The Complete Eighth Series Box Set Review
Connor Johnston gives his verdict on the upcoming Series 8 Box Set.
It’s only very rarely I get to say that being a Whovian in Australia gets it perks and whenever I do I’m probably lying! Or would be any other day than today – for as I write these words, I do so while salivating over my brand new copy of the Series 8 Collector’s Edition Box Set that won’t be found in British stores until Monday. I will do my best to refrain from a taunting “ha-ha”; although I make no promises. Join me today as we crack the seal and take an advance look at the box set with a particular focus on the extras included. Believe me when I tell you there is very little to be disappointed about…
The 12 Episodes
Peter Capaldi’s debut series was undoubtedly one of the best received in the show’s history – and for extremely good reason. Bringing with him a fresh charisma to the role as well as a stunning chemistry with companion Clara Oswald (played superbly by the equally charming Jenna Coleman) the new Doctor exploded onto our screens with 12 stunning and exhilarating new adventures including two 60 min+ episodes. Starting off in Victorian London and taking on the mysterious Half Face Man, the series saw the Doctor venture into a Dalek, rob an intergalactic bank, battle his own paranoia, fight alongside legends, defeat creatures of two dimensions, destroy robot assassins, solve the case of the Foretold, discover the truth about the moon, face a bizarre invasion of forests before finally unveiling the mysterious Missy: ‘Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere’, in a climactic 2 part series finale. It’s a series that will be remembered for more than just Capaldi’s debut, but for instilling a striking new direction and rekindling a live fire at the heart of the show we’ve all loved for almost 51 years now – and for that reason it won’t be a series easily forgotten.
Design
The design of both the physical box set and the DVD menus are something that I personally always look forward to the most upon purchase of box sets and the new look graphics definitely does not disappoint. The Collector’s Edition comes complete with a bright embossed TARDIS slipcase finished with silver foil and a ‘press here’ button, which when pressed plays the legendary TARDIS sound effect – it’s no secret I had my finger permanently positioned pressing down for most of the first night. The Collector’s Edition also contains 6 exclusive art cards featuring images of the Doctor, Clara, Missy, Danny and other various monsters from the new Series. The disc artwork are suitably striking, featuring on each profiles of a particular character with the Doctor, Clara, the Teller, the Mummy, the Cybermen and Missy each given their own opportunity to shine. The visual construction of the menu is incredibly weird, but in a good way! As to not give too much away all I will say is to expect some freaky clockwork animations but completely unlike the ones from the new starting credits, aligning planets and flying-steampunk-clockwork screens with assorted clips playing through them.
Commentaries
The included commentaries available on the Series 8 Box set are:
- “Into the Dalek” – with Writer Phil Ford and Director Ben Wheatley
- “Robot of Sherwood” – with Director Paul Murphy
- “The Caretaker” – with Director Paul Murphy, Prosthetics Effects Producer Kate Walsh and Animatronic Engineer Pete Hawkings
- “Kill the Moon” – with Director Paul Wilmshurst and Assistant Director Scott Bates
The Ultimate Time Lord – with Peter Davison
Peter Davison has continued to make a name for himself as possibly the most involved past Doctor when it comes to current BBC productions with his presence hosting the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectaculars all over the world for almost 2 years now, his involvement in the “Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor” TV special, his development of “The Five-ish Doctors Reboot” and now his own 45 minute Box set exclusive “The Ultimate Time Lord”.
In the special, Davison takes on the role of the inquisitive investigator on a mission to discover what it takes to create “The Ultimate Doctor” by exploring the biology of the character and the theory of regeneration with Steven Moffat; the psychology of the Doctor and his constant character traits with Jenna Coleman and Dr. Mike Alan; the costume and signature style of the Doctor with Costume Designer Howard Burdon; how the enemies of the Time Lord define him with ‘Who royalty’ Nick Briggs; the relationship the character has towards his TARDIS with Script Editor Derek Ritchie; and the atmosphere of the character with Murray Gold and the casting of the actor with casting Director Andy Pryor.
Of course Davison consults his fellow peers as well, with the special being sandwiched by interviews with current Doctor Peter Capaldi also including the inside word from David Tennant, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Paul McGann (and not to worry, hilarity is ensured). The 45 minute documentary is a light yet satisfying easy view for a Sunday afternoon, presented with class and comedy but in saying that is not completely free of faults with some segments dragging on for longer than they should, some not receiving the amount of time needed to get a truly genuine answer and the transitions (while visually stunning) taking far too much time in the program.
