KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE WHEEL OF ICE' NOVEL

DOCTOR WHO: THE WHEEL OF ICE

A novel by Stephen Baxter

Published by BBC BOOKS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Resilience. Remembrance. Restoration.

NOTE: This review contains mild spoilers...

Once upon a time it was invading little green men that humanity used to worry about, but now, out on the fringes of our solar system, within the frozen mineral climes of the “Wheel of Ice” mining colony of Saturn's rings, its little bluemen putting the willies up all and sundry, as that travelling cosmic hobo of space and the Fifth Dimension, the second incarnation of DOCTOR WHO, aided by his loyal companions, the highlander of Earth’s ancient past, James Robert McCrimmon, and sprightly technological marvel, the future born Zoe Herriot, encounter one of their most unusual and creepy threats yet when they arrive at an important point and location for Humanity as it continues its journey out into the stars; its early pioneers on the edge of scientific discovery and exploration, enterprise and danger…

Within a space station composed of junk yard spaceships wrapped around a planetary core being mined for the rare mineral Bernalium, the mystery of an ancient artifact located around a young child’s neck, the sabotage and disappearance of vital equipment plus an eons old predicament from a looming alien force with a mission that must be fulfilled at all costs- that could also lead to the destruction of the galaxy and the very fabric of time itself if it isn’t soon corrected- are just some of the big situations capturing the readers attention within acclaimed British sci-fi writer Stephen Baxter’s enjoyable new book for the continuing original series WHO range from BBC BOOKS: THE WHEEL OF ICE.

Presumably set somewhere between the monochrome era’s final TV season stories The Space Pirates and the epic The War Games, Baxter’s grasp of writing for our main cast is superb, his fondness for their little family group clearly showing as he delivers them into the story via a seemingly grouchy TARDIS which has a built-in directive/mission our heroes must obey. (And, let’s face it, if the Doctor and his friends didn’t arrive somewhere and not receive an ignorant and hostile welcome from the locals then I’d be very worried indeed!)

Often difficult for writers to bring to life on the printed page, Baxter grasps his childhood hero, the Second Doctor, and Troughton’s versatile performance of him, particularly well. There’s also fine use of continuity and mentions of various characters, planets and adventures from his three-year period, as well as other links to Earth history visited by the Doctor in his past (and future) incarnations.

Sharing a lot of the story and plot investigation with the Time Lord, Zoe gets the most to do in the book as a companion (of which there’s lots of links and references to her introductory story The Wheel in Space, set after the events of this book but keeping within a believable timeline). Sadly, adaptable Scots hero Jamie has the least to do, which is a bit of a shame, apart from acting on and off as an older figure guardian, occasional protector, to the satellites older revolutionary children, who take the brunt from their parents and authority figures for some of the strange and inexplicable things happening within their industry home.

The books cast of supporting characters, mostly female, are the type of important plot delivering cyphers that exist in most of classic WHO’s successful base under siege type storytelling: the overall colony leader under fire, the slightly pompous security commander distrusting of outsiders, and an overbearing and belligerent human threat making things worse for everyone: this time from a corporate baddie with a hidden axe to grind. There’s even a haughty and likable Glasweigan mind inhabited robot, MMAC, aiding our heroes, which proves to be one of the authors more enjoyable additions to the overall story.

Very much an attempt at sophisticated Eleventh Doctor storytelling within the Second Doctor’s baggy clothing, Baxter’s efforts to fuse classic and new eras of WHO, so as to appeal to a wider spectrum of modern readers, prove mostly successful, what with the families and children aspect of the book (relatable to people who aren’t necessarily WHOvians), alongside a comprehensive display of high tech science and the kind of classic monsters concept that the original series often did so well.

