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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE!
@droho.bsky.social
190 followers 230 following 640 posts
A dude who reads & watches far too much sci-fi & cult TV/cinema. Massive Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Star Trek, Star Wars & Bond fan & co-host of the Who Corner to Corner Doctor Who podcast.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 13d
Blake’s 7 series 2 blu ray out soon so now feels like a good time to catch up with series 1.
I’ve watched this a few times over the years but this is my first time on shiny BluRay with new FX and cleaned AV.
Given how bright & sharp the iconic intro looks (and sounds!), this is gonna be great!
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 22h
Came here to say exactly that 🙂
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Definitely. Means you can fall asleep halfway through and when you wake up during the credits (like I did) you haven’t actually missed anything.
I’m probably doing it a disservice. It’s not a bad story; gives us a little context for the Auronar and it’s quite disturbing. Just feels … out of place.
Reposted by No! Not the MindPROBE!
moralavenger.bsky.social
Richard Binns @moralavenger.bsky.social · 1d
ON THIS DAY... 19 years ago, The Sontaran Experiment was released on Region 2 DVD, including the story Built for War.

#DoctorWho
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Jenna starts speaking in tongues, some stuff happens on the planet and when I woke up again the little guys had trashed the place and killed everyone in a brutal attack. The Liberator flies off just before a trio of Federation pursuit ships arrives.
The End.
Meh…
A bit of a misfire this one imo.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Back on the planet some freaky little dudes called Decimas get angry and start attacking the lab. The little guys are manufactured life forms, just like the silver dudes. The guy in the tank is someone from Cally’s planet, and the voices in his head - The Lost - are a bunch of mythical outcasts.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
It’s definitely better than the old SFX…
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
A web in space forms around the Liberator and holds it place. The crew try to blast their way out but to no avail. Fun fact; this is the first time we see the ship firing its neutron blasters, and the new effect is pretty cool.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Back in the lab on the strange planet, the two weird dudes in sparkly outfits start doing some weird shit.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Meanwhile, new crew member Cally is wandering the Liberator with a crazed gleam in her eye. Vila says ‘Hi’ and she socks him one. Then holds the crew at gunpoint. Except for Gan, who creeps up behind her to take her out.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
… And then there’s this messed up little spindly-legged freak in a jar.
A miniature man with a full-sized head. I think it’s him doing the chanting.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
There are some strange people in sparkly outfits lying on comfy recliners…
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
… And then we’re taken into a strange laboratory in which a whispering, sibilant voice chants some words over and over, getting louder and clearer as the camera walks us through the lab’s various rooms.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
The set up for this story is very spooky, very eerie, and weirdly disturbing. Actually the whole story works as an exercise in mood-setting.
First, there’s a looong walk through a cobwebbed forest inhabited by a lost Rover from ‘The Prisoner’…
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 1d
Ok… Time for some Blake’s 7.
Problem is, it’s an episode that’s always bored me senseless.
But let’s give it a go, it’s been a while since I last watched … The Web!
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Time Squad isn’t a bad episode. It’s notable for bringing the crew to 7 & giving Jenna some action. But if it weren’t for Cally’s introduction I think this would be what’s known in modern parlance as a ‘filler’ episode. Sadly my final pic didn’t turn out, so here’s Jan Chappell looking brilliant!
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Anyhoo. The Federation installation gets blown up and Gan just manages to pull it together long to teleport the guys away from the chaos they caused down below.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
And heavy man Gan isn’t much use. Turns out he’s got an implant grafted into his brain designed to limit his actions to a level of violence a notch below actual murder.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Anyway. While the guys are off having fun with their new friend, Jenna creeps about the darkest places of the Liberator fighting off the homicidal crazies awakened from the alien pod. Seems all they want to do is kill anything which isn’t their own kind and protect their brood bank.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Incidentally, the OB film sequences show their age the most. The restoration team have done a cracking job, but there’s only so much they can do. Especially as some kind of lens treatment seems to have been applied in-camera to help sell these scenes as being on another planet. Rather than Bristol.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Cally is all that remains of the resistance group Blake hoped to contact. The others don’t trust her but she knows her way around, so they pick up their coolbox and head off to blow something up! The first of many industrial factories repurposed as Federation installations we’ll see in this show.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Meanwhile Blake continues to Saurian Major, where he’s attacked not by a ventriloquist, but a telepath. It’s Cally!! From Auron. And I’ve never been clear on whether the Auronar are actual aliens or an offshoot of some human colony that developed mind powers. And I’d forgotten she was in this ep.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
There’s a nice sequence - even better with the new FX - where Avon manually pilots Liberator to pick up the pod. Excitement over, Jenna senses something isn’t right with it…
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
They discover that the capsule contains a bunch of weird-looking dudes in cryogenic suspension. Thankfully there’s also oxygen - well, until it starts running out, that is. Gotta hand it to ole Terry, he never passed up the chance to introduce a frisson of jeopardy whenever things looked a bit dull.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
En route to Saurian Major, where Blake hopes to meet up with a sizeable resistance group, the Liberator picks up a distress call from a drifting capsule of unknown origin. Zen is cagey about it so Blake & Jenna teleport across for a closer look.
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droho.bsky.social
No! Not the MindPROBE! @droho.bsky.social · 4d
Btw I was going to post all these under one thread but after 3 episodes it’s already unwieldy, so I’ll break them up a bit. Anyway, Time Squad, in which the recently expanded Liberator crew familiarise themselves a little more with their strange, shiny spaceship. Though Avon’s not impressed…
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