An Adventure in Space and Time: Blu-ray / DVD review

There is no reason why anyone should ever have made a movie about William Hartnell. From today’s vantage point he was a relatively obscure actor who, up until the end of his career, was best known for playing drill sergeants and thugs in a variety of English pictures and series that are hardly even talked about today. Before the winter of 1963, perhaps his closest brushes with true fame included working with Peter Sellers in a couple of his early pictures (The Mouse That Roared and Heavens Above!), and a sizable role in the Lindsay Anderson-directed Richard Harris vehicle This Sporting Life. 

But everything would soon change for Hartnell, when that last picture, released in January of ‘63, brought him to the attention of up and coming BBC TV producer Verity Lambert, who was searching for a lead actor for a new science fiction series she was helming. He was cast, and 50 years later we have this TV movie, An Adventure in Space and Time, which tells the story of the most exciting – and tragic – stretch of his career.

Though Hartnell is central to the goings-on, the movie, of course, really traces the birth of Doctor Who. Yet when I met director Terry McDonough (Breaking Bad) at a BBC America event last summer, he told me point blank that the theme of the movie was “No one’s irreplaceable,” a sentiment that, it could be argued, has practically become anthemic for the Doctor Who brand over the years. The moment a new actor is cast in the central role, people immediately begin bombarding him with the question, “How long do you intend to stay?” The thrill of meeting a new Doctor is a powerful force indeed. The idea has bled over into other franchises and media as well. In the worlds of comic book and science fiction/fantasy movies and series especially, it’s now the norm. Don’t care for Ben Affleck as Batman? Don’t worry, in a few years there will be another one that you might like better.

But few concepts have been able to make that transitional process as part and parcel of their ongoing storyline as Doctor Who has, which is only one of the many things that makes it the unique creature that it’s become. Adventure sketches the origins of that uniqueness, and gives viewers a behind the scenes peek into a process that for many is as much a mystery as the Time Lord himself. And for those of us who are familiar with the nuts and bolts of the genesis of Doctor Who? The movie must surely be a dream come true. I’m enamored enough with it I can easily see it becoming a yearly ritual.

Brian Cox as Sydney Newman

If success has many fathers, An Adventure in Space and Time suggests that Who had no less than a half a dozen. To whom should ultimate credit for the series be given? Perhaps Sydney Newman, the brash Canadian BBC TV exec who initially came up with the basic idea? Or Lambert, the determined young producer that took Newman’s ideas and turned them into ratings gold? What about Ron Grainer, who wrote the iconic theme tune, or, even more so, Delia Derbyshire, who pulled a Lambert with Grainer’s composition? Would Lambert have been able to make any of it happen without the equally wet behind the ears director Waris Hussein, who brought all of the elements  together in that mesmerizing first episode? Can anyone ever discount Terry Nation’s creation of the Daleks, which ensured the success of the series (and that’s to say nothing of Ray Cusick’s iconic Dalek design)? And surely Hartnell played an enormous part in making Doctor Who such a massive success. He believed in the power of the series and stuck with it - despite his ailing health and the toll the rigorous production schedule was taking on him - even after Lambert, Hussein, and all of his co-stars had moved on. 

The very best television is the result of a magical alchemy, and the whole of Doctor Who may be the most perfect example of that in the history of the medium. The series may have ultimately become the epic, ongoing story of one Time Lord, but as has been proven time and again over the last 50 years, the concept stretches way beyond any one person, and it seemingly, as Peter Capaldi said last year, “belongs to all of us.”

Sacha Dhawan and Jessica Raine

But Adventure is squarely focused on that first core group of people, and the struggles they went through while laying all that groundwork. Initially, the movie belongs to Lambert (Jessica Raine of Call the Midwife and Who’s own “Hide”), and her ongoing efforts to get the series off the ground. Hired by Newman (a pitch perfect Brian Cox, who brings equal parts of humor and menace to the proceedings) to expand on his raw concept, she immediately finds herself talked down to by the more experienced men surrounding her. As the first female producer (who’s also Jewish) working at the BBC, the job clearly won’t be a simple one, and she runs into sexist attitudes right and left. She soon finds a kindred spirit in Hussein (Sacha Dhawan), the first Indian director (who’s also gay) at the BBC, and the movie credits their collective, bold ingenuity as the truest spark behind the concept. The debate has raged harder than ever in recent years as to whether or not the Doctor should be played by a woman. Doctor Who doesn’t need a woman in the central role. What it needs is another female showrunner, and it’s nothing short of preposterous that a woman was the first, yet there hasn’t been one since.

David Bradley as William Hartnell

As the movie moves forward, its emphasis subtly changes from Lambert’s struggles to those of the show’s leading man, brought to cantankerous life by David Bradley (who’s getting more high profile work in his 70s than at any other point in his career, and deservedly so). What is probably Adventure’s boldest stroke is its depiction of Hartnell as an extremely difficult and often unlikeable man - bold not because he wasn’t either of those things, but because by most counts he was, and the movie doesn’t aim to whitewash such facts. But the movie also shows the effect that Doctor Who had on Hartnell - how it softened him as a person, and gave him a renewed sense of self. In the end, Hartnell wins the viewer’s sympathy as his memory takes a sharp decline due to arteriosclerosis, and he is gently let go from the greatest job of his career. Bradley may not sound like Hartnell, and he’s roughly 15 years older than Hartnell was at this time of his life, yet he remains ideal casting, as he forms a movie version of Hartnell that is nigh impossible to shake once the credits roll. This is precisely the type of performance an Emmy nomination is made of.

