Doctor Who - Spearhead from Space

Rating:
Summary: A glorious release!
Review: "Spearhead From Space" is one of the first three "Doctor Who" DVDs released to North America. It's also the earliest of the stories, a 1970 adventure that introduced both the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and color film to the "DW" universe. A handsomely designed and produced disc, this is instantly one of the best DVDs in my collection, and a real coup for "Doctor Who" merchandise, which has never before seen a release of such high quality.

The story itself is presented in a crisp clear transfer. Most "Doctor Who" fans in the US are familiar with episode quality through nth-generation videotape bootlegs, the occasional commercially-released VHS (of various quality), or through late-night PBS airings. To watch an episode presented so cleanly is a novelty in itself.

It also helps that "Spearhead" is long regarded as one of "Doctor Who"'s finest outings. As the first 1970s tale, it introduces new concepts to the show -- an Earth-bound Doctor, a lack of scaley latex monsters, and a complete lack of time travel. Even 30 years later it's easy to take the story seriously on all levels. It was the only episode shot entirely on film (all on location), and the small cast is (almost) uniformly well-acted.

The story on DVD can be watched on its own, or with a pop-up liner-notes format that highlights technical details, bits of trivia, and even basic information about the show, just in case you're new to the show. In addition there's a commentary track recorded by Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, two of the stars of the story, both still popular on the convention circuit. Courtney's commentary displays a remarkable reach of knowledge about the series, while John seems to be watching for the first time since 1970, learning more as she goes along and showing welcome enthusiasm at all times. This track is more along the lines of two fans watching the show, as opposed to a no-holds-barred director's commentary, but it's worth playing at least once.

The other extras are similarly well-done. There's a 5-minute featurette about UNIT (the paramilitary organization that assisted the Third Doctor ). This is narrated by Courtney and shows a wide range of clips from several decades' worth of TV "DW". There are also informative actor biographies and a more-hit-than-miss photo gallery. The hidden feature (accessible on the main menu) is an outtake from the story's opening titles sequence.

On the whole, this DVD is a welcome treasure to State-side "Doctor Who" fans. Hopefully, subsquent DW DVD releases will match it for quality, breadth, and plain old enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: "I can't have changed that much..."
Review: "Spearhead From Space" is a landmark story for Doctor Who, in more ways than one. It's the first adventure to be broadcast in colour and the first episode of the 1970s. It also thrust the series, continuity wise, in a new direction, giving it perhaps its most radical overhaul. The leading actor has changed before, when William Hartnell turned into Patrick Troughton, but at least there were the companions (Ben and Polly) to retain a sense of familiarity (another good example of companions playing the role of viewer empathiser). However, with the departure of Patrick Troughton, the viewer has the proverbial rug pulled out from under their feet, as companions Jamie and Zoe also leave the series. At the final moments of the last story of the Troughton era, "The War Games", viewers know that the Doctor will be exiled to Earth by the Time Lords and given a new appearance. So, upon viewing this adventure for the first time, followers of the program have entered a brand new world. The first episode would be a bewildering experience - the TARDIS lands and the new Doctor exits, collapsing as he does so. He is discovered by soldiers and taken to a nearby hospital, staying out of the picture as the plot unfolds. The presence of UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is the only grasp of familiarity; Lethbridge-Stewart appeared twice in the Troughton era - the UNIT organisation once; they were hardly regular characters/institutions, but it is here that the ongoing audience must, in a sense, place their trust. The Doctor is essentially out of action in the first two episodes (the main exception being the cliffhanger to episode one) so the Brigadier and new recruit Liz Shaw are the focus. This is the strange new world of Doctor Who that now rests with the viewers - based on Earth and with UNIT playing a large role. So, in this radically overhauled show, the first adventure is essential in attracting the attention. In this department, "Spearhead From Space" works beautifully. It is wonderfully paced and plotted, tense, taut and enthralling; the Brigadier and Liz's prominence in the first two episodes and the Doctor's inactivity heightens the sense of mystery (after all, the companions are there for the Doctor to explain everything to; without him, they - and the viewers - are trudging in the dark). The story has a sense of creeping horror to it at times - the Autons, with their crude, unfinished faces, are ghastly; their facelessness and deadly efficiency makes them a formidable foe. Hugh Burden is excellent as Channing, whose cold stare and emotionless demeanour serve for an excellent adversary. John Woodnutt's Hibbert is another great perormance - timid, weak and controlled but continually struggling against this manipulation - the scenes of him and Channing together are some of the most psychologically cold and arresting moments in Doctor Who. Other horrifically memorable moments of this story include the Autons' pursuit of Ransome in the plastics factory, the attack on the Seely household and, most spectacular of all, the shop dummies coming to life in the department store windows and their rampage through the streets of London. This last scene is one of the most vivid and startling - not to mention spectacular - events in the show's 26 year history. The fact that the story is shot entirely on film as a result of industrial action makes for a happy accident - the graininess of the film allows for a chilling tale of suspense that the glossiness of videotape simply would not have catered for. The story generates an empathy for the characters, which is not surprising coming from writer Robert Holmes, to the extent that the story can have two cliffhangers involving non regulars (Ransome at the end of episode two, General Scobie in episode three) but still grip the audience and leave them hanging on for the resolutions. Jon Pertwee has a fine first performance (when he finally comes into full character as the Doctor). His is essentially a serious portrayal of the Doctor, but perhaps it is because at the time, in public memory, he was an actor primarily known for comedy, that some of his earliest moments are played for laughs (for instance, his singing in the shower). For a new era of Doctor Who, in which almost all the norms of the last season have been done away with, you cannot get a more wonderful beginning than "Spearhead From Space".

