HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ira2p@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Iain Robert Asplin)
Subject: Re: Best "Who" Episode:  "State Of Decay"
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:36:14 GMT

In article <1992Oct11.182554.9406@vax.oxford.ac.uk> nelson@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>Jason Miller claims:
>> 	In my mind, the greatest, and most successful, episode of "Who" ever
>> was "State of Decay", broadcast during the 18th season, Tom Baker's 7th and
>> last as the Doctor.  Not only is the plot fascinating, as it finally tries
>> to give some scientific support to the presence of vampires in sci-fi, but
>> the production values in this episode were FANTASTIC.
>
>This, I cannot not reply to!
>
>It was an excellent season, rescuing the programme from a pretty lacklustre
>period immediately before.  But State of Decay, although amusing now and
>then, had a corny and unimaginative plot.  The script had been hanging
>around for years for reasons we won't go into, and was only made because
>the new producers (Barry Letts deserves some credit too, I think) were
>very short of authors, on account of their predecessors' lack of activity.
>
>To my mind it was the only weak plot of the season.
>
>I also think JNT deserves more credit for the final season, as I suppose
>we should now call it.  It was far, far better than the three before it.
>I'm glad the programme ended on a high note - if it had died after
>Paradise Towers and that kind of drivel, it would be hard to argue with
>the BBC for killing it.
>
>Graham Nelson (Oxford)

"State of Decay" wasn't the best for that season, but it wasn't the worst
either.  "Meglos" takes that prize right away from "State."  
And I think JNT deserves good credit for seasons 24 and 25 too, BTW.
I rather like "Paradise Towers."  
(make that 24 minus "Time and the Rani").

And I don't think it's quite dead yet.  
It's getting better.
Think it'll go for a walk....
It feels HAPPY!   It feels HAPPY!
:)
From: barry@jab.tucson.az.us (Barry Mishkind)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: I said what?
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 20:34:55 PDT
Organization: Just Another Bbs. Tucson, AZ

mossman@sag1.ssl.berkeley.edu () writes:

> In article <krvzx=n@rpi.edu>, danaf@vccnw02.its.rpi.edu (Frank R. Dana Jr.) w
> |> In article <jenkinsj-081092084214@tseng.taligent.com>, jenkinsj@blowfish.t
> (John H. Jenkins) writes:
> |> |> In article <1avde5INN1i2@agate.berkeley.edu>, mossman@sag1.ssl.berkeley
> 
> Sorry, not only did I NOT write that, I don't even understand it. Please chec
> quotes
> 

At the risk of offending anyone (*not* my intention), this newsgroup 
suffers from "excess-quoting-itis". As I read through the many well thought 
out comments and responses, I seem to keep coming up against 40 or 75 line 
quotes, sometimes even going three or four screens of quotes before any 
return comment at all. Then we have the double .sig problem as demonstrated 
by Mr. Dana, Jr.

Perhaps if we all took an extra minute to edit our quotes carefully, we'd 
help MR. Mossman and many others to enjoy the newsgroup much more. 

Finally, permit me to echo something mentioned by another Netter in New 
Zealand. He pointed out the he "pays for each K of INCOMING and OUTGOING" 
material that affects him. So, we end up costing our fellow correspondants 
more money when we are careless.

Thanks for letting me put in my $0.02

==================================================================
Barry Mishkind
barry@jab.tucson.az.us
From: doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Jason Abner Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Best "Who" Episode:  "State Of Decay"
Date: 11 Oct 92 16:16:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: jhuvms.11OCT199211164061
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


