Classic Who "The Caves of Androzani" Parts 1&2 Reaction
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Welcome to my reaction to Doctor Who "The Caves of Androzani" Parts 1&2! I hope you all enjoy!
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One of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time. Robert Holmes's superb writing, Graeme Harper's innovative direction, Roger Limb's doom-laden score, intense gritty atmosphere, a uniformly strong cast, Peter Davison at the top of his game and two of the best villains ever with the cuttingly bone-dry Morgus and the venomous, skin-crawling yet tragic, iconically designed and utterly captivating Sharaz Jek. The lack of reliable characters was intentional as Holmes wanted to put the Doctor "through hell" and yet by subverting many of Doctor Who's tropes, The Caves Of Androzani ends up representing the very best that Doctor Who can be.
Which makes it contrast even more with the next story🎩
@@neilmcdonald9164 It's funny, both my favourite classic story (this) and my favourite New Who story (Heaven Sent) are directly followed by some of the very worst stories of all time.
Also what is great is there really is no good guy in this story besides The Doctor and Peri.
@@The-FishkeeperHell Bent is great.
@@Allancarlostani Well I guess it's all subjective at the end of the day, but I couldn't disagree more.
Peter Davison is phenomenal in these 4 episodes
Yep! Absolutely a stellar performance!
Peter's era isn't one of my favorites of the Classic Series but that isn't due to any lack of acting ability on the part of Mr. Davison. I just feel he didn't get a lot of good writing during his run, but oh boy, put the great Robert Holmes in the mix and give Peter some great lines where he can react to some well written excellently acted antagonists and he shines like a supernova. It is just a pity that the best serial Peter ever got was at the end of his run.
@@bjgandalf69 Davison and Holmes definitely make a great combination.
In addition to the more obviously heroic moments, I love the way Five keeps placing himself between Sharaz Jek and Peri in their first scene together.
A lot of people say it and I have to agree, that Davison is terrific in all these episodes. It feels like he finds a whole new attitude to him in the eleventh hour of his tenure.
Yup, and I think he even said if he had more quality stories and directors like Androzani he would have stayed with the series for longer.
The quality of a Robert Holmes script makes a difference. Davison is outstanding.
I think that's claptrap
The people who deserve applause for the triumph that is The Caves of Androzani: director Graeme Harper, screenwriter Robert Holmes and the excellent cast headed by Peter Davison.
More than that. The editor, camera operators, script editor…
Everyone was firing on all cylinders when they made this!
Doctor: "Curiosity's always been my downfall." Master: "Curiosity is his weakness."
Nice catch!
"You have the mouth of a prattling jackanapes but your eyes… they tell a different story. "
That one line of dialogue does so much to sum the Doctor as a character regardless of incarnation. All the more reason this story and it's writer are so beloved.
Yeah - most Doctors do have the gift of the gab.
That line reminded me of a novel, 'Blackcock's Feather' (1932) by Maurice Walsh, set in Tudor Ireland, which was set for the Inter Cert in the 1980's, when the hero describes his honourable adversary, Sir Frances Vaughan thus - 'his shoes were those of a court Popinjay but his eyes were the eyes of a man'. But the best writers adopt and recast all the time. The cliff hanger for Episode 1 recalls that for the first episode of 'The War Games', which we all know is Sesska's favourite story, albeit Holmes has a more ingenious resolution.
I love how on point your choice of designer cushion was for this reaction, inadvertently paying homage to Sharaz Jek!
Oh yes !! Nice spot 👌
"Be careful not to slip" Five's comedic timing is underrated.
Followed up by "it's probably quite harmless"... not one of the Doctor's best predictions there.
And u can see nicola bounce on the mattress they had off camera haha love it!
He's low key snarky but gets away with it because he looks so charming and nice and preppy 😅
I always loved 5's underrated sarcasm
Put the nicest doctor of them all in the worst situation he can be in and you got a classic story. Mixed with superb guest stars and a top quality script you've got one of the best of all time
The Caves of Androzani stills stands as the absolute best story of the Fifth Doctor's Era, an undisputed classic that's occupied a place as a top 10 fan favourite to this day, and was even voted once as the best Doctor Who story of all time. Even Peter Davison has said that it is the best story he has done. A visceral war story that's phenomenally written by Robert Holmes, masterfully directed by Graeme Harper, brilliantly acted by everyone involved, and with a marvellously doom-laden musical score by Roger Limb.
I dispute. I can see only a boring business theme in it, and nothing that the characters stand out for !
