Lett's Announce The Best Producer

The Favorite and Best Producer Award goes to:

Barry Letts

 

That is a fairly potent one-two combination right there. 

The Bestest of the Bestest Who's

It's time to unwrap the nominees for Best Producer so here they be:

First up is Philip Hinchcliffe.  The list of stories he produced reads like this:  The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Revenge of the Cybermen, Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Android Invasion, The Brain of Morbius, The Seeds of Doom, The Masque of Mandragora, The Hand of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.  Of those, six were included in the Field of 64.

 

Verity Lambert was the first producer and the one who started it all.  Does that also make her the best?  Her credited stories:  An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, The Edge of Destruction, Marco Polo, The Keys of Marinus, The Aztecs, The Sensorites, The Reign of Terror, Planet of Giants, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Rescue, The Romans, The Web Planet, The Crusade, The Space Museum, The Chase, The Time Meddler, Galaxy 4, and Mission to the Unknown.  Seven of her produced stories appeared in the Field of 64.

  

Although his life was cut short while he was in his 40's, Graham Williams left behind a rather impressive list of Doctor Who stories that he produced.  The list includes:  Horror of Fang Rock, The Invisible Enemy,  Image of the Fendahl,  The Sun Makers, Underworld, The Invasion of Time, The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara,The Power of Kroll,Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death, The Creature from the Pit, Nightmare of Eden, and The Horns of Nimon.  Six of his  stories were included in the Field of 64.     

Nobody had more entries in the Field of 64 than John Nathan Turner or JNT if you are so inclined.  Nobody produced more stories in Doctor Who history.  While too numerous to list individually, JN-T began his producing career during Tom Baker's final season.  He would stay at the helm of the show until the final Sylvester McCoy story Survival.  50 stories in all and of those 22 were included in the Field of 64.  He certainly has the quantity but does he have the quality?

After Barry Letts was a writer for Doctor Who he became a producer.  He began producing stories after Spearhead From Space; making him just one story shy of producing Jon Pertwee's entire run.  He ended his main work on the show after producing Tom Baker's first story Robot.  He would return to co-produced Logopolis with JNT.  Of his twenty-five produced stories ten of them appeared in the Field of 64.

Now I also have the job of awarding Best Director.  This was the most difficult category to pick a winner in but a winner was picked and it is David Maloney.

 I shall announce the winner of favorite producer in a day or two.  Stay tuned.         

Who's Ewhatsits

Time to make known the list of nominees for Best Doctor Who Director.

Douglas Camfield who's body of work includes: The Crusade, The Time Meddler,  The Daleks' Master Plan, The Web of Fear, The Invasion, Inferno (he directed all the location film work; he became ill with a heart condition during the recording of the studio scenes. The remainder were directed by producer Barry Letts, though Camfield was given sole credit), Terror of the Zygons, and The Seeds of Doom

State of Decay, The Visitation, Mawdryn Undead, The Five Doctors, The Twin Dilemma, and The Two Doctors are all listed on the resume of Peter Moffatt.  

David Maloney's impressive list of directorial credits looks something like this:  The Mind Robber, The Krotons, The War Games, Planet of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, Planet of Evil, The Deadly Assassin, and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Richard Martin was one of the very earliest directors on the show and his credits include:  The Daleks (episodes 3, 6, 7), The Edge of Destruction (episode 1), The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Web Planet, and The Chase.

While some would think of Barry Letts as more of a Doctor Who producer, he was also quite the accomplished director.  The list of stories that he directed include:  The Enemy of the World, Inferno (uncredited, episodes 3-7), Terror of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters, Planet of the Spiders, and The Android Invasion.

I will have the winner posted along with the nominees for best producer of Doctor Who in a few days.  I also promised to name the winner of Best Doctor Who writer of all time.  That honor goes to:

Robert Holmes 

Responsible for writing eighteen of the 64 stories that was in my Field of 64.  

  

Doctor Who: The Best Who's

All that Doctor Who stuff made me think about the dozens of producers and directors the show has had not to mention the hundreds of writers.  Then I started wondering who my favorites were or would be if I really put my mind to it.  So never to turn a blind eye to a good blog post subject I present the:

Who's Who of Doctor Who Awards

First up will be the award for best writer.  And the nominees are:

  

Douglas Adams.  Wrote The Pirate Planet and Shada.  Also co-wrote The City of Death with Graham Williams under the pseudonym David Agnew.

