8.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
In 1963 an old fashioned Police Call Box sat in a junk yard at 76 Totters Lane. An old man out and about exploring. A young girl wise beyond her years attending Coal Hill School. Two teachers become suspicious. Barbara and Ian suspect the girl is in trouble. They follow her home. The girl, Susan Foreman, vanishes into the junkyard. Barbara and Ian investigate. They discovered the Police Box. "It's alive!" says Ian, he feels a faint vibration coming from within. The girls grandfather returns. He confronts the two teachers who accuse him of holding the girl inside the Police Box. They hear her call out to him from inside. Barbara and Ian push their way in and discover a world they never thought possible.
Starring: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker (I), Peter DavisonSci-Fi | 100% |
Adventure | 36% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i (upconverted)
Aspect ratio: 1.32:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Eight-disc set (8 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It may strike even devoted Whovians as a little unexpected that in one notable poll, Sylvester McCoy managed to outpace Tom Baker as voters' favorite "incarnation" of Doctor Who. That may be unexpected because McCoy rightly or wrongly has been accused by other devoted Whovians as having "killed" the series, if it turns out only temporarily. That assessment is of course probably manifestly unfair to McCoy, since this release makes it abundantly clear that Doctor Who had fallen into ruts of both storylines and presentational aspects that reduced the series from something at least putatively aimed at a relatively broad swath of the viewing public to what might be charitably termed less than effective kiddie fare. There are still pleasures to be found, of course, and this first season offering McCoy as the venerable doctor has some goofy physical comedy that may appeal to some (though relatively short lived in his tenure, McCoy's "arc" as the Doctor is really rather interesting, and this comedic aspect tended to give way to darker manifestations later in the run).
Doctor Who: Sylvester McCoy: Complete Season One is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.32:1. Fans of the series who have been getting previous upscaled seasons will know that video quality of these releases can be variable at best, and downright problematic at worst, and this is another salient example. As I've mentioned in many previous reviews of individual seasons of Doctor Who, it's the nicely suffused palette that probably comes off best overall, with some lushly saturated tones that offer a bit of diversion from what are recurrent issues with the taped material in particular, where upscaling can add all sorts of expected anomalies like stair stepping and ringing. There seems to be actual ghosting in evidence on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, the filmed elements don't really look that much better. The special effects are often pretty laughable, in true Doctor Who fashion, and this release offers only a fitful "update" of the initial transformation from the sixth to the seventh doctors.
Some previous seasons of Doctor Who have offered only occasional 5.1 mixes in addition to DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mixes, but this set features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options for all four serials. The results are intermittently effective, especially in some of the effects laden scenes that depend on sonics to establish things, but the mono tracks really suffice perfectly well for a series that simply didn't seem to have the budget for any sustained sound design overkill. While the surround tracks can offer noticeable engagement of the side and rear channels in fits and spurts, they at least don't really exhibit some of the out of phase quality that can sometimes attend these surround repurposings. Dialogue and score are both rendered without any problems. Optional English subtitles are available.
This release continues BBC's tradition of offering some of the same types of supplements seen in many previous releases of this series on Blu-ray, as
in the Audio Commentaries or Behind the Sofa
"in person" commentaries, both of which feature revolving sets of cast and crew members. There's the typical gamut of news or infotainment
offerings included on this set, with a number of snippets from British children's shows that have some kind of Doctor Who tie in. This set
has surround tracks as options for all of the episodes, and so I
haven't included those in the list below, as has sometimes been the case in prior reviews of Doctor Who Blu-ray releases. This set also
features (slightly) extended versions of all of the episodes on the Bonus discs, as detailed below:
Disc One - Time and the Rani
- Sylvester McCoy (SD; 17:02)
- Dermot Crowley (SD; 14: 12)
- David Fielder (SD; 7:54)
- Saturday Superstore (SD; 9:02)
- BBC Six O'Clock News (SD; 1:24)
- Blue Peter - Sylvester McCoy (SD; 1:23)
- Pamela Armstrong (SD; 9:58)
- Breakfast Time (SD; 4:06)
- Breakfast Time - Location Rushes (SD; 44:23)
- It's Wicked (SD; 12:07)
- Points of View (SD; 1:55)
- Blue Peter - Dalek Car (SD; 2:54)
- Open Air (SD; 24:55)
- Clean Opening & Closing Titles (HD; 2:11) offer the following audio options: Stereo Full Mix, 5.1 Surround Full Mix, Stereo Effects Only and Stereo Music Only.
- Rejected Opening & Closing Titles (HD; 2:11) offer the following audio options: Mono Full Mix, Mono Effects Only and Mono Music Only.
Even diehard fans of Doctor Who can be forced (sometimes under duress) to admit that the show was obviously in a waning quality situation as the McCoy years started and continued (for a short while, anyway). This is another season that has occasional moments of effectiveness, but which is too often repetitive and just too hyperbolically silly, something that may recommend it to the youngest tots in the audience, but which may try the patience of even older children. Technical merits are once again pretty iffy in the video department, but fine in the audio department, and this set from BBC really goes into hyperdrive (sorry, couldn't resist) for those who may be considering making a purchase.
1963-1964
1964-1965
1965
1966
1967
1967
1967
1970
1971
1972-1973
1972
1974-1975
1976-1977
1977-1978
1979-1980
1980-1981
1982
1983
1985
1986
1988-1989
1989
The Star Beast / Wild Blue Yonder / The Giggle
2023
50th Anniversary Special
2013
Doctor Who Docudrama / Includes 'An Unearthly Child' Bonus DVD
2013
1965
2020-2023
2006-2007
1966
1966-1969
Budget Re-release
1987-1994
2014
45th Anniversary
1979
1995-2001
1975-1977
Budget Re-release
2001-2005
45th Anniversary Edition
1978
2019
2016
2000
The Remastered Collection
1978-1980
Includes "The Invisible Boy" on SD
1956