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Two of the Old Who stories I hadn't seen before were the very first and the very last ones featuring Ace, Dragonfire and Survival, with the later being the very last episode of Old Who, full stop. (Not counting the tv movie of doom.) In recent weeks I rectified that. Neither is Who at its best (as opposed to Curse of Fenric which I talked about earlier), but they both showcase some of the major strengths of that last period of the show before it got cancelled interrupted for many years. And they make a fascinating compare and contrast. The Doctor is far more in a clown mode in Dragonfire, and Ace comes across as far more of a teenager - which, as we hear in the course of the story, she literally is, of course - than later. Of course, Dragonfire was followed by Rememberance of the Daleks, wherein the Doctor commits genocide for the first time (or did I miss a previous occasion? All I recall is Four not doing it in Genesis, with infamous results) and argues the surviving Dalek into suicide, and Ace is showcased being crazy and courageous enough to go after a Dalek with a baseball bat, so the change of tone is pretty much signalled from there, I'd say.
One more thing about Dragonfire: poor Mel/Bonnie Longford. Well, not really, but not only is she outshone on screen by her replacement, she gets a goodbye scene which is completely disconnected from the rest of the story (there's no lead up to Mel deciding to leave that I can see). Well, at least she went on adventuring in space, which wasn't an option for all companions. Ahem. Oh, and come to think of it, the Doctor sort of leads Iceman Whose Name I Can't Recall Right Now But It Wasn't Bobby into committing suicide as well by pointing out the time that has passed and the fact his civilisation has completly vanished, doesn't he?
Survival: or, we always knew Andrew Llyod Webber has some connections to the forces of darkness. Seriously, that Cats poster amused the hell out of me whenever we saw it. Also, clearly the Tenth Doctor's dislike of cats has nothing to do with New Earth and everything with the Master going all Catman on him in Survival. After the cats (large and small) being coded as episode villains at the start, I, as a cat person, has very happy about the way the Ace and Karra (Ace/Karra? is there something out there? there should be, you speciesists!) subplot was handled, showing feline nature (and yes, its fierceness, too) as something beautiful as well, with Ace being glad in the end that something feline will always remain with her after her bonding with Karra, instead of the exorcism I had expected. The Master wasting time by going after youth clubs was a bit silly, but hey, impaired by cattishness, and besides, it's the Master. He was really just waiting for the Doctor and killing time instead of making an escape as any sensible person would. Because, seriously? "Opposites attract"? And they actually say that to each other? On screen? You can't tell me if such a sentence were spoken these days by either of the two recent incarnations of the Doctor, people wouldn't slash them madly.
Clearly, someone in the script writing department wasn't impressed with survival courses or that "I don't need to be faster than the lion" joke (which I know in the version that says "bear" instead of "lion", because I heard it in Alaska). On the other hand, they went a bit poetical at the end, with the Doctor's speech to Ace about the wonders he can show her next - is there a transcription? It was a lovely note for the show to go out on back then, culminating in the matter-of-factly "come on, Ace, there's work to be done". Which I recall they echoed at the end of the New Who episode School Reunion (where Sarah Jane says it to K9). I know Survival wasn't the last they filmed - that was Ghost Light - but I think they made the right choice in putting it last, because that scene, with the two wandering of together to these words, is such a great ending.
Until, of course, the show got revived. Must find Seventh Doctor and Ace fanfiction now. And I wasn't kidding about the Ace/Karra. They had at least as touching a goodbye as Jack from Jack on Torchwood...
One more thing about Dragonfire: poor Mel/Bonnie Longford. Well, not really, but not only is she outshone on screen by her replacement, she gets a goodbye scene which is completely disconnected from the rest of the story (there's no lead up to Mel deciding to leave that I can see). Well, at least she went on adventuring in space, which wasn't an option for all companions. Ahem. Oh, and come to think of it, the Doctor sort of leads Iceman Whose Name I Can't Recall Right Now But It Wasn't Bobby into committing suicide as well by pointing out the time that has passed and the fact his civilisation has completly vanished, doesn't he?
Survival: or, we always knew Andrew Llyod Webber has some connections to the forces of darkness. Seriously, that Cats poster amused the hell out of me whenever we saw it. Also, clearly the Tenth Doctor's dislike of cats has nothing to do with New Earth and everything with the Master going all Catman on him in Survival. After the cats (large and small) being coded as episode villains at the start, I, as a cat person, has very happy about the way the Ace and Karra (Ace/Karra? is there something out there? there should be, you speciesists!) subplot was handled, showing feline nature (and yes, its fierceness, too) as something beautiful as well, with Ace being glad in the end that something feline will always remain with her after her bonding with Karra, instead of the exorcism I had expected. The Master wasting time by going after youth clubs was a bit silly, but hey, impaired by cattishness, and besides, it's the Master. He was really just waiting for the Doctor and killing time instead of making an escape as any sensible person would. Because, seriously? "Opposites attract"? And they actually say that to each other? On screen? You can't tell me if such a sentence were spoken these days by either of the two recent incarnations of the Doctor, people wouldn't slash them madly.
Clearly, someone in the script writing department wasn't impressed with survival courses or that "I don't need to be faster than the lion" joke (which I know in the version that says "bear" instead of "lion", because I heard it in Alaska). On the other hand, they went a bit poetical at the end, with the Doctor's speech to Ace about the wonders he can show her next - is there a transcription? It was a lovely note for the show to go out on back then, culminating in the matter-of-factly "come on, Ace, there's work to be done". Which I recall they echoed at the end of the New Who episode School Reunion (where Sarah Jane says it to K9). I know Survival wasn't the last they filmed - that was Ghost Light - but I think they made the right choice in putting it last, because that scene, with the two wandering of together to these words, is such a great ending.
Until, of course, the show got revived. Must find Seventh Doctor and Ace fanfiction now. And I wasn't kidding about the Ace/Karra. They had at least as touching a goodbye as Jack from Jack on Torchwood...