Robert Holmes.  Wrote more episodes (64 in total) of the original series than anyone else.  Some of the most notable: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, The Deadly Assassin, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Caves of Androzani, and The Two Doctors

 

Eric Saward.  Before he quit over a difference of opinion involving the script for The Ultimate Foe and then destroying Johnathan Nathan Turner and Colin Baker in the media, he wrote some pretty good stories.  The Visitation, Earthshock, Resurrection of the Daleks, and Revelation of the Daleks

Terrance Dicks (or Uncle Terry as he is affectionately referred to) was associated with Doctor Who for over 40 years.  His episodes include The War Games, Robot, The Brain of Morbius (re-written substantially by script editor Robert Holmes and credited to the pseudonym Robin Bland), Horror of Fang Rock, State of Decay, and The Five Doctors

 

Pretty much anything Dalek related that was viewed before 1976 was written by Terry Nation.  Makes sense since he created them.  Stories: The Daleks, The Keys of Marinus, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Chase, Mission to the Unknown, The Daleks' Master Plan (episodes 1-5, 7), Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, The Android Invasion, and Destiny of the Daleks.

So there you have it the five nominees for Best Doctor Who Writer.  I will post the winner when I give the nominees for Best Doctor Who Director in a few days.

  

The LONG Awaited Championship Match

Well to say the last six weeks has been difficult is an understatement. We have rebounded and are back with the announcement of the winner of the Doctor Who Field of 64. You know, the contest called March Madness that a winner is crowned usually in April? Yeah, it's been that type of a deal for almost two months. So here we go without further doo-doo:

The War Games

VERSUS

EARTHSHOCK

 

So we have Patrick Troughton's (not to mention Zoe, and Jamie) epic final story going against the story with one of the biggest and most shocking moments in Doctor Who history; the death of Adric.  Both worthy and very entertaining stories but in the end there can be only one.  What is this Highlander?  AnyWHO, the grand champion and winner of the title Best Original Doctor Who Story is:

THE WAR GAMES!!!!!

Now let's go celebrate the victory the only way we know how.

 

FINAL FOUR

It's been a long and winding road that has taken us here to the Final Four competitors left alive.  No reason to beleaguer this any longer so here we go with the last matches before we crown a champion.

 The first pairing finds a Patrick Troughton story against a Simon McCoy story.  Both of them are 3 seeds. 

THE WAR GAMES 

VERSUS

THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS

 

WINNER:  THE WAR GAMES

The second match features a two seeded Peter Davidson story against a three seeded Patrick Troughton story:

 

 EARTHSHOCK

VERSUS 

THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN

WINNER: EARTHSHOCK 

(in the closest decision of the entire contest thus far)

After we let these last decisions sink in and the numbness wears off (in other words; probably Tuesday) we will be back with the Championship Match.  

 

BRACKET UPDATE

So the Final Four, the Ferocious Four, the Conquering Cuatro, the Four Whosman of the Apocalypse, (OK, the last one might have been a little bit of overkill) is officially set.  A re-watch of the last stories alive is currently being held.  The results will be announced soon.

The Elite Eight

We started with 64 stories and are now down to just eight.  The Elite 8 to be exact.  When you finish perusing this post we will be down to four.  Let's get down to doing the dirty work of taking half of these gems out of the competition.

Number one seed Genesis of the Daleks 

VERSUS

Number three seed The Tomb of the Cybermen

WINNER: THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN (so close and another number one seed goes down and so does the fourth Doctor)

This upstart long-shot underdog thirteen seeded story The Happiness Patrol

VERSUS:

The Number 2 seed Earthshock

WINNER: EARTHSHOCK

Remembrance of the Daleks a number three seed.

VERSUS:

A number 8 seed titled The Green Death

WINNER: REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS (and much like he did at the end of The Green Death, Jon Pertwee rides off into the sunset as he is out of the competition)

Number One seed The Caves of Androzani

VERSUS:

The War Games a number three seed


 

WINNER: THE WAR GAMES (and with that decision, we have no number one seeds left)

We have the final four stories set.  Two Troughton stories and a Davidson and a McCoy story.  This makes a lot of sense as Troughton, Davidson, and McCoy are my three favorite classic Doctors.

 

Sweet 16 The Second Part

The Sweet 16 shall become the Elite 8 by the end of this post.  No sense dilly dallying let's get this convoy trucking!

