DOCTOR WHO - TIME TO CLOSE THE BIG BLUE BOX FOR GOOD?

DOCTOR WHO, in its 50th year, is showing distinct signs of age, if Saturday night's offering is anything to go by.  That has to have been the shoddiest special effects I've seen in a long time, either on the programme itself or anywhere else.  Was it really beyond their budget or ability to show a convincing shot of the Doc and Clara on a space shuttle-scooter-thingy-doo-dah (or whatever it was called) and not have it look like something out of BLAKE'S 7 ?

And the plot?  O dear o lor'!  Singing lullabies to an alien 'GALACTUS' to keep it asleep so it wouldn't consume the planet the intrepid time travellers were visiting.  And how does the Doctor deal with the situation?  Essentially, talks it into submission, while taking a leaf out of Clara's book (literally) and giving the big nasty alien thingy a dose of sensory overload.  What a load of old pants!

Part of the problem, I believe, is that the writers are trying to be far too 'clever'.  Instead of 'showing', they prefer to have the Doctor 'telling' - resulting in a running commentary of just how the frock-coated fruitie and his companion are going to defeat whatever menace threatens them 'this' week.  Cue tedious exposition from the Doc as he goes over all the points that the budget (or the writers' lack of imagination) are unable to translate into visual terms.  (A coherent plot at the outset would doubtless be a huge help in reducing the Doctor's incessant and annoying chatter, it seems to me.)

When one compares '60s STAR TREK at its best (CITY On The EDGE Of FOREVER, I ain't talking Tribbles), the show had a sophistication that Doctor Who has simply never been able to match.  (Or even come close to, for that matter.)  Although created by the Drama department and not the Children's, it seems to be aimed at juveniles or sub-literate adults who have never had a girlfriend and smell a bit funny.  I hate to say it, but unless it gets its act together, maybe its upcoming 50th anniversary might be an ideal time for the BBC to wrap things up and draw them to a close.

Either that or bring back a WILLIAM HARTNELL-type Doctor (the slightly sinister version, not the benign grandfather he was turned into later) to give the show a bit of bite.  Frankly, I'm tired of a supposedly thousand-odd year old Time Lord who behaves like a giggly, chatty teenager having heaps of jolly ol' fun in the face of impending danger.  I sometimes think that '70s comedian DUNCAN NORVELLE (with his "Chase me!" catchphrase) would be the ideal candidate to play the Doctor, given the way the character is currently portrayed.*

Agree or disagree?  You know where the comments section is.

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*UPDATE: A mere two weeks later and, indeed, the Doctor utters the immortal line "Chase me!" to the Crooked Man in the episode entitled 'Hide'.  I must be psychic.

JUST WHERE IS YOGI BEAR?

When I was 4 or 5 years old, one of my favourite toys was a LOUIS MARX friction-drive yellow scooter with YOGI BEAR riding it.  In fact, I liked it so much that I got another one for my 6th or 7th birthday.  By that time the first Yogi's scooter had disappeared, but I still had Yogi himself, and would let him have a 'backie' on new Yogi's scooter.

I've been trying to track down a replacement for many years, but so far with no success.  The closest I've gotten is to the above picture of the box in a HANNA-BARBERA TREASURY book I purchased a few years back.  If any of you happen to own this toy or know where I can obtain one, please get in touch.  I'd even settle for seeing a photo of it.  If you can reunite Yogi with his childhood pal, let me know in the comments section.

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And thanks to the kindness of 'J', I can now show you some photos of Yogi himself, sitting astride his yellow scooter.  I hope to be buying this very item quite soon, so I'll keep you posted on what transpires.  This is the first time I've seen this toy since I last owned my two as a child, so it's amazing to see it again.