Still 'Doctor Who', but much weaker than previous seasons

When I sat down to watch the first episode of this series, when it was broadcast, I was highly anticipant at the prospect. It had been ten months since the end of the last series and five months since the Christmas special 'Voyage of the Damned'. I thought that the Christmas special was slightly weak but still 'Doctor Who' and still highly enjoyable. The third series had been masterful.
Imagine my suprise, therefore, when I was presented with the piece of crap that was episode one. Admittedly it was an introductory episode and therefore was bound to be worse than usual before it was even written, but still, given that it was written bu Russel T. Davis, the genious who produced 'Utopia', 'The Sound of Drums' and 'Last of the Time Lords', most notably, one would expect something much better.
Writing it off as introductory and therefore excusable, I watched 'Fires of Pompeii'. This was much better (it was actually enjoyable, which is a start) but was still far weaker that Series Three.
The series generally gets better from this point, with the only exception being 'The Docter's Daughter', which I found to be completely implausable and too absurd to acted well and, therefore, it wasn't. The Sontaran episodes are, I think, the best ones in this series and, although the ending to the series is pathetic, the final episodes are thrilling.
The main problem that I have with this series is that it is, on the whole, much weaker than previous series and streaks behing Series Three. It is still, however, highly enjoyable, cleverly written at times and, above all, is still fully 'Doctor Who'. I would recommend this to anybody who already owns the first three series but not to anybody who doesn't, as all three of the previous ones are better than it.

TENNANT IS THE DOCTOR...better than series 1 but not found its feet

series 1 was very good but this series boasted so much that it forgot to take off...Tennant is by far the greatest doctor of them all but his and Pipers chemistry lacks in between the episodes.
christmas invasion-4/5
new earth-3.5/5
tooth & claw-5/5
School reunion-5/5
Girl in the fireplace-4.8/5
rise of the cyber men-2.5/5-not as epic as id hoped.
age of steel-2/5-lacking that something that makes the cybermen...well...scary.
the idiots lantern-2/5-half decent half unfinished.
the impossible planet-3/5-creepy but nothing for the Ood to do.
Satans Pit-3.5/5-not as amazing as id hoped but it is pretty decent and very scary...watch series 4 Planet of the Ood for a better episode.
Love & Monsters-3/5-a decent episode with loads of humour and Peter Kay makes a fun monster...okay not perfect but it is fun.
Fear her-0.5/5-awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Army of Ghosts-3/5-decent episode...look out for Freema as Martha's cousin Adoela.
Doomsday-4/5-a decent end...watch for the last 15 mins.

all in all good enough...not perfect but worth purchasing

Better than the Old black and White series.

I dont care what the old folks say, this is modern and great for todays viewing. 10 out of 10.

"His Dark Materials: The Northern Doc!"

My favourite show returned and in better form than anyone could have believed. Overall this is a triumphant return in the form of a very rare beast; an updating that works. The roots of The Police Box Show are still there; tardis, lovely new version of the theme, a slightly mysterious loner, companions, monsters, time and space and good triumphing over evil.

The 1st new doctor for some time Christopher Eccelston is great. He is a dark loner but this is subtle and never overdone. Intense but not in a pretentious way that would have gone against family entertainment. He is less obviously eccentric than his predecessors but has a fondness for corny humor that is topped off with a toothy grin.

Billie Piper is the best companion in some time and works as the viewer identification.

Of the stories themselves are all of a good standard, with only"the Long Game" a tale of aliens running news feed statellites having ideas that don't gel too well.

The opener Rose introduces the concept of the show in a way Paul McGann's movie failed to. This is a high incident romp that whets the appetite for what's to come featuring old monsters Nestenes & Autons.

After the contemporary opener it's into the far future for"The End of the World" & Victorian Cardiff for"the Unquiet Dead" the new show's 1st classic.

There is more emotion at the core of new Who as we frequently meet Rose's mother and her ex-boyfriend and look at the consequences of being the people left behind. Also Rose instinctively saves her father's life after visiting the day of his death and then the resulting time paradox is meshed with the emotional fallout.

The Daleks triumpantly return with better effects and design and re-establish their menace in an episode featuring just 1 and then in a breathtaking CGI battle for the series finale.

