Last week, BBC Video released not just one, not two, but THREE classic Doctor Who serials on DVD. I am impressed with their commitment to releasing the classic material as well as the new, and this time we get two stories featuring the Third Doctor and one featuring Sylvester McCoy.

Two of the serials are packaged together as the Dalek War boxset. The stories are “Frontier in Space” and “Planet of the Daleks.” The box set title is a bit tricky as the Daleks don’t factor in to “Frontier” much at all, but I’ll take what I can get.

“Frontier in Space” is, honestly, a story that I enjoyed much more when I was watching episodes in order with my best friend. It has the typical trapping of the Jon Pertwee era in that it takes six episodes to tell a tale that could be told in three or four, and therefore, there is a lot of decompression and padding. While at times I like being able to spend more time in certain moments, there is a point when it goes too far.

It’s also VERY 70’s, which might be jarring to those who are used to the adventures of David Tennant as The Doctor.

The best part of “Frontier” is, as per usual, Roger Delgado as the Master. Sadly, it’s his final episode but he is, to me, one of the best actors to play the role. The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is one of my favorite past Doctors, and I really enjoy his adventures with Jo Grant, so those elements all go in the “plus” category.

Upon my first watch I found the cliffhanger near the end of “Frontier,” leading into the next serial, to be SO COOL. Sadly, a major character didn’t cross over between stories, and it’s a shame to wonder about what might have been.

“Frontier In Space” has commentary from actress Katy Manning (Jo Grant) as well as script editor Terrance Dcks and the late producer Barry Letts, moderated by former Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman. There’s a Perfect Scenario: Lost Frontier extra that I skipped entirely because it seems to be along the same vein as that “visiting the Brigadier” extra that was on a previous release. There’s a “Making Of” documentary as well, but the best extra on this disc is a retrospective/documentary about actor Roger Delgado. There was so much about his career that I did not know prior to this, and it amazes me how different he can look based on whatever he does with his facial hair. Such an amazing actor who died far too young.

“Frontier” also has, as do most in the Doctor Who range, trivia subtitles if you choose to watch them. I love these. The people who put together these sets do an amazing job.

As for my recommendation, I’d have to say that it’s great for die-hards of classic Who but this might not be one that I’d recommend for someone only familiar with the new series. There are much more accessible Jon Pertwee episodes to watch.

The second serial in the “Dalek War” boxset, also with 2 discs, is “Planet of the Daleks.” The highlight of this one is that for the first time in over 30 years, viewers can see Episode Three in color. The color restoration job done on this story (which is also the focus of a DVD extra) is very well done, and I’m impressed the effort was made to do it.

“Planet” is a pretty typical Terry Nation Dalek story, fresh with jungles, corridors, and silly effects, but I enjoy it. Also, like with “Frontier,” there are better examples of similar stories of that era already on DVD, but the colorization done for this in addition to the other extras on this set really do impress me and might make this one worth a look.

Commentary for “Planet of the Daleks” is by Katy Manning (Jo), Prentis Hancock (Vaber), and Tim Preece (Codal), alongside Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, and that’s just one of a good dozen extra features.

Finally, we go to 1988 for the last Dalek story of the original series, “Remembrance of the Daleks,” back for a Special Edition release. The original release came out years ago with very few extras; this time, it’s 2 discs with many extras, including a “Remembrances” feature talking about influences of other Doctor Who stories, extended and deleted scenes, a “Making Of” documentary, and more.

On the second disc is a “Davros Connections” feature about the history of the Daleks’ creator, Davros. This is very interesting, although I really did not like the emphasis given to the “Davros” audio adventures, as I am one of those fans who really only believes what I see on the TV screen to be canonical. This extra also makes it painfully clear that this DVD set was prepared over two years ago for the United Kingdom, as no mention is made of Davros’ return in the modern Doctor Who. It’s a cool idea, but they could have done more with it.

