CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO DVD REVIEW

I don't normally post reviews of TV series because sometimes you can't condense however many episodes into a 2 page review, I tried it with The Pacific and that didn't work. But i'm giving it another try because U.S based reviewer Shawn Francis has sent his review of two classic Dr.Who episodes that are apparently getting a release in the U.S. Now this is going to be controversial but to be honest, I really can't stand Dr. Who but Shawn's reviews are great, check them out after the jump...



Written By Shawn Francis

DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF THE GIANTS (1964) 

My mother used to watch Doctor Who when I was a kid. Back then it came on late Saturday mornings, and the episode I remember finally seeing was part of the Tom Baker era, ‘Terror Of The Zygons.’ I can still remember coming in on the scene where the Loch Ness Monster chases the Doctor. Yes, that actually happened in Doctor Who. The aliens of that storyline, the Zygons, frightened me. They were colored almost bloody red, or reddish orange, and spoke with a strange, sinister tone. I remember getting anxious every time they showed up on screen.

Cut to years later, PBS started airing the show weekday afternoons, right after school, and they started with the Tom Baker era. This is when my brother and me became addicted. I even remember a friend of my brother’s, Brian, who was also hooked on the show, so much so his mother knitted him an exact replica of the mile long scarf Baker’s Doc wore. He used to wear that thing all over town.

Admittedly Baker’s portrayal of the Time Lord is my favorite, but I did manage to stick with the show for a little bit when he regenerated into Peter Davison, though, he didn’t have the appeal Baker had and I sadly lost interest in the series. My brother, on the other hand, watched it off and on all through to Sylvester McCoy’s incarnation and is more versed in these latter episodes than I am.

I am also somewhat familiar with John Pertwee’s portrayal, the actor who played the Doc before Baker took over, but have never seen any episodes of the guy who started out as the Time Lord, William Hartnell. Well, thanks to a review copy that came my way from BBC America I have now seen, at least, one episode—PLANET OF THE GIANTS!

The William Hartnell years run from 1963 to 1966 and it was interesting to see the Doctor Who mythology in its infancy. A plot point baffled me where one of his companions, a young girl, referred to him as her grandfather, which begs the question where was the mythology of the character at back in those days?

The infamous Time Lord had a granddaughter?!

From what I can gather from IMDB, PLANET OF THE GIANTS is the debut episode of Season Two and is about the Doctor and his three companions heading back to Earth, but in the interim that have to deal with a near catastrophe in the Tardis as the doors start to open before they have a chance to materialize. They manage to stronghold them back into place, and “land” without further incident, unfortunately Earth looks a bit strange, everything is way to big—giant even! The Doctor quickly surmises they did make it back to Earth but in a one inch tall shrunken form, which was the result of the botched materialization when the doors tried to open.

Their story runs parallel to what is happening with all the dead insects they keep stumbling upon, as a super insecticide is being created, except it has a flaw. Even though it kills the pests, it also kills just about any insect, or small sized animal, it comes in contact with, and since there’s a great deal of money to made here, our villain of the piece will stop at nothing to make sure it goes into production regardless of the consequences, and the body count, it and he, rack up.

The 2-part, 73 minute episode is full frame, and along with a commentary by vision mixer, Clive Doig, special sounds creator, Brian Hodgson, make-up supervisor, Sonia Markham, and floor assistant, David Tilly, you have the option of activating a ‘production notes’ subtitle that runs along the bottom, giving trivia and information about the episode.

Extras include a reconstruction of two episodes, which is essentially plot points and dialogue that was cut from the show, inserted back into the show using two of the still living actors voices and another who does a perfect imitation of William Hartnell.

Personally, I thought the episodes are better without the tinkering.

Rediscovering The Urge To Live (8:00): An exploration on how they reconstructed the two episodes mentioned above.

The Lambert Tapes—The Doctor (14:00): An interview with producer, Verity Lambert, who discusses all things Doctor Who, especially, how they created the theme for the show, and her comments on the series as a whole after she left. Hint: she didn’t like it, or the actors who portrayed the Time Lord, save for Tom Baker.

Suddenly Susan (15:00): A 2003 interview with actress, Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor’s granddaughter. It was interesting to see that the Daleks were created way back in those early days, and how the show got real popular after that.

Rounding out the extras is a Photo Gallery and PDF materials for those who have computer access.

DOCTOR WHO: VENGEANCE ON VAROS (1985)

My original assessment of Colin Baker’s portrayal as Doctor Who has changed a little bit after seeing this episode. Of course that probably has a lot to do with not seeing the show for decades and decades and being grown now, anyhow, he’s not a bad Doctor, at least, for this episode.

And an interesting episode it is, about a mining planet that has gone terribly askew with its politics and it’s treatment of its population. Torture and executions are everyday occurrences; so common they are broadcast into everyone’s “living rooms.” Concerning the planet’s political structure, it’s so messed up people are voted in, given a short time to “fix things,” and when they find out they can’t they are voted out and subject to an endurance test of torture as everyone at home votes one way or the other, right there on their televisions where they can see the violent results of their decisions.

During all this a strange, anthropomorphic slug that goes by the name of Sil is trying to screw the current leader over, and take control of the planet. Enter the Doctor and his sexily clad companion, Peri, who come to Varos in search of a mineral that the broken down Tardis needs to be made fully operable again.

Shocking highlights: The Doctor is seemingly killed; Peri’s body is temporarily transformed into something with a lot of feathers; a somewhat gruesome demise of two people who fall into a vat of acid, and the overall grim plotline of watching people tortured to death on TV for entertainment. Heady stuff for what is essentially a kid’s show.

As with most of these new DVDs coming from BBC America, VENGEANCE ON VAROS is a 2-disc special edition, with disc 2 being loaded with extras. The first disc contains the two-part episode in full frame format, and you have the option of listening to a commentary with actor, Colin Baker, who played the Doctor, Nicola Bryant, who played companion, Peri, and Nabil Shaban, who played the villainous, Sil. You also have the option of listening to an isolated score from the episodes, or activating an information subtitle that gives the viewer trivia and behind the scenes info about the show.

Headlining disc two is a 29-minute documentary titled, ‘Nice Or Nasty,’ that delves into how the script and the concept for the episode came about. The other more notable extras are UK based: ‘Tomorrow’s Times—The Sixth Doctor (13:00) seems to a be a kind of tabloid coverage of the highs and lows the series garnered as it neared the end of it’s long run. A one-minute special called, ‘News,’ is basically that, a news tidbit of the reveal of Colin Baker as the new Doctor. ‘Breakfast Time (5:00) is a UK morning show, and here is the segment where they interviewed Baker on his new job. ‘Saturday Superstore’(15:00) is odd UK show Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant were on—looking like they were on break, or something, between filming—where a DJ of sorts interviewed them and they took calls from fans, most of which were kids.

Added to those features are Extended And Deleted Scenes, Behind-The-Scenes, Outtakes, Trailers and a comedy sketch segment from the UK show, French And Saunders, that will make any Doctor Who fan feel satisfied that all bases have been covered in documenting this uncharacteristically violent and bleak episode of the series.