An excellent story with the right amount of atmosphere that creates one of the creepiest episodes of Torchwood. This story is one of my favourite Torchwood stories as I love something with a few scares. The music really adds to the effect, especially with the fairground music really sends shivers down your spine! The acting by Julian Bleach and Camilla Power (Ghostmaker and Pearl) are the main things that create the effect, Julian's creepy voice (he also played Davros in Journeys end) and Pearl, the way she doesn't talk much is quite scary, and the way she is happy about stealing someone's last breath is quite disturbing. The episode overall is just scary, but the acting from these two are the main factors. Also the directing and the locations they use also add to the effect, for example the swimming pool where they (no better word for it) hang out, was particularly creepy, the fact they choose a place once full of life and fun times now abandoned and dead kind of sums up these two characters. And also they are from a creepy circus which in itself a lot of people have a fear of because of clowns for example. Finally there is a good ending, with quite an intelligent way of sorting everything out, although it's a shame only one person survived. Overall, one of the more creepy episodes of Torchwood yet definitely worth watching.
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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. This episode I think really defines the second doctor especially in the first part, those opening scenes really show how fun, and happy and the love for travelling through the stars the second doctor is. Also it shows the fabulous acting skills of Pat Troughton as he shows how he can play a villain whilst also showing off how he can change his voice so brilliantly. The plot is really quite brilliant although there are some areas which I find a little boring (which is why it took me so long to review this story). With the DVD the cover is brilliant and the slipcase is the icing on the cake (although mine was slightly dented). My biggest problem with this release is the special features, mainly the fact there isn't any. There is only a next time trailer (Web of fear) and that is it. So I am hoping there will be a whole lot of special features on the Web of fear, or maybe this story will be in a box set or something. I also think that because of this, it's a little unnecessary that this story has a slipcase, I just think it doesn't really deserve a slipcase (just my opinion) anyway, the story is great, and the acting is one of Troughton's finest. It is a great story but a little disappointing there aren't any special features. (there are no spoilers in this review... I think) A little late so sorry for that but here goes. The big special, 50 years in the making something I've been looking forward to for ages was finally here. If only it could have lasted longer. I thought it was brilliant, brilliantly directed, brilliantly written and brilliantly acted. There are some wonderful scenes here, just some many, there's the scene in Trafalgar square, the scenes on Gallifrey and possibly the best bit of all (2 best bit's) the scene with all the doctors and the scene with Tom Baker which was excellent and made me feel so proud to be a whovian. There are few parts that I didn't like but I will tell you them: The amount of time spent on the Zygons. I felt that way too much focus was on the Zygons who appeared in one episode previously in the episode that celebrated 50 years. The second and final thing I didn't particularly like (and most people probably disagree) was the closing theme with all the doctors, although it included all the doctor's faces, the normal one was better I though and more time should have been spent on it. Anyway, away from the bad points, the opening scenes mirroring 'An Unearthly child' were magnificent. I could go on forever about the amazing things but I am running out of room. I hope that 'The time of the doctor' will be as amazing and I wonder what effects this story will have on future story's. Overall sadly not my favourite doctor who episode ever but still pretty darn brilliant! And I hope you liked it too. Amazing... simply amazing. That's all I can say to sum up this episode. I have been struggling what to write about this episode other than amazing. It included everything to make a gripping, funny, well made drama. It is also incredibly accurate showing the journey William Hartnell went on which included some very emotional scenes. There was also bucket loads of scenes that brought goose pimples, a big example of this is when they had the Daleks on the bridge, this scene really made me proud to be a whovian. The acting is the finest I have ever seen particularly David Bradley and Jessica Raine as William Hartnell and Verity Lambert, they really showed the struggle to keep doctor who on and I really liked scenes with these two together. Some excellent locations and set's like the TARDIS set and filming at BBC TV centre which they re-decorated to look like the 1960's. I honestly can't praise David Bradley enough for his performance and he really portrayed William Hartnell well. I cannot wait to get this on DVD and watch it over and over again. It would have been cool if they set the DVD cover out like the classic DVD format but you can't have everything. Overall an amazing piece of drama beautifully written by Mark Gatiss and beautifully acted by everyone really. A great tribute to William Hartnell and doctor who as a whole. Now this review is going to be MASSIVE so I am doing it in sections (much like the key to time) I am going to start watching it next week and the review will follow soon, I will review each story separately in one Gigantic review, enjoy! The Ribos operation: Firstly I like the way it carry's straight on from Invasion of time, secondly I really love K9 so it was good to see the doctor pulling a brand new K9 out to carry the adventures on. The white guardian looked very mysterious and the set made me laugh because it was kind of the opposite of what you'd expect a magical guardian to have. Going back to what I said about K9 I really like the comical banter they both had when they first met Romana who I thought was very smug at first but I am growing to like her. The interior set's looked amazing but the exterior set's weren't as good i'm afraid. There is good music and acting all round. Overall a great start to a new series although there are some boring parts. The pirate planet: Firstly I noticed there was a good use of camera skills because it starts of just showing the back of the captain and not showing anything else and I thought this was very effective. The captain really did look brilliant and they really worked hard and pulled it off with his robot parts. His parrot wasn't as