The aforementioned scientific aspects of the book are well handled and accurate, mixed with the kind of added fun speculation of which WHO has always excelled, but there are times when such technobabble, however important to the plot, verges on the kind of nonsense that always bogged down STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATIONs later storytelling. On the fantasy spectrum, though, the blue men and their mysterious benefactor of life are intriguing, with some well described moments and plotting, whilst the threat to the universe is just the right side of preposterous for our heroes to stop in the nick of time…

With its nice prose style, THE WHEEL OF ICE ultimately reaches a satisfying conclusion and is a highly readable, if not all-time classic, new addition to the continuing range of diversified and intelligent DOCTOR WHO adventures from BBC BOOKS.

KOOL TV RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Get the book here: Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice: Amazon.co.uk: Stephen Baxter: Books

For more on the BBC BOOKS WHO range follow them on Twitter: @DrWhoBBCBooks

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE KROTONS' DVD

The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) fight a strange new robot race in THE KROTONS, a new DVD release from the Classic DOCTOR WHO range. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO – THE KROTONS

A four-part story by Robert Holmes

Directed by David Maloney

Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, Frazer Hines as Jamie, and Wendy Padbury as Zoe

Released on DVD by BBC WORLDWIDE from July 2^nd, 2012

Reviewed by Scott Weller

I was there back in 1981 watching BBC 2’s glorious month long, four nights a week repeat season of THE FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO, and, like millions of other fans, was wondering why on Earth the channel hadn’t selected a more classic and representative story for the supreme horror/comedy era of Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor, like the hallowed TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN, than the one showing in the season’s second week: Robert Holmes then almost forgotten first story for the series, of mind draining robots enslaving a primitive humanoid race- THE KROTONS, which aired in the actors third and final season back in the monochrome years of 1968. It wasn’t until a short time later, however, reading the trusty words of fan supremo Jeremy Bentham in DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE, that the real truth behind the channel’s selection would come to disturbing light, and leave all WHO fans worldwide disheartened and gob- snacked by the news of the BBC’s unforgivable and widespread wiping of its classic black and white and early colour programming output, including Classic WHO!

Still, with the passage of time, and knowing of such losses as TOMB (which, thankfully, would return to the archives many years later and get a wonderful VHS, then DVD, release), in hindsight, THE KROTONS isn’t actually too bad a representation of the late Troughton era, in particular the fine camaraderie shown by the TARDIS trio of the Doctor, Scottish Culloden survivor Jamie McCrimmon and super-intelligent future girl Zoe Herriot.

It's quarry time again for the always amiable Patrick Troughton as the Doctor.

I especially remember how nice it was to finally see what Troughton was like in the flesh, so to speak, in his television reality as the Time Lord, after years looking at memorable and evocative black and white images and plot synopsis of his stories in magazines of the late seventies.

Yes, THE KROTONS is not a well regarded adventure by any means, by either the people who made it or by fandom in general, but it’s one that, at that time in its making, had to be filmed out of pure emergency and necessity, carefully nurtured by script editor and WHO legend Terrance Dicks and optioned for use when several stories fell through. Looking terrific in its DVD transfer, the story’s opening episode has lots going for it in its set-up, which is particularly moody and suspenseful.

Originally known as The Space Trap, its roots as a story originally submitted for the BBC’s sci-fi anthology series OUT OF THE UNKNOWN clearly show (but in a good way!). The story of self-perpetuating slavery by the mind draining crystalline headed aliens, the Krotons, seems a little lightweight by today's Steven Moffat overload modern series writing but overall it’s well paced and structured across its four episodes, though there is the occasional sense of repetition of ideas and moments within this mixed bag season, and this story certainly has examples of this, most notably with the Doctor coming under scan from another high powered alien race of which only two are seen onscreen, as seen a few stories earlier in THE DOMINATORS, and once again utilising our heroes skillful acting and bumbling antics to shield his crafty manipulations and ingenuity, all of which are realised all too late for the baddies to stop him. Parts of THE KROTONS even remind me of Classic STAR TREK (then not yet aired on British TV until 1969/70) in the way that out heroes arrive on an almost primitive world enslaved by a higher power. I could imagine Captain Kirk striding about, punching out primitive warriors, locking lips with any female in eye shot, and ignoring the prime directive (again!) to face off against the Krotons (Or “Croutons” as Frazer Hines likes to call them!), though colourful sixties TREK would have built the baddie robots a lot better than BILL KING’S TRADING POST effects company did for WHO!

