Let's party again!

[wiseheart]

Well, folks, it's *that* time of the year again: I'll be 53 next Friday. So, it's time for the annual game of "let's the threads collapse". Come in, make yourselves comfortable, have a good time and bring your friends. Last years we had some 400+ comments, now we're in for the new record. ;)

This entry will be bounced up each day until October 9, so that all those who want can participate.

Update: On October 4, we had 195 comments on 2 pages. Well done. We still have got 5 more days, so let's see what we can do in that time. I have to say, the conversations in the individual threads were absolutely delightful. *is happy*

Update #2: On October 6, we had 270 comments - sadly, still on only 2 pages. Only 3 more day left to reach the ultimate goal, which would be 444 comments on 4 pages. But the discussions are great, so at the very least, we have the quality, if not the quantity yet. And that's more important, I'd say.

Update #3: On October 8, we had 388 comments, on 3 pages! Yay! I'm not very optimistic about Page 4, but I think the 444 comments might come together by the end of the day itself.

Pre-birthday gifts:
Got a wonderful bakery book from Mum, titled "Muffins and..." well, I seriously doubt that the English language has a word for the rest. Germans might know what Pogatschen are. They are small, salty or cheesy cookies, made usually of yeast dough... a Hungarian speciality. We already have quite a few recepies, but there are some in that book I never heard of. It will be a delight to try them out.

Also, I got the box-set of 2nd Season Torchwood from the most generous the_wild_iris! Thanks, my friend, you really, really made my day after two rather stressful weeks. I can finally watch the only episode I missed while we were in Belgium - the one in which Owen becomes a zombie. Heh!

Pre-birthday preparations:
I baked some strawberry flavoured muffins tonigh - not from the new book, from the carton box, I'm afraid, but for the colleagues they will do tomorrow.

Mum's bravely going down to the hairdresser's tomorrow, because, as she told me, "I can't look like this on your birthday!" Well, after not seeing a hairdresser for months, there's some truth in it.

The day after tomorrow, we're going to the "Blind Crow" for lunch. Unlike in English-speaking countries, lunch is actually the main meal of the day over here, so it will be great. The "Blind Crow" is a very nice little restaurant, and we can reach it on foot, which is the main issue, as Mum can't climb into any busses yet.


Final update:
Well, folks, the party will still be going on until midnight, CET, but I'm already declaring it a great success. We've made it onto Page 4, we've broken through the 500 (!!!)-comment-barrier, and I'm very happy.

Thanks everyone for participating, especially altariel, rcfinch, solanpolarn, the_wild_iris, theromangeneral and lhun_dweller, who've been working diligently and tirelessly to help me break the record. Should I've forgotten anyone, I humbly apologize.

Comments

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you, those are good suggestions! I have ordered the complete box set of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and I think a friend of mine has Spaced that I might be able to borrow.

As for classic Doctor Who episodes, since there are hundreds of them do you have a suggestion for where to start? Any episodes that you think are particularly worth watching for a novice like me who has only ever seen the modern version?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

There's also The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Hyperdrive is another SF sitcom.

Ooh, let me have a think about the Doctor Who question! Would you like to sample a story from each Doctor (including very early black and white episodes), or shall I go for my top ten stories?

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I have watched The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and enjoyed it very much! I read the books many years ago, but have only recently discovered the radio and TV series. I like all the different versions and enjoy the differences between them as well as the similarities. I sometimes find myself referencing it to a friend of mine, who grew up with the radio series, and when we miss each other's point we usually find that Douglas Adams's inability to tell the same story in the same way twice is the cause.

