KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE GREEN DEATH' SPECIAL EDITION DVD

Of fungus and maggots! A disturbing ecological terror for the Doctor and Jo Grant in the new BBC DVD release of Classic DOCTOR WHO: The Green Death. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO – THE GREEN DEATH (SPECIAL EDITION 2-DISC SET)

Starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant

Written by Robert Sloman

Directed by Michael E. Briant

Available 5^th August 2013 from BBC DVD

Reviewed by Scott Weller

How green (death) was my valley!

They’ve been fighting all manner of weird and vicious alien invaders from outer space on and off during their previous three exciting years together, but now our heroic and exiled Time Lord DOCTOR WHO, and his ever faithful and lovely companion Jo Grant face an altogether different, but just as lethal, man-made adversary, in the intriguing, very 1970’s socially relevant story of pollution and ecological disaster-The Green Death-forever remembered as “the one with the maggots” to a generation of fans and regular viewers back in the shows tenth anniversary conclusion, as well as being a tale that crafts a fittingly emotional and satisfying send-off to UNIT’s finest dizzy heroine, and a firm family favourite, played with such delightful charm and zest by Katy Manning.

 

It's a case of mushroom mania for the Doctor (Jon Pertwee).

Conjured up by producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks at that time as the ultimate morality play for the series, wanting to stir up debate about what mankind and industry was doing, and is still doing even now, to harm our planet and its ecological balance, The Green Deathsees the serene and beautiful Welsh valleys threatened by the Global Chemicals company’s power mad ambitions to create a new, clean controlled energy source to aid our planet, when, in actuality, they are turning a blind eye to the lethal by-product emerging from their technological advances: a pollutant super-bug and its maggot infection carriers spreading their unnatural influence through the nearby coal mines and soon the entire area, of which even the resourceful Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (an always nicely pitched Sorting It Out the British Way performance from Nicholas Courtney) and his solid military forces of UNIT have trouble containing. As the Doctor and Jo, with new friend Dr. Clifford Jones  (a youthfully memorable Stewart Bevan) race to find a solution to the problem, a second threat emerges from the industry giant via the wavelength terrors of its globally immersed super computer, BOSS, wanting to establish itself as the Skynet of its time and take over the world/enslave humanity. Enemies to the left of them, enemies to the right of them, indeed…

Like a GOOD LIFE episode gone very, very rogue, Robert Sloman’s capable script, despite some heavy handed preaching early on, certainly has its heart in the right place, and is choc-full of strong characters, incident and memorable cliffhangers, with a pace that never flags or proves boring, shored up further by inventive and exuberantly experimental direction from the series then top WHO director Michael E. Briant. Only the BOSS aspects of the plot comes across as a little uninspired-at the same time States-side, Captain Kirk in STAR TREK was facing down bigger and better machine villains like this on a regular basis- but the overall confection is well worth the six episode duration.

 

Jo Grant (Katy Manning) and her new love, Dr. Clifford Jones (Stewart Bevan).

Star Pertwee has some fine moments of heroism and charm (and even gets to the indulge in some comedy drag!), but also proves to be a lot more vulnerable, too, especially by its close when he has to say goodbye to his dear friend Jo, coming of age and showing a more independent nature than we’ve seen before- the character and Katy Manning’s departure carefully and assuredly plotted through the story. Jo’s goodbye is a truly affecting and emotional moment for the actor and his role, as well as the viewers who have enjoyed watching the duo these past three years- its the closest the Doctor has had to a loving relationship with a companion at this point in the series history. As his “fledgling flies the coup”, its an end of an era for Pertwee’s time on the show, of which story seeds for his own departure are already in motion for exploration and exploitation by the conclusion of the following season (linked to the Doctor’s opening solo trip to the infamous Metebelis III- the famous blue planet of the Acteon galaxy, where he just about survives its environment and animalistic horrors in order to retrieve one of its infamous blue crystals- a piece of curiosity that would come back to haunt him with disastrous consequences, and the ultimate catalyst for his regeneration into Tom Baker).

