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| David Tennant hosts "Come in Number Five" |
Back in March I did a big piece on the three classic Doctor Who Special Edition DVD sets released that month, and outlined my feelings about the SEs in general.
April saw the debut of another such set, “Carnival of Monsters,” and now June
sees two more, with “Resurrection of the Daleks” and “The Seeds of Death.” Together,
these three titles made up the “Revisitations 2” box set in the U.K.
“The Seeds of Death” is the
least successful of the trio, and I say that as a diehard Patrick Troughton
fan. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s the worst of the surviving stories
of his era (yes, I’d rather watch “The Dominators” than “The Seeds of Death,”
but only by a slim margin). This is a six-parter featuring one of the series’
big bads, The Ice Warriors, and the viewer will feel every minute of it. It
likely would’ve worked better at four episodes, and yet even that wouldn’t have
helped the uninspired guest cast/characters and the often times shockingly
naïve script. On the plus side, “Seeds” does offer a mildly interesting look at
a potential Earth future, where the planet is completely dependent on a technology called T-Mat, which is
basically teleportation. The Ice Warriors cripple the Earth by hijacking the
tech from the moon, where exists the T-Mat relay station. Much wackiness ensues
(well, not really). Since the breakdown
of technology is a big issue for me personally, I find at least that aspect of
“Seeds” rather fascinating, though as an idea it’s hardly sustained in any kind
of engaging way across six episodes.
Speaking of technological screw
ups, as I understand it, a mistake was made on the original DVD release, and
the film sequences of the story were VidFIREd when they shouldn’t have been,
hence part of the reason for the SE. As you can see from the screengrabs at the right,
the differences in quality between the two releases is imperceptible (to my
eyes anyway). Perhaps the SE film sequences are a tad brighter? Beyond that, the
primary extras have been ported over from the original release, although “The
Last Dalek” featurette has, for obvious reasons, been moved over to the
“Resurrection of the Daleks” SE, and the New Zealand censor clips from “The Web
of Fear” and “The Wheel in Space” have been removed as they exist on the “Lost
in Time” box set (as does “The Last Dalek,” actually).
While there is no new
commentary track, original to this SE is a 30-minute doc entitled “Lords of the
Red Planet,” which the DVD cover claims is a history of the Ice Warriors. While
it does contain some fascinating info on the origins of their creation, that’s
not quite how I’d describe it, as it’s basically just a making of “Seeds.” Also
new is a very short bit with director Michael Ferguson called “Monster
Masterclass” and a neat interview featurette titled “Monsters Who Came Back for
More!,” with Nicholas Briggs and Peter Ware discussing many of the monsters who
made return appearances over the years, as well as the ones they’d like to see
return on the new series. Lastly, there are Radio
Times listings in PDF form and a coming soon trailer for “Death to the Daleks,” which comes out next month. While these few new extras are fun, “The Seeds
of Death” SE remains difficult to recommend to folks who own the previous edition,
and equally to those who’ve never even owned it at all.
1984’s “Resurrection of the
Daleks,” from Peter Davison’s final season, I’m torn over, and even this new
DVD hasn’t helped me to nail down my feelings on it, though to clear up any
confusion beforehand, it is a quality
story on most levels. A cameo in “The Five Doctors” aside, this was the first
appearance of the Daleks in the series since 1979’s “Destiny of the Daleks,”
and this more or less picks up where that one left off. From a production
standpoint, this thing is the tits: Excellent location shooting, tight
direction, above par effects work, and even some pretty good studio work. Terry
Molloy plays Davros for the first time, successfully reinventing the character
for the ‘80s, and he and Peter Davison are surrounded by a sprawling,
believable guest cast.
The problem with “Resurrection”
is that it’s so damn bleak and without any wit or humor (though there is one
scene with Davros that gives me the giggles, yet I’m unsure if that was the
intention). It supposedly has the highest onscreen body count of any Doctor
Who story, but the violence itself isn’t really the issue. It’s the tone of the whole thing, which just
feels so un-Who-like; this is more like Blake’s 7 (specifically the
final episode of that show). Now, I’ve got nothing against bringing on the
darkness from time to time, and Davison’s final season as well as Colin Baker’s
first are frequently loaded with grittiness, but there’s something about the
balance in this particular story that simply feels off; it’s just too much. Obviously, your mileage may
vary. Also, this is Tegan’s (Janet Fielding) final story, and though she has a beautiful and heartrending exit scene, she’s given barely anything to do in the 90 minutes prior
to it. It just kills me that Janet Fielding didn’t get a better send-off, as
Turlough (Mark Strickson) did in “Planet of Fire,” which immediately follows
this tale.
One big reason “Resurrection
of the Daleks” was given a double dip is because when it was originally
broadcast on the BBC, it was shown as two, 45-minute episodes, even though it
wasn’t produced to be shown as such. Disc One of this set for the first time on
home video presents it as it aired in ‘84. The 2002 DVD release (as well as the
VHS release before it) presented it as four, 23-minute episodes, which is
duplicated here on Disc Two. So now you can “have it your way,” although
ultimately it doesn’t make a huge difference which way you watch it, to my mind. Aside
from the “Who’s Who” text feature, all the extras from the 2002 disc have been
ported over, in addition to all the new features.
A new commentary track can
be found on Disc One, featuring Terry Molloy, writer and script editor Eric
Saward, visual effects designer Peter Wragg, and moderated by Nicholas Pegg.