The movie itself feels designed to appeal to non-Who fans as well as the fanatics (though for the fanatic, it is crammed wall to wall with Easter Eggs of all shapes and sizes, lending it a serious multiple viewings factor). On this most recent viewing I was struck by the film’s similarities to Mad Men (and no doubt, the BBC’s own The Hour). It fetishizes the 60s in a similar fashion to the AMC series, and its attention to detail feels cut from the same cloth. (The cigarette smoking is off the charts.) Further, the movie tackles some of the same themes as the early seasons of Mad Men. If you know a Mad Men fan going through withdrawals, you might just want to sit them down for this one. 

If there’s anything to take Adventure to task for, it’s that it falls prey to some of the same sort of compositing issues that nearly every biopic ever made seems to suffer from. So if this manner of scripting is part and parcel of the biopic format, can we really hold it against the movie? Does Adventure need to tell the story of the birth of Who and rewrite the biopic as well? Probably not. Indeed, I’d be nitpicking what’s likely the greatest, most efficient script of Mark Gatiss’s career. He’s apparently been trying to get this picture off the ground since at least the show’s 40^th anniversary (if not before that), so he’s had plenty of time to hone the vision.

An Adventure in Space and Time was the underdog presentation of Doctor Who’s 50^th Anniversary. Here in the States it was quietly nestled into the Friday night schedule with considerably less fanfare than its bigger brother, “The Day of the Doctor.” But it is an equally important story and one that I am so charmed by that I now want to see behind the scenes movies made of some of the other eras of the series, as well. The Colin Baker movie would blow people away.

DVD/Blu-ray Extras: We are very lucky here in the States to have this killer, three disc release of An Adventure in Space and Time. (At the time of writing, the movie has not been released on Blu-ray in the U.K.) This set includes one Blu-ray and one DVD which both feature identical programming, and then a second DVD with an entire classic series serial and some other swank extras.

Aside from the feature presentation, the Adventure Blu-ray and DVD each have several short featurettes and goodies. “William Hartnell: The Original” (5:16) is a brief examination of the man himself, including interviews with some of those who worked with and knew him, as well as a few bits of that amazing, recently discovered interview with Hartnell that was featured in its entirety on last year’s “The Tenth Planet” DVD. There is a “making-of” (11:24) hosted by Carole Ann Ford. “Reconstructions” (6:34) are scenes of classic Doctor Who that were recreated for use in the movie (some are in black and white, and some are in color). These are so perfect in production and execution one wishes that Bradley and company could be used to remake all the missing episodes. “The Title Sequence” (1:24) feels rather pointless as it is simply the movie’s credits sequence played again. Finally there are two short deleted scenes that total 1:33, the best one of which features Delia Derbyshire working on the theme tune.

The third disc here is a repressing of the first disc of the previously released “The Beginning” DVD box set. It features the entire four-part “An Unearthly Child” serial, as well as the original pilot episode that Sydney Newman so memorably loathes in Adventure. The pilot is frequently technically awful, yet the material manages to remain engaging. Watching it, it’s easy to see why Newman’s reaction to it might’ve been precisely as shown in the film: “I should fire both of you, but instead I want you to do it one more time” (bit of paraphrasing there). I remain amazed that with all of the episodes of Doctor Who that remain missing, not only do we have all of “Child,” but that this pilot is still around, too! Beyond the five episodes, the disc also carries over all of its original extras, which include four very funny comedy sketches, starring a host of familiar faces, which total around 15 minutes or so, a title sequence music video (2:36), a photo gallery (6:03), and commentary tracks for “An Unearthly Child” Episodes One (Gary Russell moderating Verity Lambert, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford) and Four (Russell moderating Russell, Ford and Waris Hussein), as well as one for the pilot episode (with Gary Russell moderating Lambert and Hussein).  

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet & The Moonbase DVD reviews

UPDATED!!!

What, in the here and now, is potentially intriguing about the DVD releases of “The Tenth Planet” and “The Moobase” is that the amount of time between their R1 DVD release dates is nearly identical to the amount of time that lapsed in between their original airings on the BBC. “The Tenth Planet” aired throughout October of 1966 and was released on DVD in November of 2013; “The Moonbase” aired throughout February and March of ’67, and its DVD arrives on February 11^th, 2014, exactly 47 years to the day of the airing of its first episode. It’s unlikely that this was someone’s plan (the R2 release dates are slightly different), but it is a sweet bit of serendipity regardless, especially for those who picked up and viewed “The Tenth Planet” last year, and intend to buy and watch “The Moonbase” now.

Why? Because the tales are nothing if not two sides of the same coin – the latter installment being something of a remake of the former – and viewed back-to-back they sort of exemplify some of the changes Doctor Who was going through at the time. It’s cool to be able to compare and contrast the two stories, and attempt to look at them with the same sort of eyes that viewers back in ’66 and ’67 had, given that most of us are experiencing the two stories, with their animated reconstructions, closer to their original visions than ever before. Now before going further let’s lay it out on the table: neither story is a true classic (though each has its virtues), and calling them flawed is probably being generous. For a truly successful Cybertale, it would be “third time’s a charm,” with “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” later on in ’67.