The Doctor confers with Jamie (Frazer Hines),  Zoe (Wendy Padbury) and Selris (James Copeland) over the knowledge drained Vana (Madeleine Mills). 

The early hints of Robert Holmes classy teatime cruelty for children also begins to emerge, as do other examples of his trademark storytelling craft, like his perchance for eccentric characters, here represented by the repressed scientist, Beta (played by James Cairncross), who has a couple of fun double-act light comedy moments with Jamie towards story’s end.

No COUNTDOWN conundrums for the gifted Zoe!

Despite some general lasting off-screen woes about script problems that season, all three of our aforementioned main stars/characters get a chance to shine in their struggle against the Krotons. As I mentioned previously, Troughton as the Doctor would be a revelation to me-I remember in my first viewing how pleasantly surprised I was by his performance, and how he brought considerable and understated charisma to the part, as well as mixing high drama, intelligence and comedy in strong measure within a continuingly appealing and ingenious performance that would capture the hearts and minds of viewers of all ages. Frazer Hines as Jamie shows trademark bravery, die-hard loyalty to his comrades and reckless but fearless fighting skills, whilst Wendy Padbury’s Zoe’s puts her high intelligence to good use in both drama and comedy moments alongside Troughton and doesn’t come across as a stereotyped whiny screamer. Costume-wise, the kinky female baddies planned for the previously aborted Dick Sharples script THE PRISON IN SPACE may not have materialised but their almost presence seems to have thankfully lingered and transferred into the design of delectable Miss Padbury’s distinctive costume for the story: a red and black little number with boots and the very shortest of micro mini skirts-a runner up to Lalla Ward’s school girl outfit from CITY OF DEATH for the most memorable costume design seen in the series for boys and dads of a certain age to enjoy...

A solid guest cast helping the trio rise above the material includes the late, great Philip Madoc, always watchable as the ambitious and scheming power player Eelek, and stalwart Scottish TV actor James Copeland (and father of James Cosmo) as the enslaved Gond people's wise leader, Selris.

"Direction point!" The crystalline robots of the story title.

As for the Krotons- the ultimate student killers (no no university tuition fee payouts from them!)- well, they’re hardly one of the shows greatest baddies, but there have been poorer WHO monsters seen throughout the series. Their organic crystalline based visual appearance and design, from series regular Bobbi Bartlett, works okay from the middle up, though their voices (by Dalek talent/ RAINBOW’s Zippy, Roy Skelton, with Patrick Tull) seem more comedic than scary-at first I thought they were speaking in cockney accents but now I hear that they were South African based! (A blatant nod to the segregation troubles heightening in that country at the time.)

A Kroton tries to disperse the TARDIS!

Going further behind the scenes, designer Raymond London does his best with basic but satisfactory sets, making the most of the spaceship interior’s darkness (luckily the Krotons hate bright light!) where he can to help hide the shows very stretched and limited resources behind the scenes, with handy recycled props from the previous INVASION story, too. There’s also some noteworthy and effective sound design by Brian Hodgson that ably makes up for the lack of costly incidental music.

Patrick Troughton and his era's famous monsters are celebrated in the excellent DVD documentary Second Time Around. 

