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

A perilous time in Earth history, as the Doctor (William Hartnell) encounters The Aztecs. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO – THE AZTECS (SPECIAL EDITION)

A two-disc DVD set (incorporating the GALAXY FOUR reconstruction)

Starring William Hartnell as the Doctor

Written by John Lucarotti

Directed by John Crockett

Released by BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

“You can’t re-write history. Not one line!”

There’s beauty and horror, heartache and catastrophe in both the past and future for our original white haired, lapel clasped Time Lord hero and his brave companions in the latest supreme B/W Classic DOCTOR WHO story, The Aztecs, now available on DVD from the BBC.

Daleks, Voord and Sensorites from the outer space stories of William Hartnell’s first exciting year are probably the most well-remembered by viewers and fans, but the classy historical stories that alternated between them always proved a fine and worthy counterbalance, what with an epic journey to Cathay in Marco Polo, our heroes facing the unwilling advances of Madame Guillotine in The French Revolution and now here, arriving on thirteenth century Earth during the tumultuous and violent time of the Aztecs.

DVD release trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO-GfwO8NfI

Accidentally believed to be the reincarnation of a deceased god, Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) needs advice from the Doctor.

All of our time travelling heroes get a strong share of the limelight in John Lucarotti’s well plotted, tightly written story of honour, deceit and tragedy-an equally classy successor to his previous epic and highly acclaimed, now seemingly lost forever, Marco Polo. William Hartnell as the Doctor gives one of his very best performances- not yet the doddery old boy he’d be in years two and three-here he’s intelligent and captivating, certainly a citizen of the universe, and a gentleman to boot! Our normally frosty champion of the cosmos even gets a chance to show some affectionate tenderness in his scenes with the mature Cameca (an understated but effective performance from Margot Van der Burgh) –and even a touch of comedy: the look on his face when he discovers that he’s unknowingly become engaged to her is priceless!

The Doctor spends some quality time with Cameca (Margot Van der Burgh)...

...whilst Ian (William Russell) becomes an Aztec Warrior.

Meanwhile beyond the Doctor’s necessary antics and investigations in the gardens of the elderly, his granddaughter Susan (as played by Carole Ann Ford) puts her foot down against an arranged marriage with a chosen sacrificial nobleman, whilst William Russell’s school teacher Ian Chesterton shows continued heroism and mettle when he is manipulated into becoming an elite Aztec warrior, facing competitive wrath from an ambitious and very dangerous rival, Ixta (Ian Cullen). But the character who truly captures our attention in this story is Barbara (as played by the late Jacqueline Hill), Ian’s fellow schoolteacher caught in the adventure of a lifetime, now literally within her specialized subject as a history teacher, accidentally declared by the Aztecs as a reincarnation of their late god Ytaxa, whose attempts to change their timeline, and stop the bloody ritual sacrifices they offer to their gods, incur not only the wrath of the Doctor but the fascination and fear of the noble high priest Autloc (a bewildered but warm performance from Keith Pyott) and the zealous machinations of Tltoxyl (John Ringham, excelling as one of the first genuinely nasty human baddies in the series at that point), convinced that Barbara is a fraud and dedicating himself in the pursuit of proving his claims, eager to sacrifice her friends in the most diabolical of plot machinations…

The cunning Tltoxl (John Ringham).

As the period of the next human sacrifice nears, and Tltoxyl’s final murderous plans take shape, our TARDIS heroes, previously separated from their craft, have to critically pull their resources to find a way back into the secret temple entrance from which they originally emerged…

Barbara confers with High Priest Autloc (Keith Pyott).

Egged on by Tltoxyl, Ixta (Ian Cullen) tries to kill Ian.

Showcasing some of TV and theatres then finest character actors, The Aztecs stagey atmosphere works in its favour. Not only one of the highlights of the early B/W years of the show, this is also a critical success for the BBC in general: a perfect fusion of writing, acting and production, strongly realized by the underrated actor’s director John Crockett, with some excellent production design from Barry Newbery (handling all the design work for WHO’s historicals that season). Special mention also to Richard Rodney Bennett’s subtle but memorable music score, presenting the nobility and tranquility of the Aztec people and their time period, mixed with the oncoming danger and duplicity of the dangerous Tlotoxl.

The Dhravin women encounter a Chumblie in Galaxy Four.

