Fun Fact: Part 4 of City of Death holds the record for the highest ratings of an individual episode of Doctor Who, both classic and modern. Over 16 million people watched the episode on its initial broadcast in the UK. This was mainly due to the BBC's main network rival, ITV, being off the air because of a workers' strike. Essentially, people were watching Doctor Who because there was nothing else to watch.
“City of Death” is one of the best, most popular Classic Who episodes ever. The main cast, supporting characters, drama/comedy writing, exotic locations, history, surprise guest appearances, and set designs all came together beautifully. It is the standout of this season, the Fourth Doctor’s tenure, and the history of the show.
A celebrity cameo from John Cleese in a story written by Douglas Adams = best thing ever. Goes to show how insanely popular Who was at this time. And I'm still heartbroken Duggan never joined the Tardis. For such a fun story, there's actually quite a few frightening scenes like Scaroth's first unmasking, Kerenski's death and the Countess unfolding the papyrus that were seared into my young mind. Scaroth is a great villain too - suave, egotistical, ingenious and in his own small way, sympathetic. He is doing all this to save his people after all. But the way the stakes raise after realising he'll prevent humanity's creation and then Duggan's legendary thump... "Exquisite. Absolutely exquisite" describes City Of Death in a nutshell.
Don't forget Eleanor Bron, she was in her own way as famous as Cleese, maybe less so now but she was a bit of a 60s icon, and will be in the show again.
Eleanor Bron, she plays the lady talking to Cleese in the gallery, she actually appears again in an adventure with the 6th Doctor, Revelation of the Daleks.
For the longest time I've predicted with my mind and hoped with my heart that you would adore this story - but to add on the unexpected personal touch of Prime Cleese and what that means to you and your dad just puts the cherry on top. The best reaction to the best story, the biggest smile on my face.
City of Death had a somewhat troubled production with a number of different writers working on it until it became what was broadcast on TV. It's credited to "David Agnew", which is a pseudonym and wasn't a real person. This was actually originally a script by David Fisher, the same guy that wrote The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara from the previous season, but he was unable to complete work on it due to problems in his personal life at the time. This meant that the incumbent producer and script editor at the time, Graham Williams and Douglas Adams respectively, basically had to lock themselves away in a room together and complete the story over a weekend. Considering all these problems, it's astonishing City of Death turned out as brilliantly as it did and how it's considered by many to be one of the absolute greatest Doctor Who stories ever. It always, without fail, lands in the top 5 of lists and polls. Graham Williams admitted in interviews later on that Douglas Adams basically did 98% of the work and you can certainly tell. This has his fingerprints all over it, from the hilarious, quip laden, witty dialogue, the brilliant and vivid characters, the ingenious and watertight plot and plot structure. It's quintessential Douglas Adams. This is the absolute peak of what Graham Williams wanted to achieve with Doctor Who and it took a genius like Douglas Adams to help him achieve it. No other story celebrates Doctor Who as this great romantic adventure better than this story, it's just so much fun. Possibly the most rewatchable Doctor Who story ever. Viewers definitely agreed because this story achieved an average of 14.5 million viewers across its four episodes, the highest in the show's history. The viewing figures peaked with episode 4 which got an incredible 16.1 million viewers, the highest viewing figures any single episode of Doctor Who has ever achieved. It should be noted that part of the reason for these unusually high viewing figures is the fact that ITV, the only other big TV channel in the UK at the time, was on strike while City of Death was being broadcast, but it's very impressive in any case. The story that perhaps best describes the impact and influence City of Death has had on Doctor Who is something RTD once said about why he felt confident about bringing the show back in 2005. Basically, in preparation for the first series, he and Julie Gardener (one of the executive producers at the time, who is now also returning alongside RTD for his new era) were watching a bunch of classic Who stories and it was after watching City of Death that they became convinced that Doctor Who in the 21st century could really work well. They essentially took the basic tone and style of City of Death and applied it to modern Who. That's why so much of modern Who's dialogue is so witty and comedic in comparison to most of classic Who. City of Death is an absolute comedic masterpiece and I adore it.