	I'm a second-time poster on this news group, although I've been 
following it for quite some time.  It seems to me that people here are getting
bogged down in too many technical details over the series, and not concentrating g 
concentrating enough on what made "Doctor Who" famous in the first place:
	THE EPISODES.
	It was the script writers of the series who decided to never fully
let it be known just how a Gallifreyan becomes a Time Lord.  The hands on
Sutekh's seat cushions in "Pyramids of Mars" were a BLOOPER, not a subliminal
message!
	I have seen several reviews posted of the John Nathan-Turner seasons
of "Who", and right now I'd like to use my space to rebut one of the opinions
I saw in there:
	In my mind, the greatest, and most successful, episode of "Who" ever
was "State of Decay", broadcast during the 18th season, Tom Baker's 7th and
last as the Doctor.  Not only is the plot fascinating, as it finally tries
to give some scientific support to the presence of vampires in sci-fi, but
the production values in this episode were FANTASTIC.
	It seems to me that J N-T's first season as producer developed the
most stylistic and visually stunning "Who"'s ever.  The new opening credits
for this season are amazing, and the incidental music in this particular
episode is at its most atmospheric, moody, and best.  There are some 
excellent horrifying moments in this story (cliffhanger to Part 1, with
all those bats; last half of Part 2, as the Dr. and Romana discover blood
in the fuel tanks of the Hydrax), and the background music makes these
scenes literally captivating.
	For those out there who see continuity as the key to the series,
this episode is a MUCH more satisfying vampire story than "Curse of Fenric" -
where are the haemovores in "Fenric" supposed to come from?  Certainly not
the Great Vampire.
	I've also seen written here that the Great Vampire's marionnette
appearance was not particularly impressive.  But bear in mind that it appears
for only about 3 seconds, and the atmosphere of that segment makes it truly
horrifying and wonderful. 
	"State of Decay" is one of the few episodes of "Who" that has the same
impact on me every time I see it.  It also happens to be the best "Who" made,
and maybe J N-T should have used this entire season as an example when he
came out with those three Sylvester McCoy seasons.  Something is missing when
I watch those last seasons.

							Jason Miller
							The Eighth Doctor
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
From: jenkinsj@blowfish.taligent.com (John H. Jenkins)
Subject: Re: Interview with John Nathan-Turner on Ch. 54 (San Jose)
Followup-To: rec.arts.drwho
Organization: Taligent, Inc.
Distribution: ba
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 15:46:03 GMT

In article <1avde5INN1i2@agate.berkeley.edu>, mossman@sag1.ssl.berkeley.edu () wrote:
> 
> Did anyone see Dr. Who on Channel 54 (San Jose) on Sunday? Following
> the episode there was an interview with John Nathan-Turner which I
> managed to see only a few minutes of and then erase(Argh!). But at the
> very begining he said, "When Doctor Who comes back, blah blah...".
> THere was no date associated with this interview so was he talking
> about the first hiatus or the present one? ANy clues? By the way,
> the new format of Doctor Who on 54 is not too bad. Pleasing both
> camps, or trying to, they are showing episode format all together.
> So you can see the whole story but not miss the campy cliffhangers.
> 
> Amy Mossman
> 
> 

I managed to get the whole thing.  I don't recall any "When Dr. Who comes back lines," but the show was clearly identified at the beginning as having been made for Dr. Who's 25th anniversary.  They also showed rehearsals and on-location filming for "Silver Nemesis."  

It was actually pretty interesting in terms of getting a better sense of what was involved in producing the show, although I'm not sure I came away from it with a better opinion of JNT than I had before.  

I don't particularly mind the new format for the late night "Dr. Who", but I'm still recovering from the shock of having it taken away from weekdays at 7:00.  KTEH has been showing "Dr. Who" every weekday for longer than I've been in the Bay Area, which is nine years.  That was a bit of a blow!

John H. Jenkins
John_Jenkins@taligent.com
From: EEC@PORTIA.UMDS.LON.AC.UK (Steve P eec@portia.umds.lon.ac.uk)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: RE: Videos USA and UK
Date: 12 Oct 1992 07:52:13 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

> From: steven.k.manfred@UWRF.EDU
> Subject: Videos   USA and UK
> 
> One sidenote- as a side effect of this method of doing things, the picture
> quality of episode 7 of Inferno is rather dodgy.  What we in effect have
> is the PAL->NTSC->PAL->NTSC conversion a poster earlier this month was
> worried about, and it did happen!  However, Daemons and Frontier look OK,
> but I do think my own TV copy of Inferno looks better than this does!
> (and little wonder, that's only PAL->NTSC conversion).

I don't know why you Americans don't complain about this!   There is
absolutely no need for this sort of standard conversion ping-pong. The
American version of the video should have had the standard US PAL->NTSC
edited in instead of the P->N->P->N.  It's just that they can't be bothered.
It's simpler just to have the whole of the UK home video master converted
to NTSC without worrying about editing the already converted NTSC material
back in.