Getting just a newly restored version of this genuine classic story would normally be enough for this diner’s platter, but BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS have given us a second disc of equally polished work linked to the recently recovered “lost’ episode of the Hartnell era, Season Three’s intriguing sci-fi tale re-imagining the concepts of beauty and the beast: William Emm’s much under-rated GALAXY FOUR, of which its one and only existing episode (part three- Air Lock) glistens in Derek Handley’s well produced audio/visual remastering, within a special reconstruction of the original audio tracks, alongside animation, specially presented telesnaps and one previous surviving clip saved during the late seventies. Listening to the full surviving off-air audio tape recordings of the four-part story a few years back was all well and good, but there’s truly nothing like seeing what the show was supposed to visually look like, and Airlock proves a golden twenty five minutes in delivering such fascinating examples of its storytelling (I’m always been fascinated by the way the B/W series-WHO and others- then presented their sci-fi environs), backed up by some confident direction from Derek Martinus.

Maaga (Stephanie Bidmead, seated) with her soldiers.

There’s also some genuine girl power on display in this episode, too, with companion Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) firmly to the fore, having a lot more to do in this story in general as she faces up to her female adversaries, the clone warriors known as the Dhravin, who, on screen, come across much better than they appear in the early publicity photos for the story, of which so much of our interpretation of GALAXY FOUR had previously been based. Of the female guest stars, the late Stephanie Bidmead, in just Air Lock alone, gives a brilliant and powerful performance as their hate fuelled leader, Maaga-again another first for WHO-the series first true female villain, so desperate to leave her trapped planetary environs, now on the brink of destruction, unblinkingly prepared to kill off members of her own cloned kind in order to achieve her goal. In one monologue that Maaga gives to the camera and we the viewers, Bidmead is particularly chilling.

The alien Rills to whom Maaga has such a xenophobic hatred also prove an intriguing race of creatures for the series, whilst their little robot servants, the Chumblies-half sized anti-Daleks appealing to the kids- are well operated and look good in the studio and film sequences (one of them operated by the iconic butler servant to the mysterious Number Two, from THE PRISONER TV series: Angelo Muscat).

Beyond that golden twenty five minutes return to the archives in 2011, the rest of the reconstruction, utilizing screen grabs and animation, supervised by Derek Handley is well done and you can see that a lot of time and dedication has gone into the overall project both by him and his team. Splendid work.

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_H4zbawleE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BGCfLgsmR0

Another Ealing Studios publicity image for Galaxy Four.

On the supporting extras front of the set, disc one of THE AZTECS has all of the original supporting material from the 2001 release: the audio commentary by Russell, Ford and late producer Verity Lambert, a lengthy behind the scenes talk with gust actors John Ringham, Walter Randall and Ian Cullen, who talk about working on the early days of WHO, being opposite star Hartnell and the overall, often terrifying process of making “as live” early sixties television at the BBC. Another lengthy and equally interesting interview is had with Barry Newbery about the challenges of designing the story with very little research material then available on the Aztecs. Plus, an original BLUE PETER 1970 short on the real-life story of the Aztecs and their fateful encounter with the Spanish, in Cortez and Montezuma, a short and silly look at Making Cocoa, six character introductions to the story, an optional Arabic soundtrack for the show's fourth episode, a look at how several of the WHO range releases have been given top-notch restoration, a photo gallery of rare colour and B/W images, more PDFs, production subtitles of the always highest caliber, and a now pointless TARDIS-CAM ditty which shows our legendary space vehicle arrived on a sandstormed alien world.

A tense time for Barbara in The Aztecs.

Disc Two has all the new material, including the aforementioned GALAXY FOUR reconstruction, the latest Doctor Forever! documentary examining the evolving story of the shows merchandise beyond the success of the Daleks, more fun and encompassing production notes, PDF RADIO TIMES listings, and subtitles. Back to The Aztecs, there’s also a dated but reasonably watchable 1969 drama/documentary on the Spanish conquest of Mexico, most notable for its music, provided by the iconic Delia Derbyshire and the BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP.

Two other rare curios linked to the Hartnell era make for fine inclusion: the first being the earliest skit on the show with Dad's Army's Clive Dunn playing a Doctor-esque figure in the surreal Michael Bentine comedy series It’s a Square World. Then there’s A Whole Scene Going, magazine programme which presents brief but worthy behind the scenes footage from the making of the second colour Dalek film staring Peter Cushing and an interview with its popular director, Gordon Flemyng.

Finally, Coming Soon-wise, there’s a cold adventure on the horizon for Patrick Troughton’s incarnation, as the Ice Warriors make their resurrected Martian steps anew against Earth, in The Ice Warriors!

