Doctor Who - Survival (Episode 159) dvd movie.|
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List Price: $34.98 Our Price: $25.99 You Save: $8.99 Features • Closed-captioned • Color • DVD-Video • Full Screen • NTSC |
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Doctor Who - Survival (Episode 159) description The final serial in Doctor Who's original run on the BBC (before it was revived in 2005), this three-episode story stars Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, who brings his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) back to Earth, only to discover that a race of feline aliens have turned the planet into their private hunting ground. The aliens, called Cheetah People, are traveling between their dying planet and Earth to kidnap humans for food--and lurking behind the whole scheme is none other than the Doctor's arch enemy, the Master (Anthony Ainsley in his final TV performance as the character). Despite the relative lack of quality of its video cinematography, Survival is a sold serial from the McCoy era, with some genuine suspense and an affectionate (if temporary) send-off for the venerable sci-fi hero. The two-disc set of Survival is typical of the impressive presentations that the Doctor's adventures have received on DVD. Two commentary tracks have been recorded--one featuring McCoy, Aldred, and script editor Andrew Cartmel, and the other by the winners of a contest sponsored by Doctor Who magazine (this appears only for episode 3). The hour-long, two-part Cat Flap (one of the original titles for the serial) covers the making of the serial from start to finish, and Endgame is an intriguing look at how the program might've continued after Survival had it not been cancelled in 1989. Little Girl Lost is a 15-minute exploration of Ace's character from her debut story until Survival, and Destiny of the Doctors features footage of Ainley as the Master taken from the 1997 computer game of the same name. The extras are rounded out by several deleted and extended scenes, a round of outtakes, the standard photo gallery, text-only commentary track, Radio Times listings (in DVD-ROM format), and a 20-minute episode of a U.K. educational program called Search Out Science, which features McCoy and Aldred as their characters in a discussion of (what else?) time and space. --Paul Gaita |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | The end of the begining |
| This was the last story of the original "Doctor Who", which ran on the BBC from 1963 - 1989. Think about that for a moment. Six US presidents were in office during that time (more or less... JFK was killed the day the show started to air). When the program started we hadn't been to Moon. By the time it ended, we'd lost interest in going back there. If you added up the runs of the original "Star Trek" series, "The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" you end up with twenty-four seasons of television. "Doctor Who" wound up with twenty-six. Of course, you can add "Enterprise" into there to boost the numbers and make it twenty-eight, but now with three seasons of the new "Doctor Who" on the air, and a fourth coming, "Star Trek" still loses.
There were a lot of problems with "Doctor Who" throughout those years. This is somewhat to be expected with a show that runs that long, after all. The SFX were usually laughable, even by the standards of the time. The monsters were frequently silly and the less said about some of the costumes and sets the better. But there was always a great enthusiasm on the part of the show. The people involved took it seriously. Most of the stories were original and interesting and the actors were, in general, top-notch, especially the ones who played the Doctor. Sylvester McCoy was the first Doctor I paid attention to, really. My local PBS station started airing his shows right about the time that I was begining to get into "Doctor Who". The first episode I ever remember seeing was [[ASIN:B00005Y6XI Doctor Who - Remembrance of the Daleks]]. Though now I've gone back to see all the other Doctors, plus watched the TV movie and the new series, and though I like all the Doctors, the 7th one still holds a special place in my heart. Which is why it's too bad McCoy was the one duty when the show finally folded. His Doctor was intelligent, funny and charming, but had a great ruthlessness about him when it was called for. Part of his charm was the various elements of the so-called "Cartmel Master Plan". Even as a wee shaver I took notice in "Rememberance of the Daleks" when the Doctor makes a verbal slip that implies he worked on the original time travel technology with Rassilon and Omega. "Survival" is the 7th Doctor's swan song, even though he returned for the TV movie. It's the last time we really see him on screen running the show, and it showcases great deal of what made him so cool. You see the humor, the kindness, the charm and the ruthlessness. You also see the evolving relationship with Ace, always a favorite companion, and of course Anthony Ainley's last "real" performance as the Master, finally allowed to be something other than a two-dimensional Evil Overlord (tm). There's a lot that works in this story. Even the make up on the Cheetah People is rather decent. The story is tightly plotted and intesting, and reveals quite a lot about Ace and her life before she met up with the Doctor. In fact the only real complaints I have is that the story is rather short at only three parts, certain character's deaths were very, very telegraphed and the puppet cat looked just dreadful. Despite those complaints, this was well worth seeing, and it's therefore somewhat surprising that despite the fact that I've been a fan of the show for about twenty years, I'd not seen this episode until a few days ago. But I'm happy to have seen it now. The DVD is crammed with the usual extras the BBC throws onto these, including commentaries and behind-the-scenes stuff. Very illuminating is a documentry on the end of the original series, where you also get to hear some vague ideas on what might have been had they been on the air longer. All in all, while this is not the best "Doctor Who" episode, it is very good, and a reasonably decent farewell for the show. It wasn't the send off the deserved, but it was better than what, say, "Enterprise" got, where their last episode was a decent "Next Generation" episode. Watch and enjoy the end of an era. |
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