07/04

07/04/23 Doctor Who: The invasion
07/04/12 Doctor Who: New beginnings
07/04/09 Doctor Who: The Sontaran experiment

07/04/23

This completes the reviews of the Doctor Who serials that I currently have on DVD, though I've still got lots of special features left to review.

Doctor Who: The invasion

This was an eight-part serial, first broadcast between 2nd November - 21st December 1968. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: a young and pretty photographer and a missing professor set the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe on the trail of Tobias Vaughn and his company International Electromatics, a global supplier of electronic equipment. They learn that Vaughn and IE are not what they seem, and they end up working with their old ally Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and his United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) in order to save the earth from alien invasion and, eventually, total annihilation. UNIT, Lethbridge-Stewart and invasion threats would become a recurring feature in the third Doctor's era.

What I've seen:

Parts two, three, five, six, seven and eight, and animated versions of parts one and four.

The good stuff:

in Tobias Vaughn, the serial has a fantastic villain. Kevin Stoney gives us a great performance, and the script provides him with a wealth of good material to work with
the acting is good all around. Troughton is excellent as usual and Peter Halliday takes the fairly minor part of Vaughn's oily, sadistic henchman Packer and makes it into a memorable creation that is funny but never too far over the top
there's plenty of action, including a spectacular rescue by helicopter
the serial looks great. The direction by Douglas Camfield is outstanding, there are good sets, excellent location work and decent model shots, and the serial benefits from the availability of military vehicles and equipment and from having actual soldiers as extras
most of the incidental score is excellent. I liked the use of ambient music (the soft jazz playing in Vaughn's office)

The not so good stuff:

the UNIT theme is awful, a cheerful, vaguely militaristic-sounding tune that works as an instant mood killer
the biggest problem with this serial is its length, since the makers didn't quite seem to know what to do with the eight episodes that they had at their disposal.
In the first four episodes their solution was to s-t-r-e-e-e-e-e-t-c-h the story to fit the time available. Little of what happens in these episodes moves the story forward. At the end of part four the main players have been introduced, we've had some nice character moments with Vaughn and we have some inkling of what he's up to, but the actual plot has yet to unfold.
Oddly enough, from part five onwards the story starts to feel rushed, with promising plot lines like the corruption of the UNIT leadership and the rescue of Professor Watkins going nowhere at all. This is particularly jarring in the case of the Professor's rescue, since one moment everyone's planning the operation and telling each other how difficult and dangerous the whole thing is going to be, and the next moment the rescue has been accomplished and is never mentioned again

My verdict:

Nice!

Flawed but fascinating, worth watching at least once.

What I've seen is the UK DVD edition. Special features:

The really not-to-be-missed stuff:

the animated first and fourth episodes. The animation isn't exactly cutting-edge but it is quite good, it's obviously done with a great deal of respect for the original series, and animation proves to be a promising approach to bringing lost episodes back to life. The animated Doctor and Vaughn are nice though not as fun to watch as the real thing, but I very much enjoyed the moody outdoor scenes in part one. The decision to do the animation in black and white was definitely the right one
Love off-air. Apparently everything the BBC had of episodes one and four was completely destroyed, including the soundtracks, and the animated episodes use sound that was recorded by people watching Doctor Who at home. This documentary is mostly a light-hearted tribute to geeky fandom, but Mark Ayres discussing how he worked with the extant recordings to create the sound for the animation is fascinating

The good stuff:

Info text. The production subtitles are informative as always.
Photo gallery. I'm usually not a fan of this feature but I rather enjoyed this one.
Flash frames. An extensive and interesting look at the making of the animated episodes.
Evolution of the Invasion. This documentary about the making of the serial places 'The Invasion' in the broader perspective of running the series, and it has several actors talking about their craft. It's a bit long, but worth watching.

The not entirely great but still interesting stuff:

Commentary. There are eight episodes to talk through, and not all commentary is equally successful. The commentary for part one gives us Mark Ayres, Steve Maher (Cosgrove Hall) and James Goss (BBC Doctor Who website) who talk about the nuts and bolts of the animation, which is pretty interesting. (But, then again, I tend to like the nuts and bolts.) The commentary for part four has Frazer Hines, Nicholas Courtney and Wendy Padbury responding to their animated portrayals, which is also worth listening to. Of the other episodes, those commentary tracks that include production assistant Chris D'Oyly John are the most informative. On the others, we hear the regulars cosily chatting away without providing any new insights.
Trailers. Animated trailers for the serial, which gave the animators a chance to show their stuff. Unfortunately the iconic image of the Cybermen on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, which is also in one of the surviving episodes, can't help but be a bit of a disappointment compared to the real thing. For me the animation works best when it's showing us things that have no direct parallels in the surviving episodes, like the outdoor scenes in part one. Then again, the animated version of Vaughn's militia actually looks better than the real thing.
VHS Links. Nicholas Courney's summary of the missing episodes for the 1993 VHS release. Probably nice to have for anyone who enjoyed the VHS version.
Character design. Character design drawings and tests for the animated episodes. Doesn't add that much to Flash frames.

The bottom line:

A "must have" release.

More Doctor Who reviews:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
The invasion (1968)

07/04/12

I'm still doing the Doctor who thing, and have now started adding reviews of the special features on the DVD releases. Today: the 'New beginnings' boxset, released earlier this year.

Doctor Who: New beginnings

Serials in this boxset:
The keeper of Traken (1981)
Logopolis (1981)
Castrovalva (1982)

What I've seen is the UK edition. Special features:

Definitely worth seeing:

Being Doctor Who. Peter Davison discusses how he took over from Tom Baker.
The crowded Tardis. A look at the increase in the Tardis crew with contributions from, among others, Tom Baker and Peter Davison.

