TARDIS_Tech_Support Reviews

Doctor Who: A Holiday for the Doctor (1966) Season 3, Episode 34

Watch in the contexts of having just seen the film High Noon

[9/10 · 27 November 2023]

This is truly a love letter to American Western films, espeically High Noon with the constantly repeating song interlude between acts. But I rated this so high due to the interaction between The Doctor and Doc Holiday, which was top notch.

If you're not a fan of 1950s and early 1960s western films, it's unlikely you're going to "get", that is understand and truly enjoy, this episode. It's a connected experience, a sort of "You had to be there" type of feel.

Nonetheless, I feel as if it's still watchable, though only maybe a 5 out of 10 for a non-fan of western movies.

I still have 22 characters to go... there.

Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (2021) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Half terrible, half pretty good

[3/10 · 27 November 2023]

As always, the Daleks are the star of the show, and their appearance turns one a really, really dumb extended episode into something akin to the old days of decent dialogue and semi-smart characters. (Rose made a ton of dumb decisions, as did many companions, but these three barely share one functioning brain between them all). I'm really tired of dealing with these idiots, especially when 2 of the 3 are portrayed by some pretty excellent actors. And The Doctor never seems to be "in command", which I get it, they wanted to go with a more even leadership of sorrts. It's hardly the first time, since the very first Doctor (in the original origin story) was just one of the bunch in a ton of adventures.

I just can't wait to get through 13, so I never have to watch their shows again. Except for Orphan 55, maybe the worst of the run, but still my favorite due to comically huge missed opportunities that wouldn't have increased the very low budget.

Anyhow, yeah, 3/10. I'm not overly glad I watched it, but it wasn't a putrid episode. Just overlong and rather dumb. But the Daleks were cool.

Doctor Who: The Nightmare Begins (1965) Season 3, Episode 10

It's ok, and it doesn't feel long

[5/10 · 2 November 2023]

The Doctor truly feels alone to me in this serial. Vicky, who felt like another incarnation of The Doctor's granddaughter Susan, was the last companion to travel with originals Barbara and Ian. To have lost all three, with no like-personalities to replace them (for Steven is a gung-ho shoot-first guy, a contradiction from Ian), you really get the first sense that The Doctor is a full-on nomad with no long-term connections to the universe besides their ongoing quest to simply go and do good. It's deeply sad, but it's also why I have watched for this long, about 13 or so years as of 2023. Having seen so many episodes on the other end, and having felt the depth of time between there and here, it's a massive gap and a tiny crack at the same time. The same basic issues of aloneness prevade.

Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part One (1975) Season 12, Episode 11

Really good serial, lazy Dalek design

[7/10 · 1 November 2023]

For having the prototype of the Daleks, and having almost nothing changed between the first appearance in the first season from this serial... it's just a real shame. As much as the 13th doctor's writing gets derided, the Dalek in New-Who's series 11 episode Resolution is positively mind-blowingly good. I understand they didn't have much of a budget, like at all, in the 1970s. But to put something, anything, to make them different from future Daleks besides a different paint-job just feels lazy.

All that said, this was a really good serial, and I'm glad I watched it, though I feel it was maybe over-hyped compared to my overall experience.

Doctor Who: Children in Need Special (2005 Video)

I forgot how good 10th was! Great entrance!

[9/10 · 26 October 2023]

I've never seen this snippet before, only the full Christmas Invasion episode, and I was really missing something great. As much as I enjoyed the 9th Doctor and my introduction to Doctor Who, the 10th Doctor is just fantastic from the get go. I envy those who were able to watch this special live, although it had to have been a bit jarring since the 9th Doctor only JUST started and got going before this regeneration. I'm so happy to have seen this, and I only wish that 9th and 10th could get together for an adventure someday. Maybe in audio format, who knows, right? Anyhow, words words words words... there.

Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death: Episode 1 (1970) Season 7, Episode 12

Goes nowhere, accomplishes little, but still pretty great

[7/10 · 26 October 2023]

Normally I have a really hard time getting through the serials that just seem to repeat the same actions for 2-7 episodes, like The Doctor getting captured, escaping, finding a single clue, the companion gets caught, escapes, finds one clue, red herrings, and a whole bunch of chase scenes to pretend there is something going on, instead of just a flurry of mindless activity. But this cast is SO GOOD despite everything that I just want to watch them do whatever they need to do to (maybe) push the plot forward. I can't believe this is so early into Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, and Nicholas Courtney's run, because they have their roles down. This is a really solid serial, despite its shortcomings.

Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen: Episode 1 (1967) Season 5, Episode 1

Blatant casual racism against black people make this a difficult watch

[4/10 · 24 October 2023]

Between racism against Turkish people in the previous serial, and now Black people, it's tough to forget how racist 1960s England was, despite wearing a progressive front throughout the series. I realize the over-wokeness of the 13th Doctor's run (i.e. Being spoken at as if you were 5 years old about social matters instead of being treated as an adult that mostly agrees with what they have to say) is not the way to go, but jeepers they made this strong black man speak like a tribal stereotype of the 1800s. I really enjoy this serial, but this stands out like a neon sign, and it's just hard to get past it.

Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks: Episode 1 (1967) Season 4, Episode 37

Removing terror and strength from the Daleks.

[4/10 · 24 October 2023]

The first 4 1/2 episodes (over 90 minutes!) was a waste of time, and could have been laid out in 10-15 minutes instead. The casual racism against Turkish people didn't help matters either. They could have swapped out any baddies, maybe even last serial's Faceless Ones, and ended up with an equal or better serial than this. Most of the episodes are typical plot-stretched settings, going no where and doing nothing for 10-15 minutes at a time. It was a waste of time, and is equivalent of the low quality plot lines seen in the 13th Doctor's run.

The last 2 1/2 episodes are pretty great in spots, and I'd highly recommend just skipping to those episodes if you're going to give this serial a viewing.

Daleks!: The Archive of Islos (2020) Season 1, Episode 1

They needed a better cinematoprapher

[6/10 · 12 July 2023]

To be fair, this feels like yet another case where the animation team wasn't given the time or money to make an 80% perfect product. I would have loved to have seen this short with proper framing, tracking shots, and laser-blast impacts from the defenders to the Dalek ships, of any sort.

The story is fun, and if this was ever released as a single movie, I'd buy it and watch it in a sitting every couple years. But I'd love to see a Doctor Who fanatic with plenty of time on their hands redo some of the animation.

Basically, BBC, for the love of Ood, PAY YOUR ANIMATORS AND GIVE THEM TIME TO DO A DECENT JOB!!

Night Court: Pilot (2023) Season 1, Episode 1

Needs much more John Laroquette

[3/10 · 19 January 2023]

Go back and rewatch the original Night Court's pilot. And its first season. I can't believe it made it to a 2nd season. It's not great, and it contains a lot of forced humor. But back then, you didn't have that many choices for entertainment.

This pilot episode following the same path is BAD BAD BAD. It won't survive! Unless they inject a LOT more John Laroquette, who makes every single scene he's in, even when it's not that funny, like the coffee shop scene, which was pretty forced.

I hope it gets a LOT better FAST, because otherwise it will get cancelled pretty quickly. This isn't Big Bang Theory, but it's trying to be, and that's not good.

Rudy Vallee Melodies (1932)

Watchable, but I'd recommend speeding up the live-action

[7/10 · 12 January 2023]

I enjoyed the music, but ended up speeding up the slow songs to 1.5x and the school fight song to 1.25x speed. It made them WAY better, and made the old timey warble of Rudy Vallee tolerable. As a Betty Boop short, it contains the usual little gags that are just amazing to see, because of how tight the jokes could be. Plus, there's a brief appearance of one of the first probably-LBGTQ+ animated characters, a rarity both then and especially now.