It’s a dry affair, but very informative nonetheless. The star attraction here should be the nearly hour-long
documentary entitled “Come in Number Five,” a retrospective of the Davison era,
hosted by Davison’s son-in-law, David Tennant (though Tennant hadn’t yet married
Georgia when this was recorded); “should” be because I was pretty let down by
this doc that I’d been looking forward to seeing since it came out in the U.K.
over a year ago. One of the most refreshing aspects of the classic Who
DVDs is that the participants in the bonus features are very often brutally
candid about their times on the show and the quality of the stories. Like I
said, this is refreshing when so many DVD bonus features of TV shows and movies
exclusively showcase talent from both in front of and behind the camera
insisting that everyone and everything is brilliant. That gets old.
Unfortunately, the reverse
of that attitude can also be the enemy of the classic Who DVD range, as is the
case here. I wanted a pleasant, nostalgic look back at Davison’s three years on
the show – an era which I, and most hardcore fans, consider to be of generally
high quality. Instead, this doc amounts to little more than a one-hour
bitchfest about how many things went wrong, and how John Nathan-Turner fucked
things up right and left – an attitude I can do without, thank you very much,
especially since he’s no longer with us to defend himself. I think there must
be a ten minute exchange devoted to what a bad idea it was to create a
companion that was supposed to kill the Doctor, and how the idea ruined Season
20, when most fans will agree that it wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, and it
didn’t actually ruin Season 20. (For further commentary on this issue, check out the DVD review of “The Black Guardian Trilogy.”) None of this is Tennant’s fault, mind you. I’m
sure his linking bits - which tonally are more along the lines of what I expected
from this - were recorded after all of these interviews were done. If I’d seen
this doc without ever having seen the Davison era, I probably wouldn’t be
interested in ever checking out his Doctor, such is the excessive negativity
here.
On the flip side of this is
a lovely 30-minute piece called “Casting Far and Wide,” featuring Toby Hadoke
interviewing five guest actors from “Resurrection” about their careers, with
varying reactions and answers. It doesn’t always have a whole lot to do with Doctor
Who, but it’s a nice, warm piece nonetheless. While I’m at it, let me
just say that Toby Hadoke is the best thing to happen to the classic DVD range
in the past year. His contributions and levels of interest and knowledge are
ideally suited to exploring this series. Kudos to you, sir, if you are out
there reading. “Tomorrow’s Times – The Fifth Doctor” is another entry in the
ongoing exploration of the press reaction to the show. There’s also a short bit
called “Walrus” with a woman and a Dalek, Radio
Times listings in PDF form, as previously mentioned, “The Last Dalek”
featurette, and the coming soon trailer for “Death to the Daleks.”
Finally we come to “Carnival
of Monsters,” which is arguably the best of these stories, even if it’s
something of an odd duck. Written by Robert Holmes with a generous amount of
charm, and directed by Barry Letts with an equal amount of flair, “Carnival” is
a story that’s grown on me over the years, particularly through this new
edition. Part social commentary and part adventure, this was the Third Doctor’s
(Jon Pertwee) first adventure after having had his ability to pilot the TARDIS
restored by the Time Lords at the close of “The Three Doctors.” It appears the
TARDIS has landed on a cargo ship in the 1920’s, though the Doctor is certain
that can’t be the case. Meanwhile, on a distant, alien planet with class system
issues, a couple of carnies have arrived with their money-making gimmick known
as the Miniscope, through which spectators can view all manner of alien life.
“Carnival of Monsters” isn’t
as obviously exceptional as so many other Robert Holmes scripts, but it’s still
a very entertaining one. Its most memorable monsters, the Drashigs, are a great
example of a one-off Doctor Who creature, and the story
is just so unlike anything else from this era of the show. It seems that the
aim of “Carnival” was to do something different with the series than what it
had been doing for the previous three seasons. It’s ambitious, maybe sometimes
even to a fault, and it seems like the sort of script you’d read about in some Who
reference book as having been “ultimately passed on” because it “didn’t quite
fit the show.” But it wasn’t, and it did.
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| Lis Sladen thinking about her old co-star and friend Ian Marter |
Seems all the bonus features
from the 2003 DVD have been ported over in some form or fashion. The extended
and deleted footage has been replaced by an additional longer edit of Episode
Two, which also features that oddball, alternate arrangement of the theme tune
which was a separate extra on the old disc. New to this SE is a commentary
track featuring actors Peter Halliday, Cheryl Hall and Jenny McCracken, as well
as special sounds creator Brian Hodgson. While “Destroy All Monsters!” is a
lovely new making of, the standout extra may be “On Target with Ian Marter,”
which explores the late actor’s contributions to the Target book range, as well
as the man himself. Nicholas Courtney, Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen (amongst
a couple others) all chime in with their feelings about Ian Marter, but it’s
Sladen’s emotions and choice of words that really move. When she talks of him
passing at such a young age, she nearly breaks down into tears. This is made
all the more poignant by her own passing at too young of an age last year. It’s
anyone’s guess what was going through her mind during that interview, but the
results are haunting and heartbreaking.
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| Ian Marter pre-Harry Sullivan |
There’s also a featurette
entitled “The A-Z of Gadgets and Gizmos” that’s title is pretty
self-explanatory, and another called “Mary Celeste,” in which experts discuss
various historical disappearances of ships and the like. Finally, there are Radio Times listings in PDF form, and a
coming soon trailer for “Nightmare of Eden,” which was released last month.
