KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE LEGACY COLLECTION' DVD BOXSET

A lost story and a worthy documentary make up the latest Classic DOCTOR WHO BBC release: The Legacy Collection. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO: THE LEGACY COLLECTION

(A 3-disc DVD set comprising Shada and More Than 30 Years of a Time Lord)

Released by BBC WORLDWIDE CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

The BBC kicks off its well-deserved Fiftieth Anniversary celebration of their greatest television achievement- an institution to both the British public and the sci-fi and fantasy genre- with a sterling three-disc set release that looks at the best and brightest aspects of the series classic past. Pop open the champagne bottles, “put another shrimp on the barbie!” and get the birthday cake ready: the LEGACY COLLECTION set, comprising the lost 1979 Tom Baker story Shada, and the 1993 30^th Anniversary documentary, More Than 30 Years of a Time Lord, have arrived on nicely priced DVD...

An ancient threat from Gallifrey poses problems for the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) in Shada.

SHADA (2 discs)

There’s a mind stealer on the loose in the picturesque streets of Cambridge, planet Earth, as the Doctor and companion Romana are called to visit an old friend possessing a vital book of powerful Gallifreyan origin that mustn’t fall into the wrong hands. Too late…

Trailer: DOCTOR WHO - THE LEGACY BOX DVD - COMING SOON TRAILER - COPYRIGHT BBC AND 2ENTERTAIN - YouTube

Supreme master of wit and imagination Douglas Adams final work for DOCTOR WHO sadly never made it to the TV screens but its uncompleted form lives on, via a previous and successful VHS release from the mid-nineties, with linking narration making it whole, now available on DVD, alongside some meticulously produced behind the scenes extra material.

Humour and horror may have been in a state of imbalance during his era’s middle period, but Tom Baker’s dominance and charismatic portrayal of the Doctor remains as compelling as ever. Simply put, there has just never been anyone else in the role to have proved so natural, and seemingly effortless in their portrayal, especially in the way he combines larger than life comedy along with sophisticated drama. Baker’s natural intelligence and charm, along with his to be admired nomad heroism, radiate from the TV screen and bring a warm glow to audience’s heart. No longer the serious dark heart of earlier seasons, and now enjoying a personal creative whirlwind of freedom like never before, Baker’s Doctor is fearful and fearless, funny and intelligent: a hero for all time. Baker doesn’t act the part now-he is the part! And the world is all the richer for it.

Alongside him is Lalla Ward’s classy and intellectual Romana-still one of the finest of the Doctor’s companions, an actress whose personality and on-screen persona can clearly be seen capturing the heart of the actor and the character. Clearly making the most of their friend Adams lively and ideas packed script, they make a wonderful team of intellect and witticism, mixing business with pleasure: the kind of unique and entertaining people we’d all die to have on our dinner party guest list! It was a shame that their real life union beyond WHO was not to last…

Tom Baker: a force to be reckoned with...

A uniformly fine guest cast is well chose by director Pennant Roberts, clearly having a solid grasp on the shows storytelling needs, includes Denis Carey as the lovable eccentric with a dark secret, Professor Chronotis, the striking and leggy Victoria Burgoyne, who would have made an excellent travelling companion to Tom Baker’s Time Lord in my book, and a youthfully enthusiastic Daniel Hill, who brings heart and innocence to his portrayal of Bristolian academic Chris Parsons. Christopher Neame’s snooty, power hungry portrayal of mind stealing baddie Skagra is fine from what little material involving his character was completed, and ultimately proves nowhere near as bad as anything being performed by Graham Crowden as the completely over the top Soldeed in the season’s prior The Horns of Nimon.

Time Lady Romana (Lalla Ward) has fun on the river.

The story’s accompanying set designs are of a good standard and hold up well alongside the lovely location filming. The filmed episodic cliffhangers are also of effective note.

The VHS “completion” of the story back in 1994 did the best it could with a very limited BBC WORLDWIDE budget of the time, proving itself as a noble effort from late producer John Nathan-Turner, though his selection of late eighties WHO series composer Keff McCulloch as a replacement to the expert work of seventies music veteran Dudley Simpson, isn’t totally satisfying, and proves acceptable more than totally rewarding.

