant.
@@Rocket1377 If the producers had honored their agreement with her, the character could have developed a lot more. I agree with her. Romana should have remained an equal, then developed after the experiences of traveling with the doctor. Maybe even going on to her own show. I certainly would have watched it.
"The Invasion Of Time" and "The Ribos Operation" were the two best episodes of the show, and it's no coincidence that they came back-to-back as a season closer and season opener.
@@artyfartblast3289 I can choose...I ♥️ Lalla Ward's Romana, she's soooo cute! 😍 Mary Tamm's just seemed too cold to me, whereas Lalla Ward's a lot more playful, def a win for me...☺️😁
Pirate Planet was the very first episode of Doctor Who I watched from start to finish on my local PBS station, and is what got me hooked on the series on the whole.
How blessed were we with the lady companions of the 70s....four incredible ladies in a row during the Baker era, Lis Sladen, Louise Jameson and the two lovely Romanas.
I got to meet her at a convention. Yes, she did get to pick out her own clothes! And the hooded cape in Ribos had to be taken off because it was too hot to wear under the lights.
BBC 1970s: "The viewers won't have the patience to follow a season long story arc, just multi-part serials that go on for six weeks." BBC 2000s: "We'll do season long subplots and bump the shows to an hour long with only one two-parter per season."
@@fjccommish It doesn't have the same charm and Chibnall's run was highly controversial (and I'm in the minority of not being happy to see Davies return because I had more issues with his run than Moffat's). Sometimes the smaller budget adds to the show when the creators know how to run with it. I miss the old serial format.
"Callan's old boss!" Lol! I was always a huge Callan fan. Thanks for pointing that out. Always enjoyed Tom Bakers demented eye-rolling near the end of this saga. :)
They say the best Doctor is the one you grew up on - maybe that's why I think Baker is the best. Naw... to heck with that - Baker is objectively the best Doctor!
The Boscawen referred to in the stones of blood is probably a reference to a real life bronze age stone circle in Cornwall, England called Boscawen-Un.
1:35 - Actually, the Centauri star system is made up of three stars. Odd that you did not know that. NOT odd if you were a cyborg replicant STAM FINE !!!!!!! (sorry, too many Dr. Who episodes on my mind thanks to your great reviews. Carry on)
I also liked how they worked the wound on his lip into the story when he smashes his face on the console of the TARDIS in the first episode of this series.
How much was it? I live in America, some of the DVDs are not made for this region anymore. The DVD for the Roman’s is on eBay for $400.00 ghost lights dvd was $107.00 I think I got the key to time season for $60.00 I got the Roman’s for $30.00 at a resale movie store, they had no idea what they had. lol Most Doctor who DVDs that are still in print go for between $15 and $35 for just one story! So $60.00 for the entire key to time season was actually a great deal.
Of these stories I mostly rewatch Pirate Planet Stones of Blood and Armageddon Factor I rewatch as there really good stories, it's interesting too that Stones of Blood is the 100th story and is another gothic horror with elements of the HP Lovecraft Cthuluh Mythos in it.
For me this WAS the greatest EVER season of classic Who. I don't really think it has ever been surpassed, by anything in the current series, indeed I somewhat doubt that it ever will...
This was a much better season than the last one. Poor Leela deserved much better treatment than the stories she got, not to mention the abrupt brush-off at the end.
Tom Baker for all his humour and freshness for the show did come at a cost which was his ego. Louise Jamieson was too alpha for him clearly where Elisabeth Sladen was more demure, Mary Tamm would've been alpha again and then Lalla ward was so much to toms liking he married her so you can see the pattern with how tom responded to each of them. The fact was he didn't believe a companion was necessary at all and had been quoted as saying he may as well have been talking to a cabbage on a stick.
I thought some of the dark stories of the previous series like "The Talons of Weng- Chiang, "The Horror of Fang Rock" were some of the best Dr. Who episodes and Leela was great in them.
@@John-tj9to there was genuine chemistry between Mary Tamm and Tom Baker, though that’s more apparent in the outtakes and bloopers than the broadcast cuts. She was dissatisfied with the role as so many of the female companions of the classic era were. Lalla Ward’s time coincided with Douglas Adams’ and consequently Romana was better written for her than she was for Tamm.
@@John-tj9to That's sad because looking at the show itself I really liked Leela and the Doctor, knowing the actors were not fond of each other is quite sad.
When the White Guardian says "Nothing will happen to you... ever," I always thought that was the threat. Nothing will happen to you ever again. Your life will be boring from here on.
That was, indeed, the threat. I always enjoyed this since, to a person like the Doctor, having nothing happen to him would be a fate worse than death (a detail no doubt the White Guardian knew all too well 😁). I loved how the White Guardian waited until the Doctor reached the Tardis's doorway before putting in the "ever". You could practically hear the tire screech. 😄
@@christalbot210 Nah -that's just a skillfully phrased death threat. Nothing will happen to you ever again, because you will not exist anymore. It's basically exactly the same as when Slatibartfast threatens Arthur Dent. Hurry up you'll be late. Late for what. Late as in "the late Arthur Dent". It's a threat, I was never very good at them.
Interestingly, the 1985 movie, The Adventures of Hercules, sequel to the 1983 film, Hercules, with Lou Ferrigno, seems to be largely based around the theme of the Key to Time episodes. Hercules is charged by Zeus to recover his seven thunderbolts, the ultimate power of the gods that kept peace within the universe, and kept it from falling into chaos, or else Zeus will destroy the Earth, having to go on seven different quests to transfigure creatures and objects into to the thunderbolts hidden within them, culminating with the final thunderbolt residing within his female companion, created specifically to hold it, who gives her life to release it, and is later returned to life as a goddess.
