Doctor Who: The Visitation (Special Edition)

Ask any Doctor Who fan to pick their favorite era of the show and they will each pick a different Doctor as their favorite, and likely decry the others as being nowhere near as good. It all seems to depend on your age and when you first became interested in the show. For me, who started watching in the Patrick Troughton tenure as the Doctor and became riveted to the show in the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras, I find it hard not to be disappointed with what came later. The BBC have again released two stories on DVD from opposing eras of the show and certainly nothing here is likely to change my mind about what I like most. First up is the Jon Pertwee story ending his fourth season as the intrepid Time Lord - The Green Death. For many, this is one of the most evocative and best-remembered stories from his five-year stint in the role. With a remarkable eye on future events, this story has once again led the way from being science fiction to many science facts. The storyline of a mega-corporation polluting the planet and sinisterly controlling our behavior is hardly stuff of fantasy anymore, alas. But thirty years ago, it was only a nightmare of a possibly frightening future. The problems with many of the Pertwee stories were of length and budget. Six part stories tended to be heavily padded to make the money go further and often sagged badly in the middle. I'm glad to say The Green Death is not one of those. Of course, it might have been tighter had it only stretched to four episodes and undoubtedly if it was made today it would be trimmed to one fifty minute romp, but it works very well in it's longer format. There are flaws of course, but all these can be washed away by the very, very poignant and indeed tear-jerking ending that sets the show apart from much of what had gone before. Losing one of the show's regular characters was often hard on viewers but somehow the departure of Jo Grant, the third Doctor's long standing second assistant, had a very big impact on the audience, possibly more so than the exit of any previous leading lady in the show. By far one of the most successful partnerships ever created for the show, even now, viewers can tell that the acting by the two leads as they parted ways was heightened by very real sadness. Indeed, Katy Manning, the lovely actress who played Jo for three years, becomes very emotional in her commentary for this release as she relives the parting scene all these years later. It's the commentary and the extras that always make these releases so special and Katy, together with Script Editor Terrance Dicks and Producer Barry Letts, provide a genuinely interesting narrative, which is hugely enjoyable. Clearly a close team, they all lament the absence of the Doctor himself, the late Jon Pertwee. There could have been a certain amount of discomfort in the commentary, since Jo Grant leaves the Doctor when she falls in love and intends to marry Professor Jones. In reality, Katy Manning was indeed engaged to the actor playing Jones, Stewart Bevan, and their subsequent marriage only lasted a few months. Tactfully, none of this is mentioned in the commentary or by Bevan's own contribution to the disc. In addition, a terrifically funny documentary on what happened after the show is worth purchasing the disc alone. I can't say the same for The Visitation, the second of the new releases, pulled from the first season to feature Peter Davison in the Time Lord's shoes. It's certainly not a bad four part romp and there's a lot to commend it in terms of production values and a fine guest cast, but it's symptomatic of the era that the squabbling and frankly badly acted regular cast get in the way of a good story. Interestingly, in this story, Davison's Doctor loses his temper with all three of his companions and as a viewer, you really can't blame him. Individually they may have all worked as characters, but there were just too many of them to make scenes work effectively. But it's another twist on the Doctor explaining Earth history via science fiction and a clever idea in itself and well executed. Recorded second, but transmitted fourth, Davison was still finding his way in the part but he was hampered by the inexperience of the cast he was expected to carry and alas the story fails as a result. Things certainly did improve later, but these were still very early days. Thankfully, the on screen bickering of the four main leads clearly didn't translate into `real life' and their commentary is genuinely funny and entertaining, particularly as they gleefully point out each other's rather limited acting ability. The extras on this disc are slightly less impressive and almost became tedious, but they're still worthy of inclusion and hardcore fans will certainly be pleased to have them. All in all, another great pair of releases showcasing different approaches to the long running classic adventure serial. Well worth the investment and a must for any collector.

