DOCTOR WHO DVD TITLES

CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS

Released on the 15th July was the classic story starring Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning as the Doctor and his assistant, Jo Grant. After his regeneration at the end of the War Games, the Doctor was exiled to Earth for a while and this story sees him taking the TARDIS on a test flight, and arriving on a cargo ship, the SS Bernice, in the middle of the Indian Ocean in 1926. Well, this is what it seems at first, but the ship and crew have, in fact, been miniaturised and trapped inside a miniscope - an entertainment peepshow that has been banned. After encountering an alien monster, the Doctor manages to break free from the scope and revets to full size, where his attempts to rescue Jo from the scope lead to an enthralling story.

Like all other DVDs, this has many extras including a commentary with Katy Manning and the director, Barry Letts, behind the scenes footage, deleted and extended scenes, and the visual effects tests of a spaceship landing and the puppetry used in the story, and the trailer from The Five Faces of Doctor Who. There is also a section in which Barry Letts demonstrates the use of video effects in the studio and the DVD also has alternate opening and closing music. The only thing missing is a plastic drashig!

Priced at the regular £19.99, this is another worthy addition to the collection

ARK IN SPACE

This has got to be my favourite stories of the Tom Baker era and I have waited patiently for it to arrive on DVD. The TARDIS arrives on an apparently abandoned space station, Nerva, also known as the Ark, orbiting the Earth. On board, the Doctor and his two assistants, Sarah Jane and Harry, make a gruesome discovery about the ship's cargo - they are the last survivors fo the human race, held in suspended animation following the near destruction of all life on the planet.

They also discover that the human being are not the only bodies on board and an insect-like alien has invaded the Ark which it viewed as an obiting fridge full of food. In order to prevent total disaster, the Doctor decides that the only course of action is to reactivate the space station and wake the crew. This is retails at the standard £19.99, and rightly takes pride of place on my shelf!

VENGEANCE ON VAROS

This story has the 6th Doctor - Colin Baker - trying to escape from a sadistic planet where torture is a form on entertainment, Varos. The Doctor visits Varos to obtain supplies of a rare ore called Zeiton 7, vital for the TARDIS to function properly. Originally Varos was a colony for the criminally insane and the descendants of the original guards still rule over the poverty-stricken population.

Peri is captured in the 'punishment dome', which broadcasts public tortures to Varos' inhabitants. The Doctor must rescue her before she is re-shaped into a beast by the Dome's sadistic commander…

Like most of the other Doctor Who DVDs, this one is packed with extras including audio commentaries for Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, and Nabil Shaban, deleted and extended scenes, out-takes, raw studio footage, trails for both episodes and a photo gallery. With a £19.99 price tag, this is about right for a DVD, and is certainly worth adding to the collection. Catalogue number BBCVDVD 1044.

THE MOVIE

The Doctor (Paul McGann) returns to DVD in his most recent incarnation as he struggles to stop the Master from destroying the Earth. After the Master's apparent destruction by the Daleks, the Doctor takes his remains back to Gallifrey in the new-look TARDIS, however, the Master is not really dead and forces the TARDIS to make an emergency landing in San Fransisco, EArth 1999. Upon arrival the Doctor finds himself in the line of fire as he becomes invloved in a gang-land battle.

Meanwhile, the Master has taken over the body of a n ambulance driver in a bid to achieve his ultimate goal; to inhabit the Doctor's body. Meddling with the heart of the Doctor's TARDIS he condemns the Earth to destruction at the stroke of midnight, December 31st, 1999...

Included on the disc is a commentary by Geoffrey Sax, on -screen production notes, a photo gallery, a music feature and exclusive footage, cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes features. For the die hards this is not really in the true vein of Who, but is still worth watching and although it didn't lead to a resumption of the series, it was a good attempt to bring the Doctor up to date. It does prove that throwing money at a low budget series, doesn't make it any better, and I can honestly say that I would rather sit down with a good Tom Baker or Pat Troughton story. Nevertheless, this is a great addition to the collection. Priced £19.99, the movie runs for 90 minutes.

THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI

This is the newest DVD release to come from the BBC, and features the Peter Davison story, The Caves of Andozani. This holds the the rather dubious honour of being the first story that I remember watching when I was younger, and as such I can't wait for it to come out at in June. The 5th Doctor and his companion Peri are embroiled in a battle for the control of a life-prolonging drug, Spectrox, on an alien world. This story is the last to feature Peter Davison and has the most famous regenration scene of the entire Doctor Who history. The DVD has many special features including a commentary by Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, and Greame Harper, extended scences, behind the scenes features, original BBC news reports of the regeneration, the original BBC trailer, a photo gallery, and on screen production notes. All in all this is a brilliant package and at £19.99, whilst a bit more than your average video release, contains a lot more than a video could.

REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) has to foil a Dalek plot to perfect the art of time travel, in this latest DVD offering from the BBC. This story kicked off the 25th season and took the Doctor back to his roots on Earth, the junkyard where we first saw him in 1963. When he was forced to leave Earth then, he left behind some Time Lord technology that could give the Daleks the ability to travel time, after all, by this story they have learnt to climb up stairs!!!

This DVD features brand new commentary by Sylvester McCoy and Sphie Aldred, deleted scenes featuring bloopers and out-takes, on screen production notes, multi-angle scenes, two original TV trailers, an extensive photo gallery, and a subtitle track - the marvels of modern technology, even the Doctor would be proud of this one! Available from the 26th February priced £19.99 this is a definite must for all fans.

SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE

A rather odd choice, in my opinion, to release as the first Pertwee on DVD as it has been released on video before and there are better stories from the first season. That said, this IS a DVD release and is welcomed warmly as there are additional items that could never make it to video - the original UNIT recruitment film, the previously unused title sequence for the Pertwee era (I am sure this was on the Pertwee Years video some while back), and audio commentary by Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, a location guide and subtitles with scene by scene information. DVD is really a great medium as so much can be crammed on one disc and they take up a lot less room than videos!

For those of you who are not familiar with the story, meteorites start plummeting to Earth and trigger off some strange happenings. The recently regenerated Doctor has been exiled to Earth by the Time Lords and teams up with a crack force called UNIT in order to discover what is going on. Mannequins at a local factory start to walk, and plastic begins to take on a life of its own - The Autons have invaded.

ROBOTS OF DEATH

The latest release in the long line of Doctor Who's is actually the second DVD. DVD appears to be the way forward and to prove it the Beeb have done the business with the Tom Baker classic. Not only does it have the story, but there is a writer's commentary of the recording of the episodes, 10 minutes of of shots and tests rns on the models, an image gallery, production notes and a production team floor plan. What more vould the fan want? Well more DVDs perhaps. And lo, there will be more!!! Spearhead from Space, the first Pertwee story will be available in January and Rememberance of the Daleks will be released later in the new year.

The only down side to the new technology is the price tag, and at £19.99, you can argue that as the video has been about for some while, it might not be worth spending the money for the extras, but then again, this won't wear out in the same way as the video will, and I am sure it is the format the Doctor would choose!

BBCV DVD 1012, 96mins, released 6th November 2000.