“The Tenth Planet” plot: The TARDIS materializes at the South Pole in the year 1986, where the crew - The Doctor (William Hartnell), Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) - happen upon a space tracking station called Snowcap, staffed by an international crew of characters, and led by the Ripper-esque General Cutler (every time he obsesses on his son, just think “precious bodily fluids”). Snowcap is monitoring the launch of an Earth spaceship (which is where the son is) when they discover a new planet that looks suspiciously like Earth. A craft from the planet arrives, bringing to our world, for the first time, the Cybermen (why did they head for the South Pole?), who intend to drain all of Earth’s power for their dying planet Mondas, and convert the populace into more Cybermen. In the midst of everything, the Doctor appears to be growing weaker and weaker…

“The Moonbase” plot: The TARDIS materializes on the Moon in the year 2070, where the crew – The Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Polly, Ben, and new TARDIS crewmember Jamie (Frazer Hines) – happen upon a weather control station called the Moonbase, staffed by an international crew of characters, and led by the considerably less insane Hobson (compared to Cutler, anyway). The center of the Moonbase is the Gravitron, which controls Earth’s weather. Meanwhile, some Moonbase crewmembers are afflicted with a peculiar virus, and soon enough, victims of the illness go missing. The Cybermen are back, this time with the intention of using the Gravitron to destroy all life on Earth.

As you can probably see, the story constructs are similar, even if some of the details are slightly different. Further, the Snowcap/Moonbase interiors and South Pole/Moon exteriors also add to the mounting textural resemblances, and of course, the villains are the same in name, even if not in appearance, which is probably what makes the two stories most easy to compare. The “base under siege” plot, as it is often referred to, would become a standard of the Troughton era, so it’s also worth noting that these two tales are probably the earliest examples of the formula.   

“The Tenth Planet” is rife with problems. It lurches from one episode to the next, changing tone every step of the way. The international cast of characters is riddled with stereotypes and clichés (though one must give the serial props for featuring a black astronaut played by Earl Cameron). William Hartnell is ill enough at this point that not only is his failing health written into the script, but he also disappears for the entirety of Episode Three. When I think of “The Tenth Planet,” the singular aspect that makes the story truly worthy (besides the fact that it features the first regeneration) is the Cybermen. 

These Cybermen are unlike any others that came after them, and one wonders what the villains might look like today if they hadn’t been redesigned for “The Moonbase” just a few months later. People often describe their vocal inflections as “sing song,” which I suppose is pretty apt, though I would argue that they really sort of defy description. Perhaps it is because I’m so much more familiar with every other incarnation of the Cybermen, that these are so unsettling. These cats are some of the weirdest Doctor Who villains in the history of the series. Episode Two here is very good. It gives ample screen time to both the Cybermen and the Doctor, and is probably Hartnell’s final great work on the series, as he has less to do in the fourth episode – which is also the only episode of this serial that’s missing.

“The Moonbase” improves upon some of the problems from the first serial. First and foremost, in the form of Patrick Troughton, it has an energetic, able-bodied and minded leading man, which of course makes a huge difference. There are lovely, inspired sequences set on the lunar surface, featuring both Cybermen and TARDIS crew (though the latter sequence, from Episode One, ends up animated). As this serial was devised prior to Jamie joining the crew, he is jammed into the narrative and injured in the first episode and doesn’t return to form until the final episode. Still, Jamie’s injury leads to one of the more wonderful flourishes of “The Moonbase,” and that’s his perception of a Cyberman as the “phantom piper,” coming to take Jamie off to the land of the dead. It’s neat to see the far less experienced McCrimmon at this stage of the game. “The Moonbase” is surely the better story of the two, but I would still argue that, at least from a historical standpoint, they’re stronger as a double feature than apart. Neil Gaiman might disagree, as it seemed clear that his “Nightmare in Silver” was heavily-influenced by the horror of watching “The Moonbase” as a child.

As previously mentioned, both stories remain incomplete in the BBC archives, so animation has once again come to the rescue, with “The Tenth Planet” Episode Four, and “The Moonbase” Episodes One and Three being given the treatment. After the less than stellar animation style used for “The Ice Warriors,” I was happy to see that the methods used for each of these stories were much closer to the artiness of “The Reign of Terror.”

UPDATED (02/26/2014): It’s been revealed, since I wrote this review, that the R1 version of “The Moonbase” has a pretty serious mastering error, and as a result the episodes run about a minute longer than they should. The problem has also resulted in the eradication of the VidFire process. I wish I could say I’d taken note of this when I was viewing the disc, but I did not. I did, as I recall, at one point wonder why the episodes were so long, but it was days before I was headed out to Gallifrey One, and I wanted to get this review up before I left, so I didn’t give it much thought.

This is, of course, terrible news, and there’s been no talk of a recall or replacement discs…however, the good news is that I watched the entire story and didn’t even notice. 50% of “The Moonbase” is animated, so the VidFire is irrelevant on those episodes anyway. So if you already own the old Lost in Time DVD set, which contains the VidFired episodes 2 & 4, perhaps with that, alongside the two animated episodes here, you, the fan, can sort of try to make it all work.

So take all of that for whatever it’s worth. I know that for the hardcore collector, this is not a pleasing development, and certainly something that doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense as we near the end of the classic series DVD range. Further, this tidbit about missing credits on the disc was revealed today. Sure seems like “The Moonbase” DVD could do with a do-over for all parties involved. If I find out anything more, I'll update this space again.

   

DVD Extras: The double-disc set of “The Tenth Planet” doesn’t skimp on the extras, so even if the story is a bit of a letdown, there’s plenty of other stuff here to keep the hardcore fan entertained. A revolving commentary track for the first three episodes is moderated by Toby Hadoke and features actors Anneke Wills, Christopher Matthews (Radar Technician), Gregg Palmer (Cybermen), Earl Cameron (Williams), Alan White (Schultz), and production designer Peter Kindred. “Frozen Out” is a half-hour making of – fascinating warts and all, including some talk of Hartnell’s alleged racism. In addition to the animated Episode Four, there’s also the reconstructed version from the VHS tape. Far and away the most exciting and memorable extra here in also the shortest – and that’s the three-minute interview with Hartnell, conducted after he’d left Who, in the dressing room of a theatre, while he applies makeup in the mirror. He’s irritable, yes, but what is surprising about it, I think, is how alert Hartnell is. The signs of his failing health are nowhere to be seen, and it’s easy to simply savor every single second of it, since it’s the only on-camera interview with Hartnell I guess we’ll ever see.