Adams was script editor the whole season and I would have given my right arm if he would have written every episode. The Pirate Planet is my all time favorite.
When did we get that? '81? '82? I remember how much we loved The Androids of Tara as primary school kids, discussed it incessantly while it was on and we all thought the oil rig (actually methane rig) in Kroll was a fantastically frightening location, there being no way off when trouble, as always, arrived.
"Laser turds". Never looked at it like that before. You've altered my entire outlook on Pirate Planet and I shall never watch it in the same way again.
I don't understand that shot at Matt Waterhouse. He was not expressive? Was that what you were trying to say? If so, I don't find any justification for that. The Magara (not sure if I spelled that right) were a critical part of the plot and the Doc would not have defeated Vivian Faye without them. I loved this particular episode so much I watched the tape over and over again. I can't find any fault in it. Well done! I like the use of K9 as well. A lot of the time he is left out.
I think it was a shame the Drs fellow TIme Lord Drax although he survived never reappeared in the series and also we never got to see what shape Draxs RARDIS looked like Drax states his TARDIS is parked on Zeos and he needs to mend the dimensional stabiliser before he can travel in his TARDIS in space and time again
I'm not sure I'd call her sexy. Personally I think she was by far THE most achingly beautiful companion ever (both in old and new Who) but not sexy. I'm not saying Mary Tamm couldn't be sexy, it's just that's not the vibe she gave off due to her character's personality and what the wardrobe dept. made her wear. I'd say that companions like Leela, Peri or Amy were much sexier than Romana1
She was even more beautiful in person. And really polite. Answered everyone’s questions and was quite surprised we were all so interested in her character.
I wonder if season 16 could have been Tom Bakers last season as Dr Who and I learnt that after Leela went it was tried to get Sarah Jane Smith back for the key to time season but Liz Sladen was not free to return to reprise her role of Sarah
I would say in the Tom Baker years of Dr Who after the UNIT concept had been dropped from the series in season 13 any and every modern day Earth serials never feature UNIT or even just iits commanding officer Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart and also with the UNIT concept gone from Dr Who and I was convinced UNIT was never likely to return to Dr Who ever again and although UNIT kind of reappear in season 26 stroy Battlefield with the 7th Dr they are totally and utterly fcked up as a concept because when UNIT was phased out of Dr Who in the early Tom Baker years in Terror of the Zygons even though UNIT returned twice more in season 13 serials Android Invasion and subsequently Seeds of Doom UNIT really departed in Terror of the Zygons
1:28 Important question: Which “Steve Austin” is #4 referring to: Stone Cold, or The Six Million Dollar Man? Kinda works either way, but just curious 😄 Edit: also VERY curious who #10 was 😅
@@douglasfreeman3229 I don't know, I was quite a bit older (but in America, so it came out later), and I was intrigued by Kroll. A similar primal horror is when you see images of what Saturn would look like if it flew by the Earth. That giant squid just looked good to me.
The thing that stood out about The Power of Kroll is the poor performance of Philip Madoc, who of course was Dr Solon in The Brain of Morbius. Maddoc's performance in the latter was as good as the former's was bad. Maddoc, of course, was an excellent actor but not even he could make something out of the limp script, and was not aided by the lacklustre direction.
In the Power of Kroll episode I could swear that on the Doctor's lapel he wears pins that are the startled ducks from the old Nintendo game 'Duck Hunt'. I have paused and zoomed in on his lapel a dozen times to try and get a better look at them to confirm this but my final verdict is still up in the air. The episode predates the game by several years but perhaps their was an earlier version of the game that I'm not aware of. Seriously, look closely at them when they are visible and you'll see what I mean. Startled Duck Hunt ducks...for real.
@@StamFine I reckon I'm too young to remember the porcelain duck fad 'cause I've never seen them. I swear they're startled Duck Hunt ducks. After all, he IS a time traveler so he may have played some 'ol school Nintendo at some point in his temporal excursions, yeah? Hell, I played hours of it and I only time travel when no one's looking. (Keep that last bit dark...>grins
They were especially a thing in the UK at the time because a character called Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street had a set of them on her wall and they became a bit iconic.
