Home :: DVD :: Television  

A&E Home Video
BBC
Classic TV
Discovery Channel
Fox TV
General
HBO
History Channel
Miniseries
MTV
National Geographic
Nickelodeon
PBS
Star Trek
TV Series
WGBH Boston
Doctor Who - Carnival of Monsters

Doctor Who - Carnival of Monsters

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Dr Who adventures of all
Review: This is my second favourite Dr Who adventure behind the Android Invasion with Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen but I like the double team of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning a lot more.
The story is that the Doctor and Jo materialize inside a ship, the SS Bernice on the Indian Ocean in 1926.Jo thinks that they are still on Earth but the Doctor thinks even though they havent reached their destination, Metebelis 3 that they are on one of the neighbouring planets. Jo gets upset when he won't admit that they are on Earth and he tells her it is impossible. In fact,the doctor later figures out that they are in a Miniscope. This scope is in fact on a planet called Inter Minor and the owner won it gambling and doesn't quite know much about it himself.
The Doctor and Jo keep going back to the ship and keep running into the crew and passengers, Major and his daughter.Jo notices that the crew and passengers keep repeating their words and behaviour which is risible and reminds me of Groundhog Day.Eventually the Doctor and Jo escape into the subterranean workings of the minsicope and end up outdoors. They then run into the ferocious Drashigs which are kind of like dinosaurs.After this, the doctor figures out that they can't go forward because they will go back to the ship and they can't go back they will re-encounter the Drashigs so they have to act laterally. Eventually the Doctor escapes from the Miniscope and plans a way to set free JO and all the other sentient lifeforms in the scope. He goes back inside the compression field of the scope and using the TARDIS he is successful in his plan.
The funny thing is when all the lifeforms are returned to their own times is that the Major who was reading a book said it was the longest book he ever read and his daughter suspected somewhere in her mind that something peculiar had happened but couldn't put her finger on it.
I bought the DVD and it has a commentary by the actress Katy Manning who played the Doctor's companion Josephine Grant.Great stuff.I recommend this to all Jon Pertwee and DR Who fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...Unauthorized Lifeforms!
Review: This story contains some very memorable characters, especially the Minorians who despite being so obviously dull and bureaucratic, entertain us with some ludicrous dialogue - "The tribunal will not tolerate insolence from unauthorized lifeforms! ". Good performances all round, wonderful wobbly sets and a semi-serious script (yes - believe it or not, the story is supposed to be a sort of parody of 70's British television!), ensure that this story has a special place in any Who fans collection.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: CARNIVAL OF MEDIOCRITY
Review: This was the second story in the 1972-73 season 10 and was first transmitted on the 27th January 1973. In this tale, The 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Katie Manning) materialize in the TARDIS on what appears to be a cargo ship in the Indian Ocean in the 1920's. Unfortunately for them they are actually inside a "miniscope" which is a banned piece of equipment that "snatches" whole areas and people out of time and stores them in a perpetual time-loop for the amusement of paying visitors. This particular miniscope along with its collection of exhibits is the property of a pair of entertainers named Vorg and Shirna who have brought the device to the planet Inter Minor in order to make money displaying their captives.

The Doctor realizes something is wrong and manages to escape from his particular exhibit and enter another "world" populated by the flesh eating Drashigs. Fleeing from the carnivorous creatures, the doctor manages to get into the inner workings of the machine and reach the outside, but is unfortunately pursued by the hungry monsters. Just to complicate matters, two Minorians attempt to use the escaping Drashigs in an attempt to overthrow the planet's president and seize power for themselves. Emerging from the machine causes the Doctor and the giant Drashigs to grown to normal size and it is left to the Doctor and Vorg to destroy them and prevent the overthrow of the planet's rightful leader...

Out of all of the Jon Pertwee episodes that could have been released on DVD, I would have placed this one near the bottom of the list. The story is boring, the acting is terrible, the costumes are laughable and the effects are dreadful. Jon Perwee, of course, gives his usual sterling performance and Katie Manning is as cute as ever, however it's not enough to turn this into an entertaining story. One interesting point to note is the appearance of Ian Marter who would later go on to star as Harry Sullivan in the early Tom Baker stories and even write a few of the target Dr Who novels based on the transmitted stories.

Technical notes: The Doctor Who Restoration Team has again done an excellent job cleaning up the existing prints and removing as many glitches and scratchs as was possible. The disc is full of extra features including a commentary track by Katie Manning (Jo Grant) and Barry Letts (Director and Producer), deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, test effects for the Drashig puppets and the spacecraft, alternative theme music which was dropped, TARDIS Cam, a training guide to CSO (Green Screen) by Barry Letts, production sub-titles, a photo gallery and more.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: CARNIVAL OF MEDIOCRITY
Review: This was the second story in the 1972-73 season 10 and was first transmitted on the 27th January 1973. In this tale, The 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Katie Manning) materialize in the TARDIS on what appears to be a cargo ship in the Indian Ocean in the 1920's. Unfortunately for them they are actually inside a "miniscope" which is a banned piece of equipment that "snatches" whole areas and people out of time and stores them in a perpetual time-loop for the amusement of paying visitors. This particular miniscope along with its collection of exhibits is the property of a pair of entertainers named Vorg and Shirna who have brought the device to the planet Inter Minor in order to make money displaying their captives.

The Doctor realizes something is wrong and manages to escape from his particular exhibit and enter another "world" populated by the flesh eating Drashigs. Fleeing from the carnivorous creatures, the doctor manages to get into the inner workings of the machine and reach the outside, but is unfortunately pursued by the hungry monsters. Just to complicate matters, two Minorians attempt to use the escaping Drashigs in an attempt to overthrow the planet's president and seize power for themselves. Emerging from the machine causes the Doctor and the giant Drashigs to grown to normal size and it is left to the Doctor and Vorg to destroy them and prevent the overthrow of the planet's rightful leader...

Out of all of the Jon Pertwee episodes that could have been released on DVD, I would have placed this one near the bottom of the list. The story is boring, the acting is terrible, the costumes are laughable and the effects are dreadful. Jon Perwee, of course, gives his usual sterling performance and Katie Manning is as cute as ever, however it's not enough to turn this into an entertaining story. One interesting point to note is the appearance of Ian Marter who would later go on to star as Harry Sullivan in the early Tom Baker stories and even write a few of the target Dr Who novels based on the transmitted stories.

Technical notes: The Doctor Who Restoration Team has again done an excellent job cleaning up the existing prints and removing as many glitches and scratchs as was possible. The disc is full of extra features including a commentary track by Katie Manning (Jo Grant) and Barry Letts (Director and Producer), deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, test effects for the Drashig puppets and the spacecraft, alternative theme music which was dropped, TARDIS Cam, a training guide to CSO (Green Screen) by Barry Letts, production sub-titles, a photo gallery and more.


<< 1 2 3 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates