Doctor Who: Season 25 (1988). This is not the Greatest Show in the Galaxy. This is just a Tribute.

[@Para2normal]

Dammit, I love this and the next season. Sylvester was a brilliant Doctor and Sophie knocked it out the park as Ace.

[@TCHorwood-xq7mw]

IMO possibly the best Doctor/ companion combo.

[@diverguy3556]

​@@TCHorwood-xq7mwNah. That'd be Doc2 and Jamie.

[@afjkernow1808]

Doctor 3/4 and Sarah and Doctor 10 and Donna

[@Nearside]

@@diverguy3556 That's a good one, too.

[@permiek]

Doctor 4 and Sarah Jane Smith

[@raybearoz]

Thanks! I've been waiting a long time for your vid of this and happy to show the appreciation... This is definitely the show gaining it's stride back... until... well.... Thanks again... Bring on S26!!!

[@StamFine]

thank you very much. very, very, very, very much

[@IamShawnMichaelAllen]

American here and I’ve never watched Doctor Who but I love this channel and watching these videos is especially great for someone like myself as they’ve given me a newfound appreciation for the show. It’s pretty cool learning the history of it. Keep up the great work Stam!

[@AnthonyP73]

I needed something like this to watch...thanks Stam

[@Tolstoy111]

Will be seeing Sylvester and Sophie at Chicago TARDIS next week.

[@ciaranmurren]

My first Doctor 😢 I salute you!

[@joshhayes5218]

I love this channel and your delivery in these videos is brilliant

[@40somethingmanchild]

I've been waiting for this 😊

[@dionturner4279]

Ace is just such a great companion, the template for Rose and everyone that came after. Her appearance with McCoy a couple of years back in modern Who was such a treat, and all sentiment behind their acknowledgment of a strained relationship and break felt so real to who those characters are (I guess referencing back to some of the New Adventures books). Both of them together are a wonderful Doctor/Companion duo.

[@81hewp]

Love Ace!

[@whophd]

Making my way through the box set now. The Dalek story absolutely restored the show (for a minute).

[@calvinkatt662]

I'm jealous. In the US, it's not even available for pre-order yet.

[@rpgober3048]

Miss this!

[@raybearoz]

Been waiting for this a long time.. looking forward to it... and having met the great man last weekend as well!!!!

[@indevelopment3453]

would give a second like for dalek going downstairs if i could

[@BellsCuriosityShop]

It took that long for them to learn to fly upwards. Even longer to learn how to fly downwards

[@timg5011]

This series was my introduction to Doctor Who. Which means the first story I saw was "Remembrance". I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I kept watching...

[@thatguyfromcetialphaV]

I personally loved Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. They were doing their best with what they had and actually did a lot of good stuff

[@simoncurry5336]

Michael Sheard was playing the head master of a British state secondary school and you didn't make a "Mr Bronson from Grange Hill" joke! But still . . . It’s Michael Sheard! It’s Michael Sheard! It’s . . . Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael! Sheard! Thanks for mentioning him and by coincidence he was still playing Mr Bronson in Grange Hill when this was made. Despite that, it was another great review. Well done! Keep it up!

[@diverguy3556]

He also portrayed Adolf Hitler five times in his career. That might be a record!

[@The_Gaming_Bristolian]

I was thinking Empire Strikes Back Myself.

[@simoncurry5336]

@@diverguy3556 and @The_Gaming_Bristolian For what it's worth he has 180 acting credits on IMDB (1962-2006). They include playing Himmler 3 times, Goering's double once (in "Allo! Allo!") and "Dr Who" 6 times in addition to Admiral Ozzel in "The Empire Strikes Back" and Hitler 5 times. I made the comment because Stam Fine used to do "Mr Bronson from Grange Hill" jokes and because Michael Sheard is often in the films and TV series that he reviews.

[@richd6362]

Great review.

[@afjkernow1808]

Another excellent retrospective. Thank you Stam. The lyrics for Gold seem rather appropriate for the poor old Cybermen. After panto season 24, season 25 was a revelation.

[@dannyholloway8597]

Thank you!!! Has made my day to see it's finally here, looking forward to sitting and watching tonight!

[@StarTrekDoor]

Everyone has their favourites. 🖖🙂

[@tskmaster3837]

Another damn fine video from Stam Fine productions.

[@jimenycricket8431]

The Doctor and Ace -- Sylvester and Sophie -- are great. I thought so then. I still think so now. You can see it anytime they have a great script, solid story. Remembrance, Curse of the Fenric. It didn't happen often enough. But when it did happen it was classic Doctor Who. Another Great Review.

