I first watched this episode at the beginning of my classic DVD collecting. Probably about the 5th one I'd ever watched and I loved it, so much so that it was my favourite episode for some considerable amount of time. Then I watched it again, having watched over half of the classic range and I found it was just as amazing as when I first saw it. It's not my favourite anymore, but it is up there. The plot is what I love most about it, it's just so unique. The idea of a TARDIS within a TARDIS within a TARDIS is so simple yet so complicated. Of course this is Tom Bakers swansong so you'd expect him to go out with a bang and it certainly does this. The fall from the transmitter was excellently done, some shots were a cringe-worthy obvious dummy but everything else was perfect. I especially like the music as all the companions run to him as well as the directing in this particular scene. I thought his regeneration was very fitting and I loved seeing all the 4th doctors previous companions. The regeneration itself was also perfect, definitely one of my favourites and the concept of The Watcher I found quite creepy, especially seeing The Watcher just standing there staring. But it was an excellent regeneration to ring in Peter Davison. Finally I really enjoyed all the scenes on Logopolis and The Master and I though the model shots of Logopolis were really well made. Overall a brilliant ending to a brilliant doctor.
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Well sadly this episode seems to me as pretty much filler, to bridge the gap between the black guardian trilogy and the 5 doctors. It sounds a little bit mean to call this story 'filler', it still has a fairly strong plot although there isn't much you can do or say about it. The plot is basically the master is trying to stop the signing of the Magna Carta (there was a special feature on this but it was as boring as hell) so he makes the king Kamelion, a shape shifting robot. I don't really know what the master get's out of this but oh well. Nothing major really happens and It also says how Kamelion was to become the new companion but you just have to look at him and know that's not going to happen. They have obviously tried to keep his usage to a minimum, or he would fall apart. The set's and location is really quite brilliant and look excellent and really help the story. Overall nothing major really but good as a two part story and shows the master being his usual evil self. Boring, boring, boring. That's all I can say about this story really. I try and look at the good things of most classic doctor who episodes but with this one I just can't, it's boring. No other word for it. The first instalment of this story is pretty good actually, it set's the story up pretty well and it's good how it still shows Turlough as the assassinator he was set up to be in 'Mawdryn Undead'. I also liked the little bit where Tegan gives Turlough Adrics room (even though Adric is one of my least favourite companions) I thought Janet Fielding acted this really well and showing the effects of him leaving very good. Then after part one the whole thing goes downhill, the costumes, the sets, the dialogue, the directing. Everything is just bad. There are of course the odd scene that isn't boring but these scenes don't last long. In the special features the writer, I thought was deluded. He said that he overheard someone in a bar saying it was the best piece of science fiction he'd seen in the last 10 years, what a coincidence that someone saying it was amazing was standing next to the writer when he said it, the last I heard of Terminus, the guy was saying it was awful, the writer is completely deluded! I also noticed that most people blamed everything on director, which I felt was completely wrong for reasons stated in the special features by the directors friend. Lastly, this episode was Nyssa's last, and what a stinker to go out on. The first thing that stand's out to me about this episode is the directing. It is beautifully done with some great shots of the house, it is used really well to show emotions and action scenes. The plot is quite good although it kind of looses it towards the end of the second part and most of the third part due to the fact some thing's aren't clearly explained for example the light person; I don't have a clue who he was. It may have just been me not paying attention but he needed explaining more. The story is quite well paced and the area's that are a little boring are mainly in part 3, with part 1 being really very good! Also the fact it was a 3 part helped it I think and made it easy to watch. The set's were okay although I loved the house! Since this is quite and old release there isn't much you can say about the cover/special features, but what's there is quite good. Overall a good classic adventure although it can become a little complicated towards the end. As requested by: Dalekwho Another super episode, although there is a running theme through all the Colin Bakers episodes that after episode one they get a little boring (for me) they really needed to put more effort into ALL episodes! The plot of the story as you can see from the title centres around the Cybermen who were good but I felt they didn't really have the most scary or thrilling moments compered to 'Tomb of the Cybermen' for example. I liked how they shocked the audience by suddenly appearing in the TARDIS and trying to kill the doctor but there were a few plot holes like how the hell did the Cybermen even get in the TARDIS in the first place? I noticed a lot of these silly plot holes and again I feel like they haven't thought about the episode as much as they could have. The Cybermen didn't look all that amazing, the heads are absolutely amazing but the body's are obviously costume. Overall I am not that happy about the Cybermen but I was happy about other things like for example I liked those two guy's who were trying to escape and ended up dressing up like a Cyberman! I also loved the 6th doctor and Peri, they looked like they had a wonderful friendship and it also showed how resilient Peri is (I wouldn't have stayed having been strangled) and personally I felt although Colin was very loud and a tiny but menacing, I felt safe with him. Overall