Brief Summary
This video summarizes Season 24 of Doctor Who, highlighting the transition from Colin Baker to Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. It covers the stories, companions, and overall quality of the season, noting its improvements over the previous season while also pointing out its flaws and eccentricities. The season introduces Ace as a new companion and sets the stage for the show's eventual end.
- Sylvester McCoy becomes the Seventh Doctor after Colin Baker's controversial firing.
- Season 24 shows improvement over Season 23 but remains flawed.
- Introduction of Ace, a companion who serves as a prototype for modern companions.
The video introduces the transition to Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor following Colin Baker's firing. The creator notes that Baker's departure was unfortunate, as he loved the role, while the producer at the time was unenthusiastic. The video sets the stage for discussing the stories and characters of Season 24.
Sylvester McCoy became the Seventh Doctor, allegedly Sydney Newman wanted Patrick Troughton to return. McCoy's initial portrayal was similar to Troughton's Second Doctor, with a comedic and non-threatening demeanor, including playing the spoons. McCoy had limited serious acting experience before the role. Ken Campbell, McCoy's former boss, also auditioned, but his performance was considered too disturbing. The creator shares a personal connection, recalling watching McCoy's debut on television and being disappointed that the Doctor was no longer blonde.
"Time and the Rani" features the newly regenerated Doctor encountering the Rani, who has transformed into a supervillain. She kidnaps intelligent individuals to attach them to a massive brain, aiming to guide evolution and reverse the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Rani also uses memory-damaging drugs on the Doctor and disguises herself as a male. The creator considers this story terrible, ranking it among the worst regeneration stories in the classic series. The only redeeming aspect is the Doctor's post-regeneration behavior, such as being forgetful and choosing a new look. The cause of the Sixth Doctor's death is unclear, with various humorous and absurd suggestions offered.
In "Paradise Towers," the Doctor intends to take his companion to a futuristic tower block with a pool, but instead, they find a dystopian environment. The tower block is inhabited by teenage girl gangs, evil robots, elderly cannibals, the disembodied mind of the architect, and fascist caretakers. The tower block was forgotten after a war and has since deteriorated into a dystopia. The creator considers this story the best since "Mindwarp," marking the beginning of an upward trend in the quality of classic Doctor Who stories. The tone is reminiscent of the Graham Williams era, eccentric and imaginative but not exceptionally brilliant.
In "Delta and the Bannermen," the Doctor and Mel accidentally become the 10 billionth customers of an alien tour company and win a free trip to Disneyland on Earth. The alien spaceship is damaged and lands in a holiday camp in Wales in 1959. The Bannermen, who have wiped out the shimmerin race, are after Delta and her egg, who have escaped on the tour bus. The Bannermen attack, and a couple of bumbling CIA agents investigate a satellite crash. The story is filled with 1950s nostalgia, similar to "Back to the Future," but with a low budget and added aliens. One of the supporting characters, Ray, nearly became a companion. The creator finds the story interesting and imaginative but not particularly well-executed.
In "Dragonfire," Mel departs, and Ace is introduced as the new companion. Ace is a teenager from Perivale, London, who uses homemade explosives to travel to Iceworld. The Doctor encounters Sabalom Glitz, who seeks a dragon's treasure. Kane, a human-like villain who needs sub-zero temperatures, wants a crystal attached to the dragon to turn Iceworld into a spaceship and return home after millennia of exile. Ace is considered a precursor to Rose and a model for modern companions, being from modern-day, working-class London, with multiple stories connected to her life and family. Mel leaves with Sabalom Glitz because the Doctor hypnotized her to do so, wanting to travel with Ace. The creator notes that the Seventh Doctor is portrayed as a bit of a bastard.