 

A helpless Doctor and Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) watch as Dave (Talfryn Thomas) tries to save the mine-trapped Jo.

Primed with good scripts, a fine guest cast includes the aforementioned Stewart Bevan as Jo’s new beau, the younger but similarly enthusiastic and charismatic replacement to the Doctor in Clifford Jones, dedicated leader of a small group of hippy scientists in their “Nut Hutch” research home, winning her heart and dedication against the threat to mankind posed by big business and pollution, primarily in the controlling form of Jerome Willis as the manipulative, power playing Global Chemicals boss, Stevens, seemingly unconcerned about the fate of the Welsh landscape, and the world, about to be apocalyptically blighted with the deadly fruits of his labours. John Dearth, as the insane computer voice of the BOSS, and Steven’s ultimate behind the scenes puppet master and tormentor, clearly relishes his role, proving as devious and egotistic as the humans who created him and unwittingly launched its ambition onto the world.

 

The ingeniously created, memorable maggots of the story. Seventies BBC SPFX at their most inventive.

But by the beginning of episode two, its the creepy monster threat, uncovered in the mines by the Doctor and Jo, that prove to the most remembered and iconic aspect of the story. Praise should go out to the talented and versatile BBC special effects team of the time in bringing the grotesque and often disgusting looking maggot creatures to life through a variety of ingenious methods (including numerous types of puppets and the use of real-life maggots in large numbers). The effects may seem variable by today’s CGI standards but they were certainly good enough at the time to make a lasting impact on a generation of early fans. The creatures (alongside a metamorphosed giant red-eyed fly, making a brief appearance in the final episode) would quickly become the kind of classic WHO monsters that kiddie viewers would find instantly repulsive, yet endlessly fascinating.

For every success linked to the creatures, though, there are a few occasional other failures. Some of the Colour Separation Overlay scene techniques linked to some of the cave interior scenes look woefully inadequate, causing some pretty bad looking yellow line composition overspill, but, as is customary for so much of the original series, the overall conviction of the actors and the fast-paced directing quickly override such concerns.

 

Jerome Willis as the Global Chemicals power baron, Stevens.

Unleashed into the surrounding area, the story’s exterior filming in Wales counterbalances these problems, and is picturesque and effective- bad enough that the Coalfields would later be menaced by Margaret Thatcher, now they’ve got maggots and the Green Death! Meanwhile, back at Auntie Beeb’s then powerhouse Shepherd’s Bush studio empire, the production design around this horrible new threat is equally well assured- with all the caves and tunnels built for this story the designers name of John Burrows now seems quite apt, whilst the computer room of Global Chemicals has a very familiar feel to it, effectively utilising rented props from Gerry Anderson/ CENTURY 21’s then defunct UFO TV series!

Forty years on from its original viewing behind the sofa, this special release DVD’s picture quality re-mastering is assuredly an enormous improvement on its previous 2005 version-the aforementioned filmed location sequences being particular standouts.

 

A parting of the ways for Jon Pertwee.

All of the original extras from that 2005 set have been retained- the classic and affectionate audio commentary with Katy Manning, the late Barry Letts and cuddly WHO writing legend Terrance Dicks, single interviews with Stewart Bevan, Robert Sloman and visual effects assistant on the story, and maggot builder, Colin Mapson. Plus, Global Conspiracy, a fun if overlong documentary spoof looking at the story’s events and its after effects on the local community at Llanfairfach, from die-hard Pertwee fan Mark Gatiss (a huge admirer of this particular adventure), with the additional help of the story’s original supporting stars (including Jerome Willis and Tony Adams).

But the standout is the all-new documentary from stalwart WHO DVD talent Chris Chapman- appropriately titled The One with the Maggots- which has fresh and interesting contributions from Terrance Dicks, Michael Briant, Colin Mapson, then Assistant Floor manager Karilyn Collier, and, reunited at last, Katy Manning and Stewart Bevan (who, at the time the story was originally made, were a real-life item), happily and affectionately talking about what it was like to work together on the story, its importance to them and the behind the scenes aspects of the series, especially how the crew were all blubbing at the end when their favourite lady left the production and the series.

