The Moonbase episode 1 discussion:
P: Considering we’re 1 year away from the moon landing, they are considerably incorrect on the science of being there.
A: How so?
P: One, no delay from transmission.
H: That’s a dramatic effect thing, honestly. Poetic license.
K: It’s also 2070, so they may have solved it and have faster than light communications.
P: Okay. So a man falls down in his console and the hurricane changes it’s direction instantly. And they’ve observed it and are reporting it back.
H: Ahhuh.
A: Again, 2070.
E: If I live long enough to live to 2070 I’m going to be amused if something like that actually exists.
H: Remember that the Tenth Planet is supposed to take place in about 1985. See, I thought the first thing that someone was going to bring up was the Frenchman wearing the neckerchief.
K: Mr. Mother isn’t here.
R: Mais bien sur!
Sc: Almost, but not quite an ascot.
H: Well, Terry Nation doesn’t have anything to do with this story.
R: I did notice that, but the thing that really stuck out to me was the second Polly showed up, Roger was like “And how can I help YOU this fine morning?”
P: Being the only woman in the port, or planet, or planetoid.
H: And besides, he is French.
E: Crazy French people.
H: So, we’re you all surprised by who turned up on the moon base?
E: I saw it coming somehow when he mentioned the silver paper.
P: They actually showed the shadow before them.
E: And I thought “Yeah, I’ve seen that somewhere before.”
P: You have not seen and phantom piper before! If so you’d be dead.
H: To be fair the silhouette they showed is very, very different than what we would have seen from a Tenth Planet Cyberman. It’s still probably would have been a surprise for the viewer, although less so for you guys.
R: I was surprised a little because it was a saucer shaped ship, and I thought that was the hallmark of the Daleks.
K: Yeah, but we’ve already had a Dalek episode this season.
H: Not that that has stopped them in several of the other seasons.
K: Okay we’ve already had a Dalek story on a space base this season. Something that struck me though, the disease seemed REALLY familiar. Future Cyberman story, is there a similar spidery face thing that happens to people? Revenge of the Cybermen maybe?
H: I don’t think so, but I honestly can’t remember. Other than having Kevin Stony (Mavic Chen) in it, I’ve blocked out most of Revenge of the Cybermen. And Harry’s wonderful “Gold, gold, now we’re millionaires” scene.
K: Anyway, I don’t know which story, but I’ve definitely seen the spidery bits on faces on Doctor Who before, I think it had something to do with the Cybermen.
P: So this is one of the few beginning story lines where companions get in trouble where it’s fairly believable to me.
K: Really?
P: They usually get in trouble in unrealistic ways. I would play trampoline on the moon like that.
Cz: I would play trampoline on the moon if I made sounds like they did. Wooooooo
H: Yeah, that entire sequence makes me really wish we had this episode so we could see how good, or how bad the wire work actually was.
Cz: Kinda reminds me that this is a kids show.
K: Family show.
A: Having the sound effects made the recon make more sense.
H: Yeah, and to Photobug’s point, it’s interesting that you think that’s a good way to get a companion in trouble. This plot point was another relic of getting Jamie into the story when they didn’t have a plot point for him.
P: Wow, I didn’t envision that purpose.
H: Yeah, they added the Phantom Piper thing. It helps that the story was actually co-written by the script editor Gerry Davis. Kit Pedler gave treatments and then Davis wrote the scripts. Kit Pedler, I add, is a scientist and an uncredited scientific advisor to the show at this point. And creator of the Cybermen.
R: Played in a cameo by “Bob, space nerd.” I was really amused that we had the whole cast of husky, thick sweatered scientific adventure types, and then BOB.
H: He was husky, he just had glasses on.
R: He was a giant nerd.
H: He had one line.
K: He was fluffy.
R: Yes. You could hear his pocket protector in the recon.
P: And the slide rule.
K: I remind you all that we also a bunch of nerds blogging about Doctor Who. Just saying.
A: And we recognize our own.
R: Exactly. Nerdar.
H: So, how about the fact that they introduce a black guy and he’s the first one we actually see killed.
P: And he’s doing menial work.
H: They say that they all have to do some menial work.
R: Yeah, they mention that he’s a geologist.
P: That rocks.
R: I will hurt you.
H: I just thought it was funny, in a sad kind of way, that the black guy was the first to get it. But at least they introduced a black guy who was a scientist.
P: Yeah, black guy on the moon, it’s great, I’ll take it.
<conversation about Futurama ensues>
R: So how about the hurricanes they get in Hawaii?
P: They’re sure to sink the island.
R: Almost as bad as those typhoons they get in the Atlantic.
P: Ah, thank you.
K: In England they don’t know about the weather in the rest of the world. But again, it is 2070, so maybe… the weather… is really… different?
R: Global Warming! The Atlantic and Pacific oceans have run together!
K: They changed the names? British people call things different than Americans? Like boot and lorry?
P: So, you’re doctor’s dead, don’t worry we’ll send one in a month. Hello?
R: It’s fine, it’s not like we do CRITICAL work up here or anything.
H: Actually, at this point, as far as our technology now, that was one of the most realistic things in the episode. “Crap, we don’t have enough launch schedule in a month.” Admittedly in 2070 that might not be true.
<more Futurama jokes>
P: Did anybody think… I think it was Eddie, who had a weird accent. Like really out there accent?
H: There was Nils, who had a Danish accent supposedly. I don’t really Eddie.
P: Maybe it was the same guy.
K: I remember a Russian or something accent.
