update of updateness

[ladymercury_10]

Via elisi: it appears the recent LJ modifications may not be as disastrous as they first appeared?  As summarized here, there will be some customizability, including the ability to switch off infinite scroll (thank goodness).  Also, paid accounts aren't really going away--if you have one, you'll still have one, it looks like, and if you don't have one yet, you'll be able to just buy the features you want, instead of a bundle.  If you have a paid account when that happens, it looks like you may also get some special privileges?

So that's good.  I think?  I hope.

In other news: I am very excited to get my Yuletide assignment, I don't understand permutation groups so I expect that at least one of the proofs I wrote up for my homework makes no sense (oh well), and I have once again gotten overly ambitious with the borrowing of library books and comics. (Batgirl!  Batman!  The Great Gatsby!  Wait, what?  Who thought it was a good idea to give me library cards?) 

Oh!  And I started poking at the nearly-infinite Doctor Who backlog.  I started watching in 2010, so I've seen all of Moffat Who, somewhere between half and two thirds of RTD Who, and two Fourth Doctor serials.  But I read Classic and Multi-era fanfic sometimes, and I was on an Ace/Hex fanfic binge the other day, and I thought, hmm, maybe I should, you know, actually watch some Seven-era.  So I watched Ghost Light, and I didn't understand a lick of the plot, but it was fun and spooky and Seven was great.  He is much calmer than the Doctors I am used to, and also very scary when he wants to be.  And Ace!  She was actually less big and tough, somehow, than I expected her to be, but she seems like a good companion.  Although--were the TV acting guidelines different in the 80s?  It seemed a bit melodramatic to me.  But the school library had Remembrance of the Daleks, so that's on my desk, waiting and hoping for my legendarily poor TV attention span to return to it. :P

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I'm well-versed in Who, and I've seen "Ghost Light" probably half a dozen times, and I still don't entirely understand the plot. Mainly, I think, because some of the more random elements are holdovers from an earlier version of the story... which was really an entirely different story. But it's still very cool. And I adore Seven and Ace. But, really, when Seven is calm, that's when you have to worry... :)

"Remembrance of the Daleks" is something of a personal favorite of mine. It's also full of a million awesome continuity references you probably won't get if you're not familiar with the early years of the show, but hopefully that will not prove an impediment to your enjoyment.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

From what I hear, it just doesn't really make sense. But compounded with that the combination of bad 80s sound quality + British accents with no subtitles meant that I missed most of the subtleties beyond "This is a creepy house from Ace's childhood and there are several possibly interlocking evil plots going down inside. Also, bugs."

Hmm, maybe I should look Remembrance of the Daleks up on Wikipedia or something first and see it has one of those handy little "Continuity notes" sections? If I get spoilered in the process, well, maybe I will actually understand the plot the first time around, haha, although I might have subtitles as an option this time since it's a DVD and not an Amazon stream. :P

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

It sounds to me like you got most of the gist of "Ghost Light." Throw in a lot of stuff about evolution and Ace wearing a tux, and I think you've got everything important there. :)

If there is a continuity guide to "Remembrance," it's probably very long. If not, and things about it confuse you, you can always ask your flist. :)

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Yep, evolution, random guy partially devolving into a chimp, people turning into bug-husks randomly. And Ace in a tuxedo. :P

Haha, is it one of those, "And now we celebrate the long and glorious history of Doctor Who, name-drop, name-drop, oh look a thing!" kind of episodes?

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

It is exactly that kind of episode. well, it was their 25th anniversary year. It's actually set in the same place as the very first episode of the show, just a little while after he originally left. :)

[lonewytch.livejournal.com]

I need to work my way thruogh classic who as well. I started off doing it in order a while ago, and I've done all of the first Doctor, and all of the complete eps of the second (not the recons) apart from the final serial The War Games.

I've heard Ghost Light mentioned a lot by Classic Who fans, you know how there's certain eps that you hear about. I should probably dip in and out more rather than watching it all in order. The seventh Doctor is the one that I mainly remember sitting and watching from my childhood. I have dim recollections of Daleks, and the ep that i remember most is The Happiness Patrol.

With RTD Who, i'm assuming that you've seen the Library episodes in series 4, River's first ones? There are some quality eps in series 3 and 4,

x

[elisi]

OOoooh Seven and Ace. <3

The show had a slower pace then, and longer stories, so yes there is a different feel to it. I often say that Eleven is like the dotty grandfather version of Seven - they're very alike, Eleven is just more mad. ;) And Remembrance of the Daleks is very good.