well made which really showed in it's fight with K9 which by the way was great TV. I am beginning to like Romana more and more now, she's becoming less smug and obviously learning from the doctor. The set's especially inside the ship looked really great, it's really showing how hard they are working on this season. There were some AMAZING explosions! Making the doctor walk the plank was really genius considering this episode is very pirate like. Lastly there is a great twist in the story but you will have to watch it yourself to find out. The stones of blood: I am noticing more and more that female characters in this series are becoming very prominent, which I think is quite a good thing. This episode is my favourite of the key to time series, it is funny, witty and a great plot. The cast is really brilliant, I loved K9 and the archaeologist. There were some great cliff hangers (literally). The justice machines looked amazing and I thought looked quite high-tech, even now. I thought the Ogri were a good concept and would have been very easy to make so would have saved money. There were great plot twists, great set's (especially in the space ship) and I loved the cameo of the Wirrn. Overall a good episode also a good episode to mark the occasion that was doctor who was 15 years old. The androids of Tara: Another really good episode, probably my second favourite so far. There is a very good plot although it can easily get confusing due to this episode is all about androids and it can be a little hard to tell who's who and where everyone is. As usual I really liked K9 in this episode, they really use him well. There was great acting from both Tom Baker and Mary Tamm. The rest of the cast were all brilliant though (I would tell you who but the names were very weird). I noticed that this episode is incredibly fairy tail, they had a castle, a king, swordfights and other things like this. The swords had a really good concept because they could zap you if touched. There was the right amount of comedy moments, some great locations like Leeds castle where they filmed it (not in Leeds) and there were great set's. Overall a good episode, to improve they could have made the androids look more realistic. The power of Kroll: Now, I hate to say it but this story has taken the title of worst episode of the Key to time series. Of course not saying it is the worst episode ever, there are some very good parts unique to this story but there are some parts where you just want to fall asleep and it doesn't keep your attention very well. Anyway now we have got that out the way, let me tell you some good things about the episode; firstly the 'swampies' (people who live in the marsh land) look very good in my opinion although I wouldn't really want to be the actor getting covered in green paint. The set's as usual with this season are brilliant although the model they used to show the rig didn't look as well but still good. A thing I particularly liked was that John Leeson who play's K9 got to play a proper character due to K9 couldn't be in the episode because of the swamps. Overall great acting, great locations but a little boring in parts. The armageddon factor: The first thing I noticed was there is some really great set's in this story, everything was beautifully made. There was great directing on the opening sequence the way they explained everything going on in the first few minutes was genius. There was quite a few comical characters in this episode which I thought was a good thing as this episode was quite dark so it was good we had some funny moments. The main dark force in this episode was the mysterious shadow who worked for the black guardian, he actually was really scary and menacing, a perfect actor to play him as well. K9 about to get destroyed was very tense and the perfect amount of tension. I didn't really understand Princess Astra or how she was a part of the key to time, or how she is going to become Romana (I haven't seen 'Destiny of the Daleks'). I really liked Romana here and Mary Tamm said she left as she wasn't being able to show Romana's full potential but I can think of lot's of examples where she is brilliant, she even got to beat someone up (kind of). I didn't really understand the end because the doctor just scattered the key through space again which makes the whole season seem kind of pointless but oh well. Overall a brilliant way to end the series and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Conclusion: I give the series as a whole 8/10. The best story is The stones of blood and the worst story is The Power of Kroll. I wouldn't really recommend watching the series all at once as there are some boring parts but it is still a brilliant series. And that is the end of the key to time review. I do hope you enjoyed it! 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. Like 'The Ice Warriors' review I am not going to tell you about the plot since it is a new release but there is quite a big spoiler that I will mention so sorry. First of all, the cover. It is brilliant, not as good as 'The Ice Warriors' DVD cover but still good, it includes everything it should; the doctor, Zygons and the Loch Ness monster. In the episode he only wore the tartan scarf as you can see on the cover for only a little part of the episode which is a shame, it should really have been worn longer. I don't really like when the picture goes onto the 'doctor who' part of the cover but I suppose it shows the size of the Zygons towering over the fourth doctor. The first thing I noticed about the episode was the music. There is some really brilliant musical parts which really helps the story, it changes from slow to fast which is also good and the music is perfect for the story and the bagpipes were the icing on the cake. The Zygons look brilliant especially the head pieces, you can tell they have worked very hard on them, the leg section of the costume isn't very good but at least they have tried. The loch ness monster isn't very good but it still look kind of realistic. The plot is amazing but I can't tell you about it but it is very good. Now here comes the spoiler: When the doctor destroys the Zygon ship it looks amazing! There are quite a few explosions in this episode but this one looked particularly dramatic. The tenth doctor wouldn't really approve of the fourth destroying the ship with the Zygons still inside and I didn't approve of it really either. Lastly we didn't really learn lot's about the Zygons so hopefully we learn more about them in the 50th since they are returning. The ending is very good but I am afraid I am once again running out of room. Overall another great episode and in terms of plot it is probably better than 'The Ice Warriors'. |
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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