Reviews

Curse of Fatal Death is one of the best produced Doctor Who parodies I've ever seen. It has jokes not only poking fun at the show but jokes genuinely meant to appeal to fans of the series. Rowan Atkinson makes an excellent choice as the comic Doctor along with the various other surprising guest stars to play the role in this rapid regeneration riot.

Produced originally for Red Nose Day this will no doubt be a favorite of fans for years to come. Highly recommended to all Doctor Who fans!

I have just watched this movie for the first time. I have long loved Yahoo Serious' first film "Young Einstein" and as such I had high expectations for this picture. The movie does have a few very funny moments but it seems hacked up and undeveloped. The American release is 23 minutes shorter than the Australian version and I'm wondering if many of the unsatisfactory issues in this movie might be resolved in that vast cut. I have no clue why the American version is missing 1/5th of the entire film or what that footage consists of but it lends hope that the entire 103 minute film might prove of more substance. As it stands now I give Reckless Kelly a vote of 7 which is under Young Einstein which I gave a 10.

Young Einstein is one of the most unusual and creative films I've ever seen. It is definitely one of my all time favorite Australian films. Constantly in action and hilarious the film does many clever things which often get overlooked. For instance the invention of Rock 'n Roll serves to feed a great theme in movie. Albert Einstein is a genius far ahead of his time and his attempts to introduce Rock 'n Roll and electric instruments serve to illustrate that genius is often not only misunderstood but completely unappreciated. This is in fact one of the major themes of the film - his parents don't understand him, the scientist with Marie Currie, and her teacher simply don't understand him or his theories. This film's wonderful scenery, marvellous sets, and fantastic camera work often give the impression of an extremely expensive film. However this film was anything but! Yahoo Serious pulled together this hilarious and thought provoking film on a very small budget. I have seen this film dozens of times now, on cable and in little art house theatres, and it always makes me laugh and gets my spirits a little bit up. It is definitely a film ahead of it's time, and therefore perhaps just as misunderstood and unappreciated as it's title character.

This film is a straight society damnation of free thought and LSD the mind expanding drug. I despise how Charles Manson was portrayed as a dangerous psychopath. Obviously his ability to represent himself on several occasions shows that he had excellent clarity of mind and vision. This film is interesting to see the straight view of reality and see the true brainwashed media of society. We are through the looking glass people.

The Monster Musical has been a failed genre since the brave creation of "The Incredibly Strange Creatures..." Like almost every monster musical before and since it has the distinctive characteristic of being truly awful.

The best and by far one of the most painful scenes is when Vincent Price gives us a little lesson in monster genealogy. If you ever wondered the family history of the Weregoo or the Hudoo, this is your flick.

I Was A Doctor Who monster gives a wonderful chance for the usually forgotten stars of the programme - the monsters - to come out from behind their masks and tell their side of programme. Robert Jewell is particularly interesting. Slyvester McCoy is as always a wonderful presenter.

This documentary was very popular in the convention circuit in the mid-80s. Again we see interviews with the cast and some of the creators. It does cover American fandom as it was at the time and how Doctor Who was treated within the United States. Even when it uses stock footage or pre-recorded footage from existing interviews it does select well so it's not the same old thing fans have seen in countless other specials.

This documentary was rather good so when I found it on video at a convention in 1986, in a nice looking professional oversized case, I snapped it up. Most interesting is Tom Baker discussing the unusual circumstances under which he got the role of the Doctor, comments from other science fiction actors such as George Takei, and interviews with a large variety of the cast. It also has interviews about with some fans about their favorite Doctors and tests the old belief that the first Doctor someone sees is their favorite. This is actually one of the better made for PBS interview documentaries.

I watched this series on the sci-fi channel and it was quite a pleasant surprise. I'd never heard of this 70s sci-fi series before but it was british and done by some of the same people who also worked on Doctor Who. This series was most definitely influenced by Doctor Who and other films and tv series but it was unique in it's own vision of the future and man's future of the colonization of space. The series ended on a wonderful episode and should have been brought back for at least another. This is definitely a massively underestimated classic.

This special was originally made for American PBS stations. The interviews it features are quite interesting as it has an interview with Patrick Troughton which must have taken place rather shortly before his untimely death. The programme also introduces Slyvester McCoy to American audiences as the new Doctor. Although the interviews themselves are quite interesting the interviewer and entire tone of of these made for PBS specials are rather hokey and laughable. As many laughs can be gotten from the hair styles of the stars and interviewers as can from their individual wit.