But wait! There’s more. Another installment of “Doctor Who Stories,” this time with Anneke Wills, is always a welcome addition. “The Golden Age” seeks to examine the “myth” of the golden age of Doctor Who. “Boys! Boys! Boys!” is an answer to the previous multi-part featurette “Girls! Girls! Girls!,” which featured on a trio of previous DVDs. This one features Peter Purves, Frazer Hines, and Mark Strickson.  “Companion Piece” lives up to its title by examining the role of the companion. There’s a 9-minute clip from Blue Peter, which was celebrating the Tenth anniversary of Who at the time of its broadcast. It is in this clip that the only surviving footage of Episode Four exists – the regeneration scene. Finally there’s a photo gallery, Radio Times listings in PDF form, the production notes subtitle option, and a coming soon trailer for “The Moonbase.”

Speaking of, “The Moonbase,” on only a single disc, is much lighter in the extras department. There’s audio commentary for the extant episodes (2 & 4) again moderated by Hadoke, and again with Anneke Wills, as well as Frazer Hines, actor Edward Phillips, and special sounds creator Brian Hodgson. The animated episodes (1 & 3) feature interviews with writer Kit Pedler’s daughters, as well as archive interviews with producer Innes Lloyd, assistant floor manager Lovett Bickford, and a trio of Cyber-actors. “Lunar Landing” is a serviceable making of doc, and the disc is rounded out with the usual photo gallery, Radio Times listings, production note subtitle option, and a coming soon trailer for “The Underwater Menace,” which may not be coming all that soon after all (but I would hope before the end of the year). 

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited - One to Four DVD review

No doubt, “The Doctors Revisited” series (or at least the first two sets, comprising the first eight Doctors) will be the most controversial Who-related DVD releases of the year. Anyone incensed by the monthly BBC America broadcasts of these same programs will likely have issues with these discs as well. However, let’s take a deep breath and consider who these sets are aimed at: (lifting a phrase from “Kinda”) The Not We. These are not for the hardcore Doctor Who collector. They’re for the casual fan, or the person who’s largely only familiar with the new series, and therefore we should probably cut these presentations some slack, as the people at which they are aimed may not have the same expectations that we do. So bear with me while I rant and rave, but eventually I will twist back around and turn this review into a recommendation (peppered with numerous reservations).

Having said all of that, taking a 4x3 TV image from the past and stretching it to fit a 16x9 screen of today – which is how the “feature presentations” on this set are screened - is one of the most baffling TV on DVD decisions that I’ve ever seen made, and I’ve watched and reviewed loads of TV on DVD over the years. I thought I’d seen every permutation of fuck up known to man and fan, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this, especially from a DVD range that is normally the absolute cream of the crop. I find the decision so offensive that with the broadcasts on BBC America, after the initial half-hour discussions of the Doctor in question are over, I end up turning the programs off and directing my attentions elsewhere – which is a shame, because I’ve been patiently waiting for quite a few years for BBC America to start showing some classic Who, so that there could be a massive shared experience among fans all over the country.

Pyramids of Mars

Never did it occur to me that the eventual presentation of this material would be so subpar that I couldn’t even bear to view it. Commercial breaks I can hang with. Omnibus over episodic format? I can deal with that, too. I could probably even make allowances for a few minor edits here and there for time reasons. I will not, however, tolerate a distorted and poor TV image. In this day and age proper aspect ratio is key to any TV or movie viewing, and “The Doctors Revisted” series has been incorrectly presented since it started back in January.

The Tomb of the Cybermen

Of course, for a huge chunk of the BBC America viewing audience, “The Doctors Revisited” series has been a mass shared experience. Most people are not bothered by the stretching of image. If they were, BBC America would’ve been so inundated with complaints they’d likely have changed it. Warping square images into a 16x9 frame is so common at this point – most widescreen TVs automatically do it to standard definition signals – there can be no doubt that millions and millions of people don’t even notice that it’s incorrect. Or if they do, they simply don’t care - otherwise they’d fiddle with the aspect ratio buttons on their remotes (though even doing that typically presents its own set of problems, at least for these broadcasts).

Spearhead from Space

Indeed, many viewers likely prefer it. Years ago I worked at a laserdisc store. This was some time before DVD, of course, so watching movies in widescreen (or “letterbox” as we called it back then) was still something only cinephiles engaged in and appreciated. Many people who came into the store had big screen TVs – square ones – and I was often reminded by customers that they didn’t buy those big TVs to see black bars at the top and bottom. No, they wanted the entire screen filled, and if that meant sacrificing sections of the movie itself, then so be it. And I am willing to bet that attitude exists today as well with 16x9 flatscreens; the average consumer would probably rather not see black bars on the sides of their TV set. It likely looks more offensive to their eye than a stretched 4x3 image, filling the entire TV screen. Bit of a shame, but then people also preferred VHS over Betamax.

The Aztecs

So in a way it makes a sort of warped sense that these stories are shown this way on BBC America and on this collection, as well. And in fact I’d argue “Leave it to the Doctor Who DVD range to so batshit crazily experiment in this manner.” Of course, none of this really excuses the unrestored versions used for the Hartnell, Troughton, and Pertwee stories, especially given all the work the Restoration Team has done over the past 20 years. It sort of goes to show how disconnected the many departments of the BBC often are, when prints this archaic are used for both broadcast and DVD release. If there’s a real fuck up to complain about with this set, it’s this. 