 

Katy Manning and Stewart Bevan cosy up for some brand new, lively reminiscing.

There’s also a new bonus audio commentary, as veteran WHO fan and Rory Kinnear lookalike Toby Hadoke puts on his best Pertwee style authoritativeness to moderate several episodes with Richard Franklin (whose character of Mike Yates has some lively spying business in the tale) and guest actress Mitzi McKenzie (who played fungus food growing scientist Nancy), plus Katy Manning and modern WHO series guru Russell T. Davies, talking about the importance to them, and the series, of the story’s final tear-jerking episode.

 

Pertwee has some fun on location in 1973- part of some rare behind the scenes footage on the DVD.

Other new brief gems for classic series veterans to savour include two news segments from the Wales Today programme: the first showing some silent, and very rare, colour footage of the filming of the story back in 1973 (really nice to see), followed by the late Pertwee returning to the location site in 1994 and opening the new country park built over the old colliery. As ever, Pertwee, one of WHO’s finest ever promotional ambassadors, is on enthusiastic form and his presence in both these short and sweet items makes us all miss him more than ever during the current Fiftieth Anniversary of the show. With the departure of Katy Manning, the DVD also bears a taster of what the actress did straight after WHO, becoming a presenter on an arts and crafts series of the day called Serendipity.Looked at with today's television-making techniques, it’s all very primitive, but Manning’s enthusiasm and delight at being at the shows helm, despite her clear to see inexperience, warmly radiates.

Bookend rounding off this welcome celebration of all things Manning is the actress contribution to the modern WHO series era through two 2010 episodes of its hit spin-off, the much-missed Elisabeth Sladen starring vehicle THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES. Specially written for her to appear by then series maestro Russell T. Davies, Death of the Doctor is a fine and dandy adventure story (and also the writers first and last scribbles for Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor), where she and her grandson attend the so-called funeral of our Time Lord hero alongside her successor inside the TARDIS, Sarah Jane Smith- ultimately discovering that he’s very much alive and well, if stranded on an alien planet, and ready to fight alongside them against a strange group of Ostrich-like funeral director aliens with designs on Earth and time travel domination.

With Death, fans of SJA will greatly enjoy the accompanying and very revealing behind the scenes optional audio commentary from Manning and Davies, the latter revealing what might have happened to one of the series characters had the show continued and Miss Sladen not have been so sadly and tragically lost from us.

 

Jo returns to meet her successor, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), in Death of the Doctor- a nostalgic adventure from THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES.

The overall Welsh flavor of the DVD continues, not only playing an important part of the shows classic era, its territories would also go on to define the modern WHO series as well, serving as the primary location base for the 2004 resurrected series. This DVD release goes into huge detail on the shows eventual return to our TV screens with the Doctor Forever! documentary, The Unquiet Dead, focusing on how a group of dedicated TV professionals, and fans of the series, finally managed to bring it back to the BBC despite overwhelming odds and notable dissent from top corporation higher-ups, including the series old eighties enemy Michael Grade and Mark Thompson. Then Head of BBC Drama Jane Tranter and new WHO Svengali Russell T. Davies, who make impressive contributions to the documentary, should be congratulated on their brave decisions and bold stubbornness at bringing back the show back to acclaimed heights in a new, more modern and more expensive looking way- You’d think that WHO’s out of the wilderness resurrection, quickly opening up a popular family viewing slot on Saturday nights, would have been a no-brainer decision for a wanting to get back on track, ratings seeking Corporation, but it ultimately proved a far more problematic and difficult task than anyone could have realized. The Unquiet Dead establishes itself as a genuine highlight of the entire WHO DVD series range, full of fascinating behind the scenes info (how original series veteran Tom Baker was going to be the star of the series all over again, how the Daleks almost never returned, and how the Canadians wanted to dub over Christopher Eccleston’s voice, being just some of the many intriguing revelations!).

