The Moonbase
Previous: The Underwater Menace
The Moonbase
Wow. Really not fond of the theme music for these reconstructioners. Then again, oh how much we owe them...
Apparently Troughton had Hartnell's title sequence for his first season. A much brighter version of it, too.
Christmonkeys, these are easily the lowest-quality telesnaps I've seen in the reconstructions so far. But JAMIE I CAN HEAR YOU.
Hello, Ben and Polly! Wow, I never guessed Ben had such a heavy accent. Well, at least it'll be easy to tell all the men apart.
"That picture cannae be the moon! The moon's way up in the sky!" James. Robert. McCrimmon. I fucking love you.
I wouldn't be surprised if the sound effect for jumping on the moon turned out to be THE most insanely cartoony thing on this show.
And of course it wouldn't be a '60s science fiction show without a flying saucer or two!
Wait a sec. I just realized another reason why it's so tricky to watch this: there haven't been ANY narrating subtitles yet.
This is by a different group than all the others I've watched...so maybe they don't have them at all? That would pretty majorly suck.
Wait a sec..."let us collect our young friend"..."let me go see Jamie"...WHAT happened to him WHEN?
Or maybe he was that guy who was lying down with those markings that looked like Romana when she got bitten by the Alzarean spiders.
So according to 1966, we were just 100 years away from controlling the weather. From the moon.
Hey, that random guy sounds American!
Oh sure, kill off the black guy first. Then again, this WAS 1960's Britain, so I have no idea how PC this would've been there.
Hey guys? Maybe you could...you know...TELL US what Jamie's doing instead of holding us in mostly silent suspense?
Or you could just let us stare at his partially exposed chest for a bit, I guess that works too.
"Where's Evans' body?"
"Over there."
So what's the betting that the cliffhanger is going to be "the body's missing"?
Called it. Okay, so it's not the cliffhanger, but the body IS missing.
"It's you...it's the Phantom Piper!" No Jamie, it's a Cyberman. You've got the coming-for-your-soul part about right, though.
So I've found that checking the photonovels on the BBC website is excellent for getting a better recap, since this story has no subtitles.
Also, the Beeb's telesnaps are a LOT clearer. You can check them out here.
OH WAIT A SEC THIS EPISODE IS AN ACTUAL EPISODE MADE OF FOOTAGE AND MOVING THINGS.
Wow. Jamie you are sweating like a madman.
Um, also you can stop yelling now. I think it's going to leave you alone.
Oh right, I'd COMPLETELY forgotten that Ben and Polly've not only seen the Cybermen before, but were there when they FIRST SHOWED UP.
"Stop this Cyberman nonsense! There were Cybermen, every child knows that, but they were all destroyed ages ago!"
"There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things, things which act against everything that we believe in."
"They must be fought!" Ah yes, that famous line. And I love how Two pronounces "evil" like "ee-ville."
So they have 24 hours to identify this mysterious virus aboard the base. Don't worry, there will be no Jack Bauer jokes forthcoming.
NOW he's claiming to be a doctor of medicine? Usually he denies that for some reason or another.
Between this and Seeds of Death, you'd think humanity would learn to NOT run the world by a single control center on the moon.
So I JUST realized that even though they have an international and interracial crew up there, there are no women. What is this bullshit.
Wow. I'm a little impressed with that French guy for taking so long to notice that Two was...what appeared to be trimming his pants.
AND HOW DID HE GET AWAY WITH TAKING THAT GUY'S SHOE OFF WITHOUT HIM NOTICING. Two, are you secretly a ninja?
Awww, Polly's taking such good care of Jamie OH MY GOD SHE JUST GOT ZAPPED IN THE HEAD BY A CYBERMAN.
It only just occurred to me how little sense it makes that Jamie should be this sick just from falling. Because, you know, IT'S THE MOON.
"Lister?"
"Well, you did say that you took your degree in Glasgow in 1888. Does seem an awful long time from now, 2070, or whatever it is."
"Polly, are you suggesting that I'm not confident to carry out these tests?"
"Oh no, no no no no! I was just wondering if there was anything that Joseph Lister didn't know in 1888 that might possibly help you now."
Approaching footsteps means... "It's Mr. Hobson! Out for blood! Ours! LOOK BUSY!"
omg moar cybermans
Nice spiderweb effect with the virus markings. I wonder if that was animated?
The virus is in the sugar? That would explain the really brief emphasis on it a couple minutes ago.
Back to reconstructions...and I couldn't even tell that there was a second Cyberman. Or who was trying to shoot it.
Wow. So apparently the Cybermen are leaving Jamie alone just because he has a head injury.
Well I have to admit, with the blurriness and the stark black-and-white contrast, the Cybermen actually look pretty scary here.
"Revenge...what is that?" So now I honestly have to ask, WHAT exactly is their motivation for killing everyone on Earth?
One of my Blog followers has that picture of Jamie with a headache as a *facepalm* icon. And now I know where it's from! #yayness
"They must have some weakness."
"They have, don't you remember? They can't stand radiation!"
So when did they introduce the gold allergy?
"Well in my day, we used to sprinkle witches with holy water." Jamie. C'mere. Is hug tiems nao.
I thought Ben was supposed to be a sailor, but he sure seems to know an awful lot about science.
Ben and Polly: Ready to fight Cybermen with nail varnish remover cocktails. Yes really.
Two seems to be talking to himself like he's 2 people. Probably why they keep switching back and forth between the same 2 shots of his face.
I'm AMAZED that the Cybermen haven't noticed yet that Two's tinkering with their control panels. Especially since he's talking to himself.
"Not you, Polly. This is men's work." Wut.
Attagirl Polly for not taking their crap!
Well, the Polly cocktail actually seems to be killing us some Cybermans.
"They must have failed."
"Yes."
"We must invade now."
Sorry, but I think The Invasion is another two seasons off.
So now that they've taken down the Cybermen in the base, why haven't they gotten back in touch with Earth?
*checks the BBC photonovels* I DID NOT REALIZE THAT CYBERMEN HAS CYBERSKELETONS THAT ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE HUMAN BONES.
Huh. I would've liked to see this chase scene's real footage. I wonder how they imitated running in low gravity back then?
CYBERMANS ON THE MARCH.
"All resistance is useless." I see they went a step further. Not only is resistance useless, but ALL resistance is useless. *LE GASP*
Is it just me, or are parts of the Cybermen's outer joints made of wiffle balls?
And nobody's noticing Dr. Evans being all sketchy? Really? You're all too busy with your coffee?
I'm a little surprised that the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the base isn't tearing that hole bigger.
MAGICALLY FLYING CYBERMEN. Oh wait, sorry...SCIENTIFICALLY FLYING CYBERMEN.
And there was much rejoicing.
Off sneak the TARDIS crew...I have to admit, I like that they were still able to handle 3 companions, even if Jamie was sick half the time.
"Could that be them?"
"Possibly, and I hope it's the last we see of them."
Oh. Trust me. It isn't. It REALLY REALLY isn't.
"Doctor...LOOK!" THAT THERE BE A MACRA CLAW. Haven't seen those buggers since Gridlock.
Next: The Macra Terror