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Stars:
Colin Baker, Patrick Troughton, Nicola Bryant, and Frazer Hines
Writer:
Robert Holmes
Director:
Peter Moffatt
Producer:
John Nathan-Turner
Feature
length: 134 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary Featuring Actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Frazer Hines,
Jacqueline Pearce and Director Peter Moffatt, Text Commentary, “A Fix With
Sontarans” Short, “Behind The Sofa: Robert Holmes And Doctor Who”
Documentary, Behind-The Scenes Footage, “Adventures In Time And Spain”
Featurette, “Wavelength” BBC Radio 4 Behind-The-Scenes Show, Music Only
Option, 40th Anniversary Celebration Montage, Who’s Who Bios
Languages: English
Stereo Sound
Subtitles: English
Captions For The Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Two-Disc Single-Sized Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 30
Sound: Stereo
Sound
Year of Television
Broadcast: 1985/DVD Release: 2004
Home Video
Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA Rating: Not
Rated
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
I was chatting
with a colleague who is also a friend in England earlier this week and we are
both sci-fi fans so we can chat for a while about both American and British
science fiction. He was telling me about the BBC production of “Quatermass And
The Pit,” which was adapted into a feature film by Hammer Studios in the
1960s. He said he found the BBC version to be more disturbing and the look of
the alien creatures to appear more lifelike than the feature film version. So I
told him that the strength of British sci-fi was not in the special effects, but
in the storytelling itself. I think American cinema is especially guilty of
sacrificing character and story in favor of eye candy when it comes to genre
films, but there have been some very well written American genre shows ranging
from the space opera “Babylon 5” to the mix of dark fantasy and wit in
“Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” Sometimes we get a literate science fiction film
that gets the right balance of intrigue and action like the original
“Matrix” film, but sadly great genre films these days seem few and far
between. I mean am I the only one who feels a sense of loss knowing there is no
“Lord Of The Rings” feature film to look forward to this Christmas save for
the “Special Extended DVD Edition” of “The Return Of The King” this
fall? Films like this regardless of the genre only reminds me just how mediocre
the stuff I usually consider good is simply because years of disappointments
have lowered my expectations.
“Doctor Who”
is among the oldest single sci-fi television franchise out there. It predates
“Star Trek” and has as loyal a cult following on both sides of the Atlantic
as well as other countries worldwide. For American audiences the most familiar
“Doctor Who” icons are Actors Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, who played the
third and fourth Doctors respectively. In the 1978s, PBS aired syndicated
broadcasts of the Tom Baker “Doctor Who” episodes and Actor Peter Cushing
portrayed the Doctor in the feature films “Doctor Who And The Daleks” and
“Daleks: Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.” These two feature films were adapted
from the original television scripts and for a short period of time sparked a
phenomenon of merchandising in England during the 1960s that has since been
called “Dalekmania.” To this day the “Daleks” are perhaps the best known
of all of the “Doctor Who” villains in the States if not the world. In 1996
Paul McGann inherited the role as the eighth Doctor in a joint Universal and BBC
TV movie production that aired on both sides of the pond. Actor Christopher
Eccelston, who is probably remembered at least by face by American audiences for
his role in Director Danny Boyle’s horror film “28 Days Later” will be the
new Doctor in a new series of “Doctor Who” adventures in development now
with the BBC.
Anticipation by
fans is high and I certainly hope that the tradition of good storytelling above
anything else continues with this next incarnation. Actually while some
“Doctor Who” episode effects appear antiquated when compared to American
television counterparts, the makeup effects for their time for the various
villains the Doctor encounters is at least equal to if not ahead of anything we
had on American television at then and there is a certain charm that comes from
seeing some old fashioned in camera effects. For those not familiar with
“Doctor Who,” allow me to give you quick idea of the premise. “The
Doctor” as he is called is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. While he may
appear human on the outside, he is very much an alien on the inside and an
eccentric one at that. The Doctor is a maverick who travels across space and
time in his TARDIS (Time And Space In Relative Dimensions) or something like
that. The TARDIS is supposed to camouflage itself into whatever environment it
appears in, but in the case of the Doctor’s, his TARDIS always looks like a
police box and while the dimensions outside may appear quite small, inside the
TARDIS is actually much bigger because the interior exists in a different
dimension from the outside. Thus with a symbiotic relationship shared between
the Doctor and his TARDIS, he appears from place to place in time and space
fighting evil in various forms in different adventures and usually his
accompanied by a companion or two from one of his voyages who adds a human
element that helps to make the character more interesting and charismatic for
the audience. Though there is a limit as to the amount of incarnations the
Doctor can take after one version dies and another one appears, the Doctor can
and does regenerate into different personas allowing for different actors to
take on the role that has kept the series going in various media forms for more
than 40 years.
“The Two
Doctors” is third and so far final television adventure that features the
actor at the time playing the present Doctor encountering one of his past
incarnations. In this case it is the sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) working with the
second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) to stop unauthorized time travel experiments
that could put the entire universe in peril. From a far off space station to a
remote Spanish hacienda on Earth, the two Doctors struggle against various foes
that include the deadly and warlike Sontarans. This three-part adventure starts
off promising and features a great deal of humor mixed in with the action, but
the final resolution ultimately seems somewhat unsatisfying if not
anticlimactic. Still it is fun to watch Troughton and Baker onscreen
together.
Presented in the
original (1.33:1) broadcast aspect ratio, “Doctor Who: The Two Doctors”
looks remarkably clear considering the series was shot using analogue video for
the interiors and film for the exteriors. There are no visible anomalies to note
on the transfer and the source materials appear to have been impeccably
preserved. An English Stereo Soundtrack with optional English Captions for the
hearing impaired is encoded onto both discs in the set. One can view the
episodes collectively or individually. Actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Frazer
Hines, Jacqueline Pearce and Director Peter Moffatt provide a nice retrospective
group audio commentary for the entire three-part adventure and their commentary
is supported quite well by an optional text commentary that reveals all sorts of
interesting facts and anecdotes about the production, actors, characters, and
more. There is a music soundtrack only option available for all three episodes
too.
A clip from a show
entitled “Jim’ll Fix It” features Colin Baker and Janet Fielding in a
mini-story that allows a young boy to participate in an adventure with The
Doctor in “A Fix With Sontarans” (9:18). The rest of the extra value
features are on the second DVD and they include the intriguing documentary
“Behind The Sofa: Robert Holmes And Doctor Who” (45:38), which features
various writers and producers behind the series recollecting the contributions
Writer Robert Holmes made on the series. Next is a look behind-the-scenes at the
video dailies from the interior production in “Beneath The Lights” (27:56)
and footage recorded on VHS from a screening of the filmed on location exterior
dailies in “Beneath The Sun” (36:13). These two featurettes are supported by
an exclusive DVD documentary about the location scouting and shooting in
“Adventures In Time And Spain” (29:25).
A montage of footage celebrating
the 40th anniversary of “Doctor Who” with clips featuring all
eight television Doctors (3:01) is included along with a motion photo gallery
(8:05), a BBC Radio 4 behind-the-scenes visit from a program called
“Wavelength” (28:53) and cast bios wrap up the bonus extra value features on
disc two. The interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate. “Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: The Colin Baker Years
1984 – 1986: 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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