Please do take time to think about the Doctor Who question. Can I be greedy and ask for both a list of your top ten stories and one sampling one from each Doctor?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

when we miss each other's point we usually find that Douglas Adams's inability to tell the same story in the same way twice is the cause

:-D

You certainly can ask for two DW lists! Also, that way I get to make at least three comments in answer ;-)

One difficulty watching classic Who is that a large number of the tapes containing early episodes (and amongst some of the best) were wiped, and are gone from the archives. There are audio versions of most of these, but I won't start you on any of those!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have heard of the sad fact that they wiped a lot of classic Who in some over-zealous clean-out. I think I shall use this as an example of why it is bad to clean too much in future!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

They were being cheapskates - they needed to reuse the tapes! At least we now get the chase of tracking down missing episodes... but some stories I'd rather just have.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is even worse! I learnt from my days of recording things on video tape that there was only a limited amount of reuse you could get out of them anyway. It is rather nice to have a challenge like that, but I can imagine there are some episodes that you just want to be able to watch.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

There are some stunning stories that have gone missing: we've been watching Doctor Who from the beginning over recent months, and listening to those episodes that have gone, or watching reconstructions made from telepics. The real heartbreakers are stories like "Marco Polo" and "The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve", which are really interesting historicals, of a kind the show stopped doing early on.

Top Ten

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'd probably give you another top ten if you asked me tomorrow, and then again the day after, but this is today's top ten. I think that most of these are available on DVD. I've given links to the BBC site so that you can poke around and see if you like the sound of the story (tho' beware of spoilers).

1. The Caves of Androzani
2. The Curse of Fenric
3. Kinda
4. The War Games
5. The Romans
6. Day of the Daleks
7. Pyramids of Mars
8. City of Death
9. Ghost Light
10. Full Circle

Re: Top Ten

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I will have a look around. Your mention of the BBC site reminded me that a friend showed me some audio episodes with cartoons that are available on the website and I think there is still one I haven't watched.

Re: Top Ten

[altariel.livejournal.com]

"The Invasion", one of the stories I listed below, has two missing episodes that were recreated in animated form - rather well done, too.

Re: Top Ten

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

The friend who showed me the animated Doctor Who episodes on the website is the same friend who lent me the various incarnations of The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. We started with watching the one written by Douglas Adams and I really enjoyed it; I have since watched one more, but if I recall correctly there were at least three.

Re: Top Ten

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Adams wrote three for Doctor Who ("City of Death", "The Pirate Planet", and "Shada", although that last wasn't completed and never transmitted. He was script editor on the show too, although that season is usually thought to be quite a poor one!

Re: Top Ten

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Checking the BBC Doctor Who website I see that it was Shada that I watched. I really enjoyed it especially since I had very recently read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. From what I have heard of Adams's writing habits I can imagine he wouldn't actually be a very good editor; I think the inability of telling the same story in the same way twice is part of that problem.

Re: Top Ten

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Of course, I'd forgotten they'd animated "Shada"!. Yes, Adams doesn't really worry much about reusing stories. I really like the Dirk Gently books, they're probably my favourites of his.

Re: Top Ten

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

That is what my friend K said too! I did know they existed, because my brother had one of them, but I hadn't read them until K lent me Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Now I am the proud owner of The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul and The Salmon of Doubt, though I haven't read them yet. Partly this is due to lack of time for reading in general and partly it is because I am savouring the fact that there are Douglas Adams books I still haven't read.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And here's another sample story from each of the Doctors. Again, I think these are available on DVD.

William Hartnell:
An Unearthly Child (this is the very first episode; the DVD also contains the three-part story that follows on directly afterwards which, um, isn't great...)
The Ark

Patrick Troughton:
The Invasion

Jon Pertwee:
Spearhead from Space

Tom Baker:
The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Peter Davison:
Four to Doomsday

Colin Baker:
His best stories have 50 minute episodes, which doesn't serve your purposes, but if you decide you're interested, I can give some recs

Sylvester McCoy:
Remembrance of the Daleks

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Thank you; I do have a fondness for starting things from the beginning, so it pleases me to see you think the very first episode of Doctor Who is worth including in a list for newbies. Sometimes I find if a show is bad enough, that actually makes it more watchable than if it is just not-good because you can make fun of how utterly bad it is. I have watched the first Star Trek film multiple times -- voluntarily! I will keep in mind that the other episode on An Unearthly Child is not to be taken as representative of good classic Who.