KOOL TV RATING: Enjoy William Hartnell’s DOCTOR WHO era at the top of its game-another splendid classic series release for the anniversary year. 5 out of 5

Purchase the DVD here: Doctor Who: The Aztecs (Special Edition) [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: William Hartnell, Carol Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill: Film & TV

THE (DESIGN) POWER OF THE DALEKS. REMEMBERING RAYMOND CUSICK.

The nightmare begins! Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) encounters a Dalek for the first time. DOCTOR WHO had now arrived in the public consciousness. Images: BBC.

What the hell was that?

The burning question on five million viewers minds at the end of the first exciting episode of William Hartnell''s second story as DOCTOR WHO, as his wary travelling companion, Earth school teacher Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), found herself trapped in an elevator whilst investigating a mysteriously deserted metal city- its opening doors revealing a shocking and truly alien sight ahead.

And then the screaming starts...

Inspiring genuine water cooler talk across the country's offices and beyond, helping to propel the next episodes ratings ever nearer to seven million (and then even higher-nine million- with the subsequent five parts), that master of adventure storytelling Terry Nation always knew how to keep 'em wanting more, saving that very special second episode for the final reveal of "the creature", brilliantly handled by director Christopher Barry, as the mysterious presence, the Daleks, were finally, scarily revealed to our heroes and the viewers: once human beings who, after a long war and nuclear holocaust against the rival planetary race whom they despised and feared-the Thals, had mutated and wore metal casing of incredible sophistication for their very survival.  Designed by an inspired Raymond Cusick, who sadly passed away this last weekend at the age of 84, the Daleks were an instant success-and the very antithesis kind of sci-fi idea that the show's original deviser, Sydney Newman, despised and didn't want appearing in it, but which, primarily through desperate happenstance and luck behind the scenes (spurred on by the enthusiastic young producer Verity Lambert), made their gliding, tank-like appearance and screeching threatening voices into the series a reality, and proving themselves a veritable smash hit with children and the series family audiences all over the country, not just from 1963 but to this very day fifty years on.

PART1/2 Creation of the Daleks - Doctor Who 1963 - YouTube

The Doctor (William Hartnell) and Susan (Carole Ann Ford) are captured by the Daleks in the creatures first appearance.

There have been over twenty television adventures in which our hero The Doctor has fought the Skaroan metal meanies, and, thankfully for us, he's never quite been able to kill them off. At times over the years, as production design and film making techniques have evolved, there have been ideas or plans to create a new physical appearance for the Daleks. But at the end of the day, it it ain't broke don't fix it, as Cusick's original designs, with a few little fixes and colour scheme changes here and there, continue to impress and capture imaginations as the ultimate war machine, the ultimate example of technology over humanity. And the ultimate face of hate and xenophobia.

Dalek design originator Raymond Cusick.

A staff designer at the time the original story was made, earning little credit or recognition, and making little to no money from the way the BBC and Terry Nation went on to commercially exploit the classic enemies, Cusick, despite his professionalism and continued talents beyond WHO, was obviously very bitter and angry for a long time as the popularity of the Daleks went on and their design became truly iconic. Thankfully, by the time of the eighties onwards, WHO's worldwide fandom had become fully aware of his work, recognising and admiring his vital and immense contribution to the show, not just with the aggressive alien pepperpots but also the other stories of the Hartnell era to which his imagination had been so similarly fired up.

"This is only the beginning..."

DOCTOR WHO, after a slightly shaky start at the beginning of time with some smelly cavemen, had finally come into its own with The Daleks that December of 1963, winning the public's affection and dedication for years to come.

For more on the shows amazing behind the scenes origins, purchase the excellent 2entertain/BBC WHO set: Doctor Who - The Beginning An Unearthly Child 1963 / The Daleks 1963 / The Edge of Destruction 1964 DVD: Amazon.co.uk: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill, William Russell, Waris Hussein, Richard Martin, Christopher Barry, Frank Cox: Film & TV

HAPPY 49th BIRTHDAY, 'DOCTOR WHO'

The adventures begin. Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Susan (Carole Ann Ford), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and the mysterious Doctor (William Hartnell) only just escape 100, 000 BC in the very first DOCTOR WHO story. Image: BBC. 