Title: Genesis of the Daleks  Seed: 1  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companions: Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan  Enemies: Nyder, Davros, and the Daleks  Writer: Terry Nations  Director: David Maloney  Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe 

VERSUS

 Title: The Dalek Invasion of Earth  Seed: 5  Doctor: William Hartnall  Companions: Susan, Barbara, and Ian  Enemy: The Daleks  Writer: Terry Nations  Director: Richard Martin  Producer: Verity Lambert

*Disclaimer: This was the first time in the tournament that I had to do a re-watch of both stories to come up with a winner and even then it was still an agonizing decision to make and in the slimmest of margins yet in the contest: 

  WINNER: GENESIS OF THE DALEKS

 

Title: Tomb of the Cybermen  Seed: 3  Doctor: Patrick Troughton  Companions: Jamie and Victoria  Enemies: Cybermen, Eric Klieg, and Kaftan  Writers: Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis  Director: Morris Barry  Producer: Peter Bryant

VERSUS

Title: Spearhead From Space  Seed: 2  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Liz Shaw  Other Characters: The Brigadier  Enemies: The Nestene Consciousness, Channing, and the Autons  Writer: Robert Holmes  Director: Derek Martinus  Producer: Derrick Sherwin

WINNER: THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN

 Title: City of Death  Seed: 1  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companion: Romana II  Other Characters: Duggan  Enemy: Scaroth  Writers: David Fisher, Douglas Adams and Graham Williams under the collective pseudonym of "David Agnew"  Director: Michael Hayes  Producer: Graham Williams

VERSUS

Title: The Happiness Patrol  Seed: 13  Doctor: Sylvester McCoy  Companion: Ace  Enemies: Helen A, and the Kandy Man  Writer: Graeme Curry  Director: Chris Clough  Producer: JNT

  

Again I had another instance of where I had to do an emergency re-watch on both stories in order to make a decision.  This one was not as difficult of a decision to make after the re-watch and the writing was on the wall as City of Death barely beat Logopolis in the last round and The Happiness Patrol a 13 seed had left a path of destruction in it's wake.  So with that in mind:

  

WINNER:  THE HAPPINESS PATROL

Title: Vengeance on Varos  Seed: 14  Doctor: Colin Baker  Companion: Peri  Enemies: Sil, Quillam, and The Chief Officer  Writer: Philip Martin  Director: Ron Jones  Producer: JNT

VERSUS

Title: Earthshock  Seed: 2  Doctor: Peter Davidson  Companions: Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan  Enemies: The Cybermen and Ringway  Writer: Eric Saward  Director: Peter Grimwade  Producer: JNT

WINNER: EARTHSHOCK

Give us a couple of days to grieve the loss of Colin Baker and William Hartnall from the competition and we will be back at it with the Elite 8 matches.  Things could get ugly!

Sweet 16 Matches Part 1

Here we come now with the Sweet 16 round.  It's quite an accomplishment just to get to this point but in order to go all the way there is still much to do.  Let's get to it.

Title: The Green Death  Seed: 8  Doctor: John Pertwee  Companion:  Jo Grant  Other Characters:  The Brig, Mike Yates, and Benton  Enemies: BOSS, Stevens, and The Giant Maggots  Writer: Robert Sloman  Director: Michael Briant  Producer: Barry Letts

VERSUS

Title: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy  Seed: 13  Doctor: Sylvester McCoy  Companion: Ace  Other Characters: Captain Cook, Mags, and Nord  Enemies: The Gods of Ragnarok, The Chief clown, The Robot clowns  Writer: Stephen Wyatt  Director: Alan Wareing  Producer: JNT  

  

WINNER:  THE GREEN DEATH (in a close one, but still a great showing for a 13th seed)

Title: Remembrance of the Daleks  Seed: 3  Doctor: Sylvester McCoy  Companion: Ace  Other Characters: Gilmore, Rachel, Allison  Enemies: Davros and the Daleks  Writer: Ben Aaronovitch  Director: Andrew Morgan  Prodeucer: JNT

VERSUS

Title: The Talons of Weng-Chiang  Seed: 7  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companions: Leela  Other Characters: Jago and Litefoot  Enemies: Magnus Greel, Li H'sen Chang, Mr Sin  Writer: Robert Holmes  Director: David Maloney  Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe  

WINNER: REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS

Title: The Caves of Androzani  Seed: 1  Doctor: Peter Davidson  Companion: Peri  Enemies: Sharaz Jek, Trau Morgus  Writer: Robert Holmes  Director: Graeme Harper  Producer: JNT

VERSUS

Title: Resurrection of the Daleks  Seed: 13  Doctor: Peter Davidson   Companions: Tegan and Turlough  Other Characters: Lytton  Enemies: Davros and the Daleks  Writer: Eric Saward  Director: Matthew Robinson  Producer: JNT 

WINNER: THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI

Title: The War Games  Seed: 3 Doctor: Patrick Troughton  Companions: Zoe and Jamie  Other Characters: Carstairs  Enemies: The War Lords and The War Chief  Writers: Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks  Director: David Maloney  Producer: Derrick Sherwin

