Classic Who "The Stones of Blood' Parts 1&2 Reaction

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[@TheElderBlotch]

The Stones Of Blood is my favourite Key to Time story, an excellent lavish Gothic horror tale dripping in atmosphere but never losing its sense of fun. The major highlight is Beatrix Lehmann as Emilia Rumford - Tom Baker adored working with her and it comes through wonderfully in their scenes together. Kudos to Susan Engel as Vivien Fay too, she gives off such a sinister vibe and the reveal that she was all the women in the paintings, along with the old country house and the lurking crows, spooked my young self something fierce. It's also the 100th episode so congrats on making it this far! If only they'd left in the celebratory scene of Romana and K-9 giving the Doctor a 751st birthday cake.

[@frankshailes3205]

Beatrix Lehmann had a bit of a pash for John Leeson (K-9) too!

[@stormhawk3319]

100th Story you mean.

[@majkus]

I think that the best episodes of this period are the ones with interesting or quirky guest characters (Jago and Litefoot, for example). I think Emilia Rumford is among the very best.

[@rrico168]

I agree and IMO this story doesn’t get the love it deserves! There’s something great about it, I’ll always stop and tune in for Stones of Blood - especially enjoy the surprising shift from gothic horror mystery to interdimensional courtroom drama! Proving that classic Doctor Who could literally do any genre and make it work. Tom Baker at the top of his game here, Romana I settling in beautifully to the Tardis crew, great K9 - Doctor moments and one of the best guest stars / almost companions in Prof Rumford. Holds up extremely well on multiple rewatches 👍 “K9 you’ve always wanted to be a bloodhound, haven’t you?” “Negative, Master.” “Yes you have, yes you have.” “Negative..” 😂

[@colinmcdonough4034]

Spoilers!

[@ezragoldstein1870]

Beatrix Lehmann who played Professor Rumford had a long career in British cinema. She was once called "The Bette Davis of British Cinema." This story was one of her last roles before she pass away.

[@Adeodatus100]

There's a story that producer Graham Williams found the formula for Tom Baker not turning Dr Who into the Tom Baker Show: hire guest actors whose acting was more - ahem - "maximalist" than his. If true, he definitely succeeded when he hired Beatrix Lehmann to play Prof Rumford. Great character, great story.

[@Jamestopboy]

This is the 100th story and Part 4 broadcast during the 15th anniversary of the show.

[@ChristianJull]

David Fisher taking the cliffhanger literally... 😂

[@TheMoonRover]

I remember seeing an interview or something with a fun story from filming. Tom Baker and John Leeson (voice of K9) would do crosswords together. For whatever reason on location, Leeson's voice was being sent from some distance away, and it was convenient to speak through K9. So when a fan stumbled across the filming and saw the Doctor and K9 apparently working on a crossword together, they were impressed by how advanced the K9 prop apparently was.

[@frankshailes3205]

Haha yes, I think Leeson was communicating down the line with Tom through the Outside Broadcast truck's monitor, while Tom sat with the prop doing the crossword (they both had a copy of the newspaper containing it, so it looked like K-9 could read the clues, too).

[@Wannabe_Baby]

I knew you would see red as soon as K9 was in trouble. Nobody touches K9 and gets away with it!

[@jaydenyugi9034]

“FIND IT AND KILL IT!”🤣 God I love how protective you are over K9. Love the cryptic vibe of this story.

[@helenwood8482]

I love this one. I'm a druid fond of standing stones and the old lady reminds me of the 95 year old woman I used to work for.

[@alexfletcher5192]

Visual Effects designer Mat Irvine had a few interesting things to say about this show in his mid-1980s tome 'Doctor Who: Special Effects'. One of the cutest stories regarded a break in location filming, during which Tom Baker would invariably sit and do the Times Crossword. Noticing the K-9 prop accompanying him was still radio-linked to John Leeson (sitting in the Outside Broadcast van with his mic and his own copy of said newspaper), he whispered to his co-star, asking for assistance. And so passers-by were treated to the spectacle of Dr Who and K-9 apparently deciphering crossword clues...

[@whobp8]

Professor Emilia Rumford is played by the wonderful Beatrix Lehmann and, unfortunately, she passed away not too long after this was originally shown. She's in some good films like The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, The Cat and the Canary, and a blink and you'll miss it appearance in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum, which also features Jon Pertwee (in an even smaller role). This is the 100th Doctor Who story, you're closing in on the 500th episode later in this season.