This is probably best watched within a batch of other Betty Boop or classic cartoons, because it ranks near the absolute bottom of Boop's pantheon of shorts, but I still recommend it highly and I'd gladly watch it again.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1931)

A great example of the bouncing ball cartoon

[9/10 · 11 January 2023]

With the low reviews here, I was expecting to find some blatant racism, but no, it's simply one of the bouncing ball cartoons that were popular at the time. Besides a bit of dark humor between 5:30 and 5:50, the cartoon is relatively harmless and should be watched by lovers of cartoons of that era.

I wish the Hays code had never happened, because there's an innocent sexuality that exists here that should have existed throughout the 20th century. I absolutely love the adult-ish humor going on, and I would have loved to see this continue into the rest of the century.

I need more words, so here we go. Have a great day!

The Invincible Iron Man (2007 Video)

Watchable. It's a good-not-great flick, but III suffers from the White Savior trope

[5/10 · 11 January 2023]

Advantage: away from the direct comparison to 2009's Iron Man live action film, this movie feels more unique, and is its own beast. The action scenes are good, the acting is sufficient if not stellar, but it's overall passable, and at times, good.

Disadvantage: It's really hard to watch the movie in today's climate, where the "white savior" trope is obvious, terrible, and possibly propaganda. Also, there is barely any tint to Rhodey's skintone at all. I realize not all African Americans look the same, but they could have at least tried to make him appear black.

Still, I really, really wish Marvel was still doing these, instead of letting DC do all of the near-direct adaptations of their graphic novels to the big screen. We could have more World War Hulk level movies instead of whatever Thor 4 was supposed to be.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Second Contact (2020) Season 1, Episode 1

Give up preconceptions, relax, and enjoy

[8/10 · 9 September 2022]

This isn't like any other series, and yet it's an homage to every other series. It's messed up, sexual, gross-out, and anti-authoritarian comedy. But the execution is pretty amazing. The attention to detail from ships to sets to aliens to history of the prior series', is great throughout.

Do I wish it was more grounded? Yes. But then you run the danger of becoming The Orville, which is both too comedic and not comedic enough. Going full-throttle toward comedy with only elements of serious science fiction was definitely the way to go for a successful spin-off series. I feel it was either go all-out, or just not do the series at all.

Doctor Who: The Final Phase (1965) Season 2, Episode 29

Mediocre ending to a great start

[5/10 · 8 September 2022]

If you like standard baddie of the week episodes, in which the Gang has to get out of some mess that The Doctor put them into, then you'll like the last 3 episodes of The Space Museum. But I can't understate how much better the first episode was than the last three. There were seeds of a wonderful story, bending what it means to travel through time, and more imaginative in the overall structure of traveling than dozens and dozens of other episodes. But there is simply no pay-off -- this is what we get. You could have placed the Gang into the same situations with any number of other aliens we've seen so far, and swapped out the same dialogue almost verbatim.

Disappointing, but not terrible. Just blah.

Star Trek: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966) Season 1, Episode 7

That's it?

[5/10 · 8 September 2022]

I was expecting more from this episode, talking about the ethics of creating androids, of transferring your memories into a computer, and the seeds of what became Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But instead, it turned into a typical monster of the week type episode, where red shirts are killed one by one, where Kirk is kidnapped but not killed due to hero armor, and he Mary Sues his way out of danger and saves the day. It could have been a great episode, but I found it kind of dumb, plodding, and without much merit.

Although, as others have said, seeing Lurch as a baddie was a bit of fun.

Star Trek: Short Treks: Children of Mars (2020) Season 2, Episode 6

A nearly dialogue-free episode that ranks higher than most of new Star Trek

[8/10 · 8 September 2022]

This was a lofty reach, and it mostly achieved what it was looking to do. You see a slice of these young girls' lives, their different experiences that are also very much alike, and the trail of pain and anger and the destruction it can bring to other people.

I wish more episodes of Picard were near this good. It's not possible to understate how disappointed with the show I have been to this point, and how it does not feel like Star Trek, but merely another science fiction universe with no connections to the TV Shows of the 1960s to the 2000s. And even this episode feels separated from that universe of shows that I love so much. But this at least made an effort at not talking down to its audience, not making things so lowest common denominator IQ.