Fun fact; A new White and Black Guardian, Celestial Toymaker + All the other new Guardians over time + a new Key to time is within the new Series all hidden in plain sight. WTF? It is not: But it is; and here is how. (in short) Chronologicly ( I am skipping here how the new key to time was made (this is also within the new series) 1. Rassilon tell us this masterplan of him using a nightmare child to ascend himself and the Timelords. (End of time pt2) 2. Missy tells the John Simms Master what to do next. "I loved being you, shining like a sun when the planet burned". 3. John Simms dying Master activates Rassilons ascention device in the same moment Gallifrey is frozen in that moment of time, at the end of the time war; to continue his existance as an ascended being. (He sure is persistant) 4. As Gallifrey is frozen in the same moment it is burned, only those closest to the ascention device get fully ascended, (Those present at the Gallifreyan high counsil at the time.) 5. Everyone else on Gallifrey outside the Gallifreyan high counsil got trapped in an Schrödinger (cat) like state of both being alive and ascended at the same time. (Thus they can only move around when not being observed by a living being.) 6. As Gallifrey is taken into the void just after the new Guardians over time is created = they from then on reside in there between the classic and new Whoniverse... 7. The ascended Rassilon gets thrown out from Gallifrey, (thus becomes the outcast Celestial Toymaker) 8. Gallifrey (in Twice upon a time; during Peter Capaldi´s last scene) is taken thru the void. 9. The TARDIS throws out Jodie Whitaker to save her from ascention. 10. Gallifrey transports Gallifrey away from Earth and it is hit by the ascention "wave" and the former ascended ("dead") TARDIS crashes on the terraforming "burning" former Gallifrey. 11. "The Master is shining like a star while the planet is burning". (Ring of Akhaten) 12. The former (our) Doctor (stopped being the Doctor when he lost the Williams (prequel 1 Snowmen) gives the ascended Sasha Master (at this time; that hasnt been aware that he is an ascended being) all the secrets that must never be spoken. Durign the Deamonstar speach while the new current Doctor accepts the cloak of life (the role of being the Doctor for the new Whoniverse. 13, Sasha Master figures out he have all this time been what he hates the most, the 1/2 child of the incarnation from inbetween the 12th and final regen of the child that was born as Tony Tyler (Journeys End) aka Doctor Tyler (The Three Doctors) and "Bad wolf girl Rose ?Romana? new White Guardian over time Tyler". 14. The Schrödinger cat like trapped former Timelords tries to prevent our mankind (from the classic Whoniverse) to become the new rulers over time (in the new Whoniverse) and manipulates everything they can to stop us becoming that over on Trenzalore (the former now fully terrformed Gallifrey) after our Earth falls in 5145AD. (And yes our classic Whoniverse Earth was stolen way from the classic Whoniverse and taken over into the new Whoniverse hidden in plain sight) just as the Earth that became Mondas was taken from the previous lost Whoniverse and that mankind became the Timelords as the Ragnarookians (Rassilons original ppl) tried to stop them = the true enemy in the Timelord Timewar with the Daleks that was the puppets of the Ragnarookians as they tried to prevent the Mondasian mankind to become/be the Timelords instead of them.... Everything on an eternal repeating loop for each new Whoniverse... And Yeah RIVERS is the new timemachine for the new rulers over time that have saved mankind from all out of history to have them become the regenerations (a second life) for the new rulers over time (as its Matrix and Church of the papal mainframe). = OMEGA used to be Rassilons timemachine when she was the Doctor in the lost previous WHoniverse.. There is actully more...but that is a start.... Father child and the holy ghost creating the Whoniverse more.... Edit; and if you didnt get it; Rassilons ascention device is the new Key to time. (for the new Whoniverse)
@@StamFine Well it wasnt that hard to spot after one understood there was in "Eleventh hour" 2 different Amelia/Amy Ponds living in 2 different Whoniversis. (Last clue that solved it all was minisode Goodnight series 6) and everything after that have confirmed the above.to be a accurate assumption. (biggest confirmations was Clara being exposed to the timevortex (alot and for a short time) (same as amongst Madame Pompadore/Lady Penforte.) living next to timewindows/being exposed to the timevortex and thus being able to see/remember lives they hadnt lived in other Whoniversis/dimentions. The crack in the wall made Amy/Amelia (exposed long and low) her so they remembered both lives in her head at the same time. =When the Doctor returned and got Amelia (classic Whoniverse) and took her with him the Doctor saved Amelia from realising the man she was about to marry the next day had never existef and was only a memory of the other Anys life. (Then in end of series 5 the Doctor's enemies kidnapped Amelia and extracted her memories and thus Rory existed when the new Whoniverse came into existance. Once I got that, everything unraveled and everything was possible to see. As each new Whoniverse is on an eternal repeat (slightly different details but same events/outcome) =It is possible to see (predict) events that is to come and at the same time explain what have been going on in even the craziest rambles thru the year suddenly making 100% sense. ALOT have been hidding in plain sight. (especially in the great rememrable scenes; that have been distractions from whats really been goin on in them.) Just take the intro alone. even that is explained with the above (example) 11ths intro with the desintigrating blue timevortex (as the classic (TARDISblue) timevotex collapses around the TARDIS and the it jumps thru the void over into the new red timevortex. Next after that watch 9th and Peter Capaldis intros and it is there 2. (there is a reason its not in JWs) (as she never jumps between different whoniversis) AND one last thing. Everything wedding related in the show symbolises the TARDIS jumps between Whoniversis with the Doctor. (twice in Eleventh hour) even the Donna Noble being a bride x2.. As this is a biggie. If you can see the following you can see the rest. (this next is what did it for me to get the above is correct) In episode "Doomsday" (apptly named") the classic Whoniverse had its Doomsday hidden in plain sight... Yeep. Cause. The day the Doctor called Rose from is taking place several months after the events of Canary Warf and the show had during series 1 & 2 been sneaky sneaky not telling exactly when everything took place but the battle of Canary Warf did not take place earlier then late summer of 2009. = Several months after that mean it was 2010 by the time the Doctor called Rose... That alone wasnt the clincher. but it put the Doctor atleast in 2010 When (like in episode Big bang) the classic Whoniverse had its doomsday. What solved it was 10ths wording to Rose. (paraphrased) There is one tiny little gap left in the universe and it is about to close and I am burning up a sun/supernova.... Once I had the clues from the above that the bride is there (soon after) I began wondering on those words... One tiny little gap about to close... In normal time... What if one would see it in time but from the perspective when it closed... Then it dawned on me. If seen in normal time before it closed. That means that it would expand out from that point in the future... =That last tiny little gap infact is a Big bang spreading out from that moment in the future.... =series 3&4 takes place within the new Whoniverse until 10th has to see Rose one last time (that never existed in the new Whoniverse as a corporial being.) =As we see Donna again as a bride...the TARDIS travels back into the classic Whoniverse...=Geronimo took place there. Then the 2 jumps in Eleventh Hour. The 2 different Amelia/Amy remembers each others adventures thru series 5 with the 11th. And after that it is possible in episode Listen and Journey into the TARDIS spot the tiny little detail from series 2 with Mickey for half an hour pushing the button (saftey feature) (that normally prevents interwhoniversal travels) = Same feature that was deactivated before Clara took the TARDIS back to the Doctors childhood (in the classic whoniverse) and "made" the unstable day that never happend happen.... = there are so many interconnecting confirmations (and more) to the above....
