Favourite Fours: City of Death

Felicitations Whovians and welcome to Day 4 of Favourite Fours. Journeying further ahead we meet up with The Doctor and second regeneration of Time Lady Romanadvoratreludar or Romana for short... which she dislikes. On a whim, Romana has regenerated into the likeness of Princess Astra of Atrios from the serial Destiny of the Daleks and they are well on their way back to Earth to experience a holiday in Paris. This is City of Death.

Mossman: The Last Starfighter.

400 million years B.C. A pilot Scaroth attempts to break orbit from the prehistoric planet Earth but fails thus killing everyone on board. 1979 A.D. The Doctor and Romana (Lalla Ward of Vampire Circus, The Upper Crusts, Matushka, The Duchess of Duke Street, Doctor Who and Riviera) are enjoying the sites of Paris and decide for a fine dining where the Doctor claims this bistro does a wonderful bouillabaisse. At the restaurant, the Doctor and Romana experience a time loop while a local artist captures Romana in a sketch. As they look over the sketch they see a clock face in the place of Romana's with a crack in it, as if it were a crack in time. Not assuming the lad had a bit of artistic license, the Doctor is worried about time folding in on itself.

Off to investigate but a slight detour is called for as the Doctor takes Romana to the Louvre in order to appreciate the Mona Lisa, a painting in the Doctor's opinion as unique in the universe. Romana does not seem impressed overall but another temporal hiccup occurs and 20 or so seconds repeats itself when the Doctor bumps into a lady, acquires her bracelet, then heads out.

Timelord and lady about Paris.

The Doctor and Romana are followed by a man in a trenchcoat with a gat in the hand. After a few more encounters with this idiot with a gun, Duggan (Tom Chadbon of Tess, Dance with a Stranger, Shooting Fish and Casino Royale) the three of them are whisked away to find why they are so interested in Countess Scarlioni's bracelet as it is an "antique" that happens to be not of this Earth. The Countess (Catherine Schell of Moon Zero Two, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Space: 1999 and The Return of the Pink Panther) is dissatisfied with the Doctor's answers but the lot of them are locked in the cellar for presumably further questioning. With the aid of the sonic screwdriver, the three proceed to further the investigation around the chateau discovering a scientist, Dr. Kerensky (David Graham of Supercar, Fireball XL5, Doctor Who, Stingray and Thunderbirds Are Go!) who is conducting temporal experiments for greater food production in order to end famine. When it is discovered all he is creating is a different space-time continuum he does not know what to make of his failure.

Temporal anamolies, gunsels adhering to a Count and Countess orders and a missing scientist in league. What can the Doctor do to correct these temporal hiccups? How is Count Scarlioni involved?

Some bits of trivia about this serial now. Oh you knew that was on its way.

Accomplished sci-fi/comedy novelist Douglas Adams penned this serial to pay the bills while working The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This serial was watched by no less than 12.5 million for its original release. K9 was unable to operate due to difficulties and had to be completely absent this serial while filming in Paris. This is the first Doctor Who shot outside the UK throughout various spots of Paris. There was supposed to be a pull back shot of the Doctor and Romana on the Eiffel Tower alone when the special fish eye lens they rented from a Spanish firm would not and could not be made to fit the BBC camera.   

Really sir, why do you choose to be without a comforting beard?

Red Dwarf Favorites: Stasis Leak

Welcome back to Day 2 of Red Dwarf Favorites.  We jump ahead to Series 2 as Rimmer, Lister and the Cat are adjusting to life on Red Dwarf and its endless isolation.  Space is vast and so far there hasn't been an inkling of intelligent life outside the ship or in it for that matter.  Our boys are bored to the point of breaking and Lister decides to idly flick through Rimmer's diary back when he was still alive and has made a startling discovery.  To what end?   This is Stasis Leak.

Now see here, Mr. Potter...

Rimmer: Three Listers???!  Splendid!!!  Perhaps Lister can open a bottle of wine for Lister and Lister.  Rimmer here doesn't drink because he's spoiled but I wouldn't mind a glass!



Our episode opens with a flashback 3 million years ago when Rimmer puts Lister on report for giving Rimmer hallucinogenic mushrooms for breakfast causing him to show up for assignment nude aside from swimming goggles and a pair of gloves.  Captain Hollister (Mac McDonald of Death Wish 3, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Batman, Nightbreed, Delta Wave,Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom, The Fifth Element and Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead) gives Lister two weeks punishment and as usual Rimmer blurts out his disapproval getting 8 weeks painting the 6 mile long ship.  Getting the space suits prepped Rimmer is visited by a floating head of his own face with an H imprinted on it who warns him of the impending future.

Cut to 3 million and two years later, Lister is checking out Rimmer's diary after finding a wedding photo of Kochanski and himself and piecing this whole chain of events together as the lot of them head down to Floor 16 and they conclude there is a pocket of time and space preserved by the very same radiation that caused the accident in the first place wiping the crew out.    To put it a bit more easy than that, a portion of time and space are out of sync with the rest of the universe's causality.

 

The Cat wins yet another Puff Up contest.

The problem is that they can go back in time but not bring anyone back with them as that person would be broken down molecule by molecule.  Lister thinks he can convince Kochanski to go into stasis in the spare stasis pod before the accident and Rimmer is of the mindset to warn his former self of the same.  Being there is only one other stasis pod it is a race to see who can con whom first.

A bit of trivia on the episode now.  The Ganymede Holiday Inn was in fact the Crowne Plaza Midland Holiday Inn in Manchester where the Red Dwarf cast and crew were staying at for more than 4 months. They filmed their shenanigans in the hotel during regular operating hours and apparently discouraged people from staying as a woman was sprayed in the face with a seltzer bottle causing potential customers to vacate.

In the final scene of Stasis Leak the actress Clare Grogan who played Kochanski was sent home too soon and due to equal height, the floor manager (in charge of props, camera, lighting and general safety) Dona DiStefano had to be Kochanski with a wide brim hat and stand in for her.

When Series 3 came around and the lot of them proceeded to head back to book another collection of hotel rooms the Crown Plaza politely turned them down and asked them to never darken their doorsteps again.

3 Listers??!!  Think I will join Rimmer in that bottle of wine.