On the plus side, the transfer of the VHS release of the story has benefited from a major picture restoration, of which the shot on film location sequences look particularly superb.

With its successful completion into partially animated form last year by another dedicated fan and supporter to the series, record producer Ian Levene, it’s a shame that his unauthorised specially commissioned version of Shada, (with animation filling in the final episodes many blanks (notably its action packed end)) wasn’t additionally given an official release as part of the collection, especially considering all the hard work put into it, including reuniting many of the original cast in the voice recording studio. The animation, though basic, is of a very pleasing standard from what I’ve seen in example cells put online. Would it really have been any harm to include it? Especially in the anniversary year. I’m sure fans would have forked out extra monies to have seen it.

With Levene’s work rejected, it’s a further shame then, that the current BBC restoration team couldn’t have at least added some specially commissioned artwork to heighten the previous VHS release and Tom Baker’s sterling descriptive talents in the final two action-orientated episodes, mostly linked to the un-filmed material of the shows ultimate baddy, Skagra.

Pondering the mystery of Shada: Romana, K-9 and Chris Parsons (Daniel Hill).

Despite these frustrations, there is a rock solid foundation of extra materials accompanying the story. Chris Chapman’s behind the scenes documentary is a tight and compact affair of love and loss in the climate of a cancelled story, told against the lively green and intellectual climes of Cambridge, with contributions from the always wonderfully grandiose Tom Baker (with a cameo from his lovely pet dog roaming the countryside!), supporting caster Daniel Hill, his Production Assistant wife Olivia Bazalgette, and several other key behind the scenes players.

Additionally, Strike! Strike! Strike! is an interesting look at the history of the unions and their links to the BBC and the entertainment industry in general over the years, plus the trials and tribulations they’ve bought with them. Even more importantly, how they have ultimately affected the destiny of DOCTOR WHO on television, not always for the best over the years. As well as some intriguing and rather snooty comments from several then industry bosses (one of whom clearly doesn’t have much regard for DOCTOR WHO, especially in the late seventies, and its overall place with television audiences-no doubt accidentally dropped on his head as a baby when the very first episode went out!), there’s additional anecdotes from companion actress Nicola Bryant, producers Barry Letts and Derrick Sherwin, and long-term “superfan” and real-life union rep Gary Russell. Shaun Ley presents the documentary with clarity, in a fascinating production incorporating classic clips, behind the scenes material and production info from producer and director James Goss.

The Then and Now look at the Shada's competed location work is particularly pleasing in that it presents us with a charming presentation of not only the selected locations used in the final filming, but also the ones planned for but ultimately not used or abandoned due to rising industrial action complications, including the aborted night filming chase sequence between the Doctor and the pursuing mind sphere, and another short sequence involving the exterior of a Cambridge laboratory.

The mysterious Professor Chronotis (Denis Carey).

Finally, there’s the obligatory fine selection of photos from the location and studio filming, the informative and good humoured production notes, plus, as a final bonus, if only for access via PC and MAC, there’s the BBCi/BIG FINISH co-production of the Paul McGann incarnation of the story from the mid-2000’s, featuring the return of Lalla Ward as Romana. It’s a nice curiosity, but ultimately, despite its completed form, isn’t a patch on the original version.

Nothing to do with Shada itself, but the final Being A Girl documentary is an interesting addition to the overall special features/LEGACY set, as Thomas Guerrier produces a fun half hour featurette on the changing face of the Doctor’s numerous and attractive lady companions over the years, and how their importance along the Time Lord’s side has swung the pendulum in reflecting the times and changing attitudes in both real-life and within the evolving entertainment and story telling medium. There's some nice clips and narration from Leela actress Louise Jameson, whose vocal work brings subtle authority, as well as observations from the latest DOCTOR WHO magazine “expert” Emma Price and the return of journalist/ presenter Samira Ahmed. Engaging stuff.