Watch it for: Peter flying and hugging his original TARDIS console, Peter Capaldi sitting in on the first recording of his own portrayal’s theme, the hilarious bickering between Doctor’s 5-8 and of course the hysterical antics of Steven Moffat.
Rating: 8/10
The Ultimate Companion – with Peter Davison
Peter Davison returns once more for yet another 45 minute special, this time in search of what it takes to be the “Ultimate Companion” and trust me – you can never have enough of this man in the hosting seat. THIS is what Doctor Who Extra should be like – but more on that later. Not unlike the previous “Ultimate” special, Peter visits and calls upon the help of many familiar faces from Doctor Who’s past and present, each bringing to the table their own interpretation on what the core values of the companion are.
Series 8 has recently been under a fair amount of scrutiny with some viewers expressing their distaste to the focus on Clara, but Moffat is quick to say that this has always been the case and in his view from an audience perspective the companions should be the characters we connect with the most in the grand narrative of ‘Who’ because it is through them we are integrated into the show, and it is with them we ponder the age old question: Doctor Who?
Davison follows by interviewing a plethora of special guests including his own companions Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton for the inside word on what being a companion is like and debating the differences in such roles by comparing Classic Who to Twenty-First Century Who – with the Doctor’s emotional remoteness in the early years carrying most of the conversation, before chatting with Nicola Bryant on the flexibility of adapting to a new leading man and in that respect relating to Jenna Coleman.
Next up David Tennant brings his views on the diversity of the companions, John Barrowman points out the infinite ramifications of taking on the companion’s role and Noel Clarke comments on the bravery and personal development crucial to a companion’s storyline. As per tradition Murray Gold, Andy Pryor and Peter Capaldi each offer their own views before the lady of the hour, Jenna Coleman steals the spotlight with a description of the companion’s role that will undoubtedly blow you away. The second Davison special is unquestionably better paced then the first one and is somewhat more entertaining due to a greater variety in guests. Again an easy and enjoyable watch, and without doubt one of the best parts of the box set.
Watch it for: An extended look at the companion pin board from the black archive (It’s amazing), Capaldi confessing his love of hearing Jenna call out “Doctor” while running down the corridor, Peter Davison pulling out some old tricks to firing up the console, John Barrowman makes one of his dirtiest jokes ever and Jenna Coleman describing the role in arguably the most touching way anyone has ever done so before.
Rating: 9/10
Inside The New TARDIS With Michael Pickwoad
There is no disputing Michael Pickwoad, production designer on Doctor Who since “A Christmas Carol”, is a creative genius – and his attention to detail explained through this incredibly and disappointingly brief TARDIS tour just reaffirms that. There are some interesting titbits of information presented and we do undoubtedly get a chance to see specific sections of the new TARDIS which is admittedly stunning. However with a duration of just under 2 minutes ones left somewhat dissatisfied and teased at what could have been a great featurette, but instead is a forgettable and quite frankly skipable extra on the box set that fails to do justice to the inspired design and the talented Mr Pickwoad.
Watch it for: Some interesting trivia on the construction of the glowing roundels, CLUE: They are pieces of recycled props, occasionally found on the most iconic monsters of all time…
Rating: 5/10
FOXES’ “Don’t stop me now” music video
There’s such a perfect level of class and cheek to the way Foxes performs, and her jazz rendition of Queen’s legendary “Don’t Stop Me Now” is no exception to this. The extra itself is easily one of the best pieces of Doctor Who extra material and without a doubt one of the highlights of this box set. On the song choice itself, while I was slightly disappointed that such an amazing talent wasn’t utilised with another Murray Gold original, in retrospect and especially after watching the full video once again, I truly believe a better song could not have been chosen. It’s a quirky take on a classic (an apt description of Doctor Who if I ever saw one!) and can be symbolic of so many different things! The Orient Express’s urgency? The Doctor’s travels? The Doctor and Clara’s relationship? The impeccable Series 8 itself? The choice to limit to the song’s involvement in the episode and then further go on to highlight it in its own music video featuring Series 8 clips accompanying it is genius! THIS is how you don’t let a song that shouldn’t ever be the focus of the plot feel out of place but rather add to the atmosphere. THIS is how you create a unique music video for the show – by turning it into a tribute, trailer, and still manages to do justice to an amazing talent in the form of Foxes. Kudos BBC. Please, don’t stop now!
