Terror of the Zygons

    "You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out on to the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle."

They saved (one of) the best till last. Terror of the Zygons is classic Doctor Who at it's best. My bias towards Tom Baker aside, it's a great script, great direction (what else would you expect from Douglas Camfield?), a great cast and a memorable monster. What more could you want?

Standout on the extra features is the documentary about Doctor Who's greatest director Douglas Camfield. The stories Douglas directed have always been amongst the series best and it was fascinating to hear about his life especially from his son Jogs who speaks very warmly about his father.

And, special editions notwithstanding, that's it. The last of the regular DVD realises from the classic series. Until the next missing story it found at least!

Inferno

         
  "Listen to that! It's the sound of the planet screaming out its rage!"

Inferno is without doubt the best (or equal best with Spearhead from Space) story of the Pertwee era. Everything about it is perfect and works well (I can even live with the Primoids. And Benton's transformation into one in episode six is horrifying). One thing that struck me watching this was how well Douglas Camfield cast his productions; every actor is perfect for their roles. The other thing was that at seven episode the story doesn't drag at all (not something you could say of other stories of this era). If you wanted a story to introduce someone to Doctor Who for the first time you couldn't do worse than show them Inferno.

Out of the extras on this DVD the one that stands out is The Doctor Forever: Lost in the Dark Dimension which chronicles what happened to Doctor Who after it was taken off air in 1989. I cheered when Gary Russell said that some of the attempts by fandom to get the BBC to bring the show back in the early nineties (including attempting to launch legal action against the corporation - I kid you not! It's what caused me to turn my back on fandom) was just plain bonkers and did no one any good at all (so it wasn't just me that thought that after all). And then there's David Burton (who I'd forgotten about) and his claims to have been cast at the Doctor in the early nineties. I think this is the first time this gentleman has spoken on the record about his "time" and his statements that no footage exists of the episode he shot existing makes his claims to be somewhat dubious. But nice to have on the record anyway. Oh, and the fact the everyone at Gary Russell's 40th birthday party was trying to keep the news that Doctor Who was coming back from him is quiet funny too.

Planet of Giants

Do you know why I'm a success Mr Farrow? It's because I've never allowed the word "can't" to exist.

Planet of Giants was a story I'd heard much about but had never seen. I left with mixed views about it. The effects used to depict the TARDIS crew in their miniaturised state were very effective. And William Hartnell and company are as good as ever. But the plot itself didn't strike me as being a Doctor Who story. I can also understand why it was edited down from a four part story to a three part one as the plot moves at snails pace. Episode three is probably the strongest of the three for that, being an amalgamation of both the original episodes three and four. It also marked the first time Douglas Camfield directed Doctor Who and you can see his hand at work. But other than that it's a pretty bland story.

The Seeds of Doom

When I posted on Planet of the Spiders, I said who great the title sequence was for Pertwee's last series and it got better when Tom Baker came along. Well, judge for yourselves.

Well, I like it!

Anyway, what of The Seeds of Doom? I can sum it up in one word: brilliant! Everything in this story works.

Where do we start? Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen were in their stride by this stage. They were always good in any story of this era, but if you combine a really good script and good direction (Robert Banks Stewart and Douglas Camfield respectively - arguably one of the best, if not the best, directors ever employed on the show) with actors of their talents you're in for a cracker. The guest cast are all impressive with Tony Beckley, John Challis and Sylvia Colderidge as the stand outs.

It's an example of Doctor Who at it's best. What more can I say?