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Stars:
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, and Wendy Padbury
Writers:
Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks
Director:
Michael Ferguson
Producer:
Peter Bryant
Feature
length: 147 minutes
Extras: Feature
Length Commentary With Actors Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, Director Michael
Ferguson, and Script Editor Terrance Dicks, Text Commentary, Sssowing The
Ssseedsss” Featurette, “The Last Dalek” 8mm Footage With Commentary, New
Zealand Censor Clips, TARDIS-Cam No. 6, Photo Gallery, 40th
Anniversary Celebration Reel
Languages: English
Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions For The Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Single-Sized Two-Disc Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 36
Sound: Two-Channel
Monaural Sound
Year of Television
Broadcast: 1969/DVD Release: 2004
Home Video
Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA Rating: Not
Rated
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
The Doctor
(Patrick Troughton) and his companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy
Padbury) arrive on Earth in the late 21st century just in time to
save it from an invasion of reptilian Ice Warriors from Mars who intend to use
Earth’s teleportation technology against humanity by releasing a biological
weapon that will absorb all the world’s oxygen. “The Seeds Of Death” is a
six-part Doctor Who adventure that is a bit too long for it’s own good. While
the Martian leader looks especially menacing, the big and burly Ice Warriors
look like they belong in an old Flash Gordon serial. The video has been
meticulously cleaned up and is presented in the original black and white
(1.33:1) television broadcast aspect ratio with a clear English Two-Channel
Monaural Soundtrack and optional English Captions for the hearing impaired.
In addition to the
text commentary, which shares facts and anecdotes about the production and the
characters, there is a retrospective and screen specific audio commentary track
for the entire adventure with Actors Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, Director
Michael Ferguson, and Script Editor Terrance Dicks. The rest of the extra value
features are on disc two and they are a bit of a mixed lot. My guess is that
there probably was not enough supplemental material related to this episode
directly, but there were some general materials that fans of the series would
like so given the free disc space, they were included here. There is a new
featurette with Alan Bennion, Sonny Caldinez, the late Bernard Bresslaw and
Sylvia James regarding the “Ice Warriors” called “Sssowing The Ssseedsss”
(24:05), but I found it rather dry. Of course if one is a fan of this episode
then one might enjoy it more than I did. Next is some 8mm Dalek effects footage
from the lost episode “The Evil Of The Daleks” with commentary by
Michaeljohn Harris and Peter Day. I love the Daleks. They are my favorite of the
“Doctor Who” villains so anytime I can see something new about them is
always a treat for me. From New Zealand are newly discovered clips from the
missing episodes “The Web Of Fear” and ”The Wheel In Space” (1:11) and
there is the 40th anniversary celebration reel (3:01), cast bios, and
a motion photo gallery included too (5:15).
An odd extra bit
is some animated footage of The TARDIS in a snowstorm under the heading
“TARDIS-Cam No. 6” (: 58). I have no idea what the point of this bonus
animation is for. The menus are well rendered and easy to navigate. “Doctor
Who: The Seeds Of Death: The Patrick Troughton Years 1966-1969: 2-Disc Set” is
available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline from BBC Video.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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