Janet 'Fourth Wall' Fielding & the ebullient Malcolm Hulke!

Hi folks,

The Co-Pilot & I failed to produce our long promised Season 3 summary tome last weekend. What we did manage to do was scour youtube for two & a half hours, get some take-away Indian, drink about 15 beers between us & watch episode 1 of 'Resurrection Of The Daleks' with the commentary track on. All of which was fabulous. We are both very partial to a Janet 'Fourth Wall' Fielding commentary. The smoky cackle...the caustic wit...the actor-speak! Marvellous. She is rapidly becoming my favourite companion based on commentaries alone. Now if only BBC Worldwide could have given her a tray of hors d'oeuvres & a bottle of bubbly & let her loose on 'Timelash!' The thought makes me prickle with excitement...yet ultimately sigh at what could have been.

The Co-Pilot slipped the word 'ebullient' into conversation at one point. A favourite word of mine that I don't hear employed all that often. I was surprised to find that Malcolm Hulke sprang to mind when he said it. Why Malc? I feel as if the person I have most heard referred to as ebullient over the years is Mr Hulke. Can anyone enlighten me as to why this should be? Is that the stock-standard phrase used in the Who-niverse to describe the man & his talents? Hmmm!?

Looks like next weekend for our season 3 thoughts...Until then...adieu..


Lucozer..

The Doctor's Favourite Companions! (Pertwee/ Tom Baker Eras)

Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart - Despite the character wavering from a thoughtful & perceptive army man to a bumbling militaristic buffoon depending on the writers, consistently well played & a great foil for Troughton, Pertwee & Baker. The character at its best provided a great counterpoint for the Doctor...8.5/10

Liz Shaw - She was intelligent, quick witted, stylish & played superbly from her first word by Caroline John...So of course they gave her the push & got Katy Manning. The dumbing down & 'cosying up' of the show meant that the more textured & adult Liz wouldn't fit. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Liz is tops...9/10

Sgt Benton - Hugely likeable & steadily played by Mr Levene. Benton is loyal, genuine & dependable. He's also not afraid of a bit of fun or averse to a cup of tea & a girly gossip. No meat head with masculinity issues, he's my kind of soldier. We could have done with some more of Benton...8/10

Jo Grant - Katy's a kooky sweetie, but she overacts & over-emphasises every gesture, hence tainting every scene she's in & damaging the credibililty of 3 seasons worth of Pertwee stories. Despite being 'likeable' as a person & as companion, probably the most poorly realised long term companion since Susan...6/10

Capt. Mike Yates - A bit wet & not entirely convincing as a ranking military man, but he came into his own in a way in his 'troubled self-discovery' period late in the Pertwee era...7/10

Sarah Jane Smith - This is more like it! Letts & Dicks got it just right; a perfect mix of the independance & intelligence of Liz Shaw & the warmth & 'girl next door qualities' of Jo Grant. No wonder she was a smashing success. She was perfect for both Pertwee & Baker. A rare creature indeed. Congratulations & well played!...9.5/10

Dr Harry Sullivan - Probably with little more than the briefest of character sketches such as 'slightly stiff naval Doctor', Marter invested the part with energy, subtelty & humour. Although the part as it was didn't fit with 'Tom Baker in outer space' in the long term, I wish they had kept Harry on & attempted to develop him more...8/10

Leela - Initial character development degenerated into inconsistency & charicature due to some poor writing & uncertainty of direction. Louise's charm though was such that the character was always sympathetic even after dishing out a hearty Janus Thorn-ing. An ideologically muddy character that can't be considered a complete success even though she was exceedingly popular & iconic...8/10

K9 - Silly idea for a regular. Some funny moments with Tom though. Leeson was pleasin', Brierly...not really...6.5/10

Romana 1 - I have already gone on record about Romana 1 & her brilliant 'inhabitor' Mary Tamm; Elegant, dead sexy & sharp as a tack. She held her own against Tom Baker & truly rattled the lazy giant in his big blue time travelling cage. Marvellous. She probably would have been fired for the character being too clever & self assured & for being too good an actress, but she quit. On ya Mary! Especially considering you had 'DOTD', 'CFTP', NOE' & 'HON' awaiting your talents...9.5/10

Romana 2 - Usually seen as the warmer & more accesible of the two Romana's, I actually find the opposite true. I feel she has a greater air of superiority about her & more contempt for fools. She is warmer with The Doctor, but not really with anyone else. A crapoola run of stories to start with (City aside) she still did a great job & thankfully had a good run home including 'LH', 'SOD' & 'WG' ...8.5/10

Adric - Competently realised at best & better with Tom than Peter for some reason. He did have a vaguely enigmatic quality in his first few stories, but once Tegan came along, it was all over; she was his Kryptonite. Varsh should have joined the Doctor. Better actor, less of a damp squib...6/10

Nyssa - Not exactly wooden, but rarely memorable. Tegan's scene chewing grabbed all the spotlight & Nyssa's innocent sweetness & quiet intelligence almost went unnoticed. Likeable but certainly not essential...7/10

Tegan Jovanka - Initially the most grating charicature in the history of the show (see 'Logopolis' episode 1), she was softened over time & became more tolerable. Janet Fielding is hilarious in the DVD commentaries. I wish more of her natural charm & humour had been allowed to escape from this stifling & poorly developed character ...7/10


Stay tuned for the next episode...the Davison, Baker & McCoy eras...

Love me do...Lucozer...