Well, I’ve done what I could to OD on Ghost Light this weekend. Having the DVD has been great. I’m in the process of making a page for the Sylv Site on this story, though it’ll be another couple of days or so until I get it completed. I still have some capturing to do. (I spent a good deal of time today trying to find a program which could play the DVD and finally Ulead came through with their DVD player. Alas, its sound capabilities suck, but at least I get pictures!)
I watched the commentary today. Marc Platt (author) and Andrew Cartmel (script editor) spent a good portion of that time explaining the plot for the folks who couldn’t figure it out. Perhaps the actors should watch the commentary too (during one of the extras on the CD, most of them mentioned how they never understood the plot when they filmed it.) The other two commentators were Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Mark Ayres (music). Good commentary, though I missed having Sylv play off of Sophie.
I was rather pleased to discover that I’d pretty much figured out ages ago what Marc & Andrew say in the commentary and extras. (Indeed, I found an e-mail I’d written to drwho-l back in May of ’96 explaining the story.) If you’ve always had troubles figuring out Ghost Light, the first thing to realize is that Control is the control to an experiment. Control and the Survey (Josiah) were originally identical. The Survey would then go down onto some planet, evolve into the dominant life, and then Light could do a detailed study. Everything went haywire, however, when Josiah lands on Earth (again) while Light’s still sleeping. Hilarity ensues. 🙂
As you might have guessed from my recent LJ posts berating the lack of Ghost Light, this story is a particular favorite of mine. It’s my most favorite Doctor Who story of all time. So having it to watch all weekend has been a wonderful stress-reducer. Mmmm, Dark Coat Sylv! Spooky Victorians! Ayres music! Witty dialog! Ace in drag! What more could one ask for?
Also, inspired by one of my photos (actually, my only true photo) from Ghost Light, I have made my first OTP (One True Pairing) icon. Enjoy! 🙂
I can’t wait until the ABC finally gets around to broadcasting the seventh Doctor adventures (Gah! We’re still in third Doctor realm!) Hehe. Dark coat Penguin man. *drool*
I can’t wait until the ABC finally gets around to broadcasting the seventh Doctor adventures (Gah! We’re still in third Doctor realm!) Eeep! You’ve got a ways to go. I always felt like the Tom Years just went On and On! (Of course, that’s cuz they did.) And Ghost Light doesn’t get to Oz until February. Guess you should start saving your pennies now. Except they don’t have pennies in Australia anymore.
Yes, my favorite also. Mumbling aside, I never had trouble understanding it (except when I watched it at age seven and thought it was Mystery Theatre and was upset that I couldn’t find Doctor Who on). My other favorite Ace moment would be from Survival when she asks
Bennyif she’s going to eat her too. *dies laughing*My other favorite Ace moment would be from Survival when she asks
Bennyif she’s going to eat her too. Heh. It’s odd now to think that Kara eventually became Benny. (Well, Benny’s voice. She still doesn’t *look* like Benny to me.)It’s true. I accept that many Benny fans visualize her as that actress, but I developed a pretty clear image from all the books. The voice matched, in my mind, so that was neat. I always imagined her as being just androgynous enough to look fine in either a dress or a suit, as well as being somewhat of an omnisexual weirdo.
If you’ve always had troubles figuring out Ghost Light, the first thing to realize is that Control is the control to an experiment. Control and the Survey (Josiah) were originally identical. The Survey would then go down onto some planet, evolve into the dominant life, and then Light could do a detailed study. Everything went haywire, however, when Josiah lands on Earth (again) while Light’s still sleeping. Well, duh. *mumbles for a while* I am so with Ace on the wearing-the-drag-thing. Even if the dress she wears later is pretty, who would pass up the opportunity for a tux?
Even if the dress she wears later is pretty, who would pass up the opportunity for a tux? I really wanted to wear a tux for my sister’s wedding. But since it was exactly one year after The Hottest Day of the Century, I decided to forgo the tux. (Then we ended up having a cold snap during that weekend and I probably could have survived wearing a tux. Would have been severely overdressed, however.)
At my brother’s wedding, I *did* kinda wear a tux–well, wing-collared shirt, weskit & cravat, velvet frockcoat and a skirt. But still. I could have been another usher if I’d wanted to, really.