@@hothemeep1219 Thing is it isnt fan fiction at all. It is what has been going on in the show. Just take a few moments to verify it and you will be astonished why this above havent been realised sooner.
Last copy I ever saw, was a complete set when Borders Books was still a thing, before 2008. That was the last copy I ever saw. After that, you might find a used copy if your lucky. I never knew my luck, until I saw a second time couple years back at a local place in my state, and there was a used whole copy set. I didn't have the money at the time. When I did get the money and returned, it was gone. Good luck on your search.
Interesting how trends change, they were too worried about an overarching plotline back then and now serialised tv shows and films are all you ever get, nothing is standalone anymore.
Mary Tamm was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gorgeous, it's like they said "Let's find a British Lynda Carter" and they succeeded.
Way more beautiful IMHO! :D
@@neilloughran4437 No, no one will ever compare to Lynda but Mary Tamm comes close.
@@MrLorenzovanmatterho I disagree, but I think we’re in Blue Stone of Galveston territory.
Crazy she didn't go on to have a bigger career after Dr. Who - she could easily have gone on to Hollywood. Stunning.
I have always thought that Mary Tamm was the British Wonder Woman. 😁
RIP Mary Tamm. The Pirate Planet is one of my all time favorite Doctor Who stories.
It was written by Douglas Adams.
The audiobook on audible is fantastic. They modernized and expanded the work.
@@michaelfaklis8169 I really like his writting style, it fits nicely with Doctor Who.
In this video, it does not get the praise it deserves. (That being said, Shada looked like a series-universe-shattering mess-heap of rubbish.)
This is one of my fav seasons. Stones of Blood is the bomb. Loved Mary Tamm. She was gorgeous and dressed well. She died way too young. Sad story how her hubby died of grief soon after she passed.
Can't blame him.
Mary Tamm was the second most gorgeous woman ever from England right after Diana Rigg.
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 And Lalla Ward!
It was only years later we found out about K9's rampant alcholism.
I had a cat named Mr. Fibuli. I would walk around the house with him bellowing, "By the horns of the great sky demon, Mr. Fibuli!"
I really liked the two conmen from the Ribos Operation, Garron is hilarious.
The Key to Time saga is one of the highlights of the whole Tom Baker era of the series. 🙂
This was one of the first seasons I watched when Dr Who made it Stateside and on the PBS affiliate. For a 6 year old that giant green squid was one of my favorite early Who memories.
The "squid screech" has always stuck with me as the most cliché and unrealistic sound effect ever devised.
_Stones of Blood_ is my all time favorite!! Celtic mythology AND Hyperspace!
Great acting and great story! This was a wonderful presentation, thank you!!!!
Romana (the Mary Tamm one) was my second favourite companion of all time. The first was, of course, Sara Jane Smith.
My favorite companions are...
1. Martha Jones
2. Sarah Jane
3. Ramona (1)
4. Peri
Professor Rumford would have made a great Timelord in her own series! Thanks for the videos!!! 📺📺📺
I loved Power of Kroll when I was a kid. I was surprised when the internet came around and it was not popular.
but then I loved Twin Dilemma too so
Tom Baker had that very rare quality where he could single handedly carry an episode no matter how average the script
that is why SFX do not matter it is the acting. and dynamics of his character and the guest stars
As someone who has been diagnosed as "clinically fed up" I find these videos very comforting. So I'd like to than you very much! 🤗
"The Stones of Blood" is the best of the season and one of my top 5 4th Doctor stories.
Same here. The way he outwits the justice machines is brilliant.
Scared the crap out of me as a kid. That camper being drained into a skeleton.
Wouldn't go that far but I love it
Nowhere near as good as “Power Of Kroll”
Kidding.
Mary Tamm was my favourite Romana. Wish she had stayed on longer.
Same
I wish she had too, but Romana II got better writing thanks to Lalla Ward’s rapport with Douglas Adams, so I find her a better character than Romana I. That’s no slight against Mary Tamm, she just didn’t get the same level of quality writing.
Great concept for a season-long story arc. It's a real mixed bag, ranging from the quirky Pirate Planet to the genuinely creepy Stones of Blood. These two stories are notably different in tone, but I love them both!
I always wished Mary Tamm had stayed at least another season. She was just getting a handle on the character. She was much better as far as I'm concerned than Lala Ward. She added the class that was missing since Elizabeth Sladen left.
She felt the character had reached the limit of her development, and Romana had not lived up to the potential the producers had promised her when she accepted the role. She wanted to play a character who was the Doctor's equal, not just an assistant.
@@Rocket1377 If the producers had honored their agreement with her, the character could have developed a lot more. I agree with her. Romana should have remained an equal, then developed after the experiences of traveling with the doctor. Maybe even going on to her own show. I certainly would have watched it.
"The Invasion Of Time" and "The Ribos Operation" were the two best episodes of the show, and it's no coincidence that they came back-to-back as a season closer and season opener.
Thanks to ALL involved in the show for all the wonderful childhood memories.
Mary Tamm is the Hot Romana and Lalla Ward is the Sweet Romana. And I can’t choose between them because they are the same being!
I'd compromise and settle for both.
Original Romana without question. Second was blah, nerdy, and witchy. Wasn’t a fan. .
Romana 1 has much more elegant screen presence and is far more Time Lord-ish in my opinion. But Lalla is just adorable. It's difficult to choose...
@@artyfartblast3289 I can choose...I ♥️ Lalla Ward's Romana, she's soooo cute! 😍
Mary Tamm's just seemed too cold to me, whereas Lalla Ward's a lot more playful, def a win for me...☺️😁
I always thought Tamm was stunningly beautiful and classy. She could have easily been a Bond girl.