This is a surprisingly wonderful version of Red Dwarf. Good copies are hard to come by however even at the usual bad quality copies are more that enough to convey the bright promise of this version. In some ways it is funnier than the original "The End". The effects and special sequences are used to enhance the storytelling not hinder it. Although the entire cast, save Kryten, has been recast the magic glow of smegginess remains. Not only do some of the jokes pack more of a punch and some wonderful new material shines through, the story itself is more dramatically sound. This altered version has a more tragic moment for Lister entering stasis and a better explanation for his actions regarding Frankenstein, his pet Cat. The crew holds up as the biggest whacked out bunch of space bums ever to set foot in an alternative dimension.

This is a funny and rather odd film with many 70s pop culture parodies. The acting is bad, the plot is typical, the theme is a parody of "Staying Alive". Starring Carol Conners the high-voiced innocent bimbo, this is dramatic cautionary tale of those seeking their fortune in Hollywood. Puts Ghandi to shame.

I was very amused by this excellent Doctor Who spin-off. Several members of the cast from the original series have been gathered, Sophie Aldred, Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning, and Mark Strickson along with JNT, Terrance Dicks, and Gary Russell to evaluate Doctor Who's history of sexism. In a trial more bureaucratic than the one in The War Games but thankfully shorter than The Trial of A Time Lord, the entire history of the series is reviewed. This video production is surprisingly entertaining. Much better than various reviews I have read lead me to believe. The video is wonderful as their are lots of excellent jokes and light heartedness around the entire issue. Also sad boy fandom is put in its place marvellously in several hilarious moments. This is wonderful to watch with a few fellow fans.

I was quite happy to see The Missing Years as it is a compilation of various existing clips from the classic junked stories of Doctor Who.

The one of the most notable items on the tape is the recently recovered home movie footage of the final destruction of the Daleks in Evil of the Daleks which is quite shocking. The effects are much different and to a much higher standard than I had expected and indeed show several nuances that would be reinvented only much later in the 80s. Also quite notable is the color home movie footage from Fury From The Deep which shows the weed creatures on the attack.

This anniversary special is quite interesting as it features excellent performances from all involved. The natural chemistry of Patrick Troughton and Nicholas Courtney for instance is one of the truly shining elements of this production. Also Richard Hurdnall does a remarkably good and under rated version of the 1st Doctor. It is most interesting to see the 1st Doctor paired up with Tegan as they both have intense egos which work brilliantly in tandem. Meanwhile we have the familiar couplings of the 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane along with just strange choices - Turlough and Susan. This adventures captures the spirit of Doctor Who at it's finest, and is quite well written, acted, and executed for an anniversary special!

I was very excited when I heard that FOX would be doing a version of Doctor Who. I have been a fan of the programme for a very long time and was somewhat skeptical of a version that would fit to be a FOX Tv Movie. The story actually does very well. It is somewhat let down by a few inferior actors and some rather annoying stock footage disguised as special effects but then again - this *IS* Doctor Who. Paul McGann was an excellent choice for the title role and the main supporting cast holds up their own as well. I have personally never been against the Doctor having a sexual relationship, which upset many fans, but I felt it was poorly executed in this production. Grace, the love interest, has totally unbelievable and horribly timed dialogue that seems to have no basis whatsoever.

Other than that one truly glaring annoyance it's very good and rather interesting with repeated viewings I've discovered.

What can I say about Doctor Who? It has been one of my favorite programmes for ages and has been a vehicle towards meeting some of the kindest and most interesting people I could ever hope to meet. A short breakdown of the original show - It starred seven wonderful actors in the title role each of which played the mysterious Doctor with their own special twist. William Hartnell played him cranky old man, incredibly secretive about his past, and a paradox of self importance and genuine compassion. The Second Doctor, Patrick Troughon, was the classic cosmic hobo who was often scared of monsters, and used an air of stupidity and clumsiness to lull his enemies into a false security. Jon Pertwee played the earthbound gadget loving dandy version. The most popular Doctor was Tom Baker the strange, comedic, scarf wearing bohemian. Peter Davison played a very human, pained Doctor with bad taste in friends. Often seen as passive he actually was the one who was most likely to use a gun to solve problems. Colin Baker was the egotistical, schizo Doctor with a bad wardrobe. Finally Slyvester McCoy was the Scottish Doctor with a weird sense of humor and a dark streak always hiding behind his manipulative plans. After 26 years on television Doctor Who enjoys a large and well deserved following.