John Cleese was actually shooting Fawlty Towers when he did that cameo. He's even wearing the same clothes from the show.... It was a genuine surprise to viewers at the time. None watching that first transmission saw that one coming....
At 16:27, when The Doctor & Romana depart, the implication is that they “flew” down to the ground, as the very next shot has Duggan looking over the side of the tower down at them. This is a callback to part 1, where Romana asks, “Shall we take the lift or fly?" The Doctor: "Let's not be ostentatious." Romana: "All right... let's fly, then." I wonder how a timelord flies… surely not with bolts of lightning ala The Master in “The End of Time.?!?”
Scaroth is the original Impossible Girl, isn't he 😄 Sure, the one skews a little toward silly, but great locations & guest cast make this one a classic.
Years ago, John Cleese did an infomercial for a Westinghouse cordless vacuum and it was the craziest thing I had ever seen with such oddball humor throughout. I saw it while randomly flipping through channels and never saw it again. It must have been pulled off the air very quickly and there's almost no evidence of the infomercial's existence save for a short clip on RUclips. Glad you liked his cameo in Doctor Who. We all did.
I saw in the latest Top 10 Who stories (Classic or modern) that this story is still in there!! Genesis of the Daleks is 3rd, and the the #1 is Capaldi and "Heaven Sent"! Seeing Jess so happy and excited over the John Cleese cameo and Duggan's punch was worth the wait! I'm glad it wasn't spoiled. If only Duggan got his own show, you could call it 'Time Punch!' Hahaha!!
@@flaggerify That's how it came out in the DWM poll. It's not a trilogy in the usual sense, it's more 3 linked stories, but they can stand on their own.
@@flaggerify I can't agree with that. It follows on from the previous episode and links in to the next one, but it's a story in its own right. Applying the same logic, would you, for example, consider *Frontier in Space/Planet of the Daleks* to be a single story with 12 episodes?
John Cleese was at the BBC a lot at this time as he was making the second season of Fawlty Towers there at this same time, so it wasn’t terribly difficult to get him to pop into this.
Yay! Douglas Adams' City of Death FTW! One of my favorite Julian Glover roles. For more JG science fiction fun, see "Quatermass and the Pit" aka "Five Million Years to Earth" (US title) (1967). Turns out Glover's been horribly killed by science fiction / fantasy menaces for decades. I'm friends with Lalla Ward's second husband, introduced to her by Adams, who reports that even after Adams departed to work on his little radio show, she and Tom Baker would "Douglas-up" the scripts to add more Adams-y wit.
@@paulhollett7183 Been meaning to give Blake's 7 a real watch, I have read much about it over the years, and seen the final scene (I already knew basically how it ended). I'm a Yank but no one, but no one, did science fiction in the 1970s like the British. Even my fave American productions of the period were mostly produced in England.
@@AlanCanon2222 Give it a go. Some really good writing even if the budget was on the limited side. The end , although seen several times, still manages to shock, even now.
Never before has a Who baddie had such a lovely dressing gown and wardrobe in general. Personally I would have given up the big scheme and lived as The Count period !
Jess, did you pick up on the fact that Bernard Cribbins, who played Wilf, Donna’s grandfather in Doctor Who, was in the 4th episode of the 1st season of Fawlty Towers (The Hotel Inspectors?) He played the spoon salesman, Mr. Hutchinson, who ended up having a fight with Basil, and Basil got his revenge by pouring milk into his briefcase and hitting him in the face with cream pies? So glad you and your dad are fans of the series!
I still maintain Richard Curtis and Steven Moffat missed a trick not bringing John Cleese and Eleanor Bron back for a cameo in "Vincent and the Doctor" 😂😂😂
As no one else has mentioned it... Kerensky is played by David Graham who is better known for voicing Parker, Lady Penelope's butler, in the "Thunderbirds" TV series and movies. He also played and voiced one of the original Daleks back in the show's second story.
Massive John Cleese fan too, and I remember watching Fawlty Towers as a little kid and laughing so hard, and seeing him in this made me so happy. I was only 4. Douglad Adams was great friends with John Cleese, and he happened to be free when Douglas asked him to cameo. I believe he happened to be filming in the same studio at the time. Don't quote me on that. But yeah, City of Death is one of the all time greats and is in my top 3.