Recently found your channel and I'm luuuuuuuuuuuving your Doctor Who retrospectives!!
Pirate Planet was the very first episode of Doctor Who I watched from start to finish on my local PBS station, and is what got me hooked on the series on the whole.
Yes, that Douglas Adams. I had to purchase this one for the sake the commentaries were too darn fun.
How blessed were we with the lady companions of the 70s....four incredible ladies in a row during the Baker era, Lis Sladen, Louise Jameson and the two lovely Romanas.
Mary Tamm, couldn't get enough of her, such a pretty lady.
Tom Baker: “The dog bit my lip.”
Single girls of London: “Sure.”
Love your witty commentary! And Mary Tamm!
Mary Tamm was gorgeous. Much missed.
I got to meet her at a convention. Yes, she did get to pick out her own clothes! And the hooded cape in Ribos had to be taken off because it was too hot to wear under the lights.
BBC 1970s: "The viewers won't have the patience to follow a season long story arc, just multi-part serials that go on for six weeks."
BBC 2000s: "We'll do season long subplots and bump the shows to an hour long with only one two-parter per season."
@@fjccommish It doesn't have the same charm and Chibnall's run was highly controversial (and I'm in the minority of not being happy to see Davies return because I had more issues with his run than Moffat's). Sometimes the smaller budget adds to the show when the creators know how to run with it. I miss the old serial format.
Mary Tamm in a Thomson tartan flat cap. How can you go wrong?
"Callan's old boss!" Lol! I was always a huge Callan fan. Thanks for pointing that out. Always enjoyed Tom Bakers demented eye-rolling near the end of this saga. :)
They say the best Doctor is the one you grew up on - maybe that's why I think Baker is the best. Naw... to heck with that - Baker is objectively the best Doctor!
Tom Baker is just great as The Doctor.
@@StamFine Yeep that definitive article Doctor.
Colin Baker is underappreciated.
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 by edgelords and contrarians everywhere, yes.
The Boscawen referred to in the stones of blood is probably a reference to a real life bronze age stone circle in Cornwall, England called Boscawen-Un.
1:35 - Actually, the Centauri star system is made up of three stars.
Odd that you did not know that. NOT odd if you were a cyborg replicant STAM FINE !!!!!!!
(sorry, too many Dr. Who episodes on my mind thanks to your great reviews. Carry on)
Absolutely fantastic writing and delivery !
thanks for watching!
Two of my favorite episodes are The Ribos Operation and The Pirate Planet and one of my favorite characters in all of Dr. Who is Garron.
I also liked how they worked the wound on his lip into the story when he smashes his face on the console of the TARDIS in the first episode of this series.
He got into a fight at a bar and someone busted his lip. That is what happened. Really
They tried covering it up with makeup but couldn’t.
I love this season one of my favorites
I bought the Series on DVD. SO expensive, but worth it!!!
How much was it?
I live in America, some of the DVDs are not made for this region anymore. The DVD for the Roman’s is on eBay for $400.00
ghost lights dvd was $107.00
I think I got the key to time season for $60.00
I got the Roman’s for $30.00 at a resale movie store, they had no idea what they had. lol
Most Doctor who DVDs that are still in print go for between $15 and $35 for just one story! So $60.00 for the entire key to time season was actually a great deal.
My favorite Tom Baker season primaily because of Mary Tam. Loved Lala but we were seriously disapointed when she became Romana.
Of these stories I mostly rewatch Pirate Planet Stones of Blood and Armageddon Factor I rewatch as there really good stories, it's interesting too that Stones of Blood is the 100th story and is another gothic horror with elements of the HP Lovecraft Cthuluh Mythos in it.
Plus, as a bonus, the Pirate Planet is a Douglas Adams story.
For me this WAS the greatest EVER season of classic Who. I don't really think it has ever been surpassed, by anything in the current series, indeed I somewhat doubt that it ever will...
Season 13 and 14 and The Key to Time, season 16, are the Golden Age of classic Who.
This was a much better season than the last one. Poor Leela deserved much better treatment than the stories she got, not to mention the abrupt brush-off at the end.
Tom Baker for all his humour and freshness for the show did come at a cost which was his ego. Louise Jamieson was too alpha for him clearly where Elisabeth Sladen was more demure, Mary Tamm would've been alpha again and then Lalla ward was so much to toms liking he married her so you can see the pattern with how tom responded to each of them. The fact was he didn't believe a companion was necessary at all and had been quoted as saying he may as well have been talking to a cabbage on a stick.
I thought some of the dark stories of the previous series like "The Talons of Weng- Chiang, "The Horror of Fang Rock" were some of the best Dr. Who episodes and Leela was great in them.
@@John-tj9to there was genuine chemistry between Mary Tamm and Tom Baker, though that’s more apparent in the outtakes and bloopers than the broadcast cuts. She was dissatisfied with the role as so many of the female companions of the classic era were. Lalla Ward’s time coincided with Douglas Adams’ and consequently Romana was better written for her than she was for Tamm.
@@John-tj9to That's sad because looking at the show itself I really liked Leela and the Doctor, knowing the actors were not fond of each other is quite sad.
14:39 In all fairness, they do it in The Pirate Planet too.
Well. I never... Dissing both Douglas Adams and Adric... herumph!
"HERUMPH!" I SAY, SIR!
HERUMPH!
Well, the upcoming Season 17 has some good and bad Adams-isms. herumph! :)
Season 17 is when the show got rather full of itself.
@@rayvenkman2087 No that was season 18! :p
That was hugely entertaining and informative. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
When the White Guardian says "Nothing will happen to you... ever," I always thought that was the threat. Nothing will happen to you ever again. Your life will be boring from here on.
That was, indeed, the threat. I always enjoyed this since, to a person like the Doctor, having nothing happen to him would be a fate worse than death (a detail no doubt the White Guardian knew all too well 😁).