"Dragonfire" is described as fun, silly, and typical of Season 24, sharing similarities with "Paradise Towers" and "Delta and the Bannermen." The story features a strange cliffhanger. With the exception of "Time and the Rani," Season 24 is considered better than the entirety of Season 23, marking a positive turn for the show, despite its proximity to the end. The video concludes by teasing the next episode, which will feature the final classic appearances of the Daleks and Cybermen.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “A Quick Guide to Classic Who Season 24”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 [Music] knowy Treasures of [Music] hisory of all the handworks remain only [Music] Dre Colin Baker was unceremoniously fired after the trial of a Time Lord why
0:49 lots of reasons none of which were Colin's fault the man was almost literally given his dream job and failed by everyone around him what made the firing worse was that J&T still wasn't allowed to move on to another producing job and was forced to do the firing himself so we lost a Doctor Who Loved the show and wanted to play the part for at least eight years and were stuck with a producer who really didn't want to be there the new doctor was Sylvester McCoy the first non-english doctor allegedly Sydney Newman the creator of the show was asked for his thoughts on who should be the seventh doctor and he said bring back Patrick trouton it would have been a short shortlived Incarnation as trouton died before season 24 began filming I don't
1:34 know if this was deliberate but Sylvester McCoy's 7eventh doctor started off as an inferior copy of Patrick trouton's second he was small comedic and non-threatening on the surface the second doctor played the recorder and the seventh played the spoons seven did evolve after a while though McCoy had pretty much never done any serious acting before but he did have a long and bizarre career which I mentioned in an earlier video interestingly one of the people who tested for the Seventh Doctor was Ken Campbell McCoy's former boss in a comedy show Campbell's performance was allegedly too disturbing so every day I'm sad that no recordings of that exist for me this is some significance my first memory of Television is watching this an initial broadcast and
2:21 being annoyed that the doctor wasn't blonde anymore McCoy was the first non- stunt performer to play more than one incarnation of the doctor when he played this sixth doctor at the beginning of the first story time in the Ronnie Colin Baker angrily refused to come back for the Regeneration story I think he assumed they'd skip the Regeneration and begin with the Seventh Doctor but no they moved the Regeneration to the start of the story and put a wig on McCoy McCoy who's about a foot shorter and much Slimmer than Colin Baker practically anyone would have been a better double than Sylvester McCoy I think this demonstrates how little some people gave by this point time and the Rani is about the newly regenerated doctor getting entangled with the Ronnie the Ronnie who without
3:07 the master to look better than has basically turned into him beforehand she was two things a moral and a scientist now she's a super villain a super villain who is kidnapping smart people from throughout time and attaching them to a massive brain thing so she can guide Evolution throughout the Universe and retroactively undo the extinction of the Dinosaurs personally I think this is a reaction to her being trapped in a tardis with a T-Rex at the end of Mark of the rany she also gives memory damaging drugs to the doctor and disguises herself as male possibly because that's the sort of thing the master would do and yes I'm suggesting that the Anthony anley Master would dress up as Bonnie Langford this is terrible really bad
3:54 awful after the twin dilemma it's the worst regeneration story of the classic show the only thing worth seeing is the new Doctor doing the post regeneration usual stuff like be forgetful and pick out a new look a little pentious perhaps Mel pretentious is the word old hat not thrilled how's that ah thank goodness in this regeneration I've regained my impeccable sense of hot cure oh and how did the sixth doctor die I have no idea the Tardis gets shot at and then the doctor's lying on the floor regenerating suggestions some of which aren't entirely serious include falling
4:40 over and hitting his head on the console falling off the Tardis exercise bike dying from stuff that happened in a previous Adventure being killed by a villain that won't be introduced until season 26 and my personal favorite being murdered in his own mind by The Unborn Seventh Doctor the second story is Paradise towers and it's the latest in a long line of stories where the doctor tried to take the companion somewhere nice only to find out that it's gone to crap when he wasn't looking it's supposed to be a futuristic Tower block with a badass pool but it's turned into a zy dystopia with teenage girl gangs a robot crab non- crab evil robots elderly cannibals the disembodied evil mind of the architect in the basement and of course fascist
