Doctor Who - Series 4 Vol.1 (DVD)

Doctor Who series 4 kicks off with a cracking start with the story Partners In Crime. Having realised what she was missing out on by not joining the Doctor (David Tennant) in his journeys through time and space Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is searching for her time travelling hero. Having realised that wherever the Doctor may be trouble can't be far away Donna deliberately hunts down anything that seems remotely out of this world, crop circles, the ...
...before.

The Doctor is in the same location exploring the strange goings on at Adipose, unaware that Donna is frantically looking for him. It's not long before the Doctor and Donna meet up and it's just like old times. Both realise that the sinister Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire) is up to something she should not be, and try their hardest to prevent her master plan. As well as battling a new enemy, the couple have to wrestle with the ... more

Doctor Who series 4 kicks off with a cracking start with the story Partners In Crime. Having realised what she was missing out on by not joining the Doctor (David Tennant) in his journeys through time and space Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is searching for her time travelling hero. Having realised that wherever the Doctor may be trouble can't be far away Donna deliberately hunts down anything that seems remotely out of this world, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and now the incredibly unusual goings on at Adipose. Adipose have a wonder pill, the pill can guarantee that its users will lose weight, the results being better than anything that they have tried before.

The Doctor is in the same location exploring the strange goings on at Adipose, unaware that Donna is frantically looking for him. It's not long before the Doctor and Donna meet up and it's just like old times. Both realise that the sinister Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire) is up to something she should not be, and try their hardest to prevent her master plan. As well as battling a new enemy, the couple have to wrestle with the past.

Donna first encountered the Doctor in the 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride, and the arrival of comedienne Catherine Tate who plays the character has been the subject of much controversy since it was announced almost a year ago that she would return. I'm pleased to say however that Catherine is much better this time round, at the start when she speaks with her grandfather played by the legend Bernard Cribbins there is a realism about her that previous companions failed to meet up to, on the basis of episode one (called Partners In Crime) I'm happy to say it seems I'm wrong about the actress, whether she continues to deliver though we will need to wait and see.

David Tennant is as spectacular as ever playing for the action and the laughs, his reuniting with Catherine Tate is pure magic, as the two bounce off each other like an old 1970's double act, with humour aside though Tate makes it clear she is not all about the humour. Back to Tennant and you can tell that in his third series in the role he has well and truly found his feet, not criticising his previous performance he just seems more at home now than he ever had before.

The odd factor of Partners In Crime is that there is not really a villain as such, while Foster starts as a bad guy, she has purely innocent reasons behind her actions. The aliens in question being by far the sweetest Doctor Who aliens of all time, and I suspect a range of these as cuddly toys come the latter end of 2008.

Special effects have again improved as they have year on year, this time looking far more like big movie effects than before, but special effects company have special help this time with special effects experts who worked on the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, which could well explain the dramatic improvements. More like a movie than any previous Doctor Who story the show takes special attention regardless of the lack of sets, making it look bigger than it actually is.
Two big things are firstly an improved version of the theme tune which has some very 80's hints echoing the time that Peter Davison controlled the Tardis as the Doctor. But the big issue is a rather brief but much awaited return of a character who new Doctor Who fans have until now thought lost, although the return was much publicised who expected a return so early in the series regardless of the length of time will send shivers down your spine.

Having allowed her to join him on his travels through time and space, The Doctor and Donna travel back in time to ancient Rome in the story The Fires Of Pompeii. It gives the Doctor the opportunity to discuss some of the refinements of Tardis time travel with Donna, as she asks how the Romans can understand what they are saying. But this lesson is short lived as a loud crashing noise draws the couple to look at the giant mountain that towers above the City, but this is no mountain, this is a Volcano, and our time travellers have arrived in Pompeii the day before the volcano explodes destroying the city below.

It's a breakthrough episode of Doctor Who, because it's the biggest budget story ever since the shows return in 2005, since the shows return it's also the first time that filming overseas has taken place as in order to film the show, cast and crew have travelled to Italy's famous Cinacitti Studios in Rome.

For the second show of season four, the story is expertly delivered; the special effects amazing, and the story so big it's difficult to understand how they can possibly cram it all into the 50 minute running time.

The story tackles an awful lot of things that an avid Doctor Who viewer might have questions over, beyond the gift of translation. The key one of these big questions is knowing that 24 hours from now Pompeii is about to be destroyed by a volcano, if you have the knowledge of this what would you do? Let the people living in Pompeii know so they can escape, or leave them all to die? On top of this for educational fans the news that until the destruction of Pompeiii nobody knew what a volcano was, let alone the sort of damage they could cause.
The story moves at a momentous pace as the main story of the volcano plays a relatively small factor of the story, beneath this is a cult of ancient sisters who can predict the future, human sacrifice, and a powerful Soothsayer with a strange knowledge of electrical circuitry centuries before electricity was realised. These secondary facts almost make you forget the story that at first seemed like the biggest issue.