Onto the DVD extras now, and the highlight of the release, and easily one of the best of the entire range of any of the 2ENTERTAIN/BBC releases over the years, is Second Time Around, a lively, interesting, thought-provoking and nostalgic look back at the entire three year era of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor: the characters all-important first on-screen regeneration (or “renewal” as it was once called) and how it came about behind the scenes, the many classic stories, the iconic monsters and villains he fought, and the equally memorable companions who accompanied him on his journey’s through the time vortex. Excellently produced by Ed Stradling, linked to great behind the scenes materials and on-screen press clippings, as well as lots of great clips (especially from the recently recovered missing episode THE UNDERWATER MENACE episode 2), backed up with some terrific and fondly remembered contributions/anecdotes from all of Troughton’s surviving companions (as well as a choice clip of the late lead actor talking about early ideas for the part), it’s a wonderful celebration of a truly golden age for the series, and a special feature you’ll want to watch again and again. This easily makes the release an essential purchase for fans, as well as bringing the Second Doctor’s surviving story run on DVD to a satisfying close.

Additionally, there’s another Doctor Who Stories featurette, focusing on Fraser Hines for part one of his thoroughly enjoyable look back at his time working on the series in both its B/W and colour classic years, whilst representing THE KROTONS itself there’s no main documentary on the story (though it is covered briefly in Second Time Around), but look out for a fine audio commentary (involving actors Madoc, Richard Ireson and Gilbert Wynn, with behind the sceners Hodgson, Bartlett, David Tilley and Sylvia James), whilst Simon Guerrier and Joseph Lidster discuss the maligned story’s strengths and weakness in another looking back edition of the love it or hate it The Doctor’s Strange Love.

Finally, there’s some nice B/W photo selections, PDF materials, and an atmospheric trailer for Sylvester McCoy’s upcoming THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY.

More a bronze medal winner than a gold in Olympics time, it’s nice to have THE KROTONS finally released regardless, and any complete Patrick Troughton story on DVD is always welcome in my book!

KOOL TV OVERALL RATINGS

STORY: 3 out of 5

DVD EXTRAS: 4 out of 5

Get THE KROTONS here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-The-Krotons-DVD/dp/B007Z10GUG

KOOL TV DVD REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - REVISITATIONS 3 BOX SET'

Newly restored classic WHO adventures. Images: 2ENTERTAIN/BBC.

DOCTOR WHO: ‘REVISITATIONS 3’ BOX SET

(Comprising The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors and The Robots of Death)

Available on DVD from 2ENTERTAIN/ BBC WORLDWIDE

Reviewed by Scott Weller

The Time Lord Doctor finds himself in a space whodunnit, is caught in a plot to reactivate deadly inhuman foes from his past and meets his previous incarnations to unite against a galaxy-threatening enemy. Its four Doctors for the price of one, across three classic re-releases and five discs, in the third of the BBC’s REVISITATIONS series of restored and extras packed Special Edition CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO adventures, out now from 2ENTERTAIN/ BBC WORLDWIDE.

So, put on your best Beatles wig, wrap that multi-length scarf firmly tight around your neck, and wear your frilly Edwardian shirt with pride as we take a look at each of the thrilling stories in time and space the set comprises…

Overall release trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r5Pj4XPeqc&feature=related

THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN

With its prior reputation as one of the scariest, original and most atmospheric of tales, with only a few stills and people’s memories of the tale from its original transmission in 1966- all there was to go on and believe in- the return of the classic Patrick Troughton DOCTOR WHO story The Tomb of the Cybermen from Hong Kong in 1993 was a joyous moment to fans and TV historians alike-as if the show’s Holy Grail had been discovered. When finally back in England in 1993, the important question was, when restored and released, could it possibly live up to all its expectations and iconic status?

The long sleep of the Cybermen is finally over. 

Getting the new DVD box set off to a mysterious and deadly start in its well deserved re-mastering, Tomb almost lives up to it’s All-Time Classic status as a potent and chilling tale of greed, manipulation and ambition, as the emotionless Cybermen, determined to survive their limited existence, devise the perfect trap to ensnare the very best and brightest, and most evil, to their cause, as they are reawakened from their hibernation state within the ice tombs of the planet Telos by a largely unprepared for what they find  group of scientists and space explorers. Into all this comes the Doctor and his companions, of which a battle for survival by both sides soon rages within the cold and chilly environs of the Cybermen’s lair.

