Classic Who "State of Decay" Parts 3&4 Reaction

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[@TheElderBlotch]

The Three Who Rule are fang-tastic villains but my favourite scene of State Of Decay has got to be the Doctor and Romana in the prison cell. We get the epic lore bomb about an ancient war between Time Lords and vampires (which is metal as fuck), a reference to the Doctor's guru we met back in the 3rd Doctor era and the sweet "You are wonderful" exchange which is somehow all the more poignant knowing the actors' precarious relationship. You're dead on about it being presented as if the Doctor is telling a ghost story and props to Big Finish for playing on this by having the Doctor show an instinctive revulsion to vampires whenever he encounters them, almost like a race memory.

[@Adeodatus100]

I wonder if that scene in the cell was shot on one of the days that Tom and Lalla's relationship was going well? The warmth between them seems very real.

[@astra6031]

you could even argue that the Doctor's revulsion to the Vampires is due to his Own history with the Vampires. after all we now know the Doctor was around back then and even if he doesn't remember that the deep rooted truama to having fought the worst of the Vampires could remain

[@nesshane71]

State of Decay is a certified classic story. I have it in my top 10 4th Doctor stories

[@cyrusq5999]

It’s a classic. Would’ve been even better, imo, if Adric & K-9 weren’t in it.

[@ryanpollard1166]

One of the many things that I love about this story are the little lore drops in this story of a war between the Time Lords and the Great Vampires, making it sound like the Time War before the Time War. I also believe the Time Lords were also at war with the Racnoss around this time. Definitely adds to the weight and gravitas behind the threat presented here

[@danniemadsen1996]

Well the thing about the Time War we know from New Who is that it is far from the only Time War. It’s known as the Last Great Time War. There were other Time Wars if you deep-dive into the lore. There’s also the War in Heaven, the Black Sun War, the Deindum War, the Second Dalek War, the Ghost Wars and much much more…

[@whobp8]

Lovely! I love it when you get really enthusiastic about a story, it warms my heart. At one point, instead of a giant vampire, they were considering very short vampires, only three feet tall, but then they realized the stakes would be too low.😂

[@Melancthon7332]

BOOOO

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Underrated story...can't wait to see your reaction to next 3 stories🎩

[@petersvillage7447]

I wonder if the Doctor's objection to hearing about Count Dracula is a little dig at the way this script was originally put on hold because of the BBCs 'Count Dracula' being in production...

[@frankshailes3205]

Definitely! I'm sure Terrance Dicks put that in as a bit of pawky humour.

[@lucasdolding6924]

Loved your reaction to K9 on the throne 😂

[@nesshane71]

Lalla Ward's acting career had her dealing with a lot of Vampires over the years

[@DonnaLang42rockglobally]

Yes. If I remember correctly, one of her earliest roles was in a Hammer Horror film called "Vampire Circus" where she and Robin Sachs played siblings.

[@rogershore3128]

This 4 parter was pure Hinchcliffe.... A beautiful left over from another season and yet it works superbly with this season.

[@cameronmonaghan6883]

love State of Decay and it's contribution to more fantasy style story telling. The raid of the tower is a favourite plot point of classic who. The Doctor and companions galvanising the locals to rise up. Doesn't happen often in the revival stories.

[@DocRobAC]

So glad you liked this story, it’s one of my favourites. Am really looking forward to what you make of the next one too.

[@SKIP-yj3xp]

In the book "the Eight Doctors" the Fourth was bitten by these vampires and the Eighth Doctor , who was traveling through his own timestream, had to give the Fourth a blood transfusion, so he wouldn't turn into a vampire. The Eighth interacted with his past selves in scenes taken from episodes throughout the show's history.

[@andrewroberts299]