[@neet2083]

Yay what are the odds. Was just re-watching your Pertwee videos after just re-watching the season 8 I just got :3

[@AwdryFan1997]

One of my all-time favorite seasons... been eager for the Remembrance Karaoke for a while, and this did not disappoint!!

[@ru5t397]

Finally, the wait is over

[@bensneb360]

Late 80's Doctor Who... what a radical time

[@plarkmoby]

I remember Sylvester McCoy's Dr the best. A wonderful video to enjoy my afternoon tea to.

[@permiek]

Greatest Show is a gem

[@Faction.Paradox]

What a biblical step up in quality from the previous year, Remembrance was the first 7th Doctor story I ever saw and has been one my of favourites ever since

[@thehighlander8407]

Stam Fine the finest late 80's Doctor Who season... What's not to love. Just watched The Collection Blu-Ray.. It's a brilliant season.

[@dougsfilmtv9810]

Good review of Season 25! I will admit Season 25 is a mix season, but if I have to choose a favorite out of Season 25 it would be Remembrance of the Daleks and it is a great way to celebrate the shows 25 years.

[@matcr8786]

You made my year!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve been checking over and over for this. I last looked yesterday!! Christmas came early!!!

[@mellowshade]

Candyman did his job. I was terrified of him as a kid and was frightened of the thought of him for years afterwards.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Awesome retrospective

[@Cosmicshambler]

Happiness patrol is my favorite 7 story

[@Nizurel]

Excellent video. I was lucky enough to be old enough to remember the McCoy original broadcast and have been kicking around the happiness patrol can foe years. Thinking about it now I agree that the candyman is better suited in its own story like in a world of chocolate / candy / dysphoria but now wonder if the candy man was created as a point: candy is supposed to be nice, as are comedy shows (the forum) or detainment zones which have games machines and snacks , basically a corruption of gapiness (who h feels part of the episode story political nods aside)

[@scientivore]

The Blu-Ray release contains a special edition of Remembrance of the Daleks where the spelling of I.M. FOREMAN was corrected. There are other changes too, but I imagine that one is the big selling point.

[@HOTD108_]

Maclunkey!

[@TheGerkuman]

Great review. It was interesting to see Happiness Patrol getting ranked below Silver Nemesis: some people REALLY hate Silver Nemesis.

[@SaskRider2]

5:50, that’s Geoffrey from The Fresh Prince!

[@tomralfe5428]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@JoshTheHeritageCollector]

Cyber Ballet? I spit my coffee out! Well done!!

[@rpgober3048]

Love the songs!

[@colormedubious4747]

Thanks a lot! Now I have dozens of Spandau Ballet songs stuck in my head on repeat. This much is true. 😉

[@lordofbats3601]

Thanks Stam good video, I broadly agree with what you said, although I rate Silver Nemesis a bit higher (Cybermen, Time travelling sorceress, and the boys from brazil with Uzi's what more could they give us)

[@SimonMinall-Burdett]

Quick note, Davros levitates in Revelation of the Daleks, which I *think* was the first time a Dalek casing was seen on TV being able to do so, in 1985

[@ShamrockParticle]

Yep. It's a quick scene with no fanfare, as was a Dalek that shot Natasha and Grigory. A planned exterior scene of a levitating Dalek was kiboshed due to weather. But "Remembrance" was the first to do it really really well. It's definitive, though I prefer the regular edition as the new CGI (while excellent) looks a little too smooth? Or I'm so enamored with the original practical effect that no replacement would do it right. And I am a proponent of using CGI if it can really enhance a scene. This is just the only one where one could argue it wasn't needed?

[@themirrorsofmymind]

@@ShamrockParticle I don't know how it looked in GB but when watching that moment in the USA (we'd have to wait for a DW season to finish in the UK and then watch it here) instead of the Dalek hovering (floating) it looked as if it was just getting bigger and bigger... Not until the recent DVD release of the story was the visual effect consistent with the scripted action.

[@neilw_]

When Silvester McCoy became the doctor he was the 3rd doctor, but my second favourite to Peter Davidson. As stated in this video, this season he got his feet under the table of being the Doctor. Remembrance will always be a favourite story of all time. And like many people my age, I had a major crush on Sophie. Who doesn't like a stronger confident woman with explosives.