5:27 caretakers the tower block was apparently for gotten when most of the population went off to fight in a great war and has since fallen into the aforementioned Z dystopia it's a bit weird that happened though because it was built in the 21st century on Earth I think most of the planet went blind at some point because it's kind of hard to lose a tower block this is probably the best story since mind warp that's not to say it's brilliant but this is the beginning of a long slow Trend in classic who where the stories tended to get better again tone wise this in the rest of the season reminds me of the gr and Williams era but it's not as witty it's eccentric and imaginative but it's not terribly brilliant now I know what I just said
6:12 but Delta and the bannermen is worse than Paradise Towers but it's still better than time in the Rony the Tardis lands in toll port g715 and the doctor and Mel accidentally become the 10 billionth customers of an alien tour company and so went a free tour to Disneyland on Earth alas the alien spaceship SL buus is damaged by a satellite who lands in a holiday camp in Wales in 1959 the titular bannermen being evil have wiped out a race called the shimmerin and the only survivors Delta and her egg have escaped on the tour bus and the Bannerman following attack at the same time a couple of bumbling CIA agents are investigating the fate of the satellite but there's no point in listening to that radio it stopped transmitting that's why you and I have
6:58 to look for that satellite then I'll listen to voice of America anything's better than your yamarin I'm not sure if white loud American is a race but this is nearly racist this is a showcase for as much 50s as they could get all seen through the prism of 80s kind of like the whole of Back to the Future at the same time with no budget and added be aliens one of the supporting characters is Ray who came very close to being a companion which is unfortunate because the the 50s biker girl would have been brilliant much better than every companion dreamed up in the ' 80s bar four of them this is part of the course for season 24 it's interesting and imaginative but not terribly good or
7:44 brilliantly well thought out the last story of the season is dragon fire and finally Mel leaves I haven't talked much about her she'll explain my issues now she's irritating and 60% made up of lungs and larynx [Music] she's a throwback to the sort of companion that people think happened a lot in the 60s but honestly kind of didn't Sarah Kingdom would have shot her in the head after half an episode Anway dragon fire the Tardis lands an ice world it's a world with ice actually it's a trading Colony on the planet Saros it's full of Travelers Outlaws and rumors the doctor comes across sabalom
8:31 glips from the mysterious planet minus his friend diber he's after a dragon's treasure also after it is the evil can a humanish guy who needs to live in Sub-Zero temperatures he wants a crystal attached to the dragon so he can turn ice world into a giant spaceship and return home after a millennia of Exile Mel and the doctor meet up with Ace a teenager from pervale in London who managed to use her homade explosives to launch her to ice world I know this sounds stupid but I have two points one it is stupid but it perfectly lines up with the rest of season 24 and two that's not actually what happened they rcon it in season 26 Ace is the last companion in the
9:16 classic Show You could argue she was a precursor to Rose and the model of how companions are handled in the new show generally she's from the modern day working class from London and multiple stories are connected to her life Andor her family in fact in season 26 we find out that everything that happens from dragon fire until then is wrapped around her her history and her connections to an old enemy of the doctors I'm flat out saying it she is the prototype for the newo companions at the end Mel leaves with sabong Glitz for some reason I say for some reason because it's not until the books that we got an explanation the doctor hypnotized her into going with them because he wanted to hang out with Ace
10:02 and didn't care that Glitz had sold his entire crew into slavery I'd call the Seventh Doctor a bit of a bastard but that's self-evident now if the Seventh Doctor being a bit of a bastard isn't self-evident to you just wait you'll understand soonish dragon fire is fun silly and typical season 24 you could take many of the generic things I said about Paradise towers and Delta and the Bannerman and just transplant it here this also features one of the show's weirdest Cliffhangers just watch this clip and try to work out what the he's doing [Music]
11:03 I hope you're not expecting an explanation because they don't really give one in the episode and yes this is where Clara was watching him in the name of the doctor doctor just to save him with the exception of time and the Ronnie season 24 was better than the whole of season 23 and it doesn't feel like it yet but the show is finally on the right track again it's just a Pity that we're so close to the end join me next time for the last classic appearances of the dels and the Cyberman and two other stories one of whom I really like [Music]
12:05 we are about to take a journey from the dawn of time to the distant future we explore worlds galaxies space and time hi I am Neil degrass Tyson and I'm here to tell you how fing rad space is
