With the resurgence in popularity of DOCTOR WHO in the wake of the current reboot, it’s tempting to revisit the original Doctor’s serials by way of BBC Video’s
ongoing archival releases. DOCTOR WHO made its debut on British television on November 23, 1963 and, by the time its plug was pulled in 1989, it was not only the longest-running science fiction series ever made, but a national institution as well. The original series consists of 159 stories, almost all of them multi-part serials, for a total of nearly 700 episodes. Unfortunately, the BBC used to rou- tinely dispose of older episodes, so 27 stories from the Sixties are now either incomplete or lost. Of the 132 surviving stories, roughly 60 of them have been released on DVD as of early 2008. (There are also two “lost in time” volumes collecting vari- ous orphaned episodes and condensations.) Ad- ditionally, two feature films pitting the Doctor (as portrayed by Peter Cushing) against his most popu- lar enemies, the Daleks, were adapted from two early serials and are available on DVD from An- chor Bay [VW 85:49]. Though these adaptations are not representative of the series proper, they were the only exposure most North Americans had to the character before DOCTOR WHO turned up on select American public television stations in 1975. So, with seven different “official” Doctors and 60 DVDs to choose from, where does the new Doctor Who fan start?
For those who don’t know, the Doctor (“Doc- tor Who” is the name of the series, not the char- acter) is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through space and time in his remarkable TARDIS, never failing to land just in time to face a terrible crisis. (The TARDIS looks like an outdated English police box because it was designed to blend in with its surroundings; this chameleon fea- ture stopped working during one of the Doctor’s visits to England and it’s looked like a police box ever since, albeit far bigger on the inside than the outside.) The Doctor has saved humanity (and even the universe) repeatedly, often facing seemingly unstoppable foes like Daleks and Cybermen armed only with his quick wits and the help of whatever (usually) human companions he’s picked up along the way. The Doctor’s ability to “regenerate” makes him virtually immortal; he conveniently does this whenever it’s time for a new actor to take on the role, in effect changing his appearance and per- sonality (although always becoming a white male
Fourth Doctor Tom Baker and friend in a promotional shot for the 1975 DOCTOR WHO serial “Genesis of the Daleks.”
with a British accent) but not his past. While each Doctor has his fans, it is the Third Doctor (THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD’s Jon Pertwee) and the Fourth Doctor (THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD’s Tom Baker) who are most fondly remembered; they are also the best represented on DVD. Not only do they have the most surviving stories to choose from, but Pertwee’s debut in the role was accompanied by both color and a greater emphasis on action and stunt work, while Baker’s run is generally considered to be the pinnacle of the original series (as opposed to the less suc- cessful tenure of Colin Baker, no relation, who played the Sixth Doctor). It only makes sense for the uninitiated to start with the Third and Fourth Doctors, and this reviewer has selected four of their most popular stories to focus on. DOCTOR WHO was in danger of being cancelled in 1970, when Pertwee took over the role from Patrick Troughton for the seventh season. Al- though Pertwee was best known as a comic actor, he insisted on playing the Doctor against type; his Doctor, although often described as a “dandy,” takes his adventures very seriously. “Inferno” is Story 54 and the final serial of Pertwee’s first sea- son; it was broadcast in seven parts, beginning May 9 and ending on June 20, 1970. The story centers around a top-secret drilling project led by the driven Professor Stahlman (Olaf Pooley), who is ob- sessed with penetrating the Earth’s crust. Briga- dier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) of UNIT has brought the Doctor and his assistant, Liz Shaw (Caroline John), onto the scene as reluctant
DOCTOR WHO: INFERNO 1970, BBC Video, DD-2.0/MA/ST/+ $29.98, 166m 28s, DVD-1
DOCTOR WHO:
GENESIS OF THE DALEKS 1975, BBC Video, DD-2.0/MA/ST/+ $29.98, 142m 40s, DVD-1
DOCTOR WHO:
THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG 1977, BBC Video, DD-2.0/MA/ST/+ $29.98, 143m 55s, DVD-1
DOCTOR WHO:
HORROR OF FANG ROCK 1977, BBC Video, DD-2.0/MA/ST/+ $19.98, 95m 19s, DVD-1
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