From: jogulin@pub_one.fia.dmg.ml.com (Joseph Ogulin)
Subject: ARCHIVE: Review of the JN-T Era of Doctor Who, Part 8
Organization: The Rift from Here to There
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 14:07:06 GMT

And finally, part 8...
All that's left is... well, you'll see that too :-)

*************************** CUT HERE ***************************
And now, the production team of Joe Ogulin and  Louis  Singh
proudly  present  the  long-awaited, much coveted "Review of
the JN-T Era," part 8!  :-)
 
"JN-T resigns and resigns, take 4" --James Armstrong
 
We pick up with the Silver Anniversary of Doctor  Who...aka,
Season 25...
 
Remembrance of the Daleks -
 
     You know Who and Ace land the you  know  WHAT  in  20th
century  London  in an old, familiar place.  Well, the salt-
and-pepper shakers are at it again, except this time there's
a  real  twist.  Two "blob" factions are fighting each other
and trying to recover the Hand of Omega, which you know  Who
already  has.  Well, after much fighting, a rather startling
discovery that an  old  trick  for  escaping  the  salt-and-
pepper  shakers  doesn't  work  any more, and a really funny
argument with the giant roll-on, the Hand is "given" to  one
of the blob factions.  Skaro's star ends up being destroyed,
and all the salt-and-pepper shakers are destroyed, including
one  that  blows itself up at the end due to a logical prob-
lem.  Of course, the giant roll-on escapes (possibly to look
for more underarm odor?)...
 
     (Apologies to Emerson, Lake,  and  Palmer...)  "Welcome
here,  my  friends, to the show that never begins...."  Holy
$#!T!  A real story with real cliffhangers!  The story works
well,  and  fits  very  nicely into four parts.  This is the
best written story since "Caves of Androzani."  A  job  well
done,  and  we hope to see much of Ben's work in the future.
Episode 1's cliffhanger is probably the best  since  "Caves"
3.
 
The Happiness Patrol -
 
     You know Who and Ace find themselves in  a  society  in
which  being unhappy is illegal.  The perfect utopia...or so
you might think.  (How  would  you  like  being  candied  to
death?   Or eating something that gives you so much pleasure
that your senses overload and you die? ;-)  )   Anyway,  you
know  Who  and  Ace are caught and sentenced to death, doom,
and the happiness patrol. (What else?)  You know  Who  meets
up  with  a  census taker and argues about what his name is,
then later meets up with Mr. Blues.  Helen A (Mrs. T)  even-
tually  is overthrown, and discovers that to truly be happy,
one must be allowed to cry every so often. (*yawn*)
 
     If you can't figure out what this one's  about,  ask  a
friend.   If he (or you, for that matter) think that this is
the best Who story ever written, forget about getting  secu-
rity  clearance.   There  was  some  good stuff and some bad
stuff in this one.  Mind you, we might just stay  away  from
lemonade for a while.
 
     How to test your friend's political views:
          1) Let him/her watch this story
          2) Ask him/her what s/he thinks of it
          3) Hate it = conservative; neutral = moderate;
             like it = liberal; love it = no security clearance.
          (Guess who of us liked it and who didn't.)
 
Silver Nemesis -
 
     You know Who ends up fighting Cybermen to gain a  five-
week-old  plot  device (pardon the pun...) which he left you
know where some large number of years ago (you  can  measure
it in centuries, if you like...).  Well, it's coming "home."
Some medieval b*tch wants it, as do the Cybermen.  You  know
Who  ain't gonna let that happen. (How did you know?)  Well,
this device is activated, and finally "given"  over  to  the
Cybermen,  at  which time it's given new orders and asked if
it understands them.  Yes it does, but it doesn't obey them.
(Consider  the  question...did  you  expect  it  to actually
listen to the Cyberleader?)  Well, the  Cybermen  go  *poof*
thanks to the device, and you know Who and Ace go merrily on
their way.
 
     Basically, pretty good.  Basically, a pure chance  hap-
pening.   Two  stories in the same season with the same plot
device by two different writers  working  entirely  indepen-
dently.  (Ever  had  one  of  those  years?)   The  Cybermen
could've been handled a bit  better,  but  overall,  a  good
story.
 
