Lallalicious
I love The Leisure Hive, even though it makes less sense every time I watch it. I like all the close-ups and the out-of-focus elements and the Jean-Michel Jarresque music and how all the characters seem to be in some sort of nonsensical dream.
And the DVD commentary is one of the best. Bidmead and Bickford both say they hated K9, and Lalla says “well you’re a pain, the pair of you.” And she continues to provide a balance for Bidmead’s obsession with science and no jokes. According to her, “tacky onyx” is a kind of bath tap. It’s fun to listen to Bidmead as he tries to figure out what’s going on in the story. “Well you wrote it,” says Lalla.
And for the first time, I can see the string pulling K9 along the beach!
Posted by John on Wednesday, June 22 at 11:24 pm
13 Comments...
The commentary on Leisure Hive is definitely great fun. I love how the opening tracking shot has barely even begun when Bidmead is already sniping at Lovett Bickford about it. It’s possibly the bitchiest DVD commentary on a Doctor Who story, ever.
Posted by Graeme on 06/23 at 12:20 PM
Oh, I don’t think its anywhere close to the bitchiest commentary for a Doctor Who story. One of the best commentaries, yes, and the debating is great, but I sensed mutual respect in the booth, rather than the sort of “Doctor Who sucks, they shouldn’t bring it back and wasn’t my hair awful in this scene” stuff that we’ve seen in the commentaries for certain other 1980’s stories that have been released.
The extras on Leisure Hive are great, and what a shock to find out that Chris Bidmead is actually the long-lost twin of Christopher Lee!
Honestly, they could put him on Dead Ringers and get him to parody Count Dooku.
Posted by Luca on 06/23 at 02:22 PM
Depends on how you define bitchy. I think the way they sniped at each other makes it bitchy, not the actual remarks themselves.
Posted by Graeme on 06/23 at 02:38 PM
Agreed, bitchy is one thing but negative is anothe. A bitchy commentary can be fun but a negative one is just tedious.
Posted by Mike on 06/23 at 04:50 PM
That said the story still makes more sense compared to some recents events on TV. The extra that really stands out on the DVD though is the care and attention given to the opening titles and music. They worked on them for weeks and really thought about it. Compare that to the current series seeming 3 day jobs from what I’ve heard. The Mill and Murray Gold should have watched this feature and realize what they were doing was something worth spending time on.
Posted by Ryan on 06/23 at 05:24 PM
whatever, Ryan. I love the new title sequence as much if not more than the season 18 title sequence.
Posted by John on 06/23 at 05:29 PM
Hey Ryan, who pees in your cornflakes anyway? They worked on it for weeks because it was cel animated by hand. If Sid Sutton had access to CGI facilities like the Mill don’t you think he wouldn’t have used it? And done it faster?
Posted by Graeme on 06/23 at 05:34 PM
Strange, as I thought the opposite. I think a transcript of the commentary would seem a lot more “bitchy” than it would when actually listening to it. For example when Bidmead asks “What kind of a name is ‘Lovett’ anyway?”, on print that sounds harsh & insulting, but when you hear how he says it you can tell he says it jokingly. Even the “you’re a pain” line sounded more like good-natured banter to me rather than serious dis-like. Which is great.
Oh, and I like both the new title sequence and the Sid Sutton one. They both score over the McCoy era version, which IMO seems the most dated.
Posted by Luca on 06/23 at 06:48 PM
There is more creative disagreement among the participants in the Leisure Hive commentary than in any other so far, suggesting a real struggle over the soul of Doctor Who in those days - whether it should be funny or serious, fantastic or scientific, for children or teens/adults - that had never occurred before but which would divide people more and more from that point on. But I too found the disagreements grounded in mutual respect. And in spite of the disagreements they’re quick to praise each other when they like something, and they do find things to agree on. Bidmead in particular comes across as thoughtful and likable despite his uptight attitude towards comedy. It’s just too bad David Fisher wasn’t in the commentary - he could have answered a lot of their questions!
Posted by Curt on 06/24 at 02:56 AM
Which stories had the sort of commentaries you are referring to, Luca? I only have a few Pertwee era stories on DVD, and those commentaries are warm and funny, which is natural, considering how well that era’s cast got along…
Posted by David K on 06/28 at 01:45 AM
The (otherwise great) Earthshock commentary features Janet Fielding making all sorts of comments like the ones I paraphrase earlier. The Visitation one is also a bit like that with her, though because the director Peter Moffatt also sits in on that one I don’t think she comes across as harsh as in Earthshock. Same with the Resurrection of the Daleks commentary where director Matthew Robinson is also present.
To me there is no comparison between her commentary comments and the well-reasoned, interesting intellectual good-natured debates between Ward, Bickford and Bidmead on The Leisure Hive.
Posted by Luca on 06/28 at 01:46 PM
I’d love to see a Davison/Bidmead commentary…
Castrovalva anyone?
Posted by Michael on 07/15 at 05:03 PM
This is defo the most bitchy commentary I’ve heard, and I’ve only got about another eight to listen to. If you watch the extras, Lovett states that he was never invited back to the show which I think still stings. I can’t believe that he and Bidmead built up any kind of relationship, so when Bidmead, who always seems very critical about OTHER PEOPLE work, start on him from pretty much the opening credits, Lovett goes on the counter attack. At times Lalla is drowned out by their disagreements.
Because he’s absent, a lot of criticism is aimed at David Fisher and his script. This is despite Bidmead at one point claiming he wrote the script himself! It’s fascinating stuff in which Bidmead doesn’t come out well!
Posted by darkwebonline on 09/28 at 02:02 PM
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