A refreshing script filled with engaging, well written and well acted characters, with a simple and straightforward plot that's refreshingly novel in its use of aliens attempting to conquer Earth and commit genocide in the process. And the production is top-rate, rushing nothing and being properly paced. There are even some nice period pieces that, in their own arcane way, are educational. What more could one ask for? What's not to like? Even the story's most glaring oversight is EASILY forgiven, given the weight and credibility this story otherwise carries. Eric Saward's first script is stellar (and his subsequent "Earthshock" is also very effective). (that oversight? Nyssa suggests historians will be baffled if they discover any strewn power packs (which are smaller than the size of a pill bottle). Yet the Tereleptils' escape pod never got dealt with and is rather easier to find, thanks to its size. But, again, the story makes it easy to overlook that.) Best of all are the one-liners and jibes each character makes at apropos moments during the story; it's the quality and quantity of dialogue that sets this story (nevermind the series "Doctor Who") from any given sci-fi drivel produced today, let alone back then. As usual, the restoration work never ceases to impress and, indeed, for a single layer disc the transfer looks very good indeed. (UK customers are treated with dual-layer discs and, as such, get much better looking copies, but the US releases have generally been quite passable too.) And the sound is, as usual, superlative. And there's a slew of extras: An isolated soundtrack of the music score, which only made me happy. The style of music used in this era could never be matched, and it's great to have the music separated so it can be enjoyed on its own. Also included, much to my surprise and delight, was a decent documentary of the scoring of the story that includes composer Paddy Kingsland. A fanboy's dream! Or the dream of anybody who'd want to know about how a story is composed, or anyone who likes to know how shows and movies are put together. It's informative and Paddy's musical style is easily one of the best the series has ever had... But yet this doco wasn't as good as others. That's not to say I didn't welcome this extra! Very few series get this sort of treatment and I must say many more series deserve this sort of treatment! It's still B+. I've not yet watched the other documentaries and extras, but I'd easily guess they'd be of the usual quality. But I can say the audio commentaries from the main cast is, as with Earthshock, wonderful to listen to. Great to have the four of them back together for reminiscing, even if they rib their performances or how it was filmed. :-) (Heck, it's entertaining and the chemistry between them is wonderful, though I won't reveal any spoilers there... heh. )

This is one of my favorites of the Peter Davidson era a really good story a whole lot of fun to watch. But on top of that there's some wonderful special features, one of the things I love but that about the Peter Davidson DVDs particularly with Janet, Sarah and Matthew along with Peter is the audio commentary can be just as entertaining as the show itself. There's some other wonderful special features including them going back to the locations where they shot some of the show which is a lot of fun to watch I highly recommend this DVD. By the way look out for an Easter egg on disk 1

A simple story with a few special effects. The fifth Doctor can be very hit or miss for me. I think this one is enjoyable enough.

Absolutely wonderful to have this gem in my collection. For those Whovians who are collecting the cardinal events of the Doctor Who continuum, this one is critical: The moment when the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is destroyed. The Doctor doesn't get a new one until the Movie, so from this point the 5th Doctor, as well as the 6th and 7th, don't have their magic wand. Good story as well. My wife looks down on these episodes because of low-budget costumes and theatrical acting, but that just makes it more fun for me.

This is one of my favorites with Peter Davison as The Doctor. A popular time period for the Dr. Who series, it has the usual great stage actors in the supporting roles, such as the character Richard Mace the highwayman. Nyssa, Tegan, and Adrick are excellent as the companions. Once again, another alien has come to earth to take it over, eliminating humans in the process. But when the doctor stumbles onto them, they decide they want the Tardis as well. This episode is a must for the Dr. Who fan and just a fun movie for anyone.

As hard as it may be to believe, at the time 'The Visitation' was the first proper historical Doctor Who story since the (outstanding) 1977 story 'Horror of Fang Rock' more than four years previously. It was a most welcome return and the story really makes the best of its 17th century setting. Eric Saward's script is simple but very effective; there are only a small number of proper characters but they are mostly well written. It's also pleasing that Saward's habit of sidelining the Doctor isn't in evidence here; the Doctor is a central character throughout. I was pleased that the sonic screwdriver was written out in this story as I was never keen on it. The trouble is Saward struggles to find things for all three companions to do. It doesn't help that Richard Mace almost becomes a companion for this story. Peter Davison gives his usual superb performance here; watching him it's easy to forget that this was only his second story to be filmed. Michael Robbins is magnificent as highwayman and actor Richard Mace. Michael Melia does a good job of playing the Tereleptil leader, it couldn't have been pleasant for him in that costume. John Savident, of Coronation Street fame, puts in an appearance in the first episode sans distinctive Lancashire accent. The story is very well executed by director Peter Moffatt; the large amount of location filming is splendid. The sequences of the android wandering through the forest disguised as the grim reaper are particularly effective. The Tereleptil costumes are very impressive, the mouth even moves. Paddy Kingsland's incidental music is very good indeed. The scenes towards the end, set in London are nicely done. The Tereleptil leader meets a suitably grim end, burning to death. The conclusion of the story, with it being revealed that the Doctor started the great fire of London, is genius. 'The Visitation' is not quite one of the series' all time classics but it is a very enjoyable adventure nonetheless. All of the special features from the original 2004 DVD release are also included on this special edition. These include 'Directing Who Peter Moffatt' A very nice 26 minute feature which looks at Moffatt's directorial contributions to Doctor Who. It's composed of footage from an interview with Moffatt interspersed with clips from the stories he directed. Moffatt comes across as very likeable. There is also 'Writing a final visitation' which is an interview with Eric Saward in which he talks about the writing process of 'The Visitation'. It's quite good and it lasts for approximately 12 minutes. The other extra from the original DVD release is 'Scoring the Visitation' in which incidental music composer Paddy Kingsland discusses with Mark Ayres the music he composed for the story. It's very detailed and it lasts for 16 minutes. While there were some pleasing extras on the original DVD, they have gone to town for this special edition. 'Grim tales' is a 45 minute 'making of' documentary. However it breaks the formula of the usual 'making of' documentaries; Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Mark Strickson explore the locations used for the story. They've clearly gone to some effort to make this documentary. 'Television Centre of the Universe part one' is a very engaging feature about (yes!) BBC television centre. It's presented by Yvette Fielding who is joined by Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson. Together they go on a tour of the centre and share their memories of working there. There are some very funny anecdotes and plenty of banter between the four. 'Doctor forever- the apocalypse experiment' is about Doctor Who on audio. It almost exclusively focuses on Big finish. This is likely to be a love it or hate it feature.