"Daemons" and "Frontier" look ok since they are both first generation NTSC
conversions from b/w film and colour PAL tape, respectively.

You wait till you get "Claws Of Axos" on home-video.  Eps 2 & 3 will have
gone thru the same hideous process, unless you complain now!

 ----------------------------------- 
|  Steve P                    (..)  |
|  eec@portia.umds.lon.ac.uk   ()   |
 -----------------------------------
From: shiva%morpheus%Servers@MAGNOLIA.BANYAN.COM
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Timewyrm:  Does sequence matter?
Date: 7 Oct 92 14:34:27 GMT
X-Unparsable-Date: Wed, 31 Dec 69 19:00:00 EST

I just received _Timewyrm: Apocalypse_ from my local bookstore.  The other 
three books are backordered from their distributor, so I suspect it'll be on
the order of months before I ever see them.

So will I be totally ruining my novel-reading experience if I read this one 
first?

Impatient (and thinking of just ordering the @#$% things from the UK),

Liz
lizb@banyan.com

Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
From: u926135@tasman.cc.utas.edu.au (Adrian Hassall Lewis)
Subject: JNT review & R of the D
Summary: R of the D is utter crap
Keywords: daleks
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 12:58:31 GMT

Although I haven't seen a lot of DW since the end of the PD era, what I have
seen makes me agree with this review - since "Caves" there hasn't been a
decent story.  I remember discussing at that time that it was time for JNT
to go - and he stayed for another 7+ years!

Whilst most of the stories are pretty feral the one that REALLY GIVES ME
THE SHITS is `Revelation of the Daleks'.  Admittedly, I was studying it at
the time at school, but this story is an absolutely F**KED takeoff of
Evelyn Waugh's (sp?) `The loved one' (a story which I also hated).  In fact
I'm suprised the BBC wasn't sued for copyright infringement.

Now that I've said that, does any one know any other DW stories that are
ripoffs of other stories?
 
AHL

Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
From: wool8657@mach1.wlu.ca (john woolsey 9209 U)
Subject: Re: Gallifreyans and Time Lords solution
Organization: Wilfrid Laurier University
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 22:50:25 GMT

In article <P659RB5w165w@lakes.trenton.sc.us> rock@lakes.trenton.sc.us (Rockerboy) writes:
>00bwanderson@bsu-ucs.uucp writes:
>> A Gallifreyan becomes a Time Lord by passing through one of the Academys.
>> The foremost of these, it might be argued, is the Prydonian.  Becoming
>> a Lord (or Lady) doesn't mean your bio is altered-just your citizen's status.
>> Just like I couldn't run around saying I'm a PHd, neither can a Gallifreyan
>> claim to be a TL if he didn't pass the Academy.

Regeneration was part of the scientific technology that was developed just
before time. There are many examples of this throughout the series, and
the books. The title Time Lord may not be for everyone, and the regeneration
process may not be for everyone, but basically in the change over from a
mental basis of control to a scientific basis one of the mental leaders
changed the genetic makeup of timelords so that they could not reproduce.
Each Time Lord has a genetic design, and they are basically constructed
scientifically. For example Dr. Who's genetic designs were stolen in one
episode of the show by someone who I can't remember. The time travel
experiments were cut off in order to design genetic engineered people.
The orriginal time experiments were actually a group of 8 people who
used their minds to pilot the craft through time. They figured out how
to reproduce time travel scientifically later in time.
From: 1-1@tardis.cojones.com (Keeper Of The Matrix)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: These Doctor Who Episodes have been on tape . . .
Date: 13 Oct 92 10:41:03 GMT


 RE: Who Tapes in Europe
 BY: hkraft@fam168.sni.de (Hilmar Kraft)

> From what i hear the release of 'Shada' and 'Tomb Of The Cybermen' is
> coming up for the U.S. very shortly.

     . . . in the U.K. for ummmm 3 months at least . . . So they are readily
available in any video shop . . . 

                         -Keeper Of The Matrix-
                         1-1@tardis.cojones.com

TARDISNet . . . Networking at its finest . . . 