[elisi]

There are some quality eps in series 3 and 4,
Seconded.

and the ep that i remember most is The Happiness Patrol.
I tried to show my children that one and they freaked out over the Candy Man and refused to watch the whole thing...

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I noticed the pacing more with the Four-era serials I watched. "Ghost Light" was pretty easy for me to keep up with, pace-wise. And I've only seen the one episode, but Seven kind of reminded me of a less hyper version of Ten, in that they both seem very nice until they get angry. Although I think you're right, that's an Eleven thing as well, especially the scary-calm kind of angry.

[elisi]

Seven kind of reminded me of a less hyper version of Ten, in that they both seem very nice until they get angry
I think that's just a Doctor thing. My favourite thing about Seven is the fact that is a goddamn adult, though. Not a scrap of selfpity anywhere. Mmmmmm. Remembrance of the Daleks. You'll see. (Ten would have been chewing the scenery ALL OVER THE PLACE with that story - mind you, he is VERY good at it - but Seven. Damn. *waves hands*)

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Awww, that sounds really fun!

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I have seen the library episodes, yes! They are splendid. I agree that there are some good eps in S3 and 4. When I was watching RTD Who I was skipping around quite a lot, so I did see a fair bit of those series--Martha was my favorite Ten-era companion, and I love Sally Sparrow and "Blink." AND THE SHAKESPEARE EPISODE, oh my goodness. :D

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is quite appealing. :D

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I have seen a fair bit of the third and fourth series (Martha was my Ten-era favorite). It's actually S1 that's my worst deficiency--I haven't seen any of it. I'm hoping to correct that soon, although I have a terrible TV attention span, even for shows I like.

I tried to show my children that one and they freaked out over the Candy Man

Oh, dear, is it really that scary? O_O

[welshgirl15.livejournal.com]

It's actually S1 that's my worst deficiency--I haven't seen any of it

You should definitely watch it as soon as possible, it's a brilliant series. If you don't get a chance to watch it all, at least watch The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. It's the introduction of Captain Jack and 2 of my favourite episode of the entire show! (Especially if you like Moffat's writing, it's wonderfully creepy)

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

at least watch The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
I've heard good things about it, but since I've seen a hodgepodge of the other three series, I had been saving S1 to watch in order so that it would have more emotional impact. I just never got around to it. I have been thinking lately I'd like to catch up on the episodes I've missed. I get very distracted when I try to watch TV in general, but light_frost and I are trying to hatch a plan to do a (re)watch (well, watch for me, rewatch for her) of some RTD Who, or at least S1. :D

[usuallyhats]

I like to think I would have found Ghost Light a lot easier to follow if I'd realised that Control's name meant "control variable" and not "in control"! :) I think it originally had four episodes and had to be cut pretty severely to fit into three... Nevertheless, I love it: it's so spooky and atmospheric and beautifully weird, and Seven's bus stations speech is wonderful. Not to mention "I wish I'd blown it up instead." OH ACE. ♥

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Control's name meant "control variable" and not "in control"
Yeah, that was one of the things that was super confusing.

it's so spooky and atmospheric and beautifully weird, and Seven's bus stations speech is wonderful
Agreed! Especially re: the bus station speech. :P

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, Ghost Light. I had a friend swear up and down she understood the plot and attempt to explain it to me, but it stayed together in my head for about 30 seconds max. But IMO Seven and Ace era is one of the best places to jump into Classic Who, because the pacing and the focus on the companion's own internal issues are quite similar to the new series, and it's just the right mix of sometimes-astonishingly-good, sometimes-camp-as-hell, and always-tongue-in-cheek. Plus Ace. Who is plenty big and tough when she wants to be, but also enjoys computer science and playing dress-up and being in lesbians with eeeeveryone.

The other good places to jump in, I think, are right at the beginning--all the One serials I've seen are just somehow magical to me in a way that the show has never captured since--and the time-honored approach of pulling a random Four serial out of a hat and seeing what you get.

(Here from who_daily, hope I'm not intruding!)

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

But IMO Seven and Ace era is one of the best places to jump into Classic Who
Yeah, the pacing was a lot easier for me to adjust to than when I'd tried watching Four-era serials, which seemed really slow. And, haha, tongue-in-cheek + astonishingly-good + massive camp is pretty much what I'm used to, so that's good. :D

also enjoys computer science and playing dress-up and being in lesbians with eeeeveryone.
Hahaha sounds like fun times! Would that be "in lesbians" in the Scott Pilgrim way, or in the regular way, or both? :P

the One serials I've seen are just somehow magical to me
Ooh, that sounds appealing. My favorite season of Doctor Who is S5, because it's so magical. :D

Here from who_daily, hope I'm not intruding!
No such thing! Thank you for the tips!