New villains the Slitheen getting similar airtime, are a hit too with their wearing victims skins like a suit and their"gas exchange" causing excessive wind! Guaranteed to have the young ones sniggering.

New character Captain Jack is introduced in the blitz and goes on to be an excellent addition with Steven Moffat's writing and John Barrowman's acting.

This is the same old show and nods to the past are subtle not suffocating, Unit soldiers in the background, daleks ships like in their comic strips.

The extras include a fun commentary for every story, cut down versions of all the companion documentary show Dr Who: Confidential episodes, some video diaries and featurettes. All in all it's a pretty full package and sets the template for furture box sets.

The only gripe is the lack of Eccleston's presence on the extras. He is in some Confidential bits and a Breakfast Time interview, not the better 1 out of the 2 he gave either.

Still a highly recommended purchase especially at the marked down prices that it's come down to after 2 years.

The Police Box show is in safe hands

Brilliant Christmas Treat!

This was the best Christmas Special by Far! The storyline was brilliant, th acting was the best in years, and the cybermen are back and they are bigger and better than ever! The cybermen approach in the snow which is how they were first ever found so it resembles to that aswell.
This is one that I would defientley reccommend to buy!

"...I'm getting a little tired of hearing about your mother."

Watching BATTLEFIELD is a frustrating experience, even if like me, you're a die-hard fan of the Sylvester McCoy stories. Despite the excellent idea of having a sci-fi spin on the Arthurian legend; despite great performances from Angela Bruce, Nicholas Courtney and especially Jean Marsh; despite some good lines, the occasional good joke and some impressive visuals (considering the show's budgetary restrictions), the story has to be considered an interesting failure.

From the disc's extras one can see that there was a far better, (possibly extraordinarily good) story buried under what was actually transmitted. The original ending which involved the Brigadier's death would have ensured that viewers would not have forgotten BATTLEFIELD for a long time. Writer Ben Aaronovitch claims he was forced to introduce an extra episode to his original 3-part story and perhaps this is why the final episode seems not to have a satisfying climax - it's always seemed to me to be a very poorly thought out denouement to have UNIT"lock up" Morgaine and Mordred. Is a conventional prison really going to pose any problem at all to an extra-dimensional sorceress who can blast down helicopters and drain people's memories? Examine the plot in detail and it falls apart.

For this viewer though, BATTLEFIELD's biggest flaw is one of tone. The script can't quite decide whether it wants to be comic, heroic or tragic. What are we to make of the relationship between Ancelyn and Bambera for instance? It's difficult to be either touched or amused by a relationship that seems to be based on them beating the living daylights out of one another(and other people). The script also seems to have difficulty deciding whether to pitch itself at an adult or a child audience. In light of the fact that there are some good lines here, I wince at some of the things some of the characters are given. For instance, would Bambera, a tough, professional soldier, really say something as absurdly camp as"I'm putting you under arrest - you and your freaky friends!"?

The problem of tone also rears its head in the performances. Sylvester McCoy occasionally veers towards overacting. We learn from the extras that the idea worked out between McCoy and director Michael Kerrigan in this story was that during this story the Doctor is internally battling with human violence which is"infecting" him somehow. While it's an interesting notion it simply doesn't work on screen because there's not enough in the script to support it. What we see is McCoy gurning rather absurdly for what seems like no particularly good reason. On the occasions when McCoy is quiet and subdued, the Doctor is far more the powerful, enigmatic figure he should be. Christopher Bowen could also have benefitted from underplaying his role...

Keff McCulloch's not terribly attractive incidental score also reinforces the idea that we're watching a children's programme and that adults shouldn't bother. And this is a real shame because there are a few scattered moments where BATTLEFIELD is genuinely magical. These are mainly the quieter, more understated scenes such as the Doctor's examining the scabbard for the first time in episode 1, but Jean Marsh is nothing short of magnificent (she's helped by having strikingly piercing eyes) and holds the viewers' attention by allowing the character to be multi-layered and not just a generic villain. She's the star of the story by light years.

The SPECIAL EDITION of BATTLEFIELD on the 2nd disc with extra scenes and added CGI effects is slicker and edited a little better than the transmitted version, but the differences are cosmetic and does little to dispel my misgivings.

