Doctor Who Club of Australia

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4257

Part 1:
The Savants kind of look like Denise Crosby when she played Sela on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
A welcome return of Jacqueline Hill albeit as a guest star and diffferent character who was the William Hartnell companion Barbara Wright for the series' first two seasons. Here she plays Lexa.
Not sure about the Doctor and Romana fixing K-9 for the entire episode but it was fun seeing the Doctor tripping over, over and over again in the time loop.
How could Meglos see inside the TARDIS anyway?
Funny how Christopher Owen is credited simply for "Earthling".
Brotadac is the anagram for bad actor.

Nyder · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 85

I said Fair. This is a pretty average Who story. But saying that, they can get worse. Probably the weakest story of the season but saying that it's actually a pretty decent season, so that doesn't mean a great deal. I just don't think it's a particularly interesting story, but whereas The Leisure Hive had some good design and great direction to back up a fairly average story. All Meglos has is some hammy mercenaries (I can't remember exactly what they are...) and an incredibly lame villain in the shape of a Cactus. Although it does have the pretty cool stuff at the end with Cactus Tom.

Nyder

Greg · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:09 pm Post subject:

I said 'gobble gobble'.

Obvioulsy written for a continuation the style of season 17, Meglos does little more than use up resources in a cash-starved series, fill in four weeks, and return the wonderful Jacqueline Hill in a story not worthy of her presence!

the wheel · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 164

i quite like meglos.

i dont think its wonderful but its not bad.

perfect 6 oclock wintertime viewing

meglos · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 668 Location: Perth

My sentiments exactly wheel. I think the one thing that really ties me to this era of Doctor Who is that it is what stands out the most from my childhood. This is when I fell in love with Doctor Who, so pretty much every story is brilliant to me.
Does anyone know if Jacqueline Hill is Still alive?

Nyder · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 85

Greg · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject:

Sadly, Jacqueline Hill is no longer with us. She passed away in 1993, The cause of death was cancer.

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4257

Part 2:
Nice to see Tom and Jackie finally together in this episode and love the way Lexa meets the real Doctor.
Tom is quite good as Meglos and it's quite unusual for a villain to get a headstart on a story since the Doctor, Romana and K-9 are hardly involved with the main aspects of ir halfway through the adventure.
Voiceover says "This version of the Doctor" in the closing credits.
Hours before this was shown, I finished with the Jon Pertwee story The Claws of Axos on DVD which also had a time loop like Meglos and was produced by Meglos Executive Producer Barry Letts who also did the commentary. Personally I think Meglos is a better story than The Claws of Axos.

What trailer was shown: The Long Game was shown before and after Meglos Part 2.

In the quiz book So You Think You Know Dr Who? which I bought last week I just read this morning Medium Quiz 2 which included a question about Jackie Hill in Meglos: "43. One of Doctor Who's first companions in the 1960s was played by actress Jacqueline Hill. Who did she reappear as in the 1980s: Lexa, Vivas or Solon?"

Darth Sidious · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 105

Darth Sidious · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 105

I gave Meglos a Turkey rating - Very little to recommend it I'm afraid.

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4257

On a related note bought the Horror of Fang Rock DVD on Friday.
Finished the Blake's 7 episode Pressure Point on DVD on Friday which had Meglos' June Hudson as its costume designer.
On the weekend saw George of the Jungle 2 on Disney which featured briefly one of those robot dogs from Japan, K-9's counterpart in the real world.
Finished reading about Tom's tour to promote his book Who on Earth is Tom Baker? originally published in Christmas 1997 in the SFX Doctor Who special.

Quiz update: Medium Quiz 4 includes Meglos in two questions:
"14. The last Doctor Who story which featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor was called: Robot, Logopolis, Full Circle or Meglos?
17. The first Doctor Who story which featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor was called: Robot, Logopolis, Full Circle or Meglos?"

