Rewatching Dr Who from season 1 (Hartnell) I realized ...

[senko]

Curse you title limits.

I realized that the 1st Dr whilst in the middle of kidnapping and mocking Ian and Barbara actually takes more care about safety than the new who's.

1st Doctor arrives at unknown destination after kidnapping two 20th century people who don't believe the TARDIS is more than trickery "I wont open the doors until I'm sure its safe. Susan check the radiation detector."

Current Doctors "Oohhh I don't recognize that, how interesting everyone out."

This amuses me, I don't know why but the idea the original doctor actually wanted to make sure the people he was kidnapping were safe while the current versions chivies their willing companions out into unknown situations amuses me.

[grinch]

Heh. Never thought of it like that I must admit.

Maybe we can just headcanon that he was being extra careful because if the Time Lords discovered that there was humans from the 20th century dead on some planet somewhere and very much out of their natural time and space, they might be able to track him down?

I dunno.

[senko]

Aug 26, 2021 19:21:22 GMT grinch said:

Heh. Never thought of it like that I must admit.

Maybe we can just headcanon that he was being extra careful because if the Time Lords discovered that there was humans from the 20th century dead on some planet somewhere and very much out of their natural time and space, they might be able to track him down?

I dunno.

Oh he still shows the same attitudes in the next episode where he fakes a TARDIS malfunction so he can explore a city when they want to go home so he's just got more open about it as he's gotten older. I just find the fact his first appearance has him more concerned about hazards with people he kidnapped compared to what he's like later with willing companions funny.

[Stormcrow]

Probably because checking the environment every time you land doesn't make for gripping television? Just spitballing here...

[misterharry]

Exactly. This isn't something that was introduced in New Who. In much of the classic series, the Doctor only uses the scanner to see what's outside. It would be tedious for him to check atmosphere, gravity, radiation, etc at the beginning of every story - just think of it as an unwritten rule that the Doctor does the checks without bothering to mention them.

[Stormcrow]

One can suppose when one has checked the outside environment for as many centuries as the Doctor has, the act becomes automatic and speedy.

[Catsmate]

Aug 27, 2021 17:25:55 GMT Stormcrow said:

One can suppose when one has checked the outside environment for as many centuries as the Doctor has, the act becomes automatic and speedy.

Or there's a simple, programmed, automatic sensor routine that checks for atmospheric composition/pressure/contaminants, ionising and other radiations, gravity, temperature, things falling from the sky et cetera.

[Stormcrow]

There is. That's what the Doctor checks on the console.

[senko]

I still find the concept amusing.

I'm actually finding quite a few things I'd forgotten. In the edge of destruction he actually makes an offhand comment which as best I could hear is "Oh yes that's plane Quirinus in the 4th universe." So dimension hopping apparently was a regular thing preshow.

[Stormcrow]

Aug 30, 2021 9:37:20 GMT senko said:

In the edge of destruction he actually makes an offhand comment which as best I could hear is "Oh yes that's plane Quirinus in the 4th universe." So dimension hopping apparently was a regular thing preshow.

No, that's just the writers not knowing how astronomy or cosmology work. You can't take offhand comments like that seriously. Old science-fiction shows made errors like this all the time.

[misterharry]

I think regularly may be stretching things - we only know of this one instance. if you're interested, the Doctor and Susan's visit to Quinnis in the Fourth Universe (and it is a different universe) has been documented in a Big Finish audio, Quinnis by Marc Platt. I love most of Platt's writing, and this one has his usual flair for developing detailed new worlds.

[Catsmate]

It was pretty common in older sci-fi to use 'universe' as a larger grouping beyond 'galaxy'. Then there was 'Cosmic All'.
Now with have galactic super-clusters.
Quinnis is referenced in Th Devil Goblins from Neptune as being in the Fourth Galaxy IIRR.

[misterharry]

Aug 30, 2021 14:33:53 GMT Catsmate said:

Quinnis is referenced in Th Devil Goblins from Neptune as being in the Fourth Galaxy IIRR.

In that one, the Doctor boasts about having been "trained as a Ninja on Quinnis in Galaxy Four". In the same breath he says he's also a tenth dan master in Saturnian king-fu (as well as the more usual Venusian aikido). It sounds like he's spouting names off the top of his head to confuse his attackers. It's entirely subjective of course and depends which of the spin-offs you consider valid. But for me, a full audio story trumps a passing mention in a novel.

[markrand]

I seem to remember the Third Doctor doing it once when he and Jo were sent somewhere by the Time Lords. But then, I'm not as in to Doctor Who as a lot of you are. Most of my knowledge about it comes from watching classic series episodes on our local PBS station and newer ones on BBC America. For all I know, I'm the only Yank on these boards.

[Stormcrow]

Aug 30, 2021 15:09:14 GMT markrand said:

I seem to remember the Third Doctor doing it once when he and Jo were sent somewhere by the Time Lords.

You're confusing a bunch of different stories. The main one you're thinking of was a Third Doctor/Liz Shaw story in which the Doctor accidentally sends himself to a parallel universe, where UNIT strongly resembles Nazis.

For all I know, I'm the only Yank on these boards.

You are not.

[markrand]

Aug 30, 2021 15:30:33 GMT Stormcrow said:

Aug 30, 2021 15:09:14 GMT markrand said:

I seem to remember the Third Doctor doing it once when he and Jo were sent somewhere by the Time Lords.