Oh Sesska you need to upload the last 2 parts right now i cant wait for your reaction.
Knowing what I know, when I hear her talk about losing Tegan and Turlough, and loving Five, all I can say is: Brave heart, Sesska.
The actor who played Salateen played Peter Davison's brother on the British sitcom, 'Sink Or Swim'. He would return to modern Who as Thomas Edison in 'Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror'.
I knew he looked familiar!
Yes. It’s Robert Glenister, brother of Philip Glenister from Life On Mars, amongst other things.
Sadly, a few years ago, Robert broke down during a stage performance due to long-term struggles with mental health. Which must have been awful for him. I don’t know how things are now, but I hope he’s much better.
These episodes. The true pinpoint of showing how this incarnation of The Doctor is just fed up with all the death.
Sharaz Jek is one of the greatest one-off characters in Who history
How ? He is just an illicit businessman. Plenty of others have had the same attributes
@@conscienceaginBlackadder Jek is an evil genius, a madman, a brilliant schemer, tragic, melodramatic! He looks the part of a Batman villain, in fact, that's what he is!
@@Skeezer66 Davros ? Omega ? The Captain in Pirate Planet ? A sluglike guy who Sesska has not seen yet ? Many such characters. SJ does not even stand out as creating anything memorable
@@conscienceaginBlackadder It's all a matter of opinion, but of those names you mention, Davros is the only one above Jek, and that's based on his many appearances. Those other ones? No no Hell no! To put it another way, if Genesis was Davros' only appearance, he'd still be number one, Jek and Harrison Chase from Seeds of Doom are equally memorable.
Morgus breaks that 4th wall harder than Disney Who ever could.
Wait a minute...Mrs. Flood Is really Morgus's mom out for revenge!!
I always drew parallels to the Phantom of the Opera with these episodes. The Sharaz Jek's costume and mask, a hidden genius hiding below everyone who is infatuated with a young woman, and the constant misdirections.
David Bowie was originally considered for the role of Sharaz Jek.
My favourite fact about this episode is that Bowie was the favourite to play Sharaz Jek, and he was going to do it, had he not been on tour at the time of filming
I have to say, the Part 1 cliffhanger is great. Normally cliffhangers would cut away before any bullets are fired, but not here!
Doctor Who's best story by some considerable distance. A Jacobean revenge tragedy with machine guns, disguised as a children's television series. With perhaps the series' best guest performance, its best Doctor performance, and a hell of an ending. And then there's the direction...
It’s so good. So good. It’s great. Tense, brilliantly written, Shakespearean, brilliantly acted and directed. Amazing - but I’d imagine everyone here knows that
That cliffhanger at the end of part one was so dramatic. This story is one of the best of the Classic era. If only modern Who could be as gritty and sinister. Robert Holmes was one of the greatest writers of all time. Great reaction.
This is the story where ALL the characters (with the exceptions of the Doctor and Peri) have absolutely NO CHILL whatsoever.
In my humble opinion, the greatest Doctor Who story ever made
This episode, with "Genesis of the Daleks", are considered the two best episodes of the Classic Era...
Agreed!
Hands down the best version of Shakespeare translated into a Doctor Who episode. Morgus and Jek speaking like the screen is like actors at The Globe speaking to the crowd.
This one is regularly voted as one of the top 5 best stories of all time. It's brilliant.
I never get how it is. It's just about boring businessy stuff !
This story comes close to being my favourite of the entire show with only Earthshock beating it to number one. Its tense, beautifully directed and performed so well its hard to believe its a Doctor Who story. Peter cements his position as my favourite doctor and Nicola gives a fine performance as Peri. The guest stars all put in great work and to top it all off Robert Holmes is back writing for Who again. Absolutely Briilliant.
To this day, the caves of androzani tops polls as the greatest classic doctor who story. Such a masterpiece
Crazy that we're already at the end of 5, feels like you just started him recently still. I do love how they give an explanation for the celery only until his final story, it's like if they only brought attention to 11's bow tie in Time of the Doctor. Also obligatory mention that the role of Sharaz Jek was offered to David Bowie but couldn't do it due to scheduling conflicts, would've been really cool to have Bowie in Doctor Who and it's a great role for him to have played too. I love how much you've enjoyed 5 so I am definitely very eager to see your next reaction lol 👀
It probably feels quicker as the last 2 doctors had such long runs
@ Yeah definitely
There's a lot of fans that consider this to be the greatest DW story of all time. It was number one on many fan polls for years. It's definitely the best Fifth Doctor story.