Over the years there's been much fan debate as to whether Shada would ever have been so highly regarded if it had actually made it to completion on our TV screens as the final story of the shows seventeenth season, with many thinking that it’s overall enjoyment and consideration as a classic being ultimately due to the notoriety of its cancellation and the aura generated around it’s unfinished form. The late, great Douglas Adams himself was apparently not a fan of his final work on WHO, either, feeling it was rushed into development and not living up to his own personal satisfactions: pretty much glad it never made the light of day.

I personally don’t agree with such criticisms and complaints. From what material was completed, Shada, to my mind, shows a terrific cast at work enjoying a solid, intelligent and funny script, working in an overall story telling atmosphere that was both cosy and attractive. Alongside the prior excellent location filming, something good, something extra noteworthy, was definitely coming together at that time in television centre, and for the show, before the studio doors were untimely and disgracefully locked up by industrial action. Shada could and should have been a triumphant end to the series, and the reign of producer Graham Williams and script editor Adams, rather than the Beeb leaving us with the Rennie tablet-inducing travesty of the badly cooked Christmas turkey that proved to be the season’s premature ender, The Horns of Nimon. An enigma and a curiosity certainly, but what remains of Shada, which would have had something for everybody, is still, most definitely, a rewarding viewing experience...

Lots of fun for everyone with the More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS documentary. 

MORE THAN 30 YEARS IN THE TARDIS (1 disc)

1993: the last great year that the shows Classic Series era was truly celebrated by the upper echelons of the BBC, what with their unveiling of a plethora of merchandise, a marvellous celebrity packed convention in London and, despite the lack of a continuing series (not such a problem in these modern times!), the promise of a BBC ENTERPRISES one-off special production directly made for video: The Dark Dimension. Sadly, like Shada, the project ultimately proved doomed, though unlike the Douglas Adams classic, where at least something was shot for all to see, the Adrian Riglesford concoction seemed to have had dark clouds set against it from the start, with ENTERPRISES bullied by rival BBC management and, despite their passionate enthusiasm, ultimately lacking the necessary funds to push it through to filming.

Despite the resulting furore and disappointment, the BBC did at least commission young director and WHO superfan Kevin Davies into bringing to the screens that November an extremely worthwhile visual celebration documentary for BBC 1 viewers, and WHO fans of all ages, to savour and wax lyrical nostalgia over. A veritable triumph then to be given an extended lease of life with additional extra material by BBC WORLDWIDE, back in the days when VHS tapes were king. Now, MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF A TIME LORD returns via DVD, and is all the richer for its reappearance during this bigger, and likely better, Fiftieth Anniversary.

And it really does maintain its legacy as the ultimate knees-up to WHO’s past and then present, with a look into the shows exciting and ground-breaking birth in the monochrome era of the mid-sixties and its enduring legacy into the seventies and late eighties, what with the iconic character of the Doctor himself, his multitude of companions, incredible monsters- most notably those cunning metal monsters, the Daleks, and overall behind the scenes evolution, all given a much deserved examination in this ultimate visual scrapbook, alongside classic and rare clips from numerous episodes across all the shows eras as well as some sterling scene recreations from classic adventures like the Skaro realm that is The Evil of the Daleks and the Cybermen army patrolling the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral from The Invasion. Plucked out of the vaults, there’s lots of great behind the scenes material adding to this veritable goldmine of the past, and proving a timely reminder to fans of all ages as to why the series is so good and endured for so long, surviving the ravages of changing times, internal corporation resentment and rival channels competition.

Classic clips, extended and deleted scenes and unused title sequences of old, and even overseas TV commercials, are used to great effect alongside contributions from Classic Doctors Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker (appearing in archive form), whilst the late, great Jon Pertwee, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy talk affectionately about their time inhabiting the role and its important, multi-generational appeal. Original series producer Verity Lambert talks candidly on how the show came to fruition and casting original star William Hartnell, whilst successors Barry Letts, Philip Hinchcliffe and John-Nathan Turner maintain the legend admirably, along with equally noteworthy script editors Terrance Dicks and Eric Saward, all of whom discuss many developing aspects linked to the shows existence, including the lead character’s ability to be recast on and off via the handy concept of “regeneration”, and the occasional controversy or unsuccessful elements that have reared their heads along the way. Plus, some of the great traditions linked to the series over the years, like it's connections to Blue Peter, competitions and other publicity. Stars, sportspeople and political figures, like Toyah Wilcox, Mike Gatting and Ken Livingstone, share their childhood memories, whilst the late Gerry Anderson talks about his then young sons adoration for the programme, rather than his own productions!