Good stuff:

Commentary for 'Logopolis' and 'Castrovalva'. The commentary for 'Castrovalva' gives us the always entertaining Peter Davison - Janet Fielding double act, with guest appearances from Fiona Cummings and Christopher H. Bidmead. The commentary for 'Logopolis', with Fielding, Bidmead and Tom Baker, is a bit more subdued but worth listening to.
Info text. Production subtitles providing background information for all three serials.
A new body at last. A 50-minute documentary with cast and crew discussing the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison. It's a bit long and rambling, but the contributions from Tom Baker in particular make it worth watching.
Being nice to each other. A 30-minute documentary looking at the making of 'The keeper of Traken'.
Directing Castrovalva. Fiona Cummings talks about her work.
Tom Baker on Nationwide (1981?). Nothing profound, but seeing Tom Baker being Tom Baker is always fun.
Peter Davison on Pebble Mill (1981?). Fashion tips for the fifth Doctor.
1982 Doctor who annual. 59 pages of Doctor Who fiction, fan stuff and popular science in PDF format. Clearly aimed at a young audience, but quite fun.

Sort of good stuff:

Commentary for 'The keeper of Traken'. Matthew Waterhouse is hosting the conversation, with contributions from Anthony Ainly and Sarah Sutton, and at times he seems too self-conscious to draw out any interesting responses from the others.
Deleted scenes from 'Castrovalva'. No great loss.
Music-only option for all three serials. The use of (electronic) music is interesting, with the music underscoring specific bits of action. In the music-only option the long silences between the fairly short bursts of music are a bit weird, though.
Photo galleries for all three serials. They're nice, but it's a feature that I'm not really that interested in.
The return of the Master. A short documentary about the return of the Master, who had been a recurring villain in the Pertwee era. A longer documentary about the Master's history in the series would have been nice (though perhaps difficult to make, since the two actors who were most famous in the part are no longer with us). As it is, there's not really that much subject matter to discuss.
Peter Davison on Blue Peter (1981?).
Peter Davison on Nationwide (1981?).
Peter Davison on Swap shop (1981?).
Sarah Sutton on Swap shop (1981).
BBC News. News items covering Tom Baker and Lalla Ward's wedding, Tom Baker's departure and Peter Davison's arrival.
Theme music video.
BBC Enterprises literature. Literature produced by BBC Enterprises to promote season 18. Cast-listings and rather spoiler-ridden summaries.

The not really that great stuff:

Trailers and continuity announcements
Radio Times billings for all three serials.

I've found one Easter egg on the 'Castrovalva' DVD. On the main menu, press 'down' until the circle next to 'Audio options' becomes white, and then press 'left'. The Doctor Who logo at the top of the screen will become high-lighted. Press 'OK'. If you're playing the DVD on a computer, you can also click on the logo. What you'll see is a Doctor Who float with Peter Davison at some festive event.

The bottom line:

A "must have" DVD boxset.

More Doctor Who reviews:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
New beginnings

07/04/09

Today: a short and dark story from the early Tom Baker years.

Doctor Who: The Sontaran experiment

This is a two-part serial, first broadcast between 22nd February - 1st March 1975. A brief and not really spoiler-ish summary of the plot: in this sequel to 'The ark in space', the Doctor travels to the now-abandoned earth to repair some equipment. Abandoned? Well, not quite...

The need to write this two-parter, a quite uncommon format for Doctor Who, came up when one of the six-part stories planned for the season became a four-parter instead. The Sontarans, the villains of the piece, had been invented by regular Doctor Who writer Robert Holmes and had made their debut in a story from the Jon Pertwee era. Their archenemies, the Rutans, would make an appearance in 'Horror of Fang Rock'.

The good stuff:

you have to admire the sheer boldness of this story. Beware, spoilers ahead - mankind has deserted the earth, a hostile alien has moved in and turned the place into his own little test lab where he can experiment on humans without being disturbed, and a couple of human victims who don't trust each other have escaped and are now roaming the countryside. And, oh yes, there are only two 25-minute episodes in which to set up the plot and resolve it
the whole thing works. The serial is well-paced and well-acted, there's enough story to leave you satisfied, and the writing and the direction ensure that the plot is nicely resolved within the available time without things ever feeling rushed

Some minor quibbles:

the serial is even more obviously made on a shoestring than most Doctor Who
the Sontarans' decision to, um, call the whole thing off at the end of the serial is a bit sudden

My verdict:

Quite good, actually.

A quite entertaining two-parter with a remarkably dark theme for Doctor Who.

What I've seen is the UK DVD edition. Special features:

Commentary by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Philip Hinchcliffe (producer) and Bob Baker (writer). The conversation is polite and informative, worth listening to at least once.

Built for war. The genesis and development of the Sontaran race through the history of the series, with contributions from Terrance Dicks, Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Read, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bob Baker, Erik Saward and Stuart Fell. As a documentary about the Sontarans, not really the most interesting of Doctor Who villains, this is overkill. As an excuse to round up some of the usual suspects and get them talking about their memories of making the series, it's fine.

There are also production subtitles, which are informative as ever, and a photo gallery.

The bottom line:

A "nice to have" DVD.

More Doctor Who reviews:
Doctor Who reviews

The latest version of this review:
The Sontaran experiment (1975)

With the exceptions listed here, all content © 2007 D9D1E2.COM. Please read the disclaimer, copyright information and terms of use. On this page Transitional HTML 4.01 and CSS 1 are used. If you're seeing this text you either have CSS switched off in your browser, or you're using a browser that can't handle CSS. If you're using an older browser version, you might want to consider upgrading.