Doctor Who - The Three Doctors

Rating:
Summary: "That's why its up to me, me and me!"
Review: Jon Pertwee, William Hartnel and Patrick Troughton each star in this Doctor Who adventure. It seems that Omega (the timelord which invented time travel) wants his revenge on his brother timelords. The 3 doctors are sent in to prevent Omega to escape from his prison. William Hartnel can only give advice and do nothing but watch.

Rating:
Summary: THREE ECCENTRIC DOCTORS - ONE INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!
Review: Made to mark the show's tenth anniversary, "Doctor Who - The Three Doctors" brings the first three incarnations of the greatest sci-fi hero together for an incredible adventure across time and space. The acting is amazing, and the storytelling is superb. It was sad to see little of William Hartnell, but it couldn't have been helped since his health was declining. The DVD presents great picture and sound, and a load of special features that never cease to entertain. If you are a fan of "Doctor Who" and science fiction in general, then "The Three Doctors" is a great introduction along with the twentieth anniversary special, "The Five Doctors!" This is a worthy addition to anyone's film library! Movie/DVD Grade: A+

Rating:
Summary: DOCTOR WHO AND THE THREE DOCTORS
Review: ONE OF THE BEST DR WHO EPISODES EVER MADE.THE COMBINATION OF JOHN PERTWEE AND PATRICK TROUGHTON MADE THE STORY THEY WERE LIKE DR WATSON AND SHERLOCK HOLMES.PLAYING OF EACH OTHERS COMIC AND SERIOUS SITUATIONS.EVER THOUGHT WILLIAM HARTNEL WASN'T IN IT MUCH HE ACTED AS THE COMMANDER GIVING OUT ORDERS LIKE IN A WAR FILM.THE STORY IS ABOUT HOW THE FIRST TIMELORD OMEGA HAS COME BACK TO TAKE REVENGE ON THE TIMELORDS OF GALIFREY.SO THE TIMELORDS ASK THE DOCTOR TO SORT THE MATTER OUT.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best Doctor Who ever made!!!
Review: Simply put this is a great tape with a really good story. For those who never got to see the first 3 doctors then this is a must. The interaction between Patrick Troughton(Doctor #2) and Jon Pertwee(Doctor#3) is priceless. The very ill William Hartnell(original Doctor) gives a nice addition even though limited by his ailing disease. The story is outstanding with a villian of comperable ability to the Doctors. Its a Pertwee story that simply is great. Its also a great story for those just being introduced to the world of Doctor Who. Sadly this was the last appearence of William Hartnell who died not that long after this. Its historic especially now considering that the first 3 doctors which helped make Doctor Who so great are no longer alive. But the y will forever be in our hearts.

Rating:
Summary: A great reunion special
Review: The BBC decided to do an anniversary special of Dr. Who, so, they got the 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) & the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton) to work with the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to save the galaxy from Omega...an evil Time Lord bent on destroying the universe via a black hole. This episode marks the final appearance of Hartnell as the 1st Doctor.

Rating:
Summary: A great reunion special
Review: The BBC decided to do an anniversary special of Dr. Who, so, they got the 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) & the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton) to work with the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to save the galaxy from Omega...an evil Time Lord bent on destroying the universe via a black hole. This episode marks the final appearance of Hartnell as the 1st Doctor.

Rating:
Summary: Three Doctors + 10th anniversary = Winning celebration
Review: The first major anniversary celebration was a success. Ten years for a TV show was quite a feat, with three actors in the lead role, each actor boosting the ratings and popularity of the show, and what better way to celebrate it by having all three Doctors appearing?

The story? A strange sort of stellar energy arrives on Earth, having the alarming habit of making people vanish, such as Mr. Ollis, a game warden, and Professor Tyler, who is studying the energy. It ends up that the energy is hunting the Doctor, as evidenced by the kidnapping of Bessie, the Doctor's yellow Roadster. Well, the energy steals a lot more than that as the show progresses.

