DVD Review - Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited: Fifth - Eighth

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited: Fifth - Eighth

Starring: Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Retail: $39.98

ASIN: B00DNQKF2G

Running Time: Approx. 735 minutes

Review:

BCC's Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th anniversary next month with the special "The Day of the Doctor," but before then you can experience the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth doctors with today's release of Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited: Fifth - Eighth, starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann in four exciting adventures, Earthshock, Vengeance on Varos, Remembrance of the Daleks, and Doctor Who - The Movie, on four discs.

Earthshock aired in March 1982 and has the Doctor (played by Peter Davison) and his companions (Adric, Nyssa or Tegan) arriving on Earth in the future. They explore a few caves and run into Lieutenant Scott and his men, who claim the Doctor and companions killed Professor Kyle's exploration team. The Doctor convinces Scott that they didn't have anything to do with Kyle's disappearance and offers his assistance to help with the search, leading the Doctor to come face to face with the Cybermen.

Colin Baker plays the Doctor in Vengeance On Varos, which originally aired in January 1985. After the TARDIS comes to a complete stop in the middle of space, the Doctor and his companion (Peri Brown) go to Varos (formerly a prison planet) in search of Zeiton-7, which is what the TARDIS needs to run properly again. The planet is operated by the evil Governor and getting the Zeiton-7 will be more difficult (even deadly) for the Doctor.

Remembrance of the Daleks first hit the airwaves in October 1988 starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, who (along with his companion, Ace) arrives in Shoreditch in 1963, where they track down the strange magnetic fluctuations near the Coal Hill School, which happens to be a grey Dalek. The Daleks have followed The Doctor through time in search of the Hand of Omega; all leading to the return of the creator and leader, Davros.

Seven years after the original BBC series ended, Doctor Who returned for one night on Fox and later aired on BBC One in the UK with Sylvester McCoy briefly returning to regenerate in Doctor Who: The Movie. Paul McGann took over the role of the Doctor for the made-for-television movie that finds the Doctor with no memory after the regenerations and is aided by Dr. Grace Holloway. To make matters worse, black ooze escapes from the box containing the remains of the Master and enters into the body of an ambulance driver; therefore regenerating into the Master, who is hell-bent on destroying the Doctor.

Each disc has the option to watch the original broadcast version or the widescreen special feature version with an introduction by Steven Moffat. There is also a 24-minute documentary on each disc. Inside the DVD case is a set of four Doctor Who fridge magnets.

I've been a Doctor Who fan since "Rose" aired on the Sci-fi Channel (now known as SyFy) in 2006; though I was aware of the previous incarnations, I had only seen the Doctor Who films with Peter Cushing at the time. With the 50th anniversary this year, BBC is releasing the best of each Doctor in three DVD set releases for both new and old fans. Earthshock started a bit slow for me, but the pacing picks up when the Cybermen are revealed, all leading to a shocking ending (I won't spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't seen the episode, but most fans are aware of who dies.) Vengeance on Varos is completely different than any other Doctor Who episode. Despite its slow pacing, it is cleverly written. Remembrance of the Daleks is the final appearance of the Davros and the Daleks in the original series run and just like other Dalek episodes, it is action-packed. I had already seen Doctor Who - The Movie, as it was released on a 2-disc set back in 2011, but there is a new documentary about the eight Doctor on this release. The movie was meant to be a reboot and a backdoor-pilot, but due to horrible marketing and a bad timeslot, it didn't put much of a dent in the ratings. I do admire the producers for connecting to the original series with Sylvester McCoy's cameo. Overall, Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited: Fifth - Eighth is a must have for any fan. I enjoyed watching each episode (or movie) and I recommend it to others.