[@coopercane500]

Fun Fact: Stones of Blood is the 100th serial of classic Who and ended just one week before the show's 15th anniversary. Originally, the was a scene to commemorate both occasions in which Romana and K9 surprise the Doctor with a cake to celebrate his 751st birthday. However, this idea was rejected by producer Graham Williams who felt it was too self-indulgent.

[@danniemadsen1996]

The cast and crew ate the cake behind the scenes.

[@johntomlinson6849]

Just about my favourite story ever. Loved it since 1978!

[@ooklathemokfan]

When The Weeping Angels were introduced, it brought my mind back to this story. They were the precedent of a stone-based life form to me.

[@ftumschk]

Indeed, although I believe the Kastrians in Sarah Jane Smith's farewell story, _The Hand of Fear,_ were also a silicon/rock-based form of life.

[@ooklathemokfan]

@@ftumschk True, but they were more humanoid than the stones.

[@ftumschk]

@@ooklathemokfan Indeed, but the Weeping Angels are more humanoid than both :)

[@frankshailes3205]

Written by David Fisher, one of the very best writers the show ever had. A lovely story.

[@crustychris2]

This is top tier for me, hope you enjoy the second half

[@jimcat6795]

Apparently they were going to show the “fake” Doctor pushing Romana off the cliff but Tom Baker rightfully objected, not wanting the kids watching to be left for a week with the image of seeing him do that

[@cruelangel8689]

Best Key to Time serial for me, and one of my top 10 overall DW stories. And yes, Amelia is tremendous :-)

[@Thebrainymonkey]

I used to live in Chipping Norton, very close to the Rollright Stones, the actual stone circle used in this story. There's no dolmen in the centre. It's just a circle. According to legend, the stones are uncountable. Nearby is a single stone called The King Stone, and a small group called The Whispering Knights. Both are surrounded by iron railings to prevent damage, as it was customary over the centuries for shepherds to chip pieces off for luck. The circle is frequently used by the local astronomical society as it's a dark sky site with almost no light pollution. I never saw any Ogri though.

[@Tyrconnell]

I saw a production of 'The Tempest' performed around the Roolright Stones, with the audience sitting in the centre. Probably 30 years ago. Maybe they don't allow things like that any more.

[@Thebrainymonkey]

@@Tyrconnell I'd have loved to have seen that. The Tempest is my favourite Shakespeare play. I moved there in '92, so I was probably in the area.

[@ericreese7792]

One of my absolute favorite Fourth Doctor stories.

[@nocturne8333]

Not sure of the general fan consensus on this one, but it’s one of my top ten Classic Who stories. I absolutely love professor Rumford, and Tom Baker and Mary Tamm work so well together here. David Fisher was such an underrated writer.

[@Epsilon1Zeta]

The Stones of Blood is one of my favourite Doctor Who adventures. And yes I have visited the Rollright Stones whilst driving back to London from Malvern. Accompanied by my then girlfriend who has a certain resemblance to the late Mary Tamm. The Rollright Stones is a special place indeed.

[@resiseven7407]

K9 forgetting tennis might be my favourite joke in the entire show

[@Tyrconnell]

Would be great if that hd come up in SJA somehow, "What is 'tennis', Mistress?"

[@danniemadsen1996]

@@Tyrconnelldifferent K9.

[@Tyrconnell]

@@danniemadsen1996 Ah! Of course. Although I would assume when he made MkIII he downloaded the data from MkII, so the memories and deletions might be the same (Although I guess he had everything stored from MkI to make MkII, and used the same data to create MkIII....but i would still use the tennis gag)

[@geoffbrundell4685]

Love this story of all of the Key to Time season. Emilia Radford and Vivian Faye awesome characters played by some brilliant actresses. Romana play by Mary Tamm is awesome as usual and her clothing look so good on her❤.

[@BernardJKD]

Tamm literally stops acting in the middle of this story.