Of particular note, it's nice to see extended contributions from much missed series icons like Nicholas Courtney (also the narrator of the documentary), and Elisabeth Sladen (who appears in some segments with her then little girl, Sadie), both of whom had played such an important part in so many people’s childhoods. Carole Ann Ford, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling, Nicola Bryant and Sophie Aldred also have fun reminiscing, and there’s a nice little foray into the two colour packed Dalek movies of the sixties that starred Peter Cushing in the lead role.

Backed up with an affectionate incidental music score from Mary Ayres, the documentary has held up well twenty years on and remains a lively and engaging tribute to the 30th anniversary.

Complimenting More’s release are a host of new materials from the current custodians of the classic WHO flame, including:

Remembering Nicholas Courtney: a charming, sadly never finished documentary talking to the actor about his life and career, hosted by his friend and co-author Michael McManus, with a nice guest appearance from a lively Tom Baker.

Those Deadly Divas: a fun twenty minute look at the classic and modern series female villains, such as The Rani, with contributions from modern series writer Gareth Roberts and actresses Kate O’Mara, Camille Coduri and Tracy Ann Oberman, celebrating just what memorable ingredients are needed to make a lady baddy so memorable in DOCTOR WHO!

The Lambert Tapes- Part One: an interview with the original producer of the show, Verity Lambert: truly one of the all-time great talents of the British television industry, talking with charm about the early difficulties of getting the show made at the BBC with limited resources but lots of enthusiasm and luck, plus the satisfaction of seeing it hit the big time with audiences once the Daleks had made their big entrance. A noteworthy interview segment compiled from The Story of DOCTOR WHO documentary from 2003.

Doctor Who Stories- Peter Purves: Hartnell era companion and Blue Peter icon Peter Purves talks very candidly and amusingly about his time in the TARDIS, earning the then healthy sum of £35 pounds a week in 1964. A nice featurette featuring more unseen footage culled from The Story of DOCTOR WHO special.

Finally, there’s a classic photo gallery of the documentary’s various Doctors, companions and monsters, PDF Radio Times listings, and an atmospheric Coming Soon trailer for the next DVD release: William Hartnell's Doctor caught in the French Revolution, during The Reign of Terror!

KOOL TV RATING: Considered somewhat an eclectic set by die-hard Who fans, the LEGACY box set nonetheless remains an essential purchase. Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5

Get the set here: Doctor Who: The Legacy Collection Shada/More Than 30 Years In The TARDIS DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Douglas Adams: Film & TV

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - NIGHTMARE OF EDEN' DVD

Caught in a time\space collision, the Doctor (Tom Baker), Romana (Lalla Ward) and K-9 face the monster Mandrels in DOCTOR WHO: Nightmare of Eden. Images: 2entertain/BBC.

DOCTOR WHO: NIGHTMARE OF EDEN

Starring Tom Baker as the Doctor, and Lalla Ward as Romana

Released on DVD by 2entertain/ BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

“Interfere? Of course we should interfere. Always do what you’re best at, that’s what I say.”

The Doctor

It’s anchors aweigh for the intergalactic cruise liner Empress on its regular space journeying.  But this time, unfortunately, and in the worst H.M.S. Titanic tradition, their trip doesn’t quite go according to plan. Swap an iceberg for an unusual and highly dangerous Hyperspace collision with another craft and you have a tense and volatile situation that only our Time Lord hero, the Doctor (in the guise of iconic Jelly Baby munching Tom Baker), can solve within the confines of the classic 1979 adventure of catastrophe, drugs and big clawed monsters now available on DVD: Nightmare of Eden…

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDG11TJO4kc

Away from writing partner Dave Martin, Bob Baker’s first (and last) solo WHO script is original and has lots of good ideas and moments of drama/sci-fi capable of being achieved on a relatively low budget (and this story, due to intensive 1979 budget cuts at the BBC, really suffers from it in places), and is certainly lively enough to keep the general audiences and the shows all-important families viewers entertained. It may not have any gothic horror atmosphere, and sorely needs the studio lighting turned down in places, but the overall story of Nightmareis well structured and moves at a strong pace across its four parts that’s easy to follow and not too full of technobabble, alongside some notable cliffhangers to parts two and three. I have very good memories of watching this on Saturday nights of the time, even in the post high-tech film world established by movies like STAR WARS.

