Rating: 
Summary: Stunning end to the Davison era
Review: The Caves of Androzani was the most polished and well executed Peter Davison story with some of the shows best ever cliffhangers (episode 1 in particular), and great music. Peri has her work cut out trying to work out what's going on with the Doctor. The monster in the underground caves is pretty poor, but it's made up for by the strength of the bad guy Jek. Essential viewing.
Rating:
Summary: This deserves ten stars.
Review: The Doctor and Peri arrive on Androzani Minor where troopers from the planet's sister world Androzani Major are fighting a losing battle against a mysterious masked figure and his androids in their attempts to mine a substance which has beneficial qualities. Very soon, however, the Doctor and Peri are under sentence of death - in more than one way.This is the best Peter Davison story, a faultless tale which must rank among the greatest of the entire series. The Magma creature is, admittedly, rubbery, but it's also only seen briefly. Every human character is believeable and memorable - the hard-nosed drug-runners, the excellently cold Morgus, and of course Sharez Jek, who is a genuine character rather than the kind of one-sided villain who all too often meets the Doctor. Somebody or something which is monstrous and displays psychotic and violent behaviour but then is revealed to have a love of beauty is a powerful image which formed the basis for King Kong, the Phantom of the Opera and even Grant Mitchell in EastEnders. Jek is Dr Who's most memorable humanoid villain and the tear-jerking scenes in episode four have to be seen to be believed - if you're not totally gripped and feeling a real sense of loss by the end of them then check your pulse-rate, as you may be clinically dead. If you know someone who thinks that good Dr Who stories stopped being made after Tom Baker left then show them this and prove how wrong they are. A masterpiece which makes me glad to be a fan of sci-fi.
Rating:
Summary: "Can this be death?"
Review: The Doctor and Peri land on Androzani Minor, only to get caught in the middle of a war. Everyone believes that they're gunrunners for Sharez Jek or goverment spies. In the end, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor will not survive.
Possibly the best Davison serial, and one of the best serials from the JNT era. JNT recruited long-time Who writer Robert Holmes to pen the last Fifth Doctor story, his familiarity with the program helps tremendously. The production is pretty good, the camera angels and fade-in & out edits give it style, and the gritty atmosphere and high drama rank it above many Who adventures.
Also, the DVD itself is magnificent. The Doctor Who Restoration Team did an admirable job with the transfer and the wonderful extras. Their work on Who VHS and DVD releases have been Top Notch.
Rating:
Summary: "Can this be death?"
Review: The Doctor and Peri land on Androzani Minor, only to get caught in the middle of a war. Everyone believes that they're gunrunners for Sharez Jek or goverment spies. In the end, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor will not survive.
Possibly the best Davison serial, and one of the best serials from the JNT era. JNT recruited long-time Who writer Robert Holmes to pen the last Fifth Doctor story, his familiarity with the program helps tremendously. The production is pretty good, the camera angels and fade-in & out edits give it style, and the gritty atmosphere and high drama rank it above many Who adventures.
Also, the DVD itself is magnificent. The Doctor Who Restoration Team did an admirable job with the transfer and the wonderful extras. Their work on Who VHS and DVD releases have been Top Notch.