Yeah a 10/10 from me for this one. One of Who’s greatest moments, and one of Douglas Adams’ career highlights too. The characters are so well written and acted, and then Cleese and Bron show up. Magical
It's Douglas Adams' dialogue that lifts this story to almost the top of the tree. And, of course Lalla Ward in a school girl uniform, I wil mention it as no one else has.
As one reviewer once said, just when you think it couldn't get any better, John bloody Cleese shows up. Incidentally, the lady with him was Eleanor Bron, a legendary comic actress in her own right. It just makes me wish Douglas Adams wrote all of Tom's episodes. We've only have had about two stories a year, but they'd have been amazing...
Love your reaction to this! And Communication Problems is my favorite Fawlty Towers episode too. For more John Cleese/Doctor Who goodness, theres a clip on RUclips of Cleese and Tom Baker doing a bit during the filming of this episode, which I think was for the BBC's Christmas gag reel. It's only about a minute long, but it's a kick seeing them together.
Fun fact: John Cleese appeared as the art critic as a favour to Douglas Adams. He filmed his cameo during his lunch break at the BBC TV Centre, WHILST filming Fawlty Towers....
The story was mainly put together by Douglas Adams over a weekend in a rush job,your face was a picture when you saw John Cleese and Eleanor Bron as the Art visitors.
One of the best loved Doctor Who stories in Classic Who! I was shocked when I saw John Cleese's cameo for the first time. I was already a 'Fawlty Towers' fan via PBS here in Philadelphia. I don't think I fully saw 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' TV until a few years down the line. I had seen their movies however.
I love that story about you and your dad watching Fawlty Towers together. John Cleese is such a legend. I've only seen a couple of episodes and have always wanted to do an actual viewing.
Oh, I am right there with you on Communication Problems. My fave episode, has me in stitches every time. I think I quote it a lot still. - Andy Frankham-Allen
Yes the John Cleese Cameo is brilliant! No wonder this story is excellent but of course back then I never knew how popular this story was because as said before this story really terrified me when I was a kid. But definitely a great story!
City of Death part 4 had the highest UK viewing figures of any Doctor Who episode ever, at 16.1 million. Helped by the fact that ITV was on strike, leaving only BBC2 to compete with it.
There was a rumor going around back in the mid 1980's that they wanted to do a big screen DW film and the major rumor was that they wanted John Cleese to play The Doctor in the film. I believe this was Tom Baker's highest rated episode, in terms of viewers.
As with Douglas Adams' other Dr Who stories, this one didn't make it into print early. And then from someone else. But bits of it crept into his late 1980s novel 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'. Which was fine if you hadn't seen this and it's not exactly recycled.
For some reason, the scroll with Scaroth on it was embedded in my mind for years before I could remember where it came from. Did our one-eyed friend know the likes of Sutekh and the Osirians?
Scientist actor was also sweet Charlie the Barman in The Gunfighters.... came to a similarly sticky end, casually murdered by a callous villain. One more into classical literature than Renaissance art though.
Sometimes, there are some stories that are so acclaimed by critics and fans that it's hard not to get the feeling that it's a little overrated. That's definitely not the case with "City of Death." "City of Death" is so well written, acted and a masterclass in how to do a good Doctor Who comic story. "City of Death" is what Classic Who did best. Overall, "City of Death" is wonderful. It's a shame that the next three stories this season... aren't at the same level of quality, to say the least.
Thank you for the reaction. I always liked this episode, it is just so much fun. I wish I could hit like twice I enjoyed the reaction that much. Keep 'em coming. 😄
I love "Fawlty Towers" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" my favourite "Fawlty Towers" episodes are "The Germans", "The Pycharatrist" and "The Kipper and the Corpse" that show is a timeless classic you really should check out more BBC sitcoms as part of the reaction if you haven't seen it already such as "Blackadder" or "Red Dwarf". I love all the Tom Baker stories but this one "City of Death" is my fifth favourite story along with "Pyramids of Mars", "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", "The Robots of Death" and a story you haven't reached too yet.
