Doctor Who: Series 1 - Volume 3 [2005]

Amazon.co.uk Review

It was always going to be a risk for the BBC to revamp Doctor Who--few television programmes inspire as much rabid and cultish adoration. With the 2005 series, however, the BBC have really outdone themselves. Their updated Doctor Who is a revelation: a cult science fiction series that has real mass appeal, and works for both children and their parents. Christopher Eccleston is an inspired and charismatic Doctor--he leaps around the sets with an unrestrained glee, like he's a child running amok in a toy shop. His enthusiasm in downright infectious. His sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) adds a real human touch, particularly as she gradually and believably matures from in-over-her-head city kid to tough-minded interplanetary hero. Much of the credit must go to writer Russell Davies, who has a much-practiced knack for finding popular appeal without dumbing-down his ideas, and who appears to have let his imagination run riot. Even the special effects, whilst not of a big-budget cinematic quality, still manage to strike a balance between cheesiness and realism. Thrilling, funny and thoroughly entertaining, this Doctor Who is a hero for the new millennium. --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews:

Almost perfect.......2007-06-08

Three of the most clever, emotional and brilliant episodes came from this dvd but it's a shame about''The Long Game''.''The Long Game'' isn't a bad episode it just isn't at all good.''Fathers Day'' is one of my favourite episodes. ''The Empty Child'' and ''The Doctor Dances'' are probably the most thrilling and scary episodes in the series.The plot of these two episodes is ingenious.Although I don't think ''The Long Game'' is great, this is still probably my favourite dvd in the series and I really reccomend it.

Best episodes of the series....but thats not saying much.......2007-02-03

I'm afraid i am not one of the people who thinks Doctor Who has enjoyed a renaissance. But i can admit there a few of the new series that do show great potential. And this DVD, conveniently, has all three of them in one package. I'll start with the one that isn't fantastic first. "The Long Game," tellingly written by Russel T Davies (and therefore hardly original), is set in the year 5000-odd and is a tale about corporate media takeover. With a big alien in the attic. The problem with this story is that its completely average. Not bad at all, but lacking in being good as well. Simon Pegg gives an overly hammy performance, Tamsin Greig is even roped in for a daft pointless cameo. The alien on Level 51 is once again given an incredibly silly name (I think RTD picked it up incorrectly from watching one or two episodes of the classic series that aliens should have daft names. I stand by my accusation; i don't think RTD is a doctor who fan. He just says he is to make people like him.) And the ending is abysmal. Moving on.
"Fathers Day" is excellent. Oh look, not written by Russel. Taking a basic sci fi concept (that of using time travel to right what once went wrong) and twisting it round to show its dark side. Setting it in the 80s is a stroke of genius - it allows clever use of cool classic cars. Its a morality tale at its heart. The appearance of the creatures (officially "reapers", but they are a little too akin to the Chronovores of Who History) is brilliant; excellent special effects and actually quite scary. The gaping plot holes...well fine. Its time travel. Few people can write a time travel yarn without having a few plot holes. Best just to ignore them and enjoy the ride.
"The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" are not written by Russel either. Ergo they are very good. Its a two-parter, so theres a cliffhanger. And its brilliant. The gasmask transformation is a scare-sequence that will haunt the children of today like the haemovores of "The Curse of Fenric" did when i was that age. Introducing the world to Jack Harkness as well - who will go on to flaunt his classy womanising (and "manising") in the spin off Torchwood). The ending is a little overly sugary but hey, whats wrong with that? Richard Wilson shows what cameo actors should do; play it well and play it straight. True class.

Overall then. Three out of Four and to boot, the best three episodes of the whole of Chris Ecclestone's series all on one DVD. Ignore the rest of the series and watch this one.

The worst and the best-.......2005-08-30

This dvd would be the best value for money out of the dr who dvds so far - four episodes and 3/4 of them are first rate pieces of work.

Unfortunately Russell T Davies' 'the long game' makes this almost embarrassing to buy - the story is a tired re-hash of countless cheap childrens dramas since the 70s, and excepting Simon Pegg, contains some truly pathetic acting. Don't watch it, it's lazy.