The extras are of the usual high standard with the Aaronovitch/Cartmel interview especially interesting and illuminating a lot of the aspects of the tale that might have remained obscure to the casual viewer. The Jean Marsh interview is also worth a look and gives an extra insight into why her performance in BATTLEFIELD is so good.

Tom Baker at his best....

Well, here it is. One of the best sections of Doctor Who that was made.
There can be no denying that John Nathan Turner, much as people grew to loath him for what happened to the programme in its later years under his 'care', did great things in his first season as producer.
This season does away with the rather silly humour that had crept in in the late 70's, (all the more poignant when JNT made the same mistake in the McCoy era and introduced too much humour) and replaced it with a more serious sci-fi air that had not really been seen since Pertwee's first season.
A raft of good stories, and Tom Baker in atmospherically subdued form; some people say the tone of this season was funereal, and all the better for it.
And so to the E-Space trilogy. What a brilliant concept. Doctor Who had done parallel worlds before, and Russel T Davies would do so again in the new series. But here we have a slightly different spin on the idea; that of a negative universe with negative co-ordinates. It made perfect sense to the 10 year old me, who was doing negative co-ordinates in Maths at school and i found the idea fascinating. I still do 28 years later.
The stories are great;
Full Circle, is in some ways a classic Who; people trapped in a confined space; a horrible monster lurking about, and Tom Baker and Lalla Ward on good form.
But the story is intriguing, and i won't give it away.
Its a shame that good use wasn't made of K9 here, as in many stories, the writers simply get him out of the way to avoid writing for him. But, there are some good moments nonetheless.
This story is notable for introducing the character of Adric, a companion hated by many.
I rather liked him as a viewer back then as he was a change to the tiresome screaming girls that had been around for seemingly ever, (i was ten!) and i thought it was great that there should be a boy companion.
I think Adric was a really good idea, and was well realised by Matt Waterhouse, and was exactly as he should have been portrayed, so i have trouble seeing why people don't like the character. In the Davison era he would go on to contribute well to the Tardis 'family' which made the show more interesting and enjoyable then. Oh well, each to their own!
State of Decay is a Terrance Dicks masterpiece, has vampires, a civilisation descended from the crew of an ancient space ship and sees technology lost and a people in decline. This is fantastic stuff and has some genuinely creepy moments.
The last story Warriors Gate is perhaps the most confusing and needs to be watched a few times for it to make sense, but, without giving anything away, it sees a goodbye or two, another fascinating concept and higher than average production values. The model work is good and the incidental music evokes real atmosphere.

I cannot think of any negatives here really. These three tales stand up well today. Obviosly the effetcs are of their time, but very good considering that, and there are some impressive shots in the last story particularly.

This set of stories really is top notch. This is Doctor Who at its finest and should be added to anyones collection.

A comedy of errors

This is a great improvement over last years schedule. And I hope it continues. Invasion of Time, warriors of the deep, four to doomsday and K9 and Company are not promising. E-space, this and War games is brilliant.
The rescue is about a girl called Vicki and a crippled man held captive by something called Koquillion on the planet Dido. . There is a decent twist at the end. Hartnell captures the loss of his Grandchild well. Vicki is given a good start. Koquillion does not sound promising as a bug eyed monster, but Whiticker does magic and makes us truely dislike him. Good for watching if you havenothing better to do. 7/10 An underated Jewel.
The Romans is the first comedy and it works! I won't spoil the jokes, to keep the laughter. But Nero looks like a comedian, so stupid and talentless. Brilliant. The historical accuracy is brilliant. The only problem being that Ian does nothing on the slave ship. The plot is they are enjoying a rare holiday, staying at a villa not far from Rome in the year A.D. 64. Ian and Barbara are kidknapped and the Doctor and Vicki stay at the house of Nero.9/10
The extras appear decent eg 'What has 'the Romans' ever done for us?' And with only one extra on the rescue, 'mounting the rescue.' It appears to continue a good run 8/10

it is good fun all round

The Brain of Morbius is a good all round Doctor Who, even though it takes place in the studio. It is well paced, and keeps you on your toes most of the time.

In this era of Who this is one of the best ones made mainly because it makes you think as you go along"What's going to happen next?"

So for these things i would recommend you watch it all the way through if you have a couple of hours to spare.

What a mistaka to Myrka!

I am going to begin with the middle story in this sequence as it's definitely my favourite story of the three included here.
The Sea Devils is a classic slice of Jon Pertwee `Who'. It includes a lengthy sword fight between The Doctor and The Master, a jet-ski chase, well-realised aliens, hypnotism, mysterious disappearances and a climactic gun battle; these elements more than make-up for any deficiencies in the story. There are few deficiencies but two that spring to mind are the frankly bizarre `spacey' sounds used in the incidental music and the under-use of a great `monster'.
The story opens with The Master finally incarcerated in a maximum security prison on Earth. At the same time, boats are mysteriously sinking and strange burn marks are found in their hulls. Meanwhile, The Doctor goes to visit his old foe and finds him seemingly repentant - a great scene is that of The Master in his cell watching an episode of 70s `mice on the moon' programme `The Clangers'. Although the prisoner seems completely subdued, the governor of the prison is extremely shifty and it appears that The Master is not quite as docile as he seems...
This is one of the series' last attempts at a six-parter and in many ways this has to be a good thing. As much action and intrigue as there undoubtedly is, the story inevitably feels padded-out and there are times when I found myself willing it on. The eponymous creatures are well-realised and the shots of them emerging from the sea are a triumph equal to that of The Daleks arriving in Central London in their mid-60s heyday. DVD extras for this story include the usual PDF Radio Times listings and continuities plus `Hello Sailor' - a cast and crew making-of documentary plus a prototype video diary from one of the sailors who was used as an extra and a preview of `The Time meddler', the next scheduled release from 2Entertain.

The Silurians is chronologically the first in this thematically linked set and rates for me as more of a solid if uninspiring entry into the series. This goes one better than The Sea Devils with a whopping 7 episodes and clearly sags in the middle as a result. Notable for being the only story to have `Doctor Who and...' in the title, due to a mistake made by the people doing the title cards, this was the second story in Jon Pertwee's first series, shown between January and March 1970. The story starts with inexplicable power losses at an underground research centre, which UNIT and its new scientific adviser are called in to investigate. It gets even more entertaining when what appears to be a dinosaur is seen in the underground tunnels. Then we learn that the work at the research centre has awakened an ancient race of intelligent reptiles who ruled the Earth millions of years ago. They went into hibernation when it appeared that an asteroid was going to collide with the Earth. As it happened, the asteroid took up a new job as the Moon rather than destroying the planet, and in the absence of the reptiles, humans evolved and took over. Now the reptiles are awake, and they want to take their planet back from those `nasty apes'. There are some effectively dark and gloomy scenes in the creatures' underground lair and even the dinosaur is okay - it certainly looks better than the one in the much later `Invasion of the dinosaurs'! DVD extras include `What Lies Benath', a slightly tongue-in-cheek documentary about the way in which this story was influenced by the politics of the time, `Going Underground', a look at the difficulties of shooting a TV show underground and a more techy piece about the way in which this story went from black and white to colour.

Finally we come to Warriors of the Deep...in truth a much maligned Fifth Doctor story that brings together both The Silurians and The Sea-devils. Memorable (unfortunately) for unarguably the series' lamest attempt at a monster - The Myrka - ostensibly a fearsome sea creature that electrocutes its enemies but in reality that pantomime horse from Rentaghost with some green paint and seaweed laid on! Only the infamous `Taran Wood Beast' rivals this monstrosity for sheer crapness - and I'm speaking as a die-hard fan!
More overtly political than many of the shows' stories, this is set in the late-21st Century and features two warring `blocs' under the sea. Featuring Hammer Horror stalwart Ingrid Pitt as Doctor Solow and `The Onedin Lines'' Tom Adams as Vorshak, The TARDIS crew (The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough) arrive on the base and The Doctor recognises a `Silurian battle cruiser' approaching. Inevitably The Doctor becomes the meat in a human/reptile sandwich (again) and eventually has to sacrifice his principles in order to save the day.
Overall the story is okay but several glaring continuity errors and rushed production (forced by Margaret Thatcher's calling of a parliamentary election - so The Myrka is her fault, hah I knew it wasn't just the milk snatching we hated her for!) leave a disappointing end product. By this time, Peter Davison had already announced he was leaving the show and the weariness with which he delivers his final line is perhaps a clear indication of the end of another era in the show's history.
DVD extras include 'The Depths'- All the usual suspects recall making the story, 'They Came From Beneath The Sea', a short feature about making the monsters, Oh dear! and 'Science in Action', a clip from a BBC Schools programme in which visual effects designer Matt Irvine talks about the techniques and materials used.

