Doctor Who - The Five Doctors (25th Anniversary Edition)
Starring: Peter Davison, Richard Hurndall, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom BakerStudio: BBC Warner
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Running Time: 192 minutes
DVD Release: August 5th 2008
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DVD Review
THE FIVE DOCTORS - "I am being diminished, whittled away piece by piece. A man is the sum of his memories you know, a Time Lord even more so." Someone is taking the Doctor's past selves out of time and space, placing in a vast wilderness - a battle arena with a sinister tower at its center. As the various incarnations of the Doctor join forces, they learn they are in the Death Zone on their home world of Gallifrey, fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti - and a devious Time Lord Traitor who is using the Doctor and his companions to discover the ancient secrets of Rassilon, the first and most powerful ruler of Gallifrey.The Five Doctors was originally broadcast to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of Doctor Who in 1983. This new version of the story features extended scenes, previously unseen sequences, new visual effects and a stereo soundtrack. Not intended as a replacement for the original edition of the story, this is an alternative version which uses state-of-the-art technology to embellish and enlarge one of the greatest Doctor Who adventures ever.
THE KING'S DEMONS - "We sing in praise of total war; against the Saracen we abhor" It is thirteenth century England, and King John is visiting the castle stronghold of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. Ranulf's personal fortune has dwindled away, freely donated to Kin John to help fund the Crusade. While staying with Ranulf, the King's greed is criticized by the baron's head-strong son, Hugh. As a result, Hugh is challenged to a duel by the monarch's enigmatic French Knight-at-Arms, Sir Giles Estram, a duel the young Englishman has little hope of surviving.When the TARDIS materializes and disturbs the joust, the Doctor's party are proclaimed friendly demons by the King, who seems strangely interested in their "blue engine." Before long the Doctor becomes embroiled in court politics, and he realizes that there is far more to the situation than a simple battle of honor between nobles.
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Outtakes
Photo gallery
Production Notes
User Reviews
The Five, er, Three Doctors - Rating: 3/5
There are, of course, only three Doctors in The Five Doctors. Hartnell was no longer with us, and Tom Baker refused to participate. Originally this latter fact was dealt with by having Baker's Madame Tussaud's wax figure stand in for him. The "updated" version that has already been released replaced the wax figure with a still from Shada. The "triangle" that captured the Doctors from their respective times was also replaced with a terrible ice-cream-cone-looking thing. It will be interesting how this new release will handle these items, or whether it will leave them the same. All in all, The Five Doctors is so-so. It would have been MUCH more entertaining if we could have seen the third and fourth Doctors interact. Tom Baker's real life ribbing of Pertwee was always so funny. They were like oil and water. I bet they would have been very entertaining together on screen. One thing of interest is that in the climax, as in The Three Doctors, the first Doctor (Hartnell's Doctor) is portrayed as being clearly more intelligent than all of his later selves. Only he realizes what should be done. It's also too bad the Brigadier did not get to interact with the second, third and fourth Doctors together. That would have been a hoot. Some trivia: The bizarre alien that looks like a dude in silver spandex (okay, is a dude in silver spandex) that can shoot arrows from his hands was only thrown in because Terrance Dicks hates Cybermen.
Misleading - Rating: 5/5
This release does NOT contain THE KING'S DEMONS. Go to the Amazon UK site for a better description. This is a 2 disc set though.