“Remembrance of the Daleks” is an interesting beast in itself. It’s one of the most memorable stories of the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) era, and arguably one of the best stories. People tend to forget that the Daleks went up the stairs first in THIS era, not in the Christopher Eccleston episode “Dalek.” Unfortunately, even though this story takes place in November 1963, it also has some of the most 80’s of looks to it – between the way it was shot, to the “modern” effects, the overbearingly 80’s synth soundtrack, or the really poor job done on the props.

About that: The Doctor and Ace visit the junkyard where the Doctor was based in the series’ very first episode back in 1963. Sadly, this junkyard, looking nothing like it did in ‘63 or in “Attack of the Cybermen,” also has a sign that, again, looks like it was made in 1988 that couldn’t even spell “I.M. Foreman” correctly. Would it really have killed them to create a prop that replicated what was done in the show’s first episode? Apparently. Likewise, tiny items like the book that Ace picked up, to represent the same book picked up by Susan in “An Unearthly Child,” look nothing like how they were in the show’s first episode. I know I sound like a nitpicky fan with that but that really bothers me.

Commentary for this episode comes from McCoy and Sophie Aldred (Ace). Despite some of my criticisms, if you’re really curious to see a Sylvester McCoy story, this might be a decent choice.

All of these releases are now in stores, although if you’re feeling generous, you can order them through our links and support KSiteTV:

Dalek War – Remembrance of the Daleks Special Edition

Review by Craig Byrne

Doctor Who: The Complete Specials is a new DVD release from BBC Video due out on February 2. The 5-disc set contains the five specials that aired of Doctor Who since Christmas 2008’s “The Next Doctor” and takes you all the way to the (spoiler warning!) end of David Tennant’s reign as the Tenth Doctor from the recently broadcast “The End of Time.”

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Review by Craig Byrne

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus is another Doctor Who classic series release that was recently put out by BBC Video. Aside from the missing “Marco Polo,” it was the oldest Doctor Who story not yet released on DVD. Starring in it are William Hartnell (as the original, first Doctor), Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, and Jacqueline Hill.

It’s a six-parter, but somewhat unique in that the setting seems to change from week to week. It’s also unique in that it is written by Dalek creator Terry Nation yet the pepperpot-shaped villains are nowhere to be seen. Also to look out for – because there were so many episodes done per year, especially in the beginning, William Hartnell had vacation time right in the middle of this serial. As such, two chapters focus on the companions with the Doctor off on his own adventure!

The Keys of Marinus is pretty dated. Some of the costumes are kind of silly, and the “forced perspective” of certain sets – attempting to make them look better – probably were more convincing on smaller TV sets that were a little blurry without high definition. As per usual for a Hartnell-era Doctor Who, it’s all an acquired taste, but there is a certain charm to it and a feeling to it where you can accept technical faults. As dated as some of it looks, it still has aged better than, say, the Sylvester McCoy era.

BBC Video is doing their best to release as much of the Doctor Who range as possible, so it’s inevitable that some “merely okay” serials make their way through. This is one of them. Other still-unreleased Hartnell-era stories like The Chase and Gunfighters were a lot more interesting to me, though these are certainly not bad and definitely not on the level of boring.

Unlike most other DVD releases for Doctor Who, this one also skimped on the extras a little bit. There’s a fantastic commentary track with William Russell and Carole Ann Ford though. The other feature – an interview with production designer Raymond Cusick – may be appealing to some, but to be honest, seemed a bit boring to me.

If you’re a Who completist, then by all means, check this out. My recommendation if you are going with this era, though, would be to check out the serial that followed it – The Aztecs – instead. But your mileage may vary.

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus was released on January 5, 2010 in the United States. Order a copy from Amazon.com and support this site!

Review by Craig Byrne

The classic series Doctor Who serial “The Twin Dilemma” is pretty notorious by frequently being voted the worst episode of the show’s 200 stories. Unfortunately for Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, it’s also his first story.

After three seasons of the subdued Peter Davison (and the excellent finale of his, “The Caves of Androzani”), producer John Nathan-Turner and his team decided to go a bit over the top. First item up for business – giving incoming Doctor a very loud, very distracting, very colorful new outfit to wear.

