 It is London in 1963 and the first Doctor
is forced to leave Earth, after two teachers from his
granddaughter Susan’s school discover the TARDIS, disguised
as a police box, sitting in a junkyard at Totter’s Yard.
It is now 25 years later and the seventh Doctor returns
– with a brand new companion, Ace, in tow and with business
that he must complete.
Not for the first time unusual
things are happening at Coal Hill School and at Totter’s
Lane junkyard. The Doctor discovers that his old enemies
- the Daleks - are also after the technology that the
Doctor left behind on Earth. Timelord technology, a
Stella manipulator known as the Hand of Omega, which
would be dangerous in the wrong hands!
The Daleks are planning to use
this technology to complete their own Time-Travel experiments,
in order to wreak havoc around the universe. Can the
Doctor, Ace and the British Army stop them from stealing
the Gallifreyan secrets? Or, as usual, will things not
go according to plan?
Two warring Dalek forces come
to blows on the streets of London and the fate of the
Earth, and the Universe, is at stake. …..and watch out
for the “mystery” villain at the end!
This is the basic story behind
the Doctor Who adventure called Remembrance of the Daleks;
the last story to feature the Daleks in the series.
Remembrance of the Daleks is set just a few days after
the events of episode 1 of "An Unearthly Child,"
the very first Doctor Who adventure. Those of you who
know about Doctor Who will remember that the Doctor
left Earth unexpectedly; he obviously meant to sort
out his little problem before, but events (and Time)
conspired against him!
The story was originally
released as the start of the 25th Anniversary season
of the cult TV series. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch
and was broadcast by the BBC from 5 Oct 1988-26 Oct
1988.
It was Sylvester McCoy’s second
season as the Doctor and Sophie Aldred’s first full
adventure as the feisty Ace (she had previously appeared
in the last story of the previous season in Dragonfire).
Remembrance of the Daleks was released
on DVD on 26th February 2001.
The DVD is excellent and
has a lot of special features that make it worthwhile
buying in this format.
Commentary from Sylvester
McCoy and Sophie Aldred
This is very interesting to
listen to, but I would recommend that you watch the
whole adventure first without the commentary switched
on. The commentary is louder than the programme’s sound,
so you will be distracted from the action. Sophie and
Sylvester are really relaxed and reminisce about the
filming, cast, etc.
I really enjoyed the commentary
and felt it added to my appreciation of the story. It’s
obvious that Sylvester and Sophie get on really well;
they are quite clearly enjoying themselves and this
is infectious. You end up laughing with them and their
anecdotes were very interesting.
Deleted Scenes and Out-takes
A few scenes that didn’t make
it into the final programme. I enjoyed this; it’s really
interesting to see what was cut out and to see the cast
falling over and fluffing their lines! This is a feature
well worth a look!
Isolated Soundtrack
Exactly what it sounds like:
The soundtrack of the episode. Not really of interest
to me, but nice to listen to all the same.
Multi Angle Scenes
These didn’t work on our DVD
player, so I can’t comment on the effectiveness of this
feature.
BBC1 Trailers
This bit really bought back
memories of when I sat expectantly in front of my TV
waiting for the new Dr Who series to begin. A real “blast
from the past”! These are the actual BBC trailers and
continuity announcements from 1988; an enjoyable extra
and well worth a look.
Image Gallery
Some goods shots taken of the
cast and scenes from the show. Quite pleasant to look
at, but not overly exciting! Good for anyone who likes
to see some good quality photos.
Production Notes
There is an option in the menu
to have on-screen production notes; these appear while
you are watching the show. These can get a bit distracting
too, but I would really recommend that you have them
turned on.
They tell you all about the
thought processes behind scenes and also where the action
was filmed. It’s excellent for “trivia buffs” too because
it tells you about the actors and other info about the
series. This feature really got our interest; we are
even planning to go to London and try to visit the places
mentioned! Sad, but true!
Scene Selection
A pretty standard DVD feature!
This just allows you to pick which scene you want to
watch, rather than having to wind through the whole
lot (a la the old days of VHS). Very useful, but not
unusual!
Graphical Menus
Again, quite a usual feature
on DVDs, but the graphics are well produced and it does
make the disc very user friendly and easy to navigate.
They are in keeping with the Who theme and are very
well produced.
This DVD is currently selling
for £18.95 on Blackstar and £18.99 on Amazon.
It can be found in most of the usual outlets (MVC, W
H Smith etc) at around the same price mark. (DWO Price
is £15.99)
I really like this Dr Who adventure
and am pleased how well it has translated into the DVD
format. The picture is crisp and clear and the sound
quality is excellent too. The range of Special Features
is good; they are of a high standard and there are plenty
of them. The BBC seem to have really got their act together
in the production of their Doctor Who DVD titles. If
you compare this one to The Five Doctors or The Robots
of Death you will see how much improved this one is.
I would really recommend this
for all Dr Who fans; a really worthwhile addition to
any Who collection! Any sci-fi fan would be foolish
not to get this as it is a good story as well as an
excellent DVD. The Special features are really cool
and I would recommend that you invest in it, even if
you already own it on video.
» Review by Andrea Waterhouse, Copyright 2003.
|
“Oh
Davros, I am fare more than just another Time Lord”