Glad you enjoyed this story as much as you did. It’s a great example of good storytelling triumphing over less than brilliant effects (although these effects do work quite well in this story.) Terrance Dicks was one of a handful of writers who really ‘got’ the whole Doctor Who concept, regardless of which Doctor he was writing for. Dicks had been script editor for most of Troughton’s last season, and all of the 3rd Doctor’s 5 year reign, so he knew a thing or two about what scripts would work for Doctor Who, and what wouldn’t. This is probably why many fans think that the Pertwee years are the most consistent for any one Doctor tenure. 3 is my favourite Doctor and I can count on one hand the number of poor stories he had during that 5 years (and no, one of those stories wouldn’t be The Time Monster, as I feel it is a hugely underrated story.) ‘Uncle Terry,’ as he was affectionally known in fandom, wrote not only some great Who, but some of them added to the mythology of the series and were major stories in their own right. He co-wrote Troughton’s last story, The War Games (which first introduced the Time Lords), he script edited the whole of the Pertwee era, bowing out as script editor to write Tom Baker’s first story, Robot, and returned in season 13 with The Brain of Morbius (which introduced the notion that there might have been previous Doctors before the William Hartnell incarnation.) Dicks came up with the vampire story to begin season 15 (which later became season 18’s State of Decay), but the BBC got cold feet because they were soon about to air their own prestigious version of Dracula, and they worried that a Doctor Who vampire story could be seen as being jokey towards it, so it was quickly replaced with Dicks writing “Horror of Fang Rock,” (which introduced the Sontaran’s arch enemies, the Rutans.) After State of Decay, Dicks would be called on to write one more Doctor Who story (which you haven’t seen yet - so no spoilers), but he did it brilliantly, and whilst not structurally sound plot wise, he managed to fulfil the brief he was given and it ended as a fitting tribute to him on his time with the show. He was also responsible for writing the majority of classic Who stories into Doctor Who novels and his wonderful prose turned Who fans like Paul Cornell into future Who book writers (Cornell wrote the 7th Doctor book, Human Nature, which RTD turned into a TV adaption for the 10th Doctor.) He also wrote the much loved “Father’s Day.” So Who fans have a lot to thank ‘Uncle Terry,’ for. RIP Terrance Dicks 1935 - 2019).

[@Allancarlostani]

"State of Decay" was even better on this rewatch. Great story. Next week... WARRIOR'S GATE! My unpopular opinion: this story is a masterpiece.

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Not unpopular at all I agree.

[@Wannabe_Baby]

That moment when you saw K9 on the throne was so funny. :) This one's definitely a lot of fun. I don't know of any other vampire stories that have them as 300ft tall, able to drain the life from a whole planet.

[@Eltonlaleham]

The vampires destruction was awesome and as the main villains of this story, they were awesome and the villagers were awesome in billions of ways too I hope Seska you enjoy the next Dr Who story after this one.

[@mikebasil4832]

State Of Decay was a fine honour as the last of the gothic horror stories for Tom Baker’s era.

[@sauvixcustoms]

Quote of the video 'Go, K9. Go. Go, K9. Go'

[@dafmor]

This was originally written by Terrance Dicks as the opener for season 14 in 1977 under the title "The Vampire Mutations" (or possibly "The Witch Lords"), but was shelved before filming due to the BBC having a production of Dracula in the works which would have clashed. The story that Dicks quickly came up with as a replacement was "The Horror of Fang Rock".

[@andrewroberts299]

It was supposed to have opened the 15th season, and been Graham Williams first story as the new Doctor Who producer, but as you said, Dicks came up with a more than adequate replacement with Horror of Fang Rock (though perhaps not as strong a story as what State of Decay eventually turned out to be.)

[@dafmor]

@@andrewroberts299 Whoops yes - I meant Season 15. Thanks for the correction. I'm guessing Leela would have had the role later taken by Adric in this.

[@williamhuebler68]

K9 didn’t even get his blood sucked! Or grow large very large canines ;)

[@markmullins8622]

The actor playing Tarik is the father of Paul Bettany, of Avengers and DaVinci Code fame

[@stickytapenrust6869]

I love how in the TARDIS, futuristic technology is just old computer punch cards and receipt print-out paper…

[@GeordieJoe1892]

I love the soundtrack from this story. I had to find it and download it after watching your reaction. "Then die. That is the purpose of guards." Chilling line delivery indeed. I think I'd quit my job as a guard if someone said that to me in that tone.

[@alexfletcher5192]

As an artist, Tom's stint in Hammer Studios' 'Vault of Horror' is a reminder that he was just as well versed in playing creepy villains as this lot. (Hammer had employed Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, Lalla Ward and Wendy 'Zoe' Padbury - among others - in the pursuit of homegrown horror thrills). And I was watching the TV spin-off 'Hammer House of Horror' not so long ago; where I was treated to Rachel Davies (Camilla) and, in a rather darker instalment, Julia 'BENNIII!' Foster. This is not to say we spend all our time identifying actors from Dr Who in other shows. Sometimes I even open the curtains.

