Hey, new thread!
I am watching The Three Doctors and having the time of my life. This is all. 
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Finished this earlier. Loved it. Keeping it for future rewatches when I fancy something a little more unusual. Very different vibe in some places to the finished film, and I preferred some of the workprint music too. Also ā McGann is great.
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Ah good, someone else thinks so 
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I watched Arc of Infinity the other day. I feel like this is one that had potential to be good, but the way it was written doesnāt actually make the most sense.
When the Doctor was in the matrix, there was one scene where Omega made him promise not to interfere or he would kill Tegan, so the Doctor promisesā¦ and then nothing more is made of it - the Doctor contines to interfere with no consequences. Yes he had to depart secretly but this would have been the case whether he had promised or not.
And then thereās the earlier scene where the Doctor is going to be terminated, and Nyssa carries out a heroic and probably sucessful rescue attempt, only for the Doctor to dismiss it immediately. I know he had a different plan for how it was going to turn out, but itās a bit of a shame that all that Nyssa did here was basically for nothing.
On a more positive note, I do think the way they brought Tegan back was neat. Yes, after Time Flight I was rather suprised she had gone so soon as I was expecting her to be a companion for longer, but I thought well she has been around for a season and some companions donāt stay longer than thatā¦ well sheās back
Story rating 4/10
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Listened to Castrovalva, Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, Dark Water / Death in Heaven, a few minutes of Carnival of Monsters, Listen(!) and The Pandorica Opens / about half an hour of The Big Bang. And Enlightenment DVD commentary for parts 3 and 4 last night.
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Sitting down for a repeat of The TV Movie here as well!
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Genuinely not trying to throw shade, but why do you do this? Is it just a case of changing your mind partway through?
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Donāt understand it either tbh.
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I watched The Ribos Operation. Some fun stuff, but overall I found it rather dull.
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I get where @ButterCashier is coming from. When my sister plays her music in my car, she has a habit of skipping to a different song. I feel like it comes from social media, and not wanting to see something which doesnāt interest you.
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I get it with music, especially if itās on random. But surely youāre actively putting a particular story on.
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Yeah I skip songs, but if Iām watching an episode of a tv show. Well, I am watching that episode & donāt skip around it. Must be a generational thing I guess. I am old.
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I get watching an episode in isolation and not always bothering with the rest ā but watching half an episode, for example? Huh?
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The TV Movie (repeat): Itās easy to forget how utterly bats#&t insane this story is, as a fan of the programme overall. In the space of 90 minutes, we get scene after scene which, to the first-time viewer, are surely completely bonkers and unlike almost anything else on TV: the psychedelic lore-dump opening, the no-context first scene in the TARDIS, the snot-snake Master, Chinese gangsters, the Eye of Harmony, the Doctor walking through a solid window, Eric Roberts spewing gunk, that fantastic visual gag with the police motorbike and the TARDIS, the entirety of the third act! The constant stream of bizarre and unexpected imagery is a massive part of why this is, undoubtedly, one of the all-time most fun Doctor Who stories, but itās also its Achilles heel. Matthew Jacobs gets the character writing, tone and visual ideas almost spot-on, but the plot and sci-fi elements are, frankly, complete nonsense. Iām a long-time fan, Iāve seen all of Classic Who and NuWho, Iāve listened to Zagreus, I can tell you about most niche elements of Doctor Who lore, but even Iād be hard-pressed to explain what on Earth a critical timing malfunction is, or why the Doctor needs a Beryllium clock to close the Eye of Harmony (or why it can only be opened by a human eye in the first place), or how exactly Grace saves the day by jamming two wires together here. The third act especially is near-incomprehensible, and taken together with the general lore-wankiness on display throughout, I can see why this story scares lots of people off.
Itās a shame, because as I alluded to earlier, the things The TV Movie gets right, it gets right. The direction and production are eye-catching (especially that TARDIS interior, which is still a solid contender for most gorgeous three whole decades later), the soundtrack booms along, the effects are all surprisingly impressive, and beyond the actual plot and the occasional bit of OTT acting[1] I donāt think thereās a weak element here. The cast are fantastic and all clearly having a ball - Daphne Ashbrook ticks every box on the companion checklist with style and humour, Yee Jee Tso is charming in a loveable scamp sort of way, and Eric Roberts is one of the most purely watchable guest stars the show has ever had. Paul McGann, in his one solo televised outing in the lead role, is a revelation. He takes Jacobsā lovely dialogue and character moments, puts his own spin on them, and completely owns the role for 80 minutes. Cheeky, heroic, mysterious, empathetic, he establishes the Eighth Doctor as all this and more, and while he sadly never gets a full series you canāt say he doesnāt define his version of the character here. Even though it obviously wasnāt the hoped-for revival of the programme when it aired back in 1996, as a fan in 2026, I think this story is a flawed gem that deserves to be treasured.
Although, is there really such a thing as an OTT reaction to a man smashing his way out of a morgue right before your eyes, or finding yourself on a police motorbike being chased by an ambulance crewed by a snake-eyed Eric Roberts? ā©ļø
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Great review, and I agree. I also have a fondness for the 8th Doctorās seeming ability to know personal futures (Gareth, for example). Itās never really been brought up before or since, but I like it. It helps make the Doctor even more unknowable and alien.
Itās an utterly incomprehensible story really, but so much fun.
When I watched the workprint, the CGI snake Master was missing and it actually enhanced it for me. There was the gunk spilling out of the TARDIS lock but other than that, no effectsā¦ so the opening few minutes suddenly feel 10x more mysterious with the casket of ashes breaking, and then a strange atmosphere in the TARDIS before the console starts going haywireā¦ we are in the dark, just like the Doctor is, and it gives that opening a much spookier vibe, and itās even effective when the snake Master āentersā Bruce, with no effect ā makes it more harrowing somehow, like some unseeable possession.
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Because in The Apocalypse Element (MR #11), when the Daleks invade Gallifrey, Evelyn is the only human and is easier to protect than every Gallifreyan. Thus, her eye was made the master key to slow down the Daleks who were just butchering Time Lords for their eyes.
Oh you mean back in 96? Absolutely no idea.
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Iād completely forgotten that! Iāll be honest, Iām not sure I even realised at the time this was referencing the movie, thatās a fun detail. As you say though, itās not really explained at all in the movie itself (and it makes no logical sense when you think about it)
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I only do this when I need to try to get the younger one back to sleep and I just turn on Roku/pluto tv/Tubi 24/7 live channel so I just turn it on while getting him back to sleep then when I go to bring him up I turn off the TV. So I might only catch 15-20 mins of an ep or just watch part 2 of a serial and thatās it. But I donāt purposely just turn on something in the middle (except feast of Steven at Christmas)
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