Oh, I can't wait for part two!
I love how your choice of pillow perfectly mirrors the Sharaz Jek design. Almost poetic.
The Doctor Who directorial debut of Graeme Harper! (The Waters of Mars, and a good few more)
I’m not sure but I think he’s the only director to work on both Classic and New Who. I believe him to be one of the best directors the show ever had.
@@GrilloTheFlightless he certainly brought a brand new flavor and flare to the show and knew how to disguise the budget and limitations of the show with his camera positions and adding so much atmosphere to scenes to make them seem more expensive than they were.
There is no Doctor Who story that I've watched more than this one. Classic or Modern.
Such a beautifully directed and masterfully done 4 episodes of 80s Who.
Holy cats, we're already at Caves?! I want a time machine so we can spend more time watching with Jess
Fun fact: Robert Glenister who plays Salateen in this also played Peter Davison's brother in sit-com "Sink Or Swim".
And later played Thomas Edison in Tesla's Night of Terror
Riveting fact.
The most interesting aspect of that is that the two of them kept ruining takes because they had such good comedic rapport with each other that they kept accidentally ad-libbing jokes and cracking each other up.
@@NaanProphet the bloopers from this story are amazing to watch
I was confused and thought that Salatern was Robert’s younger brother Philip Glenister who played Gene Hunt to John Sims (the Master) Sam Tyler in Life On Mars.
We got dramatic camera turns and a slow moving monster! I knew you would love this!
Sharaz Jek is a great character and so is Morgus! So well cast and so well acted, gotta love CoAndrozani!
Often thought if they ever wanted to do another story about end-stage capitalism they should return to Androzani Major in some past or future time.
My favourite Classic Who story, amazing to watch when it was first televised, still packs a punch today...
I jumped on this in under 15 minutes after upload, now I'm annoyed at myself cause now have to wait another week!
Glad your enjoying this story Sesska. And what do we have here? A slow moving monster! 😂 youll need a box of tissues for the next episode!! 😮
This story is directed by Graeme Harper, the only director from Classic Who to subsequently direct on the modern series.
Actor Robert Glenister (Major Salateen) has appeared in the modern series in the 13th Doctor story Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror as Thomas Edison. Before appearing in Caves of Androzani, he and Peter Davison had starred in a sitcom called Sink or Swim as brothers. They had a hard time doing scenes together in Androzani, because they would frequently crack each other up when they looked directly at each other.
The best story in all of Who! Love it, and really enjoying your reactions! Can’t wait for this time next week!
The whole thing with Sharaz Jek and his facination with Peri and her beauty and his disfigurement was based on the Phantom of the Opera.
This is one of the best and probaly the most darkest serials after "Resurrection of the Daleks" apart from the Doctor and Peri there's no good guys here.
This is Peter Davison's favourite story and considers one of the best written stories of his tenure as the Doctor.
One of the greatest indeed. Get your tissues ready for the next 2 episodes.
oh this is Masterpiece I can't wait for you to see the next episode
The mystery of the celery is revealed.
5 at his snarky best. Easily the greatest serial of 80s Who.
Probably my favorite episode of the 80's, absolutely the best Peter Davison episode, and probably the best regeneration scene ever. And I'm including 21st century Who in that regen count.
The celery that the 5th Doctor always wore on his lapel was a fake prop.
In the mini-sode Time Crash, you will notice that the celery looks quite different, and that is because they used a real celery stick for it.
Always loved the Peri eye roll.
It's generally thought that Morgus keeps talking to the camera because the actor misunderstood the meaning of rhe instruction "Aside" in rhe script. Graeme Harper quite liked it, so they stuck with it.
Poor Nicola Bryant. It really was a baptism of fire. After the volcanic ash of Lanzarote,s he now caught real-life frostbite on location for this story. People don't mind suffering for their art when it's worthwhile, but it usually stops short of taking a bath and seeing bits of your flesh slowly detach...
Here we are - one of the best stories, Classic or Modern, and one of Davison's personal favourites to make. Part 1's cliffhanger is legendary - and Part 3's is even better! Robert Holmes was definitely the one of the best writers in Classic Who and he knocks it out of the park here! Haven't been this excited to see your reaction since we got to Earthshock!
One of the best!