Rating:
Summary: A distinguished farewell story for the Fifth Doctor
Review: The Fifth Doctor and Peri's trip to the sandy Androzani Minor turns out to be a fateful and intensely eventful one in this Dune meets The Phantom of the Opera story. They explore a cave mouth and encounter a cache of arms enough to equip a small army. There, they are caught on the scene by the soldiers of General Chellak and condemned to death as gunrunners. Here's the situation: Spectrox is a drug that can increase twice the ordinary lifespan. Demand for the drug shoots up when Sharaz Jek, a robotics expert who is lusting for revenge against Morgus, the man who'd betrayed him, seized the spectrox mines with an army of androids. The military under Chellak and his subordinate Salateen have been fighting a losing battle against androids, gunrunners led by Stotz, and a carnivorous monster that looks like something out of a Godzilla movie. Public demand has put pressure on the Androzani president to possibly capitulate to Jek's demands and negotiate an armistice. Jek's terms? "I want the head of Morgus at my feet. I want the head of that perfidious treacherous degenerate congealed in its own evil blood." Well-picked words by Jek, because Morgus is exactly that. A cold-hearted businessman on Androzani Major whose conglomerate controls the spectrox mines as well as other holdings offworld, and speaks in a cold, low, level, emotionless tone. His profitmaking goes as far as sabotaging his own mines when an increase in production leads to lower prices and even closing down plants, leaving many unemployed workers being shipped off to labour camps in the East. As the president tells him, "the irony is while you've been busy closing planets here in the West, you've been buiilding them in the East, so if the unemployed were sent to the Eastern labour camps, a great many of them will be working for you again, only this time, without payment." When Morgus responds with a deadpan "I hadn't thought of that" the president, clearly disgusted, replies bitterly, "Of course you haven't." But there's also Stotz, played wonderfully by Maurice Roeves, the nasty and violent leader of machine gun-touting gunrunners supplying Jek with arms in exchange for spectrox. So who's Stotz's boss on Andro. Major? The main objective of the Doctor is not to sort out the situation but to save both his life and Peri's. They are dying of spectrox toxaemia, which they got from accidentally touching raw spectrox, and the antivenin can be found in the oxygenless depths. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in this violent morass between Jek, the military, and Stotz, while his life and Peri's are slowly ebbing away. The high casualty rate and violence in this story makes Resurrection Of The Daleks like a summer breeze, but with great dialogue, convincing characters, and great acting, this is one of the best Doctor Who stories. And this was Peter Davison's personal favourite of his oeuvre. Christopher Gable as the masked and insanely vengeance-minded Sharaz Jek opposite Nicola Bryant's Peri work as a Phantom and Christine minus the music and opera, especially Peri's shuddering revulsion at being touched by Jek. His infatuation with Peri turns to genuine concern when she's close to death, making him more than just one-dimensional and not exactly a clearcut villain. John Normington as Jek's nemesis Morgus, retains perfect vocal control playing a man whose voice rarely rises above a certain level even when he's mad. Despite his mere three seasons as the Doctor, Peter Davison is at least noted for having one of the best farewell stories of the Doctors. But his nobility, his urgent and selfless devotion in trying to save Peri, even at the cost of his own life, makes his Doctor the vulnerable Sir Galahad type. Indeed, his own culpable admission that "curiosity always has been my downfall" shows his guilt at dragging Peri into this mess, yet serves as a testament to his moral courage to put things right.
Rating:
Summary: A distinguished farewell story for the Fifth Doctor
Review: The Fifth Doctor and Peri's trip to the sandy Androzani Minor turns out to be a fateful and intensely eventful one in this Dune meets The Phantom of the Opera story. They explore a cave mouth and encounter a cache of arms enough to equip a small army. There, they are caught on the scene by the soldiers of General Chellak and condemned to death as gunrunners. Here's the situation: Spectrox is a drug that can increase twice the ordinary lifespan. Demand for the drug shoots up when Sharaz Jek, a robotics expert who is lusting for revenge against Morgus, the man who'd betrayed him, seized the spectrox mines with an army of androids. The military under Chellak and his subordinate Salateen have been fighting a losing battle against androids, gunrunners led by Stotz, and a carnivorous monster that looks like something out of a Godzilla movie. Public demand has put pressure on the Androzani president to possibly capitulate to Jek's demands and negotiate an armistice. Jek's terms? "I want the head of Morgus at my feet. I want the head of that perfidious treacherous degenerate congealed in its own evil blood." Well-picked words by Jek, because Morgus is exactly that. A cold-hearted businessman on Androzani Major whose conglomerate controls the spectrox mines as well as other holdings offworld, and speaks in a cold, low, level, emotionless tone. His profitmaking goes as far as sabotaging his own mines when an increase in production leads to lower prices and even closing down plants, leaving many unemployed workers being shipped off to labour camps in the East. As the president tells him, "the irony is while you've been busy closing planets here in the West, you've been buiilding them in the East, so if the unemployed were sent to the Eastern labour camps, a great many of them will be working for you again, only this time, without payment." When Morgus responds with a deadpan "I hadn't thought of that" the president, clearly disgusted, replies bitterly, "Of course you haven't." But there's also Stotz, played wonderfully by Maurice Roeves, the nasty and violent leader of machine gun-touting gunrunners supplying Jek with arms in exchange for spectrox. So who's Stotz's boss on Andro. Major? The main objective of the Doctor is not to sort out the situation but to save both his life and Peri's. They are dying of spectrox toxaemia, which they got from accidentally touching raw spectrox, and the antivenin can be found in the oxygenless depths. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in this violent morass between Jek, the military, and Stotz, while his life and Peri's are slowly ebbing away. The high casualty rate and violence in this story makes Resurrection Of The Daleks like a summer breeze, but with great dialogue, convincing characters, and great acting, this is one of the best Doctor Who stories. And this was Peter Davison's personal favourite of his oeuvre. Christopher Gable as the masked and insanely vengeance-minded Sharaz Jek opposite Nicola Bryant's Peri work as a Phantom and Christine minus the music and opera, especially Peri's shuddering revulsion at being touched by Jek. His infatuation with Peri turns to genuine concern when she's close to death, making him more than just one-dimensional and not exactly a clearcut villain. John Normington as Jek's nemesis Morgus, retains perfect vocal control playing a man whose voice rarely rises above a certain level even when he's mad. Despite his mere three seasons as the Doctor, Peter Davison is at least noted for having one of the best farewell stories of the Doctors. But his nobility, his urgent and selfless devotion in trying to save Peri, even at the cost of his own life, makes his Doctor the vulnerable Sir Galahad type. Indeed, his own culpable admission that "curiosity always has been my downfall" shows his guilt at dragging Peri into this mess, yet serves as a testament to his moral courage to put things right.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Dr. Who adventures ever
Review: The Fifth Doctors final outing takes him to his end. Fast paced, Well acted, this time the Docs not trying to save the planet, but save himself and his companion peri. Definately one of the more realistic who adventures.
Rating:
Summary: The End of an Era
Review: This DVD is one of the best! There's production subtitles which give you some insight into the making of the story. There's a commentary track with Peter Daviosn, Nicola Bryant, and Director Gramm Harper which is one of the best commentary tracks they've done for a Who DVD. Davison's eye for detail and directorial abilities show through in his comments. He also MST3Ks it a tiny little bit 'How does Peri know they're bombs'. Harper has some useful information and spends a lot of time laughing at Davison's jokes. All three provide a lot of background information as to the actors involved like Robert Glenister who worked with Davison on a show called "Sink or Swim", Maurice Roëves who went on to play several roles on American TV, and the late Christopher Gable who played Jek. A bonus feature of the DVD serves as a tribute to Gable. It includes audio footage of him describing his role with video footage of his makeup tests. They also fixed a shacky alignment problem with the backround mat in the opening scene when the TARDIS lands. You can see the original shot as an extra feature. This is a really cool DVD. About the Episode: Perhaps the greatest regeneration story in all of Doctor Who, Caves of Androzani is Doctor Who at it's darkest and most mature. As with most regeneration stories the Doctor spends most of it with the dark specter of death over his head, this is very intense and absorbing. The villain, Sharez Jek, is a brilliant scientist whose flaw for beauty and mental instability are visible despite his great genius. With his robots he is waging a war againts the corporation who seek to mine Spectrox from Androzani minor and the Doctor and Peri are caught in the middle of the military/political struggle. Jek is a spectacular foe, plus his mask is really scary. As the story progresses you realize that, in a way, Jek isn't the real villain. This was that sort of subtlety that marked the Davison era. And the regeneration scene is the best you're going to get in Doctor Who. All the companions surround the Doctor... About this era of Dr Who: At this point, the show really was trying to be a serious piece of science fiction, like the various Star Trek series. Plots like Earthshock, Frontios, Revelation of the Daleks, Planet of Fire, and this one combined the dark edge of serious plot and story with Peter Davison's dry wit and his very British personality. Davison was the greatest Doctor; young and energetic but with a charisma and intelligence that far surpassed his outward appearance. He was patient, thoughtful, and not afraid to at least try to make the hard decision... Through most of his era, he had multiple companions providing the show with a cast of characters as opposed to a simple Doctor/Companion ensemble. ... If you found any part of this review helpful please vote so.
Rating:
Summary: DOCTOR WHO CAVES OF ANDROZANI
Review: This is an excellent dvd. One of the best of the tv series. The episode format is ok but if the BBC could release the Doctor Who series with an omnibus version on the same dvd the viewers could have a choice to watch it in episodic version or all the way through without a break.
Just a hint to the ones in charge who release Doctor Who on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: DOCTOR WHO CAVES OF ANDROZANI
Review: This is an excellent dvd. One of the best of the tv series. The episode format is ok but if the BBC could release the Doctor Who series with an omnibus version on the same dvd the viewers could have a choice to watch it in episodic version or all the way through without a break.
Just a hint to the ones in charge who release Doctor Who on DVD.
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