gordon_r_d sent me Presents...

[capri0mni]

Alas, I did not think of exchanging presents, this year... the idea completely slipped my mind (besides, I had no idea of anything he might want) until the very last minute.* I shall have to get him back for this. Oh, yes.

What he sent were a couple of DVDs from The Troughton Years ("The Mind Robber" and "The Invasion"). At first, I was a bit worried, because I've lost the owner's manual for the computer's DVD program, and that manual has the license code to activate legal ownership, and personalize settings. When I brought up the help menu for customer support, last year, it told me to call the number printed in the owener's manual... *headdesk*.

But, luckily, these disks played just fine, without any needed fiddling. And I must say:

1. The. More. I. See. Of Troughton. The More. I. LOVE.
   
   
2. And Black and White Sci-Fi Pwns Everything.
   
   Really. Futuristic dystopias and surrealistic, mind-bending, dreamscapes work best in black and white. Dystopias, because you can't really get the brooding shadows and grim, gritty atmosphere when you can see folks in the background wearing pink striped ties and purple socks. And dreamscapes work best in black and white because, even if we really do dream in color, the colors are more muted than when we're awake.



3. And I'm having fun with the extras on the DVDs, too (But, tell me, please: What does that episode of Basil Brush have to do with "The Mind Robber?" -- "Web of Fear," I'd understand, but)...

*(The whole Yuletide thing just whooshed over my head like the punchline to a very obscure joke, this year)

Comments

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite Troughton stories is "Tomb of the Cybermen."

[scarfman]

I don't know how old your computer is, or what's your platform of choice, but what with Windows Media Player most of them these days come being able to play DVDs. If you're keeping a checklist of reasons for upgrading, waiting for it to reach critical mass, here's one to add (especially if you acquire any DVDs that won't play without the program manual).

[scarfman]

For all that Paddy always insisted that Billy was the greatest Doctor in creating the role for us all, Billy's Doctor Who as an example of genre was all over the map but it was during Paddy's tenure that Doctor Who settled in to being what it's been ever since. And if you don't believe that, watch a PBS station showing their extant full stories in order. The jump from The Chase (Ian's last story) to The Time Meddler (the first story without Ian) is a quantum leap, and so is the jump from The War Machines (the last full Hartnell story extant) to Tomb of the Cybermen (the first full Troughton story).

[alto2.livejournal.com]

To echo Scarfman's comment from the Mac side (and the PC side, from what I understand), VLC is a little miracle-worker. I use it to play everything these days. It plays damn near everything without you having to hunt up extra codecs (which is how QuickTime operates, alas) and it also ignores region coding, at least on the Mac, so it's got that extra advantage.

I loved "The MInd Robber" and "The Invasion"--and "The War Games is also fabulous. I really should scrounge up a Troughton icon one of these days...

[pedanther]

(But, tell me, please: What does that episode of Basil Brush have to do with "The Mind Robber?" -- "Web of Fear," I'd understand, but...)

They couldn't put it on the "Web of Fear" DVD because there isn't going to be one -- "Web of Fear" has too many episodes missing. (Likewise "The Abominable Snowmen".)

As for why they picked "The Mind Robber" to include it with instead, I'm not sure; maybe it's because of all the metatextuality in the story.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Gordon clearly has excellent taste as Mind Robber and Invasion are two of the second Doctor's best stories. Is it the animated version of Invasion?

2. Also actual science in the fiction! I've been rewatching The Moonbase and lost count of the number of real!science ideas incorporated seamlessly into the story.

3. Doctor Who dvd extras are often absolute crack. :-)

[brassfire.livejournal.com]

Heh, my dreams usually have either full spectrum colour or extra saturation. At least, the ones I remember...

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Glad you're enjoying them. :)