[@Adeodatus100]

It's an immutable law of the universe that every time someone credits Vault Of Horror to Hammer Films, someone else _must_ come along and say "Actually, it was Amicus". Sorry, I don't make the rules.

[@EdSigma]

@@Adeodatus100 Beat me too that one! Tbf, everyone makes that mistake, Hammer were just such a big name at the time, if it's a British horror film from the period, it's about a 60 to 70% chance it's a Hammer.

[@The0thDoctor]

This story was re-worked from a draft that was intended for the 4th Doctor and Leela, at the time Terrance Dicks wrote it, K9 hadn't been introduced (nor Adric) so he had to somehow incorporate them in short notice. The higher team were quite happy with K9 being in the Tardis for the whole episode but Dicks knew how popular K9 was with kids which is why he insisted to give him his moments in the last 2 episodes. In addition this was actually the first story filmed for Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. Tom and Lalla were not on good terms for the filming of this episode hence why they spend a bit of time apart and Tom was ill for most of it too.

[@alexfletcher5192]

I have to say, if they did Gallifreyan Bow-Ships today, it would be pretty rad. As a one-off. Maybe a movie. Tom Baker had spent quite enough time - alongside Ian 'Harry Sullivan' Marter - trying to get a Dr Who film off the ground. Judging by its final appearance in print some years ago, it would have been quite bonkers. But would we expect anything less?

[@kenmcauliffe3028]

I would have loved to have seen the Great Vampire with modern effects.

[@therealpbristow]

I'd have loved to have seen it with competently done effects for the time! =:o1

[@MrOhara77]

This was the first Doctor Who story that genuinely scared me. Of course I was five at the time, and my introduction with vampires. Up next ... WARRIOR'S GATE A bit high concept at times, but still probably the best of the E-Space saga. See you then.

[@helenwood8482]

One of my favourite Tom Baker stories.

[@nickbrough8335]

A great story, but I'd love to see it redone with the modern era budgets. IMO, this is Tom's best season for a number of years. If only JNT had managed to be this restrained for the rest of his time as producer.

[@Melancthon7332]

Loooove this one. It's the rare story in Who where you are actually admiring the camerawork and lighting! Several times I'm caught saying "That's a great shot", something Classic doesn't always concern itself with. The makeup and costuming are also just killer, I'm sure they really enhanced the heightened performances from the Three. An atmospheric, handsome, satisfying banger. Speaking of which...I love the next story even more, and I have N O O O idea what Jess is gonna make of it! Can't wait!

[@EdSigma]

This story has quite the legacy; a few years ago we had the crossover even Time Lord Victorious, which had the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Doctors (along with a squad of Daleks) travelling back to the time of the Vampire Wars, The Dark Times, and that was a lot of fun. The Ninth Doctor got the bulk of the vampire part of the tale in the comic story Monstrous Beauty, showing what the conflict was like, down to seeing Bow Ships in action, Rassilon herself on the front lines (yes, they changed gender with regeneration too), and entire spacecraft manned by the undead.

[@AnthonyP73]

You're hard pushed to go wrong with an Uncle Terry script. Love this story, love this season. I always marvel at the way the stories and common themes (decay, entropy, and change) always seem to build naturally to the climax - with no need to shove it in your face.

[@Eltonlaleham]

The vampires are so awesome and when Zargo the vampire and Camilla the queen wake up and confront Adric and Romana Adric bravely throws a dagger at Zargo it was a shame in trillions of ways Tarak got killed and this story is one I shall fish out and rewatch sometime soon.

[@andrescastro5520]

Great reaction, as always. Your appreciation of the acting and costumes gives me a new perspective of this episode.

[@scottboswell6406]

I always loved the idea of, instead of making vampires supernatural, they went in totally another direction and made Timelords the first vampire hunters! In all the stories this season we see Romana grow into her own, to where The Doctor follows her ideas! The Doctor being frustrated by Adric? This is the first time, Far from the last!

[@garymcgregor5951]

This story, and the next, are two of my favorites!

[@TimelordRick]

My First Who story ever!

[@davidpo5517]

This is a really good story, and I've always loved the idea of a Time Lord war with the vampires in the ancient early days of the universe. Also interested to see what you'll think of the next story. It's very abstract and out there, not sure, but it may remind you of the confusing parts of the Deadly Assassin inside the Matrix. Trippy.

