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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Tomb Of The Cybermen [1967]
<I>Tomb of the Cybermen</I> brought the Doctor, Patrick Troughton, into conflict with his silver cyborg nemeses for a third time, following <I>The Tenth Planet</I> (1966) and <I>The Moonbase</I> (1967). The Doctor, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling) join an archaeological expedition on the planet Telos, where they encounter deathtraps, betrayal and a waiting army of frozen Cybermen. Scripted by Kit Pedlar and Gerry Davis, who would later write <I>Doomwatch</I> (1970-72), many of the essentials of the plot anticipate James Cameron's blockbusting <I>Aliens</I> (1986): the barren planet with abandoned city, the tense wait for a rescue ship, the human traitors, the implacable, more powerful enemy. Unfortunately for a story so centred on logic the characters display a worrying lack of sense; the supposedly highly logical villains assume the Cybermen will just do what they tell them, and the Doctor locks the chief human traitor in a room without first checking it for ray guns! There's also an astonishingly crass racial stereotype with the one black character, Toberman (Roy Stewart) being a muscle-bound, slave-like henchman. Flaws aside this is a superior <I>Doctor Who</I> adventure and a thoroughly entertaining piece of classic television.<p> <B>On the DVD:</B> as ever the BBC have done a fabulous job bringing <I>Doctor Who</I> to DVD, with fully restored sound and picture making <I>Tomb Of The Cybermen</I> the best it has ever looked. A short feature on the disc notes there have been over 16,000 repairs to the image, and includes comparison footage with the unrestored prints. The black and white 4:3 picture is as good as low-budget 1960's television is ever going to look and the mono sound is excellent. The commentary by Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling is a little stilted and takes time to get going--often they just don't know what to say--but contains some interesting trivia for serious fans. Rather more information comes from the detailed production background subtitles, and from a 28-minute convention style panel filmed in 1992 with Hines, Watling and many of the production crew. Also included is 8 mm footage from the end of the previous story, the long lost <I>Evil of the Daleks</I> (1967), 3 minutes of alternative main title tests, a photo gallery, a short introduction by director Morris Barry and a two-minute clip from <I>Late Night Line-up</I> (1967) with Joan Bakewell profiling the BBC Visual Effects department, including unique footage of the Cybermats in colour.--<I>Gary S Dalkin</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Green Death [1973]
Featuring the third incarnation of the Doctor--Jon Pertwee's patriarchal renaissance man--<I>The Green Death</I> is a solid addition to the <I>Doctor Who</I> canon. Originally broadcast in May 1973, it may now have dated a little, with its vegetarian hippies and boyo Welshmen, but it has all the elements of classic <I>Who</I>, the Doctor encountering green-glowing dead bodies, a shadowy mastermind, a global conspiracy, brainwashing, a megalomaniacal supercomputer and, of course, giant maggots.<p>This story, the final sequence of Pertwee's penultimate season, reached the TV ratings Top 10, and fittingly, met high production standards. The environmental message, while facilitating <I>Who</I>'s ongoing individual-freedom motif, also proved prophetic in its warnings of globalisation and pollution. The special effects, though admittedly dated now, were good for their time <I>and</I> budget--the stop-motion photography of the maggots and the front-axial projection used for the pulsating green skin are particularly effective. The well-crafted script manages to combine monsters, punch-ups and cliffhanger endings with cerebral concepts, human drama and erudite references to Beethoven and Oscar Wilde--the single tear of the reformed villain as he destroys his paymaster is just one of the subtle touches distinguishing this work. <I>The Green Death</I>'s six filler-free episodes belong to the Golden Age of <I>Doctor Who</I>, and their denouement is one of the most poignant in the series' long history.<p><b>On the DVD:</b> the Beeb, as always, have gone to town on the picture, with the images and colours scrubbing up nicely for their age. Sadly there are none of the usual nostalgia-inducing contemporaneous news features, but there is an amusing mockumentary starring <I>The League of Gentlemen</I>'s Mark Gatiss. The interviews with writer Robert Sloman and actor Stewart Bevan will also give fans some extra insights--particularly Bevan's revelation that the actors were discouraged from rehearsing the final scene so as to give it genuine emotional intensity. <I>--Paul Eisinger</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The New Series - Series 1 - Vol. 3: Episodes 7 To 10 [UMD Mini for PSP]
