Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 22, 2025

BBC continues to mine its voluminous Doctor Who archives for material, but kind of hilariously one of the network/label's repeated strategies has been to release home media products of Doctor Who serials for which there is next to no archival material whatsoever, as is kind of comically relayed in a feature length supplement included on the third disc of this three disc set. Kind of weirdly, and for reasons which are left largely unexplained, for some reason in the mid sixties the BBC just didn't save much if anything from several Doctor Who serials, and the result has been a maybe slightly daffy but probably at least intermittently charming set of animated "recreations", since at least the soundtracks weathered the vagaries of time and/or tide. Also somewhat hilariously, as the aforementioned documentary gets into one way or the other Doctor Who and the Savages (as the original serial was titled) is curiously lesser remembered even by those who participated in its production. That may hint at a set of episodes that is maybe not all that remarkable, though devoted Whovians will know that the serial marked the exit of longtime companion Steven (Peter Purves).

For those interested in the other releases in this kinda sorta "franchise", click on the following review links:

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Blu-ray review

Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen Blu-ray review

Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace Blu-ray review

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker Blu-ray review

As even some of the supplements perhaps allude to, Doctor Who and the Savages may simply not have that much distinctive content to offer, but it's another fun journey for the First Doctor (William Hartnell), along with companions Dodo (Jackie Lane) and the soon to depart Steven (Peter Purves). The TARDIS makes what some of the supplements humorously refer to as just the first of many landings in an alien quarry (some of the other supplements document a brief burst of location filming in this era of Doctor Who, including this serial). There are two wholly different societies on this particular planet, a bunch of upper crust elites who are remarkably youthful and spry, and a bunch of almost cavemen (and/or cavewomen) types, who seem in decidedly worse shape. Of course the old adage warns us to not judge books (and/or aliens) by their covers, and initial perceptions are rather quickly disabused as to who may be the more noble group.

Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: The Savages is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1 (for the black and white version) and 1.78:1 (for the color version). This has a distinctly different design aesthetic from the supposedly more "3D" Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker, and in some ways it tends to be the most minimalist of all the animated Doctor Who outings I've reviewed in terms of detailing on both characters and especially backgrounds. The oddest thing about this, and something that for some reason is much more noticeable in the black and white version, is some rather strange anomalies that regularly crop up in the line detail, specifically some of the lines surrounding faces. I'd call it zigzagging, except all of these transfers are not upscales and are presented progressively, but that's what it looks like. In this particular case, I much preferred the color versions, as they offered at least a bit of variety, and sometimes quite nicely suffused hues, that at least provided a bit of visual engagement. My score is 3.75.

Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once again as with the previous animated outings, Doctor Who: The Savages features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. All of these tracks, with the exception of Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 (whose soundtrack was kind of wonderfully saved and curated by a fan on cassette), have offered decent fidelity and good support for the sometimes goofy sound effects and scoring, and this presentation is no different. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One features the animated version of the serial in black and white and in 1.33:1 (see most of the even numbered screenshots), along with these supplements:

• Photographic Reconstruction Episode One (HD; 24:43)


• Photographic Reconstruction Episode Two (HD; 24:54)


• Photographic Reconstruction Episode Three (HD; 25:55)


• Photographic Reconstruction Episode Four (HD; 26:19)

Note: All of the above can be played with either the original soundtrack or with (pretty sporadic) narration, which offers a kind of audio descriptive service.


• Audio Commentaries on each episode feature Toby Hadoke along with a round robin of participants, including Kay Patrick, Robert Sidaway, Julian Astin (floor assistant), and Peter Purves. For whatever reason, I could only access the commentary tracks on the photographic reconstructions, though they're ostensibly available on the animated version as well.

Disc Two features the animated version of the serial in color and in 1.78:1 (see the odd numbered screenshots), along with these supplements:

• Innes Lloyd: The Producer (HD; 1:33:45) is the first of two feature length documentaries that should provide a treasure trove of information for Doctor Who fans. This is a somewhat elegiac piece devoted to a producer (well over 300 BBC productions) few on this side of the pond have probably even heard of.

Note: This release does not follow the tradition set by previous releases in that it does not offer the commentary tracks on these color versions.

Disc Three

• Remembering Forgetting The Savages (HD; 1:43:31) is a surprisingly stylish and often quite funny retrospective, hosted by a cheeky Toby Hadoke.


• The Savages - Surviving Footage (HD; 4:32) maybe cheats a little by offering the original opening credits, which are still part of the animated versions.


• Photo Gallery (HD; 3:28)


• Animation Gallery (HD; 4:12) offers some of the animators giving descriptions of the animation.


• BBC Training Film - 1968 (HD; 28:24) is a perfect little time capsule of what the network was like.


• Trailer (HD; 00:49)

Doctor Who: The Savages Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is frankly not the most spectacular Doctor Who serial, but it has some historical interest (at least for fans) due to the departure of Steven. This Blu-ray release may frankly be of more interest for the two feature length documentaries included, both of which are excellent and highly enjoyable. Technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.