Menu Screengrab from Disc 2

So, I couldn’t in good conscience recommend this set to anyone based on everything written above. 

However (there's always a however...), somebody somewhere made the incredibly wise decision to include - alongside the horrific versions - the restored original four-part versions of each of the four serials here, presented in 4x3, as god intended. Fair enough. You (and by you I mean the powers that be) can showcase your wares and shoddily as you wish, as long as the good stuff is presented right alongside it. Basically the viewer can watch the special on the Doctor of their choosing, then go check out Steven Moffat’s introduction on the main feature of the story in question, and then finally click away from that and settle into watching the serialized version. This DVD collection works just fine if you know how to go about using it, and as such it’s a lovely collection for people just getting into classic Who. 

Fridge Magnets

And these four stories – “The Aztecs,” “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” “Spearhead from Space,” and “Pyramids of Mars” - are wonderful primer, although I probably would’ve chosen a different story to represent the Pertwee era. While “Spearhead” is a great deal of fun and a cracking yarn, it doesn’t really showcase Pertwee’s Doctor as we’d eventually come to know him. With it being his first story, he, and perhaps the production team as well, hadn’t quite found the character yet. Minor quibble, but then this review is already so full of quibbles, what’s wrong with throwing down yet another?

The only real extra aside from the programming talked about in this review is a set of four fridge magnets (see left), featuring each of the first four Doctors surrounded by a selection of their enemies. The first volume of “The Doctors Revisited” is certainly a complicated DVD release, but not one that should be dismissed outright, as with the proper knowledge it will accomplish precisely what it sets out to do, and in that sense, the DVD trumps the BBC America broadcasts of the same material.

Read the review for “The Doctors Revisited - Fifth to Eighth” by clicking here.
  

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror DVD review - Updated!

Go buy a copy of “The Reign of Terror.” It could very well have a direct effect on certain future titles in the classic Doctor Who DVD range**. Steve Manfred has issued a call to arms of sorts on his typically reliable Doctor Who DVD page (for anyone who collects these discs, his page is the first you should have bookmarked). He says that “The Reign of Terror” must sell well in order to affect the future presentations of five upcoming Hartnell and Troughton DVDs: “The Crusade,” “The Tenth Planet” (the final story of the First Doctor, featuring the first regeneration; also the first Cybermen story), “The Underwater Menace,” “The Moonbase,” and “The Ice Warriors.”

The latter, which is missing two episodes, was recently announced for release later this year, but what form those missing episodes might take appears to be up in the air. They could be presented in a compacted form, made up of still reconstructions that appeared on the VHS years ago. Or, those episodes could be animated, and after you see this disc (or “The Invasion,” which achieved completion via the same process), you’ll see that, for the time being, animation is probably the best presentation for missing episodes. Ideally, every single missing episode should eventually be animated (well, ideally every single missing episode would be found, but I’m trying to operate on a plane of reality here). For now though, the aforementioned stories are the obvious candidates on which to concentrate efforts, since each is missing only one or two episodes. So “The Reign of Terror” must sell well, and the only way that’s gonna happen is if fans go out and buy it. Hard cash, vote with dollars. This is important. (Read Manfred’s words by clicking here.)

For me personally, “The Reign of Terror” is a tricky tale to critique at this juncture, for it is a six-part serial that, prior to this DVD, I had never seen! Now you must understand, this is practically an anomaly as I have seen nearly all of this stuff, repeatedly. As only four of the six “Reign” episodes exist, it was in limbo for the general public up until 2003, when it was released in a massive VHS box set with something like nine other titles. I never bought that set, because the DVDs had already been coming out for a couple years, and I didn’t want to go backwards technology-wise. Fast forward ten years and BBC/Big Finish folks with money and vision have animated Episodes Four and Five, and here I am, viewing an entire Season One Doctor Who story for the first time.

I can’t be objective about “The Reign of Terror” at this time, as it’s too unique a viewing experience. If you’re familiar with historical stories from the Hartnell years, such as “The Aztecs” (also from the first season), you can sort of guess what you’re in for, only this time the adventure takes place during the French Revolution (which as an American I know precious little about). William Hartnell is very good here, as is Jacqueline Hill; William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, not so much – or rather they just aren’t given as much to do. The supporting cast is pretty fine as well, and there’s a nice revelation concerning one of them late in the story. The design and costumes are aptly elaborate, and there's some excellent location footage of the Doctor (you'll find out more about this on the DVD).

The black and white video quality is a tad rougher than usual for the first couple episodes. Episodes Three and Six, however, look pretty close to the usual VidFIRE standard. That leaves Four and Five to be animated. Animating old Doctor Who episodes is admittedly a bizarre thing to do. If it weren’t the only practical solution to the problem, nobody would ever think to do it for material like this, which amounts to a filmed stage play. It’s sort of the opposite of one of the chief functions of animation, which is to present visuals that cannot be achieved any other way. This isn’t “exciting” animation much of the time (the audio doesn't even allow it to be), though the artists here do take minor liberties, especially in regards to certain closeup shots that surely were not in the original serial. But by and large it gets done the job of presenting this material in such a way that it more or less flows with the extant episodes, which is presumably what most people want from this process.