I loved how the White Guardian waited until the Doctor reached the Tardis's doorway before putting in the "ever". You could practically hear the tire screech. 😄
@@christalbot210 Nah -that's just a skillfully phrased death threat. Nothing will happen to you ever again, because you will not exist anymore. It's basically exactly the same as when Slatibartfast threatens Arthur Dent. Hurry up you'll be late. Late for what. Late as in "the late Arthur Dent". It's a threat, I was never very good at them.
I assumed he meant that time would stop forever.
I re-watch 1970s Doctor Who episodes with much nostalgia. I only turned 7 in 1980 but many Tom Baker episodes were broadcast during the 80s.
Well…. Sort of new; you see, a similar thing was done in ‘The Keys of Marinus.’
lol that power ranking
Subscribed patiently waiting for Season 17.
Not too long to go
The Pirate Planet is one of my favorites. I rather liked Romana after I got used to her; couldn't stand Lalla Ward.
I didn't mind her. But I preferred the first version too.
Thank God I can watch this anytime.
Mary Tam oh la la
Interestingly, the 1985 movie, The Adventures of Hercules, sequel to the 1983 film, Hercules, with Lou Ferrigno, seems to be largely based around the theme of the Key to Time episodes. Hercules is charged by Zeus to recover his seven thunderbolts, the ultimate power of the gods that kept peace within the universe, and kept it from falling into chaos, or else Zeus will destroy the Earth, having to go on seven different quests to transfigure creatures and objects into to the thunderbolts hidden within them, culminating with the final thunderbolt residing within his female companion, created specifically to hold it, who gives her life to release it, and is later returned to life as a goddess.
The punchline on that Bingo card is gold.
I preferred Mary Tamm as Romana. She was fantastic and Tom Baker is my favorite doctor.
Tamm was just as sarcastic as Baker so they got along very well.
Neil McCarthy was in Power of Kroll, superb actor, he was in everything, played Calibos in the 1981 film Clash of The Titans...
He also played Barnham in "The Mind of Evil".
I was young during the key to time season I liked it then and like it now but you are right the effects were a bit weak
Season 16 Favorites : 'The Ribos Operation' 'The Stones of Blood' 'The Androids of Tara'
To each his own. Louise Jameson and Nicola Bryant.
Mary Tamm & Freema Agyeman.
Adams was script editor the whole season and I would have given my right arm if he would have written every episode. The Pirate Planet is my all time favorite.
1:44 does anyone know where the sound effects used for the key to time are from?
When did we get that? '81? '82? I remember how much we loved The Androids of Tara as primary school kids, discussed it incessantly while it was on and we all thought the oil rig (actually methane rig) in Kroll was a fantastically frightening location, there being no way off when trouble, as always, arrived.
The Key To Time season was 1978.
@@simonfernandes6809 In the UK, yes. Where would you pick Stam Fine's accent as originating?
Subscribed for the Kermit impression.
"Laser turds". Never looked at it like that before. You've altered my entire outlook on Pirate Planet and I shall never watch it in the same way again.
Birds don’t spit so you can’t have it spitting the energy.
I don't understand that shot at Matt Waterhouse. He was not expressive? Was that what you were trying to say? If so, I don't find any justification for that. The Magara (not sure if I spelled that right) were a critical part of the plot and the Doc would not have defeated Vivian Faye without them. I loved this particular episode so much I watched the tape over and over again. I can't find any fault in it. Well done! I like the use of K9 as well. A lot of the time he is left out.
I think it would IMO have been nice in Androids of Tara there was no Android replica made of the Dr unlike in 2 earlier stories and in one later story
1:29 can anyone make out what no 10 on the power ranking list is? Looks kinda like it says Mr T but im not sure.
Best romana ever
Mary Tamm was a much better Romana
academics is not experience though. Doc has the XP.
Hey Seaquest DSV is one of my favourite sci-fi shows after Star Trek and Doctor Who obvs.
I want the Key To Time
Mary Tamm Gorgeous. Lalla (made up name) ward rather soppy!
Mary Tamm was Gorgeous, but Lalla Ward was cute.
There was a horse in a nearby field when I was a lad who reminded me of Lalla Ward.
if they do release this on Blu-ray as a set I hope they do NOT "update" the effects or go "5.1"! Sounds just fine the way it was in broadcast!
got this complete series on dvd and i bought the pbs VHS collection when i was a kid well my parents paid for it
I think it was a shame the Drs fellow TIme Lord Drax although he survived never reappeared in the series and also we never got to see what shape Draxs RARDIS looked like Drax states his TARDIS is parked on Zeos and he needs to mend the dimensional stabiliser before he can travel in his TARDIS in space and time again
In hindsight........the first Romana was quite sexy..........not princess Aura (flash gordon animated) sexy, but very polished sexy.
I'm not sure I'd call her sexy. Personally I think she was by far THE most achingly beautiful companion ever (both in old and new Who) but not sexy. I'm not saying Mary Tamm couldn't be sexy, it's just that's not the vibe she gave off due to her character's personality and what the wardrobe dept. made her wear. I'd say that companions like Leela, Peri or Amy were much sexier than Romana1
Martha too.
wow! she was a beauty.
She was even more beautiful in person. And really polite. Answered everyone’s questions and was quite surprised we were all so interested in her character.
I wonder if season 16 could have been Tom Bakers last season as Dr Who and I learnt that after Leela went it was tried to get Sarah Jane Smith back for the key to time season but Liz Sladen was not free to return to reprise her role of Sarah
It certainly felt like his last season. There was a definite change in the mood of the series after that.
The way you said "scene" at 16:43 reminds me of David Tennant.
In Albuquerque, they showed the key of time are over and over. Out of order.