[@gluuuuue]

We're deep in the show's dive into gothic.. and cosmic horror. It's my personal favorite, and actually is in keeping with the trends of the times. This was deep in a period of public fascination with horror, and a lot of that was gothic horror, from Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen in (1976), often overlapping with cosmic horror, like Alien (1979). Even Scooby-Doo, very much a kid's show, was in its heyday during the '70s, and was centered around really gothic horror themes. And nobody convinces you anyone is capable of fighting back against any of it, even has the will to, like the Doctor does, and specifically Tom Baker as Four. And the show's sets, and setpieces, and lighting and way it's shot, it's entire atmosphere and ambience, the villains, the people they meet along the way, all really built that feeling up well. Spooky abandoned or half-occupied old mansions and English country manor houses, rural cottages in "witch territory". Even on the alien planets, they spend a lotta time in dank medieval dungeons and catacombs, seemingly abandoned space stations.

[@martinpakes5436]

Love how this is one of two Classic Who stories where the cliffhanger actually involves hanging from a cliff

[@zagreus139]

Dragonfire,The Daleks part 6

[@martinpakes5436]

Ok forgot about the Daleks

[@someguy3752]

The Rescue part 2 (depending on how you look at it).

[@Melancthon7332]

Damn I love the Key to Time, warts and all. Three (IMO) bangers in a row, with my favorite Doctor and my favorite companion. The back half is not *quite* as awesome, but I still love them anyway. This one always jostles with Ribos as my favorite of the bunch, just like you Jess I can't get enough Brit folk horror (which always seems to bring out great supporting characters). And the Ogrii have my vote for the best slow monsters in Who! Soooo glad you're vibing with this arc!

[@seanbarron2890]

I loved the whole Key To Time arc. Mary Tamm as Romana was excellent. Plus it felt a lot like a Third Doctor story to me.

[@Tyrconnell]

I wish there was an Emilia Rumford, Amelia Ducat, Martha Tyler team up. (and as those three contain the names Amelia, Martha and Tyler I'm guessing the new series writers liked them too...)

[@stevesm4]

I noticed the Martha but the others didn't dawn on me until you spelled it out! Many years after this, in the mid noughties, the lady who played this Martha was a member of a book group I used to run. She seemed quite short tempered at the time but I think that was because she was seriously ill and hadn't told the group.

[@KevDaly]

That's a nice meta touch about Earth being his favourite planet 😀

[@Redfern42]

It's been several years since I saw this serial, so I was confused when a certain "Hammer Films/EC Comics horror" sequence seemed missing. Accessing a transcript of the story, I see that scene actually takes place on part 3. My senile ol' brain deluded me into thinking it opened the adventure. It'll be fun to see how Sesska reacts to it next week! 😁

[@AndyRossism]

I just knew you would enjoy this one! These 1st 2 parts have such charm and wit and enjoyable intrigue/mystery, and Ill always love Romana doing what so many companions never have... nipping back to the Tardis to change into a more practical outfit!

[@malcolmdrake6137]

About 4 years ago, or so, Jess was wearing her hair in a way that reminded me of Mary Tamm, and I knew then that she would love Amelia Rumford, and this story. 😂

[@EndymionDeVere]

The Stones of Blood is one of my favorite story lines in old school Doctor Who.

[@chrisbrooker7260]

This is another in a run if very good stories this season.. Decidedly creepy and atmospheric, with a nice dash of folk horror. Beatrice Lehman is absolutely delightful as Amelia Rumford, and Mary Tamm looks wonderful as always. Her Romana has a very nice aristocratic, fashionable dash about her.

[@chrisbrooker7260]

Stupid auto correct - Beatrix, and Emilia….

[@keithgoodnight3463]

Poor old K-9 was always getting blown up or short-circuited or drained of power... it was because, behind-the-scenes, the prop was almost impossible to work with, so they had to keep finding ways to minimize his action.

[@tonyscupham-bilton7523]

I loved these two episodes. They were broadcast on the perfect dates - the two Saturdays on either side of Hallowe'en 1978. I often wonder if this was intentional.

[@richwagener]

There’s a Big Finish Companion named Evelyn Smythe who seems a lot like Amelia to me. I hadn’t thought of that until watching this. She’s a history professor not an archaeologist, but the dynamic is very similar.

[@Alexandrashepiro]

Loved Evelyn!!!!

[@colinmcdonough4034]

A great slice of late 70s Gothic Who . A Minor Classic .