Great reaction, an oh yes seeing John cleese was such a bonus to such a fun story. Also does the last episode give anyone TNG finale vibes...I feel the Star Trek writers dre3w some inspiration from this storyy for their finale.
Cleese's desire to be billed as 'Kim Bread' in the credits mystified both the department head and, frankly, myself. But it's a nice little cameo and there was even a brief skit he filmed with Tom on set, which turned up in the BBC's internal Christmas video and is out on the internet somewhere or other. The Python team had little overlap with Dr Who in the main, although their contemporaries, The Goodies, saw fit to include both Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton in various silly guises for the benefit of comedy.
Cleese has announced that he will be reprising the role of Basil Fawlty in a new series. His real-life daughter will co-star as his daughter on the show.
Aside from your classic Who Reactions and of course, the big 60th specials, will you be reacting to any other bonus who, for its birthday month, such as the Tales from the Tardis? or any of the Proms for examples?
Fun Fact: Part 4 of City of Death holds the record for the highest ratings of an individual episode of Doctor Who, both classic and modern. Over 16 million people watched the episode on its initial broadcast in the UK. This was mainly due to the BBC's main network rival, ITV, being off the air because of a workers' strike. Essentially, people were watching Doctor Who because there was nothing else to watch.
Like now. Doctor Who forever!
Probably everyone that had a TV then.
People didn't own them , they rented. If lucky to afford it.
“City of Death” is one of the best, most popular Classic Who episodes ever. The main cast, supporting characters, drama/comedy writing, exotic locations, history, surprise guest appearances, and set designs all came together beautifully. It is the standout of this season, the Fourth Doctor’s tenure, and the history of the show.
Douglas Adams at the height of his powers. Impossible to go wrong.
A celebrity cameo from John Cleese in a story written by Douglas Adams = best thing ever. Goes to show how insanely popular Who was at this time. And I'm still heartbroken Duggan never joined the Tardis. For such a fun story, there's actually quite a few frightening scenes like Scaroth's first unmasking, Kerenski's death and the Countess unfolding the papyrus that were seared into my young mind. Scaroth is a great villain too - suave, egotistical, ingenious and in his own small way, sympathetic. He is doing all this to save his people after all. But the way the stakes raise after realising he'll prevent humanity's creation and then Duggan's legendary thump...
"Exquisite. Absolutely exquisite" describes City Of Death in a nutshell.
Don't forget Eleanor Bron, she was in her own way as famous as Cleese, maybe less so now but she was a bit of a 60s icon, and will be in the show again.
Exquisite.
NuWho should bring Duggan back as a pensioner who still randomly destroys things in his nursing home for no reason.
Think Cleese was filming Basil The Rat at the time he made this appearance
@@AlanCanon2222omg YESS
I’ve just seen the story myself, and thought “why the hell did duggan not become a companion!?”
Duggan should totally have joined the Tardis crew after this story.
Agreed!
The actor who played the Italian guard was also Tobias Vaughn right hand man in the second Doctor story the Invasion.
Peter Halliday, also a voice artist for Cybermen and some other nasties.
Paaaaackerrrr!!!!
Its a fun story really. The surprise appearance of John Cleese & Eleanor Bron playing art critics is the cherry on top.
Exquisite. Absolutely exquisite.
One of the Best Doctor Who stories of them all, the cast, script, direction is all absolutely on point, so much class and style.
Your reaction to John Cleese was worth the reaction all by itself!! :D
This is such a fun story arc written by the brilliant Douglas Adams.
Absolutely love that you accurately predicted exactly how it would end with Skaroth being defeated
Eleanor Bron, she plays the lady talking to Cleese in the gallery, she actually appears again in an adventure with the 6th Doctor, Revelation of the Daleks.
Definitely one of my favorite stories. I am so happy you enjoyed it!
For the longest time I've predicted with my mind and hoped with my heart that you would adore this story - but to add on the unexpected personal touch of Prime Cleese and what that means to you and your dad just puts the cherry on top. The best reaction to the best story, the biggest smile on my face.
I would have imagined Douglas Adams and cleese putting out some great comedy scripts if they worked together.