Finally, there’s the always epic production information subtitles-worth digesting into your brain along with some tea and biscuits, and of their time RADIO TIMES magazine story listings, a solid photo gallery, some Easter Eggs to keep your eyes primed, and another exciting Coming Soon trailer: prepare for icy chills and avalanches galore when Patrick Troughton encounters unthawed Martian invaders in The Ice Warriors. "SSSS...."

KOOL TV RATING (Story and extras): Fondly regarded as quintessential WHO for the period, The Green Death has held up well for the most part: tea-time horror that doesn’t cross the borderlands of later years, whilst possessing a moral code emanating from its series characters that should be applauded and appreciated more than ever. 4 out of 5

Get hold of The Green Death here: Doctor Who: The Green Death - Special Edition DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene, Richard Franklin, Jerome Willis, Ben Howard, Mostyn Evans, John Scott Martin, Roy Skelton, Terry Walsh, John Dearth, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts: Film & TV

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - HARVEST OF TIME' NOVEL

DOCTOR WHO: HARVEST OF TIME

Featuring the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, UNIT and the Master

A novel by Alastair Reynolds

Available 6th June 2013, from BBC BOOKS

“Nastiness comes in all sizes”

The Doctor

Current TV Time Lord Matt Smith may not be back on our screens until later this year, but DOCTOR WHO fans have lots to celebrate in this anniversary year with the Doctors of the past-splendid fellows, all of them!- within BBC BOOKS continuing evolving range of original fiction. Acclaimed British sci-fi author Alastair Reynolds follows Stephen Baxter’s prominent footsteps in helming his first, and hopefully not last, original DOCTOR WHO novel set within his favourite Doctor/era from childhood. Pacily written, Harvest of Time joyously captures the spirit of that five-year earthbound period starring the beaky nosed, cape-swirling hero Jon Pertwee.

Set at some point between the Classic WHO stories The Daemons and The Sea Devils, the incarcerated mind of evil that is the Doctor’s deadliest nemesis from Gallifrey, the

Master, is up to his old tricks again-desperate to escape his confinement and using the past, present and future as his weapon. But strange things are afoot linked to his unique presence. Time seems to be changing around him. And why are his UNIT captors suddenly and inexplicably starting to lose their memory of their Public Enemy Number One? What’s causing this “time fade? And can it be stopped?

Even with this looming threat of forgetfulness, however, a bigger catastrophe is quickly beckoning our heroes attentions, as the Doctor’s favourite planet is in danger once again. There’s metal killer crabs, pockets of Earth’s oceans being diminished or disappearing, collapsing North Sea oil rigs and an ancient alien ship which should be destroyed but isn’t, its lethal cargo intact and ready for revenge…

One of the most belligerent and vicious life forms who exist to conquer by sheer numbers, the Sild, have made their arrival on Earth, emerging from its once blue seas…and they want it!

The warm, comfy hint of the shows halcyon seventies days remain intact and finely recreated by Reynolds. The affectionate relationship between the mature Doctor and young Jo Grant recreates the charisma of stars Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning (even if they are separated for the vast majority of the book), whilst Pertwee’s mannerisms and dialogue in the overall scheme of things all feel right. So too do the UNIT regulars (the indomitable Brigadier, likable Etonian Mike Yates, reliable Benton), all given sturdy moments in the sun.

The story’s new supporting players are solid whilst keeping to the era: there’s corrupted ministers and lackeys, an oil rig boss with an important past and future history, and the disposable soldiers always getting killed by the threat of the week, set against some nice WHO location backdrops- an abandoned nuclear plant, oil rigs, dying planets and an epic-size spaceship, the former two appearing when the story kicks in to big sci-fi concept mode during its second half: Chapter Twenty-one, in particular, has a brilliant ending that’ll make you want to keep reading on into the night…

But it’s the Master that reigns supreme in this adventure- his hypnotic visage, diabolical evil, supreme intellect and all-round charm as personified by the late, magnificent Roger Delgado. His eventual and inevitable team-up with the Doctor, which was such a big and vital element of that era’s success, continues with aplomb.