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) confers with the Earth expedition.

Despite a few dated moments and effects misfires, this is still an effective and atmospheric story that perfectly showcases the silver Cybermen, especially in the shivers down the spine moment when they break out of their honeycomb like tombs: indeed the stuff of TV and WHO history. The TARDIS trio of Patrick Troughton as Cosmic Hobo Time Lord, Frazer Hines as Scottish warrior Jaime McCrimmon and pixie-like Deborah Watling as Edwardian lady turned adopted companion Victoria Waterfield are first rate, as is the majority of the main guest cast, including George Pastell as the head of a loony band of Logicians, Eric Kleig, surely one of the great WHO/genius madmen of the small-screen black and white era, and Shirley Cooklin as his conniving, equally ambitious, stab-you-in-the-back partner, Kaftan.

The awakened Cybermen make new plans.

But above all else, it’s Patrick Troughton as the Doctor who holds it all together magnificently, with plenty to admire in his performance as it shifts between mystery, comedy and drama as he takes on the Cybermen, primarily at his and their peak in the shows second and third episodes, as the sparring and battle of wits between them intensifies-these creatures truly are the ultimate monster for his Doctor’s era. As an actor, Troughton has this rare ability to make it all seem so easy on-screen, showing us the Doctor’s multi-faceted personality in a way that modern WHO actors have tried to imitate but have never bettered. There’s a touch of the Machiavellian in him as he helps the Earth expedition unravel the mystery of the Cybermen, ultimately for his own ends so as to finally destroy them, but also a tender side, too, in a charming scene he has discussing his unknown family to Victoria.  And, of course, there’s his brilliant on-screen pairing with Jamie, and his off-screen best friend Frazer Hines-the pair bringing out the best in each other. Any chance to see Troughton-this fine and much-missed actor- in a WHO story, complete or not, should be relished.

Adding to his Cyber legend opponents is the introduction of the massive and dangerous form of the Cyber Controller, as played by Michael Kilgarriff, taller than his subordinates and far more creepy and intimidating, who would play the part again in a story for the Colin Baker colour era in 1985. His frightening first appearance in Tomb delivers the classic line to the captured humans, voiced by a transistorized Peter Hawkins off-set- “You belong to us. You shall be like us…” Surely another one of WHO and television’s most memorable and sinister scenes. On a smaller, though less successful scale, there’s also the premiere appearance of those cute but deadly beasties the Cybermats, which also terrorized Matt Smith’s incarnation in 2011.

Another Cyberman emerges.

Written by Kit Pedler, scientist and journalist, and Gerry Davis, whose love for good old fashioned adventure yarns would make their way into WHO history, they make a fine duo pooling their not inconsiderable talents to first create the Cybermen at the end of the William Hartnell era (though its obvious that The Doctor has encountered them off-screen before even this story), and helping them become the Doctor’s second greatest nemesis, who, like the Daleks, always (thankfully) manage to escape total destruction. This third adventure featuring the creatures certainly cements the Cybermen’s deserved reputation as one of the Doctors deadliest enemies, a literal plague across the galaxy, in a story packed with great visual imagery and logical nastiness from them. Their legend lives on as they kick off the famous Monster Era of Troughton’s period.

The filmed sequences at Ealing Studios are first rate, though there’s a few limitations of the time in the majority of the video tape footage shot at the restrictive Lime Grove studios-most notably the odd boom mike appearance or shadows, the odd camera swerve showing an actor ready to arrive on cue, a slip on a set or the odd string on a prop Cyberman thrown across the room, but that doesn’t matter when you have a strong story to enjoy and an overall ambitious production to be applauded.

An iconic colour moment from a black and white classic.

