This week, BBC Video releases two serials from classic Doctor Who as well as a modern tale of a classic favorite. How do they hold up? That’s what this review is here for.
The oldest Doctor Who serial to be released today is The Doctor’s 44th story, The Dominators, featuring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor with Frazer Hines as Jamie and Wendy Padbury as Zoe. The plus? Troughton is always wonderful, and I can see a lot of his Doctor in current Doctor Matt Smith’s performance. The minus? This isn’t one of his best outings.
The most laughable part of this story might be the Quarks – creatures that were created with the intention of out-doing the Daleks. They look like walking shoeboxes. The DVD extras mention there was legal activity because their creators wanted full ownership, and it keps them from writing for the show again… I say let them have them. As with anything, though, there IS a lot of heart despite the not-so-good execution.
If you’re looking to sample the Troughton era, The Dominators is probably not the best way to go – The War Games and Tomb of the Cybermen, especially, are superior. However, if you’re a completist or merely curious at a classic time of the show, check this out. Not only do you get the remastered episode – there are trivia bits, a Making Of documentary, and much more.
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Next up, there’s Meglos starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. This one – as silly as a cactus-Doctor might look – is one of my favorites. It’s the second episode – at least I think it was the second – of the John Nathan-Turner era, where synthesized music, a more sci-fi feel complete with new opening titles, and even a new red costume for The Doctor came in. Tom Baker is VERY settled in as The Doctor by this point, and Romana and the real-voice K9 are part of his team of time. It’s a fresh coat of paint that makes for a very interesting show. I like this one a lot.
This serial also features a return of a classic Doctor Who companion, albeit in a different role. Jacqueline Hill, who played schoolteacher Barbara in the very first episodes of the show, appears as Lexa. There’s a fantastic extra feature on this DVD looking back at her life, from people who knew her, including William Russell (Ian Chesterton, who really needs to appear on the new series someday). There’s also a nifty featurette on the special effects used for this story. If I had to recommend just one of the three new releases, this would be my recommendation for sure.
Finally, there’s the complete Series Three set of The Sarah Jane Adventures. I still have mixed feelings about this series. I love Elizabeth Sladen, and I love Sarah Jane Smith. I love K-9, who appears on the show from time to time. And episodes like the recent “Death of the Doctor” impressed me more than even some episodes of Doctor Who itself. But… maybe it’s a British thing or a kid thing I just don’t understand… I don’t understand why things have to be played so childishly sometimes. I get that it’s a show aimed at children, but so was the original Doctor Who, and it didn’t talk down quite so much.
With that said… David Tennant appears as the Doctor in this series, though one of the episodes is just a glorified cameo; the real action for him comes in Part 2. There’s more K-9 in this season, which is good. But I do wish they’d just let Sarah be Sarah – something a little more like “School Reunion” had been. The cast has gotten a lot better as well, with Luke, Clyde, and Rani (no relation) as the main kids on the show. And despite the talking-down, I do kinda like it. I just wish I wasn’t reminded that I was too old to be watching most of the time. But mostly, I say “bring on the Series 4 DVD” – because “Death of the Doctor” is, as I said, a favorite.
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1 Comment
The Dominators? Something Id watch if only to see the byplay between the Doctor and Jamie. I never did warm to Zoe as she seemed to go from very smart to screaming in a heartbeat.
And the Quarks? Just.. ugly…
Meglos I enjoyed despite some reservations over the use of some human as Meglos’s host. That was puzzling. I preferred Romana 1 over 2 and I think by this point Tom Baker was over playing the Doctor (Wlthough he would never admit to that)