The next episode, 'Father's day' by comparison contains som top performances and is a well-paced and mature piece of drama. Moving and insightful, it doesn't even matter the story relies on gaping sci-fi plot holes. More about symbol than science and does it well.

The final two make up one story set in the blitz - you can tell the writer does comedy as it's a witty and clever. Also the most atmospheric of the series, with some exceptionally good story telling and high-level concepts. The linking of a good scientific idea to wonderfully emotional and (dare I say again) symbolic events in the resolving scene is a joy to behold. DO watch this one!

Once more into the Tardis dear friends.......2005-08-12

Into volume three of the Eccleston series, and you can see that the writers and production crew are growing in confidence, becoming almost blasé about their potential to deliver a good story. This is Dr.Who with attitude.

"The Long Game" is an ironic spin on the ability of a corporate network to exercise control over the news - hard to believe it's not reflecting on efforts of Blair's cabinet to manipulate news and demand that the BBC come to heel? Humanity is shaped and guided by its consumption of news, by the ability of the media to define what shall reach the public consciousness. Here we have news as the religion of the universe, information as the opiate liturgy of life. And only the Doctor can peel away the spin and reveal that by creating a climate of fear, the ruler of the media can manipulate people to do whatever he wishes. Beautiful performances from Simon Pegg and Tasmin Greig enliven an excellent story.

"Father's Day" has Rose return to meet her long dead father. The Doctor succumbs to her sentimental urge and is not unduly surprised to discover that, yet again, one of the monkeys has fouled up the timeline and plunged the universe into disorder. It's a good story, a bit maudlin in places, but entertaining enough.

"The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" are the halves of a two-parter, neatly split by a cliff-hanger end to the earlier episode. This is a seriously good piece of drama, set in London during the Blitz, the special effects creating both a realistic atmosphere and a comic book feel, with Rose flying above London courtesy of a rogue barrage balloon. This could become an iconic image.

This is excellent: a gas-masked child roaming the streets searching for its mummy transforms science fiction into horror and creates a strong, cross-genre narrative. It's a wonderfully choreographed story, tension and humour used with commendable skill, plot and subplot woven tightly together.

All in all, the new, revived Doctor Who has proved outstanding, able to use special effects to good effect, to weld quality storytelling with a new, riskier direction and production outlook, and to present science fiction as not simply speculating about arcane scientific developments but as a vehicle for dissidence, for a fresher understanding of the contemporary world ... and an opportunity to satirise and ridicule. Eccleston, of course, is a very fine actor, and he has brought real authority back to the character, his persona beautifully complementing the dissident dynamic of the series.

Excellent production, well worth waiting for ... but then, what's time to the Doctor?

"Doctor, who? The best!".......2005-08-10

What is this like? Amazing, is all I can say. Doctor Who has suddenly plundged itself into a number of catogories that add up the excellence of it. Especially this one. The first episode is my least favourite of the lot. It's fantastically gripping and suspencful, but not as enjoyable as the others. They end up on Satalite 5 in the year 200,000 and the psychological events in this episode all add up to something hidden up on level 500. A strange, but cleverly made "thing" that is controling the human race. The Doctor, Rose and their unofficial accomplis from the Dalek episode get to the bottom of the mystery why the people who are elected to remain on level 500 never return. Father's Day. My favourite episode. This one has so much to it. Beautifully acted and heart-breakingly gripping and emotional. Rose and the Doctor go back to 1987 to see Rose's father when he got hit by a joyrider. Time is damaged by Rose actually saving her Dad. The Reapers appear from a different dimension and start to kill everyone. This is happening because time is badly damaged. A great episode.
The Empty Child. Very scary. I had to watch this with my face in my hands, peering through my fingers. The doctor and Rose go back to the Second World War. A bomb has hit London and children are strangly cursed, with exactly the same scars on their hands. Their favourite is "mummy" as you esstablish during it. The cursed must not enter any houses or touch anyone otherwise... Get it and find out. Brilliant DVD! Definitly a "must buy". The last episode is a happy-ending episode. AMAZING. ASTOUNDING. The acting is superb. The script is exhilaratingly written and sums up the whole of Doctor Who...

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