Release Date: 2005-12-26, Rating Parental Guidance,
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£8.97
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Mind Robber [1968]
Release Date: 2005-03-07, Rating Parental Guidance,
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£19.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Horror Of Fang Rock [1977]
Release Date: 2005-01-17, Rating Universal, suitable for all,
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£19.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The New Series - Vol. 1 [UMD Mini for PSP] [2005]
Release Date: 2005-12-12, Rating Suitable for 12 years and over,
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£9.97
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space [1970]
Spearhead from Space launched <I>Doctor Who</I> into the 1970s with not only a new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, but a new assistant, the scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and a regular place in the show for UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). It also marked the debut of the programme in colour and saw the Doctor stranded on Earth after Patrick Troughton's last adventure, The War Games (1969). Not only that, but it proved the only serial in the show's history to be entirely shot both on film and location, giving it a uniquely cinematic feel. Regenerating in a country hospital, the Doctor finds himself helping the Brigadier investigate an unusual meteorite and its links with a sinister doll factory. The Autons are cybernetic killers--anticipating <I>The Terminator</I> by some 15 years--and the sequence in which they break through high-street shop windows to slaughter pedestrians remains a chilling highpoint of <I>Doctor Who's</I> entire history. Things do turn silly with a subplot involving a waxworks museum, while the ultimate battle with the Nestine consciousness is more likely to induce laughter than fear, but as vintage television nostalgia this is fast-moving splendidly characterised entertainment. --<I>Gary S. Dalkin</I><p><B >On the DVD</B>: The remastered picture and sound are exceptional for a 1970 TV show. Obviously in 4:3 and mono, this DVD offers technical quality easily as good as many feature films. There is a very friendly, if not especially informative, commentary from Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, and subtitles that offer background facts and figures. With an amusing five-minute recruiting film for UNIT, repeat trailers and a gallery including previously unpublished photos, this excellent DVD is a <I>Doctor Who</I> fan's dream come true. --<I>Gary S. Dalkin</I>
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£12.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Pyramids Of Mars [1975] [1963]
Release Date: 2004-03-01, Rating Universal, suitable for all,
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Robots Of Death [1963]
By Tom Baker's third season in the role the actor had become firmly established in the minds of many fans as the definitive Doctor. First broadcast in early 1977, Robots of Death follows on directly from Face of Evil, which was writer Chris Boucher's debut and also that of Louise Jameson's Leela, the Doctor's most shapely companion (a kind of Neanderthal Seven of Nine if you will). Boucher's second <I>Who</I> story concerns an isolated mining ship on which a series of inexplicable deaths take place--although as the Doctor opines, nothing is inexplicable, only unexplained. The Doctor and Leela inevitably become embroiled in events, which soon turn into a sci-fi murder-mystery: imagine Isaac Asimov crossed with Agatha Christie in a Frank Herbert <I>Dune</I>-like setting. Add an undercover robot sent by the company and the claustrophobic, not to say deadly setting of the mining ship and there is a fascinating foreshadowing of <I>Alien</I>, too. It is tightly plotted, intelligent Saturday teatime entertainment (something that was possible then but is now an unthinkable oxymoron) with a typically strong cast of redoubtable thesps in supporting roles (not to mention extravagant costumes and garish make-up). There may be no Daleks or Cybermen, but this is vintage <I>Who</I> nevertheless.<p><B> ;On the DVD</B>: For a mid-70s TV programme, this looks really fresh on DVD, although the sound is mono. Each of the four episodes are broken down into chapter points for ease of use. There is a full audio commentary with producer Philip Hinchcliffe and writer Chris Boucher which suffers from some very long gaps ibetween the interesting nuggets of information. Also included are a few sundries of interest to die-hard fans: unused model shots, floor plans of the studio layout and some scene comparisons between raw footage and the same shots after post-production. --<I>Mark Walker</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Lost In Time