  The Matrix: Doctor Who BBS  (209) 571-0347  Modesto, Ca  TARDISNet 1@1
From: aa634@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bill White)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: RED DWARF & BLAKES SEVEN
Date: 8 Oct 92 21:55:08 GMT
Reply-To: aa634@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bill White)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, lwv26@cas.org (Larry W. Virden) says:

>Another newsgroup to check for these would be rec.arts.sf.tv, where the
>B7 and Red Dwarf folk are migrating...
>

There's also alt.fan.red-dwarf.

-- 
Bill White, aa634@Cleveland.freenet.edu OR aa037@Medina.Freenet.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------
       Assistant Sysop, Cleveland & Medina County Free-net's
                  Science Fiction and Fantasy Sig
From: doug.vermes%acc1bbs@ssr.com (Doug Vermes) 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: CELESTIAL TOYMAKER
Date: 10 Oct 92 16:24:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Advanced Computer Concepts BBS, New Rochelle, NY 914-654-1981
Reply-To: doug.vermes%acc1bbs@ssr.com (Doug Vermes) 


This message may have gotten lost as the BBS which I send UseNet
messages from had some problems for a few weeks with Usenet... I wanted
to know if the guy who played Cyril (the obnoxious schoolboy) in the
Celestial Toymaker was the same guy who does the voice of Penfold in
Dangermouse. Cyril was played by Peter Stephens... I recently saw the
Celestial Toymaker and there is one scene where he sounds EXACTLY like
this guy....

Email me a response, please.
    Thanks,
       Doug

-----------------
doug.vermes%acc1bbs@ssr.com
From: david@scilab.lonestar.org (david burgess)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: At last!  the new videos are mine!!!
Date: 11 Oct 92 10:17:58 GMT
Organization: Science Lab; Arlington, Texas

steven.k.manfred@UWRF.EDU writes:

> "The Tomb of the Cybermen"
> "Shada"
> "The Pertwee Years"
> and
> "The Caves of Androzani"
> 
> All are priced at $20 each and should be easily available from any
> video store near you should you tell them to special order them for you
> and that they are on CBS/Fox video.  
> 
> I will, however, give some preliminary reviews to the first two:
> Scale of one to ten: "Tomb of the Cybermen"  9.
> "Shada"  8.
> 
I agree with you on those ratings, I went to the local mall, and I have 
Tomb and Shada. I watched Tomb(it came out before Shada) last week and 
Shada came to the mall on the 10th so I watched Shada today.
YIPPEEE. I am happy. <grin>

			Don't Eat Yellow Snow

David Burgess
david@scilab.lonestar.org
From: bd@fluent@dartmouth.EDU (Brice Dowaliby)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: No subject
Date: 15 Oct 92 12:25:39 GMT
Reply-To: bd%fluent@dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Fluent Inc., Lebanon NH

cevans@nyx.cs.du.edu (Doctor Who) writes:

>I've heard (from the book Doctor Who:25 Glorious years by Peter Haining)
>that The Dalek's Master Plan was found in a bloody Mormon Church Hall! 
>What news about it being released?

The hell with the episode, what's the news on the bloody
Mormon church hall?  Do Mormons go in for animal sacrifices
or something?  8-)

-- 
   Brice Dowaliby, Fluent Inc., 10 Cavendish Court, Lebanon, NH  03766
                         bd%fluent@dartmouth.edu        
             I don't speak for them, they don't speak for me
                              DoD # 0698
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
From: "dale clayton" <dale.clayton@canrem.com>
Subject: let the bells ring!?
Reply-To: "dale clayton" <dale.clayton@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: rec
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:59:21 EST

Steve M. wrote:
--------------
-> PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE!!!!!

 I would also like this to be true (who doesn't?!).

-> Oh, and Dave, never let Sinead O'Connor see your sig./

 Let's send her a picture of Powell! The real evil!

Regards,
Dale Clayton
-----------------------
dale.clayton@canrem.com
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
From: steven.k.manfred@UWRF.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Review of JNT Era - I'd like to see it Nitro-9ed.
Date: 7 Oct 92 22:43:16 GMT



Whoever's posting that JNT Era Review (that somebody other than the poster
wrote), please be made aware that I for one don't like 90% of it.

Any reviewers who can only say "Oh, it was boring," about just about every
story clearly don't have the artistic license to make a proper review,
so you only injure your own credibility by reposting it.  

