 I'm
a big fan of Peter Davison and I love the Daleks, so
the chance to combine them is always a great treat for
me. When our copy of The Resurrection of the Daleks
DVD arrived I was really looking forward to it. We always
pre-order our DVDs from Blackstar and when one of their
padded envelopes is delivered we know we have something
good to watch that evening. I remember watching Resurrection
on TV, but it had been a while ago so it was going to
be nice to relive those memories again. If you don't
want to read the plot outline, then it's now the time
to make a cup of tea and rejoin in three paragraphs
time.
This story sees
the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his current companions,
Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson)
on contemporary Earth ~ contemporary at the time being
1984. They have been forced to land there after getting
caught in Time Corridor; which we later learn has been
created by the Daleks to free their creator (the thoroughly
evil Davros). Davros has been imprisoned and held in
cryogenic suspension for nearly 100 years, but the Daleks
need him once again to help fight a virus that threatens
their existence. Even the best laid plans of the Daleks
are under threat when Davros seems to want to destroy
his own creations.
The Earth (the
Docklands area of London to be precise) is linked with
a prison ship in the distant future and the evil and
killing that occurs has a far reaching effect on the
crew of the TARDIS. Tegan discovers that she can no
longer cope with life travelling in Time and Space ~
she needs stability and normality at last. The end of
the episode sees an emotional farewell! The Doctor also
has another chance to kill Davros and destroy the Daleks,
but once again he doesn't take it!
The story itself
is slightly complicated ~ the Daleks fight amongst themselves,
the Daleks fight Davros (and his own loyal Dalek army),
and the Daleks fight the Doctor! Meanwhile the Doctor
must foil Davros' plot to replace him with a replica
to help destroy the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey
(while the Daleks are using replicants to infiltrate
key positions on Earth) ~ I told you in got complicated.
Needless to say the Doctor succeeds, but not without
letting Davros go free (to meet him again in future
adventures). It works in a strange kind of way; I think
I've explained it all, but I could have confused somewhere.
Needless to say it isn't the best story ever, but it
does see some good performances!
Resurrection of
the Daleks was originally broadcast from the 8th February
to the 15th February 1984 on BBC 1. The DVD was released
on 18th November 2002 by BBC Worldwide Publishing. The
DVD has a special rubberised PVC cover on top of the
usual DVD box ~ this is black and looks similar to the
"bumps" on the casing of a Dalek. This cover
is supposed to be limited edition and will hopefully
add to the collectability of the disc in the future.
The DVD has a
good selection of Special Features that make it worth
buying, but they aren?t quite as good as on some of
the previous releases ~ it isn't in the same league
as Tomb of The Cybermen! This isn't really the fault
of the producers ~ it's a more recent title so they
didn't have the scope for restoration and the documentaries
that would result! The picture quality is still very
crisp and the sound is good too; it still puts the video
in the shade! There was some work that had to be done
to clean up some of the noise from shooting on location
and to clean up the picture on the DVD (the original
footage IS almost 20 years old now), but I don't think
there was quite so much to do.
SPECIAL
FEATURES.
COMMENTARY
This time the
commentary comes from Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet
Fielding (Tegan) and Matthew Robinson (the Director).
I quite enjoyed the commentary, but I am biased because
I could listen to Peter Davison all day! It's also a
rare treat to hear from Janet, who doesn't often go
to conventions. The commentary is quite similar to the
one on the Caves of Androzani ~ lots of enthusiasm and
some good behind the scenes stories and anecdotes. Once
again, though I would recommend that you watch the story
first without the commentary, because you won't be able
to follow the action with it switched on.
SOUND MIX
By accessing the
audio options menu you can choose whether you want to
listen to the story in mono or a multi-channel soundtrack.
I tried both and preferred the multi-channel ~ this
really depends on your personal preferences, but I found
the multi-channel to be more realistic and a lot crisper.
ON LOCATION
This is by far
the best Special Feature on this DVD! Yes, it's even
better than my favourite beloved info-text! This contains
the last ever interview with producer John Nathan-Turner
before his untimely death. It is quite sad to see him
because he is looking so frail, but it gives us the
valuable chance to see him talking about the show that
made up a large part of his life. This documentary type
feature was filmed at the location of the original programme
~ Shad Thames in London. You will also see the writer
(Eric Saward) and director (Matthew Robinson) as they
retrace the steps they made when producing Resurrection.