City of Death had a somewhat troubled production with a number of different writers working on it until it became what was broadcast on TV. It's credited to "David Agnew", which is a pseudonym and wasn't a real person. This was actually originally a script by David Fisher, the same guy that wrote The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara from the previous season, but he was unable to complete work on it due to problems in his personal life at the time. This meant that the incumbent producer and script editor at the time, Graham Williams and Douglas Adams respectively, basically had to lock themselves away in a room together and complete the story over a weekend. Considering all these problems, it's astonishing City of Death turned out as brilliantly as it did and how it's considered by many to be one of the absolute greatest Doctor Who stories ever. It always, without fail, lands in the top 5 of lists and polls. Graham Williams admitted in interviews later on that Douglas Adams basically did 98% of the work and you can certainly tell. This has his fingerprints all over it, from the hilarious, quip laden, witty dialogue, the brilliant and vivid characters, the ingenious and watertight plot and plot structure. It's quintessential Douglas Adams.
This is the absolute peak of what Graham Williams wanted to achieve with Doctor Who and it took a genius like Douglas Adams to help him achieve it. No other story celebrates Doctor Who as this great romantic adventure better than this story, it's just so much fun. Possibly the most rewatchable Doctor Who story ever. Viewers definitely agreed because this story achieved an average of 14.5 million viewers across its four episodes, the highest in the show's history. The viewing figures peaked with episode 4 which got an incredible 16.1 million viewers, the highest viewing figures any single episode of Doctor Who has ever achieved. It should be noted that part of the reason for these unusually high viewing figures is the fact that ITV, the only other big TV channel in the UK at the time, was on strike while City of Death was being broadcast, but it's very impressive in any case. The story that perhaps best describes the impact and influence City of Death has had on Doctor Who is something RTD once said about why he felt confident about bringing the show back in 2005. Basically, in preparation for the first series, he and Julie Gardener (one of the executive producers at the time, who is now also returning alongside RTD for his new era) were watching a bunch of classic Who stories and it was after watching City of Death that they became convinced that Doctor Who in the 21st century could really work well. They essentially took the basic tone and style of City of Death and applied it to modern Who. That's why so much of modern Who's dialogue is so witty and comedic in comparison to most of classic Who. City of Death is an absolute comedic masterpiece and I adore it.
John Cleese was actually shooting Fawlty Towers when he did that cameo. He's even wearing the same clothes from the show.... It was a genuine surprise to viewers at the time. None watching that first transmission saw that one coming....
City of Death is literally perfect. Dougan punching everyone in the face is one of the best jokes Douglas Addams ever wrote I swear.
When I went up the Eiffel Tower I yelled out Bye Bye Duggan at the top of my voice. I received blank looks
I did that the last time I went to Paris.
At 16:27, when The Doctor & Romana depart, the implication is that they “flew” down to the ground, as the very next shot has Duggan looking over the side of the tower down at them.
This is a callback to part 1, where Romana asks, “Shall we take the lift or fly?" The Doctor: "Let's not be ostentatious." Romana: "All right... let's fly, then."
I wonder how a timelord flies… surely not with bolts of lightning ala The Master in “The End of Time.?!?”
I caught that during Sesska's reaction, and had never noticed it before (I've seen the serial two or three times).
This is my favourite Fourth Doctor story, I really wish that Duggan became a companion, he worked so well against Romana and the Doctor.
Scaroth is the original Impossible Girl, isn't he 😄
Sure, the one skews a little toward silly, but great locations & guest cast make this one a classic.
Years ago, John Cleese did an infomercial for a Westinghouse cordless vacuum and it was the craziest thing I had ever seen with such oddball humor throughout. I saw it while randomly flipping through channels and never saw it again. It must have been pulled off the air very quickly and there's almost no evidence of the infomercial's existence save for a short clip on RUclips. Glad you liked his cameo in Doctor Who. We all did.
Just yes to all of this, I absolutely adore this story and to see you enjoy it and get a nice surprise with the cameos as well is just perfect
I saw in the latest Top 10 Who stories (Classic or modern) that this story is still in there!! Genesis of the Daleks is 3rd, and the the #1 is Capaldi and "Heaven Sent"! Seeing Jess so happy and excited over the John Cleese cameo and Duggan's punch was worth the wait! I'm glad it wasn't spoiled. If only Duggan got his own show, you could call it 'Time Punch!' Hahaha!!