The Doctor investigates the dark jungles of Eden.

With the subplot idea of intergalactic drug peddlers and their hidden shipment of the lethal Vraxoin, WHO is subtly stepping into late seventies SWEENEY territory here, if developed for a younger audience, and without the fisticuffs, car chases, and kipper ties (though this WHO story’s futuristic fashions are almost as bad!), in a brave move championed by the series script editor, Douglas Adams. Cleverly linked to the main concept of the time/space cross collision, the drugs angle is not overly done but it’s subtle moral messages clearly make the Doctor a fine champion and crusader against both it's deadly addictions and it's evil dealers. The other classic monster on the loose arc comes from a further intriguing idea, similar to a sci-fi concept explored in the Pertwee era’s popular Carnival of Monsters, with creatures who have a biological connection to Vraxoin, the aggressive animalistic Mandrels, being accidentally unleashed from a time/space imbalanced CET (Continual Event Transmuter) machine, which keeps sections of diverse planetary environments in crystalline form. (And also well utilising high quality film stock outtake footage of intriguing alien worlds from the first and best year of SPACE: 1999!)

On-set, Lalla Ward cannot escape Lewis Fiander's appalling German accent!

For a season in which he’s been more larger than life than ever before, thanks to the equally big ideas and humour cultivated by Adams, superstar Tom Baker continues to show a lot of his trademark wit, playful charm and acting invention, but, apart from one really over the top moment in its finale (you’ll know what it is when you see it!), on the whole he’s a lot more serious in this tale than he has been for a few episodes (perhaps affected by some of the behind the scenes pressures going on at the same time-more on that later), alongside his Time Lady companion/posh totty, the always alluring classy sophisticate Lalla Ward as Romana, and David Brierley as their faithful robot dog, and children’s favourite: the computer mind and always ready for action, blaster nozzled K-9 MK II, who’s as brill as ever, this time voiced by David Brierley (always sounding a bit more relaxed and less hyper urgent than his predecessor, John Leeson. As if the robot pooch had been taking a chill-out pill throughout this season!).

In amongst the chaos of the undesirable ship fusions and the accidental unleashing of those green-eyed monsters contained within the CET machine, several of this story’s main guest stars make notable second returns to the series, notably David Daker as the beleaguered ship captain, Rigg, and CORONATION STREET star-to-be Geoffrey Hinsliff, as an overzealous Excise Policeman alongside on-screen partner Peter Craze, the duo coming across asbumbling and annoying intergalactic versions of the Keystone Cops, who also look like they've wandered onto the set from a seventies disco dancing championship.

The Doctor confers with Professor Tryst (Lewis Fiander).

The seasons use of well-known actors as scientists/baddies also continues with the casting of Lewis Fiander- a solid actor who can hold his own in a performance with Tom Baker-no mean feat, that!- who makes the unfortunate and highly controversial choice to act his part with a God-awful German mad scientist accent and wearing the most hideously camp square sunglasses. The early portrayal of Tryst clearly shows him as a bumbling type, which Fiander plays on, but then he completely overdoes it in the most clichéd way, ultimately ruining what could have been a good character. The actor doesn't spoil the show overall, but whoever made the creative decision to let him go ahead with his portrayal and visual look should either have been reined in more severely prior to the studio filming, or at the very least taken out and shot!

The Mandrels are out of their CET enclosure!

Regarding monsters of another kind, the story gives us the one and only appearance of the under-rated Mandrels. They may not have the pedigree of such classic creatures like the iconic Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti and Sontarans, but I’m rather fond of them here. They didn’t live up to early press reports of the time stating that they’d be the series most scariest monsters yet, but the Mandrels work well enough and certainly the majority of the actors inside the costumes give it their all on-set, with some relatively good locomotion about them. In scenes with darker lighting and smoke they look quite effective, too, though their hairy headed, fish scaled bodies would have looked so much better had they been set to film (as would the story itself). They’re certainly superior to the villains of Tom Baker’s next tale: The Horns of Nimon.