Release Date: 2004-11-01, Rating Parental Guidance,
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£29.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Aztecs [1963]
Release Date: 2002-10-21, Rating Universal, suitable for all,
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Two Doctors [1963]
<I>Doctor Who: The Two Doctors</I> is one of those occasional adventures in which the then-current Doctor joins forces with one of his former incarnations, here Colin Baker's sixth Doctor with Patrick Troughton's second Doctor. In the epic <I>Three Doctors</I> (1972-3) such a team-up faced a suitably overwhelming danger; here the threat is rather less impressive. This adventure starts encouragingly enough, with Troughton and Jamie (Frazer Hines) investigating time-travel experiments on a space station, which endanger the fabric of the universe. Baker's Doctor and Peri (Nichola Bryant) arrive in the aftermath of a massacre and suspect the Timelords; but events lead them to Spain and old enemies the Sontarans. Also involved is alien schemer Chessene (Jacqueline Pearce) in a role not dissimilar to her Servalan from <I>Blake's 7</I>, while John Stratton as Shockeye, a food-obsessed alien Androgum chef is vastly entertaining. <p> Despite location filming in Seville, the three 45-minute episodes eventually stretch the material too thinly, degenerating into some of the most farcical scenes in the history of <I>Who</I>. The story becomes a repetitive series of double-crosses, escapes and pursuits, featuring an unnecessary obsession with cannibalistic comedy-horror. Despite many fine moments along the way <I>The Two Doctors</I> ultimately leaves a <I>Bad Taste</I>. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: The Two Doctors</I> is offered with an as-good-as-possible 4:3 picture, which exposes the limitations of the original video footage. The sound is excellent mono and the first disc also offers an isolated track of Peter Howell's striking musical score and an engaging commentary with director Peter Moffatt, Frazer Hines and Jacqueline Pearce. <I>A Fix with Sontarans</I> (9 mins) is a specially made mini-adventure, with Colin Baker and Janet Fielding returning as Tegan, made for the then hugely popular <I>Jim'll Fix It</I>. <p> The highlight of Disc Two is <I>Behind the Sofa: Robert Holmes and Doctor Who</I> a new 45-minute documentary with series luminaries Chris Boucher, Terrance Dicks, Philip Hinchcliffe, Barry Letts and Eric Saward remembering the writer. Of more specialist interest to would-be programme makers is <I>Adventures in Time and Spain</I> (29 mins), in which Production Manager Gary Downie charmingly recalls the problems of finding the Spanish locations. <I>Beneath the Lights</I> is a 27-minute compilation of studio footage centred on Baker and Bryant filming three scenes, while <I>Beneath the Sun</I> complies video location rushes, which at 36 minutes with poor picture quality is for completists only. <I>Wavelength</I> (1984) is an interesting 29-minute edition of the BBC Schools radio documentary series giving an in-depth look at the making of <I>Doctor Who</I> in general. Finally there's an animated, scored photo gallery. Overall this is an exhaustively comprehensive presentation that will satisfy the even the most serious <I>Who</I> fan. <I>--Gary S Dalkin</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Three Doctors [1963]
Made to mark the series' tenth anniversary, <I>Doctor Who: The Three Doctors</I> finds Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor teaming-up with the Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell incarnations to battle a universe-threatening foe. Omega (played by an excellent Stephen Thorne) is the Timelord who gave his race the power necessary for time travel. Long presumed dead he is actually trapped in an anti-matter universe inside a black hole, and is scheming an epic revenge. Set in UNIT HQ, Omega's domain and a chalk pit, Bob Baker and David Martin's yarn is both nonsensical and more wildly ambitious than the BBC effects unit could possibly visualise. This is so much the case that the best moments come with the metaphysically chilling scene in which Omega is unmasked, and in the bickering rivalry between Pertwee and