Making fine use of effective atmosphere within confined and claustrophobic sets (black and white always brings out the best in the medium), with some good exterior location filming, too, alongside sound design from Brian Hodgson and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop that continues to resonate, Tomb is directed with stern efficiency by Morris Barry.  It definitely shows its sixties roots at times but is still a story much to be admired. Beyond its place in WHO-dom, Tomb would also have worked well as a memorable horror story, what with its army of undead coming back to life. It could have been a great HAMMER film, eh? Watching this four-parter unfold, you’d think Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing might turn up at any minute.

What Tomb lacks in great special effects it more than makes up for in its aforementioned atmosphere and cast performances-and one of the reasons why it would become so memorable after its original transmission, alongside what was considered at the time some quite strong violence for mid-sixties tea-time Saturday viewing.

Special Features: Two informative and fun audio commentaries from the surviving cast, an original introduction from the late director Morris Barry, an examination of how the classic story was restored to its former viewing glory using the innovative VidFIRE process, early B/W Patrick Troughton title sequence tests, a short but sweet part of the sixties Late Night Line-Up magazine show in which presenter Joan Bakewell talks to the BBC effects team about their work on shows like DOCTOR WHO, rare cine footage of the final Dalek war from the lost Troughton Evil of the Daleks adventure which preceded Tomb, info text, a very nostalgic mid-sixties WALL’S ice cream film commercial for Sky Ray ice cream sticks of Doctor Who and the Daleks, another fine Coming Soon trailer for the Tom Baker adventure The Face of Evil, PDFs, and photo gallery. New special features material included The Lost Giants-the making of Tomb: a fun look behind the scenes (with some especially notable CGI set renderings of the Cyber tombs and control room), The Curse of the Cybermen’s Tomb: a fun mini-doc in which historians compare the WHO story to the legendary real-life uncovering of King Tutankhamen and classic HAMMER HORROR, and the Cybermen: Extended Edition, in which writer/presenter Matthew Sweet takes a look at the evolution and history of the Cybermen through the classic and modern series. The clips for this are well chosen and edited, and there are some good observations made, but Sweet’s commentary and presentation are frequently annoying and too sarcastic for my tastes. This documentary deserved to be taken more seriously, with the presenting of the Cybermen in a more dangerous and darker light.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOrql7vzYWA&feature=relmfu and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4vbf5nHo1I&feature=related

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYrsY_iXoWs&feature=g-all-u&context=G2454923FAAAAAAAAAAA

THE THREE DOCTORS

Those all-powerful, galaxy observing Time Lords from the then as-yet unnamed Gallifrey find themselves on the very brink of destruction from one of their own: the revered and once believed dead, now revenge fuelled, stella engineer Omega, harnessing the dark power of anti-matter and aiming a bloody enormous black hole at them! With such an all-consuming crisis, those smart-alec Time Lords know they’ll need the help of their exiled Doctor. And not just one, but a multi-partnership timestream lift comprising three of ‘em!

Galactic Greats! William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton.

Big ideas for a big story celebrating the shows landmark 1973 Tenth Anniversary, and that’s exactly what we get in the fairytale-like adventure that is The Three Doctors, a genius idea concocted by Who legends Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks whilst in the BBC Bar (of which so much great WHO would be created within it’s hallowed booze halls), from the always witty and imaginative penmanship of then writing duo regulars Bob Baker and Dave Martin. This is the first, most memorable and ratings busting multi-Doctor reunion story of CLASSIC WHO, and the type of story which the modern day series would find cheesy, or probably be afraid to do now. Starting off as a space lightning mystery, it becomes a grand dish that finally sends the first two monochrome Doctors into full colour, alongside the exiled to Earth, velvet coated, dandy/action figure of the distinctive and highly likable Jon Pertwee.

Doctors 2 and 3 encounter the legendary Time Lord Omega (Stephen Thorne).