[promethia_tenk]

You must let us know if you make any progress with Classic Who. The only bit of it I've ever managed to actually watch is City of Death (not that I've made a very big effort otherwise), but I see-saw back and forth between saying to myself 'well, you really ought to at least see if you like it . . .' and 'screw old television, some things are not worth it.'

Probably this is something that will come to a head whenever Moff finally vacates and I have to decide if I am a Doctor Who fan, or just a Moff fan. I do kinda want the freedom to say 'I'm just a Moff fan' and walk away clean if I don't like where the show goes after this.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I will try to keep my progress posted if I make any!

It wasn't really a problem with Ghost Light, but when I tried watching Four-era Who, the pacing was really hard for me to deal with, because it was so slow. I mean, the show has lasted 50 years, so it must be good stuff, but I can barely sit through a whole episode of whiz-bang modern TV, I have such a short attention span. (But then I will go on a 3-hour fanfic reading binge, go figure...I guess it's the English major brain.)

Have you watched much RTD Who? I never finished catching up on it, and I prefer Moffat to RTD, but I have seen and liked enough RTD Who that I don't think I really have that out anymore. I mean, I could certainly say I didn't like the show and quit if that became the case, but I think I'm properly hooked. :P

[promethia_tenk]

I think I could probably make myself adjust to the pace of the old stuff if I wanted to? But I love modern tv.

Rusty Who and I get on like oil and water. I have seen all of it, re-seen almost all of it, read meta and fic and watched vids, argued about it, read The Writer's Tale, bashed my head against walls, and railed at elisi about every single way in which I hate it. After which I've come around to a sort of bemused tolerance and affection for it.

But it's not something I would have ever watched for its own sake, and I definitely watch it through the "filter" of Moff Who, if that makes sense? I need Moff's structures and themes to project meaning back onto Rusty.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Lol, why would you spend so much time watching and rewatching and reading fanfic and meta for something you didn't even like? :P Were you trying to make yourself like it?

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, were they early-ish Four serials? Because I have attention span problems with some Classic Who as well, only it's almost all in Three era--I just cannot get through Pertwee serials without a friend there to chat and keep me from wandering off, which is a shame because there's some fantastic stuff in there. And some parts of Four's first season, with Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan, trip my ADD in similar ways, as though they're still trying to work out the pacing.

Would that be "in lesbians" in the Scott Pilgrim way, or in the regular way, or both? :P

Mostly the regular way, haha! Though there are some dudes in there. I second (third? fourth?) the Remembrance of the Daleks rec, btw, and would also add Curse of Fenric. Remembrance is just pure cracky fun all the way through, and Fenric is dark but brilliant. And no pacing problems there except that Fenric is bursting at the seams with all the themes and mythology it tries to pack into four episodes: it can roughly be summarized as "The Doctor plays live chess with absolute evil against a backdrop of WWII cryptography, Viking legends, chemical warfare, hot Soviet captains, Ace's timey-wimey mummy issues, and also zombie fish vampires from the future." Utterly mad but it somehow works.

And yeah, One era is magical. This is definitely not a show that becomes more and more dated and badly-paced the further back you go, in linear fashion; Hartnell serials still seem fresh and wide-eyed and all about experimenting and exploring, with a more open-ended format than just defeating a monster every week. And it helps to know that at the time, it was all being made by a crew of young upstarts who'd been shoved into a tiny studio with tin-can equipment and a shoestring budget by the BBC higher-ups, and were determined to sell it to the audience on sheer creativity and force of conviction. It's... very Doctor-ish, in a way. ("Oh, look at me, I'm going to save the universe with a kettle and some string.")

Hmmm, other recs... if you like River and the way she drives the Doctor up the wall by being at least as clever as he is, try Romana's introduction, The Ribos Operation. Also, I don't know how much of series 3 you managed to catch, but it's my absolute favorite ever and the series arc is phenomenal. I highly recommend doing at least a highlights version of it in order--as a baseline, Runaway Bride, Gridlock, Lazarus Experiment, and then everything from Human Nature to the end. (And if you end up wanting more where that came from, have a gander at Four's regeneration trilogy, The Keeper of Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalva.)