Rating:
Summary: A glorious release!
Review: "Spearhead From Space" is one of the first three "Doctor Who" DVDs released to North America. It's also the earliest of the stories, a 1970 adventure that introduced both the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and color film to the "DW" universe. A handsomely designed and produced disc, this is instantly one of the best DVDs in my collection, and a real coup for "Doctor Who" merchandise, which has never before seen a release of such high quality.

The story itself is presented in a crisp clear transfer. Most "Doctor Who" fans in the US are familiar with episode quality through nth-generation videotape bootlegs, the occasional commercially-released VHS (of various quality), or through late-night PBS airings. To watch an episode presented so cleanly is a novelty in itself.

It also helps that "Spearhead" is long regarded as one of "Doctor Who"'s finest outings. As the first 1970s tale, it introduces new concepts to the show -- an Earth-bound Doctor, a lack of scaley latex monsters, and a complete lack of time travel. Even 30 years later it's easy to take the story seriously on all levels. It was the only episode shot entirely on film (all on location), and the small cast is (almost) uniformly well-acted.

The story on DVD can be watched on its own, or with a pop-up liner-notes format that highlights technical details, bits of trivia, and even basic information about the show, just in case you're new to the show. In addition there's a commentary track recorded by Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, two of the stars of the story, both still popular on the convention circuit. Courtney's commentary displays a remarkable reach of knowledge about the series, while John seems to be watching for the first time since 1970, learning more as she goes along and showing welcome enthusiasm at all times. This track is more along the lines of two fans watching the show, as opposed to a no-holds-barred director's commentary, but it's worth playing at least once.

The other extras are similarly well-done. There's a 5-minute featurette about UNIT (the paramilitary organization that assisted the Third Doctor ). This is narrated by Courtney and shows a wide range of clips from several decades' worth of TV "DW". There are also informative actor biographies and a more-hit-than-miss photo gallery. The hidden feature (accessible on the main menu) is an outtake from the story's opening titles sequence.

On the whole, this DVD is a welcome treasure to State-side "Doctor Who" fans. Hopefully, subsquent DW DVD releases will match it for quality, breadth, and plain old enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: It's Who, Dr. Who.
Review: By the end of the 6th season of Dr. Who, the format of the series was getting pretty stale, so the writers used a brief hatus that the series was placed in [brought on by a writer's strike] to revamp the concept. Originally, they were going to make Dr. Who more like James Bond, but realizing that that would make the series TOO adult oriented, decided to go along with another concept. No matter what concept they were going to use, he was going to be trapped on Earth, so in a concept that would later become one of the key elements in "The X-Files" they watered down the "Bond" concept, had him working in conjunction with an underground government agency known as "U.N.I.T." and had him go after creatures and such that no other agency could handle.