With some nice links to old and new series, and one fun little plot element/tribute that fans of Douglas Adams time on WHO will greatly enjoy, Harvest of Time is easily one of the best original DOCTOR WHO novels in a very long time, and a true pleasure to read. A well-thought out, classic mix of nostalgia and sci-fi trappings within a lovely tribute to the TARGET books of old, but with added sophistication.

All we need now is some imaginary RADIO TIMES episode clippings made real, to give us some teasing plot elements and a cast list, and our nostalgia senses for Classic WHO are fully primed!

KOOL TV REVIEW: A lovely tribute to seventies tea-time horror and imagination-the spirit of Jon Pertwee, and the shows then dedicated and highly creative seventies production team, lives on! 5 out of 5

Get hold of HARVEST OF TIME here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Harvest-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/1849904189

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - INFERNO' (SPECIAL EDITION) DVD

When worlds collide! The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is caught in the Inferno. Images: BBC DVD.

DOCTOR WHO – INFERNO (SPECIAL EDITION) 2-disc DVD set

Starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, and Caroline John as Liz Shaw

Written by Don Houghton

Directed by Douglas Camfield

Available from BBC DVD 27^th May 2013

Reviewed by Scott Weller

“Listen to that! That’s the sound of this planet screaming out of its rage!”

The terrifying, annihilistic fate of two Earth’s hang in the balance, and our Time Lord hero, the Doctor, seems powerless to prevent destruction, in the superbly atmospheric seven-part 1970 adventure Inferno, starring Jon Pertwee’s incarnation at his most serious and desperate, receiving a welcome Special Edition revision courtesy of those 50^th Anniversary celebrating people at BBC DVD.

Writer Don Houghton, in his first of two WHO scripts, escapes the mundane soap opera horrors of CROSSROADS for the more enjoyable fantasy environs of DOCTOR WHO, carving out a fascinating, and cautionary, environmental fable, packed with sci-fi ideas, scary tea-time horrors and lots of action!

The tall, dominant, authority bashing, cape-wearing eccentric Doctor as personified by Jon Pertwee has now found his feet in the role- a slightly more gritty and aggressive Doctor here during the beginning of his era trapped on Earth in an uneasy relationship with those military men at UNIT, before becoming the flamboyant figure of later seasons. On the companion front, he’s well catered for by reliable scientist and mini skirted wonder Caroline John as Liz Shaw.

 

Scientists unite! The Doctor and Liz Shaw (Caroline John).

Like the Doctor and Pertwee, Shaw and John now seem to have settled down with the series, too, so it’s a great shame she didn’t return for a proper series send off the following year. In some ways, before the shows twentieth anniversary, Liz was one of the forgotten companions of the seventies, but as season ten stated to arrive on video and DVD from the nineties onwards, as well as the series return in a modern updating, the actress and character have undergone a well deserved re-evaluation and increase in popularity.

The top secret UNIT organization - so secret their name and logo are all over the place and on everything!- is also very much a “companion” in its own right, headed by mean-mustached military man Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, always played with style by Nicholas Courtney, in an early offering that sees his character as a more intelligent and believing officer, often capable of thinking for himself and not always seemingly following the Doctor’s cape trails.

 

The Doctor is still trying to escape his exile on Earth.

And as the UK Government backed Project Infernodrilling into the Earth’s core intensifies, there’s double trouble, literally and physically, for our heroes to oppose. Firstly, against a clever, doesn’t suffer fools gladly and on the brink scientist: the clever and calculating Professor Stahlman (Olaf Pooley), singularly obsessed in discovering pockets of a unique and possibly limitless new source of energy, but unwittingly unleashing the planets subterranean biological forces to the surface. As Stahlman’s unwavering hostility and sheer bloody mindedness continue, and the safety factors of the industrial operation get closer into the red, the Doctor’s attempts to stop him are aided by the experienced engineer and seventies “real man” Greg Preston (played by Derek Newark), plus Stahlman’s dedicated assistant/computer, Petra, played by Sheila Dunn (also the then real-life wife of director Douglas Camfield), and political liaison Sir Keith Gold (an amiable performance from Christopher Benjamin).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMAd2h8B-d0