Watch it for: Everything. Everything! It just works
Rating: 10/10
Doctor Who Extra – Complete First Series
While it did come under quite an extensive amount of criticism from the Whoniverse, I always felt that the new online series exploring the creation of each episode filled the void left after the axing of “Doctor Who Confidential” back in 2011. Towards the end of its run, DWC indefinitely began to lose its way by struggling to stay on topic for its 45 minute duration, beginning to focus more on the extracurricular activities of the cast members rather than the behind the scenes creation of the show. Through its condensed 10 minute timeslot, Doctor Who Extra have obviously learnt from the mistakes of its processor by remaining on point for the entire duration of it’s short, yet refreshing runtime and (for the most part) striving to keep the audience at attention.
Of course the new documentary companion series is not without its flaws: the most obvious being the continually insisted waste of a segment attempting to integrate a Doctor Who History lesson into each episode. It’s a segment that did admittedly grow on me as the series progressed, but regardless still feels somewhat out of place. However, if putting up with short segments of fact regurgitation, however inappropriate they seem, is the price we have to pay for the huge amount of behind the scenes material the series did present us with this year, I’d say we’ve definitely been left with the better half of the resolution.
Watch it for: Exclusive sneak peeks at episode read-throughs, Zawe Ashton’s hysterical cackle, an incredibly chilling and hauntingly realistic Half Face Man dummy and hilarious outtakes of Samuel Anderson exploring the forest.
Rating: 7/10
Earth Conquest: The World Tour
After attending the Australian segment of the “Doctor Who World Tour” in early August this year, I wrote that I knew that it had been an experience I would never forget and that the “unity and overwhelming mutual joy of 2 thousand fellow fans from all different walks of life – united in the love and passion for one television show” would be an atmosphere that nothing would ever be able to recreate, and while this documentary doesn’t really capture the intensity of the World Tour, it comes fairly close in translating the global unity that the trip stressed and in itself does extremely well to mirror the excitement and energy that followed the team through each of their stops. The special follows stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman on Doctor Who: The World Tour, which sees them visiting seven cities across five continents in 12 days to publicize the upcoming season. The tour launched in Cardiff, Wales on August 7 and hits London (UK), Seoul (South Korea), Sydney (Australia), New York (U.S.), Mexico City (Mexico) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Where the documentary really succeeds is through its focus on the dedication of the fan base, both through the interviews with international fans at each pit stop and the featuring of various pieces of breathtaking fan work. Unfortunately, it would have been impossible for every Whovian worldwide to be part of the tour – but luckily those who missed out have the opportunity to experience as much as they can through this extremely extensive and rewarding documentary.
Watch it for: The featuring of various pieces of fan work – most of which already finding fame in past editions of DWTV’s soon to return “Weird and Wonderful” – particularly Peter Capaldi discussing beautiful “Rain” fan trailer by YouTuber John Smith.
Rating: 9/10
Other Inclusions
Completing the box set are various short little Easter eggs and exclusives that regardless of their short durations still bring a complete and enjoyable viewing experience. These include
- Casting Peter Capaldi: An informative, fun and energetic recount from the minds of Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat as they recount the process of casting and revealing the 12th Doctor: Peter Capaldi.
- Writing the New Series: An insight into the motivations and inspirations that Steven Moffat focuses on when writing and planning the tonal line-up for Series 8.
- What is Doctor Who: Steven Moffat, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman each share their own understanding of who the enigmatic character that has been the item of our affections actually is.
- Why you should watch Series 8: The team bring their best sales pitches to the game to convince you to watch the box set you’ve already spent your money on….
- Deep Breath Q&A: The highlights package of the Live Q&A with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat that aired in British Cinemas following the release of Deep Breath on the big screen. Hosted by Zoe Ball.
- Series 8 Launch Trailers: Both the 30 second and 60 second version of the full series trailer
- Eyes/Heart Trailer: Relive the first moments where we wondered if the Doctor was indeed a good man…
Final Verdict
At the end of the day, the Series 8 Box set is unquestionably one of the sleekest, surprising and most effectively organised series box set we’ve ever had with a design almost as striking as the episodes it contains. While the lack of exclusive mini-episodes, unseen prequels, deleted scenes and cinema intros are initially noticeable and admittedly slightly disappointing, let there be no question that the extras that are included in the box set are so extensive that will almost make you forget about any opening quarrels.
All in all it’s a worthy release of such an incredible series, and one I cannot wait to jump straight into once more. And contrary to my earlier promise, I do believe being in possession of such an incredible box set does make appropriate a teasing “Ha-Ha” to those who find themselves forced to wait a few more days – but believe me when I say it’s totally worth it.
Doctor Who Series 8 Special Edition Box Set: 9/10
