Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen (1975) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The second doctor is the least known, since all but 5 of his stories were destroyed or mutilated by a house-cleaning at the BBC in the 1970s (the other intact Troughton stories are: "The Seeds of Doom," "The War Games," "The Mind Robber," and "The Dominators"). Troughton's doctor is one of the most appealing incarnations of the character. He's smart (of course), but also vaguely vulnerable and child-like. He has a good sense of humor and fun. And he handles all sorts of evil monsters with aplomb. It is a crying shame so many of his stories are gone completely, or mostly gone.
I was only a kid when this aired, and I can't recall it all (but I do remember the Ice Warriors from "The Seeds of Doom"). Now I have 6-year-old myself,and he *loves* Dr. Who, esp. this doctor, despite the fact that it's in black and white. Also, the title music during this phase of the show was at its very best. My son rocks out to it when it comes on!
Don't listen to the nay-sayers who complain about lack of production values. This is 40 years old, for f**** sake! What matters in Dr. Who is not set-design or the tiny budgets, but the active use of your imagination, great writing, appealing characters, thorougly evil monsters, and solid acting. "Tomb" has all of these traits in abundance. I love this version of the Cybermen, with their metallic voices and three fingers. They may be the best yet (though I've not seen the newest version of them yet).
All in all, an unreserved recommendation. I've watched it (with my lad, and a second who is approaching Who-worthy age) at least three times and loved every minute of it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen (1975)

Aided by his two assistants Jamie and Victoria, the Doctor lands the TARDIS on Telos, last resting place of the infamous Cybermen. There he discovers a band of archaelogists on a secret expedition to unearth the reason for his old enemies' extinction. In the underground shadowy depths, they find the icy tomb. A whole army in hibernation. A threat to no one, if the temperature remains low. But if the traitor in their midst gets his way, things could really heat up. Originally broadcast in 1967 and then lost, this unique four part adventure starring Patrick Troughton - the Doctor's 2nd incarnation - was only recently discovered. It is now available for the first time on this special BBC Video which includes an exclusive interview with director Morris Barry.DVD Features:Audio Commentary:by actors Frazer Hines and Deborah WatlingBiographiesDocumentaries: Tombwatch (panel of the cast and crew). Behind the scenes at BBC Visual EffectsOuttakes:unused title sequence and 8mm cine footageProduction Notes:Optional caption stream

Click here for more information about Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen (1975)

Read More...

Doctor Who: The Web Planet (Story 13) (1975) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"What have we got? Echoes, interference, gold, and now acid. Yes, similar properties to formic acid. It's strange, isn't it?" says the Doctor on the planet Vortis, on which the TARDIS has been forced to land. It's a dark and forbidding place, dotted with mesas and plateaus.
The Zarbi, gigantic ants, with larvae guns, sowbug-looking creatures with a long snout that shoot lethal bolts of electricity, terrorize the Doctor and his friends. Trying to regain their planet are the Menoptera, gentle butterfly-like creatures.
Controlling the Zarbi is the Animus, whose deep, malevolent female voice, is one of the well-realized aspects of the show. The Doctor is forced to discover the plans of the Menopteran invasion force so the Zarbi can defeat them. Young Vicki helps him and her actions here, unintended or not, shows her to be more resourceful compared to his wimpy granddaughter Susan. One piece of dialogue that'll make one either cringe or laugh is the Doctor's demand to the Animus re its ceiling-built tube-like communication unit: "Drop down this hairdryer or whatever it is."
The reason why some may consider this story to be one of the worst is the realization of the Zarbi, but these steel and fibreglass-constructed insects are great, unless you have to be one. The rearmost legs, closest to the tail, are the actors, and John Scott Martin, who played one of them, said that one couldn't stand upright because the tail was longer than the actor. The only way to stand upright was to get on a one-foot riser block and place the tail over the block's end. The subterranean grub-like Optera are clearly laughable, the actors jumping up and down and grunting away, but their pale makeup indicate their time spent underground, and the hopping showing their evolutionary regression.
But the Menoptera costumes are simply wonderful, black bodysuits with strips of yellow fur, and wings with the veins painted black that could flap a full five feet from wingtip to wingtip with a hidden mechanism. The actors playing the Menoptera adapt mime-like hand gestures hinting at a more feeling aspect of the race.
In looking at the name of the giant insectoids, it's clear the storywriting team looked to entomology. There are the Zarbi, who are giant ants, the Menoptera, who look like butterflies, but have bee-like stripes, and then their subterranean evolutionary offshoot, the Optera. Well, ants and bees are all under the insect order Hymenoptera.
Another interesting aspect is the name of the enemy. It's called the Animus, which means bitter hostility or hatred. However, the Menoptera see it more medical terms, by calling its headquarters the Carcinome. Vrestin tells Ian that the Animus appeared and grew like a fungus. In other words, they see it as a malignant cancer on the world of Vortis. And the Living Cell Destructor, or Isop Tope, is analogous to an isotope that kills cancer.
For people raised on Star Wars or Jurassic Park, the visuals may seem lame, but as an experimental story, it works wonders. One of the most imaginative stories, and an attempt to see how weird Dr. Who could get. Ratings for this story averaged 12.5 million viewers, and Episode 1 charted at #7, the lowest-rating one at #14, so not bad at all!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Doctor Who: The Web Planet (Story 13) (1975)