VERSUS

Title: An Unearthly Child  Seed: 7  Doctor: William Hartnall  Companions: Barbara, Susan, and Ian  Location: I.M. Foreman's junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane London 1963  Writer: Anthony Coburn  Director: Waris Hussein  Producer: Verity Lambert  

 

WINNER: THE WAR GAMES

Seeding Chart

Before we get into the round of the Sweet 16, I wanted to post an updated bracket and make a few general observations.  So we have lost a few of the top seeds and we have some really strong stories that barely made it through the last round.  I am pleasantly surprised that I still have at least one story from every Doctor still in the competition which will certainly not be the case after the next round.  The average seed of all the remaining stories is 6.  I have no idea what that means but I thought it was interesting to mention.  I also want to point out that Rickster over at The Land of Cerpts and Honey is doing his bracket as well so you should be checking that out as well.  It will be interesting to see how our two brackets compare.   

Round 2 Part 2

 We have half of our Sweet 16 set.  After this post the full list of stories making it through to the next round will be complete and we will have our Sweet 16.  Even getting that far is a great honor but who will have what it takes to get all the way to the end?  Who indeed.

Title: Genesis of the Daleks  Seed: 1  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companions: Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan  Enemies: Nyder, Davros, and the Daleks  Location: Skaro  Significance: First appearance of Davros the creator of the Daleks.  Explained the origins of the Daleks and how they came to be.  In 1998 this story was voted the most favorite episode by readers of Doctor Who Magazine.  

VS

Title: The Curse of Peladon  Seed: 9  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Jo Grant  Enemies: Arcturus and High Priest Hepesh  Location: Peladon 3885  Significance: This story introduced the Peladon and the Galactic Federation, both of which would feature in additional stories as would Alpha Centauri, one of its delegates.  David Troughton, son of second Doctor Patrick Troughton made his second appearance in the show his first appearance being his fathers final story The War Games.    

WINNER: THE GENESIS OF THE DALEKS (this one was closer than it should have been)

Title: Terror of the Autons  Seed: 4  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Jo Grant  Other Characters:  The Brigadier, Mike Yates, and Benton  Enemies: The Nestene Consciousness, The Autons, and The Master  Location: Tarminster during the 1970's  Significance: This episode began the eighth season of the show and was considered to be a slight reboot of the Jon Pertwee era.  It was the first appearance of Jo Grant, Mike Yates, and The Master.  It also featured the Doctor's new laboratory that would be used until Tom Baker was to take over as Doctor.  There's also people eating plastic chairs and a really goofy looking doll that comes to life.  

VS

Title: The Dalek Invasion of Earth  Seed: 5  Doctor: William Hartnall  Companions: Susan, Barbara, and Ian  Enemy: The Daleks  Location: London in the year 2164  Significance:  For the first time it is shown the Daleks can travel underwater.  The second episode saw the first use of the Daleks catchphrase "Exterminate".  At the end of the story Susan decides to stay behind on Earth and help the Resistance rebuild and continue her relationship with David Campbell.     

WINNER: THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH

Title: Tomb of the Cybermen  Seed: 3  Doctor: Patrick Troughton  Companions: Jamie and Victoria  Enemies: Cybermen, Eric Klieg, and Kaftan  Location: Telos in the 25th century  Significance: This story introduced the first Cyber-Controller and the Cybermats. It is the earliest Second Doctor story to survive in its entirety.  

VS

Title: The Time Warrior  Seed: 6  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Sarah Jane  Other Characters: The Brigadier  Enemies: Linx and Irongron  Location: England in the 1970's and the 13th century  Significance: Marked the first appearance of the Sontarans as well as the first appearance of Elizabeth Sladen as companion Sarah Jane Smith.  In this story the name of the Doctor's home planet Gallifrey is first mentioned. 

WINNER: TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN

Title: The Daleks  Seed: 7  Doctor: William Hartnall  Companions: Susan, Barbara, and Ian  Enemy: The Daleks  Location: Skaro  Significance: The second story ever of the series introduce the Daleks, the Thals, and the planet Skaro.  First story written by Terry Nations and he is credited as co-owner of the Daleks copyright.  

VS

Title: Spearhead From Space  Seed: 2  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Liz Shaw  Other Characters: The Brigadier  Enemies: The Nestene Consciousness, Channing, and the Autons  Location: Oxley Woods, UNIT HQ, Ashbridge Cottage Hospital, Auto Plastics, London in the 1970s  Significance: The first story to be in color.  The first appearance of Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor.  The first appearance of Liz Shaw as the Doctor's companion.  The first time the Nestene and the Autons appear.  This story marked the beginning of the Doctors exile on Earth.  This story contains the first time it is mentioned that the Doctor has two hearts.  