For modern day fans, Graeme Harper is the director behind some of David Tennant's most epic moments (including the holy trifecta of 'Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey's End'), but this is his first adventure behind the camera and he makes everything count. Harper actually started off as an actor, before changing course and joining the BBC in the 1960s (he was a Floor Assistant on Patrick Troughton's debut, 'Power of the Daleks' - and later Douglas Camfield's right-hand man on the vegetarian's nighmare 'The Seeds of Doom'). It's perhaps fitting then that he would later direct the charity special 'Time Crash', in which 5 and 10 come face to face - and let's not kid ourselves that David wasn't picking their brains over this story during the recording...
You mentioned Seeds of Doom, featuring another fantastic villain, definitely a Jek prototype.
One of the greatest stories. It has Five in it and is written by Robert Holmes, so the sass level is turned up to 11
19:17 Salateen is played by Robert Glenister, who made a comeback in NuWho as Thomas Edison in _Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror._
Also starred opposite Davison in the, to be honest, forgettable sitcom Sink or Swim.
@@jakegodfrey4320Nice in-joke when he says to Davison ‘I know who you are’
This is one of the best stories. The only thing that lets it down is that Magma monster.
My favorite Doctor. My favorite story. Sublime to the last. Cliffhangers that ACTUALLY made me wonder if he'd get out of it. This was voted best DW story of all. There's Caves and then there's Blink. Everything else is gravy.
I'm happy to find someone who likes Tegan as much as I do.
The uniforms of General Chellak's troops always remind me of the jackets Dominos Pizza delivery drivers used to wear in the eighties.
How you're saying how much you love the Fifth Doctor just before you're about to watch these last 2 episodes, perfect😅👌
The guy who plays Jek (Christopher Gable) was - I believe - a trained ballet dancer, so this part was unbelievably different to what he was trained as.
Probably the best 5th doctor story, very well written.
Notice when Peri falls into the pit she bounces off the matt to protect her fall
“Is this wise I ask myself”
Aye the moment where they should have got back into the TARDIS and left.
In "defence" of Salateen using Peri as a human shield, he knew the android wouldn't have shot Peri because she was wearing one of Jek's belt plates which the androids are programmed not to shot the wearers of.
Also, this is easily one of the best Doctor Who stories of them all.
Yeah... but he's also clearly a horrible human being. The whole point of The Caves of Androzani is that with the exception of the Doctor and Peri there isn't a single decent character worth saving in this story.
@@Allancarlostani hence my "..." on defence.
Except the shield frequency had been changed by Jek...
@@marknorth8904he hadn't changed it yet, and Salateen evidently never realises even when it does get changed until it's too late.
@@timidwolf I just realized that after I sent the reply....Salateen had a rough time during this episode...
this story was ranked #1 story by Doctor Who Magazine for a few years now. Forgot a lot of it so it's nice to rewatch with fresh eyes. can't wait for the next one
Well we made it. Caves of Androzani is highly regarded as one of the best stories in the show. It’s often at #1 or #2 on the list of classic episodes and Peter Davison said this is his favourite story. My experience with Caves I really like the story don’t get me wrong, but honestly it doesn’t have much impact on me because already been spoiled by so many clips before I got the chance to watch it. For me Genesis of the Daleks will be always be my favourite story of all time new and old.
This is one of my favorite stories of the classic era!
There are very few, if any, other Doctor Who stories which evoke this level of gritty, grounded menace. Even the fact that the weapons shoot bullets rather than laser beams adds to the uncompromising sense of realism. And there's no quirkiness to offset the claustrophobic dread. I don't think the show would work if all the stories were like this, but this - as a standalone - is a spectacular success.
One thing about Peri is that she really goes through it during her time on Who- she does NOT catch a break especially after this story💀
The Sass was strong with fifth in this one, 😂.
Yeah, that's what happens when you finally invite Classic Who's best writer, Robert Holmes, back to the show after a hiatus of several years.
We enter experimental TV territory here, pushing 1980's boundaries. Here, it worked very well. My first event where I saw cast and JNT was summer 1986 at Madison, WI.
I believe this is the same "Androzani" as in the Christmas special "The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe". The featured industry was harvesting something valuable.
@@JulieFreyHomeWebBiz It is!! But many, many less deaths.
The role of Sharaz Jek was originally offered to none other than David Bowie! Others who were considered: Tim Curry, Mick Jagger, Brian Cox, Michael Gambon, Julian glover (Scarlioni) in City of Death),
You should recognize the name "Androzani Major" from "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"
I’ve been waiting for this reaction ever since I discovered your channel. I’m thrilled. I hope you had fun watching it :)
My favourite Doctor Who story of all time.
