50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Review (Part 2)
Guest contributor Sam Glover gives his verdict on the 50th anniversary box set (Part 2).
Disc 3
Oh, Disc 3. Disc 3, disc 3, disc 3. There is no question that aspects of its main feature, The Time of The Doctor, were divisive. Too many monsters? Wooden Cyberman? Regeneration last too long? Regeneration too quick? Tying up too many plot threads? GALLIFREY? Can we at least agree that the “he’s Swedish” bit was hilarious? Personally I rather like The Time of The Doctor. It solves the regeneration limit issue (for the moment), demonstrates the Eleventh Doctor’s loyalty and compassion, gives Clara a springboard for Season 8’s hefty character development, ties into the 50th Anniversary Special, turns Silents into Daleks… I could go on.
And that, precisely, is some people’s issue with it. I won’t disagree that the episode tries to fit a lot in, and this inevitably leads to short shrift being given to some plot threads. We get enough information to understand how “Doctor Who?” is the first question (for me, a great moment), but the explanation for the TARDIS blowing up back in series 5 is answered so briefly and – in my opinion – weakly that it’s no surprise some missed it entirely. The crack in the wall worked well within the plot, but was probably unnecessary and undid some of the hard work done by the magnificent Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. Tasha Lem felt very underserved in a role that many commented could have been filled by River Song. I think River’s story had already ended well, but I know what these critics mean.
All this said, I still think there are more positives than negatives, and the monumental performance put in by Matt Smith is enough on its own to make up for these quibbles. He’s wonderfully funny when showing off his “rocket fins”, taking the population of Christmas (yeurch) through his dancing giraffe routine (“cool is not cool!”) and talking of “Captain Grumpy”, but can turn on the spot into heartbreakingly sad. The death of Handles – something potentially laughable on paper – is utterly devastating. Even buried under slightly dodgy make up Smith is extraordinary, whether he’s reassuring a teenager (who’s not Barnable) that he “has a plan” or asking Clara to give him “one more victory”… I’m running out of superlatives. The “breath on a mirror” speech is one of the very best he’s given, right up there with ones in The Pandorica Opens, The Time of Angels and The Rings of Akhaten. Anyone who watches the extras on this disc will see a snippet of the table reading where he’s doing his regeneration scene and he breaks down in tears reading it. It’s incredible. “Well done mate” indeed.
The extras on this disc are, whilst interesting, perhaps the weakest out of the four. Whilst the quality on the other discs makes this nothing to be ashamed of, the throwaway deleted scene and short Behind the Lens feature are a bit disappointing, and Farewell to Matt Smith is sad without going into great depth. It ends up being a hybrid between backslapping and eulogising, although Matt’s first day is fascinating and the aforementioned table-snippet is beautiful. Much better is the other, longer bonus feature: The Science of Doctor Who. It is rather odd to hear the softly spoken Brian Cox use various celebrities to muse on the concepts behind the show, but he is an interesting lecturer with a breadth of topics to dip into. He looks into the nature of time travel, the dimensions of the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver amongst much else, and it’s all rather interesting. His talks include descriptions of historical figures, theoretical speculations and even mini-experiments. It’s a diverting approach quite unlike any other take on Doctor Who.
Main feature – 7/10
Bonus features – 7/10
Disc 4
The fourth and final disc is very close to the second disc in my personal rankings; I really couldn’t separate them. The main feature is a docudrama about the origins of Doctor Who entitled An Adventure In Space And Time. Starring the wonderful David “Mr Filch” Bradley as first Doctor William Hartnell, this Mark Gatiss-scribed drama was nominated with three other Doctor Who features for a Hugo Award for Best Short Form Dramatic Presentation (though they ALL lost out to Games of Thrones bloodbath The Rains of Castamere). It deserves all the acclaim it gets.