The bigger picture, however, is grim. The energy is coming from a black hole in the universe of anti-matter, and even the Time Lords are powerless to stop it. The Chancellor comes up with the brilliant idea of breaking the First Law of Time and having the Doctor help himself. Back on Earth, the current Doctor is puzzled when he sees a familiar looking recorder materialize, promptly followed by its owner, namely his previous self. The recorder later plays a crucial role in the story, by the way.

The perpetrator turns out to be a Time Lord legend, Omega, who was presumed dead, but turned up in his world of anti-matter. However, his eons of solitude has left him thirsting for revenge against the Time Lords, whom he thinks betrayed and abandoned him, and nothing would be better than draining them of their power completely.

Jo has a nice outfit in this story, miniskirt, boots, and a bluish fur coat (false fur, I hope). Jon Pertwee teased Katy Manning on her outfit, remarking that he didn't remember this story having a blue Yeti. Okay, so it isn't a sensible thing to wear on an alien planet, but part of what makes Jo my favorite companion are those her 60's-70's costumes.

The interplay between Pertwee and Troughton is what keeps this story afloat. They argue like little kids throughout the story, and it takes the stern and sensible First Doctor as well as Jo to keep them working together.

The part where the Second and Third Doctors try to explain who he is to a very confused Jo leads her to misquote "I Am The Walrus." The exasperated Third Doctor says, "Look Jo, it's perfectly simple. I am he, and he is me." Poor Jo chimes in with "And we are all together. Googoo gichoo." Third Doctor: "What?" Jo: "It's a song by the Beatles." Second Doctor: "Really? How does it go? Maybe I can play it on my recorder."

The Brigadier and Sgt. Benton are the only human links to the show's past. Both worked with the Second Doctor in The Invasion, and the show's continuity only adds to the effectiveness of the celebration.
Stephen Thorne, whose booming voice is familiar as Azal in The Daemons and who later was the male Eldrad in The Hand Of Death, plays Omega here. He is anguished when he removes his golden KKK-like mask to reveal... nothing. But his explosive reaction is a bad case of overracting and even here, I have to wince.

As for the limited appearance of William Hartnell, come on! The poor guy was a year away from death, had to read his lines from giant cue cards, and did all his filming in one setting so he could get back home, so let's not criticize this story for that. It's a miracle he was able to make so that there WOULD be three Doctors.

Rating:
Summary: A treat.
Review: The Time Lords are facing a crisis, their power being sucked into a mysterious black hole. So it's up to the first three doctors (Bill Hartnell only appearing briefly due to ill health) to sort out the mess.

This is without doubt one of the best 'campy' Dr Who stories ever made. There are plenty of humourous touches, but they're never allowed to stand in the way of the story's more sinister aspects. Omega is a good villain, suitably loud, and UNIT are on top form.

Rating:
Summary: Double celebration for Troughton fans
Review: There should have been much to celebrate when Doctor Who reached it's tenth anniversary in 1973 and recognizing this, the BBC pulled out all the stops for a special story (often suggested by viewers) bringing together all the three actors who had played the part of the Doctor up until that point. Its just such a shame that what was produced turned out to be the very lackluster Three Doctors!

Actually made around the time of the ninth anniversary in November 1972 and first aired almost eleven months before the tenth, The Three Doctors is a hugely disappointing story in an otherwise strong season. It was pretty routine during the Pertwee era of the show to have some stories weaker than others, but it is such a shame that it was this very special adventure that drew the short straw. Inherently, the plotline itself is not bad at all, but the script and execution are woeful. The dialogue is not only cheesy but exceptionally cheesily delivered. The normally reliable Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier) and John Levene (Benton) in particular are both made to look like bumbling pantomime characters as are the supporting cast of Dr. Tyler and Mr. Ollis. Of course, the production was plagued with problems right from the beginning as Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks explain in the very engaging commentary. Although he was very enthusiastic, ill health meant that the first Doctor, William Hartnell, was simply not up to playing a very active role in the show at all. His part was drastically scaled back and limited to filmed inserts. Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor, makes a very welcome and energetic return to the show and certainly goes a long way to stealing the thunder of the incumbent Jon Pertwee. Rewrites to accommodate the changing availability of the cast and plot could be one reason the show just doesn't work, but there's no real excuse for the cheapness of the production. The sets are limited to four with some bland location work in the standard gravel pit added. The set for Omega's domain is truly dreadful, as are his Gellgaurd minions. Quite how anyone thought the design would work is mind-boggling. The time lord control center is littered with left over props from Carnival of Monsters (not yet broadcast, but recorded earlier), as are the time lord costumes. Everything else takes place in the standard Tardis or the UNIT lab sets. It's all so gaudy and hammed up by the actors that there's no way it can be appreciated as the classic adventure it should be. Even the normally very reliable Katy Manning (Jo Grant) is weak, but in fairness, like the two lead Doctors, she's merely trying to cope as best she can with dreadful lines.