[@bryananderson8241]

I think it's really good that you enjoyed this, meaning I can be positive about the series going forward, could be fun despite this era not being my favorite. ❤❤❤

[@erasedmind7120]

I knew that one would land positively. I am eagerly anticipating Jess' reaction to the rest of this season. Hoo boy.

[@ianbuckley2347]

Glad you love this story so much Jess. Its my favourite of the season even though it has some strong competition. Great reaction to a great story. Thanks.👍

[@danniemadsen1996]

The thing about Adric saying he was bluffing to save the Doctor… it is not really clear whether he was actually bluffing or trying to save his own ass by saying he was.

[@Allancarlostani]

The concept of an unreliable companion is good in theory, but it didn't work very well with Adric, and it's hard to say whether it was the script's fault or the actor's fault.

[@cyrusq5999]

Both. Adric, came across as an ungrateful c**t - rubbishing the attempt to save his life by Romana and (the now dead) Tarak.

[@frankshailes3205]

They did show the whole Great Vampire but you probably blanked it out afterwards. It was the puppet underneath the tower on their scanner screen.

[@paulhammond6978]

Aukon's performance is just marvellously atmospheric. This whole story is - as you've heard from comments last time this show was a bit of a hold over from the Hinchcliffe days, because it was shelved at the time because the BBC had some adaptation of another vampire story due out at the same time. Hey, other fans out there - is this the first mention of the fact that the Doctor has a type 40 Tardis?

[@robinstorey2061]

No. It was around before then. I'm pretty certain the first ever reference to Type 40 is in The Deadly Assassin.

[@ftumschk]

@@robinstorey2061 Correct, although it was said to be a "Mark 4" TARDIS way back in the Hartnell era... not that any but the most nerdy fan would have been bothered by, or even noticed, the contradiction.

[@kevinmerchant2478]

They had a prestigious "Dracula" story at the time, it would have been around the same time as "brain of morbius"

[@Payne2view]

Adric there endearing himself with his "unique gifts of personality".

[@alexfletcher5192]

In the era of 'Do it Yourself' fanzines, I once tried to start a cheap periodical called 'Hydrax' - because I thought it sounded cool - and it plummeted to Earth faster than this scout ship.

[@therealpbristow]

Oh! I think I remember seeing that one. I got to a couple of Panopticons back in the day, and scouted out the dealers' tables. Alas, on my meagre budget, I usually only came home with one issue of Skaro and a couple of signed video covers. =:o}

[@russytherutan]

I was sorry that the three who ruled died as they were great characters brilliantly portrayed by the actors. K9 had an excellent story here after the traumas suffered this season. A 10 out of 10 for me.

[@frankshailes3205]

Talking of sinister line delivery, the Counsellor, Aukon, was played by Emrys James who also played a memorable detective in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Sign of Four" in 1987. Notable because that character had quite a sinister demeanour too, and it turns out from the most famous Sherlock Holmes biography that said detective was in fact... Jack The Ripper! So his casting and direction as a very sketchy sort of bloke might not have been accidental.

[@Nyssa337]

Wow, I have seen Jeremy Brett’s Sign of Four so many times and never noticed that Inspector Jones was the same actor as Aukon. That is very interesting.

[@vagonkhan7278]

I liked the idea that real vampires were these immense creatures that could drain the life from entire planets, while the vampires we all know from folklore are just pale imitations of the real thing.

[@kevinmerchant2478]

Hi Sesska. Are you going to watch "K9 and Company" at the end of the series, which was when it was made as part of season18?

[@MSTA1234]

She’s already watched it a while ago

[@DNulrammah]

Nice third addition to the classic horror genre ("The Brain of Morbius" - Frankenstein monster), "Full Circle" - Lycanthropy - Werewolves). Were there others ? Ghosts? (mummies - well - "Pyramids of Mars")...Ghouls?

[@cyrusq5999]

Ghost / ghoul (sort of) at the Palace Theatre in TALONS.

[@andyjarvis7120]

Seeds of Doom - Day of The Triffids

[@stevenmcmullan409]

Wait, wait, wait. Is K9 the king or is Threepio the king? I'm confused.

[@terryfleenor8678]

Love your reaction videos, especially the classic doctor who, was wondering if you have heard any of the big finish doctor who. They have some with the doctor fighting the vampire war some are adapted from the novels one too listen to is Damage goods. It is some what of a sequel to this story. Hard to find in book form. 54 years old and I still go for classic who.