Bottom Line: You must invest a few dollars into this disc. I am the Master and you will obey me. You will buy “The Reign of Terror”…You will buy “The Reign of Terror”… You will buy “The Reign of Terror”…

DVD Extras: All six episodes – regardless of the participants – are moderated by Toby Hadoke. We love Toby. The existing episodes feature Carole Anne Ford, along with guest stars Neville Smith, Jeffry Wickham, Caroline Hunt, Patrick Marley, and production assistant Timothy Combe. Animated Episode Four features actor Ronald Pickup (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Who was his first TV gig) and Episode Five offers a fascinating discussion with missing episode hunters Philip Morris and Paul Vanezis. “Don’t Lose Your Head” is a 25-minute making of with Russell, Ford, and Combe. There are also a couple throwaway bits of animation, but no talk of the process itself (for shame!). There’s also a gorgeous photo gallery loaded with nice color behind the scenes shots, Radio Times listings in PDF form, production notes subtitles option on the four existing eps, and a trailer for the special edition of “The Ark in Space” which will be available next month.

**Updated! March 5th - Having spent nearly three hours in the company of the classic Doctor Who DVD range commissioning editor Dan Hall at Gallifrey One a few weeks ago, this post begged for an addendum. According to Dan, the specific sales of “Reign” will not and have not had any direct effect on the potential release of future animated DVDs. This was of course backed up by the announcement of “The Tenth Planet” with an animated Episode Four less than a week after “Reign” was released. And since then, there’s also been confirmation of the upcoming “The Ice Warriors” with animated Episodes Two and Three. Both of these productions were well under way at the time of “Reign’s” release. So, Rued apologies to anyone who went out and picked up that disc at my rather frantic urging, but I imagine the worst that’s happened is that you now own a Doctor Who DVD that you previously did not.

Dan Hall at Gallifrey One 2013

On a different note, a few words about Dan Hall…this man loves classic Doctor Who as much or even more than the most fervent of us. A big reason these DVDs kick so much ass? Dan. After having been led to believe over the years that he was some sort of number-crunching suit, it was refreshing to discover that nothing could be further from the truth. As I said, he spent three hours with about a half a dozen Doctor Who DVD freaks talking over one another, patiently listening to an endless barrage of praise and complaints, never once getting ruffled. The man was a pure joy to hang with, and he’s got plenty of surprises for us in the coming year…and maybe even after.

Also check out my previous article on "The Invasion" - the only other classic Who story to get the animated treatment thus far.

Doctor Who: The Gunfighters DVD review

With “A Town Called Mercy” debuting this weekend, it seemed like a good time to go back and take a look at the DVD of the last Doctor Who story that tackled the western, which was a long time ago - like, 46 years. Yes, we’ll have to travel all the way back to 1966, the third season, when William Hartnell was still the Doctor – the first Doctor…

The TARDIS arrives in Tombstone, Arizona, in a stable near the O.K. Corral. Predictably, it’s just days before the infamous shootout, but the Doctor hasn’t chosen the time and place on purpose. No, the TARDIS has randomly chosen Tombstone, while the Doctor has a serious toothache, and is in need of a dentist. Bizarrely, the fact that the American Old West may not be an ideal place to seek medical attention only becomes an issue when it's too late. The Doctor heads out into the town, along with Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) - collectively one of the least effective TARDIS teams, perhaps never more so than here – in search of a dentist. He finds one in the form of Doc Holliday (Anthony Jacobs), who’s just set up practice, and the Doctor is his first customer.

Post surgery, our Doc is mistaken for the other, and the first couple episodes mostly revolve around the time travelers being threatened and intimidated by the Clantons. But then Johnny Ringo (Laurence Payne[1]) shows up in episode three (aptly titled “Johnny Ringo”; “The Gunfighters” is in fact the final story to give individual episodes their own title), and events escalate towards the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, around which the final episode is set.

“The Gunfighters,” back when I was a teenager, had one of the worst reputations of the entire series. People don’t say quite as many bad things about the “The Gunfighters” these days, but then again people don’t really say much about it at all. According to Wikipedia, back in ’66 it wasn’t the ratings that were a disaster, but rather the Audience Appreciation scores, which were among the lowest Doctor Who has ever received. It’s sort of easy to see why, too, for much of “The Gunfighters” is intentionally played for laughs, yet the jokes exist side by side with a fair amount of ruthless bloodshed.

So, “The Gunfighters” is funny and violent, and neither thing, at that time anyway, was Doctor Who necessarily well known for, never mind mixing them together. Add into that mix some frequently dodgy accents (though they’re not nearly as bad as reputation suggests), and the song The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon[2], which plays ad nauseum throughout the entire four episodes, essentially narrating the story in a Greek chorus kind of way, and you’ve got a recipe for potentially one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever.

Except that it isn’t. Not quite. Looking at “The Gunfighters” through the eyes of today, it holds up well enough, all things considered, and kudos should be given to something that dared to be so bold and different during what was a fairly turbulent time for the series. Its moody lighting and the direction from Rex Tucker are also rather impressive. 

If it fails to engage, it’s not because its tone shifts all over the place, but rather because the leads are so ineffectual and unimportant to the storyline. The Doctor is utterly ill-equipped to deal with these ruthless sorts of folk. He’s out of his element here, and Hartnell seems to grasp that, and in turn does a remarkable job of doing almost nothing, aside from being a flustered old man. He’s hardly the hero of the tale, which makes for a much different dynamic, as one character after the next has no patience for this seemingly doddering geriatric and his goofy companions. It’s as if the story happens around them, and they have little effect on the outcome of events. On the other hand, it could be argued that this is a strength of “The Gunfighters”; that the Doctor cannot stride into every situation and have influence on the outcome. Indeed, the events of the O.K. Corral may very well be a fixed point in time, of the type that was outlined in “The Waters of Mars.”

It’s tough to recommend “The Gunfighters” to anyone but completists and the like, but at the very least, it’s certainly a more entertaining viewing than something like, say, “The Ark.” By premature comparison, “A Town Called Mercy” likely has nowhere to go but up. Last but not least, I would personally love to someday see the Doctor’s extracted tooth come back into play ala the Tenth Doctor’s severed hand. Silly fanboy wish; nothing more.