[@tomsenior7405]

Excellent. I remember Sylvester McCoy from Vision On. I had no idea he was The Doctor. Nice to know what was going on in Telly Land back in the 80s. I will stay tuned to find out what happened next. Surely Doctor Who never recovered after this.

[@auxlen]

I loved Dr Who and watvhed it from the 70s onwards casually but the 7th era (the mysteriousness and Cartnel plan) had me hooked and I became a fan. The NA's and their experimentation that sometimes missed sealed my love of 7.

[@JackRascal]

Surprised at the praise for the ship SFX in Nemesis... I remember even at the time I thought they looked bad.

[@StamFine]

compared to some other attempts in Doctor Who compositing model vehicles with live action, it's a big step up.

[@zetetick395]

There's gonna be a Dalek album on Bandcamp by the end of this series, isn't there?

[@StamFine]

kzbin.info/aero/OLAK5uy_mtRxw7zC8mugJbH2em5R9eF0TGTX8SFRw also on music stores and music streaming services.

[@Ubernerd3000]

Happiness Patrol looks like a live action version of a story from an 80’s issue of 2000 A.D. magazine…which I guess makes it kinda ‘contemporary cool’

[@ShamrockParticle]

The special edition really improves what was an okay story, thanks to clever special effects and CGI, to make it feel more expansive.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Okay, I will not date anyone who doesn't own and wear the exact same style of the sweater vest the Doctor is wearing. (what is a sweater vest in Brit parlance, anyhow?)

[@postbunnie]

That seems like a very reasonable deal breaker in a relationship. As long as you only went after people who were already wearing it

[@nutherefurlong]

I wonder if the reason I'm not familiar with this Doctor was because I gave up on it in the first season, and that these improvements later are why this Doctor has an interesting reputation that didn't make sense... quite a shift

[@ShamrockParticle]

It is. The press and reviews, in 1988, were pleasantly surprising. There was still negative press, but the good outweighed the bad. The Dalek story even had some promotion, but I recall season 26 getting less... 25 and 26 are both worth watching, and the blu-ray special editions where each story has like 15 minutes or so of discarded footage that are edited back in, are largely worth the time (very few nitpicks aside!)

[@MrAlexeiGil]

WOOOOOOOO

[@bluewinds10]

Interesting fact; 'the Candy Man' is made up of liquorice allsorts but you cannot get those shapes/flavours anymore - only the boring square ones. Liquorice Allsorts? more like Liquorice F%*$ All sorts.

[@ShamrockParticle]

Pimplehead caused it!

[@WolfGordon-r3n]

Aldi's own version have those shapes and colours

[@bonaggy]

I loved Sylvester once he found his direction. Sophie provided a great companion, too. There just wasn’t enough support for them from the higher ups. However, the cast and crew managed in spite of this passive aggressive attitude. With Sylvester’s acting talent, I fully believe he could have pulled off playing the later development of the character; the Minister of Chance.

[@permiek]

Agreed. One of my fav seasons. When Power of the Doctor brought back previous Dr companion combos, it was 7 and Ace that was the stand out.

[@Mithrablank]

Always like your work, but now I feel we need a full version of a dalek singing paint it black (this is not a sentence I really expected to ever be saying as someone raised on reruns of dr who and listening to the stones, yet here we are)

[@lancebaylis3169]

Doctor Who's ratings actually UPTICKED for season 25, with several stories having better viewership than at any time since before the hiatus after the 22nd season. I tend to wonder if the charting of KLF's Doctorin' The Tardis in 1988 actually helped the show: people who thought the thing had been cancelled in 1984 suddenly realizing, "Oh, is that still on?". Sadly momentum was not on Dr Who's side, as ratings tanked in the 26th season.

[@khicle]

Will have to disagree on one thing... Happiness Patrol is pretty brilliant though I have trouble deciding whether it or the very creepy Greatest Show is better. Silver Nemesis, though, is total and utter pants. Or codswallop. The only redeeming factors it has are some neat technical ones.

[@sionfiction9566]

I remember The KLFs Dr Who song - didn't they burn 1 million pounds!

[@adampoll4977]

Yay! Been hangin' out for this one!

[@adiudicium]

This series was one I mostly missed, due to being a student. Might have to go and have a watch if I can find it.

[@Scripture-Man]

Great video! Really good script and editing! I'm (just) old enough to remember Davison, but I never really ever watched Doctor Who as a kid. The big exception was this season. I clearly remember watching this whole season and dearly loved McCoy and Ace. For the record, I LOVE the 'wobbly' Daleks. I didn't like them swaying around, but a little wobble and rattle made them look heavy and unsettling. Today's Daleks slide around like a remote control car and their movement doesn't look heavy or powerful IMHO.

