The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Slave Traders - Inferno
Doctor Who - The Slave Traders (16/01/05)
One month later...
And the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki seem to have suffered no ill effects after the TARDIS fell off the cliff. In fact, they're having a right laugh relaxing in a Roman villa! Hooray! An Historical! It feels like ages since we visited the past and this week was brilliant! (Note all the exclamation marks!). Most of the episode was spent with them having a good time - not much plot but lots of humour, and you get the sneaking suspicion that the moment the Doctor and Vicki left for Rome, Ian and Barbara were shagging (well, they have been travelling together for over a year! It was bound to happen eventually).
Vicki seems to have fitted in very well, getting on with the Doctor better than Susan - it feels like they're a family. And she has a curiosity that meshes with the Doctor's. The Doctor himself has come along in leaps and bounds - he's much more likeable this season.
Anyway, on to the story; there was plot this week, but it was slipped into all the scenes of the cast enjoying themselves (and I do mean cast as well as characters) so well you just picked it up without really noticing. There were some slave traders (see title) who kidnapped Ian and Barbara, and Ian was sold on. Meanwhile, the Doctor was mistaken for a murdered Lyre Player on the way to Rome. There you go - the plot. Nevertheless, the best episode of this season.
Doctor Who - All Roads Lead To Rome (23/01/05)
Another entertaining excursion into history! This week started with the Doctor beating the crap out of his would-be assassin - and clearly enjoying it! Since the introduction of Vicki, the Doctor's become a much more amiable character and it's brilliant watching the Doctor and Vicki obviously having fun playing their scenes for laughs.
Meanwhile, Barbara has been auctioned in Rome and is now in the house of Caesar Nero - ironically, where the Doctor and Vicki have turned up - and after being sold as a galley slave, shipwrecked and making his way to Rome in search of Barbara, Ian has been recaptured and is being held to be trained as a Gladiator.
Obviously, Ian and Barbara have been given the serious plot lines, but one of the funniest scenes this week wasn't anything to do with the Doctor and Vicki, but was when Ian's ship was wrecked in a storm; as the slaves revolted (causing the wreck) a couple of off camera stage-hands chucked a bucket of water each over the cast as the camera lifted away and banged into something. Ah, the wonder of 60s TV! Still, another good episode and this season seems to be a lot more fun and light-hearted than the last.
Doctor Who - Conspiracy (30/01/05)
This has got to be the first out and out comedy in Doctor Who. It started off amusing with one-liners and the like, then there was the comedy focus on the Doctor and Vicki in Nero's court (while Ian and Barbara got the drama); Now Barbara's in on the comedy being chased around the Roman Court by a randy Caesar Nero! Okay, so Nero's a tad older than he would have been, but who cares! The conspiracy continues with the Doctor being mistaken for Maximus Petulian the Lyre Player who was clearly murdered because he was plotting something.
Meanwhile, the Doctor had to play at Nero's big do and played something 'so delicate that only the most refined ear could hear it'... ie he didn't play. Nero sussed and wasn't happy - Whoops! Oh, and Mrs Nero wasn't impressed with Nero's infatuation with Barbara, tried to have her poisoned, but Vicki switched the goblets so Nero nearly got it, but the Doctor intervened and the food taster got the poison instead (which was hilarious!).
Oh, and the Doctor and Vicki have no idea that Ian and Barbara are there! This episode was 100% farce and I loved it. Doctor Who should do this more often! Oh, and Ian had to fight before Nero, got the thumbs down and may end up dead. Well, they had to have some drama, I suppose!
Doctor Who - Inferno (06/02/05)
What an enjoyable story! Okay, so it had it's serious bits this week, mainly in the opening scene where Ian and his mate escaped and Nero threatened Barbara with a sword, but then it was back to business with the Doctor and Vicki farcing about giving Nero the idea of burning Rome - great special effect for Rome burning, too: just a simple, black horizon with fire behind it. There was quite a lengthy conclusion to this story, too, where they returned to the villa, Ian and Barbara first, then the Doctor and Vicki later. The latter still hadn't a clue that the others had also been at Nero's court by the end which was very sweet as Ian and Barbara didn't try to keep it a secret - oh, and on their return they were back to all that flirting again (I swear they were shagging between the Doctor leaving and the Slave Traders arriving!).
The Doctor and Vicki's relationship is developing well; she seems to have him well sussed in a way Susan didn't. When they were discussing the Doctor's inspiring Nero to burn Rome there was some real warmth between them, and she gets away with saying a lot more than Susan, Ian or Barbara ever would have! Kind of a shame the story's over already, but at least it didn't drag! Possibly the best over-all story so far!