Heaven Sent is not a one off though. It's part 2 of a 3 part story.
@@flaggerify Heaven Sent sets up and resolves its own plot. Just because there were cliffhangers doesn't make it a 3 part story.
@@flaggerify That's how it came out in the DWM poll. It's not a trilogy in the usual sense, it's more 3 linked stories, but they can stand on their own.
@@TheMoonRover It doesn't really make sense unless you've seen the first part. The confessional dial and hybrid parts especially.
@@flaggerify I can't agree with that. It follows on from the previous episode and links in to the next one, but it's a story in its own right. Applying the same logic, would you, for example, consider *Frontier in Space/Planet of the Daleks* to be a single story with 12 episodes?
John Cleese was at the BBC a lot at this time as he was making the second season of Fawlty Towers there at this same time, so it wasn’t terribly difficult to get him to pop into this.
He also had links to Douglas Adams via Graham Chapman.
Ok, the John Cleese reaction made my week 😊
I like to think what happens in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is Kerensky's revenge on Scaroth. (If you know you know lol)
Imagine having Duggan and Leela on the TARDIS team at the same time.
Love this one. And Duggan is one of the greatest Classic one hit wonders!
I remember fragments of this from when I saw it on original broadcast in 1979. Such a great story, so pleased that you enjoyed it.
Yay! Douglas Adams' City of Death FTW! One of my favorite Julian Glover roles. For more JG science fiction fun, see "Quatermass and the Pit" aka "Five Million Years to Earth" (US title) (1967). Turns out Glover's been horribly killed by science fiction / fantasy menaces for decades.
I'm friends with Lalla Ward's second husband, introduced to her by Adams, who reports that even after Adams departed to work on his little radio show, she and Tom Baker would "Douglas-up" the scripts to add more Adams-y wit.
Also his part and death in Blake's Seven, Breakdown episode.
@@paulhollett7183 Been meaning to give Blake's 7 a real watch, I have read much about it over the years, and seen the final scene (I already knew basically how it ended). I'm a Yank but no one, but no one, did science fiction in the 1970s like the British. Even my fave American productions of the period were mostly produced in England.
@@AlanCanon2222 Give it a go. Some really good writing even if the budget was on the limited side. The end , although seen several times, still manages to shock, even now.
Never before has a Who baddie had such a lovely dressing gown and wardrobe in general. Personally I would have given up the big scheme and lived as The Count period !
This was filmed in 1979 - the same year we got the second season of Fawlty Towers 🙂
Jess, did you pick up on the fact that Bernard Cribbins, who played Wilf, Donna’s grandfather in Doctor Who, was in the 4th episode of the 1st season of Fawlty Towers (The Hotel Inspectors?) He played the spoon salesman, Mr. Hutchinson, who ended up having a fight with Basil, and Basil got his revenge by pouring milk into his briefcase and hitting him in the face with cream pies? So glad you and your dad are fans of the series!
I still maintain Richard Curtis and Steven Moffat missed a trick not bringing John Cleese and Eleanor Bron back for a cameo in "Vincent and the Doctor" 😂😂😂
As no one else has mentioned it... Kerensky is played by David Graham who is better known for voicing Parker, Lady Penelope's butler, in the "Thunderbirds" TV series and movies. He also played and voiced one of the original Daleks back in the show's second story.
He was also Charlie the barman in The Gunfighters!
One of the best ,if not the best , stories in Who history. Absolutely faultless in every aspect. Delighted that you enjoyed it so much.
You totally called the ending! 😄Glorious story
Massive John Cleese fan too, and I remember watching Fawlty Towers as a little kid and laughing so hard, and seeing him in this made me so happy. I was only 4. Douglad Adams was great friends with John Cleese, and he happened to be free when Douglas asked him to cameo. I believe he happened to be filming in the same studio at the time. Don't quote me on that. But yeah, City of Death is one of the all time greats and is in my top 3.
Were they both in The Footlights? I know Adams was.