The series characters may have been undergoing stress and strains with the story’s time collisions and monster rampages, but behind the scenes, tempers were fraying to boiling point, too, as Alan Bromly’s second and final directorial work on the series in the seventies ends on an abysmal note. An experienced, older director not used to the way WHO was then being made, and not willing to take advice from the series experienced production veterans, or from star Baker, director and lead mightily clashed heads to the point where Bromly quit/ was fired from the production, with producer Graham Williams and the effects crew, already under duress, racing against the clock to finish it off. A shame all this happened, really, as a lot of Bromly’s work, though basic, looks competently handled, with some nice angles here and there. On-screen it all zips along relatively smoothly.

A Mandrel gets a bit too up close and personal with the Doctor!

As for the rest of the behind the scenes ingredients rounding things out, Roger Cann’s set designs are basic but colourful, though Rupert Jarvis’s costumes look pretty ropey and cheap, especially with regards to the Space liner crew and the aforementioned Excise Police, which spoils things a bit (even Lalla Ward’s specially chosen costume, normally highly memorable, is a disappointment-the only one of the season where she doesn’t look gorgeous in it!). To compensate, the majority of the electronic effects, despite a few misaligned lasers here and there (presumably due to time pressures), from then BBC electronics expert A. J. Mitchell, are pretty good, alongside some competent video model work, whilst series regular composer Dudley Simpson enlivens the murder/mystery runabout moments with a jaunty score that nicely mixes his small orchestra with selected synthesizer work.

Bonus features-wise is a largely uncomplimentary selection of material, which sadly drags things down a bit. With the majority of the story’s cast either unavailable or unwilling to participate, it’s left to Lalla Ward, writer Baker and the main special effects team (a disappointed Colin Mapson, and A.J. Mitchell) to compensate. Their frank contributions across the audio commentary and the main featurette documentary (minus Ward), along with Assistant Floor Manager Val McCrimmon, are good but dispiriting. Ultimately, the documentary titled The Nightmare of Television Centre, leaves a sour taste in the mouth after viewing. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV_JYhPL2xo

The Doctor and Romana inside the Nightmare of Eden.

More well-known for his creative and now iconic work on the WALLACE AND GROMIT animations, writer Bob Baker recalls his first solo story work-its ultimate shortcomings and successes in its on-screen realisation- Going Solo a short but interesting featurette, where he also recounts briefly about working with Douglas Adams.

The Doctor’s Strange Love featurette has three influential fans discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the adventure. To be honest, I can’t say that I was bothered about this one, especially as it soon deteriorates into a slagging piece.

Amidst all the behind the scenes chaos of taping, Tom Baker and a Mandrel get ready for the next scene.

A welcome plus on the nostalgia front, though, is an edited version of the popular late seventies/early eighties children’s interview/clip request show ASK ASPEL, where the comfortable and safe pair of hands interviewee Michael Aspel talks to his special guest, Lalla Ward, on a range of subjects, including WHO (pertinent to then Season 17) and her career as an actress (though she doesn't look happy with the DUCHESS OF DUKE STREET clip shown!) and artist. This bonus is great to see- I remember watching it at the time, and, for me personally, is the main redeeming bonus feature of the disc. There's also info text, PDFs, a colourful photo gallery (with lots of unseen pictures), and a lively Graffiti-walled trailer for the ACE ADVENTURES DVD set complete it all.

In watching Nightmare of Eden, don’t be put off by the overall fan negativity shown towards some of the cheaper looking aspects of the story, nor the frustrating annoyance of Fiander, as this is a very entertaining and colourful Classic DOCTOR WHO adventure-a fine and satisfying representative of the show’s latter seventies Tom Baker era, where, despite the lack of horror, its inventive ideas and humour reside triumphantly.

KOOL TV RATING (primarily for the story than the special features): 3.5 out of 5

With thanks to BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS for their help in the compilation of this review.