Doctor Who: Spyfall: Part Two (2020) Season 12, Episode 2

A decent wrap-up to a decent story

[6/10 · 8 September 2022]

While this is the best story of the 13th Doctor's era, there are still the drawbacks of poor blocking in battle situations, corny dialogue, and a convoluted story. That said, the guest stars in this episode are absolutely top notch, and I wish they could be companions, or at least those two actors. I wish the B-Story had been the A-Story, and the regular companions just sort of left behind for this entire two-parter.

Sacha Dhawan's portrayal is fantastic, one of the best renditions of this character in the history of the show, from its very origin. The twisting of the tale of The Doctor might not have been liked by the majority of fans, but I can see why it was seen as necessary to prolonging the series -- although I feel like it was still a major misstep. That said, the execution of this fool's plan was carried out fairly well, with breadcrumbs laid in various episodes leading up to the big reveal at the end of this series.

I do hope that it all gets retconned in some way or another, though. I really do.

Star Trek: The Enemy Within (1966) Season 1, Episode 5

Shatner at his over-actor peak

[4/10 · 8 September 2022]

Oh my indeed, we get to see Captain Kirk divided into his Democrat and Republican halves, in this hammy, over-dramatic masterpiece. It's a Shatner spectacle to say the least.

Is it good though? No. Is it watchable? Well, if you're a fan, it's truly a take it or leave it episode. Once again, Yeoman Rand is here just to be abused by the antagonist of the episode, proving once again that the showrunners truly hated that character and wanted her to suffer at any opportunity they could get.

Will I watch this one again? No, not if I can help it. This is a pointless filler episode, one that doesn't really belong in anyone's rewatch of Star Trek unless they are really dedicated. Otherwise, just be nice to yourself and skip this episode altogether.

Star Trek: Discovery: The Vulcan Hello (2017) Season 1, Episode 1

Fun pilot, but not "Star Trek"

[6/10 · 8 September 2022]

This is a story of one officer, who was trekking to a possibly hostile station, and managed to screw everything up with another humanoid race. It's not hopeful, it's not optimistic, it's dark and ugly, and it's not very Star Trek. It's a grimdark battle story, framed with incompetence from the get-go, and continued through this narrative. Is Star Trek Discovery pretty? Yes, but in that golden-glow CBS method of lighting that they've been doing since the 1990s, where everything looks like it's in late afternoon sunshine, but doesn't feel realistic in the least. The scale of the ships is all wrong, and they look no bigger than a runabout let alone a full-sized starship.

That said, from an inclusion standpoint, though I truly wish they had created an entirely new story about an entirely new officer instead of inventing a person that was always connected with a character from the very first Star Trek media, saying they had always just "been there" but not mentioned, it's acceptable to me to pull apart the threads of Star Trek and insert diversity, through race and gender, where there had not been proper representation in the 1960s when Star Trek began, only token representation.

All in all, from a social point of view, this is a great episode. From an optimism point of view, The Vulcan Hello is downright abysmal. From an action point of view, it's fantastic. From a true science fiction point of view, it's passable. So all of that, I think, averages out to a 6/10 score.

Doctor Who: The Search (1965) Season 2, Episode 28

You could almost skip this one

[4/10 · 7 September 2022]

I could imagine, back in the 1960s, having missed this particular episode, and not losing any of the plot. This is a true filler episode, with little to offer. The characters flurry about, doing nothing of any note. The antagonists do much of the same. The overall plot is a rehash of other, better episodes.

It is a shame, since the first episode of the serial showed so much promise. The Search does not live up to those expectations.

The characters needed something more to do, or perhaps an explanation of the events of the first episode should have been included in the narrative.

But no matter. This is a take-it or leave-it episode.