This is one of my all time fav’s as well. Trina, do you know when it will come out as R1 in the US? –Morgan <...who is desperately waiting for a Sylv fix.... Damned Sylv junkie!>
Alas! I’ve no idea when it’ll be in R1. It’s usually a year out from R2 (hence my impatience and buying from the UK) but there’s no guarantee. The Lost in Time series, for example, is getting simultaneous release in R1 and R2. Australia doesn’t get Ghost Light until February. desperately waiting for a Sylv fix Ah, I know what you mean. I’m hoping The Algebra of Ice shows up at my bookstore soon. BookSylv is a poor substitute for RealSylv, but a decent enough substitute for NoSylv. 🙂
I need to watch this. It’s been years since I’ve seen the Sylv episodes…
It’s been years since I’ve seen the Sylv episodes… You poor thing! Then again, the Sylv eps is about all I watch in DW anymore. No, I’m not obsessed! 😉 I’m saving myself for the new series, yeah, that’s the ticket! Wish I knew when the R1 release of the DVD was. It’ll defintely be worth it when it arrives.
Re: (I spent a good deal of time today trying to find a program which could play the DVD and finally Ulead came through with their DVD player. Alas, its sound capabilities suck, but at least I get pictures!) Do you watch it on the computer or do you have a region free player/converter etc.. I only wonder because you can buy a $40 player at walmart and have it ‘fixed’ in under 30 seconds. And they’ll play on a normal tv fairly decently. 🙂 Later, Andrew ps. I’ve got 125 r2 discs so I bought a real converter/r2 player/PAL tv etc…
Actually the $40 dvd player and using the crack will play any PAL region whatever DVDs just fine. Most DVD players will play PAL DVDs if they’re region 0,it’s mostly the region encode you have to knobble.
Basically any DVD player that can play VCDs should be able to convert from PAL to NTSC. Mom and dad’s cheapass Apex that I bought for their cottage at the Lake can play my Tomorrow People DVDs (R0/PAL) but my much more expensive Phillips combo DVD/VCR can’t. ‘sokay, I’ve got my SAMPO to play the Tomorrow People.
Don’t know what i’d do without my SAMPO! Hmmm TP DVDs are R0…i really need to get some. Surprising but Apex players do quite well (i even have one as a back up player).
Do you watch it on the computer or do you have a region free player/converter etc.. I watch it with my SAMPO which plays R2/PAL DVDs without a hitch. But to capture images, I needed to view it on my computer. And PowerDVD just couldn’t handle it. (I’ve got my DVD-ROM drive cracked to be region free and have DVDGenie to reset software counts – this is the first R2 DVD that I’ve had problems with.) Even Ulead has problems in the playback – slightly jumpy playback. Amazing that my old SAMPO plays it just fine. I’ve pondered getting one of those Cyberhome DVDs (and some Apex ones are good for that too, I’ve read) from Walmart – is the picture quality good? The SAMPO’s picture quality isn’t the best it could be. (Though I’m thinking of doing a firmware update which will lock it at R2, but I have another player I use for R1 anyhoo.)
Jason has a Cyberhome, and the only thing I’ve noticed is that vidfire gets lost, so it darkens the picture slightly and filmizes the look. other than that it’s as good as a R1 disc would look on that kind of player. Later, A
A Dr Who story I actually know I have seen! My evil ex loved Dr Who, so although deep down I do like the show, for all it’s stupidness and lovable British lameness, I hate it simply becasue Mr Crazy&Evil loves it. But I do remember watching Ghost Light on a rainy saturday afternoon a few years ago, curled up under the duvet with tea and oven-chips. and then some wine. (this was before the ex went pyscho.) now Dr Who is all clouded with bad memories. but then the non-evil long lost love of my life loved it too, so can’t be all bad. but still reminds me more of evil-ex that anyone else, so I go “argh” and cannot ever bring myself to watch it, or talk about it properly without getting all wound up and upset. Funny what things trigger memories, isn’t it?
[Doctor Who] still reminds me more of evil-ex that anyone else, so I go “argh” and cannot ever bring myself to watch it Ah, that’s a real shame. I hate when something that I once enjoyed (even if only somewhat) has been marred by association with a bad experience. Sorry to hear about the evil-ex, but it’s good that you’re well rid of him. Funny what things trigger memories, isn’t it? Indeed. I always think of Death Comes to Time when cleaning laboratory glassware, and think of glassware when listening to the audio. And only cuz I once listened to it while cleaning my lab. The two have become synonymous in my brain, apparently!
Darn, will never be able to watch in ignorant confusion again…am very, very tempted to buy now…meep.
Darn, will never be able to watch in ignorant confusion again… *snerk* Sorry! Should have made a “Spoilers” section for the explanation. 🙂 am very, very tempted to buy now…meep. Do, go buy, now! (Or wait until it’s on sale. ‘Round here, however, if you want to buy something for less than the Suggested Retail Price, buy it the day it comes out. All the shops around here compete for shoppers when DVDs first come out, so I usually buy them then.)