Troughton. Sadly Hartnell was seriously ill with arteriosclerosis, so his brief scenes were all taped in a day and played on a monitor in the TARDIS, the reason given that the First Doctor is trapped in a time eddy. If hardly a classic this is still a meatier tale than <I>The Two Doctors</I> (1985), which starred Troughton and Colin Baker, and it features ever-dependable support from Katy Manning as Jo Grant and Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: The Three Doctors</I> is presented in the original 4:3 ratio with good mono sound. The introductory 16-mm film footage is very grainy and lined, but later exteriors are good and the interior video-shot material in fine. The commentary by Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney and producer Barry Letts is informative and funny. Extras include excerpts from a highly entertaining 1973 <I>Pebble Mill at One</I> with Patrick Troughton and BBC props designer Bernard Wilkie (20 min) and a 1973 retrospective on the show from <I>Blue Peter</I> featuring Pertwee with the then new Whomobile, all presented by ex-<I>Who</I> companion Peter Purves. There are highlights from a BSkyB <I>Doctor Who</I> weekend from 1990, with brief interviews with Courtney, David Martin, Bob Baker, Pertwee, producer John Nathan Turner and writer Terrance Dicks (10 min). Rather more exciting is the appearances of the warm and witty Pertwee, Manning, and a very late Courtney at the 1993 Panopticon SF convention (29 min). There are also two trailers, info text and a scored photo gallery. <I>--Gary S Dalkin</I>
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£16.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Claws Of Axos [1971]
Release Date: 2005-04-25, Rating Universal, suitable for all,
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Talons Of Weng Chiang [1963]
<i>The Talons of Weng-Chiang</i> is one of the very best <I>Doctor Who</I> stories, a six-part adventure set in a Gothic Victorian London inspired by <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I> and Sax Rohmer's tales of Fu Manchu, with nods towards Jack the Ripper, Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. The final story from the show's Golden Age (Philip Hinchcliff's three-year tenure as Producer), boasts superior production values and a bizarre storyline involving a time-travelling war criminal, giant rats in the London sewers and a malevolent ventriloquist's doll with the brain of a pig. <p> Pitted against this flamboyant madness, largely centred on an East End music hall run by the self-important Henry Gordon Jago (a memorable performance by Christopher Benjamin) are Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, in pre-self-parody top form, and Louise Jameson's Leela at her primal best. There's strong support from Trevor Baxter as the Watson-like Professor Lightfoot, and John Bennett as the villainous Li H'sen Chang. Really helping matters is the first-rate direction from David Genesis of the Daleks Maloney, evoking a creepy atmosphere in a fantasy London of shadows and fog. <I>Weng-Chiang</I> was the pinnacle of Gothic <I>Who</I> and still remains highly enjoyable entertainment. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang</I> offers all six original episodes with good, if variable, 4:3 picture and crisp and clear mono sound. There is also highly informative on-screen trivia text and a lively group commentary with David Maloney, Louise Jameson, John Bennett and Christopher Benjamin. The highlight of Disc 2 is an hour-long documentary, <I>Whose Doctor Who</I>, shown on BBC2 the day after the final episode of Weng-Chiang aired. Also included is 23 minutes of extremely poor quality b/w timecoded video production footage and--much more fun--26 minutes worth of clips from <I>Blue Peter</I> with Lesley Judd, John Noakes and Peter Purvis showing how to build a <I>Doctor Who</I> music-hall theatre. There's also an interesting 11-minute 1977 interview with Philip Hinchcliffe, continuity announcements and trailers, a photo gallery, a short new animation, <I>Tardis Cam No. 6</I>, and optional subtitles. --<I>Gary S Dalkin</I>
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£11.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Remembrance Of The Daleks [1963]