Steve/Iain
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: DrWho theme MOD wanted...
From: tswanson@misvax.mis.arizona.edu (QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES.)
Date: 8 Oct 1992 00:05 MST  
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona MIS Department
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    


Does anyone have a DrWho theme MOD out there?  There appears to be a
theme .snd file at the ccb.ucsf.edu site, but that doesn't help me much, 
unless I can convert it to a .voc or .wav file.  It's too big for me 
to download anyway.

Thanks for any info,
Ted.

Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho,rec.arts.sf.fandom,rec.arts.sf.tv,rec.arts.tv.uk
From: wool8657@mach1.wlu.ca (john woolsey 9209 U)
Subject: Re: Last of the Bannermen?  Stunk.
Organization: Wilfrid Laurier University
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 17:16:01 GMT

In article <6o0BsB1w164w@kryton.UUCP> ace@kryton.UUCP (Catherine Beckstead) writes:
>Yes, that was _Delta and the Bannermen_, and I agree it stunk.  But that is the
>on of the episodes where the Doctor hadn't gotten rid of Mel yet.  Keep
>watching until the Doctor gets rid of Mel and brings in a character called
>Ace, (should be the next story, _Dragonfire_).  Then it gets good.
>The chemestry between the Doctor and Ace really makes it worthwhile.  They
>do have a few good stories together, _Rememberence of the Daleks_, 
>_Battlefield_, and _The Curse of Fenric_ are among my favorites.

I always thought Ace was the best companion of them all. I really think the
problem with Dr. Who of late is that they just keep changing Doctors. I just
get to like one doctor, and they bash another one into the sets. I would
watch Sylvester McCoy if he came back with Ace much more then a new doctor
with a new companion. I think if Dr. Who came back on the air it would be
nice to have a little time to gather scripts, and make a whole new season
based on well written scripts like the earlier episodes. Anyways I hope they
put it back together again.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
From: ira2p@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Iain Robert Asplin)
Subject: Re: Last of the Bannermen?  Stunk.
Organization: University of Virginia
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 22:32:42 GMT

In article <97869@bu.edu> mjmh@mappo.bu.edu (Michael J M Holmes) writes:
>
>Just wanted to unlurk to express appreciation for the kind words
>about "The Happiness Patrol!"
>
>Its my favorite episode, and renewed my faith in the possibility
>of Dr. Who continuing.
>
>mike holmes
>mjmh@crsa.bu.edu
>
>"Happiness Will Prevail!"
>:)

Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but I will say this.
When I first saw "Patrol," I only had one reservation, and I felt it
was a biggie.  I couldn't believe that this entire regime could be
overthrown in one night.
A few weeks after I saw it, Romania's regime was overthrown in one night.

Needless to say I like "Patrol" a lot more these days.  :)
From: Ric_Goldman@3mail.3com.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re:Out of print books
Date: 14 Oct 92 01:17:00 GMT

{shiva%morpheus%Servers@MAGNOLIA.BANYAN.COM}:ugate:3com writes:
>I'd very much like to do that.  BUT.  When I went back to the bookstore 
>last night to order the books from the UK, they informed me that 
>_Genesis_ and _Exodus_ are not listed as being in print in Britain.  (I 
>watched her look them up.  Under John Peel, it even said "See 
>Timewyrm", but there wasn't anything there!)  So I suppose I have to 
>hope that the US publishing house will actually get a few copies before 
>they go out of print here too.

[stuff deleted]

>Liz
>lizb@banyan.com

Bookstores are sometimes myopic in how they 'look-it-up'.  The local B. 
Dalton and Waldenbooks swore that Witchmark and Nightshade were out of 
print.  They had looked under the title and author's names.

I suggested they look under 'Dr. Who' or 'Doctor Who'.  *POOF* The 
titles mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.  Seems that these books are 
considered a series and not worthy of separate listing by title.

You might see if that works for you.  I was able to special order the 
whole set and get them within 4 days.

/-------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Ric Goldman (NOT a stage name)  |  "There is no personal problem which  |
| Spellbinder Systems Group       |  cannot be solved by the proper       |
| c/o 3com/Great America          |  application of high explosives" - me |
| Santa Clara,CA 408-764-5861     |                                       |
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho