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 I thought it was about time that I reviewed the latest Tom Baker DVD release (because the next DVD is about to be released very soon). Before I do this I really need to give you a brief plot outline (so you have a bit of an idea of what I’m rattling on about!). If you just want to launch straight into the DVD stuff skip the next 3 paragraphs!
The Doctor, and his companions Sarah-Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), materialise (accidentally as per usual) on an apparently deserted Space Station. It is thousands of years in the future and a group of colonists have been forced to abandon the rapidly uninhabitable Earth. They are put in suspended animation for their long journey; the machines are set to revive them when they reach their new planet.
Something is not right on Space Station Nerva! As usual the Time travellers find that there is an alien intelligence at work. The Wirrn, a race of giant insects, have sabotaged the Nerva’s systems and are trying to find a breeding site for their Queen to lay her eggs. The colonists have slept longer than was intended and they are in grave danger of either not waking up at all or being absorbed by the Wirrn.
What follows is a four-part story in which the Doctor, his friends and the remaining colonists must fight to save the future of the human race. It is a great and exciting adventure that almost costs the Doctor his life. Explosions, a well-written story and some impressive screaming from Sarah-Jane all add up to make this a classic Doctor Who adventure.
Ark in Space was originally transmitted from 25/01/1975 to 15/02/1975 and was released on DVD on 08/04/2002.
The story is significant because;
- It was Tom Baker’s second outing as the Doctor and his first foray into Space; the previous story, Robot, had been entirely Earth based. This story is where Tom really comes into his own and begins to develop his distinct character for the Doctor.
- One useful bit of trivia is that the Ark crops up later in the Season during the adventure “Revenge of the Cybermen”.
- The only characters you will see in the first episode are The Doctor, Sarah-Jane and Harry – there are no other cast members. The only other time this has happened is during the “doctorship” of William Hartnell.
- This adventure shares many of the ideas and concepts used in the Season Three story called “The Ark”.
Once again the BBC have done us proud with the number, and quality of the Special Features on this disc:
COMMENTARY
The commentary on this DVD is provided by Elizabeth Sladen, Tom Baker and Philip Hinchcliffe (the producer). Tom Baker does tend to dominate this slightly, but he does have some great stories too tell. The three interact well and provide some good insights into working on the story. It’s a shame that Ian Marter is no longer with us and couldn’t add his anecdotes – I’m sure there are some funny stories he could tell about working on the programme.
UNUSED TITLE SEQUENCE
This is based on the old season 11 sequence from Jon Pertwee’s stint as the Doctor; Tom Baker’s face replaces his and a 'TARDIS tunnel' effect has been added. This is quite cool!
TRAILER
There is an original trailer that was used when this was transmitted for the first time on BBC1…well worth watching as a bit of nostalgia!
NEW CGI MODEL SHOTS
These new sequences were produced by Mike Tucker and Nick Sainton-Clark at BBC Visual Effects department. They have produced some excellent new effects using models. Please note that you won’t get these new bits automatically and you will need to access the extras menu to see them. I enjoyed looking at these and was surprised by how far model making and effects have come on since the series was originally aired.
ORIGINAL 16MM SHOTS
Another extra well worth a look! A private collector allowed these sequences to be included and I’m really glad that they did. He provided an original 400ft roll of 16mm camera negative of all the filmed effects shots. These included various rocket take-off (with and without a rocket engine), the rocket flying through space and exploding and the Wirrn crawling over the outside of the space station. It’s a great chance to see some shots that have never been available before and some scenes that were used (but in a different format). COOL!
PRODUCTION SUBTITLES
As usual this is one of my favourite features that now happily seems to be included in every Dr Who DVD release. Production, cast and other useful facts (including episode viewing figures) appear (once selected) on the screen during the adventure. My husband and I really enjoy learning all this information…it adds to our enjoyment and understanding of the story.
PHOTO GALLERY
Again, a standard feature on these releases. Not my favourite item, but at least the production team do seem to go to the effort of finding pictures that you may not have seen before.
DESIGN FEATURETTE
This is a new interview with the designer Roger Murray-Leach. If you want to know about how he came up with the design of the Ark, among other things, then you will find this very informative.
TARDIS CAM
This highly entertaining, if a little short, sequence appears courtesy of BBC Online. It’s called 'The Fourth Moon of Fraxis’ and runs for around one minute not including the credits. It uses digital anamorphic-widescreen & sound for those technical people out there!
NEWS ITEM
An entertaining interview with Tom Baker made for television during the filming of The Revenge of the Cybermen (at Wookey Hole). It’s interesting to watch, especially when you bear in mind that it was made before the public saw Tom Baker as the Doctor for the first time…we see a little of his character, his humour and his eccentricity!
Animated Graphics
These are once again very well produced and make the disc very easy to navigate. They are slick and feature an animated TARDIS sequence that appears before you can pick what you want to view. There are some very well produced scenes from the show in the background…very nice to look at and give you a “taster” of what is to come.
Scene Selection
The episodes and scenes are split into “bite sized” chunks to allowing you to pick where you want to view. Very user friendly, but a pretty standard feature on DVDs these days.
EASTER EGGS
No, not the oval chocolate things! These are a few hidden extras that you can find with time and patience when viewing the disc on you PC. As far as I know there are three Easter Eggs contained on the Ark in Space disc. They are worth seeking out, so I won’t give the game away just in case you want the satisfaction of finding them yourself. If you get stuck, let me know and I will reveal all (ooer)!
Right I think I’ve gone on for long enough about the features!
All in all this is another top class release from the BBC and once again they have done us proud finding some good and varied material to use as Special Features. The picture and sound quality is excellent; add this to a good storyline and you have a classic Sci-fi title to add to your DVD library.
This DVD is available through all usual stockists (Blackstar, Amazon, MVC, etc) and prices vary. Mine was £18.59 from Blackstar and its currently retailing at the BBC on-line shop for £19.99. Shop around, because you can get it cheaper.
If you haven’t already invested in The Ark in Space then I recommend that you do as soon as possible.
» Review by Andrea Waterhouse, Copyright 2003.
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