Doctor Who – The Invasion + The Sontaran Experiment
+ New Beginnings Box (Keeper Of Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalya)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes:
The Invasion
(Story #46) B-
The Sontaran Experiment
(Story #77) B
New Beginnings Box (Keeper Of
Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalya) (Story #s 115, 116
& 117) C+
Doctor Who is one of the great Science
Fiction heroes and characters. Even when
the BBC finally ended the original series, the fan following continued and
eventually led to a few revivals leading up to the new hit series seen
worldwide. During its original run, the
show was a smash hit for the BBC and even two feature films were made with the
great Peter Cushing as The Doctor.
Ironically, that is the only way most in the U.S. saw the character in
action. By the 1970s, some of the shows
with Tom Baker arrived on public TV, but the character was still unknown. Three decades later, you can find the character
all over.
If you
have never seen the show, it is about the title time traveler who is part of a
group of time lords he decides to battle against by leaving them and taking a
time machine with him. Unfortunately,
the TARDIS (which can take on any shape it wants to integrate into its
environment) he steals is defective and is stuck in the shape of an old British
“call box” telephone booth. Superman
never flies out of it either, but The Doctor can more than hold his own. In addition, the navigation equipment is a
bit off, so like Time Tunnel, he
cannot land anywhere on the timeline with pinpoint accuracy.
Capitalizing
on the new hit show, BBC Home Video has recently issued some key episodes so
fans can see the long, clever, great legacy of the character. First is an episode from the Patrick
Troughton era (1966 – 1969) entitled The
Invasion, which has longtime menace The Cybermen invading Washington D.C.
with groundbreaking editing, filmed, effects and suspense that brought the show
and character to a new high. This runs a
rich 8 episodes and was first broadcast in 1968. Troughton was very good in the role and makes
for an enduring Doctor. Anyone who loves
great Science Fiction Action will enjoy this disc.
By 1975,
Baker (whose amazing run began in 1974 and ended 1981) was established as The
Doctor and the writing and energy on the show reached a peak rare in TV of any
kind, with The Sontaran Experiment
one of the greatest Who tales of all.
The Doctor, Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter) have
arrived on earth in the future and discover another one of his old nemesis is
back and when they find him, see it as a great bonus in their final conquest of
the planet.
This is a
classic tale all on one disc and for their limited budgets, show how great
Science fiction produced with heart, soul and great writing is made. Baker hit the nail on the head and this era
of the show is as vital as Diana Rigg’s arrival on The Avengers. The guest cast
he had with him also had exceptional chemistry and the trio here is
particularly impressive. The Sontaran Experiment is so strong,
it is one of the best ways to be introduced to the character.
New Beginnings Box (Keeper Of
Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalya) shows one of the many transitions between actors playing
The Doctor. Instead of just having a new
actor turn up without explanation, the one actor leaving would be just another
physical persona of the doctor to shed for a younger, newer actor who would
hopefully last a while and keep the show a hit.
These episodes show the end of Baker’s run and beginning of that of
Peter Davidson. Baker could have stayed
on as long as he wanted to, but realized he had done everything with the
character he could and decided to call it a day.
Unfortunately
for the show, it was also running out of steam and the BBC made this their most
commercial stab for the character to the point that it suffocated the show and
eventually ended it. It is no surprise
that Davidson became even more successful after leaving the show and the show
became dull. Even the exciting,
mysterious version of the theme song became a dull, bad-disco spoof of itself
when revised and re-recorded.
The three
stories has The Doctor fighting killer statues, a fixing of the TARDIS
backfiring and (in one of the most ironic storylines in series history) the
latest regeneration being a major problem to the point where The Doctor has to
go to a planet of healing to make sure he does not die. Unfortunately, these shows seem pedestrian
and obvious, the show was no longer thinking Sci-Fi, Baker still had plenty of
energy & nowhere to put it and these titles are key in seeing the rise and
fall of one of the greatest of all TV shows.
Like Dark Shadows, there are
hundreds of shows to see and a few key standouts. That is why these shows are now available on
DVD.
The 1.33
X 1 image on all five DVDs comes from analog PAL masters, though outdoor
footage in The Invasion is shot in
16mm, which was a big deal at the time and the film prints seem to be lost for
good. Otherwise, these look about as
good as they are going to. All have
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound and are fine for their age, with some Invasion shows only surviving in
audio-only, which is why they have added new animation in place of the loss of
footage for two of the episodes. Though
also made in black and white, I was not so impressed and it is a shame they
just did not use stills from the archive instead.
Extras on
the Troughton disc include audio commentary by the cast, production staff and
animators of the new footage, Love Off-Air showing how many fans were actually
audio taping 5the shows even though they could not see the picture, Doctor Who Confidential
interviews with the animation team, character design featurette, two animated
trailers Evolution of The Invasion (50 minutes), stills and Nicholas Courtney’s
links to the missing episodes on the original 1993 VHS release.
Extras on
the Baker disc include audio commentary by: actress Elisabeth Sladen, co-writer
Bob Baker, and producer Phillip Hinchcliffe, Built for War: a 39-minute
documentary on the genesis and development of the Sontaran race through the
history of the series, subtitled production notes option and stills.
Extras
for the three discs in the box set include audio commentary by actors Anthony
Ainley, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse & writer Johnny Byrne, DVD ROM
Features: 1982 Doctor Who Annual, Radio Times and BBC Enterprises literature
PDFs, Being Nice to Each Other making
of documentary that includes contributions from Sarah Sutton, Sheila Ruskin,
Geoffrey Beevers, John Black, Johnny Byrne & Christopher H. Bidmead, Swap
Shop with Noel Edmond interviewing Sarah Sutton, music-only track, The Return of the Master: Geoffrey
Beevers, Christopher H. Bidmead & John Black talk about the return of the
Doctor's arch-enemy, trailers & announcements, stills, production notes, audio
commentary by actors Tom Baker and Janet Fielding and writer Christopher H.
Bidmead, A New Body at Last
documentary on the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison, with many of the
actors & production team involved with exclusive behind the scenes footage
of the regeneration, interviews with Tom Baker and Peter Davison, Pebble Mill at One: Peter Davison
interview, BBC News Reports on Tom Baker's wedding, the announcement of Tom
Baker's departure and Peter Davison's arrival, audio commentary by actors Peter
Davison and Janet Fielding, writer Christopher H. Bidmead & director Fiona
Cumming, deleted scenes, The Crowded
TARDIS with Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, John Black &
Christopher H. Bidmead, Being Doctor Who:
Peter Davison discusses how he approached this iconic role, Directing Castrovalva interview with
Fiona Cumming, Blue Peter: Peter
Davison interviews and a Music Video of a new remix of Peter Howell's Doctor
Who theme music for 1980 in stereo or Dolby 5.1 surround that you may or may
not like.
For more Dr. Who, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5832/Doctor+Who+Robot+Survival+BBC
- Nicholas Sheffo