[@stecurrell5863]

This is my favourite story in this season,10 out of 10 from me

[@alexfletcher5192]

The discussion about the 'Nine Travellers' is rather fun as the legend is that the real stones could never be counted accurately - a situation that (as Mat Irvine recounts) was exacerbated when a party of schoolchildren arrived during the shoot and started counting the fake stones added on location!

[@Eltonlaleham]

I liked the way Vivien Fay is revealed to be the main villain in the story.

[@colinmcdonough4034]

Spoilers!

[@Clayton-S.]

Great story! Emelia Rumford is a fabulously dotty character, very much in the style of Amelia Ducat, played by Sylvia Coleridge in the Seeds of Doom. The setting, atmosphere and the Ogri are genuinely creepy and who DOESN'T like a spooky manor house and weird stone circle?

[@ftumschk]

I also get Amelia Ducat vibes from Prof Rumford. Glad I'm not alone!

[@Clayton-S.]

@@ftumschk Definitely! Great characters both👍

[@zagreus139]

The guest characters are absolutely wonderful in this story, particularly Amelia & Vivean

[@nadirahmed7823]

Welcome to the 100th story of classic Doctor Who!!!

[@Chiggins_]

If you like Amelia, I can't wait for you to get to Big Finish. My fave companion is an audio-only companion not on TV who's quite similar to her (elderly academic professor lady)

[@alexfletcher5192]

It's curious how this story starts out as kind of contemporary folk horror (in the manner shortly to be celebrated by something like 'Hammer House of Horror') and soon transitions into Doctor Who lunacy. That's not a criticism. The Outside Broadcast video cameras may not have the atmospheric texture of film, but they do make things look like they're happening more in the moment. And it's a lovely cast, with some interesting stories to tell...

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

When I saw this in Australia, I nicknamed this due to the Politicians 'The Stones of Kevin Rudd."😂

[@nocturne8333]

Why do I feel like Kevin Rudd would have definitely worn the Calliac costume?

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

@@nocturne8333 Spot on man, spot on! 👏🤟😂

[@hestushenchman]

Wouldn't it have been simple enough for De Vries and his wife to run upstairs to escape? Surely that big, lumbering stone can't climb stairs.

[@DarknessLovesAll]

The 100th Doctor who story, a great milestone. Another great reaction here

[@dominiccarr4062]

I'm curious where K9 would feature on an updated companions ranking. 🐕

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Famously this was the 100th story and scene with a cake was planned/shot but not used 🎩

[@thomashartwell4335]

Seeing how Sesska responds to K9's injuries here, and all I can think is....man, is she gonna, um, enjoy "Full Circle" in a few months

[@vivalapsych]

Had a great time watching this. Thanks Sesska

[@geoffmason7215]

Amelia Rumford definately a highlight of this story

[@ericreese7792]

She's a joy.

[@M-E_123]

Cults were big in the UK during the 70's - there was a whole Paganism movement based around establishing cults & made up interpretations of old (pre-Roman) religious practices, leylines, stone circles / standing stones, astrology, astronomy, Wicker & witchcraft - plus the hippy / free love angle similar to the US (main difference is in the UK Paganism managed to establish itself as a semi-legitimate religion and it feels more sinister than the US hippy movement due to animal sacrifice having a role). It was a largely rural movement and was a rich mine of stories for Dr Who in this era (Pertwee & Baker) - often mixed up with other rural interest like archaeology, King Arthur, environmentalism, "getting back in touch with nature", "dropping out of the ratrace" and becoming self sufficient etc. This is one of the last Dr Who stories to draw on all this as inspiration for a while (although the failed Sarah Jane spin off from around the same time used similar inspirations). To my mind, Dr Who became lesser once it moved away from these kind of stories (similar to how I think it lost something when dropping the purely historical stories, making everything Sci-fi by default) - as it lost the "spooky isolated village, where outsiders are expected to keep their nose out of other people's business" as an easy to establish hostile environment / community for the Doctor to try and navigate / investigate / find allies amongst when using modern Britain as the setting. It allowed for a slightly different feel to those stories, which added variety.

[@Ollie_1022.]

A bit off topic sesska but your hair looks gorgeous ❤

[@KenHart]

Fun tidbit about Episode 1: The director wanted Tom Baker to play the fake Doctor pushing Romana off the cliff, but Tom - understandably - thought it would be bad to let the family audience see "the Doctor" as an attempted killer, considering that the image would last for a week until the next episode cleared it up. So we don't see who actually pushes her, which reduces the impact a bit.