Remembrance of the Daleks was the final <I>Doctor Who</I> story to feature the titular mutant cyborgs, and is a particularly notable adventure for the way it ties the plot into the very first story, An Unearthly Child made 25 years before. <p> It is 1963, and the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy arrives in London with new companion Ace (Sophie Aldred), where two Dalek factions are engaged in a deadly search for the Hand of Omega. Ace quickly proves herself a dab-hand with high explosives, and while there are references to the history of the show, including some nice in-jokes, the drama is played much straighter than in McCoy's first season as the time traveller. This is <I>Doctor Who</I> with a decent budget; the period setting is surprisingly lavish and there are some fairly intense action sequences. The Daleks remain as menacing as ever, the plotting has an intriguing air of mystery, and McCoy injects some steel into his characterisation. Aldred serves an ace as a heroine with attitude, (very much post-Sarah Connor from <I>The Terminator</I>), and if this really does prove to be the Dalek's swansong, at least they go out with a bang. <p> <B>On the DVD</B>: Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred provide a warm and friendly commentary track, which also offers optional subtitles. The audio possibilities continue with an isolated music track, though the sound is Pro-Logic stereo, not the stated Dolby Digital. There are trailers for two episodes, a collection of out-takes, 13 deleted or extended scenes, and the raw footage from two different camera angles for two major scenes. Optional on-screen production notes complete a package which, with animated menus and very good 4:3 picture quality puts many Hollywood releases to shame.<I>--Gary S. Dalkin</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Visitation [1963]
<I>Doctor Who: The Visitation</I> is a routine adventure from the show's 19th season, beginning with Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor trying to return air hostess Tegan (Janet Fielding) to Heathrow Airport but materialising the TARDIS just as the Plague is ravaging 17th-century England. Three stranded Terileptils (humanoid-reptilian-fish hybrids in laughable costumes) are planning to wipe out humanity, while the local population have accepted the invader's puzzlingly camp robot for the Grim Reaper incarnate. There's much running around, being imprisoned and escaping again, but little substance in the story bar a return to the original series concept of tying the plot to elements of real history. Trying to find something for all the companions to do stretches the material thin, with the best entertainment coming from Michael Robbins' memorable turn as Richard Mace, an out-of-work actor turned charmingly genial highwayman. The surprise ending is predictable, Matthew Waterhouse's Adric as earnestly tiresome as ever and Tegan still tediously grumpy. Sarah Sutton as Nyssa is left too long building a sonic weapon which can vibrate a robot to pieces but doesn't harm the TARDIS or herself, yet Davison goes a long way to redeeming the tale with a charismatic intensity the yarn just doesn't deserve. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: The Visitation</I> is presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio with a good if variable picture. There are numerous unavoidable light trails on the video-shot studio material and some visual distortion on a few scenes. The mono sound is good and extends to an optional isolated presentation of Paddy Kingsland's musical score, a feature complemented by a new 16-minute interview with the composer by fellow <I>Who</I> musician, Mark Ayres. Of greater general interest is a 26-minute reminiscence by director Peter Moffatt covering all the six <I>Doctor Who</I> adventures he helmed. There is a good feature on Eric Saward and on the writing of the show, five minutes of extraordinarily dull Film Trims, detailed Information Text and an automated photo gallery. There are subtitles for both the episodes and a commentary that finds Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Peter Moffatt, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse having great fun bantering their way through the four episodes, a feature that proves far more enjoyable than the serial itself. <I>--Gary S Dalkin</I>
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£19.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Carnival Of Monsters [1973]
