Doctor Who - Series 1 Vol.3 (DVD)

...first series of the revamped Doctor Who has a bit of a bonus: 4 episodes instead of 3! The previous two discs had 3 episodes each. This disc gives us episodes 7-10. With only 13 episodes in the series, up to this point I had reached the halfway point pretty much in the series, and I had been hooked instantly in the first episode. My interest had not waned at all in watching these episodes.

After a 13 year break from the TV series, ...
...gap, Doctor Who returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Time Lord. In the first 6 episodes, he establishes a working relationship with Rose Tyler, as she becomes his travelling companion, and we meet Rose's mum, Jackie, and boyfriend Mickey. Within no time at all, it's like he never left.

The Episodes:

The Long Game

In this episode, the Doctor and Rose emerge from the TARDIS to find themselves ... more

The third disc in the first series of the revamped Doctor Who has a bit of a bonus: 4 episodes instead of 3! The previous two discs had 3 episodes each. This disc gives us episodes 7-10. With only 13 episodes in the series, up to this point I had reached the halfway point pretty much in the series, and I had been hooked instantly in the first episode. My interest had not waned at all in watching these episodes.

After a 13 year break from the TV series, with only a TV movie in 1996 breaking up the gap, Doctor Who returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Time Lord. In the first 6 episodes, he establishes a working relationship with Rose Tyler, as she becomes his travelling companion, and we meet Rose's mum, Jackie, and boyfriend Mickey. Within no time at all, it's like he never left.

The Episodes:

The Long Game

In this episode, the Doctor and Rose emerge from the TARDIS to find themselves in the year 200,000 on Satellite 5, a strange space station circling the planet transmitting news, news and more news. They discover that the workers live only to gain promotion, and are all keen to do so, which will result in them being sent up to level 500. Of course, before long, the Doctor realises something is not right, and sets off to level 500 to find out why there is a phenomenal amount of heat and energy making its way down from there.

Father's Day

Rose becomes curious about time travel and, having lost her father when she was a baby, persuades the Doctor to let them travel back to when her father was killed just so she could see him. However, when events take a change, a rift in the time void happens and giant alien bacteria attack them, and they need to find a way to return the state of things and close the rift.

The Empty Child

Rose and the Doctor chase an emergency craft through a time dimension, and emerge in war torn London during the Blitz. Here, they meet Captain Jack Harkness for the first time, and encounter a strange boy wearing a gas mask who appears to be looking for his mummy. The boy can control objects and seems to follow them around. A girl called Nancy points them in the direction of Albion Hospital, where the boy seems to have come from.

The Doctor Dances

The story from The Empty Child continues in this episode as the Doctor, Rose and Jack keep searching for the answer to a zombie army following them around with gas masks on. The child asking for his mummy is at the centre of it all, but he is also the one they need to distance themselves from!

The Cast and Performances

Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor is fabulous. I think it is probably the variety in facial expressions he uses in the role that make him so believable and memorable in the role. The comedy element and the trust and comfort associated with him mean that the plots flow easily. Billie Piper as Rose has by now cemented her role and seems to have relaxed more as a character. Her naivety and 'damsel in distress'-like actions often lend a little more heroism to the Doctor's ego, and the combination between the two is marvellous.

Regular actors Noel Clarke as Mickey and Camille Coduri do very well as usual, and here we see for the first time John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood. Torchwood is an institution set up to investigate the unexplainable, and Jack is one of their agents from the future. The actor is full of charisma and charm, and we see a little struggle between the two characters of the Doctor and Captain Jack for a while before the Doctor pulls time-travelling rank as a Time Lord.

There are cameo appearances as ever in the episodes, with the most notable going to Simon Pegg in The Long Game. His performance is a far cry from the subtle sarcastic comedy we associate him with in films such as Shaun of the Dead, but it is effectvie and very impressive. Father's Day sees Shaun Dingwall give a good performance as Pete Tyler, Rose's dad, while the double header set in the Blitz features an outstanding performance from Florence Hoath as Nancy, and a good cameo from One Foot In The Grave's Richard Wilson as a doctor in Albion Hospital.

My Opinion

The one thing that worried me when starting out watching this series of Doctor Who was that the episodes and performances would get a bit stagnant and repetitive. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that every episode brings further excitement and edge of the seat entertainment. The regular characters evolve every time and the new characters are different. There is always some kind of a solution and a race against time, with the Doctor performing some marvel and revealing himself once more as the font of all knowledge. Infuriating, but impressive.

The aliens and other special effects are very carefully done, and the crew make sure to keep everything in line with the usual Doctor Who style FX. The direction and script writing is spot on in every episode, and I have no gripes whatsoever with any of the unrealistic elements, even the ones where you could argue that what they do would ultimately change the course of history in some places. This is even explained by the Doctor in Father's Day, where he hints that once they leave, people's memories change to forget them.

In conclusion, another great installment of the first new series of Doctor Who to take us up to episode 10. The DVD is available to buy on its own from amazon.co.uk for £6.98, or as part of the complete first series for £35.97. There are no extras: they arekept for the end of season boxset. It is well worth owning on DVD, as it is the sort of series you can watch over again, and there are constantly things to learn. My wife has been watching the series with me, and she persistenty notices things that are relevant to future episodes, and she is glad to have watched them again. A brilliant one to have on your DVD shelf. 

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