Friday, October 7, 2016

Tron and Doctor Who



The Daleks have always been among my favorite science fiction menaces.  They are as evil as they are cheap looking and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I was glad that when Doctor Who was brought back to TV, the Daleks were not given much of an upgrade in appearance, honoring the early episodes.

17 comments:

AirDave said...

I know that The Doctor has a very long and rich history, but Christopher Eccleston was the one that got me hooked. Shame that he was just around long enough to get it all re-started. It would be nice if he could return, as David Tenant has.

I've never seen the original Tron. I liked the latest Tron movie. Kind of a bummer that it didn't do well enough to launch a franchise...

Mickey said...

Ross, this is one of those team-ups that I never considered. The heck of it is that I love both Tron and Dr. Who. Yet, when I saw this cover, I had the V8 moment, popping myself in the head and wondering why I had never thought of it before myself. Thanks again for these cool covers.

Ross said...

Dave: See it, it is miles better than the sequel!

Mickey: Thanks, glad you like it!

Carycomic said...

To all of the above: yeah, the sequel was enjoyable on its own merits. But, definitely NOT better than its now-classic predecessor! The original TRON pioneered the use of CGI animation. But, of course, it was so far ahead of its time, in doing so, that it failed at the contemporaneous box office.

As regards doing an actual crossover with Doctor Who? I can only imagine it occurring in the Land of Fiction! As I recall the plot line from the 2nd Doctor story arc that introduced the concept, some extra-dimensional A.I. abducted a penny-dreadful author from 19th century London via teleportation. In order to use the poor guy's imagination as a power source.

But, for Titan Comics to publish an actual sequel, in co-operation with Marvel/Disney, the writers would have to do an awful lot of convoluting. Like, say, a Cyberwoman version of Sarah Jane Smith hijacked by an unholy alliance between Master Control, the Mandragora Fragment, and the Land of Fiction's A.I.

Sorry for the long-winded spit-balling, Ross. Thanks for hearing me out, though! :-)

Bob Greenwade said...

AirDave: I also liked Christopher Eccleston's portrayal of the Doctor -- better, in fact, than he liked it himself. Leaving was his own decision, though; he's been silent about the specifics, though, only citing "creative differences" when pressed, out of respect for the BBC and the program itself. He's similarly declined all further involvement, which is part of what prompted the creation (via retcon) of the War Doctor. Even the single Big Finish audio drama featuring the Ninth Doctor (Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisper) has Nicholas Briggs providing the voice.

Ross: Yes indeed, the Daleks are certainly the least altered of all the Doctor's revived enemies to date from the classic series. (The other end of the spectrum would, of course, be the Master!)

Stephen said...

The Time Lords had a super-computer on Gallifrey called the Panopticon which ran all their time intervention activities. So that would be a prime target for the Daleks to disrupt or seize for themselves.
(In the story The Deadly Assassin, the Doctor was forced to play a virtual reality wargame inside the Panopticon to prove his innocence in a crime involving The Master and his cronies among the Time Lords.)

Wolfhammer said...

It's time for DOCTOR WHO to meet DOCTOR FATE.

Carycomic said...

@Bob Greenwade: the second most-altered would be the Sontarans. They used to be _taller_ than the average Earth person. But, evidently, these warrior clones are starting to suffer from what STAR TREK: TNG called cellular degradation (the asexual equivalent of inbreeding).

Anonymous said...

Wolfhammer, or the Time Lord vs. the Lord of Time.

Anonymous said...

You mean a Time Lord and a Lord of Order? Although if you're getting into Fate territory, how about Dr. Fate taking up with Maxwell Smart against Chaos and Kaos?

Simreeve said...

Anonymous said...
"You mean a Time Lord and a Lord of Order? Although if you're getting into Fate territory, how about Dr. Fate taking up with Maxwell Smart against Chaos and Kaos?"
Good one!

Bob Greenwade said...

@Cary - The original concept for Sontarans (1973's The Time Warrior) was that they were "low to the ground." It's simply that the actors in the classic series (The Two Doctors being the worst offender) tended to be only slightly shorter than average, if at all. Even so, their height is the only significant difference; I'd give "second most altered" to the Cybermen.

Carycomic said...

Not really. The Cybermen have that those laterally crested heads since the days of the Third Doctor. It's only their _origin_ that got ret-conned, seven doctors later.

Carycomic said...

P.S. @ Wolfhammer & Simreeve: I'd _love_ to see Doctor Who go up against that Silver Age JLA foe. The Lord of Time!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Carycomic. First most altered Doctor foe? The Master. Second most altered? The Sontarans. 3rd most altered? The Cybermen. 4th most altered? The Silurians. 5th most altered? Those methane gas-eating crab monsters.

Anonymous said...

Wolfie, https://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2013/05/doctor-fate-and-doctor-who.html?m=0#links

Cary, that's what I said.

Carycomic said...

Well, even if you got the nickname wrong because you were thinking of Dr. Fate, the idea still has merit.

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