Today we take a look at one of Doctor Who's most hated stories... Underworld. Is it unfairly hated, or accurately assessed? Twitter: / dalamreviews 0:00 10:45 Conclusion
Underworld is a very strange story to me. I don't feel that it's lackluster not necessarily because it did something wrong, because I got the feeling it doesn't do much of anything since there's nothing much to work with. There's an explosion in the story and I still felt like nothing much of anything happened. If anything, I just remember a whole bunch of bumbling around in dark, dank caves with the occasional conversation.
See for me I don’t hate the CSO so much because I know the technology wasn’t what it us now. Yes the CSO is insanely bad, but the thing that I really don’t like about this story is just how boring it is. Everyone seems bored. Also, everything is brown. There’s no pop of color. The Doctor’s scarf has the only pops of color. I’ve always joked that Underworld is great if you have insomnia. Also, the dvd commentary has the greatest Tom Baker stories ever. 5/10? You’re very generous. I give it a 1/10
@@DalamReviews I will admit I enjoy episodes 1 and 4 because of the model work and the added lore to the timelords in them. Episodes 2 and 3 are what hurt the story.
I genuinely laughed when you mentioned what would make a truly bad story regarding the Doctor and the companion relationship. You are going to "love" "The Twin Dilemma".
It was ambitious for it's time but ultimately when compared with earlier Tom Baker stories it's not going to be looked on favourably. Good to see you back and look forward to more reviews in the future.
First time I watched it I quite liked the first episode, and thought it had a pretty good cliffhanger. And doesn't that spaceship bridge set look familiar? But just nothing dramatic happens after that. I like the fact that the Doctor goes back to painting at the end. What he was doing at the start. The suggestion that he pops out the TARDIS every so often when fancies the distraction of an adventure is quite fun. It's not a terrible story. And it does succeed at it's primary aim. Not having twenty five mins of blank tv screen on a saturday night. But it's just not a memorable one.
I can put up with wobbly sets and effects, or (in other stories) daft monsters and costumes, or continuity errors, or conceptual plagiarism, but everything that's wrong with this one contributes to the worst crime a Doctor Who story can commit when all of space and time is available: It BORED me.
I'm with you on that, I think that's one of the biggest metrics by which I judge a Doctor Who story, if it can't hold my attention then what even is the point of it? There's plenty of Doctor Who stories with some dated effects that I love, this one however...
It's far from the best of 70s Who but also far from the worst. There's some interesting stuff going on but unfortunately it gets less interesting with each episode. They also set up a "Chekov's gun" with that device in the first episode that can temporarily strip people of their aggression but its use was entirely incidental, with no bearing on the rest of a story. I couldn't care less about the dodgy CSO. I'm a child of the 70s and we just rolled with it back then. Now if you really want to talk about 4th Doctor stories that are a chore to get through I'd suggest "The Armageddon Factor" or "The Invasion of Time".
There's no doctor who episode I've seen that I outright despite or hate, unless they somehow make an episode that genuinely pisses me off which hasn't happened yet,this serial is fine but it's probably something I won't watch again
Underworld is a very strange story to me. I don't feel that it's lackluster not necessarily because it did something wrong, because I got the feeling it doesn't do much of anything since there's nothing much to work with. There's an explosion in the story and I still felt like nothing much of anything happened. If anything, I just remember a whole bunch of bumbling around in dark, dank caves with the occasional conversation.
See for me I don’t hate the CSO so much because I know the technology wasn’t what it us now. Yes the CSO is insanely bad, but the thing that I really don’t like about this story is just how boring it is. Everyone seems bored. Also, everything is brown. There’s no pop of color. The Doctor’s scarf has the only pops of color.
I’ve always joked that Underworld is great if you have insomnia. Also, the dvd commentary has the greatest Tom Baker stories ever.
5/10? You’re very generous. I give it a 1/10
I'm with you on the colors for sure, a largely visually uninteresting story, unfortunately. I'll have to seek out the commentary!
In Underworld's defense, the model work for episodes 1 and 4 is really really good by classic Who standards.
Yes! Think I somehow forgot to mention, but was struck by that, especially in comparison to what surrounds it
@@DalamReviews I will admit I enjoy episodes 1 and 4 because of the model work and the added lore to the timelords in them. Episodes 2 and 3 are what hurt the story.
I didn't necessarily hate this story, in fact I completely forgot about it and have absolutely no memory of it
It's certainly a story filled with issues, but ultimately I have no hate for it either
I like Underworld its slow paced in parts but it was a decent enough story i think hate is a harsh and strong word.
Yeah, I couldn't hate this story, and even though I'm not a fan, it's not the worst thing the show has produced
I genuinely laughed when you mentioned what would make a truly bad story regarding the Doctor and the companion relationship. You are going to "love" "The Twin Dilemma".
It was ambitious for it's time but ultimately when compared with earlier Tom Baker stories it's not going to be looked on favourably. Good to see you back and look forward to more reviews in the future.
Thanks! And yeah, watching the show chronologically does this one no favors
Production issues aside, there’s some good writing in there. Not highly underrated, just slightly
First time I watched it I quite liked the first episode, and thought it had a pretty good cliffhanger. And doesn't that spaceship bridge set look familiar? But just nothing dramatic happens after that. I like the fact that the Doctor goes back to painting at the end. What he was doing at the start. The suggestion that he pops out the TARDIS every so often when fancies the distraction of an adventure is quite fun. It's not a terrible story. And it does succeed at it's primary aim. Not having twenty five mins of blank tv screen on a saturday night. But it's just not a memorable one.
At least a blank screen doesn't crush your expectation for more.
Well Leela’s outfit did it’s best 🤔😊
I can put up with wobbly sets and effects, or (in other stories) daft monsters and costumes, or continuity errors, or conceptual plagiarism, but everything that's wrong with this one contributes to the worst crime a Doctor Who story can commit when all of space and time is available: It BORED me.
I'm with you on that, I think that's one of the biggest metrics by which I judge a Doctor Who story, if it can't hold my attention then what even is the point of it? There's plenty of Doctor Who stories with some dated effects that I love, this one however...
Compare & contrast what happens with this tech in “The Invisible Enemy.”
It's far from the best of 70s Who but also far from the worst. There's some interesting stuff going on but unfortunately it gets less interesting with each episode. They also set up a "Chekov's gun" with that device in the first episode that can temporarily strip people of their aggression but its use was entirely incidental, with no bearing on the rest of a story. I couldn't care less about the dodgy CSO. I'm a child of the 70s and we just rolled with it back then.
Now if you really want to talk about 4th Doctor stories that are a chore to get through I'd suggest "The Armageddon Factor" or "The Invasion of Time".
There's no doctor who episode I've seen that I outright despite or hate, unless they somehow make an episode that genuinely pisses me off which hasn't happened yet,this serial is fine but it's probably something I won't watch again
It's still better than Fear Her or Forests of the Night.
Oh no, Dalam's done it, haha - I was literally just thinking about this story as I made my coffee.
Haha, and what a story it is!
Yes, this wasn't a perfect serial, but "Underworld" was nowhere near as bad as "Horror of Fang Rock". 🤔
The story is OK here; it's the execution
I like Underworld