doctor who comes down to earth

a doctor who story from 1966, featuring william hartnell as the first doctor. jackie lane as his companion dodo. and introducing two new companions, polly played by anneke wills and ben played by michael craze.

the story runs for four twenty five minute long episodes. all are in black and white. the picture quality can vary a bit from scene to scene but is generally very good and perfectly watchable.

in the mid 60's, with the post office tower having just been built in london, one doctor who writer speculated what would happen if something took the tower over. and that was the basis for this story. a super computer built there called WOTAN brainwashes all the humans it can, and uses them to build robotic war machines that it can use to wipe out the human race. can the doctor save the day?

this is one of the best hartnell stories and it's great to get it on dvd. in many ways a template for what the show would do in the 70's, with threats to contemporary earth and the doctor working with the military to stop it. hartnell is an absolute star. watch the way he dominates the screen at the end of part three. his doctor has a great time showing off to all the humans how smart he is. the story moves at an excellent pace, has some splendid set pieces, and ben and polly are excellent new characters. highly entertaining stuff.

the extras are the usual:

english language subtitles

production subtitles, which bring up information about the story and the production whilst you watch it

PDF files [you view them when looking at the disc on a computer] showing the radio times listings for the story

a photo gallery of shots of the story and the production

and in addition, this also has some decent extra stuff:

PDF files showing the design of the war machines

a commentary from anneke wills [polly] and michael ferguson, the director of the story

now and then: a nine minute long look at the locations used for the filming as they were then and as they are now. fascinating stuff. I'd been through some of the london streets shown lots of times without realising they filmed the story in those particular ones, so it was very interesting to watch

blue peter: roughly fifteen minutes worth of three clips from the show, showing the building of the post office tower, the war machines visiting the blue peter studio, and children who built a model dalek. charming nostalgic viewing

one foot in the past: a nine minute long clip from a bbc history show in which former mp and paymaster general tony benn visits the post office tower. since it's been closed to the public since 1981 this is the only chance you'll ever get to see it, and the view is amazing. he's also a good presenter, so it's well worth watching.

as is WOTAN assembly. the tapes of the story were originally wiped by the bbc, but it was reconstructed from two different copies found overseas and lots of clips found elsewhere. very interesting to watch.

for an easter egg, watch this on a computer, go to the episode selection screen, and move the pointer to the top right corner till it lights up a doctor who logo. click on that for a short piece of footage of an effects shot not quite working out. worth watching.

there is also a coming soon trailer for the impending release of the seventh doctor story battlefield. the schedules for the dvds have changed a lot over this year and battlefield will not be the next one out, it will be out towards the end of the year. these trailers are very good, using great music and montages of clips to give the stories an epic feel. and in some cases they make them look better than they are. but we'll talk about that when battlefield comes out.

but the war machines is an excellent story. and the dvd extras are very good as well. this is a really good release and well worth getting

BEST EP EVER!!!

Il make this short and sweat, the best ep ever in the 45 yr run of doctor who amazing, a brill stroy line. Kylie as new comapnion Astrid is amazing and its a shame she was killed off in a heartbreakin scence of new who. Alot of people dont like this ep, dont listen to them RTD is such a great writer and it a shame he leaving, im a 15 year old boy and i loved this a 100% Buy Buy it now!!!

Davros returns.