While this concept lasted for only a couple of seasons, it allowed them to revamp old aliens like the Daleks and Cybermen and introduce new aliens like the Autons, the Master and so much more.

In this first new format episode, the Doctor was forced into a regeneratrion by the Timelords and forced to live out a part of his life on Earth. He is teamed with two new companions Liz Shaw (Caroline Johnson) and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) who has an entire team of men under his command.

The Doctor's (now played by Jon Pertwee) first task is to investigate the appearance of these strange meteors, but first he must remember who he is, let alone what these faceless men who are soon to be wandering the streets of London are. . ..

As a special treat, informative text about the program is shown (an option which could be turned on and off), and a commentery voice-over done by Courtney and Johnson.

Even if you already have a VHS copy of this episode in your library, I highly suggest that you get this copy as well.

Rating:
Summary: Pertwee's debut story is all-time classic Who!
Review: Doctor Who's seventh season began with a new Doctor, new assistant, new setting, and in colour for the first time. This story explains how the Doctor, exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, became UNIT's (United Nation Intelligence Taskforce) scientific advisor. His second reunion with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart led to the two working on a more regular basis.

A meteorite shower turns out to be an alien invasion, with the meteorites being plastic spheres each containing an intelligence that has an affinity for plastic. They create bodies for themselves and here appear as deadly mannequins (Autons) armed with energy bolts fired from their middle three fingers. Lethbridge-Stewart enlists the aid of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, an expert on meteorites working at Cambridge. During their conversation, the Brigadier receives a phone call from Captain Munro, who reports a strange man found unconscious by a police box. Could this be the Doctor, the mysterious alien who twice helped him before?

The story has five basic threads which crisscross many times. There's Hibbert, supervisor of Auto Plastics, Channing, his new partner who has a mysterious influence over him, Ransome, Hibbert's former partner who tries to find out what's going on, Sam Seely, a seedy poacher who finds one of the spheres, and tries to get a reward, General Scobie, regular army liaison to UNIT who has a dummy of himself made by Auto Plastics, and finally, the Doctor, Liz, and UNIT.

Caroline John has a splendid debut as Liz Shaw. Her repartee with the Brigadier produces some of the most sarcastically funny remarks ever. When the Brigadier hears of the Doctor's escape from the hospital, he says, "At least he won't get far.", Liz responds with, "You mean before your men shoot him again." To which the Brig responds, "I don't find that funny." I sure did. And when the Brigadier decides to use the TARDIS key, she says, "I think you should. There might be a policeman locked inside." Liz is skeptical at first, dealing with facts, not science fiction ideas, but her experience with the Autons changes that. Liz has a much better rapport with the Doctor, hardly surprising as they are both scientists.

The most memorable sequence comes near the end, when the window dummies come alive and start indiscriminately blasting cyclists, a constable, and people waiting at the bus stop with their built-in guns. It's a frightening sequence, capped off by shots of running feet, with dramatic music rising to a frenzied pitch.

Jon Pertwee has the distinction of having the best debut story of all the Doctors. While others have a shaky start, he comes off as a smooth, charming Sherlock Holmes type. His best moment comes when at the hospital, he enters a door marked "Doctors only." A little in-joke there; after all, he is the Doctor. While two doctors are speaking about him, he sings in a loud off-key tone in the shower, singing even louder to get them to leave, which they do. He steals the clothes of one of the doctors, tries on hats in the mirror, discards a trilby with a look of distaste, then chooses a fedora before giving himself a satisfied nod. Good dress sense as always, Doctor! Not content to steal clothes, he steals that doctor's fancy red Roadster, making his way to UNIT HQ.

Of the supporting cast, John Breslin turns in a good performance as the competent Captain Munro, Derek Smee as Ransome does the story justice as a man frightened out of his wits after being fired at by an Auton. Hugh Burden plays Channing with a calm but cold menace, and finally, there's Antony Webb as Dr. Henderson, who is baffled by the Doctor's physiognomy, but is nevertheless determined to treat him humanely.

One of the best in the series, played out as an invasion from outer space epic with a hint of James Bond.