I would say in the Tom Baker years of Dr Who after the UNIT concept had been dropped from the series in season 13 any and every modern day Earth serials never feature UNIT or even just iits commanding officer Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart and also with the UNIT concept gone from Dr Who and I was convinced UNIT was never likely to return to Dr Who ever again and although UNIT kind of reappear in season 26 stroy Battlefield with the 7th Dr they are totally and utterly fcked up as a concept because when UNIT was phased out of Dr Who in the early Tom Baker years in Terror of the Zygons even though UNIT returned twice more in season 13 serials Android Invasion and subsequently Seeds of Doom UNIT really departed in Terror of the Zygons
1:28 Important question: Which “Steve Austin” is #4 referring to: Stone Cold, or The Six Million Dollar Man? Kinda works either way, but just curious 😄
Edit: also VERY curious who #10 was 😅
Hey! Alpha Centauri is a trinary! #Shortchanged
Talking about story the four doctors
The giant squid was genuinely horrifying and gothic to a child's eye.
I was seven when Kroll was shown. I thought it looked a bit crap.
@@douglasfreeman3229 I don't know, I was quite a bit older (but in America, so it came out later), and I was intrigued by Kroll. A similar primal horror is when you see images of what Saturn would look like if it flew by the Earth. That giant squid just looked good to me.
The thing that stood out about The Power of Kroll is the poor performance of Philip Madoc, who of course was Dr Solon in The Brain of Morbius. Maddoc's performance in the latter was as good as the former's was bad.
Maddoc, of course, was an excellent actor but not even he could make something out of the limp script, and was not aided by the lacklustre direction.
And the War Lord in The War Games.
@@thefonzkissAnother stellar performance. Maddoc is up there with Kevin Stoney as an all time great guest star.
16:31 he looks exactly like the passenger, and the ravengers from Chris Chibnal’s “ Flux”. Like almost exactly the same. Another thing he ripped off?
Who's number 10 in the power rating?
In the Power of Kroll episode I could swear that on the Doctor's lapel he wears pins that are the startled ducks from the old Nintendo game 'Duck Hunt'. I have paused and zoomed in on his lapel a dozen times to try and get a better look at them to confirm this but my final verdict is still up in the air. The episode predates the game by several years but perhaps their was an earlier version of the game that I'm not aware of. Seriously, look closely at them when they are visible and you'll see what I mean. Startled Duck Hunt ducks...for real.
I think the ducks are a play on the porcelain flying ducks some people used to hang on their walls in the 50s/60s.
@@StamFine I reckon I'm too young to remember the porcelain duck fad 'cause I've never seen them. I swear they're startled Duck Hunt ducks. After all, he IS a time traveler so he may have played some 'ol school Nintendo at some point in his temporal excursions, yeah? Hell, I played hours of it and I only time travel when no one's looking. (Keep that last bit dark...>grins
They were especially a thing in the UK at the time because a character called Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street had a set of them on her wall and they became a bit iconic.
Fun fact; A new White and Black Guardian, Celestial Toymaker + All the other new Guardians over time + a new Key to time is within the new Series all hidden in plain sight.
WTF? It is not: But it is; and here is how. (in short)
Chronologicly
( I am skipping here how the new key to time was made (this is also within the new series)
1. Rassilon tell us this masterplan of him using a nightmare child to ascend himself and the Timelords. (End of time pt2)
2. Missy tells the John Simms Master what to do next. "I loved being you, shining like a sun when the planet burned".
3. John Simms dying Master activates Rassilons ascention device in the same moment Gallifrey is frozen in that moment of time, at the end of the time war; to continue his existance as an ascended being. (He sure is persistant)
4. As Gallifrey is frozen in the same moment it is burned, only those closest to the ascention device get fully ascended, (Those present at the Gallifreyan high counsil at the time.)
5. Everyone else on Gallifrey outside the Gallifreyan high counsil got trapped in an Schrödinger (cat) like state of both being alive and ascended at the same time. (Thus they can only move around when not being observed by a living being.)
6. As Gallifrey is taken into the void just after the new Guardians over time is created = they from then on reside in there between the classic and new Whoniverse...
7. The ascended Rassilon gets thrown out from Gallifrey, (thus becomes the outcast Celestial Toymaker)
8. Gallifrey (in Twice upon a time; during Peter Capaldi´s last scene) is taken thru the void.
9. The TARDIS throws out Jodie Whitaker to save her from ascention.
10. Gallifrey transports Gallifrey away from Earth and it is hit by the ascention "wave" and the former ascended ("dead") TARDIS crashes on the terraforming "burning" former Gallifrey.
11. "The Master is shining like a star while the planet is burning". (Ring of Akhaten)
12. The former (our) Doctor (stopped being the Doctor when he lost the Williams (prequel 1 Snowmen) gives the ascended Sasha Master (at this time; that hasnt been aware that he is an ascended being) all the secrets that must never be spoken. Durign the Deamonstar speach while the new current Doctor accepts the cloak of life (the role of being the Doctor for the new Whoniverse.
13, Sasha Master figures out he have all this time been what he hates the most, the 1/2 child of the incarnation from inbetween the 12th and final regen of the child that was born as Tony Tyler (Journeys End) aka Doctor Tyler (The Three Doctors) and "Bad wolf girl Rose ?Romana? new White Guardian over time Tyler".
14. The Schrödinger cat like trapped former Timelords tries to prevent our mankind (from the classic Whoniverse) to become the new rulers over time (in the new Whoniverse) and manipulates everything they can to stop us becoming that over on Trenzalore (the former now fully terrformed Gallifrey) after our Earth falls in 5145AD. (And yes our classic Whoniverse Earth was stolen way from the classic Whoniverse and taken over into the new Whoniverse hidden in plain sight) just as the Earth that became Mondas was taken from the previous lost Whoniverse and that mankind became the Timelords as the Ragnarookians (Rassilons original ppl) tried to stop them = the true enemy in the Timelord Timewar with the Daleks that was the puppets of the Ragnarookians as they tried to prevent the Mondasian mankind to become/be the Timelords instead of them....