WINNER: SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE

Title: City of Death  Seed: 1  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companion: Romana II  Other Characters: Duggan  Enemy: Scaroth  Setting: Paris in 1979, Florence in 1505, and somewhere on Earth in the distant past  Significance: This is the first story to be filmed outside of the UK.  John Cleese has a cameo as an art lover.  Romana is referred to as a Time Lady for the first time.  

VS

Title: Logopolis  Seed: 8  Doctor: Tom Baker  Companions: Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric  Enemy: The Master  Location: Logopolis and the Pharos Project, Sussex, England in 1981  Significance: While it is mostly remembered for being Tom Baker's final regular appearance as the fourth Doctor it is also filled with firsts.  It was the first appearance of Tegan and Nyssa as companions.  It was the first appearance of Anthony Ainley as the Master.  In this story we hear for the first time the Cloister Bell which is an alarm on the Tardis to warn of impending danger.  We also see the Watcher for the first time. 

WINNER: CITY OF DEATH (again another one that was closer that I would have expected)

Title: The Happiness Patrol  Seed: 13  Doctor: Sylvester McCoy  Companion: Ace  Enemies: Helen A, and the Kandy Man  Location: Terra Alpha sometime in the 24th century  Significance: Helen A is supposed to represent Margaret Thatcher so that makes it political commentary.  Is this society sadness is against the law and the punishment is death.  Death by candy!  Helen A's carnivorous pet Stigorax, Fifi is a sight to behold!

VS

Title: Carnival of Monsters  Seed: 12  Doctor: Jon Pertwee  Companion: Jo Grant  Enemies: Kalik and the Drashigs  Location: Inter Minor  Significance: The first story where the third Doctor has been released from his exile.  The first time Ian Marter appeared in the show (as a different character in this story) who would later go on to play Harry Sullivan, a companion to the fourth Doctor.  The Doctor and Jo along with the Tardis are shrunk and inserted into an alien peepshow.  Not as hot as it sounds.          

WINNER:  HAPPINESS PATROL

Title: Vengeance on Varos  Seed: 14  Doctor: Colin Baker  Companion: Peri  Enemies: Sil, Quillam, and The Chief Officer  Location: Varos in the late 23rd century  Significance: The first appearance of the alien Sil who would appear again in Mindwarp as well as audio stories and books.  Peri is transformed into a bird. A bird?  Well, she got better.  Varos is a former prison planet for the criminally insane and is now run by the ancestors of the people that ran the institution.  Sean Connery's son Jason plays Jondar.  This was another of the stories that people criticized for being overly violent and dark .  

VS

Title: Mawdryn Undead  Seed: 11  Doctor: Peter Davidson  Companions: Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough  Other Characters: The Brigadier  Enemies: Black Guardian, Mawdryn, and Turlough  Locations:Mawdryn's ship in 1983 and Brendon Public School both during 1977 and 1983.  Significance: This story featured the return of the Brigadier.  It was the first story of the Black Guardian trilogy where we meet the Black Guardian and Vislor Turlough for the first time who is both a villain and a companion.  The Tardis crew are separated and land in two different times but in the same place.  The Doctor mentions reversing the polarity of the neutron flow marking the third Doctor in a row to say that exact phrase.        

WINNER: VENGEANCE OF VAROS

Title: Edge of Destruction  Seed: 10  Doctor: William Hartnell  Companions: Barbara, Susan, and Ian  Location: The Tardis  Significance: The first story to take place completely inside the Tardis.  The episode only features the Tardis crew.  The first instance of the Doctor namedropping historic figures.  The first thoughts that the Tardis did not belong to the Doctor as he was not aware of all it's functions.  The story does however bond the group and allow them realize they can trust each other.  Susan and the Doctor are shown to have a telepathic connection to the Tardis.  

VS

Title: Earthshock  Seed: 2  Doctor: Peter Davidson  Companions: Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan  Enemies: The Cybermen and Ringway  Location: Earth and Briggs Freighter in 2526  Significance: This story contained the well kept secret of the return of the Cybermen.  It is also the final story for Adric as he sacrifices himself saving the world from the Cybermen.  Adric was the first long running companion to be killed off in the history of the show.   

WINNER: EARTHSHOCK

That's all she wrote for the second round.  We will take a deep breath, let the winners have a little bit of a rest, and put them right back out there for the round of The Sweet 16 in a few days.