KryptonSite's DVD Review Column #3: Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series & The Infinite Quest
Reviewed
by Craig Byrne
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Read previous installments of the KryptonSite DVD Column:
#1 (10/08) Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3 & Supernatural Season 3
#2 (10/08) Doctor Who: The Brain Of Morbius, Trial Of A Time Lord, & The Sarah Jane Adventures
In our second journey into recent DVD releases, we take a look at some new offerings from BBC Video featuring Craig's favorite British television series - Doctor Who. Enjoy the reviews!
Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series
Starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate
With appearances by Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman, Elisabeth Sladen, Kylie Minogue, & others
BBC Video
14 episodes on 6 discs with many extras
Release Date: November 18, 2008
When it was announced that Catherine Tate would be the new companion for the fourth season (or "series" as they call it in the U.K.) of Doctor Who, I was a bit worried. "The Runaway Bride" Christmas special from 2006 was one of my least favorite episodes and I was afraid this would be the second coming of Bonnie Langford. Fortunately for the show and its fans, Catherine Tate is a very capable actress who made Donna Noble a character you could root for in the span of just one season.
David Tennant is The Doctor for the entire season, and he continues to be one of the best parts of the program. The season launches with the very-high-production-value "Voyage of the Damned" with Kylie Minogue and barely stops for breath. Sure, there's some stupidity thrown in (fat creatures?) but all of that silliness is forgotten by the season's final episodes - a string of several installments that prove why Doctor Who is good. The episode "The Stolen Earth" is a particular favorite, and the cliffhanger for that episode remains one of my favorite scenes of the entire series. It also lit up the message forums at the time of airing, for reasons you'll see when you watch the episodes.
My main thought or recommendation for those of you interested in picking up Series Four is to watch it without being spoiled. Knowing what's coming up might ruin some of the suspense - which is often part of the fun of the show.
BBC Video did their usual good job of putting together this set, although there are some complaints. Primarily with the packaging - Every time I tried putting the DVD's away at least one would fall out of place and almost get scratched. It's also a bit hard to close up after watching, but it's still better than what we got for the first two seasons.
The highlight of this set, as with most Doctor Who DVD's, is the amount of extras. Not only is there some Doctor Who Confidential to enjoy - there are also some great bits like "Time Crash" (co-starring Fifth Doctor Peter Davison!) and David Tennant's video diaries, which are a perfect example of why people love him and his performance as The Doctor so much. There are commentaries on every episode, and it's especially fun to hear the ones where Tennant and creator Russell T. Davies confuse their female counterparts with trivia dating back to the show's very long past.
There are many great guest stars, even beyond the all-star finale which features guest appearances by Elisabeth Sladen, Torchwood's John Barrowman, Billie Piper, and more. There's Kylie Minogue in "Voyage of the Damned." Georgia Moffat is "The Doctor's Daughter" in more ways than one in the episode of the same name. And Alex Kingston of NBC's ER makes an appearance in "Silence in the Library" as River Song, a character who seems to know a bit more about the Doctor than she's supposed to.
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The supporting cast is also particularly top-notch, with my favorite being Bernard Cribbins as Winfred Mott, Donna's grandfather. I would also feel terrible if I failed to mention Julian Bleach as the villain for the series' final episodes. He is playing a role that had been made famous by other actors in the past, yet he was a perfect fit. Seeing this character and Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith reunited was a particularly nice touch.
Throughout the season, The Doctor and Donna (and sometimes with Martha Jones in tow) go to ancient Pompeii, they meet the Sontarans (characters from the original series), and even go to a futuristic library full of "spoilers" for the Doctor's future. Donna herself also sees a world where she made one different decision that altered history for keeps. It was around this time that I thought Donna might be a fobwatched Time Lady Romana, and I'm sad that it wasn't to be - especially since she was, after all, the NOBLEst Romana of them all.
Also on this set is a fantastic look at the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who going from the first new season in 2005 all the way to the present, complete with interviews with many people. (Take a drink every time RTD utters the word "Brilliant" and it's even more fun)
That said, I'm a little biased because Doctor Who might very well be my favorite show that I've never made a website for (and never would, as others have done such a good job of it alreday). I'm giving this set four stars out of five - with one taken away because of the "disc-fall-out" packaging. As usual, it's a first class production, and a first class boxed set. The price may seem a little steep for "14 episodes," but the hours of extra material more than make up for it.
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Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest
Starring David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, and Anthony Stewart Head
BBC Video
1 disc
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Doctor Who as an animated series doesn't seem like all that bad of an idea, but Doctor Who in an animated series that plays like a series of webisodes might not be the best. Unfortunately, that's how The Infinite Quest plays out.
Tennant and Agyeman give it their best, and the DVD extras of their recording sessions and associated interviews are what make this DVD worth taking a look at. But the episodes themselves seem almost like filler material to me. Maybe a younger person would appreciate this more - since, after all, it will be children that will be most interested in this DVD. Mostly it's just a lot of the Doctor and Martha searching for something and meeting random pirate type characters along the way. Anthony Stewart Head is a welcome voice as Balthazar, although his voice is so unmistakeable you'd think you were listening to Rupert Giles.
I'm not completely sure what would make an animated Doctor Who any better than this. It looks good, and like I said, the actors were solid in their voice work. I just didn't feel it was for me. However, the recording sessions and interviews, as I said, are a lot of fun to watch for fans of the live-action version. At under ten dollars it may be worth a look, or it may make a great stocking stuffer for the holidays.
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Next up in the KryptonSite DVD Review column... Primeval! See you in a few days!
