Product Reviews

23 (70% helpful)

Page 1 of 0

  1.  "let the talons of Weng-Chiang shred your fleeeesh!"


    a fantastic adventure from the Tom Baker years brilliantly mixing the styles of Hammers gothic horrors with Sherlock Holmes sleuthing and a time travelling foe from the future

    the entire cast are absolutely brilliant - especially the supporting characters of Jago & Litefoot - but there's a few cringeworthy racial stereotypes ("him jaw-jaw plenty", "more Wongs for the Tong", etc) and at 6 episodes its a bit too long. plus there's the cuddly giant rat - not exactly terrifying - and we really dont see enough of Magnus Greel's 'melting' face. still this is great stuff and easily one of the classic series' best moments

    this DVD release is the first time the original version has been made available rather than the movie-style video edit, plus there's the added bonus of the 1977 'Who's Doctor Who' documentary

  2.  "we can travel anywhere and everywhere in "that old box"..."


    2 great black & white adventures in time and space with William Hartnell's original Time Lord

    this boxset shows just how varied Dr Who can be - an outer space whodunnit with a bug-eyed monster followed by a comical journey thru ancient Rome and a meeting with Emperor Nero

    the sets creak and the alien planet or Roman marketplace are barely larger than my front garden but the writing is great and the actors shine better than any fancy CGI

  3.  "we-are-the-masters-of-earth-we-are-the-masters-of-earth"


    a very creepy first episode leads into what plays very much like an old war movie - the Daleks even do mock Nazi salutes as they parade thru London and listen to orders from the Black Dalek

    the story drags a little in the middle and certain visuals (the flying saucer, the cardboard cutout Daleks, the Slyther monster) make it look a bit ropey

    there are some great extras for this release: the laughable flying saucer effect can now be viewed with excellent CGI replacements plus we can see the original 60s BBC trailers for the story plus a couple of great easter eggs...

    a great piece of early Dr Who and a great DVD to show it off

  4.  "one must always accept the unexpected..."


    Dr Who's first bold step into the 1980s under new producer John Nathan-Turner

    the intentions of the new production team to make the show that bit less childish than in previous years is made clear in the first few minutes as K9 gets blown up on Brighton beach leaving him absent for the rest of the story. there's also a lot more science in these episodes with a lot of talk about tachyonics but not so much that you'll need a degree to make sense of what's going on

    the costumes and music are a bit garish at times but behind that is an intelligent story with a pleasant lack of the continuity overload that would often ruin so many other 80s adventures

    a good solid start to a sometimes shaky era of Dr Who

  5.  "Don't look so worried - fancy a cup of tea?!"


    for this DVD the 2 missing episodes of the story have been reconstructed using the original soundtrack recordings and brand new animation - a great improvement on the 1993 video pack and a process which I hope will be repeated with other stories such as 'The Tenth Planet' and 'The Ice Warriors' even if the opportunity may have been missed to do something similar with 'The Crusade' and 'The Moonbase'

    the story itself has a great Quatermass meets James Bond feel as Patrick Troughton's Doctor joins forces with The Brigadier and UNIT to fight the brilliantly mad Tobias Vaughan and the Cybermen (although the Cybermen themselves don't turn up until halfway thru the story and even then leave most of the talking to Vaughan and their Director machine)

  6.  "so-we-meet-again-doctor..."


    killer androids, space troopers, the return of the Cybermen brilliantly redesigned for the 80s (plus a clips sequence of some past adventures), Beryl Reid as a space freighter captain plus THAT ENDING (well, some people might not know about it...) this adventure is every bit as brilliant now as when I saw it as a kid - if only 'Resurrection Of The Daleks' had been as good...

    this DVD also features updated CGI effects but in all honesty I haven't seen the need to watch them! loved the 'part five' skit tho!!

  7.  "I only hope he's Tardis trained"


    K9 gets his own boxset!

    "The Invisible Enemy' was the first story to introduce viewers to robot dog K9 and really hasn't dated well a lot of the costumes are really bad and the monster is a bit of a joke - more giant prawn than deadly swarm. there's an option to watch the story with new CGI effects but the original effects are sometimes the only decent thing to watch!

    "K9 & Company' was an early attempt at a Dr Who spin off and is nothing like the later 'Sarah Jane Adventures'. the title sequence is awful and a lot of the characters are just plain annoying - don't save Brendan just leave him to the cult. unless things had changed drastically I doubt an actual series of K9 & Co. would've lasted long

  8.  You-Will-Be-Assimilated-Resistance-Is-Futile


    this special set collects together most (but NOT all) of the Borg episodes of Star Trek: the Next Generation and Voyager plus the Borg episode of Star Trek: Enterprise

    a great purchase for fans like myself who want these episodes but dont want the expense of buying all the season boxsets in order to watch them

  9.  "I think I may have gone a little too far..."


    80s Dr Who at its worst. the Bannermen themselves are poor villains, the incidental music is too much and the quest cast are badly underused - especially Ken Dodd's Tollmaster. it tries to be fun but mostly winds up just being silly

  10.  "Dr-Who-is-required"


    William Hartnell's original Doctor battles a power crazed supercomputer in swinging sixties London

    a really enjoyable adventure, not much happens but the characters of Ben and Polly are really enjoyable in their fist appearance and the War Machines themselves are great once they get rolling

    on a technical note this DVD represents a fully restored version of this story including a couple of scenes that were missing from the video release a few years ago