[1] Laurence Payne would go on to play major roles in the 80’s Doctor Who stories “The Leisure Hive” and “The Two Doctors.”  

[2] The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon was sung by Lynda Baron, who 17 years later played Captain Wrack in “Enlightenment,” and then 28 years after that, played Val, the department store clerk in “Closing Time.”

DVD Extras: Easy enough to recommend is the fascinating 43-minute documentary on this disc entitled “The End of the Line,” which details all the behind the scenes turmoil of the show’s third season. It’s worth checking out this disc for the doc alone. Beyond that, there’s a commentary track featuring actors Peter Purves, Shane Rimmer (Seth Harper), David Graham (Charlie), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson), and production assistant Tristan de Vere Cole, all moderated by the mighty Toby Hadoke. “Tomorrow’s Times – The First Doctor” is a featurette which looks at press coverage of the series during the Hartnell era. There’s also a photo gallery, production notes subtitle option, Radio Times listings in PDF form, and a coming soon trailer for “Paradise Towers.” 

Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Robots of Death, and The Three Doctors Special Edition DVD reviews

“The Robots of Death,” “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” and “The Three Doctors”  have all previously been released on DVD, and these special edition double dips are akin to last month’s “The Caves of Androzani,” and “The Talons of Weng-Chiang,” which came out late last year. Those two titles were originally bundled together with “Doctor Who: The Movie,” and sold as a box set entitled “Revisitations 1” over in the U.K. This month’s three special editions were sold as “Revisitations 3,” and here in the States, we’ve still not gotten the content of “Revisitations 2,” although beginning next month, that’s going to change with the release of the special edition of “Carnival of Monsters,” and then the June releases of both “The Seeds of Death” and “Resurrection of the Daleks,” all of which together made up the second set in the U.K.

So beyond potentially making more money off of you, the loyal customer, what’s it all about? I’ll try to explain based on what I know. Do the powers that be intend to rerelease the entire catalogue on DVD a second time? Not to my knowledge. As I understand it, there will be no more “Revisitations” sets released in the U.K., although there will be some single story rereleases such as “Vengeance on Varos.” Is the video/audio quality an improvement? In some cases, yes, but in most cases upgrades in those areas are negligible at best, an assertion based strictly on my perception, mind you. (Much of what can visibly be done for old videotape was fixed for the original releases.) Recently, Dan Hall, the head honcho at 2 Entertain, was quoted as saying something along the lines of how his goal was to make the DVD range similar to a set of encyclopedias, and indeed, anyone who basks in the special features of the classic series DVDs will know that typically each disc offers up a substantial amount of extras that explore each story from numerous angles – commentaries, making of documentaries, vintage interviews, and so forth and so on.

From "Girls, Girls, Girls - The 1970s"

The range has been going on for such a long time (since 2001), that back when it started, the supplemental material prepared for each release wasn’t nearly as thorough as it would be today. The real problem this presents is that some of the most popular and best classic Who stories were released in those early years, so there are some big holes in the ongoing building of this video encyclopedia (the making of docs in particular go a long way toward achieving this goal). So, for the most part, what the special editions are about is providing you cool bonus features that you didn’t have before, and they are frequently really nice additions. If you don’t care about that kind of stuff, then more often than not these double dips won’t be of much interest to you...which brings me to the first special edition of the month, which is well worth picking up, even if you owned the original release and don’t care about extras, and that’s Patrick Troughton’s “The Tomb of the Cybermen.”

Surely you’re at this point familiar with VidFIRE, the process that’s applied to the Hartnell and Troughton stories so they look closer to their original, broadcast form? Well, it’s been used on all[1] of the existing released ‘60s stories except for one: “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” and that’s because the title was such an early release in the range that the process was only in its earliest testing stages. So now, finally, after all these years, VidFIRE has been used on “Tomb,” and the results are  predictably wonderful. It’s been a long, crazy ride for “Tomb”; I can still remember when this lost story was found in Hong Kong back in ’92, and subsequently released on VHS. To have discovered such a holy grail was indeed the Who equivalent of a religious experience (it’s probably the best existing Troughton story, and it may even be the best Cybermen story, period), and here we are, 20 years later, and it’s looking better than ever. Back then, on the cusp of that find, it felt like lost stories would start popping up right and left…but it was not to be. While individual episodes of various stories have since been discovered, no lost story has been found in its entirety since “Tomb” in ’92.

“The Tomb of the Cybermen” Special Edition DVD Extras: First things first: those who upgrade may want to hang on to their original release, because while most of the extras from the old disc have been ported over to the new set, not all of them have. In particular, the 30-minute “Tombwatch” documentary is gone from the new set due to rights issues. This was a piece that featured many of the story’s cast and crew gathering together after having watched “Tomb” after it was found in ’92. Also missing is a featurette entitled “Remastering for DVD,” although since that specifically addressed the work put into the first DVD release, it’s understandably excised, and the “Who’s Who” text featurette, which in this day and age of Wikipedia isn’t important anyway.