In their sterling efforts to defeat the super mad-man in his negative domain, the tale definitely reveals itself to the Doctors as a colourful pantomime, working well as a post Xmas 1973 treat, especially in certain areas of its production design: notably its anti-matter universe environs and misty singularity well, but the lovable UNIT set-up and supporting cast, including the late, great Nicholas Courtney as a now almost comedic Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart- a far cry from his earlier appearances in the series as a more realistic and efficient military man of the late Troughton/early Pertwee era- are first rate throughout, alongside a towering performance of intelligent but threatening gusto from Stephen Thorne as the tragic loony to be pitied, Omega, who would later re-appear to challenge the Doctor and the universe in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary season story Arc of Infinity. Banished to another dimension, might he possibly rear his head for the upcoming Fiftieth Anniversary? Never say never.

Doctor 2 confers with the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

A strength and weakness in equal measure, there’s lots of archetypal early seventies WHO ingredients on display here, colourfully amped up in this Special Edition restoration: weird and wonderful monsters (the lumpy red Gell Guards), UNIT unsuccessfully battling the alien invaders, lots of quarry runarounds and explosions, and Jon Pertwee showing off The Doctor’s Venusian or Martian Aikido against aliens.  And we love it. Oh, and Katy Manning, as assistant Jo Grant, as well as being more comfortable and confident in her role than previously, looks absolutely sexy as hell in this story, too!

A quick peep outside from Doctors 2 and 3.

Director Lenny Mayne is clearly having a good time with the story, keeping the action coming fast and loose, whilst also allowing the actors to breathe and enjoy the storytelling celebration. Troughton the Second Doctor and Pertwee the Third, obviously rivals in character and out, work a treat together, and its just a shame that William Hartnell’s clever, sometimes playful, sometimes irascible and authoritative portrayal would be restricted to film cameo appearances only (due to sadly failing health prior to filming).

You certainly won’t be bored watching The Three Doctors, as the charming and delightful Doctors and companion camaraderie provide the much anticipated and delicious icing atop the proverbial Birthday cake.

Happy Tenth Anniversary, DOCTORs WHO!

Special Features: A delightful commentary from the late Nicholas Courtney and Barry Letts with Katy Manning, a look back to a BBC 1 Pebble Mill at One 1973 celebration of DOCTOR WHO with a fascinating interview with a very shy Patrick Troughton and effects man Bernard Wilkie, plus lots of classic WHO monsters, BLUE PETER’s 1973 celebration of DOCTOR WHO with a visit from Jon Pertwee in his then new Whomobile car, nice to see again 1990 highlights of the THREE DOCTORS talk from the BSB 31 WHO event, talking to Pertwee, Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Nicholas Courtney and Terrance Dicks, the trailer for the 1981 Five Faces of DOCTOR WHO repeat season, a reconstructed trailer from 1973 for The Three Doctors,  an under-rated trailer for the 40^th Anniversary DVD and video tie-ins for the series from BBC WORLDWIDE, info text, PDF’s. New specials features include Happy Birthday to WHO-another fun but short documentary on the making of the landmark story, Was Doctor Who Rubbish? – a nice little fan contributing programme which satisfyingly debunks all of ex-BBC 1 controller Michael Grade’s ridiculing comments about the show from a few years back (I hope the success of Modern WHO continues to stick in his crawl!), Girls, Girls, Girls – the 70’s, in which ex-companions Caroline John, Katy Manning and Louise Jameson have a Loose Women style talk about their life and careers in WHO- the trials and tribulations and legacy of being a WHO companion in that era of tea-time sex symbols, the changing face of feminism and television for women, and life working with the actors who played their Doctors- that’s enjoyable enough, and a photo gallery.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfTGVnk_XEU&feature=relmfu

and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptrqn9BZGiE&feature=relmfu