Rating:
Summary: The Doctor in all his digital glory....
Review: How appropriate that one of the opening episodes in BBC's launching of the Doctor Who DVD series is the debut of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, and a terrific opening it is... a disoriented Doctor, exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, finds himself in hospital, being overseen by the Brigadier and the staff of U.N.I.T., and the first thing he worries about is where his shoes are. It was also the Doctor's first full-colour TV episode, adding to its historic signifcance. And, of course, it's the Doctor's first encounter with the Nestine Consciousness and its agents, the terrible Autons. To this day I can't pass a department store manniquin and not eye it's hands for signs of an inbuilt blaster....

Rating:
Summary: Looks gorgeous on DVD
Review: I can hardly believe what a contrast this DVD is to the version still shown on PBS stations. The Doctor Who Restoration Team outdid themselves on this one. So many speckles of dirt have been painted out that the few left are noticeable mostly by their rarity. I had no idea there was so much color to be coaxed out of the original film, given the dull, brownish version I'd seen before. (If anything, it's sometimes too colorful. Bright red objects like Seely's tie immediately grab the eye.) For 16mm film, the grain is barely noticeable. The Team also attend to such details as correcting the pitch on one post-recorded line of the Brigadier's that had been time-compressed to fit. They also, unfortunately, had to remove a brief bit of Fleetwood Mac that couldn't be cleared, but if you haven't seen the story before, you wouldn't know it was supposed to be there.

The commentary by Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney provides background detail from the actors' point of view, and it's fun listening to John growing more enthusiastic about the story, which she probably hadn't seen since 1970. The production subtitles are informative but sparse, especially in the latter two episodes. The "easter egg" alternative title sequence is fun, and in some ways, I think, preferable to the one they ended up using.

So why 4 starts instead of 5? The story itself. While it successfully carries off a creepy mood and has some good scenes, there's really precious little plot. The Doctor is scarcely involved until Part Three. It ends up coming off as over three and a half episodes of setup, with little complication and an ending that's a sci-fi equilavent of waving a magic wand and making the problem disappear.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I can't tell you how amazed I was at the picture quality of this. I've had the VHS version for years and though I love the story, I'd always hoped that one day the restoration team would work on it. I just got a DVD player this Christmas and I was very pleased to be able to get a classic Doctor Who story for it.
What more could one ask for? Pertwee's debut story from his best season (IMHO) in beautiful sparkling color and sound. The restoration team outdid themselves on this one. Plus you get the BBC trailers, UNIT recruitment film, a hidden title sequence, commentary from Nick and Caroline and captioned production notes. I didn't think I'd like the commentary at first, but it's marvelous hearing Nick and especially Caroline talk about a show that they had starred in 30 years ago. I can't wait for the next DVD releases!

Rating:
Summary: Spearhead Good Choice To Jump Into Dr. Who
Review: I don't write many product reviews, but I felt it necessary to do so here. This has to be one of the best-written and acted set of Doctor Who episodes. Spearhead is an engaging story with interesting characters, no need to make up for a poor script with cheesy special effects.

The DVD showed more thought and production than many other disks. The inclusion of trailers and Doctor Who tidbits were great for my friends and I who are big fans of the show. The only flaw is that the DVD doesn't automatically continue onto the next installment when the previous one completes. Is only one button tap on the remote, but I guess I'm lazy.

If you want to pick up a DVD of Dr. Who that will make you want to get more start here. I'm looking forward to the release of additional episodes to replace my VHS collection.

Rating:
Summary: Spearhead Good Choice To Jump Into Dr. Who
Review: I don't write many product reviews, but I felt it necessary to do so here. This has to be one of the best-written and acted set of Doctor Who episodes. Spearhead is an engaging story with interesting characters, no need to make up for a poor script with cheesy special effects.

The DVD showed more thought and production than many other disks. The inclusion of trailers and Doctor Who tidbits were great for my friends and I who are big fans of the show. The only flaw is that the DVD doesn't automatically continue onto the next installment when the previous one completes. Is only one button tap on the remote, but I guess I'm lazy.

If you want to pick up a DVD of Dr. Who that will make you want to get more start here. I'm looking forward to the release of additional episodes to replace my VHS collection.