Yeah a 10/10 from me for this one. One of Who’s greatest moments, and one of Douglas Adams’ career highlights too. The characters are so well written and acted, and then Cleese and Bron show up. Magical
And I totally agree with you about Communication Problems. It’s sublime and Mrs Richards is iconic
I never really have favourites when it comes to Classic Doctor Who stories, but the more I watch this story the more it really just becomes that.
It's Douglas Adams' dialogue that lifts this story to almost the top of the tree.
And, of course Lalla Ward in a school girl uniform, I wil mention it as no one else has.
As one reviewer once said, just when you think it couldn't get any better, John bloody Cleese shows up. Incidentally, the lady with him was Eleanor Bron, a legendary comic actress in her own right. It just makes me wish Douglas Adams wrote all of Tom's episodes. We've only have had about two stories a year, but they'd have been amazing...
Haha yes and 2 would be pushing it for the fabulously deadline missing Adams!
Completely agree that ‘Communication Problems’ is the funniest episode of television ever! Seeing Cleese in this is such a treat
Don't miss that well-known British actress Eleanor Bron was the other art critic with John Cleese.
Had no idea you were such a big Fawlty Towers fan. Your reaction to the John Cleese cameo was fantastic!
Love your reaction to this! And Communication Problems is my favorite Fawlty Towers episode too. For more John Cleese/Doctor Who goodness, theres a clip on RUclips of Cleese and Tom Baker doing a bit during the filming of this episode, which I think was for the BBC's Christmas gag reel. It's only about a minute long, but it's a kick seeing them together.
Fun fact: John Cleese appeared as the art critic as a favour to Douglas Adams. He filmed his cameo during his lunch break at the BBC TV Centre, WHILST filming Fawlty Towers....
He also did a quick skit with Tom Baker for that year's BBC Christmas tape, while he was there.
@@therealpbristow Which of course can be found on RUclips. Just key in Doctor Who and their names.
The story was mainly put together by Douglas Adams over a weekend in a rush job,your face was a picture when you saw John Cleese and Eleanor Bron as the Art visitors.
The poor scientist was one of the first Dalek voice actors. David Graham is 98.
He has recorded new Dalek dialogue for the colourised version of "The Daleks" which the BBC will broadcast on November 23rd.
@@colinmcdonough4034 Looking forward to it.
As I understand it, the TARDIS getting sold as an artwork in The Fires of Pompeii is a direct nod to the John Cleese/Eleanor Bron scene in this story.
I wished that Duggan become a companion he would have been an excellent addition to the TARDIS team.💗😊🤔
One of the best loved Doctor Who stories in Classic Who! I was shocked when I saw John Cleese's cameo for the first time. I was already a 'Fawlty Towers' fan via PBS here in Philadelphia. I don't think I fully saw 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' TV until a few years down the line. I had seen their movies however.
This is my favourite Tom Baker story, it brings be so much joy, I love it.
Btw Scaroth’s actor is Pycelle in Game of Thrones
I love that story about you and your dad watching Fawlty Towers together. John Cleese is such a legend. I've only seen a couple of episodes and have always wanted to do an actual viewing.
Definitely tell this is an Adams story.
The humour and character investment always pay off.
Oh, I am right there with you on Communication Problems. My fave episode, has me in stitches every time. I think I quote it a lot still. - Andy Frankham-Allen
This was Classic Who's story with the highest ratings, I believe.
Yes the John Cleese Cameo is brilliant! No wonder this story is excellent but of course back then I never knew how popular this story was because as said before this story really terrified me when I was a kid. But definitely a great story!
City of Death part 4 had the highest UK viewing figures of any Doctor Who episode ever, at 16.1 million. Helped by the fact that ITV was on strike, leaving only BBC2 to compete with it.
Packer’s (of the Invasion fame) distant descendant playing Scaroth’s guard
There was a rumor going around back in the mid 1980's that they wanted to do a big screen DW film and the major rumor was that they wanted John Cleese to play The Doctor in the film.
I believe this was Tom Baker's highest rated episode, in terms of viewers.
As with Douglas Adams' other Dr Who stories, this one didn't make it into print early. And then from someone else. But bits of it crept into his late 1980s novel 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'. Which was fine if you hadn't seen this and it's not exactly recycled.