THE ROBOTS OF DEATH

It’s Agatha Christie meets Isaac Asimov-certainly Murder Most Foul- in concurrence to a robot revolution that are the two superb dramatic hooks of the classic four-parter from 1977:The Robots of Death, a tense and claustrophobic space murder thriller, starring curly haired bohemian intellectual Tom Baker in his magnetic, in–his-stride prime as the perennial Time Lord, alongside ex-savage now companion Leela of the Sevateem, played with beauty and independent spunk by Louise Jameson, a fine successor to the then recently departed Elisabeth Sladen. Back into a realistic devised sci-fi civilization, it’s one of the series finest adventures and certainly in my personal top-ten of all-time favourites from any era. Another definite showcase as to why the show has remained so popular over the years.

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) takes on a new type of enemy in this adventure.

Chris Boucher’s second script of three for Baker is top notch, attracting first class behind the scenes talents including director Michael E. Briant and designers Kenneth Sharp and Elizabeth Waller, and future Academy Award nominee editor Tariq Anwar, alongside a supporting guest cast of super actors- seventies defining talent the likes of David Baillie, the gorgeous Pamela Salem, CALLAN’s Russell Hunter, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL/WHO veteran David Collings, and BLAKE 7’s Brian Croucher.

The art of murder. One of the robots of the title.

The art deco world our heroes are caught in-whose colourful corridors are soon smeared and tainted in a darker shade of blood red- is wonderfully realized for the small screen-a WHO tale memorably devoid of location filming- and the robots of death of the title are superbly created, providing many memorable images of thrill and spills in this sophisticated tale from Baker’s third season of the role, impeccably produced by the dedicated pairing of producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and script edited by Robert Holmes, masters of iconic tales full of dark plotting, well created atmosphere and exciting cliff-hangers. Robots is compulsive viewing and certainly lives up to the title and reputation of Classic WHO, then at the top of its popularity as the linchpin start of Saturday night TV viewing for the BBC 1 channel back in ‘77.

If you’ve never seen Classic WHO, this is the type of story that’s a fine place to jump in with, and defies the ages as a well-crafted piece of classic television. It’s a story that general viewers always remember from its original transmission. And quite rightly so…

Leela (Louise Jameson) and The Doctor within the art deco Sandminer.

Special Features: Two audio commentary’s (one serious from producer Hinchcliffe and writer Boucher, and one lively, from Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Pamela Salem and director Briant), The Sandmine Murders- the best of the three Making Of Documentary’s of the box set, including contributions from the mighty Tom Baker (affectionately referred to as a “creative terrorist’ by guest star Brian Croucher), and presenting new information on the shows exquisite production and costume designs, Robophobia –Toby Hadoke, an affectionate look at Classic WHO’s robots, from this story’s murderous offerings to other weird and wonderful one-offs through the original series (though beware, the scenes of Hadoke dressed as a suburban housewife at one point may cause visual distress!), Studio Sound-a brief but interesting look at the undubbed voice of one of the robots as originally recorded in-studio, silent model shot footage both used and unused from the original filming, studio floor plans of the story’s sets, original continuity announcing of the opening episode, info text, photo gallery, PDF’s.

The Doctor's then new companion, Leela, as previously introduced in the story, The Face of Evil.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyD5ILDvYho&feature=player_embedded

and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lYsNQ5WJlY&feature=relmfu

OVERALL

All the stories in their new re-mastered makeovers look far superior than they did in their original DVD releases (in fact, some of those early 2000 discs have actually started to disintegrate!), and surely better than when they were originally transmitted, too, whilst sound restoration and the VidFIRE conversion process are first rate. Alongside all this are some smashing new bonus features that add informative weight and behind the scenes discoveries to the discs.

REVISITATIONS 3 is one of the most entertaining box sets for the series yet, and well worth the purchase.

OVERALL STORY RATINGS:

THE ROBOTS OF DEATH: 5 out of 5

THE THREE DOCTORS: 4 out of 5

THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN: 4 out of 5

All extras (new and old combined): 5 out of 5