Everything on an eternal repeating loop for each new Whoniverse...
And Yeah RIVERS is the new timemachine for the new rulers over time that have saved mankind from all out of history to have them become the regenerations (a second life) for the new rulers over time (as its Matrix and Church of the papal mainframe). = OMEGA used to be Rassilons timemachine when she was the Doctor in the lost previous WHoniverse..
There is actully more...but that is a start....
Father child and the holy ghost creating the Whoniverse more....
Edit; and if you didnt get it; Rassilons ascention device is the new Key to time. (for the new Whoniverse)
I see you've thought about it a lot.
@@StamFine Well it wasnt that hard to spot after one understood there was in "Eleventh hour" 2 different Amelia/Amy Ponds living in 2 different Whoniversis. (Last clue that solved it all was minisode Goodnight series 6) and everything after that have confirmed the above.to be a accurate assumption.
(biggest confirmations was Clara being exposed to the timevortex (alot and for a short time) (same as amongst Madame Pompadore/Lady Penforte.) living next to timewindows/being exposed to the timevortex and thus being able to see/remember lives they hadnt lived in other Whoniversis/dimentions. The crack in the wall made Amy/Amelia (exposed long and low) her so they remembered both lives in her head at the same time.
=When the Doctor returned and got Amelia (classic Whoniverse) and took her with him the Doctor saved Amelia from realising the man she was about to marry the next day had never existef and was only a memory of the other Anys life.
(Then in end of series 5 the Doctor's enemies kidnapped Amelia and extracted her memories and thus Rory existed when the new Whoniverse came into existance.
Once I got that, everything unraveled and everything was possible to see.
As each new Whoniverse is on an eternal repeat (slightly different details but same events/outcome)
=It is possible to see (predict) events that is to come and at the same time explain what have been going on in even the craziest rambles thru the year suddenly making 100% sense.
ALOT have been hidding in plain sight. (especially in the great rememrable scenes; that have been distractions from whats really been goin on in them.)
Just take the intro alone. even that is explained with the above (example) 11ths intro with the desintigrating blue timevortex (as the classic (TARDISblue) timevotex collapses around the TARDIS and the it jumps thru the void over into the new red timevortex. Next after that watch 9th and Peter Capaldis intros and it is there 2. (there is a reason its not in JWs) (as she never jumps between different whoniversis) AND one last thing.
Everything wedding related in the show symbolises the TARDIS jumps between Whoniversis with the Doctor. (twice in Eleventh hour) even the Donna Noble being a bride x2..
As this is a biggie. If you can see the following you can see the rest. (this next is what did it for me to get the above is correct)
In episode "Doomsday" (apptly named") the classic Whoniverse had its Doomsday hidden in plain sight...
Yeep.
Cause. The day the Doctor called Rose from is taking place several months after the events of Canary Warf and the show had during series 1 & 2 been sneaky sneaky not telling exactly when everything took place but the battle of Canary Warf did not take place earlier then late summer of 2009. = Several months after that mean it was 2010 by the time the Doctor called Rose...
That alone wasnt the clincher. but it put the Doctor atleast in 2010 When (like in episode Big bang) the classic Whoniverse had its doomsday.
What solved it was 10ths wording to Rose.
(paraphrased)
There is one tiny little gap left in the universe and it is about to close and I am burning up a sun/supernova....
Once I had the clues from the above that the bride is there (soon after)
I began wondering on those words...
One tiny little gap about to close...
In normal time...
What if one would see it in time but from the perspective when it closed...
Then it dawned on me.
If seen in normal time before it closed.
That means that it would expand out from that point in the future...
=That last tiny little gap infact is a Big bang spreading out from that moment in the future....
=series 3&4 takes place within the new Whoniverse until 10th has to see Rose one last time (that never existed in the new Whoniverse as a corporial being.) =As we see Donna again as a bride...the TARDIS travels back into the classic Whoniverse...=Geronimo took place there. Then the 2 jumps in Eleventh Hour. The 2 different Amelia/Amy remembers each others adventures thru series 5 with the 11th.
And after that it is possible in episode Listen and Journey into the TARDIS spot the tiny little detail from series 2 with Mickey for half an hour pushing the button (saftey feature) (that normally prevents interwhoniversal travels)
= Same feature that was deactivated before Clara took the TARDIS back to the Doctors childhood (in the classic whoniverse) and "made" the unstable day that never happend happen....
= there are so many interconnecting confirmations (and more) to the above....
@@kennethnystrom593 mate, your fan fiction theory is cool and all that, but you're probably wasting your time lol
@@hothemeep1219 Thing is it isnt fan fiction at all. It is what has been going on in the show.
Just take a few moments to verify it and you will be astonished why this above havent been realised sooner.
The Key to Time was the first full serial of Doctor Who I watched on CBC.
Why should we know that?
Was that parrot cosplaying as Boba Fett?
Yeah the wound is from a dog. No it's herpies.
Last copy I ever saw, was a complete set when Borders Books was still a thing, before 2008. That was the last copy I ever saw. After that, you might find a used copy if your lucky. I never knew my luck, until I saw a second time couple years back at a local place in my state, and there was a used whole copy set. I didn't have the money at the time. When I did get the money and returned, it was gone. Good luck on your search.
Interesting how trends change, they were too worried about an overarching plotline back then and now serialised tv shows and films are all you ever get, nothing is standalone anymore.
Poor Adric :(