The <I>Doctor Who</I> adventure Carnival of Monsters finds Jon Pertwee's third Doctor and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) materialising on the SS Bernice in the Indian Ocean in 1926, on the very day the ship is about to give rise to a famous sea mystery. Passengers and crew, including Ian Marter (who would return as companion Harry Sullivan two years later), are reliving the same few moments over and over again, and there is a plesiosaur in the ocean. <p> Meanwhile two travelling show people, Vorg (Leslie Dwyer), and Shirna (Cheryl Hall), have arrived on the bureaucracy laden planet Inter Minor with an illegal Miniscope peepshow. In a variation on the miniaturisation plot of <I>Fantastic Voyage</I> (1966), and harking back to <I>Doctor Who</I>'s own Planet of the Giants story from 1964, the Doctor and Jo have materialised within the Miniscope's compression field and are trapped inside. For company they have the ferocious alien Drashigs while outside the machine a potentially devastating conspiracy is afoot. <p> As the second story in the 10th season of <I>Doctor Who</I>, this fast-moving, witty and surreal adventure slots into series continuity between The Three Doctors and Frontier in Space. A long-time fan favourite, the four-part thriller remains one of the most enjoyable of the Jon Pertwee era stories. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters</I> on DVD has an excellent 4:3 image and mono sound far better than was ever heard on the original broadcasts. Heading a massive range of extras is a commentary with Katy Manning being wonderfully enthusiastic and producer-director Barry Letts getting a little more technical. There are English subtitles not only for the episodes but also for the commentary, as well as a separate on-screen information text option. Also included are two extended and one deleted scene, Barry Lett's more tightly edited preferred ending, a trailer for a 1981 season of <I>Doctor Who</I> repeats and a never used arrangement of the title music. Additionally there is a compilation of visual effects test film, some studio shooting footage, a short computer animation of the TARDIS, a photo gallery and a demonstration of the CSO special effects technique. Anything more comprehensive would be hard to imagine. --<I>Gary S Dalkin</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - City Of Death [1979]
Release Date: 2005-11-07, Rating Parental Guidance,
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - Resurrection Of The Daleks [1983]
The <I>Doctor Who</I> adventure Resurrection of the Daleks marked the Doctor's first encounter with his most famous foe since 1979's Destiny of the Daleks five years earlier, and Peter Davison's only full-scale battle with the cybernetic aliens. Weakened by a Movellan virus the Daleks assault a space station prison where Davros is being held. The Daleks plan to use duplicates of the Doctor and his companions to assassinate leading Timelords, and further duplicates to take over the Earth. The action is split between the space station and abandoned London riverside warehouses, and is notable for its grim tone and high body count. The duplicate police-assassins recall the Autons from the Jon Pertwee Spearhead from Space (1970) and proved controversial on original broadcast. Also notable is that although the show was designed as a four-part adventure it was transmitted in two double-length episodes. <p> This edition presents the story in the original four parts. Meanwhile there are more than the usual quota of name guest stars, including Rodney Bewes, Rula Lenska and Lesley Grantham. The tale also marks Janet Fielding's final appearance as Tegan. In every respect this is a key adventure in the history of <I>Doctor Who</I>, even if the tense, incident-packed story is ultimately weighed down by too many elements to resolve them all satisfactorily. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> <I>Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks</I> is accompanied by a warm and highly jocular commentary from Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and director Mathew Robinson. A new 18-minute On Location documentary intriguingly revisits the now upmarket waterfront locations with interviews featuring producer John Nathan Turner, writer Eric Saward and Matthew Robinson. A seven-minute clip from <I>Breakfast Time</I> spotlights Janet Fielding and John Nathan-Turner, and composers Brian Hodgson and Malcolm Clarke. Also included are seven minutes of deleted and extended scenes, a BBC1 trailer and a photo gallery that plays automatically for three minutes, set to sound effects. There is optional on-screen information text and selectable subtitles for the programmes and commentary. The sound is available in broadcast mono, a remarkably effective Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, and as a mono music only track. TARDIS Cam No. 4 is a very short new digital animation. <I>--Gary S Dalkin</I>
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£17.99
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Web Planet [1965]
Release Date: 2005-10-03, Rating Universal, suitable for all,
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£10.89
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Ark In Space [1974] [1963]