Guest · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:07 am Post subject:

Oh hell I've given it the best rating so far at 'very good'. I couldn't help but rate it this highly as it's one of the stories that stuck in my head from my childhood. I never forgot the cactus covered Doc and to this day I prefer Meglos over Full Circle, Warriors Gate and even Logopolis!

I'm a little baffled as to the bagging this is getting, but each to his own.

I also happened to enjoy the entire season 17, with Creature From the Pit being my favourite.

Darth Sidious · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 105

Linx · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 59 Location: Perth

If you can ignore the rather silly sight of Meglos in his little pot, this one is visually spectacular, cactus-Tom in particular etching itself into the mind's eye, but otherwise it has relatively little else going for it.
Certainly the chronic hysterisis dialogue made me cringe when I was 12 and the passage of time has done nothing to blunt it's effect.
It's not a total turkey, but it's certainly far short of a triumph.

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4257

Part 3:
Grugger and Brotadac does not recognise Romana even though she was seen on screen with the Doctor in Meglos' ship.
Love how the Doctor answered to Lexa's charge that he is a fraud and a liar saying he just doesn't do that.
Quite good music.
Tom has more time with Jackie (talk about catching up with old friends) as Romana only passes by Meglos briefly. This means it is the first time since Image of the Fendahl Part 2 in which the (real) Doctor and companion are not seen together in the same episode.
In the voiceover James Valentine mentions about liking Tom's scarf.
Also yesterday I saw Meglos Executive Producer Barry Letts in Terrance Dicks - Fact & Fiction on the Horror of Fang Rock DVD.

Liam · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 85 Location: Sydney

I reckon this story would have been that much better if Meglos was a person with the cactus suit on, rather than a cactus. I would have found his plot a little easier to take. Just fair.

Liam · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 85 Location: Sydney

Why the uneccessay killing of Jacqueline Hill? I can't see how that was important to the plot at all... wasn't too happy about that!

I should have waited till tonight to vote, turkey all the way for killing Barbara! Evil or Very Mad

meglos · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 668 Location: Perth

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:16 am Post subject:

It just grew on me.

Get it???? LOL

Theta Sigma · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 4257

Part 4:
Companions old and new meet as Jackie finally meets Lalla but too bad Lexa got killed as a result of saving Romana which I find a very bad excuse to kill her off.
I can Brotadac wanting that coat because I want one as well.
Cute when the Doctor says, "catch up with myself".
Meglos is the only serial apart from the one parters and the two part 1964 serial Inside the
Spaceship (aka Edge of Destruction) in which all the credited actors appeared in every episode of the
serial. The 1973 serial Carnival of Monsters came close with that honour but Producer/Director and
Meglos Executive Producer Barry Letts cocked things up when he included the character of the Captain in Part 3 who wasn't essential in that story.
Although Jackie's casting was done under the tenure of Producer John Nathan-Turner he would later veto the suggestion of Michael Craze who was Ben Jackson to the First and Second Doctors for a different role for the 1984 serial Caves of Androzani due to his past connections with the series. Why Jackie was allowed to do Meglos I do not know.
The practice of casting former companions in different roles has since been employed by Big Finish . Coincidentally the Big Finish I'm listening now The Game http://www.bigfinish.com/drwho_main/bf066_game.shtml
features Jackie's co-star from the First Doctor era William Russell (Ian Chesterton).
Meglos was the only story from writers John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch although they did pitched a story for the next season, season 19 and Peter Davison's first which was ultimately unused. Flanaghan and McCulloch would go on to write episodes of Heartbeat. Heartbeat was devised by Johnny Byrne who wrote three Doctor Who serials, the first of which Keeper of
traken will start on the ABC on July 27.

Meglos was the last stand alone story of the Tom Baker era since the remaining five stories are part of story arcs although Romana telling the Doctor of a message from Gallifrey links up with the next story Full Circle.

Quiz update: Meglos is mentioned in Medium Quiz 7:
"8. Jon Pertwee played both Meglos and the Doctor in the story Meglos: true or false?" Funnily enough today July 6 is Jon's birthday.