By turns heart-warming, funny, tragic and genuinely fascinating, An Adventure In Space And Time is nothing less than beautiful. Anchored by a riveting turn by David Bradley it offers not just entertainment but enlightenment on how much our beloved programme had to go through to become the behemoth it now is. Pioneering from the beginning, Doctor Who brought in the BBC’s first female producer (Verity Lambert, strongly brought to life by Call The Midwife’s Jessica Raine), utilised beguiling and utterly unique theme music and bewitched a generation of kids and adults alike with its blend of science, drama, information and captivating nonsense; and this drama captures it all. Hartnell’s transition from crotchety miser to delighted role model to frail old man is captured perfectly by Bradley, and the cameo at the end (that I won’t spoil for anyone who hasn’t seen it) brought me to tears.
Disc 4 also benefits from my favourite bonus feature (topping even the mighty The Night of the Doctor): it’s The Fish(ish) Doctors Reboot. If The Day of the Doctor didn’t look into its past enough for your personal tastes then this will more than make up for it. A love letter to both the show and its fans, it features Doctors 5, 6 and 7 attempting to get a part in the 50th Anniversary special. It is full to the brim with Doctor Who stars past and present – and their families – sending themselves up in glorious fashion all in the name of celebration and commemoration. Peter Davison, ostensibly the central “character” in the episode, writes and directs himself and his co-Doctors trying to persuade show runner Steven Moffat to give them a part. Moffat, it must be said, plays the evil dictator to a tee; he’s Doctor Who’s Blofeld. Sylvestor McCoy brags about starring in “a big blockbuster movie directed by Oscar-winning Peter Jackson” roughly every thirty seconds. Colin Baker – who may emerge as people’s new favourite Doctor after viewing this – is simply hilarious as he locks his family in to ensure they watch “even more me”. There are appearances by John Barrowman (and his secret family), David Tennant (allowing his father-in-law Davison onto the set to stop him contacting Tennant or his wife again), Jenna Coleman/Matt Smith in a dream sequence that ends with Janet “Tegan” Fielding telling Davison to walk the dog, Peter Jackson himself asking Ian McKellan to do a Hobbit scene on his own… the list really is ridiculous.
As if more were needed, disc 4 also has 2013’s Doctor Who Proms, a couple of deleted scenes, the original title sequence and two behind the scenes documentaries about the making of Gatiss’ documentary. The Proms are, as always, a joy. Murray Gold has probably been the most consistently brilliant aspect of Doctor Who since it returned to our screens, and his music is brought vividly to life with cameos from the cast and monsters. The faces of children being confronted by Judoon, Silents, Cybermen et al are just brilliant, with many a toy screwdriver waved and smiles all round. The making of documentaries are the standard fare, but it’s always lovely to hear Carole Ann Ford and William Russell reminisce. I’ve no idea why Russell is in full military get-up, but it suits him very well.
Main feature – 9/10
Bonus features – 10/10
Conclusion
So, what to make of it all? As a whole package it is as comprehensive an examination of the 50th year as could be hoped for, including all of the features released that year (excluding series 7B of course) and a smorgasbord of bonus features covering the history of the show. It doesn’t include past episodes, but it’s not that sort of collection. This commemorates the anniversary itself, and allows those productions to celebrate 50 years on their own. The behind the scenes stuff is captivating at best and slightly unnecessary at worst, tending towards the former far more often than the latter. The extra footage and coverage of Doctor Who events (minisodes, Proms, Five(ish) etc.) complement the main episodes very well, and there is a great deal that warrants re-watching. It was about £30 on release, and that’s a bargain. So, final ratings:
Disc 1:
Main feature – 8/10
Bonus features – 9/10
Disc 2:
Main feature – 10/10
Bonus features – 9/10
Disc 3:
Main feature – 7/10
Bonus features – 7/10
Disc 4:
Main feature – 9/10
Bonus features – 10/10
Overall:
Main features – 34/40
Bonus features – 35/40
Long story short? Timeless.