Tom Baker's second outing as the renegade Time Lord is a solid entry in the <I>Doctor Who</I> saga. Fan favourite Robert Holmes penned The Ark in Space, which places the Doctor and his companions Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) on a seemingly deserted space station many years in the future. Station Nerva is not as empty as it appears, though, since on board are the cryogenically preserved survivors of Earth's destruction, as well as an insect-like alien race, the Wirrin, determined to use the humans--and the Doctor--as hosts to grow their monstrous larvae. Holmes' well-paced script (which, like <I>Alien</I>, bears a resemblance to the AE van Vogt story Black Destroyer) allows Baker to flesh out his well-loved take on the Doctor, as well as considerable suspense. <p> <B>On the DVD:</B> The Ark in Space DVD's obvious highlight is an audio commentary track featuring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, and producer Phillip Hinchcliffe. Though Baker's contributions to the track are sporadic, his participation is valuable nonetheless, considering that his involvement with the series since his 1981 departure has been infrequent at best. The full-frame mono presentation also includes two interviews, one with Baker on the set of another episode in 1975 and the other with designer Roger Murray Leach, who discusses his long involvement with the series. Also included is the episode's BBC1 trailer, an unused title sequence, new CGI special effects produced by the BBC's visual effects department and an optional information track, which provides running background information and trivia that should prove valuable for series completists. A trio of Easter eggs reveal Baker's typically eclectic promotions for the <I>Doctor Who</I> exhibition in Blackpool. <I>--Paul Gaita, Amazon.com</I>
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The New Series - Series 1 - Vol. 4 [UMD Mini for PSP]
Release Date: 2005-12-26, Rating Parental Guidance,
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BBC WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING Doctor Who - The Caves Of Androzani [1963]
Marking the final adventure of Peter Davison's Doctor, <I>The Caves of Androzani</I> saw the BBC pull out all stops to give him an unforgettable farewell. Deep within the titular caves the disfigured, masked antihero Sharez Jek (Christopher Gable) and his regiment of androids are locked in conflict with an army unit and a group of smugglers. At stake is control of the life-extending Spectrox, with plenty of subplots involving espionage, betrayal and revenge as well as big-business corruption, political assassination and silly looking reptilian monsters. When the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) enter this labyrinth they immediately become victims of deadly Spectrox poisoning. The first episode has one of the best cliffhangers ever: our heroes are executed by a firing squad armed with submachine guns. <p> Freely borrowing from <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I> and <I>Dune</I> (David Lynch's film adaptation was made the same year) Robert Holmes' script shares concerns with his more satirical <I>Doctor Who</I> story, The Sun Makers. This time everything is concentrated on delivering a breathlessly paced action thriller, the relentless death and destruction unfolding more like a PG-rated Sam Peckinpah film than BBC family drama, making Davison's heroic pacifism all the more effective.<p> <b>On the DVD</b>: The disc is packed with features, from an eight-minute look at the creation of Sharez Jek narrated by Christopher Gable, to seven minutes of raw camera footage from Peter Davison's Doctor's transformation into Colin Baker's timelord. There are three BBC TV news reports on Davison's decision to leave the programme, and a BBC trailer for the first episode. In addition to a photo gallery, the entire first episode is included twice, as originally transmitted, and in a version with improved special effects. There are subtitles offering behind-the-scenes information and two additional audio options. The isolated musical score by Roger Limb may only interest the most hardcore fans, but the three-way commentary track with Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and director Graeme Harper provides plenty of nostalgic reminiscences. Limited by the fact that the programme was shot on (professional) video, the DVD has picture quality no better than a good VHS tape, while the audio is clear, undistorted mono.<I>--Gary S Dalkin</I>
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Shipping: refer to store website
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£17.99
at Amazon.co.uk
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