It's very interesting because they explain how and why
they chose the setting, as well as giving us the chance
to see how the area has changed today.
DELETED
AND EXTENDED SCENES
This is another
good feature because it shows some shots that are previously
unseen. It's a good chance to find out what they thought
worked and what wasn't good enough (or too long) to
make the final edit. I always like to see bits of footage
I haven't had chance to before, so this is very interesting
to me.
BREAKFAST
TIME
If you remember
having to watch Breakfast time before school (there
were no Big Breakfasts or Rise then!) then you will
have a vague idea of what this feature is. These show
two items that were shown on the breakfast show on BBC1
to publicise the series and the new Companions book
that was published at the time ~ this was of particular
interest to me because I'd just received MY copy of
the book that I'd won in an auction on E-Bay (a coincidence!).
We also found this quite funny because Janet Fielding's
accent seems to lurch about very violently between Australian
and Home Counties!
TRAILER
There's only one
trailer on this release ~ for the first episode of the
adventure. I do remember it being on, but I don?t ever
remember the continuity announcers sounding quite THAT
posh! A good bit of nostalgia, but not something you'll
watch every time you play the DVD.
PHOTO GALLERY
These are again
pretty much what it says on the tin! There are some
nice photos on offer here ~ some good shots of Peter
Davison (phwooorh!), some stills and publicity shots
for the story. I may look at these more than once (for
a quick perve at Peter), but your average punter will
probably just take a look once and then never access
them again.
MUSIC ONLY
There is the option
of listening the Malcolm Clarke's score with no other
soundtrack. I found this surprisingly watchable and
I didn't think that I would. The music score is very
atmospheric ~ especially the scenes with the Daleks.
INFO-TEXT
Excellent! Once
again I am amazed by the facts and information that
they have managed to come up with. We particularly like
the info-text on Earth based adventures because of the
location details, but all the things are interesting
and extremely informative. The text appears either above
or below the action (depending on what’s going on) and
I don't find them distracting at all.
TARDIS CAM
This time (in
number 4 of the TARDIS Cam series) we see the TARIS
on board a vessel under the sea (that's what it looks
like anyway). Alun watched it and said "Oh, what
was that all about then?" ~ that just about sums
up the TARDIS Cam for us. The scenes are well produced
but the credits last longer than the actual feature!
GRAPHICAL
MENUS
Again these are
well produced and give a user friendly and visually
appealing way to navigate around the disc. They have
used some pieces of footage from the series as the main
basis for the menus, along with the Doctor Who logo
and thumbnail images from the episodes, so you can see
what part of the story you're going to. Very useful
and very easy to use (apart from the bit where you choose
whether you want text or subtitles on or off ~ we always
end up highlighting the wrong bit!).
EASTER EGGS
I have heard that
there are 3 Easter Eggs on this DVD, but I must admit
we have only found two so far. I won't give away how
to access them, but one of them is well worth finding
~ the opening and closing sequences without any text
or credits!
I think that's
the lot! A pretty good selection I have to admit. I
would have been well satisfied if Tomb of the Cybermen,
The Aztecs, etc hadn't spoiled me ~ there aren't the
same documentaries on this one. The BBC has once again
done us proud with the quality of the special features
that have been included. I would recommend this DVD
to any Dr Who Fan and collector, but I don't think a
non-fan would like this one so much. If you already
have this on video I still think it's worth investing
in ~ particularly as it is on offer at Amazon.co.uk
at the moment for £15.99 instead of the usual
£19.99! (DWO Price
is £15.99)
INTERESTING
FACTS
This
is the last appearance of Janet Fielding as the
Doctor's companion Tegan. When she leaves the Doctor
has one companion left (Turlough) until they are
joined by Peri (Nicola Bryant).
This
story was originally planned as a 4 part adventure
(each part being 25 minutes long) but was aired
as 2 episodes (45minutes in length). This DVD sees
it restored to its original format.
Faces
you may recognise in Resurrection include Rula Lenska,
Leslie Grantham (pre-Eastenders), Chloe Ashcroft
(for anyone who used to watch Playschool) and Rodney
Bewes (of Likely Lads fame).
» Review
by Andrea
Waterhouse, Copyright 2005.
|
