State of Decay by @The_Knights87

Edward and Bella, Sookie and Bill and other sappy vampire couples are second rate compared to Zargo and Camilla.  Zargo and Camilla along with Aukon is Doctor Who’s one true vampire couple. Long before the Matt Smith story The Vampires of Venice this classic story by long time Who scribe and fan favorite Terrance Dicks actually boasts human vampires and a really cool castle.

The State of Decay is the second part of The E- Space Trilogy and heralded by some to be the best story of the three.  I tend to agree.  Some may say that State of Decay is downright scary and has a paranoid feel to it.  The atmosphere of this episode really makes it one of those stories that you tend to remember long after watching it.

 

It is also a very interesting story in the fact that Terrance Dicks delves into more Timelord history and their involvement in a war with the Great Vampire.  Yes it seems the Timelords were a warmonger race well before they fought in the Time War.   But it is also great to see the Doctor and Romana scared as they are reading the history of the Timelords involvement with the vampires that you tend to get scared yourself. 

Imagine how the Doctor must feel like knowing it is his solemn duty as a Timelord to eradicate the universe of vampires and he happens upon the king of all vampires who happens to be feeding off an IV of blood that Arkon has gathered from sacrificing the villagers.

My fond recollection of watching this story is mainly that the Doctor is fighting vampires. A group of three vampires that is in a sense very odd and very scary.  One hell bent on terrorizing the villagers and the other two who seem to be living an extremely bizarre love life.  Plus it also has a great story of the villagers rising up against their oppressors and winning their freedom.  A staple of most Doctor Who stories but mainly a from the Jon Pertwee era where Terrance Dicks did most of his writing for the show but it was good to see that in a Tom Baker story. 

So if you are a fan of vampires or a fan of really good storytelling in a sci – fi setting then join us in watching State of Decay. 

State of Decay on Wednesday Night at 7.10pm

There's been a slight alteration to Wednesday's schedule with State of Decay.  We'll be pressing Play at 7.10pm instead of 7.30pm to allow any of you who wish to join The Diogenes in their session at 9.00pm.

For lovers of Sherlock Holmes, don't miss any of the sessions of the Diogenes.  And of course for lovers of Doctor Who, don't miss the Bar on Wednesday Night!

State of Decay.

On Wednesday night we will continue the E Space trilogy with the superb vampire story State of Decay. Written by Terrance Dicks in 1977 it was originally known as The Vampire Mutations, but was withdrawn due to a big production of Count Dracula by the BBC that year.

My first encounter with this story was not by video, but by audio cassette (remember those?) Read by Tom Baker from the novelisation by Dicks. The talk of how vampire legends were past down “Cabbages and Kings/The TARDIS is on strings!” has stuck with me as one of my favourite quotes from the series.

The story caused clashes between the new production team who favourite hard science, and Hammer Horror-esqe fantasy which was more familiar to the previous producers and writers. But thankfully in the end it’s the fantasy element that wins out and makes this story special.

The magnificent costumes and make up, which the BBC is so good at is helped, unusually for Doctor Who, by dim lighting, which really does add much needed atmosphere to the story.

If Tom Baker seems quite morose during this story, as he does during the rest of this season, it was due to an illness that he contracted whilst filming "The Curse of King Tut's Tomb" earlier that year. He had lost a lot of weight and his hair flattened, so he had to have it permed every day, to achieve the Doctor’s familiar look.

If you don’t own a copy, in the UK you can watch via the BBC’s YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w17BEALiHU&feature=sh_e_sl&list=SL

or on MSN Video. http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/state-of-decay-episode-1/12gmmevpt

*DISCLAIMER* We do not support illegal downloads or streaming, unless they're from a site officially sanctioned by the BBC . We don’t wish to get in trouble with the BBC. We prefer to promote the official DVD’s as the restoration team do a fantastic job restoring the old adventures.

So if you have the DVD stacked on your shelf, the classic VHS tucked away in a box then be prepared for 7-30pm GMT. Have a drink and some food and get ready to join in with the @TheDoctorWhoBar from 7pm GMT. On Wednesday 6th July 2011. Remember to press Play on your DVD, VCR, or online at 7-30pm GMT so we can all stay in sync and discuss via Twitter.