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy -
 
     The most pretentious title for a story  ever  seen...it
fits.   Too  confusing  to summarize, though mixing the Beeb
and upper-level fandom is kinda cute...............
 
     Turnabout is fair play...what's good for the  goose  is
good for the gander...time to bash the bashers (you all know
who you are...  this DEFINITELY takes our review out of  the
category  of JN-T bashing...  hello Ron buddy...care to give
us more publicity?  Please!  Talk  about  us  in  your  next
"Whovian   Times"...whatever  year  you  decide  to  publish
it...if ever...).  A piece of $#!T...a plotless  wonder...we
love   it.    We   haven't   enjoyed  something  this  silly
since...uh...since  what?  umm...    "Shada"...yeah...that's
it...that's the ticket...do we get to audition now?
 
     Louis:  This story was so nasty to fandom and the  Beeb
it makes me wish I'd written it.  :-(
 
Season overall -
 
     This is the best season since the last anniversary sea-
son.  (20th,  for  those  of  you who can't count.)  Lots of
action, fun, silliness, adventure,  messages,  and  precious
little  plot  in  some cases.  Who cares?  Not us...at least
not this year (you know Who  and  who  probably  don't  care
either...not that you know who was around this time...).
 
Seasonal trivia -
 
-    What is the original title of "Silver Nemesis"?
 
-    Matching...match a letter to a number:
          a. the geek                 1. any con gofer (poor sod...)
          b. the ringmaster           2. Ian Levine
          c. the head clown           3. Gail Bennet
          d. the ticket-taker         4. Ron Katz (aka Ron buddy)
          e. Kingpin/Deadbeat         5. Norman Rubenstein
          f. Bellboy                  6. Eric Hoffman (or someone similar)
          g. the werewolf             7. small-time fan club leader
 
          (Sorry, James, we don't see you in this, despite what she said.)
 
-    Who do the gods of Ragnarok represent in TGSITG?
 
Addendum to our total era review -
 
     OK, so JN-T made another really good season...well,  at
least  a  far  above  average  one (gee, you'd think we were
bashing up until now...  hi Ron buddy).  Not  much  for  the
entire  era  by  the  way  of drama, but we like a lot of it
nonetheless.  We got our gripes with  things  and  we  don't
care  what the fork others think of it.  Everyone's entitled
to an (and our, in this case) opinion... :-)
                                   --The Two in the TARDIS
 
By the way, JN-T, would you like a parody of fandom  written
from   a   fan's   point-of-view?    Really...it   would  be
fun...think of what we could do to us...er, them... :-)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                 The Review of the JN-T Era
 
                             by
 
 
               Joe Ogulin   and   Louis Singh
 
 
 
                        You know Who
 
                      William Hartnell
                      Richard Hurndall
                     Patrick Troughton
                        Jon Pertwee
                         Tom Baker
                       Peter Davison
                        Colin Baker
                      Sylvester McCoy
 
 
                        You know who
 
Anthony Ainley   Neil Toynay   Leon Ny Taiy   Geoffrey Beevers
 
 
 
  Romana         K-9             Adric           The Brain
Lalla Ward   John Leeson   Matthew Waterhouse   Sarah Sutton
 
 
Mouth on legs    Guy working for    --->   the Guy with the chicken on his head
Janet Fielding   Mark Strickson                      Valentine Dyall
 
 
 
the Guy with the bun on his head    Dunderhead       K-9 mk IV       "Legs"
         Cyril Luckham           Nicholas Courtney  Gerald Flood  Nicola Bryant
 
 
 
    legs             Mel              Ace        Cute Evil Time Lady
Frazer Hines   Bonnie Langford   Sophie Aldred       Kate O'Mara
 
 
                       Script Editors
 
Christopher H. Bidmead    Antony Root    Eric Saward    Andrew Cartmel
 
 
                          Producer
   John Nathan-Turner, aka The Guy in the Hawaiian shirt

-- 
==> "You never f**king know the answer when it's important." --The Doctor <==
Joe Ogulin

jogulin@camelot.fia.dmg.ml.com		joe@monroe.pilot.dmg.ml.com
jogulin@apollo.stevens-tech.edu		gcs_jogulin@stevens.bitnet

Disclaimer:  The above article is solely my opinion and does not necessar-
ily reflect that of my employer.  The content is my responsibility alone.