This story has often been criticised in the past. Perhaps this is due to it being compared with the previous Dalek story - Genesis of the Daleks. Perhaps also, due to a weak start, with a regeneration scene being played for laughs. Nevertheless, I feel that this is a good and enjoyable tale in its own right, even if it is not one of the classics. The Doctor and the newly-regenerated Romana, arrive on Skaro and encounter two warring factions - the Daleks and the Movellans. Both sides are locked in a stalemate and are seeking for the stroke of genius that will give them the upper hand. For the Daleks, this means going back to their origins and seeking out their creator.
There are some fine elements here. The cliffhangers are good, with the end of episode 2 being one of the series most memorable moments. Tom Baker is well-established as the most popular Doctor (from the original series). Lalla Ward makes a highly impressive debut as Romana and shows that she is a worthy successor to Mary Tamm. Less successful is the portrayal of Davros. David Gooderson tries hard, but cannot match the outstanding performance of Michael Wisher from Genesis. It is worth noting that the Daleks themselves, could be done with a makeover!
The DVD contains the usual array of extras. For me, the most interesting was a documentary entitled `Terror Nation.' This pays tribute to Dalek creator Terry Nation and focuses on the different stories he wrote for the series. Overall then, a very worthy addition to the Doctor Who DVD library.

Always turn left

Turn left, the first on this volume, is in my opinion the best Dr Who episode ever written. A thought provoking and profound look at what the world would be like if Donna had never met the Doctor. Catherine Tate is superb in her performance bringing new depths to her character. It highlights too her mothers ambivalence towards her only daughter and there are several very moving scenes. Stolen Earth and Journey's End follow this episode neatly and with full on Russell T Davies genius. I nearly drowned in my own tears in the final episode and any detractors of Catherine Tate must surely eat their own words. Highly recommend to everyone, even those who are not Dr Who addicts.

Underated mid Tom Baker era story

First broadcast in 1978, The Invasion of Time, was a last minute replacement for another story that was planned but had to be abandoned due to budget concerns. As an end of a season finale, The Invasion of Time, certainly succeeds despites its rushed script. It features The fourth Doctor, as played by Tom Baker. Leela played by Louise Jameson, and the voice of John Leeson as K9. This time they return to The Doctor's home planet Galifrey to prevent an invasion. But why is The Doctor beahving so strangely. As with the earlier classic Tom Baker serial, The Seeds of Doom, this adventure has two distinct parts to it. Though this time we the intitial four part story, followed by the final 2 episodes when the real villains behind the story are introduced. Clearly, the opening story is a homage to the then recent Star Wars, the effects are actually ok and stand up better today than the model shots used in stories such as Terminus which was broadcast 5 years later. The vardans are interesting villains, although their voices maybe could have been processed more. The Sontarans make a welcome return. Though the new ones have a cockney accent, this is in contrast to the more refined approach taken by actor Kevin Lindsay who played them in previous serials. All the Timelords are well played, in particular familar actor Milton Johns as The Castellan, and Chris Tranchell as Andred. The sets for Galifrey are also impressive. The final episodes are set in the corridors of The Tardis. The corrior sets have been much critcised over the years for looking like the ineterior of a hospital, they were actually filmed in an abandoned asylum. The only way of looking at this is that perhaps, because of The Doctor's increasing eccentricty, he opted to design the corridors in such a way.
Ultimately then The Invasion of Time is well worth a look, and is superior to many of the stories broadcast in the late 80s.

A great celebratory romp with brilliant extras.

Okay, so it's really only 3 Doctors as the original William Hartnell was dead, played here by someone who only bears a passing resemlance to him and Tom Baker declined to take part so they had to represent him with archive footage, but the story is still hugely enjoyable, fitting in umpteen old companions and monsters and a story that is still intriguing and more or less coherant. Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee are a delight to watch, each trying to upstage the other and Peter Davison more than proves himself against these old timers. In many respects, you could call this the 'ultimate' Dr Who story and is probably a good one to watch if you're new to the classic series. The extras are superb with the best 'easter egg' to have been hidden on a Dr Who DVD. An essential purchase for any Dr Who fan.

Must-Buy!

This was the first Classic Who that I watched, as it was time and time again recommended to me as the best story.
And, of what I've seen so far, I'd have to agree.

You can see why Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are so many fans dream-pairing. They work incredibly well, both together and apart.

By now we should all know that Davros is coming back in the current series finale, and that was another of my motivations to buy this.
I can see why people have been desperate to get him back - he is genuinely scary in this episode! His presence, his apearance and his plans make him a quite terrifying baddie, and when he demands the Doctor tell him the future it is just as powerful as anything the new series could offer up.

