|
|
Post by Ludders II on Sept 22, 2024 7:51:56 GMT
I'm generally not a fan of straight historicals, (pseudo-historicals are different) but I always rated The Aztecs very highly, and it's an easy choice for me. But in this poll you can choose your Top 3.
Vote away!
|
|
|
|
Post by Ludders II on Sept 22, 2024 8:01:58 GMT
My second choices were The Massacre (largely for the last episode, I admit) And The Crusade, largely for the excellent guest performances by Glover and Marsh. Runner up would be Marco Polo for its atmosphere, but its longevity keeps it out of my Top 3. But as a rule, I've never been a fan of the historicals, particularly the light-hearted ones. The Highlanders is probably the most boring classic Who experience I've ever had, but The Gunfighters qualifies as my least favourite Classic Who ever. The Romans and Myth Makers are other stories that I'll probably never bother with again. Even the BluRay release couldn't tempt me with The Romans.  |
|
|
|
Post by rushy on Sept 22, 2024 8:14:41 GMT
I will not hear Gunfighters slander.
|
|
|
|
Post by iank on Sept 22, 2024 8:44:25 GMT
Reign wins, largely because of how much I enjoyed it on last viewing. There's a lot of these missing though, to be fair.
|
|
|
|
Post by RobFilth on Sept 22, 2024 9:26:49 GMT
The Massacre probably closely followed by The Crusade for me.
Both Marco Polo and especially the Aztecs, although good are tremendously over rated.
And I hate to say it, but probably closely following up in third place for me is The Gunfighters. Yup I know "The Ballad of Last Chance Saloon" wears on a bit, but the humour, set design and characterisation keep this quite lively, even if it is somewhat nonsense. It's not brilliant but its also nowhere near as bad as it's reputation suggests. Far less boring than The Smugglers or the Highlanders.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Marx on Sept 22, 2024 10:08:12 GMT
probably closely following up in third place for me is The Gunfighters. It’s a shame it hasn’t got any votes yet, given that it’s been defended twice on this thread! Anyway, I selected Marco Polo, The Crusade and The Massacre. I can’t really fault the writing in the first two, whilst the latter has one of the finest denouements of the series. That said, the only two which I’d describe as genuinely rubbish (courtesy of being completely and utterly forgettable) are The Smugglers and The Highlanders, although whether they’d be improved via representation in the visual medium isn’t yet clear. |
|
|
|
Post by burrunjor on Sept 22, 2024 10:08:25 GMT
Sorry to say boys and girl, but I'm not a big fan of any historicals. Call me shallow and childish, but I like my DW to have monsters and be fantastical. I'm not saying that's objective and for the record if I were a producer I would commission a historial every year to vary things up, but yeah in terms of enjoyment I never really got into these.
Give me monsters, weird aliens, fantastic worlds and interesting sci fi concepts every time. God bless Terry Nation for recognizing that was DW's true potential and allowing it to embrace that.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kimbergoth on Sept 22, 2024 10:26:42 GMT
Ooh, favorite historical episodes? Now that's a toughie! There are so many great ones to choose from.
Let's see... Marco Polo is a classic, of course. The costumes, the sets, the adventure! But then again, The Aztecs has such a powerful message about cultural misunderstanding and the dangers of colonialism. And we can't forget about The Massacre. Talk about a gut-wrenching storyline! Hartnell really brought his A-game in that one.
You know, I think I'm going to have to go with The Massacre, The Aztecs, and... The Crusade! I mean, come on. Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart? Pure gold! Plus, Barbara gets some fantastic moments in that serial.
But oh, it's so hard to choose just three! I feel like I'm betraying all the others.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cherry Pepsi Maxil on Sept 22, 2024 13:37:59 GMT
None of these serials look cheap. It seems to me that historical serials always bring out the very best in the production team. Marco Polo in particular has incredible set design and period costume.
|
|
|
|
Post by rushy on Sept 22, 2024 13:53:14 GMT
None of these serials look cheap. It seems to me that historical serials always bring out the very best in the production team. Marco Polo in particular has incredible set design and period costume. Like Hartnell, I think the production team at the time was just more familiar with and more enthusiastic about them. Marco Polo is my favourite, and it's in my top 10 stories whether it exists or not. I just adore the atmosphere and mood of it, and the whole ancient road trip idea has a huge appeal to me. |
|
|
|
Post by iank on Sept 22, 2024 13:57:30 GMT
Cartmel once noted that if you set a story in a period setting, the BBC costumes and props department etc would give you something that looked great onscreen. Spaceships and alien worlds they'd just throw tinfoil on it and be done with it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ludders II on Sept 22, 2024 14:23:25 GMT
Sorry to say boys and girl, but I'm not a big fan of any historicals. Call me shallow and childish, but I like my DW to have monsters and be fantastical. I'm not saying that's objective and for the record if I were a producer I would commission a historial every year to vary things up, but yeah in terms of enjoyment I never really got into these. Give me monsters, weird aliens, fantastic worlds and interesting sci fi concepts every time. God bless Terry Nation for recognizing that was DW's true potential and allowing it to embrace that. I've always felt like that about historicals too. Although with The Aztecs it's Bill and Jackie's performances in particular that carry it through for me. Same with Massare and Crusade really. The scene with Stephen and the Doctor in ep 4 and the performances of Glover and Marsh give those stories more weight, even I'm not really interested in the historical setting. |
|
|
|
Post by RobFilth on Sept 22, 2024 14:37:26 GMT
How come Black Orchid isn't in this poll?  |
|
|
|
Post by Ludders II on Sept 22, 2024 14:39:30 GMT
How come Black Orchid isn't in this poll? I forgot that one. 😆 |
|
|
|
Post by Cherry Pepsi Maxil on Oct 15, 2024 21:28:51 GMT
Historicals appeal to the history buff in me. I always preferred them to stories set on another planet.
|
|
