Review by Craig Byrne

As part of four classic Doctor Who DVD releases that were put out recently (our review of “Underworld” can be found here with other reviews soon to be posted), the 3-disc Region 1 set of The Space Museum and The Chase is definitely one of my favorites. It’s a bit pricey, as it includes three discs, but it’s still a very cool part of Doctor Who history.

Some of that history, sadly, was cut. A Beatles clip from “Top of the Pops,” which if I’m not mistaken only still exists because of Doctor Who, could not be cleared for The Chase, which is a little sad because it helps place the time period the show was made in a very nice way. Don’t let that stop you though – the episode still flows fine; I just think it would have been nice to have included. Apparently it WAS on the British releases.

I have to also get out of the way that The Space Museum, while interesting to see at least to start, is somewhat boring. There’s a reason one of the DVD extras is writer Robert Shearman (Dalek) defending the episode.

With that said… although it’s said to often rank low among fans’ favorite Dalek stories, I actually really like “The Chase.” The Daleks are a bit on the chatty side here, but it’s still one of Doctor Who’s first “epic storylines.” It is also historic because it is (spoiler warning!) when we say goodbye to schoolteachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, who had been with the series since the very first episode. At that same time, the show welcomes Steven, a new companion played by Peter Purves. (Though if you watch closely you’ll see Purves in an earlier chapter playing an American tourist!)

There are a lot of fun settings in this, but I also like the locations. There’s a montage showing Ian and Barbara returning “home” that is one of my favorite moments in nearly 50 years of Doctor Who. It’s unfortunate that it had to be paired with The Space Museum and therefore is at a higher price, but I definitely recommend The Chase if you have the money and want to see some great classic Who.

DVD extras are plentiful. The Space Museum has commentary by William Russell (Ian), Maureen O’Brien (Vicki), and writer Glyn Jones with moderation from Peter Purves. There’s also Shearman’s defense of the story and an interview with the granddaughter of First Doctor William Hartnell. Finally, there’s a 14 minute “Holiday for the Doctor” spoof sketch that just seemed to be on the DVD to fill space…. it’s well worth skipping.

The Chase has commentary with Russell, O’Brien, Purves, and director Richard Martin, a visit from the Daleks’ original designer to the new Cardiff studios, a Making Of feature, and a fantastic featurette about the Ian and Barbara characters. If that’s not enough, there’s a Dalek retrospective, a look at prop makers of classic Who, a look at old Doctor Who merchandise, and more. It’s a packed DVD.

Both episodes have the usual fantastic trivia subtitles which always are a treat.

I know I’ve said it before, and I know I’ll hate it in a way since I’ll probably have bought the entire (available) series by the time it comes out, but I really do wish BBC Video would release season sets, as complete as possible. I think it would make someone feel a bit less guilty spending over $35 for ostensibly two stories, if you could get even more stories for around double that. Maybe someday…

One final comment: William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton, may be a bit older than he was in the Doctor Who days, but I will be extremely disappointed if new Doctor Who doesn’t at least try to get him back. He and Carole Ann Ford (Susan) are really the two surviving links to the very first days of Doctor Who, and it’d be a lot easier to explain an aged Ian Chesterton than it would be to bring in an aged Susan. And not just that — to have an older Ian next to a younger looking Doctor like Matt Smith would be fantastic.

Doctor Who: The Space Museum and The Chase is now available on DVD. Order them through KSiteTV and support this site!

Review by Craig Byrne

On July 6, Warner Home Video released not one, not two, but four DVD sets worth of classic Doctor Who. They seem to be set on releasing all of the episodes of the original series, and I truly appreciate that.

Instead of reviewing all four sets at once, I am going to start with one of the four – “Underworld,” the Doctor Who serial that aired between January 7-28, 1978.

Before now, “Underworld” held the distinction of being one of the Doctor Who stories that I had never seen a bit of. I can’t remember why we skipped it when I was watching the old episodes in order with my best friend; perhaps it was not available. Maybe he was embarrassed. (Why would he be? Keep reading…)

The DVD presentation of “Underworld” contains the usual production notes text and commentary by Tom Baker (The Doctor) and Louise Jameson (Leela) with one of the episode’s writers, Bob Baker. There’s a making-of documentary, a photo gallery, “in studio” video clips, and more. As for the story itself… well…

It started interestingly enough. There’s drama on a ship, and there’s a dodgy green screen for “windows” that probably would have been best not attempted. There are characters and situations with names that echo the story of Jason and the Argonauts. It’s very 70′s, and the actors are very 70′s, but it’s kind of fun. The best part, of course, is seeing Tom Baker and Louise Jameson giving fantastic performances despite a so-so script. Even when other parts of the story are flagging Baker and Jameson were great.