a good episode but they really should have spent more time on it. First off sorry it's taken me so long to review this but it's a little slow story. The first thing I noticed about this episode was that Jamie and the 2nd doctor really have aged well! They look brilliant and they still seem to be lively and as active as ever here so well done to them for pulling it of. I don't really like the cover that much but this is kind of a old release so they have an excuse. I loved the fact that the first few seconds of the episode are in black and white, it is great how they have done that, I think of it as kind of paying respect to 60's doctor who. The Sontaron's look great as ever, it must have been horrible for the actors inside the costume in the boiling hot Spain sun. There are some great and entertaining moments between Jamie and the doctor which I find just brilliant! The costumes are great although the set's aren't as good as I hoped but as I say the costumes make up for that. There was some great acting from everybody. The first episode is a little hard to understand and it does get a little boring but to be honest I think this is because during the 6th doctor era the changed the episodes to 45 minutes which I HATE because it makes some episodes a little boring. Overall a great episodes and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The atmosphere and tension in this episode was perfect and just right, the first few shots of that dark gloomy street set's the scene for the whole episode I think and the directing in these first few shots were also very good. The music first sounded really good but then it just kept getting repeated and it began to get tedious after a while, they didn't have to keep repeating that musical score. Another thing I didn't particularly like was Davros, he looked amazing when we first saw him emerging from the smoke then, he talked and his voice, it just sounded horrible this was probably intentional but they went a little too far mainly because every time he spoke he shouted and I just found this annoying, I was just like 'Shut up!' after a while. The last big thing I didn't like was the way Janet Fielding (Tegan) left. I mean her exit was just pants if I am honest, they had opportunities to make it more about her but they didn't take them. The Human head gear shaped like a dalek I thought looked pretty good actually although I have heard that they really hurt. The cover is great and looks very professional and matches the mood of the episode. The actors were all amazing even though most of them die anyway. Overall a good episode but if I am honest not my favourite. I think it could have been better if Davros wasn't in it at all, all he did was a bit of annoying shouting and taking people over but basically it was pointless having him here, it would have been better if they just focused on the daleks. Also what would have made it better was if it was at least a 3 parter so Tegan could get a decent send off. This is the second classic DVD I ever bought and I loved it, especially Ace who is my favourite companion ever! The part I loved most of all was when Ace turned the racist sign in the window over, this just summed up Ace for me. The daleks were as good as ever here, I really liked the special weapons dalek and wish they could have used this or a variation of this in the new series. Sylvester McCoy was as good as ever also here, coming from a slightly let's say not great first series to a kind of darker doctor in the coming series' and I think this episode kind of shows this when he destroys Skaro . The cover is brilliant but I wouldn't call it my favourite if I am honest but much better than the original release. The explosions were another big part in this story, they were enormous and lot's of them, the first episode of a new series certainly went of with a bang. The directing was good as usual. Overall a great episode with great acting. I really enjoyed "survival" yet I also found it quite sad to watch knowing that this is the last ever classic episode (unless you count the movie) and also marks the last appearance of Ace. The amount of special features on these two disks about it being the last episode is overwhelming. The cover isn't all that good; it shows Ace, who is turning into a cheetah person, the doctor holding a skull (in the episode I didn't understand why he did this and still don't but most 7th doctor episodes are like this)and lastly a cheetah person on a horse. The episode is very eerie at the beginning telling about mysterious disappearances going on around Perivale then Ace's meeting with a cheetah person and being taken to another world, and all this leading up to the big reveal that the master is behind all this. The effects like the eyes are very creepy. I loved Sophie Aldred's acting as Ace in this episode like finding out her friends had disappeared was spectacular. The directing in the episode is good but I wouldn't call it the best I have ever seen. Overall a good episode to end classic who. Vengeance on Varos for me was a very dark story and things like the set's and the doctor's actions reflect this. But first we will start with the cover. Like all special edition covers I really like it, I think it could have been a little darker but nonetheless much better than the last cover for 'Vengeance on Varos'. It shows the 6th doctor in one of his most famous poses, Sil and Peri who has been transformed in one of Sil's experiments. The story was good but not my favourite episode. The set's are very dark and right at the beginning we see this as the blue TARDIS appears in the dark and murky background. The doctor's actions are very dark, there was a scene where the doctor let a man fall into acid which caused much controversy. Sil is a very dark character and his costume (which is amazing) shows this I think. The acting in the episode is very good as usual. Overall a great episode that is not without it's faults. |
About this areaThis area will be where I write reviews on Doctor Who DVD's classic and new. The area is split up into episodes of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and new who to make it easier for me and you to see them. Enjoy! Archives
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