Star Trek: The Naked Time (1966) Season 1, Episode 4

Equal parts great and cringey

[6/10 · 7 September 2022]

Get some men drunk, and suddenly the casual sexual harassment turns into blatant sexual harassment. Man, doesn't Starfleet have a Human Resources department?

The updated effects are pretty great, the overall progression of the "antagonist" is suspenseful, but there's too much dead time, too many filler scenes where practically nothing happens, for 3-5 minutes, on several occasions. With better writing, this could have been an utter classic. Now, it's mainly known as the one where Sulu fences in the hallway, shirtless.

It was great to see the Jeffrey's Tube for the first time, along with some series semi-regulars for one of their few appearances, but for the most part this episode could be skipped altogether.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Broken Bow, Part 1 (2001) Season 1, Episode 1

The second best pilot episode for a Star Trek series to date (2001)

[6/10 · 7 September 2022]

Having just rewatched the pilot episodes for all the series (Star Treks The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise) to date, as of the premiere of Star Trek Enterprise in 2001, this one is second only to the pilot for Star Trek: Voyager.

However, a 1 star deduction was made due to the explicit and unnecessary sexuality displayed in the episode, which I deemed cheap and unnecessary to any of the points that the writers were attempting to make in the plot. Also, the story was convoluted in spots, and it seemed unnecessary to visit a location halfway through the episode to have a gunfight when properly tracking the antagonists would have sufficed.

That said, it was a serviceable episode, it lacked the inherent casual racism or open sexual harassment that plagued the pilot and early episodes for many of the predecessor series' (notably The Original Series' The Cage, and Voyager's The Caretaker Part 2), and as such it's still a decent episode upon my viewing in 2022.

Oh, two more points. One, the incidental / action music is virtually IDENTICAL to that used on the last THREE Star Trek series, which was very distracting (and lazy). And, this airing later in the same month as the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks was a wonderful respite at the time, and I still hold fond memories of this episode (though I find the Suluban / Taliban connection very jarring, especially since that was 100% intentional when they were creating this series, with no fore-knowledge of the real-life attacks).

Doctor Who: The Dimensions of Time (1965) Season 2, Episode 27

Ian Chesterton has incredibly bad trigger discipline, and it's continually distracting.

[5/10 · 7 September 2022]

Ugh, do NOT aim a potentially loaded or dangerous projective weapon in the direction of non-combatants!! This was so distracting, due to the Ian constantly pointing the rifle at members of his party, that I couldn't get past it! My score dropped 2 stars as a result.

Other than that, this was an interesting part 2, basically opening the full story for the first time, introducing danger elements, and building suspense as they try to escape. It was enjoyable, despite the horrible trigger discipline of Ian Chesterton.

The back and forth does get old, and I rather wish that Britbox would include the ability to speed up the playback by 10% or 15% to tighten the episode somewhat. Still, pretty enjoyable.

Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before (1966) Season 1, Episode 3

It's good enough to re-watch every few years, despite a bit of icky behavior

[6/10 · 7 September 2022]

I like it when shows try concepts in the first few episodes that push the boundaries, even if they don't exactly work. Like "ESP" metrics, espers, in order to see how susceptible a person might or might not be to whatever the heck happened in this episode.

Although, having 2 episodes in a row where the "absolute power corrupts absolutely" trope taking center stage was a bit annoying, even though this episode took a different tact than the last one. Still, I really like the actors, I wish that some of the one-off players would have stayed with the show longer, and Sulu deserved to be in the level of command he was in this episode, instead of being essentially demoted in subsequent episodes in the series (and movies, for that matter).

Still, this is a pretty decent early episode of the show, despite not having full-time uniforms, characters, or universal rules set in stone (or Kirk's middle initial for that matter). I'm glad to have re-watched it, and I'll likely do so again in another 5 years or so.

That said, the blatant male chauvinism near the beginning of the episode, with the female antagonist immediately forgiving the toxic man later on, was unfortunately common with early Star Trek, and it drops my score 2 stars due to decreased enjoyment. I know this isn't going to get any better until at least The Animated Series, which is sad.