Deborah Watling as Victoria

What’s new to the encyclopedia? In addition to the commentary track from the first release (which featured Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines), there’s a new commentary track with both of those actors, as well as guest actors Bernard Holley, Shirley Cooklin, Reg Whitehead, and script editor Victor Pemberton, all moderated by Toby Hadoke. There’s a new 27-minute making of entitled “The Lost Giants,” a 15-minute piece entitled “The Curse of the Cybermen’s Tomb,” which explores the influence of mummy lore on the story, and a 32-minute featurette hosted by Matthew Sweet entitled “Cybermen Extended Edition.” This traces the history of the Cybermen from their beginning up to their reintroduction during David Tennant’s first season (a few clips from later new Who seasons dot its landscape as well, but there’s not much talk about new series Cybermen outside of the first “Rise of the Cybermen” two-parter). Even if it’s a tad incomplete, it doesn’t feel like it, and it’s a wonderful piece. There’s also a short featurette on VidFIRE, a lovely color TV commercial for Sky Ray popsicles featuring the Daleks battling a Second Doctor double, a coming soon trailer for “The Face of Evil,” and an Easter Egg on Disc One. In addition to the usual Radio Times listings in PDF form, that section of the disc also features tons (over 100 pages) of material centered around the Sky Ray popsicles, including Doctor Who’s Space Adventure Book.     

One of the most enduring and popular classic Doctor Who stories is surely “The Robots of Death” - so popular, it was chosen as one of the first three Who DVDs to be released here in the States way back on that horrible date of Sept. 11^th, 2001 (yes, that’s as true as Who’s Kennedy connection). It’s easy to see why the serial is so memorable, too, as it’s a murder mystery (albeit one set in outer space), in which its characters, one by one, get picked off, all while the viewer wonders who the killer is. As TV tropes go, you almost can’t find one more accessible and easy to understand than that. Yet that all too familiar trope could just as easily have been turned into a boring stinker. Thankfully, “The Robots of Death” rises to the occasion by sporting an alternately witty and horrifying script by Chris Boucher, one of the best guest casts the series ever assembled in one studio, and costume and set design work that’s truly out of this world.

A Host and a Voc

If you don’t like “The Robots of Death,” then you probably don’t like classic Doctor Who. The Robots themselves have become iconic Who imagery, and they were an obvious influence on the Heavenly Hosts from the 2007 Christmas special, “Voyage of the Damned” (one could even make an argument that “Voyage” was influenced by “Robots” on a number of levels). I simply cannot recommend highly enough doing a marathon of the consecutive stories “The Face of Evil,” “The Robots of Death,” and “The Talons of Weng-Chiang,” which is a nearly perfect unofficial classic series trilogy.

“The Robots of Death” Special Edition DVD Extras: Aside from the “Who’s Who” bit and the Howard Da Silva intros, the important stuff’s been ported over from the first release (of course, for some American fans, those Da Silva bits are gold), including the Philip Hinchcliffe/Chris Boucher commentary track, which I believe remains Boucher’s sole contribution to the DVD range. But there’s a lovely new commentary track with Tom Baker, Louise Jamseon, Pamela Salem, who plays Toos, and director Michael E. Briant. It’s worth buying this disc for this track alone, as its four participants seem to be having a wonderful time. “The Sandmine Murders” is a 32-minute making of featuring numerous people involved in the production of this serial, including Baker and Jameson (unlike “The Face of Evil” DVD, there’s plenty of Baker on this go ‘round). “Robophobia” is an hilarious 12-minute piece starring Toby Hadoke that’s one of “those” comedy bits bound to divide fans on its merits. There’s also an unsweetened scene of a Voc Robot for comparison purposes, a continuity bit, PDF Radio Times listings, and the coming soon trailer for “The Face of Evil.” While this may not seem like an extensive double dip, keep in mind that it’s a single disc release, and what is new here, is a lot of fun.

Finally we come to “The Three Doctors,” and I’ve spoken about multi-Doctor stories before (both here and here), and don’t feel the need to rehash those thoughts. Further, this is my least favorite of the multi-Doc stories, and, from a direction, design and script standpoint, may even be one of my least favorite stories of the Pertwee era. Nevertheless, how can I truly hate a story that brings together onscreen the Second and Third Doctors, as well as features the last work William Hartnell did in his life? Answer: I cannot, nor should I. “The Three Doctors” as they say, “is what it is” and I’m not here to pee all over it, and if you enjoy it, then by all means that’s your prerogative, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to try to talk you out of it. All that said, this set has a couple of really sweet new bonus features…

“The Three Doctors” Special Edition DVD Extras: As with the “Tomb” DVD, there’s a pretty good reason to hang on to your old copy of “The Three Doctors,” even if you buy this special edition, which doesn’t port over a 30-minute panel from the convention PanoptiCon ’93, which featured Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, and Nicholas Courtney. As you might imagine, this will be coveted by those who didn’t own the original release. 

Also excised is the “Who’s Who” bit, but everything else from the old disc seems to be intact. There’s no new commentary on this disc, which is unsurprising given how many of the important people involved in the making of this story are no longer with us; two of the participants (Nicholas Courtney and Barry Letts) from the old commentary track have even passed since its recording. New to this edition is a 23-minute making of entitled “Happy Birthday to Who,” and a 14-minute piece called “Was Doctor Who Rubbish?,” which is a defense against detractors of the classic series, that I thought was really rather excellent, even given its brief running time. “Girls, Girls, Girls – The 1970s” is a 21-minute piece that on first glance looks like it will be a letdown. After all, how can we have this discussion without Elisabeth Sladen? (Including either of the Romanas sure wouldn’t have hurt, either.) However, Caroline John, Katy Manning and Louise Jameson have a fantastic, funny, revealing conversation comparing and contrasting their respective times on the series. This featurette’s a keeper, folks. There are also Radio Times Listings in PDF format (which, as you might imagine, are rather nice for this particular tale), and once again, that same trailer for “The Face of Evil.”

And since I didn’t throw out these old standbys, which should, by this point, go without saying, all three of these DVDs feature the usual production notes subtitle option as well as photo galleries.


[1] I've been reminded by a reader that, for technical reasons, “The Time Meddler” was not able to have the VidFIRE process applied to it.