One thing I would say that I feel there is a bit too much running between the two opposing buildings on Skaro, and at times I found myself wondering if the production team were inventing certain situations simply to fill time rather than further the story.

If you're thinking of buying a Classic Who to fill the time between this years finale and the specials you couldn't go very much wrong with this.

"Forbidden Planet meets Dr Jekyll"

This is possibly the best creation of an alien environment in this era of Dr Who. Roger Murray Leach's design is superb. The space given to it and use of film give it a reality that even a dressed up real forest could never have had.

The story is a hugely enjoyable mixture of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the classic old film Forbidden Planet. Tom Baker and Lis Sladen are on superb form as are a guest cast including Prentis Hancock (AWOL from Space 1999's Moonbase Alpha being shown at the same time) and Frederick Jaeger.

The anti-matter monster although it looks pants in still photos is only ever seen in a red outline which is all the more effective.

Oddly for a story produced by Philip Hinchcliffe it has a very happy ending but was still strong meat for its time.

Of the extras; the commentary is a Tommentary and begins with Mr. Baker moaning in pleasure at the sound of the Dr Who theme. Yes, he's on good form and so are his commentary co-stars.

The making of Documentary is a good one, although the featurette"Planetary Performance" about acting in fake alien environments seems to have been made from the documentary's off cuts and doesn't really go anywhere.

We also get a bit of studio footage and possibly the best Easter Egg ever as Philip Hinchliffe reviews some of his old production files, don't worry it's easy to find!

All in all, fine old story from"The Police Box Show" with a good support package!

BLACK N' WHITE, DODGY SETS, FLUFFED LINES....JUST BRILLIANT!

This is real telly history. The whole Doctor Who/Tardis concept still astounds me with the imagination that went into its creation. The original mass of sound effects that was the opening theme was changed years ago, but not for the better. The light distortions the bass sounds and the asthmatic Tardis sounds, with howling ,fading echo were all there and gave the show a totally original look and feel .
The'unearthly child, both versions are good to watch. Introducing a great cast headed by the wonderful William Hartnell. The stone age story was alright, although the arrival in the middle of nowhere by the Tardis at the beginning was visually stunning. As was the arrival in the petrified forest in the Dalek story, that was genuinley scary. There was a tension and genuine spookiness that ran through the show. When the drama was high it was great, only lost when they became adventures and the chases replaced the drama, but that couldn't/can't be helped. The odd story 'The edge of destruction ',was i believe a money saver, but a good character story set in the Tardis. Which looked like a battered old wooden police box, rather than the huge bright blue thing they have now. David Tennant are doing well, but you must watch this, esspecially the first two Dalek episodes.

Not Bad for a Fourth Series

At the point of writing this we are only one episode away from the end of the fourth series. It has received a mixed reaction in our household and had caused a few disagreements over good or not-so-good episodes.
The first three of the series, for me, were fairly good. I loved the Adipodes - tooo cute for words. The return of Donna Noble as the Doc's companion was like a breath of fresh air! Her first appearance in the Christmas Special '06 was immediately after Rose's departure and such a different character was a lot to take on board. After 13 episodes of Drippy Martha, Donna is delightful. She is not in love with the Doctor - as all the others appeared to be - and this gives her character much more scope. She stands up to him, she reigns him in when required and she lets him know what it is like to be human. She is a hit in our household and we totally enjoyed the start to the new series because of her.
Episode 2 - Fires of Pompeii - I liked this. The effects were good, the scenery was excellent and there was enough 'big stuff' to keep the 8 year old happy. Donna had a blub at towards the end when she realised that there was a moral choice to be made and that neither outcome could be without death. I particularly liked the way that RTD used the Doctor to 'create' a time in history.
Episode 3 - Planet of the Ood - By far and large the favourite of the series for us. We have watched this one several times over and we still think it is wonderful. RTD does it again when he revives a 'monster' from a previous series and gives it a different identity. He had us crying over a Dalek in the first series (who'd have thought it eh?) and he does the same with the Ood. Donna has another blub in this episode and we have now realised that this is the flaw to her character - she's always blarting!! That aside, however, this is a magnificent episode to watch.
All in all, the first three episodes are promising for the new series. This DVD is a must for the collection.