It’s a shame that the first thing many saw of Colin Baker was “the coat.” As an actor, Baker did a fantastic job in the role and gave The Doctor his own “voice.” It was clear he was a fan of the institution that is Doctor Who and wanted to do his best job. Many who have met Mr. Baker at fan conventions in years since can attest to that. But the coat, and that costume – ouch.

And then there are the episodes themselves. “The Twin Dilemma” was written by a writer who had never done Doctor Who before. The effects and the sets look horribly cheap. The twins that this story revolves on, while obviously they try, it’s hard not hearing them saying “Womulus” and “Webus.” It really looks like a different show from “The Caves of Androzani”… and not in a good way.

On the bright side, there are some fantastic scenes as we “meet” the Sixth Doctor. He’s abrupt, he’s rude, and Peri is his punching bag (or his strangling toy). Some of the insults are a bit over the top, and the strangling was definitely a bit much, but since the Doctor was a bit imbalanced from the regeneration we can let it slide. To be honest, though – the scenes with the Doctor and Peri are really some of the only scenes really worth seeing.

Fortunately, the folks who worked on Who back in the day who are still in the land of the living have a good sense of humor about it all. There’s a 11-minute featurette with Colin Baker and a comedian discussing the Doctor’s various costumes, and some special effects artists have a little fun and show what the Sixth Doctor may ave looked like in something more sensible. Baker, Nicola Bryant (Peri), and guest star Kevin McNally also do commentaries. Those are just two of the many features within. BBC Video again does a fantastic job of creating extra features and content, which can make a DVD purchase worthwhile even if the story itself is rated #200 out of #200.

(For the record, though, most of Sylvester McCoy’s first season was much, much worse.)

“The Twin Dilemma” is four episodes of Doctor Who on one disc. The DVD hit stores in the United States on January 5, which means it’s already available! Order yours from Amazon.com and support KSiteTV!

Today (December 1), less than one week after its television debut, Warner Home Video has released a DVD of the recent Cartoon Network TV-movie, Ben 10: Alien Swarm.

The movie is based on the Ben 10 animated series that have come out over the years, which were created by comic book creators Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle, several of whom worked on Superman comics earlier in the decade and a very underrated but good run on X-Men comics bfore that. Directing the film is Alex Winter, better known to movie buffs as “the other guy from Bill & Ted.“

Starring as Ben Tennyson, the boy with a watch that makes him turn into aliens, is Ryan Kelley. If you’re a Smallville fan and the name sounds familiar, it’s with good reason – Ryan played “Ryan” in two popular early episodes of the series, “Stray” and “Ryan.” He was much younger then and although he has a young face, it’ll make you feel old that he’s not the kid he was in those early Smallvilles.

Perhaps I was living under a rock in not knowing Ben 10 had been adapted into live-action before. I don’t know how good (or not) that effort was, but I will say that I’m sure any kid who grew up watching Ben 10 would probably think this movie is The Coolest Thing Ever. There are details like Kevin’s green car that look pretty nice on screen, and the effects – especially considering they’re for TV – are of a great quality. I know it would be expensive but I think a live-action Ben 10 series would make for fantastic TV for the younger set. I don’t think there are that many live-action adventure series for the pre-teen ages; even something like Smallville might have content that parents might not want their kids to see, whereas Ben 10 is totally safe.

I admit without any experience of Ben 10 I was a little lost and detached. At 31, though, I’m sure I’m out of the target demographic, and I’d probably “get it” more if I’d seen more of the cartoons. Even if I hadn’t been sent a DVD to watch, though, the trailers had me pretty curious.

Ben 10: Alien Swarm hits DVD today. If you have a younger nephew or a kid, they’d probably really dig it.

Order a DVD through Amazon.com and support the KryptonSite Network!

Just posted some new DVD reviews onto KryptonSite for two recent comics-related releases.

(Perhaps not) surprisingly, I liked the classic stuff better than the new Green Lantern feature.

You can find the reviews at KryptonSite.