Secondly, time becomes our hero’s enemy, when, after conducting experiments on the separated TARDIS console, he and his trusty yellow roadster, Bessie, are thrown onto another Earth, a parallel one of totalitarian control where the problems of the drilling project are far, far worse. There, in that cold world of military enforcement, Project: Inferno is at the point of detonation zero unless the Doctor can intervene, seen and considered an intruder and saboteur by his once friends. The actions and mistakes of the people here soon providing a grim look at what could happen on “our” Earth if such a similar turn of events in the timeline is initiated...

 

Technician Bromley (Ian Fairbairn) is one of the first "infected" technicians.

Grounded in realism with the Nigel Kneale QUATERMASS inspiration that would be so prevalent throughout Pertwee’s acclaimed and ambitious first colour season, this was the time when big seven-part stories would be all the rage, devised by previous producers Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin in order to save costs and spread the money out more effectively, making the series look bigger and better within the UNIT set-up- a move that script editor Terrance Dicks was ultimately, but powerlessly, against, though incoming producer Barry Letts liked it as long as future seasons had space epics alongside them, so as to give things more variety.

In this new look, new Doctor, earthbound series (exiled here by his Time Lord jailers, his knowledge of the TARDIS elusively removed from his memory), many of the shows then writers were considerably worried about the inflexibility of the new format, thinking they had only had two possibilities of storytelling to cover: alien invasions or mad professors. Fortunately, Terrance Dicks manages to find a third route with Inferno, notably in the story’s middle section (so as to keep it exciting for audiences), bringing in a parallel universe concept alongside Houghton’s grand ideas, where everyone’s a brutish variation on themselves, akin to the Classic STAR TREK episode Mirror, Mirror.

 

The evil Brigade Leader (Nicholas Courtney) of the parallel Earth.

In this Nazi-esque flavoured realm of cruelty, mixed with a little bit of Orwell’s 1984, all of the series main supporting case get to relish playing their evil alternates, from Nicholas Courtney’s eye-patched Gestapo-like Brigade Leader, to Caroline John’s coolly efficient, but ultimately good natured, Section Leader. Even our usually friendly Sergeant Benton, played so amiably by John Levene, is a despicable thug in he way he treats the bruised, beaten and interrogated Doctor during the middle of the story.

 

Section Leader Shaw (Caroline John).

But it's the Brigade Leader who shines the darkest here: a cruel bully who completely loses his cool when the world about him begins to fall apart around him, literally and physically- no longer having the man power to enforce his wishes. Showing her roots as a serious character actress, kudos to John in her effective chance to play a different version of Liz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEuIcF5yQ4

 

The scheming Professor Stahlman (Olaf Pooley) and the Brigade Leader.

Meanwhile, the building countdown to disaster nicely gathers momentum, adding to the strong aura of classic WHO about the adventure. When things finally go belly-up, the parallel Earth screams its defiance- its sky now death red-as its genetically altering primordial soup infects technicians and turns them into animalistic Primords.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74vVNekhFg

 

The Primord form of Stahlman.

With these hairy beasties looming large within the facility, a genuine under siege atmosphere brews in parts five and six, leading to one of the first times in the series history that the Doctor has no choice but to abandon his old/new friends as this doom-laden scenario plays out around them, unable to save the day there but possibly able to correct mistakes being made in his own universe. It’s a series of tragic events that ultimately lingers in the character’s mind in later episodes of his era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oE2IXxQBiA

 

The Doctor takes out some UNIT soldiers (Derek Martin and Terry Walsh).

A solid adventure of the kind they truly don’t make any more, Infernois a true and rare example of Pertwee’s incarnation against the ropes in dangerous times, though there’s lot of zippy action to enjoy, too, courtesy of an in-their-prime HAVOC stunt team- car chases, gun battles and Venusian Aikido chops courtesy of Derek Ware, Terry Walsh, Roy Scammell and Alan Chuntz, plus excitement and the aforementioned requisite hairy-faced monsters with lots of green goo on their hands, ready to wrap around the unaware. Luvly jubbly!