One month later...
And the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki seem to have suffered no ill effects after the TARDIS fell off the cliff. In fact, they're having a right laugh relaxing in a Roman villa! Hooray! An Historical! It feels like ages since we visited the past and this week was brilliant! (Note all the exclamation marks!). Most of the episode was spent with them having a good time - not much plot but lots of humour, and you get the sneaking suspicion that the moment the Doctor and Vicki left for Rome, Ian and Barbara were shagging (well, they have been travelling together for over a year! It was bound to happen eventually).
Vicki seems to have fitted in very well, getting on with the Doctor better than Susan - it feels like they're a family. And she has a curiosity that meshes with the Doctor's. The Doctor himself has come along in leaps and bounds - he's much more likeable this season.
Anyway, on to the story; there was plot this week, but it was slipped into all the scenes of the cast enjoying themselves (and I do mean cast as well as characters) so well you just picked it up without really noticing. There were some slave traders (see title) who kidnapped Ian and Barbara, and Ian was sold on. Meanwhile, the Doctor was mistaken for a murdered Lyre Player on the way to Rome. There you go - the plot. Nevertheless, the best episode of this season.
Doctor Who - All Roads Lead To Rome (23/01/05)
Another entertaining excursion into history! This week started with the Doctor beating the crap out of his would-be assassin - and clearly enjoying it! Since the introduction of Vicki, the Doctor's become a much more amiable character and it's brilliant watching the Doctor and Vicki obviously having fun playing their scenes for laughs.
Meanwhile, Barbara has been auctioned in Rome and is now in the house of Caesar Nero - ironically, where the Doctor and Vicki have turned up - and after being sold as a galley slave, shipwrecked and making his way to Rome in search of Barbara, Ian has been recaptured and is being held to be trained as a Gladiator.
Obviously, Ian and Barbara have been given the serious plot lines, but one of the funniest scenes this week wasn't anything to do with the Doctor and Vicki, but was when Ian's ship was wrecked in a storm; as the slaves revolted (causing the wreck) a couple of off camera stage-hands chucked a bucket of water each over the cast as the camera lifted away and banged into something. Ah, the wonder of 60s TV! Still, another good episode and this season seems to be a lot more fun and light-hearted than the last.
Doctor Who - Conspiracy (30/01/05)
This has got to be the first out and out comedy in Doctor Who. It started off amusing with one-liners and the like, then there was the comedy focus on the Doctor and Vicki in Nero's court (while Ian and Barbara got the drama); Now Barbara's in on the comedy being chased around the Roman Court by a randy Caesar Nero! Okay, so Nero's a tad older than he would have been, but who cares! The conspiracy continues with the Doctor being mistaken for Maximus Petulian the Lyre Player who was clearly murdered because he was plotting something.
Meanwhile, the Doctor had to play at Nero's big do and played something 'so delicate that only the most refined ear could hear it'... ie he didn't play. Nero sussed and wasn't happy - Whoops! Oh, and Mrs Nero wasn't impressed with Nero's infatuation with Barbara, tried to have her poisoned, but Vicki switched the goblets so Nero nearly got it, but the Doctor intervened and the food taster got the poison instead (which was hilarious!).
Oh, and the Doctor and Vicki have no idea that Ian and Barbara are there! This episode was 100% farce and I loved it. Doctor Who should do this more often! Oh, and Ian had to fight before Nero, got the thumbs down and may end up dead. Well, they had to have some drama, I suppose!
Doctor Who - Inferno (06/02/05)
What an enjoyable story! Okay, so it had it's serious bits this week, mainly in the opening scene where Ian and his mate escaped and Nero threatened Barbara with a sword, but then it was back to business with the Doctor and Vicki farcing about giving Nero the idea of burning Rome - great special effect for Rome burning, too: just a simple, black horizon with fire behind it. There was quite a lengthy conclusion to this story, too, where they returned to the villa, Ian and Barbara first, then the Doctor and Vicki later. The latter still hadn't a clue that the others had also been at Nero's court by the end which was very sweet as Ian and Barbara didn't try to keep it a secret - oh, and on their return they were back to all that flirting again (I swear they were shagging between the Doctor leaving and the Slave Traders arriving!).
The Doctor and Vicki's relationship is developing well; she seems to have him well sussed in a way Susan didn't. When they were discussing the Doctor's inspiring Nero to burn Rome there was some real warmth between them, and she gets away with saying a lot more than Susan, Ian or Barbara ever would have! Kind of a shame the story's over already, but at least it didn't drag! Possibly the best over-all story so far!
And the novelisation is a hoot!
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