Peter asked JN-T to explain the celery before he went but it was Eric who suggested Bob write the story, so we thank Bob for the background of the decorative vegetable, I suspect Peter put the bit about being good for his teeth as he was not keen on celery and if you saw him in the deleted scenes from Castrovalva, the look on his face confirms it. Also to get some info on why Peri called The Doc a pain, I'd recommend checking out the special features of this story (sorry for any spoilers).
The 5th doctor is my favourite classic doctor and has one of my favourite regeneration stories. I really like the suspense it has, and the acting was done quite well.
She doesn't know that might want to edit it.
@@daviddieben She's started season 22 by now.
The Sharez Jek section of this story is basically Doctor Who does Phantom of the Opera. It was very much inspired by that, obviously.
Jess, in reference to your comment about being able to see what is going on without it being too bright to show the shortcomings of the production budget...the team learned a few lessons from the overlit "Warriors of the Deep"...😂😅😊
I'm looking forward to you seeing how this story ends (which you already know by now).
I've not watched it in a few years but am just reminded how it shines (in a really dark way) on so many levels. The return of Robert Holmes after a long gap (writer of the Autons, Carnival of Monsters, Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, Talons of Weng-Chiang etc) with such a well constructed and rather atypical DW script. The debut of Graeme Harper as a director on the show - and he would be the only classic series director who would work on nuwho - helming Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and Waters of Mars as well as some Sarah Jane Adventures stories. Davison really shines with such excellent material - both Davison and Nicola Bryant (Peri) rate Caves of Androzani as their one story.
I know you've already seen 3 & 4 by now but not going to say anything too specific about it in the comments to not spoil it for anyone here not familiar with classic who, but that cliffhanger at the end of 3 is my favourite one of classic who, hands down.
Probably my favourite 5th Doctor story 😊
What a great story. Five is at the top of his game here 👍
At the Gallifrey One convention in LA near LAX in 2012 I believe, someone asked Peter Davidson how the doctor has that celery as celery quickly wilts. So does the Doctor have long lasting celery or does he eat it at the end of the day and replace it the next? I had never considered this and thought it was a pretty good question. Without missing a beat, Davidson says “It regenerates”. The number of men from 18 to 70 in that room with jaws hanging open. Classic.
Some have pointed out that the celery wasn't real. He got the first stick from Castrovalva, which was a creation of the Master. And then he replaced it with one from the Eternal's ship in Enlightenment.
My favorite Doctor Who story of all time. And that factors in both the classic and current series.
Oh I just realized what story this is! Oh God... I'm still new to Classic Who (ironically) but I feel like every Whovian and their mom is aware of this story. LOL I'm strapped in.
Robert Glenister quite early in his extensive career. Of course, he returned as Thomas Edison in 13's Tesla episode.
Robert Holmes loved Gothic horror fiction, and creating double act character pairs. Sharaz Jek being the Phantom of the Opera in a way. Probably my personal favourite adventure for the Fifth Doctor - and that is up against some pretty stiff competition too.
One of the best of the 5th Doctors adventures for sure.
One of Doctor Who's classics, and to my mind the better than all apart from one story until the very end of the classic series.
The locations in this story are awesome
Peter Davison. Graeme Harper. Bob Holmes. Doctor Who firing on all cylinders!
Ahhh celery lore!
As just about everyone on here will have pointed out, Sharaz Jek is basically 'Phantom of the Opera'. Bear in mind that Robert Holmes (and, to be fair, his boss, Phillip Hinchcliffe) spent the mid-1970's raiding the vaults of pulp fiction and film for inspiration; from 'King Kong' to 'Frankenstein' to 'Egyptian God' (funny how these things keep turning up). But there are no whimsical characters in this one; no Jago and Litefoot or comical capitalists like Gatherer Hade, hurled from the top of a building like a CEO being punished by Americans on Red Note. There's just damaged goods and Morgus - a clinical psychopath in a corporate universe. Sound familiar?
I know you will have finished this story on your Patreon by the time this goes out, so I feel comfortable in telling you the fact that Peter Davison only agreed to wear the celery if it were explained in a script why he wore it. It of course took until his last story for them to do so.
Also Salateen in this story is Robert Glenister. You may recognise him, although of course he’s much younger here, as having played Thomas Edison in Jodie Whittaker’s era
An absolutely wonderful story.
Caves has an entirely different feel to any other Who story. It's so operatic but gritty; simple in its basic plot but kind of complex as well. It's an incredible send off for 5 (relax everyone, Jess's RUclips is about 2-3 weeks behind her Patreon)