Doctor Who - The Caves of Androzani (Episode 136)
buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices
|
 |
List Price: $19.98
Our Price:
$13.99
You Save: $5.99
Features
• Color
• DVD-Video
• NTSC
In Theaters : 29 September, 1975
DVD Release : 02 April, 2002 |
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] |
DVD : Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
|
Doctor Who - The Caves of Androzani (Episode 136) description
Peter Davison's final adventure, "The Caves of Androzani," pulls out all stops to give this Doctor an unforgettable farewell. Deep within the titular caves, the disfigured, masked antihero Sharez Jek (Christopher Gable) and his regiment of androids are locked in conflict with an army unit and a group of smugglers for control of the life-extending Spectrox. When the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) enter this labyrinth, they immediately become victims of deadly Spectrox poisoning. The story's numerous subplots involve espionage, betrayal, and revenge, as well as big-business corruption, political assassination, and silly-looking reptilian monsters. And the first episode has one of the best cliffhangers ever: our heroes are executed by a firing squad armed with submachine guns. Robert Holmes (who wrote the more satirical Doctor Who story "The Sun Makers") here concentrates on delivering a breathlessly paced action thriller, with relentless death and destruction unfolding like in a Sam Peckinpah film, making Davison's heroic pacifism all the more effective. --Gary S. Dalkin |
|
Doctor Who - The Caves of Androzani (Episode 136) Customer Reviews
|
|
|
|
♥♥♥♥♥ |
"Don't mock me, Doctor. Beauty I must have, but you are dispensible."
|
"The Caves of Androzani" pivots between the past and the future. Obviously this is so, in that the fifth Doctor becomes mortally ill and newly regenerates into the sixth Doctor after first being haunted by the voices of former companions and enemies. More fundamentally though, this "Doctor Who" adventure is a riveting fusion of dystopian science fiction and revenge dramas straight out of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods--hence doubly dark and gruesome.
The dystopian sci-fi element is more readily apparent, of course, for the human colony on the twin planets of Androzani presents us with a bleak picture of the future--in actuality merely refracting the bleaker trends and tendencies of our present, of course. Exploitative corporations entangled with the government, strict hierarchies of status, an interplanetary drug trade at the heart of a brutal civil war, and cutthroat murderous mercenaries playing (or being played by) both sides--oh brave new world indeed! And an image of this complicatedly dysfunctional social system is painted deftly with a few strokes of dialogue in that inimitable "Doctor Who" way (reminding me most clearly of "The Robots of Death" or "The Ribos Operation" on that score). But closer to the heart of the story is manipulation, intrigue, assassination, insanity, revenge, and an ending where practically everybody (even the Doctor, sort of) dies--and this is good old-fashioned dysfunctionalism vintage 1600's. Morgus's asides to the camera (to the viewing audience, really) are stylistically indicative of this as well, but the secret murder (attempted in this case, of Sharaz Jek by Morgus), the long period of disguise and plotting during which the murderer and the avenger scheme against each other, and the gradually rising body count culminating in an explosion of violence at the conclusion in which the principle characters (including the murderer and the avenger) get killed off--"Androzani" follows this classic, stereotypically Jacobean dramatic structure almost to a tee.
And it still works. This is a compellingly well-told story with a good deal of suspense, psychodrama, twists & turns, not to mention edge-of-your-seat action in a show not always known for being action-packed per se. The characters are interesting, psychologically complex, and even the nicer of them are less than wholly admirable to say the least--and fine acting by the supporting cast really brings this out. This especially goes for Sharaz Jek, a man driven mad by his disfigurement, resentment, and quest for vengeance--He's cruel, he's creepy, and he's a bit off his rocker, but is he a villain? Well, yes, no, and maybe. Speaking of acting, this is hands down the best performance by Peter Davison as the Doctor that I've yet seen. In all honesty, he tends to be one of my least favorite Doctors and usually comes across (to me anyway) as bland and passive. Not here, though! You can pair him up against the Cybermen, the Daleks, or the Master, but it never quite really seems like the Doctor unless he has that classic irreverence, disdain for petty authority, and understated but rock-solid courage so characteristic of this character across his varying incarnations, and here at last we finally really get to see these qualities in the fifth Doctor. And then he's gone. Dang.
Still, "Androzani" does have a few glaring imperfections. Principally, amidst all these interesting characters and fine actors, we have the Doctor's companion, Peri, as played by Nicola Bryant. I'm not sure what happened here, but the character is unconvincing, annoying, and makes Jo Grant look like a Romana in comparison--and the actress can't, well, act. The female companions in "Doctor Who" have always been played by excellent actresses who knew their stuff, and the characters have exuded personality, intelligence (even ditzy Jo had her escapology), and some level of bravery and pluck as well as being extremely easy on the eyes. The latter's about all poor Peri has going for her, I'm afraid. She's trying her best, too, you can tell, so the fault clearly lies elsewhere, the producers and the writers I'm thinking. That aside, there's also a few plot implausibilities here and there and a superfluous monster who's rather poorly realized. But when all's said and done, these flaws detract only a little from a fine story and a smooth production--and a dramatic finale to the fifth Doctor's adventures. |
|
Doctor Who - The Caves of Androzani (Episode 136) dvd movie.