You're confusing a bunch of different stories. The main one you're thinking of was a Third Doctor/Liz Shaw story in which the Doctor accidentally sends himself to a parallel universe, where UNIT strongly resembles Nazis.

I was thinking of the story "The Curse of Peladon".

[misterharry]

Aug 30, 2021 16:31:09 GMT markrand said:

I was thinking of the story "The Curse of Peladon".

Ahh, do you mean his martial arts skills, rather than visits to other universes? Yes, the Third Doctor was always showing off his Venusian aikido, and the fight in The Curse of Peladon is a particularly fine example. But I don't really think he was also an expert at Saturnian kung-fu and a Ninja trained on Quinnis.

[markrand]

Aug 30, 2021 17:02:12 GMT misterharry said:

Aug 30, 2021 16:31:09 GMT markrand said:

I was thinking of the story "The Curse of Peladon".

Ahh, do you mean his martial arts skills, rather than visits to other universes? Yes, the Third Doctor was always showing off his Venusian aikido, and the fight in The Curse of Peladon is a particularly fine example. But I don't really think he was also an expert at Saturnian kung-fu and a Ninja trained on Quinnis.

I was referring to his using the scanner to make sure it was safe for him and Jo.

[misterharry]

Aug 30, 2021 17:14:13 GMT markrand said:

I was referring to his using the scanner to make sure it was safe for him and Jo.

Oh I see. Yeah, there was a lot of checking of scanners going on when the Third Doctor did manage to get off the Earth.

[senko]

And in sensorites he says while he's never liked weapons they're useful little things.

[Catsmate]

Sept 5, 2021 10:46:52 GMT senko said:

And in sensorites he says while he's never liked weapons they're useful little things.

I'm reminded of the comics, where the doctors, especially two, were quite happy to use weapons and armed several teenage companions.

[grinch]

Sept 5, 2021 20:47:43 GMT Catsmate said:

Sept 5, 2021 10:46:52 GMT senko said:

And in sensorites he says while he's never liked weapons they're useful little things.

I'm reminded of the comics, where the doctors, especially two, were quite happy to use weapons and armed several teenage companions.

Ah, who can forget the excellence that is ‘Die, hideous creature.... die’’

[Catsmate]

Sept 6, 2021 10:00:41 GMT grinch said:

Sept 5, 2021 20:47:43 GMT Catsmate said:

I'm reminded of the comics, where the doctors, especially two, were quite happy to use weapons and armed several teenage companions.

Ah, who can forget the excellence that is ‘Die, hideous creature.... die’’

Ah, yes his solution to giant intelligent spiders, a spot of genocide.
Really the comics seemed to be written by people who'd never seen the TV series and had a few basic details to work from.
I liked his fake Dalek though.


Off this topic but back to the First Doctor in general, one things that bugs me is The Dalek Invasion of Earth and it's numerous plot holes and background problems. For something set in 21xx there are a lot of two hundred year old vehicles lying around. They should have stuck with 2041.
Though it's not as bad as the film version, with it's two St. Pauls' domes, New York brownstones and fire hydrants....
Maybe they actually landed in a theme park?

[Stormcrow]

Really the comics seemed to be written by people who'd never seen the TV series and had a few basic details to work from.

This sort of thing does happen. The early Star Trek comics by Gold Key were drawn by someone who had never watched the show and only had a few publicity stills to go by.

[Catsmate]

Sept 6, 2021 22:28:34 GMT Stormcrow said:

Really the comics seemed to be written by people who'd never seen the TV series and had a few basic details to work from.

This sort of thing does happen. The early Star Trek comics by Gold Key were drawn by someone who had never watched the show and only had a few publicity stills to go by.

Absolutely. I remember the illustrations in the Japanese novels with their unusual take on the Daleks and their confusion on telephone boxes.

[grinch]

Sept 7, 2021 7:49:37 GMT Catsmate said:

Sept 6, 2021 22:28:34 GMT Stormcrow said:

This sort of thing does happen. The early Star Trek comics by Gold Key were drawn by someone who had never watched the show and only had a few publicity stills to go by.

Absolutely. I remember the illustrations in the Japanese novels with their unusual take on the Daleks and their confusion on telephone boxes.

I actually really like the Japanese design of the Daleks I must confess.

Also like how our very own Doctor of Toc in his Dalek sourcebook head canoned that they’re merely alternate universe versions of the Daleks we’re used to.

[Catsmate]

Sept 7, 2021 14:07:37 GMT grinch said:

Sept 7, 2021 7:49:37 GMT Catsmate said:

Absolutely. I remember the illustrations in the Japanese novels with their unusual take on the Daleks and their confusion on telephone boxes.

I actually really like the Japanese design of the Daleks I must confess.

Also like how our very own Doctor of Toc in his Dalek sourcebook head canoned that they’re merely alternate universe versions of the Daleks we’re used to.

Oh yes, they'd fit well as a variant Dalek. Somehow I see them as 'twitchy', spinning in place or rotating their ball while stationary. In fact according to Nation (specifically the Dalek Special) the Dalek does use a large ball  for movement.

There are a lot of alternate Dalek designs Mechmaster has some wonderful variants, and I like his idea of a Dalek society with a lot more variety in shells than we usually see.