Rather surprisingly, the better of the two releases is the earlier Troughton epic The Seeds of Death, one of the first stories to make it onto VHS in the early eighties. Made at the end of 1968/early 1969 this six-part adventure in black and white hardly holds classic status in the series canon. But surprisingly, and thanks in part to a very, very intensive clean up and restoration, the story does stand up very strongly. Well, at least in comparison to the Three Doctors anyway. Marking the second appearance of the much-loved Ice Warriors, there is enough in this story to keep viewers enthralled throughout its six episodes. True, it could have been much better had it only stretched to four, but the padding is not as obvious as other longer adventures. The most striking feature for me is the design and direction. Marking it clearly as a late sixties show, the set has some terrific touches that help the production stand out. There's a very well put together supporting cast, even if the three regulars are a bit below par. This was intended to be Frazer Hines' (Jamie) last appearance in the show, but as it was announced during it's broadcast that Troughton would be leaving the role of the Doctor at the end of the season, Hines was persuaded to stay on until then and leave at the same time, as ultimately did Wendy Padbury (Zoe). Hines and Padbury join Director Michael Ferguson and Script Editor Terrance Dicks to provide a hugely enjoyable commentary soundtrack, which is very insightful into the production of the story. As both teams say on both releases, it's such a shame that neither of the two Doctors featured are around to provide their own thoughts.

Both discs provide many, many extras, in the case of the Seeds of Death on an entirely separate disc. There's some genuinely interesting features dragged from the archives, including a completely bizarre interview with Patrick Troughton recorded in 1973. There's also a newly made mini-documentary featuring the actors who played the Ice Warriors.

It's all very enjoyable stuff, and any fan of the show will of course be delighted to add to the growing DVD collection of stories. I'm not sure how casual viewers would react to these two stories, but I hope it won't put them off future releases.

Rating:
Summary: Three truly is the magic number!
Review: This adventure marked a great deal of significance for Doctor Who in many ways. This adventure marked the 10th Anniversary of the program, and also brought together Jon Pertwee with Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell, the two previous actors to portray the Doctor.

The adventure itself was extraordinary, as it involves Omega, one of the founders of the Time Lord society, living in a universe of Anti-Matter that lies within the confines of a black hole, driven mad by the long years of isolation, out for revenge against the Time Lords (believing that he was abandoned). His powers are so great that the time bridge he creates (a frightening blob of ooze) threatens to tear apart the very fabric of the space-time continuum. In order to put a stop to it, the Time Lords break the first rule of time and allow the Doctor to help himself... literally. by removing his previous selves from their timestreams temporarily to assist the present incarnation.

This was a delightful adventure indeed. Upon seeing Patrick Troughton reappear out of midair to retrieve his recorder from the hands of the Third Doctor is simply priceless, and their bickering was also a highlight. And also of great importance was the appearance of William Hartnell. Although he was suffering from an illness that prevented him from being there on the set, he did provide a great deal through brief pre-recorded segments that would appear on the time scanner. My favorite part was when the two Doctors see the first Doctor on the screen, and Jo asks them both who that was, to which they both simultaneously reply, Me! then look at each in anger and say again in unison, ME!

this truly is a classic and a must have for Doctor Who fans, for at the end, the adventure also marks the end of the Doctor's exile. get a copy of this and you'll see what I mean.