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Title:
Doctor Who: Ghost Light: The Sylvester McCoy Years 1987 – 1989
Region:
One
Genre:
British Science Fiction
Stars:
Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms, Michael Cochrane, Frank
Windsor, John Nettleton, Katherine Schlesinger, and John Hallam
Writer:
Marc Platt
Director:
Alan Wareing
Feature
length: 71 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Actress Sophie Aldred, Script Editor Andrew Cartmel, Writer
Marc Platt, and Composer Mark Ayres, Light In Dark Places Interview
Retrospective, Deleted and Extended Scenes, Shooting Ghosts – Behind The
Scenes Video, Writer’s Question Time, Text Commentary Track, Music Only
Option, and Photo Gallery
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 6 Per Episode/18 Total
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast: 1989/DVD Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
In
a way the day and date DVD releases of “Doctor
Who: The Leisure Hive: The Tom Baker Years 1974 – 1981” and “Doctor
Who: Ghost Light: The Sylvester McCoy Years 1987 – 1989” is very appropriate
because they represent the beginning and the end of the show’s production
under Producer John Nathan-Turner. This was because while the last episode of
the 22nd season “The
Curse Of Fenric” aired after “Ghost Light,” the BBC did not renew
Doctor Who for a 23rd season. So in terms of production, “Ghost
Light” would end up being the last episode of “Doctor Who” produced for
television at the BBC studios for 15 years. The only “Doctor Who” adventure
to be produced in between the lengthy hiatus was the joint Universal Studios and
BBC production of “Doctor Who: The Movie,” where Sylvester McCoy returned to
play the Doctor once again so he could hand the keys to the TARDIS to the next
incarnation, who was played by Paul McGann. This TV movie aired on the Fox
television network in the States and on BBC1 in Britain in 1996. Acclaimed
Writer and Producer Russell T. Davies helped bring “Doctor Who” back for a
new generation with Christopher Eccleston stepping into the title role and new
episodes began airing on BBC1 in March of 2005. As I anxiously wait with hope
that these episodes will somehow air soon on BBC America, a colleague and good
friend of mine in Coventry assured me that so far the new episodes are among the
best he had seen in a long time. So let that be a beacon of hope to anyone still
mourning the end of “Star Trek: Enterprise” because just as “Battlestar
Galactica” has returned better than ever after over two decades and the new
“Doctor Who” series appears to be going strong, I have no doubt that “Star
Trek” will return to the airwaves some day too especially since death in
television science fiction is usually never final.
“Ghost
Light” is an interesting episode if only that it encourages multiple viewings
to catch on to various clues because this episode really doesn’t spell every
nuance clearly for the viewer and instead replies upon one’s own mind to seek
out certain answers. This of course can be a bit of a headache for some, but
overall I’d say “Ghost Light” has an intriguing premise and really
spotlights Sylvester McCoy’s talents as the Doctor more than I have ever seen
previously. When the Doctor’s traveling companion Ace (Sophie Alfred) was a
little girl, she had the fright of her life while witnessing the burning down of
a London house. In an attempt to cure her of her trauma by making face her
fears, the Doctor purposely has the TARDIS materialize within the very house
that frightened her, but one hundred years before the fire. This is in part so
that she does not realize where she is exactly when they depart the TARDIS, but
anywhere the Doctor appears, there is usually something else he must face and
rectify too. In this case it is a buried secret within the bowels of the house
of extraterrestrial origin. There are lots of literary references in this
episode, including a nod to former “Doctor Who” Story Editor Douglas
Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.”
The
episode is also somewhat reminiscent of the Peter Davison Doctor Who episode “The
Visitation,” which is available on DVD in the States now through BBC
Video. Ironically I found the (1.33:1) four by 3 aspect ratio presentation to be
a bit less crisp than “The Leisure Hive” episode produced 9 years earlier. I
am not sure why. Perhaps it is intentional or perhaps the available masters were
not preserved as well as the ones from 1980, but for whatever the reason,
“Ghost Light” has a bit of grain to it that can’t be ignored. The English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack remix is definitely an improvement over
the original English Stereo Soundtrack that is included too and there are
optional English Captions for the hearing impaired encoded onto the dual layered
DVD as well.
A
retrospective audio commentary featuring Actress Sophie Aldred, Script Editor
Andrew Cartmel, Writer Marc Platt, and Composer Mark Ayres is provided along
with another fact and anecdote filled text production commentary and an isolated
music score track too. A nice highlight for this DVD is the “Light In Dark
Places” collection of brand new retrospective interviews (38:47) that features
Actors Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Alfred, Michael Cochrane, Sharon Duce, Ian Hogg,
and Katherine Schlesinger as well as Composer Mark Ayres and Script Editor
Andrew Cartmel. This is supported nicely by some rare behind-the-scenes
production video (19:04) as well as a Q&A session recorded in 1990 with
Writer Marc Platt (12:06).
A
reel of approximately 15 deleted and extended scenes (17:58); a motion photo
gallery (5:20) and cast and crew bios and credits wrap up the extra value
materials on this DVD. Actor John Hallam plays a significant role in “Ghost
Light” and I sure as heck know I have seen him in lot more films and
television programs than are listed in his “Who’s Who” section on the DVD.
I guess these are really select biographies and credits, but I’d like to know
who decides what gets listed because he’s done a lot more work than listed on
the DVD and in my opinion it is all good. He’s an Actor that not only has
character in his features, but presence too. Unless it was at his request
personally, I’d like to know why his full credits were not listed.
The
interactive menus are all well rendered and easy to navigate. “Doctor Who:
Ghost Light: The Sylvester McCoy Years 1987 – 1989” is available on DVD-Video
now at retailers on and offline courtesy of BBC Video.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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