Rating: 
Summary: "Besides, Humans are quite my favourite species! "
Review: It's stories like this that make you wonder why on Earth (or the Universe for that matter! ) was Harry Sullivan taken out of the show, because without doubt the character combination of The Doctor, Sarah and Harry is the best of the series. Harry is simply wonderful in this story and manages to entertain throughout, naively fumbling his way through the story, trying to get to grips with a totally new reality. This leads to some great dialogue and interaction between Dr. Sullivan and the inhabitants of the Ark. As well as having its humourous moments, this story is also quite a serious thriller in which our heroes have to take on the might of a plague of genetically modified locusts, (yes - quite literally! ) It has all the usual hallmarks of a Who classic and firmly establishes itself as an absolute all-time favourite.
Rating:
Summary: A classic from the golden age of Dr Who
Review: The Tom Baker era really gets into full swing with this, a claustrophobic and tense thriller which is also a parable of poisonous creatures invading human habitation after their own natural habitat has been destroyed by humans.Having accidentally arrived in a mysterious space station in the future, the Doctor and his companions soon find the last of the human race in cryogenic freezing. But one of them is missing and something other-worldly is glimpsed in the corridors. This is without doubt a true classic, filled with memorable scenes, including the suspence-filled exploration of the base and the Doctor's well-written speech in the cryogenic chamber. If you're a fan of the series then watch this now - if not, it'll convert you.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the series!
Review: This is a great story, probably my favorite Tom Baker adventure, definitely it contains my favorite companions (Harry and Sarah), has some solid acting and good suspensful moments. Unfortunately, some excellent cliffhangers are lost as the North American CBS/FOX video comes as a movie-edited cut, the four 25-minute episodes have been edited down into a single "movie" version. (However, all of the old tapes were released this way; most have since been re-released as original uncut episodic versions in England, but WHY NOT in America? ) Anyway, great story, not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Doctor Who
Review: The Ark in Space is one the best shows in the history of the series. Although the season was beset by budget difficulties, this story is tight, intelligent, and the acting is some of the best up to that point. Baker's performance avoids the overacting that mars many of his later adventures, and he hits the perfect blend of alien and human. It also features Harry and Sarah, one of the best companion combinations in the show's history. Overall, a fantastic bit of Doctor Who, and one of the stories considered a classic by the fans. A must own for any Doctor Who fan ... even with the popper-plastic Wirrn grubs.
Rating:
Summary: As a New Who, Tom Baker Comes Through!
Review: One of Tom Baker's best outings as the Doctor. The producers got a lot of mileage out of the sets, too. They reused them for at least the next two more Who adventures.
Rating:
Summary: The human race's history is paused.
Review: The Doctor and companions Harry Sullivan and Sarah Jane Smith arrive on Nerva Beacon, a space station, in the distant future. They find the last of the human race in cryogenic incarceration, the earth having been temporarily made inhabitable by solar flares. Soon it turns out that space creatures are in the station. Most of the best of the Tom Baker stories were early-on in his era as the Doctor, and this is no exception. A well-paced, well-written story with some excellent dialogue - the Doctor's speech about humans and his talk with the Wirrrn swarm leader are especially memorable. Gripping and unmissable tale which leads on to The Sontaran Experiment.
Rating:
Summary: First-class Who=The Ark in Space
Review: The Ark in Space is the start of four interlocking who Adventures, and by-far the best. The cliffhangers are excellant, THE BEST IS THE END OF PART ONE. The acting is even better, Baker is at his serious best and Salden(Sarah) is even better, living up to her best companion role. The only let down is the venom grub, popper-paper, and Nohah's arm in part two, popper-paper again. The story is fast moving and easy to under-stand. One of the best Baker's.
Rating:
Summary: "I can't recall a single thing about it, really!"