There is a marvellous series of humorous moments when the big question of Tardis translation raises its head, Donna asks if the Tardis translated Latin to English what happens if you speak Latin? The result is that to Italians they sound Welsh, and from this lots of comic Welsh jokes come into discussion, "There's Lovely" says Peter Capaldi as Caecillius to the Doctor's Caveat Emptor quote.

The story features other great guest stars Philip Davis best known for the movie Quadrophenia stars as Pompeii's chief soothsayer Lucius, while Tracey Childs appears as Caecillius' wife Mettella.

There is of course the expected eruption and this is something that looks absolutely mesmerising, the effects being far better standard that back in 2005 when the show returned. While obviously being CGI effects, for the first time there is a sort of element of doubt with the show, is that CGI or is it some sort of effect with a model. There is a magnificent scene in which the Doctor and Donna are running from the volcano with lava chasing after them, and you really do have to ask "How do they do that?"

On a far distant planet The Doctor and Donna arrive as something strange is happening. The servant creatures of humans known as the Ood are struggling with a mystery illness. Having been all faithful to humans for centuries the Ood have been developing a condition known as red eye, shortly after the infection of red eye, they lose control attacking their masters; but what has happened to cause this sudden condition to develop, only one man has the answer.

The Planet Of The Ood and I say this after every episode is the strongest of series four so far; it's an emotional tale that echoes the 2005 series story 2005 in which you are given reason to feel genuine emotion for something for something that essentially is bad.

Knitted together tighter than the previous two stories a couple of years ago this would have been a two part story; but with the tremendous weight of the stories from the series as a whole find the story condensed into a 50 minute episode, and there is barely a moment for you to be distracted.

The Ood were introduced to the show during the second series (2006) of Doctor Who with the stories The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, these creatures with a face that resembles a squid are known for their courteous nature, and their soft voices. And while in 2006 they turned bad, as they do here you realise that in their hearts they just want to enjoy a peaceful life. And The Planet Of The Ood is all about giving the Ood, or at least attempting to; back their freedom.

The Planet Of The Ood is very much like a translation of the story of black slavery, you get to look at the Ood, not as alien creatures but as equals; wrongly treated and as a result viewed upon as potentially dangerous. There is a lot of poor treatment of the Ood, as they are bossed about without as much as a please or a thank you, expected to do the most mundane of tasks with nothing in it for them "We are born to serve" they state when asked why they allow themselves to be treated in such a way.

A scene involving a giant claw allows Doctor Who to get involved in that big almost Hollywood action sequence, just in case the story was starting to become too moving. This action sequence really is a testament to how the show has progressed over the last few years, because the sequence really does look real, rather than the blundering CGI we were treated to earlier in the series.

The biggest transition of the story revolves around Donna, who allows you to enter into her soul and see the situation through her eyes, she's not the all screaming Catherine Tate that you come to expect, and you really feel that as an actress she feels what Donna sees. Donna begins to question on her first experience on another world exactly why she travels with the Doctor, having watched the demise of thousands, now she has to sit by as an entire race stands the chance of being wiped out on the whim of rather ignorant humans. "I want to go home" she cries out to the Doctor.

The show has another collection of recognizable actors Tim McInnery, and Adrian Rawlins leading the way with a great performance from Ayesha Dharker who I loved recently in the movie Outsourced. This Glaswegian actress of Indian decent really lightens up every scene she appears in.

As is typical the story features a number of story arcs forming, and those more aware will notice the frequent worship of The Doctor and Donna, almost elevating them to the status of Gods, as well as random comments leading to a bigger picture, all drawing reference to the return of someone lost. There are even clues in the Doctor Who logo that those more observant will get a clue as to what awaits round the corner.

Doctor Who series 4 disc 1 is available to buy on the 2nd of June priced £12.99 the DVD has no special features although their is a preview of the coming three stories.

Now for those that like a taste of the future read on, for those that don't stop now, as here is a hint of what the lies in store for The Doctor for the rest of 2008.

Having not encountered them since 1985 Martha calls the Doctor back to earth when The Sontarans arrive.
What happened to Agatha Christies missing days? The answer at last and a guaranteed murder involving lead pipe. And what's the story with all those bees?
We all know the Doctor's original travelling companion was his Granddaughter Susan, but how will the Doctor feel when he is reunited with his daughter.
What is the secret beyond the wall, what is that banging; something's coming as two worlds collide the Doctor and Donna's fate lie in someone from another world. "I missed you!", "I missed you too!" but this reunion is bought to a sudden end "Exterminate!"
Someone loses their memory of travelling with the Doctor forever as companions from the recent and long past come back to help the Doctor in his hour of need, lots of attention is given to the return of the Daleks, but they were not the only creature drawn into the time vortex; everyone completely forgets about the Cybermen. And as the Cybermen return they for the first time arrive in Earth's past, to blend nicely into a piece of England's history. 

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