[@kant12]

Romana is my favorite.

[@Stephen-Fox]

This really is a fantastic version of Doctor Who Does Gothic Horror, and gargantuan vampires is a fairly novel twist on the concept as well. Not my favourite of the season, but an absolute banger.

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

I like that Adric is kind of Romana's companion, rather than the Doctor's. Not quite a top-tier story for me, partly due to the ham, but a very solid middle-tier outing.

[@cyrusq5999]

The Queen seems to like Romana a lot!

[@tonynelson2262]

I always thought of Adric as a cross between Dr. Smith and Wesley Crusher.

[@stickytapenrust6869]

Really looking forward to what you make of the next one!!! 😁😁😁

[@kenmcauliffe3028]

K9 is a good dog!

[@paulshorney3465]

Love this story

[@Lynxdoc]

I’m not sure but I think the village scientist was the really Hammy actor in Horns of Nimon he played Tom in waiting for God. I would love for nuWho to revisit E space to follow up on these stories.

[@therealpbristow]

No, totally different guy.

[@cyrusq5999]

No - but the same actor turned up in 1986’s TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS.

[@robinstorey2061]

Anyone recall if the special effects were improved for the Blu Ray boxset release? I don't think they were (shame) but I could be mistaken.

[@cyrusq5999]

Sadly no. I was hoping they would be (favourite story of the season). LOGOPOLIS got the new CGI effects. I would’ve liked to have seen all the exterior shots of the tower replaced - along with the scout ship taking off and staking the G.V. Imo, the model work isn’t quite as impressive as it should be in this serial.

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

If you like this episode please check out Big Finish's Doctor Who: Goth Opera. Seems the Great Vampire's descendants are back!

[@Jaketherobonrd]

Honestly I don’t have a strong opinion for State of Decay. It’s a story that really didn’t grab my interest but i do know sadly during the making of this story Tom and Lalla were not getting along with each other after their marriage.

[@The0thDoctor]

Tom and Lalla weren't married at this stage, but they had started a relationship and were having a disagreement. Tom was also ill for the majority of filming for this episode.

[@jimcat6795]

@@The0thDoctor Yes and I think they were on much better terms for the "you're wonderful" scene #meta

[@frankshailes3205]

@@jimcat6795Yes, this was filmed straight after The Leisure Hive, Tom was still ill. They did Meglos next, then Full Circle, and were getting on well enough a few stories later to get married (during one of the recording weeks of Keeper of Traken, I think).

[@maartenvangeffen4508]

So what eps did they not get along with on?​@@frankshailes3205

[@therealpbristow]

@@jimcat6795 Or they're good actors. =:o} I don't know if it's ever been revealed whether they were directed to sit facing apart for that scene. or whether it was their choice to avoid looking at each other until that little exchange. Either way it's now canon that Time Lords flirt by facing opposite corners of the room and teasing each other with spooky stories and/or gradual reveals of important information. The "winner" gets a genuine compliment. =:o} (Notice that Romana's "I suppose I am. I've never really thought about it" is echoing what the Doctor said in Part 1, in response to her exasperated "You are incredible!")

[@jimcat6795]

Great story! #GoK9Go 😀

[@BeagleBabyBeastie]

Go K-9 Go!

[@tracyleewilliamson4727]

AWESOME LOVE IT

[@joshuajoshua2732]

It's a really great story very gothic which I miss and unfortunately lacks with New Who this was a proper science fiction vampire story although "The Vampires of Venice" is an ok episode I think this one is the definitive and most clever imaginitive vampire stories of Dr. Who ever. Tom Baker still hilarious and clever as always. Romana is the type of character Jodie Whittaker's Doctor should had been. Adric is a very mixed bag with some fans but it will be interesting to see what you think of him as you go on with his episodes behind-the-scenes Tom Baker and Lalla Ward did not get along with Matthew Waterhouse who plays Adric on set because he was he was an inexperience actor telling experienced actors they can't do this or shouldn't do that and that really annoyed Tom and Lalla. I love how protective you are of K-9 this episode he didn't get battered in and was finally appreciated.

[@MetalPharoah]

Wow, not long now until a new beginning.

[@estoy1001]

What We Doctor Who In The Shadows

[@Seppppy38]

2 more episodes to go go until lagopolis my favourite story

[@mark-s]

First proper horror episode since season 14 good story the next story I disliked but the final stories of this season are classics