49 years ago today, a mysterious old man named The Doctor and his power humming police box were discovered within an abandoned junk yard in the mist shrouded Totter's Lane of 1963 London, by two concerned young school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, whose curiosity would quickly get the better of them in their investigations into the Unearthly Child that was their unique and adult beyond her years pupil, Susan Foreman. Kidnapped, unwillingly whisked off into the fourth dimension of Time and Space by Susan's at-first hostile and seemingly alien "Grandfather", Chesterton and Wright were soon part of the time-travelling duo's new family and thrust into a series of exciting, dangerous adventures: their first back in Earth's past, forced to create fire for warring tribesman, then a trip into the far future, on a long dead world-the planet Skaro-as the fearsome metal encased monstrosities of hate and prejudice- the Daleks-made their ground-breaking premiere appearance, soon terrorising and fascinating audiences, especially inquisitive children, with their xenophobic plans for destruction.

Doctor Who Every Title Sequence (1963-2011) - YouTube

It was thought that this new show from in-house drama genius Sydney Newman and relatively inexperienced producer Verity Lambert: DOCTOR WHO, ridiculed and often looked down on over the years by the BBC drama department, would only last thirteen episodes in that monochrome first season. But now, after all these years, look what it has become, with eleven actors having portrayed the title role, multitudes of companions accompanying him in the Time Lord's travels in the TARDIS, legions of terrifying monsters, aliens fought and beaten, and umpteen trips into the time and space vortex visiting Earth, the universe and beyond. DOCTOR WHO the TV series has endured and defied the odds, the critics and changing audience fads, remaining as popular today with worldwide family audiences as it was in those early potential packed days of its launch.

It's a true British institution-a show that's as indomitable as the dedicated casts, writers and behind the scenes crews over the years that have joined forces so imaginatively to make it the special and enduring curiosity it is. And with a spectacular 50th Anniversary year of celebrations ahead, including two ambitious specials (one of which will chart the shows genesis), the second half of Matt Smith's third starring year on the show, the return of old enemies and a plethora of celebratory memorabilia (including the BBC's re-release of eleven specially chosen classic books from their original stories range, plus the final wave of classic DVD releases), the party's only just begun...

Check out today's official BBC page: BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who - Happy Anniversary, Doctor!

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - PLANET OF GIANTS' DVD

Little heroics from the original Doctor Who (William Hartnell) and Susan (Carole Ann Ford) in the new DVD  release: PLANET OF GIANTS. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF GIANTS

Starring William Hartnell

Written by Louis Marks

Directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Douglas Camfield

Released on DVD by BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

A corrupt businessman and a misled scientist involved in murder, linked to the creation of a powerful new and potentially life extinguishing insecticide - DN6, must be stopped by a now miniaturised DOCTOR WHO in the form of his original and series defining first incarnation- the stern but playful figure of William Hartnell- alongside his trusted “family” of companions, all of whom are trapped in a universe of small wonders made terrifyingly large in the latest Earthbound adventure from the shows very early monochrome era: PLANET OF GIANTS, available on DVD from BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4TGXvsMssQ

Writer Louis Marks, a friend to the series who would contribute several further inventive tales in its colour years, concocts an intriguing story concept and an intelligent script which still retains a potent sense of relevancy in today's continuing industrialised world, though realized in a way that, by today's production standards, may be considered a little slow (interestingly, even at the time it was made, BBC higher ups noticed this factor about the production and demanded that its original third and fourth episodes be truncated into a tighter and ultimately more effective finale). Generally, though, and to its credit, PLANET typifies the kind of clever and memorable plot fusing- here, the pesticide chemical threat linked to the always novel and enjoyable concept of miniaturisation- recognized and enjoyed by Classic WHO fans over the years. In fact, in another time and place the ecological dangers showcased in the story might have been right up the street of behind the scenes duo Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks when conjuring up the seventies era of the show with the flamboyant Jon Pertwee, and the notable ecological phase his Time Lord era went through under their helmsman ship.

With its big bearing title, the all-important visuals for this story remain the most fondly remembered element of the tale. Overall, despite a limited production budget and a few annoying talky moments that refer to important scenes that have to occur off-screen, most of the big small world is impressive, brought to directorial life by directors Mervyn Pinfield and skilled rising WHO star Douglas Camfield, alongside some ingenious production design and sleight of hand trickery from Raymond P. Cusick, away from his iconic duties as the visual, if not fully credited, creator of the Daleks, including excellent photo blow-ups, sets and props like a briefcase, sink hole, and an impressive fly: all part and parcel of the miniaturised environs that the Doctor and his companions are trapped in. There’s also some basic but efficient optical tricks where even the standard domesticated cat gets to shows its dominant predatory roots.