Unfortunately, Chapter 2 (of 4) is when it starts going downhill. Twenty years before George Lucas made virtual sets a thing of life with The Phantom Menace, the producers of Doctor Who, in attempt to stay on budget and not spend money on expensive sets, instead created virtual backgrounds. In 1978. Which means, there’s a lot of green-screen flicker, missing limbs, and people walking through things. It’s kind of awful, but an enjoyable kind of awful. But admittedly, it kind of loses the promise of Chapter 1, which really looked quite good, windows aside.

It’s really interesting to see, from an experimental point of view. It’s not successful, but then again, it was 1978. And I’d much rather see this than the attempts at effects the show gave us in the late 1980′s when more technology was available.

Fans of Tom Baker’s Doctor will still enjoy this. It’s not one of my “show it to a newcomer” recommendations, but if you’re curious to see how effects were done in the United Kingdom, this could work for you. I’d still give this a 4/5 because I found it to be interesting and fun, and it was great to see some old Doctor Who that I’d never seen before.

One final comment – I understand that a lot of our U.S. DVD releases are just region-changed versions of British releases. But would it really hurt BBC Video to change the promos at the start of the disc? I’m really growing tired of the Doctor Who Series Four “You seem to be drifting, love” promo trailer, especially now that it’s two years and one Doctor later. At the very least advertise Doctor Who: The Specials or something.

Come back later this week for more Doctor Who DVD reviews! If you’d like to purchase Doctor Who: Underworld, it is now available on Amazon.com. Order through KSiteTV and support this site!

The current series of Doctor Who ended this weekend in the United Kingdom, but current Doctor Who actor Matt Smith did his part to make sure the Doctor wouldn’t be forgotten at this year’s Glastonbury music festival.

Below, check out Mr. Smith performing the theme music for Doctor Who with the band Orbital:

Courtesy of BlogtorWho, here’s a look at a clip from Saturday’s U.K.-airing episode of Doctor Who:

Additionally, Bleeding Cool has posted some really, really spoilery images from the upcoming finale. Rather than risk trouble from the BBC by posting them, we will instead refer you there.

Here’s a TV mash-up you probably never expected to see…

At this year’s BAFTA awards ceremony, many celebrities are seen exiting a mock-up of the TARDIS from Doctor Who during the introduction. “TheDoctorWhoMedia” on Youtube has uploaded this introduction, and GLEE fans might be particularly amused by the person who exits the famed time-and-space-travel machine around the 1:19 mark.

A man with plenty of experience pops out of the TARDIS at the very end of the intro.

Thanks to quinny for bringing this to our attention.

Here is the promotional trailer for “The Lodger,” next week’s U.K. episode of Doctor Who:

Here’s the promotional trailer for the episode of Doctor Who that will be airing June 5 in the United Kingdom and two weeks later on BBC America:

Here are some spoiler descriptions for upcoming episodes of Doctor Who on The BBC.

Air dates listed are the U.K. air dates; the BBC America airings should be two weeks later.

Review by Craig Byrne

Ah, old Doctor Who. You really loved that “The ____ of ____” title scheming trope, didn’t you?

BBC Video earlier this month released three classic Doctor Who stories to DVD, and being that two of them feature Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor and two of them feature Sarah Jane Smith, I’m definitely happy with that. Find the reviews below:

“The Curse of Peladon”
Starring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor with Katy Manning as Jo Grant
Story #61 – U.S. DVD Release Date: May 4, 2010

When I first saw this episode, I was in a streak of watching as many episodes in chronological order as possible with my best friend. As such, following a series of mostly Earth-bound stories, this was one of my first Doctor Who experiences with The Doctor and his companion going to other planets.

And I loved it.

Sure, the Alpha Centauri with its squeaky voice and olive-looking head is ridiculous, but this episode is still one of my favorites of the Jon Pertwee era.

Modern Doctor Who fans will catch one of the guest stars of the episode “Midnight” in this episode, playing a different character – they might also notice he looks a little bit like the Second Doctor.

The Ice Warriors factor in to this story, for their first appearance in a color episode. The Doctor and Jo team is as always great. The settings – granted, some of them were small model shots – are memorable and still look really good.

Getting past the silly looking Alpha Centauri creature, this is definitely a Third Doctor story I’d recommend or show to someone new. It’s also the best of the three new releases.

Extras on this DVD include audio commentary from Katy Manning (Jo Grant), script editor Terrance Dicks, production assistant Chris D’Oyly-John, and the late producer Barry Letts; trivia subtitles; a 23-minute behind the scenes featurette; a fantastic look back at the Ice Warriors; storyboards; and a retrospective on the Doctor/Jo era. BBC Video as always threw a lot into this release and make it worthwhile. It’s kind of amazing, actually, that so many extras are done for a nearly 40 year old serial.

The only thing that would make this better would be complete season sets – I know Doctor Who fans including myself are used to the individual releases, and I would prefer to finish this way, but I think they might ultimately sell better and have a better reception if full-season sets were out. Rating: 9/10

Find the other two reviews below the cut…

Here’s the promotional trailer for “Cold Blood,” the new episode of Doctor Who premiering on The BBC on May 29, and two weeks later in the U.S. on BBC America!