[@fatwolf]

Jess... I'm not leaving the TARDIS. Nothing will make me leave. K9 has been hurt. WHAT!!! I'm going to hunt them down. How dare they hurt K9!!! Thought you weren't leaving the TARDIS. IT'S K9!!!

[@matthewclarke4127]

This is my favourite Doctor Who story.

[@scottboswell6406]

It's not my favorite story from this season (coming soon), but it is the favorite for many fans! Amelia is definitely a fan favorite, there might even be some fanfic about her! I like that the druidy part isn't the main adversary, and the stones slide, not roll, LOL! As it proceeds, this story feels like it was the inspiration to a Whittaker story in her first season.

[@metalmugen]

Stones of Blood fucking rocks, Key to Time season is underrated.

[@robbiebonham]

Hair looks lovely! 🙂

[@ryanpollard1166]

The Stones of Blood is yet another strong highlight of this season. Wonderfully dark, menacing and atmospheric in its first two thirds before taking a unique turn in its latter third. The story has a particularly strong female cast with Beatrix Lehmann especially delightful as Professor Rumford.

[@stormhawk3319]

Emilia was one of those standout one story only characters in DW whose performance is one of the best in an ok story. She held her own against the mighty Tom Baker.

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Another one of my favourite top ten stories.

[@stacyp2186]

K9 has his own series. I haven’t watched it yet but I just found it on Roku. I know you like him. Just wanted you to know.

[@ooklathemokfan]

Is that the Australian show? I haven't seen it. Just an early ad for it. I was never sure if it went into production.

[@stacyp2186]

@@ooklathemokfanyes it is.

[@liamkc1998]

Romana really doesn’t miss when it comes to her outfits in each episode. 💜

[@frankshailes3205]

Mary Tamm had a hand in designing some of them.

[@stevetheduck1425]

Agree: it also fits her role in this story of the 'maiden' in the trio of 'maiden, woman and crone'.

[@ftumschk]

​@@frankshailes3205 Mary's agent, Irene Dawkins, wasn't too keen on her costume for _The Ribos Operation._ To my eyes, Romana's all-white outfit was stunning but, according to JNT's autobiography, Dawkins complained that it looked "common". Each to their own!

[@Faction.Paradox]

Man, you can't go anywhere rural in the UK without running into a cult. It's a real hassle, let me tell you.

[@Concreteowl]

Funny you should say that but there was a mini moral panic about rural paganism and witchcraft in the 70s. kzbin.info/www/bejne/epC9gGqjf9Rnp5o

[@stevetheduck1425]

This story was written for Stonehenge and the recently dreamt-up group of druids that claimed it recently (then). It was toned down to being just one of many stone circles, henges and standing stones that Britain teems with. There are at least three with ten miles of me as I write. If the Marvel movies include the Black Knight, as hinted in 'Eternals', we might get a tale about 'Otherworld', the fae or mystical world that maps onto the British Isles in the Marvel UK comics universe. Could be fun, for Brits anyway. Notice how the three women (maiden, woman and crone) form a clique almost immediately in 'Stones of Blood'? An example of this sort of thing.

[@Tyrconnell]

@@stevetheduck1425 Shouldn't it be 'maiden, mother and crone'?

[@kemmdog4444]

Another nice early video release.😊

[@stephencoppins9467]

The Doctor doesn’t look too bad, for 100 ...stories, do they?

[@robalexander8065]

No he doesn't.

[@robertferguson5562]

My favorite who episodes

[@thomasstevens2746]

Looking gorgeous as always

[@BernardJKD]

Williams era Who: Thank God for the intelligent and literate scripts as the budget is by now through the darned floor. Mary Tamm seriously lost the wlll to live in ths story. Her performance as Romana here is rank.

[@alicehodges9964]

I Like The Doctor Who Episodes Thay Are Amazing And Fun

[@Concreteowl]

A great favorite in the LGBT+ community back in the day. Nice bit of coded representation.

[@stevetheduck1425]

The three are also 'maiden, woman and crone'.

[@mark-s]

Alas the only decent story this season 😢

[@robalexander8065]

In your opinion. It's not the greatest season, I grant you but for me the first four serials are decent.