 

Barry Letts and Douglas Camfield (centred) with the 1970 WHO production team.

Taking over from director Douglas Camfield after he fell seriously ill during the production, producer Barry Letts gets the most out of his actors and builds up the atmosphere (thanks to some worthy production design from Jeremy Davies), working from Camfield’s precise and ambitiously planned camera scripts (alongside excellent pre-chosen use of stock music and eerie sound effects). There’s also some excellent location filming in and out of an oil refinery located in Hoo, Kent.

Inferno probably could have shaved off an episode somewhere in its plotting, but episode six has a palpably strong and unique atmosphere about it, as the now red skied, volcanic ash spewed world is slowly being destroyed. It’s cliffhanger, showing the genuine end of the parallel Earth, consumed in lava, is one of the shows best and memorable images from its early seventies reign, and another reason why the story is so highly regarded- a firm fan favourite since the eighties.

The re-remastering of the story in this new release is a huge improvement on the previous 2006 DVD effort, with better picture stability and colour control. Sound in places is also greatly improved, especially in earlier episodes.

Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John recall the first colour season of WHO, and the UNIT era.

Special features from the 2006 release are all present and correct: an audio commentary from the always lively Nicholas Courtney and John Levene, alongside Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, the thirty minute Can You Hear the Earth Scream?- a top-notch behind the scenes documentary with lots of now recognizable anecdotes, The UNIT Family Part One- a look at the Third Doctor’s formidable military team, it’s origins, characters and casting (featuring contributions from Caroline John, Courtney, Levene, Letts, Dicks and former producer Derrick Sherwin), a promo film from 1969/70 looking at the diverse work of the BBC’s visual effects team, one deleted scene (and a silly one at that, too, of Jon Pertwee doing a voice-over as a radio newscaster), The Pertwee Years intro to episode seven’s release on VHS, back in the nineties, a photo gallery, PDFs of the very rare DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL from 1971 and RADIO TIMES listings, and programme subtitles.

 

Toby Hadoke (far right) and the men from HAVOC!

Alongside new subtitle production notes and a satisfying Coming Soon trailer for the reconstructed Patrick Troughton tale of chilly Martian invaders, The Ice Warriors, come two high-quality original features. Firstly, there’s the warm-hearted Hadoke versus HAVOC, in which presenter and dedicated WHO fan/comedian Toby Hadoke reunites the surviving members of the seventies stunt team for one last time (Derek Ware, Derek Martin, Roy Scammell, and Stuart Fell), all recalling their unique contributions to the Third Doctor era, and getting their organizer to perform a risky stunt himself with their fun-loving support. A great half-hour, with some nostalgic recollections-nice to see Derek Ware in particular.

Finally, there’s DOCTOR FOREVER-LOST IN THE DARK DIMENSION-the penultimate episode in the five-part series which goes into the long dark tea time of the soul that was DOCTOR WHO’s wilderness years in the nineties and early noughties, as numerous film and TV people tried to get a new series or feature film off the ground to little or partial success, amidst lots of frustration and internal BBC politics of the period. This documentary is notable in that it has lots of interesting material on the almost 30^thAnniversary film originally intended as a straight-to-video adventure, The Dark Dimension, to have starred Tom Baker as the Doctor, written by Adrian Riglesford and visualized by respected director Graham Harper, plus an earlier attempt made by seventies WHO director Paul Bernard to get his own pilot off the ground with actor David Burton playing an older Time Lord more in the vein of William Hartnell. (Burton makes an exclusive and intriguing appearance in the documentary.)

KOOL TV RATING: Magma madness, time travel nightmares and primal monsters make this supreme Pertwee, full of essential early seventies flavour. As damn near close to All-Time Classic WHO that you can get. 4.5 out of 5.

Get Inferno here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BEYWVGW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000EZ7VG2&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0XMW55HD8JX93513SJ1X