[@permiek]

Great season, the production crew pulled out all stops to try and save the show. All hail Cartmel.

[@demonlurking]

Season 25 was good, but the directions that Dr Who went in Season 26 were even better. While Happiness Patrol doesn't hold up the way Remembrance of the Daleks or Silver Nemesis, it was and absolutely amazing commentary on the Thatcher administration. Outside of that reference it doesn't work quite as well. Also some of the bits about the Doctor and weapons are echoed even better in Season 26's Battlefield. The buildup for some of Season 26's more dark storylines doesn't quite work without that knowledge. Greatest Show in the Galaxy really lead into the "dark past" for the Doctor that was more fleshed out with Season 26's Curse of Fenris and Ghost Light.

[@TCHorwood-xq7mw]

As a long time Agatha Christie fan, I love your definition of posh.

[@zetetick395]

I really wish they'd go back to slightly older Doctors (of either sex) - they always bring the energy AND deeper characterization! - While I'd been watching since Davidson's Doctor THIS was the first time I _really_ started to enjoy the show fully! ( ...I thought this video was missing from the playlist because of KZbin BOT related misadventure - Turns out it just hadn't been made yet!) 😸_👍

[@bfragged]

Peak Childhood Who

[@HOTD108_]

People will be saying that about The Timeless Child in 40 years from now. The thing about nostalgia is that it functions independent of actual value.

[@afjkernow1808]

Do you think so? Leaving aside the changes to the Doctor Who canon, I suppose children who watched it may have liked the Cyber Time Lords. What I found frustrating was the Doctor’s lack of agency. She was just stuck while the Master told her about his discovery. Ah well, everyone is different there may well be fans in 2060 extolling the virtues of the story.

[@TheBrotherGrim]

Sylvester's my personal favorite Doctor, though I wasn't introduced to him until I was a little older. I was an American in high school when NuWho premiered, and after that first season ended I got curious and hopped online to download a bunch of the classic eps. For some reason, his episodes just struck me as incredibly charming, and he kinda stuck as my favorite.

[@thelostone6981]

Sylvester McCoy is my favorite Doctor…after Tom Baker of course….and the last two series were excellent.

[@iamliberator1101]

Another polished & funny production.

[@bob23301]

When this was broadcast in 1988 it really can't be understated how much the show had improved and how everything about it was juste better, of course the old boy network running the BBC actually ignored the constant high viewing figures and like all good dictators cancelled the show because they could.

[@alexhajnal107]

Fun fact: When _Remembrance_ was being filmed the notification that explosives were going to be used never made it to the local police precinct. The first constable responding to reports of explosions got quite a shock when the first thing he saw when he arrived on-scene was a Dalek heading straight for him!

[@DrWhoFanJ]

There’s no such thing as a "local police precinct" in the UK.

[@alexhajnal107]

@@DrWhoFanJ What would be an appropriate term?

[@DrWhoFanJ]

@ There isn’t one. The concept itself doesn’t exist.

[@TheDukeofMadness]

I'm glad someone else noticed greatest hits feel to the bookend stories.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Delores Gray was great in "It's Always Fair Weather"!

[@Scimarad]

As someone who's more a Rivers of London fan than a Doctor Who fan this was a bit of an "Oooohhhh" moment.

[@TheModellingNews]

I'll give you a like just for "GOLD."

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

I quite liked Time and the Rani at the time... Remembrance of the Daleks too, I had the same boombox that Ace carries. As a kid special effects were important to me. Most of my rewatching is Pertwee and Baker tho, great writing and performances (mostly)

[@stephenpalmer9375]

I am sad you don't have the same love for The Happiness Patrol as I do, but I do get that Remembrance casts a huge shadow over the rest of the season. But then again, I love Delta and the Bannermen and Paradise Towers from the previous season, so what do I know? lol

[@paulhammond6978]

Ok you got me. It took me nearly a whole minute to notice the Tenacious D reference in your title.