Scaroth being splintered through time,bet he bumps into Clara a few times!😊
Have you ever seen something in a museum that you were not sure was an exhibit?
For some reason, the scroll with Scaroth on it was embedded in my mind for years before I could remember where it came from. Did our one-eyed friend know the likes of Sutekh and the Osirians?
Its such a wonderfully memorable tale. Tom at the top of his form.
Wish the 'THIS IS AFAKE' was referenced in Mona Lisa's Revenge.
There is a skit that Tom Baker and John Cleese did on set. I'm not going to spoil it but it's on RUclips and quite funny.
Scientist actor was also sweet Charlie the Barman in The Gunfighters.... came to a similarly sticky end, casually murdered by a callous villain. One more into classical literature than Renaissance art though.
Sometimes, there are some stories that are so acclaimed by critics and fans that it's hard not to get the feeling that it's a little overrated. That's definitely not the case with "City of Death." "City of Death" is so well written, acted and a masterclass in how to do a good Doctor Who comic story. "City of Death" is what Classic Who did best.
Overall, "City of Death" is wonderful. It's a shame that the next three stories this season... aren't at the same level of quality, to say the least.
watching you react to John Cleese was almost more fun than watching it the first time years and years and years ago.
Thanks for a fun reaction to (possibly) the most fun Doctor Who story in history! Douglas Adams was a genius!
Thank you for the reaction. I always liked this episode, it is just so much fun. I wish I could hit like twice I enjoyed the reaction that much. Keep 'em coming. 😄
Wow that wasn’t a very long break, welcome back!!
I love "Fawlty Towers" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" my favourite "Fawlty Towers" episodes are "The Germans", "The Pycharatrist" and "The Kipper and the Corpse" that show is a timeless classic you really should check out more BBC sitcoms as part of the reaction if you haven't seen it already such as "Blackadder" or "Red Dwarf".
I love all the Tom Baker stories but this one "City of Death" is my fifth favourite story along with "Pyramids of Mars", "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", "The Robots of Death" and a story you haven't reached too yet.
One of the top 10 episodes ever ..... and John Cleese was the cherry on top
Fawlty Towers is The Beatles of sitcoms.
It’s just so joyful isn’t it?
One of my Fav's!!!
One of my favorites!
Great reaction, an oh yes seeing John cleese was such a bonus to such a fun story.
Also does the last episode give anyone TNG finale vibes...I feel the Star Trek writers dre3w some inspiration from this storyy for their finale.
John Cleese was the Doctor we never got!
Douglas Adams Masterpiece
Cleese's desire to be billed as 'Kim Bread' in the credits mystified both the department head and, frankly, myself. But it's a nice little cameo and there was even a brief skit he filmed with Tom on set, which turned up in the BBC's internal Christmas video and is out on the internet somewhere or other. The Python team had little overlap with Dr Who in the main, although their contemporaries, The Goodies, saw fit to include both Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton in various silly guises for the benefit of comedy.
I think Duggan could in some ways have been an awesome companion
A delightful reaction to a delightful story.
a decessed parrot dead polly im a lumberjack love this guy the lurch
Top 5 of all time.
Cleese has announced that he will be reprising the role of Basil Fawlty in a new series. His real-life daughter will co-star as his daughter on the show.
Let's pause this reaction until the end of series 3 of The Sara Jane Adventures.
i always love watching your reactions to doctor who and supernatural
Aside from your classic Who Reactions and of course, the big 60th specials, will you be reacting to any other bonus who, for its birthday month, such as the Tales from the Tardis? or any of the Proms for examples?
She might do tales after she has done of classic who- it lets her watch all the series and not just specific episodes
Brilliant reaction
Unfortunately the budget was cut for this season and K9 was expensive, thats the unfortunate reason we don't see him
Here's a short behind the scenes clip from "City of Death" you might enjoy: ruclips.net/video/qT5_hFUCbX0/видео.html
Bet you never excepted John Cleese to turn up in this 😆
My favourite 4th Doctor story
Oh yeah, John Cleese appeared.
You are an absolutely great reactor and we don't mind one bit that you mispronounced Duggan's name. Now, regarding Davros... 😅😅😅