"Somewhere, somehow we are being slowly dragged down!" When Doctor and his friends stray from their astral plane and the Tardis materializes in eerie alien surroundings, a mysterious force prevents them from leaving. Is it a natural phenomenon or some malevolent intelligence? Uncanny occurrences are followed by encounters with the deadly Zarbis and their unknown leader, to whom the travellers fall prey. With their allies, the Menoptra, the travellers must discover how to immobilize the Zarbis, save the Menoptra from massacre and rid the planet of this powerful and horrifying evil. As a growing web begins to envelop the planet, imprisoning the travellers in its mesh, the Doctor must consult all of his wisdom toescape its hypnotic power. But what is at the center of the web and from where does it draw its power?

Get 30% OFF

Click here for more information about Doctor Who: The Web Planet (Story 13) (1975)

Read More...

Doctor Who: The Invasion (Story 46) (2010) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It was a shock to see an incomplete story... made complete via animation?!
The highlight of this story is the background history and what transpired to make this 'missing' story into a released DVD set.
The sixth season of the show (1968-1969) had a lot of scripts falling through. As a result, commissioned stories had to be stretched out longer. "The Invasion" is one such story. The good news is, the gravitas of the character and performance of the actor (Kevin Stoney) playing Tobias Vaughn helps elevate this story and keeps it moving. The story is essentially him vs the Doctor, with Tobias attempting to use the Cybermen to his benefit while the Doctor enlists the help of a newly formed secret paramilitary organization that battles alien invaders; UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce).
I would say episodes 6 and 7 do drag on a bit, but there are plenty of set pieces that re-awaken you at the right times.
As usual, sound and video for a program made in this time are sensational. And the extras and commentaries made by still-living cast and crew alone pay for this story; and then we get the story itself...
Here's the rundown: In the 1970s, the BBC junked many programs from its archives. The Patrick Troughton era of "Doctor Who" was badly hit. As a result, most of his stories have been destroyed.
Fortunately, over the years, episodes are found in warehouses, returned to the BBC by countries who bought licenses to air the old episodes during the 1960s and never junked the films themselves, or returned by collectors - who are far more philanthropic than many we'd otherwise give the title to.
Additionally, during the 1960s, home video recorders didn't exist. (Another 12 years would pass before the technology became feasible... or popular.) So people recorded them onto audio tape, often by dangling a microphone in front of the TV set.
As part of the restoration process (and having seen many VHS copies, some work had to be done), the end result of episodes 2, 3, and 5-8 are marvelous. And this is the first professionally released version of the story where all the Cybermens' dialogue can be heard distinctly, with full clarity. The previous releases I've seen just didn't have the cleanup applied and the difference is PHENOMENAL.
But the icing is on the cake: Episodes 1 and 4 have been re-created via cleaning and amalgamating numerous audio tape sources, with animation applied. And the animation is spectacular. It doesn't steal any opportunities to go "over the top", there is a genuine sense of the animators trying to be true to the original footage as possible (though some embellishments are inevitable; the master tapes and films nonexisting). It's very clever, grabs your attention, doesn't seem at all shoehorned in, and the audio quality is spectacular. The extras go into the history of program junking, how audiotracks were recovered, and a well made piece on how they were cleaned - I don't want to spoil it here, but as with the main story, there is not one piece of extra that does NOT entertain or edify!
HIGHLY recommended.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Doctor Who: The Invasion (Story 46) (2010)

The Doctor, Zoe and Jamie team up with UNIT to fend off a worldwide invasion of Cybermen. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart puts you in the picture concerning the action in the missing episodes.DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Audio Commentary by actress Elisabeth Sladen, co-writer Bob Baker and producer Philip Hinchcliffe. Other:Doctor Who is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running sci-fi series in television history

Get 12% OFF

Click here for more information about Doctor Who: The Invasion (Story 46) (2010)

Read More...