H: That was Nils.
K: And the French one. Like in the Tenth Planet…
H: Another base with a multinational cast. Supposedly anyway.
P: It’s nice that they’re showing a multinational cast. It’s a way of saying “the cold war will end” which is good. Isn’t that what original Star Trek was praised for? It’s a yank show.
H: Yeah, I don’t think Star Trek had show in the UK yet. I believe they got it in 1969, write after our Project ends.
P: Okay, so what’s with the Doctor piecing together this wasn’t a real disease. I didn’t think he had enough info at that time.
R: He does say that it’s intuition.
H: And he says the symptoms don’t add up.
K: It’s the Doctor, he knows this stuff.
R: “I’ve had Riggellian flu sir, and YOU are no Riggellian flu!”
P: Well, he kind of missed on the year. And I think it’s telling that “I’m only off by 20 years.” and it shows he’s not thinking like a human but as a Time Traveler.
H: He did say they were from Earth, but perhaps he meant that they’d last come from Earth.
P: He’s more of less covering his tracks, but he’s also being literal.
R: I have one more mean thing to say about the episode. For a device that could “rip half of London into space” they had remarkably, amazingly lack security.
H: But then again, who the hell is going to go to the moon?
R: All the more reason that when someone does…. I’m just saying that a couple of guys in a helicopter show up at your base in Antarctica shooting widely at a husky, some stuff is up.
<Reference to The Thing>
R: It’s not a place you expect people to just show up, therefore one might be expected to ask some questions.
H: It is actually a decent point. They almost made it sound like they occasionally get tourists. Seriously, at the beginning it kind of sounded like that.
P: I’ve got more.
A: Really, no thanks.
P: And that’s my wife.
A: It’s my job to say what everyone else is thinking.
K: And it’s my job to type it up.
P: Okay, how did they know that there was a listening station nearby.
R: Science!
H: That was in the episode. The communications guy could hear the interference in the system, and that’s why they did that playback.
Sc: Are you the type of guy who complains about the explosions in space making noise in Star Wars?
P: Yes. I’m a nerd. I’m so nerdy that on a Friday night…
<eyerolls all around.>
P: Okay, so please explain striped trousers for a doctor?
H: The Doctor is wearing striped trousers.
P: This Doctor, as in Doctor Who, or doctors in general?
H: This Doctor.
P: Ah. I thought it was some sort of England thing that I didn’t know about. Also I never heard an explanation for momentary airdrops.
H: Perhaps you should keep watching, they might explain it.
K: Maybe it’s the Cybermen sneaking on board the Moon Base?
H: SHHHHHHHH
P: Oh, wreck it for me.
K: <eye rolls>
H: Final thoughts?
Cz: Whoooo-ooooooooo~
E: I second that.
A: I’m a big fan of the moon. And of the Cybermen. I’m enjoying this.
P: Okay, I find it very odd that the threat that was given to the Doctor by Hobson was “find that body or quarantine or no quarantine, I’ll throw you out!” At which point, my mind said, that’s not a quarantine.
H: Well, Hobson was pretty pissed off about the idea of a quarantine in the first place.
P: Also Jamie pointing but not saying anything kind of falls in line to his being a write in character. And then Polly gives us a full on female Doctor Who companion scream.
E: Did someone steal her spine again?
H: She was pretty assertive. She hit back against Ben giving her precisely that kind of insult. “At least I’m doing something.”
E: I did get a chuckle out of that. “You go, girl!”
P: That Piper’s gonna get ’em. I just know it.
E: Dun dun dun!
R: I bet the Gravitron doesn’t actually do anything. It’s just an experiment by the guys on earth to terrify everybody. The dead doctor isn’t actually dead. He just snuck away to go play freeze tag in the food areas.
H: With Ralph.
R: Yup.
P: Where they accidentally puncture the bags of flour.
R: Yup.
P: And they get covered in flour and everyone thinks they’re ghosts.
H: Guh guh guh ghosts?
A: Ruh-roh!
K: <laugh that sounds almost exactly like Scooby Doo.>
R: In fairness I did enjoy the episode. I thought it moved pretty well. I picked out these bits because I thought they were funny, not because the really bugged me all that much. The plot itself spun along at a good clip.
P: Correct me if I’m wrong, did anyone hear any music.
Cz: I don’t remember being attacked?
E: If it was there, it was really subtle.
A: It was there.
K: I heard it. A bit.
H: Okay. I believe you.
K: I’m going to check up on that spidery face infection stuff for next time. Otherwise, this frankly makes me think of a less suspicious Tenth Planet. It’s like if the Tenth Planet wasn’t controlled by the military. I’m actually disappointed because of that – Cybermen are only interested in distant outpost bases? Is this going to be a thing?
R: All the microwaves in big cities give them headaches.
P: And countries with golden coins.
H: I think that’s a valid criticism of this specific episode. I’m obviously not going to say anything about the story as a whole yet.
P: As a military point, if this Gravitron is as strong as it is, this is a good place for the Cybermen to acquire.
H: But the criticism I was referring to was comparing this story to the Tenth Planet. I think it’s valid, but for this specific episode, I actually think it’s a very good example of how to build tension in the first episode of a story. Because you know something is coming, and they build it, and build it, with Jamie seeing a phantom and whatnot, until the final reveal at the end of the Cyberman coming straight towards him. It’s almost a template example of the first episode of a story of Doctor Who in this period. I think you guys are going to like the rest of the story, especially since next week we get MOVING PICTURES!
<cheers>
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