Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 7, 2022

Don't let that 4 in this release's title mislead you, there's no K afterward, and this is most definitely an "old school" offering in more ways than one, perhaps with regard to audio at least as much as video. As any Whovian worth their salt* may already know, there are sadly a bunch of missing episodes from the series, mostly from the relatively early years of what has ended up being an incredibly long broadcast run that has stretched over several decades. One of those missing episodes stems from 1965 and the William Hartnell incarnation of the venerable Doctor. Interestingly, though, Galaxy 4 wasn't completely lost, as both a snippet from Episode One as well as almost all of Episode Three were ultimately discovered, and the complete soundtrack was preserved (under kind of funny circumstances), allowing for this patently odd "recreation" to have been produced. This two disc set offers Galaxy 4 as an animated entertainment playing to that original soundtrack, and kind of interestingly (and maybe just a bit weirdly), BBC is offering it in either black and white or color and in either 1.33:1 (for the black and white version) or 1.78:1 (for the color version). The actual serial is about what you'd expect from this era of Doctor Who, but it has at least one unintentional referent which those with a political bent may find absolutely hilarious.

*Note: Somewhat hilariously, I discovered that there are actual corners of the internet devoted to the use of salt in Doctor Who. Enterprising Googlers are encouraged to explore this oddity.

Doctor Who (William Hartnell), Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) find themselves on a barren planet that seems to be home to little robotic creatures nicknamed Chumbleys who bear more than a passing resemblance to Daleks, but who might (emphasis on might) be at least somewhat less sinister, despite the fact that they more or less take our intrepid trio hostage as the serial opens. That somewhat ambivalent perception of the Chumbleys continues apace once another set of probable antagonists, females knows as Dharvins, are introduced, and it appears that the Chumbleys and the Dharvins may have a bit of "history". The potentially hilarious political referent alluded to above comes courtesy of the leader of the Dharvins, a nefarious woman named Maaga, which is pronounced identically to if spelled slightly differently from a certain "movement" some may be aware of. Sometimes it's best to leave commentary to the typically unpredictable Wikipedia, who provide the helpful information that this particular Maaga enjoys treating "her simple-minded subordinates with bullying contempt".

Judging by what remains of the original production, this was not the most exciting serial in Doctor Who history, and it had a kind of cheesy, lo-fi production aesthetic at times, which of course was kind of Doctor Who's calling card back in the day. This release should nonetheless be of some interest to diehard fans of the series, some of whom no doubt hope other "lost" episodes will see some kind of light of day.

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 is pressented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1 (black and white) and 1.78:1 (color). The animation style here is not especially remarkable, with pretty simple character designs and frankly not a whale of a lot going on in backgrounds. I personally preferred the color version simply because the palette is rather nicely suffused, with some especially gorgeous pastel tones in a kind of peach or yellow-orange territory. Line detail is sharp in both versions, though "fine detail" is probably kind of a misnomer to begin with since everything is so minimally presented. I noticed no problematic compression artifacts.

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If some fan sites are to be believed, the audio for this serial was actually "curated" by a fan who recorded it off of the original broadcast in 1965, and as someone who used to sit in front of the television with a mini-cassette recorder in order to get my favorite themes memorialized (back when there were themes), I can easily believe it. That said, the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track here is not exactly state of the art. Amplitude is pretty anemic, there's a flat, boxy sound throughout and things like sibilance on "s" sounds can kind of ebb and flow at times. If not optimal, both dialogue and effects are offered with sufficient clarity. Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One features the animated version of the serial in black and white along with these supplements:

• Surviving Original Episode Three (HD; 25:24) is in decent shape, though obviously weathered and aged, and with some odd warping that looks kind of like it may have been preserved via kinescope. (See screenshot 19.)


• Surviving Original Episode One Clip (HD; 6:19)


• Photographic Reconstructions are really fascinating aggregations of production stills that hope to recreate in their own way what the original episodes looked like. These each come with two audio options, Original Audio or Narration Audio.

  Episode One (SD; 23:33)

  
  

  Episode Two (SD; 26:18)

  
  

  Episode Four (SD; 26:31)

• Audio Commentaries

  Episode One with Maureen O'Brien & Peter Purves

  
  

  Episode One with Gary Russell

  
  

  Episode Two with Clive Doig and Brian Hodgson

  
  

  Episode Three with Sue Willis

  
  

  Episode Four with Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Lyn Ashley

  
  

  Episode Four with Chloe Grech

  
  

  Surviving Original Episode Three with Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Lyn Ashley

  
  

  Surviving Original Episode One Clip with Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Lyn Ashley

• Episode Info Text offers a fascinating grab bag of information and trivia and can be accessed under the Subtitles Menu.

Note: The Play Menu offers the options to either play all four animated episodes, or the three animated episodes with the existing archival Episode Three.

Disc Two features the animated version of the serial in color along with these supplements:

• Making of Documentary (HD; 40:01) is a kind of cheeky enterprise that starts out with a Chumbley descending on a picturesque English bungalow. The piece is officially titled The Trouble with Chumblies and features some nostalgic reminiscences about the original production.


• Finding Galaxy 4 (HD; 21:19) will be a must see for an archivists and/or film historians, dealing with the unexpected discovery or at least return of supposedly lost footage.


• Photo Gallery (HD; 3:57)


• Trailer (HD; 1:02)


• Audio Commentaries

  Episode One with Maureen O'Brien & Peter Purves

  
  

  Episode One with Gary Russell

  
  

  Episode Two with Clive Doig and Brian Hodgson

  
  

  Episode Three with Sue Willis

  
  

  Episode Four with Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Lyn Ashley

  
  

  Episode Four with Chloe Grech



• Episode Info Text offers a fascinating grab bag of information and trivia and can be accessed under the Subtitles Menu.

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As with so many of the earlier Doctor Who releases, the actual serial presented here may be of less lasting interest than the excellent supplements. This is an interesting if frankly maybe unneeded "restoration". If more budget had been allowed for more impressive animation, this might have been more interesting, but I'm sure fans will delight in hearing the original soundtrack, even if the audio quality is compromised. Technical merits range from very good (video) to passable (audio), but the supplements are outstanding and will no doubt be appreciated by any Whovians who are considering making a purchase.