Doctor Who - Series 4 Vol.3 (DVD)

...twisted my leg! I Love Doctor Who!

Doctor Who is a sci-fi show aimed at the entire family. It first aired back in the '60's with William Hartnell as our first Doctor. The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels in space in his blue box known as the Tardis. Even if he aims to just go on a casual trip, he always seems to find himself battling some evil creature or another. But never fear, as he is hardly ever alone! The Doctor travels with ...
...this role as the 10th Doctor Christmas 2005. Since then Tennant has taken us through three full series', all of which are available to buy on DVD.

One of the DVDs is Series 4: Volume 3. It can be identified by it's blue cover. On the front there is a picture of the Doctor, Donna and River Song. They are huddled quite close together, leaning towards us. Actually, it looks quite sinister! Underneath them there is a faint eerie picture ... more

Would you like to know something? Something really fascinating! You'd never be able to guess it. No, seriously you wouldn't. I don't really mention it much like. You want to know? You sure? I don't know...okay, okay, you've twisted my leg! I Love Doctor Who!

Doctor Who is a sci-fi show aimed at the entire family. It first aired back in the '60's with William Hartnell as our first Doctor. The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels in space in his blue box known as the Tardis. Even if he aims to just go on a casual trip, he always seems to find himself battling some evil creature or another. But never fear, as he is hardly ever alone! The Doctor travels with a companion (or three!) so he has somebody by his side to help him out. The show returned in 2005 with Chris Eccleston as our 9th Doctor, and David Tennant took over this role as the 10th Doctor Christmas 2005. Since then Tennant has taken us through three full series', all of which are available to buy on DVD.

One of the DVDs is Series 4: Volume 3. It can be identified by it's blue cover. On the front there is a picture of the Doctor, Donna and River Song. They are huddled quite close together, leaning towards us. Actually, it looks quite sinister! Underneath them there is a faint eerie picture of one of the creatures, the Vashta Nerada, with books flying fiercely around him. It definitely is enough to frighten! Turning onto the back of the DVD cover you will find a few screen snaps from the episodes. They look quite peculiar, not giving any revealing incidents away. There is also three little descriptions of the three episodes' synopsis.

I decided it was time to put the DVD in, so I popped in into the laptop, ready to begin. You are first greeted with the theme music, which has been recomposed by Murray Gold. It is a very addictive theme tune, quite fast and 'clangy'. That's techno-music for you! You have a few options too: Play All, Episode Selection, Scene Selection and Subtitles On/Off. Naturally the subtitles one allows you to switch between having the words on the screen or not, and episode selection allows you to select which of the three episodes you want to watch. Scene selection is a little more precise; you can select almost the exact part of an episode you wish to watch! I had a few hours to kill so I went straight to Play All. And so it began...

Silence in the Library
The first episode is Silence in the Library. Doctor Who in a library? Really? Well it's not just any library! It's the biggest library in the universe! So...why is it deserted? The Doctor, alongside companion Donna, find this a little weird. But soon they find themselves in a dangerous situation for being inside a deserted library, and all because of shadows...!

This is quite an interesting episode to watch. It's unusual for so much action to happen in such an empty place. Usually the tense scenes in the show are overcrowded! I thoroughly enjoyed it, but unfortunately not so many got to enjoy it's magic. It aired on the 31st May 2008. That happened to be the same day as the Britain's Got Talent finals, so unfortunately the episode got just over 6 million viewers, where as Britain's Got Talent received over 11 million. Honestly, I'd choose Doctor Who any day!

The episode is fantastically written by Steven Moffat, who wrote other episodes I like such as The Empty Child and The Girl in the Fireplace. It was directed by Euros Lyn. The producer is Phil Collinson (Loose Women will know Denise's joke...;)). It lasted for 45 minutes, which I think is ample. There is so much that happens in it, and it's ending is so horrifically amazing, I cried!

Forest of the Dead
This next episode is the second part to the previous. The Doctor is still in the library, and the shadows are disappearing one by one as the evil Vashta Nerada are attacking. The Doctor and River Song team together and try and solve this dangerous problem, but can they do it before everybody has been victims?

I loved this second part just as much as the first. It's just as gripping, and those horrid creatures become even more frightening! It's viewers made up 40% of the time-share in it's slot, which I think is pretty good indeed! It's definitely one of the best second-parters in an episode, with an ending so freakish and amazing its unreal!

Written by Steven Moffat again, this is definitely scripted well. It is also well directed by Euros Lyn and produced by Phil Collinson. I think it is one of the finer episodes of the series, quite frightful but every bit enjoyable!

Midnight
The Doctor and Donna are off on holiday on planet Midnight. While Donna is relaxing the Doctor decides to take a ride on a shuttle. Though it stops suddenly, and the walls begin to tap and respond. A passenger on board begins to act strangely too. What is going on, and how will he ever get out? Is the Doctor still able to save the day trapped in such a small space?

Any episode with a name as dark and sinister as this sounds like it is going to be quite sinister and eerie. But nope, this was quite a bland episode. I found the lack of movement and serious action to be quite boring. Though on a positive, the acting here was amazing, especially when the Doctor had to remember impossibly massive long numbers!

This episode was written by Russell T Davies, which is quite surprising as I usually adore his episodes. It was directed by Euros Lyn and produced by Phil Collinson. It had over 8 million viewers, and I am quite keen to know what they think!

*
On the back of the DVD box there are two quotes, one from Heat, which says “...Clever, imaginative, scary and funny...” . The other states, “A white-knuckle ride”, and is from the TV Times. I do agree with these two quotes, but only if we were basing it on the first two episodes. I think the third was a little dire.

I cannot complain though, the cast did make this an amazing DVD. One man in particular is a gem. It's none other than the gorgeous David Tennant! I think this pushed his acting talents even further, and I am amazed at the length of that number he had to learn in Midnight! He looks as dashing as ever in these episodes, definitely a fine art! Catherine Tate too was very good. She's a true star in the show. When she first joined the show I didn't know how to react; I was used to her amazing comedy. But she has definitely pulled her weight and proved to us that she can, indeed, act! Alex Kingston also stood out for me, who played River Song. I hadn't heard of her before, but after this I definitely intend to keep an eye out for her in future productions!

I collect all the 21st Century Doctor Who DVDs, so I don't really mind paying for them, as long as they never reached extortionate prices! I think at the time I paid around £15 when this particular DVD was released back in August 2008, and now its down to £6 (HMV). I think that is an amazing price, definitely worth it! I think I will start waiting a few months until I buy things now! I just bought the River Song and Vashta Nerada 5” figures for £4, down from £8, so it's definitely worth hanging on for a while! Though I don't feel this DVD will go lower!

The DVD is rated 12, which I feel is a good rating as there are indeed some gruesome parts in the second episode especially! It lasts for 2hr 15m which is a canny time. I sat through all three episodes once, and time did pass by quick, even for Midnight!

This is a fantastic DVD, perfect for any 'Who fan! The only downside is that there are no extra features. Other than that, prepare yourself for a journey of wonder and fear!

© Amy 2009 

...less