MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (1963) Discussion > Ghost Light

Ghost Light

posted 8 years ago by raventhom
13 replies | jump to latest

This is turning out to be quite a good season, too bad the ratings weren't there, I could easily see another season for Sylv..
Back to Ace' beginnings, since she says she was here at 13, I believe her seasons w/ the Doctor are at least 5 in her years, as she looks at least 21or older. She dresses older, acts older, and more intelligent
Another spacecraft in the cellar, a creature called "control" and an angel type simply called "Light"
The family turn out to be taken over, and almost manage to get Ace in their evil clutches
the creature known as Nimrod was my favorite, a being from another time and place
Eventually, the Doctor again outwits his nemesis

[–] mindbait 8 years ago

I quite like 3 episode stories, they don't seem to drag too much at all.. on the other hand, this one could really have used an extra episode... there were so many characters and so much story that it could have used a bit more breathing space.

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New song "Breathless Love"

[–] old-georgieboy 8 years ago

It did need another episode. In the end, I cracked and got the Book.

Another superb cast.

Balotelli...Aguerooooo! I swear you will never see anything like this ever again!

[–] apostasia 8 years ago

Love Ghost Light, not just my favourite Sylv, but right up there among my favourite Whos full stop.

Just a painted face on a trip down suicide row

[–] pferreira86 8 years ago

I'll just go and copy/paste this:

So I finally got around to watching Ghost Light. I decided to leave it till last firstly because I'm a 7th Doctor fan and want my last story to be from his era and secondly it was the last recorded story so watching this brings closure for me in terms of watching Classic Doctor Who. Knowing this I had put off seeing it since apart from this one I'd seen all Classic Who stories about three years ago but decided to finally go for it. I had read before watching it about the meaning of the story, it being about Darwinism and the surveyor of Earth's specimens but refused to read plot synopsis for the episodes.

Having watched it I definitely agree it requires further re-watching. It certainly, like most 7th Doctor stories, crammed with plot and characters. The dialogue and the way Ace is written is great as well as the acting. That's something I'm keen to point out. People criticise 80s Doctor Who under JNT for having brightly light sets and casting light entertainers in serious roles but you can't find any trace of those criticisms here. The sets like any real mansion are light realistically and I'm really amazed at all the good actors JNT pulled together. I have to say he got really lucky with this story, from what I understand there's some serious talent on offer here. It's good to see Michael Cochrane again, this time in a different role (he didn't accidently kill anyone this time) and Ian Hogg was great as well. John Hallam as Light was pure bonkers, I can't believe they got the nurse's dismembered arm past BBC censors. I found out that Mrs Pritchard's conversation with her daughter in Episode 3 with them turning to stone was the actual last shot of the Classic series. It was unintentionally a nice, bittersweet scene they ended Doctor Who on.

In terms of production of Season 26 it was a great episode to end on. While not everything made sense there is a lot more going for Ghost Light than against it and fans of the 7th Doctor and the JNT should be proud. I started watching Classic Who back in 2006 in response or as a remedy to the rubbish of the 2005 series. I wanted to see if the show was always that bad and I found the original series to be the complete opposite to the point that while I continued to watch New Who I saw more potential and had more interest in the original series and finally appreciated Doctor Who after a childhood and teenage years of dismissing it as that cheap sci-fi show. Now knowing I have no more Classic Who episodes to watch I've never seen before I'm going off to cry.

[–] Chris12955 8 years ago

If you were lost by the story, check out the novelization. The author puts back in some of the material cut from the story that helped it make more sense.

Back to Ace' beginnings, since she says she was here at 13, I believe her seasons w/ the Doctor are at least 5 in her years, as she looks at least 21or older. She dresses older, acts older, and more intelligent

Yes, they were trying to mature Ace this season. In Battlefield, she deals with her issues with violence. In Ghost Light she confronts her inner fears. In The Curse of Fenric she deals with her mother issues. And in Survival she sees how far she has come from her delinquent youth, and chooses to control her more basic impulses. So, yes, from a bratty child, she grows into a mature adult over the course of this season. Again, working in those strong thematic undercurrents into McCoy's tenure.

I didn't list a spoiler for the other serials since you have already seen them.

[–] raventhom 8 years ago

Looking at it like that, it makes more sense, almost to where Ace is like Clara or Amy where their back story IS the story.
I am quite sure Sophie would have signed on for another season

[–] Chris12955 8 years ago

Sophie would have come back, had the show been renewed. They were going to have that be Ace's last season, or at least as a regular. They might have brought her back after that, but in a one off story. As strange as it sounds, they were going to enroll her into the Time Lord Academy if they had gone on.

[–] pferreira86 8 years ago

I am quite sure Sophie would have signed on for another season

She was pretty much contracted for two more stories, McCoy one more year.

[–] megatosspot 8 years ago

If they'd stuck to one idea and done it well it might have worked. Ridiculously confusing.

stfu about fking avatars already.

[–] pferreira86 8 years ago

If they'd stuck to one idea and done it well it might have worked. Ridiculously confusing.

Huh? That era was brimming with ideas as it should do. 

[–] megatosspot 8 years ago

The thing about ideas is that if you just siht them out all over the place you get a great big steaming mess.

stfu about fking avatars already.

[–] pferreira86 8 years ago

The thing about ideas is that if you just siht them out all over the place you get a great big steaming mess.

I will say the McCoy era was difficult to follow as well as quite rushed but to be honest with the Colin Baker era and as well as the Graham Williams era of Who the show was so totally running out of ideas that I'd rather have too many good ideas with an exciting story than none at all.

[–] mindbait 8 years ago

I felt like the creative vision was fairly sound by the last season

https://soundcloud.com/coin-sides

New song "Breathless Love"