Review: "The Ark in Space" is one of those stories I watched at age 11, only a couple of months after discovering "Doctor Who" on PBS. It instantly became one of my favorites, and remained so even after I'd seen the other 26 years' worth of stories. What makes "Ark" a great "Doctor Who" story is the list of usual suspects: small cast, claustrophobic setting, some moments of real horror (1974 special-effects style) as the Ark commander is turned into a 6-foot-tall fiberglass wasp, after becoming gradually encased in green bubble-wrap. And, of course, Tom Baker's larger-than-life performance as the Doctor. The "Doctor Who" DVD releases have been of uniformly high quality. Each episode comes with a pop-up track of subtitled production notes, and an audio commentary by the cast and crew. The "Ark" production notes include details on the original script for the story, and memorably inform us that bubble wrap was not as common in 1974 as it is today! The commentary track is one of the better ones: Elisabeth Sladen, who played companion Sarah Jane, has terrific recall and some intriguing insights into the original production that I hadn't read or heard elsewhere. Series producer Philip Hinchcliffe supplies enough inside information into the sets, lighting, and script editing process to be informative without ever getting stuffy -- and his recall is excellent, too. The star of the commentary track is, naturally, Tom Baker. Tom's involvement with DW since leaving the role has been infrequent and bizarre. His contribution to the track involves frightening barks of laughter at lingering shots of the male actors' physique, or double entendres in the script (intentional or otherwise). He confesses from the opening seconds that he "can't recall a single thing" about the story, and this frees him up to be the irreverent, unpredictable voice circling effortlessly around Sladen and Hinchcliffe's scholarship. There are other extra features -- an informative, current interview with the episode designer, and a vintage, bizarre interview with Baker in costume. There are 7 minutes of original (silent) model test footage. Help yourself. I fast-forwarded through this after my resolve was defeated somewhere around Minute Three. The 3D Ark schematic is brief, and thus cute. The redone CGI effects work better than you might expect when viewed as part of the story via seamless branching, and of course you can always turn it off. The "unused title sequence" has some interesting outtakes, but the final 30 seconds are, in fact, the used title sequence. The photo gallery is a must-skip. There's a strange "TARDIS-cam" view which appears to be a new creation; this is atmospheric, if pointless. There are reportedly three hidden easter eggs, of which I've only found one. Again, it's Tom Baker, in costume, being bizarre. I can't wait to find the other two.
Rating:
Summary: beginning of an amazing era...
Review: After the Tom Baker intro story, "The Giant Robot", "The Ark in Space" really cemented Tom Baker in the role of the Doctor and was re-written by Robert Holmes who had become the script editor for the next three seasons under the command of Phillip Hinchcliffe. This was the beginning of the three most popular and well crafted seasons of Doctor Who for most fans and the gothic horror style of the next three seasons raise the show to a popularity never before seen in many many countries. This mystery in space lets us get to know Bakers Doctor and we get better acquainted with Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan as well. Look for the stirring, inspired speech the Doctor makes about mankind, just one of the many treats in this fun adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Everything old is still old, but still very watchable
Review: This was the first Tom Baker serial I saw when they were run here in Canada leading me right to the 'reminisence value' of Doctor Who today. All those saturday nights being entertained by good stories and by Tom Baker's performances. The limited budgets l-o-n-g before the availability of CGI may lead to grin enducing special effects in comparison to what's created now, but this story itself proves to be more interesting and Tom Baker's perfomance more compelling than much of today's special effect rich but otherwise nearly void stuff.
How great was Star Wars, how much movie magic was created with a limited budget? How merely 'OK' was the Phantom Menace with scene after scene of special effect upon special effect upon special effect that left me pushed away rather than drawn into a story.
Script and performances over modern flash.
I will definitely be purchasing more Doctor Who even after the reminisence desire has been sated, because there are more entertaining storys to watch again.
My only holdback from 5 stars, and it deserves more than 4 stars, were the 'extras'. I appreciate entertaining extras; I dread the 'why'd they bother' extras, just to make it so much more worth buying. Buy this Dvd for the main story, don't expect much from the extras.
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