Dans cet épisode de la période classique Peter Davison le "Docteur " essaye, encore une fois, de ramener Tegan à son époque ! Mais nos 3 héros: le Docteur, Tegan et Adric se retrouvent au 17 ème siècle dans un village où les étrangers ne sont les bienvenus. (réputés porteurs d'une terrible peste ) Bientôt poursuivis ,aidés par un habitant un peu particulier ,ils découvrent que des extraterrestres malveillants se cachent derrière tout ça. C'est un épisode correct (en particulier pour la période Davison qui ne compte pas parmi les bons crus de la série classique !)le scénario est intéressant ,le jeux des acteurs pas mauvais .Quelques scènes tournée en décors extérieurs apportent du charme à l'ensemble .Seule la fin ,artificielle et bâclée ,gâche un peu le sentiment de bonne histoire .

Absolutely amazing! Good price, and a fantastic story! Love the 5th doctor!

England's green and pleasant land, spoiled only by rats, plague, the Grim Reaper and a giant alien fish lizard with attitude problems. Welcome to 1666! `Heathrow airport' never looked better. So what if the Doctor did arrive 300 years early, you can't please some people! Attractively filmed around leafy parkland and a manor house west of London, `The Visitation' is a good-looking `history meets the alien' outing for Peter Davison's Doctor in his second story (in filming order), he brought a welcome freshness and energy to the series. The interior sets and effects set a high standard and the animatronic `monster' design is unforgettable. Michael Melia performs a convincing alien even under several inches of latex. For once this is not a deliberate invasion; the three fugitive Terraleptils have crashed on Earth and have nowhere else to go. So, naturally, they decide to wipe out humanity and take the planet. No Terraleptil is going to win a galactic beauty contest but they do have a love of art (so the Doctor tells us), which must explain why their android looks like a glam-rock / disco art installation on legs! Like all the design work, it conveys high quality and adds to the very distinctive, glossy look of the story. `The Visitation' gives the Doctor more companions than you can waggle a gill-flap at (if you're a Terraleptil), no less than four. The fourth `companion' is the wonderful creation of Richard Mace, out of work 17th century "ac-tor" and part time highwayman, played with zest, flamboyance and a rich, rolling delivery by Michael Robbins. Mace has obviously spent so long treading the boards of Restoration England's temples of theatrical tradition (as he might say) that for him, "All the world's a stage" is literally true. Even when he's up a tree or faced with a bad-tempered extraterrestrial, the curtain never falls. ("You jest, Sir!") Brilliant, and an example of how comedy in `Doctor Who' can add to a story when it appears to come naturally from the character's own life. Three companions plus one does sometimes feel like too many roles with not enough action to go round, but the different characters play off each other well and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) has a good story with something properly scientific to do and gets the result. Attractive as the woods and country settings are, a longer section in plague-ridden London would have added to the story, the sets are excellent and deserved more time on screen. `The Visitation' is a very enjoyable history plus monsters story with a memorable final twist and well worth a visitation of your own, I'll visit four stars upon it, plus a bonus star for the quality of the special edition extras. The special edition picture quality is sharp and colourful, displaying the fine location filming and sets. Best of the many extra features on the two special edition DVDs: The commentary is very entertaining, full of cheerful memories and anecdotes and a good deal of fun at their own characters' expense. `Grim Tales' where Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton go for a light-hearted celebratory trip (pun alert) in the woods. Mark Strickson guides them round the locations and leads them to find the site of The Chemical Toilet (I'm not making this up) then it's off to the manor for tea. It's obvious that all concerned enjoyed the experience then and now and this sense of enjoyment comes across for us to share. `The Television Centre of the Universe - Part One' is a similarly jolly stroll through a day in the life of classic `Doctor Who' at the now deserted TV Centre. `The Apocalypse Element' - the story of `Doctor Who' on audio. NOTE: The DVD menu shows clips from the programme as background, so if you don't know the story already, press `Play' ASAP. And leave the PDF materials for later unless you want to know the whole plot!

I am not a big fan of the Fifth doctor but this story is good. The mix of history and past horrors affecting the present always works good for Doctor Who