[@henrykujawa4427]

I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't realize that the BBC changed the broadcast schedule at the last minute due to a SPORTS event. The order the 4 stories were designed to be watched in was: REMEMBRANCE GREATEST SHOW HAPPINESS NEMESIS Go back and watch again. It works WAYYYY better this way. After a fast-paced opening, things slow down, and it's not until the end of the circus story that the Doctor & Ace are really fuctioning as a close team. This continues with them firing on all cylinders in HAPPINESS, and the pace picks up to an insane level in the finale. REMEMBRANCE and NEMESIS were supposed to be "bookends". On purpose! NEMESIS also seems to be to be a 6-parter with the first 3 entire chapters (that take place in the past) missing. So the only way it works if if you feel like you've already seen it before. I always watch season 25 this way. Finally, I've always believed the Doctor conned Lady Peintforte into believing he was more than he seemed. She bought it, and lost her sanity & life in the process. The big problem this season, apart from being too short, is the sound mix, where there's too many places whre the music & effects make it impossible to hear the DIALOGUE. Tsk.

[@spaniyell]

Sylvester was great! Didn't deserve to be the Doctor in Distress.

[@kaitlyn__L]

What the heck, my subscription got removed! I was wondering why your videos showed up on the homepage but not my subs box...

[@KJ-of6lf]

If he says Candyman one more time, Tony Todd will pop up.

[@40somethingmanchild]

RIP Tony Todd 😢

[@RighteousBrother]

Never bought Sophie as a rough and tough street kid but I still have fond memories of her as Ace

[@ltendler3]

thank you that was excellent. poignant and realistic.

[@Robovski]

A steaming pile of mashed potatoes...

[@davidsmith5523]

George Sewall. Great to see him here. After his unjustified feedback from the Americans during UFO.

[@monotonehell]

"halfway down the stairs" okay Robin Milne.

[@lonjohnson5161]

While I acknowledge modern Dr. Who as generally superior in effects and it had some very interesting stories, Sylvester McCoy was the last Doctor to feel like the Doctor. I'm not saying he was a better actor than most of those who followed, but the feel of the show had more in common with what came before than with what came after. Also, the shift from cheesy scifi action to horror was disappointing. Yes, there were occasional horror episodes in classic Dr. Who, but it wasn't the show did best. On the other hand, the Silence and the first iteration of the Weeping Angels were some of the best that modern Dr. Who has to offer and I think some of the best horror villains of all time. Even so, I want science fiction.

[@fatdog1963rb]

Remembrance is my favourite. Sylvester made the dark doctor work

[@Stereozentrum]

Please continue your STTNG retrospective.

[@DalekDalmatian-the-prop-maker]

For thoes who don’t know The main reason why the Dalek props wobble so much wasn’t just due to the small castors but a new technique in low commotion being used by using 3 large wheelbarrow balls in a tri formation on a metal welded frame to allow them to get over uneven terrain … some shots look great and I personally love it as these newer props had a much more steeper design in moulding … but can get why people don’t like it … but I think it suits their upright stature Cameron

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

When Covering season 26 you should do a deep dive in to Lungbarrow how it's actually showing in the not very good Dr Who Flux as that strange building in the background, also how Lungbarrow and the Other makes way more sense in comparison to the stupid retcon of the timeless child that explains nothing and openly contradicts a town called Christmas and the Vallyard, but Marc Platts original Ghostlight script was Lungbarrow and explained Susan and the Morbius Doctors.

[@Gzeebo]

If you had a binary vascular system, what would a blood pressure reading look like? Actually, how many chambers do Gallifreyan hearts have? I suppose if the sound is dum-ba-da-dum, then it's four per heart like a human.

[@maximusjackassicus3042]

Oh my God!!! They're clowns, killer clowns, KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE!!!!!!!!!!

[@DerekNewtonKeswick]

Don’t all Dr Who stories do that? I.E. long set up and abrupt ending with a lot of running/shouting in the middle.

[@Farsight-nc1ib]

Seasons 25 and 26 were the best Doctor Who stories in years, a very fondly remembered part of my childhood. Such a pity we don't have anything like that now!

[@jcarterla]

Gold is such a better song than True.

[@damienkakoschke3099]

Ah, season 2025, 1988. (thanks for reminding us of Doctor & The TARDIS/KLF). This season when it came out was SO good, after Dr Who being quite "meh" since Tom Bakers last season, that that it became the last season of Classic Who was incredibly bittersweet. The quality of this season is, i think, the only reason that Doctor Who continued in novel form for the intervening 13yrs until New Who. I adore this season & it establish Doctor 9?Ace as one of my favourite Doctor/Companion pairings.

[@6581punk]

Just saw someone talk about Farscape and I was sure you would have covered it. So maybe that's an idea for a future episode?