Up and down the plughole for the Doctor and Susan.

No longer the crotchety, aggressive and even prepared to kill alien figure of the series earliest episodes, big-wigged Hartnell’s interpretation of the Time Lord by Season Two, though still commanding, shows him as a more age-defying, sometimes bumbling mad professor type with a zest for knowledge and exploration. He’s now a much more accessible figure for young children to follow and admire, clearly enjoying his camaraderie and friendship with his fellow actors as his on-screen travelling companions through time and inner, and outer, space. In this journey he has fine support from redoubtable English Secondary School (when that term actually meant something!) teachers Ian Chesterton (or is that Chesterman, Cheeseman, etc.…Hartnell’s Doctor either deliberately or accidentally never got it right. Make your pick with each story!) and Barbara Wright, played with charm by William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, plus the squeaky, very early sixties teeny-bop enthusiasm of his Grand-daughter, as personified by cute Carole Ann Ford.

Once considered as the launch story for the entire series back in 1963 (before the Tribe of Gum and their quest for fire eventually came along to replace it), PLANET OF GIANTS proves itself as a fun novelty for early WHO, eventually finding its rightful place as a quirky opening to its second confident year instead, and a fine lead-in to the next Earthbound adventure at a time when the series was no longer threatened with extermination by then snooty BBC executives, thanks to the arrival of Terry Nation’s Daleks, who would do their own kind of on-screen exterminating capable of sending the series to the top of the TV ratings charts of the time, and about to do it all over again with their second ambitious appearance: THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH!

Looking into the face of death...

Bringing these classic episodes to DVD has been no mean feat for the dedicated and still truly unsung heroes of the Restoration Team. Their VidFire transfer for PLANET is another consistent and notable example of their work, with Episode Two being a particular stand out quality-wise. On the extras side, with so few of the cast and crew still alive to talk about the making of this particular story, it’s left to the production notes and interesting audio commentary from a team of seasoned classic B/W WHO era veterans (including key sound designer Brian Hodgson, Make-up Supervisor Sonia Markham and Vision Mixer Clive Doig) to fill in for its absence.

Small world no longer for our TARDIS team...

Making this release a special edition is the behind the scenes teams ambitious recreation of the story’s original third and fourth episodes (the last part titled The Urge to Live), brought to life by dedicated DVD range documentary producer Ed Stradling and directed by WHO super-fan Ian Levine, using re-cut existing footage, some occasional CGI and new voice recordings from surviving companions (Carole Ann Ford and William Russell once more playing Susan and Ian), as well as other actors standing in for the cast (including a notable John Guilor mimicking Hartnell). It’s an interesting oddity that’s good for completeism, but that’s about it, really. The original truncated episode still works a lot better-tighter and more focused- and that historical decision to lose the last episode remains the right one in my book. An interesting little featurette about the restoration teams work- Rediscovering ‘The Urge to Live’ - is also included.

Susan and Ian (William Russell) encounter a now giant ant!

Of the Hartnell period in general, there’s a detailed and informative talk with the shows first and innovative late producer, Verity Lambert, taken from the BBC’s 2003 made THE STORY OF DOCTOR WHO documentary. Sections of an interview from that same programme, linked to First Doctor era companion Carole Ann Ford, are also present in Doctor Who Stories: Suddenly Susan, where she recalls how her character was toned down from its original conception, much to her chagrin, and how the production team ultimately made Susan a less interesting, if more accessible, role for children’s viewers.

Finally, there’s a brief photo gallery (mostly on the episodes sets and props - a real shame that no on-set colour photos were taken...), Radio Times clippings and design blueprint PDFs, and a very good Coming Soon trailer that sends us back into colour with the equally colourful persona and costume of Sixth Doctor incumbent Colin Baker, for his upcoming special edition of the prison planet nightmare drama, VENGEANCE ON VAROS.

So, all-in-all, an interesting and compact little (excuse the pun) tale that’s worth adding to your collection, as well as completing the surviving full stories in existence run of stories from the Hartnell era on DVD. Sorry Irwin Allen and your colourful and glossy LAND OF THE GIANTS series, DOCTOR WHO beat you to it by five years!

KOOL TV overall rating (story and extras): 3.5 out of 5

Get PLANET OF GIANTS here: Doctor Who - Planet of Giants [DVD] [1964]: Amazon.co.uk: William Hartnell: Film & TV